
Waiver Wire and Start or Sit! We talk about Jalen Hurts replacements, the Raiders/Broncos/Chargers RBs, Jalen McMillan, Chig Okonkwo and many more. Plus KC-PIT and BAL-HOU starts and sits
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Adam
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Dave
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Jamie
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Dave
FFT family happy holidays. So I just finished recording the full length episode that you're about to hear, but I realized I skipped over Antonio Gibson. So Ramandre Stevenson has fumbled in four straight games. There's talk about maybe him getting benched so here's my advice to you. You're not going to get any Antonio Gibson advice, really, in this episode, you should listen to FFT Express. Jamie talks about him for a little while there. So I apologize for missing Antonio Gibson in this episode, but you can hear about it in FFT Express. We think he's okay to pick up. It's not like Ramandre is going to be completely irrelevant in all likelihood, but you should be aware of that situation. All right, enjoy the show. This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports.
Adam
What a play. Can you believe this? No, I can't.
Dave
It's time to dominate your fantasy league.
Heath
This is going to go now. Here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, and he.
Dave
Ho, ho, ho. I was. The whole time, I was like, do I do a Santa voice to start the show? Yeah, let's do it. Ho, ho, ho. We come bearing gifts. Waiver wire gifts. Dave, you've been a good boy. You get a chigo conquo JB. You're on the nice list. You get a Jalen McMillan. Maybe you've been nicer than Dave. Ho, ho, ho. Welcome to Fantasy Football today, presented by BetMGM, the sportsbook. Born in Vegas. Happy holidays, fellas.
Heath
I hope you.
Adam
Miller.
Heath
Yeah, I don't want a Kendry Miller in my stocking.
Dave
A lump of Kendry.
Adam
Yeah, but.
Dave
Rough one last night for the Saints. Big week for DSTs that you picked up off waivers. So there could be another one this week. We just have some horrible offenses with terrible quarterbacks that are doing miserable things.
Adam
I was thinking about this this morning. Do you think it's fair?
Dave
No, it doesn't feel fair.
Adam
It doesn't feel fair. Right.
Dave
Yeah. No, I. I was in the Super Flex League. I was playing against the Falcons DST and I was just so upset. But of course, I. I think I had the Packers DST in that league. So now.
Adam
Now the other side of it, obviously, is, you know, you're managing your fab and your, you know, whatever. You are on waivers and you're taking advantage of, you know, being able to pick up these teams or. I mean, I know I did this. A few teams. Few teams. Obviously, a lot of people have as well. You know, you see what the schedule is coming up and you're picking these.
Heath
Yes.
Adam
You know, a week or two in advance. So there's. There's clear strategy to it. But it's such. It's so random that The Saints have no one at all in. In Week 16 that the Browns have gone to the quarterback situation that they're in. You know, like, it's, it. There's a little bit of cheat code.
Heath
But it's no different than if it was week four or week five and a team just gets absolutely destroyed by injuries. We would do the exact same thing o. And get that DST that they're playing on the waiver.
Adam
We shouldn't, we shouldn't do it. But it's like, it's swaying matchups like where, where quarterback through tight end and flex are like, even across the board. And then you picked up one of these DSDs.
Heath
Yeah.
Adam
And somebody did not. And it's like, I'll give you another example. Like, there was a league. I was eliminated in the first round and I had no DSTs. Whatever. Like, screwed. The only team I had was the Dolphins. You know, people are looking for them right now and they can't, they can't pick them up.
Heath
Most you have them.
Dave
Is that the one this week?
Adam
That's the one off the layer wire. The Colts also.
Dave
Yeah. Colts are 75 roster. Dolphins are much more available. Who would you guys prefer if you.
Adam
Could choose between the two right now? The Colts. But it's. I would not be surprised if James starts. You know, so DTR's got this calf injury, so there's, there's that little bit of a, you know, opening that maybe they go back to Jameis. But I, I, at this point, they're, they're equals. You know, they're both going to have an opportunity for big weeks. So they're 1 and 2 in my rankings right now. Colts are head.
Heath
Yeah, the Dolphins. I've seen enough that, that DTR is terrible. I've seen Bailey zappy because I think he'll play if Thompson Robinson can't play. And Jameis is hurt, too, so I'm not sure who will get.
Adam
I think James is hurt.
Dave
I.
Heath
They're saying he's hurt and he's got a shoulder injury and that's why he's the three.
Dave
Yeah. Well, if you're. Yeah.
Heath
Obviously it changes if Jamis starts.
Adam
I mean, look, you're, you're right. Based on what Stefanski said, that DTR is most likely going to start.
Dave
Well, that would be great. So go get the dog. And honestly, the Dolphins could be your number one priority. Right. I mean, you're looking at your lineup, right. For sure. Yeah.
Adam
Yeah.
Dave
But there's another one. There's a sneaky injury that kind of flew under the radar and Tyrone Tracy re. Aggravated his ankle injury and Devin Singletary was pretty good before Tyrone Tracy, you know, became a factor before Devin Singletary got hurt. He was a solid RB2 flex. So, you know, I made it to some. I made it to four finals and I think in every. In three of those four leagues, I started like some waiver wire bomb at running back and, you know, got lucky with a Madison touchdown or something like that. And if Devin Singletary gets an opportunity, that would be exciting. So who's. Who are the top three priorities? By the way, today is not just a waiver wire show. Ho, ho, ho. We bring you starter Sid advice under your tree. We have two games to talk about. We have the two Christmas games, Kansas City at Pittsburgh and Baltimore, Houston. So, Jamie, who are the top three priorities?
Adam
The top three priorities would be in whatever order. I mean, look, there's the Dolphins DST, you got Chico Conquo. You got Jalen McMillan. Those to me are the top three guys. Three, three players, units, whatever to go get. You can make a case for Gus Edwards if there is no J.K. dobbins because the Patriots run defense is so bad and he's coming off finally a strong game. Funny. Like, when you look at his game logs, the. The matchups were not exactly easy. You know, we were clearly crapping on him. Understandably so, because he wasn't doing anything with it. But Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Baltimore were his three starts prior to Denver. Clearly not easy.
Heath
Denver wasn't supposed to be easy either, right?
Dave
Yeah.
Heath
Short week always helps the running back.
Adam
It wasn't Baltimore was the game. There was somebody else that was tough. Oh, Kansas City. So, you know, just looking at the. You get a starting tenant, you get a potential starting wide receiver, and you get a potential starting ds. Not bad.
Dave
Yeah. All right. And then what do you think about McMillan, guys, he's obviously on fire, but this, his hot streak started the game after Carolina, and Carolina never gives up good games to multiple wide receivers. It's only happened once this whole season where we've had two. Two wide receivers score 14 or more, I think twice. Two wide receivers score 12 or more PPR fantasy points. I gave you that stat last week about how McMillan was facing the Cowboys and they almost never give up game good games to multiple wide receivers. And true to form, they didn't. But it was McMillan and not Evans. But yeah, I mean, like Baker Mayfield actually had a total dud last time he faced the Carolina. So is McMillan a slam dunk this week?
Adam
He's not a slam dunk, but I think when you're talking about the group of receivers that he's in, he's in the conversation, you know, so Darnold Mooney, Devonte Smith, Jacoby Myers, Juwan Jennings, Debo Samuel. Now, you know, those borderline number two, number three receivers, like, he's, he's worked his way into that conversation. So I'm not looking at the Panthers defense and saying, oh, my God, I'm scared of the Panthers defense. Yes, they've played much better lately, and they did a great job against Baker Mayfield. He was awful. Right after that is when he got hot again. And a lot of that has to do with McMillan, you know, so they, it feels, it feels as if, you know, we had this sort of storyline with the, with the 49ers, you know, the, the game that they lost where they force feeding the ball to Debo Samuel and, and it felt like it cost them a little bit. It feels like Baker's forcing the ball a little bit to Mike Evans. You know, McMillan has been awesome. He's been absolutely awesome. And so, you know, I, I don't want him to get away from McMillan with the, with the, the, the hope of getting Evans's thousand yards. You want to see him get it, obviously, if you have Mike Evans, you want to see him get his numbers clearly. But keep, keep, keep those six or seven targets going to Jalen McMillan. I think he'll be fine.
Dave
All right, Dave, how do you see the priorities this week?
Heath
Same. If you need a dst, Colts are not going to be out there in very many leagues because people already picked them up. But if they're out there, you can get them. If you're especially worried about what's going on with who will start at quarterback for the Browns and how that might impact your decision making with the Dolphins. But I thought the Dolphins defense played well last week. I'd be totally fine going with the Dolphins defense this week. And then It's. I put McMillan ahead of Okonkwo. Okonkwo scares me just a little bit because he, he's. You. He was. He is being used in the last six quarters almost exactly the same way Brenton Strange was used two games ago. And we saw what happened for Brenton Strange last week. Not nearly as many targets. And I'm, I'm worried about the bottom falling out there, especially in a game Tennessee might be able to run very well this week, and that would take away Mason Rudolph throwing to anybody, much less Chigo. Conquo so the stats are really pretty for Okonkwo. We can talk about that, but I'd rather have McMillan than Okonkwo. And I'd rather chase the DST based on what we've already been talking about, how having the right dst, yes, this matters, and yes, it can help you bring the trophy home.
Adam
And I do think, Adam, just for the purposes of, you know, where we are in the season, I know McMillan's in the 50s. From a roster percentage, I would guess most people that are still playing have picked him up or had the ability to pick him up already. Like Okonkos and the Dolphins are the two new entities that people can go get.
Dave
Yeah. And. And I think a lot of teams made the playoffs with the Falcons or the packers dst, and we're not starting them this week. Falcons get Washington, packers get Minnesota. So what you need to do, if you're one of those teams, obviously you need to prioritize a dst, whether it's the Dolphins or maybe the Colts are out there, or maybe it's the Rams or somebody like. We'll talk about other DSTs, but you also should, because we're seeing the impact that these DSTs that are facing Cleveland and the Giants are having. You should look at your opponent, and maybe your first claim is to block your opponent from getting one of those DSTs. If your lineup is good to go and you don't need to go to the waiver wire, then that, you know, keep that option in mind for sure.
Heath
This is probably also a good time to mention the. The fab rule that you talked about a week or two ago, Adam, which is to check and see how much fab your opponent has left. If you've got 12 fab bucks left and your opponent has none, you can get everybody you want for a dollar each.
Dave
Yeah.
Heath
And if you've got 12 left and your opponent has 14 now, you're going to have to spend a little bit and hope that you get a guy before your opponent does. But check the fab budgets of both yourself, obviously, and your opponent as well.
Adam
And there. There are a couple of other DSTs that could help you, too, which we'll talk about.
Heath
There's a couple at every position.
Dave
Yeah. Yeah. We haven't talked about quarterbacks. I know some people did make it with Jalen Hurts. So you need some help at quarterback. And, you know, Anthony Richardson might be available, but Bryce Young could be a good option this week against Tampa Bay. Although that matchup's getting pretty interesting as well. There's. They seem to be improving a little bit, and we have a lot of important news updates for you, too. So we'll get there. But I want to remind you that the holiday season is here. Of course the holiday season is here. I'm wearing red for a reason, folks. But it's the perfect time to crown your fantasy football champion. You can get some great fantasy football gear. You could be celebrating or you could be dumping on somebody who finished in last place. Just go to shop.cbssports.com fantasy this is the fantasy football today new fan shop powered by Shop Sense. It has everything you need. Trophies, T shirts and all the gear to make your league unforgettable. There's also just non fantasy stuff that's great in there for your fan cave or for a friend or whatever you want to do. It's great for the holiday season. Go to shop.cbssports.com fantasy there's also a link in the episode description and you can scan the QR code now. Have you voted yet? All right, we're in the championship holiday spirit. Hopefully we helped get you here. Maybe you could do us a solid. Go to sports podcast group dot com. This will take 30 seconds. Consider it a holiday gift to us. Sports podcast, excuse me, sports podcast group.com singular. And go to the best fantasy betting and gaming category. Scroll down, click on Fantasy football today and vote. Dave, are you ready to reveal your lucky player?
Heath
I'm ready when you are.
Dave
Everybody knows you got to get Dave's lucky player. Good karma. You don't have to do it. Do it later the week. But Dave, who are we putting on our bench for good luck?
Heath
Well, first of all, it's always interesting to get the reactions of people who, who see that I'm going to announce it. Oh, it's going to be this guy. It's going to be that guy. One person I think it was Pete Farmer, was like, it's going to be Christian McCaffrey. And I was like, no, there's been nothing lucky or good about Christian McCaffrey this year. Absolutely no chances. Christian McCaffrey. I thought about Nick Chubb and listen, the other thing here is whoever you want it to be, you can make it. You can go and add your own good luck charm.
Dave
No, you don't have to go with my guy. Has to be Dave's. Otherwise it's bad luck.
Heath
Well, but some people might not be able to get my guy because my guy's already rostered in 25 of leagues. Some people still have him on their bench. Somebody brought up, hey, Rasheed Rice. He was awesome. Let's get him back. Okay, you can choose that, but I also know that he didn't have the best of luck during the off season. I kind of want to keep that karma away from my fantasy team, if you get what I'm saying. So you can go and look at Ricky Pearsall. He's overcome quite a lot. You can look at Jonathan Brooks. Tough luck for that guy. Maybe you don't want him either. And it was tough luck for Chris Godwin, but I think that's the guy that you've got to go with. Somebody who has win in their last name.
Dave
Yeah.
Heath
And he's a great guy. He's a fan favorite. He's a fantasy favorite. He's been a stud for a long time, available in 75 of leagues. You can even stash him on your IR. Chris Godwin, the lucky player for 2024. Jamie, don't keep me from getting him in our leagues. We're both still alive.
Dave
Chris. Go win is almost like in his God.
Heath
Win your league.
Dave
Yeah, there you go. All right, so Chris Godwin is our lucky player. News and NOTES so Dorian Thompson Robinson has a calf injury. He will start if he's healthy. It may be Jamis, it may be Zappy. We just don't know. But this is who the Dolphins are playing this week. It's in Cleveland. Patrick Mahomes says his ankle is better. He's playing at Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Jalen Hurts, left with a concussion. Kenny Pickett has injured ribs. Who's their number three quarterback?
Heath
Tanner McKee.
Dave
Okay, there you have Dallas on Sunday. James Connor, knee injury. Zach Charbonnet could be full go this week. Ken Walker was listed as a DNP with the ankle injury. They have a Thursday game at Chicago. So Charbonnet was limited because of the injury, but they're more optimistic about him getting a full workload or, you know, a normal workload, whether that's with Walker without Justice. Hill has a concussion. J.K. dobbins has been designated to return from IR so he has a chance to play this week. Isaac Garendo is expected to practice this week. Does anybody want to start Isaac Garendo if he plays against Detroit on Monday?
Adam
Oh, that offensive line's in bad shape, man. It's. It's tough to trust right now. So he'll, he'll be in the low end number two flex range, but much better than Patrick Taylor. Nowhere close to peak. Garendo if there is a peak or endo. It's just, it's hard to trust the running back situation there right now, which is very strange to say.
Dave
And then Tyrone Tracy aggravated his Ankle injury. So we're looking maybe at Devin Singletary.
Adam
When did we find out when he left the game?
Dave
No, I'll tell you, I don't know that he left for long. You know, I thought he.
Adam
Right. It might, it might be nothing.
Dave
Yeah, yeah, it could easily be nothing.
Adam
He. The, the, the tweet I sent you from Art Stapleton, who does a great job covering the Giants. He's sent another. He tagged another person that had a video, a picture of him getting retaped, which doesn't mean that he's was significantly injured.
Heath
Played well into the fourth quarter. He missed the Giants last four snaps of a blowout loss.
Dave
Well, he could have changed things. All right, hypothetical. If Tyrone Tracy were Tyrone Tracy were out, would Devin Singletary be ahead of the Raiders running backs? Any other waiver wire running back that might be out there?
Adam
Yes, for sure.
Dave
Okay, hypothetical wide receiver news. So Tank Dell, torn acl, dislocated kneecap. And there are other things apparently that they're going to have to fix in surgery. John Mechi could play this week for the Texans. We are going to preview this game. They also signed Deontay Johnson. Are you interested in any other Texans wide receivers?
Adam
How, how amazing would it be if Deontay Johnson comes back against the Ravens and does something significant? It'd just be. What a story.
Dave
Yeah, it was a good. I think it's a smart signing. You know.
Heath
I agree.
Adam
Yeah, well, they, they. There were two teams that put in claims for him and it was the Texans and the Chargers.
Dave
Makes sense. Yeah. But are you interested in any of them this week? No, but remember, Dalton Schultz is a guy that. Yeah, we're going to talk about him.
Heath
Would you be interested in him if your fantasy championship is in week 18?
Adam
I mean. Yes. Just to see what happens. I'd be picking him up just to see if he does anything right. It's, it's. We know he's been a good fantasy option. He hasn't been great. You know, he's been great at times, but he's been a good fantasy option. We've gotten targets and I mean, think about the quarterbacks he's been dealing with aside from never playing really with Lamar Jackson. Like, it's. When Roethlisberger retired, he went from the backups there to, you know, Carolina with Bryce Young and Andy Dalton. And he had some good moments and never really played with Baltimore like this. This is, I wouldn't mind him staying in, in Houston knowing what the, the two receivers that they have injured right now like this could Be great. Great spot for them.
Heath
And. And I almost wonder, do they use week 18? I. I wonder if they sit their guys week 18 because they've already clinched the division. Right? The Indy can't catch them.
Dave
Yeah, they're in. Yep. They clinch the division.
Heath
So they could rest guys in week 18. Except for Deontay Johnson, who could go out and just have a ton of targets and then he's implemented into the offense for the playoffs and maybe he does make an impact in the playoffs. So there is some appeal to him if you're playing into week 18.
Dave
All right, let's move a little faster here because we have all these games to preview today. We have Christian Watson leaving with a knee injury there at Minnesota on Sunday. And remember the last time he didn't play, there were two games. Basically, he left one really early. And then the next week, it was.
Adam
The Vikings game, Week four.
Dave
Yeah, it was Dontabian Wicks. That's a really. He had a big. He had big games. That's a really interesting game against the Vikings. Are they finally going to throw the ball because they gave up. Well, they gave up 34 points against the Lions a few weeks ago and they threw 20 passes or something like that, so we'll see.
Adam
That was also in the weather, though.
Dave
No, no, that was the. Yeah. 3134. George Pickens looks like he's going to play this week. Haven't seen anything on Drake. Oh, no. Drake London should be fine.
Heath
He should be okay.
Dave
And Xavier Lee get likely out. Sterling shepherd hamstring injury. That might make Jalen McMillan a little safer. Marquis Brown's gonna get some more snaps. And the jets want to get Garrett Wilson the ball. Just when I was ready to sit him. Now we get the. We want to get Garrett Wilson the ball. David Najoku has a knee injury. That's another one we got to keep an eye on here. If you have Najoku, you might need to make backup plans. Offensive line news. Jamie mentioned the 49ers, their offensive line, that Trent Williams out for the rest of the season. Left guard Aaron Banks out for the rest of the season. Offensive tackle Jalen Moore, who's hoping to fill in for Trent Williams. He is out for the season. And then we have one other Spencer Burford is also hurt. The Bears have a couple of offensive line injuries, but they're hoping that Tevin Jenkins can play this week. But Braxton Jones is out for the season. One of their tackles.
Heath
Yeah, that's a problem.
Dave
Jacksonville left tackle Walker Little is likely out this week. Arizona's offensive line is beat up. The Saints center Eric McCoy left with an elbow injury. Cincinnati lost their right tackle. I don't know the severity there. Amarius Mims and Jets left tackle Oluficiano is almost certainly out for the season. One Big defensive yeah, well, I'll give you a couple big defensive notes. Looks like Joey Porter is going to be out cornerback for the Steelers, but it does look like they're getting a safety, a cornerback and a defensive tackle back. They were very beat up against Baltimore. They're mostly healthy on defense. I don't know how healthy Watt is. He just didn't look right to me. But you know, I just didn't seem to make a major impact anyway. But but it looks like they're going to have a pretty healthy roster other than Porter. And Chris Jones is questionable right now for the Chiefs, their star defensive tackle and defensive back Shamari Connor missed practice as well all right, if you haven't signed up yet for BetMGM, use the bonus Code Fantasy. You're gonna get up to a fifteen hundred dollar first bet offer on your first wager with BetMGM. So you download the BetMGM app and you 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. We gotta take a break. When we come back, we'll give you everyone you need to know on the waiver wire after this on fft as.
Jamie
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Kyle
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Dave
Holiday magic is in the air and DSW's got all the shoes to make your season extra merry. Believe you've got parties to attend and list to check twice. So DSW is taking care of the details like gifts to make their eyes all aglow. Styles that bring joy to your world. Brands everyone wants like Ugg, Nike, Birkenstock and more and deals to make your budget bright. Find the perfect shoes for you and yours at a DSW store near you or dsw.com which quarterback should you get on the waiver wire? You might need a Jalen Hurts replacement or you might just need a quarterback. You might not feel great about your QB this week. So in the shallow leagues, Jamie, we got Caleb Williams, Anthony Richardson and Geno smith. They're about 71, 73% rostered. Caleb Williams at Seattle, home against Seattle on Thursday, Anthony Richardson at the Giants and Geno Smith at Chicago on Thursday. Who, how would you rank those three?
Adam
Richardson, William Smith.
Dave
Is Richardson a stud like a must start this week for you guys?
Adam
He's, he's close. I mean, look, he's probably not going to throw the ball very much again, you know, so that's the concern. But he's been such, he's, he's been so consistent running the ball that, you know, you kind of, you never want to say you're going to get a rushing touchdown. But he's, he's morphed into Tim Tebow. I mean, that's just what he is, you know, like think about what the Tebow fantasy season was when he was awesome. It was, you're scared for him throwing the ball and you hope that he's just going to continue to rack up rushing points and that's what he's doing. So it's a good matchup. They could do whatever they want to against the Giants and that's just basically what you're, you're counting on right now. So. 4 point passing touchdown. 4 points for passing touchdowns. He's a, he's a borderline stud. And in six points, he's just a number one quarterback. You know, I liked him last week. He, he delivered, you know, what you needed. And I think he'll do the same thing. 22 to 25 points.
Dave
Okay, would you start Richardson or Mahomes?
Adam
Richardson.
Heath
I've got Richardson hire.
Dave
Oh, interesting. Okay, so let's get to the guys who are more widely available. We got Bryce Young against Tampa Bay. Of the last five quarterbacks to face Tampa Bay, Bryce Young is the only one who had a good game. DeVito stunk, Justin Herbert 17 points. Cooper rush 17 points. The Raiders quarterbacks, 10 points. So it wasn't great competition. But Young, 24 points on 46 pass attempts and he had a rushing touchdown. So in other words, Tampa Bay is not really getting beat up in the air lately. Is that just because they haven't faced good quarterbacks? But how much do you like Bryce Young? We also have Drake, May, Michael Penix, Mason Rudolph, and maybe even Jameis Winston. But I also want to throw Aaron Rodgers in there. He's 53% roster. Dave, what's your take on the quarterbacks this week?
Heath
I don't love any of these guys and I'm hopeful that you can find one of the barely available quarterbacks on your waiver wire. I would kind of defer back to Rogers. Last week was gross. He didn't give you a huge game. Buffalo's defense has not played well over the last few weeks. And I wonder if Rogers, just by sheer volume, can come through with over 20 fantasy points. They've given up at least 21. This is Buffalo now. Each of the past three quarterbacks that they face, that includes Drake May in week 16 and you know that Goff went bananas against them in week 15. I don't think Rogers is going to go bananas, but I think he's still going to throw a lot. Breece hall doesn't look right to me. This is who I'd probably settle for as the quarterback because I just. I can't trust Bryce Young. The matchup is great. The numbers last week for him were phenomenal. His floor is too low, and that's why I'd rather go with Rogers or Drake May. I like May's matchup, too, against the Chargers, but I don't have high expectations for any of these quarterbacks.
Adam
I would not be surprised if, after the Bills struggle, that they just beat the living hell out of the Jets.
Dave
But they're. I mean, they're just struggling a lot. Like, five of the last seven quarterbacks to face the Bills have scored 21 or more fantasy points.
Adam
Well, look at some of those guys and who they are.
Dave
Yeah, it's. So it's Tua, Mahomes, Stafford, Golf, who scored 50, and Drake.
Heath
May Purdy got in there.
Dave
No, Purdy was terrible. He had one point that was.
Adam
Oh, that's right.
Dave
That was a snow game. But, yeah, their. Their past defense has been pretty vulnerable lately. So you don't like Rogers.
Adam
Like, you know, and the weather's supposed to be bad, too. Like, I have no interest in there.
Heath
So obviously, if the weather's bad, you're gonna pull back from Rogers as well.
Dave
Okay. All right, so listen, it's not the best quarterback again.
Adam
I'll say what I said about Rogers last week. I was nervous about him last week. He did great against the Jaguars and a half in great weather. He did great against Miami in good weather. Like, this is. This is a disaster just waiting to explode.
Dave
You know where Rogers used to play, though, right?
Adam
Yeah, I do.
Dave
He's been pretty good in bad weather before.
Adam
Yes, when he was younger.
Dave
Yeah. All right, well, hold on.
Heath
I'm going to get you the weather forecast for Buffalo.
Dave
We got to do it in your. In the voice, though. Like, would you start bright? Let's say Bryce Young, Aaron Rodgers, Drake May. Let's say they're our top three. Like, not for Jamie. Roger's not interested, but Dave is. Would you start them over Justin Herbert at New England?
Heath
Definitely not.
Dave
Would you start them over Bo Nicks? No. No chance. What am I saying? No bonus.
Adam
Might be my star of the week.
Dave
God, I like next Bo Nicks at Cincinnati or Brock Purdy against Detroit. What do I do?
Adam
Well, you want to go Bonix or Drake?
Dave
No, I'm sorry. I was just looking at the schedule. I just threw a name out. How about Kyler Murray at the Rams?
Adam
Another guy I have no interest in this week.
Heath
Yeah, I. I'd rather go with Rogers.
Adam
I would go with Murray over Rogers, easily.
Dave
What about Bryce Young?
Adam
I probably go. Bryce Young over Rogers.
Dave
No, Murray. Murray.
Adam
Oh, Murray over Young.
Dave
I would hope. I would hope that you're going Bryce Young over Rogers. That's how you have it written in the column?
Adam
Yeah.
Dave
Yeah. Okay. All right. And Drake first.
Heath
I have to make sure the game's on Sunday. All right, here we go.
Adam
Yeah.
Heath
53 degrees overcast with rain showers at times. Percent 61 chance of precipitation, winds at 10 to 20 miles an hour.
Dave
Did you say 53?
Heath
Yeah, that's the temperature.
Dave
Oh, that In Buffalo. That's. We're gonna have a nice weekend. That's terrific.
Heath
I mean, it's still gonna rain, but I don't think it's 53.
Adam
I thought everybody was complaining about the weather. That's all I saw.
Heath
This is what the forecast is for Sunday in Buffalo, according to. What site is this? Weather.com.
Dave
All right, so, running backs. Let's go to our running backs here in the shallow leagues. You got Jalen Warren here. I know you list them every week. I don't. Not. Not this week. Right. We don't really want Jayla Moore.
Adam
I mean, he's got four passes, four receptions in three of his last six or three of three of his last five. Like, they're gonna struggle to run the ball even without Chris Jones there, so.
Dave
But it's interesting. I mean, the Chiefs give up the fewest receiving totals. The running backs.
Adam
Oh, I don't want to have to start him. But again, I mean, think about the situation that several people are in right now.
Heath
I almost think if it's ppr, you have to start him over Najee. We've seen him start to overtake Najee last week, especially two thirds of the snaps for Jalen Warren last week.
Dave
How do we feel about the Broncos running backs at Cincinnati, who they have now allowed? Still, the streak extends 90 rushing yards or a rushing touchdown to a running back in every game. I feel like this will be the week that that ends. But the Broncos running backs at Cincinnati and the Chargers running backs at New England on Saturday. So both of those games are on Saturday, actually, and there's just some moving parts here and injury statuses. Dave. So give me your takes on Broncos at Cincinnati and Chargers at New England.
Heath
I'd be okay. With Gus as a low end, number two running back. If we knew that J.K. dobbins wasn't going to play, but he's practicing, if he plays, I would be very interested in starting J.K. dobbins. I can't trust these Broncos running backs. Going into the game there was talk that SMA would kind of take over. Here's taking over 20 of the snaps and a short yardage touchdown and he looked okay. But Javante Williams is still going to play half the snaps. Someone else is going to mix in. They're using three guys. I don't, I can't. I, I can't.
Dave
Yeah. Well, how about if you started the Raiders running backs, would you like.
Heath
I'd stick with the Raiders running backs.
Adam
I don't mind Javante this week because I do think we're going to get a back and forth game like we saw because I don't think they're going to shut down the Bengals. They haven't done that in two of their last three games in terms of, in terms of defensively and so what we saw from Javante was seven catches on 11 targets. Should have caught a touchdown. So PPR, I don't mind Javante and I would take him over the Raiders guy.
Dave
Boy, the catches are really interesting. That kind of came out of nowhere, those seven catches.
Heath
Right. But it's been like two catches every. There were a couple of weeks where he had like four, but the last two months he hasn't been a part of the.
Adam
Well, I mean, I think part of that is the rotation too. So to your point, if they're going to play three guys, it was kind of pared down to two in the second half last week and estimate is going to be touchdown dependent. You know, we, we've seen what his, you know, role is. So if you think they're going to score against the Bengals from a short yard situation, he probably has a good opportunity to do that, but that's hard to trust. I do think there's an opportunity here though for Devonte to still be quite involved. This game gets loose like it should.
Dave
And I haven't seen an Update on Jaleel McLaughlin, but would he take a lot of the shine off of Javante if he plays?
Adam
Oh, for sure. If, if McLaughlin plays, it's hands off all these guys because then it's just a wild card of whoever you think could be the best.
Dave
Not only have The Bengals allowed 90 rushing yards or a touchdown to a running back in every game, also There have been five running backs in the last four games who have 37 or more receiving yards against the Bengals. Tank Bigsby is also on this list. He gets Tennessee. I think obviously he's tough to trust.
Adam
But we scored against him last time. He scored a touchdown two of his last three games. So again, like a better version of estimate, you know, you know he needs a score but he's been double digits and carries in every game in the last month. And so you know, again you're desperate, you're hoping for him to fall into the end zone. Did have a fumble too in last game.
Dave
How do you guys feel about Madison and Abdullah at New Orleans? They are so bad against the run, but I think they're actually pretty good against pass catching running backs. I might be wrong about that. They're okay, but yeah, like Dave, how do you feel about the Raiders running backs this week?
Heath
If I could get Alexander Madison or Amir Abdullah, they'd be at the top of the list for me. They're clearly a part of what they want to do in Vegas. I don't think this is going to be, call me crazy, a Saints blowout. Not sure they're going to be able to score seven even on the Raiders. Raiders defense is actually starting to play better and the Raiders want to run the football. So these two guys are going to get a lot of work. Abdul in the passing game, the fact that he still got as much work as he did last week that way, I think that's a huge positive. And so I, I kind of view them a little bit higher than everybody else that we've talked about at running back. In fact, I kind of look at Edwards estimate other names that we haven't really brought up. Like there's so much uncertainty and so much like touchdown dependence. They're all kind of the same. And so I'd rather take two guys that I know are going to play who have a good matchup against a tired, weak defense over all those touchdown dependent guys who might play 25, 30 of the snaps.
Dave
And which one would you prefer, Madison or Abdullah?
Heath
I think it depends on format. If it's full ppr, it's Abdullah. If it's half or not, it's a Madison.
Adam
I mean Madison was just had just as many targets.
Dave
Yeah, Madison is awful. I, I'm sorry, it's just, well, it's. You got to think about this. Like I, I said, going into the game against the Jaguars, seven of the last eight running backs lead running backs had averaged 4.9 yards per carry or more. Against the Jaguars, he had 12 carries for 27 yards and he was lucky to get a one yard touchdown. But he did have four catches. That was nice. Abdullah, what did Abdullah have? He had seven carries.
Heath
Yeah, Abdullah actually had one fewer target than Madison, but one more catch and he's just way more efficient anyway. But they're both going to play. They could both do very well.
Dave
All right, what do we think about the Cardinals situation right now? Like how. Yeah, let's, let's talk about that.
Heath
Yeah, please, Jamie, go.
Adam
If Trey Benson plays, that's the guy. But he missed last week's game with an ankle injury. And then if he's out is Michael Carter. So this, this, this team scares the hell out of me because, you know, officially eliminated back to back games down the road. Playing a really good Rams team right now that smells blood in the water, you know, so this is not the best situation, but Benson would certainly have a little bit more appeal than Michael Carter. He did, he did a nice job, you know, for, you know, filling in as, you know, an emergency situation because DeMarcado is on IR and Benson not playing last week and you know, he's been on the practice squad for the majority of the season, so he'll catch a few passes. He's not gonna do what James Connor did. You know, maybe the lack of a run game helps Kyler Murray and we get, you know, good performance for him trying to play spoiler against the Rams. But this just feels like, you know, team looking at vacation right now because they've been bad for the last month when they had an opportunity to win a division and now they got to go on the road and play a really good team.
Heath
So here's how I would play this. We don't know if Benson's going to play or not. We don't know if Connor's going to play or not. I think you've got to assume that Connor, they want, he says he wants to play and all that stuff. But if he's not right, why would they risk it? If you can't or don't want the Raiders running backs and all these guys, all these other guys that we've talked about, Edwards estimate, Carter, they're all available. I would target Benson first. He's available in 60% of leagues. Get him, see what happens. And then if he's not going to play or if it doesn't look good by the time we get to Wednesday's games or Thursday's games, Saturday's games, you dump him and you go get one of the other running backs. Remember, there should only be two, maybe four teams that are competing with you on the waiver wire anyway right now. So a lot of these running backs that we're talking about that are just. Okay, they're going to be sitting on the waiver wire no matter what you do. So getting Benson, he would have the most upside probably of any running back that we've talked about. If he plays, if he's active and he's got offensive line problems, too. The.
Adam
The.
Heath
Both tackles are beat up for Arizona, but he'll play. He'll get a lot of work. It's just against the Rams, it's not the easiest matchup in the world, but.
Dave
If you think about it, if he plays, I don't think he's playing on third down. Right. I don't know how many catches he's going to get. So if, if he doesn't play, Michael Carter could be close to an every down. Running back.
Heath
No, because they'll still use D.J. dallas.
Dave
But he had five catches last week.
Heath
I know, but D.J. dallas will still mix in.
Dave
D.J. dallas scored a touchdown, didn't he?
Heath
He did.
Dave
All right, so interesting situation there and then.
Adam
Yeah.
Dave
We're not gonna have any interest in Patrick Taylor if Garendo doesn't play, right?
Adam
No.
Dave
All right, let's go to wide receiver here. And you can look for Adam Thielen. Adam Thielen. If. If available, I might take him over the Dolphins dst. Like that's what you need. Yeah, but. But you guys have high expectations for Thielen this week.
Adam
Yeah. I mean, he was good against them the first time.
Dave
He was insane against 24 fantasy points.
Adam
And he's been good in three of his last four games.
Dave
Yeah. And even his bad game was 5 for 51 on seven targets in that stretch. Josh Downs. You guys like Josh Downs this week at the Giants?
Adam
He's in that low end number three receiver mix. It's just a matter of the. The volume not being there.
Heath
Yeah. I think there are too many receivers in the low end number three receiver mix for Josh Downs to make it there. And I, I get this. Should be another game where Jonathan Taylor goes bananas. Not much left for Downs.
Dave
Oh, man, look at this comment. This is so wrong. No one needs assistance in the semifinals of the championship game. If you're here and you still need help, you don't know how to play. Happy holidays.
Adam
What?
Dave
Man, like you know how many people are injured right now? You had Ken Walker in your lineup last week. All these running back injuries. There are a lot of people that need Assistance. Right. Manager devonte Smith Manager this is, this.
Adam
Is where you're making tough calls too, you know, so it's not just picking up these guys as bench options, like, you know, somebody I'm sure, many people I'm sure got through with, you know, Jerry Judy, because you started him with the hope of DTR still getting him the ball or like you said, devonte Smith, you know, some of these guys that just coming off bad games, not necessarily just because they're, there's injuries. So yeah, there's, there's lots of chances here for players to help you still.
Heath
Sure. And your opponents might need that help too, and you can beat them to it.
Dave
So let's talk about the packers wide receivers with Christian Watson seemingly going to be out for this week's game, hopefully a shootout against Minnesota. Dave, do you like Dobbs? Do you like Wicks?
Heath
I'm not going to trust Wicks. I like Dobbs. I see the Vikings defense, I checked into this. They're better, they're better against slot guys than they are outside wide receivers in their past five games. But anytime you're missing one of those pass catchers, you've got to figure that the other ones will step up and be a little bit better. Not that I'm starting Romeo Dobbs or Jane Reed with, you know, top 24 confidence. They're also part of this low end, number three wide receiver group that have the potential to, to do well in a high scoring game. But it's not like I'm gonna make them, you know, key parts of my offense or anything like that. Key parts of my fantasy lineup.
Adam
I should say I would start Wicks over downs if he's the guy without Watson there. I would start Wicks over Judy, both the other two guys ahead of them. So Dobbs and, and Reed and you know, again, you go back to that first Vikings game, Watson goes down. He gets 13 targets in that game. And so this was the pattern at the end of last year when they had injuries. This is the pattern. Seemingly every time one of these guys is missing, most of the time is Watson. So when they throw, there's chances here. To your point, Adam, will they throw? You know, so will they, will they change sort of their philosophy? The hope would be is that the Vikings come out and punch him in the mouth early.
Dave
Yes.
Adam
And then we get a shootout, you know, and, and the reason for that game was that's what happened earlier this.
Heath
Year, that exact scenario.
Adam
So that, but part of that though was that was Jordan Love's first game. Back from the groin injury and there were a lot of questions. Should he play? Is he healthy? How's he feeling? I think it was the groin or maybe the knee, but coming back from the injury and he. He did not look good in the first half. And then they just started opening up the offense in the second half and then all these guys got involved. So if. If you're. If you're hoping for a Packers receiver to help you, you're hoping for them to. Again, let's. Let's make this track meet back and forth and in indoor game at this point in the season, like it has potential to be.
Dave
Yeah, but you like McMillan better than the packers guys.
Adam
I think he's just safer at this point. Like, you know, Reed could have had a really big game yesterday. They all could have had a big game if they wanted to. I mean, they could have done whatever they wanted to against Saints. So, you know, Watson had a huge play that, you know, Jordan Love checked down to Tucker Kraft early in the game before Watson got hurt. And let's be. Let's, you know, I guess have to look at it. How injured is Watson? You know, was it just because the score and they didn't want to put him back in? You know, he tried to go back in after initially getting hurt, but we know his track record, so would not be surprising if there's a Don Tavian Wicks. He won you year league type of game this week.
Dave
If you have George Pickens and he's your. Your last receiver, like, you know, you're starting two other receivers and George Pickens is your guy. It's either Pickens or somebody on the waiver wire. Are you just starting Pickens?
Adam
Are you going over the waiver wire, guys?
Dave
Yeah.
Adam
Yeah.
Heath
Okay.
Adam
I have a very tough call in in one final of. Because I. It's two running backs and a flex and I'm playing three running backs because I'm loaded there of Pickens versus Higgins and Sutton right now. And so, like, I'm really all over the place with that one.
Heath
I think I'm sitting pickings. Yeah, I'm sitting in that situation.
Adam
Yeah. But Higgins could get certain.
Dave
But. Yeah, I mean. Oh, I don't think. Yeah, I don't think he will, but he could. He'll see him a little bit. But Sutton's been. Sutton's been a little.
Adam
Sun's been off, but it's a bangle games.
Dave
Yeah, it is the best.
Adam
And I gotta make the call on Pickens on Wednesday.
Dave
All right. Other wide receivers to consider. Other than McMillan and Wicks. Really not much here. Marquis Brown had 8 targets in in like 20 of the snaps or something. Alamade Zakias with the revenge game against Atlanta. Jalen Coker at Tampa Bay.
Adam
You know where he was last year too, right?
Dave
No.
Heath
Philadelphia.
Adam
Philadelphia.
Dave
Oh, and he just had a huge game against Philadelphia. I love that. Jalen Coker, Parker, Washington K. Sean Booty. And then you can take a chance on Deontay Johnson maybe if you're playing.
Adam
Into week 18 all desperation place.
Dave
All right, we're going to take a quick break. We got tight ends, we got DSTs, kickers, and then we got two games to talk about. We'll be right back on Fantasy Football.
Adam
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Jamie
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Adam
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Heath
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Dave
We welcome you back here to Fantasy Football Today, coming off a very nice promo for the Masters with that extremely soothing music. And let's head out to Dave Richard. Dave, I gotta talk about some shallow league tight ends. Hunter Henry and Zach Ertz. They don't have great matchups this week. Are you looking to replace them with Chico Conquo or Dalton Schultz?
Heath
Well, you could definitely do it, Adam. They're definitely possibilities if you wanted to get away. And Zach Ertz seems like someone you should want to get away from.
Adam
Okay.
Dave
Yeah, I don't know. Do you want to get. I. I think I would start Earth over. Over Okagwo and. And Schultz.
Heath
You say that one more time.
Dave
So no, it's Ertz and Henry who both have like Atlanta's been oddly against tight ends and the Chargers are actually really good against tight ends but versus Okonko and Schultz.
Heath
I'm not very interested in Schultz. I still think it's a tough matchup for Schultz against Baltimore. They've been great against tight ends over the last month or so. Okako is the interesting one and so the, the stats are amazing over the last two games and it's really like it's more like the last six quarters because it's been since Mason Rudolph come came in. He's first among tight ends in PPR points per game at 16.5. He's first in total targets among tight ends. 30 target share. That's first two. 2.75 yards per route run. That's second best. He's got 72 yards after the catch. That's great. Some less appealing stats. 8.2 yards per catch, 6.05 a dot. That's very close to the line of scrimmage. That's check down territory. How many end zone targets, how many red zone targets does he have? Zero. How many explosive plays? One. All but five targets were within five yards of the line of scrimmage. He needs to continue to have that volume. If he doesn't have it, you're going to have a game like Brenton Strange has or you're going to get a game with nine PPR points. Sad thing is that nine PPR points could still beat Zach Ertz or Hunter Henry. So I do look at Sugo conquo as a modest floor, high upside PPR play and a starting fantasy tight end.
Dave
I can't imagine starting him over Hunter Henry, though. I mean, Henry's been so consistent. But yeah, it's a bad matchup right.
Adam
Behind that group though.
Dave
Okay. So.
Heath
And then of that group and I, I almost wonder if it, you know, the matchup is going to be harder for the tight ends just because of how the Chargers play defense than it will be for their wide receivers. And plus Austin Hooper is going to take work away from Hunter Henry. Like it's been kind of messy for Hunter Henry lately with Okako. At least we've seen the upside in the last game and a half and I don't, I don't know if Hunter Henry can really touch that upside.
Adam
I don't know. I mean his upside for the Last eight games has been pretty consistent with Drake May. He's had two duds in there. Everything else has been nine and a half or more. So.
Heath
Right. But that could be Okonko's floor.
Adam
James, that could also be Okonko's ceiling. I mean, we're still talking about, you know, you just made all these examples or, or comparisons to what the Bretton Strange situation is. I mean, that's the kind of situation that it could be. And as you said, which I think is the, the best example of this is they could finally run the ball this week. And so if they're playing for the lead, does Okonko have those, those same chances? The Patriots are most likely chasing points. It's a revenge game for Hunter Henry. He's been so involved in this offense and so productive with Drake May, like I made the mistake of going away from last week because he hadn't been doing very much and it wasn't an easy matchup against the Bills defense. That had been good against tight ends. Well, what do you do? He scored again, you know, so.
Dave
Yeah, but he stunk. I mean, you weren't wrong for 39 and a touchdown on nine targets. I think your instinct was, we're talking.
Adam
About, you know, mid level to low, low level, number one tight end. There's no consistency or guarantees on any of these guys. And so what, what, what are you basing it on? And, and again, you could base it on the two game track record of what we've seen with Mason Rudolph starting and check Okonko. It's a little safer than Breton. Strange, because you have at least a two game sample size as opposed to a one game sample size. Plus, Okonko is an elite level athlete, you know, so the lack of explosive plays is a little disturbing that he hasn't done that. But we saw what he did against Houston a few weeks ago, you know, when he took a ball 70 yards and went, you know, for a touchdown. He has the, the only thing that I'm, I'm saying here is I think Henry's safer because we've seen his numbers with Drake May, how he's gotten them. Who cares? He's gotten them, you know, so Okonkwo in six quarters to your point, has been they've getting destroyed by two teams that have much better offenses than them. This is not the case.
Dave
All right, so listen, if you, if you're then a Joku manager, you should probably pick up a tight end, just see what happens. Don't drop Najoku, but just see what happens? TJ Hawkinson or waiver wire, Tight end?
Adam
Waiver wire and Schultz over Hawkins.
Dave
All right. And then Ferguson or Hawkins or. Or like. Yeah, Ferguson or Hawkinson. I guess this Ferguson's available too.
Heath
Yep.
Dave
All right. And then pretty much, you know, you know what to do otherwise. All right, let's talk about some DSTs here. Jamie. If we cannot get the Dolphins or the Colts, who should we be looking at?
Adam
So you have a few different options. I think I like the Rams this week. I wouldn't be surprised if they play very well at home against the Cardinals. The Raiders, as we talked about, have an opportunity to, you know, play a really bad Saints defense. To Dave's point, they have been playing better lately. I think Christian Wilkins coming back, I believe he came back, is. Is a big part of that. And the Seahawks, you know, the Bears don't throw interceptions. That's been a staple of what Caleb Williams has done. But they'll take some sacks, so Seattle on a short week could be good as well.
Dave
Okay, so that was Dolphins 1, Rams 2, Seahawks 3, Raiders 4, Raiders. That's. That is a wild card. But such an appealing matchup against the Saints on the road, unless Derek Carr.
Adam
Does return, then it makes it a little bit better. They could. They could conceivably get Carr, Camara and mvs, for what it's worth, back.
Dave
What about Olave?
Heath
You could also, like, it's up to the Saints if they want to actually do this. Maybe they're doing it to throw a bone to Derek Carr. But if I think if Carr comes back and if Olave feels right, then it's possible that we see them get a bunch of players back for this week's game? Well, did we. Christian Wilkins hasn't been playing since early October.
Dave
Did we skip Olave, though, in the waiver wire segment? I mean, do we need to talk about him?
Adam
I think if to. To what Dave said about the running back situation earlier. Like, if you don't have the ability to get a Jalen McMillan or I, I would put Don Tavian Wicks, you know, not far behind him for this week only. You can pick up Olave and just see what happens and then go pivot to a Zakias, for example, you know, if you need somebody or like Hollywood.
Heath
Brown Odunze, like they're out there, different variations of leagues.
Dave
All right, kickers to stream. Josh Carty, Jason Myers. Will Rikert has been really good. Will Lutz, Zayn Gonzalez. What about McManus? He's been good. How rostered is he just another guy. And you want indoor games. McManus is 78 roster. Never mind. But indoor games are great. Like indoor high scoring games. So will Riker be in one of those? Josh Carty could be in one of those for the Rams. All right, Dave, real quick before we get to Kansas City and Pittsburgh. Some keeper. I know you wanted to talk about keeper league stashes.
Heath
Why don't we save that for an episode of FFT Express?
Dave
Okay, Perfect. Well, it's time for some Wednesday football. That's the punch out music, which always. I get reminded of that by Dave's Thursday night night music. Anyway, Kansas City's at Pittsburgh. Here we go. Love it. Wednesday football. Wow.
Heath
Christmas football Starters why they're playing is because it's Christmas.
Dave
I understand. Starter said Patrick Mahomes.
Adam
Low end starter.
Heath
I currently have him 13th. Keep in mind that I still have, you know, 24 hours of rankings adjusting to do, but low end starting fantasy quarterback. Steelers have given up at least 25 fantasy points to three of the last four quarterbacks they faced. Two of them have been guys that have run a lot. It's Lamar. It's hurt. So obviously I don't think we can expect 25 plus from Mahomes, though he did run for a touchdown last week with a bad ankle. The guy's Superman. I don't know what to say. If you've got him and you're winning with him, you should start him. He's an easy start over Purdy. He's. I, I would start him over Jordan. Love as of now, definitely over Kyler. Gets a little bit trickier when we talk about Bo Nix, Caleb Williams, Sam Darnold, Richardson.
Dave
Oh, how could you start him over Darnold? Is that, That's. I don't know, just my respect for Darnold. I think he's.
Heath
No, no, no. I'm. I'm saying it's tougher there. And I would start Darnold over Mahomes.
Dave
You know, Pittsburgh's defense, when they have faced good offenses on the road, they've been horrible. Washington, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Baltimore, all of those teams scored at least 27 offensive points. I only see two good offenses that they face at home. They gave up 20 points to Dallas and 16 points to Baltimore. It's been a huge difference. I don't know what to make of that. Also, like I said, they are a lot healthier than they were five days ago, even without Porter.
Heath
Well, but that's part of the problem. He's their best corner and if he's out definitely helps Mahomes and we don't know if T.J. watt is T.J. watt.
Adam
Chiefs are also healthier than we've seen in a while offensively and they solved.
Heath
Their left tackle issue by moving Tooney over to tackle from guard.
Dave
I'll be looking at chat questions here, but officially you guys are Richardson over Mahomes.
Adam
Yep. I don't know.
Heath
As official as it can be on.
Dave
Tuesday morning, would you trust the Chiefs running back this week or would you go to a waiver wire guy?
Adam
Waiver wire guy.
Heath
Same. Too many guys in that backfield. Pacheco's working Hunt had the big game last week. P Ryan still working on third downs. Carson Steele is still on the team. It's. It's a mess.
Dave
I'm going to put this question up now so I don't forget it. So we'll just skip ahead to the tight ends. From a question from TB in the chat Dalton Schultz, Chigo Conquo or Travis Kelsey?
Adam
I'm still Kelsey, but my gosh, he's been bad. You know, I, I think for anybody that's made it here with Kelsey, like, I wouldn't get cute.
Dave
I I broke it down on beyond the Box Score yesterday. I mean, I think it's pretty obvious if you watch him run his routes. It's just he's not the same guy. Jacob talked about how Kelsey's doing pretty much nothing. After the catch, Jamie's dog makes an appearance and he did. He only has four end zone targets all season. Yeah, he was wide open in the end zone and was about to get an end zone target against the Texans. And then it was just kind of a weird route that. That. Who was that? Xavier Worthy took? He was whatever. He ended up undercutting the route and dropping the ball and so that would have been a Kelsey touchdown. You'd probably be feeling better about it, but okay, so you heard it.
Heath
It's a tough matchup too. Like, the Steelers have been very good against tight ends. 8.7 or fewer half PPR points to tight ends in seven of the past nine games the Ravens went off against them with their receivers beat up last week. I don't think that that's an indication that Kelsey's going to do great, but he's still a top 10 guy because he's Kelsey plays a lot. You know he's going to be a big time third down target for Patrick Mahomes.
Adam
I just think if you haven't benched him yet, the last thing you want to do is see him have any Sort of good game for Chigo Conquo or right?
Dave
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So let's talk about the Kansas City wide receivers. I asked the guys yesterday, would you start Cooper cup against the Cardinals or Xavier Worthy at Pittsburgh and we struggled with it. We struggled with that one.
Adam
Cup. They're out of the elements like this. There's going to be a huge bounce back game for the Rams.
Dave
I hope you're right.
Heath
I think on ppr, I think I'm ready to go with Worthy. It's full PPR where I could still like. I think it's going to be close between those guys.
Dave
Yeah. I mean, Worthy had 11 targets last week, but that's a lot for him. He's usually in the 6, 7 range. 5 to 7 range, we'll call it.
Heath
Right. Part of the problem with cup is this Rams offense has been rolling with Kyron Williams like crazy. And as long as they continue to.
Dave
Do that, doesn't it just make sense they're going to do that this week?
Heath
What do you mean?
Dave
Just run the ball and just crush.
Heath
They're going to be able to win. Running the ball against Arizona.
Adam
I think they do whatever they want to.
Dave
Yeah, probably. All right, But Worthy, top 30 guy this week.
Heath
Yes.
Adam
He's close.
Dave
Worthy or McMillan?
Adam
McMillan.
Heath
I'll take Worthy.
Dave
Okay. And we're sitting Hopkins and Brown, right? Yes.
Adam
Yeah.
Dave
All right. Over to the other side starter sit Russell Wilson getting George Pickens back.
Adam
Super flex. Two QB leagues at best.
Dave
All right. This past defense stinks though. They're giving up a ton of big plays. Let's see, they gave up 23 points to Aiden O'Connell. It hasn't been that badly. I mean, this has been.
Heath
No, so they gave up a lot to O'Connell and then in the three games after they limited Herbert, the Browns quarterbacks sunk and then Stroud had 20.1 fantasy points last week.
Dave
Yeah, I mean, but like, look what Tank Dell did to them. But sure, fair. All right, so not trusting Russell Wilson. Russell Wilson or Bryce Young?
Heath
Bryce.
Dave
Okay, how about the Steelers running backs? Who's the best running back in this game?
Adam
I'll take both Steelers over both Chiefs.
Heath
I will too. But if I've got to put a name on the best running back in this game, it's Jalen Warren and Jalen.
Dave
Warren or Alexander Madison, Amir Abdullah, etc.
Adam
The Raiders guys over.
Heath
The Raiders guys over everybody in this game.
Dave
Yeah. Okay, fine. Jalen Warren or Gus Edwards? Ppr.
Adam
No, Dobbins. I'll take Gus.
Dave
Not gonna know Wednesday game then.
Heath
I'm taking Warren.
Adam
Then you should play it safe and start one.
Dave
Okay. And George Pickens, where do you guys have him? Ranked against the Chiefs, who are now 18th against wide receivers, but they have allowed 70 or more yards to a wide receiver in seven straight games. Bam.
Adam
Top 20.
Heath
Agreed. I don't want to get too excited about Pickens coming back.
Dave
Right. But would you start him over Garrett Wilson?
Heath
I have them back to back in my rankings. I would take Wilson over Pickens.
Dave
I got some chat questions here about the wide receivers in this game. Worthy or Thielen?
Adam
Feeling.
Heath
I think I'll take feeling in ppr. Non ppr. I might take Worthy.
Dave
So we got like.
Adam
Or we got.
Dave
A lot of dogs.
Heath
Sound effects. Those aren't your dogs.
Dave
Yeah, sound effects. Pickens or Shakir from the chat?
Adam
Picking.
Heath
Yeah, George Pickens.
Dave
Okay. All right, so if we have any other questions about the wide receivers or whatever in this game, you know, fire away. But we like Pickens. And Worthy's a number three guy, and Pat Fryermuth is a sit. Now with Pickens back.
Adam
Yes. Down. Dependent.
Dave
All right, so we're definitely going with the waiver wire guys over him, right?
Heath
Yes.
Dave
Does that include Jake Ferguson?
Adam
Mppr? Yes.
Dave
All right, here are some chat questions. Pickens or McMillan?
Heath
Pickens.
Adam
Pickett.
Dave
Cooper cup or DeAndre Hopkins? Marquis? Brown Cup? Pickens or Jerome Ford?
Adam
Ford.
Heath
I think I'd be more in line with Pickens.
Dave
Pickens or Drake? London.
Adam
Pickett?
Heath
Yes.
Dave
Calvin Austin or Jamie Stock?
Heath
I'll take Orley.
Dave
Sorry. That yap. That yap is so. Is so loud. All right. Do you like a DST in this game?
Adam
Chiefs.
Heath
I do like the Chiefs. Dst. I like. I don't mind either one. I prefer the Chiefs.
Dave
All right. But certainly you could get a better one off the waiver wire, I suppose.
Heath
Well, the Dolphins would qualify. Colts would qualify.
Dave
Yeah. What about the Rams?
Heath
Yeah. I'm not sure if I'm there yet with the Rams.
Dave
Okay. I feel like the Chiefs really have not been that good. They've been okay. They've been okay.
Heath
They've had at least nine fantasy points each of their past four games, 10 plus in each of their last two.
Dave
I mean, I don't really use that. I don't even know.
Heath
It's a basic scoring system.
Dave
All right, fair enough. All right, Baltimore's at Houston. Here's your just for funsies stat of the game. Houston allows the third most yards per carry to quarterbacks, so that's good. Here's your encouraging stat of the game, because I Know a lot of you Joe Mixon managers, you're like, I don't know what to do with Joe Mixon. He has four to six targets in six of his last eight games. The two exceptions were the jets and the Chiefs. Those two teams are currently seventh and sixth. They see the seventh and sixth fewest running back targets in the NFL. Baltimore sees the third most. So I don't know if he's going to be able to run the ball. Well, I'm hoping Joe Mixon is going to catch the ball. Where do you guys have Joe Mixon this week?
Adam
Right around 15.
Heath
He's. I think he's just past 15 for me. He's right in that same range. Oh, he's exactly 15. I could see him falling a little bit. I agree that he should catch a lot of passes, but this is another team with offensive line issues coming at the worst possible time and it's an impossible matchup. He's gonna have to make plays through the air.
Dave
Jerome Ford or Mixon?
Adam
I think they're back to back for me right now. Ford scares me against the Dolphins, but.
Heath
Yeah, he's got a tough matchup too. So I'll take Mixon, but it's close.
Adam
Yeah, I agree.
Dave
Tony Pollard or Joe Mixon?
Heath
I think I'm ready to go. Pollard over mixing.
Adam
It's so hard to trust Pollard, though. A matchup is great. Just how healthy is he? I'll go mixing still.
Dave
All right, Joe Mixon, let's go. Give me, give me one more good week out of you. Start Jackson, Start Henry. Zay Flowers, Actually, Jay Flowers on the injury report. Something to keep in mind here, but assuming he plays, I'm sure it's his.
Adam
Procedural with the short week.
Dave
Yeah, I hope so.
Heath
I hope it is.
Dave
Yeah. What do you think about Zay Flowers coming off a hundred yard game, his first game all season with anywhere between 12 and 18.5 fantasy points? He's. He's been below that or above that every week or 18.4, whatever. And then last week he scored 15.3 fantasy points. So starter sits a Flowers. We talked about Pickens. We talked about Worthy. Where does he fit in with those.
Adam
Guys behind Pickens ahead of Worthy?
Heath
I think I'm going to put him behind Worthy, though. This does feel like a big Derrick Henry monster game and that usually means that, like what he did last week is more the ceiling than the median. So it's a great matchup, man. Houston's allowed eight receivers to get, you know, more PPR points in their past eight games. Worthy had 20 last week, but I'm just. I'm worried about just how much work Flowers will get.
Adam
It's also another island game for Lamar Jackson to enhance his MVP status, you know, so everybody sees him go crazy. Wouldn't be surprised if, say, Flowers has a big game, too.
Dave
You know, once upon a time, Derrick Henry would. Would destroy the Texans. Like he had this stretch of five straight games. 211 yards, three touchdowns, 212 yards, two touchdowns, 250 yards, two touchdowns, 219 yards, two. Two touchdowns, and then only 126 yards and one touchdown. That was from like 2019 through 2022 or something last year against the Texans, if I'm seeing this right. He had 16 carries for 9 yards in one game, and he had 12 carries for 42 yards. So it just happened.
Adam
Last year, the run defense was one of the best in football, and he.
Heath
Was on a completely different team with a loose offensive line.
Dave
It's bringing it.
Heath
Not even a fair comparison.
Dave
Not comparing. I'm just bringing it up. Just. Just a. For another. For fun Z stat. Like he used to. He used to routinely run for over 200 yards against them last year. He was horrible. All right. So sorry. I didn't mean to imply that he's not going to be good. All right. So Zay Flowers or Joe Mixon?
Adam
Flowers and P. I agree.
Dave
Jay Flowers or Adam Thielen?
Adam
Thielen. But that's close.
Heath
I agree. It's close. I think I. I think I'm definitely taking feeling. If it's full ppr, it's half and non. Where I might take Flowers.
Dave
Zay Flowers or DK Metcalf.
Adam
Flowers.
Heath
I'll take Metcalf.
Adam
Okay.
Dave
Metcalf. Pretty interesting matchup as well in Chicago. We'll talk about that game tomorrow. The. Where are we here? We're at the Baltimore tight ends. Mark Andrews. Just start him at this point.
Adam
He's better than kelsey.
Heath
Yes.
Dave
Okay. 10, nine touchdowns this year for Mark Andrews. Pretty good year. C.J. stroud start or sit?
Adam
Sit.
Heath
Sit Stroud.
Dave
Or Bryce Young.
Adam
Bryce.
Heath
Take my chances with Bryce.
Dave
All right. We talked about mixing start. Nico Collins. Any sleepers at wide receiver for Houston.
Adam
Robert woods is probably the best bet of the next guys unless they, you know, force Deontay Johnson in there, which would be a surprise on a short week. So very, very, very, very, very, very, very desperate situation.
Heath
I. I would lean toward Mechi over Woods and Schultz would be a sleeper as well. This, I'm thinking more for like Christmas Day dfs for those who cherish the warmth and joy of Christmas DFS games.
Dave
I'm probably gonna have to start Schultz over Najoku because it's Wednesday and I don't hate Schultz. I mean, he's been good and he's.
Adam
Been great in two of and you've said it, and the numbers are there. It's, you know, the floor is not bad. He's been right around nine PPR points for a good stretch of games. So the matchup isn't easy by any stretch. But the opportunity now, and you know they're going to be chasing points.
Dave
All right, yeah, I'll try to make a case here for Schultz. So he has seven to eight targets in three of his last five games. With Nico Collins back, he had four targets against the Dolphins. C.J. stroud threw only 26 passes in that game. He had a 31 target share in the second half last week. And Tankdale got hurt, like right at the beginning of the second half. All of the targets were in the SEC. We're in the third quarter for what that's worth. But 31 target share, basically without Tank Dell last week. So that's the encouraging stuff. And he has had this decent floor, the discouraging stuff. He has two end zone targets. He had two end zone targets last week. That's another encouraging thing. But he has three all season and he has two targets from the 10 yard line or closer all year. So he just hasn't been used in a good way. I'm just hoping that with Tankdale out there, and I'm expecting Baltimore to score a lot of points, so, you know, you could see a game script that's favorable to Dalton Schultz, but it's not, it's not a big endorsement here. Again, like I'm going to be forced to start him in a league I wish I didn't have to.
Heath
He's. He's a top 12 tight end who you're starting for the floor, not the ceiling.
Dave
And the Ravens defense just has been a lot better since. Since that Cincinnati game where Jamar Chase just destroyed them and scored 55 points. They've just been a lot better against everyone, basically. Quarterbacks, receivers and. And tight ends.
Adam
It's also helped who they played.
Dave
Yeah, Yeah. I mean, I could guess the list.
Adam
If anybody cares, but Steelers games, Giants game.
Dave
Yep.
Adam
Yeah.
Dave
Russell Wilson, Justin Herbert. Oh, Jalen Hurts. Jalen Hurts scored 18 fantasy points against them, but I think he threw 19 passes. A.J. brown had a bad game, but again, I think it was 19 passes. You're right. The competition has has been easier.
Adam
Not that this is great competition but you know, again, you know you're looking at we we are in week 17 and you're hoping for somebody to replace David Najoku or you're hoping for somebody to get you from Brenton Strange to somebody else. You know, so that that's there's no guarantee Dalton Schultz is going to be good, but two of his last three games he scored a touchdown. They need somebody right now like the there's a path.
Dave
How do you feel about the Ravens dst Love them.
Adam
They are very good behind the Colts and behind the Dolphins for me but.
Heath
They'Re ahead of everybody else but the Colts and the Dolphins for me.
Adam
Yep, same.
Dave
They're third Sorry. Oh, there was a name that I did not say throughout the show and I apologize. I just want to get your thoughts on Tajie Spears who's also a waiver wire running back at available. Like forget about him in the context of this game but just Tajie Spears back to the randomly of the waiver wire. Final thoughts there.
Adam
Way to circle back. I mean he's behind Gus Edwards and Amir Abdullah for me but he's, you know, been amazing for the last two games. It's just so fluky because he's got three touchdowns over, four touchdowns over that span. The, the reception totals are good. They're not great. So Abdullah is doing a better job catching the ball if you're looking at that. The only thing is is do they shut down Pollard? You know and, and I think that's the that's still on the table, you know, for guys been gimping around and not practicing for a team that's out of it. Did he get to his thousand yards yet?
Dave
Oh, I don't know.
Heath
I'm checking.
Dave
But by the way, that's what Alvin Camara wants. Alvin Camara has never had a thousand yards so he might force his way back.
Heath
FYI,017 yards for Tony Pollard.
Adam
He did not would not be surprising if we get to this game Sunday or Monday or Tuesday or what day is the game Sunday. We get to Sunday and you know Pollard hasn't practiced and oh by the way, he's inactive for this week so just take that into account.
Heath
That would make TJ Spears like maybe like a top 15, top 13 type of fantasy running back if there's no Tony Pollard. I think the one worry with Spears is if Pollard plays what is Spears role if the Titans are playing with elite.
Dave
Yeah.
Heath
How much work does he actually get? He won't see nearly as many targets if that's the case.
Adam
Right.
Heath
But any, anything short of that game script and Taije Spears is going to be pretty good.
Adam
To that point though he did have a first quarter touchdown against the Bengals. Rushing touchdown. So they gave him that chance early in the game. It, it's such a wild card.
Dave
Yeah, that game's on. That game's today, actually. All right. But I don't know if you guys heard on the broadcast Alvin Camara has the most rushing yards in NFL history without having a thousand yard season. Pretty sure that's what they said. So.
Adam
Wow.
Dave
Yeah. Pretty cool stat there. Thanks for watching. Listening everybody.
Adam
You know what though? Like I, I might want that designation if I'm him.
Dave
Like, yeah, it's a cool, it's a cool designation. Yeah.
Adam
Like, okay, I never ran for a thousand yards, but look how many yards I did get.
Dave
Yeah, I have the. And he could just say I have the most rushing yards in NFL history and then he could just trail off and not say the rest of it. We're out of here. We'll talk to you tomorrow. We've got a normal schedule this week, so we'll talk to you Christmas morning, previewing the Thursday night game and doing some tough calls for week 17. Have a good one, everybody. Paramount Podcasts Hey, CBS Sports podcast listeners, are you looking for the best sports sportsbook promos and reviews? Search for CBS Sports Betting to find the latest, including betting tips and trends. Again, just search CBS Sports Betting in your browser and you'll have everything you need to know before you bet.
Podcast Summary: Fantasy Football Today – Week 17 Waiver Wire and Start or Sit for KC-PIT and BAL-HOU!
Release Date: December 24, 2024
Hosts:
In this special Week 17 episode of Fantasy Football Today, host Adam Aizer and analysts Dave Richard, Jamey Eisenberg, and Heath Cummings delve deep into the crucial waiver wire pickups and start-or-sit decisions for the key matchups between Kansas City and Pittsburgh (KC-PIT) and Baltimore and Houston (BAL-HOU). With playoff implications looming, the team provides listeners with expert strategies to optimize their lineups and secure those championship bragging rights.
The episode kicks off with an in-depth discussion on the top waiver wire pickups for Week 17. The analysts emphasize the importance of securing defensive special teams (DSTs) facing vulnerable offenses and highlight key running backs who could provide significant value in the final stretch.
Top Waiver Wire Targets:
Additional Considerations:
Notable Quote:
"We think he's okay to pick up. It's not like Ramandre is going to be completely irrelevant in all likelihood, but you should be aware of that situation." — Dave Richard ([02:17])
The analysts provide tailored advice on which players to start or bench based on their current performance, matchups, and injury statuses.
Antonio Gibson: Dave Richard notes, "You should listen to FFT Express for the latest on Antonio Gibson," indicating a more detailed discussion elsewhere. However, he reassures listeners that Gibson remains a viable option. (Dave, [02:17])
Ramandre Stevenson: With four consecutive fumbles, there's speculation about a potential benching. The consensus is cautious optimism but recommends keeping him in the lineup for now unless trends worsen.
Dak Prescott vs. Jalen Hurts:
Notable Quote:
"Do you think it's fair? No, it doesn't feel fair." — Dave Richard ([04:07])
Staying ahead of injuries is crucial in fantasy football, and this episode provides comprehensive updates:
Notable Quote:
"Tyrone Tracy has agonized his ankle injury, so we're looking maybe at Devin Singletary." — Dave Richard ([17:57])
The panel assesses tight ends like Hunter Henry, Zach Ertz, Dalton Schultz, and Chigo Conquero for their Week 17 viability.
Notable Quote:
"I do look at Sugo Conquero as a modest floor, high upside PPR play and a starting fantasy tight end." — Heath Cummings ([50:32])
Selecting the right DST can make a significant difference, especially in the playoffs.
Primary Options:
Strategy: Prioritize DSTs facing weaker offenses or those with advantageous matchups. Additionally, consider blocking opponents from acquiring high-value DSTs.
Notable Quote:
"It's such a wild card how these DSTs are performing, especially facing the Browns and Giants." — Dave Richard ([12:55])
Streaming kickers based on matchups is a common strategy in fantasy football.
Notable Quote:
"Early season kicker streaming is all about targeting indoor, high-scoring games where kickers have more opportunities." — Heath Cummings ([53:17])
A pivotal matchup with playoff implications:
Patrick Mahomes vs. Steelers Defense:
Waiver Wire QS: Analysts debate starting Mahomes versus alternatives like Kyler Murray, ultimately advising flexibility based on matchup specifics.
Notable Quote:
"If you have him and you're winning with him, you should start him. He's an easy start over Purdy." — Heath Cummings ([56:22])
Another critical game influencing the final league standings:
Joe Mixon vs. Derrick Henry:
Fantasy Impact: Decisions hinge on Mixon's ability to secure both rushing and receiving yards against Houston’s improved defense.
Notable Quote:
"He's gonna have to make plays through the air." — Heath Cummings ([66:55])
Listeners' queries are addressed, offering personalized advice on tight end pickups and other roster decisions:
Notable Quote:
"If you're here and you still need help, you don't know how to play." — Dave Richard ([41:56])
As the playoff battles intensify, this episode of Fantasy Football Today equips listeners with the knowledge and strategies needed to make informed decisions. From pinpointing valuable waiver wire targets to navigating tricky start-or-sit scenarios, Adam Aizer and his team provide actionable insights to help fantasy managers secure their league championships.
Final Thoughts:
"Remember, in the final weeks, every waiver wire pickup and every start-or-sit decision can make or break your season. Stay informed, stay flexible, and may your fantasy lineups be ever in your favor." — Jamey Eisenberg
Remember to Tune In: Stay updated with the latest fantasy football advice by subscribing to Fantasy Football Today. Whether you're a seasoned manager or a newcomer, our expert analysis will guide you through the final stretch of the season to emerge victorious.