Start or Sit (AFC): Start Guerendo Tonight!? Bo Nix, Jaylen Waddle, Jonathan Taylor and More (12/12 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Summary

Podcast Summary: Fantasy Football Today – Episode: Start or Sit (AFC): Start Guerendo Tonight!? Bo Nix, Jaylen Waddle, Jonathan Taylor and More

Release Date: December 12, 2024

---

Introduction

In this episode of Fantasy Football Today, hosted by CBS Sports' Adam Aizer along with analysts Dave Richard, Jamey Eisenberg, and Heath Cummings, the team delves deep into the crucial "Start or Sit" decisions for the AFC playoff slate. With the fantasy playoffs heating up, the panel provides expert insights on key players, evaluates matchups, discusses injury updates, and addresses listener questions to help you gain the upper hand in your fantasy leagues.

---

Start/Sit Decisions

Focus on Isaac Orendo, Bo Nix, Jaylen Waddle, Jonathan Taylor, and others.

• Isaac Orendo vs. Jonathan Taylor

  Heath Cummings expresses excitement about starting Isaac Orendo, emphasizing his potential despite injury concerns:

  "[03:58] Heath: I'm very excited. I think we are getting Isaac Garndo tonight. [...] I view Garendo better than I viewed Patrick Taylor."

  Jamey Eisenberg weighs in on the uncertainty surrounding Orendo's performance:

  "[04:24] Jamie: It's always a little dicey when you get one of these situations right where a guy is hurt [...] he'll probably be around 20."

• Bo Nix and Jaylen Waddle

  The analysts discuss the prospects of starting Bo Nix in upcoming matchups. Adam Aizer debates whether to start Garendo over players like Ramondre Stevenson:

  "[05:34] Adam: So, so a few Garendo questions here from the chat. Garendo or Malik? [...] Garendo or Zay Flowers?"

  The conversation highlights the volatility and high ceiling associated with players like Garendo:

  "[07:09] Jamie: That's the concern. [...] there's."

---

Player Rankings and Updates

Evaluations of Wide Receivers, Running Backs, and Quarterbacks.

• Wide Receivers: Brian Robinson Jr. & DeVonta Smith

  Jamey Eisenberg praises Brian Robinson Jr.'s setup against the Saints’ weak run defense:

  "[08:49] Jamie: Brian Robinson Jr. [...] I think it's going to be a huge game for Brian Robinson. He is my number 10 running back for this week."

  Heath Cummings adds his perspective on DeVonta Smith's must-start status:

  "[46:27] Heath: Judy's a must start wide receiver no matter who plays."

• Running Backs: Jonathan Taylor, Saquon Barkley, and More

  The panel debates the viability of Jonathan Taylor as an RB2 amidst his fluctuating performance:

  "[30:02] Jamie: Yes, you. You can certainly sit him, but I still think he's number two running back."

  Saquon Barkley is highlighted as a consistent starter against the Steelers:

  "[30:20] Jamie: I don't think many people are sitting. Jalen hurts. [...] I'm not going to sit a guy who has been an elite fantasy quarterback."

---

Injury Reports and Updates

Key injuries impacting player decisions.

• Isaac Orendo's Health Status

  Heath discusses the precautionary approach to Orendo’s injury, referencing Adam Schefter's reports:

  "[06:26] Adam: He did practice yesterday though right? He was limited yesterday.

  "[06:29] Heath: I thought even though it was a walkthrough [...] he's just going to believe."

• Others Affected by Injuries

  Updates on players like Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, and others are covered, detailing how injuries might influence their availability and performance:

  "[14:13] Heath: I think statistically the big problem is [...] more sacks, fewer passes, not good."

---

Wide Receiver Analysis

Deep dives into WR performances and matchups.

• Devonte Adams vs. Garrett Wilson

  Discussions focus on the reliability and matchup advantages of WRs like Devonte Adams and Garrett Wilson:

  "[09:44] Jamie: [...] Coach Jameis gave them some gifts [...]."

• Impact of Defenses on WR Performance

  The panel examines how defensive matchups, particularly against strong secondary teams, can affect WR outputs:

  "[35:54] Adam: [...] you're trying to start a guy who has been a ..."

---

Running Backs Analysis

Insights into RB performances and their fantasy implications.

• Chuba Hubbard and Rashad White

  Heath emphasizes Hubbard's durability and importance as a flex option:

  "[33:57] Heath: It's gotta be Chuba Hubbard [...] Chuba Hubbard is once Again a top 12 must start fantasy running back."

  Rashad White is discussed as a reliable starter in specific matchups:

  "[74:25] Heath: [...] start Rico Dowdle."

---

Quarterback Analysis

Evaluations of starting versus sitting QBs like Jalen Hurts, Joe Burrow, and Patrick Mahomes.

• Jalen Hurts vs. Jared Goff

  The team debates the fantasy value of Jalen Hurts against publishing strategies of Jared Goff:

  "[68:55] Adam: [...] start Jalen Hurts over Goff, but [...]"

  Heath supports Hurts' consistent performance despite tough matchups:

  "[71:31] Heath: [...] Jalen Hurts has a career high completion percentage [...]"

• Joe Burrow's Battle Against the Chargers

  Joe Burrow's struggles against the Chargers' defense are scrutinized:

  "[42:19] Heath: [...] Joe Burrow [...] he's going to have a tough matchup."

---

Defense and Special Teams

Assessing team defenses as fantasy options.

• Chiefs Defense Analysis

  The Chiefs' DST is evaluated for its playcalling and defensive resilience:

  "[48:00] Heath: [...] Firstly, the Chiefs DST is top 10."

---

Mailbag/Listener Questions

Responding to audience inquiries about lineup decisions.

• Garendo vs. Other Options

  Listeners ask about starting Isaac Garendo over other players, with Heath reinforcing his choice:

  "[06:43] Jamie: Neighbors, Neighbors."

  "[06:55] Adam: Okay. Garendo or Zay Flowers? [...]"

---

Conclusion

As the fantasy playoffs approach, the Fantasy Football Today team provides a comprehensive analysis of key players, matchup considerations, and strategic lineup decisions. By dissecting performances, injury impacts, and defensive matchups, they equip listeners with the knowledge to make informed choices and dominate their fantasy leagues.

---

Notable Quotes

• Adam Aizer on Starting Garendo:

  "[05:56] Adam: [...] I view Garendo better than I viewed Patrick Taylor."

• Heath Cummings on Jalen Hurts:

  "[71:34] Heath: [...] Jalen Hurts has a career high completion percentage, a career high passer rating, a career high yards per attempt at 8.0, which is elite."

• Jamey Eisenberg on Brian Robinson Jr.:

  "[08:49] Jamie: [...] I think it's going to be a huge game for Brian Robinson. He is my number 10 running back for this week."

---

Final Thoughts

This episode serves as an invaluable resource for fantasy football enthusiasts gearing up for the playoffs. By methodically addressing player performances, strategic starts and sits, and addressing listener queries, the Fantasy Football Today team ensures you are well-prepared to make winning decisions in your fantasy matchups.

Transcript

[Adam]

Attention all of you hungry people. I've got a new favorite snack. It's a hassle free snack, perfect for any occasion. I'm talking about wonderful pistachios, specifically wonderful pistachios no shells. Wait until I tell you the flavors they have. They're incredible. And I love pistachios, but I don't love peeling the shells. With wonderful pistachios no shells, you open the bag, you reach in, grab a handful of pistachios and eat them. So let's talk about the flavors. My favorite is sweet cinnamon followed by sea salt and vinegar. Love those two. I also love the honey roasted and the smoky barbecue is really unique. They also have chili roasted, sea salt and pepper and jalapeno lime. So believe me, you're going to find several flavors that you love. So if you're just walking around the kitchen looking for something to eat or maybe you're tailgating at the game, wherever you are, reach for some wonderful pistachios, no shells. Visit wonderfulpistachios.com to learn more. Hey FFT listeners, did you know Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide? That's right, 99%. And every time you make a purchase with your card, you automatically earn cash back. That could mean earning rewards when you buy those last minute tickets, those overpriced concessions, and that takeout you ate at home after you bailed on meeting your buddies at the bar. Well, wherever you spend game day, remember it pays to Discover. Based on the February 2024 Nielsen report. Learn more at discover.com credit card hey everyone.

[Dave]

I want to share a little about our experience hosting on Airbnb. We decided to give it a try as a way to earn some extra income and it's honestly been a great decision. The process was super easy to get started and the flexibility is amazing. We can choose when we want to host, which works around our schedules. One of the best parts about hosting is getting to share our favorite local spots with the guests. Whether it's top restaurants, beautiful beaches, or the best golf courses in town, it's so rewarding when guests enjoy the same places as we do. Hosting has not only helped us earn extra income, but it's allowed us to make the most of our space. If you've got extra space or travel often, hosting might be a great fit for you. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how [e-mail] host this is.

[Heath]

Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports.

[Jamie]

What a play. Can you believe this? No I can't.

[Heath]

It's time to dominate your fantasy league.

[Adam]

Off to the races and he stays at his feet. This is going to go the distance.

[Heath]

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

[Adam]

Oh yeah. Let's do it. It's playoff time. It's Thursday. That's. Well, Tomorrow's Friday the 13th. I'm excited about that. But today hopefully won't be a scary night of football. We might even get Isaac Orendo. Welcome to Fantasy Football Today presented by BetMGM, the sportsbook born in Vegas. So I just want to give out a few stats here. We have, I think some really intriguing games this week, especially on today's slate for the season. The Cincinnati Bengals are averaging right around 285 gross passing yards per game, which leads the NFL. That's not including sacks, not taking sacks out. 285 since the Eagles bye week nine games ago. The Eagles are averaging about a 185. So think about that. That's horrible. 185 passing guards per game. 100 less than what the Bengals are averaging for the season. That's the Eagles in their last nine games. Speaking of Joe Burrow, he's the only quarterback to throw for more than 257 yards against the Chargers this week. Can Baker Mayfield get there this season? Can Baker Mayfield get there this week? And if you're interested in a Jets running back. Running backs are averaging 29.8 carries per game against the Jaguars in Jacksonville's last six games. So those are some of the things we're going to be talking about today. Good morning Heath. Ready for the playoffs?

[Heath]

I'm very excited. I think we are getting Isaac Garndo tonight. Adam Schefter reporting that Grindo says he's good to go. Just like he said on Sunday. They just were being extra precautionary with him and I'm fired up ready to start him in the playoffs.

[Adam]

Can I get some of my fab back for Patrick Taylor?

[Heath]

You cannot. No refunds.

[Adam]

Jamie starter sit. Isaac Ordo tonight.

[Jamie]

It's always a little dicey when you get one of these situations right where a guy is hurt, doesn't practice, comes into a game. Short week. Are we going to see peak Isaac Orendo. We're going to see a split. I mean I guess you have to start him, right? It depends on on what you have on your team. I haven't updated my rankings. I don't know if where you put him, Heath, but he'll probably be around 20.

[Heath]

I I'm and Listen, I could get fooled, this could look dumb, but I'm just going to believe what he said after the game on Sunday and what we're here reading in Schefter's tweets this morning. And I'm just going, even if you projected him for 15 carries, he's averaging 5.9 yards per carry and facing a defense that gives up 4.6 or 4.7 yards per carry. And it's the 49ers. I the most athletic running back to ever test at the combine. 100% starting him top 12.

[Adam]

Now here's a question from our guy, Robert. This is easy Scarendo tonight or wait on Zach Charbonnet. It's easy.

[Heath]

Has to be Grendo.

[Jamie]

If Walker doesn't practice today, I'd wait.

[Adam]

Okay. All right. If you have any Garendo questions, fire away. You know, I was, I was debating between Patrick Taylor and Ramondre Stevenson in a league and that was going to be really hard for me. Now obviously it's going to be Stevenson. This is all assuming that Garendo's in. But, but if I had Garendo, I would not hesitate. I would start Garando over Ramon Dre Stevenson. In other words, I view Garendo better than I viewed Patrick Taylor.

[Jamie]

Oh, of course.

[Adam]

Even, but even though Garando's, you know, coming in with an injury, obviously if you were healthy would be a no brainer. But, but we still, with the injury, we still view him better than we viewed Taylor.

[Heath]

It's, it's been one of the most mysteriously reported injuries that I can remember because again, after the game he said I'm fine. It was just precautionary. We've got a game on Thursday in the next two days. We heard high ankle sprain, we heard foot sprain. He didn't practice for two days. And then the day of the game, Adam Schefter's like, he says he's fine. He says he feels good.

[Adam]

He did practice yesterday though, right? He was limited yesterday.

[Heath]

I thought even though it was a.

[Jamie]

Walkthrough that they, they, it was a walkthrough that they designated him as limited. He's not practiced.

[Adam]

Okay. Okay, fair enough.

[Jamie]

I don't, I don't believe they practiced all week.

[Adam]

So, so a few Garendo questions here from the chat. Garendo or Malik?

[Jamie]

Neighbors, Neighbors.

[Heath]

Garrindo for me.

[Adam]

Garendo or Braylon Allen or that could.

[Jamie]

Be Keenan Allen, Grendel for both.

[Heath]

Yep.

[Adam]

Okay. Garendo or Zay Flowers? Grindo Garendo and Ryan says if you start Garendo, you will regret it when he pulls a Bucky Irving and sits out after three plays.

[Jamie]

That's the concern. I mean, look, you know this man. It's just so frustrating. It really is so frustrating. Like what, what if they're winning and they pull him and he doesn't do anything to help you? Like there, there's.

[Heath]

They were winning and they pulled him west game after he scored 27 fantasy points or something.

[Jamie]

Yeah, I mean that. Look, he's awesome. He's got the chance to really be special. But oh boy.

[Adam]

Good. I know. Garendo or Tyrone Tracy?

[Jamie]

Gorindo.

[Adam]

Garendo or Naji Harris?

[Heath]

Garindo.

[Adam]

Garendo or Alvin Kamara? These are all from the chat Camara.

[Heath]

And I want to admit something because I'm being like super optimistic. I don't actually know if he's going to leave after three plays. Nobody does. I'm just saying, like he has the upside to score 30 fantasy points tonight. He's shown us that I'm not sitting.

[Adam]

Okay, here's a fun one to finish. Garendo or Kirk Cousins in super flex.

[Jamie]

Cousins.

[Heath]

That's a good one. I'd probably if Cousins in six, Grindo in four.

[Adam]

I have. Okay, I have a. A stat about Kirk Cousins. So the. So the Falcons have allowed the second lowest pressure rate off their offensive line, their pass blocking, second lowest pressure rate in each of their last two games. And in those two games, Kirk Cousins has zero touchdowns, six interceptions, and I think 11.9 fantasy points combined.

[Jamie]

So you're saying he's better when he's pressured?

[Adam]

Yeah, exactly. All right, let's get to players we love and players to avoid. I'm just going to say avoid Kirk Cousins this week, even in a good matchup. But Jamie, who do we love? Who's our start of the week?

[Jamie]

Brian Robinson Jr. Last time I did this, he got hurt. He pulled. Hopefully not. I'm not gonna say he got hurt in the game against Dallas, but his setup is fantastic. The Saints run defense has been absolutely abysmal. Back to back weeks where running back has gone for over 18 PPR points. One of those was Tyrone Tracy. The two games that he's played so far this season without Austin Eckler have been his two best games of the year. Week four, he had over 20 PPR points against the Titans before their bye week. He had 17 PPR points. I think it's going to be a huge game for Brian Robinson. He is my number 10 running back for this week.

[Adam]

How do you match Brian Robinson up with some of these wide receivers in PPR leagues like Hot Cherry Judy or Malik Neighbors that people are worried about or Garrett Wilson maybe in between, you know, guys that are going to get the catches don't have the same matchup.

[Jamie]

Maybe as Robinson, Judy, Robinson, the other two guys. So I think Judy's just too hot right now to sit in a lot of scenarios. Wilson's had one good game in his last four and Neighbors is touchdown allergic right now. So Robinson. Let me look. Robinson's is, you know, again, if you're just going on a one game sample size, he's coming off a huge performance and the Runway is clear. You know, the, the big concern honestly have for Brian Robinson, do they blow out the the Saints? And we have the same situation that happened with the Titans where you're getting another guy like Chris Rodriguez getting all of the, you know, fun touches in the fourth quarter.

[Adam]

All right, Heath, who do you love this week?

[Heath]

I'm going with Jameis. I mean, I think everybody lo loves in one way or another, Jamis right now, but. And I've talked about it plenty this week, 22 fantasy points per game since he became the starter. That includes two games against the Steelers where he scored a combined 30 fantasy points. But the 18 that he scored against them last week was the second best game against the Steelers since week five. So we should give him some credit for that. The Chiefs defense is not what the Chiefs defense used to be. They just brought Stephen Nelson out of retirement. They're so banged up in the secondary, they're giving up 269 passing yards per game over their last four. They only gave up that many once in 10 their first 10 games. I think it's not a bad matchup. Jameis is hot. I expect 25 fantasy points.

[Adam]

I just put him in my lineup ahead of Baker Mayfield and Anthony Richardson. So let's go, James.

[Heath]

I like it.

[Adam]

Don't ask me.

[Jamie]

Yeah, I like Richardson better, but I do like James this week, too.

[Adam]

All right, don't ask me why I have three quarterbacks. I don't want to talk about it. Players to avoid. Jamie, who are we avoiding?

[Jamie]

Let's see. I would like to avoid Tyrone Tracy this week. I. I just think the setup is. Is going to be tough for him, you know, in a game where they're huge underdogs, offensive line concerns, and he hasn't exactly been getting the carries. Now, he did get the catches last week, but now you're Back to Tommy DeVito. I just think this offense is a complete disaster right now that you know you're hoping for Tracy, you're hoping for neighbors. This theme is coming off a buy in terms of the Ravens with fresh legs. So hard to sit someone like this. But I think it's going to be a difficult game for him if he doesn't score and he's not getting five catches, which we've seen at times during his run this year. I think it's going to be tough for for Tracy this week and Heath.

[Adam]

Who are you avoiding?

[Heath]

I'll stay in the same game and it's kind of the same story. It's Isaiah Pacheco. I do love the fact that he seems to have already taken over the backfield from Kareem Hunt. He's not quite been the same as a rusher. But the bigger problem is that the Chiefs rush rate has just plummeted the last month at the same time as the defense isn't as good as it used to be. They were basically a 42% rush team which is middle of the pack early in the season. The first 10 weeks, the last four weeks, 33% of their offensive plays have been run plays. You know they're going to be behind in the fourth quarter and Samaj P. Ryan will be out there running the two minute warning to try to catch up. I Pacheco is not a top 24 running back for me. I would start Tyrone Tracy over him.

[Adam]

Yeah. For the Chiefs in their last seven games they are either first or second in the NFL in pass attempts and I believe they've run the most plays in the NFL but they have the fourth, fourth highest pass rate in the NFL.

[Heath]

And I thought Jamie like Jamie brought this up yesterday on CBS Sports Network. Like if they get to the one yard line is it get Kareem Hunt a touchdown against his old team?

[Adam]

Yeah, that would be annoying. All right, well we will talk about all of this on Sunday morning to help you out. If you need some more lineup advice, please join us Sunday morning at 11:30am Eastern. We will, yeah, we will answer your questions for almost 90 minutes. It's, it's just a fun Q and A. Me, Jamie, me, Dave and Heath. Although I will not be on for all of it. Uh, Jamie will be on CBS Sports HQ at 10am Eastern on Sunday and that not for the entire three hours. But you'll get some great football and fantasy advice there on CBS Sports HQ beginning at 10:00am so YouTube.com fantasy football today at 11:30am Eastern CBS Sports HQ. Watch it on the CBS Sports app at 10:00am Eastern. Let's do some news and notes here. Tommy DeVito, as Jamie mentioned, will start for the Giants. Drew Lock is injured right now so probably not as in my opinion, not as good for Malik Neighbors because he was getting some some more explosive plays with Drew Lock.

[Heath]

I think statistically the big problem is probably just not as many plays that go forward. Tommy DeVito has one of the most insane sack rates of any quarterback ever. 11% this year, 16% last year. That's the percentage of the times that he drops back that he gets sacked. I think Drew Lock was, was closer to 9%. So yeah, more sacks, fewer passes, not good.

[Jamie]

Okay, so they played, they played one game together. Obviously that's the only game that DeVito started. It was the game against Tampa bay. He had nine targets, six catches for 64 yards.

[Adam]

Yeah, I'll probably still get targets. It just right, right. I mean Ravens DST hooray. Aiden O'Connell might play on Monday. They haven't released the practice report yet. They will do that today. I don't he probably won't practice today, but O'Connell still might play. Joe Burrow has a knee injury. He says he's going to play. Will Levis apparently look good in practice so it looks like he's going to play against Cincinnati. Will Levis had the lowest adot or areas for past attempt of his career last week and he stunk. So probably get back to airing it out. Justin Herbert has a thigh contusion and an ankle sprain and we talked about him as potentially a tough call because he's got Tampa Bay and hopefully gets McConkey back. McConkey was limited but you got to assume he's not going to be able to run as much. You know that had been a big part of his success when he had that great four game stretch. He even talked about how it really hurt him against the Chiefs last week just not able to run as much. So thigh contusion and an ankle sprain for Herbert. If you guys think I'm wrong about that, please jump in. Derek Carr has a concussion and a broken hand and we're not expecting him this week. They haven't announced a starter yet for the Saints running back news Garendo. Isaac Garendo is pulling a LaRusso. He's going to fight tonight. Ken Walker is day to day. I'm not feeling. You guys can't be feeling optimistic about Ken Walker playing this week, are you?

[Jamie]

Not at this point. I mean the, the good news is is that it doesn't seem long term unless you're a Zach Charbonnet manager and you want to see be out for a few weeks. But I, it's just, it's going to be frustrating when he comes back because he's obviously not going to be 100% until he is, you know, ready to go, which, you know, doesn't seem like it's going to be this week. And then will they go right back to him as the lead guy, you know, so again, referencing our show yesterday, we have a former Seahawks running back on the show and Robert Turbin said he thinks that, you know, Charbonnet's earned the chance to get more touches, which makes sense.

[Heath]

I will say that in my in the ultimate revenge playoff matchup, after Jamie beat me by 80 last week, he has Zach Charbonnet. So we're very much hoping for a return of Ken Walker. Chop those touches up. Maybe Zach Charbonnet scores like eight fantasy points. That'd be great.

[Adam]

All right.

[Jamie]

It would go, it would be aligned with how the season's gone for me with that team because anytime I get somebody back healthy that another player gets hurt, you know, so not fun.

[Adam]

It's fantasy football for you. Tony Pollard missed practice with an ankle injury. Still expecting him right now. Bucky Irving missed practice, so I can't say we're expecting him at the moment, but things could change. Alexander Madison should play this week, but sincere McCormick is going to remain the starter. So just to get it out there, you'd start Garendo over? McCormick, right?

[Jamie]

Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Adam]

Okay. And wide receiver news, I would do it. Yeah. DeMarcus, sincerely, you would start with Garendo? Don't confuse people. DeMarcus Robinson was limited. We'll see if he's able to play tonight. DK Metcalf practiced in full. I know, Jamie, you said you were. You wanted to see him practice in full. He did. Doing that on Wednesday might be a good sign. We'll preview that game tomorrow. George Pickens, likely out. Josh Downs was limited. Sterling shepherd missed practice. Lad McConkey was limited. Rashad Bateman practiced in full. Cedric Tillman and Romeo Dobbs, they're both still in the concussion protocol, but they're making progress. So they have a better chance to play this week, obviously, than they did last week. Cedric Tillman and Romeo Dobbs. Noah Brown, bad news for the for Noah Brown and the commanders. Sorry to see it. Likely out for the season. Noah Brown, tight end news. David Najoku, day to day with a hamstring injury. I'm keeping my eye on this one here. Missing a Wednesday practice isn't usually a big deal, so hopefully that's gonna he's gonna be okay. David Najoku, Tyler Higby not gonna play tonight. Evan Ingram missed practice with a shoulder injury. He has a bad matchup against the jets, and Trey McBride was limited with a knee injury. We'll see. Not going to panic yet on the Wednesday stuff. Trent Williams is out tonight and looks like the Lions are going to get Taylor Decker back. Their left tackle, Houston offensive guard Juice Scruggs is expected to miss a few games on defense. Sauce Gardner is going to play Jair Alexander practice in full for the Packers. The Giants lost another defensive player. Safety Tyler Nubin's out for the season. Hello, Nubin. Carolina cornerback JC Horn is day today as they get Dallas. This is the big one. Denver cornerback Riley Moss missed practice. Doesn't look like he's going to play this week against the Colts. And they were so bad without him. Obviously that's kind of like an exaggerated performance of how they were without Riley Moss last week. That probably be better, but they could use their number two cornerback back.

[Jamie]

I don't think they're going to play Levi Wallace.

[Adam]

That was two weeks ago. Yeah, it was against James.

[Heath]

I mean, what's the difference in passing yards per game between Jameis Winston and Anthony Richardson?

[Jamie]

150 drops between the Browns receivers and the Colts receivers, too.

[Adam]

Yeah, that's a problem. Reed Blankenship could be coming back for the Eagles. Marshawn Lattimore could make his commander's debut against the Saints. Wouldn't that be nice? Harrison Butker could play this week. All right, we are going to get to one question for each game very shortly. We'll take a quick break. When we come back, one question for each game. We'll start breaking down the matchups after this. 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.

[Dan]

Hey everybody, it's Dave. And my family just got a great gift. An Aura Digital picture frame. And now I have a slideshow in my kitchen. High resolution photos from the days my kids were born, pictures from my wedding, all kinds of incredible memories from family get togethers, trips to amusement parks, sporting events, meeting famous people. They're all there thanks to Aura. Aura memorializes as many photos as you can upload. There's no limit and you can share them directly from your phone to the frame. Setup was so easy and they even have this great app that makes managing your frame simple. My family loves it and I am sure your family will love it too. Save on the perfect gift by visiting auraframes.com to get $35 off Aura's best selling Carver Matte frames by using promo code FFT at checkout. That's a U R A frames.com promo code FFT. This deal is exclusive to listeners, so get yours now in time for the holidays. Terms and conditions apply.

[Adam]

All right, one question for each game. Miami is at Houston. So Heath, who do you think steps up in the Dolphins passing game? Is it a wide receiver week? Is it a tight end week? What do you think?

[Heath]

I think it's an everyone but Jalen Waddle week. I think it's a, it's a Jono week, it's an HN week, it's a Tyreek week. There's always one guy that gets left out and we are. I, I would say unless Jamie has some more insight, pretty much guessing which guy it's going to be on a given week. I thought Jacob Gibbs stats on Jalen Waddle against zone defense was enough to speculate that Waddle's the one that gets left out this weekend.

[Jamie]

There's one thing you're forgetting. Where's Jalen Waddle from?

[Heath]

Oh, is it a homecoming game?

[Jamie]

Houston, Texas.

[Heath]

So we're, so it's Tyreek that's getting left out.

[Jamie]

I think it's going to be a big game for all of them. He. He's played the Texans twice in his career. He had a 5 for 80 game and a 8 for 80 game. Something like that. I don't know. He hasn't scored touchdown against him yet. Both games were in Miami. One of those was without Tua. So I think it's going to continue to be Jalen Wall involved. Whether he has success or not, we'll, we'll find out. But I think it's just an opportunity here for a run game that's struggling. I know the Texans run defense is not the same with you know, who they're missing personnel wise. But there's a chance here for if the run game struggles for tua to be 40 plus attempts and we're looking at probably 8 plus targets for all those guys, all their main options.

[Adam]

Jamie, by the way, was saying the Texas thing, the Houston thing with, with a smile on his face, just, you know, if you're not watching. So I don't think he's going to base his rankings just on that. But we do like homecoming games.

[Jamie]

He's top 10 because of his back.

[Adam]

I do want to mention a couple things for this matchup here. I was going to wait until we got into the game, but might as well just do it now. If you look at Devon Achan's receptions with Tuatanga by Loa, I mean they've been very high. But the games where he's been a little bit less have been games against teams that do better against pass catching running backs. The Texans happen to be one of those teams. They give up, I think the fourth fewest yards per game receiving yards per game to running backs. So maybe he doesn't get his eight catches. Maybe it's four or five. Additionally, John who Smith, I mentioned it last week. He had a three game stretch, 21 or more fantasy points in each game against really easy competition. He faced the jets last week. The jets are good against tight ends. He had zero catches in regulation. The Texans, they might be paper tigers, they might be overrated. They haven't faced the toughest competition, but I think they're fourth best against tight ends.

[Jamie]

Yeah, but look, lately though.

[Adam]

Yeah, I'm just saying like this might be fewer catches for those two guys because it's, you know, for H.N. and John who. What are they that bad lately against tight ends?

[Jamie]

Yeah, I mean, you know, you kept bringing this up, I think prior to their bye week, but it was the Chig big pass. He had the 70 yard touchdown in there.

[Adam]

That's kind of fluky.

[Jamie]

But it's been, I think like four guys I don't have in front of me, but like four guys in the last three games have had at least eight or more points, you know, so they're, they're, you're seeing some flaws and you know With Petrie not being there, it's, you know, some opportunities in a secondary that's not the same. Linebacking core is not the same. You know, so there, there are guys missing. There's a chance here for, I think all of them to have some success.

[Heath]

I've got at least 11 to four straight tight ends.

[Adam]

Right. But, but like Evan Ingram, having seven catches for 41 yards on nine targets does not tell me that they're bad against tight ends. He did get a lot of targets. I'm. I'm not saying sit Johnu.

[Jamie]

No, I know what you're saying, but when you're talking about a player like Ingram in the quarterback situation, I believe that was the Lawrence. But you're, you're also talking about this situation's better. These two players, you know, Lawrence and Ingram, where they are at at that time, are not as dialed in as Tua and John.

[Heath]

I also think, and this makes it really interesting to watch, but really frustrating to predict. Like we talked about it earlier this week, Mike McDaniel and Dico Ryan's know each other very well, came from the same coaching staff. There's a, this is one of the best chess matches of the season. What's Ryan going to take away? What's McDaniel's going to try to exploit in his defense? That's gonna be really interesting to watch.

[Adam]

Who wins a. An fft. Chess tournament? Tournament?

[Heath]

Ah, I don't know. I have no, I have no reason to speculate as to how good you guys are at chess.

[Jamie]

Oh, chess. I'd lose.

[Adam]

Thomas Schaefer is my guess.

[Heath]

I, I played quite a bit of chess, but not for a few years.

[Adam]

Oh, Heath is my guess.

[Jamie]

Then Dan would say he's the best because he's played it since high school and he's never lost.

[Heath]

Dave's more of a poker guy than a chess guy.

[Adam]

Oh, yeah. Dan would say. I'll say one thing though. I'm actually pretty good at chess. That's what I'd say. All right, let's go to Kansas City.

[Jamie]

At Cleveland, shout out to blah, blah, blah.

[Adam]

I was going to say start or sit Isaiah Pacheco. So Heath would say, no, we're going to sit Isaiah Pacheco. So, Jamie, start or sit? Well, actually, actually, how much would the availability of Cedric Tillman impact your Jerry Judy ranking at this point?

[Jamie]

Not very much. You know, I, I just think he's so dialed in with Jamis and, and that's the, the go to guy in the passing game right now. Like he's he's just awesome. You know, it's. It's so funny. If you were to say at any point during his Denver tenure what Jerry Judy needs.

[Adam]

Everyone needs Jerry Jameis Winston. He's great for receivers, right?

[Jamie]

Yeah. But I'm saying, like, if you would say anytime during his tenure in Denver, like, oh, what Jerry Judy really needs to get paired up with James Winston. Like, that's what's going to unlock his potential. So. Yeah. Judy, still no, I wouldn't change my rankings.

[Adam]

If you haven't signed up yet for BET mgm, what are you waiting for? Let's do it. Use the bonus code Fantasy. You're going to get up to a 1500 dollars first bet offer on your first wager with BetMGM. Here's how it works. Download the BetMGM app and sign up using the bonus code Fantasy. Deposit at least $10 and place your first wager on any game and you'll receive up to 1500 dollars in bonus bets if your bet loses. Just make sure that you use the bonus code Fantasy when you sign up. The jets are at the Jaguars. Heath ranked the wide receivers in this.

[Heath]

Game, so I will rank it. Ooh, I think I've got it. Adams, Wilson, Thomas, they are all inside of my top 20 for sure. And it's a little bit different in. Nope, never mind. Thomas, Adams, Wilson.

[Adam]

Okay, Thomas. Adams, Wilson. All right. And later when we talk about this game, I'll give you a concerning trend for the jets wide receivers. Will it matter? Indianapolis is at Denver. Are we sitting Jonathan Taylor, Jamie?

[Jamie]

No. This is hopefully an opportunity for him to find the end zone. He's not going to catch many passes, if at all, but I kind of view him similarly to what I do. James Cook at this point, you know, a guy that's not going to be heavily involved in the passing game. You're hoping for him to be successful on the ground. Cook has a higher ceiling as from what we've seen so far, but this is an offensive line skinny, healthy, getting Ryan Kelly back, which I think is huge. Their center for the Colts Broncos run defense has shown at times this year you can run on them. I think they'll be committed to it. I think the Colts offense is going to show up here. I just don't think the Denver defense is going to be able to shut them down. Now. Obviously there's, there's the potential of Anthony Richardson and his turnovers, but if he plays under control like we've seen lately, there'll be a couple of chances for, you know, Jonathan Taylor to hopefully fall into the end zone. He's a number two running back. You know, he. He's one of the bigger busts this year, but he certainly still has a chance to help your fantasy.

[Heath]

And I'll. I will say, like, for someone who was drafted in round two, like, I would still. I would sit him, obviously, for Charbonne. If Walker's out. I would sit him for Guerindo tonight. I would sit him for Brian Robinson. Start. Sit him for Rico Dowdle. So there's a lot of guys you might have had behind him that you might start over.

[Jamie]

Yes, you. You can. You can certainly sit him, but I still think he's number two running back. That's probably the line for me in terms of Grendel, where I'll put him. I have Taylor right now at 20.

[Adam]

Granddaughter right in front of Taylor. Okay, Pittsburgh at Philadelphia. Is Saquon Barkley the only easy start in this game?

[Jamie]

I. I don't think many people are sitting. Jalen hurts. You know, you could look at, like, my rankings, for example, he's like, eighth. So you can have guys that are better than him, for example, but I don't think many people have those situations. Like, if you drafted Hertz and Brock Purdy, sure, I would start Party Over Hertz this week, but I don't. I don't. I don't think many people are doing that.

[Heath]

Yeah, I'm starting hertz. I'm starting A.J. brown. I'm starting Saquon Barkley.

[Adam]

All right, we'll get into that. I think I'm. I, you know, I have a co manager in our FFT league, but Golf vs. Hertz is gonna be tough. Right now, I think I'm leading golf. How about you guys?

[Jamie]

I have golf ranked higher.

[Heath]

It just. I don't. I mean, it's been. I mean, he wasn't even bad last week, but he had, like, two or three bad fantasy games.

[Adam]

Three.

[Heath]

He's a. He's a top four quarterback on the season. I don't know why we're overreacting to a couple of bad games.

[Adam]

No, I think, first of all, Pittsburgh is. Is a tough matchup, right? They've held.

[Heath]

Would you sit Josh Allen against Pittsburgh?

[Adam]

No, but I'm looking at it. Would you.

[Heath]

Would you have two weeks ago?

[Adam]

No, I would not sit. I view Josh Allen differently than Hertz, but for fantasy.

[Heath]

I understand for maybe for real life why that would be kind of fantasy. For fantasy purposes. I don't. I don't really understand that because he's.

[Adam]

Throwing 21 times a game. That's insane. And when there is an obvious trend, when Saquon Barkley scores rushing touchdowns, Jalen hurts, struggles. When Saquon Barkley doesn't score rushing touchdowns, he doesn't struggle. Saquon Barkley got to the 1 yard line twice last week. Couldn't get in. Hertz got in. They got extra six points. Otherwise he's at 22 points. He's just not throwing enough. There's not enough passing production.

[Heath]

He also leads the NFL in rushing yards or rushing touchdowns.

[Adam]

Yeah, you got to get that. But. And he gets all. He gets the carries from the one yard line, which is huge. But I don't think I hate him. But I'm looking at golf in this matchup against Buffalo. Could be the highest scoring game of the week. You know, I think there's, there's a case to be made there. I wouldn't sit him for Jameis. I wouldn't. You know, I wouldn't. But I think I could see it. All right. Anyway, Tampa Bay's at Los Angeles. Starter sit. Baker Mayfield.

[Jamie]

Low end starter.

[Heath]

Yeah, he is behind Jameis for me, but he's top 12.

[Adam]

Atlanta's at Las Vegas. Rank the wide receivers in this game. The top three.

[Jamie]

London, Myers, Mooney.

[Adam]

Yeah, and London is a top blank wide receiver.

[Jamie]

15.

[Heath]

5. And Myers is top 12.

[Adam]

Ooh.

[Heath]

Regardless of quarterback, I, I don't really like. I know Desmond Ritter's not good. Aiden O'Connell's not good. Gardner Minshew's fine.

[Adam]

Okay. Cincinnati at Tennessee. Starter sit. Calvin Ridley.

[Jamie]

Number three receiver.

[Heath]

Yep.

[Adam]

Okay. Boy, what a matchup, though. All right, so that's one question for each game. 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 for week 15?

[Heath]

It's gotta be Chuba Hubbard, the guy who, you know, we kind of thought his battery was going to run out as soon as Jonathan Brooks came back. Fortunately, John Brooks suffered another injury and chuba Hubbard had 30 touches last week. He is seventh in the NFL in rush attempts this season and I think there's a very good chance he's going to be fifth by the time we get to the end of the year. Chuba Hubbard is once Again a top 12 must start fantasy running back.

[Adam]

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.

[Jamie]

Here we go.

[Adam]

Miami's at Houston. So I already broke down all the who's going to get the targets thing. We just don't know. But does this, does it mean that you're not worried about Tyree Kill at this point? That we feel good about him at least?

[Jamie]

Not worried at all.

[Heath]

I'm starting him.

[Adam]

Okay, Heath, you have two of 14th, Jamie has him seventh. Dave has him fourth. Discuss.

[Heath]

And the difference between, like I said, the beginning of the week, the difference between 8th and 20th is, is almost nothing. I may even get to into my top 12 when I make adjustments. This afternoon I've, I've expressed a little bit more concern that Ryan's is going to have an answer in this game coming off of a buy. The dolphins are three point underdogs and only have an implied total of 22, which is pretty low considering how well this offense has been playing lately. And again, it comes back to the other thing, like how many passes do you project for Tua when he's averaged basically 40 passes per game in regulation the last four weeks and that seems like, well, he got these 40 but the three weeks before that he was averaging 31 passes per game. That wasn't predictive at all. So is the 40 predictive now?

[Adam]

Yeah, he's actually the number two quarterback per game in the last four games and six point per passing touchdown leagues. Jamie has two ahead of Jalen Hurts. Although Jamie I would assume in four point for passing touchdown leagues you would not do that.

[Jamie]

Correct.

[Adam]

You'd go with Hertz. We're going to start Devon Achan. Tyreek Hill is going to be in lineups although Heath has him 18th. Dave and Jamie have him in the top five. All right, you want to talk a little bit more about Jalen Waddle? There is a big gap. It's a 10 spot gap. Jamie's got him as a top 30 guy. Heath top 40, but no one's got him in the top 24. How about G or Waddle and PPR? Jamie?

[Jamie]

I probably go Garando.

[Adam]

Heath would definitely go Garando.

[Heath]

Yeah, I think the problem with Waddle is it's not even as long running as the Tua Hot Streak. In the four games that two has been the number two quarterback in fantasy football. Waddle has 12 targets in one game for another, nine targets in one game, three in another. He is the ultimate boom bust flex that could make our rankings look dumb. He might finish top 20 this week. He could also, like he did two of the past four games, score single digit PPR fantasy points.

[Adam]

You acknowledge that concern, right, Jamie?

[Jamie]

Oh, for sure. It's been 11 plus games though. In three in a row. You know, he had 11 against the Patriots, so you're looking at 11 plus.

[Heath]

What?

[Adam]

He had 11. He had 11.3 at the Packers.

[Heath]

Oh, I didn't see the two point conversion.

[Adam]

He had 28, 28 points against the Patriots.

[Jamie]

Yeah, I'm sorry, I think you're just. For me it's, you're seeing a quarterback that's playing fantastic right now. I do buy into the past test because the run game has started to struggle during the stretch and I think also it's, it's just what caliber of player is he, you know, and so to go back to where we drafted him is not necessarily a fair argument, but we did have high expectations for this guy and now he's finally delivering. So clearly it's who you're comparing him to on your roster. You know, where we have him ranked is obviously more for what we think in the, in the big scheme of things. Like I, I mean I have, I have Jalen Waddle in, in two leagues that are in the playoffs and I, I just don't have the ability to start him. You know, the one tough decision for me is Waddle versus Mooney and Mooney's just had a better season and it's been, you know, just as hot recently. So I'm going to start Mooney over him in his matchup against the Raiders. But I do think that that's where Waddle is. He's, you know, for me, as a high end number three receiver, I do buy into the recent performances. I do buy into the narrative a little bit. You know, going back home, we've seen that. You know, I've talked to players about that and so hopefully his ability, his motivation, his targets, you know, which two of the last three have been there, you know, continue again.

[Adam]

Okay, we got a question in the chat. Waddle or Thielen?

[Jamie]

Again, very similar range. Thielen's just in a little bit better spot for me. Taking on the Cowboys.

[Heath]

Feeling Waddle.

[Adam]

Marvin Harrison or Jameson Williams? Ppr.

[Heath]

Waddle for me here, JMO for me.

[Adam]

Okay, and let's go to John who Smith here. He's a must start, guys. Top five, top six in PPR. Start him. Okay. C.J. stroud. You guys do not even have him in your top 20. So sit CJ Stroud.

[Heath]

Yep.

[Adam]

Any concerns about mixing? Just like, I'm okay. Any. I'll just throw it out there. I mean, the Dolphins run defense has been very good in their last seven games. They're giving up 3.84 yards per carry to running backs. Any concerns about Joe Mixon?

[Jamie]

No, none.

[Adam]

Top three start Nico, starter sit Tank Dell.

[Jamie]

I think you got to sit him. I mean, he hasn't scored a touchdown since week six. I believe it's been a while. CJ Strat. Maybe it's not week six. I know this is correct. Since week six, CJ Stroud has thrown five touchdown passes, you know, so to expect him to throw multiple touchdown passes, I think is a little bit of a reach. Hopefully he does. But just the, you know, with Nico back. Without Nico, it's just been a struggle for him to find the end zone consistently multiple times. He's got five interceptions over that stretch also, so he's been turnover prone. And Tank, they'll struggle. Look, he hasn't been successful in those last two games going into the buy. That was against Tennessee and Jacksonville. We know those are very easy matchups, at least lately. And so just based on what he's done, no teams on a buy, it's tough to say he's a starter in the playoffs.

[Heath]

Well, and you, you mentioned Adam, like concerns about Joe Mixon. He has three more targets than Tank Dell the last two weeks.

[Adam]

Yeah, he gets about four targets or more every game. Joe Mixon, Tank Dell. And then you can say, well, this game is going to be a shootout. Well, in six games, five or six games where the Texans have allowed 26 or more points, Tank Dell has not scored more than 11.2 PPR fantasy points. It just has not mattered. And now pretty much all of the end zone targets are going to Nico Collins. So start Nico, sit Tank Dell. Any interest in Dalton Schultz against this Dolphins team that's really struggling against tight ends like Evan Ingram has been struggling, for example, would you start Dalton Schultz over Evan Ingram or Kate Otten?

[Heath]

Nope.

[Jamie]

I'm pretty close to starting over both those guys because you look at what he's done recently and he's been in that nine ppr point range, you know, in three of his last four games. So he's getting opportunities. He's coming off of his best game, which was against Jacksonville prior to their bye week. And you mentioned Adam, you know the, the Dolphins really stink against tight ends. You know it, it was Tucker Kraft, it was Hunter Henry. It, you know, obviously not Tyler Conklin, but he was involved. And so there's a chance here, you know, just based on opportunities that he's been getting around seven targets. At least that's what he had against Jacksonville, you know, so hopefully it carries over post bye week. So not a must start guy by any stretch. But if you are stuck at the position, you know, and looking at some of these guys that are struggling to him, what you mentioned, you know, there's a chance for him to be better.

[Adam]

Let's go to our next game. It is Kansas City at Cleveland. I gave this stat last week, I'll give it again. Updated stat of the game. Over the last four weeks, Kansas City has allowed the most completions of 20 or more yards and the most completions of 20 or More air yards. They are really struggling against the pass and that does not even include Josh Palmer streaking wide open. What a move he put on in that play, by the way, for what should have been an 82 yard touchdown left safety in the dust there. All right, so they're struggling. He's talked about how he likes James. Do you guys like Mahomes? I'm a little, I feel like the rankings are a little bit lower than I expected on Patrick Mahomes. Heath, you are the high guy. I think you have him 12th, Jamie 15th.

[Heath]

Like, like you said, like you could legitimately rank QBs 8 through 20 in any order you want and I would have a hard time disagreeing with it. And Mahomes is firmly in that group. I don't think anybody, unless you could get Jamis is going to be picking up a streamer to start over Mahomes and there's not a lot of guys that were drafted behind him that I would start over him. But yeah, I struggle with him. And Tua, I struggle with him. And Stafford, I struggle with him. And Bo Nicks, I still struggle with him. And Baker, who's ahead of him or him? And Purdy, who's ahead of him? It's that whole group is just a jumbled mess.

[Adam]

Yeah, how about Stafford? Let's Stafford or Mahomes?

[Heath]

Mahomes for me.

[Jamie]

Stafford for me.

[Adam]

Mahomes or Bo Nicks. Might as well do some of these Mahomes.

[Jamie]

Mahomes slightly better.

[Adam]

And there was one more. Oh, Richardson.

[Jamie]

Richardson for me.

[Heath]

My homes for me.

[Adam]

All right. Like I said earlier, most past attempts in the NFL since week eight, maybe second Most I did this before Monday Night Football. Dallas was right there. Could. Could be second most now. Super high pass rate, running a lot of plays.

[Heath]

One thing to watch and it's too early to be factoring in whether, unless you have to make a decision on a quarterback starting tonight is just kind of maybe check this afternoon what the Cleveland forecast is looking like. It's December and it's Cleveland and things change quick there. But there's some concern that this could turn into a Cleveland wind game. And I did just see that the. The over unders fallen another point to 44. So that might be a little bit of a concern, but it might be nothing too. It's just too far away to know.

[Adam]

It's a great point, you know, so we got some teams that are in, like, indoor venues. Might want to keep an eye on that. We don't really want to start Pacheco. Would you start Pacheco or Braylon Allen if Breeze hall is out?

[Jamie]

Pacheco.

[Heath]

I have Pacheco just barely ahead of Braylon Allen in full ppr.

[Adam]

Okay.

[Jamie]

Do you like Davis better than Alan? Right?

[Heath]

I think I have Davis. I think I have it. Davis, Pacheco, Allen, they're all very close.

[Jamie]

Yeah, I would. I would go Pacheco over the jets guys.

[Adam]

What about DeAndre Hopkins? Any interest in Hopkins?

[Jamie]

He's, you know, firmly entrenched in that number three receiver category. You know, I think you're hoping for a touchdown because I don't think there's going to be much more to that. But as we've seen from this Brown secondary, you know, they give up big plays. You can't really go based on last week because Pickens wasn't there and the receiving core was decimated. But you saw some opportunities, you know, where Mike Williams was open. They tried, Russell tried. I just think Hopkins is, you know, kind of is what he is at this point. You know, a guy that's going to get probably the team in targets or lead the receiving corner. Excuse me. And if he scores, you're happy with the. The 12 to 15 points he'll give you. If he doesn't score, you're probably gonna be really disappointed.

[Heath]

I've got him right behind Waddle and right ahead of Debo. So that's the. That's the category. That's the area.

[Adam]

All right, start Travis Kelsey, Noah Gray or Dalton Schultz, if I'm desperate.

[Jamie]

Schultz.

[Heath]

Schultz. Yeah.

[Adam]

All right. We like Winston, but we don't love Winston. But he's in the. In that discussion. Jamie, you like Winston or Mahomes. I know. Oh, actually I'll ask both of you. Winston or I think Keith. You said Winston, right?

[Heath]

I did.

[Jamie]

And I would go Winston over my homes also.

[Adam]

Okay. And he throws downfield for against a team that gives up a lot of big plays. It's a good matchup. Let's just hope the weather cooperates. We are not even considering Nick Chubb or Jerome Ford, right?

[Heath]

Nope.

[Jamie]

No. But Ford is out snapchub three of the last four games. And if they're behind, which against the Chiefs, they always let teams play with the lead. But if they're behind, we could see a little bit more of Ford. And if the weather's bad, you know, those dump off passes. I think Ford's best game from a receiving perspective was the snow game against Pittsburgh.

[Adam]

And speaking of best games from a receiving perspective, for Elijah Moore, it's been anything but Pittsburgh. But if you look at Elijah Moore in good matchups, he's been a guy that you could start. Now let's talk about this receiving court because I, you know, Cedric Tillman trending in the right direction. Heath, break it down for me. How do you feel about the Browns receivers?

[Heath]

Judy's a must start wide receiver no matter who plays. Elijah Moore is a high end number three wide receiver if Tillman is out. Tillman's a high end number three if he plays. And that makes Elijah Moore a low end number three. I mean, if you look at Elijah Moore, it seems like the trend is very clear. It's good game, bad game, good game, bad game, good game, bad game. And so he's due for a good game. It's been 16.5 PPR fantasy points or more every other week during the Jameis Winston era. And he's due for the good one. But the other side of that is it's, it's like I think he fits perfectly in the Jalen Waddle category. Nobody should be surprised if Elijah Moore scores 16 plus fantasy points. No one should be surprised if Elijah Moore scores five or fewer fantasy points.

[Adam]

I believe I have to make that decision for a flex spot in a three receiver league. And I will go with Waddle if Tillman plays. Yep, Tillman doesn't play. I will probably still go with Jalen Waddle, but I will pro. I will take it up to game. No, no, you know, I'm going with Waddle.

[Heath]

I would go with more if there's no Tillman. I would go with Waddle if there is Tillman.

[Adam]

All right. David Najoku is an easy start if he plays and if David Joku doesn't play, then Elijah Moore, I think I would start over. Jalen Waddle.

[Jamie]

I'd be nervous about James if. Yes, the joker doesn't play.

[Adam]

It's a huge deal. He has 30 targets in his last two games. So this is someone that James definitely leans on. And three touchdowns in his last two games. Chiefs DST is top 10. It's tough to find DSTs. I don't know.

[Heath]

I think the Chiefs DST is really format dependent.

[Adam]

Yeah, they're going to give up points, but they're going to get turnovers.

[Heath]

They're going to give up point. And some of our leagues like it's yards too. Like you. If you can get into the negatives based on points and yards, then they may not be a great matchup.

[Jamie]

Oh, but there's so much upside for the pick sixes.

[Heath]

There is.

[Adam]

All right, let's see what is our next game here? Our next game is jets and Dolphins. All right. New York jets and Jaguars. Rather not. That was last week. Jetson Dover jets at Jaguars. Is this a tough game for you, Jamie, to break down? Because I find it to be a little bit difficult and mostly because after three straight terrible games for the jets passing game, I don't want to fully buy back in after one good game at my one really good game at Miami. How do you feel about this game?

[Jamie]

I mean, I feel much better since they're coming off a good game and now they're playing the Jaguars like there's, you know. Remember we were talking about Roger's upcoming schedule and how we could buy into him?

[Adam]

Yeah.

[Jamie]

Well, you don't have to buy into Rogers per se, but you should buy into the receivers. I think what we saw last week is probably something to hope for rest of season because I don't think you can expect him to throw multiple touchdowns consistently. I think what you're looking at is one guy scores, one guy has over 100 yards and that's the best case scenario for them. It's a matter of who you think is going to score. And right now devonte Adams is doing a better job of finding the end zone. You look at the last two games for Garrett Wilson. He's had 10 targets each of those last two games. You look at what Adams has done really the last month, it's just been a lot of targets and again finding the end zone a couple of times. So the way Heath has it ranked, I think is is appropriate. I have Wilson slightly ahead of Adams just because I think he's gonna once he gets going, he's gonna get going a little bit, but they're back to back, you know. So both number two receivers, I think Brian Thomas, what you see with Mac Jones, you know, he had one three game stretch with Lawrence earlier this season where he had seven plus targets in three straight games. He's got seven plus targets and three straight games in Mac Jones. Like he's just yolo right now with, with Brian Thomas because he understands the assignment, you know, that's the guy you want to feature in this game. So Thomas is a number two receiver despite maybe Sauce Gardner returning. I mean, look what the two Dolphins receivers did last week against the secondary. Thomas has the same upside to, you know, perform like that. You know, somewhere between what Tyreek and, and Jalen Waddle did. So those are the easy starts. You know, the, the running backs I think are flex options. If it's not Breeze hall, number two running back, if it is Bries hall, at this point I would expect Presole not to play. I have Braylon Allen slightly ahead of Isaiah Davis. As, as we said earlier, I know Heath likes Davis better than, than Allen. And then really for the Jacksonville backfield, like why would you risk it? You know, there's just no consistency there where you're hoping for either what you saw last week from Travis Etn, which was his second best receiving total of 50 yards, or Bigsby scoring, you know, so it's, it's just a little risky right now for those guys.

[Adam]

Who's your favorite running back in this game, Alan?

[Jamie]

I. I have the two jets guys ahead of the two Jaguars guys.

[Adam]

Heath.

[Heath]

Yes, I agree. It'd be Davis for me.

[Adam]

Okay. I just want to tell you why. See, I don't want to present this stat as, as this is what I think is going to happen, but I do think it needs to be said why you could be a little concerned about the J wide receivers. And based on every Sunday morning show that we do, I think the jets wide receivers are going to be asked about more. And Brian Thomas. Brian Thomas every week like just start Brian Thomas, he's so good. I do think the touchdowns are a problem. Mack Jones just doesn't, just doesn't seem to want to throw touchdowns. But he's going to get you 80 yards. Whatever. Anywho, we're going to get a lot of questions about the jets, so let me tell you something about this matchup. Before I do that though, let me tell you about a really cool thing you can do this holiday season for you fantasy football junkies out there. It's perfect time to crown your fantasy football champion. So go to shop.cbsports.com fantasy you could be celebrating a championship. You could be teasing the league's biggest loser. Go to the Fantasy Football Today Fan shop. Our new fan shop powered by Shop Sense. It has everything you need from trophies to T shirts. We've got the gear to make your league unforgettable. Really cool stuff. I Suck at Fantasy Football shirt. Yes, you should buy that for someone who sucks at fantasy football. And there's also just really cool things for your office or your fan cave or whatever. Go to shop.cbsports.com fantasy I'll put a link in the episode description or you can scan the QR code on your screen on YouTube.com fantasy football today and you're going to enjoy it. Really cool stuff for fantasy football people and for football fans out there. All right, anyway, I brought this up at the top of the show. In the last six weeks for the Jaguars or their last six games, running backs are averaging 29.8 carries per game. That is insane. They've seen the second most running back carries in that stretch. Despite having a buy. Running backs are also averaging 4.8 yards per carry against the Jaguars. I think six straight lead running backs have averaged over five yards per carry. Something crazy like that. So the pass attempts per game against the Jaguars in this stretch 31.3. That's on the low side, but you take it with a grain of salt. They face Green Bay, they don't pass much. They face Philadelphia, they don't pass much. Minnesota, they don't pass much. Detroit, they don't pass much. The jets do. I am not that worried about it because I just don't think that Braylon Allen and Isaiah Davis are going to run the ball down the Jaguars throats. But it was a pretty eye popping stat to see 30 rush attempts per game from running backs over the last six weeks and it's pretty much consistent every single week. And then you look at some of the wide receivers lately that actually have been disappointing against Jacksonville. Jaden Reed 7.5 points. A.J. brown left with an injury but he was bad. Justin Jefferson Less than 10 points. Jordan Addison 4.9. Tank Dell 3.3 Nick Westbrook, Akin they had two targets. I know these guys aren't Adams or or Garrett Wilson, but they've done worse than what we've expected going oh they got Jacksonville. Great matchup. So I just want to know what you guys think about that. The fact that teams wide receivers are just not getting that many targets lately against Jacksonville. And if that concerns you, they've played.

[Heath]

Two games since Dubai. Calvin Ridley had 12 targets. Nico Collins had 11 targets. Garrett Wilson and Devonte Adams are both top 12 or top 20 wide receivers. I think top 18.

[Jamie]

I, I think if it was Breeze Hall, Peak Breeze hall, then maybe we have a concern here. We're talking about two backup running backs that, you know, I don't think have that type of upside compared to the running backs or the teams that you just mentioned.

[Adam]

Yeah, yeah, I agree. But, but to counter Heath's point, like, yes, Nico Collins and Calvin Ridley did get those targets, but Tank Dell was bad when I actually think Tank Del.

[Heath]

Has been bad all season.

[Adam]

I know, but there was. It was Jacksonville and, and Nick Westbrook Aquina getting two targets.

[Jamie]

Yeah, but that also plays into, you know, to real life static. Will Levis busted up his shoulder right at halftime, you know, so who knows what that would have looked like. You mentioned it. His lowest date out of the season, you know, so his. He clearly was not right.

[Adam]

All right, all right. So you guys are not concerned about that and that is fine. Are you concerned about Evan Ingram in against the jets who give up the six fewest fantasy points to tight ends?

[Jamie]

Very much so, yeah.

[Adam]

All right. Jamie said he's kind of close to Dalton. Schultz over Ingram. Any other Hunter. Henry over Ingram for sure. Right.

[Jamie]

Henry over Ingram. Ertz over Ingram. Ferguson over Ingram. Kraft over Ingram. Like this is not a good situation for EBONY right now. Mac Jones has not been good. Trevor, no.

[Adam]

All right, we're gonna take a break and talk about, oh, the Jets DST is startable, low end starter. We're gonna take a break and talk about the Colts and Broncos. Another game I'm really looking forward to. We'll be right back on fantasy football today.

[Dave]

As someone who just recently got engaged, I can tell you firsthand how exciting and how a little overwhelming the whole process can be. If you're looking back on all the memories you've made with your partner and you're already dreaming about the future together, you're planning on taking the next big step. I recommend sourcing your engagement ring from bluenile.com Blue Nile is the original online jeweler since 1999, offering you a larger, more brilliant piece than you can imagine at a price you won't find anywhere else. That's why they offer a diamond price guarantee they'll meet or beat a competitor's price on a comparable diamond so you can feel great about your purchase. Blue Nile is also committed to the highest ethical standards in sourcing diamonds and jewelry, so you can feel great about that too. They offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee, free shipping and returns, along with lifetime service and repairs. Plus, every order is insured and arrives in discrete packaging, so no worries there. And in most cases, they can even be delivered overnight, just in time for that last unforgettable moment in 2024. Right now go to bluenile.com and use code FFT for $50 off your purchase of $500 or more. That's $50 off with code fftluenile.com blue.

[Adam]

Nile.Com 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 going to 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 any time 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 Colts at Broncos. Before we get into the quarterbacks, super interesting discussions to be had about these quarterbacks are there who are the easy starts? Slam dunk starts in this game?

[Jamie]

Cortland, Sutton, Coral and Sutton. Yeah, the easy one. Yeah.

[Adam]

Broncos dst.

[Jamie]

They're startable. I don't think it's easy. Like I mean we've highlighted some teams that were on. Like I'd start the commanders over them. I'd start the Ravens clearly over them. They were available on waivers this week in a lot of leagues.

[Adam]

Okay. All right, so then let's get into the quarterbacks. Which one do you like better? And Heath, you can start first. Talk about Bo Nixon, Anthony Richardson.

[Heath]

I don't have either of these guys inside my top 15 right now, but they are in that 8 through 20 group. Bo Nix is slightly ahead of Anthony Richardson and six point per pass touchdown leagues. I would probably take Richardson in four point per pass touchdown leagues. There's a pretty low floor for both of these guys. There's a pretty high ceiling for both of these guys. I don't like the fact that Knicks has pretty much stopped rushing and I don't like the fact that Anthony Richardson might complete single digit passes.

[Adam]

I don't like that either. All right, Jamie, what do you think? Richardson and Nicks.

[Jamie]

So I, I'm excited about Richardson for this week. You know, I think what we saw from him two of his last three games, he's, you know, played like the guy I think we were hoping to see all season long, you know, and the benching clearly has helped him. I think the time off. Hopefully he did everything that he was doing up to that point, you know, acting as a professional from some of the things that you heard, you know, showing up to the building and doing all those things. But in any event, interest in terms of matchups, they looked awful without Riley Monster, completely awful. You know, and Jameis gave them some gifts. Obviously Jamis is a different pastor than Anthony Richardson. We've, we've talked about this. Go back and listen to the beyond the box score episode where Jacob breaks it down in terms of the drops that the Colts receivers have had over the last several weeks. Getting Josh Downs back is huge for Anthony Richardson as a passer. You know, that's the easy throws that help him and make him a better quarterback. But I do think what we've seen from him as a rusher is going to matter here. You've seen the last three games, he's gotten either 60 yards rushing or touchdown, three rushing touchdowns over those three games. So he's given you the last three weeks 6.1 points just with his legs alone. I think that's kind of something you should hope for if not expect at this point because that's the type of player that he's capable of. They're allowing him to be the guy. Remember Shane Stack in the beginning of the season. You're not going to tell Steph Curry not to shoot threes. I think they're allowing Richardson to run a little bit, which is, you know, the encouraging part. So clearly it's what he's going to do as a passer that's going to make or break what you think of Richardson. I think he's going to have a good game here. I Think they're going to, you know, find some weaknesses in the secondary. I think they'll have an opportunity for some shot plays down the field because the Broncos allowed that clearly against the Browns. And so Alec Pierce is a good DFS player. Not playing him in your fancy playoffs. The guy I do worry about is Pittman because this feels like with Downs back now, he kicks outside more. That's where we see Patrick's return. So I don't like the setup for Pittman, but I do think Richardson with his legs, with the opportunity for a few plays here or there in the passing game, I think he will be a top 12 quarterback this week.

[Adam]

Okay. Someone asked Brock Purdy or Richardson? Four point.

[Jamie]

Pretty. I'll take Richard four points.

[Adam]

Oh, and how about Bo Nicks or. And we've pretty much answered all like Mahomes. He's in that group. It really does feel like you could throw a dart like Heath said. But Nick's not coming off his best game against Cleveland. And Jonathan Taylor is a number two running back. We talked about him in one question for each game. Would you start Josh Downs or Jonathan Taylor in a full PPR league?

[Jamie]

Downs.

[Heath]

Taylor.

[Adam]

Jamie, would you start Josh Downs or Taylor in a half PPR league?

[Jamie]

Taylor.

[Heath]

Do you. Do you have the Azer stats on Josh Downs with Anthony Richardson and Michael Pittman?

[Adam]

Yeah. Has he played a game with Richardson and no Pittman. Pittman hasn't missed the game, has he?

[Jamie]

He missed one, I believe.

[Adam]

Okay, you Let me know. Five games with Anthony Richardson for Josh Downs. We have 5.2 fantasy points against Chicago.

[Heath]

He missed week 10. That was November 10th. I'm not sure if that was a Richardson game or not.

[Adam]

Who'd they play?

[Heath]

They played against Buffalo.

[Adam]

No, that was a Flacco game. 1.3 fantasy points against the Dolphins, 22.2 fantasy points at Houston, 14.9 or 19.4 fantasy points at the jets, and then 5.7 fantasy points against Detroit. That's Josh.

[Jamie]

That's the game you left.

[Adam]

Yeah, but he had seven targets in that. He left that game.

[Jamie]

Yes.

[Heath]

Josh Downs against Detroit played only 53% of the snaps. He's been. Matt's about 90 of the snaps he normally plays, right?

[Adam]

Yeah. All right, so. But Josh. Josh Downs or Jalen Waddle.

[Jamie]

I think I have them back to back. Waddle. One spot ahead.

[Heath]

Waddle.

[Adam]

Got a question in the chat. Josh Downs or Jameson Williams in half ppr.

[Jamie]

Half ppr. I'd go Jameson, full ppr. I'd go down.

[Heath]

I'd go JMO in Both and.

[Adam]

All right, sit the tight ends. Obviously we talked about Bo Nicks. Let me do some bow. Knicks ors Bo Nicks or honestly Aaron Rodgers at Jacksonville.

[Heath]

Nick's Rogers for me.

[Adam]

There you go. I see. I knew there'd be something there. Bo Nicks or CJ Stroud?

[Jamie]

Nick.

[Adam]

Bo Nicks or Baker? Mayfield.

[Heath]

Baker.

[Jamie]

So I'm right now I have Mayfield ranked higher. When I make my adjustments, I'm going to put Nick's ahead of Mayfield.

[Adam]

As mentioned, Cortland Sutton is a must start. How about Jalil McLaughlin coming off of exciting 14 carry game?

[Jamie]

I mean you obviously can't start any Broncos running backs in the playoffs with any confidence. You have to be in a desperate situation to go that route. It's just a matter of will they go with the same running back, back to back games. That just hasn't been the pattern for Sean Payton. So I don't know how you approach the Heath. I just ranked McLaughlin first because he was the last one to do something of significance. Touchdown.

[Adam]

Right.

[Jamie]

The Browns, those are the two that you have to look at. You know, estimate had the one game against Kansas City and then has been a disappearing act. So he's the easy one to say no. But 14 team league desperate situation. I would lean McLaughlin over Javante and just kind of cross my fingers and hope that Sean Payton doesn't do something crazy.

[Heath]

So Julian McLaughlin still only rostered in 42% of leagues. So he's a. He's a great guy to add. I think if you have a buy this week, I agree with Jamie. I don't. He's a flex at best this week. But man, if we get the game after the buy, he's the clear lead running back. Then he might sneak into that top 30 range at least. He. The problem is even against Cleveland when he had 14 rush attempts, he still only played 36% of the offensive snaps and that was the second highest mark of the season. He has been absolutely awful in terms of the pass catching. He has 20 targets on the season and 47 yards on those 20 targets.

[Adam]

Yeah. Yeah. So I'm starting Sincere McCormick over McLaughlin. I'm desperate for an RB2, so I was debating between them, but you can't justify it. Yeah.

[Jamie]

But yeah, pick up jets guys, the Jaguars guys, you should start over. I mean like there's not a lot of confidence here. Like.

[Adam]

No.

[Jamie]

If you're comparing him to Nick Chubb and Gus Edwards, like that's where we're at.

[Adam]

Yeah. Okay. And that's it for this game. As we mentioned, the Broncos dst, they are startable. Pittsburgh's at Philadelphia. All right. It's that of the. By the way, this is great tweet.

[Jamie]

Is this. Is this off the table for game of the week?

[Adam]

Every good game is on today's slate. I don't. Well, maybe I'll get him on Green Bay, Seattle, but I got to figure something right. He's going to be expecting Buffalo, Detroit.

[Heath]

You could just say, Dave, we didn't have you on for our big argument about Jalen hurts yesterday.

[Adam]

What are your thoughts?

[Heath]

And then he starts talking about Jalen hurts.

[Jamie]

He did that last week, too.

[Adam]

This could be a boring game, though.

[Jamie]

It really could.

[Adam]

So. Yeah. What's this? The total is 42. Is there any stealer that you want to start?

[Jamie]

Oh, boy. Sounds like Pickens is out, so. No, no, I think, you know, Naji is in that low end, number two range. Jalen Warren's a flex.

[Adam]

Naji or Taylor?

[Heath]

Taylor.

[Jamie]

Taylor slightly had a nausea.

[Adam]

All right, so let's just focus on the Eagles here. And first of all, to knock this out. Dsts. You like the dsts in this game?

[Jamie]

Eagles over the Steelers, but prefer to avoid them?

[Heath]

Yeah, I. I think that's. Yeah, they're both top 12 for me, so I'm probably just starting them.

[Adam]

All right. And Friar. Friar, Muth or Ingram?

[Jamie]

Ingram. PPR firing with half and none.

[Heath]

Ingram for me.

[Adam]

Calcaterra or Ingram? All right, start Barkley. Now let's get to the fun stuff here. Let's talk about the passing game. So Heath, you're just. You're all in. Jalen hurts because, like, I wouldn't say.

[Heath]

I'm all in, but I did go look because I wanted to make sure that I just wasn't like basing this all on the pre buy stats like you mentioned. I think it was since the buy how low his pass attempts have been. And he's only thrown in his last nine games, 193 passes. And in that stretch of nine games, he has QB4 averaging 26.6 fantasy points per game. Yeah, like, I don't. I understand it's a bad matchup. He might be bad. I'm not going to sit a guy who has been an elite fantasy quarterback for three years and an elite fantasy quarterback over this stretch that he's not throwing the ball enough, especially when we got a squeaky wheel game from A.J. brown. I just. I'm not going to sit him.

[Jamie]

So, like, you're in a rare situation, Adam, where you have at least one other high End option in Jared Goff, right. Who's during this stretch of games, I don't know who's had a better, better point production, but I would imagine it's close.

[Adam]

No. Well, hers. You tell me, Heath.

[Heath]

Since. Since. Well, it depends. If you're talking the last four weeks, I would guess golf. If you're talking the period of time since Hertz by hertz has been significantly better. 4, 4.3 fantasy points per game. Better.

[Adam]

Yeah. Look, if anyone who's considering sitting Jalen hurts, you better have someone that you absolutely love. All the slander here on Jalen hurts. Obviously it's still really tough to get away from him, right?

[Jamie]

No, no one is saying to sit him.

[Adam]

Yeah, but you have a ninth. Like that's, that's pretty eye opening that you have.

[Jamie]

But that's because I like to a lot. I like golf a lot. I like Purdy a lot. You know. So to what Heath is saying about, you know, QB's 9 through 20, I kind of feel like that with these, this range, like they're, they're. Flip a coin, one could be better than the next. You are talking about potentially minimal past temps. You are talking about a very good defense. On the other side of the football. You are talking about a defense that made things very uncomfortable for Lamar Jackson when they played in the one meeting that they had. You know, so this is not just because he's struggling a little bit. This is because the other side of the ball is pretty damn good, you know, so if he doesn't have the chance to have success running the ball, which is hard to say because he's very good at that. And we are still talking about a low scoring game like they showed you, like they're, they're not afraid to win a low scoring game. You know, they, they want to be better. You know, that's why the complaints came out of this, you know, following the Panthers game, I just think like there's a little bit of a higher ceiling for some of these guys. Like the question you just put up there. I would start Jay Daniels over Jalen hurts.

[Adam]

And they also like, not only do they do well against Lamar Jackson. Great. Against Lamar Jackson, the Steelers held Joe Burrow to 25.3 fantasy points. That's a really good game. But in the other four games, in his last five, Joe Burrow scored over 30. It's by far the worst game that Joe Burrows had in his last five games against Pittsburgh at home. So, you know, it's a tough matchup. Now A.J. brown is gonna, we're gonna say to start him. And honestly, 21.5 past tense per game in their last nine games. Well, they're talking about how they need to pass the ball more. So maybe they just throw the ball more. And this is a stupid conversation, but, like, we're. We are starting A.J. brown, right? It's. That's not even. Okay. Yeah.

[Jamie]

And I didn't move him in the rankings. Like, I think there is going to be an opportunity here for him to get a huge bump in targets.

[Heath]

And I will just say one last thing. Like, if I know Hertz didn't have a good passing game last week in terms of his accuracy or yards per attempt, but if they do just choose to throw the ball 30 times per game, you should expect this to be a very good passing offense. Jalen Hurts has a career high completion percentage, a career high passer rating, a career high yards per attempt at 8.0, which is elite. Um, like the. For the year, he's still been very good. Efficiently, wise as a passer.

[Adam]

A.J. brown has a career high in yards per target.

[Heath]

Right.

[Adam]

All right, but we're sitting devonte Smith, I assume.

[Heath]

I. I think he's right there in that waddle discussion.

[Adam]

Okay.

[Jamie]

Yes.

[Adam]

We have a question. Devonte Smith or Tank Dell?

[Heath]

Smith.

[Jamie]

Smith.

[Adam]

All right. All right. I'm gonna move on past this game. Tampa Bay is at the Chargers. Baker Mayfield, you still have. You guys still have him in the top 12 or these. I think these are updated rankings.

[Heath]

He's 10th.

[Jamie]

He's going to be outside of it for me, but again, still startable.

[Adam]

I said I'm starting Jameis over him. Would you guys approve of that move?

[Heath]

Yeah, I would.

[Adam]

All right. But I'm not starting Anthony Richardson over him. Would you guys do that?

[Jamie]

I would definitely do it. Yeah.

[Heath]

I would start Baker.

[Adam]

All right, so we're split there. He played pretty well last week, honestly, you know. And how are Jamie? You're nervous about Mike Evans, right?

[Jamie]

A little bit. A little bit. I mean, you know, you haven't seen the. Oh, my God. There's no God when he's getting, you know, everything. And it's going to work out for him. I mean, he's had a couple of disappointing games.

[Adam]

Well, two weeks ago, he had 26 points at Carolina.

[Jamie]

I'm sorry.

[Adam]

So it's two. Two of his last three. Yeah, you're right. You're right. I'm sorry. I was wrong. I forgot he came back for the Giants game. Two of his last three have been disappointing. And did Dan say. I thought Dan said on Monday that he said he was playing hurt, like not 100%.

[Jamie]

So it looked like in there was one game or one play last week where he got sort of wrapped up a little bit and tackled and he came up seemingly uncomfortable. And I was watching the game with Logan Ryan, one of his former teammates, he was like, oh, he doesn't look right. And who knows, I mean look, he's, he's, he's an old receiver that's playing through potentially still a hamstring injury to some extent.

[Heath]

But when we're talking about concern for Mike Evans, I think it's, it's good to quantify what we're talking about. We still have him way ahead of, of the Jalen Waddle. I do the way ahead of the Jalen Waddle devonte Smith concern guys. Yes, his, his bad games like where their bad games are often single digits. His bad games in two of the last three have been 13.8 and 11.9 or 10.9 without a touchdowns.

[Jamie]

So yeah, again it's like, it's like hurts you're not sitting Mike Evans in most cases. You know, you got to have a really stacked lineup. Like I have him probably a little bit lower than I should but, but I am slightly concerned that if he's not scoring, you know, you could get an 11 point game which is not fun and.

[Adam]

All right. What about two wide receivers who are trending up right now, Jerry Judy and Jawan Jennings. Would you start the Jays over Mike Evans?

[Jamie]

I would, yes.

[Heath]

Judy, for sure. I think I have Jennings ahead of him too.

[Adam]

Would you start the J's over A.J. brown?

[Jamie]

Yes, probably should. But I don't have it right though. I just think that we're going to get the squeaky ball game starter.

[Adam]

Sit.

[Jamie]

Rashad White must start of Bucky Irving.

[Heath]

Yes. Extremely mustard.

[Adam]

All right, I will update you. I'm going to assume Bucky Irving's out if. Yes, if he practices today, we'll talk about it tomorrow. But Rashad White is a must start guy. Rasha, it's tough though. Like Rashad White or Chuba Hubbard. Rashad White or Rico Dowdle. Rank those three.

[Heath]

Hubbard, White, Dowdle in full ppr. I've got it. White, Hubbard, double.

[Adam]

All right. Kate Otten, low end starter. Maybe high end backup.

[Heath]

High end backup.

[Adam]

Justin Herbert. Looks like, you know, I'm, I'm gonna say it looks like McConaughey's gonna play, but he practiced all last week, so I don't know. But he already practiced on Wednesday. We talked about Herbert A lot yesterday. You guys have him as a mid range, like 15th ish.

[Heath]

I think I'm gonna drop him a couple of spots. I definitely feel like I definitely want to start Stafford over him tonight. So.

[Adam]

Okay.

[Heath]

At least one spot should sit the.

[Adam]

Running backs and then sit Stone Smart and running backs for, for the Chargers.

[Heath]

I do think we, I don't know that we've talked quite enough about Stone Smart. Just because Herbert's had a 22% tight end target share this year. Hayden Hurst is on ir, Will Disley's out. Tampa Bay is one of the best matchups for tight ends and Smart had eight fantasy points and a half on three targets last week. So he's been creeping up my rankings. I, I think I'd rather start. I think there's might be more upside for Stone Smart than there is for like the Jawan Johnson, Dalton Schultz Noah fan group.

[Adam]

For me, it's a great point. I mean, Tommy Tremble and Michael Mayer have had 68 or more yards in the last two games against the Buccaneers, so. Good, good point there, Jamie. Talk about the chargers wide receivers.

[Jamie]

McConkey is a low end, number two, high end, number three receiver. The only raise. The reason I say that is because how healthy is he? You know, if he was 100 healthy, he's clearly a must start receiver. But you have to be a little bit concerned if he's out, then Quentin Johnston and Josh Palmer are very good number three receivers, as we saw last week. You know, Johnston is going to probably need a touchdown, but there still would be some opportunities for him to make some big plays down the field. Obviously. Palmer had nine targets, six catches, 78 yards. You talked about this quite a bit. There was an opportunity for a huge play that Justin Herbert missed him on. So based on the secondary, if McConkey plays, you could still consider Johnston a number three receiver because again, Tampa Bay without Antoine Winfield, that's huge. That factors into Smart as well. You know, the, the best safety arguably in the NFL not playing. And we've seen it. You know, Tampa Bay gives up a lot of production to wide receivers, their top 10 and most fantasy points allowed to the position. So there's still some opportunities for Palmer and for Johnson if McConkey's out there. Which is why I think, you know, it's hard to just completely give up on Justin Herbert because these guys are going to have to make plays. They cannot run the ball. They cannot run the ball. So it's, it's, it's on Justin Herbert to have to, you know, win the game and we'll see if he can.

[Adam]

Okay, but you like Johnson better than Palmer if McConkey were out?

[Jamie]

I like Johnson better than Palmer just because I think he's been locked into his role. You know, it was two target difference. You know, last week Palmer basically filled the McConkie role to some extent, which is nice. But Johnson still, I think, is going to get some more red zone opportunities.

[Heath]

And I would say even if you don't want to start Debo, you have to start Debo over Johnston and Palmer tonight because of the chance that McCarthy might come back.

[Jamie]

I don't know if I agree with that just because the matchup's so good for those guys. Like, you know, Debo's been bad in good matchups. He's been bad at bad matchups. Like these guys could still have success. Palmer fair. Yeah, you can start them over Palmer just because Palmer will probably not be as. As reliant like Johnson said. Still touchdown opportunities with McConaughey on the field.

[Heath]

Yeah, here's. Here's a one. I haven't clicked too many questions today, but smart or pits? Like I have smart edit pits right now. I would definitely start stone smart over cow pits.

[Adam]

That's great because we're going to our next game. Atlanta's at Las Vegas. Now. My goal for today's show was one hour and ten minutes. Can we do these next two games in negative two minutes? Let's see. Let's see how we do here. Atlanta at Las Vegas. Yeah. So don't start Kyle Pitts. Don't start Kirk Cousins. Start Bijan Robinson for sure. And Heath, how do you feel about Drake London? I'll give you a quick wide receiver comparison. Drake London on the year is wide receiver 20 per game in non PPR, 16 per game in full PPR. Darnell Mooney is wide receiver 23 per game. Three spots lower than Mooney in non PPR or than London and non PBR. 26 per game in full PPR, 10 spots lower than Drake London. Mooney leads the team in receiving, though. He has 19 catches of 20 or more yards compared to five for Drake London. But Mooney has one end zone target. Drake London has the second most red zone and end zone targets in football. How do you feel about these guys this week at at Las Vegas?

[Heath]

I think that the targets finally pay off for Drake London. He's been kind of disappointing the last couple of weeks based on. But he's still getting such a huge number of targets just getting peppered. I think that continues and it pays off against the Raiders and Drake London is a must start top 12 wide receiver and Darnell Mooney is a very high upside number three wide receiver.

[Adam]

All right, Most people are going to start London, so let's do some Mooney's or Mooney or. I gave you that trio of running backs. Rashad White, Rico Dowdle and Chuba Hubbard. They're easy to start over Mooney, right?

[Jamie]

Yes.

[Heath]

Yep.

[Adam]

How about over London.

[Jamie]

I would start White and Hubbard Over London, I would start London over Dowdle.

[Heath]

I'm like, it's almost impossible for you to be and for me to have Drake London in a flex conversation.

[Adam]

Okay.

[Heath]

Like, he's starting at wide receiver for me. I'm not comparing him to running back.

[Adam]

Here's a question on from the chat. DK Metcalf or Jacoby Myers? But I'll throw Mooney in there as well. Would you start Myers or Mooney over dk? Met. Metcalf.

[Jamie]

Myers. Mooney. Metcalf.

[Heath]

Myers. Metcalf, Mooney.

[Adam]

Okay. Sit pits and sit the quarterback for the Raiders, whoever it might be. How do you feel about Sincere McCormick?

[Jamie]

Jamie, I think he's a flex option, low end, number two running back in a very similar range for me with Pacheco and Tracy and the jets guys, you know, the work is great. We have not seen him with Madison, so if Madison does play, we'll see how that all plays out. Like you said, the report is he's going to be in a backup role. Madison is. So, yeah, it's. It'll be an interesting, you know, situation. If they're chasing points, will they go to Madison like we saw a couple weeks ago with Abdullah Last week McCormick was in that role. But I think he's earned enough of an opportunity here that you can say, okay, at least, at least a flex option if you're stuck.

[Heath]

I, I think Pierce actually said that the reason Madison didn't play last week was a numbers game. I. I think he might have just been a healthy scratch.

[Adam]

Okay, great.

[Heath]

But he, he might like if he does play, it does complicate things. Right now. We're not ranking Madison. I've got McCormick ahead of the jets, ahead of the Jags. I've got him ahead of Pacheco and Ramon Dre. Definitely ahead of Chubb, the Broncos.

[Adam]

Okay. And then we like Jacoby Myers. Not as much as. Oh, no, we like him more than Mooney. Right?

[Heath]

Yeah, I do.

[Adam]

Yeah. Okay. He's. He's a start. Jacoby Myers is a start. Falcons are just so bad against wide receivers and start Brock Bowers. Cincinnati is at Tennessee. You know what to do with your Bengals. Although we're going back to Higgins.

[Heath]

Yep.

[Jamie]

Easily.

[Adam]

I have a very unofficial stat of the game that I didn't feel like fact checking. I didn't feel like doing this twice. T. Higgins has had six or fewer targets in 15 healthy games in his career, not including last week at Dallas. He has bounced back with eight or more targets the following week, 14 of the previous 15 times. So let's go. Start. Borough, start. Chase, start. Start. Brown, start. Higgins, sit. Gasicki on the other side of the ball for Tennessee. See, I mean, it's such a great matchup, but we can't, like, we can't trust Levis, right?

[Heath]

Nope.

[Adam]

Okay.

[Jamie]

No, I was excited about Levis, you know, going into the stretch that he had, but who knows how healthy the shoulder is? It's more clearly super flex or two QB leagues where you trust them anyway. But, you know, after poop in the bed last week with the injury, it's. It's hard to say, oh, yeah, let's start him just because it's Bengals. Like, I think at best, you're looking at what Cooper Rush did.

[Adam]

What is Tony Pollard? How is Tony Pollard compared to Chuba Hubbard, Rico Dowdle, Rashad White?

[Jamie]

He's right in that range. Absolutely right in that range. You know, the. The only thing that you've seen which you know could be the case is when they're significantly behind. His touches have not been the same when Spears has been healthy.

[Adam]

Right.

[Jamie]

So if the Bengals come out and blow them out early, which is not shocking if they don't melt down defensively, I just think without Logan Wilson on the field. Rico, Dallas coming up. 100 yard game. The Steelers running backs did whatever they wanted to two weeks ago. How are you getting away from Tony Pod right now?

[Heath]

Yeah, I would say, like, it wouldn't be shopping Shocking for the Titans to get blown out. It would be pretty shocking for the Bengals to blow someone out. They have not. Like, they've be. They've had one game all year. They've won by more than 10 points.

[Jamie]

We had on our fantasy, our. I think it's our NFL Instagram page. The way the bank. The way the Bengals make the playoffs and like all the crazy things that have to happen, it's not that unrealistic. Like, how the Broncos lose their schedule is kind of tough. How the Colts lose their schedule is kind of tough. How the Dolphins lose and they have to win out. So.

[Adam]

Yeah. Well, let's start this week with Tennessee and Calvin Ridley is right around 30th at receiver. We're not going back to Nick Westbrook. Akin a the Bengals. You get seven more targets, you're in good shape. 14 wide receivers have had seven or more targets against the Bengals. All of them have scored double digit PPR fantasy points. 10 of them have scored 15.8 or more PPR fantasy points. So let's just hope that hasn't been a given for Calvin Ridley, but he's usually around seven, if not more, sets up to be a good game for him. Let's just hope that they can, they can, you know, take advantage of this opportunity. All right, that's it for today's show. We'll talk to you tomorrow with more starter sit advice. Good luck tonight, everybody. We'll talk to you on Friday on Fantasy Football.

[Jamie]

Today.

[Adam]

Paramount Podcasts 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.