FFT on CBSSN: UPDATED Fantasy Football Week 14 Tiers & Rankings! QB, RB, WR, TE Breakdown + Must-Start Sleepers! (12/04 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Summary

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Fantasy Football Today – Week 14 Tiers & Rankings Breakdown (12/04/2025)

Overview

In this episode, Jamie Eisenberg, Dave Richard, and Heath Cauthen dissect the fantasy football landscape for the pivotal Week 14—the last week before playoffs for most leagues. With four teams on bye and notable injuries, they provide updated positional tiers, tough start/sit decisions, and must-start sleepers at QB, RB, WR, and TE to help you solidify your lineups and make those final pushes into the postseason.

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Quarterbacks: Ranks, Risks, and Sleepers

Theme: Not as deep a week as usual, with serious FOMO (fear of missing out) on high-upside players, but also palpable risk among typical studs.

Key Points & Insights

• Elite Tier Confidence is limited: Only Josh Allen, Dak Prescott, and Matthew Stafford are slam dunks for Jamie.
• Patrick Mahomes is a risky top option this week. Dave expresses apprehension due to O-line issues and the tough Texans defense:

  “I am nervous about what’s going to happen to Patrick Mahomes, but I’m nervous about 20 quarterbacks this week.” (03:18)

• Lamar Jackson polarizes the panel: Dave is out after weeks of disappointment and cites the Steelers’ shut-down track record, while Heath focuses on Jackson’s boom potential for underdog managers:

  “If you’re a huge underdog…Lamar Jackson is exactly the type of guy you throw in your lineup because you need 30…he can give you 30 any given week.” – Heath (07:11)

• Daniel Jones is a start despite concerns, but Jamie cautions about his lack of mobility and difficult matchup in Jacksonville (08:00).
• Jordan Love is highlighted as a strong start: Efficient, low-risk matchup vs. Bears and benefits from clean pockets (09:11).

  “He’s awesome when he’s not pressured. The Bears have the second lowest pass rush pressure rate in the National Football League.” – Dave (09:45)

• Other Fringe QBs: Baker Mayfield and Jacoby Brissett are both considered viable top-12 options in plus matchups.
• Caution Flags: Justin Herbert (uncertain health, poor efficiency without top weapons) and Caleb Williams (struggling recent form and expected low volume) are sits for Jamie and Heath.

Notable Quotes

• “There aren't enough running backs that you can look at and say, oh yeah, definitely start him...” – Dave on the week’s RB depth, which also applies to QBs this week. (18:10)

Timestamps

• Mahomes worries: 03:18–04:00
• Jackson debate: 04:22–07:38
• Daniel Jones concern: 08:00–09:11
• Jordan Love optimism: 09:11–09:58

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Running Backs: Starts, Sits & Flex Plays

Theme: Injuries, bye weeks, and split backfields create lineup headaches, but a few strong plays stand out.

Key Points & Insights

• Saquon Barkley moves outside Jamie’s top-12 RBs:

  “He’s still a starter…but he’s been very tough to trust as the guy that we drafted.” – Jamie (16:18)

  • Heath adds, “He’s going to be somewhere in that 12 to 14 point range most likely.”
• Jaylen Warren (PIT): Splitting time and with a tough matchup; viewed as a low-end RB2.
• Devin Neal (NO): Usage-based flex; poor rushing efficiency expected but could catch enough passes to have PPR value (19:30).
• Quinshawn Judkins: Workhorse for CLE; faces sneaky tough run D in TEN but expected to get volume. Good RB2.
• Donovan ‘Bam’ Knight: Strong recent production as Arizona’s lead back; safe RB2 floor.
• DeAndre Swift: Trust in Bears run game resurgence for a good week (22:13).
• Sits:
  • Kareem Hunt: “It’s the matchup and it’s the offensive line.” – Dave, noting Houston’s run defense (23:14).
  • David Montgomery: Jamie calls him "touchdown dependent flex, I don't even want to flex him" (23:57).
  • Woody Marks: Jamie advises avoidance despite the workload, viewing him only as a risky flex (24:30).

Timestamps

• Barkley discourse: 16:18–17:42
• Warren/Neal/Judkins/Knight/Swift analysis: 18:10–23:14
• RB sits: 23:14–24:30

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Wide Receivers: Consistency vs. Upside

Theme: With top-tier WRs mostly stable, the WR2/3 conversation is rife with risk/reward considerations.

Key Points & Insights

• Zay Flowers: Reliable floor, major touchdown drought. Heath sees him as “about the most consistent wide receiver in fantasy football…11 and 14 points every week” but lacking upside (27:48).
• Deebo Samuel: Dave’s trust is shaken due to volume and QB questions, especially with Mariota at QB (29:54).
• Justin Jefferson: Heath maintains a cautious optimism, saying, “I’m just going to go with the guy that's named Justin Jefferson” (32:15), despite poor QB play.
• Christian Watson: Panel consensus top-3 start: “When Love has time to throw, what does he do? He goes downfield…and it’s Christian Watson.” – Dave (33:32)
• Terry McLaurin: Has reasserted himself post-injury; a starter if healthy.
• Jacoby Myers: Solid WR2 with increased targets, especially if Parker Washington sits.
• Sits:
  • Troy Franklin: Denver’s shifting WR2 pecking order makes him volatile, “at risk of just a 50–60% snap share” – Heath (35:46).
  • Zay Flowers: Dave would sit him for higher-upside options.
  • Roman Dunes: Jamie notes a worrisome trend of low production, suggesting a sit in two-WR leagues (37:19).

Timestamps

• Flowers/Flex range: 27:48–29:21
• Deebo concerns: 29:54–31:00
• Jefferson dilemma: 32:15–32:54
• Christian Watson narrative: 33:32
• Franklin/Bryant situation: 35:46–37:19

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Tight Ends: Finding Safe Floors

Theme: TE is (relatively) deep, but you’re still looking for TD equity and reliable target shares amidst mediocre weekly floors.

Key Points & Insights

• Kyle Pitts: “Whenever Kirk Cousins plays, Drake London doesn’t play. So when you have that combination, just start Kyle Pitts.” – Heath (40:59). Dave is generally more cautious but places Pitts as a low-end starter (40:26).
• Harold Fannin: Elite usage but extreme risk of game script limiting overall volume. “I've got him like fifth or sixth in the projections. I've lowered him to 10th in the rankings because of that risk…” – Heath (42:06)
• Dalton Schultz: Low-end starter—a big part of Houston’s offense, but Jamie is worried about the matchup vs. KC (42:39).
• Juwan Johnson (NO): Dave likes the steady targets and red-zone looks, especially with Vele not seen as a high-target threat (43:35).
• Bretton Strange: Safe double-digit PPR floor over his recent stretch.
• Sits:
  • Dallas Goddard: “Five or fewer targets each of his last three games. Only three tight ends have scored over 9.2 half-PPR against the Chargers.” – Dave (44:46)
  • Mark Andrews: Heath points to volume and role cut into by Isaiah Likely. “It’s entirely can Andrews score a touchdown?” (45:17)
  • Colston Loveland: Game script, matchup, and Bears likely to lean on run game lead Jamie to a sit call.

Timestamps

• Pitts: 40:10–41:27
• Fannin: 42:06–42:39
• Schultz: 42:39–43:35
• Sits: 44:46–45:46

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Key Memorable Moments & Quotes

• "I've had enough. Heath said that he looked better last week. I didn't see a lot of it. And I'm very worried about what the Steelers are going to do…” – Dave on Lamar Jackson (06:14)
• "You just kind of have to start Daniel Jones.” – Jamie (08:00)
• "Quarterback stinks. Running back questions. Wide receivers: okay. To me, tight end is the best position in fantasy right now." – Jamie (41:37)
• “When Love has time to throw…he goes downfield. And usually it’s Christian Watson.” – Dave (33:32)

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Important Timestamps: Segment Guide

• 02:05 — QB Tiers & Mahomes/Jackson debate
• 13:44 — Running Backs start/sit
• 26:43 — Wide Receivers rankings talk
• 39:25 — Tight Ends rankings
• 46:57 — Listener rapid-fire Q&A

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Listener Q&A Highlights

• Burrow vs Mahomes vs Brissett: "I'm going with Joe Burrow and Mahomes is third on this list for me." – Dave (47:14)
• Wilson vs Flowers vs Dortch: Heath likes Michael Wilson most if Harrison is out (47:26).
• Lawrence vs Tyrod: All consensus for Trevor Lawrence (47:43).
• Burrow or Goff: Jared Goff preferred, especially given Thursday matchup (47:58).

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Final Takeaways

• Play "known commodity" studs in close lineup decisions, unless you desperately need an upside swing.
• Prioritize RBs and TEs with safe floors and pass-game roles in this tough week.
• WR rankings are volatile after the first tier; play the usage and matchup trends.
• Flexibility is key—pivot to upside if trailing in projections, but trust your RB/WR usage leaders if you're favored.
• Monitor injury reports, especially for stars like Lamar Jackson and Marvin Harrison Jr.

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For complete rankings, nuanced matchup notes, and interactive start/sit help, listen to the full episode or check the FFT site for consensus rankings and articles.

Transcript

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[Jamie Eisenberg]

Welcome to Fantasy Football Today presented by BetMGM. Make it legendary. I'm Jamie Eisenberg. That's Dave Richard, that's Heathcoming. He's got a legendary game tonight between the Cowboys and the Lions. At least we hope. Got a legendary week. It's week 14 last week before the fantasy playoffs in the majority of leagues got four teams on a buy. That's not necessarily legendary, but we're going to give you some legendary fantasy advice to help you get those lineups right. And guys, it's going to be fun with the first position that we're talking about because it's quarterbacks and usually it's a very deep position. There's a lot of guys that we like. Not so much this week. Let's start with the rankings here, start right off the bat here with the quarterbacks that we're hoping are going to be in the top 12. But there's going to be some guys that we're a little bit concerned about, especially when you start to get past. Really, for me, it's the top three. I feel good about Josh Allen, Dak.

[Dave Richard]

Prescott and Matthew Stafford.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I feel okay about Jared Goff, I feel okay about Joe Burrow and. And then it kind of gets a lot of questions. I do like Jacoby Bersetti as the start of the week. We'll talk about that in a second. But as soon as we get to Patrick Mahomes, like, we're going to show you some guys or talk about some guys that are tough quarterbacks for us to rank. And Dave, that's the first name on your list for you is Patrick Mahomes. And I get it. His offensive line is a mess. The matchup is not easy. He's clearly been awesome. He's been awesome at home, but is he a slam dunk? I feel great that Patrick Mahomes. Patrick Mahomes is going to win me my fantasy week.

[Dave Richard]

I don't feel great, but I don't think I'm sitting them unless I've got Jacoby Brissette, Joe Burrow, Jared Goff, one of those types of quarterback, Dak Prescott. You got Stafford, too, obviously. But we saw what this Texans defense did to Josh Allen and the Bills when the Bills offensive line had some issues and it was ugly. And I am nervous about what's going to happen to Patrick Mahomes, but I'm nervous about 20 quarterbacks this week. So it's really tough to look at Patrick Mahomes and say, oh, yeah, sure, he's going to get 25 fantasy points. Put him in your lineup. He's good to go. I don't know if it's going to happen. When protection breaks down, he can't throw downfield. He's going to need to get the ball out quick and really lean on his mobility. Maybe he gets to 22 fantasy points.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

If you do Projections. And when you're projecting quarterbacks for this week, is there anybody good?

[Dave Richard]

Is there anybody good?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

How many above 20 fantasy points?

[Heath Cauthen]

So I've got seven at 21 or more. I've got 11 at 20 or more.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Okay. So still a good number of quarterbacks most weeks.

[Heath Cauthen]

That's closer to like 16.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah.

[Dave Richard]

So yeah.

[Heath Cauthen]

Disappoint. So it's definitely a bad week. One of those quarterbacks that's at 20 but I don't think you could put an accurate projection on him is Lamar Jackson. And it's because he's been awful for the last few weeks and he has the upside to score more points than any quarterback at any given moment. And we saw glimpses of it last week. He really had a rough time in terms of what his pass catchers did for him and what the officials did. There was a pass interference penalty called on Zay Flowers that wiped out a touchdown that I think that play probably happens three times a game and doesn't get called a penalty. There was the Isaiah likely catch where he fumbles going into the end zone. He scores those two touchdowns. It was a good game. We're not even thinking about whether or not we're starting Lamar Jackson now. We really have to think about it. I don't dislike the matchup at all. I do think he looked a little bit better last week. The rushing production was up a little bit last week to 27 yards on the ground. This is a must win game in the division. I think we get good Lamar Jackson, I hope, but there's no floor.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

So. Dave, I know you have Lamar Jackson to sit. We just got through doing a segment on CBS Sports hq. You said the Steelers backs are against the wall. The Ravens backs are against the wall too.

[Dave Richard]

Everybody's backs are against the wall. On the AFC north.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Obviously this is a when I don't want to say win or go home situation because they can each still win the division with a loss here. But when you're looking at Lamar, I know you're saying to sit him. His track record against Mike Tomlin is awful. The rushing production should be fantastic for Derek Henry in this game as we just saw what Buffalo did. So can Lamar Jackson overcome maybe game script and history here? For me it's almost like it's fomo. It's because I know what this guy can do when he's right and I know it hasn't been great.

[Dave Richard]

But.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

But as Heath just illustrated last week, if he has 20 plus points despite the fumbles and the miscues, if he comes away with a positive fantasy line. Are you still sitting him in this matchup?

[Dave Richard]

Probably not, but he wouldn't be like a top eight quarterback for me, even with the touches.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

None of us have to remember and if you see none of us have him there.

[Dave Richard]

Right. And let's remember that was against Cincinnati and that's one of the easiest matchups for basically any position in football. And the fact that he had seven fantasy points and he could have had in the neighborhood of 20 like you talked about, that's still not great. That's still not what we expect. And you talk about fomo. Dude, I've had FOMO for the past three weeks with Lamar Jackson. I've had enough. Heath said that he looked better last week. I didn't see a lot of it. And I'm very worried about what the Steelers are going to do given their history, given how they've taken him down, especially as a thrower, as a runner. He did well last year in the playoff game against them. I am very concerned. And this is also a factor. The Steelers have allowed one quarterback to get north of 20 fantasy points since Week 9. Josh Allen went up against this team last week and didn't get 20 fantasy points against them.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, I mean, look, game script has been bad, their run defense has been awful. This should be a huge game for Derek Kennedy.

[Dave Richard]

I agree.

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[Jamie Eisenberg]

You brought up something on our podcast. I don't know if you remember about what the scenarios may be if you need production from your quarterback. Can you repeat that?

[Heath Cauthen]

No, I think if I am a 15, 20 point favorite in my matchup this week and I feel like, man, 18 points would be fantastic, then I think there's probably 18 quarterbacks that you could start over. Lamar Jackson, if you're just looking for the guy to give you okay, production, but if you look at your projections or if you're looking at it yourself and you think, man, I'm a huge underdog in this game, Lamar Jackson is exactly the type of guy that you throw in your lineup because it's not going to matter if you get 16 to 18, you need 30. Lamar Jackson can give you 30 any given week.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

One of those rare quarterbacks, obviously, and a guy I think you're looking at in that, I'll bump it up a little bit to 20, 18, 20 or 16 to 20 is Daniel Jones. He was to me very good the last two games because of who he was playing at Kansas City. He gets you 20 fantasy points against Houston, gets you 20 fantasy points. And now this week he's taking on a Jacksonville defense that for the most part has been bad this season. But I have some PTSD of a quarterback going into Jacksonville that was playing well. And that was Justin Herbert. He was the start of the week three weeks ago when he went into Jacksonville and they destroyed him. And it wouldn't shock me if Daniel Jones completely vomits all over himself in this matchup because the Colts never win in Jacksonville. It's been 2014 since they actually won against the Jaguars in their building. And you're talking about a quarterback that's not mobile right now because of the broken leg that he's playing through or the broken bone in his leg. So could he still get you 20 fantasy points? Yes, I think he's proven that he's had a very solid season. His receivers should have big games this week. Michael Pittman and Al Pierce, specifically Tyler Warren obviously should play well. And let's be real, Jonathan Taylor is not performing at the same level that he was a few weeks ago because of the teams that he's faced. And the Jacksonville run defense is great. So can they limit Taylor and force Jones to throw? Yes. But I'm just a little bit concerned. Like, can Jones be top 10 like you have him? Can he be 15th? You know, is a guy like Torod Taylor potentially better who's coming off a 20 point game himself? So I think if you have Daniel Jones, you just kind of start him. I think our host Adam Mazer said it on our on our Fantasy Football Today podcast. I don't want to trust Daniel Jones going into a must win game to get into your fantasy playoffs. But hopefully he does deliver like he has the last two games with 20 plus points. All right, let's talk about some starts and sets here. Heath, you have a guy that's coming off a huge game in Jordan Love. Can he do it again?

[Heath Cauthen]

I don't think he's probably going to throw four touchdowns again, but I do think that it sets up for him to get into that 20 point range, maybe 22 points. Once again, he's been very, very good this year. One of the most efficient passers in the NFL. He just hasn't got to throw all that much. Last week we saw him throw 30 times. He throws four touchdowns. I think he throws 30 times against the Bears in a very important divisional game. I think the Bears will score enough points to keep him passing. And when he's passed, he's mostly been awesome. You look at 19 touchdowns, three interceptions, most efficient year for him as a starter.

[Dave Richard]

He's awesome when he's not pressured. And the Bears have the second lowest pass rush pressure rate in the National Football League. So Jordan Love's going to have time to throw just like he did on Thanksgiving. You saw what he did on Thanksgiving. He attacked downfield. He's going to do the exact same thing against the Bears.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Should be fun. We'll see if Jaden Reed's able to play, see if Matthew Golden's able to play. But he's been getting by Don Tamian Wicks, for example, at a big game last week and obviously Christian Watson's been playing well. So I was a little bit concerned with how Tucker Kraft there, how he would perform. But great game last week, hopefully should have another solid game. Dave Baker Mayfield does not sound like we're going to get Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan back this week, but you still like him in this matchup at home.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, because it's the Saints and this is another team that doesn't get a lot of pressure on the quarterback, doesn't have a great secondary to begin with. And we saw Chris Godwin come back last week. I know we debated a little bit about how much of it was breakdowns by the opponent versus how good was Chris Godwin. I thought Godwin was good. He dropped a touchdown. That would have changed things for Baker Mayfield's numbers last week. I think he comes through this week. I like him as a top 12 quarterback. I think when you when you look at the quarterbacks for me, ranked 10 through 15, they're all in that range of they might get you 20. And I think Baker Mayfield's a little bit better than that. That's why I have him 11 and he might even go higher than that in the ranking.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I hope so. It'd be fun to see because he was miserable against the Saints. Usually he's 20 to do anything. Well, that's Bucky Irving back. So. And the defense still facing a backup quarterback or at least I do like the defense and I love Bucky, a young quarterback. So I hope Baker Mayfield, his track record at home has been great and his track record against the Saints in their history, aside from that week 10 or week 8 game. Excuse me. Very, very good. I'm going to go. Jacoby Brissett, he's our start of the week. Just excited for what he's been doing. Seven straight games of 20 or more fantasy points since replacing Kyler Murray. And this Rams defense, I know it's great for the most part in terms of their fantasy points allowed to oppose a quarterback but when they're on the road, four quarterbacks of six, 19 and a half fantasy points or more. And the thing about Jacoby Brissett is the volume is going to help him here. So I think as we saw Bryce Young, for example, last week we saw Mac Jones when they played the Rams in their building. He had a big game, 29 fantasy points against this Rams defense. I think Jacoby Pressette 40 or more pass attempts will matter and he has another big game here against the Rams in his building. Let's talk about some quarterbacks. As said, Dave, you already sort of laid out Lamar Jackson. Anything else you want to add about why you're sitting Lamar, even if he.

[Dave Richard]

Had his best game in the last three weeks with a touchdown, that's under 15 fantasy points, that's bad.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Heath, you got Justin Herbert as a sit here. How much of this is the uncertainty of if he'll play or just if he does play? You don't want to trust him in this matchup against the.

[Heath Cauthen]

Yeah, that 15 where I've got him ranked is not really taking in any risk of him not playing. That's just where I project Justin Herbert to finish this week. He's averaged six and a half yards per attempt this season. When Joel is not on the field, that's a bad quarterback. Now he's not a bad quarterback, but the efficiency is bad without alt and now he's not healthy either. I don't want to start him.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, it's just tough to trust. And it's not like you have a backup plan because everybody has Jalen hurts, you know, and you don't want to trust Trey Lance. You know, it's not like we're seeing a situation where okay, Justin Fields doesn't play. Maybe to Rod Taylor would be okay. Trey Lance is awful, you know, so it's not, not like, you know, you're waiting until Monday night to, you know, get a good replacement option here. So probably somebody you want to avoid. For me, I'm going to try and sit Caleb Williams. Look, he's been struggling as a fantasy quarterback. A lot of it is game script because of the run production that the Lions have had. But it's been now two bad outings in a row. 10, 11 and a half PPR. 11 and a half fantasy points against Philadelphia, 10.3 fantasy points against Minnesota. Week 11 packers felt for the last five quarterbacks to 16.2 fantasy points or less. Like this is just not going to be a game where they ask Caleb Williams to win. It's going to be a game where Deandre Swift and Kyle Menangai probably carry the way for Chicago to hopefully win this game. So I don't think Caleb Williams is a starter in a one quarterback league. Still starting in super flex and two quarterback leagues. But if you can get away from in one quarterback leagues, that's probably the smart way to go. I would, I know it's crazy. I would start to Rod Taylor over Caleb Williams. Alright, we're going to take a break right now. We come back and get into the running back rankings. Going to tell you the guys that we like at a position again. We got four teams on a bye. It's not exactly easy but we'll give you the starts, the sits some players that were a little bit nervous to rank. That's next year on Fantasy Football Today.

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[Jamie Eisenberg]

Welcome back to Fantasy Football today presented by BetMGM. Make it legendary. Let's talk about some running backs here for week 14. Remember, we got four teams on a buy so you don't have Christian McCaffrey. You don't have to make that tough choice between Rico Dowdle or Chuba Hubbard. We don't have the running backs for New England so you don't have to deal with that crazy mess between Travion Henderson and Ramondre Stevenson. And we don't even know who the starting running back for the Giants going to be coming off of their bye because Tyrone Tracy did suffer an injury in the Week 13 loss to the Patriots. Although he says he's going to be fine, but something keep an eye on them. All right, here are the running back rankings, 1 through 12, and you don't see a name on this list that you typically see. And that's my fault. And that's Saquon Barkley, because I do not have him ranked as a top 12 running back for this week. So let's just start right there because Barkley has been miserable. He's been very tough to trust as the guy that we drafted. He's been tough to even say he is a number two running back for the last couple of games. 13.1 PPR points or less in four straight games. Just had 5.6 points last week in the loss to Chicago. Failed to catch a pass, hadn't scored touchdowns since week eight. This is not the guy that some people were talking about as the number one running back in fantasy this year. The number one running back in fantasy. And I know we didn't necessarily agree on that. From our standpoint, I don't want to say we've been proven right, but it's been a tough season for Saquon Barkley, so for me, he's still a starter. You're obviously not going to outright bench Saquon Barkley, you know, so whether you start two running backs in the flex or two running backs, you're starting him. How do you guys feel about Barkley in this matchup against the Chargers? They've been very good against opposing running backs, so it's not even an easy matchup for them. Do we trust them still as that guy?

[Heath Cauthen]

I feel like they've been kind of uneven against the run this year.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Chargers, yes.

[Heath Cauthen]

They have weeks where they look like a really good defense and they have weeks where it looked like the only thing you could do against them is running because the pass defense is much better than the run defense. He's not in, as you can see here, the area where I'm considering benching him. He's just right on the edge of the top 12. I'll go ahead and say it. We were right. He wasn't going to be the number one running back, but he. I don't. I don't think he's fallen that far. Last week was a disaster. The week before that, he had 14 fantasy points like he's going to be somewhere in that 12 to 14 point range most likely. But I do still think he has the upside. The biggest problem for Saquon Barkley is he's lost about a yard before contact per rush attempt and that makes things a lot more difficult.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, and that's a byproduct of the offensive line and certainly not having Lane Johnson, huge factor on the right side of that line, but also the entire offensive line. Injuries have shuttled people in and out. The left side of the line hasn't been great. He himself hasn't been great. The play calling has been predictable. Defenses are on top of these things and that's what's made him worse. And then you tack onto that what we discuss discussed before the year started, which is Saquon Barkley's coming off of a massive workload. He's going to be tired, he could wear down. Thank goodness he hasn't gotten hurt, but maybe fantasy managers could almost wish that he had because then they wouldn't have to think about starting him. I looked at my rankings before the show started today. He was 12th for me, one spot out of Javante Williams. That's not going to stay that way. I'm going to move Javante ahead. He is a high end, number two running back.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

For me, the one thing that I do, and again I'm the low guy on him, is that this is probably a game, especially if Herbert does not play, where the score doesn't take them out of running. And that's what's happened to them a couple of times recently, is that the score has taken the run game away from them and so maybe they keep this game close. But we just found out Jalen Carter not going to play for the Eagles. So we'll see if that helps the Chargers offense and maybe we change our opinion about some of the players there. Let's show the list, 13 through 24 of the rankings. And Dave, you got a guy on this list in Jalen Warren that's been tough for you to rank, at least for this week.

[Dave Richard]

How do you feel about 12 PPR points from a running back now if it's your low end number two, better than Saquon Barkley? It may be so, but I'm still going to start Saquon Barkley over Jalen Warren, who's splitting time with Kenneth Gainwell. Tough matchup against the Ravens. I think it's going to be a low scoring affair. I don't think you're going to see a lot of opportunities for Jaylen Warren to hit a bunch of home runs like he's done occasionally this year. And he's not even getting the type of target volume that he got once upon a time. Kenneth Gainwell's been getting that. So I'm nervous about Jalen Warren. It goes back to a point that we made in the very first segment of the show. There aren't enough running backs that you can look at and say, oh yeah, definitely start him over. Warren or anything else. We're short on studs, so he's going to make the top 24. But for me, he's a low end. Number two running back.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, I think we're all in the same range. The one thing that I do like, he's got a touchdown each of the last two weeks and I think from what Mike Tomlin said, and he's typically true to his word with stuff like this, we got to be more physical, we got to run the ball a little bit more. I don't think that lends itself to Kenneth Gainwell. And I know for you you don't like Lamar Jackson. The offense obviously been struggling, so if this game stays close, they'll be able to run the ball. Last week they couldn't because of how Buffalo dominated time. Possession obviously ran right through them. So if the game stays competitive, I think Jaylen Warren has an opportunity here. But again, we're not saying he's a slam dunk, must start guy by any stretch, but still a number two running back. And then Heath for you, you got Devin Neal as somebody. That's a struggle for you, understandably. So right now, Alvin Kamara, not looking like he's going to play, did not practice on Wednesday.

[Heath Cauthen]

Yeah. And I think the tough thing is this is obviously an awful matchup for rushing the football, but for Saints running backs, rushing the football has been awful all year. Anyways, that probably doesn't matter. He scored 9.9 fantasy points last week. The week before, he caught five passes, had seven targets. Tyler Schuck has thrown five to seven passes per game to running backs. I think this is like one of the tougher decision points because for me, in full PPR only, he's right at the edge of that RB2 flex range. And so you're going to have a tough decision about whether you're actually going to trust this guy in a full PPR league or not. Do not expect good rushing efficiency, do not expect a touchdown, but there is a chance that he has five or six catches in this game and scores you 12 or 13 PPR points.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

It's hard to get over somebody who's going to play as much as he is and 70% of the snaps in the last two games. So again we don't expect Alvin Kamara to play. So at worst case I think you use Devin Neal as a flex. Let's talk about some starts here for week 14. Zoheeth, I'll start with you. Quinshawn Judkins been a little tough to trust as a must start guy. I know most people have kept him in that number two running back range. This could be one of his better games.

[Heath Cauthen]

Yeah, and this is a sneaky good run defense I think because since they've gotten their guys back they've been much more difficult to run on. But it's arguably the best defense in the league against definitely the worst offense in the league. The Browns are going to play from ahead. They've thrown 45 passes the last two games and one of those they lost by three scores. So they would really love it to just run the ball 40 times. I think they'll do that and Judkins may even catch a pass or two. If Dillon Sampson's not in there, he'll have a higher share of the rush attempts. He's a guy you've got to start. When I look at the rankings I feel like I'm more too low on him than too high on him. But the reason we're low on him is the Titans have been so good against rushing efficiency recently and Judkins has not been.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

It's just one of those where they'll just keep knocking on the door and eventually the door will open and he hopefully finds I love the fact that he's getting those wildcat opportunities too. Since Shadow Sanders has been the quarterback David Godzanovan Knight as a start and as of now we're not expecting Trey Benson. Now Mario DeMarcato did practice Wednesday on a limited basis so he's getting closer to being healthy. Does that change anything for him?

[Dave Richard]

That would take away some passing down opportunities from Zombie Knight, but he was losing a lot of those to Michael Carter anyway. I think that this is their best running back. He's had at least three catches in three straight games. He scored in three straight games. He's had at least 13.2 PPR points in three straight games. And this Rams run defense, once upon a time they were dominant. Three running backs in the last four weeks against them that 15 plus PPR points. That includes Chuba Hubbard last week. They've given up some touchdowns lately. Maybe not as strong of a run defense as they were earlier in the year and I think the Cardinals are going to compete with the Rams in this game high scoring affair. I want to have players in this matchup. The best running back for Arizona is Donovan Knight. He's the number two running back for.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Me since Trey Benson got hurt. I believe it's only two games where Knight has not gotten at least 9.4 PPR points or more. So the floor is very safe and the ceiling as we've seen 13 plus PPR points and three in a row because he's found the end zone. So I think Zoman Knight is in that number two running back range for me. I'm going to go back to DeAndre Swift and I know it's kind of been can we trust him? What's this going to look like? Kyle Manon guy, all this stuff. I think the packers run defense is going to be a little bit of trouble. Since Devontae Wyatt getting hurt last week. We saw what this run defense could potentially look like. Certainly last week it was bad for them. But you see now three running backs on the season. The Giants had Tyrone Tracy and Devin Singletary, the Lions, Jameer Gibbs and David Montgomery. And I think this is going to be the third time where Swift and Kyle Menangai both get an opportunity to run. Well, this is what the Bears offense is. They're offensive line is doing a great job run blocking at this point. And Ben Johnson, we saw it in Detroit, we're seeing it now in Chicago. The rushing attack is just fantastic and I think Swift has a chance for another good game. Let's talk about some running backs to sit. So Dave, I'll start with you. Kareem Hunt last week, not great. The three previous games. Great. Is it just Isaiah Pacheco or is it the matchup?

[Dave Richard]

It's the matchup and it's the offensive line. It's got nothing to do with Isaiah Pacheco. But that offensive line. Both tackles look like they're going to be out. One's already on injured reserve. The other one, Juwan Taylor, looks like he's unlikely to play. Trey Smith, the guard, he's unlikely to play. This is a tough spot for Kareem Hunt against Houston, who's been pretty good against the run. I would say the Texans just did a nice job against Jonathan Taylor last week. So if they're going to do a good job against Jonathan Taylor, you know Kareem Hunt's in trouble.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

They've only given up two touchdowns on the ground because I know we're all going to say Kareem Hunt needs to score a touchdown, two touchdowns on the ground to running back since Week 7. So if he doesn't score, we saw nine PPR points. That's probably the ceiling I would say for Cream Hunt if he does not find the end zone. Heath for you. David Montgomery tonight. No bueno.

[Heath Cauthen]

No, no bueno. The last three weeks have really been no bueno. He got a touchdown in one of those games. But six, five and eight rush attempts for David Montgomery in his last three games. He only had two games prior to Dan Campbell taking over play calling where he had single digit rush attempts. So his role has fallen off. He hasn't played in 40% of the snapshot in the last three weeks. This offense is going more to Jameer Gibbs. I think you probably have to do that more if there's no Monroe St. Brown so that you can throw the ball to Gibbs more. So Montgomery is a touchdown dependent flex. I don't really even want to flex him.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

We talk about difference makers and the Cowboys when they acquired Quinn and Williams and acquired Logan Wilson. So in the last three games they are number one in fewest fantasy points allowed to opposing running backs. That includes matchups with Saquon Barkley and Ashton Genty. Like that's how good they have been. And so the best performance against them was Kareem Hunt. 14 carries, 58 yards. Like they are just eliminating running backs. So you look at Jameer Gibbs, you're still going to start him. I don't think anybody's going to get away from him because of his role in the passing game. But David Montgomery, if he doesn't score a touchdown, it's just absolutely miserable. So with what they've done and the opponents that they've done it against, like this defense has just completely turned around and I don't think you could trust David Montgomery at all. For me I'm going to get away from Woody Marks and this is frustrating because it's been three straight games of 17 plus touches. The role in the passing game has been non existent which is what we liked about him when he first started to make some fantasy production and be a part of this Texans offense. But he's got three catches in the last three games, one in each contest and you're looking at a Chiefs defense that is still very good. So this feels like a low scoring game based on how these two defenses will probably play. Certainly with the Chiefs offense and some of the struggles that we could be looking at, I just don't think you could trust Woody Marks at this point so hopefully he finds the end zone. Last week the touchdown went to Nick Chubb that easily could have been marked and I think we feel a lot better about it. But just looking at the situation right now, Woody Marks a flex option at best and that says something given the week of what we're talking about with four teams on a bye and some of the running backs. So there's your look at some starts and sets at the running back position. We're going to take a break now. We come back and get into the wide receivers that you need to start. This is feeling wide receiver and tight end starts to feel a little bit better. So as the show goes on we get to some of the players we like a little bit more. So we'll tell you about the wide receivers to start and sit next here on Fantasy Football Today.

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[Jamie Eisenberg]

Welcome back to Fantasy Football today presented by BetMGM. Make it legendary. We're talking about wide receivers for week 14 and the guys you need to start, the guys you need to sit and hopefully some guys that we feel a little bit more confident in. There are some guys that were a little bit concerned about where to rank them and we'll start there. We'll show you the rank list 1 through 12 and I don't think any concerns with these guys. Although just keep an eye on the situation with Arizona because Marvin Harrison Jr. Once again did not practice on Wednesday dealing with, excuse me, on Thursday dealing with that heel injury. So we'll see if he's going to get out there. If not, Michael Wilson. All systems go. But Greg Dortch also did not practice. So keep an eye on that. Dealing with a chest injury, Chris Olave battling a back situation. Something to monitor there, but for the most part we feel great about these guys. When you get to the next list, 13 through 24, then we start to get to some questions. So we show you those players from a ranking perspective and we'll talk about some of these guys, starting with a guy, Heath, that is going to be close on this list and that's Zay Flowers. So tough to trust. I know Dave wants to sit him this week. So Dave's not really welcome in the city of Baltimore right now. Not liking Lamar Jackson and Zay Flowers, but where do you come out on Flowers just from the standpoint of is he trustworthy?

[Heath Cauthen]

Well, it's interesting because I think we think of him as this boom bust wide receiver and we certainly got the bust last week, even though I think his touchdown should have come counted. But if you look at the prior seven weeks, it was about the most consistent wide receiver in fantasy football. It was between 11 and 14 points every single week. Now, he didn't score touchdown in any of those games. That's generally the type of guy that I would be saying, yeah, you start this guy, eventually he's going to score a touchdown. But it's been since week one since he scored a touchdown. I feel a lot about him like I do Lamar Jackson. There's FOMO for sure because he has the ability. He's had multiple 25 point fantasy days in his young career and there seems to be besides one week, a pretty reasonable floor of 11 to 14 fantasy points. That sounds like a starter.

[Dave Richard]

That sounds like a flex more than a starter.

[Heath Cauthen]

Not a wide receiver this year.

[Dave Richard]

Well, maybe, but there are a bunch of other wide.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

It sounds like Khalil Shakir is what it sounds like essentially, sort of.

[Dave Richard]

And I just don't think he's got the same type of upside as other wide receivers do. Especially in this matchup against Pittsburgh because the last three times he's played against them hasn't been any better than 15.3 PPR points. And I would, yeah, 15.3 from Zay Flowers, I would love that. But he's been as low as 11.9. So to Heath's point, he's been right in that range of around 11, 13 PPR points. That's a good flex at wide receiver and that's what I would think of him as. It's how I have him ranked. He's good, he's not great. And I think I can find some other guys. Christian Watson, Alec Pierce, more upside. I'm starting them. Michael Wilson, Jameson Williams, of course I'm starting those guys ahead of Zay Flowers.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

And those, those make sense just from the standpoint of what their upside is. You know, the downside is probably a little bit lower than Zay Flowers. So you know what Heath was saying about Lamar Jackson, depending on what you need. I just think you kind of know what Flowers is at this point and the lack of touchdowns again last week notwithstanding, but the lack of touchdowns just very frustrating. So hopefully Lamar gets going, we get Zay Flowers going as well. Matchup is actually very good. We just not have seen a lot of teams have to throw against the Steelers lately, but understandably so. We have Flowers in a very similar range here. Sportsline is very excited about flowers at number 14. Dave, a guy that you're concerned about or tough to rank is Deebo Samuel.

[Dave Richard]

So I went back and I looked at all the different situations and this is with Marcus Mariota quarterback. It changes if it's Jayn Daniels, but all the different types of situation scenario coverages that Deebo Samuel's target per route rate has been and when has he gotten a high target per route run rate. And with Mariota, the only time when Deebo Samuel has had a high target per run rate is when Mariota is getting the ball out quick 2.5 seconds or fewer. He's seeing a target on 32% of his routes. They're not downfield, they're very short. But that's when he's getting involved. And what do the Vikings do? They get after the quarterback. So even though I think that he could see a lot of targets in this game, I'm not sure if he's going to be capable of breaking a bunch of them for big plays. Especially with Terry McLaurin back. I'm just nervous about how good he can be. So he's in that flex range for me too. As a matter of fact, I like Zay Flowers better than I like Deebo Samuel this week. So it makes me tough. It's tough to trust him, especially if I'm going to look at him and say, okay, this is going to be a good week for him. I don't know if it's going to be that, especially with McLaurin back. And what about the week that Zach Ertz has that throws a wrench into the whole thing because he could end up taking target volume away from Deebo Samuel as a short area target.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Minnesota's number two infused fantasy points allowed to opposing wide receivers and McLaren three games with Deebo Samuel. Samuel's best game was last week, last three games with McLaren 11.1 PPR points. And that's the game where Mariota threw 50 times. I don't know if we're going to see 50 pass attempts from Marcus Mariota against this Vikings defense.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, that makes me like him even less.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, it's tough and I know we're looking at, you know, McLaurin as okay. We're just throwing right back in there and I think he should just based on the upside because his last two games against Denver, fantastic against Kansas City was very good too. What Minnesota has done certainly in game flow matters. But the last three teams they faced, Green Bay, Chicago and Seattle. No wide receiver, double digits ppr. That's including Jackson, Smith and the Jigba who's been the best wide receiver in fantasy. Let's have a quick Justin Jefferson conversation because he's the toughest guy for me to rank this week. Comes in as a low end number two receiver. This feels like a great blow up spot for him except his quarterback blows up and that's unfortunate in J.J. mcCarthy. So he's just been bad and we know that's the big reason why Jefferson for the most part has struggled. Six plus targets in every game so far this season. At one point we were saying oh, it's nine plus targets in every game this season. But Washington is fifth in terms of most fantasy points allowed to opposing wide receivers. We see almost every number one wide receiver last week was Courtland Sutton just go off against this team. Can Jefferson have one of those weeks? Do you feel confident about that Heath? Because you have him the Highest ranked at 16.

[Heath Cauthen]

No, not confident at all. I think there may be a few more guys that you guys feel like you like than I do.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Alec Pierce and Christian Washington.

[Heath Cauthen]

Right. Like those types of guys that I'm just still starting Justin Jefferson ahead of them. I do think that there is a chance against Washington that JJ McCarthy maybe has like 180 yard gain and so it's 8 for 90 for Justin Jefferson or something like that. I think we probably get a little bit too certain about especially quarterbacks starting their first year and just they're going to be this awful every game and Justin Jefferson's still awesome. So when I go through and look at the rankings and I've got a choice between Justin Jefferson or Alec Pierce, I don't have that choice because I've got Pierce quite a bit lower. But I'm just going to go with the guy that's named Justin Jefferson and.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I think that's what most people, people will do when they see their lineups, you know, so you'll see maybe projections that say Pierce over Jefferson. You'll see rankings that have Pierce over Jefferson and you're going to be like, am I really stealing Justin Jefferson for Alec Pierce despite the fact that he's been better, despite the fact that done that last week? Yeah. And it's the same thing with Lamar Jackson, same thing with Patrick Mahomes. You know, when we say avoid or sit or be concerned about these guys, you don't listen. We understand that, but that's what you know. You know, we're hoping to lead you to the right, you know, direction here and give you the right suggestion, but I get it. So why most people come out not trusting those guys. But we'll talk about some starts now. And one of these guys is Christian Watson, who's been better than Justin Jefferson for the last month. Will he do it again?

[Dave Richard]

It's a great matchup for Jordan Love. I talked about earlier, the Bears don't get after the quarterback. And when Love has time to throw, what does he do? He goes downfield. And the other thing that the Bears do a lot of is play man to man coverage, especially in close games or when they're trailing. And in those situations, talking about target per run rate, again, Christian Watson sees a target 33.3% of the time that is ridiculously high. And it makes total sense because if he's in a one on one situation, he's usually running past somebody and Jordan Love, all he has to do is just get the ball in the vicinity near him and hopefully he comes down with it. Usually they go for a touchdown. That's been the target per run rate since Tucker Kraft has gone out because Kraft used to be that guy. Now it's not. It's Christian Watson. He looks good. I think he's the number two fantasy wide receiver. I would take the chance on him.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Against Chicago and we all have him ranked in the top three. So great opportunity for Christian Watson. Let's talk Terry McLaurin because you know, again, matchup's not easy.

[Heath Cauthen]

The matchup isn't easy, but I think the fact that he played 46% of the snaps last week and still led the team with a 31% target share tells you he's back. You were really right about him at the beginning of the season. The holdout really derailed his season. It seems he got hurt, couldn't get healthy. I think he's healthy right now. And Terry McLaurin's healthy. You stored him?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yep. And again, you know, what he did against Denver was amazing because that's one of the best secondaries. What he did against Kansas City, not a huge game but did score a touchdown there and both those did come with Marcus Mariota. So we might get a boost if even Jayn Daniels starts. So hopefully we get another big game from Terry McClure and again you see we all have him ranked as a number two wide receiver. Jacoby Myers has been very good for the Jaguars the last three weeks and that's only been with six targets. But we're looking at a Colts defense. No Sauce Gardner well aware dealing with that calf injury. We've seen Myers score a touchdown each of the last two weeks. No Parker Washington. At least that's the expectation dealing with that hip injury. So. So I'm hoping we get a little bit of an up tempo game here between the Jaguars and the Colts and we see the Jaguars have to throw a little bit more because Trevor Lawrence been living under 30 pass attempts for the majority of the second half of the season so far. So in the last two weeks. But when he has to throw, this is a guy I think he's going to lean on quite a bit. So a number two wide receiver, Dave's a little bit lower, just outside that top 24 range, but somebody that we all like as a number two wide receiver for this week. Some guys that we're looking to avoid. So Heath, you brought up a great point on our podcast this morning about the difference in what's happening in Denver. Courtland Sutton's fine, but the number two receiver. We might be seeing a shift between Troy Franklin and Pat Bryant.

[Heath Cauthen]

Sean Payton is Sean Patening once again. Last week we saw Pat Bryant play more snaps than Troy Franklin, run more routes than Troy Franklin and see twice as many targets as Troy Franklin. It was a four or five week stretch where Troy Franklin was seeing a bunch more targets than Cortland Sutton. This is kind of what Sean Payton does just throughout the season. It ebbs and flows. Franklin, I'm not sure at this point that he's in the doghouse, but he's certainly not the guy we thought he was a couple of weeks ago when he was their clear number one option in the passing game. And there is a risk that he's just a 50, 60% snapshare guy in this game. That Bryant's actually the better option and that you don't even want to start him as a top 36 wide receiver. I think there was two weeks ago, three weeks ago, we actually had him ahead of Sutton for one week in the rankings. That's not the case anymore at all.

[Dave Richard]

No, you can't do that anymore. However, I do think that Troy Franklin, this is just based on the track record of the season has much better games against one high safety defenses versus two high and last week the commanders and really they've changed the way that they play defense with Dan Quinn calling the shots. They played with a lot of too high and I think Sean Payton saw that and decided this isn't for Troy Franklin. When it's a single high safety, his target per route run rate goes way up. His efficiency goes way up. And what do the Raiders play a ton of single high safety cover three especially. And he's had his best numbers against cover three. That's why I have him ranked as high as I do as a flex as a number three type of wide receiver in the 30s. I don't want to put him any higher than that in case there has been a real change. But I do think he's worth trying one more time as a flex.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

And let's just be honest here, they played this team in week 10 and they were miserable throwing the football. Bonix was awful. It was a home where he's typically awesome. And the Raiders look their past defense has been very Jekyll and Hyde at some points they look great. They do a great job against tight ends for example. I don't know how much you want to necessarily trust the entire passing attack here for Denver, so I think that plays into it because Cortland Sutton looked to me looked a little bit better than he has in recent weeks last week. But to your point maybe this is a matchup situation, a game flow situation and we see a good performance for Troy Franklin. But I understand why there's some trepidation to Clay start Martzo. You're going to send Zay flowers. We're about talking about that. For me I'm going to try and get away from Roman Dunes a very difficult again on a week where we have four teams on a buy in some of the receiver situations that we're dealing with. But 8.3 PPR points or less in four of his last five games. As we've sort of illustrated, we expect a lot of running from the Bears. Caleb Williams not necessarily asked to win this game. Now if they're trailing that certainly helps with Dunes, but he's been six plus targets almost every game this season so the production has just not been there despite the volume and still being the go to guy for the Bears. But Colston Loveland stepped up recently. Luther Burdens him getting more involved and again really I just think it's going to be a running attack for Chicago and the pass defense for the packers still very good. Going to make things uncomfortable for Caleb Williams. So I don't want to trust Romo Dunze in a two receiver league. Clearly you're starting him in three receiver leagues but if you can get away from him, that's the right move to make. Alright, we're going to take a break right now. We come back and get into the tight ends. We still have your questions coming up so send them to us on social media using the hashtag askfft. But tight ends are next here on Fantasy Football Today.

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[Jamie Eisenberg]

Welcome back to Fantasy Football today presented by BetMGM. Just got some news that Lamar Jackson not practicing on Thursday. Not a great sign after being limited in practice on Wednesday. So something keep an eye on there. And then some good news potentially Dalton Kincaid returning to practice dealing with the knee injuries. Been practicing on a limited basis the last two weeks but hopefully he's going to be full because the matchup is absolutely fantastic. Taking on the Cincinnati Bengals. They are the number one team in most fantasy points allowed to the position. So we would love to see Dalton Kincaid out there. I'll show you the rankings 1 through 12. I'm sure for most of us Kincaid will be in this list if he does start. But some guys that were a little bit concerned about ranking for this week. Dave, for you it's Kyle Pitts and I know we've gone back and forth. Oh it's a great situation for Pitts coming off a great game. Can he do it again? He's coming off a great game. Can he do it again?

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, it's Seattle so that makes me nervous. That's a good defense. I've gotten a little bit covering over the course of the year. You're correct. But lately how's it been?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Last week it was TJ Hawkinson had a good game despite Max Brosmer being absolutely miserable. What did Hawkinson? He had 11 PPR points. Yeah.

[Dave Richard]

For him is amazing. Right. And I Think it was. If Pitts gets 11 PPR points, we'd be pretty happy with that. It's two of three games with Kirk Cousins. He's come through, so I have him ranked as a starter. I just don't want to move him too high, you know what I mean? I think he can be okay. I just don't think he's one of the best tight ends you can go with this year.

[Heath Cauthen]

Their last four games against tight ends, giving up 11 points to TJ Hawkinson, giving up 11 points to Gunner Helm, giving up a touchdown to Colby Parkinson. And then, of course, Trey McBride had like one and fifty.

[Dave Richard]

Hundred.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah.

[Dave Richard]

All right. So I should feel better about Kyle Pitts.

[Heath Cauthen]

I'm always nervous to start him. I love Kyle Pitts. He's got a 26% target share when Kirk Cousins plays because whenever Kirk Cousins plays, Drake London doesn't play. So when you have that combination of Cousins at quarterback and London out, I just start Kyle Pitts. When you're facing a defense that's awesome against everything except for tight ends, you start him even harder.

[Dave Richard]

So it sounds like you. It sounds like you'd like him even if Drake London plays. No, you wouldn't like him then he.

[Heath Cauthen]

Would be probably around 11 or 12. I think he's sixth for me right now.

[Dave Richard]

Okay.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

All right.

[Dave Richard]

That's still a top 12 tight end. That's still pretty good.

[Heath Cauthen]

Well, it's still tight end.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

You say it's still tight end. Believe me, quarterback stinks. Running back questions. Wide receivers. Okay. To me, tight end is the best position in fantasy right now because we get so many guys.

[Heath Cauthen]

I think it is relative to. I think the. The conversation we had about Zay Flowers is instructive. I'm talking about how he scores at least 11 points every week. And Dave's pooh poohing that a guy could score 11 points at tight end.

[Dave Richard]

Oh, yeah, that's great.

[Heath Cauthen]

Champion of the universe.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, right. He's in hall of Fame Harold Fannin, which I'm surprised. Usually you just put him at 8 or 9 and say he's good to go. But why are you concerned about this?

[Heath Cauthen]

Again, another speaking of the champion of the Universe, Harold Fannin. 26.8% target share in two games with Shador Sanders. That's elite. Leads his team in receptions, yards and touchdowns. That's elite. It's the Browns. And I'm really concerned that facing Tennessee, they might throw 15 passes and his. He could have a 30% target share and see four targets. So that's the. I've got him like fifth or sixth in the projections. I've lowered him to 10th in the rankings because of that risk of a low volume pass game. But he's awesome.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, no, he's certainly done a great job. And I always go back to this, like what's the floor of the position? And to me the floor is somewhere between 8 and 9 PPR points, 8.4 PPR points in four of his last five games. So he's been not terrible for the majority of this last stretch. He's certainly outperforming David Najoku. And then like last week, you get the touchdown. For me, the toughest guy is Dalton Schultz because he's been so good and such a big part of this offense, whether C.J. stroud or Davis Mills. But now you're taking on a very good team at defending tight ends in the Kansas City Chiefs. Now we saw him against the best team at defending tight ends against the Buffalo Bills two weeks ago and he was terrible. But he gets right back to 11 PPR points last week against the Colts. So I think you got to trust in what the target share will be. You got to trust in what the production has been for the majority of the season and just hope that he can get to that level of production. Eight plus points, nine plus points, hopefully double digits. So Schultz a low end starter but still a little bit concerned. All right, so for the starts you got Kyle Pitts for you Heath. So we covered that one Dave. Juwan Johnson last week was not a great game for him, but you got to like the targets.

[Dave Richard]

You got to like the targets and it's been that way for a long time. Does Devon Vale take take more targets away from him this week? Because I thought Devon Valley looked pretty good. I'm not ready to start him as any more than like a low end PPR flex, but I still think Juwan Johnson's going to have opportunities against Tampa. They're weak against the pass and I just think that he's somebody that Tyler Schuck looks for in the red zone. We've seen that before this season. So he definitely makes the cut as one of those tight ends that should have that safe floor of 8 to 9 PPR points and does have a ceiling in the neighborhood of 12 or 13 PPR.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Only four times this season, Juwan Johnson has failed to get to 10 PPR points more. And you say targets. Well, even though Vele had that spike in targets last week, Juwan Johnson's most targets with Tyler Schuck was last week with nine. So that's a very encouraging sign, especially against a matchup against Tampa Bay where he did get over 10 PPR points earlier this season. For me, I'm going to start Bretton Strange. He's been solid, you know, for the healthy games that he's played. He's played four healthy games or last four healthy games, excuse me, 10 PPR points or more. So hopefully that continues against the Colts. They're fourth worst in terms of most fantasy points allowed to the position. So I think Strange is going to have an opportunity here, especially Parker. Washington being down to be another go to guy for Trevor Lawrence. Let's talk about some sits here. And for Dave, you got Dallas Goddard as a sit. Is it just time to forget Dallas Goddard as a even guy you want to roster on your team?

[Dave Richard]

Yeah. This is the time of year where if you've got a second tight end who's probably your first tight end and that's made Goddard your second tight end, it's time to let him go. Five or fewer targets each of his last three games. Only three. Three tight ends this year against the Chargers have had at least 9.2 half PPR points in a game against them. It's Derwin James, he takes away tight ends and that's an easy cover for him. With Dallas Goddard, he's still running a lot of routes. It's not like he's being asked to block more. He's just not getting targeted. Players like that, you can't trust Mark.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Andrews, somebody you want to get away from.

[Heath Cauthen]

Yeah. Congratulations on the new contract. Hopefully he scores a touchdown and maybe then he could get close to 11 fantasy points. But he has one game all season long above 50 yards last two weeks, he and Isaiah likely have the same number of targets. The last five weeks since week nine, he and Isaiah likely have the same number of catches, likely has 70 more receiving yards. It's just entirely Can Andrews score a touchdown? And we got big reason. The whole reason we're thinking about sitting Lamar Jackson is we don't know how many passing touchdowns are going to have.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

And if Lamar Jackson sits, you can definitely not trust anybody in the passing game. If it's Tyler Huntley. So easy guy to get away from there. For me, I'm going to sit Colston Loveland. Just a tough situation for him, taking a Packers defense that's been good against tight ends lately, limiting Dallas Goddard, Theo Johnson, TJ Hawkinson, kind of in the same range of a player like Colston Loveland, but a lot of it is really pass Attempt. I don't expect the Bears to throw the ball very much in this matchup. Alright, we're going to take a break. We come back and get to your questions. That's next year on Fantasy Football Today. Send them to us using the hashtag askfft. We'll help you with any of your fantasy dilemmas here on CBS Sports.

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[Jamie Eisenberg]

Welcome back to Fantasy Football Today presented by BetMGM. It's all your questions to end the show. So jets wants to know last week with the regular season tied with two other teams for the last two playoff spots. So when you get the scenario there. So need a quarterback. Okay, here we go. Patrick Mahomes, Jacoby Brissette, Joe Burrow. Dave, who you going with?

[Dave Richard]

I'm going with Joe Burrow and Mahomes is third on this list for me.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

All right, so burrow over the other two. That's fine. We'll just make it easy. Go with Joe Burrow. Would you go with Flowers, Heath or Michael Wilson or Greg Dorch?

[Heath Cauthen]

It would definitely be Wilson. If that's one of the Arizona wide receivers he's talking about, it'd go Wilson, Flowers, Dorch for me.

[Dave Richard]

And what if Marvin Harrison plays? Would that change anything?

[Heath Cauthen]

Would probably go Harrison Flowers, Wilson Dorch.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Okay, next question. Oh, boy.

Who to pick up?

[Dave Richard]

Man, I don't have a telescope. I can't read this.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah. All right, so it's Trevor Lawrence to Rod Taylor. He needs Lawrence. You go Lawrence. I would go Lawrence as well. Yeah. Okay, there you go. Great question.

Joe Burrow or Jared Goff? Last one, Goff.

[Dave Richard]

Agreed.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Jared Goff going into tonight's game taking on the Dallas Cowboys. Let's hope he has a big game again. We're not expecting Amon Ross St. Brown, but he still should be able to have some success with Jameson Williams and maybe Isaac Tesla, maybe Tom Kennedy and hopefully Jameer Gibbs as well. Check out our Fantasy Football Today podcast wherever podcasts are available and go vote for us the64.com. We are in the final four, hopefully going to win this amazing contest. And then our host, Adam Mazer, will have some fun. So for eth for Dave, I'm Jamie Eisenberg on our great production staff. Thanks for watching fantasy football today.

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[Heath Cauthen]

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[Dave Richard]

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[Heath Cauthen]

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[Dave Richard]

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[Heath Cauthen]

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[Dave Richard]

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