Worryometer and Pumped-Up-O-Meter! Playoff Schedules, Jacob Gibbs League Winners, BUF-HOU (11/19 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Summary

Fantasy Football Today – Episode Summary

Episode Title: Worryometer and Pumped-Up-O-Meter! Playoff Schedules, Jacob Gibbs League Winners, BUF-HOU (11/19 Fantasy Football Podcast)
Date: November 19, 2025
Hosts/Analysts: Adam Aizer, Dave Richard, Jamie Eisenberg, Chris Towers, Frank Stampfle, Jacob Gibbs

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Overview

This episode brings the energy with the debut of the “Pumpdometer” (aka Pumped-Up-O-Meter) and the return of the “Worryometer.” The crew debates which players fantasy managers should be truly excited—or worried—about for the rest of the season, giving special attention to playoff schedules and potential league-winning sleepers. Analyst Jacob Gibbs joins the show to highlight advanced stats and discuss sneaky league-winning players. The show also features a detailed Thursday Night Football primer for Bills-Texans, and listener Q&A to round out a dynamic, high-spirited episode.

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Main Themes and Segments

1. Pumped-Up-O-Meter & Worryometer: Getting Excited and Anxious for the Stretch Run

• Hosts trade favorite “get pumped up” songs as an icebreaker.
• First use of the “Pumpdometer” to rate excitement, paired with the classic Worryometer (02:02).
• Rest-of-season outlooks: Focus on how player value shifts with schedules and roles, as fantasy playoffs loom.

Quotes:

• “Get pumped up, baby. Welcome to Fantasy Football Today presented by BetMGM. Make it legendary.” – Dave Richard [02:02]
• “Who are you worried about? Who you pumped about?” – Adam Aizer [02:13]

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2. Fantasy Playoff Schedules & Key News Updates (03:31–07:00)

Highlights:

• Schedules:

  • Travion Henderson, Rhamondre Stevenson both have friendly running back matchups ahead.
  • Jonathan Taylor (Colts) faces a tougher stretch.
  • Tyler Warren (Steelers TE) gets four of the bottom-8 defenses against TEs.

• Injuries/Returns:

  • Aaron Rodgers and Jalen Warren may play this week.
  • Ken Walker is slated for more touches.
  • Dalton Kincaid, CJ Stroud, and Jalen Pitre all ruled out; Josh Jacobs and Jaden Reed could return.

Quote:

• “Travion Henderson’s next three games are against the three worst teams against running backs…so that’s cool for him.” – Dave Richard [02:36]

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3. Pumped About: Rest-of-season Risers (07:00–08:57)

• Heath Cummings: Jameson Williams (Lions WR) – Top 15 WR this week, Top 20 ROS upside, especially strong with Laporta banged up and great dome schedule.
• Listener Input: The crew also reacts to players submitted by listeners.

Quote:

• “He’s a Top 15 wide receiver for me this week and probably a Top 20 rest of season. He might be better than that.” – Heath Cummings on Jameson Williams [07:19]

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4. Worryometer: Concern Level for Notable Names (08:57–17:10)

Key Points:

• Chargers:

  • Running backs, particularly Amani Hampton: uncertainty regarding return, split with Najee, a tough schedule.
  • Quentin Johnston (hold), Keenan Allen (drop).
  • Rondae Gadsden (TE): Target share steadily declining, bad TE matchups incoming.

• Travion Henderson:

  • Exciting RB schedule, but major concern about workload split after Rhamondre Stevenson returns.
  • Passing-game role shrinks when Stevenson plays.

Quotes:

• “It’s hard to have a lot of confidence in the Chargers right now.” – Adam Aizer [10:58]
• “Trayvon’s got more juice to him obviously, but…we’re going to see Treon lose route rate, lose snap share, certainly lose goal line carries.” – Frank Stampfle [14:19]

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5. Schedule Deep Dives & Fantasy Impact (19:20–22:58)

Teams Discussed:

• Saquon Barkley: Much better schedule rest of season, but line injuries & Tush Push sniping TDs.
• Detroit Lions: Indoors until Week 18—great for skill players.
• Arizona RBs (e.g., Trey Benson): Brutal upcoming matchups (Rams, Seahawks, Jaguars, Bucs).
• Ashton Genti, Brock Bowers, Trey McBride: Notable for tough or soft schedules.
• Chargers, Colts, and more are all analyzed for rest-of-season schedule context.

Quotes:

• “Does the schedule matter to you guys for Barkley? … Sure.” – Dave Richard [19:57]

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6. Listener Mailbag: Pumped-Up & Worryometer, 0–10 Ratings

Player Ratings & Panel Consensus:

[25:52]

• Breece Hall (Worryometer):

  • Adam: 4–5
  • Chris: 5–6
  • Frank/Dave: Slight concern, but Hall still a start.

• De’Von Achane (Pumped-Up-O-Meter):

  • All Panelists: 10/10–12 billion—fully “pumped up”.

• David Montgomery (Worryometer):

  • Chris: 6–7
  • Adam: 5
  • Panel: Schedule not as great as it looked.

• Jaden Reed (Pumped-Up):

  • Adam: 2 (need to see it first)
  • Panel agrees: wait and see.

• Justin Jefferson vs. Tee Higgins ROS:

  • Panel leans “Higgins” given JJ McCarthy’s struggles as QB.

Notable Quotes:

• “Devon HN, pumped up o meter: 10, 12 billion!” – Dave Richard [26:02]
• “Who would you rather have rest of season, Justin Jefferson or T. Higgins? … Higgins.” – Chris Towers & Adam Aizer [28:34]

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7. Thursday Night Football Primer (Bills @ Texans) – [43:39–54:58]

Buffalo Notes

• Josh Allen:

  • Tough defense, but still “Superman.” Start him, but lower ceiling (top-6 QB).
  • Quote: “He’s amazing himself. We literally, Jamie just literally referred to him as Superman…He’s probably going to be responsible for every touchdown the Bills have.” – Frank Stampfle [45:36]

• James Cook:

  • Start, but Texans run D has limited several RBs below 12 PPR points this season.

• Khalil Shakir:

  • Flex-worthy, especially with a depleted WR corps.

Houston Notes

• Woody Marks (RB):

  • High upside as RB2/flex vs. Bills run D, though inefficient. “Leap of faith” play.
  • “You have to be optimistic. I mean, you know, the third string running back for Tampa Bay if you want to, whatever category you want to put them in, just went for a monster day against them.” – Adam Aizer [48:16]

• Nico Collins:

  • Official “top-12” WR by consensus.

• Jaden Higgins:

  • Deep stash; matchup vs. Buffalo offers intrigue for bench depth in deeper leagues.

• Dalton Schultz:

  • Sit if possible vs. Bills’ elite tight end defense. Start only if no alternatives.

• DST Decisions:

  • Texans and Bills both low-end startable options; slightly prefer Houston.

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8. Jacob Gibbs’ Advanced Stat Deep Dives & League Winners – [58:12–71:47]

Featured Players (“League Winners”):

• Jameson Williams (Lions WR)

  • Drastic horizontal route usage increase under Dan Campbell; targets and explosive plays rising, especially without Sam LaPorta.
  • “Jamo has a 45% horizontally breaking route rate over the two starts with Dan Campbell…49% more likely to draw a target.” – Jacob Gibbs [59:51]

• Chris Rodriguez (Commanders RB)

  • Top-5 in yards after contact per rush; high success rate, solid stash with some favorable late-szn matchups.

• Kareem Hunt (Chiefs RB)

  • Elite “rush success rate” and excels in short yardage; ultra-TD-dependent, but valuable if injuries strike.

• Stefon Diggs (Patriots WR)

  • Outstanding advanced stats; top 5 in first downs per route run and yards per route run. If routes increase post-bye, could explode for fantasy managers in playoffs.

• Chris Olave & Juwan Johnson (Saints)

  • Saints’ schedule is #1 for WRs rest of season, with volume funneling to Olave/Johnson. Both could post top-10 positional numbers down the stretch.

Quotes:

• “First downs have been more predictive of future fantasy scoring than previous season fantasy points per game…Stefon Diggs has been really, really good on a per route basis.” – Jacob Gibbs [66:04]
• “If you have to put [Kareem Hunt] in because you have injuries, then you’ve got a decent chance you’ll get a touchdown.” – Jacob Gibbs [65:24]

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9. Other Noteworthy Topics and Memorable Moments

• Fantasy playoff defense stashes: Jaguars and Buccaneers DST are sneakily valuable for upcoming matchups. [56:41]
• Scott Fish Bowl Playoffs: All panelists—by the skin of their teeth—make it in; Chris Towers wins a literal “last man in” spot by 0.16 points. [42:02]
• Running “get pumped up” song jokes throughout, including Jacob’s Kansas City Chiefs “Red Kingdom” pick. [72:10]
• Ongoing “pumped” vs. “pumped up” banter and jokes. [16:37, 41:45]

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10. Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |-------------------------------------------|------------| | Main Theme Open, Pumpdometer Introduced | 02:02 | | Playoff Schedule News/Notes | 03:31 | | Players Panel Pumped About | 07:00 | | Chargers Worries, Schedule Deep Dive | 08:57 | | Travion Henderson, RB Splits | 12:16 | | Schedule Rundown, Barkley & More | 19:20 | | Listener Mailbag: Worryometer, Pumped Up | 25:52 | | Thursday Night Football Primer | 43:39 | | Jacob Gibbs League Winner Deep Dives | 58:12 | | Jacob’s Top Advanced Stats & Analysis | 65:07 | | End/Outtro | 73:39 |

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Conclusion

This episode arms fantasy managers with deeply contextualized advice for late-season dominance, balancing data-driven optimism (Jameson Williams, Chase Brown, Chris Olave) with healthy concern (Chargers offense, Justin Jefferson, David Montgomery). The discussion blends sharp analysis, good-natured humor, and actionable insight—supported by stats from Jacob Gibbs and lived experience from the veteran FFT team.

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Did You Miss?

• Top late-season league winners (Gibbs): Jameson Williams, Chris Olave, Chris Rodriguez, Kareem Hunt, Stefon Diggs.
• Injury/schedule status: Travion Henderson splits, Breece Hall volume fluctuation, cautious optimism for Bills/Texans Thursday Night showdown.
• Memorable banter: The crew’s “get pumped up” song picks, and Chris’s razor-thin Scott Fishbowl playoff clinch.

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Transcript

[Adam Mazer]

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[Chris Towers]

Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports.

[Dave Richard]

What a play. Can you believe this?

[Draymond Green]

No, I can't.

[Chris Towers]

It's time to dominate your fantasy league.

[Dave Richard]

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

[Chris Towers]

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

[Dave Richard]

Get pumped up, baby. Welcome to Fantasy Football today presented by BetMGM. Make it legendary. What's that look all about Dave, you're not pumped up?

[Frank Stampfle]

I'm pumped.

[Adam Mazer]

Yeah.

[Dave Richard]

We got the pumptometer for the first time ever, I think talking about players, we're pumped about rest of season. Plus, also, it's Wariometer Wednesday. So who are you worried about? Who you pumped about? Did you know that? You didn't know this? When I was on my high school soccer team, I had a mix, a CD that I made called Get Pumped up and my friend and I would listen to it to get pumped up for the game. Yeah. First track was Gorilla Radio by Rage against the Machine. Does that get you pumped up or what?

[Frank Stampfle]

That's a good one.

[Dave Richard]

There you go.

[Frank Stampfle]

I was figuring that you'd have like Pump up the Jam as one of the songs on yours and not Gorilla Radio. So I'm kind of. I'm mildly impressed that you would ever age against the machine on your Pumped Up Jam mix.

[Chris Towers]

There was one song that I listened to before every basketball game.

[Dave Richard]

Ooh, who was it?

[Chris Towers]

And it was really just like the first 45 seconds. And I just want the chat to think about mid-90s ultimate get pumped up song.

[Frank Stampfle]

Like this is signed by Collective Soul.

[Chris Towers]

This is the right answer and somebody in the chat's going to get it. I don't think I need to give any more clues than that.

[Dave Richard]

No, it's the name of it's ready to go by.

[Chris Towers]

Is that Veruca Salt came out in 1994?

[Dave Richard]

No, it's not. For Cassal who sings that. Really?

[Chris Towers]

It's not Limp Bizkit.

[Dave Richard]

All right, we'll think about it. We'll think about it. This is a fun topic where you Get Pumped up songs. Jamie Eisenberg is here. I'm pumped up because Jackson Dart might play this week. I'll go through the news and notes quick view. We're going to look at schedules a little bit too. A repeat of what we talked about last week, but this is probably our last trade show, so. Or we're just talking about rest of season value here. Now Travion Henderson's next three games are against the three worst teams against running backs, Cincinnati Giants, then A Buy, then Buffalo. So that's cool for him and Ramon Dre Stevenson as well. Jonathan Taylor and the Colts in general have a pretty challenging schedule down the stretch. We'll see if it matters to us. We'll talk about that. But Tyler Warren next two games are against teams that are pretty good against tight ends. Tyler Warren his last four games. His opponents ranked 31st, 30th 25th and 31st against tight ends. So that's pretty cool. And more of that kind of stuff coming up. What song that he listened to? All right, News and notes. Jamar Chase's suspension was upheld. But, hey, Jamie, guess what? Mike Kasicki is eligible to return this week. Boy, wouldn't that. Remember how good Gasicki was whenever someone was out last year?

[Frank Stampfle]

What.

[Dave Richard]

What would that mean to you if Kosiki actually got on the field against the Patriots?

[Adam Mazer]

It would mean I wasted fab on Noah Fant last night. I think in. In the case of Gaseki. Yeah, it was. It was T. Higgins. It was. It was fantastic. So that was with Burrow. So we'll see if that matters for Flacco. But I think at this point, I wouldn't. I wouldn't panic if you picked up fan. I would just keep an eye on the news and see what happens.

[Dave Richard]

Okay.

[Chris Towers]

Sean has got the band correct. We'll see if he can get a song.

[Dave Richard]

Is it that stupid song?

[Chris Towers]

I don't know what that was.

[Dave Richard]

It's corn that they. They do that, like, weird thing. He got the band, right, so.

[Frank Stampfle]

Freak on a leash.

[Dave Richard]

Freak on a leash. Yeah. Is it Freak on a leash.

[Jacob Gibbs]

Okay.

[Dave Richard]

Aaron Rodgers and Jalen Warren are both in play for this week. They could play. Alex Highsmith is also going to practice this week. One of their best edge rushers for Pittsburgh at Chicago. What do you make of this Will Howard stuff, Dave, backup quarterback, maybe. Like, could he actually be the quarterback instead of Mason Rudolph?

[Frank Stampfle]

I'd be surprised if it's anybody other than Aaron Rodgers.

[Adam Mazer]

Okay.

[Dave Richard]

And he was it. Blind by Corn.

[Chris Towers]

Congratulations, Hugh.

[Dave Richard]

Never heard that song.

[Chris Towers]

Just listen to the first 45 seconds here. You'll be ready to go.

[Adam Mazer]

All right.

[Dave Richard]

Ready to go. Josh Jacobs could play this week. So. Yeah, we knew it yesterday. There's a possibility that the waiver wire would be a dot, and we don't know that it will be. We don't know. But Jalen Warren and Josh Jacobs, they're still in play for this week. Jaden Reed could practice today. That'd be interesting. Jackson Dart. This is what I'm pumped up about. Just got this, Saw the news just before the.

[Jacob Gibbs]

The show.

[Dave Richard]

Jackson Dart could play this week. He's going to practice today, so that'd be cool. Ken Walker could be in line for more work. His head coach was talking about how he's earning more opportunities. Dalton Kincaid missed practice. Don't count on him playing at Houston. And Houston ruled out.

[Adam Mazer]

He's already been ruled out.

[Dave Richard]

Oh, he has been ruled out. Okay, so I would say don't count on him then. Kincaid. Houston safety Jalen Petrie is going to miss his third straight game. C.J. stroud is going to miss his third.

[Adam Mazer]

I'm sorry, the Texans guys are ruled out. The Bills guys have not been ruled out yet.

[Dave Richard]

I knew it. But Kincaid probably not going to play. And yeah, Stroud out, Petrie out. And Kaimi Fairbairn is actually expected to play. All right, players that you're pumped about. Heath, I know you've got, you've got.

[Chris Towers]

At least I always prepare for your questions, Adam. I just, I really sit around and wait for you to send emails asking me to think of new things and I was really pumped to answer. Jameson Williams, like the the Jameson Williams with Dan Campbell experience is just so much better. There's been lots of stuff on social media. I know Jacobs put some stuff out there about the in breaking routes, the horizontal routes that he's running with Dan Campbell. He's played two games with Dan Campbell. He's been awesome. He's a top 15 wide receiver for me this week and he's Probably a top 20 wide receiver rest of season. He might be better than that.

[Dave Richard]

And Jacob also put out some stuff on Jameson Williams about and Jacob's coming on, by the way, at the end of the show today to talk about some league winners. He might talk about Jameson Williams, the target per out run rate better without Sam LaPorta throughout his career. And they don't have an outdoor game rest of season until week 18, which doesn't matter for most of you. So that's terrific for, for Jameson Williams. Anybody else got players that we're pumped about because the listeners did submit. So we can just react to those. But if anybody speak now or forever hold your peace. Okay, we'll react to the listener once. But football fans, picture this. You bet on your favorite player to score the first touchdown in the game, but his teammate scores instead. Oh well, if this happens, BETMGM wants to give you another chance at the end zone. With BetMGM Second Chance promotion, you'll get your stake back if your first touchdown scorer scores second instead. That's right. Bet on any pro football player to score the first touchdown of the game and if you're right, you win. And if your player scores second, you get your stake back in cash. With BetMGM Second Chance offer, you have a chance to keep the fun going after the first player crosses the goal line, try a first touchdown, score a wager with confidence today. Bet mgm make it Legendary.

[Frank Stampfle]

All right.

[Dave Richard]

Players were worried about. I gotta say, I'm. I'm worried about the Chargers. They don't have a good schedule. They've got a buy this week. Then the Raiders, which is good. Philadelphia at Kansas City, at Dallas, we think that's good, but maybe not for the run game. Houston in week 17 at Denver in week 18. So they don't have to worry about that. But they still have the Eagles, Chiefs and Texans, and the Raiders and the Cowboys may not even have bad run defenses. So if you're like, oh, Amari, and Hampton's gonna save my season, Jamie, I don't know. How do you. How you feeling about that? And is there any charger that you're confident in going forward?

[Adam Mazer]

Mcconkey still, but, you know, and probably Gatson, just based on how he's performed. But I think in the case of Hampton, we don't know when he's going to be back. We don't know what his, you know, health will be when he's back, and we don't know what the split will be when he's back. If you go back to the start of the season, it was the expectation that he was going split with Naji Harris. And so will they just kind of be cautious with them with that situation, considering Hampton's already, you know, missed significant time with. With a pretty bad injury? So the offensive line is really the biggest concern, you know, as. As far as what we've seen. You know, they've had some success in some easier matchups. You know, you know, I, I'll take the blame for overlooking the Jaguars defense in that one last week and, and just not expecting them to get destroyed like that. But you see what the pitfalls can be when they're not. When he's not protected and they can't run. So more. Most likely, you should still hold on to the. The key Chargers. The. The two that would be questionable would be Quentin Johnston and Keenan Allen, as we spoke about yesterday. And so for me, I'm going to hold Quentin Johnson. I'm going to drop Keenan Allen at this point.

[Dave Richard]

Okay.

[Adam Mazer]

Yeah.

[Dave Richard]

With Gadston, someone wrote in about him saying he was either nervous or worried or pumped about Gatson. I can't remember which one, but has to be nervous.

[Adam Mazer]

I mean, you know, can't.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, it's hard.

[Adam Mazer]

It's hard to have a lot of confidence in the Chargers right now.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, look at his target per route run rate in his last five games. It's been 18.8%, 16.1, 15.2 27.3, 17.2. That's a Ronda Gadsden's target per out run rate. Probably want that to be 20 or better. 20% or better. He hasn't hit that in four of his last five games. And he gets the Eagles. Well, the Raiders are good against tight ends, right? The Raiders are good. The Eagles are great against tight ends. The Chiefs are respectable. They're seventh best. Cowboys, whatever. Houston fifth best. Haven't really been tested. That's his fantasy championship matchup. So I don't know, man, it's, it's a shame. It's a super talented offense so they're gonna be able to get it together down the stretch.

[Chris Towers]

It's such a strange thing to see a, a team with this much talent and fears that at the end of the year they're not going to live up to expectations. It's, it's so weird for the Chargers. Jamie said something though about Hampton and it's the thing that I'm worried about, I think more this week than maybe anybody else is. And it's the splits he's talking about the splits with Hampton and Vidal. I'm just worried about what Ramondre Stevenson means coming back and that first half that we saw in Jacksonville before Basho Tootin got hurt.

[Dave Richard]

Well, on that subject, Heath, someone wrote in I my tweet was tell me who you're worried about and tell me who you're pumped about. And Charlie tweeted back, both are Travion Henderson.

[Frank Stampfle]

So per.

[Chris Towers]

I think that's perfect, right? Yes. Because he has a remarkably good schedule. I think the three best matchups for a running back over the next three weeks.

[Adam Mazer]

I heard that.

[Chris Towers]

And we, I, I tweeted about this yesterday, but we like Rico ran for almost 300 yards in two games, came back, Chuba comes back, he has a 45 Snapchat. Kyle Manangai had like 200 total yards. DeAndre Swift comes back the next week. Manangai has a 38 target share and Mike Vrabel is about as old school as a guy gets.

[Dave Richard]

And also his role, Henderson's role in the passing game, his route participation rate has been about 80%. When, when Ramandre Stevenson's been out the three games before that it was less than 20%. But you know, the start first five or six games or so, it was about 50%. But the, the route participation, the passing game rule. Travion Henderson has really benefited in that regard from Ramandre Stevenson's absence too. So Dave, where you at on, on Travion because yeah, this could go either way. I think you guys said that you'd rather have Trayvon than Judkins on Sunday night show, right?

[Frank Stampfle]

Yeah, but a lot of that to do with just the Browns offense and, and how poor that offensive lines looked and how Judkins doesn't seem to consistently get work in the passing game. I'm a little, I'm a little more worried than excited about Travion Henderson because I don't trust Mike for able to say, oh, all right, we've got this explosive running back. He's made some big plays for us. Let's, let's utilize that when he's got a veteran that he probably just trusts more to run between the tackles. And not that Trevor, not that Ramandre, excuse me, is any good or plays with high efficiency or anything like. But down to down he can tote the rock and hopefully hold on to the football and give them a presence rushing the football. It's a little bit different than Trayvon. Trayvon's got more juice to him obviously, but they don't want to put too much on anybody's plate. And so my guess is that they're going to want to stick with the two headed approach and we're going to see Treon lose route rate, lose snap share, certainly lose goal line carries. That's easy. That, that's going to go right back to Ramandre. Even though that was like the one working inside the 10 was like the one great thing Trayvon did last week, his efficiency wasn't great last week against the jets. And so that makes me a little bit nervous. If he had gone out there and had a bunch of explosive runs, then maybe they do lean into him a little bit more. But I would guess we'll see close to 50. 50.

[Dave Richard]

Okay. You know the other thing that did happen though with Swift and manang guy with and especially with Carolina. Right. Is that after a couple games they realized, okay, Rico Dowdle needs to be our guy and they made him their guy. I don't know if that's really happening with Chicago. They're still kind of splitting, but Swift has had a lot more carries than Manangai each of the last two games. So I think perfect scenario would be they get Cincinnati and the giants the next two weeks. Ramandre struggles again because I think he's averaging 3.4 yards per carry. Henderson's better than him. They both can be good against these terrible matchups. These, well, these amazing matchups, these terrible defenses and then they go into their buy and after their buy, like, you know what? Ramandre is our guy. Maybe that happens. Yeah. Trayon, Trayvon. Trayvon's our guy. Maybe that happens. Wouldn't that be nice, Heath? I'm sure you'll talk about that on FFT Dynasty. What's coming up on FFT Dynasty?

[Chris Towers]

Well, I told you before the show, I don't know what's coming up on FFT Dynasty, but I can tell you that yesterday I had Jeff Blaylock from football guys on. We talked about Dynasty buys for both contenders and rebuilders. We talked about what to do with Drake London if you happen to have him on a contending team like somebody I know who lost Garrett Wilson and Drake London each of the last two weeks. We talked, talked about the Bucks backfield and what you should expect rest of season and next year. It was a fantastic episode. Jeff's a great guest. You should check it out. And as I always say at the end of the show, we'll also talk to you next Tuesday.

[Dave Richard]

There you go. And next week is Thanksgiving week, so we'll have our Thursday episode. We're going to do that on Wednesday night. Other than that, it's a pretty normal week. Wednesday's Wednesday morning show, we'll talk about the Thanksgiving games and the Black Friday game.

[Chris Towers]

Yeah, I thought Tony the Shrimp made a really, really good comment in, in the comments. Every time Adam says pumped instead of pumped up, it's another strike against his anti washed campaign.

[Dave Richard]

I can't really. I cannot dispute that. That is. Yeah, that is a great call. I'm not going to say pumped anymore. It's going to be pumped up. Okay. Anyway, yeah, that's next week. So we'll take a break, talk about some schedule stuff and get to your worryometer and pumptometer. Pumpedometer. Whatever we want to call it.

[Chris Towers]

Pumped up. O meter.

[Dave Richard]

Fine. After this.

[Chris Towers]

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[Dave Richard]

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[Dave Richard]

Welcome back, everybody. All right, I want to just go through some quick schedule things. Get your reactions ready. Saquon, Barkley and the Eagles in general have had a pretty tough schedule today. This year, Barkley's only had three good matchups. Dallas in week one and two against the Giants. His schedule is going to get better. Dallas 28th against running back Chicago Chargers, Raiders, Commanders, Bills. Commanders and bills in week 16 and 17. He's been so bad. Barkley. I think he's RB16 per game or something like that. Are we. Does the schedule matter to you guys? For Barkley, sure.

[Frank Stampfle]

One of the biggest issues that we have with Saquon is his effectiveness when he gets the ball. Here's an opportunity for him to have favorable matchups while still getting a lot of carries. Hopefully finds the end zone a little bit too and can come through at the end of the year for fancy folks. Okay.

[Adam Mazer]

Detroit Johnson matters more to me than the schedule. Yeah.

[Dave Richard]

Lane Johnson out four to six weeks With a foot injury. It's still right.

[Chris Towers]

The line hasn't been as good as it was last year with Lane Johnson and now they don't have Lane Johnson. It's a little concerning.

[Adam Mazer]

And just how annoying was it to see another touch push touchdown Steel get stolen away from? Yeah, or Barkley lose another touchdown to a touch push play last week. Like they couldn't just give him the elbow on the, on the goal line.

[Dave Richard]

Detroit, no outdoor games left until week 18. Three straight home games coming up. We talked about that. That's great. Tyler Warren, I mentioned his schedule was awesome to finish. How about this for Arizona? If you're hoping for Trey Benson to be your savior, the next four opponents for Arizona, this is where they rank in yards per carry allowed to running backs. Fifth, 18th, fourth and third. And that team, that's 18th is Tampa Bay. And we know they can be really good against the run sometimes. That game against Travion Henderson really hurt their, their numbers. But Arizona's got. It's like the Rams, the Seahawks. Who they playing this week? The Jaguars, Rams, Seahawks and Buccaneers in their next four games. Not in that order. Yeah, I don't know. You're going to need some pass game production probably from these guys.

[Chris Towers]

You're gonna need Trey Benson to get off IR before any of it matters.

[Dave Richard]

True, but even if he does, I'm saying it's a tough schedule for him. Ashton Genti has a pretty bad schedule and they don't run effectively to begin with.

[Adam Mazer]

But they don't run.

[Dave Richard]

They didn't last week, that's for sure.

[Frank Stampfle]

They know they can't. That offensive line is toast.

[Dave Richard]

Does it matter to you that Brock Bowers has three games against top six opponents against tight ends remaining?

[Frank Stampfle]

No, I'm still going to start him.

[Dave Richard]

No, I know you're going to start them, but does it make you nerve? You know, maybe. I don't know.

[Frank Stampfle]

The thing, if someone walks into my life and offers me a really good player at a different position in exchange for Bowers, I would strongly consider it.

[Dave Richard]

The thing is, even about like Houston's fifth against tight ends, they really haven't played any good. A lot of good tight ends. I don't even know if they're. They're good defense, obviously. I don't know how good they are against tight ends.

[Chris Towers]

He barely plays tight end.

[Frank Stampfle]

Right.

[Dave Richard]

Okay. Trey McBride. Yeah, he actually does have. Yeah, forget it. He's got Jackson, he's got Cincinnati in week 17. That's the best thing about Trey McBride. He's the man, the best thing about.

[Adam Mazer]

Trey McBride is Jacoby Brissette.

[Dave Richard]

Yes, yes. Kyron Williams still he got through a Seattle week with a solid game. Not great, but solid. He still has Detroit. They're number one against running backs and Seattle left. But Kyron Williams also has some great matchups along the way. And Atlanta in week 17 and I mentioned the Chargers, their schedules. Think so.

[Adam Mazer]

Whatever.

[Dave Richard]

All right. Worryometer and pumped up o meter from our listeners. Taylor is worried about Breeze hall and pumped up about Devon Hn so let's start with Breeze Hall. Let's put Breeze hall on the worryometer. Baltimore, Atlanta, Miami at Jacksonville. I should have said the home road at Baltimore, Atlanta, Miami at Jacksonville, at New Orleans, New England in his next six games to end the fantasy season. Wariometer on Breeze Hall.

[Adam Mazer]

Jamie I'm hopeful that to Rod Taylor will get the offense on schedule and that he'll throw the ball to Bree a little bit more. So the quarterback change should be a benefit. Obviously everything around Breeze hall stinks and so the schedule clearly is going to be hopefully in his favor. I again I, I think it's we said this about Bruce hall last week. Like he's just one of these players. You just have to start unless you have overwhelmingly better options because you know he's going to get touches and you know, I, I know there was the back and forth between Heath and Dave last week about his role in the passing game. Like you know, you saw it two weeks ago and then we didn't see it last week. Like they know if they put the ball in his hands they can't be that stupid that there's going to be good things that happen. And so whether they do that or not is out of our control. You just have to understand that he's got a chance to be 15 to 20 touches on a week to week basis. If they're close enough to the end zone, he should be the guy that, that falls in the end zone and then hopefully they throw him the ball a little bit. So I, I just know for me like I'll start every week almost with him somewhere between 15 and 20 in the rankings and hopefully that's where he stays as opposed to getting pushed down and down and down.

[Frank Stampfle]

It helps the torod Taylor's the quarterback. He won't run quite as much, I don't think as Justin Fields would. And he does have a track record of targeting his running backs. It's like a 22% running back rate over the course of his career and he did it earlier this year against Tampa. So I'm. I'm mildly encouraged by Bristol. I'm not super pumped about him, but I'm. I'm almost barely worried about him.

[Chris Towers]

Very small, very small sample size alert this year. Justin Herbert has a 21.5 running back target share Justin Fields, and Justin fields does to Rod Taylor. 21 or 18.8.

[Adam Mazer]

Okay. Right.

[Dave Richard]

I went back, I looked at his history. Tyrod Taylor, you know, the last few years when he's gotten the starting job, he has done a good enough job throwing the running backs, so. Because he's only started one game this year, but he's played in three.

[Adam Mazer]

Yeah.

[Dave Richard]

And I don't think they. You don't want them to get blown out. Right. Because when they've gotten blown out, he's had no more than 14 carries. Baltimore on the road. That's a concern. But after that, New England. But in week 17. But they. They probably stay in some games. All right, Devoni oh, so what is your worryometer, by the way? 0 to 10 on Breeze Hall.

[Adam Mazer]

4, sir. 4 or 5? Yeah, yeah.

[Chris Towers]

5. 6.

[Dave Richard]

Devon HN pumped up O meter 1012 billion.

[Frank Stampfle]

Yeah.

[Adam Mazer]

Let's go.

[Dave Richard]

Especially with Cincinnati in week 16. Loving it.

[Chris Towers]

All right.

[Dave Richard]

Napoleon is so worried about David Montgomery. Zero to 10 on Montgomery, who's now had one touchdown in his last five games.

[Chris Towers]

Six, seven.

[Frank Stampfle]

So I. I don't mind it.

[Adam Mazer]

Great for him, though, right?

[Frank Stampfle]

The schedule's good for him. Anytime there's a lion to have.

[Dave Richard]

I dispute that.

[Frank Stampfle]

How do you dispute it?

[Dave Richard]

It's great. This weekend against the Giants. Right.

[Frank Stampfle]

You've got to look at the matchups and you say, okay, is this going to be a game that the l going to put up a ton of points and then they'll burst out and put up a ton and Montgomery will be a part of that.

[Dave Richard]

So we'll go through the schedule. Giants.

[Frank Stampfle]

Yes.

[Dave Richard]

Packers. Very good run defense. Dallas, they might have a very good run defense. We'll see.

[Frank Stampfle]

Yeah.

[Dave Richard]

I'm going to lean no on Dallas at the Rams.

[Frank Stampfle]

No.

[Dave Richard]

Pittsburgh. No At Minnesota.

[Adam Mazer]

I guess I take that back. Sketch.

[Frank Stampfle]

Maybe. Yeah, sure. Okay. So now that we've looked at the schedule and we see just how bad it is for him, then whoa.

[Dave Richard]

By love. Dave's a ghost. All right.

[Adam Mazer]

There he is.

[Dave Richard]

Love it. All right. This is from. All right, so worryometer on David Montgomery. Give me a number.

[Chris Towers]

I did. I gave you two numbers.

[Dave Richard]

Seven. Six. Seven.

[Adam Mazer]

Right.

[Dave Richard]

Dave.

[Frank Stampfle]

Seven is appropriate.

[Adam Mazer]

I'll say five. All right.

[Dave Richard]

This is from Chris. He's pumped. Pumped up about Jaden Reed returning. Zero to ten on the pumped up O meter for Jaden Reed.

[Adam Mazer]

Two.

[Frank Stampfle]

Yeah, I gotta see it first. Yeah, yeah, right. I'm blind right now. I can't see a damn thing.

[Adam Mazer]

You and, you and Heath, you both like blind week. Week one.

[Dave Richard]

Jaden Reed had three catches, 45 yards and a touchdown on five targets. But yeah, we, we got to see this first. We did the Trayvon Henderson one.

[Frank Stampfle]

He could get hot, but it's going to take a lot of firing off passes to him from Jordan. Love.

[Dave Richard]

Sean says he's worried about Justin Jefferson and he's pumped about T. Higgins. So I will ask you, who would you guys rather have rest of season? Justin Jefferson or T. Higgins?

[Chris Towers]

Higgins.

[Adam Mazer]

Higgins.

[Frank Stampfle]

Double checking the trade chart. They are back to back on the trade chart. Jefferson like a nudge ahead.

[Dave Richard]

Some really very good comments. So, Jefferson, where are you guys on the Worryometer for Jefferson? Five games with the JJ McCarthy. He has scored 14.8, 11.1, 16.7, 7.7 and 11.1 PPR fantasy points per game. Oh, my gosh, that is so bad. Worryometer on Jefferson Heath.

[Chris Towers]

So, like, in the context of what he's been with McCarthy so far, that's zero. But in the context of where you drafted him, a hundred. I'm not sitting him, so I don't know what that, I don't know how to, how to put that on the scale.

[Adam Mazer]

Okay.

[Chris Towers]

He's not going to help. He's not going to be a wide receiver, one that helps me win a league.

[Dave Richard]

Okay.

[Frank Stampfle]

Nope.

[Dave Richard]

Even though he has Washington, Dallas and the Giants coming up, it's the only.

[Frank Stampfle]

Reason why I'm not as worried about him as I would be with Montgomery.

[Dave Richard]

This is, this is even worse, I feel, than usual. I, I barely see you.

[Frank Stampfle]

Some would say that that's an improvement. Adam.

[Dave Richard]

It's really bad today.

[Frank Stampfle]

Oh, man.

[Dave Richard]

So I, I, let's just leave it like that.

[Frank Stampfle]

Yeah, leave it like this.

[Chris Towers]

We don't need any more graphics. Just, just.

[Dave Richard]

Dave, take us off the screen. I, I keep making this comparison and I want to get your thoughts on it right. Tea McMillan had this quarterback, Bryce Young, who hadn't thrown for 200 yards all year except for one game, and he had been pretty disappointing. He was wide receiver 35 per game going into week 11. Now he's wide receiver 18 per game after having a huge, huge week. Do you and I just feel like J.J. mcCarthy 158 or fewer yards in four or five games. It's almost like you have to try to be that bad, you know, it can't possibly be this bad, right? Doesn't it have to improve just like on Law of Average?

[Chris Towers]

So did it improve for Bryce Young his rookie year?

[Dave Richard]

145 yards a game. 158 yards a game. That's, that's impossibly bad for a drop back quarterback.

[Adam Mazer]

You know, it's just, it's pretty incredible that what Kevin o' Connell has done with almost every other quarterback that he's had and in some short time spans too, like he took Josh Dobbs off the street and made him look somewhat competent. It's just, it's just frustrating. I, I'm sure Thomas has some thoughts on this as a Vikings fan, but like, it's just frustrating like they're not giving him some easier throws for Jefferson or Addison and on top of that, that he's not succeeding having Jefferson and Addison and T.J. hawkinson and Jalen Naylor and just a lot of talent around him. So I, I think like he, he said it best. The, the context of how you have to frame it with Jefferson is you're not going to get a league winner unless something dramatically changes. But at the same time it's like, I don't know where you guys haven't ranked this. Like, I, I know for me, I'm starting Jameson Williams over him, I'm starting T. Higgins over him, I'm starting McMillan over him. Like there, there are scenarios where you could bench him. I, I don't know how many people will actually have the guts to do it, you know, because of what he is and still capable of doing. It's just a matter of like, at some point you have to hope that McCarthy and Jefferson will get on the same page. And clearly if you watch it, you see the frustration. Like Justin Jefferson is going nuts. You know, just how, yes. How, how, how pissed off he is, which you get, you know, especially when you get guys that position that want the ball and want to have success that they're used to. So the schedule is favorable, you know, hopefully the, the, the situation improves. I wonder if, you know, as, as their season's potentially slipping away, like do they consider a quarterback change? I don't think they will, but you know, you wonder if that's crossed Kevin o' Connell's mind at some point.

[Dave Richard]

Okay, let's go.

[Adam Mazer]

Already had the, the, what, you know, may be considered the soft benching for McCarthy with the ankle injury and how long they kept him out.

[Dave Richard]

Sure. Let's go to our next one. It's from Matt Worryometer. He's Worried about Jalen hurts. He's pumped for Chase Brown. Worryometer on Hertz Pumped up o meter for Chase Brown. Dave, give me the worry. Your worryometer number for Jalen Hurts.

[Frank Stampfle]

It's a four because we're still going to start him anyway. But it does seem like Philadelphia is pretty content with, with just leaning on its defense and its run game and winning matchups that way and not saying, okay, we've, we've got to throw the ball 35 times and having Jalen hurts. Air it out. I don't think that they're. I don't think they have to do that and I don't think they want to do that. But there's still, there's still potential every single game for him to tush, push for a touchdown and then throw another one on top of it. Get some rushing yards there too. So he's still a startable fantasy quarterback, but I don't know if the upside on a week to week basis is going to be there.

[Chris Towers]

I mean he's never really. There was one half of a season where he aired it out and he's still been a top five quarterback.

[Adam Mazer]

My.

[Chris Towers]

I'm probably at two.

[Dave Richard]

Okay. It's two bad games in a row for Hertz. Last year he had three bad games in a row. Less than 20 fantasy points around this time. And then he went off in his next two games and then he got hurt. Missed the rest of the regular season. I believe so.

[Frank Stampfle]

Got off to a great start last year too, if I recall.

[Dave Richard]

The difference was last year he was having bad games because Saquon Barkley was going off. This year he's having these occasional bad games because their offense stinks.

[Chris Towers]

There's some, there's some hitch in the offense or like 230 hitches per game that hopefully they'll get figured out.

[Dave Richard]

I don't think I get this.

[Adam Mazer]

That, that's, that's all they run.

[Chris Towers]

They just run. Just A.J. brown hitch.

[Jacob Gibbs]

A.J.

[Dave Richard]

Brown hitch.

[Chris Towers]

Yeah. Which, you know, with his talent, he can't do anything after the catch. So you might as well just stop him. Have him stand still while he catches the ball with his back to the defender.

[Frank Stampfle]

Even if he struggled to run away from people on go routes this year.

[Dave Richard]

All right.

[Frank Stampfle]

I mean, it depends on who's covering him. But that, I think that that's part of the issue. I don't know if they've got the same confidence in him. Burning past people like, that's the devonte Smith rule.

[Dave Richard]

Now let's go to Chase Brown, guys. Let's go to Chase Brown on the pumptometer because it's hard to ignore that, you know, he's kind of like Trayvon Henderson. Honestly, things are looking good right now, but it has coincided in part with Samaj P. Ryan's injury and this big increase in snapshare. And then the question is someone asked in the chat, is Baltimore a tough matchup? Well, that's going to really, I think, determine a lot for Chase Brown because he has Baltimore twice in the next four games. But how pumped are you guys for chase brown, Jamie? 0 to 10, 9.

[Adam Mazer]

I mean, you know, it's, it. He's had two good games running the ball, both of them against Pittsburgh. But really the involvement in the passing game since Joe Flacco has taken over has been the, the thing that's boosted him back into the good graces of fantasy managers. And, and this is going to be an interesting week as well. You know, you're talking about a situation where it's a really good run defense that he's facing. I don't expect P. Ryan to play, but I could be wrong on that. We'll see what the practice reports indicate today. But in the case of, you know, what his role is and knowing that we're going to get Flacco to burrow potentially, or, you know, at least Flacco rest away at the, at the worst case scenario, barring an injury, that this should be what you're expecting. So maybe P. Ryan comes back and, and ruins that. And that's certainly a possibility. I just think that this is who they were last year. This is who they're probably going to be again this year. And, and maybe there's a few snaps that go in a different direction. But you know, this is something Zach Taylor said that, that Chase Brown is their guy and, and they're showing us that. Okay.

[Frank Stampfle]

Yeah.

[Dave Richard]

And actually 4.7 yards per carry or better in four of his last five games. He's, he's run the ball better. Tough.

[Frank Stampfle]

Yeah.

[Dave Richard]

Tough matchup against the Patriots, but that role in the passing game is so good. 14 catches in his last two games. Let's go to Nick's worryometer on Gadsden. We already talked about him. So, Heath, his pumped up O meter is George Pickens. Pickens has a 24.6% target share since CD Lamb returned. How. Where are you on the pumped up O meter for George Pickens?

[Chris Towers]

Seven or an eight probably. It's, it's almost like they needed to see Pickens without Lamb to decide to use Pickens. With Lamb. Because if you remember before Lamb got hurt, it was four or five, maybe six targets in a game for George Pickens. Jake Ferguson was the clear number two. Then Lamb was hurt, Pickens was awesome. Lamb comes back and it's pretty much like George Pickens is still being targeted as if he's a must target guy. So I, I assume that's not going to change. I don't know. I haven't watched enough to see if this is a product of defenses still just take. Trying to take CD Lamb away and it's too easy for him. Maybe defense has stopped doing that, but he's a, he's a top 12 wide receiver.

[Dave Richard]

Okay, look, if he gets it done this week, I think you're gonna have a lot of confidence rest of season. It's a tough schedule though. It's Philadelphia, Kansas City at Detroit, Minnesota Chargers. If you can get through that, you get Washington in week 17 for Dallas on the road.

[Adam Mazer]

I don't think anybody, you know, and the offensive line is starting to get better and healthier and it, it, you said it, Adam. I, I think it might have been the beginning of the season, but it certainly feels like it's playing out that way to whatever extent you want to, you know, make the comp. They're the Bengals this year. You know, they have two great wide receivers. They have a quarterback who's playing well, they have a running back you're going to trust and a defense that at least for the most part this season has been suspect. And so they're going to be in a lot of high scoring games or the ability to put up points just because of how good they are. And so you should feel good about almost everybody. The question is like Jake Ferguson, is he going to be the one that gets kind of left out or is he just touchdown dependent? But based on his, his position, you're probably starting him more times than not. So it just. Schedule really shouldn't be too much of a concern. Maybe you know, the, the highs and lows, you know, in, in the range of what you're expecting that, that week. But starting them on a week to week basis should be a constant.

[Frank Stampfle]

May I put a player on the woriometer?

[Dave Richard]

Yeah.

[Frank Stampfle]

Javante Williams. Yeah, I'm worried about the matchups for him specifically moving forward. Philadelphia's got a great run defense. Kansas City's got one, Detroit's got one. And what is Dallas that Dallas knows that they can put the ball up in the air. I think one of the reasons why you brought up that they were this year, Cincinnati is because their defense was so bad. I don't know if their defense is going to be as bad moving forward. Quinn and Williams made a huge difference. Demarian Overshone made a huge difference. They got healthy in the secondary.

[Adam Mazer]

It was against the Raiders, though. Let's just put it.

[Frank Stampfle]

I know. And then. Not that I expect. I think they're going to play better. Let's just put it this way. I think they're going to play better moving forward all the way around because they're healthier and they added some really good talent. And so that could change sort of the dynamics of game script. But at the same time, if they can't run the ball with efficiency, of course it's going to fall on Dak. And I think that's great for Pickens, I think it's great for Lamb. I think it's okay for. For Ferguson, but it makes me a little bit worried for Javante now, especially if Dak is looking downfield and not checking down. We already have talked about Javante's passing game rule a ton. It's not amazing. There's definitely a chance here where Javante could end up hurting us a little bit. Maybe finish the year as more of an RB2.

[Dave Richard]

Oh, that's. I'm not so worried about the efficiency. He's been pretty efficient all year. He has four catches for 10 yards in his last four games combined. He's the worst receiving running back in football right now. He does absolutely nothing with his targets. I don't really get it, but it's. It's like a trap. He's like Judkins on a better team or something. All right.

[Frank Stampfle]

That's a sad way to put it, but it might be accurate.

[Dave Richard]

Last one here is from Yee. He's worried about Jonathan Taylor's rest of season schedule. I want to know if any of you are worried about it. At Kansas City, Houston, at Jacksonville, they're all top 10 against running back. Seattle, they're 12th at on the road, Seattle, San Francisco, and then Jacksonville again in week 17. Does anybody have any concerns about Jonathan Taylor's finish?

[Frank Stampfle]

I hear a hamster running around.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, it's some. Some stuff.

[Frank Stampfle]

You're gonna see Jonathan Taylor running around a ton, too. I'd be more concerned about the other players in Indianapolis than Jonathan Taylor. You're still going to start him. So he's like a one max on the wariometer.

[Adam Mazer]

Zero, negative 20.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, he's involved in the passing game and he's had tough matchups before and he usually does fine. He scores touchdowns. Although he, you know, not a great game at the Rams, terrible game at Pittsburgh, but, yeah, he should be fine. All right, we'll take a break, and we got Buffalo in Houston when we come back, and then Jacob Gibbs will join the show. We'll be right back.

[Draymond Green]

What's up? It's Draymond Green. I'm back for my 14th NBA season, and my podcast, the Draymond Green show, is back, too. This season, I'm breaking down games, reacting to the biggest NBA stories, and sitting down with teammates, rivals, and culture shapers. And trust me, I'm not holding back on the court or on the mic. Two new episodes every week. New segments, big conversations, real basketball talk for the real hoop heads. Listen to and follow the Draymond Green show wherever you get your podcast. We're back. We're better. Let's get it.

[Chris Towers]

Before I had one more pumped.

[Frank Stampfle]

Go, go, go.

[Chris Towers]

I am pumped. 10 on the pump. Dometer, Frank Stampfle, Dave Richard, Chris Towers, Adam Mazer, Jamie Eisenberg, and by the very skin of my teeth, me. All of us made the Scott Fishbowl playoffs. Congratulations, guys.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, Jamie didn't.

[Chris Towers]

Yeah, I'm looking at the list right now, and it says clinched Jamie Eisenberg.

[Dave Richard]

I. I looked yesterday because I was gonna bring it up, but then I didn't because he didn't make it, but. All right. Well, all right, great.

[Chris Towers]

He scored more points than me, and I made it on points. So I'm pretty sure Jamie's into how close what you said it was by the skinnier 2500. Teams made the playoffs out of about 9,000. I was number two, five zero zero. I looked yesterday morning.

[Adam Mazer]

I'm gonna take Scott right now.

[Chris Towers]

I was 2502 yesterday morning. And then something updated, and I was 24.99. And then something updated, and I was 2501. And then somebody sent me a tweet yesterday afternoon, said, you're in. So I texted. I texted Scott also, and it is accurate. I scored, I think, my highest score of the year in week, whatever last week was, and it was just enough to get me in by 0.16 points.

[Dave Richard]

Wow.

[Frank Stampfle]

You're literally the last team in the fishbowl playoff.

[Dave Richard]

C.H.

[Chris Towers]

Gibson, a chair. Chips in a chair.

[Frank Stampfle]

Hell yeah, dude. Now you're gonna win it.

[Adam Mazer]

It's good to make the playoffs.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, right. All right, well, congratulations to cbs and Frank Stample and Chris Towers are actually. I think Dave moved ahead of Chris, but for a while, they were the top two CBS analysts in the Scott.

[Chris Towers]

Fishbowl, Frank is 118th.

[Adam Mazer]

Yeah.

[Jacob Gibbs]

Overall.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, it's crazy. Well, Dave, Thursday night Buffalo is at Houston. Okay. Second yard in yards per play, first in points per game. That is the Houston defense. Buffalo's offense pretty darn good itself. So Jamie, can the Buffalo offense put up points, have a big game against the Texans on the road?

[Adam Mazer]

I think they're gonna get shut out. It's a bad day for the Bills. Yes, they're put up points. It's just you got to dial back expectations. This defense is fantastic. So Josh Allen I think is like QB6 for me. You're still starting him. I don't think anybody's gonna get cute invention but this is, this is a really tough spot. You know, he's gonna have to, you know, be Superman again. He's certainly capable of that. James Cook's gonna have a little bit of a tough time. I think their run defense is a little bit worse than their past defense. So hopefully he has some success there. And they use him in the passing game like we saw last week.

[Dave Richard]

Week.

[Adam Mazer]

And then it's, you know, Khalil Shakir is. This is a terrible week. It, I don't know about you guys with you did your rankings like. It was tough to get 150 players into the flex rankings this week. It's just with the four teams on a buying injuries. So Shakir is still a number three receiver. Congratulations. Him by the way, just became I don't know if a first time father, but he just had a baby this week. But Shakir did. Yeah.

[Frank Stampfle]

Nice.

[Adam Mazer]

I don't want to trust Terrell Shavers, you know, I don't want to trust Austin Knox. It's really just the three Buffalo players that for the most part I think people haven't been starting to some degree. And so Cook, Allen must start guys. Shakira is a maybe start.

[Chris Towers]

We have a fantastic rankings dispute that I don't want to take part in. But Jamie and I both have Stafford ranked ahead of Alan this week and Dave has Allen as QB1.

[Dave Richard]

Dave, let's drop, let's drop him a little bit.

[Adam Mazer]

Why? I made the playoffs.

[Dave Richard]

Scott, just text me back because he's placed in Houston. You know, they're amazing.

[Frank Stampfle]

Yeah, that's great. He's amazing himself. We literally, Jamie just literally referred to him as Superman. He's gonna have to do that to compete and win this game. He's probably going to be responsible for every touchdown the Bills have.

[Jacob Gibbs]

It's not.

[Dave Richard]

The Texans haven't really faced that many Tough quarterbacks. They Matthew Stafford, 15.6 fantasy points. In week one, we had a 109.1 passer rating. Baker Mayfield, 23.9 in week two. After that, it's Lawrence, Cam Ward, Cooper Rush. Sam Darnold had a bad game, 10.6 fantasy points. Mac Jones scored 20, Bo Nicks, 20.5. Trevor Lawrence again, Cam Ward again.

[Frank Stampfle]

We're wasting time talking about starter. Sit Josh Allen.

[Dave Richard]

All right, fair enough. So some of the. So Heath and Jamie have Alan fifth or sixth.

[Frank Stampfle]

Are you guys going to start Brissette over Josh Allen?

[Adam Mazer]

No, no, I would start Stafford. And golf over this week.

[Frank Stampfle]

Golf's interesting.

[Dave Richard]

And Drake May.

[Frank Stampfle]

Yeah, Drake May is a close one. He's two for me this week.

[Dave Richard]

Okay, James Cook. Is it the same kind of discussion? Are there any concerns here about James Cook?

[Adam Mazer]

Slight. I mean, again, you're most likely starting him and should be, but this is just a tough spot.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, even Christian McCaffrey scored 9.8 fantasy points against Houston. Travis ETN one time, Derek Henry, Ken Walker, J.K. dobbins, Christian McCaffrey, all of them scored fewer than 12 PPR fantasy points against the Texans. That doesn't mean no running backs have been good against the Texans. So you're not going to start Travion Henderson over James Cook or anything like that, are you?

[Adam Mazer]

Oh, no, no, no. But the only one I think that would be out of, I don't say even left field just because he's been playing is Rico Dowdle.

[Frank Stampfle]

That's fair. That's a guy I probably have ranked two highest. Cook.

[Dave Richard]

All right, well, he's top eight for everybody, I believe. And then. Yeah, Shakira, Shakir. And on the other side, Woody Marks, baby. How we feeling about Woody Marks against this terrible Bills run defense? 5.36 yards per carry allowed to running backs. Heath, is this gonna be. Is it Woody Marks? Szn.

[Chris Towers]

I. I am not quite there yet. I think it's very. You're very excited about his potential upside if he's your RB2, but you can't have a lot of certainty with how inefficient he's been as a rusher and how ineffective this Texans offensive line.

[Jacob Gibbs]

Is.

[Dave Richard]

Anybody optimistic about Woody Marks?

[Adam Mazer]

You have to be optimistic. I mean, you know, the third string running back for Tampa Bay if you want to, whatever category you want to put them in, just went for a monster day against them. Granted, different offense and different player. But you know, this is the. This is the time that they should lean on him and use him. You Have a backup quarterback. You're, you know, 6.0 dogs at home. You've just seen every team run on this Bill's defense. Why would you not try and lean on your most explosive running back and see if he can maybe carry you to an upset? So I don't know. I don't think he's. He's not a slam dunk, but he's number two running back. For this week especially.

[Frank Stampfle]

I think they're going to try. We've seen it from them earlier this year when they've gone into a game against a defense that's been terrible against a run, very low rush, EPA allowed. Like they get the memo. And so I'm sure they're going to get the memo and I'm sure they're going to try and run the ball with Woody Marks. But I think he really said it best. The efficiency isn't good. The offensive line isn't good. It's a leap of faith to trust Woody Marks. That being said, he's my RB20 because he's in that same boat of running backs that you don't really want to trust. You're not sure what you're going to get from Judkins, Kenneth Walker, David Montgomery, even though he's got a good matchup. Kareem Hunt, like, he's ahead of those guys.

[Adam Mazer]

For me, Yeah, I started more with Junkins Judkins and Bruce hall, for example, this week.

[Frank Stampfle]

I made the call on hall over Marks this morning.

[Dave Richard]

How about Khalil Shakir in PPR or Woody Marks?

[Adam Mazer]

Marks.

[Frank Stampfle]

I think I have Marks higher.

[Chris Towers]

I probably need to move Shakir down a little bit. I'll still go Shakir in full ppr.

[Frank Stampfle]

The nice thing about Shakir is that he'll play in the slot. He gets a lot of short area targets, so the coverage that he'll see won't be the top corners that the Texans have, or at least just. Texans usually don't move Sting or Lassiter into the slot very much.

[Dave Richard]

It's Woody Marks or. We got a question in the chat. Half ppr. Woody Marks or Kenneth Gainwell? If there's no Jalen Warren?

[Frank Stampfle]

Gain. Well, all the way. I just think Warren's gonna play, but.

[Chris Towers]

We probably won't know that on Thursday, so I think you'll have to start Woody.

[Frank Stampfle]

Right.

[Dave Richard]

Marks or Tyrone Tracy Jr. At Detroit? That's easy.

[Adam Mazer]

Right, Mark Marks.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, you gotta go Woody Marks there. See if there's any more questions. I'll do Woody Marks or do some wide receivers. Woody Marks or Roma Dunes? A against Pittsburgh.

[Frank Stampfle]

I'll take a Duneza.

[Adam Mazer]

I'll take a Dunzer.

[Chris Towers]

That's probably the right move.

[Dave Richard]

All right, how do we feel about Nico Collins this week?

[Adam Mazer]

Good to go.

[Chris Towers]

Let's start top 12.

[Dave Richard]

How do we feel about Jaden Higgins.

[Chris Towers]

This week not starting?

[Adam Mazer]

I think again, you know, your theory, Adam, about stashing Thursday night players makes some sense when there's not guaranteed upside. But there's enough upside that if you have a deep enough bench, like I picked him up in our podcast league, you know, just because there's a deep enough bench, it's a 14 team league. So if he does do something in in the game against Buffalo, that you're gonna be thrilled about it. But clearly he's been starting to show the momentum you like to see from a Rookie wide receiver. Seven plus targets and three of his last four productive in two of those games, you know, in been with two different quarterbacks. So we'll see what happens when C.J. stroud's back. But clearly the phasing out of Christian Kirk and the uptick in production from Chris from Jaden Higgins coinciding at the same time, I don't think is that much of a coincidence that they're trying to get their young, more explosive player going.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, if you didn't see it on CBS Sports Network. I made the point that I don't love. I don't love picking up guys who are playing on Thursday if I don't intend to start them, because once they play on Thursday, you lose a lot of rockster flexibility. If there's something that happens late in the week, if there's bad weather in a game, if there's a late week injury, if there's just a matchup you don't want or somebody that you want to pick up off waivers, that guy on Thursday is locked. You cannot drop him. So it's just something to think about if you don't love a guy that's playing on Thursday. That's why I didn't really pick up Jaden Higgins. I knew I wasn't going to start him this week. So that's just kind of a weird thing for me.

[Adam Mazer]

I think the flip side of that, obviously, is if you have faith in that player and they go off like you've.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, absolutely. All right, we'll talk about Schultz in a second here. Woody Marks or Michael Pittman? Just chat questions. Woody Marks or Michael Pittman?

[Frank Stampfle]

Pittman.

[Chris Towers]

Pittman.

[Dave Richard]

Woody Marks or Alec Pierce and non ppr?

[Jacob Gibbs]

Marks.

[Adam Mazer]

Marks.

[Dave Richard]

I got some good stats on Alec Pierce for tomorrow's show. Looking forward to talking about that. Woody marks or DeAndre Swift?

[Adam Mazer]

Swift, Swift, Swift.

[Dave Richard]

All right. Nico COLLINS Or Tetero McMillan this week? McMillan at San Francisco.

[Adam Mazer]

Yes.

[Chris Towers]

They're back to back for me. I would go, Nico. I don't know how, like, Jamie talked about what a bad week it is. The. The main culprit for me is wide receivers. Like, I think it's actually a pretty decent week at running back. Wide receiver is an abomination. I can't imagine you're sitting one of those guys.

[Dave Richard]

All right. And then finally, Dalton Schultz. Jamie, toughest matchup in fantasy for tight end starter set.

[Adam Mazer]

I would try and set him, but again, you know, you're talking about a guy that's heavily involved in his offense and hopefully will continue to get targets. Just what we've seen, you know, exhibit A was last week tight end that no one drafted that had been playing well. A big part of his offense completely taken out of the game. Like, they're just good at. At doing this, you know, So I thought Kate Otten would play well last week. I'm not going to fall for it again. I hope Dalton Schultz does well. I have him in several leagues. I'm forced to start him this week in several leagues. I just think, like, if you can pivot to Juwan Johnson, do so. If you can. You know, if you. If you started Schultz over Kyle Pitts. I had it ranked that way last week. I would go back to pits this week just based on the matchup. It's just going to be tough for Dalton Schultz. There's no way around it, but Buffalo is fantastic. Tried and True under Sean McDermott. More times than not, they just takeaway Titans.

[Chris Towers]

But I think the key point there is Johnson's probably the one guy off the waiver wire. You'd find that we would start over him.

[Frank Stampfle]

There's not still out there in 40 elites, right?

[Chris Towers]

Not. Not many. Many other options.

[Dave Richard]

Okay, well, let's just say you have two tight ends. Would you start Harold Fannin Jr. Or Dalton Schultz?

[Adam Mazer]

Fan.

[Frank Stampfle]

Schultz.

[Chris Towers]

I've got Schultz.

[Dave Richard]

Fannin has also a bad matchup. It's not Buffalo, but they're at Las Vegas. Would you start Theo Johnson at Detroit or Schultz.

[Adam Mazer]

Theo Johnson Schultzes of now.

[Dave Richard]

Oh, come on, Dave. You could have said it. I was giving you a chance there.

[Frank Stampfle]

Don't believe it.

[Dave Richard]

Texans dst. Bills dst. Who's.

[Adam Mazer]

Who do you prefer the team playing? Davis Mills.

[Dave Richard]

Oh, man. But the Texans are. They have been good every single week. They were good. At the Rams against the Bucks, at Seattle against the Niners, against Denver. Every single week, they've been good.

[Chris Towers]

I have the Texans, I think, 12, and the bills 13.

[Frank Stampfle]

I have them both top 12. I can make the case for Bills, though, over the Texans.

[Jacob Gibbs]

All right.

[Dave Richard]

The Bills have not been a very good fantasy dst. They don't give up a lot of points, but they don't. They're not doing the things that the DSTs need.

[Chris Towers]

I mean, the real key is it's directly correlated to Woody Marks. If Woody Marks has a good day running the ball, Davis Mills won't have as many chances to give the Bills points. I mean, I could see the bill scoring three fantasy points, but I could also see them scoring 15.

[Adam Mazer]

And for what it's worth, look both. Both sides of the. The equation here. Josh Allen made some really stupid mistakes early in that game against Tampa Bay last week. Yeah. And that helped the Bucks defense, clearly, Texas defense, much better. We also saw last week the Bucks defense play well and get after Baker Mayfield, and he makes some mistakes as well.

[Dave Richard]

Bill's defense.

[Adam Mazer]

Yeah.

[Dave Richard]

So, okay, and then if you have the Texans dst, are you just gonna ride it out with them and. Or instead of.

[Adam Mazer]

You're not gonna drop them. You shouldn't.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah.

[Chris Towers]

Who they play next week, I don't know.

[Frank Stampfle]

I got it.

[Dave Richard]

Wait. Let's race. They play the Colts and then the Chiefs both on the road.

[Chris Towers]

Yeah. You might drop them. Oh, I think the reason I say that is it's week 11. There's a lot of five and six, six and seven or six and five teams.

[Frank Stampfle]

No, you wanted to do it again.

[Chris Towers]

Kind of have to. Have to win. And if you're looking at the Texans with Bill's Colts, Chiefs, I'm not sure you're going to have a great deal of regret if you drop them.

[Adam Mazer]

I will say, just since we're all looking ahead here, if you have an open roster, spot up. The Bucks DST has got great matchups coming up, and the Jaguars DST as well. So if you can stash two defenses, those would be two. Not. Don't stash both. If you stash a defense, those are two to consider.

[Dave Richard]

Okay. And yeah, the Colts next week for the Texans. The cold. Daniel Jones has been sacked 12 times. He has thrown four interceptions and he has six fumbles, three of them lost fumbles in his last two games.

[Frank Stampfle]

Yeah, I'm good with Houston next week.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah. Okay. Anywho, that's it for Thursday Night Football. Oh, man. Now, you're. You're right. Heath, There are a lot of six and five. Five and six teams that, that need a win. So we give them Jacob Gibbs. Let's get a pumped up song for Jacob Gibbs. We'll do the corn freak on a leash.

[Jacob Gibbs]

That's crazy.

[Dave Richard]

There we go.

[Jacob Gibbs]

Record.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, we're all pumped up. All right, here's a couple things for the chat. Tell me your, your favorite. Maybe we'll do it later. But your favorite pumped up songs. And if you're watching live, that's great. If you're not watching live, you're watching, you know, on demand on YouTube. In the comments, tell us who you're worried about. Tell us who you're pumped up about. I'm curious to know what the fantasy community is thinking, but worryometer pumped up o meter in the chat or in the comments on YouTube? Not the live chat but the comments let us know.

[Chris Towers]

Is Jacob in Dave's house?

[Adam Mazer]

Yeah.

[Dave Richard]

A little study there. What's up, Jacob?

[Jacob Gibbs]

What's up? Good morning from the mid best. It is. It has been sunny here. It's been nice lately. I'm excited to be here. I've got some league winners. That's what we just talked about on beyond the box score yesterday. Dan Schneier and I and I'm excited to pick your guys brain, see what you think about these guys.

[Dave Richard]

Go for it. Kick it off.

[Jacob Gibbs]

All right, so if you don't know what I'm talking about, Here is the FFT Today YouTube channel. Go to beyond the Box Score right here. Fifteen league winners yesterday. We talked about a bunch of different guys, gave you some waiver wire gems, talked about some of the players you talked about today. Trivion Henderson, Chase Brown, a lot of really interesting stuff there. I want to start with Jameson Williams. He's obviously been a hot topic for fantasy. Haven't known what to do with this guy all year long. But the development since the move to Dan Campbell has been really intriguing for him for fantasy. So the stat I want to start with I've got on the screen. Here are his splits without Sam Laporta and they're really, really good. The style I want to start with though is that Jamo has a 45% horizontally breaking route rate over the two starts with Dan Campbell. That's up from 38. So I'm saying routes that go like this, they go horizontally, they don't go vertically. Those routes are 49 more likely to draw a target league wide for wide receivers, not just for jamo than vertically breaking routes. So that is a good thing. I Think to see him getting used more that way. Of course, you've seen the long touchdowns come on. These specific types of routes I've got here, you can see this is true media. I didn't know that we could do this on true media, but it's very cool. You can see the actual route concepts, the whole play for JMO on like his most recent receptions and he's the red route here. They're pretty much all these horizontally breaking routes. Pretty cool stuff.

[Frank Stampfle]

Yeah, it's awesome.

[Jacob Gibbs]

I think that's really helped unlock JMO. And so just to cap it off here, 132 routes for Jameson Williams without Sam Laporta on the field over the past two seasons. On those routes, that's a decent sample size. 22 target per route run rate that's up pretty substantially from where we typically see him. 3.2 yards per route run is crazy. That's like up approaching Pukinakua. And this is the stat that actually has me the most encouraged. We're going to talk about first first downs a lot today. First downs are really important in the wider super position. They're of course, important for real life football. 11.4% first down per route run rate is like a top five, top eight number that's like up in the same vicinity as a Monroe St. Brown. The reason I point that out is because first down per route run rate is a good way to like alleviate for just like the massive plays that can inflate yards per route run, which obviously comes into effect when you're talking about Jameson Williams. So I like to see this stat right here that makes me feel a little bit more dependable. And when we're looking at these splits with Laporta that maybe Jamo can be like a down in, down out contributor for the Lions.

[Dave Richard]

Love it. All right. We're pretty pumped about Jameson Williams. This is great stuff, at least while Sam Laporta is out. But. But he's on a roll right now. All right, let's get another league winner.

[Jacob Gibbs]

All right. So I think that one's kind of obvious. This one I don't think is going to be as obvious. Chris Rodriguez, I'm known around these parts. If you're in the fantasy streets, I'm known as the Bill guy. Bill Crosby, Marin. It's been disappointing. I don't want to just go down with the ship, though, needlessly. So I've become really interested in Rodriguez because, man, this guy runs hard. Every time you watch him, he pops. And it's been this way for as long as we've known about Rodriguez, he has really, really good collegiate metrics. And on the year in 2025, he's running back five out of 65 qualifiers in yards after contact per rush. And it's actually his lowest rate of any of his three years as a professional football player since entering the NFL. C Rod ranks second in rush success rate behind only Kyron Williams. So this is not anything new. He's really been a productive player for quite some time and in the past he's been somebody who has really high avoided tackle rates. That's actually down this year quite a bit as he's been more of just like this straight ahead Hammer. And that's really interesting to me because, like, that's exactly what they've needed. That's kind of been the problem for Bill, is he's been stuttering a little bit, not quite decisive enough as teams have really keyed on the run. But Rodriguez has transformed his game and continued to be effective. And I just, I just think that's really interesting and cool because the team has stuck with this guy for three years. Sixth round pick. They really like him and now he's risen to the occasion. He has some good matchups down the stretch. I think he's somebody who could give you like an upside starter for free, basically. He might still be on your waiver. Right. Because they're on by this week.

[Dave Richard]

He's 26 rostered. I think he was 18 rostered yesterday. Chris Rodriguez comes out of the buy with Denver. That's not good. But he does have the. I don't know, it's not a great schedule. If the Cowboys run defense is really actually good because he has Denver, Minnesota Giants, Eagles, Cowboys.

[Jacob Gibbs]

Hopefully you're not in position where you have to start Chris Rodriguez every single week, but like, you can start against the Giants in the first week of the fantasy playoffs. I feel pretty good about that.

[Frank Stampfle]

Yeah, he's a good stash.

[Jacob Gibbs]

Yeah, I think so.

[Dave Richard]

All right, keep going.

[Adam Mazer]

All right.

[Jacob Gibbs]

Speaking of rushing success rate, I want to talk about Kareem Hunt. Does anyone else want to talk about Kareem Hunt? Probably not. Dan loves to. So first in the league in rush success rate this year is James Cook at 50.5%, second tied. You'll find Kareem Hunt and my boy Bashal Tudin. Of course, this is just an excuse for me. Kareem Hunt has been really freaking good this year. Another stat I've got here. If for the fantasy people that are more interested in, you know, this kind of a Stat than rush success rate. These are running backs who have out produced the fantasy points datas expected fantasy points model at the highest rate. So their actual fantasy point production is for in Jonathan Taylor's case, 44% above what the expected fantasy point model like simulated that they would score given every single opportunity where those opportunities came on the field. Some really interesting names on this list of course. Jameer Gibbs, James Cook up here at the top. Travion Henderson has been really, really good. Kareem Hunt on this list and this mostly due to to touchdowns but I just. He's been a lot better than people realize and I don't. I think the Isaiah Pacheco returning does affect his role some. We've seen his route rate, his snap rate and all that increase. But I think when they get in short down situations where they need to know what they're going to get from the running back, it's going to Kareem Hunt. They're kind of in survival mode right now. I think they're going to be trusting Kareem Hunt more often than not. Guess who has the highest rushing EPA per snap number in the NFL? It's not Jonathan Taylor, it's Kareem Hunt.

[Dave Richard]

Wow.

[Jacob Gibbs]

Of course that's influenced by touchdowns, but still.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, I don't, I mean I feel like when Pacheco's back I, he, he's just got to score a one or two yard touchdown and if he doesn't he's going to have a terrible game. I don't see the role expanding.

[Jacob Gibbs]

Yeah, on this episode we try to give you some of these kind of players, you know, like it's players who are attainable potentially for you. I think Fremont's just a really good player to have on benches. If you have to put them in because you have injuries then you've got a decent chance you'll get a touchdown. And if you know Pacheco has another injury or anything then he is like a weekly starter.

[Dave Richard]

Oh yeah.

[Jacob Gibbs]

Two more.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah.

[Chris Towers]

Yeah.

[Jacob Gibbs]

All right, two wide receivers. Stefan Diggs, let me play a little game with you here. It's. Does this player have a higher yard per route run rate than Stefan Diggs this year? Jamar Chase?

[Frank Stampfle]

Yes.

[Jacob Gibbs]

Nope. These are all going to be no's by the way. It's not that he's right because didn't.

[Frank Stampfle]

Run a ton of routes, especially not.

[Jacob Gibbs]

That interesting of a game. Nico Collins? No. A minor. Saint Brown? No. Stefan Diggs has been really, really good on a per route.

[Dave Richard]

Hold on a second. I'm really bad at Games, game shows, I screw them up all the time. But I've never been that bad to just tell everyone right away the answer is no to all of them. Jacob, that that's bad even by my standards.

[Jacob Gibbs]

I'm working with limited time today.

[Adam Mazer]

Jacob off.

[Dave Richard]

So true. True.

[Jacob Gibbs]

All right, so I want to talk about first downs per the fantastic research of my buddy Ryan Heath. If you are interested in beyond the box score. Ryan comes on every Thursday to talk through matchups and start sid decisions. He does really really great work. First downs matter a lot for fantasy football wide receivers. This is pretty mind blowing stuff that he's found. First downs have been more predictive of future fantasy scoring than previous season fantasy points per game, which is basically the holy grail. Like nothing ever beats fantasy points per game. First downs has been more predictive of future fantasy scoring and the reason I bring that up is because you know the yards for our run are good for Stefan Diggs but the first down per hour on it is insane. He's actually top five in first downs first down per route run rate. I I've been pointing to this stat a lot this year in relation to George Pickens. So by the way we did two flag plant players like who will actually win your leagues and like if you want like some high end players, not just these random, you know, Chris Rodriguez and stuff, we did two before the year and Dan nailed George Pickens as his and then we did two at this point. Looking forward to first downs. George Pickens is third behind only Jackson, Smith and Jigba and Pukinaku in first down per route run rate on the year. Jackson, Smith and Jibba is leads the league with 54 first downs. Among wide receivers, George Pickens is second with 50. He's been so freaking good. He's actually out produced CD Lamb. In the four games since Lamb has returned for fantasy this has become a George Pickens that one. Originally it was about Stefan Diggs. Sorry, I just got on a tangent there. So Diggs, all the per route data is really good and that's important because we saw his route rate increase to 89% in Week 11 against the jets which was really odd. I thought that on a short week of rest in a game against the jets that would be the game where they chose to increase his role. I thought I had my eye like week 15 after the week 14. Buy that. Maybe we'd see it the role increase as they headed into the playoffs. So we'll see. It might be a one week thing but if they are Ramping him up and we get him as a full time player. He's been so good on a per route basis. That has me really, really intrigued. As you look at the schedule against the Bengals against the Giants, shootouts against the Bills and the Ravens potentially, then the jets in week 17. That's a really juicy schedule for the Patriots. Of course, I'm sure you guys have talked about that with Trevion Henderson. Everything else, I think Diggs gets forgotten a little bit. I think he has legitimate like wide receiver. One type of upside in fantasy. The last one here. Chris Alave, Chris Olave and Juwan Johnson. We talk a lot about tight ends in this episode. It's kind of a weird spot with the tight end position. Like you brought up Brock Bowers. The schedule is rough. It's not just that they're good against tight ends. It's that these defenses get a ton of pressure on the quarterback. And that's obviously a huge problem with the Raiders. There's only like three tight ends that I feel good about rest of season. Right now. Juwan Johnson is like low key, kind of one of those guys. And the main reason is like the Saints have Brandon Cooks just doing cardio, like at this point, he's just here to like keep himself in shape. And Devon Vale, like those are the guys that are full time route runners for this Saints team. And so that just leaves all of the volume going to these two players, Chris Alabi and Juwan Johnson. We saw 44 of the first three targets go to a lava in the first game of Shahid. Both these guys went off and there's not, not a better schedule that I can find on paper than what the Saints have. They get it. They get Atlanta this week. Did you see what Bryce Young just did? Then they go on the road against the Dolphins, on the road against the Bucks. Then they get the Panthers, the Jets, and they're on the road against the Titans. So I feel really, really good about these two Saints. As good as you can feel with shot.

[Frank Stampfle]

They've got the number one projected fantasy schedule rest of season number one in weeks 15 through 17. This is just for wide receivers. So this applies to a lot of top four for the next four weeks. This, it's a green light for a lot of. I love this call. And he was on buy last week. Maybe you could get him a little bit cheaper than you would have a week ago at this point, right before your trade deadline.

[Dave Richard]

Yeah, I think it's weird that Juwan Johnson only had four targets in his last Game, Right? Yeah. I don't know what that was all about, but he came through. This is great stuff. Diggs. Diggs perplexes me because all those numbers are great. I personally do not see an explosive player anymore. You know, except for the one game against the Bills where he was just on fumes. But that's been my issue. Right. I mean, he's had three huge games in terms of yards, but most of the time he's. He's lucky to get 50. So part. Maybe that's just route participation, but I remember going, I remember doing beyond the box score after that Week 5 game at the Bills. And Dan was super pumped about Diggs and he looked amazing. He followed that game up with 28 yards, 69 yards, 14 yards, 38 yards, 46 yards. Caught some touchdowns along the way. But yeah, it's, you know, it's like if he could just. Because he's been so efficient, if he could just get the targets he needs, you'd feel pretty good about him. But I don't know. Been a little bit of a fool jewelry for him. All right, but Stefan Diggs or Justin Jefferson, rest of season?

[Jacob Gibbs]

Yeah, I did rest of season rankings on yesterday's show if you guys want to dig into that. And I actually do have digs out of Jefferson just by one spot.

[Dave Richard]

Wow. Okay. And you know what? I'm really hoping that they throw the ball more. We got some good offenses coming up, as you mentioned. Thank you. Jacob, what's, what's your favorite Get Pumped up song? Big Chiefs game. What are we firing up?

[Jacob Gibbs]

Yeah, I've got a lot of Get Pumped up songs. I'm gonna go with Red Kingdom because I need something for my Chiefs. This is a Kansas City song.

[Frank Stampfle]

Heath.

[Jacob Gibbs]

Do you even know what I'm talking about? Red Kingdom by Tech9 Kansas City.

[Chris Towers]

Well, I, I am vaguely familiar. I know zero percent of the lyrics.

[Jacob Gibbs]

I need something, man. I need something for the Chiefs. I'm not feeling good at 5 and 5 and they've the team like the Colts scare me and then even like the Texans scare me. That's the exact kind of defense that they've struggled with.

[Dave Richard]

Red Kingdom. Okay, well, I'm gonna listen to Red Kingdom. I'm probably not gonna lie.

[Jacob Gibbs]

Oh, you enjoy that? You enjoy that.

[Dave Richard]

You will hate it. Thanks so much everybody for coming on today. For Heath, for Jacob, for Jamie, for Dave, for all of the hard working people beyond the set, because we finished our CBS Sports Network show yesterday and. And at the very end of the show, I said goodbyes. Thanks thanks to all of you for watching and listening. And then the show ended. And they say. Okay, you're clear. I'm, of course, in New York. Jamie and Dave are in Florida. Jamie thinks that I can't hear him at this.

[Adam Mazer]

No, I knew you heard me.

[Dave Richard]

Oh, you did it.

[Adam Mazer]

Okay.

[Dave Richard]

Okay. Jamie says, hey, I always thank the. The. The crew, the people behind the scenes. Adam never does. So I'm gonna. I'm gonna thank you.

[Chris Towers]

You could just thank Thomas.

[Dave Richard]

Thank you, Thomas. You're a great man. All right, we'll talk to you tomorrow on fantasy football.

[Adam Mazer]

Paramount podcasts.

[Frank Stampfle]

You think you understand how this business.

[Jacob Gibbs]

Works, but you don't.

[Chris Towers]

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[Dave Richard]

You have to know the rules of.

[Jacob Gibbs]

The game and bend them.

[Chris Towers]

And you really have to know them to break them. Demi Moore.

[Dave Richard]

I want success. Get it for me.

[Chris Towers]

Andy Garcia, Ali Larder, and Sam Elliott.

[Adam Mazer]

You don't even know the game you're playing, do you?

[Chris Towers]

Landman New season now streaming only on Paramount plus.