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2026 Top 12 QBs and Wild Card Weekend Preview! (01/08 Fantasy Football Podcast)
01:06:53
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- [00:00]
Adam
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- [01:08]
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- [01:39]
Adam
This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports.
- [01:42]
Dave
Wanna play?
- [01:43]
Jamie
Can you believe this?
- [01:45]
Adam
No, I can't.
- [01:46]
Dave
It's time to dominate your fantasy league.
- [01:49]
Adam
Off to the races.
- [01:50]
Jamie
And he stays. This is gonna go the distance.
- [01:54]
Adam
Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and Heath. Ready for wild card weekend? We certainly are. We are excited for six games. Although, let's be honest here. Let's see how many games we're excited for. Are we excited for Rams? Panthers?
- [02:10]
Dave
Yes.
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Adam
No. Packers. Bears.
- [02:14]
Dave
Yes.
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Adam
Yes. Bill's jags.
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Jamie
Yes.
- [02:17]
Adam
Yes. 49ers. Eagles.
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Dave
Yes.
- [02:21]
Adam
Yes. Chargers. Patriots.
- [02:23]
Dave
Yes.
- [02:24]
Adam
Yes. Texan. Steelers. Ah, I'm on the fence on that one.
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Jamie
Come on, man, it's playoffs. You're excited for all them.
- [02:32]
Adam
Miami, Ole Miss?
- [02:34]
Dave
Hell yeah.
- [02:35]
Jamie
Yeah. Oregon for Giants coach Antonio Pierce.
- [02:39]
Adam
That's not happening. That's not even funny. Why would you say that? Not cool. All right, welcome everybody.
- [02:47]
Dave
It's like you're offended by the idea of Antonio Pierce being the head coach.
- [02:50]
Adam
I never liked Antonio Pierce as a giant, even though he's a.
- [02:53]
Jamie
You know, wow.
- [02:54]
Dave
He.
- [02:55]
Adam
He. Oh, he just. I feel like he always had this chip on the shoulder, like nobody believes in us and people believed in them. It was weird. Anyway, welcome to the show. This is Fantasy Football Today, presented by BetMGM. Make it legendary.
- [03:08]
Jamie
It's great that we are. How many minutes in the show? A minute 15. And Jeff's already asked the question. Jeff Sells.
- [03:15]
Adam
Hey, Jeff wants to know if you're wearing a new hat. Jamie.
- [03:18]
Jamie
No, it's a very old hat.
- [03:19]
Dave
Yeah.
- [03:20]
Jamie
Come on, Jeff. Or in a while. Come on, man.
- [03:21]
Adam
What are you doing here? All right, so today on the show, our top 12 quarterbacks for 20, 26. Of course, some news and notes, and we'll preview the wild card games, tell you some players we like, players that we're going to avoid. Who's one player that has to be in your fantasy lineup? I'll go first. Christian Watson.
- [03:39]
Jamie
Yeah, It's a really good one.
- [03:40]
Adam
Oh, thank you. What do you think?
- [03:42]
Jamie
I just did start. Sits for the playoff games and he's in the starting conversation. I'm gonna go Stafford. I think he bounces back after the disappointing game that he had against Carolina the first time when he was miserable. Do you know there's only three. Three quarterbacks. Really? Three quarterbacks who had multiple touchdowns against the Panthers this year. Multiple passing touchdowns. Yeah, I know.
- [04:03]
Adam
They've allowed.
- [04:04]
Dave
He's one of them.
- [04:04]
Adam
They've allowed 10 touchdown passes in their last 11 games.
- [04:08]
Jamie
Yeah, it's bad.
- [04:09]
Adam
He is. So why. Why would we start Matthew Stafford?
- [04:11]
Jamie
Well, because I think he bounces back big time. I mean, he should keep an eye.
- [04:15]
Dave
On the weather there.
- [04:16]
Jamie
One interception.
- [04:17]
Dave
There's supposed to be rain and potentially wind that could. I don't think it's going to limit Matthew Stafford, and I obviously love him if the weather's totally fine, but that's part of the problem of what did him in last time. That game was so weird between the Rams and Panthers. I remember talking about it on the post game that week how, like, the Rams were clearly the better team and just they made these very timely turnovers to help them out and they ended up winning the game.
- [04:44]
Jamie
So it's that game. He threw a touchdown in the end zone in that game. He fumbled in that game.
- [04:48]
Dave
Yeah, yeah, it was totally, totally.
- [04:51]
Jamie
He came into that game with, I believe it was 28 straight. 28. 28 touchdowns and no interception at that point.
- [04:59]
Dave
Yeah, MVP stuff right there.
- [05:01]
Adam
In terms of the weather, the two Saturday games are the worrisome ones right now, according to Kevin Roth of Roto Grinders. That would be Rams at Panthers and packers at Bears. Different issues there. Rain, potentially in Carolina. Snow and some wind in Chicago, which obviously would put a damper on the Christian Watson stuff, but something to keep an eye on there looks like, I mean, great weather for Buffalo at Jacksonville. That's the only. And Carolina, you know, is not going to be cold, but it's going to be potentially rainy. But Buffalo, Jacksonville looks like, you know, the night.
- [05:33]
Jamie
The.
- [05:34]
Adam
The best weather game. Jacksonville.
- [05:35]
Jamie
No, no, no, no. Oh, no. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [05:41]
Adam
Jacksonville's 18 in a row. And in that stretch, they are number one in points per game allowed. Okay. Second in yards per game, second in yards per play. Pretty damn easy competition, though, right? Except at Denver, I guess you could say they embarrassed the Chargers at home, if you recall. And they won by, I think, 14 at Denver. That was impressive. They held Denver to 20. Fan at 20 points and fantasy points.
- [06:07]
Jamie
Yeah.
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Adam
All right, that's coming up a little bit later. Let's go through your news and notes.
- [06:10]
Jamie
Tammy by the Bills.
- [06:13]
Adam
Upset by the Bills. Are they favored Bills or Bills were. Bills are one point favorite. That's a tough one. Tough week.
- [06:25]
Dave
It is very tough.
- [06:26]
Adam
Okay. Anyway, news and notes. Todd Bowles coming back for 2026 for Tampa Bay. Josh Jacobs says he feels as good as he's felt in six weeks. And he's got what, a run defense that's struggling a little bit in Chicago.
- [06:40]
Dave
Yeah, that's. That's the player that I would want to have in my playoff lineups this week. Jacobs coming back with fresh legs against the Chicago team. Remember when we were like, oh, TJ Edwards is there. Everything's going to be great. Bears are going to stop. The run hasn't been that way lately. Past five games. Edwards has been there for these games. It's 4.5 yards per carry. The only thing they slowed down was Cleveland I in their last two games, especially an 8% explosive rush rate over 4.2 yards per carry in each of those last two games. I think this is where Green Bay attacks. And especially if their offensive line comes back as full strength as it can be, I. E. Zach Tom plays I. I think Jacobs has a big game.
- [07:19]
Jamie
You remember the first game or, I'm sorry, the second game, that they were just dominating time possession early in the game.
- [07:27]
Adam
They were. And that was the game that the Bears won in overtime. That was also a bad weather game. Not good for passing. Romo Dunes was limited. Justin Herbert says his broken hand is feeling better. Omarion Hampton missed practice. We may not get Omarion Hampton this.
- [07:43]
Jamie
Week.
- [07:45]
Adam
And very related to that guy named Kyrus Tonga, defensive tackle for the Patriots. He missed practice. He's missed some time. Basically.
- [07:55]
Dave
I was going to say the rest of the Patriots that have been missing are all going to be back. Robert Spillane, Milton Williams was back last week. He looked good against the run. Harold Landry, one of their pass rushers. He will help too. So Patriots getting healthy at the right time.
- [08:10]
Adam
Ricky Piersoll and Trent Williams missed practice. Boy do they need those guys. Especially Trent Williams against the Eagles on Sunday. Terrence Ferguson miss practice. They have a Saturday game. Dallas wants to sign Javante Williams to a multi year extension. Damn. I think Heath had Javante in his top 12.
- [08:28]
Jamie
If you call he originally did and then he forgot that he left the Mario Hampton out and he swapped in Hampton for Devonte.
- [08:34]
Adam
Gotcha. What do you guys think about Javante for next year?
- [08:40]
Dave
If he's in that spot with that role, of course we'll like him. But I wonder if Dallas like dares look at the free agent market and consider somebody like Breeze hall or Kenneth Walker instead of Javante Williams.
- [08:52]
Jamie
I would love to see that happen. But if you look at what they've done the last two years at that position, I think probably after realizing that they overspayed on Ezekiel Elliott with his, you know, second contract or maybe his third contract even, they've gone so cheap at the position with Rico Dowdle and then Javante Williams and I wonder if they actually turn to the draft now. They have some additional draft capital and not necessarily around one to one or two pick, round one or round two pick but maybe some, some draft capital there as opposed to, you know, a Jaden Blue or a Phil Moff or somebody that they take late in the draft. So I wonder if that's the route that they go. But I think resigning Javante for a cheap deal makes sense. I saw another running back story this morning, Adam, where Rashad White is basically said he's not coming back to Tampa Bay, he's free agent and is posting on social media that he would like to play with Jane Daniels in Washington. They were teammates at Arizona State and so that's an interesting one there because you know it'd be, it'd be, it'd be a good pairing from Washington's perspective to go with Jacori Crosky, Merritt and, and Rashad White given their skill sets. You know, one is a passing downs back and one is A, you know, first and second down guy. But you wonder what that means for Austin Eckler, if he's going to try and come back there.
- [10:04]
Dave
No, he would. White would be the replacement for us.
- [10:06]
Jamie
Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally.
- [10:07]
Dave
I mean, it just makes sense that would happen. How much more will Breeze hall and Kenneth Walker get than Javante Williams on the open market?
- [10:14]
Jamie
I would expect a lot more given their. Okay. Given their pedigree and where they're at right now. But Javante's coming off a great season. I would guess that from Dallas's perspective, you want to reward Javante more so than paying those other guys. And you probably get Javante cheaper than getting those other guys because I think to get those other guys, it's going to cost more for them to leave. And, and plus, you know, feels as if Bristol is getting the franchise tag. Ken Walker is probably going to be let go. I.
- [10:44]
Adam
Man, I'm kind of low on Javante. I don't know. Well, even though the context price is.
- [10:49]
Dave
Right, they'll resign them, but yeah, I don't. If Breeze gets a franchise tag, then obviously he's out. But if you can get Kenneth Walker, who's a year younger than Javante Williams and has a little bit more explosiveness, a little bit around the same price, I would, I would rather have Walker than Williams.
- [11:05]
Adam
He has a gazillion more explosiveness. If you were a Pokemon card and they had that like explosive. Is that a thing? I don't know. But he, he's, I mean, that's the thing with Javante. He's not explosive at all. That's why he's so bad catching the ball. He cannot make anyone miss. What did he, he averaged 3.9 yards per catch. Now, that's by far career low, but he just looked terrible in that, in that area and it was really frustrating. You know, he would get a ton of work and, and do not really that much with it in the second half of the season. I don't know. I, I had a lot of Javante and it was a guy that I started pretty much every week and usually was fine, but for the amount of work he got on that offense, I just felt like he could have been better. I felt, I feel, I think the Cowboys can do better at running back things.
- [11:52]
Jamie
Oh, I, I, I would 100 agree with that, I think. But you say you're out on Javante or you're, I don't know how you phrase it, but low on him.
- [12:01]
Adam
I, I don't, I feel like if he's back there.
- [12:04]
Jamie
He's still a very good number two fantasy running back.
- [12:06]
Adam
Yeah, I just, I feel like he might go in the third round or something like that and be there. Yeah. All right. And those are your news and notes. Also, JK Dobbins could play in the AFC championship game. They have a buy this week and could be back if they win next week. And football fans, let's talk about BetMGM. Picture this. You bet on your favorite player to score the first touchdown in the game, but his teammate scores instead. So if this happens, BETMGM wants to give you another chance at the end zone. With BetMGM Second Chance promotion, you'll get your stake back if your first touchdown scorer scores second instead. That's right. Bet on any pro football player to score the first touchdown touchdown of the game. If you're right, you win. And if your player scores second, you get your stake back in cash. With BetMGM Second Chance offer, you have a chance to keep the fun going after the first player crosses the goal line. Try a first touchdown scorer wager with confidence today. Bet mgm. Make it legendary. We're going to take a break and talk about our top 12 quarterbacks when we're back here on Fantasy football today.
- [13:09]
Dave
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- [13:32]
Dave
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- [13:39]
Adam
Is Josh Allen QB1 again? Let's find out. Dave, Jamie, is Josh Allen QB1 again?
- [13:45]
Dave
Yeah.
- [13:45]
Jamie
Josh Allen is QB1 for everyone. Yeah, all six of us.
- [13:49]
Adam
Wow. So the six of us would be us three, Heath, Dan and Jacob. And who's QB2? Dave.
- [13:57]
Dave
Drake May.
- [13:59]
Jamie
That's the one where everybody's a little bit different. It's either Drake May or Joe Burrow. Or I think somebody might have had one other person in there. Alan May. Alan May. Alan Burrow. Okay, maybe I'm wrong. Yeah, it's just those. Those two. I think you and I are. Alan. Oh, no, I'm sorry. Dan does have Lamar Jackson, too.
- [14:21]
Adam
Yeah, Lamar Jackson. Man, look at the way he started the season. 33.4 fantasy points at Buffalo, 34.3 against Cleveland. These are not easy matchups, by the way. 33 fantasy points against Detroit. He was incredible. And then 12.7 fantasy points at Kansas City in a game in which he left early with an injury and just wasn't really the same. Well, he did come back and score 34 fantasy points at Miami and then he kept getting new injuries week after week all to his lower body and just was not the same. Now a new coach, now a new coach. Is that a good thing or a bad thing for Lamar?
- [14:56]
Jamie
I think we'll find out. You know, the Matt Nagy's interviewing there today. I think you've heard Cliff Kingsbury as potential option there as head coach, you know, given what Lamar's potentially looking for. Because clearly he's going to have some say in this if there's. The reporting is true that him and Harbaugh had some disconnect. So I would hope it's an offensive minded head coach and someone that could continue to build off the skills that he started to show with, you know, Monkin as a passer. So we'll see. I think another receiver would help. We'll see what they do with Isaiah likely, you know, so there are some things that are in play here, you know, do they bring back Derrick Henry? I'd be surprised they didn't. But you know, that's another thing to. He's under contract, but that's another thing.
- [15:38]
Dave
Yeah, I don't think they're letting him go.
- [15:39]
Jamie
No, no, no. But I mean, look, he's 30. Does he even want to play? You know, he's 32 years old. I would guess he comes back. But again, you know, we have now a change for something that we haven't seen in Lamar's tenure in Baltimore. So I think he's for everybody. He's still a top six quarterback. I think Dave's the lowest on him at six, but in terms of having him two. Looking at what May just did, what Burrow's been capable of, obviously Lamar's got the ability to be the number one quarterback. Dan's just the only one that has him right there.
- [16:09]
Adam
Okay. And Jamie, who do you have?
- [16:11]
Jamie
2. Burrow. You have Joe Burrow.
- [16:14]
Adam
Me too.
- [16:14]
Jamie
Yeah. You and I are the same in terms of our top three. I think you have May 3rd, right?
- [16:18]
Adam
No, I have Jackson.
- [16:19]
Jamie
Okay. I have Jackson four.
- [16:22]
Adam
I don't know why. I have Drake May only fourth, but he's fourth.
- [16:28]
Jamie
Yeah.
- [16:28]
Adam
So. Oh, look at this cool, cool graphic here. So I have Allen Burrow, Jackson. Jamie has Alan Burrow. Well, let's do the top four. I have Alan Burrow, Jackson May. Jamie has Allen Burrow, May Jackson. Dave has Alan, May Burrow, Dart say what.
- [16:51]
Dave
Might have changed a few things since the rankings Were sent in.
- [16:55]
Adam
Okay, who's four for you now then?
- [16:56]
Dave
Lamar.
- [16:57]
Adam
Okay, so everyone has Alan Burrow, May and Lamar Jackson in some order with Alan 1 and then Burrow, Jackson, May, 2, 3, 4 in some order. Okay, 5. I see Jaden Daniels for all of us. Dave, is that you?
- [17:11]
Dave
No, that start for me.
- [17:13]
Adam
That's Dart and then where's Daniels?
- [17:15]
Dave
Right behind him at six.
- [17:16]
Adam
Okay, so Daniels is six for you. Dart is fifth, Jackson is fourth. Jamie, you have Dart six, I have hurt six. But when A.J. brown gets traded to the Bills, I'll drop. Jalen hurts. Jalen hurts. You know what? So this year he. Let's see, where is he? He's QB8 overall and it was kind of a weird year for him. I just kind of hoping for a bounce back for the Eagles. But anyway, Jamie, Dave, talk about Jackson, Dart six for. He's six for you, right, Dave? Or he's fifth. He's fifth.
- [17:51]
Jamie
Sorry.
- [17:51]
Adam
Fifth for Dave, six for Jamie. Jamie, talk about dart.
- [17:55]
Jamie
I mean he was awesome, you know, 8 of 12 starts, sorry, 9 of 12 starts, 21.4 fantasy points or more. Did that without Malik Neighbors for the majority of it. Only played basically the first part of his start in Week 4. His first start in Week 4 against the Chargers with. With neighbors. So getting neighbors back, hopefully getting a offensive minded coach, we'll see what they do to enhance their receiving core. Whether that's keeping Rondell Robinson or not. I hope they bring in somebody that's going to be a good compliment to neighbors. Obviously we have some concern about neighbors, so that's something to keep in mind when it comes to dart. But third in rushing touchdowns or tied for second rushing touchdowns with nine. Third in rushing yards. We love that obviously. And so he did that again in just 12 starts. So there's just a, a huge amount of upside for a player on the rise. Now the concern would be is, is he going to be Jane Daniels? You know, a guy who runs and runs into injuries. But that's the risk you take, I think in a position that has so much depth because the upside is there. So, you know, you just potentially build in some, some risk factor for. For Dart, who was in the injury tent as much as anybody last season. But again, you know, so much upside for a guy that has the potential to be a top three quarterback.
- [19:10]
Adam
You guys bothered by Cliff Kingsbury leaving Washington? Is that something that might push Jaden Daniels down?
- [19:18]
Jamie
I'd like to see who's. Who's there, right?
- [19:22]
Adam
Yeah, I don't want them to get conservative Because Kingsbury is a guy that's going to let us, even if he's a mobile quarterback. We've seen it with Kyler Murray lets him throw a lot, run a lot. Didn't really see it with Jaden Daniels this year, but we did see it in the second half of of his rookie season. He just started throwing the ball a ton, so. All right, we'll see who they hire there. I guess we're sort of giving Jaden Daniels a free pass. Everybody's got him in the top six after.
- [19:47]
Jamie
It is a little bit of a cautionary tale for Jackson Dart, though, because like Jane Daniels, Gray is a rookie. Obviously the rushing potential was there. He was so good, I believe was top two in rushing yards in his rookie season. And then, oh, wow, look, they just bring in Debo Samuel and they give him another weapon and it was okay, cool. That's going to be something that just makes him even better. And so I hope the Giants, you know, you've been saying this for a while, Adam. I hope they draft somebody as opposed to spend money on somebody that's, I mean, look, Debo, you want to say was washed up. That might be a fair argument. He had some good moments. We didn't really see a lot of Jane Daniels in and Debo because of injuries. But like, I hope we just don't get like, oh, here was dark great as a rookie. Oh, wow. Now they gave me, oh, wow. You know, like all the, all the, you know, flashy new toys. Like, we get too enamored with Jackson Dart and forget about wow. Matthew Stafford was still really good and Dak Prescott was still really good. And you know, we, Because I know I fall victim to this all the time, you know, oh, running quarterbacks, they're just going to be so good for fantasy and sometimes they're just not as good as we hope they're going to be.
- [20:53]
Adam
I have Dart ninth.
- [20:55]
Jamie
Because you're a dated Giants fan, though.
- [20:57]
Adam
Well, I'm where I'm not expecting, I'm not expecting Malik Neighbors to come back and be great. You know, I think he'll be good, obviously, subject to change. But also you mentioned Jaden Daniels. How about C.J. stroud and Anthony Richardson the year before that? They were top five or six quarterbacks in ADP and they were huge busts. So I like to see a little bit more provenness. Dak Prescott is really proven and you know, most years he is a top five ish quarterback on a per game basis. So he's ahead of him.
- [21:29]
Jamie
When you say that because in our first draft, Prescott was the fifth quarterback off the board. Not by one of us, it was by Brad, who was one of our listeners and won the leftover leagues.
- [21:41]
Adam
Oh, interesting. Yeah. I mean, again, if you're going to draft CD Lamb was a first round pick and George Pickens was 24th overall. I think it's a pretty good case for Dak Prescott to be the top six ish quarterback. I have Caleb Williams ahead of Jackson Dart. You know, he's playing great. He runs. He can run too. Not like dart, but. And I have Jalen Hurts, so. All right, so anyway, top six for me is Alan Burrow, Jackson, May Daniels, Hertz. For Jamie, it's Alan Burrow, May, Jackson Daniels dart. For David's Alan, Alan May Burrow, Jackson Jackson Dart, Jaden Daniels.
- [22:19]
Jamie
Yeah. Okay. And if you want heats, because Heath tends to be a little bit more conservative with some of these things. He's with you on Hertz. He has Hertz third. So he has Allen one, May two, Hertz three, Stafford four, Jackson five.
- [22:35]
Adam
Oh, I love the Jackson five. All right, let's go to better than Maroon five. Hot take Maroon five's album Songs About Jane, which I'm pretty sure was their first album. At least it was their first big one. Is a great album. I mean, great. And then after that they just sold out like so hard. Okay. Anyway, let's go through 7 through 12 in the rankings.
- [23:02]
Jamie
Let's.
- [23:02]
Adam
We'll do Jamie's 7 is Purdy at this point. I mean, I feel like it's. There's going to be a lot of interchangeability. You could justify a lot of guys 7 through 12. Some guys are going to get left off that deserve to be on. Jamie goes Purdy Hertz, Stafford Prescott, Caleb Williams, Trevor Lawrence at 7 through 12. Purdy hurts Stafford, Dak, Caleb Lawrence. Dave goes Caleb at 7, Prescott 8 Hertz, Stafford, Purdy, Justin Herbert. Is that right, Dave?
- [23:39]
Dave
Nope, I've already changed that.
- [23:41]
Adam
All right, so what, what do you have? 7 through 12.
- [23:44]
Dave
Hertz at 7, Dakot 8, Herbert 9, Stafford 10, Caleb 11, Purdy 12. Whoa.
- [23:51]
Adam
You move Caleb from 7 to 11.
- [23:53]
Dave
I moved Caleb from 7 to 11.
- [23:56]
Adam
And I have Prescott at 7. Williams of Caleb Williams. It's weird to call him Prescott. Dak Prescott, Caleb Williams, Jackson Dart, Brock Purdy, Patrick Mahomes and Matthew Stafford at 12. Now it's a lot of stuff here. So let's talk about Jalen Hurts. Jamie, you have him eighth. I have him fifth. Dave, you have Hertz.
- [24:19]
Dave
Where seven.
- [24:21]
Adam
All right, do we Feel like he can still be great. Is the shine off of Jalen Hurts, you know, Jamie, what's the outlook for Jalen Hurts.
- [24:29]
Jamie
Safe. Very safe. You know, you've seen enough of him during his tenure with the Eagles that there could be a great season if there's enough rushing production, there could be a little bit of a down season. If the passing is not as good as it could be, and if you're right that they move on from AJ Brown, I think the passing numbers could be a little bit in jeopardy. I do think that depending on how far they go, there could be a coordinator change. So that's something to keep an eye on there because clearly the offense was struggling at times this season and a lot of questions about their play calling. So this is another destination for Cliff Kingsbury if you, you know, follow some of the rumors if they decide to move on from who they have in place. So just something to keep an eye on there that that could be a good thing for Jalen Hurts. Based on when he's had a good offense coordinator, his numbers have been much better. So I think he's going to be anywhere from 5 to 10 in terms of where he'll get drafted. As we saw in our mock draft where quarterbacks just fall and fall and fall. He went in round 10, which is not something I think most people will expect. So my guess is you'll get Alan Burrow May almost for sure ahead of him and then potentially Lamar Jackson and then I think he starts to come into play as early as five.
- [25:43]
Adam
Okay, Dave, what made you move Caleb Williams down? Originally seventh. Then you moved Stafford ahead of him and Dak ahead of him and I think Herbert ahead of him. Why'd you move Caleb down?
- [25:57]
Dave
Safer quarterbacks, guys that I think will have like an easier path to getting good numbers at least on a week to week basis. That's Dak that Stafford Herbert. I'm hoping this is a silly hope. It's. It feels like it's a silly hope that the offensive line will actually stay healthy for a big portion of the year. And if it does, then I think Justin Herbert can bounce back in a big way. I already talked about. It's a tiny sample size, but four games with just Joe Alt on the field, he averaged over 26 fantasy points per game. By the time I'm interested in drafting these quarterbacks, at least in a 1 QB league, I don't mind taking a chance on any of these guys late. In fact, I'd like to get two of these guys and that list of quarterbacks I would try and target would extend past my top 12. It would probably go, let's call it 15 quarterbacks deep. And so if I, if I leave my draft with two late round QBs, what's up JJ? Two late round QBs and one of them is Justin Herbert, I'd be ecstatic.
- [26:56]
Adam
Okay. I had, let's see the who is the one. So Dave had Herbert, Jamie and I did not in the top 12. I have Mahomes. You guys don't.
- [27:06]
Jamie
You're the only one that has Mahomes in the top 12.
- [27:08]
Adam
I imagine if you went to 13 or 14, you probably get Mahomes in there, right?
- [27:13]
Jamie
Yeah, I think that's fair. I was surprised that he didn't have him there. But look, once his rehab is, you know, getting close to putting him on the field, I'm sure a lot of people will be excited about Mahomes with a late round pick. I don't think anybody's going to draft him to be a top five quarterback coming off this injury. But assuming that there's no Rashi Rice issue with what was happening the last 24 hours and depending on Travis Kelsey situation, whatever else they do in the draft like this could be a great season for Mahomes, even coming off the acl.
- [27:46]
Dave
Yeah.
- [27:46]
Adam
Domestic violence allegations against Rasheed Rice were made on social media. So we'll obviously keep a track of that. Sorry to not put that in the news and notes. I saw something interesting on Twitter about the Chiefs passing game is from one of their beat writers. Can't remember who it was but Andy Reid said that the run game wasn't good enough and they weren't getting enough bite on play action this year. They weren't getting enough reaction from the defenses when they look back at it on play action. So they have to address their run game and it might make their passing game better. Okay, so Lawrence, you know, how do you Jamie of Caleb and Lawrence back to back you could make the case they're pretty similar. They're on similar trajectories. They got head coach upgrades and it all came together for them in the second half of the season. So you have them 11 and 12. How do you compare them to the guys you have in front of them? The less mobile guys especially Stafford, but the more established veterans like the order of you going 9, 10, 11, 12 Stafford, Dak Prescott, Caleb Williams, Trevor Lawrence is a very interesting order there.
- [28:58]
Jamie
Yeah. And purposeful. You know, Stafford coming off the year that he just had in first season with, you know, a Combination of Devonte Adams and Puka Nakua. I just think that if everybody's back and Stafford is healthy even at 38, it's hard to overlook what he still is capable of doing in Sean McVeigh's offense. And the same with Dak Prescott. In looking at his receiving core, assuming that George Pickens is back. So, you know, you kind of laid it out. I think the, the comp we made during the season several times of the Cowboys being the new Bengals makes a ton of sense. And then Stafford again, just, you know, sort of re establishing himself as one of the best passers in the NFL. And, and the year that he just had in 2025, I think in the case of Williams and Lawrence, there's immense potential. The thing that I like about both is, is certainly the mobility enough that it can give them that extra boost. And for Lawrence, the track record for Liam Cohen. Baker Mayfield had a great year running the ball when he was the coordinator. Trevor Lawrence career season running the ball in 2025. And so very curious to see what both of the off seasons look like for both of those quarterbacks. In terms of what will the receiving cores be because DJ Moore could leave Chicago. Do they bring in another young receiver that Ben Johnson covets or young pass catcher that Ben Johnson covets? What does the run game look like in Chicago for Trevor Lawrence? What's Travis Hunter's role going to be? Is Brian Thomas still there? You know, you talk about Buffalo as an AJ Brown destination. I mean, Brian Thomas is going to be dangled out there from what I'm hearing, so we could see, you know, him off the team. And do they draft another guy? Do they get somebody else in free agency? You know, it wouldn't surprise me if there's another receiver in Jacksonville instead of Brian Thomas. But even if it's just a better Brian Thomas, which would be the best thing, then you get even more production from Trevor Lawrence the way he closed the year. So I think those two guys, along with Justin Herbert, you know, as Dave said, you know, the offensive line's great. What Herbert showed us the beginning of the season, I do think if the offensive line's great, then we get a little bit more running from the Chargers, maybe less running from Herbert, but still all, all three of those guys with what they showed at times in 2025, along with Brock Purdy, you know, I'm probably a little bit too high on Purdy, but you know, that three game stretch that he had in the playoffs was, was certainly a little bit of recency bias for me and ranking in there, just seeing how good he is still capable of being in, in Kyle Shannon's offense. So I probably, you know, if I was going to redo it, I probably would put Purdy closer to Williams and Lawrence and just move hurt Stafford and Prescott ahead of him. But still all, all four of those guys, Purdy, Williams, Lawrence and, and Herbert I think are very good late round targets at the position.
- [31:34]
Dave
And wouldn't you love to have two of them and just have two shots at getting a quarterback? That was great in 2025, that could be even better in 2026?
- [31:42]
Jamie
Yeah, I think that just depends on your league. You know, if you know everybody's taking two quarterbacks, then you should certainly try and make that a priority. If you know there's going to be a lot of guys on the waiver wire, I wouldn't waste the pick. Especially if there's only four, four or five bench spots. Right.
- [31:53]
Dave
If it's an eight team league, ten team league.
- [31:55]
Adam
Trying to figure out what Purdy's upside is because he, he did this in the playoffs, fantasy playoffs last year too, you know, maybe not to this degree. 32.2, 40.9 and 43 fantasy points in the weeks 15, 16 and 17. He crushed really easy matchups. Then he had a tough matchup against Seattle and they had basically the worst game in Kyle Shanahan's tenure. Did not have Trent Williams in that game. Trent Williams is. And he didn't have him in Week 17 either. Williams played one snap and Purdy had five combined touchdowns. But Williams is older. You know, he's got to be the oldest left tackle in football, I would assume.
- [32:32]
Jamie
I believe he's 37 now, so 38 come back.
- [32:35]
Adam
Right. So he's up there and Purdy runs. That's the thing. Like he might have huge upside. He's probably going to be among the leaders in yards per attempt every year because every Shanahan quarterback is. He might have, he might have like massive upside. But I don't know. I haven't really seen it over a full season yet. For any San Francisco quarterback, they don't, they just don't really throw that much.
- [32:57]
Dave
Kind of makes you a little more excited about the upside for Trevor Lawrence and maybe even some quarterbacks we haven't talked about yet compared to Purdy.
- [33:05]
Adam
I think Caleb, to me just it's.
- [33:07]
Dave
Yeah, well, don't we all have him ranked ahead of Purdy?
- [33:11]
Adam
No, Jamie doesn't.
- [33:12]
Dave
Okay, well I thought he just said that if, if he had to Rerun.
- [33:15]
Jamie
No, I, I mean, again, you know, I'm not going to redo it yet from, from a week ago. So we'll see how things go in next few months.
- [33:23]
Adam
Sure.
- [33:23]
Jamie
Yeah.
- [33:24]
Adam
I just think obviously the talent is there for Caleb. He still misses on so many easy throws. So if he can clean that up, which I feel like he can, you know, that's going to make it more efficient. We have not seen him with Odunze, Loveland, this version of Burden on the field healthy at the same time. Right, right.
- [33:44]
Dave
It's one of the reasons to be excited for the game on Saturday is because not only will you see him in that element with those guys, but without the type of pass rush that could inhibit him because green base pass rushes is. It's clearly not the same without Micah Parsons there, so. And it's in his offensive line is still healthy. But one of the concerns I do have for Caleb, why don't. Why I moved him down from seven is does the Bears defense, do they just go all in on defense this off season? And in that, in, in the event of that, does that change how some of their game scripts go?
- [34:16]
Adam
Maybe.
- [34:17]
Dave
And I mean they're gonna have a first place schedule. It's going to be a little bit more difficult for them. But if the defense is better, if they can get to the opposing quarterback more often, maybe this is a team that wins games more like 21, 17 instead of 38, 34. And that would obviously hurt Caleb's numbers just a little bit and maybe they improve their run game. There's just a lot of things that I wonder could take away that volume that we've loved from Caleb Williams. But he's still a top 12 quarterback. I don't think there's any question about it.
- [34:47]
Adam
Okay. And Matthew Stafford is QB1 this year and he's the high. Where do you have him? Dave?
- [34:57]
Dave
10.
- [34:57]
Adam
Yeah, he's 9th for Jamie, 10 for Dave and 12th for me. Anybody?
- [35:02]
Jamie
He's the highest. I'm the only one in the top five.
- [35:04]
Adam
Right. It just reminds us his first year.
- [35:06]
Dave
In four years where he's averaged more than 19 fantasy points a game and.
- [35:11]
Adam
He has about an 8% touchdown rate, which is insane. Just reminds me of Jared Goff last year. But a better than golf. But just when you, when you have almost zero rushing, you have to have this kind of year to, to stand out.
- [35:27]
Jamie
You know, we'll see if he gets the mvp. If they win a Super Bowl. How much does that change sort of the approach next season? You know, they clearly have been trying to tinker with their backfield. I do think, you know, look, first year with devonte Adams, I have to factor that in. Offensive line was healthy for the most part this season after factor that in. That's not always the case. I saw one stat. I don't know if it's three straight years in a row, but it's certainly three. Three of like at least the last five years. Fewest penalties of any team. And so like those little things where they're not losing yards or. And the turnovers for the most part minimal. Like they're huge. Like, we don't really take that into account, like how much those extra possessions matter at times. Like, I mean, I know we love. Hey gunslinger. He's going to throw the ball a lot. He's gonna throw into traffic. He's going to give his receivers time to make plays. Aaron Rodgers was so good at it for so long when he was at the top of his game of not throwing interceptions because he didn't want to. He didn't like to take those chances because he felt, okay, I don't turn the ball over. I still give my team a chance. And Stafford started the same way, you know, so those, those, those lack of, you know, taking those extra hits from the running quarterbacks and it just, it goes overlooked a little bit sometimes.
- [36:46]
Adam
Yeah, sure does. All right, so let's, let's just re recap our top 12. Dave, you can go first.
- [36:53]
Dave
Allen number one, Drake May two, Joe Burrow three. Give me Lamar Jackson at four, Jackson Dart at five, Jaden Daniels at six, Hurts seven, Dak eight, Justin Herbert nine, Stafford ten, Caleb eleven. And Jamie will wait months to tinker with his rankings. I'm literally doing mine while we're sitting here. And I, I moved Trevor Lawrence ahead of Brock Purdy. So give me Lawrence at 12 ahead of Brock Purdy.
- [37:18]
Adam
Jamie, your top 12.
- [37:21]
Jamie
It is Josh Allen 1, Drake May 2, Joe Burrow 2, Drake May 3, Lamar Jackson 4, Jayden Daniels 5, Jackson Dart 6, Brock Purdy 7, Jalen Hurts 8, Matthew Stafford 9, Dak Prescott 10, Caleb Williams 11 and Trevor Lawrence 12.
- [37:38]
Adam
And I'm Allen Burrow. Lamar Drake May 1 through 4. Jaden Daniels 5, Hertz 6, DAC 7, Caleb Williams 8, Jackson Dart 9, Purdy 10, Mahomes 11, Matthew Stafford 12.
- [37:52]
Jamie
Okay, and if you want to see all six of the rank lists, they are all on CBS sports.com There you go.
- [38:00]
Adam
And if you want to hear who you should be putting in your DFS lineups this weekend, stay tuned. We'll be right back with our wildcard previews on fantasy football today. Okay, here we go. So who are some players that we like this week or love this week? Jamie, who should we be targeting in these six games?
- [38:19]
Jamie
For DFS or just in general?
- [38:21]
Adam
Well, it's kind of the same, isn't it? Or you're talking because Price.
- [38:25]
Jamie
Yes, but also, at least the way I did it, I didn't do any weekend DFS lineups. I did day by day. So Saturday, dfs, Sunday, dfs.
- [38:36]
Adam
Fair enough. Well, who do you like?
- [38:39]
Jamie
So for Saturday? I love, love, love Jordan Love. You know, I think the narrative of they're taking personal. They're taking a personal. The hit that he took to get the concussion, you've heard some packers talking about that. The first time that these two teams met, he went for 25 fantasy points against the Bears. I think Christian Watson, you said, is in line for a great game. In that game, he had four catches for 89 yards and two touchdowns on only four targets. So that's an easy stack. If you want to go that route. Of those two guys, you come back on the other side with Luther Burden or Colston Loveland. The tight ends for Saturday are not great unless you want to buy into one of the Rams guys. So I actually prefer Higby to Parkinson based on what I think will happen with Devonte Adams now back. But what I did on the Saturday slate was I did a Love Watson, Packer, Stack, come back on the other side with Luther Burden through Tyler Higby in there. The way that I did them, the had the money work, got Puka in the lineup as well. And then I think Kyron Williams against the Panthers is an easy bet, too. You know, just looking at how the Panthers run defense has been. So I think in this type of scenario where Blake Corum will still get his touches, this feels like playoff run. Lean on the veteran guy a little bit more. The more proven guy a little bit more. So Kyron feels a little bit safer to me. And then I came back with DeAndre Swift as well, just based on. On how he should perform. So I did different lineups for different sites. So that's. I think my FanDuel lineup. On DraftKings, I did Josh Jacobs. I agree with Dave. You know, I think Jacob's fresh legs should have an opportunity to play well. So mix it up a little bit like the guys that I feel like I want to. The. The cheap options that I like. Jalen Coker, big game against the Rams the first time around. Four Catches?
- [40:29]
Adam
Are you just talking Saturday here?
- [40:31]
Jamie
This is just Saturday. Four catches, 74 yards and a touchdown. Luther Burton's really cheap, you know, so he's an easy guy to go with again. Tyler Higby, somebody that I would try and get in there if you can. And then if you want to go with either Burden, excuse me, Quorum or Manangai, just knowing that they're going to get work. They're also cheap at that position too. So I can go Sunday too, if you want to just.
- [40:52]
Adam
No, I mean, I think if we look at the, the overall slate for the weekend.
- [40:56]
Jamie
Right.
- [40:56]
Adam
We do have a lot of good defenses, so. Yeah. So I think, you know, Dave, where, where are the matchups that you're looking to exploit? This passing offense versus this passing defense, this run offense, you know, etc. What do you think?
- [41:09]
Dave
Think so you can start with the Carolina Rams game and the Panthers defense. They've got some good cornerback play, but I'd still, if Matthew Stafford is Puka and Devonte Adams, I don't think that that's crazy to go after them. I do not like the matchup for the Panthers running backs. I think something happened to Rico Dowdle last week on one of his first carries of the game. He slipped. It was a rainy field and, or a wet field, rainy game. And I, I don't know if he was the same after that. He came in that game looking better.
- [41:38]
Jamie
They said in the broadcast all three running backs changed their cleats right after that play.
- [41:41]
Dave
Okay, so maybe it's not an injury, but just I, I felt like he kind of took a step backward and I think this Rams run defense can be better than they've been over the past few weeks. And I, I can't help but think that unless it's a breakaway run, they're going to be fine against Carolina. So I think a lot will fall on Bryce Young's shoulders. That makes me a little bit more excited about Ted Aurora McMillan, especially if the Panthers have to chase points. So Rams offense for sure. But the passing game should be good provided that the weather doesn't mess with them. I, I, I don't know if there's any good defense in the Green Bay Chicago game could be a really high scoring game. If Green Bay decides to take it conservatively and lean on Josh Jacobs, that can mess up the game scripts for everybody else in that game. But I ultimately, I don't mind one bit anytime Jordan Love plays against a defense that can't get pressure on the quarterback. I love him and so that's the layout that I think this game will have. So Jordan Love is good. Christian Watson is an interesting play. I don't know dfs, prices or anything like that. I'm just naming off names and it makes me nervous to trust guys on Chicago because I I think they'll just continue to spread it around. It's not that the packers defense is necessarily good at anything. I just don't know what to really expect when when Chicago plays against his team, they'll play a lot of zone and the track record for Caleb when that happens is spreading the ball around a lot of targets to his running backs when he's gone up against Green Bay's defense this year.
- [43:08]
Adam
Okay, so don't want to focus just on Saturday the entire I think to.
- [43:12]
Jamie
Answer your question, the the defensive matchups you want to avoid. I think San Francisco's in for a really tough day, especially without Trent Williams there if he's not going to play. Eagles defense has been so good against quarterbacks for the entirety of the season. Last time a quarterback got multiple passing touchdowns against them was week four or maybe one. Since week four, it's just been brutal for quarterbacks and Purdy coming off the game that you just saw without Trent Williams against Seattle, it's a very similar type of defense. Aggressive, going to be in his face, going to be tough for him. So even though you might want to and it's hard to go against those guys. Eagles are great against tight ends. Kittle still should get his numbers, but you just saw him in a tough game where he still was, you know, targeted heavily. I don't know how healthy his ankle is, you know, coming back from the injury last week. He's still been on the injury part this week. McCaffrey will get his touches. He's hard to bet against, but still tough defense that he's facing. The Steelers offense against the Texans defense, that's going to be a tough matchup for them across the board. I do think Kenneth Gainwell's in play. When running backs have gotten targets against the Texans defense, they've given up numbers. There's seven running backs on the season or, I'm sorry, eight running backs on the season have scored 7.3 PPR points or more with just their receiving totals alone. So Gainwell has been so good in the last two months, six of his last eight games over 16 PPR points. A lot of that obviously from his receiving total. So he's my favorite Steeler. The Texans, though, like there's not anybody aside from me from Dalton Schultz That I like fully talking dfs. Nico Collins is expensive. I mean obviously if you're playing any sort of, you know, head to head matchups in, in fantasy for this week, I think you're playing Eagle Collins. But Dalton Schultz against the Steelers are fourth in terms of fantasy points allowed to the position. Schultz has clearly been great. Three of his last five games over 11 PPR points, two touchdowns in that span. So Schultz is in a great spot.
- [45:12]
Adam
So much better against tight ends though lately other than they have been better against Titans lately.
- [45:16]
Jamie
But I think just look at what Schultz role is for this team and when you're talking about six games and which tight ends have the chances to play well, he's hard to overlook.
- [45:27]
Adam
He's in my fanduel lineup for the, for the entire slate. I, I don't really like the tight ends this week because Kiddo right.
- [45:32]
Jamie
It's, it's not great.
- [45:33]
Adam
You know, a little nervous.
- [45:34]
Jamie
I think there could be like Schultz is, is probably more obvious. Colson Loveland's obvious. But I think like once you get past Kittle, like Goddard to me is one of my favorite plays. I hope he's healthy. I hope Kincaid is healthy. Jaguars at times have struggled with tight ends this season and you know what he means to that team. You're going to say the same thing, which I'm sure is the, the Jaguars have been much better against tight ends lately than they were earlier in the season.
- [45:58]
Adam
Eight weeks. They've been much better against everyone over the last eight weeks. Like I said, they're the number one scoring defense in the last eight games.
- [46:05]
Jamie
In eight games they definitely have been better. I, I think though when you're looking at like Tyler Higby is very interesting to me because he comes back off IR and is so involved even though the other two guys played more snaps than him. Doesn't look like Ferguson's gonna play. I think Parkinson is so almost, I don't want to say tied to Devonte Adams, but you know, most of his better games have come in the last three games without Adams on the field. And then one guy that's, I'm curious just to see how he's going to perform is Tommy Trumbull. You know, he's, he's picked up his place since Jatavion Sanders went out the Rams at times it looked bad against tight ends and so he's somebody that's really cheap that could get some targets. If as Dave said, which I agree with that we may see them throwing a little bit more if the run Game is stagnant, but, like, I don't want to play Brenton Strange against the Bills. That's an easy one to avoid. Hunter Henry, I think is interesting. The Chargers have been really bad against tight ends lately. Yeah, Henry's been on fire, you know, so it's funny because I always look at. When you see guys facing their former teams, you know, he. He must be at this point the last player to have no, I guess Keenan Allen. I'm sorry, those two guys last are still in the league having played in San Diego. So I went and looked. He's played. He's played against Chargers three times since leaving them and has not had a good game against them once. But I just think he's been so good lately. And three of the last six tight ends against the Chargers have scored at least 14 PPR points. So Henry's in, you know, somewhat of a. A decent spot. But they.
- [47:28]
Dave
Chargers play a ton of zone, and his efficiency is much better against zone than man.
- [47:35]
Jamie
There's a lot of interesting plays here, Adam, from, you know, the. The standpoint of, like, who can you trust? Like, one guy that I'm. I'm struggling with because the Chargers run defense has been so good lately, but they haven't played a lot of tough competition. Ramandre Stevenson is absolutely in fuego right now. 17 or more PPR points in his last three games. He hasn't had more than 13 touches in a game over that. I'm sorry, maybe it's 11 touches in the game over that span, but he's got six touchdowns in his last three games. And in each of those three games, 5.9 yards per carry or better, 11 yards per catch or better. And he's just making such explosives that it's like, can he get. Can he get more work? Because some of those games, they were blowouts. They didn't use them.
- [48:14]
Adam
Yeah. So I, I think, look, there's some cheaper running backs, Ramondre being one of them. I'm looking at FanDuel and let me just see. Compare him to true to Travion. Travion is 6, $800 and Ramandre is $6,300.
- [48:33]
Jamie
So there's Stevenson all day.
- [48:35]
Adam
Gainwell's 6,000, but FanDuel is half PPR, so keep that in mind. So there's two other guys that I wanted to bring up that could have big, big roles. Woody Marks, because Jaw Jordan left Week 18 with an injury, I think, or left week, whatever. Jamar Jordan's hurt. I don't know what the injury Report is they play Monday. Do you guys know Jawar Jordan status?
- [48:55]
Jamie
We won't know it until Saturday fully.
- [48:57]
Adam
Okay, so Woody Marks is 6500 and Kamani Vidal is the cheapest by far of this group of 5,600. There's also Manangai at 5,500, but Vidal, if Hampton doesn't play, I mean you could be talking 20 touches for Kamani Bedell, but they could be really bad touches against New England.
- [49:15]
Jamie
What's Quorum?
- [49:17]
Adam
Quorum is quorum, sorry, 5700. Yeah, quorum. I mean the three straight games with, with single digit carries for Corum. He was in at the goal line when Stafford threw a 1 yard touchdown pass to Colby Parkinson last week. Just one other note on goal line work, the Jaguars, they were up 34 to 7 at this point in the game. Late in the game, Travis ETN got a carry, first and goal from the three. He lost two yards, second and goal from the five. They toss it to Basil Tutin, his first game back and he scored a touchdown. So Tootin's always a threat there, but otherwise ETN I think would be a really good looking play at 7,500. He's the sixth most expensive running back on FanDuel going against the Bills run defense that struggled all year.
- [50:07]
Jamie
I think if you want to build a team that has Josh Allen for example, you know, so if you want to go with the expensive options, like the cheap options at running back make a lot of sense, you know, so Gainwell, Stevenson, Manangai, Quorum, Vidal, if there is no Hampton, you know, those type of things, like it's really easy to get away with because outside of really, I don't know how much you want to trust McCaffrey, especially at his price.
- [50:33]
Dave
You shouldn't.
- [50:34]
Jamie
Barkley, we know, has been tough to trust. And the San Francisco run defense is very up and down throughout the course of the season. But Barkley is up and down throughout the course of the season.
- [50:43]
Adam
Right.
- [50:44]
Jamie
You know, if you don't want to go with Kyron for example, but like it's, it's easy to get away from the high end running backs. Like you can go with, you can go with Swift, he's really reasonable. You can go with Jacobs, he's reasonable. Again, I think you go to the next tier and, and Gainwell and Stevenson make a lot of sense, you know, but if you want to spend on the running backs, I mean, I think James Cook, I know the Jaguars run defense is, is good statistically, I think James Cook, I, I think The Bills win the game. So I think James Cook and Josh Allen have huge roles, no surprise there, in. In anything that the Bills do successfully. Yeah. And I'm the. The one concern I have about the Jaguars is their left tackle may not play. And that's something that we have not seen from them in this stretch of poor offensive line play, mostly because of who they've faced. You know, Denver was bad against them for where Denver typically is, but they hit Trevor Lawrence in that matchup, so we'll see if. If they have to put Walker little at left tackle and how that, you know, impacts what Buffalo is able to do defensively.
- [51:45]
Dave
And Buffalo's pass rush has been coming on over the last couple of games.
- [51:49]
Adam
All right, so here's what I want to do. I want to go through each game and I just want to tell you. Tell me, do you think these teams do well offensively? Do you think the Rams do well at Carolina?
- [51:57]
Jamie
Yes.
- [51:59]
Dave
Maybe not to the high standard that we normally think, but yes.
- [52:02]
Adam
Do you think the Panthers do well against the Rams?
- [52:04]
Jamie
No.
- [52:05]
Dave
No.
- [52:06]
Adam
Do you think the packers do well? Do you think the packers and Bears offenses do well?
- [52:10]
Jamie
Yes.
- [52:11]
Dave
Packers more so than the Bears.
- [52:12]
Adam
And the thing is, I. I mean, I. I just did a fanduel lineup and I have three packers in there. But you gotta be careful. This is one of the games that might have bad weather, so I'd have to pivot. But Jordan Love at 7200 is a huge discount. From Josh Allen at 87, from Jalen Hurts at 8200. Stafford, 81, May 8000, Lawrence 7900. Caleb 78, Justin Herbert, 76, Brock Purdy, 73, and then Jordan Love, 7200. All right, next up, do you think the Bills offense does well at Jacksonville? This is the highest total on the board, by the way, at 52 points.
- [52:47]
Jamie
By 4.
- [52:48]
Adam
Far the highest total.
- [52:50]
Dave
Yes, I. I know that Allen and Cook should. I don't know if there's anybody else that I would genuinely trust. Maybe Concade, if you're in a tournament.
- [53:01]
Jamie
Okay.
- [53:02]
Adam
Do you think the Jaguars do well? Because they are implied to have about 25 points in this game. 25 and a half.
- [53:11]
Dave
I'm a little nervous.
- [53:12]
Jamie
Okay, man.
- [53:15]
Adam
It's. It's interesting. Okay. And then do you think the 49ers do well at Philadelphia?
- [53:22]
Dave
No.
- [53:22]
Adam
What if they have Trent Williams?
- [53:24]
Jamie
No, no.
- [53:26]
Dave
A little better. If it's Trent Williams plan, yes, but no.
- [53:29]
Adam
Do you think the. We haven't talked about the Eagles yet, but The Eagles. The 49ers. Basically the MO is solid run defense, although it has, I don't think it's been great lately. Really. Very, very vulnerable against the past. Do we think the I think they're.
- [53:41]
Dave
Going to be vulnerable against everything, especially with Bethune now out. So they're, they're turning to older veterans at linebacker. Their pass rush hasn't been the same since week two. So I, I think that this is a, this is a get right spot for the Eagles overall and they're rested and Lane Johnson's coming back. I, I know that Jamie talked a lot about cheap running backs and I think a lot of people will do that in dfs. I would invest in Saquon Barkley because I don't think a lot of people will do it and it wouldn't surprise me if Saquon Barkley has a monster game.
- [54:12]
Jamie
I love Dallas Goddard if he's healthy. I don't know how much of I don't like the fact that he's on injury report. I know he missed the game technically in week 18 with the knee injury, but they were resting starters. But he's still on the injury report. But Goddard was so good prior to Week 18. Yes, three of his last four games with 12.2 PPR points or more. Four touchdowns over that span. 49ers have struggled with tight ends at times this season. You mentioned no Bethune, so that's, you know, another strength I think for him. I do think if you want a cheap option at receiver with huge upside. Devonte Smith is four of his last seven playoff games he's been over 15 PPR points, so he tends to rise the occasion in these big moments. And the San Francisco secondary is not exactly played great consistently. I'm going to guess if Lenore wanted to follow jsn, he may want to follow AJ Brown. The not that that worked out well for him overall, but still, I think devonte Smith could have a good game here. It's just clearly tough to trust two games in his last seven with over 14 PPR points. The rest have been miserable. But yeah, I think this San Francisco defense is going to be in trouble and I think the Eagles defense should on paper dominate the 49ers.
- [55:25]
Adam
Yeah, it's funny. I mean the 49ers going into week 18 had a chance at the number one seed and now this podcast is not really giving them much of a chance. But the thing is, like the Eagles, they. They just haven't. They've been stuck in the mud all year. Offense has been bad offense. Yeah. So it's from a DFS standpoint. I want to believe in them. I believe in A.J. brown. That's. Who do you feel most comfortable with if you were going to pick one Eagles player to.
- [55:54]
Dave
To start Saquon Barkley?
- [55:57]
Jamie
I'm with you, Adam. Go ahead. J. Bro.
- [55:58]
Adam
Okay. All right. Do you think the Chargers put up points at New England?
- [56:08]
Dave
Some, maybe. Maybe they get to 20 points.
- [56:13]
Jamie
So as Dave said, the Patriots defense is getting healthy. They're very similar to the Jaguars and the teams that they faced in the quarterbacks that they've beat up. And since week 10, only one quarterback over 17 fantasy points. It was Josh Allen. But the last three that they faced was half a game of Lamar Jackson. And the only good quarterback really that they've done well against was Jackson Dart. That was his first game back from the concussion, so. But also they're just getting healthy right now. The only good game Justin Herbert's had since week 10 was against Dallas. Dallas. And he's been 17 points or less in all of those other ones. He is the third most sacked quarterback. He's off by being number one by two. He is the most hit quarterback for the season at 129 times. It's just tough to trust him at this point with the offensive line being what it is and the Patriots at home. So if Hampton doesn't play, I don't know if that's a positive because now you really take away the threat of a run game because as good as Kamani Vidal has been at times, I don't think that scares. It's kind of like what you said about the. The Chiefs. Like I don't think the Patriots fear the Chargers run game if they get behind. I think it's bad news for the Charger. So I would try to avoid the Chargers if you can.
- [57:22]
Adam
And don't forget, I. I don't really care too much about this, but Justin Herbert has a really bad playoff history. It's the biggest, biggest knock against him. He's been bad in the playoffs. This. The next question to me is the toughest one. Do the Patriots put up points against this Chargers defense that has been so good? I think Drake May is one of the tougher calls because he's expensive. He's. But he's not SU. He's the fourth most expensive quarterback. He's 700 cheaper than Josh Allen. But quarterbacks just don't do well against his team. But Drake May can do well against anyone. So do the. Dave, did the Patriots score against New England against.
- [58:00]
Dave
I think they do and I think May is the reason for it. So how's that for a curveball because their running backs have done so well. Reminder Jamie talked about he's been explosive. He's done a lot of it through the air too. But I feel like this game plays out where May helps the Patriots build a lead and then maybe the ground game cracks the Chargers late and that's what ends up helping the Patriots win the game. They the Chargers play a ton of zone. Drake May isn't quite as explosive against zone than man, but boy is he very effective and his eight out is higher against zone than is for man. This is over the course of the season. I I could see Drake May doing all the great things that he's done lately to help the Patriots put up points and to really put the Chargers in a tough spot. I I also like that the charge. Well, I don't know if I like this for the Patriots. Obviously I don't. But for the Chargers it'll help that Denzel Perryman will be back and that helps their run defense and I think that's the strength of their unit right now.
- [58:56]
Jamie
This feels like a 20 to 10 game, like low scoring.
- [59:00]
Dave
How about I feel like it could be a little bit better than that. Like maybe like 2720 but not like a crazy high scoring game.
- [59:06]
Adam
And it's probably, you know, if you want to just avoid Houston and Pittsburgh, that's probably a good idea. Or the the easiest game to avoid. Let's say that it's the there's only.
- [59:18]
Jamie
Three players I would consider 39 and.
- [59:21]
Adam
A half is the total. That's so low that makes me want.
- [59:24]
Dave
To run toward their defenses.
- [59:25]
Adam
I do have the Texans DST four games have a total between 44 and a half and 46. That's Rams, Panthers, Packers, Bears, Niners, Eagles, Chargers, Patriots, the Bills Jaguars. I'm leaning under on this game personally but 52 points is the total there and I take the under two.
- [59:42]
Jamie
I think almost all the unders are in play this week.
- [59:44]
Adam
Yeah and 39 and a half on Texan Steelers is pretty low. All right. So my fan to a lineup is packers heavy. It's Jordan Love Christian Watson. Josh Jacobs is my flex. He can be my running back, whatever. He was just the last guy I used. I decided between Jacobs and Devonte Adams and I went with Jacobs and half PPR just Adams hasn't played in a little while. I want to make sure he's healthy. I think he's healthy but love Watson Jacobs. I have Luther Burden to Kind of run it back, the reverse stack. James Cook and Kamani Vidal. James Cook is my most expensive player tied with AJ Brown. So it's Watson, AJ Brown, Luther Burden. I did have Dalton Schultz, but then, Jamie, you talked about Hunter Henry and that. I think that makes a lot more sense. I went with hunter Henry. He's $300 more expensive than Schultz. Jacob's my flex, Texans DST. So again, it's love. James Cook, Kamani Vidal, Watson Burden, A.J. brown, Hunter Henry, Josh Jacobs and Texans DST.
- [60:45]
Jamie
So what I would do just to give yourself less of a headache, is I would put Jacobs in your running back spot. Because if Hampton plays, you want to swap out by now, right?
- [60:53]
Adam
Yeah, that's true.
- [60:54]
Jamie
Yeah.
- [60:54]
Dave
I almost wonder if you should swap out Vidal anyway and go with just a different player at a cheap price point.
- [61:01]
Adam
Okay, well, so let's. So I've got Vidal at flex now. Let's say Hampton plays. What are my options there? D.J. moore, Romeo Dobbs, Jaden Higgins, Blake Corum, Jalen Coker. I don't like these options. Dallas guy.
- [61:14]
Jamie
I don't mind Coker.
- [61:15]
Adam
Kyle Manangai.
- [61:18]
Jamie
Scored three touchdowns in his last five games, and he's really been playing better for Bryce Young again at the.
- [61:24]
Adam
Better on it.
- [61:25]
Jamie
Better. Well, I mean, you're, you're trying to look for upside here.
- [61:27]
Adam
I think I'd rather have Colson Loveland. I think I'd put Colson Loveland in there.
- [61:31]
Dave
You can get Colson Love.
- [61:32]
Jamie
That's, that's the move I, I would also consider. Again, you're trying to go for the most upside you possibly can. That's going to be different. And so one, I'm doing a head to head for.
- [61:44]
Adam
For the record, I'm not doing a tournament.
- [61:46]
Jamie
All right.
- [61:46]
Adam
No, I'm doing a 50. 50. Doing a 50.
- [61:48]
Jamie
50. Okay, then you want to be a little safer. I was going to say, like, if you want to go two tight ends.
- [61:53]
Adam
Yeah, I, I would be pretty excited about Burden because the thing about I'm not burden. I love Lynn. Loveland's target per route run rate has been very high for about a month and a half. He just hasn't run that many routes. But the last three games, his route run rate has been over 80%. So now you're combining. What's that?
- [62:11]
Jamie
That was without Odunze.
- [62:12]
Dave
It's true. I don't know that's gonna affect coming back, how much work he gets.
- [62:16]
Jamie
I'm with you, Adam. I'm just mentioning it. That was all without Odinze.
- [62:19]
Adam
I Was gonna. That was the second half. Like, I'd be super fired up about him. But we're thinking, oh, Dunes is going to play this week. It's just a big curveball for the entire offense.
- [62:29]
Dave
It is. But we don't know how much a Dunes is going to play, how effective he'll be. And how does this coaching staff ignore what Loveland has done and just such a matchup nightmare that he's been.
- [62:39]
Jamie
Yeah.
- [62:40]
Dave
That they pull him off the field just because Rome's back.
- [62:43]
Jamie
It's not pulling him off the field.
- [62:44]
Dave
Make a ton of sense.
- [62:45]
Jamie
Target distribution and how teams are now going to defend each of these teams.
- [62:50]
Adam
Okay. So, Dave, do you have any lineups or anything else you want to share? Okay.
- [62:54]
Jamie
No.
- [62:54]
Adam
Do you think you're gonna, do you think you're gonna use a Patriots running back?
- [63:00]
Dave
If I did, it would be Stevenson because he's going to be cheaper.
- [63:03]
Adam
Jamie, do you have any other lineups you'd like to share?
- [63:05]
Jamie
I don't have it in front of me. I have seven lineups that I'll be putting on the site that you can see. Okay.
- [63:12]
Adam
Seven better than Rocky.
- [63:15]
Dave
That's awesome.
- [63:17]
Jamie
Okay.
- [63:18]
Adam
Yeah. My lineup is for the full slate. Jamie's got lineups for individual days.
- [63:22]
Jamie
No, no, I, I, as we were talking, I, I just. Why I didn't do one for the full slate. So I haven't posted the story yet. So I'll do one for the full slate on each site on. It's for FanDuel and DraftKings. I give you suggestions for both. Cool.
- [63:35]
Adam
All right, everybody, good luck. Enjoy the. Oh, let's do some picks. Let's go. I'm not gonna do with the spread. That's for SportsLine. Rams. Panthers.
- [63:44]
Jamie
Rams.
- [63:47]
Dave
Rams by seven or eight.
- [63:49]
Adam
Packers at Bears.
- [63:52]
Jamie
Packers.
- [63:52]
Dave
My family's gonna kill me. Packers by three.
- [63:57]
Adam
Going Bears. Bills of Jaguars.
- [64:01]
Jamie
Bills.
- [64:02]
Dave
Bills by seven.
- [64:05]
Adam
I think it's the fact that the Jaguars have just not played anybody other than the Broncos lately and they did great. I'm gonna go with the Bills, but I think, I really think it's a toss up. I really do.
- [64:16]
Dave
That's the toughest game to pick. I think Packers. Bears the second toughest.
- [64:19]
Jamie
Josh Allen's never won a playoff game on the road.
- [64:22]
Adam
Johnny Airport says I don't need to see Jamie's lineups to know they're better than Adams.
- [64:27]
Jamie
Damn.
- [64:28]
Adam
That's from Dan. Eagles 49ers.
- [64:32]
Jamie
Eagles.
- [64:33]
Dave
Eagles by two touchdowns.
- [64:35]
Adam
Patriots. Chargers. Yeah, he goes for me too, by the way.
- [64:39]
Jamie
Patriots.
- [64:40]
Dave
Patriots by a touchdown.
- [64:41]
Adam
Yeah. I like the Patriots and Texans. I think they blast the Steelers.
- [64:45]
Jamie
Personally, I don't know if they have the offense to do that. That's probably. But I'll take Texans.
- [64:51]
Dave
I'll lean Texans.
- [64:53]
Adam
Let me say, how many games have they won by? Let's say 14 or more points. The Houston Texans one, maybe Tennessee 26.
- [65:00]
Jamie
Nothing.
- [65:01]
Adam
They be Baltimore 4410 without Lamar, 13 points against Jacksonville, 20 points against Arizona. That's it. Yeah.
- [65:14]
Dave
Lost four games by 10 points all year. Four of their seven losses.
- [65:18]
Adam
The Steelers are better than I give them credit for, I think. But I think they're going to get humbled. All right, have a great weekend, everybody. We'll talk to you on Monday. For those of you wondering, Keith's on vacation. Should be back next week. We'll talk to him then. We'll talk to you then. And yeah, goodbye. That's it.
- [65:36]
Dave
See ya.
- [65:44]
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- [66:15]
Adam
Experian.