Week 14 Waiver Wire: Devin Singletary, Adonai Mitchell, C.J. Stroud among top targets

Summary

Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry

Episode: Week 14 Waiver Wire: Devin Singletary, Adonai Mitchell, C.J. Stroud among top targets
Date: December 2, 2025

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Episode Overview

This Week 14 Waiver Wire episode is Matthew Berry and crew’s deep-dive into the best fantasy football waiver pickups, start/sit advice, and notable player performances as fantasy playoffs approach. The panel—Matthew Berry, Connor Rogers, Lawrence Jackson, and Jay Croucher—debate the merits of trending waiver candidates at RB, WR, TE, and QB, uncover playoff-caliber sleepers, and react to recent NFL performances, zingers, and storylines with their signature blend of statistical rigor and good-natured banter.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Opening Rant: Defending Jaxon Smith-Njigba Owners

• Matthew Berry launches the show defending JSN after a down week, expressing little patience for complaints from fantasy managers:
  • "Screw you guys. Shut the hell up. You don't get to complain about Jackson Smith and Jigba... He's massively outperformed ADP... You know what you say? Hey, Jackson Smith and Jigba, thank you so much for the entire year. Bad day at the office. Happens to the best of us. Get him next week." – Matthew Berry (01:01)
• Tone: Indignant, humorous, playful scolding toward entitled fantasy players.

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2. Week 14 Bye Weeks and Waiver Priorities

• Players on Bye: Christian McCaffrey, Rico Dowdle, Chuba Hubbard, Trayvon Henderson, Ramondre Stevenson, Tyrone Tracy, Devin Singletary.
• Panel notes these byes force tough choices and creative waiver hunting.

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3. Top Running Back Waiver Targets

Devin Singletary (Giants, 78% available)

• Schedule looks favorable: Commanders, Vikings, Raiders, Cowboys.
• "Not a schedule you hate. He’s been viable even when splitting carries and with Tracy’s injury, he’s a viable playoff starter." – Connor Rogers (04:50)
• Panel agrees Singletary has RB2 potential for playoff run.

Bam Knight (Arizona, 74% available)

• "Scored in three straight, but still touchdown-dependent. Risky for next two matchups, maybe better for later playoff weeks." – Lawrence Jackson (09:21)
• Jay Croucher: Impressive day versus strong Bucs run defense, but still a desperation play.

Chris Rodriguez Jr. (76% available)

• 26 carries in last 2 games, highly TD-dependent, but usable with good matchups ahead (Vikings, Giants, Eagles).
• "You don’t feel great about any of the Washington running backs, but you feel best about Chris Rodriguez." – Jay Croucher (13:12)

Other Notable RBs:

• Blake Corum ("Pick him up, even if you don’t roster Kyren Williams." – Matthew, 14:04)
• Tyler Allgeier (Steady floor, get goal-line work, scored 3 of 4 last games)
• Bashell Tootin (Multiple red zone touches, boom potential vs struggling Colts)
• Tajay Spears (PPR floor, minimal upside. "If you need eight points, right, Spears, he is your man." – Jay, 17:27)

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4. Wide Receiver Waiver Wire Deep Dive

Jaden Higgins (Texans, 65% available)

• "Wide receiver 23 since Week 10... doing now what they drafted him to do." – Matthew Berry (20:48)
• "Favorable matchup vs Chiefs, volume and red-zone presence." – Jay (19:45)

Adonai Mitchell (Jets, 97% available)

• 12 targets, 8 catches, 100+ yards, TD last week.
• Aaron Glenn (Jets coach): "He was never a throw in. We watched him coming out of college...a true X."
• "He’s now the clear #1 with no Garrett Wilson. Tyrod Taylor is force-feeding him targets and using him all over the field." – Lawrence (25:18)
• "He will continue to be the top receiver for remainder of the season." – Matthew (26:06)

Jaden Reed (Packers, 62% available)

• "Gives the Packers a dimension they lack without him; capable of both screen and deep work." – Matthew (30:46)
• "Slot receiver dependent on deep passes. Strange, but has upside." – Jay (31:41)

Other Deeper League WRs:

• Dontavion Wicks, Devon Vail, Luther Burden, Pat Bryant, Isaac Tesla (especially if Amon-Ra sits), all briefly profiled as upside stashes.

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5. Tight End Streamers

Brenton Strange (68% available)

• Consistent usage, good schedule: Colts, Jets, Broncos, Colts.
• "He gives you consistency rare for tight end streamers; especially if WR room remains thin." – Jay (33:12)
• Start over underwhelming names like Mark Andrews and Kyle Pitts (Matthew, 34:41)

Dalton Schultz (54% available)

• Target volume is there: "Eight-plus targets in five of last seven, top-10 TE five of last seven weeks." – Matthew (35:19)
• Benefits from cold KC matchup where short routes will be featured.

Desperation/dart-throw TEs: Harold Fannin, Colston Loveland, Darren Waller, Evan Engram, AJ Barner.

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6. Quarterback Waiver Targets

C.J. Stroud (Texans, 61% available)

• Despite lack of TDs last week, solid passing volume and schedule:
  • "We’re seeing Stroud return to rookie form as o-line stabilizes and WRs emerge." – Jay (40:31)
  • "Kansas City defense is 30th in pass defense since Week 9. Stroud’s arrow is pointing up for playoff push." – Matthew (42:01)
  • Caution: Not much rushing baseline, so TDs/tough matchups can cap upside.

Other QB Streamers

• Marcus Mariota, Tyrod Taylor (rushing floor), J.J. McCarthy (upside but risky), Trey Lance (only for rushing if desperate).

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7. Streamer Defenses & Special Teams

• Best options (not ideal but usable):
  • Bucs vs Saints
  • Dolphins vs Jets
  • Titans vs Browns ("lowest game total of the week")
  • Colts vs Jaguars
• Conclusion: It’s a rough week for streaming, so “hopefully you’re not this desperate.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Matthew on fantasy outrage:
  "Screw you guys... Shut the hell up about your complaints about Jackson Smith and Jigba..." (01:01)
• Jay on RB streamer bias:
  "You don’t feel great about any of the Washington running backs, but you feel best about Chris Rodriguez." (13:12)
• Aaron Glenn on Adonai Mitchell:
  "He was never a throw in. We watched him coming out of college... a true X." (24:31)
• Jay on Tajay Spears:
  "If you need eight points, right, Spears is your man." (17:27)
• Matthew on Jaden Reed:
  "They’re not going to run Jaden Reed in between no tackles...but he gives them that jet sweep and a dimension that’s missing from the offense." (30:46)
• Jay on Stroud’s development:
  "He had the one terrible kind of inexplicable interception...but got right back on track, which is a good sign." (40:43)

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Time-Stamped Breakdown of Key Segments

• 01:01 – Matthew Berry’s JSN rant
• 04:50 – Devin Singletary as top RB waiver target
• 07:08 – Singletary vs Mason for top backfield stash
• 09:21 – Bam Knight’s upside and limitations
• 12:20 – Chris Rodriguez’s role in Washington
• 14:04 – Blake Corum’s stash viability
• 17:16 – Tajay Spears as high-floor, low-ceiling play
• 19:45–21:23 – Jaden Higgins’ developing floor and matchups
• 24:31–26:06 – Adonai Mitchell’s role surge with Jets
• 29:10–32:13 – Packers WRs (Reed, Wicks, Watson) and usage discussion
• 33:12 – Brenton Strange as reliable TE streamer
• 35:19 – Dalton Schultz’s target consistency
• 40:31–42:01 – CJ Stroud’s arrow pointing up; facing a weak KC pass defense
• 44:32 – Defense/special teams streamer rundown

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Episode Tone and Banter

• The chemistry between the hosts remains strong: quick-witted, self-deprecating, with recurring jokes about jerseys and inside references ("chocolate ankles," "vanilla wrinkles," jersey curses).
• Panelists often mock themselves and each other for past predictions or failed "lucky jersey" magic.
• Viewers’ chat comments and live banter are frequently woven in, maintaining an informal, community-driven vibe.

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Final Fantasy Playoff Advice Takeaways

• Waiver process this late is all about upside and risk tolerance.
• Singletary, Higgins, and Adonai Mitchell are plug-and-play options in many playoff-hopeful lineups.
• At TE and QB, play for familiarity (Stroud/Schultz) or opportunity (Strange, Taylor).
• Monitor injuries, especially players like Jaden Reed and Amon-Ra St. Brown, for late-breaking waiver upside.
• Defense streaming is rough; best to rely on proven options if possible.

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Closing Notes

• MVP Futures: Drake May and Matthew Stafford lead the board; Dak Prescott and Josh Allen dark horses.
• Patriots Backfield: Ramondre Stevenson re-solidified as lead back over Trayan Henderson.
• Popular running segment: Who wore the cursed jersey, which created a fun ongoing panel theme.

For fantasy managers prepping for playoff runs, this episode provides sharp context for late-season waiver moves, key roles, and critical injury watch-lists, packaged in a fast-paced, opinionated, and accessible style.

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Transcript

[Matthew Berry]

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[Connor Rogers]

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[Jay]

Manufacturing plant, you know having a trusted.

[Connor Rogers]

Partner makes all the difference.

[Jay]

That's why, hands down, you count on.

[Connor Rogers]

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[Jay]

With on time restocks, your team will have the cut resistant gloves they need at the start of their shift. And you can end your day knowing.

[Connor Rogers]

They'Ve got safety well in hand.

[Jay]

Call 1-800-GRAINGER click granger.com or just stop.

[Connor Rogers]

By Granger for the ones who get it done.

[Matthew Berry]

And the last thing I just want to say we can come to camera one here real quickly for me. Yeah, camera one. I want to address camera one. I saw a lot of people. I saw a lot of people on social media complaining about Jackson Smith and Jigba's horrible day. Fantasy wise as well. 4.3 fantasy points is wide receiver 64. As we head into my football, here's what I have to say to you guys. Screw you guys. Shut the hell up. You don't get to complain about Jackson Smith and Jigba. Are you kidding me? You've got an unbelievable year. He has massively outperformed adp. Yes, he had a bad day at the office. You don't get to complain. Some of us are out here with Justin Jefferson. Are you kidding me? Do not say one damn word about Jackson Smith and Jigba. You know what you say? Hey, Jackson Smith and Jigba. Thank you so much for the entire year. Bad day at the office. Happens to the best of us. Get him next week. That's what you say. Shut the hell up about your complaints about Jackson Smith and Jigba. I saw people bitching on social media and I'm like, how dare you? How dare you.

[Lawrence]

Very loud. Yes, Cameron one worthy.

[Connor Rogers]

Fantasy Football Happy hour with Matthew Barry.

[Lawrence]

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Happy Hour Waiver wire day. Connor Rogers. Lawrence Jackson. Jay Croucher. Matthew Berry. Still the scream alert somewhere.

[Matthew]

I am Matthew Barry.

[Lawrence]

You are Matthew Barry.

[Matthew]

Screamed so Loud yesterday with my Bijon Johnson Robinson jersey on that my skin changed color. So here I am still mad at people who complaining about Jackson Smith and Jigba.

[Jay]

Yeah. Much leaner, much faster. Matthew Berry. Much less dyed cokey Matthew Berry.

[Matthew]

A little bit more hair. More hair on. Do a little something.

[Lawrence]

And the chin.

[Jay]

Yeah.

[Matthew]

Definitely the facial hair.

[Lawrence]

Yeah. Glasses.

[Matthew]

But we still here. We still.

[Lawrence]

Well, if you weren't Matthew Berry in a world that you're not. We're gonna ask the chat where do you think Matthew is today? And we got some really great options. Undergoing elbow swap surgery with Jaden Daniels on a plane to Baton Rouge to join Lane Kiffin's staff. Practicing kicking to replace young way KU kicking in quotes. Hosting fantasy football happy hour with Todd Zeal, the spin off show.

[Jay]

Yeah. Matthew doing a little Devin Williams segment with Todd Zeal. Be great.

[Matthew Berry]

My vault of content.

[Matthew]

My vote would be that he's going to Baton Rouge to be on Lane Kiffin's staff.

[Lawrence]

What's his title? Yeah, analyst.

[Matthew]

Like some type of. Yeah, some type of data analyst. He get to be on the field with it too. So he look more important.

[Lawrence]

Trick contender specialist.

[Matthew]

Yes. Give him some gear. Give him one of the headsets.

[Lawrence]

Yeah, he's definitely wearing a headset. He's not saying anything into it, but he's right.

[Matthew]

Yeah.

[Jay]

Can you imagine Matthew in a GM type of role? He's like Joe Dumas with the two foreigns. Can't turn him on. Incredible Joe Barry as a good one.

[Lawrence]

Don't worry. We're going to recap Monday Night Football. The blowout. The Patriots handled their business against the Giants. We have our favorite early week bets as we always do on the waiver wire show. Looking ahead at week 14. That's during last call though. We'll revisit that poll in just a little bit. Let's get right into waiver wires though and start with who's on a bye week. Because if you're looking to pick people up, you might be down one of these guys. Christian McCaffrey, who's been unbelievable, especially with the volume he gets week in and week out. Rico Dowdle. Kind of a down week for Dowdle as Chuba Hubbard, who's also on this.

[Matthew]

List, blew back up.

[Lawrence]

Trayvon Henderson, Ramandre Stevenson in that Patriots backfield. Tyrone Tracy hurt on Monday Night Football. We'll kind of keep an eye on that. A hip injury and then Devin Singletary, who did get a lot of work in that Giants backfield. But let's jump right into that conversation, guys. Because maybe even if you feel good about your roster and you could survive a bye week, Devin Singletary now becomes the top guy on the list here. Lawrence at 78% available. He's got the commanders Vikings, Raiders and Cowboys after that bye week especially with 15 touches last night.

[Matthew]

Yes. Not definitely not a schedule that you hate there Connor. You look at the snap rate from Week 13 versus the Patriots. It's been fairly even these past few weeks as well too. And you mentioned Tyrone Tracy being hurt and we had to monitor that. But if you go back to two games before the two weeks before Devin Singletary still got double digit carries in those games with Tyrone Tracy couple weeks ago he also stole a couple of touchdowns away from too. So he's been viable. So if he's still on your waiver wire now, this is somebody you could be putting right into the starting lineup, you know. So especially you won't have him this week but you'll have them for the fantasy playoffs.

[Jay]

Yeah. Very favorable schedule as well for the Giants going forward. Commanders their run defense, the Vikings whose defense isn't nearly as fierce as it was last year and you can run on Minnesota and then the Raiders who do have a reasonable run defense but not a particularly good team. And so there should be game script there. So pretty favorable for Devin Singletary. I thought Connor, that Dwayne McFarland had a great tweet earlier today highlighting that Jackson Dart didn't have a single designed rush attempt last night. Yeah. And they were negative 13% pass rate over expected. And Dwayne put it somewhat poetically that the Giants are trying to run out the clock on the 2025 season.

[Lawrence]

It really felt that way. I mean third quarter they're down multiple scores and it's run after run and New England was happy to go with we'll bend a little but we're not going to break and give you an explosive. You literally run out the clock is how it felt and it's efficient because it counts in fantasy Lawrence but and it tells you a lot about the Giants offense but it was very bizarre.

[Matthew]

Yeah. When you say you know, hit the reset button for next season when you got guys hurt like Cam Scatter, Boot, Malik Neighbors. You want to just get Jackson Dart into that next year, get him with all the guys healthy then really see what he could do because you know, whatever he's doing now, Jackson Dart hands kind of tied behind his back. Coach just got fired a couple weeks ago so. But the shout out to the Patriots who pretty much did all they damage in the first half dropped 30 points and pretty much ended that way for them.

[Jay]

Yep. There's a question from Aloha Bricks, Singletary or Mason? Which one is the better pickup we got there? Lawrence?

[Matthew]

I would go Devon Singletary.

[Lawrence]

Yeah, I think so too.

[Matthew]

Jordan Mason still behind Aaron Jones. That's.

[Lawrence]

We got to keep an eye on his injury status.

[Matthew]

That's important too.

[Lawrence]

Answer to this is who has a bigger role because of the injury of the other guy in their backfields. Right.

[Matthew]

So if both guy. If Aaron Jones and Tyrone Tracy's healthy, I would take Singletary because he's eating into that more. You feel different about it if the status of Aaron Jones is different because then Jordan Mason's just full workhorse role in that instance. But overall I think I would like Devin Singletary a little better.

[Jay]

Yep. Yeah, it's interesting. So I don't think that there's a 0% chance Mike Kafka wanted to call the game like he did last night, but it seems like he got a directive. Like is that odd? Yeah. The aim is not to really push to go 5 and 11 instead of 3 and 14. The aim of the season is to keep Jackson Dart healthy.

[Lawrence]

Right. And you can only protect him from himself in so many ways. As we saw no designed runs. Literally having him hand the ball off in a situation where you need to be in a throw script, but he's still going to take off and do.

[Jay]

Also not going for it on 4th and 1.

[Lawrence]

Crazy.

[Matthew]

Yes.

[Jay]

You know, week five, that's a Jackson Dart snake or some sort of design.

[Lawrence]

Play down multiple scores.

[Matthew]

You still saw some of the mobility, the scrambling ability, the scrambling then throwing it to the end. Like you, you want to see some good play out of them still, but you want to get out unscathed when it all. When it's all said and done.

[Lawrence]

Our next running back guys. Bam Knight, 74 available. It's been very strange in Arizona as we haven't gotten a ton of UPD on Trey Benson over the last weeks when we thought he'd be back. Bam Knight, 11 carries, 62 rushing yards, three targets. He catches all three of them for 36 yards. He gets a receiving touchdown. When you look at his performance against the Bucks that they lost this game, they have the Rams, Texans, Falcons and Bengals. So maybe a guy that it's a weird one for me, Lawrence, because it feels like he's more appealing closer to the fantasy playoffs and even the fantasy championship. But is he still the guy by then?

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah.

[Matthew]

And also too can you make it that Far with him. Can you get, can you get through the Rams? Can you risk starting him versus the Houston Texans to get to Atlanta in Cincinnati? Then when you think about the fact that he's merely a touchdown dependent fantasy asset. He scored in three straight games, which is good. It's just that if he doesn't score, you know what you're going to get and that's likely single digit fantasy points. Then you got this guy Michael Carter hovering around. He's got a 50% snap rate over the past three games. Still would feel more comfortable with Bam Knight over Michael Carter, but me too, just because we know this is a pass first offense right now. So we need that touchdown when it comes to Bam Knight, and that's really the major factor in it.

[Jay]

Yeah, I think the encouraging thing is that he was able to do this against Tampa Bay's rush defense, which is, you know, perennially one of the best rush defenses in the league so long as Vita Vella is out on the field. So the fact that he was able to have a really strong fantasy day, pretty efficient real life day. I think the key is that he gets the three receptions for 36 yards, gets into the end zone. Not expecting that out of the receiving game. But yeah, Rams tough, Houston tough. But at the same time, like, you know, Jonathan Taylor just had put up 85 rushing yards and had 36 receiving yards against the Texans. Now, Van Mike's not Jonathan Taylor, he's not Jonathan Taylor. But that you can get receiving yards running back against Texas, especially some of.

[Lawrence]

The scripts they play are just absolutely wild. We got another comment in the chat here. Snow day here in Kansas City, says Andrew, watching the show with my daughter. And she loves Lawrence's frog and toad shirt.

[Matthew]

Lawrence love the kids, man. That's why that's, you know, I got a young buck myself. You know, she. My daughter actually says something about this shirt too, before I left the house, man. Andre, shout out to you and your daughter. We appreciate y' all support, man.

[Jay]

Yeah, massive upgrade as well, going from Matthew Barry wearing a Bijan Robinson jersey the day after he lost to the New York Jets.

[Matthew]

It's funny. No, but I'll tell you something funny about that, right? Cause Jay, you usually known as the bandwagon fan on this show, but every Monday I clip this show on. I see three fellas up here talking. He got a new jersey on every week. Whoever had a best game, Matthew Berry is wearing that jersey. I think he forgot that the Falcons actually lost though, right? Because it happened on the last second. And as Good as his day was.

[Lawrence]

Tyler Algiers stole another touchdown.

[Jay]

Also, it has to be noted that the week prior Matthew war Matthew Stafford jersey coming off three touchdown game against the Bucks to vault him into MVP favoritism. Subsequent to that and Matthew spilling a full yeah, why you do that to the Stafford jersey? Stafford immediately has his worst game of the season. So I think the diet Coke may have cursed Matthew Stafford.

[Lawrence]

Berkson Flannels asked, is Lawrence sticking to that chair?

[Jay]

Yeah, it might be.

[Lawrence]

Still diet cover. Oh my goodness, I smell it. Our next running back here, guys. Chris Rodriguez Jr. Has taken over the commander's backfield. He's 76% available against those Minnesota Vikings, by the way. 11 carries, 41 rushing yards. Most importantly, Jay, he got in the end zone which as this numbers show right there, he's touchdown dependent for him to be viable in your flex. But to be fair to him, he scored three of his last four games.

[Jay]

He has and I mean it's no joke getting 26 carries across the past two games. There's a favorable schedule coming up as well at the Vikings. Their rush defense not particularly imposing at the Giants, who have the worst rush defense in the NFL and then home to Philly who just got absolutely annihilated on the ground by the Bears. So I think the way to look at this is, as Matthew often says, you don't feel great about any of the Washington running backs, but you feel best about Chris Rodriguez.

[Matthew]

Yeah, four straight games with at least one goal to go. Rush attempt there for Chris Rodriguez. Clearly he's the running back they prefer, but not by that much. But what I think I like about Chris Rodriguez in this situation is that the Commanders as a whole, you saw him against the Denver Broncos, they're still competing. The offense putting up the amount of points that they did versus that tough Broncos defense gives you some hope as a long shot flex for him.

[Lawrence]

Some other deeper league targets here, guys on the running backs list. Blake Corum against the Cardinals. He's got 84% availability coming off a strong week. We've just seen more of Blake Corum this year. I guess it's hard to really predict when he'll have a big week, but you know, with Kyron Williams seemingly always banged up guys. Blake Corum, a risky play, but definitely a guy you have to have on your roster if you're going this deep into the year with Kyron Williams.

[Matthew]

Lauren, this one very interesting to me because not for just the next game, the end of the season, but for beyond. Like I think what happened in the past with Todd Gurley in his knee. That kind of shook Sean McVay up because you see how he been doing his running backs ever since he went from Todd Gurley to Daryl Henderson. When he was done with him, he went to cam makers, cam makers to Kyron Williams. And now you're seeing Blake Corn and he's looking better too. He's gotten a lot better just overall from last year, even in pass protection. So he's someone I would put him with the rest of the guys on this list just based on the offense that he's in. So Blake Corum, you better have him if you got Kyron Williams, but I'd pick him up even if you don't.

[Jay]

Yep, over a third of the team rush attempts in the past month. Blake Corum and to your point, kind of like Kyro Williams is constantly banged up, hasn't really had a great season overall I think relative to expectations and how well the Rams have done. But yeah, Blake Coram some standalone value and he's kind of a similar case to the next man on our list, Tyler Algier.

[Lawrence]

Yeah, Algier, a guy that he's getting more work even some throw him the ball in this game, he's obviously going to steal touchdowns. Plenty algier, 58% available because of how much work he's been getting. And we have a question here guys from Ruben Corum over Algier rest of the season. What do you think of that?

[Matthew]

Jay?

[Jay]

I would take Tyler Algier just because of the consistency of the role, the fact that the schedule is not that imposing for the Falcons down the stretch and also just you're very confident that he's going to get goal line work. Whereas with Coram there's Kyron Williams to navigate and there's also Matthew Stafford's fade routes to Devonte Adams.

[Matthew]

Devonte Adams, big gap, Kyron Williams and then sometime Blake Corum. For Tyler Algier, it's more often than not he scored in three of his last four games. So definitely with you there. We're going Tyler Algier.

[Lawrence]

Bayshalt also makes the list. He's got a huge matchup Week 14 against the Colts, only 56% available. I think people are expecting a big boom for Bashal Tootin right now, Lawrence, but what we can hang our hat on is he's got five straight games with multiple red zone touches and a good offense.

[Matthew]

Yeah and just a couple of weeks ago him and Travis Etn both carried the ball 16 plus times, both had over 70 yards. So I Think it's all about the game script for them and how it's going and that's why you kind of see these up and down weeks. I think we as a whole even going back to the beginning of the season kind of rode off Travis Etienne a little bit. He's proven to still be the preferred back there. But Bashell Tooten against the Colts, I think a Colts team that's reeling right now, they hurting. Woody Marks was solid against them. I think Tootin could have a nice game against them.

[Jay]

Yeah, you can run on my Colts unfortunately, particularly DeForest Buckner not out there. There's just a huge dependence on Grover Stewart overall. This Colts run defense, it's just not a great run defense when Buckner's not out there. And yeah, I mean they had a chance to get the ball back at the end of the game. They couldn't stop Woody Marks on a suspect Houston offensive line. So Bashaw Tooten reasonable chance to score a touchdown.

[Lawrence]

Our last running back, Jay Tajay Spears, he's got three straight games of four plus receptions. We say this every week with Tajie Spears that it feels like the ceiling is really, really low. But some floor specifically in the past game exists with him.

[Jay]

If you need eight points, right, Spears, he is your man. He's got a 15 target share since week nine. And the look, the Browns, their run defense is the best in the league effectively. And so I don't think that they're going to be trying to run up the gut against that front. And so I think it's going to be a lot of dump offs to Ty J. Spiers. Yeah.

[Lawrence]

Do you know the total for this game?

[Matthew]

No, I don't want you to. Let me guess. It's definitely the lowest prior. Lowest 34.

[Lawrence]

33½.

[Matthew]

Yep, 33½.

[CJ Stroud]

Yeah.

[Jay]

No respect for shadows.

[Matthew]

It's gonna be a great game. Probably, you know, you know I'll take.

[Jay]

The under on greatness.

[Matthew]

Yeah. But because it's Cam Ward and Shador is it definitely got some flair to it. But to Tajie Spears, three straight games with at least four receptions. Any type of carries he could get is a plus here. But out of all the guys we just talked about, Corum Algiers, Bashar Toon, I probably would like Tajie Spears the least out of these four guys. But like you said, the eight points, you have to just expect that. Don't go in there. Oh, he got some upside. Upside. Take that eight points and be happy.

[Lawrence]

That's right. All right, let's go to the wide receivers, pass catchers in general on a bye week here, guys. T. Mac Tearoa McMillan, who's been a little touchdown dependent lately. Wandale Robinson, who's kind of the opposite. You just hope for short volume with Wondale, but he's been great this year. Stefan Diggs, Juwan Jennings, K Shawn Booty, Ricky Pierce, all trying to work his way back into the action. And fantasy relevance. Been quiet since his return. George Kittle, not quiet since his return. He's been one of the top tight ends in fantasy. Hunter Henry, who's always on the fringe of being a tight end one week in and week gout and then to a lesser extent, but because Jackson Dart is back. Theo Johnson. So let's jump into who's available guys, and we start with Jaden Higgins, 65%. They got a huge matchup on Sunday Night Football against the Chiefs. You guys will be in Kansas City for that matchup. But Jaden Higgins, five targets, five catches, 65 receiving yards, another guy that it feels like Jay is now establishing a floor because at least Stroud's looking his way. Davis Mills looked his way. And you always have the upside of scoring a touchdown because of his red zone presence.

[Jay]

Yeah. And it makes sense that, you know, young rookie receivers, they get better as the season goes on, as they get more acclimated to the offense crowd. Obviously, huge upgrade on Davis Mills. So look at his past four games where he's had at least four receptions and five targets. In all those games, he scored two touchdowns in the past month as well. And to me, the thing that's interesting here, Connor, is that I think this is a favorable matchup against the Kansas City pass defense that I don't really understand why, but just hasn't been that effective unless they're playing a quarterback with a broken leg. Outside of that, teams have been able to move the ball. It just feels like the pass rush isn't quite what it was like. Chris Jones got a little bit worse. There's Carl after, so there's not much else. I think the corners are fine for the most part, but there just seems to be no pressure.

[Lawrence]

All right. It's how long can they cover out there when once again, the pass rush isn't consistent. Chris Jones has seemingly, and this just happens with age. He's gone from a great borderline elite player to now he's a good player.

[Aaron Glenn]

Yeah.

[Lawrence]

And I don't think the Kansas City front can afford that. Lawrence, if they want to go out there and consistently be good team, be.

[Matthew]

Nice if some of their younger stepped up there. But look, they don't get no pass rush. Jaden Higgins, wide receiver, 23 since Week 10. That is solid especially for an offense that hasn't been lighting it up all year. They've been without their starting quarterback. They just got him back. Jada Higgins taking in the second round and he's pretty much doing now what they drafted him to do. Come in, be that number two guy. And like we just talked about, if there is no pass rush, I don't see how this is a tough matchup for the Houston Texans.

[Jay]

Yep, the they're only three point dogs in Kansas City Texans team that was looking like its season was done at 03. They started and then for Stroud to go down. But right now, I mean they're playing as well as anyone.

[Matthew]

They've got experience going out there. Just a couple years ago in the playoffs they was out there in Kansas. So it's not going to be no shock to them to, you know, try to get it going. C.J. stroud, I think the arrow pointing up for him too.

[Lawrence]

You can argue besides New England because and even Denver like those two teams find ways to win. But Houston's arguably the hottest team in the AFC right now or at least the team that you wouldn't expect this. But I don't think anybody wants to play like they could just single handedly win on the back of their defense. And now if Stroud continues to get settled back in they're almost a complete team.

[Matthew]

The offense, the offense was playing like below average the first half the line was really bad. If they just like solid right with that defense we talking about some just think last year we talked about like CJ Stroud like sophomore slump this year happened but he could possibly be in the playoffs for three straight years. So that's pretty good.

[Jay]

Won a playoff game each of his first two seasons he's won playoff games on the road as well. Question from Brandon Higgins or Watson for this weekend I would lean Christian Watson just because one more faith in his role in the offense and then two I think probably more touchdown equity and I think as well not not terrified of the Bears secondary even though they are getting players back and it doesn't.

[Lawrence]

This is up in the air but it doesn't seem like Jaden Reed's a lock to be back this week which would just be another mouth to feed in the Green Bay offense.

[Matthew]

A.J. brown had his best game of the season against these Bears in a losing effort. Two touchdowns, 132, 10 catches I don't think Christian Watson the type to go out and get the 10 catches, but he could get you 132 on a lot less catches. So definitely Christian Watson.

[Jay]

The other thing too is like Jordan Love, he goes on these heaters like he's extremely up and down the back end of 2023. I think his like final 10 games, he's like 21 touchdowns and one pick, something like that. He had a really good stretch from week 11 to week 17 last year. Now he seems to be in the zone again. Three good, very good games in a row. Even though statistically didn't show up against the Vikings, he played well. And now, you know, at home against the Bears, you take a step back and Christian Watson is the number one receiving option for the guy who right now is third favorite to an MVP in Jordan Love.

[Lawrence]

We go from Jaden Higgins, guys, who's established a great floor in the Texans offense to Adonai Mitchell, which is more of the ceiling play all of a sudden in the New York jets offense, he's 97% available. So there will be some bidding wars out there for Adonai Mitchell. Coming off a week where he had over 24 fantasy points, 12 targets, over 100 yards, he catches the touchdown. He finishes the week as a top five wide receiver in fantasy. We got to hear from Aaron Glenn this week on their thoughts trading for Mitchell and why he just wasn't a throw in to that sauce gardener deal.

[Aaron Glenn]

He's here for a reason. And you know, sometimes when these things happen, these trades happen sometimes, you know, people think that he's a throw in, but he was never a throw in. He was a guy that we wanted. And listen, we watched him coming out of college. He's actually from my hometown and he's a true ex. The body type is a true X. He has good speed, he can win one on one. So, man, I just look forward to seeing him progress as the season goes and you know, for him coming back next year and being a huge part.

Of what we're doing.

[Jay]

Okay, so Connor Adonai Mitchell has a 30% target share since joining the Jets. He just had 12 targets in the NFL game goes 8 for 102 and the touchdown. How real do you think this is and what's the outlook going forward?

[Lawrence]

Well, there's no sign of return for Garrett Wilson, which gives you confidence that the volume is real. You know, they're still throwing a John Metchie at a couple drops in this game. But it's Adonai Mitchell. I Think what was promising here, Jay, is that with, with Adonai Mitchell, we know he can win deep. He's big, he's got speed. You're going to see corners respect that. Now. He was eating them up in the intermediate area of the field, the short area of the field. He was catching the ball, which kind of was one of his problems coming in when he came over to the jets, especially from Justin Fields. Tyrod Taylor is using him as the primary read constantly in this game. So Lawrence, I think are you going to get eight catches over 100 yards and a touchdown every week? You're probably not, but the jets are in plenty of throw scripts. Tyrod Taylor is completely competent in getting his number one wide receiver the ball. He does this with Garrett Wilson when Wilson plays. And Mitchell is a guy that capitalizing on a new opportunity.

[Matthew]

Yeah. And you talked, we talked earlier about the Giants kind of kicking the can down the road into next season. Well, what have the jets been looking for on offense ever since Garrett Wilson got there? A number two receiver. So if Adonai Mitchell can show he could be the number one now while Garrett Wilson is out, well then that's the, that's the small risk you took in bringing in Adonai Mitchell. And I believe Aaron Glenn when he says he wasn't a throwaway. Like talking, you're talking about the intermediate in the short game. That's actually something I thought he could do out of college, but it just didn't work out with the Colts. Got in a receiving room where the talent was too. Even then he had to stuff off the field that the coaches got tired of him. Great. I think it was not great move, but a good move for both sides. So I think Adonai Mitchell will continue to be that, that top receiver for the remainder of the season. Like you said, Tyrod Taylor is getting the ball to him.

[Jay]

Yeah. And the thing is too is he takes a step back and like why is he not on the Colts? Well, because he's not as good as Josh Downs or Alec Pierce basically on the outside. And also the fact that, you know, the reason, the other reason he's not on the team is because he fumbled away a 50 yard touchdown.

[Lawrence]

Right.

[Jay]

That he actually did catch against the Rams before. Obviously the mental mistake of fumbling it out of the end zone. But I mean he's super talented. He was a high draft pick and he's if he's going to get the targets. And Tyrod also, I think there's the perception mainly because maybe the Buffalo time with Tyrod that he's the game manager. Tyrone's not a game manager. Tyrod Chucks are deep. He will air it out. Which is perfect for Mitchell.

[Matthew]

Yeah. You talked about him not being better than those coach receivers. He's not today, but it wouldn't be shocking if he was in the next two to three years.

[Lawrence]

Raise the flags. Chiming in here. Is Connor excited to be talking about AD Mitchell instead of Alan Lazard on his jets podcast now. Yes. A nice change.

[Matthew]

I bet you are.

[Lawrence]

It's a good change.

[Matthew]

Yeah. At least he hung. Yeah. That's what is his hope.

[Jay]

Things looking up for the Jets? Because you know Aaron Ross was looking a lot better a month ago.

[Matthew]

Everybody was like Trey Breeze hall to the Jets. No, keep them.

[Lawrence]

Yeah.

[Matthew]

Let's see what happens.

[Lawrence]

Winners of three, the last five guys. Speaking of hot teams in football.

[Matthew]

Hey.

[Lawrence]

Oh man. All right, top wide receiver targets. Let's take a look at some deeper league ones after Higgins and Adonai Mitchell. Jaden Reed, who we mentioned previously, he's working his way back. Kind of a sleeper on the waivers because he has that little IR spot next to his name. But I've stashed him in a couple of leagues. 62% available. There are going to be weeks, assuming he gets back soon, that he'll be the number one target in Green Bay's offense. Dontavion Wicks though, kind of picking up the slack without him. He's 99% available. Devon Vale getting much more work now. He's out there in every league. Luther Burden, obviously with the Bears offense you kind of got to pick your spots. Pat Bryant getting more usage with the Broncos and then another rookie wide receiver in Isaac Tesla who's got the Cowboys if a Monroe St. Brown doesn't play Lawrence. I mean you could be looking at a comfortable place for Tesla on the slot where he played for Arkansas.

[Matthew]

I would not be mad at him, especially putting him in on those leads where you got like two or three flex spots, right? He could be that guy if you directly have Amon Ross St. Brown. Now clearly you saw that once he went out it was like we got to see why Jameson Williams was a first round draft pick. But Tess Lie, he gets in there, we know he could play all around the formation and that's the versatility that Dan Campbell likes. So definitely a long shot flesh play. Keep an eye on Amon Rod St. Brown status.

[Jay]

Yeah. Connor on Jaden Reed, who's always been one of the most fascinating receivers in the league to me, started last year in the first month he had two different games of having 138 plus receiving yards and he did it against the Eagles and the Vikings, arguably two of the four best defenses in the league last year. Whenever I watch him, he's always reminded me of Deebo Samuel, like a younger Deebo Samuel, but it just doesn't. It's never really clicked over any sustained period.

[Lawrence]

Right. I love that you bring that up, Jay, because what I love about him is when you watch Green Bay offense, it's a lot of like, okay, downhill run game shots down the field. And that's been the story this year without Jaden Reed. But with Jaden Reed, he gives you a little bit more of the scheme stuff. Even if you just throw him a ball in a drag route and let him run, you get him going in the screen game, he can win down the field. I think that's more of a product of the Green Bay offense. They do run really hot and cold with Jordan Love and LaFleur. But in terms of upside, I guess Christian Watson has more because he catches so many deep balls. But Reed is the guy that you could actually see Lawrence, they go into weeks with him with game plans tailored towards his ability with the ball in his hands.

[Matthew]

Well, yeah, that's because you. I think the whole offense changes when he's in there. To your point about Deebot, I will say this. They're not going to run Jaden Reed in between no tackles. That's what they won't do with them. But they will give them that jet sweep. They will get him the ball at the line of scrimmage. And I think that dimension of the offense is kind of missing, which is why we see these inconsistencies with the packers offense. And you brought up Jaden Reed last year. He was a top five receiver in fantasy for the first, what, five, six weeks of the season. So we know that's in there for him. But it's like, when he gets in, when he comes back, how long is it going to take? What's the usage going to be like? Because we just mentioned Don Tavion Wicks had a big game. It's still, even though Christian Watson is having these games, it's still like, who's the top guy in the Green Bay wide receiver room?

[Jay]

He's such a strange player because he's like a slot receiver who's dependent on deep passes. He's like the only guy in the.

[Matthew]

League and he could do that of.

[Jay]

That ilk and he can do that and he's, you know, a Lot of his production last year in the first month was, you know, catching the. It was like a 70 yarder against the Eagles on that in the Brazil game where the corner slipped on the turf and he ran into the end zone, but still he's got upside. The issue is, is that when they go to wide receiver sets, like he's not in the field, like they've gone with other guys. It's, you know, when healthy, it's Watson and then Wicks or Dobbs on the outside. But I mean, also, you throw Matthew golden still into this mix.

[Lawrence]

Crazy.

[Jay]

You have like, legitimately five wide receivers.

[Matthew]

How many people did we just talk about before? You just mentioned that?

[Jay]

Yeah, I mean, it's.

[Lawrence]

That's about Tucker Craft hurt this year.

[Matthew]

Like, if that's who really was the guy.

[Lawrence]

He's the guy. Yeah. Just got hurt.

[Jay]

You have five different guys who would all have a case to be the best. At least outside receiver on the Bills. Like all of these guys in terms of talent.

[Matthew]

They would take Don, Tavian, Wicks.

[Jay]

Yeah.

[Matthew]

Over Coleman and they take Chris Christian Watson.

[Lawrence]

They might have one of them next year.

[Matthew Berry]

Yeah.

[Lawrence]

At this rate.

[Matthew]

Yeah.

[Lawrence]

All right, let's go to tight end, guys. Brenton Strange, 68, available. He's coming off of week 13 where he had four targets. He caught three of them for 45 yards, and he gets the touchdown. Bren Strange has been really solid since returning from injury. It feels like whenever he's healthy, a very good option. He's got the Colts, Jets, Broncos and Colts again here. Jay. So outside of Denver, not a crazy schedule for him. And I'm sure a lot of people at this point of the fantasy season are just streaming tight ends weekly in and out.

[Jay]

Yeah. The thing with Strange is that he gives you something that is fairly foreign in fantasy, which is consistency from the tight end position. Liam Cohen has always been good at scheming up, you know, screens, short stuff. I don't understand why they were using Brenton Strange as the hub of the screen game instead of Travis Hunter. But Travis Hunter's not there anymore, so it's Brenton Strange's show from that front. Also, my Colts not particularly good against tight ends. They allow the fourth most points per game in fantasy two tight ends. And so overall, Breton Strange, particularly with Parker Washington has to be under the fetch in, you know, some doubt to play in this game given that he wasn't able to return on the weekend. So I think that a lot of the intermediate stuff, a lot of the middle of the field stuff is going to Go to Breton Strange against the Colts.

[Matthew]

Yeah, if you're out there and you got a tight end dilemma, just a couple of guys that I would start Britain Strange over would be Mark Andrews right now. Ravens offense struggling and I don't, I don't see the, you know, a light at the end of the tunnel for that. But when you got Lamar, it could happen. But I don't know what's going on that offense. So I take Britton Strange over Mar Andrews and Kyle Pitts. He had a good game against the jets, but remember, there was no Drake London in that game. So if Drake London comes back, then give me Britain Strange in the offense where I don't think Trevor Lawrence is just pinpoint hooked on Brian Thomas Jr. So yeah, solid, solid little play.

[Jay]

I'm going to watch that game alone in a dark room, all lights off, just locked in some AFC south football division on the line. Very scary as a Colts man. Also because it's the, the house of pain historically for Indianapolis. It can't win in Jacksonville no matter what. So yeah, hopefully Brendan Strange goes down.

[Lawrence]

Dalton Schultz also on our list, just meets our threshold at 54%. He's got the Chiefs, as we said on Sunday Night Football, the Cardinals, Raiders and Chargers on a Saturday game. Eight targets in week 13. He caught seven of them for 55 yards. We've seen plenty of target share this year Lawrence from Schultz and this is a guy that CJ Stroud will gladly lean on when he needs to.

[Matthew]

Eight plus targets in five of his last seven games. 20% of the teams of the quarterback's targets in that stretch. This the thing here Kansas City. And I forgot to mention this earlier when we were talking about who's the receiver from Jaden Higgins. Jaden Higgins. That over under in that game is 41 and a half. It's because neither of the offenses Kansas City or the Texans have been lighting it up. It's going to be cold as hell but one thing I think you could count on is the tight ends getting some work in this game. That's what you want to do in these frigid temperatures of Kansas City though to keep it short. And Dalton Schultz will be that guy finish as a top 10 tight end five of his last five of the last seven weeks. So solid play against Kansas City.

[Jay]

Yeah. I also, I think familiarity counts for a ton and Dalton Schultz has established rapport with CJ Stroud. They played together for a while now at this point and so Stroud, I think despite the emergence of Jaden Higgins, his two most Comfortable weapons still at Nico Collins and Dalton Schultz for sure.

[Lawrence]

Ryan diamond saying gotta ditch those socks.

[Matthew]

Oh no, no, no, no sir. You ain't seen these chocolate ankles? No sir. I don't do the ankles on. On. On Peacock.

[Jay]

The chocolate ankles.

[Matthew]

Oh man.

[Jay]

High in the country said vanilla wrinkles of Matthew Berry.

[Matthew]

He got them vanillas.

[Lawrence]

High in the country said too much info to absorb. This show is so on the rails. We need Grandpa Berry story time.

[Jay]

Unbelievable.

[Lawrence]

That is great. K. Gemma said Count Chocula.

[Matthew]

See I. I think. I think I opened up the. The chat to some. Yeah, they're now they're very comfortable to some weird jokes. So my bad account. Chocula. That is something.

[Lawrence]

Count Chocula. The deeper league targets at tight end, of course, Harold Fannin. He's always on this list. 67% available against the Titans. Just beware of the point total being 33 1/2 points. Colston Loveland, Darren Waller, Evan Ingram and AJ Barner all reach availability. Lawrence, is there anybody on this list that you would be a desperation.

[Matthew]

Jay. Jay, why you start laughing when. When Connor said that?

[Jay]

Point total 33 and a half.

[Matthew]

33 and a half for the.

[Jay]

Yeah.

[Matthew]

You don't think that's gonna be. You don't think it's gonna be a shootout?

[Jay]

We shoot up? No, no, I think so. I think it feels like another Quinte on Jokins. 25 carries for 77 yards.

[Lawrence]

T.J. spears, four catches, 18 yards.

[Matthew]

He did him dirty with the 77.

[Jay]

This is what he does. It's not his fault either.

[Lawrence]

No.

[Jay]

Yeah. Miles Garrett might break the sack record in one game. I think he's got. He's got three and a half to go.

[Matthew]

It's a game to do it. Yeah.

[Lawrence]

Always good to see Stuntman Chuck in the comments. We need an Australian anecdote to break up the flow of information.

[Jay]

That's Shane Falco from the Replacements. Yeah, the Replacements.

[Matthew]

One of the great quarterbacks of our time.

[Jay]

One of the 70 best football films ever made. The Replacements.

[Matthew]

So would you rather watch that or the over under, the Browns and the Titans?

[Jay]

I love the Replacement. I love bad films that are watchable. My favorite movie of all time outside of Magnolia is Point Break. Not a fan of great cinema.

[Lawrence]

I'll take Can Ber Sanders personally. Personal replacement.

[Matthew]

Connor said, Give me two quarterbacks who threw for 35 touchdowns in college last year.

[Jay]

Kanye raves in prison singing Aretha Franklin to his teammates.

[Matthew]

I just think. Conor, don't think that Shane Falco is on the same level as Cam Ward and Shadour at this point point in his career.

[Jay]

That's true. That's fair. Did Ken Ward. What happened to Ken Ward on the weekend? I thought we were on the right trajectory. We were. He fell off a cliff.

[Lawrence]

To be fair, he feels like he's playing with an XFL offense. J.C. latham, I mean Josh Hines Allen.

[Jay]

Yeah.

[Lawrence]

Probably had 100 pressures. It felt like even though he didn't. It's just, it's just bad for the Titans. Right.

[Jay]

It's not like the Jags have a great pass. Right.

[Lawrence]

Let's simulate to next year for the Titans. Please give Cambord some hope.

[Jay]

NATO or Sava.

[Lawrence]

All right, let's go to the quarterback. Speaking of Cam Ward, although I don't think we're going to be worried about streaming him in the 33.5-point list. The quarterbacks on the by Drake May, Jackson Dart, Brock Purdy and Bryce Young. Drake may one that you really feel is he's been QB5, 20 points per game and Dart, when Dart's healthy. A lot of QB1 weeks for Dart. Let's go to the waiver wire though. C.J. stroud, 61% available. Yes. The big Sunday night game against the Chiefs who we said you can throw on. He's coming off a week where he had the early interception and then he settled in. Stroud spoke this week on just the chemistry building in this offense under Nick.

[CJ Stroud]

Kaley as a whole. We've gotten better. You know, we found our identity, I feel and I think, you know, we're starting to play well together. You know, it's a lot of new guys playing together this year. So we're starting to get that chemistry down and that connection and you can see it, you know, playing and play out, you know, route detail and, you know, play calls and me getting the play in organization of the the, you know, formations and everything like that. So I think, you know, we're doing a better job at that. And then, you know, the execution has picked up.

[Lawrence]

So the touchdowns haven't been there. Especially last week, specifically guys for Stroud. But he's throwing the ball plenty in the yardage where maybe some positive regression coming C.J. stroud's way.

[Matthew]

Jay?

[Jay]

I think so. I thought he played overall really well against Indianapolis. He had the one terrible kind of inexplicable interception and Stroud will have those moments of madness. He's like Trevor Lawrence with the madness meter tone.

[Lawrence]

He doesn't melt after that.

[Jay]

No, he doesn't melt. He got right back on track. I thought that he was making very quick decisions and getting the ball out quickly. And also Nico Collins seems to have turned the corner a little bit after a very strange start to the season. And I think it's all kind. It just makes sense that, you know, this is first year in a new system under Nick Kaylee. I think the offensive line, which looked like it was just going to completely submarine the team, it feels like they've gotten that a little bit more under control. So gonna be a strength of the team, but it's not gonna be a crippling weakness. Now with Higgins emergence with the safety blanket of Schultz and with the, you know, the tier one elite talent and Nico Collins, I think this can get back to looking a bit more like the offense at the level it was in Stroud's rookie year.

[Lawrence]

I agree. I mean, Nico's just looked awesome recently. You bring up Schultz and Caesar. Stroud is really good. I think we sometimes just forget that because he's been in a situation where it's a lot of turbulence with the play calling. The line was brutal to start this year. And like you said, Jay, they look more viable now. Not great, but viable. The thing is though, they're not good enough that they can lean on their run game, which helps C.J. stroud in fantasy.

[Matthew]

Yeah. You talked about the volume of throws, 35 plus passing tips in his last three full games. And here's the look at the theme. We've already talked about the wide receiver two on the Texans. We've talked about their tight end.

[Lawrence]

Right.

[Matthew]

And now we're talking about C.J. stroud. This is why since week nine, Kansas City Chiefs ranked 30th in pass defense. And we talked about that too. We talked about Chris Jones not having a pass rush. Now when you put that together with that offensive line, that's not perfect. Plus the fact that C.J. stroud is starting to play more like he did as a rookie. It kind of bodes well for him to have a solid day here, which he had. We just going to need the touchdowns to start coming with it. We regular football playing good. Fantasy wise, we're going to need a touchdown or two because he doesn't give us much with his legs.

[Jay]

I think there's something. There's a little bit of an underwhelmingness around Stroud because, you know, after his rookie season he came into his second year as like fifth favorite for mvp and people like, you know, this guy is going to be, you know, the next great quarterback and Joe Burrow level combo and he's not that. I think Stroud is like the 12th or the 13th best quarterback in the league. I think he settled somewhere into that range with the the Jared Goffs and the Brock Purdy's of the world, which is fine. That's an above average quarterback and those guys get paid a quarter of a billion dollars. And in terms of fantasy, I think that the pushback against Stroud is that like d' Amico Ryan's and this team, they play like they know they have the best defensive football and they're just going to be conservative and not going to air it out a ton. But going up against the Chiefs Sunday Night Football, going up against Mahomes, you would suspect that they may lean into the pass a little bit more. And so I think that Stroud, you know, the fact that he had 276 passing yards has gone back to back games with a 275 plus. I think that's very encouraging. And yeah, I think he can be, you know, a high end QB2 wrestler of the way.

[Lawrence]

Some deeper league targets here guys. Real quickly, Marcus Mariota and Tyrod Taylor, they give you some rushing as well. As much as both guys threw the ball relatively solid last week. J.J. mcCarthy if you're feeling risky. But keep in mind besides McCarthy's own struggles, the commanders, we make fun of their defense a lot. Since Dan Quinn has taken over the play calling, it's been better. Not great, but not a punching bag. And then Trey Lance, you'd only be starting solely because of the rushing. If he has to play against the Eagles. If you need a defense or a special team streamer. As we look at our poll results. Back up here guys. It's cut off because the vote, the voting is just. There's so much of it right now. Everybody's getting involved. It looks like young Wei Koo replacement is the leading option. Matthew kicking that would be, to be.

[Jay]

Fair, young Wei Koo his kicking performance last night. The one man in America that that would surpass would be Matthew Berry who would have stubbed his toe but. But at a further place back like.

[Matthew]

Five yards back and blaming the.

[Matthew Berry]

Exactly.

[Lawrence]

Yes.

[Jay]

Yeah.

[Lawrence]

Who didn't cut this patch of grass.

[Jay]

Yeah, exactly.

[Lawrence]

The excuse.

[Matthew]

What's interesting there is that him teaming up with Lane Kiffin was by far and away the lowest amount of votes. And nobody bought that people don't think he got the chops to be a GM or something.

[Lawrence]

Yeah, Lane would be some kind of party.

[Matthew]

Who you telling?

[Lawrence]

Real quick before we go to break, let's take a look at defense and special team streamers. If you need one. The Bucks against the Saints. The Dolphins against the Jets. Obviously these options are not great. The Titans against the Browns. That is the lowest total of the week. The Colts against Jacksonville. But once again, like these, some of these offenses have been kind of punchy, so hopefully you're not this desperate at this stage of the season. We are going to take our first break when we're back talking Drake May MVP favorite and what to make of the Patriots backfield rotation. Our Monday Night Football recap right after.

[Matthew]

This.

[Matthew Berry]

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[CJ Stroud]

Drake.

[Matthew]

Have you ever been on this kind of role in either this sport or any other sports? Sport groups?

[Lawrence]

Golf.

[Jay]

Golf.

[Matthew Berry]

I like that.

[Jay]

My brothers. Yeah, this summer I was on a roll a little bit.

[Matthew Berry]

No, but I think go back in.

[Jay]

High school we won 13 straight. But you know, really I think, you know, with college I think we may have won eight or nine straight. Yeah, in football, you know, both in football. But no, this is, this is a different beat. This is the NFL.

[Lawrence]

That was Drake May. As we look at the notable fantasy performances, no surprise to see him a second topped the leaderboard yet again. Twenty and a half points, which is right around his league average. Then a whole lot of giants in a script where they were down heavily, partially thanks to their dreadful special teams. Let's get back to Drake May here guys. Jay, what do you think of him being the odds on MVP favorite right now? It feels like one tough loss for the Rams and Stafford gets bumped down.

[Jay]

Yeah, I would still make Stafford the favorite. I think Drake May can absolutely win. I think he's clearly the second most likely player to win. But you know how many top 13 defenses Drake Mayer's played this year.

[Lawrence]

It can't be their schedule. They have a last place schedule.

[Jay]

0. He hasn't played a top 13 defense all season in terms of at least EPA per play defensive ranks. You know how many he will play at the end of by the end of the season barring some change in those rankings. 0.

[Lawrence]

0.

[Jay]

He will not play a top 13 defense all season. He's played two defenses that rank in the top 21.

[Lawrence]

Do voters care about that?

[Jay]

I think they will hold the schedule against him a little bit. Unless. Unless he beats Buffalo out of the buy, and then I think that kind of becomes a coronation. But I think if Stafford, I think if he goes into Seattle on that Thursday night football game, wins that game to win the division. I think Stafford winning.

[Matthew]

Yeah. That's why I say, because when you talk about the schedule, Jay, it is. It's kind of similar to Matthew Stafford. So to see those two out front and center, it's not a shock. Yes, the Rams beat the Seahawks, but they beat them by two points. Stafford only completed 50% of his. That was on the heels of the defense they kicked off.

[Jay]

He didn't play well that game.

[Matthew]

Right. So it would have to be a Stafford type of game. And I think this loss, while it's obviously wasn't enough to take Matthew Stafford out of the running, but that loss against a Panthers team, which is better than we think, but still shouldn't be close to the Rams, I think that was just enough to put. To put Drake May out ahead. But of all those guys on that list, those are the two favorites. But if we're talking about a guy outside of that who could come up and get in this thing, I think it's Dak Prescott. He was in it a couple years ago. He's got two of the best wins in the past six weeks. They beat both super bowl teams and they do it again. Especially how the offense is humming. I could see his odds getting chopped in half.

[Lawrence]

They beat the Lions on Thursday night. How much movement do we see for him?

[Jay]

I mean, he'll probably go 7 to 8 to 1 range. I would fade at that price. Just because he has to win every game.

[Lawrence]

Right.

[Jay]

He can't take another loss. And also he needs help because he's got to win the division. So he needs the Eagles to lose games. Dax not going to win as a wild card, but if he can win the division, which is like seven to one type of range, and he wins out and then, you know, Stafford loses in Seattle, Drake May doesn't get the one seed. The Broncos get it, then I think Dak could win. I think that if Stafforder May fall over and Jordan Love comes home with a surgeon, gets the 1 seed, and they're like 7 to 1 to win out as well. I think he's a chance. The only long, long, long shot that I think is any chance at all, really. If Josh Allen goes scorched earth for five weeks and beats Drake May head to head and wins the division. And Allen's like 30 to 1 range. He's the only guy I could see Coming from the clouds. Just because we've seen Josh Allen have these five week tears where he just looks like God. And he's so correlated with Drake May's failure that I think that, you know, Allen would be the guy to come from the clouds.

[Lawrence]

All right, guys, one more note from this game. The New England backfield or Madre Stevenson gets the start. He does out snap Trayvon Henderson here. Lawrence, Jake, good call on Travan. Henderson's longest rush, but there in the end, he gets it in the fourth quarter. We're all sitting watching that one. You take it. Yeah, exactly. But Lawrence, it's not that it sunk Tren, but clearly they're still going to lean on the vet in Ramondre for sure.

[Matthew]

And going forward, it makes you feel like, hey, those runs near the end zone, Ramandre Stevens is going to get it. We saw Ramondre get a little love in the receiving game early in the game. I think it kind of alludes to just the fact that last week Ramondre Stevenson may or may not be fully back yet. And I don't think there was ever a time when we thought that Trevion Henderson was going to completely take over this bat field. They still trusting the veteran back there. Two different types of backs, change of pace, running backs. I think that's kind of how we see it play out the rest of the way.

[Lawrence]

The only other way to put a bow on this game, Young Wei Ku. You drink for free today. Our dear friend who did it better, I'm gonna say Charlie Brown.

[Jay]

Oh, no.

[Matthew]

Oh, that hurts the toe.

[Jay]

Oh, man. It's hard to find the parallel. The only thing I can think of is the one time Dirk Nowitzki rose up to shoot a jump shot from the left sideline and just didn't shoot the ball.

[Matthew]

I'll say this, at least old Charlie Brown, he got his. He didn't get stuck. His little cartoon toes kind of gracefully went across the grass or the pavement and got the kickoff. Although he slipped and busted his ass. Young way cool. My man just stubbed his whole toe. He kicked into the dirt of Gillette Stadium.

[Jay]

Yeah, I like Lawrence, that you changed up your pronunciation of young way as to how you were pronouncing it in the ad break. You decided to go, oh, Young Ho.

[Matthew]

Young Ho. Ku is how I say his name when I'm in Atlanta. That's how when we in Atlanta, we call him Young Ho.

[Lawrence]

All right, we're taking one last break. When we're back, we got our favorite early week bets for last call.

[Matthew Berry]

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[Jay]

Everybody knows Shaq, but off camera, he's.

[Matthew]

Just a regular guy.

[Aaron Glenn]

People never believe me when I say I'm just like them. I take out the trash, do dishes, and I struggle with moderate obstructive sleep apnea, or osa. And a lot of adults with obesity also struggle with moderate to severe osa. You know those scary breathing interruptions during sleep, the loud snoring, choking and daytime fatigue. I knew I had to talk to my doctor. Don't sleep on the symptoms. Learn more at don'tsleeponosa.com this information is.

[Jay]

Provided by Lilly, A medicine company.

[Aaron Glenn]

Hello.

[Connor Rogers]

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[Lawrence]

Giraffe King Sportsbook is an official sports betting partner of the NFL and new customers could bet $5 and get $200 and bonus bets if your bet wins down the app and use promo code ffhh when you sign up. DraftKingsports book for the crown.

[Matthew]

Be yours.

[Lawrence]

Last call early line alert week 14 we've been pretty steady with these. Let's see if we can keep it going.

[Jay]

Jay, what do you like taking the Browns minus three and a half against the Titans. That game has been much maligned in this show, but give me Cleveland here. I think their defense is going to be too overwhelmed for Kev Lawrence.

[Matthew]

What about you? Give me the Eagles minus two and a half right now versus Chargers. Seen that I don't know if I'm convinced as much over the past two weeks. Not greatly convinced about the Eagles either, but I think their defense bounces back.

[Lawrence]

Guys, I'm going to look at Thursday Night Football and take the Cowboys getting three points against the Lions. I know it's a road game, but the Cowboys, they got it going right now. They have to win. They have to win. I think the Lions don't, but yeah, they're absolutely rolling. That's it for us. We'll be back tomorrow. With Matthew in the bunker, a backup producer, Pete Day for Lawrence and Jay. I'm Connor. See you guys tomorrow.

[Jay]

Everybody knows Shaq, but off camera, he's.

[Matthew]

Just a regular guy.

[Aaron Glenn]

People never believe me when I say I'm just like them. I take out the trash, do dishes, and I struggle with moderate obstructive sleep apnea, or osa. And a lot of adults with obesity also struggle with moderate to severe osa. You know, those scary breathing interruptions during sleep, the loud snoring, choking and daytime fatigue. I knew I had to talk to my doctor. Don't sleep on the symptoms. Learn more@don'tsleeponosa.com this information is provided by.

[Jay]

Lilly, a medicine company.