
Loading summary
Dan Schneier
Did you know your credit card points and miles can lose value to inflation? Credit card companies often reduce the redemption value of your points and miles. Now imagine a credit card with rewards that can grow in value. With the Gemini credit card, you can earn Bitcoin or one of over 50 other cryptos instantly with no annual fee. Every swipe at the store or gas pump earns you instant rewards deposited straight to your account. Plus sign up now for a 200 Bitcoin bonus. To kickstart your rewards, visit gemini.com card today. Check out the link in the description for more information on rates and fees. Again, if you're looking to invest in Bitcoin but but don't know where to start. Gemini Credit card makes it easy. Issued by web bank. To Qualify for the 200 crypto intro bonus, you must spend $3,000 in your first 90 days. Some exclusions to instant rewards apply. This is not investment advice and trading Crypto involves risk. Check Gemini's website for more details on rates and fees.
Jacob
When did making plans get this complicated?
Dan Schneier
It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the.
Adam
Secure messaging app that brings the whole group together.
Jacob
Use polls to settle dinner plans.
Adam
Send event invites and pin messages so no one forgets mom's 60th. And never miss a meme or milestone.
Jacob
All protected with end to end encryption. It's time for WhatsApp message privately with everyone.
Adam
Learn more@WhatsApp.com this is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports.
Dan Schneier
Wanna play? Can you believe this?
Adam
No, I can't. It's time to dominate your fantasy.
Dan Schneier
This is gonna go the distance.
Adam
Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and Heath. All right, what's up everybody? Welcome to beyond the Box Score. This is Fantasy Football today presented by BetMGM. Make it legendary. We're gonna go through some of our favorite by low candidates. We're gonna take an early look at playoff schedules.
Dan Schneier
Playoffs?
Adam
Yeah. Any players that might have good or bad playoff schedules. Josh Allen and James Cook have bad fantasy playoff schedules. What should that mean for you? Bijan Robinson has tough matchups. Don't worry about that. But yeah, we're also going to talk about last night's game and so much more. And Dan Jacob and I were talking off the air. Tough question for you to start the show. You ready?
Dan Schneier
Oh, what is it?
Adam
Who do you think is going to be in the Super Bowl?
Dan Schneier
All right, let's think about this.
Adam
Tough this year.
Dan Schneier
I don't think it's going to be the Eagles. So start by saying that and that's the common team that was projected.
Adam
Give you 15 seconds. I don't think you even need that, but 15 seconds to answer this.
Dan Schneier
Okay, how about the Lions? They finally do it. They finally break through. The Detroit Lions against. This is where it gets tough. The Buffalo Bills, the matchup everyone's been waiting for. What everybody want. No, honestly, that's what we all want.
Adam
All right. Jacob's pretty convinced the Chiefs are the best team in football now.
Jacob
Yeah. I don't think you're getting what you want. Chiefs bucks. How about that?
Adam
Oh, Chiefs bucks.
Dan Schneier
I like that. I think the Bucks defense might have some issues as we get further along. So many injuries there, but I would love to see that, too. Baker Mayfield's the man. And you're probably right. Why would I ever want to bet against Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs? That's something I've never done, actually, so I probably won't do it now, but I'm gonna.
Adam
I'm gonna hope that. I'm gonna not hope, but I'm gonna assume the Eagles get it figured out. I'll say Eagles, Eagles, Bills this year.
Dan Schneier
All right, first of all, I. I'm glad you changed that from I'm gonna hope to assume, because if any Giants fans ever said the word, I'm gonna hope the Eagles get it figured out. You will never live that down.
Adam
I didn't say it. All right, I got some things to make fun of Dan for a little bit later, but let's start with Kansas City 30 and Detroit 17. And the Lions were a little shorthanded. They played without cornerback Terry and Arnold, and that could be the case for a little while. And they play without their left tackle, Taylor Decker. So they really didn't have a great game offensively. They also had a touchdown pass from Gibbs to Golf on their opening possession. But it was. I mean, this is so. This is.
Dan Schneier
That could cost me my matchup. That could cost me my. My key home league matchup. Go on.
Adam
Yeah, but this is so Chiefs. Right? They didn't even throw a flag on the play.
Dan Schneier
Right.
Adam
And then they overturn it. I mean, it's just so Chiefs.
Dan Schneier
I wouldn't say it's so cheese. I don't like that narrative that the Chiefs get calls in.
Jacob
I love that narrative. That's like my favorite joke with my buddies. Check is in the mail. Thank you.
Adam
All right, so, Jacob, what are your fantasy takeaways from Chiefs and Lions?
Jacob
So we got more Jir Gibbs again. 70 snap raid. Maybe it's because, you know, they were kind of Playing from behind, I don't really know, but that's twice in six games now that he's at a 70 snap rate when prior to this year we'd never seen him hit that rate in a game that David Montgomery was healthy for. We got a bunch of our guy Isaac Tesla, but he's not really part of the target distribution. They tried to get Jameson Williams going. That was good to see. What do you end up with? 6 for 66, 18 fantasy points.
Adam
Love that.
Jacob
Never know if you're going to be able to trust them, but if you are like in basketball leagues or anything like that, that's good, man. Sam Laporta is so good. I don't know. It's just a fantastic game all around. Super fun. On the chief side. It's like so clear that Rushy Rice, I feel like is about to come back and smash like the juju stuff, like all the quick targets and stuff like that. There's so much that's going to go to him, I think, and I think Adam's got some good stats on that. And then we got a lot more Isaiah Pacheco this week. They've basically gone away from any Burchard Smith backfield snaps. We'll see how it develops. But right now Richard Smith is. He's. He only played six snaps in this game. He didn't play in the first half on offense and only two of his six snaps were in the backfield. And on those plays, it was like a fake pitch to him and then an end around to Xavier Worthy or like a fake throw to him and then a screen to Kareem Hunt. So it's like they're basically treating him more like a offensive weapon than a running back, which is a bit unfortunate for anybody who's like trying to buy the. The breakout there. I think it's probably not coming. If I had to guess, I think like Rice coming back might mean even less for Shard Smith.
Adam
I wonder what Rice is going to mean for Kelsey because the two guys who are doing the real short area stuff are juju, Smith, Schuster and Kelsey. Obviously yesterday was a bad game for Xavier Worthy and I've gone from being so excited about Xavier Worthy, where I feel like no matter what with Rashu Rice, he's going to be great, to just not really being sure because they are throwing the ball to so many different players right now, really distributing it. And Mahomes is running a lot too. So I don't really know what to do with Worthy. I don't really know what the Rasheed Rice effect is going to be. I have a ton of tonight, ton of stats on this game and whatnot. But you know, Kelsey, actually I thought the last two games he's looked pretty good, you know, this game in particular. So I'm. I don't know. I don't, I don't know if he, he was so bad with Rasheed Rice last year. Four targets per game.
Jacob
He looks way better than last year if he can catch the ball. I don't know what's going on with that, but I think he does look good. I agree with you.
Adam
I mean, look, I think he's more of a hold for me, not necessarily a sell because. But I could see him really, I could see all of these guys really getting crushed by Rice if Rice comes in and starts getting basically 10 targets a game. Any anything from you, Dan?
Dan Schneier
Yeah, I just think maybe the most underrated storyline of the Chiefs is the return of the King from a fantasy standpoint. Patrick Mahomes, where's he at now?
Adam
Number one. Number one per game in 4.2 per game and six point behind Lamar Jackson. Which weird you think that'd be flipped. But I could make a case, I could make a case that Patrick Mahomes, based on his stats, based on the beyond the box score stuff, that he is the biggest sell high in football right in fantasy right now.
Dan Schneier
And what's that case based on?
Adam
The case is his passing hasn't really been that much better. It's all his rushing. He is rushing. He's averaging like 37 rushing yards per game. His previous career high is 24.3 rushing guards per game. He already has four rushing touchdowns. That ties a career high. What is he on pace for in terms of passing? 4,290 yards, 31 touchdowns, six interceptions. You love the touchdown interception rate. But 4,300 yards and 31 touchdowns is not QB1. I mean that's not, that's, you know, you're talking flirting with the top five or something like that. So he's doing something from a rushing perspective that we've never seen before from him. He's on pace for 629 yards and 11 touchdowns rushing. He hasn't done any of this without with Rasheed Rice yet. So that's the good thing.
Dan Schneier
Well, that's.
Adam
Yeah, but I am looking like I'm pretty high on the homes. I think he's playing great, but I can't ignore the fact that the yards per attempt are still really low. His deep ball accuracy is pretty much garbage. So that's, that's kind of the, the, the yin and yang here is like, if there's a lot of good stuff, there's, there's some troubling stuff as well.
Dan Schneier
I think the rushing, while it won't stay at these like ridiculous levels and we're not going to get 11 rushing TDs, it's going to stay up pretty much because this is a solution he's found in my mind to how defense has schemed to stop him. And now with Rashid Rice back in, I think we're going to have a lot more situations where they're just moving the football really well with this group of receivers. Like you said, they distribute the ball well. Last night we didn't even see anything from Taekwond Thornton who became a big piece. You know, who knows what will happen with that? But it's not necessary at this time. But Rice is a really good player for, for Mahomes in my opinion. That's why I brought him up like already at that QB1 per game rank in 4 point pass in QB2 and 6 point. With rice coming back, I, I have high expectations for him and I think, you know, he wasn't drafted in that elite tier at all. You got a pretty good discount on him this year. So I was early on him last year, but this may be the year I was expecting from him last year maybe coming this year with all these.
Jacob
Receivers around him, he's so locked in right now. I'm having so much fun watching this like old, like gritty version of Mahomes that we've got here. All of a sudden he's like mad all the time, just running people over. I love it.
Adam
Yeah, it does look more like the.
Dan Schneier
Lamar where like it's just there's no solution because he'll run if you, no matter what you really do defensively. Right now he's finding solutions, I think. Yeah.
Adam
And someone says, sure, Adam, except we've already seen Mahomes BQB1 multiple times. He is back. He's elite, right? Well, I'm just pointing out that he's doing it in a very different way than what he did when he was elite. To me, the hope is that Rice, you know, does all the stuff that Rice does and Worthy is the big play guy. But we're not really seeing the last two weeks especially we're not really seeing the big plays. I think he had that one to taekwond thornton 2 weeks ago where he just kind of heaved it up.
Dan Schneier
He's definitely not fully Healthy?
Adam
Who?
Dan Schneier
Worthy.
Adam
Oh, worthy. I don't know.
Dan Schneier
I mean, I could see it from how he's moving.
Adam
Really?
Dan Schneier
I don't think he's. No. Yeah.
Adam
I want to talk about the Lions.
Dan Schneier
Guys, because an ankle injury all year. Yeah, go on.
Adam
Where do you think Jameer Gibbs is per game right now?
Jacob
Oh, top 10, 4, 5?
Dan Schneier
Is he that much higher?
Adam
He's 10th.
Dan Schneier
Yeah.
Adam
Going into this week, this was a bad week for Jameer Gibbs. Just, just an off game. 17 carries, 65 yards, one catch, no yards going into this week. He was, I think, the number six running back per game. Yeah, number six per game in full PPR. He was averaging 19.1 PPR fantasy points per game going into this week. That is almost exactly what Jameer Gibbs was averaging last year before the David Montgomery injury. And it was. Why you could have been a little hesitant to draft him with a top five pick because he really. 19 points per game is very, very good. But when you consider that Christian McCaffrey, what, has scored at least 22 points, I think every single game, you know, you're not getting, you're not getting top five production right now from Jameer Gibbs. You're only getting five targets in the last three games. I don't know what that's all about. I think that'll change. But it's, it's interesting because obviously it feels like he's having a great season, but right now he's not. He's not at 19 points per game. That was going into yesterday's really bad game. So is he just going to be that kind of 19 point guy or can he be 21, 22? It's kind of a big difference. Maybe it doesn't really matter. You're starting him every week, but just, just wanted to bring it up. He's basically been, you know, what he was with Montgomery last year.
Dan Schneier
Yeah. These are also the weeks you can kind of, I think predictably, if you have better options, sit a player like David Montgomery. Yeah. I mean, you know, at least the ones where you can project the, the game script to fall like this. But it's tough to say for the Lions rest of year how many games there will be like that Montgomery actually.
Adam
Outscored Gibbs and PPR even though Gibbs had 17 carries.
Dan Schneier
Yeah. With the receptions, not great.
Adam
So last. Are you more encouraged by Jameson Williams, who had six catches, 66 yards and a touchdown on seven targets, or Isaiah Pacheco, who played 77% of the snaps, who got his first three snaps of the season from the five yard line or closer who ran five routes on third down after running a combined four routes on third down the entire year going into this game. Are you and I, I don't know what the deal was. I know Kareem Hunt did get banged up in this game, so that may have contributed to some of this. But are you more encouraged by Jameson Williams or Isaiah Pacheco?
Jacob
Take it in. Please say Isaiah Pacheco so I can sell them on my dynasty teams today.
Dan Schneier
Yeah, I don't find much encouragement from either of those two players.
Jacob
I'll go with Jamo.
Adam
All right, so Pacheco, jmo, the route depth has been a little lower in two of the past three games. More reasonable. And he's gotten seven or eight targets into the last three games.
Jacob
Right.
Adam
So that's encouraging.
Jacob
Yeah, for sure. Like everything is funneled through Amano Saint Brown and I think that like we're starting to see them find ways to get him involved more and more. Jameson Williams. So that's, that's why I went with him. I think it's encouraging for both of them. Like Pacheco, as much as it's, you know, not really coming together for fantasy production. Like if he's in this role and the offense is what we think it's about to like elevate to, then like there's going to be touchdowns available. Adam, you know, brought up the, the reds and usage and that's real. That has pretty much all gone to Kareem. So unless it was just a one week thing with Kareem, we'll keep an eye on like the injury reporting and stuff like that coach peak index and see what everybody's saying there in Kansas City. But if we can expect this at all. And it does kind of feel like they're phasing out Rashard Smith in the backfield and like, yeah, even if he's one of the worst running starting running backs in terms of efficiency, he could get, get you there for fantasy.
Adam
He's not that bad. What's he averaging? He's, he's solid there. He's probably over four yards per carry. Right?
Dan Schneier
Swift level. Right?
Jacob
Yeah. I mean I would have to think he's in the bottom five in terms of like rushing yards of expectation and stuff. When I watch him, it's, it's amazing to me how little amounts from all of the movement that's happening.
Adam
That's true. 4.2 yards per carry right now for.
Jacob
Here we go, Here we go. Here we go.
Dan Schneier
Block the run. Well, either they still don't block the run. Well, the Chiefs.
Jacob
Yeah, that's fair. I. I feel like they should be able to run up the interior like.
Dan Schneier
I don't really should with Dre Smith and Creed Humphrey. It makes no sense, but nothing ever looks to be. They look like they never get pushed on the ball up front.
Adam
Yeah, look, I dropped Pacheco, I'd say in three leagues over the last couple of weeks and it's hard to say I regret it. I mean, you have to make the decisions that make sense for your team. I think I dropped him for, you know, like Michael Carter, Rico Dowdle and I, you know, that helped me win weeks, but. But it may be one that I end up been losing on. If. If this real, if this role change is real, I'm not convinced it is because I don't know what Kareem Hunt's injury status was. He did come back in the game.
Dan Schneier
All right, quick side note that I won't spend too much time on just find amazing. We'll probably talk about this player a little bit today and a lot this week. This sometimes like the inefficiencies of the NFL. Like Rico Dowdle, like I just watched your full cut up of him this week, Jacob. I watched all last week's snaps. He's a really good freaking football player. One of the better ones that I watched this week and like the card the Panthers got him for nothing this offseason. Absolutely nothing. How many teams could he help right now?
Adam
But you know what? You know who got even less than him? Javante Williams got even less money than him. And that's worked out for the Cowboys.
Dan Schneier
Yeah.
Adam
And also I think you have to. I don't know, I mean I haven't watched any of it. But you should watch the tape of him from the first four weeks of the season because what did we just see? He played Miami and Dallas in his last two games. Yeah, the jets had the same exact schedule. Miami and then Dallas and then they pooped themselves in London, granted, against arguably the best defense in football. So before the Miami and Dallas games, Rico Dowdle was averaging, I think 3.2 yards per carry with a long of 10 yards. He was actually less efficient than Chuba Hubbard. Fewer carries. So I. I want to take everything with a grain of salt.
Dan Schneier
Fair.
Adam
He is our first topic. He's one of our big topics today. So I'll save all the notes for that. Jacob, tell me what's coming up this week on beyond the box Score.
Jacob
Yeah, beyond the box Score. We are going to before the season. Dan and I provided like our value tiers and we did like S tier, A tier, B tier, C tier. We nailed George Pickens at the top. Love that. Take another victory lap on that. We're gonna look back at those and just kind of like give you an evaluation of where we're at. Like if we were to draft right now, who would be the best values and looking at some like trade charts and stuff like that, where people are rest of season and then of course give you a rest of season rankings update as well.
Adam
Okay, good stuff. All right, we're going to take a quick break here and come back and go through the news and notes. We have updates on Garrett Wilson and Puka Nakua and we'll get into the snap counts and the stats that you need to know and the four big topics after this.
Jacob
This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Listening to this podcast Smart move. Being financially savvy.
Adam
Smart move.
Dan Schneier
Another smart move having State Farm help.
Adam
You create a competitive price when you choose to bundle home and auto bundling.
Dan Schneier
Just another way to save with a personal price plan like a good neighbor.
Jacob
State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state.
Dan Schneier
Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and.
Adam
Eligibility vary by state. What's up everyone? It's Siya Najad from Fantasy Football Today dfs, a weekly NFL daily fantasy show that's a part of the CBS Sports Podcast Network. If you're looking for NFL game by game previews, which players stock is up or down, and DFS strategies and advice, Mike McClure, Meg Shoup and I have you covered every single week. Download and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere podcasts are found. Make sure to turn on those notifications so you don't miss a single pick all season long. Good luck. If you love the NFL and NFL draft, you'll love with the first pick. A part of CBS Sports Podcast Network, CBS Sports draft analyst Ryan Wilson and former Titans GM Ran Carthon come to you twice a week to give the front office perspective on the biggest NFL storylines of the day. We also follow the NFL Draft Closer than anyone, the weekly updates on our favorite college players, names to know based on your favorite NFL team's needs and all the mock drafts and big boards you could want. If you love football, you're exactly where you're supposed to be. Download with the first pick and follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Anywhere podcasts are found. Man, look at this. Rich is yelling at me. Rico Dowdle all Caps was not starting the first four weeks stop down playing great football. So there's no. There's a lot more to it than just matchups. But I went look at my notes from the preseason because he averaged 4.8 yards per carry for the Cowboys last year when he got the lead role. So that was great. But if you break it down between good. Made a lot of good matchups, good matchups and bad matchups, there was a big difference in his efficiency. Again, this is our first big topic, so we'll get to it. I'm not trying to downplay what he did. I think he's going to be the best Carolina running back going forward. I'm just saying Miami and Dallas are arguably the two best matchups for any player, you know, at any position in football.
Dan Schneier
That's a good point. It really is. Yeah.
Jacob
People like to yell about Rico Daddle. I've found out.
Dan Schneier
I think he's a really hot topic.
Jacob
Provocative. He's the Wildo factor. He's gets people going.
Adam
I like him, man. I, I was. I couldn't believe the Cowboys waited so long to give him the keys last year. You know, they waited too long.
Dan Schneier
And I will want to talk about that this week. Jacob on beyond the box card. Just the dip difference in. Because I obviously had that, you know, the, the take I had on the Panthers offensive line that I've really seen where we have to reevaluate that take. And obviously most of it's been in the run game, but it's allowing them to do things in the past game that I was not expecting.
Jacob
I loved the designs they had this week. There's so many cool, like, ways to get space with the polars and stuff they were doing. I've never really seen it, like, it's generally been kind of boring from their run game. It's just been like Chuba being a dog.
Dan Schneier
Yes. And that talks to Adam's point, though, because you can do those things in the run game when you have good game script and you're playing the Cowboys and the Dolphins and you can run on those types of teams. Will that continue for the Panthers? It's a good point, I think, Adam, as far as their run game goes.
Adam
Well, remember they also lost their guards. Right. They got. They've got.
Dan Schneier
That was the whole idea, right?
Jacob
Yeah.
Adam
And they're still running, so effectively. It's kind of crazy. All right, news and notes. Lamar Jackson expected back after the buy. Amarian Hampton's going to be out more than four weeks, according to NFL Network. Amari D Markado left with an ankle injury. Garrett Wilson has a knee injury. Pukinakua. They haven't ruled them out this week. It feels like the safest bet to make right now for Puka from a fantasy standpoint if you have him would just be to assume he's missing this week, then they have the buy and then hopefully back after that. But they haven't ruled Puka out this week. He has an ankle injury, a Mecca Buka hamstring injury. They have two games, then a buy. We'll see how long Abuka's out. Calvin Ridley hamstring injury. Marvin Harrison Jr. Concussion David Najoku thigh injury. Mike Gasicki pectoral injury. And we'll leave it at that and we'll get into the snap counts and the other stats. Although I did find it funny I saw two teams amongst I don't know why I was just looking but in our leagues. Oh in fact I played one of them that had that was undefeated with Puka Kua and a Mecca Buka and undefeated no longer.
Dan Schneier
You know.
Adam
Yeah, unfortunately that'll do it. So snap counts and other stats. Jacob, anything jump out at you?
Jacob
Sure, yeah. Like the the Chargers I thought were they were really interesting this week. They with Quinn Johnson out I thought maybe it would be Keandre Lambert Smith, the rookie who stepped into the X receiver role. That's what we saw during the preseason was that KLS did the outside perimeter bound stuff and Trey Harris, the rookie they drafted in. I think round two was more of like the guy they're moving around kind of like they do with keenan Allen and lad McConkey. But I think that that was maybe just to get him some experience doing that stuff. And so this week it was like pretty much all Trey Harris, Keandra Lambert Smith only had a 28 snap rate. So that's interesting to me. Like I I think the sickos will be interested in that because they wanted Trey Harris to be a thing. He had the team lead in snaps at 83. And then another sicko note here, Aronde Gadsden, this tight end that everybody got pretty excited about a couple weeks ago. 75 snap already had a fumble but I thought it looked pretty good. Again bounced back and kept getting opportunities after that. Okay, videl67. Do you guys have you got a chance to watch that film? Do you have any thoughts on that?
Dan Schneier
No, I want to do that for tomorrow's show. Jacob, I really want to see because very surprising there to see how that backfield split up.
Jacob
Hey, who do You.
Adam
Who do you play?
Jacob
What do you. What is that?
Adam
What was the matchup?
Jacob
The Dolphins. Yeah, of course. Yeah. But, yeah, played a lot. They. Hassan Haskins is. Who is the presumed starter, the reported starter and is a guy that, like, you know, Harbaugh loves. You see him. The block at the end of the game was so clutch by Haskins. Did you see that play where he ran back and got into the play on the. Yeah.
Adam
Oh, on the McCaffrey catch.
Jacob
Yeah.
Adam
Oh, yeah.
Jacob
Donkey catch. He like, got way back in the play when he seemed like he was all the way out of it. And so, like, that was just interesting to me that Videl was the one who got all the work, got all the playing time, because I think Haskins definitely has the trust of the team. And Vidal is somebody that we really liked a lot last year. He was around 6 pick, but a lot of his collegiate metrics were really strong at Troy and his preseason film was really fun, too. But it just. He never really got an opportunity last year, but he. I mean, we don't really know what's going to happen with Hampton, so I think he's. I don't like. I'm curious if he's somebody you would buy. I just got him in Dynasty for dirt cheap because I've got like James Cook on a buy this week. And I think he's just a good guy to have to kind of like fill in if you need him. Like, I'm probably going to start him over. Tony Pollard this next week, which is. Oh, yeah. You know what I mean? Like that.
Adam
So, like, I'm out on Pollard. He played fewer snaps. A lot fewer snaps than speed.
Dan Schneier
It was a really bad week for Pollard. You could see it up there.
Jacob
Jacob has the graphic up 42 snap right for Pollard. And we saw way more. Way more Taji Spears. Obviously, a game script thing, but, I.
Dan Schneier
Mean, it was a game script. We'll stay. It's the sticky game script with the Titans.
Jacob
It was against the Raiders.
Dan Schneier
Yeah.
Jacob
Are you. Are you ever going to feel confident that they're not going to be playing from behind 59 snap rate for Tai Chi Spears in this.
Adam
Oh, yeah. I mean, I think you have to ask yourself, who's a better pickup? I don't even think it's a question, but Kamani Vidal or Taj Spears? Videl is obviously a better pickup now, but Spears might average seven PPR fantasy points per game, you know, and be someone you can just throw in there if you need it. Right. And I think this prob. This week Was probably a lesson. Hey, sometimes I need someone who can just get me seven points. Right. I'm desperate. I'm injured by weeks and he's going to have a role rest of season. I think when Hampton comes back, Vidal is. Unless he does amazingly in this next month, I think Vidal probably has almost no role.
Jacob
Real quick, I want to clarify for people because they're talking about the Raiders defense. My point is that the Raiders on any given week are going to have one of the lowest implied totals from Vegas. They're not expected to score very many points. So that's like the type of team that you will probably be playing with a lead or even in a neutral game. Whereas basically any other opponent. The Titans are going to be huge underdogs, which is the type of game where we see more Tai J. Spears playing time, right?
Dan Schneier
Yeah.
Adam
Okay. Anything else? I have a lot of stuff, but floor is yours.
Jacob
Tell you.
Adam
Okay, so just some more snap count things. Mason Taylor played 95 of the snaps I mentioned on the waiver wire show on Tuesday. He has great, great matchups after the Denver game. So don't necessarily give up. Not saying he's gonna be great every week. I don't even know if he's gonna be good. But if you believed in Mason Taylor, he's got great matchups and he played almost every snap. Travis Hunter had seven targets. He didn't do anything with it. Four catches for 15 yards, but he had seven targets and he played 78% of the offensive snaps.
Jacob
88% route rate for Travis Hunter.
Adam
That's great.
Jacob
44 routes. He hadn't run more than 30 routes in a game so far.
Dan Schneier
It'd be great if Trevor Lawrence could get the football to these guys.
Adam
Yeah. Let's see. I had the note on Spears, I had the note on the Chargers guys. How about Chase Brown? It's just not looking good for him. 54% of the snapshot. Samaj P. Ryan had six carries in the game. Three of P. Ryan's carries came on third down. So Chase Brown had nine of 12 running back carries on first and second down. But honestly I would expect that to be 1112 or 12 of 12.
Dan Schneier
Yeah.
Adam
And he's just not playing that much. And when A Buka was out in the second half, Tess Johnson and Cameron Johnson played a lot more snaps than Sterling shepherd, but they all ran about the same amount of routes. And Zach Sharpen, he played 14 more snaps than Ken Walker and that is pretty much all I got there.
Jacob
This test Johnson breakout has been pretty fun.
Dan Schneier
Yeah. Tess Johnson really interesting player because, yeah, his tape was really good at college. And, you know, when he went to, I believe it was either Senior bowl week or the bowl week that he played in. I remember reading reports of this guy's just getting open. Like, he's really hard to guard, but he was like 5 foot 7. Right. He's like 5 foot tiny. He's really. He's like 150 pounds. Like, he's in the zero percentile when it comes to height and weight, I think at least on the weight standpoint.
Jacob
So he's the smallest prospect I've ever seen. Every. Yeah.
Dan Schneier
So it's like, how would he hold up and how would it translate to the NFL? But he was really good at college and he looks pretty damn good. Like, that route he ran for the touchdown, he got separation. Made a really sick play in the football too.
Jacob
So analytics were insane too. But he was like, didn't test well at all. And he's tiny, so that was the problem. What do we do with this guy? But yeah, he looks like. I mean, he's making plays, he's out, he's making plays as a pro. Baker after the game was like, that wasn't the route that I was expecting him to run, but he adapted to where the defense was and I was able to hit him on it. And so like, that says a lot about a young player to be able to do that, you know, but that.
Dan Schneier
Also makes sense, like, given his profile, like, he was so productive, I think for those reasons by not having the physical traits maybe. And they've already ruled out Chris Godwin for month for this coming week. Yeah. So.
Adam
And Bucky Irving also ruled out for. For fans for week seven. But you know, football fans, picture this. You bet on your favorite player to score the first touchdown in the game, but his teammate scores instead. If this happens, bet MGM wants to give you another chance at the end zone. With BetMGM's 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 of the game. If you're right, you win. If your player scores second, you get your stake back in cash. With BetMGM's 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. Now, before we get into our big topics, I think we should just review something because I went into the day yesterday talking with Jacob, I think off the air and I said, man, my lineups are terrible. I, I think I'm going to get swept by Dan Schneier. I think he's going to beat me in all three of the leagues that were facing each other. So, you know, things don't always work out the way you assume. So let's take a look first. Let's give Dan credit. Dominant Dan Schneier crushing me in the Bake Burger dynasty league. Obviously, I don't know if I'll ever.
Dan Schneier
Lose a game in that league. We did a redraft. What was that, two years ago now? You know, a full. Not redraft, a. What do they call it? A startup draft. Yeah. And I don't think there's ever been a better dynasty team drafted in a startup draft than my team. And I will, I'd say that knowing that I'm about to take a lot of heat for that type of comment. But take a look at that roster. Let it run through your, your veins and just understand that I don't lose any of these weeks. I'm like 300 points above the rest of people in that. Now. Let's get to all the leagues.
Adam
Yeah, let's, let's take a look at the rest of it here.
Dan Schneier
I just set that up for my downfall.
Adam
Super Flex League. Well, you've got a 5% chance. I, I honestly wish I felt better about this. You still have Bijan Robinson.
Dan Schneier
Felt better. I have a 5% chance. Yeah.
Adam
You shot.
Dan Schneier
Please. In my lineup. Look at all those injured things next to names. Injury, injury.
Adam
Yeah, I got lucky there. But that's one in one. So then how about, how about the last one? The Super Flex, the, the new dynasty league that we have.
Dan Schneier
Oh, no. I have to start like idiots in that league. I have no options and everyone's injured in that league for me.
Jacob
Yeah, I love that. Dan gets doubled up. He's losing by literally 80 points and he's like, oh, I had two injuries.
Dan Schneier
But he has Bijan not blaming on the injuries. I got my butt kicked.
Adam
No, no.
Dan Schneier
That's why I had to drag in the beginning.
Adam
All right, so here we go. The Super Flex Dynasty League. Look at that. You got a 1% chance. You need, you need a big 30 point game from Kyle Pitts tonight, so.
Dan Schneier
Oh, great, that's gonna happen.
Adam
You lost. You lost to RJ Harvey. I had to start Quentin Johnson.
Dan Schneier
Look at my team. Look at my team. I have McLaurin injured. I have. Look at my, look at my bench.
Adam
Johnston in my Lineup. I had to pick up Sterling Shepard for this game. You have no excuse.
Dan Schneier
I should have picked up Sterling Shepard for this game.
Jacob
Adam, why did you have to. To start Quentin Johnston? Who made you do that?
Adam
I got no one to drop. I mean, I got Christian Kirk, Darnell Mooney, Malik Neighbors, Mike Evans, and it's Caleb Johnson.
Jacob
You can't drop Dynasty.
Adam
Dynasty, you know, you can't drop Caleb Johnson. I had to drop Taysum Hill.
Jacob
He could.
Adam
I hope that. I hope that. All right, well, that was fun.
Dan Schneier
Thank you all for letting me do that for you.
Adam
Four big topics. This one's about Rico Dowdle. It's Colin Fast saying what to do with him. Now. Keep trade. What are we thinking? Dan Schneier on Rico Doddle.
Dan Schneier
You're not going to be able to trade him, I don't think for. Well, I guess if you're trading to a desperate team that's in need of a win asap, that's possible. I don't look at him as a player. I would be looking to trade though, because I. I just think looking at their offense, they're so much more effective going through Dowdle than they were through Pollard, at least this year. With that said, I'm coming back around to it. I don't know if the game script's going to be good enough for him to continue at this level, so I'm trading him.
Adam
Jacob. Keep him. Trade him.
Jacob
Yeah, I'd be fine trading him if you. If you feel like you get a good haul. But he's obviously playing amazing right now and we did like what we saw from the. The run scheme. He didn't have a single touch that didn't gain positive yards. So not even like 0 yards. Like every single touch, 33 of them gained positive yards. Insane.
Adam
For Henry. There's a question in the chat.
Dan Schneier
I'll take Henry any day in that same.
Jacob
Yeah, sure.
Adam
Yeah, well, go ahead, Dan.
Jacob
I'm sorry.
Dan Schneier
I'm just like looking at the game. For me, it's like all game script dependent. I think he's a really good player. I think that the Panthers have clearly figured out with their offense. They have to try to operate it through the run game if they want any chance to be successful. And that's really what's led to the success in the passing game in my mind. And this is an offensive line just looking at the two tackles that are much better run blockers than pass blockers. So looking at the schedule, is it possible? Right. Jets Panthers is this week certainly possible for good game script. There we go. Check one. Bills, Panthers, not possible. Packers, Panthers, maybe possible. I feel like the packers get these teams in pretty good game scripts where you can run the ball. Saints, Panthers, it's possible. Falcons, Panthers, it's possible. 49ers, Panthers, maybe, maybe not. But like, even Rams and 49ers are teams that stay in pretty even game scripts, I would say. Then it's Saints again, then it's Bucks, Seahawks. Like, it's not an impossible schedule for the Panthers to kind of stay in these games and be in positive game scripts where they can run the football. So as I look through the schedule, I'm a little bit more interested in Dalla than I than I thought I'd be. Even with the return of Hubbard, because he is clearly their best back in.
Jacob
This offense, in my opinion, even in neutral or slightly negative game scripts, as long as they're not getting absolutely having the doors blown off, I think that they're going to run. I think that's what like, them and the Browns are the teams that run the most when not when playing for behind. And to your point about being the best back, like, unless Hubbard is affected by the injury, I just want to like, point out how good he's been. He really has been so freaking good. That's what I've got up on the screen here is like last year The Panthers were 25th in EPA per drop back, 24th in EPA per rush. That wasn't Hubbard and fourth in EPA Peresh. Like comparing Hubbard to any other running back. Dowdle is better than the guys they had last year. But I. I don't know. I think my guess is that they'll give them both touches, maybe like alternate drives like the Lions are doing or something like that, and just kind of ride the hot hand. And I think that could just as easily be Hubbard as Dowdle. Yeah.
Adam
And we have a chat. We have a comment in the chat. Is it me or was Dowdle good in Dallas and now good here?
Jacob
He was.
Adam
He was weeks 12 through 18. He was the number 18 running back per game in PPR. He only had 13 catches in those games.
Dan Schneier
Wow.
Adam
And he only scored five touchdowns, but he averaged 4.8. No, he was only on pace for five touchdowns. Sorry. And he was on. He averaged 4.8 yards per carry. He did have a lot of easy matchups. And I would say that Chuba Hubbard, before his injury, his first four games, they actually had some pretty tough matchups. So I'm not sure. I mean, I feel like we go daddle to me, probably a better rusher than Chuba Hubbard, but I don't know that for sure. Yeah. So let me. Let me read some questions from the chat so we can get an idea of his value. Rico for Scatterboo.
Jacob
Scatterboo.
Dan Schneier
Scatterboo for sure.
Jacob
What I've got here is like a game last year where he did this exact same thing. 25 carries for 149 yards, all of them gaining positive yards. And so it's just like he did have 1300 scrimmage yards last year in an offensive environment that was not good and was able to just consistently create plays. This was the best game, best bell cow game of any running back in terms of just consistently getting positive yards.
Adam
Gave up Dowdle for Abuka.
Dan Schneier
Send Dowdle to hover.
Jacob
Give me a buka.
Dan Schneier
Well, I don't know. He's undergoing testing. That's never a good sign.
Adam
Yeah, it's risky. Depends how you feel about injured players. How about this one? Dowdle for Diggs.
Jacob
They're pretty similar in my mind. So it depends on what you need.
Dan Schneier
Yeah, I'm good with it. All right.
Adam
The quote from Dave Canales when he was asked who the starter would be, he said a great question. We're going to figure that part out, but I know Rico is doing a great job and he will be a big part of what we're doing. And by the way, Chuba harbor didn't even practice last week, so.
Dan Schneier
Right.
Adam
I don't know that he's going to be back this week. I don't know when he's going to be back. Enjoy this ride and hope he keeps it up against some tougher competition. Okay, let's take a break. We got three more topics to get to when we come back, including the Philadelphia Eagles and what the heck is going on with them. We'll be right back. What's up, everyone? It's the counselor of Cash C and Ajad from the early Edge, a daily sports betting show powered by Sportsline and part of the CBS Sports Podcast network. If you're looking for the best bets, picks and analysis for the day in sports, we're your one stop shop. We're locked in every day with NFL, NFL bets and player props, college football picks and so much more. Download and follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere podcasts are found. Subscribe to the SportsLine YouTube page to watch us live at 10am Eastern Time every weekday. Make sure to turn on those notifications so you don't miss a single pick all season long.
Dan Schneier
Good luck. It's football season and you gotta keep.
Adam
Up with the action.
Dan Schneier
Listen in to Pushing the Pile, part of CBS Sports Podcast Network with Mike.
Adam
Renner, Kyle Long, and now me, JP.
Dan Schneier
Acosta for smart analysis of everything between the lines. With four episodes a week, Sunday night.
Adam
Recaps, film review, power tiers, and weekly previews, you will know ball. Stick with us until one team lists.
Dan Schneier
To Lombardi download and follow Pushing the.
Adam
Pile on Apple podcasts, Spotify, and anywhere podcasts are found. Carolina basketball isn't just a program, it's a legacy. I'm John Henson, and we'll be the host of Tar Heel247, a UNC basketball.
Dan Schneier
Podcast for fans who bleed Carolina blue. Each week I'll be joined by players.
Adam
Coaches, and insiders for real, unfiltered conversations about the team, the tradition, maybe some.
Dan Schneier
Funny stories and everything in between.
Adam
No filters, no fluff, just hoop talk. The Tar Heel ways.
Dan Schneier
Subscribe now to Tar Heel247@ UNC Basketball Podcast or wherever you get your podcast at.
Adam
We will have a good time. Get ready to go. All right, welcome back, folks.
Dan Schneier
Adam, how much right now? I put. I won't even put a lot. I'll put 145 plate on one side, 145 plate on the other side of a bench press. How many, if any, reps do you think you can do?
Adam
You're saying one weight that weighs 45 pounds?
Dan Schneier
No, just a classic 45 or on one 45 around the other. That's a. It's not a lot. I think it's 135.
Jacob
Yes.
Dan Schneier
Oh, with the bar.
Adam
Oh, boy. I would say get a wrap up.
Dan Schneier
Could you get a wrap up unassisted?
Adam
I think no.
Dan Schneier
Damn.
Adam
I don't know, though. I have no idea. Maybe I could do a few, but I think.
Dan Schneier
Have you ever bench pressed in your life?
Adam
Yeah, in high school.
Dan Schneier
Oh, you used to lift in high school?
Adam
And then briefly when I was in my 20s.
Dan Schneier
When you were in your 20s, what were you doing? Like, what were you able to do?
Adam
Actually, I don't think when I was in my 20s, I had a gym in my building and I would go by myself. So I don't think I was bench pressing or I would have died.
Dan Schneier
Too risky. Too risky?
Adam
Yeah. I don't remember what I was doing. I have no recollection because I look.
Dan Schneier
At that ad we played during the break and I'm like, Dave could probably throw up. Like 235.
Adam
Yeah, I. I would throw up if I saw 230.
Dan Schneier
Okay.
Adam
This one is from Mr. Eric. Are we buying the fall off of the Eagles rest of season? Oh, man.
Dan Schneier
Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Not rest of season, but maybe. But like right now we can just work with what we have, right? And what we have is a clearly broken offense in the NFL out of the ones that we watch on a week to week basis. How many more weeks do we need to see before we can call this offense broken? They don't block well in the run game. Landon Dickerson was out last week and probably will be playing hurt throughout the rest of the season. Tyler Steen's a bust at right guard. Cam Jurgens is not. Jason Kelsey. He's not. He's what they thought would be the next Kelsey. He's not. Their O line is taking a clear step back at least in the run game and then in the passing game, which hurts for a player like Saquon park because he's not Cam Scatter Boo. He's not like these Rico Dowdle type. He needs the hole to hit and go. He's a speed back with I guess great moves or what's left of him. And then there's Jalen hurts in the passing game and Petula and what we see there, which is one, A receiver with the worst body language of any receiver I've watched on tape this year by far. A.J. brown watching back to all 22 of that week. I've never seen worse body language this year. So who knows what's going on with that, where that will go. And Jalen hurts, who is not really processing things well. He's not seeing the field well. I don't, like, I don't know, man. Like, are we expecting that to change because he had as great games in the playoffs, in the Super Bowl? I just don't know. I don't know.
Adam
This is basically the most negative take you could have on the Eagles, I think. And I'm not saying it's wrong and you're not biased. It has nothing to do with you being a Giants fan. I, I'm not.
Dan Schneier
Yeah, they said they were amazing last year.
Adam
Yeah, but it is really.
Dan Schneier
You're.
Adam
You're taking these six games which have been a little bit of a struggle and Jalen hurts with these bad six games. He scored 22.6 or more fantasy points in five of six games.
Dan Schneier
Oh yeah, he'll be safe. He tush pushes his way into like six to 12 points a week.
Adam
It's. It's like the most negative outlook you could give. But it, it does sort of sometimes with, with these High profile teams that are under the magnifying glass. It seems like the world is falling down when they struggle. And then a lot of times they just kind of figure it out. I mean, how many times have the Chiefs been counted out, including this year? And now they might be the best team in football, you know, so we're just talking offense. I get that. I just. I think there's too much talent. I. How much different would the Eagles look if Jalen Hurts had completed those two passes to A.J. brown and Devonte Smith wide open, deep balls.
Dan Schneier
But he misses those.
Adam
But.
Jacob
Well, it was.
Adam
The first one was on A.J. brown. He just stopped running. The second one, what the heck. That was a really bad.
Dan Schneier
I thought you're talking about the. The COVID zero in the red zone where he threw an interception of Cordell Flower. He just missed A.J. brown. Like you had a bad read on that.
Adam
No, I'm talking about the deep ball two weeks ago. Yeah, they were playing A.J. brown.
Dan Schneier
Devonte Smith is from a clean pocket. Air mails a throw like there's. That's not.
Adam
Well, I bring this like he's the blame there. I bring this team up a lot. No, it was a. You're right. Totally him. I bring this team up a lot because they, they are supposed to have an elite running back, an elite quarterback and an elite wide receiver. Right now the only thing they have is an elite tight end. So Jacob, what are your thoughts on the Eagles?
Jacob
Well, they do have an elite tight end, elite running back. Two of the receivers, they're all healthy and they're all eating into each other's volume and they don't have their elite offensive line healthy. And we have some concerns about the coach, the new offensive coordinator and the designs there. So I'm kind of where Dan is.
Adam
But it, but when you. AJ Brown has eight or more targets in five straight games and he's not doing anything with it. He's got more than 14 points in one of those games. He's got double digit PPR points in two of those games. So that's. That hasn't been the issue. Goddard, the crazy stat on Goddard is that he's. He's got four or five touchdowns. Is he already. He's already tied his career high in touchdowns six games into the year. He has four targets from the five yard line or closer. He scored on all four of them. He had one target from the five yard line or closer in each of his previous four seasons. So he's already matched that total. That's been annoying. Mostly. I'd say for Barkley, because those are just like, he's not getting a lot of carries near the goal line. But I think it's Brown that's the most confusing to me. Like, I know what devonte Smith is at this point. Brown is like, he is getting the targets. Why isn't it working for A.J.
Jacob
Brown?
Dan Schneier
Well, it starts with they have just eight passing touchdowns in six weeks. So you have. One of the main ways to score in fantasy is touchdowns, and he's not having a lot of opportunities to score touchdowns. And that has to be through volume and yards. And this is not a team that really has a lot of volume in yards or at least hasn't last two weeks, though they have. And the one positive thing I would say for the Eagles offensive, you have a lot of players in fantasy on this team is their defense is banged up and Kenya Mitchell is out. Their best corner, one of the most shutdown corners in the NFL. And Jalen Carter, who may be back this week, and they don't have any edge rushers. So if the defense continues to play poorly, that could help because they can get in better game scripts. But, like, I just. I don't know, man. I watch this offense and I don't see anything positive about it. I don't see a quarterback who's seeing the defense well. I see a quarterback who's super limited, and I see offensive coordinators who's trying to scheme around the limitations of his quarterback. And that's not working right now because they don't run the ball well and they can't block the run. So I don't. I just.
Adam
Would anybody be buying low on the Eagles?
Dan Schneier
No, no, I mean low. Super low, sure. But, like, look at what we got coming up. We've got Brian Flores this week, then the Giants again, who they struggled with, and then the E. I'm sorry, the packers. And then the lines like, these are not good matchups for the next month for the Eagles offense to get back on track.
Jacob
I think the offensive line is a. Is a real problem. Yeah, that's Dan and I hit on a couple weeks ago and you had some metrics on it. Adam. What I found is that, like, outside of plays where Jalen hurts, extends the play, if it's just like his normal drop back, he's getting pressured at one of the quickest rates of any quarterback, and he's getting pressured a ton. And they just seem like they keep going in the wrong direction with trying to get healthy.
Dan Schneier
And that's in the past game, the run game they haven't blocked up well either. He's averaging 3.4. The yards created is not high. Like they're bad there as well.
Adam
So would you trade Rico Dowdle for Saquon Barkley? Yeah, you better say yes.
Dan Schneier
The thing like when you have like an off an offensive line that's not playing well and the Eagles offensive line is not playing well despite having a lot of names and. And the tackles are playing well in pass production. There were plenty of snaps where they eliminated Carter and Burns and all these players. The Giants didn't get pressure, but overall they're not playing great. It comes more on the quarterback and his ability to process the ball defenses and get the ball out on time with velocity and accuracy to all three levels. Are we seeing that from this quarterback right now? Be honest. No, we're not at all.
Adam
So, yeah. But what matters more, what's happening right now or what's happened for the previous three seasons?
Dan Schneier
He never did that. He never. They never operated that kind of pass.
Adam
And yet they've been elite for fantasy.
Dan Schneier
Sure.
Adam
Right. That's what I'm saying.
Dan Schneier
Their offensive line was elite.
Jacob
Right.
Dan Schneier
Is their offensive line going to get back to that elite level? That's really the question in my mind at least.
Jacob
The difference between an elite offensive line and like one of the worst offensive lines is so, so significant.
Dan Schneier
Yes.
Adam
Yeah.
Jacob
And the coaching was better.
Dan Schneier
Yeah. I can't imagine it's Kellen Moore with an elite offensive line or it's. And at times it was whoever. The coordinators before that, I forgot who they had the good year two years ago with.
Adam
They had a. Okay year or two years ago.
Jacob
Yeah, I would just say Kellen Moore.
Dan Schneier
Probably just.
Adam
Okay, so that's pretty much where we're at with the Eagles. I think I'm probably a little more optimistic, but definitely, definitely not unconcerned here. They. They just don't seem to be clicking and I feel like they're going to have a new offensive coordinator again next year. This one is from Free. Are there any sell high candidates with bad playoff schedules or any buy low candidates with great playoff schedules? Pretty difficult question to answer after week six. So I, I did my best. I don't know if you guys have any names for this.
Jacob
It's all you.
Adam
Yeah, I figured.
Jacob
I took this, I looked and you had like a bunch of. I was like, oh, he got nice.
Dan Schneier
Yeah, I saw you. Yeah, you had a bunch of names there. All right. Yeah, we'll talk about the ones you have. Let's go, let's go. That route.
Adam
Here's what I did for quarterbacks. I looked at the teams that are actually giving up the most fantasy points to quarterbacks. I also kind of ad libbed a little bit in like some of the matchups that I think are really good. And for running backs, I instead of looking at fantasy points allowed, I looked at yards per carry allowed. I want to see which teams are the two, specifically two running backs. You guys per carry a lot. Which teams are really the worst against the run or the best against the run. So that's kind of where I'm at. There's one team that doesn't look like it has a great schedule on paper, but I kind of feel like it does. And it's New Orleans and their passing game just going forward, you know. Bears, Bucks, Rams are tough. Panthers like Panthers are fourth best against wide receivers. But I'm not really buying it. Falcons then you get the Dolphins, the Bucks, the Panthers, the Jets. Jets wouldn't be good for Olave necessarily the Titans. So I don't know. I'm not doing anything with that. I don't have enough faith in the, in the Saints. The running backs with good matchups in the playoffs or late in the season. Chase Brown has great matchups. I don't care. Quinton Judkins, I don't know about him right now. On paper it's pretty good. But Buffalo and Pittsburgh are his week 16 and 17 opponents and they've been so injured. So Pittsburgh I think for sure is. Is tougher. I would say that Judkins has a pretty damn good schedule at least until week 16 and 17. He's got Miami. New England is tough. New England is tough. After that then a buy. Jets, Ravens, Raider. I'm saying this out loud and I don't know like the, the. The Raiders have a good run defense. The jets have a decent run defense. The Niners should be an easy matchup without Fred Warner. The Titans are easy. The Bears are easy. I like overall I like Quinch on Judkin schedule a lot. I like Josh Jacobs schedule. He's got Chicago and Baltimore in the fantasy playoffs. I like Pacheco schedule. The Chiefs run schedule looks a lot better than their past schedule right now. The Patriots running backs have a pretty good schedule. They have Baltimore and the jets in the playoffs. They also have the Giants, the Bengals, the jets. We knew this all year. Like the Patriots just have a great schedule. Bad schedules. Let me get your thoughts. Oh, Jacori Crosby, Merit has a very good schedule going forward, especially in the playoffs. Bad schedules what are your thoughts on Brian Thomas Jr. First of all, he's one of the storylines of week six. Huge game. But I brought this up. Who does he have in week 15, first week of the playoffs? Yes. Sauce Gardner. Who does he have in week 16?
Dan Schneier
Does that mean anything anymore?
Adam
Yes. Oh, absolutely. Gardner's been great.
Dan Schneier
Yeah, it's been better lately.
Adam
Who's been better than Gardner? Patrick Certain. That's who Brian Thomas Jr. Has in week 16. So his fantasy playoffs are Jets, Broncos, Colts. Does that mean. Does that matter to you guys?
Jacob
Yeah, I don't love that.
Dan Schneier
Yeah, that's not good at all. And we have been pretty low on the buy low idea for Brian Thomas, despite his breakout quote, unquote.
Adam
How you guys feeling about that right now?
Jacob
I actually do feel like both him and Travis Hunter are fine if you want to buy. I mean, Travis Hunter's got to be like, pretty much free right now.
Dan Schneier
Yeah.
Jacob
And it's more so about the offense and what we've seen from Liam Cohen than about those guys specifically. It's just to me, this looks like on paper, and when we watched him just last week against the Chiefs, you know, like, this looks like a top eight offensive environment. So even some of these games where there's tougher individual matchups, they might still be able to put points on the board. So I'm fine with either of them. But these tough cornerback matchups for wide receiver one are definitely worth noting.
Adam
That's the number one for me. Defense has changed so much throughout the year. Injuries change things so much. But it is worth noting. Josh Allen has a terrible playoff schedule at New England, at Cleveland, Philadelphia, he already struggled against New England at home. Cleveland is more tough against the run than anything. And. And James Cook, I mean, James Cook has the Patriots and the Browns. Those are two of the best run defenses in football. So that's weeks 15 and 16 for him. Kyler Murray, on paper, has a bad playoff schedule he's got beginning the week before the playoffs. Beginning week 14, he has the Rams, the Texans and the Falcons. Might want to think about this with Marvin Harrison Jr. Rams, Texans, Falcons. That's Stingley, that's Terrell. If you get to week 17 with Kyler and Marvin Harrison Jr. You get Cincinnati. So that's good. Patrick Mahomes has a tough schedule just before the playoffs start. I mean, just like going forward. Raiders, Commanders, that's fine. Buffalo, then a Buy, then Denver, then the Colts. Dallas is great. Then Houston, Chargers, Tennessee, Denver. Not great for Mahomes. Does that matter to anyone?
Jacob
Not so Much to me, I, for some of these players, I'm almost more so interested in like the game environments and of course you can't predict that super perfectly either. But like, could this be a game that turns into a back and forth? Are both teams going to be motivated and like capable of putting points on the board? Like I was looking at the Bucks, who you haven't mentioned. I don't think, Adam, they've. They're a team that I've kind of been targeting because they've got some banged up pieces. I think their offensive line is going to get back and be healthier. And after the Week 9 buy, the Bucks have the Patriots where the defense has played better. The Bills, their defense is good. But both those could be shootouts, right? Sure, if it gets going back and forth, but those could be shootouts. The Rams after that could be a shootout. The Cardinals defense a little bit banged up, who knows? Like the, the Saints, that's a decent matchup. Falcons could be a shootout. Panthers defense and then Dolphins again, where it's like, to me, almost any of those games could be positive environments for fantasy. That's tough when you're looking at schedules and all this at this point. But like, that's another thing to look for for me is like, could this game get into a back and forth game that gives you a lot of points?
Adam
Yeah. I'm going to look at this more closely in about a month when we know more about the matchups. Bucks, to me, are pretty much matchup proof. Baker Mayfield seems to outperform all quarterbacks that face that same matchup. You know, he scored the most points against Houston, I think, and he's so good. He is. But he, he's in a little bit of trouble right now with no Evans, no Godwin, no Abuka.
Dan Schneier
Yeah. And he'll still find a way. That's the crazy part.
Adam
He'll find a way. I don't know if he's got that 28 point upside though. He might have the 21, 22 point upside. I don't know if he's going to find a way to, to be a top five quarterback.
Dan Schneier
And no Bucky too hurts him too.
Adam
Yeah, everything, it's. It's weird, man. They're so injured, but he's the mvp. All right. With all that said, let's get some Buy low candidates from you guys. Your favorite buy lows. Our last topic today.
Jacob
I can go first. Yeah, I think Breeze hall continues to be good by low. I know that that's gonna sound really gross, but that's why you can buy him. Low season high snap.
Adam
Right.
Jacob
This week I think it was 75. So that was up from the week before where we saw them like playing from behind a lot. And it was like a 60, 40 split with him and Isaiah Davis. I think that he can settle into this like 75 range and he's run really well. The offensive line has been hit or miss, but there's definitely talent. So it's like if this comes together and is any better than this, where they have like nothing at all offensively, then he could be somebody who gives you points. And what if he does get traded to the Chiefs or something like that, you know. So I think he's just. To me he's like a top eight or 10 talent at running back. And even if he stays with the jets, could produce as a top 15 running back with the potential for more if he gets lucky with big plays and stuff like that. And he's like running back 20 or something is basically, I think his price. I could. Maybe he's gonna be more expensive, but if you can get him at that price, I would definitely buy. And I'll bring up Bucky again. This is only if you can afford to wait. But I think he should be good after that week. I think it was week nine. Bye. And I just. From that point on he. You probably have a top five, top eight running back. I've got a few more. Do you want me to keep going, Dan, or do you want. Do you have something. Yeah, you can go Bill. I. I think if you can.
Dan Schneier
Oh, that was my. That was number one. I wanted to go. Go ahead, take them all.
Jacob
If you can buy Bill, like he'll probably. It wouldn't surprise if he produces just like Bucky does, you know, like it's an awesome offense. He looks awesome. And they keep. You know, we're seeing like clips of them working on like exclusively on past passing down stuff, running routes and stuff like that. And they've been getting him more and more pass protection reps and everything. So it's like what if he steps into a 60, 70 snap rate. Roll continues to play really well and one of the best run games in the league with an awesome dual threat quarterback.
Dan Schneier
Right.
Jacob
To threaten defenses too. Yeah. And then like Adam said, the schedule is good. Alave like Adam pointed out the schedule note there we finally saw a lave like can get yards right. Like he hasn't been able to get more than 50 yards all year somehow even though he has like the best volume numbers of almost Any receiver. It's like Jackson, Smith, Jigba, Pukinakua and then a lave. But it's been no more than 53 yards in a game. And it's like, oh, he got 53 yards on one catch. That's right. This guy was the ninth overall pick and is super fast. Like we've seen him average over 2 yards per hour run every single season leading up to this one. So if you can still buy low on him, I, I think that it makes sense. And then we already already mentioned Travis Hunter. I think the fact that he, the playing time spiked. We haven't really seen them be willing to do that where they make him like basically a full time offensive player. But still like people are like, this guy sucks. It's like maybe like, does he suck? Probably not. Like they, he captured him second overall. Like, so if you think he could be a late season breakout, which a lot of rookies typically are, I think that's a good buy. And then I wanted to bring up Sam Laporta if you want. Just kind of a random tight end by. I feel like he's just been forgotten about and maybe not so much after he made that freaking awesome catch last night like in the island game.
Adam
Was that sick or what? Man, Even Jerry, he's so good throw too.
Jacob
I. This is like a dynasty buy too. He's so good. I think he's legitimately like a top three or four tight end in the league right now. We have some really good tight ends and I think because like Tucker Kraft and all these guys been pushing up Tyler Warren obviously, like laporte has almost kind of fallen by proxy for no reason, like for no doing of his own. His route rate is higher than it's ever been this year and his per route data is also higher than it's ever been. First down, per out run, yard per route run. He just hasn't had touchdowns like he has in the past. But the offense is still producing touchdowns. So to me it's like this could be just a pretty easy buy where maybe you can just kind of get him in a deal where somebody thinks that it's like a lateral move to go from him to Kincaid or something like that or whatever. Whoever it may be, I think he is probably a top four or five tight end rest of season and could be more.
Adam
I guess my concern with Laporta is they threw over 30 passes in week one and they have not thrown 30 passes in a game since. So inevitably you're just going to get weeks two through four where he had 5.6, 7.3 and seven and 6.9 PPR fantasy points.
Jacob
You know, is there any tight end other than McBride that you feel like you are going to avoid those weeks with?
Adam
Well, Kyle Pitts has not scored fewer than 7.7 in any game. No, I. I don't. I don't think so. It's the nature of the position, I guess. I just wouldn't really buy high on. It's hard to buy him right now. He's coming off two huge games in a row. I don't think you can keep it up. I would almost call him a sell high if you felt like you could get something great and move to a guy like Kincaid or, you know, or someone who's not going to be as good. But I feel like with with him, with Tucker Kraft, I think they're in similar situations where there's going to be a lot of disappointing weeks and some spike weeks.
Jacob
Yeah.
Adam
Not disagreeing with your assessment of laporta. He is terrific, but he hasn't topped six targets since week one. All right.
Jacob
Anyway, George Kittle, I would throw in two.
Dan Schneier
I know Kittle's a nice one. I don't know if I would call it by like it's. It's tough to say just because he's been injured, but that's fine. I'm in on that one. I'm in on the entire 49ers offense taking a step forward. For me, my favorite outside of the ones Jacob mentioned, which would probably be Bill, would be Zay Flowers. I just think it's a perfect time to buy Zay Flowers. Lamar Jackson's back. We saw what he was capable of doing in those first two weeks, especially Week 1, with the game script necessary for Zay Flowers to breakout. And all I know is this Ravens defense is absolutely shot and will continue to be shot for the remainder of the season, most likely based on injuries. So that seems to set up really well once Lamar Jackson gets back for Zay Flowers. So that's a primed by Canada by low. I also would be buying low on a player like T. Higgins. I just think watching that offense operate with Flacco versus Browning was and that's with week one with Flacco having no time to prepare, barely knowing the offense. I just think it's going to continue to get better and better there for that passing game. Not to say it's going to be crazy, but it's going to be efficient enough to support a player like T. Higgins versus earlier. I kind of just like that he's done. And then one more guy I throw in there. I want to see what the Bears do coming out of their bye week. I think, and you've mentioned this in the past, but I think DJ Moore could potentially be an interesting buy low candidate. You'd have to do it right now before this week possibly. But I just think their offense will look a little bit more efficient coming out of the bye week. Okay.
Jacob
Luther Burden. Luther Burton. Spiked.
Dan Schneier
Maybe. Maybe it's time. Maybe it's finally time. Maybe. No. How about Loveland, Jacob? How about people?
Jacob
I don't even know if he's gonna.
Dan Schneier
Get on the field. Love Blend. He's injured. I know. I don't think he's gonna play.
Adam
He might play. He's questionable. I hope he plays. I think Loveland's more. More likely than Burden.
Dan Schneier
To be probably breakout.
Adam
No, to be a breakout. Not to play, obviously, but yeah, but I don't know. Could be wrong. I only had two guys. It's hard to call one of them a buy low because his value is skyrocketing right now. It's Devonte Adams and simply put, I just think he's going to be really good. The catch rate I cannot understand. I went back, I looked at all 11 of his incompletions or Staffords incompletions the last two games to Devonte Adams, three of them he was wide open, one of them was a drop, one of them he slipped on a route, two of them, miscommunication on a route. I just feel like they're close to really being in sync. And what's a bad game from Devonte Adams? It's about 13 fantasy points, you know, so he's, he's so solid and now without Puka, probably for a week. Don't know that for sure. It's going to be hard to buy him, I guess, but I think he's going to have a good finish. He. He is. So he's what? I didn't watch all his routes, just watched the targets. He's wide open so often, which I think is pretty common in the Rams offense. They just know how to get guys open. And the other one is Purdy. You know, he hasn't been great this year because he's thrown two interceptions in both of his starts. One of those starts he was playing hurt. And that is my concern, is that he's never going to be fully healthy this year. But this team throws about as much as any team in football right now. They cannot run the ball, their defense is beat up when you have a bad defense and a bad offense, it doesn't really help that much. You know, you don't take a bad offense and go well, they're going to throw so much. They're. They're bound to be good. I don't think it works that well when you have a good defense and an a bad. When you have a bad defense and a good offense and offense you believe in like the Cowboys this year, that is a formula for fantasy gold. And it could be frustrating with the 49ers receiving core if everyone's ever healthy. I don't know if that'll ever be the case, but it could be great for Brock Purdy. So I, I think I like it. I'd consider buying on him.
Jacob
That's an interesting point. What do you think about this question? Nico Collins a buy low. I've got an interesting stat for you, Adam. Did you see this? Dan and I have been a little worried about our guy Nico. His 1515 first read target rate in week five. That's his lowest rate since 2022. Last year his lowest rate in a game was 26. He already has games of 15, 25 and 26% this year. So we got a new offensive coordinator and they've been getting the ball out quick, like really emphasizing getting the ball quick out of C.J. stroud's hands. And that's led to more like even target distribution.
Adam
You brought it up on beyond the box score last week. I brought it up on our FFT show on Wednesday because Heath did call Nico a buy low. I am worried about that. I still think he's, you know, Nico, he's so good. There's no reason why the first retarget rate couldn't come back up. But basically the way I put it was I was. Was he was wide receiver two for me at the beginning of the year. Now I would value Nico as a second round pick. I think he's going to be good. I don't think he's going to win you your league necessarily.
Jacob
So he's clearly ahead of Brian Thomas Jr. Who another person brought up like that. Travis Hunter had that penalty that like called back a huge touchdown for BTJ2. It could have been an even bigger week. Is he clearly had a BTJ for you.
Adam
Yes.
Jacob
And like McConkey clearly ahead of him. We haven't talked about him at all today. Yeah.
Adam
But I don't know if I'd put him ahead of Devonte Adams. I think I'd rather have Adams.
Jacob
Okay. Yeah. That's in My most recent rest of season rankings, I had him behind Adams. Yep. That's about where I'm at with him. It's tough. Like a second round value, George Pickens ahead of him.
Dan Schneier
Why not?
Adam
Because Lamb. Because of Lamb.
Dan Schneier
You don't think. You don't think he's gonna keep scoring once Lamb comes back? Not at this rate, obviously. Right now he's like a wide receiver. One scoring rate, but top 12 rate. We don't have that many good passing games.
Adam
Yeah, but you're talking about Nico Collins here. I'm not talking about. I'd rather.
Dan Schneier
I know. We're talking about Neo Collins on a pretty dead offense except for one game.
Adam
Yeah, it's tough. I would think I would take Nico over. Over Pickens.
Jacob
But Garrett Wilson, if he comes back and is good to go.
Adam
Probably take Garrett Wilson.
Jacob
Yeah.
Dan Schneier
Well, it depends. I mean, we're gonna most likely get Tyrod Taylor at some point decently soon. Like there's.
Adam
That's good.
Dan Schneier
They've said, the jets have said, like, oh, we, you know, Fields. It's like at some point you look the locker room in the face and you just simply can't continue to play Fields because he's not better. He doesn't move the offense better than Tyrod Taylor and it's beyond obvious. So when they go to Taylor, that's good for Wilson. Yeah.
Adam
What you said a franchise record yesterday. Negative 10 net passing yards.
Dan Schneier
I mean, you could just watch the game and you just watch Field sitting in that pocket. Not like they have two options. The jets, they either keep playing Fields and design their offense around Fields, which they're not doing. Which means a ton of quarterback runs have him scrambling more in the pocket. Like it looked like he wasn't even looking to run yesterday. He was kind of just sitting in the pocket trying to process the defense. It's not something he can do. He's not an NFL quarterback. I hate to say it from a processing standpoint. How much more evidence do we need with Fields?
Adam
All right, looks like Jacob has. I have to go in one minute. I've just do a early waiver with Jamie. So take us away with your super cool graphic.
Jacob
Oh, you want to see the chart? Yeah. It was only if you had time, but I just wanted to show. Look at where Jackson Smith the Jigba is first off.
Dan Schneier
Ridiculous. He's a God.
Jacob
What we've got here is yards per route run and then fantasy points per game. Look where George Pickens is right. Right there in between Adam Jamar, Chase Mechag, Buka just below A Monor Saint Brown.
Adam
Okay, do this chart. Do this chart in weeks one and two where George Pickens ranked in week one and two. You know, it's like you forget how many targets CD Lamb was getting.
Dan Schneier
That was the beginning of their time together, though. Dak and. And Jordan Rapport.
Adam
He's playing so well that I couldn't possibly ignore it. Right, but is he gonna be better than Nico Collins? That's. That's a tough question. Go ahead. Put your money where your mouth is. I'll take Nico. From the moment CD Lam gets back, I will take Nico. Now, that wasn't the question. We said rest of season. We don't know when Lamb is getting back. All right, fine. Right now, I'll take Nico over Pickens rest of season. What about you?
Jacob
I did have Nico ahead of him going into this week. I think that's. I'll stick with my guy Nico, but, like, man, the. The dreamboat situation here with Dallas is, like, so much better. But, like, Houston's defense is really good.
Dan Schneier
Yeah, I know, right?
Adam
All right, Dan's not answering, so I'm gonna go.
Dan Schneier
Pickens. Look, my flag plant player for the year on beyond the Box or before the season started was George Pickens.
Jacob
That's a good reason to go with him.
Dan Schneier
Just think about sticking with my priority, sticking with my briar. That's always a good thing to do in fantasy analysis.
Adam
I'm not loving the comments today. I am not. What are the comments? I'm getting called out for things I didn't even say. Adam continually will not give Baker Mayfield his full amount of flowers. I will send him a bouquet. I tweeted it yesterday, and I said it on the show today. He's the MVP of the league.
Jacob
Come on.
Adam
I'm not giving him his flowers. Get out of here. All right, we are done with beyond the Box score, and we will talk to you tomorrow with the waiver wire on fantasy football.
Dan Schneier
Today.
Jacob
Paramount podcasts the Secrets Out. Man, I speak freely.
Dan Schneier
I prefer English.
Jacob
The Naked Gun is now streaming on Paramount. Plus, I've seen it a hundred times.
Adam
It's a return to comedic glory. A little lower.
Jacob
A return to comedic glory. That's awesome. The naked cockpit of PG13 now streaming on Paramount Plus.
Date: October 13, 2025
Hosts: Adam Aizer (main host), Dan Schneier, Jacob
Notable topics: Patrick Mahomes’ value, Rico Dowdle’s breakout, Buy Low & Sell High targets, Playoff schedules, NFL news, and more.
The episode focuses on moving “beyond the box score,” diving deep into player usage, trends, and advanced metrics to identify fantasy football buy lows, sell highs, and actionable strategies for the rest of the season. The hosts analyze recent games (notably Chiefs/Lions), discuss the true value of high-profile fantasy assets like Patrick Mahomes and Rico Dowdle, evaluate playoff schedules, and debate which players are overvalued, undervalued, or poised for late-season spikes.
[02:18-03:31]
Fantasy Implications
[04:26-06:52]
Mahomes as a Sell High?
[07:14-08:50]
Counterpoint:
Takeaway: Mahomes’ success this year is more rushing-based than ever, and regression could come (Adam), but talent and system are supreme (Dan & Jacob).
Jahmyr Gibbs
[10:43-12:06]
Isaiah Pacheco vs. Jameson Williams
[13:04-14:21]
Rico Dowdle
[15:24-20:12]
Consensus:
Dowdle will likely be the best Carolina back rest of season, but tread lightly—schedule and offensive line will impact ceiling.
[32:03, 48:29+]
“Josh Allen has a terrible playoff schedule at New England, at Cleveland, Philadelphia. ... James Cook has Patriots, Browns.” – Adam [52:11]
Jacob: For WRs, tough individual corner matches matter, but great offenses can transcend schedule.
Buy Low Targets:
[55:06-59:59]
Sell High/Concerns:
[39:03-48:00]
“How many more weeks do we need... before we can call this offense broken?” – Dan Schneier [40:32]
Consensus:
Cautious pessimism—talent is still there, but don’t overpay for actual “buy low” opportunities unless discount is significant.
Hosts routinely answer compare/trade A vs B questions: