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Jamie
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Dave
Audio this is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. Wanna play?
Jamie
Can you believe this?
Adam
No, I can't.
Dave
It's time to dominate your fantasy league. This is gonna go the distance. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie and Heath.
Adam
Who are you going to rely on in week two? 17. Apparently you're not gonna rely on Dave. He left. He's back. Welcome, everybody, to Fantasy Football today presented by BetMGF. Make it legendary. It is Tuesday, December 23, a fun, festive time of year and hopefully a happy week 16. For those of you who are here or you just want to hang out and listen to the podcast, we appreciate that. Michael Carter, Jawar Jordan, maybe Bryce Young. Hopefully Marcus Mariota can play. Who are we going to rely on? Parker Washington. Can we go back to Parker Washington? Are we going back to Jacoby Brissette? And I think we should probably have a little bit of a Jared Goff discussion too, as he faces the Minnesota Vikings. Good morning, Dave.
Dave
Sup, Adam? How are you, buddy?
Adam
How many championship games will you be in?
Dave
Oh, we know we don't need to talk about, you know, silly little things like that. Let's talk about week 17 and, you know, the importance of this week and making really good lineup decisions. That's really what matters here. Not, oh, how did you do that? No one cares. Let's just get right on to your teams, helping everybody else's teams. That's what matters.
Adam
Well, I can say that Dave and Jamie are going to be competing for the podcast league championship, which is really cool. And Jamie, congratulations. You have made it to the finals of the FFT Open.
Jamie
Thank you. Yeah, it's exciting. We'll see how, how I fare. I think I was sixth out of eight teams or five. Fifth out of eight teams. So a lot of work to do to. To bring this home, but, yeah, it's fun.
Adam
Cool. All right.
Jamie
How many finals for you, Adam?
Adam
Only two. I had five semifinals, but one with Scott Fish. I wasn't gonna advance there, So I made 2 of 4 of my redraft leagues.
Dave
So we'll see if he percent sounds about normal.
Adam
No. 2 or 4 of my semi finals, not 2 or 4 of my leagues. 2 of 10.
Dave
No, no 2 or 4 of your some. I meant that 50 of your semifinals. Yeah, sounds familiar.
Adam
Oh, okay. All right, all right. It's a little disappointing. I was hoping for three, but it's okay.
Dave
Again, I don't, I don't think we should talk about this.
Adam
Let's get to it. Who going to help our our viewers and listeners win their fantasy leagues? Top three waiver wire priorities Jamie.
Jamie
Right now it's Michael Carter, it's Tyler Shuck, and it's Breton Strange. So a quarterback, a running back and a tight end you could start. There's really not a receiver. That is a must start option. There's several guys you can start in three receiver leagues. But I think in the case of Shuck you can pivot to him. I know I'm going to do that in one league as a Jared Goff manager. In the case of Michael Carter, he ran very well, didn't catch the ball at all but had two targets. But I think that will change in the game against Cincinnati and then for Strange, he's had really one disappointing game but. And it happened to be against the Colts, but he did get six targets in that game. And the way Trevor Lawrence is playing right now, I think you want pieces of this offense.
Adam
Yeah, absolutely. And that's why I think Parker Washington is going to be one of the top waiver wire priorities at wide receivers. It's a little tough. We talked about this on Sunday night, but you did have Brian Thomas Jr. Being shadowed mostly by Patrick Certain. You did have Riley moss contributing about 75 extra yards to Parker Washington by being completely unable to tackle him in the open field. But you just saw the Colts in action last night. Their defense is really struggling and Jackson was playing great. Just checking Trevor Lawrence 88% rostered and I am one who dropped Trevor Lawrence last week, you know, because he was facing Denver. So I'm trying to get him back this week. But that probably the first trip you want to make is just check to see if Trevor Lawrence is available.
Jamie
There's a lot of check to see options, you know, so Juwan Johnson, for example, would be the best tight end to go get or Dalton SCHULTZ, you know, two guys that are available in close to 30% of leagues. There's the Patriots DST for example, because they've been dropped in several leagues or maybe may have been dropped in several leagues because of their most recent matchups plus their bye week. And so they get the jets this week, you know. So there are several scenarios across the board where quarterbacks may be available. You know, Jackson Dart may have been dropped and you might want to pivot to him taking on the Raiders, for example. So there's several situations where you might have someone available. I told you the story yesterday where I dropped because it was the worst player on my roster to pick up Emmanuel Wilson. With Josh Jacobs questionable last week I dropped Ramandre Stevenson and now he is a must start running back if there is no Travion Henderson. So there's going to be a player or two potentially or, or an option or two because of the STs, but an option or two in every league that may be automatic starts. So just make sure you check out your, your waiver wire and, and hopefully you get lucky with one of those players.
Adam
Okay Dave, who are your top three? I'll just repeat Jamie's real quick. Michael Carter with the best matchup for running backs, Cincinnati gives up the most fantasy points. Tyler Schuck and Breton Strange.
Dave
I. It really comes down to what do you need this week? What, what are the holes in your roster and who are you comfortable with off the waiver wire over a starter that's gotten you to this point in the season? So I, I can't say that like in a vacuum it's a slam dunk that there's any player that should be up there. But I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the Chargers DST. They've given us at least double digit fantasy points 7 of their past 10 games. Houston offense didn't look great last week. That would be a DST that I would consider and they're out there in about half of CBS Sports leagues depending on what other DSTs that you have at this point. I agree on Michael Carter. I know he was a dud last week but that match against Cincinnati is too good and it looked like he was their running downs back. He really didn't play much once they were in hurry up mode in the second half. I don't know if they're going to be in that mode this week. I think Michael Carter could get a pretty decent workload and I'll, I'll, I'll say Brenton Strange. Hopefully he gets more work again this week against Indy. I'm not sure what this indie defense is going to be like, what it's going to play like. The game means nothing. I don't know what their offense is going to be like or who their quarterback is going to be. This could be a matchup where the Jaguars just stop them and so getting pieces of that offense. I think Jamie talked about that. Parker Washington makes sense. He seems to pop a little bit more whenever they're in like high scoring shootouts. I don't know if that's going to be this kind of game. So strange. If you're looking for a tight end he would be the best one. But again it does come down to two things. Number one, we already talked about it. Check to see who's available. Number two, what do you need and number three, what does your opponent need? Is there somebody that you can pick up off the waiver wire that you could keep away from your opponent? Remember, you've got to keep these players and then if you're a good faith fantasy manager, you're going to hold on to them all the way through the week. You're going to have them on your bench for the fantasy championship game. You're not going to pick them up and drop them and then find somebody else and the very next moment pick them up and drop them too. Don't be a jerk, just be ethical about it. But playing keep away is a strategy and this is the time of the year to deploy that strategy.
Adam
Sure. And we did a little breakdown of Michael Carter on the on beyond the box score yesterday if anyone body wants to go back and listen to it. And I think my concern is that Corey Kiner would be their goal line back if they get down there. But that's just a guess because he's got the size. But also again, you know, first game all season where the Cardinals running backs didn't have a catch. I expect that to change. The Bengals give up the second most receiving yards per game to running backs in addition to the most fantasy points to running backs. So definitely Carter is an option. You know, if you have Josh Jacobs for example, you might want to pick him up and just see. We don't know. I mean I assume Jacob's going to play but it's a little iffy. One other thing I want to mention, I was just looking at a little bit of weather because I woke up today with my driveway and backyard blanketed and snow. If you have Drake May, it looks like there could be some bad weather in in the northeast this weekend. So it's we're five days away from that game but just maybe, maybe plan for it. I think as of now it's like a 70% chance of precipitation on Sunday in New Jersey. So just, just keep an eye on that.
Dave
The move there would be to just pick up a quarterback just in case.
Jamie
Right?
Dave
Like we're going to talk about a lot of quarterbacks and Jamie Metson, Tyler Shuck, and that's probably one of the best ones that you can go and pick up to carry on your bench just in case you are freaked out by the weather in that game. But also you shouldn't be freaked out about the weather until right before kickoff, maybe an hour before kickoff.
Adam
Okay, so programming this week is a normal week. We'll have a show on Christmas and that'll be fun. And then next week is a little bit different. We'll have all our normal weekend stuff too. Mailbag Sunday morning stream Next week's a little bit different. No beyond the box score. No Thursday show week 18. We'll have a starter sit on Friday for the entire slate and no Sunday live stream on in week 18. But there's always BetMGM. All right. It is time for football at BetMGM. Register with BetMGM to get instant access to the best variety of parlay selection features. No sweat. And boost tokens, live betting options, and much more. New players can receive up to 1500 dollars back in bonus bets with the bonus code Fantasy if they don't win their first bet. You don't want to miss out on any of the hard hitting action at BET mgm. Place your money line, parlay bets and more today. BET mgm. Make it legendary. Boy, I can't imagine how many matchups were decided last night by the 49ers. Not reviewing the Jake Tongas or Tongas potential touchdown and then throwing it to McCaffrey the next play.
Jamie
Yeah, because it didn't impact Brock Purdy.
Adam
Right.
Jamie
And it certainly, I mean nobody was starting Tongas and everybody was starting cmc and so you might have thought, oh man, thank goodness he didn't score there. And then oh bleep.
Adam
It was a wild game. I have a couple of you said leap.
Jamie
Yeah.
Adam
Thank you for that. A couple of bad beats. I want to read from Matt from Australia was the number one seed. I I was left with a 5050 chance of winning. I had McCaffrey and Jennings and I was going up against Purdy and I was plus 15 points going into the game. I thought I was more or less done at halftime. I was down 16. Oh no, he was down 15. I was down 16. Watch my team claw its way back after Brock Purdy's late interception. I was only down 0.2 fantasy points with three minutes to go to. Then cheer for the Niners to play D and get the ball back so they could kneel the clock out for the most unlikely win. I was heartbroken to see them roll out Mac Jones to take the final three deal downs and lose 310 of a point. Fire Kyle Shanahan. All right, that's a bad one. Kevin in St. Louis is one of many people who lost on the pick six at the end of the Colts game. So a couple of bad beats I saw in the email. Saw I have one. What do you got?
Jamie
So just so everybody is aware I'm an idiot and ruin my own fantasy team the same way I advise you to ruin yours. So I started Colby Parkinson over Tyler Warren and I started Audrey Estimate over Jalen Waddle and so went into last night's game. Plus I had Monroe St. Browns that whole wild roller coaster of the Sunday night game where he scored, didn't score. Scored, didn't score. Yeah, that was fun. And so went into last night's game in a league where DSD scoring is crazy. And I have the 49ers, so I'm down 20. So the Niners in that league were basically hovering around the 20 point score for a good portion of the game and then started to dip a little bit. So I was down 141, 133, and then I get the interception. Pick six ends up being tied. And that's how it ends. So we're tied right now. And the tiebreaker is total yards.
Dave
Wow.
Jamie
Which I'm.
Dave
That should never be the tiebreaker.
Jamie
It's. It is what it is. So the tiebreaker's total yards. And at least it's arbitrary, you know, so it's not anything where it's, you know, this is set in stone, but whatever in the case. So right now I, I would lose, but I'm. There's so many wild DST changes that I'm waiting to see if there's a scoring change. So the fact that I'm still in it is. Is a miracle. But I. I mean, I ruined my own team, essentially.
Dave
We've talked about it before. The playoff tiebreaker that should exist is the better seed.
Jamie
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Adam
There's a tie in my wife's fantasy league. And it's bench. It's bench points. Is the tiebreakers like, oh, can't. That's such a bad tiebreaker. Schaefer, throw up that screenshot of a close game that you were involved in. What do we got here? Oh, my gosh.
Jamie
Wow.
Adam
Man, you won by 0.28. Let's go with the Jonathan Taylor touchdown. Yeah, I was, I almost gave up at one point because Kittle was just going up, going off and then I checked later after the touchdown and you know, Kittle was on the bench at that point, but. Yeah, right. And we think he's gonna be okay with. We're hoping anyway, but we'll talk about that. All right, let's. Let's get to some quick.
Dave
She would have won if it wasn't for the touchdown for St. Brown being called back.
Adam
Yeah, it's true.
Jamie
What Jamie, he spoke after the game. He went ran over and celebrated one of the touchdowns. I think it was probably just precaution.
Adam
Yeah, I hope so. News and notes. Lamar Jackson has a back injury. So they are at Green Bay Saturday and I'm hopeful there. Josh Allen's day to day with a foot injury and they're expecting him to play. He's a superhero. Gardner, mind you, did not tear his acl. But he's going to miss some time. Jordan Love can cut. Yeah, yeah, he's not coming back. Malik Willis, shoulder injury. So we'll see who's playing quarterback for the Packers. Tyler Shucks, good to go. And Mariota is questionable with the finger and quad injuries. He was listed as a did not practice. And these are not my updated notes. So I'm a little bothered here. JJ McCarthy left with a hand injury and X rays were negative. But they have a Thursday game against Detroit. So I think this goes into the Jared Goff calculus too, is who's going to be the quarterback for the Vikings. And Brady Cook is going to start for the Jets. So Jordan Mason and Aaron Jones, both listed as did not practice. They have a Thursday game against Detroit. Quinton Judkins out for the season. We'll see if Dylan Sampson can get back. Remember, Judkins didn't play in Week 1. Samson had a lot of work, had a big game because of receiving totals and Raheem Sanders actually did score in that game. Back in Week one, Kamani Vidal is day to day with a neck injury. They've got Houston on Saturday and Treveon Henderson has the concussion. Still not expecting Devonte Adams, but he hasn't been ruled out. They're at Atlanta. Big one here. DK Metcalf suspended two games. Come on. Can't be doing that, man. He's appealing the suspension. According to CBSSports.com if the suspension is upheld, it's going to void at least four $45 million in guarantees. For DK Metcalf. He can make them back over the next two seasons if he's on the team. What's that? Yeah, expensive, expensive punch. I'm on Ross St. Brown was listed as a as it did not practice. They play Thursday against Minnesota. Romeo Dobbs has a wrist injury. Rasheed Rice plays Thursday and he's in the concussion protocol. I assume that even if he plays, we're not going to start Rashid Rice.
Jamie
I mean I would start him in three receiver leagues for sure. So I I don't think you have the luxury of benching somebody still with his upside, you wouldn't start him with the same amount of confidence.
Adam
All right, we got the case on Booty and Demario Douglas injuries. Pat Bryant playing Thursday seems unlikely to play and Ryan Flournoy I think was able to was I think he's going to be okay. And Ricky Pearsall again, he didn't play this week. Apparently was close. He might play against Chicago. Tight end Foster Morrow left. We talked about that on beyond the Box score might be a good thing for Juwan Johnson and that's pretty much it for the skill position players. A lot of offensive line injuries. Giants are beat up. Eagles are getting Lane Johnson back. Most likely Minnesota's beat up in their center left with a concussion and that's a Detroit was on their third string center and the Chargers left tackle left in the first quarter against Dallas and now they get Houston. That's going to be a tough one for them.
Dave
We're going to take a breakup guard turned backup tackle. That's how bad it is for the Chargers offensive line.
Adam
Who's a tougher call for you this week? Jared Goff against Minnesota or Justin Herbert against Houston?
Jamie
Tougher call to trust.
Adam
Yeah, I guess. So who'd you rather start?
Jamie
I'd rather start golf, but I'm trying to set both.
Dave
I I'm Golf is ahead of Herbert for me. As of now they're both in my top 12, but barely.
Adam
Okay. And but yeah, we'll go to break here but just for the golf manager out there before, before Minnesota went on this crazy streak of one touchdown pass allowed in their last seven games, Jared Goff scored I think 23.4 fantasy points against right week nine and the two games before that they gave up 30 fantasy points on 25 or fewer pass attempts to Herbert and Hertz and then they went on this crazy run. I think Max Bros were that would scare the crap out of me that they might score 10 points because everyone's scoring on Detroit. Anyway. Topic for another day. We'll be right back on fantasy football today.
Dave
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Adam
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Dave
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Adam
From oh to all set. Faster than a two minute drill?
Dave
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Adam
Top three at each position. Jamie Quarterbacks.
Jamie
Tyler Shuck would be one. Mariota if he plays, would be two. And then it gets a little dicey about who's three. But I have Bryce Young third just with the hope that Seattle's missing a couple guys defensively and he's gonna have to throw. And for the most part, when he's had to throw this season, he's had a good fantasy day. So I don't expect him to be a top 12 quarterback. But comparing him to Kirk Cousins versus the Rams and McCarthy, if he plays, we'll see how that's going to go. That's somebody I think we could, we could consider against Detroit. But Cam Ward, I don't know how many people are going to want to trust him. So it's really just a one and then maybe a two and then potentially a third. A third option for this week. But Tyler Shuck would be the one you want to go get.
Adam
Shuck is at Tennessee. Obviously it's a great matchup. Shucks getting you about 20, 21 fantasy points most weeks. Marcus Mariota against Dallas on Thursday and Bryce Young against Seattle. And I didn't mention Seattle's injuries. So first of all, they have linebacker Derek hall suspended one game. They're not going to be without three defensive backs. They're definitely going to be without one. Colby Bryant, their safety, I think even worry their other safety is fine. They have Julian Love too. They're pretty deep there. I would say Reek Willen is the one. That's the question mark right now. So they could be without only one of the three defensive backs that left with an injury last Thursday, but maybe two for Seattle. Okay, Dave, running back, Top three. Top three running backs.
Dave
Michael Carter's number one. The matchup in Cincinnati, we talked about that. I've got Chris Rodriguez number two. It's, it's the Commanders 1A running back against Dallas. I know if Quinn and Williams comes back, it does change the way that that matchup would look. But I, I don't know if there's another running back that I really like. I think there's a big drop off between Carter and Rodriguez and then everybody else at the position. We can talk about the Browns running backs. If Dylan Sampson were healthy, I'd be more inclined to potentially put him at the top of the list because of what he can do as a pass catcher. But we don't know if he's going to play. I don't want to necessarily tell people to run out and get Dylan Sampson if he's not gonna play. So Sanders, I guess, is the placeholder at number three and that those are my top three. Carter 1, Rodriguez 2. Raheem Sanders 3.
Adam
So R.A. stevenson, if available, would be number one.
Dave
Yeah, but he's, he's only out there on like 20% of CBS leagues. So you can check for him. By all means, do that. Check for him. Check for Blake Corum. But outside of those two and like maybe Algier, I don't know if you're going to find a running back that you can pick up and start.
Adam
So did I miss any Woody Marks news? Because why are we not talking to our Jordan here against the Chargers? Chargers.
Dave
We don't know if Woody Marks is, is going to play or not.
Adam
Right. So the Chargers are going to be without Denzel Perryman, who apparently is our best run defender. He's suspended for two games and they've had kind of a leaky run defense to begin with. Some not last week. But this is kind of the week where you maybe Gamble? I don't know. Do you gamble on picking up Gerard Jordan? Just see, because there's only one other team competing here. Right. So what do you think about that philosophy?
Dave
Unless you've got a third place game in your league or you've got a toilet bowl in your league and then there are some other teams that could pick up. So you've got to be aware of that. But if it is down to two people. Yeah, you could, you could take the gamble on Jordan or Samson and then if they end up not playing, you just make a move to somebody else off the waiver wire.
Jamie
Yeah.
Adam
Gewar Jordan is at the Chargers on Saturday. He had 20 touches but only one snap for a Houston running back inside the five yard line. And it did go to Nick Chubb. All right, Jamie top. So Tyler Shuck, Marcus Mariota, Bryce Young at quarterback. Ramandre Stevenson if available. Michael Carter, Chris Rodriguez. Look at the Cleveland situation with Dylan Sampson or Raheem Sanders. They're facing Pittsburgh and Jawar Jordan at the Chargers. Jamie, who are the top wide receivers?
Jamie
Parker Washington would be number one. Just coming off the game where he had 10 targets and six catches, 145 yards and a touchdown. Like you said, the tackling was an issue there for Denver, but this is now two games in his last four with at least 18.1 PPR points. And Trevor Lawrence is on fire right now. So taking on the Colts, as we saw that secondary, not very good. Matt Collins would be second with Keisha Booty potentially out. Demaro Douglas potentially out. We saw two games for Hollands without Booty and in those two games, 10 catches, 170 yards on 50, 15 targets. So good opportunity there for him to once again be involved. He's been involved the last two weeks as well. I have Luther Burden third, kind of the same talk that we had last week, like if he plays and if Romo Dunes is out, then you would be starting him. The last time we saw him in week 14, excuse me, week 15, 6 for 84 on seven targets. So I think would be a big part of what we're looking at here for, for the Bears. But again, dealing with that ankle injury and who knows how cautious they'll be with him if you can't get him. The next option would be Josh Downs. Got to keep an eye on the quarterback situation there for the Colts, but He now has 14 targets in the two starts with Philip Rivers. And I think based on the way, based on the way Rivers plays, Downs will continue to be heavily involved.
Adam
Okay, so Parker Washington Matt Collins, Luther Burden, Josh Downs and tight ends. Dave.
Dave
Check for Juwan Johnson. Check for Dalton Schultz. Check for colson Loveland. All three are available in about 30% of CBS leagues. Joanne Johnson looks like he's going to be a factor, so hopefully he's out there on the waiver wire and you can get him and start him. Brenton Strange is my favorite tight end to pick up four games with six plus targets, 10.5 or more PPR points in three of those four and then it's, it's a mess. It's Theo Johnson, It's Micah Sicki. I'll even give you a bonus name. Maybe you've heard of this guy. I've sworn him off him. We'll never put him on my fantasy team ever, ever, ever. It's Colby Parkinson. But it would be so like the fantasy gods for Colby Parkinson to have a two touchdown game the week after. We needed him to have a two touchdown game, but he's fourth on the list for me. It's Strange. It's Theo and it's Mike Kasicki.
Adam
Who are the. You said Juwan Johnson at Tennessee, Dalton Schultz at the.
Dave
Dalton Schultz and Colston Loveland.
Adam
Wilson Loveland right at San Francisco. How would you rank Brenton Strange with those three?
Dave
He's behind all three.
Adam
Jamie, how about you? Juwan Johnson, Dalton Schultz, Colson Loveland, Brenton Strange.
Jamie
The only one that's close would be Loveland and Strange. At this point, I think you got to look at Joanne Johnson and what he did last week in the first game without Vale against the Titans this week should be fantastic. Schultz has just been amazing. 11.1 PPR points or more in six of his last eight games. Loveland, if the receivers come back, will definitely be behind Breton Strange, if the receivers remain out, then I think there's a big opportunity for him. So I would start him ahead of Strange, but they're basically in the same range. The one guy that I would just throw into the mix here is if it happens again is Taysom Hill. Because I mean that was the best running back for the Saints and I don't know if that was just, hey, it's your last game in New Orleans, potentially. Let's give you this celebratory moment or this is your last run with the Saints. Let's give you this chance to continue it for another two games so we'll see how this plays out because again, first game for them without their top three running backs going into the season of Alvin Camara, Kendra Miller and Devin Neal. And he leads them in carries with 12. So coming off of a win, do they just continue to do that? And if that's the case, Taysom Hill is a must start tight end and.
Adam
Even had four catches last week.
Jamie
Yep. And through a pass like.
Adam
Yeah, through a touchdown, six targets last week. He had seven targets all season coming into the game. So that was, that was unexpected. But they, they threw the ball a ton. They threw the 50 something passes in that game or 40. See, Tyler Schuck had 49 passes in a blowout win against the jets. And then Taysom Hill had one pass that went for a late touchdown.
Jamie
So that was just 58 yards to 11.
Adam
Yeah. Weird.
Jamie
Weird.
Adam
Chris Olave could double check, but Chris Olave I think was probably on the. The teams that advanced in the FFT open semifinals.
Jamie
Probably the best draft pick this year.
Adam
Olave. Let's see how many we had only. Only two guys with Olave including the highest score.
Jamie
Yeah.
Adam
Both of the teams who started olavi of the 24 division winners moved on to the, to the semifinals.
Jamie
I think maybe I'll add like a superlative team this year of the. All the, the best draft picks this season. So forget about the waiver wire. Guys like the best draft values. So I think you got to look at Javonte Williams, Pittman and Olave trying to tight end would be.
Adam
It was Tyler Warren for a while.
Jamie
Yeah, I think it's probably still Tyler Warren. Yeah. Okay. The other running back would be. Was a waiver wire guy.
Dave
Fannon was a waiver wire guy. Correct.
Jamie
Yeah. Fannin was waivering. Yeah.
Dave
Was Kyle Pitts a waiver wire guy?
Jamie
I think he was drafted late be my guess.
Dave
So you might want to put Pitts.
Jamie
He's probably the title.
Dave
I hate to say that because I love Tyler, but I mean Pitts has really come through.
Jamie
Yeah. Who could be the other running back that was like a good late round value?
Adam
Jalen Warren, Kenneth Gainwell Warren.
Dave
Al Gamma wasn't drafted.
Adam
I would say DeAndre Swift is the first mid. Oh, ETN.
Dave
No, not scatter.
Adam
Well, ETN, you had that whole tank Bigsby and Jason.
Jamie
No, you're right. ETN's definitely in their conversation because I'm looking at.
Adam
Here are the top running backs. McCaffrey, Gibbs, Taylor, Bijan A Chan, James Cook, Kyron Williams, Josh Jacobs, Travis etn, Javonte Williams. I think it's them. I think it's those two top nine.
Dave
Do you remember what ETN's ADP was? I can look it up if you don't have it.
Jamie
It was certainly round six or later would be my guess.
Adam
Yeah, I mean, something might be the.
Dave
Best there is because there, there's a bunch of other running backs that had partial seasons. Like I kind of said. Scatter Boo.
Adam
Right.
Dave
He can't qualify. J.K. dobbins. He can't qualify.
Jamie
Right. Yeah.
Dave
There's just not enough. So maybe by default it's. It's our guy.
Adam
Now it's time for coverage you can count on sponsored by Nationwide. Just like your fantasy roster is more than just your offensive starters, Nationwide is a great insurance company and a great financial services company. So don't forget about the defensive side of the ball and remember, Nationwide is on your side. Jamie, give us a DST to stream this week.
Jamie
Right now it's the Giants just because the Raiders, I know they looked better last week, but still they're. They have been terrible. I think you got to keep an eye on a couple of situations here. One, the Dave brought up a go in the Chargers. That's another a one you. That's one you can pivot to if you want to say that. The Texans defense, Texas offense is going to be miserable. The Lions could be great if we get Max Brosmer starting. So that's one to keep an eye on. The Cowboys could be great if we're down to Josh Johnson starting and Quinn and Williams returns. But just basically playing against the Raiders has been for the most part a great DST to pivot to. And the Giants coming off a strong defensive game against the Vikings and can certainly. They're actually favored on the road, which is crazy. So they can. They can hopefully get after Dino Smith and cause some havoc there. So I like the Giants the best right now.
Adam
And the first thing you should do is check for the Patriots. They're 73, 72 rostered.
Dave
Yep. And they Jaguars too. Steelers also, maybe even the Rams. That one's a little more dicey.
Adam
Yeah. What about the Browns with the Steelers not having Metcalf? The Steelers are a tough matchup. They just don't turn the ball over.
Jamie
Yeah.
Dave
I mean, there's going to be so many DSTs that I'm going to say that I can't trust because they're just. They're not good defenses. And right now the Browns are not a good defense. The Giants aren't a good defense either. The Giants are horrible against Minnesota.
Adam
Right.
Dave
And it's hard to trust those. And I might have been encouraged if Geno Smith went out there and just, you know, laid another egg like he's done all year, but he was passable. So I wonder if the Raiders actually try and, like, muster up together one more big effort for good old Pete Carroll and that could end up hurting the Giants. I would be nervous to trust the Giants defense.
Adam
Yeah, I'm sure Jamie's nervous about it, too. It's not a great week. The other thing is you look at the Giants schedule, and I would say we knew going in they had the hardest schedule in the NFL. On paper. The only game I can look at be like, oh, this was a good matchup was New Orleans in week five, and they were awful. They scored zero points. And last week against Minnesota and they scored 18 points and they had a. And by the way, they had a pick six called back. So they almost had like DST one last week. But it wasn't to be.
Jamie
It's who. Who wants to lose that game more.
Adam
Yeah, I mean, and the Giants have.
Dave
Been so good at finding ways to lose games.
Adam
That was coverage you can count on. Sponsored by Nationwide. Nationwide is so much more than a great insurance company. They're one of America's largest financial services companies, too. For your insurance and financial needs, Nationwide is on your side. Nationwide Investment Services Corporation Member FINRA Columbus, Ohio now, let's talk kickers. And Jamie, I saw your list. The one I would just throw one cautionary flag to is Borgales for the same thing I said about Drake. May. I think we're gonna. We could have some bad weather on Sunday in that Jets Patriots game. Could. Don't, don't freak out, but who are the kickers to pick up the two.
Jamie
Guys facing each other Monday night? So you have Eddie Pinero and Cairo Santos both kicking very well at the moment, and both offenses are obviously going to move the ball based on what we've seen. And then Evan McPherson is still available in about 37 of leagues. So taking on the Cardinals and that's been one of the best matchups this season. So you, you mentioned the other one that I list. I think there's a couple more. So McPherson, Pinero, Santos, Borgales, Harrison, Mievis Indoor at this point is something that you want to pivot to if you can. And then Chris Boswell, I think we'll see the Browns defense hopefully hold up. I mean, it's rivalry game, so I'm sure they'll come to play and get Miles Garrett to sack. But with the Steelers offense maybe getting a little stagnant, Chris Boswell can have some kicking opportunities. Just another game you want to keep an eye on the weather.
Adam
All right, we'll talk shallow leagues, deep leagues, and a little bit about Monday Night Football. And I really want to hear more of your thoughts on guys like Michael Carter and Tyler Schalk and who do you start them over? And we'll be right back on fantasy football today. All right, Jamie, so who are the prizes in the shallow leagues? Certainly Trevor Lawrence. Where is he? Is he like top five this week against the Colts?
Jamie
He's pretty close. He's probably gonna be start of the week as well. So just, you know, great setup for him coming off that amazing game against the Broncos and just playing as well as anybody now. It's funny because the MVP race has kind of been a two man show with Stafford in May. And I think Lawrence, the way that he's performing in the last, you know, six weeks, has put himself on the ballot, which is kind of exciting considering where he's come from and the disappointing season we got from Brian Thomas. So, yeah, Lawrence would be somebody to go get. And I still think Jacoby Brissette, I know it was bad first game, under 20 fantasy points in his 10 starts that he's made so far in place of Kyler Murray. He gets the Bengals this week. I think they'll be better offensively and have an opportunity for more production. So Jacoby Brissette is still hovering around that 80 number. Anything's 83 rostered right now. But yes, Tyler Shuck would be the. The. I'm sorry, you wanted the shadow. Excuse me, for the running backs from Andre Stevenson is the prize. Dave mentioned Blake Corum. Those would be the only two that I'd go look at that are in that 66 to 80 range of. Of running back options.
Adam
Can I cut you off? That's a quick question. So Stevenson would be ahead of Michael Carter and all that. What about Blake Corum against Carter and the rest of the gang?
Jamie
I still just, you know, Quorum three straight games with 11 plus carries. He scored five touchdowns in his last four games. If he doesn't score, you're going to be very disappointed. That said, he's facing the Falcons. This is a game that they should have a lot of success doing whatever they want to. So he's a high end. Flex. I just think Carter's a little bit safer because you know what kind of role he's going to have. Whether that is a great role or a minimal role like we saw in terms of his fantasy production, I still think you can call him a number two running back. For me, Korma is more of a. A few spots behind him in terms of the ranking. So I, I would put Carter ahead of him, but that's the only one, you know, I think you look at. Unless. Unless. So I, I have a few different guys at running back. Emmanuel Wilson would be somebody I would take a chance on. Gerard Jordan I would take a chance on over Rodriguez for example. Those two guys just with the potential of if they start they're going to be much better than potentially even Carter. So you want to add those guys. So those guys would also be ahead of corn for me at receiver. The best options of the shall look sorry for the dog. The best options for the shallow league guys would be Troy Franklin. I think he's the, the headliner there. Just what we've seen from him without Pat Bryant. Certainly the last game, which was two weeks ago in a matchup where they could do whatever they want to against that chief's defense, which they're not trying at this point. And then the tight ends are, are really the, the probably the best players in this category. When you talk about Juwan Johnson would be one, Dalton Schultz would be two. I would put Hunter Henry third and then Colston Loveland fourth. Of those guys that are not widely available but potentially available just because Henry's been so good. And another great matchup against the Jets.
Adam
How about Alec Pierce? Any, any interest there?
Jamie
I mean, depending on who the quarterback is, you know, so he did well with Riley Leonard in the half that they played together against Jacksonville. He certainly looked great last night against the 49ers. You wish he would have had a few more targets. I mean, for a guy playing for a contract, it's a great opportunity.
Dave
Sure. He's got a huge. He's going to be one of the breakout players that we talk about in 2026. Who will be Alec Pierce?
Adam
Why are we talking about he's not available in my league, Dave, I'm in the deep leagues. Who should I be picking?
Dave
I'd at quarterback, it's tough. Obviously you're going to look for Mariota. If he plays for now, you can pick him up and then pivot if he doesn't end up playing. But Tyler Shuck, Kirk Cousins, Bryce Young, all available in 60. Is 60 deep enough for you, sir?
Adam
It's not. It's definitely not.
Dave
No, no, I, I'm not asking you, Adam. I'm asking the old prospector 60%.
Adam
I'm talking 6%.
Dave
Okay, so you're in deep trouble. You're looking at somebody like Cam Ward, Malik Willis or Geno Smith. Those guys are available in 80 of leagues. Hopefully you're not in that bad of a situation.
Jamie
I'll give you one more just in case he starts as Josh Johnson. Just because the Cowboys just.
Dave
That's good. That's good. Throw him in there and I might even take him ahead of all those names.
Adam
Malik Willis has played pretty well, I think, and I know it's been spot.
Dave
He's been okay. He's been okay.
Jamie
It's.
Dave
And it's been very, very sparing.
Jamie
So.
Adam
Yeah. But he made two starts last year and he scored 15.
Dave
One was.
Adam
Yeah, 15 points against the Colts, 27.4 fantasy points in the other one. He ran for 41 or more yards in both games. Go ahead.
Dave
Okay, so. And it's not like the Ravens pass rush is suddenly going to force him into a ton of mistakes. That defense is really struggling right now. All right, running backs Raheem Sanders, 99% available. Dylan Sampson, I believe is available in a bunch of leagues as well. I don't have the percentage in front of me, but those would be the first two that I would look at. Those would probably be the only two.
Jamie
13 roster, what's up? Samson is 13.
Dave
There you go. So you're looking at a Browns running back. Yikes. And then there's other guys too. Like Joa Jordan is 74 out of estimate 76 again, sir. I don't know if that's deep enough for you, but that's pretty close to 80% of fantasy leagues. Wide receiver Jamie brought up Mac Hollins. I think that call is cool. I just hope the jets keep it competitive enough so that Mac Hollins can get a bunch of targets. Luther Burden, 68. That's not deep enough. Chimray DK 85%. That's. That's pretty deep. He could be out there. He's a little touchdown, depending. Has five or fewer targets in three of his past four games. But I wonder if that battle between the Saints and Titans ends up being defense free and it's just a bunch of passing and a bunch of numbers for everybody involved and then a tight end. It's not great. You can take the chance on Taste Mill. You can take the chance on Mike Kosicki. It feels like you're chasing points in both cases. But at least with Kaseki, you know that he's got a good matchup against Arizona and the Bengals are. I think they're just going to keep doing what they're doing and that's just be a juggernaut on offense.
Adam
I wonder.
Jamie
I'll Give you one more running back, Travion Williams, just in case Sampson is out. He had four catches and he's their passing downs guy. That, that role seems to be sort of locked into whoever's going to be healthy. And so in a game where they're probably chasing points and having to throw, that could be something that might even be better than Raheem Sanders.
Adam
Do you think that Adam Thielen or a tight end. Is there anyone on the Steelers that becomes part of this deeply discussion? DK Metcalf punched somebody in the face, knocked his teeth out. So yeah, is there anyone that that becomes interesting in that regard?
Jamie
Thielen is my highest ranked Steelers receiver because Calvin Austin is also dealing with a hamstring injury. So they're pretty beat up there right now. So I, I think you just look at it like between him and MVS and you know, Roman Wilson and all these guys, like the tight ends are too tough to trust. You know, it could be Friarmouth, it could be Washington, it could be John Smith getting carries like we saw. Like, it's just too all over the place. Dylan just had his best game with the Steelers, so he's not even in my top 48, but he's just outside of that. I think if you're looking for 10 to 11 PPR points without a touchdown, he just had, I think like eight and a half. Like that's kind of the range you're hoping for.
Adam
All right, those are the deep leaguers. Any thoughts on let's, let's be quick on this. I'd rather just talk about the waiver wire more and who to start those guys over but. San Francisco 48, Indianapolis 27.
Jamie
Dave, I think one of the craziest stats from last night is the 49ers have not punted since November.
Adam
Is that true? I heard Joe Buck say that. I thought he was joking.
Jamie
No, they, they showed since the last punt that they had was November 30th. So they may, they may go the entire month of November without punting, which would be crazy if I'm them at this point. Like, if it's anything close to the 50 yard line, like I'm either going for it and you know, within Eddie Pinero's field goal range. Like, why not? You know, they're just, they're just on fire right now. It would. It imagine the season we would have gotten from Brock Purdy if he stayed healthy the entire year. Like, we'd be talking about top five quarterback.
Dave
We would be talking about him as the fantasy pickup of the year or the draft pick of the year?
Adam
Yeah, yeah, he's. He did it last year, too.
Jamie
He.
Adam
He scored 25 fantasy points in week 16, and then he scored 36.3 in week 17. So pretty impressive stuff for. For Brock Purdy. All right. This is a great offense in the sense that their defense kind of. Kind of stay. They're good against the run, but they give up points and they throw the ball a ton. So. Yeah. Your thoughts on Tong? Is Jake Tong just who. These were his fantasy points in the six games he played without Kittle or with kittle leaving early? 10.5, 7.1, 4.1, 14.8, 17.1, 11.8. Honestly, I have a league with Parkinson and Tyler Warren and I don't think anyone's going to pick up. I don't think that my opponent's going to pick up Jake Tongas, but I might pivot to him if Kittle were out. Dave, would you consider Tongas?
Dave
I would. And you just have to look at all the other tight ends that are available and it's. It's a bunch of dreck out there. Once you get past the guys to look for on the waiver wire. And Brenton Strange, you can maybe make the case for Theo Johnson ahead of him, but I don't know if I'd want that. I think I'd rather go with Tonjas without George Kittle playing in what will probably be a high scoring game against Chicago.
Jamie
It would be. If you're looking for the shallow leagues, I would probably go Taysom Hill 1 and then Tonjas 2.
Adam
I mean, in the. You mean the deep leagues?
Jamie
Yes.
Dave
Yeah.
Jamie
Yeah. All right.
Dave
I think I flip it. I think. I think Taysom got what he got because it was his last game in New Orleans.
Jamie
It might be. It might be. But, you know, we know what happens. I'm just looking at the running back options right there right now for the. Right.
Dave
But just the simple fact that there's a question on it versus a tight end that we know is going to be, or at least we think we know that he's going to be the number one tight end for the 49ers, like I'd rather. And we've seen him do well without Kittle on the field.
Jamie
Definitely. Definitely something to consider. I. I mean it. If Taste Mill was taking on a tough opponent, I would say, okay, maybe it's something to be a little bit concerned about. But we know what happens with that guy, like when he gets in these roles, when he gets these opportunities. There's huge.
Dave
Hopefully. Hopefully George Kittle just plays and we don't have to make it.
Adam
Yes, let's, let's. All right, last thing on this is Jonathan Taylor since week 12. Let's see where he ranks per game. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 1789 to ones he's RB22 per game since this stretch. Where we do it was going to be tough, tough matchup after tough matchup. Jaguars are a really tough matchup save for that one run by RJ Harvey last week and the last time he faced him he had 21 carries, scored a touchdown and only scored 11.4 fantasy points. Taylor does have six catches in two games with river so that's good. But would you start any waiver wire running backs over Jonathan Taylor?
Dave
Dave no, I would still go with Taylor over Michael Carter, Brown's running backs, Chris Rodriguez, all those guys. And it it it there's a little bit of encouragement because of his ability to catch passes and because of the checkdowns. And we're going to talk about what will the Colts do at quarterback this week if it's not Philip Rivers, how does that impact the run game and all that stuff and Jonathan Taylor's target volume? I think if it's Riley Leonard, I think you'll still see targets going to Jonathan Taylor. If it's Anthony Richardson somehow, then I then I would be really worried because we know that sure maybe there's a hike in rushing efficiency, but Richardson probably won't throw that much to begin with and then when he does he's going to look downfield. He's not really a check down guy. So that would concern me a little bit more if Richardson was playing for Indy. When it comes to John the Taylor but Taylor, I think you've got to view him as like a high end number two running back at best.
Jamie
So the the thing that would concern me is now that they're out of playoff contention and if they start to they lost their center last night for example. See how healthy he is. He is now second in rushing yards for the season. So are they going to try and give him the opportunity to lead the league in rushing? He was, he was the leader in that category for the majority of the year. So James Cook has now passed him. So will they make that something that's a focus for Taylor or will they say, you know what, you had a great season, we're not going to overwork you and we want to make sure we're good for next Year. So I just wonder, like, where the mindset's at, because the quarterback situation being what it is. Like, they're, you know, they did what they tried. You know, they tried to go get Rivers. They tried to go see what they had available. And, you know, losing the last two games clearly was. Was tough for them. So I just don't know what the. What the. The potential is for Taylor to play his normal snapshot. I'm gonna guess it's fine, but, you know, you just never know.
Adam
All right, and that's it for Monday Night Football. Waiver wire.
Dave
That's the theme song for Monday Night Football.
Jamie
It is now.
Adam
All right. Jacoby Brissette or Tyler Shuck, if they're both available.
Dave
Brissette.
Jamie
Brissette.
Dave
Yeah. Yeah. Look, I don't want to be phased by what happened last week with Brissette. I know it stunk, and I got burned by it, too. But Jamie talked about this on Sunday. He had two passes that were on the point, on target, that were not caught in the end zone. That's true. By his top two pass catchers. Theoretically. His top two. Maybe we'd say top three when it comes to Marvin Harrison. But the point remains that he was a touchdown away. One touchdown away from a good game. Two touchdowns away from the typical Jacoby Brissette game. And it's such an easy matchup for him against Cincinnati that I have no problem starting him again.
Adam
Yeah. Did you know that in their last six games, four of the last six quarterbacks have been bad against Cincinnati, including Drake May, Lamar Jackson twice, and Quinn Ewers.
Jamie
Lamar, though. Come on. I mean. Yeah, we know how those two games unfolded. 12 passes in the second game.
Adam
Yeah, yeah.
Jamie
Two. Two drop touchdowns and a. Two. Two touchdowns that should have counted. And a 50 yard pass that was dropped. Like, I don't think. Look, you could you go back and dissect this Jacoby Brissette season?
Adam
Yeah.
Jamie
And there's a lot of, like, I can't believe he did this. I can't believe this happened. I mean, he did this against Houston. He did this against Seattle. He did this against the Rams. Like, there's a lot of, okay, how did he get there? But he got there and he was successful for you. And he got a lot of people into the fantasy playoffs. Through the fantasy playoffs. You know, I. I advanced in a couple leagues with. With him. Still. I don't know. I mean, it's. It's tough. No, you go Trevor Lawrence.
Adam
In this case, you go Trevor Lawrence over Brissette. Yeah.
Dave
And absolutely.
Adam
Trevor Lawrence or Jalen hurts Lawrence over Hertz.
Dave
Lawrence is going to be top five for me.
Jamie
I'm.
Dave
I'm done fooling around with this.
Adam
Tyler Shuck or Lamar Jackson?
Jamie
Lamar.
Dave
He's.
Adam
If I play heavy plays. Okay. Now if you have Jackson dart at Las Vegas. If you have Jared Goff against home. Against home. Against Minnesota.
Jamie
At Minnesota.
Adam
At Minnesota. And Justin Herbert facing Houston, you starting Tyler Shuck over them.
Jamie
I believe I have dart ahead of Shuck. Shuck ahead of golf. Golf is. I'm terrified.
Dave
I'm not terrified. But I said the same thing about dart last week against Minnesota, and the Giants decided not to throw the ball. Like, they literally said their game plan was just to run the ball as much as they could. That sucked. I don't think that's necessarily what the Lions are going to do. They could. Could, but I. I'd be a little surprised if they did that. I. I would be worried about the matchup. I would also be worried about the game script because if it's Brosmer at quarterback, I don't. How many points are the Vikings going to put up?
Jamie
Right.
Dave
So the Lions could end up having like a 24 to 24 to, like.
Jamie
Well, it's not like points with McCarthy either.
Adam
They did against Minnesota. Against Detroit. They scored 27 points with McCarthy against Detroit, and they only. They only averaged 4.4 yards per play. They had something like 260 total yards, so it wasn't like they really dominated. But. But, you know, McCarthy had two touchdowns throwing and one rushing in that game. Everyone's scoring on Detroit, but I don't think Max Brosmer will. That's big part of this.
Jamie
Of.
Adam
Of this projection here. But. All right. Like. All right. So anyway, that's.
Dave
And if we're gonna. If we're gonna downgrade golf, then we. We probably need to downgrade St. Brown and JMO too.
Jamie
Oh, I have them. Yeah. Jamo's not my top 24, and St. Brown is 13th right now.
Adam
And dart, by the way, I. I think if. If Andrew Thomas doesn't play, and I don't think he's going to. Just please keep that in mind. The office has been.
Dave
Yeah, I'm. I'm staying away from dart. I know it's Las Vegas and all that stuff. I'm. Especially after what the game plan was last week. Not that they're going to do the exact same thing this week, but they might. They might be trying to protect Jackson dart and let them play without necessarily playing. And if that. Offensive lines in batch if they're down to more starters on that front five, that's, that's a real problem.
Adam
All right, so Shook. Well, they'll get at least one of them back, maybe two.
Dave
Oh, yeah. The one who. Runyon.
Adam
Runyon labor.
Dave
So he didn't even play in the game. So he'll play.
Adam
Marcus Mariota. It faces Dallas. Every quarterback has scored been in the top 12 except for Geno Smith and Jared Goff against Dallas. So Mariota, it's got an opportunity here if you can get healthy for this Thursday game against the Cowboys. And would you think he'll score more than 21 fantasy points?
Jamie
Mariota? Yeah, his worst game of his best games was 20.6, so I think that's a good number. Yeah.
Dave
And I can't rule out Josh Johnson getting to 21 fantasy points, too.
Adam
Kirk Cousins scored 21.6 fantasy points last week at Arizona on only on 35 past 10. And the Rams have been kind of vulnerable lately and you know they're going to put up points.
Dave
Yep.
Adam
Bryce Young also scored 21.6 fantasy points. We wouldn't even consider him against Seattle, but we're going to keep an eye on the injury report for Seattle. It's also a long trip for the Seahawks from Seattle to Carolina.
Dave
Yeah, but they've played awesome on the road. That's been a thing ever since Mike McDonald took over as head coach.
Jamie
So you, I mean, look outside of a shuck because I think based on body of work and matchup, you can say I'm pivoting to him if he's available in a lot of situations. Jordan Love, Mahomes, Lamar, like there's a lot of potential quarterback injuries of borderline must start guys throughout the season. And Chuck has just been awesome. His worst game was last week with 19 fantasy points since he's gotten rolling here in the last half of the season. After these guys, it's really, really tough to say they're safe. You know, Cousins has been playing well, but you look at who he's done it against the last two weeks now taking on the Rams in what is a must win game for the Rams. Not that they haven't been, but you get the point. Young. Must win game for him, Must win game for Seattle. Their defense, like Dave said, has traveled very well. Can easily be a very low scoring game between those two teams. Josh Johnson could be the one with the most upside. You know, just again, based on, on matchup, I didn't even mention him, but I, I think I wrote about him in Mariota's Write up. So just something. If you're reading the column.
Adam
But would you rather start Malik if you were in two QB league but needed someone. You had some injuries. There's a ton of quarterback injuries. Would you rather start Josh Johnson against Dallas or Malik Willis against Baltimore?
Jamie
Johnson. Johnson, Dallas. Because of the matchup.
Adam
Where would Tyler Huntley factor in if he were the starter near the bottom?
Jamie
I mean, I. I think after what Harbaugh has faced with the firing squad in the last. That game was Sunday. Right. In the last 48 hours of not playing Derek Henry, like, we're getting 48. Derrick Henry carries.
Adam
Yeah, I. Right. All in the first three quarters, obviously. Okay, there's J.J. mcCarthy could be a decent.
Jamie
That was one of the most crazy things I've ever seen.
Adam
And what about Philip Rivers? If he starts? I mean, how would. How would he compare to some of these guys against Jacksonville who's only allowed three touchdown passes in their last six games? By the way.
Jamie
I. I mean, Jordan Lewis is probably going to be out for the Jaguars with his foot injury, so keep an eye on that. But in the case of Jacksonville, like, I don't know, I don't want to trust Rivers right now. And I think as. As Dave alluded to and like you said, they kind of mentioned on the broadcast, like, we may not see Rivers.
Adam
Yeah, I think that 49ers adjusted and just. It was not a good second half for Philip Rivers.
Jamie
Well, once they. Once they got it, like, I like their game plan early. You know, once they. Once they got into sort of, you know, down, they cut it to seven. But then, you know, once they got down again 14 and then 17, it was like, okay, we know that he can't throw the ball down the field. So we're just gonna sit back and. Yeah. You know, see what we can do.
Adam
All right, guys, let's go to the running backs here. So Ramondre, he. You might even be able to start him if Trayvon Henderson plays like he was. He started the game. They basically kind of split evenly. It was really annoying. But if he doesn't play, he faces the jets, who have allowed 23 touchdowns to running backs. Honestly, the run defense hasn't been that bad, but they just give up a ton of fantasy points. There's Blake Corum as well. Jamie already talked about him. He's outside the top 24, but he keeps scoring touchdowns. He just doesn't really catch the ball.
Jamie
Ball.
Adam
We do expect Michael Carter to start catching the ball, so usually gets you four or so. And he had zero last Week, but that was weird. He's our number one running back priority. But if I told you that Woody Marks were out, would you rather have Michael Carter against the Bengals or Gewar Jordan at the Chargers?
Jamie
Carter. But they're basically back to back. I mean, you know, I. I think you can't overlook that they had Nick Chubb active. We got the report Sunday morning. Remember, it was Rapaport saying, expect a lot of Nick job, whatever, however he phrased it.
Dave
Oh, my.
Advertiser
Good.
Jamie
Yeah. And it was 20 total touches for Gerard Jordan with five catches. Like, that's the. That's the thing. Like, we've been begging for that for Woody Marks. You know, remember the first Titans game where he was so involved in the passing game, and then it was just kind of like, okay, he's getting 18 carries, 17 carries. 18 carries. No catches. No catches. No catches. Like, I don't understand what. What happened there, because I think that's a big part of what Woody Marks is good at. And so if Jordan is going to be that involved in the passing game with Woody Marks out, like, like right now, again, I have it. Carter, 1, Manuel Wilson, 2, Jordan, 3. You can make a case, just because we've seen Marks now leave a game and miss a game that Jordan should be two, and in your case, Adam should be one.
Dave
I. I think I can talk myself into Jordan over Carter just because I don't think Carter's that good. And I know the matchup is obviously better for Carter, but I don't know what to expect from him in terms of catches. Adam, you said that, you know, we're hoping for four catches from Carter, and then last week we were hoping for that. We got absolutely nothing. Jordan continues to prove that he's the. I'm going to use the term best, but he's the best of what's left amongst Houston's runners. And this is a game where I wonder if they're going to end up trailing. It certainly should be competitive. And, you know, Chargers play a ton of zone coverage, so there's going to be a lot of short throws underneath open, and Jordan can cash in on some of those. So maybe the move is Jordan to put him on your bench and just see what happens with Woody Marks during the week, because if Woody Marks doesn't play, I'm going to be a little more optimistic about Jawar Jordan.
Adam
All right, so at the end of the day, if Woody Marks is out and Dylan Sampson is out and Josh Jacobs is out, which, again, I mean, he played last week, but let's Just say he's out. Give me your. Give me your rankings.
Jamie
I mean, you saw what Leflore said, right? Think so maybe about his lack of playing time.
Adam
What did he say?
Jamie
They said he wasn't punished from the fumble, and it wasn't because he was hurt. It was that Emmanuel Wilson was playing so well. That's why they kept him in late in the game. I just don't know what to expect from Jacobs at this point. Like, you know, not practicing all last week. And does he practice this week? You know, like they clearly need him. But Wilson was, I don't want to say great, but 14 carries for 82 yards, didn't have any catches, but was certainly, again, running better than Josh Jacobs in that game. So if you. If you stack them all up and you say, starting running back for the packers, starting running back for the Cardinals, starting running back for the Texans, starting running back for the Browns, starting running back for the Commanders, like, I'm taking Emmanuel Wilson overall.
Dave
Oh, absolutely. So where is he on your list then?
Jamie
The only reason I have Carter first is we know what his role is. He is the guy for the Cardinals in whatever timeshare he's in, but he's still the starter. And so Wilson may not be the guy there. Jordan may not be the guy there. Rodriguez, to me, is another version of Blake Corum. Like, you know, he. Williams looks like. I think William's gonna play. The fact that he was, you know, close to playing this past week, like, I don't. I don't know, clearing the concussion protocol, just. I guess he didn't get the. I'm sorry. Not clearing the concussion protocol. We're practicing in full on Friday. I'm gonna guess that he plays this week, but that's still a wild card. And it will certainly help Rodriguez if Williams is not there. But you know what he is at this point, he's touchdown or bust. So I just look at it like Jordan rolling the passing game is there. Carter, I think, will be more involved in the passing game. What should be like, it was. It was a little shocking that it wasn't a more high scoring game between the Falcons and the Cardinals. Like, that was the hope, you know, for them. For the most part, it got a little. Got a little. Got going a little bit late in the game. But in any event, I think Carter will be more involved in the passing. I just think, you know what you're getting from him, you know, so there's no injury concerns. There's no anything. And let's. Let's face it, there's. I know it's. He's available in 40 of leagues. He's probably not available in a lot of our 12 team competitive leagues.
Adam
All right, so then we'll. We'll put it like this. You've got the Cardinals starting running back against the Bengals. I'm sorry, is that game at Cincinnati?
Jamie
In Cincinnati, yes.
Adam
Cardinals starting running back at Cincinnati. Packers starting running back against Baltimore. I know that's going to be number one.
Dave
Yes.
Adam
Texan starting running back at the Chargers missing their top run defender. Brown starting running back against Pittsburgh. Been better. Pretty good against running backs lately. And commander starting running back against Dallas. We think probably get their top run defender back, but we don't know. Dave, can you rank those five situations?
Dave
So the packers running back would be number one, the Browns running back would be number five. I'm pretty sure I put the Commanders running back at number four.
Jamie
And then.
Dave
So what's left? It's the Texans running back in the Cardinals running back. The problem with the Texans running back is that I know that Nick Chubb is gonna get in the way. And in Arizona, it's going to be Amari D. Mercado getting in the way.
Adam
And Kiner. Don't forget about Kiner.
Dave
Yeah, that's true. All right, I'm. I'm gonna say the Texans running back over the Cardinals running back.
Adam
Okay. And which. Which Browns running back are you just gonna go with? The healthy one right now. And Raheem Sanders.
Dave
So this comes down to how much work do you want to do and how upset would you be if you missed out on Dylan Sampson? We have no indication that Dylan. Unless, Jamie, you know something I don't about Dylan Sampson and what they've said about him in the last 24 hours, I don't know. But if Dylan Sampson were to play, I'd be a little more interested than I would be in Raheem Sanders.
Adam
If Samson played. You'd prefer Samson to Sanders, Correct?
Dave
Okay.
Jamie
Yeah, I don't know any. I mean, miss last two games with a calf injury. You know how. Soft tissue injuries.
Dave
Yeah, those are tough.
Jamie
If there's any concern about his Achilles, like, I would not be surprised if they shut him down. But they haven't put him on IR yet, so who knows, right?
Dave
So I would be annoyed if I spent my number one waiver claim on Dylan Sampson, and then my, my opponent picked up Michael Carter and, you know, somebody else, Emmanuel Wilson, and then I missed out on those guys. It's not a big enough priority for me to get a Browns running back.
Adam
Other guys if you're desperate. Taje Spears, Isaiah Pacheco just dominated snaps and had six catches, which was interesting. But you got, you know, backup quarterback in their third string quarterback. Pacheco had the highest target per out run rate of his career, so wouldn't.
Jamie
Expect that his best game of the season. Yeah.
Adam
And Denver, they are tough, very tough. And they allow the third fewest receiving yards per game to running backs and no more than 19 receiving yards to running back since week seven. Audrick estimate tough to trust him. And the Titans, by the way, have a dominant run defense lately. Keep that in mind for Taysom Hill as well. And Sean Tucker is finding the end zone recently faces the Dolphins and actually.
Dave
That'S all he's doing.
Adam
The Dolphins allowed two rushing touchdowns last week. Those were the first rushing touchdowns by a running back since Week 8 against Miami.
Jamie
All right.
Dave
Yeah, they've collapsed since the Steelers game and obviously last week they've collapsed. Just completely collapsed on defense.
Adam
Yeah, well, I don't know about the run defense, but not, not having Minka Fitzpatrick could be really hurting their past defense. So for wide receivers, we've got Troy Franklin and we've got Quentin Johnston. Although, you know, it much different matchup this week against Houston than against Dallas last week. The whole packers situation, you know, we love to see Jordan love in there, but right. You know, Christian Watson, Jaden Reed. Read more available than Watson. So then it's Parker Washington is one, Mac Collins is two. Luther Burden is three for Jamie even though he may not play. Josh Downs is 4. Probably would like him more with Rivers Chimray. DK 5, Jalen Coker 6. Trey Tucker, Adam Thielen. These are other guys to think about. Alec Pierce, maybe in shallow leagues. I guess we're going to move away from AD&I. Mitchell, I keep saying Ricky Pierce. All I think you know, you know, I'm not going to even think about picking him up now, but if he starts practicing, maybe you think about it. And I also wanted to mention Konata Mumfield, who had eight targets for the Rams last week. He only ran 51 of the routes, but obviously no Devonte Adams.
Dave
Did Xavier Smith run more?
Adam
I don't know, actually, I'm not sure.
Dave
Yeah, I mean that is, that's for the really deep leagues, man. Like super deep leagues.
Adam
Hey, I have a friend. All right, so would you start Parker Washington over Jameson Williams? No Parker Washington or Juan or Wanda Robinson? No Lady.
Jamie
No.
Dave
No way.
Adam
All right, so I'm gonna move on to tight ends because none of these wide receivers are going to be top 30 guys, right?
Jamie
Washington is like 34, 35. Okay.
Dave
Yeah.
Jamie
I would start him over. Brian Thomas at this point. No.
Dave
I don't know if I'm gonna do.
Jamie
That this week, man.
Dave
Not against Indianapolis in this. It's a. It's a different layout for them. That defense for Indy, not great against the pass, I think.
Jamie
Brock, I don't disagree. But the entirety of the season, Washington has been better in their last month. If you take their total fantasy points, Washington has been better. Washington missed a game in that stretch. Yeah, but not play against the Colts in the first game.
Adam
But he hasn't been good with Brian Thomas since. Since he came. They had three targets in each of the last two games since coming. What's that?
Jamie
He missed one of those?
Adam
No, I'm saying Parker Washington's previous two games, he had three targets at Tennessee, three targets against the Jets. Brian Thomas Jr. Played in both of those games.
Jamie
I don't think that there's any rhyme or reason why one will be better than the other. Aside from the fact that the Jaguars like Parker Washington more than they like Brian Thomas right now.
Adam
All right, let's go to the tight ends. And they hope they like Breton Strange as well. But there are so many good shallow league tight ends. There's Hunter Henry. Who's your favorite, Hunter Henry? Dalton Schultz. Juwan Johnson, Colson Loveland. Do you worry about Dalton Schultz matchup? On paper, it's tough, but three of the last four tight ends have been great against the Chargers.
Jamie
I mean. No, he just went against the Raiders, who were top four at the position and had a solid game. He scored a touchdown each of his last two. I don't know. I think you just have to trust it at this point.
Dave
Yeah, at this point. I'm not starting him for the touchdowns either. I'm starting him for the volume and the targets that he gets. And I think he'll keep getting that.
Adam
He only doesn't get a lot of targets in tough matchups. Five targets last week against the Raiders, four targets against the Chiefs, four targets against the Bills. But the Chargers have. Have been pretty leaky against Titans lately. Okay, and then you've got Brenton Strange. So we're going to start Brenton Strange over the Ravens. Guys, we're going to start Travis Kelsey. Yeah. Tyler Warren.
Jamie
Yeah.
Dave
How about a word of caution on Kelsey? Is this. Is this his Taysom Hill moment? Is this his last game in Kansas City? Obviously, the matchup's impossible. The quarterback stinks. You're downgrade expectations. But do the Chiefs make an effort to just throw him the ball 12 times?
Jamie
I'm sure they do. I'm also sure Denver knows that, you know, they don't.
Adam
I don't love.
Jamie
I'm not.
Dave
It's not like I'm saying must start. Travis Kelsey.
Adam
Oh, I got a good one here.
Dave
I. I wonder if they try and just like pepper him.
Adam
Dallas Goddard at Buffalo.
Jamie
I'd rather start strange.
Dave
I've got Goddard.
Adam
How about Taysom Hill or Dallas Goddard?
Jamie
I mean, if that. That's one where I'm going to be keeping an eye on everything coming out of New Orleans. If, if Taysom Hill is going to be their lead running back again. Like I'm going to start taste mill.
Adam
All right. And don't forget if you're in deep leagues. Jake Tongas, Micah Sicki against Arizona. It's a great matchup.
Jamie
Remember, just. Just forget about the celebratory thing for Taysom Hill. Their receiving core is a mess right now and the fact that he had that role in the passing game. Especially if Foster Moreau is out again like.
Adam
And the DSTs. Look for the Patriots for sure and probably some other good shallow league DSTs. Steelers, Giants are 48% rostered coming off a great game. Raiders go up the second most points. The DSTs, the Vikings. Ooh, man, I don't know about this one. This is a tough one. They've been good to great in three of their last four games. At Seattle, home against Washington, at the Giants. They've also been terrible at Green Bay and at Dallas recently. So. So it's tough and terrible against. Against Baltimore as a DST, not as a defense, just as a DST. And Detroit allows the second fewest fantasy points to DSTs. So tough call on the Vikings. The Ravens, I think, you know, it's possible the packers are on their third string quarterback. So the Ravens are 54% roster. That'd be huge. Cowboys at Washington. Oh, man, they suck. I don't know. And the Bucks, I kind of like the bucks at Miami. I don't know how you guys feel about that.
Jamie
Their defense has been so bad.
Adam
Yeah, they suck too.
Jamie
Yeah.
Adam
McPherson, Pinero, Santos, Boragales, Mevis, Boswell at kicker. Good luck, everybody.
Dave
One more player that you might want to pick up that we haven't mentioned yet and it's. It's not a player to start. It's a player to put good karma on your fantasy team and a little bit of good luck on your bench and you can wait until Saturday. Or I guess Thursday to do it if you wanted to. And I do this every year. I try and find a player to just put on my bench to just. I don't know. We're all going to do it together. We'll all have a player on our bench for some good luck. And this year's good luck player is a cancer survivor, a guy who we all root for and he got hurt early in the year and it absolutely sucks. And I wish that he were still playing because this week he would go off. James Connor, you can even put him in an IR spot. He is the Good Luck Player of Week 17 of the 2025 season. You can make him your last priority off waivers. Bring a little good karma to your fantasy team in the fantasy championship.
Adam
I love it. Yeah, he would have had a really pretty good season, I think. Unfortunate. All right, have a great day, everybody. We'll talk to you at 1pm Eastern on CBS Sports Network for more waiver wire talk. Dave Jamie Thomas, I'm Adam. Paramount Podcasts Marriott Bonvoy is the official hotel partner of U.S. soccer. Join Marriott Bonvoy today to get closer to the game with exclusive perks, unforgettable experiences and benefits that go beyond the pitch. Spring Hill Suites, part of Marriott Bonvoy, offers complimentary hot breakfast and spacious all suite accommodations perfect for the whole team with room for up to six guests. Make your next getaway a win. Learn more at springhillsweets.marriott.com.
Episode Date: December 23, 2025
Hosts: Adam Aizer, Dave Richard, Jamie Eisenberg
This episode focuses on Week 17 waiver wire priorities and strategies to help fantasy football managers win their league championships. The FFT team—Adam, Dave, and Jamie—divides the discussion by position, offers advice for both shallow and deep leagues, and discusses emerging injury news and how it affects lineup choices. They break down which waiver wire players make the best additions at RB, QB, WR, TE, DST, and K for the upcoming week, and debate keep-away/defensive adds, late-season value, and who to trust in injury-ridden lineups.
“What do you need this week? What are the holes in your roster and who are you comfortable with off the waiver wire over a starter that's gotten you to this point in the season?” — Dave [07:55]
On Keep-Away Waiver Wire Use:
"Remember, you've got to keep these players and then if you're a good faith fantasy manager, you're going to hold onto them all the way through the week… But playing keep away is a strategy and this is the time of year to deploy that strategy." — Dave [08:24]
Adam’s Weather Warning:
"If you have Drake May, it looks like there could be some bad weather in the northeast this weekend… maybe plan for it." — Adam [09:39]
On Unlucky Fantasy Losses:
"Fire Kyle Shanahan. All right, that's a bad one." — Adam, reading a listener email about losing on a kneel-down [13:50]
Tiebreaker Woes:
"There's a tie in my wife's fantasy league. And it's bench points. It's bench points as the tiebreakers like, oh, can't. That's such a bad tiebreaker." — Adam [15:23]
Jared Goff vs. Justin Herbert this week:
"I'd rather start Goff, but I'm trying to sit both." — Jamie [19:33]
"Goff is ahead of Herbert for me. As of now, they're both in my top 12, but barely." — Dave [19:36]
Jacoby Brissette or Tyler Shough:
"Brissette." — Dave, Jamie in unison [49:26]
Waiver RBs vs. Jonathan Taylor:
"No, I would still go with Taylor over Michael Carter, Browns RBs, Chris Rodriguez, all those guys…" — Dave [47:18]
Trevor Lawrence or Jalen Hurts:
"Lawrence over Hurts… Lawrence is going to be top five for me. I'm done fooling around with this." — Dave [51:02]
"One more player that you might want to pick up that we haven't mentioned yet… not a player to start… And this year's good luck player is a cancer survivor, a guy who we all root for… James Connor. He is the Good Luck Player of Week 17… Bring a little good karma to your fantasy team in the fantasy championship." — Dave [71:20]
Good luck in your championships, and may your Week 17 waiver picks push you over the top!