Fantasy Football Today Podcast: Mailbag and Fantasy Cops! (12/27/2025)

Hosts: Jamie Eisenberg, Adam Aizer, Dan Schneier (Dave Richard absent), plus producer Emma
Date: December 27, 2025

Overview

This episode delivered the final official Mailbag for the 2025 fantasy football season, featuring sharp start/sit discussions, late-breaking injury reactions, and an extra helping of listener questions via YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and email. The show kept things lively with their signature banter, a mid-show colorblindness test, “Fantasy Cops” league disputes, and a healthy dose of playoff anxiety.

Main Themes

• Last-Week Start/Sit/Cut Decisions: Navigating tough player choices amid missing practice reports and late-season injuries.
• Listener Interaction: Responding to YouTube, email, and podcast-submitted questions, focusing on championship week dilemmas.
• Fantasy League Integrity: Discussing league disputes (Fantasy Cops) like unpaid dues and waiver wire meddling.
• Personal Touches and Humor: Tennis rivalries, movie debates, and comedic side-quests like the colorblindness test.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Championship Week Advice & Rapid-Fire Start/Sit Calls

YouTube Mailbag Segment

• [04:07-16:00]

• Early discussion about A.J. Brown’s health (“Any concern about A.J. Brown and his wisdom teeth?”).
• Lively debate on running back and wide receiver starts:
  • Parker Washington, Bucky Irving, Ken Walker, Tedro McMillan: Strong preference for Bucky Irving; Ken Walker gets split opinions.
  • “These are bad. These are real bad. Bucky has the most upside.” – Dan [06:14]
• Emphasis on uncertainty due to absence of official practice reports: “This is one of the toughest weeks right now for our purposes, because there have been no practice reports basically.” – Jamie [07:01]
• Frequent advice to “wait for news” on game-day inactives/actives (example: Stevenson vs. Henderson situation).

Notable Quotes:

• “It feels as if the survival of the fittest is going to win the Super Bowl. Whoever’s the healthiest team at this point…” – Adam [03:05]
• “The last thing you want to do is go into your offseason knowing you benched the number one quarterback in fantasy, just to try and offset something from somebody else.” – Adam [19:24]

2. Colorblindness Test – Podcast Mid-Show Comic Relief

• [13:06–16:15]

• Jamie administers a colorblindness test to Dan after both admit to red-green colorblindness.
• Jamie gets 4 out of 18; Dan gets 2 out of 18. Adam jokes about their “different world.”
• “Apparently there are glasses that could help us. Wouldn’t you love to see all these colors?” – Jamie [15:50]
• Sparks laughter and sets a lighter mood, drawing in live YouTube chat.

3. Listener Email Advice

• [18:20–27:30]

• Strategic Benching: Should you start Jacoby Brissett over Josh Allen to “offset” Trey McBride in opponent’s lineup? Jamie surprisingly sides with the “counterweight” strategy, Adam opposes.
• 2026 Draft Outlook: Caleb Williams vs. Cam Ward, assuming the Titans "do right" by Ward. All go Caleb, but acknowledge “Cam Ward could intrigue for fantasy if the situation’s right.”
• More Flex Decisions and Streamers:
  • Evans vs. Stevenson for flex (“If Henderson is out, I'd go Evans, otherwise Stevenson.” – Adam [22:30])
• League Championship Roster Debates:
  • Both Steelers RBs over Breece Hall? “I’m doing this in a league…I’m starting both Steelers running backs over Breece Hall.” – Adam [23:28]

4. Fantasy Cops: League Disputes & Integrity

• [35:56–40:14]

• Disappearing Owner, Unpaid Dues: Commissioner wants championship participants to absorb lost entry fees; hosts universally say “No way!":

  “You are never collecting the money from the rest of the league to make up for this person. That's crazy.” – Dan [36:47] “If you join and you quit for whatever reason…you still got to pay, like, if you agree to do it.” – Adam [37:39]

• Waiver Shenanigans: Is it OK for eliminated teams to pick up DSTs in Week 17, thus impacting the championship? Only justified if meaningful (money/prize) consolation, otherwise “bad commish move.”

  “The only way people out of the championship should be allowed to make AD drops is if your consolation game is for money.” – Adam [39:21]

5. More Listener Questions – Apple/Spotify/YouTube

• [41:59–53:32]

• Standard vs. PPR Lineup Calls:
  • Brissette or Purdy? “Purdy.”
  • Josh Jacobs, Breece Hall, Charbonnet for RB2: “Charbonnet—touchdown potential.” – Adam [42:41]
  • Terry McLaurin, Bucky Irving, Javonte Williams: Hosts lean away from McLaurin. [43:14]
  • Taysom Hill vs. Schultz: Jamie and Adam push for Schultz’s underrated consistency (six double-digit PPR games in last eight).
• Reflecting on the Weirdness of 2025 Fantasy Playoffs:

  “It was a weird fantasy week…a lot of 1 seeds lost.” – Dan [32:59]

  • Many stars are fading or injured, role players/fliers leading teams to titles.

6. League Structure & Playoff Format Debates

• Jamie proposes playoff modifications, like removing H2H matchups in favor of “high score advances.”
• Dan strongly advocates leagues rewarding points for “best regular season team,” not just playoff luck: “You gotta reward the team that was the best team and didn’t get screwed by playoff bad luck.” [33:39]

7. Extended YouTube Q&A + Tennis & Movie Tangents

• [48:41–61:34]

• More rapid-fire answers:
  • Bucky Irving vs. Ken Walker: Adam sides Bucky (“I think the matchup is probably just as good, if not better for Bucky…” [51:23]); Dan prefers Walker due to recent tape.
  • Drake London, Jacoby Myers: London if Stevenson is out, otherwise Myers.
  • May vs. Lawrence: Lawrence ranked QB1 by Dan for the week. (“Lawrence is the number one quarterback on my board if I were doing rankings this week…” [45:17])
• Tennis rivalry updates and the saga of Jamie vs. Dan’s brother.
• Movie Debate: Rocky vs. Apocalypse Now vs. Goodfellas.
  • “How can you say [Apocalypse Now is] better than Rocky if you’ve never seen Rocky?” – Jamie [56:00]

8. Show’s Conclusion

• Hosts promise one more “open” mailbag episode next week—if Dan watches Rocky, Jamie will do the show.
• Final championship well-wishes and gratitude for listeners throughout the season.

Memorable Quotes

• “This is one of the toughest weeks right now…no practice reports basically. Just estimations.” – Jamie [07:01]
• “If you join and you quit for whatever reason…you still gotta pay.” – Adam [37:39]
• “I just don’t think I want Tyrone McMillan at all this week.” – Dan [07:55]
• “The first one [Knives Out] was the one with Chris Evans, right?” – Adam [11:00]
• “You have to reward the team that was the best team and didn’t get screwed by playoff bad luck.” – Dan [33:53]
• “I think the matchup is probably just as good, if not better, for Bucky [Irving]…” – Adam [51:23]

Useful Timestamps

• Mailbag Q&A (Rapid Fire): [04:07–16:00]; [18:20–27:30]; [41:59–53:32]
• Colorblindness Test: [13:06–16:15]
• Fantasy Cops (League Disputes): [35:56–40:14]
• League Format/Playoffs Debate: [32:31–34:02]
• Championship Lineup Debates: [23:28–27:30]; [53:14–55:00]
• Movie/Misc. Banter: [11:00–13:06]; [55:55–61:34]

Episode Tone

• Conversational, humorous, and honest—the hosts mix sharp fantasy analysis with plenty of personal anecdotes, live in-the-moment reactions, and friendly roasts.

For Week 17 lineups, league disputes, or playoff nerves, this episode serves up practical advice, reassurance, and a reminder that fantasy football should be both competitive and fun.