Start or Sit (AFC): JK Dobbins, Xavier Worthy, Tony Pollard and More (11/21 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Summary

Fantasy Football Today – Episode Summary Episode: Start or Sit (AFC): JK Dobbins, Xavier Worthy, Tony Pollard and More (November 21, 2024)

Release Date: November 21, 2024

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Introduction

In this episode of Fantasy Football Today, CBS Sports' Adam Aizer, along with analysts Heath Cummings and Jamie Eisenberg, delves into the critical start or sit decisions for Week 12 AFC matchups. The team provides in-depth analysis of player performances, matchups, injury updates, and strategic insights to help fantasy managers make informed decisions and dominate their leagues.

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Week 12 AFC Matchups Overview

The hosts kick off the discussion by outlining the six key AFC home games for Week 12:

1. Detroit Lions at Indianapolis Colts
2. New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins
3. Baltimore Ravens at Los Angeles Chargers
4. Kansas City Chiefs at Carolina Panthers
5. Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans
6. Denver Broncos at Las Vegas Raiders

Adam Aizer sets the stage by highlighting the significance of these matchups, noting particularly challenging defenses and potential breakout performances.

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Player Recommendations: Start or Sit

Detroit Lions at Indianapolis Colts

• Jamie Eisenberg recommends starting Brian Robinson Jr. citing the Cowboys' defense struggles against running backs. He states, “I think Robinson's going to have another opportunity for a big game” (06:09).

• Heath Cummings throws light on Jerry Judy, emphasizing his consistent target rate: “Jerry Judy's wide receiver. Elijah Moore's wide receiver, 28 per game” (07:22).

• Adam Aizer advises against Tony Pollard due to his matchup against a formidable Houston run defense: “I just don't love the setup for him” (08:56).

New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins

• Jamie Eisenberg advocates for starting Hunter Henry, noting his recent performance: “He's been top 10 tight end” (44:38).

• Heath Cummings expresses skepticism about DeAndre Swift’s effectiveness against the Dolphins' strong run defense: “I do not like him in YPC for life leagues” (42:28).

Baltimore Ravens at Los Angeles Chargers

• The discussion centers around J.K. Dobbins, Zay Flowers, and Lad McConkey. Both Jamie and Heath prioritize Zay Flowers as a reliable start due to Baltimore's weak run defense: “They are treating Kyron Williams like a must start running back” (22:46).

Kansas City Chiefs at Carolina Panthers

• The hosts analyze the potential of Patrick Mahomes versus Justin Herbert, ultimately recommending Mahomes for his favorable matchup and consistent performance: “I like the setup for a guy that's as hot as he is right now” (61:24).

• Jamie Eisenberg underscores the importance of Kareem Hunt over Chuba Hubbard, citing Hunt's superior offensive role: “He's one of those two backs with a rush share over 60%” (62:26).

Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans

• Heath Cummings highlights Kyron Williams as the workhorse due to his high usage rate: “He is a guy who's just going to be on the field all the time” (27:11).

• Jamie Eisenberg recommends Joe Mixon despite Tennessee's strong run defense, anticipating Mixon's ability to exploit matchup advantages: “He scored between 10 and 12 fantasy points if he doesn't score a touchdown” (67:01).

Denver Broncos at Las Vegas Raiders

• The focus is on Javante Williams, with Heath Cummings projecting a solid performance: “I have him projected for probably 12” (71:32).

• Jamie Eisenberg contemplates the reliability of Rashad White, positioning him as a flex option due to the Raiders' poor run defense: “He would be right there with them” (73:37).

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Waiver Wire and Injury Updates

The team provides critical updates on player injuries and waiver wire pickups:

• DeAndre Swift is dealing with a groin injury, affecting his snap count and overall performance (12:38).

• Amir Abdullah and Justin Fields are noted for their versatility and potential impact depending on game situations (12:38).

• Sam LaPorta, a tight end for the Patriots, is affirmed to be playing unless unforeseen circumstances arise, making him a valuable addition to fantasy rosters (15:13).

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Special Segments

Workhorse to Watch

Heath Cummings introduces Kyron Williams as the "Workhorse to Watch," emphasizing his dominant role in both rushing and receiving: “He has run 239 routes, that's the third most amongst running backs this season” (27:11).

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Mailbag and Listener Questions

Listeners engage with the show through emails and Twitter #AskFFT tweets. Notable questions include:

• Should Jameson Williams be started this week?

  • Heath Cummings and Jamie Eisenberg weigh in, ultimately advising caution due to inconsistent performances and favorable matchups (31:03, 32:49).

• Bo Nicks or Patrick Mahomes?

  • The debate centers around Nicks' potential upside versus Mahomes' proven track record, with differing opinions on optimal starts (72:16).

• Dropping Mark Andrews for Will Disley?

  • Jamie Eisenberg supports the move if desperate for a win, highlighting Disley's recent performance as a tight end option (56:27).

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Strategic Insights and Analysis

• Impact of Weather: The hosts discuss how weather conditions, such as cold temperatures and wind, can influence player performances, particularly quarterbacks and wide receivers (04:30).

• Quarterback Performance: A detailed analysis of Justin Herbert versus Joe Burrow, focusing on Herbert's lack of short-yardage touchdowns compared to Burrow's explosive plays: “Burrow is getting a whole bunch of big plays” (51:19, 52:43).

• Tight End Usage: The shift in Patriots' offensive strategy affecting tight end targets, with Johnny Smith gaining prominence over Jalen Waddle: “It's a trade-off for fantasy managers that need that” (48:33).

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Upcoming Shows and Events

• Mailbag Recording: Scheduled for Thursday night immediately after the Browns-Steelers game, allowing listeners to participate live via YouTube (10:54).

• CBS Sports HQ Feature: Jamie Eisenberg will appear at 10:00 AM Eastern on CBS Sports HQ, providing an additional platform for football coverage and fantasy insights (11:14).

• Small Business Saturday: A reminder to support local businesses on November 30th, sponsored by American Express (40:05).

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Conclusion

The episode of Fantasy Football Today delivers comprehensive insights and strategic advice for Week 12's AFC matchups. By examining player performances, matchups, and injury reports, Adam Aizer and his team equip fantasy managers with the knowledge needed to make informed decisions and ascend their leagues. Engaging segments like "Workhorse to Watch" and interactive mailbags further enhance the listener experience, ensuring this podcast remains a valuable resource for fantasy football enthusiasts.

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Notable Quotes

• Jamie Eisenberg on Brian Robinson Jr.: “I think Robinson's going to have another opportunity for a big game.” (06:09)

• Heath Cummings on Jerry Judy: “Jerry Judy's wide receiver. Elijah Moore's wide receiver, 28 per game.” (07:22)

• Adam Aizer on Tony Pollard: “I just don't love the setup for him.” (08:56)

• Jamie Eisenberg on Hunter Henry: “He's been top 10 tight end.” (44:38)

• Heath Cummings on Kyron Williams: “He is a guy who's just going to be on the field all the time.” (27:11)

• Jamie Eisenberg on Patrick Mahomes: “I like the setup for a guy that's as hot as he is right now.” (61:24)

• Heath Cummings on DeAndre Swift: “I do not like him in YPC for life leagues.” (42:28)

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This summary encapsulates the key discussions and insights from the November 21, 2024, episode of Fantasy Football Today, offering valuable guidance for fantasy managers navigating Week 12 AFC matchups.

Transcript

[Adam Azer]

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[Heath Cummings]

This is fantasy football today from CBS Sports.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

What a play.

[Adam Azer]

Can you believe this?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

No, I can't.

[Heath Cummings]

It's time to dominate your fantasy league.

[Adam Azer]

Off to the race and he stays at his feet. This is gonna go the distance.

[Heath Cummings]

Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and Heath.

[Adam Azer]

Let's get week 12 going. Welcome, everybody, to Fantasy Football Today presented by BetMGM, the sportsbook. Born in Vegas, I am Adam Azer with Heath Cummings. We'll have Jamie Eisenberg joining us shortly here. We have six AFC home games to talk about Detroit at Indianapolis. Can we go back to Anthony Richardson? How about Jameson Williams? New England's at Miami. Ramon Dre Stevenson's been running poorly and the Dolphins run demons has been getting better. Baltimore's at the Chargers. Is the game. Maybe it's the game of the week. We'll see. Should be a good one. Kansas City's at Carolina. It's not the game of the week. Tennessee is at Houston and yes, Kansas City and Carolina. I know that's an NFC home game, but it's on our show today. Tennessee at Houston. Denver at Las Vegas. Bo Nicks going to be another good game for Bo Nick. He's facing an injured secondary for the second straight game. Heath, I've got to catch my breath. What's going on?

[Heath Cummings]

Well, I still have an iguana in my ceiling.

[Adam Azer]

Oh, no.

[Heath Cummings]

So that's still happening. I got a couple of traps set up on the roof. But so far he is not. She is not taking the bait.

[Adam Azer]

Well, I thought. I thought you had. I thought you had solved the problem. I thought it came out of the hole.

[Heath Cummings]

Well, it did, but I didn't get the whole. I think the hole I found is much, much larger than I thought.

[Adam Azer]

You really want this thing alive? Because if it dies in there, it's going to smell so bad.

[Heath Cummings]

Yeah, because it's like it's legitimately. With the tail probably four and a half, five feet long.

[Adam Azer]

Oh, okay. So, yeah, sometimes they're even bigger than that. Let's talk about. Should we talk about the weather? How's the weather looking for tonight in Pittsburgh, in Cleveland?

[Heath Cummings]

Yeah. Same is what I see so far. And I say that because Kevin Roth's not updated his Twitter account. And while I do appreciate Dave's weatherman voice and Dave's weather opinions, I generally base my rankings changes on Roth and what he says right now. It sounds like it's going to be cold. We might get a rain snow mix. He has not said anything about increasing winds. So I think we just have to watch this afternoon, this evening and like if you see winds that are more than 15 miles an hour, then you should downgrade the quarterbacks and the pass catchers. I will. If it's just a cold game with a little bit of rain and wind. Like this is the Dealers and the Browns, they are used to that. It's not like if Jamie and I had to deal with 35 degrees and a rain snow mix.

[Adam Azer]

Got a comment in the chat. 100% chance of sun wherever Dave is. But I just looked on weather.com and as of now, this evening in Cleveland, it's supposed to be cold with precipitation, 15 mile per hour wind. It's not, it's not horrible, but it's not good. I mean, it's not like it's not good. Just leave it at that.

[Heath Cummings]

Well, the other thing that we watch a lot of times and I'll check that out right now is like what's the over, under, doing?

[Adam Azer]

Okay.

[Heath Cummings]

And it was 36 and a half yesterday. It's 37 now.

[Adam Azer]

Okay, but still, that's so low.

[Heath Cummings]

It's really terrible.

[Adam Azer]

All right, let's, let's spin it positive here. Talk about players we love. Jamie, who's our start of the week for week 12?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Brian Robinson Jr. You know, excited about his matchup here, taking on a Cowboys defense coming off a Monday night game. They have fresh legs. Offensive line is healthy for Washington. Clearly he's had a good season. You know, as I wrote in the story, I think we all have seen comments like this. Did I draft the right B. Robinson early in the year with the way Brian Robinson was outperforming Bijan Robinson? But this Cowboys defense has obviously struggled. You saw what Joe Mixon did against them last week. It's been some big blowout games against them recently. So they are among the bottom teams in terms of fantasy points allowed to opposing running backs. I think Robinson's going to have another opportunity for a big game. I think Austin Eckler is worth using as a flex as well. I have Eckler ranked ahead of Tony Pollard, Chuba Hubbard and deandre Swift this week. So I think both running backs have a chance to do well in this matchup against South.

[Adam Azer]

DeAndre Swift with a groin injury. We'll talk about that a little bit later. Heath, who do you love this week?

[Heath Cummings]

You know, I'm. Can I just tell you, like what my last 15 minutes has been like, I went through this whole long spiel of explaining why I love Jerry Judy, and then I realized it was a Thursday night game and I wasn't even sure I was supposed to use them. And then we got the weather situation. So I'm not even sure if I'm supposed to use him. But I'm still going to say it because I do have all three Browns wide receivers tonight ranked as top 24 options, and Jerry Judy is a top 15 option.

[Adam Azer]

This feels like it goes. It could be so bad so easily with the weather. I.

[Heath Cummings]

If they went like. Like I said, as of right now, I'm not expecting huge wins. If there's huge wins, that changes. Okay, Completely changes. But let's just assume that the forecast is 10 to 15 mile an hour winds. That's what I think it is right now. Like you look at since Jameis took over and Cedric Tillman scored three touchdowns in three games. So his overall fantasy production looks just a little bit better. But he's wide receiver, nine per game. Jerry Judy's wide receiver. Elijah Moore's wide receiver, 28 per game. He was the one guy who had a bad game the last time they faced a tough defense. If there's bad weather, Elijah Moore might be the least impacted because he has more short area targets and works in the slot. A lot of the wide receivers you look at that have been good against the Steelers have been that type. But Jake. Jerry Judy's numbers, 1.97 yards per route run, 24 target per route run. Like that's a number one wide receiver.

[Adam Azer]

That's with Jameis.

[Heath Cummings]

Yes.

[Adam Azer]

Okay. All right. So Brian Robinson Jr. For Jamie, Jerry Judy for Heath. Players to avoid Jamie, who he's sitting.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I'll go back to the running backs I mentioned. Pick one. I'll let you decide. So we'll leave. We'll leave DeAndre Swift out of it. You want Chuba or you want Pollard?

[Adam Azer]

Pollard. Because right now I'm not expecting Taj Spears. He's had more than 20 touches in two of three, I think 18, 21, 23 touches, something like that in the three games without Taj Spears this year. So that's hard to pass up.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

It's hard to pass up, but it's a bad matchup against a Houston defense that's really good against the run. And I think he's dealing with a foot injury that we're not really talking about a lot because every time he plays, there's a report about playing through a foot injury. Playing through a foot injury. He's gotten under 10 carries each of the last two weeks. And yes, that does coincide with Spears being back and he did have four catches last week, but he's been 10 PPR points or less each of the last two weeks and I do think he'll get to that number. So he's still a low end number two running back, you know, so it's hard to get away from clearly a player like this in a week where we have six teams on a buy. But I just don't love the setup for him. I think this offense is really struggling to run the ball right now. The offensive line is banged up with a Houston defense that's really performing, you know, especially in that regard, stopping the run. They're going to make things uncomfortable for this Titans offense. So I just don't love the setup for Tony Pollard right now with or without Taij Spears.

[Adam Azer]

Okay. Yeah, so it was. I was. His touches in three games without spears are 18, 23 and 31. I don't think we can expect that. But yeah, Houston, since they've gotten Aziz Al Shire back, basically when they have Aziz Al Shire, their star linebacker, they are so good against the run. They've had some bad games, but that was pretty much all without Aziz Shire. All right, so Tony Pollard is one of the running backs to avoid. Heath, how about you?

[Heath Cummings]

I'm going to go with Devonte Smith and I would start all three Browns wide receivers over Devonte Smith even on a week with six teams on a buy, even on a week when we've a season when we've had so many wide receiver injuries and problems, I can't trust Devonte smith, who has six catches for 43 yards in his last two games. He's been very unreliable. When Dallas Goddard and A.J. brown have been both healthy and he's on the injury report with a hamstring injury.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah. All right. Devonte Smith, try to get away from him. We've got. Oh big announcement for the. For you mailbag fans out there. You like the mailbag? Well, it's coming to you tonight, Thursday night at like 11:30pm as soon as. Not as soon as. But shortly after the Browns Steelers game ends. We're recording the mailbag. Me, Jamie and Dan.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

He's not golfing. He'll be there.

[Adam Azer]

He'll. He'll be there. He does not have a midnight golf game, so he will be there for this one. And that's going to be your mailbag, which will publish on Saturday the normal time. But if you want to watch it live it's tonight and you want to be part of that and ask your YouTube questions. Go to YouTube.com fantasy football today for.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Our mailbag on like a topgolf that is no openly top golf.

[Adam Azer]

Super fun. I wouldn't blame him for that. But it's rainy and cold today in New York and New Jersey, so no golf for Dan.

[Heath Cummings]

Pretty cold in Florida today.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, we're going to need that to warm up. We're going to need that to warm up for the weekend. Anyway, we got the Sunday shows. We got jamie on at 10:00am Eastern on, on CBS Sports HQ, which you can watch on the CBS Sports app. That's three hours of football coverage including some fantasy, some gambling and just some football talk on CBS Sports HQ beginning at 10:00am Eastern on Sunday. And we have the Q and A at 11:30am Eastern. YouTube.com fantasy football today. Join us there. Ask your questions for nearly an hour and a half. We're answering your [e-mail] fantasy football today, Sunday morning, 11:30am Eastern. Quick news and notes here. Brock Purdy has a sore shoulder but he is expected to play at the Packers. Cooper Rush is going to start. I already mentioned this stuff yesterday. Cooper Rush is going to start, but they could use Trey Lance in certain situations. Same with Russell Wilson. He's obviously starting. But they could use Justin Fields in certain situations. All right, the running back news, actually there were, I wanted to say there were a few players that you could be looking to add right now. Now, one of them or two of them we already talked about, but we have injury updates. So Roshan Johnson, we didn't know DeAndre Swift was dealing with a groin injury. I mean, I didn't know that unless I just didn't say it. But. Unless we didn't say it. But I didn't know that when we did the waiver wire show on Tuesday.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

But now it could, it could account for why his snap count was lower and Roshan's was higher.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah. And I mean, I don't get the sense that he's going to miss the game yet. But Roshan Johnson, 53% rostered, becomes even more appealing. Unfortunately, he has a tough matchup against Minnesota, but Eber flew.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Matt Eberfluz did say the word hopeful. Yeah. I don't know. You take that for what it's worth.

[Adam Azer]

Sure. Ok. But, but Roshan Johnson I think becomes a little bit more appealing with this injury. Amir Abdullah, we talked about him but knows the mirror white. No Alexander Madison at practice on Wednesday. And then I just wanted to Say another guy that. I mean, I'm. I don't even know who I'd be starting in our 14 team podcast league because I have Bijan on a buy. I think I have Taj Spears on the bench. Something like that. I picked up Samir White just in case he plays and Madison doesn't. And again, he'll probably do horribly against a good run defense, but he's 26% rostered, so there is a chance he'd be a starting running back this week. But right now he's out. And Madison out for practice on Wednesday. And then there's a guy who's number one per game at his position and he's 55% rostered and he's a kicker. Austin Cybert, who may not play this week, but he has been limited in practice. So that's Washington's kicker, Austin cybert. Just take a look. You might want to take a gamble on him at 55.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

So the smart move is, if you want to use him is just make sure there's another kicker you like.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Which there should be.

[Adam Azer]

And pick him up now because.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Right. You pick him up first because he's had a great season. Jason Myers should be available. Chase McLaughlin should be available. Will Lutz kicking indoors against the Raiders. They're number one and most fancy points allowed. Opposing kickers. I know too much about kickers. You can, you can, you can pivot easily if you don't get Cyber back.

[Adam Azer]

All right, more running back news. Isaiah Pacheco has been limited in practice and so Madison and Zemir White missed practice. Pacheco limited, though.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

You guys, let me ask you as a Chiefs fan and a fantasy manager and a fantasy analyst, do you want Pacheco back this week or do you want to give him another week to get healthy since they don't need him against the Panthers?

[Heath Cummings]

No, you don't bring him back. You got a short week this week playing on Friday. I think they may have another short week after that. They have the. They have the. Is that when the Wednesday game is Christmas game?

[Adam Azer]

Yeah. Oh, no, no, no, no, no.

[Heath Cummings]

That's in two weeks. It's in a couple weeks. So, yeah, give him the. I wouldn't even play him on Friday on that short week. Let's just get, get him healthy. I just don't know if he's going to be any good.

[Adam Azer]

Well, are you guys gonna rank him or what? Like, what do you need to see.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

To rank Pacheco once, once he's ruled eligible to play, we'll obviously rank and we're not ranking him now because based on what Andy Reid said yesterday, you know, no guarantee he's going to play this week. So I. I almost would rather like have him for the fantasy playoffs as opposed to right now.

[Adam Azer]

Oh, yeah, that'd be great. I mean, especially for all the Kareem hunt managers. Anyway, DeAndre Swift missed practice where he Moster practice in full. Taj Spears missed practice. Wide receiver news. Mike Evans is expected to play. Calvin Ridley missed practice, but it's just an illness. He should be fine. Devonte Smith missed practice as he's. As Heath mentioned, he misses practice on Wednesday a lot. So I think we expect Devonte Smith to play. CD Lamb was limited, but he's fine. And Brandon Cooks could be back this week for Dallas. Tight end Jake Ferguson unlikely to play. George Kittle says he is going to play. And Sam Laporta is looking good to play. Have you guys ranked Sam LaPorta?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yes.

[Adam Azer]

Okay.

[Heath Cummings]

I intend to.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, same.

[Adam Azer]

Okay. Yeah, Sam Laporta should play, and he.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Had a late basketball practice last night, so.

[Heath Cummings]

Oh, until 9:00 last night.

[Adam Azer]

A lot of running for JB Son.

[Heath Cummings]

He did a little running. It's. It's really amazing. He. I've. I've already made a huge impact on his life. He went from, you know, just kind of middle of the pack in terms of sprints to just winning every sprint and laughing at everyone while he does it.

[Adam Azer]

Nice. Love that. All right, we'll skip the office. Although Cleveland tonight. Cleveland tonight's gonna be without their two left tackles, so they're shorthanded at left tackle. And there's a lot of defensive news.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

That's good going against Steelers.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah. In the rain, in the wind. Houston's getting healthier on defense. Will Anderson was limited. Oh, the big injury is Roquan Smith, linebacker for Baltimore. They play Monday at Chargers. They are like a yard and a half worse against running backs per carry with Roquan Smith out compared to when he is in the game.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Oh, the double revenge game, too, is what the hardball.

[Adam Azer]

Gus Edwards. Yeah, they're all gonna get the OC.

[Heath Cummings]

And both running backs.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Well, I mean, I was just thinking the players. Yeah, but.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, and they got the hardball thing. All right. If you haven't signed, don't forget the.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Cowboys have two guard injuries, too. Both they're left and right.

[Adam Azer]

Carter Cowboys have. What about their tackle?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

So Guyton practiced in full, but both Martin and Smith were DMPs.

[Adam Azer]

Okay. All right. If you haven't signed up for BET MGM yet, use the bonus code Fantasy and you're going to get up to a 1500 first bet offer on your first wager with BetMGM. So here's how it works. You download the BetMGM app, you sign up using the bonus code Fantasy, deposit at least $10 and place your first wager on any game and you're going to receive up to fifteen hundred dollars in bonus bets if your bet loses. Just make sure you use the bonus code Fantasy when you sign up. We will be right back on Fantasy Football today with one question for each game. This episode is brought to you by Microsoft Copilot plus PCs powered by Snapdragon. The fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever. Listen to the features that you get with these computers. They are fantastic. They can perform 45 trillion operations per second. And the copilot plus PCs give you access to AI powered co creator, a powerful AI feature to help you sketch even if drawing isn't your strong suit. And I'm tired of running out of battery on my computer, aren't you? Well, the Copilot Plus PCs, they give you up to 22 hours of battery life. That's going to make you more productive whether you're multitasking like never before, working far from power outlets, or sketching your ideas into existence. Power awaits with the new Microsoft Copilot Plus PC powered by Snapdragon, the fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever. Learn more about all new Copilot Plus PCs at windows.com copilot+PCs Battery life varies by device, settings and usage. Well, I just downloaded a new game on my phone and it is awesome. It's called Marvel Snap. Marvel Snap is an award winning collectible card game that combines deep strategy, a unique snapping mechanic, your favorite Marvel characters, and thousands of unique card art variants created by renowned artists to collect and use. And first of all, it's just visually appealing. It looks awesome, but the gameplay is what matters. So let's talk about why you're gonna love Marvel Snap. The games are fast paced. Each game takes only three minutes. Your objective is to win two out of three locations by having higher total power than your opponent. And as you win, you earn cosmic cubes. I think my favorite part is the Snap mechanic. If you're feeling confident in your hand or maybe you want to bluff Snap to double the cosmic cubes. Or if you're not feeling confident, you can retreat anytime to minimize cube losses. So this is where the strategy component really comes in. I love that there are more than 270 cards in Marvel snap with over 2000 unique art variants to collect from beloved artists and new cards are released every week. They keep it fresh. Download Marvel Snap now on iOS, Android and Steam to start playing the award winning collectible card game. Welcome back to fantasy football today. Here we go. One question for each game. Detroit is at Indianapolis. Aman Rahsain Brown is the best receiver in this game. Who's the second best wide receiver in this game?

[Heath Cummings]

Josh Downs in full ppr. It's Josh Downs in non ppr. I'd go Jameson, would you start both.

[Adam Azer]

Of them over Devontae Smith?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yes, I would start Downs over Smith in both formats. I would start Williams over Smith in non ppr. I still take Smith and ppr. At some point he's going to have a good game. I agree with Heath. It's up to trust right now, but at some point it's going to happen.

[Adam Azer]

New England is at Miami starter sit Ramandre Stevenson who is averaging 2.9 yards per carry in his last five games since returning from a foot injury. And the Dolphins are giving up 3.81 yards per carry to running backs in their last five games since thereby starter sit Ramandre Stevenson must start running back.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Can you go over the teams that the Dolphins have faced? Because I think that matters.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, they faced the Colts without Jonathan Taylor, but they were great against James Conner. They faced Buffalo, they faced Kyron Williams and did a good job against him. I don't remember how they did against James Cook and Las Vegas last week. So actually not that bad a competition, I think.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I wonder how much the Raiders game is factoring in there because that was a terrible running performance from that team.

[Adam Azer]

I don't think it's as much as you think. I can tell you real quick. Running backs against Miami, let's see. James Cook had 10 carries for 44 yards. Kyron 15 for 62, Connor 20 for 53 and a touchdown. Raiders were awful. Colts running backs were bad. So let's say they've been solid against good running backs.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I mean Stevenson had a good game against them in week five and just based on how this run defense has gone and how many touches he'll get, I think he's, he's a mustard guy.

[Heath Cummings]

There's been three straight games, at least six catches for the running backs as a team. Maybe not one running back, but at least six catches. Three straight games and we've got six teams on a buy and we don't like. We don't Even know if DeAndre Swift is okay. We don't like Nick Chubb, we don't like. Like, there's plenty of guys we just don't like either. So I think he's. He's at number two running back.

[Adam Azer]

Okay. Baltimore is at the chargers. Rank these three players. Lad. McConkey, Zay Flowers, J.K. dobbins.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Roquan Smith in. It's Flowers, McConkey. Dobbins for me. Roquan Smith out. It's Dobbins. Flowers, McConkey.

[Heath Cummings]

I will go. Flowers, Dobbins, McConkey.

[Adam Azer]

Ravens allow 3.1 yards per carry to running backs with Roquan on the field, 4.5 yards per carry to running backs. With him off the field, it's only 23 carries. But their defense basically changed when he, when they acquired him midseason a few years ago. All right, next game, Kansas City at Carolina. You could not have a bigger difference in matchups, right? You've got the best run defense in football against a team that gives up, if not the most close to the most fantasy points of running backs. So who is the best running back in this game? So I asked this question thinking more along the lines of Pacheco was going to play. You guys seem to think he's not going to play or it seems like you're leaning that way, right?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Currently leaning that way, yes.

[Adam Azer]

Okay, and why is that? Because the reports last week was that he was going to be ready to play this week.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

But that's a coach's decision at this point. Like, if he's healthy and ready to go, they don't have to play him, you know, so, like, what Heath was talking about with how the schedule is, is playing out for them. I mean, again, like, do you risk him in this game or is this the ramp up game? Could be either one. You know, like, look at what McCaffrey's gone through. He doesn't look right yet. He's still going through essentially his preseason, you know, and trying to get his legs underneath him. It's going to take a couple games for Pacheco to get there. So I'm sure they want to have him ready to go, you know, when they get to December. But do they need him? And, and how much does practice matter more than, than games at this point just to get his legs underneath him and getting him healthy. So based on what Andy Reid said yesterday of, you know, not a guarantee I would anticipate, you know, and I wasn't even thinking about the, the early game next week. Like, why would you. Look at what, what, what did Kevin Stefan just do with, with Nick Chubb, right? They limited his naps last Sunday because they knew they had the Thursday game.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah. Like, listen, so it was. I, I agree. Like, I'm not saying start Pacheco. I'm wondering, if Pacheco plays, does it hurt Kareem Hunt enough to put Chuba Hubbard ahead of Kareem Hunt?

[Heath Cummings]

It right is we, we don't expect Pacheco to play.

[Adam Azer]

All right.

[Heath Cummings]

Annie Reed said, if and when they both play together, I, I don't know why you would rush a guy back off of a broken leg to play against the Panthers when you have a division game in four days.

[Adam Azer]

Okay.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

And also, I, I think you just look at it like in, in comparing the two. The two backfields. We have no idea how much work Jonathan Brooks is going to get, you know, so you're also talking about one team playing the worst run defense versus one team playing the best run defense. And both may be sharing touches. I'm still going to take Careemon over Chuba Hubbard if Pacheco plays.

[Adam Azer]

All right. Tennessee's at Houston. Who's a better start, Tank Dell or Calvin Ridley? Denver's at Las Vegas. Who's the best start, Jacoby Myers or a running back in this game?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I'll take Javante over Jacoby.

[Heath Cummings]

Yeah. Agreed.

[Adam Azer]

Interesting. Okay. Jacoby Myers had one of the better games for a wide receiver at Denver earlier this year. Six catches, 72 yards on nine targets. He had one catch for 18 yards on two targets against Patrick Sir Tan. So he did most of his damage away from Sir Tan.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I wonder. This is the first time, unless I'm mistaken, the Broncos are seeing a team for the second time this season.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, I don't know.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

So how much does game film from first matchup matter? And does certain just follow Myers the entire time?

[Heath Cummings]

Are you. Are you trying to insinuate the Broncos might do a better job of making adjustments than the Raiders?

[Adam Azer]

It's just he's not the kind of wide receiver that he would follow. But maybe I'm wrong. I mean, he's. He's emerged. He probably deserves it.

[Heath Cummings]

We don't. I don't dislike Jacoby Myers.

[Adam Azer]

Where do you have them?

[Heath Cummings]

24.

[Adam Azer]

Okay.

[Heath Cummings]

All right, 22.

[Adam Azer]

Now it's time for the Workhorse to Watch segment, brought to you by Microsoft. Copilot Plus PCs powered by Snapdragon, the fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever. In this segment, we'll identify a player whose battery just doesn't seem to run out, similar to Copilot plus PCs. Heath, who is our workhorse to watch this week?

[Heath Cummings]

I think a workhorse everyone will be watching is Kyron Williams. You look at this season, there's been no greater workhorse. 76.7% share of his team's rush attempts. To put that in context, there's only two running backs who have a share higher than 60%. He's, he's at 76.7%. And then you go over to the passing game. We don't think of him as a guy who catches a lot of passes, but he's run 239 routes. That's the third most amongst running backs this season. Only Bree hall and Bijan Robinson have run more routes than Kyron Williams. So he is a guy who's just going to be on the field all the time. And that's why even in a matchup against an Eagles defense that has turned itself into one of the best, if not the best defense in the NFL, I'm still treating Kyron Williams like a must start running back. A top 12 option. Yeah, he hasn't scored a touchdown in a couple of weeks. I expect that will change.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

He treat him like the commanders treated their running backs last week against Philadelphia. Throw the ball to him. He's got two games with five catches in his last three. I think that matters. You know it's going to be tough to run on Philadelphia so he's going to get the work. You're still starting him but man, it's just, it's just frustrating sometimes when they don't involve him in the passing game.

[Adam Azer]

But also I would say that it's much harder to throw on Philadelphia. Their run defenses, it's not that it's bad but it's, I would say it's their weakness. They're solid but better, much better against. Although I don't know. I'm not saying we're sitting Nakua or you know what, that game's tomorrow. That game we'll talk about tomorrow. That was the workhorse to watch Segment brought to you by Microsoft Copilot + PCs whether you're multitasking like never before, working far from power outlets, or sketching your own ideas into existence, you can do it with the new Microsoft Copilot plus PC powered by Snapdragon. Battery life varies by device and with usage and settings. And we get into six games here, starting with Detroit at Indianapolis. Schedule alert Jared Goff. We talked about this last week. Jared Goff. After this week his opponents rank first, eighth, ninth, first and seventh against quarterbacks. Will it matter? I mean this guy's playing at such a high level. Although he was coming off two bad games in a row. He scored over 40 points last week. Anyway, starters at Jared Goff start. Yeah, I feel like quarterbacks really good this week. You guys feel that way?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah. Despite these, the six teams on a buy, you know, you still have, you know, what feels like, you know, very good options. You know, I think the people that are making the decisions on replacing, you know, the quarterbacks are off with Richardson or May or maybe Winston. You know, I know I'm in a few of those leagues where I'm stuck, but, you know, for the most part, I think, you know, you, you can feel comfortable with Tua. You feel comfortable with Bo Nicks at this point. Obviously golf at this point, you know, is, is a safe, safe starter. Baker back with, you know, Mike Evans. Like, there's a lot to like about the position.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, you guys have golf and Knicks back to back. You both have Bo Nicks one spot ahead of Jared Goff.

[Heath Cummings]

Yep.

[Adam Azer]

We like, we like them both. All right, start the Detroit running backs. And I'm on Ross St. Brown. And let's talk about Jameson Williams. I wanted to give this statistic on Jameson Williams in his. So he had one game where he had one target, one catch for negative four yards. Horrible game. Other than that, when he's had more than one target. His two worst games have been when he's had an 8 dot of 28 yards and 22.6 yards. In his other games he's been 11.6 to 15.5 yard ADOTs and he's had 76 or more yards in every game. So I know we think of Jameson Williams as just this downfield guy, but he's actually a lot better when he's being used in the intermediate part of the field as well because he can do a lot of catch and run stuff. How do you guys feel about him? Against the Colts this week, who are 18th against wide receivers, they've allowed 78 yards or a touchdown to 15 wide receivers in 11 games.

[Heath Cummings]

He is the ultimate boom bust. Number three wide receiver. You feel fantastic about him. If you can put him in that role, you've got to start him as a number two. There's not a very, not, not a very high floor, anything.

[Adam Azer]

Should we ask the eight ball today?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

So, yeah, ask it, but I'll let you go.

[Adam Azer]

Okay. Should we start Jameson Williams this week? Magic 8 Ball, answer unclear. Ask later. All right, we'll ask in a few minutes.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

So Tahit's point, the ultimate boomer bus wide receiver. He's played eight games in four of those games he's got 14.4 PPR points or more. So half of his games he's been beyond serviceable. You look at what happened last week, so no Sam laporta, laporte expect to return. I believe it's a season high in targets with six. Can. Can he do better than that with Laporte on the field?

[Heath Cummings]

It is as high as since week two. He had 20 in his first two games and we thought James was a league winner.

[Adam Azer]

Yep. Yep.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

So. So you want to see can he still be that involved? I'm sorry, you know what it was. It's. It's every time he's had six or more targets, he's had a big game, you know, so that makes sense. Can't. Can he be involved? I think so. You know, to your point, Adam, it seems like the. He's got two. Two big plays this year where they're crossing routes, where they clear everything out. He runs underneath and you know, see ya. Good luck trying to tackle him. It's a good matchup given the. The teams on a buy. We're talking about him and I don't know where you have him ranked Heat, but you know, to me it's a similar range of guys with. Pick a Browns receiver. Devonte Smith. Yeah.

[Adam Azer]

Actually, we have a question. Jameson Williams or Tillman from the chat.

[Heath Cummings]

Tillman for me.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Tillman for me. Unless the weather, you know, changes. Then it would be okay.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah. I don't think I can ignore the laporta thing anymore. I thought it would. Might. Might have been a coincidence because his target per route run rate was a lot higher with laporta off the field than on the field. But that was never a game where the Porta had missed, so I thought it was just kind of fluky. But based on last week, I don't know if I can call it fluky anymore because it's not like golf just doesn't throw to other tight ends. He just. He's not going to throw to Brock right when the port is out. So I do think that's pretty significant. Right. We got to factor that in. Laporta expected to play. All right. And they've been. And he's been better at home. I think Jameson Williams too. I don't know if that matters too. Might. That might be fluky and this is a road game. Sam.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

You did have a good game at Dallas, Sam.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah. I'm not saying he's been terrible everywhere, but. All right. Sam Laporta indoors.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Indoor indoors.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah. Sam a Porter starter Sit.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Low end starter at best. It's a good matchup. You know, again, he's just been so tough to trust. But like, I'm still starting Will Disley over him. I'm starting Jonah Smith over him. I start him over Tucker Kraft, for example, over Cole Comet. You know, I start him over Schoolmaker personally, but, you know, that's kind of the range where he's at right now.

[Heath Cummings]

Yeah, I've got Mark Andrews at 12, Dallas Goddard at 13, TJ Hawkinson at 15, and he would be right. He might be 14 right there with him.

[Adam Azer]

All right, and we'll ask the eight ball one more time. Should we start Jameson Williams this week? Magic 8 Ball. Can't say now. Okay. Thanks for nothing, you pile of junk. Anthony Richardson. Let's see. Anthony Richardson or Matthew Stafford against Philadelphia?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Richardson.

[Heath Cummings]

Richardson.

[Adam Azer]

Anthony Richardson or Jordan Love against the Niners?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Love.

[Adam Azer]

Geno Smith against Arizona.

[Heath Cummings]

Richardson.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Richardson.

[Adam Azer]

Tommy Cutlets against the Bucks.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

How do you shrug your shoulders like that?

[Adam Azer]

I was doing the. Like the fingers, like the. Hey, you know that he always.

[Heath Cummings]

We're not going to do that thing on this show, I don't think.

[Adam Azer]

Okay, well, speak for yourself. Are you going with Richardson over DeVito, right?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yep.

[Adam Azer]

Okay.

[Heath Cummings]

Yes.

[Adam Azer]

Here's the tough one. How about Darnold at Chicago or Anthony Richardson?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Richardson.

[Heath Cummings]

Richardson.

[Adam Azer]

Okay. Is he in the top?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I'm starting Mayo. Richardson person.

[Adam Azer]

Drake may have Richardson. He's 11th for Heath. I think 15th for Jamie. Something like that.

[Heath Cummings]

Yeah, sounds right.

[Adam Azer]

Perfect. That's it. That is right. God, I'm good at this. Good at reading.

[Heath Cummings]

You're the best. Here's it for when you. Except for when you read things wrong three times in a row.

[Adam Azer]

Oh, you talking about my. Okay, so I had this horrible nickname. It was gonna be the nickname of the game and I deleted it from the notes. So now I have to go back and find it. Okay, it's a Mon Ray Quasa Saint Brown. And you're like, who the hell is that? Rayquaza is a Pokemon. And Amon Ross St. Brown is also a Pokemon because he catches them all. He catches every single target. And I had gone in this game, like, he has caught 44 straight targets. And I did the math and I looked and I double checked and I triple checked. And then this morning I was like, about to. It was like going to tell Heath and Thomas, oh, listen to this clever nickname. And I noticed he did not catch two of his targets a couple of games ago. So I got that wrong. So never mind. Anyway, Jonathan Taylor is interesting because you Guys are pretty different on him. Jamie's got him as like a low end. Let me check the updated ranking so I don't make an idiot. All right, you move him to 17th. He was 23rd. But Jamie, Dave's got Taylor 19th. Heath, you have him 11th. But I am nervous to start Jonathan Taylor because he has five catches in five games. With Anthony Richardson, he's facing a good run defense. If he doesn't score, I think he's going to be pretty disappointing. So, Heath, you seem optimistic here on Taylor.

[Heath Cummings]

Yeah, he's just getting all of the running back touches, almost like there may be maybe a target or a carry goes to somebody else. And especially like we got. And I'll just say this, like every game, I guess, but we don't have all of the running backs that we would like to have this week. And so I'm not, I'm not sitting Jonathan Taylor. Like, I know the Lions are good. They're not to me like the Ravens and even the Ravens, I'm starting J.K. dobbins probably.

[Adam Azer]

Would you start David Montgomery over Taylor?

[Heath Cummings]

I have Taylor one spot higher.

[Adam Azer]

All right. Jamie would start Montgomery.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

They're basically the same. I mean, they're not getting passing down work and one guy scores touchdowns every week, you know, so why wouldn't you trust David Montgomery against the Colts as opposed to Taylor against the Lions, you know, so, I mean, to me it just makes more sense to go with. With Montgomery. The one thing that could work in his favor Taylor is Alexander Azalone is out. You know, so there's a change in the defense. And so, you know, I know you don't have the yards per carry yet because it hasn't happened, but without him on the field, that could be a big benefit to any running back going against them. Now the other thing that factors into this, which is why I think the Lions run defense is so good, is they get ahead and you can't. You stop running on them. You know, the Colts are not going to stop running on them. So that will hopefully help both Richardson and Taylor. And so it's just a matter of how much you want to buy into him. So you're not benching Jonathan Taylor. It's just too, too tough to get away from someone like this. But like, I like Cream Hunt better, assuming there's no Pacheco. I like Brian Robinson better because I think matchups more in his favor. So another similar type profile, you know, guys not gonna catch a lot of passes.

[Heath Cummings]

I, I know it's a busy show. Yeah, we I thank you. That's exactly what I was going to click. And you've got to own this.

[Adam Azer]

I knew it when I said it. Yeah, Pokey, Adam. Pokemon don't catch Pokemon. Trainers catch Pokemon. Yeah, I knew it when I said I'm sorry. I did have to correct myself there. All right, we got to finish up on this game. So Jamie mentioned you don't run on the Lions. What you do is you throw to wide receivers because you don't throw to. They're. They're good against tight ends, they're good against pass catching running backs. But they have seen by far the most wide receiver targets per game in the NFL and they give up the fourth most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers. A wide receiver scored 16.1 or more PPR fantasy points in nine of 10 games against the Lions. However, they have faced some of the very best receivers in football. I mentioned that all the time. They also give up the most receiving yards to slot receivers. So like or love Josh Downs this week?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I think it's hard to say love with Richardson just because of the potential erratic throws that may go his way. But it's now back to back games where he's had big production and based on the matchup and opportunity, it's hard not to love him. So he's a must start receiver for me.

[Adam Azer]

Do you guys want to start any other Colts receivers?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

No, I, I'm.

[Heath Cummings]

I'll flex. Not start, but I'll flex. Michael Pittman. Like the one thing that happened when Richardson came back and Pittman came back was that Pittman was the clear number one in terms of targets again. All right, he had a 28 target share last week. So if he gets 28 target share against this Lions defense, got a pretty decent chance to be a good flex start.

[Adam Azer]

The Lions dst, they get a lot of interceptions and they don't give up a lot of points. And we'll be right back after this. That is the Lions and the Colts. We got the Patriots and the Dolphins after this break on fantasy football today. Hey, come on in.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Small Business Saturday is right around the.

[Adam Azer]

Corner and so was that shop you've been meaning to check out on November 30th. Support your local community by shopping small on small Business Saturday. Founded by American Express.

[Heath Cummings]

Pick up a new outfit, a handmade.

[Adam Azer]

Gift, some vintage vinyl, maybe even some local tea. Thanks so much.

[Heath Cummings]

See you soon.

[Adam Azer]

Shop on small business Saturday, November 30th. That's the powerful backing of American Express. I know we've got some football fans out there and I'm thinking, hey, maybe you need some new cleats or your kid needs new cleats or someone you know. Let me talk to you about New Balance and a couple of awesome cleats that they've got. First of all, from the beginning, New Balance's goal has been to make the best fitting, most comfortable football cleat in the game. So let's talk about the Prodigy and the Fortress. The Prodigy is intelligent speed built for skill position players who turn split second reactions into game changing plays. The Prodigy is lightweight and supportive with a focus on springing off the toe, making a quick cut and then accelerating on grass and artificial surfaces. Now for the players with size, strength and speed inside the box, New Balance also has the Fortress. The Fortress is built to provide superior stability and midfoot stability for support on hard lateral cuts. The Fortress also features a high ankle collar and targeted heel support designed for fighting the game's toughest battles. Learn more and purchase New Balance football [e-mail] okay, are we going to start Drake May this week? He has scored 22 or more fantasy points and six point for passing touchdown leagues in three of five healthy games. The Dolphins have struggled a little bit lately against quarterbacks. Jamie, you. You like them for, you know, not love them. But 14th for Drake May. Who'd you say you were starting him over? Not Richardson, Richardson? Is that what you said?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I am starting my Richton. I'm starting him over Darnold. I'm starting him over Stafford, starting him over Dino.

[Adam Azer]

Okay. Stevenson is probably a tougher call. You guys have him in the top 18 in PPR. He's in every down back basically. So that's the great thing. But I don't know, man, like, he's running like garbage. It's like what Jamie said about Tony Pollard. It might be that he's playing hurt. Right.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

But one matchup is great and one matchup is not.

[Adam Azer]

I don't. All right, that's.

[Heath Cummings]

Do not start him in your YPC for life leagues.

[Adam Azer]

Well, he's not playing that well. I mean his last two games, 8.7 points at Chicago, 12.9 points against the Rams. He had 20 carries in both of those games. The two games before that he scored over 22 points. So he's a head scratcher. I get it.

[Heath Cummings]

Yeah. I think is the difference there. Just like he scored two touchdowns in one of those games and zero touchdowns in the other two.

[Adam Azer]

Yes, that is it.

[Heath Cummings]

Okay, so he's going to score between 10 and 12 fantasy points if he doesn't score a touchdown and he's going to score over 20 if he does score a touchdown. And that sounds a lot like a number two running back.

[Adam Azer]

Okay. Any interest in a Patriots wide receiver?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Douglas, as a number three receiver in PPR, he had six for 59 against them with Brissette in week five. It's basically when he's getting seven plus targets, he's getting around 10 PPR points, you know, so he's not gonna score touchdowns. That's just not part of his profile right now. Maybe that changes in this game, but you have seen some slot receivers recently have success against the Dolphins. And so I think he's going to get seven to nine targets. I think he's going to be around 10 PPR points, you know, 14 on a good day. Not bad given the by weeks.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah. And. And Keisha Booty, for a guy who's 4% rostered, he usually comes through for about eight points. It's not that bad. You know, look, it's not a six. Six targets in four straight games. And he was. I don't understand what happened on this play. He was wide open in the end zone. It was the easiest touchdown pass that Drake May would have had. And he didn't throw it. He just didn't throw it. He decided to scramble instead and he got tackled. But Booty could have had a touchdown there.

[Heath Cummings]

Booty and Bourne are kind of the reason I'd like to move Douglas a little bit higher, but I think it's possible in a given week that he could be the third best Patriots wide receiver. I. So. Yeah.

[Adam Azer]

And then Hunter Henry, you know, like everything you were saying about Ramandre Stevenson, you know, he's got like this good floor and then if he scores a touchdown, it's going to have a good game. Well, Hunter Henry has scored nine and a half or more PPR fantasy points in five of his last six games, and he has one touchdown in those games. So you guys like Hunter Henry this week against the Dolphins?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Very much so, yeah.

[Adam Azer]

Okay.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

He's been basically, since May has taken over, he's been top 10 tight end.

[Adam Azer]

Better than Mark Andrews. Yeah, better than. How about. I don't know how we feel about. I mean, I know how I feel about him, but Kate Otten, with Evans.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Back, I'm still starting K Dot until I see something different.

[Heath Cummings]

Yep.

[Adam Azer]

Okay.

[Heath Cummings]

Yeah. And John, who is the. The one streamer that I have ahead of him, although I probably wouldn't make that change, but I'm like, I'd start Henry over Disley or Andrews or Goddard or Hawkinson.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, agreed. I would start Henry over John also.

[Adam Azer]

Starter sit to a tongue of Iloa top 10 quarterbacks.

[Heath Cummings]

Yeah, he's not quite that high for me. I. You sent us an article, Adam, about the Dolphins offense and like how they. We had too many big plays last year. We need to have longer drives, more plays. And they're like, but you know what, it was really a struggle early in the year. They had a hard time with it. But they figured it out last week against the Raiders. It worked. I just like can we have some more big plays?

[Adam Azer]

I remember reading the same article. Not the same exact article, but I probably from the same writer on ESPN in the preseason and Tyreek Hill said we cannot be this reliant on the big play.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

He used the same quote. Yes. And he referenced that. He said this is what Tyree said in August.

[Adam Azer]

Right. And I remember reading it in August and I dismissed it. I was like, I don't. Okay, great. Well, you're not going to have big plays. This is intentional. They are one of the lowest adot teams in the NFL. I think the lowest since TUA came back from injury. And it is working for them. I mean, to a degree it's working. Sucks for us, but it's working.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

You wonder if this is. This was a planted article and to. To get the Patriots to bite.

[Adam Azer]

Oh, I don't know, but it's.

[Heath Cummings]

I would love that. I. I don't necessarily agree that it's working, Adam. Like they're. They're four and a half games back in the division. Well, they're all those within 234 came.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Out in the last column of the wild card final wild card spot. And yes, Heath, I would agree it doesn't feel like it's working. They're a personal foul penalty away from beating Buffalo who they lost to on a 61 yard field goal. You know, they won two miserable losses without Tua against the the Titans and the Colts. You know, like the season could be dramatically different if TUA plays just for this week though. This is as simple as this for me. Two is coming off a three touchdown game. The Patriots is a lot of four touchdown game. Matthew Stafford. We have six teams on a buy. I'm starting two at home against Patriots.

[Adam Azer]

Okay, Heath, why are you not. Just because he hasn't been that dynamic?

[Heath Cummings]

Well, he hasn't been that dynamic or that good. Like, I think Jamie's reasoning is fine. And what happened like there, there's good trends from last week, but like he's averaging 30 yards less passing per game and a basically a full yard less per pass attempt and the touchdown rates down and so I just like, I just don't like it.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, me either.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Start HN20, 21 points against the Bills. The three touchdown game against the Raiders. That's two of his last three. You know I just don't think this Patriots defense is that good.

[Adam Azer]

Start a chan sit Jalen Waddle and what about Tyreek Hill? How do we feel about him this week?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Next question.

[Adam Azer]

Okay, must start guy Juwan Jennings or Tyree kill Tyreek.

[Heath Cummings]

I have Jennings and.

[Adam Azer]

All right, we can start them both. And John New Smith you guys like a lot. Okay. He's. He's got three touchdowns this season. They're all from tua which is kind of a lot in to his how many games is tuba plays?

[Heath Cummings]

I do think it was brilliant. Like we want to have fewer big plays. Let's take JW and Waddles targets and give them to John who Smith and that should fix it.

[Adam Azer]

But honestly like they're not doing it because they think they have a better offense. They're doing it because I think it makes them a more balanced team. It's going to keep their defense off the field and they feel like it's going to help them win games because they obviously they've been a good regular season team. They haven't been able to get to the next step, the next level. If they get into a game where they don't hit on big plays, they're screwed. So they needed to have a look. I hate it too, but I understand the reasoning behind it. I just wish that they could throwing a little lightning in there from time to time. But.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Well, I mean it's. It's almost like be explosive early in the game then be ball control middle and late in the game, you know, like that. That to me is a good formula for success. It's just frustrating to watch Jalen Waddle knock at opportunities and to see those go to John New Smith. Now granted, look, it's as fantasy players we invested a lot in Jalen Waddle. Whether you drafted him in the second, third or fourth round, people were drafting him with high expectations and Johnny Smith has now become a relevant tight end. So there's the trade off there for the other fantasy managers that need that. But you'd like to see both get more opportunities. Like to see more just chances across the board and certainly more plays a little bit further down the field to let these guys get their hands on the ball and, and Be explosive. So maybe that's the, the balance that comes. It's still to a miss. Four games. They're, you know, work in progress as the season's evolving, but here we go. You're starting, you're starting. John Smith this week. He had a good game against the Patriots the last time. That was with Jacob. With Malik Willis, I believe, was starter in that game. Yeah. Not Malik.

[Adam Azer]

Skyler Thompson. Tyler Huntley.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, Huntley. Why am I. Tim Boyle. Some. Somebody.

[Adam Azer]

We can, we can finish up. Go ahead, Jamie.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah. You know, hopefully Jonah plays well again.

[Adam Azer]

Miami's DST is borderline top 12. They've been solid two weeks in a row. Baltimore's at the Chargers. Here's a stat of the game that's really probably not going to affect your. Your decisions, but it's just kind of interesting. Justin Herbert, he's the number five quarterback per game in the last four weeks, but he's been awful inside the 10 yard line. Seven of 2150 yards and four touchdowns on 21 pass attempts. Justin Herbert has the fewest green zone touchdown passes among the 17 quarterbacks with 18 or more green zone pass attempts. And so here's. Here's another thing, right? Like compare him to Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert have the Most and the second most touchdown passes from 26 or more yards out. But Burrow has 27 touchdowns and Herbert has 13 for the season. So Burrow is getting a whole bunch of big plays. Herbert is getting a whole bunch of big plays. Herbert gets almost no short yardage touchdowns. It's crazy. And that's why I wonder if we're overreacting a little bit. Are we over. Are we overrating him a little bit? But it is Baltimore, right? Like, he's just.

[Heath Cummings]

It was a pretty big range, I think difference in our rankings on him too, right?

[Adam Azer]

Oh, yeah. Oh, sorry about that. Like, third for, for Jamie, second for Dave, 12th for Heath.

[Heath Cummings]

And I think that's probably what it is is like just he's been really good lately and still in that stretch, there's a lot of games where it's just kind of a borderline top 12 performance. Hopefully the, the Ravens didn't figure something out against the past last week.

[Adam Azer]

Jamie, you're very high on Justin Herbert.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I mean, based on the last month, last six games, it's been 32 or more pass attempts. In four of those, he's run for 32 or more yards in two of his last three. Like, he's doing everything we want to see. And his receiving core is healthy and playing well. This is a matchup where Roquan, not Roquan, it's. It's still going to be tough to run against. I don't think they're going to try and go out there and play smash mouth football against the Ravens when every quarterback aside from Russell Wilson has really had success against this defense, when they've been, you know, feet to the fire. So I like the setup for a guy that's as hot as he is right now in this matchup, all eyes on him. I mean, there's, there's now talk of him as a, as a MVP candidate. You know, he's not going to win it because he's too far behind, but like, that's how well he's played for a team that's just on fire right now. So, yeah, to me, he's top five quarterback.

[Heath Cummings]

I want to go back and I think Dave hasn't ranked as a top five quarterback also. So he may not like this comparison, but like Dave had mentioned going into last week that like these Steelers and Ravens games always turn into kind of low scoring, ugly games. And he was 100% right. And I just wonder, like, who knows each other better than these brothers? And one of them has the other's former offensive coordinator as his offensive coordinator. Now they've got players that they've both, that they've like. I just wonder if this turns into another one of those games as much as we want it to be a shootout.

[Adam Azer]

All right. By the way, Dave, I said Dave had him second. Justin Herbert, he has him seventh. He has the mark.

[Heath Cummings]

That's an update because I think, I think it was second earlier.

[Adam Azer]

Okay. Yeah, those things change quite a bit throughout the week, so. But third for Jamie, seventh for Dave, and 12th for Heath.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I knew I nearly made Herbert the start of the week, but he started in too many leagues now at this point, you know, so.

[Adam Azer]

All right, let's go through this game. Here we go. Lamar Jackson, start. Derek Henry, start. Justice Hills. A desperation play. Although one thing I noticed about Justice Hill is that he usually has better games when he faces teams that give up a lot of receiving yards. Two running backs, the Chargers are not in that category. And they've only allowed, fully allowed two touchdowns to running backs all year. One rushing, one receiving. Sit like probably dropped Deontay Johnson. He's 60 rostered. Zay Flowers. Are you guys confident in Zay Flowers this week? Coming off two disappointing games in a row?

[Heath Cummings]

Yeah.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Still starting him. Yeah. Still top 20 receiver.

[Adam Azer]

Top 20 for Jamie. Top 12, I think, for Heath.

[Heath Cummings]

Yep.

[Adam Azer]

And Rashad Bateman is in this desperation flex category.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yep.

[Adam Azer]

Okay. Mark Andrews, borderline start the most.

[Heath Cummings]

Borderline start.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yep.

[Adam Azer]

Okay. And then Isaiah likely is. Well, Heath is usually higher on Isaiah likely. He has him in the same range as Andrews, I think, but lower. A little lower.

[Heath Cummings]

Two spots back.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah.

[Heath Cummings]

And I will say, like, Andrews is one of those. Like, there's three streamers that I would start over him this week. I also understand if you don't want to carry two tight ends. I don't want to drop them.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah. So just get him five targets. He'll be fine. Herbert, we talked about, all right, how we feel. I can't imagine anyone's gonna start Gus Edwards worth rostering at 50. How are we feeling about J.K. dobbins? Heath?

[Heath Cummings]

He is a number two running back. I am probably almost certainly starting him.

[Adam Azer]

Agree. Jamie.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Agreed. Yeah. Again, outlook looks better if Roquan's not there, but it's hard to get away from what he's still capable of doing. Revenge game, all those things that go into this. And look, both. Both Steelers running backs were productive last week against Baltimore. Naji ran well, but also had the. The passing down work that put him over the top for a 13 point game. Jalen Warren was involved in the passing game. They can throw the ball to J.K. dobbins and he can have some success there. So I think he's. He's safer than Gus, clearly. You know Gus, 16 carries in the two games back. You wonder if they get any goal line chances. Do they give him a chance to run one in as opposed to Hassan Haskins like we saw two games ago? But I think Gus is a. Is a very desperate, desperate, desperate flex option.

[Adam Azer]

How much do you love lad McConkey like or love lad McConkey this week?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Like love. He's a number two receiver this week.

[Adam Azer]

Josh Downs or Lab McConkey Downs.

[Heath Cummings]

They're back to back. I'll take downs.

[Adam Azer]

I got a lot of questions here in the chat, so. Oh, we got to talk about Quentin Johnston too, but let's go. Let me get a few questions in from the chat. Would you drop Mark Andrews for Will Disley?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

If I'm desperate for a win, yes.

[Heath Cummings]

Right.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Disley or Najoku the Joker, even if the weather's bad.

[Heath Cummings]

Yeah.

[Adam Azer]

Bo Nicks or Justin Herbert?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Herbert.

[Adam Azer]

Knicks Mark Andrews or Kate Otten? Otten Herbert or Kyler Murray? Four point per passing? Touchdown.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Man. Who's the better running quarterback lately?

[Heath Cummings]

Kyler? For me?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I bet you in the last Three that Herbert's running numbers. Rushing totals are better.

[Adam Azer]

His yards. Yeah, not touched.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I'll start Murray though in four point.

[Adam Azer]

Herbert, Richardson. Daniels. Rank them.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Herbert. Daniels. Richardson.

[Heath Cummings]

Daniels.

[Adam Azer]

Richardson.

[Heath Cummings]

Herbert.

[Adam Azer]

Okay, now if you, if you like Lab McConkey. Jamie, how much do you like Quentin Johnston?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

He's not far behind him. He's still number three receiver. You know, the targets haven't been there for him and I hate being reliant on someone who's touched down dependent. But he has scored in three straight games. It is a good matchup. So with six teams on a buy, there's a chance for a blow up spot here. But if he doesn't score and you're talking about five targets and three catches for 45 yards, that's the, I think the scary part of what Quentin Johnson's game can be.

[Heath Cummings]

He's slight, like just basically Jameson Williams with a slightly lower floor.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Now, I don't think Heath was part of the bet, but he should be allowed to come to lunch with us. That you have to pay for us, right?

[Adam Azer]

That's fine. Yeah, we'll go to McDonald's or whatever.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

No, no, no. We're going to go to your expensive diner that you took us to the last time.

[Adam Azer]

What was that?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Which was that you took us to? You mean Darce went to.

[Adam Azer]

Oh, bagel land. Oh my gosh. Geez. New York prices for South Florida food.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

They won't be a sponsor moving forward.

[Adam Azer]

I love them. I've been going there my entire life. I love that place. And South Florida food is great, but it's way too expensive, man. Like, come on, you can't, you can't be charging like 18. I remember what it was.

[Heath Cummings]

Who did you think was better than Quentin Johnson?

[Adam Azer]

Me. Oh, Xavier Leggett off waivers. Yes.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah, my kids didn't eat for a week after meeting Adam for lunch there.

[Adam Azer]

Man, let me tell you, Quentin Johnston, wide open. Touchdowns like every week, it's not. They're not even contested. He just gets wide open on some busted coverage or whatever it is. It's kind of hard to trust. But Baltimore allowing the most fantasy points to wide receivers, good opportunity. Look, we saw it last week was the first game that a team scored more than 20 points against the Chargers. It was a great offensive game for them. We're thinking the same thing. Will Disley is a guy that we like as a top eight tight end. And then I would probably. We're sitting the DSTs, right?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah.

[Adam Azer]

All right, let's get to the easier games. Kansas City's at Carolina. How many times have have a ha. We had a quarterback score 20 or more points in six point per passing touchdown leagues and a Running back score 14 or more points in PPR in the same game against Carolina. Any guesses? 20 or more for a quarterback. 14 or more for a running back. 6 point per passing touchdown, full PPR.

[Heath Cummings]

Have they had their buy yet?

[Adam Azer]

Yes. The last week.

[Heath Cummings]

0.

[Adam Azer]

103 times. The Saints with Car and Camara. The Bengals with Burrow and Chase Brown. The Bears with Caleb Williams and two running backs. But if we lower that to 12 points for a running back and 20 points for a quarterback, it's happened six times in 10 games. So that's just a bad defense. You think we're going to get that? Are we going to get 20 points from A Homes and 12 points from Kareem Hunt?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yes.

[Heath Cummings]

Yep.

[Adam Azer]

All right. All right. Patrick Mahomes or Justin Herbert?

[Heath Cummings]

Herbert Mahomes.

[Adam Azer]

Patrick Mahomes or.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I think we need to track the, the, the rankings for Heath of AFC west quarterback since he's had this job.

[Heath Cummings]

Okay.

[Adam Azer]

Why I was.

[Heath Cummings]

Listen, that may be true. I was I think early on Bo Nicks.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I don't doubt that. I don't doubt that.

[Heath Cummings]

But higher on Bo Nicks always. I maybe I just maybe I, I like the Broncos quarterbacks. It seems Bo Nick forever, forever anti Derek Carr seems. Well, okay. I think that was proven right.

[Adam Azer]

He's fifth in yards per attempt. He's amazing.

[Heath Cummings]

He is really killing it low on the team.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

That's number two in the AFC west quarterback.

[Adam Azer]

All right, so how about Bo Nicks or Patrick Mahomes this week?

[Heath Cummings]

I think I've got it this week. Mahomes. Nick.

[Adam Azer]

No, it's. It's reasonable, right? I mean it's totally reasonable. Great matchup from a home.

[Heath Cummings]

Since DeAndre Hopkins got to Kansas City, Patrick Mahomes is scoring 23 fantasy points per game.

[Adam Azer]

You know what I can't get over? He had Kel. I say this a lot. I think against the Broncos he had Kelsey wide open in the end zone for a one or two yard touchdown. So easy and he missed it.

[Heath Cummings]

This has been the worst year of his career.

[Adam Azer]

If he makes that layup of a throw, he scores almost 25 points against the Broncos that so that if he had made that throw would have been 30 and a half against Tampa Bay, 25 against Denver, 21.8 at Buffalo. And then we're pretty pumped about him going up against Carolina. You know what I mean? Like it just looks so good on paper.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

It really does. You know, and you hope that it's. Everybody's involved. Like you hope that there this is. Hopkins has a big player too. Scores touchdown. Xavier Worthy builds off the game last week, maybe even juju if you're desperate. I don't know if you can trust that though. Kelsey has a touchdown like this should be a vintage Patrick Mahomes game.

[Adam Azer]

All right, just to speed things up, as I've taken a long time here, Kareem Hunt, you guys right now have ranked as a must start guy, top 13 in full PPR because you're not ranking Pacheco. If Pacheco plays Kareem Hunt will be.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Where, 18 or 20 in that range.

[Heath Cummings]

Yeah, he's still, I'm still starting him.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

And Chuba Hubbard and Pacheco would be a flex at best.

[Adam Azer]

So Heath, you got to make the case for Chuba Hubbard here because you have him 14th. Dave and Jamie have him 25th, 23rd.

[Heath Cummings]

So earlier we were talking about workhorse running backs and Chuba Hubbard's been one as well. He's one of those two backs with a rush share over 60%. He's run a ton of routes. He's been awesome. And I don't have a big role projected for Jonathan Brooks in his first game. It's kind of like Pacheco. I, I did drop him a little bit because of the matchup. I dropped Hubbard a little bit because Brooks is there. But I still can't get away from Chuba Hubbard as good as he's been.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

And that's a great, you know, way to, you know, be. Be in the, in the Chuba Hubbard camp. I just think so. We have our show on Wednesday on CBS Sports Network with Robert Turbin, Heath and myself, you know, co host with him and Robert's former NFL running back. He's been our running back whisperer. He was the most adamant guy I heard, at least on Saquon, on Derrick Henry and it's play itself out. He gave, he did a little victory dance yesterday. We were talking about older running backs. He, he said, don't be surprised that Brooks has maybe 10 carries in the game. And if that happens and the matchup and the potential score right, I don't know how you can trust Chuba Hubbard.

[Adam Azer]

Oh, the matchup is so bad. James Cook last week scored about 20 fantasy 19.7 PPR fantasy points, but he had nine carries for 20 yards. He happened to score two touchdowns. He had five catches for seven yards. He's the only running back with more than 13.2 PPR fantasy points. Against the Chiefs, that includes Bijan Camara, Derek Henry, to name a few. And they, and a lot of them had 16 or more touches. So it is such a bad matchup. It's not like Tube is a top 12 guy. He's 14th for Heath, but Heath's the high guy. All right, you guys have major cases. Any other Panthers that you want to start or even consider?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I, I think the receivers are all worth looking at with clearly Coker being a little bit of trouble right now just because of what maybe feeling might do. But if you have roster spots, you want a roster. Xavier Leggett, you want to roster Adam Thielen just to see and look Bryce Young and super flex and two QB leagues. They're probably chasing points here. Nothing's the biggest stretch. So can he get to that 15 plus range? You know, makes you a little bit somewhat needy for, you know, 16s on a buy to use them.

[Adam Azer]

Tavian Sanders, kind of interesting 8% rostered Chiefs struggle against tight ends. He's had five to seven targets in four of his last six games. I think he's the might be the only tight end to score against the Giants. I don't remember. That might not be true.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I think you're right.

[Adam Azer]

And he's only had one end zone target all year and it was two weeks ago against the Giants. But Sanders, I, I'd like to see what happens with feeling back, how that changes things. In all likelihood, Jalen Coker is going to lose his job. They're both slot receivers, he and Thielen. I don't know that Thielen's gonna play a full snapshot or anything this week. So then that brings us. Kelsey is a must start. That brings us to Hopkins and Worthy. Who do you guys prefer and do you like them as starters?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Number three receivers. I would give a slight nod to Hopkins just based on what the expectation should be. You know, I, you know how the Chiefs operate. It just felt like they were going to try and manufacture some touches for Xavier Worthy with the whole trade and how that, you know, hey, look what you missed out on. And, and maybe that was just the, you know, me playing out the narrative in my head and then it working out that way prior to the game. But what have we seen from Hopkins? He's now played four games with this team. He said three tough matchups and one easy one. The one easy one, he went nuts against Tampa Bay. I don't think this is as good a matchup, but I don't think it's that far off so this feels like a. A get right game for Hopkins. So there's no real certainty he shouldn't be considered a starter in two receiver leagues. But with six teams on a buy three receiver leagues, I'd be.

[Heath Cummings]

I'd be starting I Hopkins ahead of Worthy in full ppr. Worthy ahead of Hopkins and Non and they're both number three wide receivers.

[Adam Azer]

Jameson Williams or Chiefs guy?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

James.

[Heath Cummings]

Yeah.

[Adam Azer]

Michael Pittman or a Chiefs guy?

[Heath Cummings]

Chiefs.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Both Chiefs guys.

[Adam Azer]

Okay. All right. Start the Chiefs DST let's go to Tennessee at Houston. Tennessee is actually allowed the third most points per game in their last five games, which is a lot of good offenses. Buffalo, Detroit, New England, Chargers, Vikings. So that's, that's tough sledding. All right, I'm gonna. I have a bunch of stats, but I've been talking too much today. I'm gonna let you guys talk about this. Heath, break down Tennessee at Houston like you're so, so good at doing.

[Heath Cummings]

Yeah. You're starting Joe Mixon. You're starting Nico Collins. Tank Dell's a boom bust. Number three. That hasn't boomed very often. And I'm still gonna start Pollard and Ridley as low in number twos at their position. I don't want to start the quarterbacks.

[Adam Azer]

Would you start Dell or Hopkins or Worthy? Jamie, you can answer that too.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I have it right now. Hopkins. Dell. Worthy.

[Adam Azer]

Okay. And this, you know, is kind of a, I think a good test for Mixon because Tennessee's got a pretty damn good run defense and we're really worried about him in the fantasy playoffs against Kansas City and Baltimore and Tennessee. And Tennessee in the playoffs. Wow.

[Heath Cummings]

Yes, man.

[Adam Azer]

They've held Swift Jacobs H and Dobbins, Aaron Jones and James Cook to 9.2 or fewer PPR fantasy points. They're really good. So let's see how Mixon does in this game. Not no one wants to start Stroud.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

No. But he's in that May Richardson slightly behind Jordan Love. But I would start him ahead of Stafford. I hadn't started him ahead of Darnold this week. It's more. It's more optimism. Clearly he hasn't had a good stretch of games since the Buffalo game when Nico first got hurt. He's been sub 15 fantasy points every week. So he's struggling right now, but it feels like he's due. And I don't. I don't think this defense is one to fear.

[Adam Azer]

Oh, no. They've been really great matchup for their last five games. I mean, their defense has been horrible for the last five games. But it's. It's largely matchups. And they're missing two key pieces in their secondary, too. We talked about Pollard at the top of the show. Pollard or Ramon Dre Ramanji.

[Heath Cummings]

Yep.

[Adam Azer]

Pollard or Dobbins?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Dobbins.

[Heath Cummings]

Yeah.

[Adam Azer]

All right. Jamie is by far the low guy on Pollard. Just so you know, Dave's the high guy. Pollard or Bucks?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

We're actually going to debate that on CBS Sports HQ today.

[Adam Azer]

Nice.

[Heath Cummings]

You know how much I like it. It doesn't happen very often. I really like it when I'm just in the middle.

[Adam Azer]

In the middle.

[Heath Cummings]

I can see both points.

[Adam Azer]

Pollard or. Or Rashad White. Bucky Irving.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Actually like both Bucks running backs better.

[Heath Cummings]

I got pulled over them.

[Adam Azer]

Okay, so we have just a difference there.

[Heath Cummings]

Giants coming off a buy gonna got Tommy DeVito. Like you're gonna be inspired.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Bucks are coming off a buy too.

[Heath Cummings]

It's true.

[Adam Azer]

They don't have to veto. They have Mike Evans, but you know, he's not.

[Heath Cummings]

They do get Mike Evans back.

[Adam Azer]

All right, so this is a stupid stat that drives me crazy. Will Levis, he's only averaging 8.6 air yards per pass attempt, which is not that high, but it's 15 yards per pass attempt to wide receivers. Second high tie for the highest in the NFL. Just drives me crazy with Calvin Ridley. But Ridley's been pretty good and he had that long touchdown call back on an illegal procedure penalty. So you guys are starting Calvin Ridley. Yeah, Ridley or let's see, how about Ridley or Pollard?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Ridley and ppr Paula to none.

[Heath Cummings]

Sounds good.

[Adam Azer]

Anything else in this game? No. Dalton Schultz.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Right.

[Heath Cummings]

If you're. If you're desperate for a flex. Nick Westbrook. Aquina has scored in a bunch of games in a row.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

So I think the thing with. With both the Titans receivers and it played itself out last week because it feels like could be something similar garbage time is going to matter. You know, the Texans give up a lot of production to wide receivers. You saw it last week. CD Lamb's on a different level than any of these guys. But was. Was great. But even the. The Turpin play, you know, you look at what Schoonmaker did with 10 targets, you know, so there's going to be some options here. Opportunities here for these. These guys here. And, and Heath nailed it. You know, Westbrook Aquinas got five touchdowns in his last six games. Two of those games, I believe. One was with Levis, one was without with six targets, you know, so hopefully he sees a few more opportunities.

[Adam Azer]

The Denver Broncos are at Las Vegas. Here's a repeat stat of the game. Will it hold up? I'm going to take the under, but a running back has scored 15.5 or more PPR fantasy points in all but one game.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Oh, just go to the number 13.3.

[Adam Azer]

It's 13.3 or more in every game.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yep.

[Adam Azer]

All right, we get that. Are we going to get that from Javante?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yes.

[Adam Azer]

Heath.

[Heath Cummings]

I have him projected for probably 12.

[Adam Azer]

Okay. I don't know how anybody could feel great about trusting him. Like you don't know who the lead running back is going to be.

[Heath Cummings]

You don't.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

You don't. There are six teams on a buy, though, and we have some awful, awful, awful matchups for some guys.

[Adam Azer]

You're gonna start Javante over Pollard.

[Heath Cummings]

I am not.

[Adam Azer]

I know you're not, but I think that's. I think that's wild, Jamie. All right. Double or nothing on lunch. You got a dessert? I'll buy you dessert if.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Okay, sounds good.

[Adam Azer]

Pollard versus Javante. All right. Yeah. Raiders are such a bad run defense, so I've got some tough Bo Nicks decisions if you guys want to help me out. I think I know what I'm gonna do. I got Bo Nicks versus Baker Mayfield, and I got Bo Nicks versus Brock Purdy. Both of them are six point per passing touchdown leagues. What would you do?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Bonix.

[Heath Cummings]

I would sit Bonix.

[Adam Azer]

Sit. Oh, Jamie would start him and Heath would sit him. That's great. And guess what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna start him over Mayfield. I'm gonna sit him for Purdy. Okay. I'm gonna do the opposite. So.

[Heath Cummings]

Yeah, I do like Baker more than Purdy.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, Baker. I want to see if Tristan Wirth plays because the Giants looks like they're getting Thibodeau back. Brian Burns playing hurt. Like they have the best pass Russian football. They have had the best pass Russian football. No, they did. They had the best pass Russian football for a while. It's been struggling a little bit lately, but now they're healthier and if they're missing their left tackle, I don't know. I just. Look, I love Mayfield, but I also love Bo Nicks. I love Bonix.

[Heath Cummings]

This. I would. And I'm like. I'm not. I'm sure it was, but I would like to know the sample size and the statistic it was.

[Adam Azer]

They had. They had the best.

[Heath Cummings]

The Giants had the best pass Russian football.

[Adam Azer]

They right now have one of the highest pressure rates in football. And they led the NFL in sacks for a while. This Is not like me.

[Heath Cummings]

No, I was just wondering the sample size for a while. It's like three through six.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

This is the one thing that, that Joe Shane hit on this off season was, you know, the, the Burns trade, you know and, and getting these guys going with. With what?

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, the defense a little off subject here, but they have the fifth highest pressure rate and the second most sacks in the NFL and they've gotten a little worse lately. But anyway, it was Price Young.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

They couldn't stop.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, right. They struggle. They've been, they've been hurt. Anyway, Bo Nicks, we like him a lot that you can start him. Raiders 8th Most fantasy points quarterbacks all right. Javante Williams we just talked about, he's a tough one but if he, if he. We knew he would be the lead running back, we'd like him.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Coral, look, it's, it's a gamble. I like that he had three catches last week so they involved him in the passing game. So if you are stuck, you know, this is why I think dropping him was a mistake.

[Heath Cummings]

So it's what's going to be so awesome when Julian McLaughlin, Corlin Sutton's a must start.

[Adam Azer]

Who's a better flyer? Devon Vale or Nick Westbrook? Akina.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I think Westbrook. Akina. Just for the upside, but yeah, it's not a bad pivot play.

[Adam Azer]

I wish we could trust Adam Troutman. Raiders give up the most fantasy points to tight ends but we can't. Can't trust Gardner Minshew. All right, so how about who was.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

The team that Chapman beat up on tight end day?

[Adam Azer]

Oh gosh, I don't even remember.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Was it the Raiders?

[Adam Azer]

No, they played the Raiders in week five or six or something.

[Heath Cummings]

I got it.

[Adam Azer]

So Jamie, give me your thoughts on the Raiders running backs.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Madison plays. He is a flex with the opportunity to get all of the touches if Samir White is out. And he will be a factor in the passing game if White plays and Madison. That's Madison with or without White. He's a flex if White plays and Madison is out. White is a flex option in non ppr, a running back to avoid in ppr. And Abdullah is a high inflex in PPR and someone to avoid a non PPR because Abdullah will get all the work in the passing game if both guys are out Madison and White. Abdullah is a borderline number two running back in PPR and a low end flex option non ppr. His best game this season did come against Denver in the first matchup. He scored a touchdown in that game. He just Caught a touchdown against Denver, excuse me, against Miami last week, but only on three catches for 16 yards. But I would assume just based on how much work Madison has got in the passing game, that we could be looking at a five catch game for Amir Abdullah and probably 10 carries. I would think so. 15 total touches is on the table for him. It's a brutal matchup, but given six teams on a buy, like for me, he would be in the mix with Chuba Hubbard and deandre Swift and, and Tony Pard behind those guys because it's a risk, but he'd be right there with them.

[Adam Azer]

The Broncos give up the sixth most receiving yards per game to running back. So that's where you want Abdullah to thrive.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I did this, I did this yesterday. And I don't remember the exact number, but I think it's like seven running backs have gotten 6.8 PPR points against Denver with just their receiving totals alone.

[Adam Azer]

Okay. And by the way, first half snap count last week because Zemir White left like very early in the third quarter. First half snap count, Zemir White, 16 snaps, Alexander Madison nine. Just, just for the record, I, we'll see what happens. All right. And then the last guy was start Brock Bowers. The last guy to talk about is Jacoby Myers. Heath, you have him just a little bit higher than Jamie. I think you guys both have him around 24th. Let me, let me double check on.

[Heath Cummings]

That because yeah, he's, he's a low end number two wide receiver or a high end number three. I think he scored 13 fantasy points against the Broncos last time. He's not going to get trailed all over the field. I don't. If you're in a three wide receiver league is, it must start.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

So I, I totally agree. The, the thing that you look at is he doesn't score touchdowns. So that's a problem. And if he does see certain or does not, you know, have a big catch or two, you're talking about probably eight or nine PPR points like what we saw last week, you know, so it's not like he's getting consistent 10 plus targets against a team like this. That would matter. But I mean, just look at the track record. We've had 1 significant number one receiver do well against this team and it was they flowers for the most part. They've shut down every other number one guy.

[Adam Azer]

What about him?

[Jamie Eisenberg]

I mean he's the, he had a good game, you know, 13.2 is great.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Again in a matchup, you know. And look the guys that have struggled, you know Drake London at nine PPR points. It's not like that's terrible, but it's just not what you're used to from those caliber of players. So if he's, if he's going to have a good game, I think we're talking 13 PPR points. Gonna have a bad game. We're probably talking eight or nine.

[Adam Azer]

Man, Drake London was gonna make me look pretty bad last week because I think he got all of his production in the first half, if not almost all right. Like, he was having a pretty good game. And then they, they took Cousins out at the end and they. He had three for 61 on seven targets. And I was it all in the first half?

[Heath Cummings]

I think so.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Yeah.

[Adam Azer]

Yeah, I was, I was.

[Heath Cummings]

Oh, I was getting the takes ready.

[Adam Azer]

Because I said he'd be wide receiver 29. I was like, he's gonna be horrible.

[Heath Cummings]

You were too high on him.

[Adam Azer]

That was too high. That was too high. Okay, thanks. Thanks, everybody for watching and listening. Oh, by the way, Denver dst, you can start that. And we will talk to you tonight on the Mailbag, baby. Tonight, late night FFT after dark. For those of you watching YouTube.com fantasy football today. For those of you listening, we'll talk to you tomorrow morning. Have a good one.

[Jamie Eisenberg]

Paramount Podcasts.

[Adam Azer]

I've been eating at Chipotle for at least 15 years, and for me, chicken burrito, white rice, guac salsa, that's my order. But I tried something new the other day. It's Chipotle's Smoked Brisket. And I'll be trying it again and again and again. It's so good. Seasoned with Mexican spices and finished with a smoky sauce with chipotle peppers. It's got so much flavor and it's got spice, but it's not too spicy. Now you trust me for fantasy advice, I give even better food advice. Go get Chipotle smoked brisket. But Chipotle smoked brisket is only here for a limited time, so you need to go try it. It's available in all Chipotle restaurants, the Chipotle app or chipotle. Com. I'm a changed man. I am a brisket believer. Go get the Chipotle Smoked brisket right now.