Fantasy Football 2017 - Starts of the Week, Week 9 Matchups, Waterbets

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary Episode: Fantasy Football 2017 - Starts of the Week, Week 9 Matchups, Waterbets
Release Date: November 2, 2017
Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright

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1. Introduction

In this episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast, the hosts delve into Week 9 matchups, provide their "Starts of the Week" recommendations, and explore "Waterbets"—their take on potential sleeper picks and risky bets for the upcoming weekend. The conversation is rich with expert analysis, strategic insights, and lively banter among the trio.

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2. Underachieving Players with Surprise Potential

The hosts discuss players who may have underperformed so far in the season but possess the potential to significantly impact fantasy leagues in the remaining weeks.

• Julio Jones (WR, Atlanta Falcons):
  Mike Wright highlights Julio Jones as a player surpassing his current rankings due to his touchdown drought.

  "If you can trade for him, if you can get him, if you have him hold on to him, you're going to be pleasantly surprised."
  (02:03)

• DeMarco Murray (RB, Tennessee Titans):
  Andy Holloway expresses optimism about Murray's future performance, especially after a season-high in carries.

  "I think DeMarco Murray is going to win some people their leagues. I think he'll perform up to that RB2, RB1 role."
  (05:05)

• Jay Ajayi (RB, Miami Dolphins):
  Mike Wright suggests that Ajayi, recently traded to the Philadelphia Eagles, might find a more productive role in his new team’s offense.

  "I think that he will take over the main role for the Philadelphia Eagles... he will be a sneaky snart this week."
  (05:53)

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3. News and Trade Updates

The hosts address recent trade news and its implications for fantasy football, focusing on the botched A.J. McCarron trade by the Cleveland Browns.

• A.J. McCarron Trade Debacle:
  Mike Wright explains the confusion surrounding the Browns' attempted trade for McCarron, emphasizing its negative impact on dynasty leagues.

  "If you're in a dynasty league and you've got Kaiser and you hope for the future, that's bad news."
  (09:05)

• Josh Gordon’s Return:
  Andy Holloway discusses the conditional reinstatement of Josh Gordon to the Cleveland Browns and its potential impact on fantasy teams.

  "In a redraft league, do you pick up Josh Gordon and hold him for a month? No question."
  (11:22)

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4. Player Performance Insights

Detailed analysis of player performances and strategic decisions regarding their fantasy value.

• Tyler Boyd and John Ross (WRs, Cincinnati Bengals):
  The hosts debate the value of starting these receivers, with Mike Wright generally favoring steady performers over high-risk players.

• Sterling Shepard vs. Evan Engram (WRs, New York Giants vs. New Orleans Saints):
  Andy Holloway advocates for Shepard due to his target volume, despite Mike Wright considering Engram's potential upside.

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5. Week 9 Matchups Analysis

A comprehensive breakdown of key Week 9 matchups, highlighting favorable and challenging games for fantasy players.

• Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets:
  The hosts express excitement over this matchup, noting both teams' competitive records.

  Andy: "I'm excited to watch the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets take on one another."
  (21:15)

• Atlanta Falcons vs. Carolina Panthers:
  Analysis focuses on the Falcons' offensive struggles against a strong Panthers defense.

  Mike: "The Panthers' defense has been fantastic... It's going to be tough for Matt Ryan and the whole Atlanta offense."
  (25:04)

• Denver Broncos vs. Philadelphia Eagles:
  Discussion centers on quarterback uncertainties and the impact on running back performances.

  Andy: "CJ Anderson is playing well, but he's not getting enough volume to really be more than a running back to Jamal Charles."
  (41:34)

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6. Starts of the Week Recommendations

The hosts share their top fantasy start recommendations for quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, and kickers.

• Quarterbacks:

  • Jason Moore: Alex Smith (Kansas City Chiefs)

    "Alex Smith... you start Alex Smith over darn near everybody."
    (47:15)

  • Mike Wright: Matthew Stafford (Detroit Lions)

    "I really like Matthew Stafford more than more than usual this week."
    (48:23)

  • Andy Holloway: Tyrod Taylor (Buffalo Bills)

    "I love Tyrod Taylor's my start of the week as well as my stream of the week."
    (48:38)

• Running Backs:

  • Jason Moore: Alvin Kamara (New Orleans Saints)

    "Alvin Kamara has been... a guy that you could, you know, you're going to start him as basically an RB one."
    (49:30)

  • Mike Wright: Adrian Peterson (Minnesota Vikings)

    "He is my start of the week... confident that Adrian Peterson will eat up the San Francisco 49ers."
    (50:05)

  • Andy Holloway: Christian McCaffrey (Carolina Panthers)

    "He's going to be wide receiver, two out of the backfield for that team... what is he going to do with his six receptions."
    (50:36)

• Wide Receivers:

  • Jason Moore: Will Fuller (Houston Texans)

    Discussion highlights Fuller's potential explosive performance despite regression in touchdowns.

  • Mike Wright: Ted Ginn Jr. (Carolina Panthers)

    "He has had at least 66 yards or a touchdown in four of the last five matchups."
    (52:56)

  • Andy Holloway: Golden Tate (Detroit Lions)

    "Golden Tate, I'm going to match up with your Matthew Stafford start of the week."
    (53:00)

• Tight Ends:

  • Jason Moore: Jack Doyle (New York Giants)

    Though unsure, he emphasizes Doyle's status as the primary target.

  • Mike Wright: AJ Derby (Denver Broncos)

    "AJ Derby to get more targets than usual... top pass catching option for the tight end position for the Broncos."
    (53:55)

  • Andy Holloway: Tyler Croft (Jacksonville Jaguars)

    "Tyler Croft is the pass catching option there this week outside of AJ Green."
    (54:28)

• Kickers:

  • Jason Moore: Will Lutz (Miami Dolphins)

    Proposes a playful rhyme-based system for kicker selections.

  • Mike Wright: *Justin Tucker (Baltimore Ravens)

    Endorses Tucker's reliability despite playful ribbing.

  • Andy Holloway: Justin Tucker (Baltimore Ravens)

    Affirms his consistent performance.

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7. Waterbets Insights

"Waterbets" section where the hosts discuss risky or unconventional picks that could pay off big in fantasy leagues.

• Stewart and Scrumptious Bet:
  Andy and Mike engage in a humorous debate over Jonathan Stewart's potential and Devin Scrumptious' emerging role.

  Mike: "Devin Scrumptious should have enough targets to matter."
  (27:12)

• Sterling Shepard vs. Evan Engram:
  A coin-flip discussion on which receiver will excel against their respective defenses.

  Andy: "I love Sterling Shepard this week."
  (37:06)

• Tyler Croft vs. Cooper Kupp vs. Robert Woods:
  Evaluating which wide receiver offers the best upside against tough defenses.

  Andy: "I'm going to take the much more involved player in Cooper Kupp."
  (35:56)

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8. Conclusion

The episode wraps up with final thoughts on player starts and fantasy strategies. The hosts promote their interactive segments, encourage listener engagement through social media, and tease future content. The lively conclusion underscores the camaraderie and expert analysis that define the Fantasy Footballers Podcast.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Julio Jones' Potential:

  “You’re going to be madly in love with Julio Jones like you are every single year.” – Mike Wright
  (04:45)

• DeMarco Murray’s Dynasty Value:

  “He’s my dynasty running back. He’s my league of record running back.” – Andy Holloway
  (05:33)

• Jay Ajayi’s Role in Philadelphia:

  “Why would these two players be able to do it.” – Andy Holloway discussing trading for Ajayi
  (07:18)

• A.J. McCarron Trade Botch:

  “That box, dynasty wise? If you have, if you've been holding on to AJ McCarron, you dodged a bullet.” – Mike Wright
  (11:11)

• Josh Gordon’s Fantasy Value:

  “In a redraft league, do you pick up Josh Gordon and hold him for a month? No question.” – Andy Holloway
  (11:22)

• Tyrod Taylor’s Reliability:

  “He offers you a very high floor with the rushing yardage.” – Andy Holloway
  (48:41)

• Will Fuller’s Upside:

  “He’s going to take those two or three targets for, you know, 80 plus yards and a touchdown.” – Mike Wright
  (51:35)

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Key Takeaways

• Strategic Start/Sit Decisions: The hosts provide nuanced analyses on when to start or sit players based on matchups, recent performances, and team dynamics.

• Trade Evaluations: Emphasis on understanding the long-term implications of trades, especially in dynasty leagues.

• Player Potential and Upside: Identification of undervalued players who could outperform expectations, providing fantasy managers with opportunities to gain an edge.

• Matchup Importance: Highlighting how defenses can significantly impact player performances, guiding informed lineup decisions.

• Engagement and Community: Encouragement for listeners to participate through social media, live Q&A sessions, and community platforms, fostering a collaborative environment for fantasy enthusiasts.

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This episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast offers comprehensive insights into Week 9 of the 2017 NFL season, equipping fantasy managers with the knowledge to make informed decisions and potentially secure victories in their leagues.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Today's episode is brought to you by our good [e-mail] if you need a fantasy football championship trophy, a championship ring or anything else to celebrate your fantasy football season, you've got to go to fantasychamps.com now when you go over there and you buy a trophy or you buy a ring, don't forget to use the promo code ballers. That's fantasychamps.com.

[Jason Moore]

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast, coming to you from the Play Draft Studios with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Andy Holloway]

Welcome to the podcast.

[Mike Wright]

That was a lot of up and down.

[Andy Holloway]

Welcome to the show.

[Mike Wright]

Yeehaw.

[Andy Holloway]

I am. I'm almost bearded again. I think by Monday I can. I can trim the neck gristle.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, right now you're just. You just look a little dirty.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, well, that's. It's a process. You have to grow it everywhere until you can trim it and then it looks like a beard again. I'm trying my hardest to try harder, to grow up a little bit. Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. I am Andy Holloway, joined by Jason Moore and Mike the Fantasy Hitman Wright. We have a great show for you today. It is Thursday, November 2, and we have all of the Week 9 matchups on the show today. Well, half of them, actually. We have the other half tomorrow. We also have our starts of the week, Jason's starts of the week. Boom, boom. Kicker.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, that worked out last week. Thanks.

[Andy Holloway]

A butt kicker.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, the butt was boomed.

[Andy Holloway]

And we have a quick question on the show, a great one, I think it was formulated in the mind of the great judge Giamatti. Is this a Giamatti original?

[Mike Wright]

It's off of Twitter.

[Unknown Speaker]

Oh, it's from. From Mike. Work.

[Mike Wright]

Work smarter, not harder.

[Andy Holloway]

Ah, from Mike. On Twitter. It was between you and him. I didn't know who did it. It was Mike, though. So today's a great show. If you want to follow us, you can do so on YouTube. YouTube.com the fantasy footballers. The views were. The views were up there.

[Unknown Speaker]

Make sure you subscribe over there.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. For the YouTube episode, the Halloween episode.

[Mike Wright]

Our first YouTube ever.

[Andy Holloway]

I was still accurate in my statement, however stupid as it was. Yes, for the Halloween episode and we're on twitter @the ffballers. There is a time change this weekend. Is that right? The. The clocks, they do something.

[Unknown Speaker]

Is that for everyone or just for Arizona?

[Mike Wright]

No, that's everyone.

[Andy Holloway]

It's everyone.

[Unknown Speaker]

I don't know how time works.

[Andy Holloway]

Everyone but Arizona, you've been here your whole life. Still haven't been hold on, hold on. Have you ever touched your clock at all to change the time?

[Unknown Speaker]

Yes. Oftentimes I look and I say, oh, this clock is wrong.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, like the power goes out.

[Unknown Speaker]

Thank you, Mike.

[Andy Holloway]

So have you ever rolled your clock forward or back an hour in your 35 years in Arizona?

[Unknown Speaker]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Unknown Speaker]

Not yet.

[Andy Holloway]

So we're not doing anything.

[Unknown Speaker]

All right.

[Andy Holloway]

We're the only ones that don't. But that means that football's a little later now.

[Unknown Speaker]

Well, you'll have to remind me again next year. I promise you that.

[Andy Holloway]

I know what was this morning. This morning we're trying to. Jason didn't understand time zones.

[Mike Wright]

That's the gist of the story.

[Unknown Speaker]

I don't think anybody truly.

[Mike Wright]

Look, the good news is for everyone else, the fantasy football podcast will be out an hour earlier.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's true. I didn't even think about that.

[Mike Wright]

That's the crux of everything.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, quick question from Mike over on Twitter.

[Mike Wright]

Not me.

[Andy Holloway]

Who is someone that is underachieved and is going to surprise us the rest of the season, maybe winning some people a Foot Clan title?

[Unknown Speaker]

That's a great question. Every year there are guys that, you know, you thought, oh, they're going to end up as a bust, and then lo and behold, they win your championship. I'm going to go with a guy who, look, he's not been a complete bust yet, but he's the 22nd ranked wide receiver disappointing every owner that has him so far. That's Julio Jones. Julio Jones, I believe, has been terrific this year. He has, he has just not had the touchdowns. I mean, he's got one touchdown right now and we're over half the season in. And this is indicative of the entire Atlanta Falcons team. If you look at how they've been performing versus the points that they've been scoring and more so in the passing game because Devonta Freeman's been very efficient. They've been running the ball in the red zone a lot. I expect that by the end of the season, you're going to be madly in love with Julio Jones like you are every single year. If you can trade for him, if you can get him, if you have him hold on to him, you're going to be pleasantly surprised. You also have the double New Orleans. I realize their past defense is better, but you higher scoring games. Double New Orleans in the playoffs and in between that is Tampa Bay. Who's been the worst team against wide receivers? Julio all the way.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going with DeMarco Murray. He was my by low candidate About a month ago he had his season high in carries the last week he played despite the fact he had been a little banged up. He's got the bye week, comes out against Baltimore and Cincinnati at home. Still has Indianapolis, Arizona, San Francisco on the playoff schedule. I'm very, I'm very optimistic about DeMarco Murray. I know people look at him and they say he's a bust. He's still a top 24 running back so far this season. And I put my money where my mouth is. He's my dynasty running back. He's my league of record running back. Went out and acquired him before our trade deadline. So I think DeMarco Murray is going to win some people their leagues. I think if you had DeMarco Murray, you might have made some adjustments and now all of a sudden he's been filling that flex role. But I think I'll perform up to that RB2, RB1 role. So that's my pick.

[Mike Wright]

The name I'm going to throw out is the recently traded Jay Ajayi. Very interesting and I know it's been very disappointing for Jay Ajayi down there in Miami, but here's the thing. He grades out as the sixth best running back. Over at Pro Football Focus, where they're looking at how was the running back actually performing? Fantasy points have not been there for J.I. the offensive line is a mess. He's getting hit nearly every single rushing attempt behind the line. Meanwhile, Legarre Blunt is down here at 29 and he's. He was racking up the fantasy points for the Philadelphia Eagles because they are a much better team. They're a much better offense. They score more points, there will be more fantasy points and Jai will, in my opinion, he will take over the main role for the Philadelphia Eagles. At least the two down back the goal line back. That might take a few weeks here, but I think that that will be.

[Andy Holloway]

Jay, let's say you were one of the player, one of the players that went out and spent money on Kenyan Drake or Damian Williams based on what you just said and how good JI has been metrics or you know, through the lens of Pro Football Focus versus his fantasy performance.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

Do you go and trade a player like Drake or Williams on their apparently invisible potential?

[Unknown Speaker]

If there's hope, yes.

[Andy Holloway]

They're splitting a backfield. Do you go trade them for like would you trade Drake for Isaiah Cruel who has an established role? It's coming off a better week versus, you know, if a Jai can do it by himself, why would these two players be able to do it.

[Mike Wright]

I completely agree. And I think that this could be the peak value for either, either Miami running back or maybe not Damian Williams. People don't seem to to want him on the team with the news like, oh well, Drake will be the guy.

[Andy Holloway]

Most people are listening to Jason or.

[Unknown Speaker]

They'Re watching the games and seeing that Damian Williams is just not a very good running back. I think the hope in Kenyon Drake is the speed, being able to run, rush to the outside and get the edge. That's never been Jay Ajay's thing. And when you've got a bad offensive line, you know, just getting to the outside, sealing one side, I think that's a little bit easier. So there is some hope there. But I, I do completely see the point that, you know, Jay Ajayi is a good running back and was failing with that offensive line. Kenyon Drake will have to do something special. And there is also the option here that Miami kind of figures their offensive line troubles out a little bit. I mean, we saw this last year where they were terrible in the beginning and they figured things out as the year went on. But Jason, yes, yes, voice of public appointment has not gone through puberty or is in the middle of it.

[Andy Holloway]

But Jason, the Dolphins don't have Kelvin Benjamin to trade away to make their offense.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, that's true.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, I didn't think about that.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, you didn't.

[Jason Moore]

News and notes from around the league.

[Andy Holloway]

People on Twitter were wondering why we did not speak of the great fumbling of the AJ McCarron trade by the Cleveland Browns.

[Mike Wright]

Well, honestly, because there's all sorts of conflicting stories that I have heard from the Browns camp.

[Andy Holloway]

So if you haven't heard, was Kevin Costner involved at all in this process?

[Unknown Speaker]

That is one of the stories.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, probably. So if you haven't heard before the trade deadline, the Browns, it looked like there was going to be a last second acquisition of A.J. mcCarron, quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals.

[Unknown Speaker]

Backup quarterback trade agreed upon. Yes, allegedly, allegedly completely agreed upon by both teams and submitted to the league office. Well, allegedly. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

And then I've heard both sides. I've heard, you know, the tale that they were so inept that they were celebrating and being happy about it and didn't get it into the league office in time. Also heard that perhaps they didn't really want to go through with that trade. Then there's also tales that the front office from the, from the Cleveland Browns, they leave at 5 o'clock no matter what. And this essentially mass, massively botched the acquisition that could have been for Jimmy Garoppolo. And so then when they screwed up that they kind of had this AJ McCarran thing as, as the. Well, that's kind of wash our hands so we don't look as bad.

[Unknown Speaker]

But the fantasy.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, that didn't go through.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. The fantasy team.

[Mike Wright]

Who knows what's going on here?

[Unknown Speaker]

Because, because there was a botched situation where it was supposed to be reported to be a 2 and a 3, traded for AJ McCarron, the backup quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals, going to the Cleveland Browns. What that says is that if you're in a dynasty league and you've got Kaiser and you hope for the future, that's. That's bad news. I mean, that says that maybe the Browns are not going to stick that way, you know, and really give the time and effort. If they're willing to trade multiple picks to go get a different quarterback next year, if they've got a great pick, you don't think they're going to take it, you know, take another shot at a different quarterback if they don't believe it's Kaiser? Are there any other fantasy implications in.

[Mike Wright]

That box, dynasty wise? If you have, if you've been holding on to AJ McCarron, you dodged a bullet.

[Andy Holloway]

That's better a backup in Cincinnati.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Than a starter in Cleveland.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Unknown Speaker]

The way Andy Dalton's playing, he could end up being a starter in Cincinnati soon.

[Andy Holloway]

Roger Goodell has reinstated Josh Gordon on a conditional basis. He can practice November 20th, he can play on November 27th. Look, it's November 2nd right now. So the real question to me is, okay, Josh Gordon in his quite rose colored past on the fantasy football field.

[Mike Wright]

That was December 21, 2014.

[Andy Holloway]

Correct. So in a redraft league, do you pick up Josh Gordon and hold him for a month? No question.

[Unknown Speaker]

No, no way. Because what you're doing is you're taking up a roster spot with someone that even if you've got an IR you can't put there. You're literally taking one of your bench spots up for a guy that you know won't play for a month at least because he can't. And then when he comes back, we'll play for the Browns and hopefully be good immediately. I mean, he'll have to be good week one. Right. Because now at this point you're getting into December, you're, you're coming up to the fantasy playoffs and if you look at the last year that he played, he wasn't that good. I mean, I realized that in 2013, he was the number one wide receiver and he was doing that on a, on a bad Browns team. But to pick him up now. So here's a recap of his 2014 season, the season where he got suspended. Oh, man. Week one comes out on fire. 16 targets eight receptions for 120 yards. The next week, 775. And then he trails off 2 for 15, 3 for 48, 4 for 45. No touchdowns on the season. And then he got busted and was out of the league for three years. And now he comes back. Now, if you want to take that flyer in a couple weeks, if he's still out there on the waiver wires a week before he gets back, sure, he's super physically gifted and you could take that shot, but to put him on your redraft bench, I think is to hurt your team right now. Do you guys disagree?

[Mike Wright]

No, I completely agree with that. The only way in your dynasty leagues, he's probably still owned. That's true.

[Unknown Speaker]

And if he's not, pick him up.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you pick him up there. If you're in a multiple keeper league, maybe you stash him, but you're not going to get anything this year. It's just nice to see Josh Gordon has earned his way back. Hopefully this is, I mean, good for, for Josh Gordon and because he's not, he's 26, he'll be 27 before next football year, football season. But I mean, we saw like Terrell Pryor, not that that's necessarily a good example right now, but last year, Jerome Pryor, his first year as a wide receiver, he's what, 28. I mean, so there's, there's still time for Josh Gordon to write his career. It just won't be this year.

[Unknown Speaker]

And I will amend what I'm saying as far as you can't pick him up if you're in a deeper league, a 1416 team that has multiple flex and a deep bench and there's garbage out there, then sure, hold on to him and burn one of those spots.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. Kyle Shannon has come out and said he cannot promise Jimmy Garoppolo will play this year. The reality of the situation is he's certainly not playing this week. C.J. beathard is playing against Arizona. Then they have a buy. And at this point you just reevaluate after that. Not a lot of relevance. However. I want him to play for Pierre Garcon. I'm a Pierre Garcon owner. I want a better quarterback behind center. That's going to pepper him with targets the way that Brian Hoyer was doing earlier in the year. I think it's very important for Garcon's fantasy value to the end of the season to have Jimmy Garoppolo under center.

[Mike Wright]

Here's the thing. They gave up a second round pick for Jimmy Garoppolo. Jimmy Garoppolo is at the is in the final year of his contract. That means that for San Francisco to keep him, they will franchise him, give him that money or they will give him a big contract. Jimmy Garoppolo is playing this year. If he does not play this year, then that is one of the most egregious mistakes I've ever seen a front office and a coaching staff make.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, because you gave up a pick, whereas you could have just gone after him. And free agents use the off season to just sign him. Although he could have been franchised in New England as well.

[Mike Wright]

But to give up a two and not even see what you have is absolutely ridiculous.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. Devonte Parker, he's going to return this week against the Raiders. I'm excited to see him back on the field with Cutler.

[Mike Wright]

So is my fantasy team.

[Andy Holloway]

And jai he's not there. So I think Parker Landry should expect. I mean Landry's right now on pace for 114 receptions this year.

[Mike Wright]

Nice.

[Andy Holloway]

So he's 180, target pace, something like that. I mean, madness trail prior battling a bruised foot. Supposedly I wrote in a made me laugh plus ego.

[Mike Wright]

I'm sure he's hurt.

[Andy Holloway]

Mike Malarkey said Corey Davis is going to start Week 9 against Baltimore.

[Mike Wright]

Pick him up.

[Unknown Speaker]

Great pickup right now.

[Mike Wright]

Pick him up.

[Andy Holloway]

You saw pickup maybe not a great start this week, correct?

[Unknown Speaker]

Yes. Pick him up. Stash him.

[Andy Holloway]

What do you buy, do you buy into the Seahawks talk that Eddie Lacy is going to be the main man this week against Washington?

[Unknown Speaker]

I do buy into that talk. You have absolutely no reason on planet earth to give Thomas Rawls another carry Eddie Lacy to me.

[Andy Holloway]

Or pass.

[Unknown Speaker]

Or pass. I mean, Eddie Lacey to me on film has looked okay. He really has. I mean, the offensive line there is so bad that it hasn't mattered. No running back has been able to really get the job done unless it was in a, in a extremely plus matchup. Now they go out and they trade for a Pro bowl caliber offensive lineman to add to the team and they say we're just going to give it to Eddie Lacy when there's no other running backs to pick up. I think right now you do pick up him. Pick up Eddie Lacey. You stash him, see if it's true. Because if he gets, he's the type of running back where if he gets 20 carries, he can wear a defense down. And if that offensive line is improved with this trade, maybe there's a flex worthy player in that.

[Andy Holloway]

On tomorrow's show, we'll do in and out, which will cover all the injuries, banged up players, whether we think they're going to start, how we think they'll perform in week nine. A reminder also, one hour before kickoff on Sunday, Mike will be over on Periscope with a little question and answer.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, we go over, you know, the breaking news, answer some, start sit questions, have a good time. And this will also be an hour later than you're used to. But you won't even notice it, right. Because it's an only hour later for this guy.

[Unknown Speaker]

Unless you live in Arizona.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, yeah, that's a fair point, Brooks. I guess there's other people here.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, there's the possibility that some people in Arizona.

[Mike Wright]

Listen, before we move into the matchups, I want to thank today's sponsor, Pristine Auction. This is where you go to get your authentic signature merchandise. You get those signed jerseys, those signed player jerseys. We're on there every day because they have new stuff every single day. But I wanted to run a couple things by you because there may be some people like I know I don't have the budget for pristine auction. A Le'Veon Bell signed mini helmet just went for 60 bucks. A signed Tyreek Hill jersey went for $77.

[Unknown Speaker]

That's ridiculous.

[Mike Wright]

And here's, here's one you want to we just said he's a great pickup because he's going to be a great player for a long time. And right now someone just grabbed a signed Corey Davis jersey for 51 bucks.

[Unknown Speaker]

That's.

[Mike Wright]

Maybe there are deals to be had because, because it's an auction service. Because there's new stuff every single day. You got to go check it out. It's pristineauction.com P R I S T I N E auction.com youm make a completely free account. When you do it, make sure you let them know that the fantasy footballers sent you.

[Andy Holloway]

We also. Excuse me, got a frog in my throat. We also want to thank today's sponsor, Casper. You've probably heard of the Casper mattress. My wife and I, we bought a Casper mattress a couple of years ago and we still absolutely love it. And now they have three mattress models. They have the original Casper, they have the Wave, and they have the essential. So Casper Mattresses they are perfectly designed to soothe and cradle your natural geometry, Jason, your natural geometry. It will be cradled, not to mention a breathable design. Helps you sleep, cool, regulates your body temperature throughout the night. We absolutely have loved our mattress and we had been complaining about our previous mattress for a long time. It shows up to your door in a. It's such a small box that you're like, how did they fit that in there? And free shipping and returns. If you don't like it, you get a 100 night free, risk free trial. You can sleep on it. You can see if you love it. I love it. My wife loves it. Start sleeping ahead of the curve today with Casper. Get $50 towards any mattress purchase by visiting Casper.com Footballers and using Footballers at checkout. That's Casper.com Footballers offer code Footballers for 50 bucks off your first Patrick, your first mattress purchase. All right, we're going to go ahead and jump right in. Week nine time.

[Jason Moore]

Fantasy forecast.

[Andy Holloway]

I got word that the executives over at fantasychamps.com did attempt to purchase fantasychamps.gum from the domain registry. It was, unfortunately, yeah, not a real domain.

[Mike Wright]

Also, they're all locked down by Wrigley's.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, heads up to the Foot clan. They have shown us something they're working on that is super cool.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, you're talking about it.

[Unknown Speaker]

Whoa, whoa. I don't know if we're allowed to say this yet, but it's very cool for any fantasy player coming up, so stay tuned.

[Andy Holloway]

That's like the teaser trailer that comes out two years before the movie that you just gave. Except for this will be out in like two weeks maybe. All right, week nine buys. Just a reminder, the Bears, Browns, Chargers, Patriots, Steelers and Vikings, they're on by. If you play their players, you get zero points, so don't do it. All right, Thursday Night Football. Any updates for the game tonight? I'm personally quite excited to watch the Buffalo Bills and New York jets take on one another.

[Mike Wright]

I think I can agree with that. This is one of those later Thursday matchups where you go, hey, at the beginning of the year, you saw it on the docket. You thought, what else can I do on a Thursday night but this, you're two winning teams.

[Andy Holloway]

Not record wise.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, well, okay, well, what are the Jets?

[Andy Holloway]

Three and five.

[Unknown Speaker]

All right, they should be four.

[Andy Holloway]

They've been right in every matchup and Josh McCown's playing well.

[Mike Wright]

Two competent teams.

[Andy Holloway]

And then the Bills are five and two. They're traveling to New York trying to go to six and two. I'm excited.

[Unknown Speaker]

Reminder, get your if you have any players in this game, if you are starting Kelvin Benjamin, which maybe you are, maybe you are, or you know, anyone on either side of the ball that is in your flex position, get them out of that position, put them at running back or at wide receiver or at tight end so that you can free up the flex. For more news that happens as the.

[Andy Holloway]

Week goes on, I think one of the, you know, we get a lot of questions and I think every question comes with a little bit of a confidence meter, right? Like there are questions we answer and we're like, yeah, I'm like, you know, 80% sure that he's gonna have a good game tonight. Like, like Lashawn McCoy tonight, right. Nice performance against the Jets. I'm about 90% sure you're gonna be happy with Lashawn McCoy tonight. When it comes to all these questions coming in about Kelvin Benjamin, starting him, playing him tonight, I've got about a 10% confidence meter on what his role is going to be. I don't know. I imagine if he's on the field, they're not going to take their shiny new toy and not throw him the ball at all. So I think you, I think if he's on the field, he's going to see some targets. It's just a matter of, you know, is that. Is he going to be 3 for 28 tonight, right. Or is he going to be, you know, you know, five for 15, a touchdown? I don't know what that variable be. You're going to have to look at your team as a fancy owner and say, I want to take that risk. I want to have fun Sometimes you want to play the guy on Thursday Night Football and watch him on his new team.

[Unknown Speaker]

But in general, the I am pretty confident that his total targets will be very, very down from what he's been so far on the season for week nine. So, yep, take, take that for whatever you think you want it to be. That's the best I can do for you.

[Mike Wright]

That was some very rock solid analysis.

[Andy Holloway]

I was going to try to repeat it, but there's no way I could get the words in the right order.

[Mike Wright]

You want to start that guy?

[Unknown Speaker]

Sure, sure.

[Mike Wright]

You want to bench him?

[Unknown Speaker]

You want the show? Why don't you tell us what to do?

[Andy Holloway]

Honestly, call in right now with your Calvin Benjamin hot take. My confidence level of his Height is near 100% though. He's very tall.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Falcons Panthers in Carolina Panthers, two point favorites in this one, 43 and a half point over Under a couple of teams that I don't know if we. I don't know if we know what they are yet.

[Mike Wright]

That's fair.

[Andy Holloway]

And I do know that I really like Christian McCaffrey in this matchup. I feel like the trade of Kelvin Benjamin has further solidified his baseline. We'll talk about him in a little while.

[Unknown Speaker]

Did you know that this is the first divisional game for the Atlanta Falcons on the season? Half the season is over and they have not played a single division game. This is the first.

[Mike Wright]

Who'd they pay for that?

[Unknown Speaker]

Well, it was maybe it was like, oh, the 28 to 3 thing, you know, we're going to give you some time to figure your team out.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I guess we know they play New Orleans twice in three weeks towards the end of the year, so that's interesting. Matt Ryan, you're starting him in this matchup. How's your confidence? Panthers defense has been good.

[Mike Wright]

They've been fantastic. They're allowing under 16 points a game. Ranked fifth against the run, ranked third against the pass. I mean, it's. It's going to be tough. It's going to be tough for Matt Ryan and the. In the whole Atlanta offense.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, but I would.

[Mike Wright]

I'm still willing to play Ryan, Freeman and Coleman. I guess with Freeman being banged up. Are you. Is Coleman still that every week flex or are you willing to bench him this particular week, even with all those teams on by.

[Unknown Speaker]

No, this. This week I'm willing to play both, as per usual. I realize Carolina is a pretty good defense, but I think the down grade of Atlanta's offense has been a little bit overstated. Their offense has not been as bad as most people think it has been mostly because Matt Ryan has not been throwing touchdowns. Freeman has been safe. Coleman has been safe pretty much every week except this last week. And I'm willing to roll both of them out there. I have Both as top 20 running backs this week. Despite the difficult matchup.

[Andy Holloway]

The one thing you cannot count on from a running back in Carolina is a touchdown. And the Falcons defense, when you mix that together, they only give up 0.3 rushing touchdowns per game. That's less than 1. That's less than 1. So you're not expecting that Jonathan Stewart, at this point, the only value he provides you is if he falls forward into the end zone.

[Mike Wright]

So, yeah, and he got lucky last week that Cameron Artist Payne was given a couple opportunities close to the goal line. I believe from the sixth and then the three before Jonathan Stewart had the leaping touchdown. I don't Want to play Stewart? I'm still very. I'm interested in Funcious. Are you guys playing him as well with the new perceived upgrade, Scrumptious? I apologize to Devon Scrumptious.

[Unknown Speaker]

Devin Scrumptious is a question. Oh, man.

[Andy Holloway]

David S Scrumptions.

[Unknown Speaker]

Scrumptious.

[Andy Holloway]

Any question that's just mixing so many things together.

[Unknown Speaker]

No, I, I. For the benefit of the listener, I think he is a must start. Devon Scrumptious should have enough targets to matter.

[Mike Wright]

Is he part of it now?

[Unknown Speaker]

Yes, he's. Yes. I want to go back though my own thing. I disagree a little bit with Andy on Jonathan Stewart.

[Mike Wright]

Really?

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. I think Jonathan Stewart's a fine play this week. Atlanta might not be giving up touchdowns, but they haven't been great against the running back position. You got rid of Kelvin in part because you want to run the ball more.

[Andy Holloway]

Give me.

[Unknown Speaker]

I know, I know that you know.

[Andy Holloway]

No, no, no, it's fine. How good, how good would you say?

[Unknown Speaker]

I have him right now as my running back? 21. So if you want to take a, you know, if you're wanting a water bet and you want to say top 30.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, my God.

[Unknown Speaker]

Oh, that's nine spots away from where I have.

[Mike Wright]

That's a lot.

[Andy Holloway]

Why wouldn't you put him like at top 20?

[Unknown Speaker]

I don't even have him in my top 20. Why would I bet that he's going to be where I don't even have him to finish? That makes no sense.

[Andy Holloway]

That does make no sense. However. I thought you were, you know, going to move him up after that speech.

[Unknown Speaker]

No, I'm saying that as RB21, that's a startable asset in my rankings. And I think that you could have a serviceable game here from Jonathan Stuart, 25. I don't want to do it, but I'm going to do it.

[Mike Wright]

No, you got bullied.

[Unknown Speaker]

I got bullied.

[Jason Moore]

Mike Waterbed.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. You got bullied into taking a bet four spots ahead of where. Four spots farther than where you have them ranked. It's a bad bet for me or for him? Okay, we need to move on. The Bengals and the Jacksonville Jaguars are. They're gonna play this weekend. Dags, five point favorites at home. A 39 and a half point over. Under. I can see that game being under 39 and a half points. Andy Dalton, he's been struggling. Joe Mixon, he's been getting carries, but he's, he hasn't really had a breakout performance. He had a big reception last week, but this team, this offense right now look, the Jags, statistically, they, they give it up to the running back. How confident would you be in Joe Mixon this week?

[Mike Wright]

Not you still play him. But the Bengals offense, they are scoring less than 16 points a game, which is fifth worst in the league. It's pathetic really. And I know that the statistically that, you know, you're right. The Jags have, they're allowing a lot of rushing yards. But when you combine the fact that the overall offense for the Cincinnati Bengals has been so bad, their offensive line is so bad and the Jaguars, they specialize. I mean it's Saxonville for a reason.

[Unknown Speaker]

Calais Campbell, I haven't heard that one. I like it.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, what, you haven't heard that?

[Unknown Speaker]

I haven't.

[Mike Wright]

That's been going since week one. Man, you got to get your head out the clouds.

[Andy Holloway]

I hadn't heard it either, Mike.

[Mike Wright]

What is wrong with you guys?

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, Brooks, had you heard that before?

[Mike Wright]

They, they literally, they literally changed the official team Twitter name to the Saxonville Jaguars at one point during this season. But Clays Campbell has been in monster acquisition. So because of that and just the ineptitude of the Bengals overall, that gives me very little confidence in Joe Mix.

[Andy Holloway]

Lev Bell put up 18 for 56 against Jacksonville.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

Over the last three weeks they actually have been far better than they had been. You know, they had that crazy New York jets game that has kind of messed up their whole metrics. They're more middle of the pack for fantasy running backs and with mixed up.

[Unknown Speaker]

Well, they made a trade to improve their run game. So I mean it coincides, it makes, makes a lot of sense. I. We've also seen like when the Bengals played the Pittsburgh Steelers. When you're facing a team that can control the clock on the ground like, like the Jacksonville Jaguars could do with Leonard Fournette. And then you're down the second half. Joe Mixon didn't get a carry. You go, okay, that could happen in this game script.

[Mike Wright]

Exactly.

[Unknown Speaker]

You know, Joe Mixon gets enough involvement where okay, he's a flex worthy start. I think he's fine if you, if you need to start him. I'm not saying bench Joe Mixon, but I'm not excited to play him. AJ Green, you have to start.

[Mike Wright]

You still start.

[Unknown Speaker]

He's AJ Green. And then it's nothing.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, I'm okay Tyler Croft, I'm okay playing Croft.

[Andy Holloway]

Croft is actually my start of the.

[Mike Wright]

Week, so I don't blame you.

[Andy Holloway]

We'll talk about the reasons behind that pick in a little bit. Let's Talk about the other side. Specifically. I think people want to know how you guys view Dede Westbrook rest of season. You know, he was the best collegiate wide receiver last year. This was a player that flashed in the preseason, led the preseason in yardage.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

I really like him. Alan Robinson's out the way. Hearns and Lee have been inconsistent. You know, if you had to put that kind of like lottery ticket pick on Westbrook being a somebody that can help your end of season team, I kind of like him.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I don't mind the pickup at all. Of DD Westbrook, the Twitter machine. The love for Dee Dee Westbrook right now is a peaking. I mean it just, it burns your face off when you jump on Twitter. People, the way they talk about Dede Westbrook.

[Andy Holloway]

Sorry, are you putting the suntan lotion on or what are you doing?

[Mike Wright]

Well, I am. I got to protect myself from that hype for a rookie who has been on the ir, but he's got talent, he's worth the stash. I'm not going to play him right this week against the Bengals pass defense.

[Andy Holloway]

But like him a lot more than John Ross rest of the season.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

I mean John Ross is just, you know, John Ross has negative fantasy points.

[Unknown Speaker]

Combined on the season.

[Mike Wright]

Not just like a week because he's.

[Andy Holloway]

I thought he'd be used last week with Tyler Boyd out and Ross being active and he never got a. No receptions. So let's talk about the Rams and the Giants. The Giants are real quick.

[Mike Wright]

Would you play? Because Fournette, he's a must play. Would you play Chris Ivory?

[Unknown Speaker]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

No.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

The Rams and the giants. Giants are three and a half point underdogs at home, 42 point over under Jared Goff and the Rams coming off the bye week. What are the storylines here? I mean you're starting girly Mike Goff was your stream of the week, was he not?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he certainly is.

[Andy Holloway]

I like where's the confidence which, you know, you have Jennor Jenkins out. Who are you most confident in at the wide receiver position for the Rams?

[Mike Wright]

Most confidence? None of them. I mean they're all, they're all about equal. But Jason's love for Sammy Watkins, he's just, he's got this smirk on his face and he's side eyeing me right now because Sammy Watkins, with Janoris Jenkins out gets a perceived big upgrade and he could be a sneaky snart this week.

[Andy Holloway]

He actually leads the NFL. Did you know this? In perceived fantasy points this year he's number one in perceived fantasy points.

[Mike Wright]

He took over Kevin White's spot.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. From last year. Yeah, from last year. So honestly, Jason, if you're in a perceived points league.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, no, he's an absolutely great play in perceived points leagues. Has been solid. PPR has been solid all year.

[Andy Holloway]

Mixing's up there too.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, here's. Here's why. So look, Robert woods, to me is the guy that, if you're looking for a fly floor, he's been involved, I think four out of his last five weeks, he's had five receptions or more. I mean, Robert woods is not going to be the guy that's going to win you a week. But if you need a flex option that you know you're good elsewhere and you just need someone to score some points, not put up a goose, I think that's Robert woods in general, I'd go Cup.

[Andy Holloway]

Cup is my favorite.

[Unknown Speaker]

Okay, so that's exactly. You got Sammy Watkins, you got cup, you got Woods. It could be any of them. And two thirds are probably going to stink. That's why I like Sammy Watkins, because in this matchup without Janoris Jenkins. No, there's. I don't think there's a debate. Tell me, please, please tell me that you two do not think that Cooper cup or Robert woods are a more talented wide receiver than Sammy Watkins.

[Mike Wright]

Physically talented, yes.

[Unknown Speaker]

Just talent as a wide receiver. Now, I'm not talking targets or better for the offense. I'm just saying as far as a fit, you're a general manager and you can draft one of those three right now.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, of course you take Sammy Watkins, but just because he's the more physically gifted wide receiver, some guys just fit schemes better.

[Unknown Speaker]

I completely agree with that. But in this matchup where you don't know who to go with and there's no reason to say there's a bad matchup for Sammy. I'm going to take the ceiling play.

[Mike Wright]

Sure.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And I'm going to take cup because it's not been about matchups for Sammy Watkins. It's been about involvement. So I'm going to take the much more involved player in Cooper cup for.

[Mike Wright]

The Rams tight end position. The New York Giants have given up at least a touchdown a game, at least one every single week to the tight end position. Are you putting the chips on Gerald Everett or Tyler Higby to continue that streak? Everett was that two names at the exact same time.

[Unknown Speaker]

I was. It was about to be Eileen Higby, but I mean, it's a. It's a crapshoot. It's coin flip.

[Andy Holloway]

We should do a Watkins, Higby vs Cup and Everett bet.

[Unknown Speaker]

Oh my gosh. What is happening?

[Mike Wright]

Guys are a bunch of degenerates.

[Unknown Speaker]

Jason, why am I getting bullied into these tra Water bet. I think that is the first official water bet that has not been agreed to.

[Andy Holloway]

Involuntary.

[Unknown Speaker]

Well, I'm in now.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you're all about it.

[Andy Holloway]

The Giant side. Jason, your boy finally placed Sterling Shepherd.

[Unknown Speaker]

Love Sterling Shepard. I realize the Rams have a pretty good past defense, but Sterling Shepard is the number one target, even over Evan Ingram.

[Mike Wright]

We'll see.

[Unknown Speaker]

Sure.

[Andy Holloway]

No, I'm with you. I love Sterling Shepard this week. One of the things you have to do as a fantasy owner is when situations drastically change and you're on your provider, Yahoo, espn, whatever it is, and you're seeing something like, you know, Evan Ingram going up against the tough tight end defense, top 10 tight end defense. Well, the situation in New York has changed so drastically over the last year. His involvement, his history, Sterling's involvement, his history, those things you throw out the window. You put the blinders on those numbers and you need to kind of look forward. And I think Ingram and Shepard both have very, very interesting rest of season projections.

[Mike Wright]

Sure. And what about the Rams defense? They have allowed over a touchdown, 1.1 rushing touchdowns per game. Do you have any interest in Darqua?

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, Darkwa I think is a flex worthy play.

[Andy Holloway]

I have none.

[Mike Wright]

That's a great matchup.

[Andy Holloway]

I understand.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And it's a really nasty backfield. So I'm not interested in Orleans. Darkwa Jason is. But that's the tale of today.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Polar opposite picks on everything.

[Unknown Speaker]

So that's rare. But it's happening.

[Andy Holloway]

Week nine happening right now. Broncos Eagles. Eagles are eight point favorites. The Broncos are a mess. Brock Osweiler is going to start at quarterback for the Denver Broncos. The Eagles 43 1/2 point or the over unders 43 1/2 points in this game. I think the real question for fantasy owners comes down to confidence levels on players like Wentz, Ajayi, Jeffrey and Aguilar. All players that have been played pretty much all season long. But is there anybody you know that you're going to say, hey, take a break, sit on the bench for a week. I know they're at home, but it's Denver. Denver's the second best run D6, best pass D. I looked at the numbers. There's not a quarterback that's really, you know, gone past the 23, 25 point mark depending on your league scoring format. What do you do with those players? Mike?

[Mike Wright]

I don't want to play them. I try and find a different.

[Andy Holloway]

Do you play like Josh McCown tonight over Carson Wentz?

[Unknown Speaker]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

Do you play Tyrod Taylor tonight over Carson Wentz, or do you just stay in the.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I think with Carson Wentz because the game is at home, you stay in the flames with him. But those wide receivers, I want out.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, I agree. Aguilar and Alshon Jeffrey, massive downgrade, really difficult cornerback matchups. The wide receivers are taken out of the game. That being said, Denver is beat regularly at the tight end position.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, yeah, Zach Ertz.

[Unknown Speaker]

Zach Ertz is going to be great, which will help Carson wins. And we saw a little while ago what happens, you know, where it's like, oh, it's not fair that Carson Wentz had such a great fantasy day. He got put in good positions. Well, Brock Osweiler, someone says it's not fair. Well, actually, that was not fair, Andy.

[Mike Wright]

Sounds like my choice.

[Unknown Speaker]

When we were watching, it was like, oh, you know, it's like he shouldn't have a good fantasy day. But he keeps getting the ball at the other team's 20 yard line and throwing a touchdown.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, I see.

[Unknown Speaker]

And that could happen here. Brock Osweiler, you know, that's part of what makes me less afraid to play Carson Wentz is the fact that Brock Osweiler's quarterback, They're going to get the ball. The Eagles are going to get the ball in some plus field positions through the course of the game. And I, you know, Wentz, I'm fine with Ertz, I'm fine with. Not so much on the wide receivers.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, Paul Richardson, would you play Paul Richardson over Aguilar or Jeffrey?

[Mike Wright]

I would, yes.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm over Jeffrey.

[Mike Wright]

Probably over Ashon Jeffrey as well. The running back position for the Denver Broncos, fantasy wise, it seems like a mess. CJ Anderson is playing well, but he's not getting enough volume to really be more than a running back to Jamal Charles. They said he was going to get more involved. He was and he was. I mean, devonte Booker, it was. It was actually not his. He had 10 rushing attempts week one, so. But he was back up to eight. But then Booker, he. Booker is really the thorn in this fantasy backfield, especially that he's playing well. And so they have to keep giving him reps. He's playing well in the passing game. Do you. Anderson's. You probably have to start Anderson.

[Unknown Speaker]

I'm not starting.

[Andy Holloway]

No way.

[Mike Wright]

Really?

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

No way.

[Unknown Speaker]

I'm with Andy and I know offense.

[Andy Holloway]

Is going to be terrible.

[Unknown Speaker]

How weird.

[Mike Wright]

Is this. You have to look at your. Look at someone's roster who has Anderson.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

A lot of bye weeks.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I mean, there's.

[Unknown Speaker]

There's a situation.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. Put a situation out there.

[Mike Wright]

I have to figure one out for you.

[Andy Holloway]

Look, at the end of the day, we're all subjectively answering that question. When you say, are you playing C.J.

[Mike Wright]

Anderson?

[Andy Holloway]

The answer is I don't want to.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right. And I agree. It would take a really bad situation and those happen. I mean, you know, I'm playing Kenyan Drake in one of my leagues. Would I rather play Kenyan Drake? Here's a question for you.

[Andy Holloway]

Easily.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, I think I would as well.

[Andy Holloway]

The Eagles are the number one team against the run. All the Eagles need to do is let Brock Oswald throw the football. This is what teams. And now CJ Anderson is part of a three headed monster on the road against the best Run D. Yeah. I don't get it. I don't get why you would play him.

[Unknown Speaker]

I'm a C.J. anderson. Truth or.

[Mike Wright]

I'm just talking about who's on your bench that you can replace him with.

[Andy Holloway]

I. You got to give me a choice.

[Unknown Speaker]

All right. Damian Williams, because. Okay. Damien Williams, Damian Williams or cj?

[Mike Wright]

I'm trying to pull up teams in leagues that I'm playing.

[Andy Holloway]

I'd probably play C.J. anderson over Damian Williams.

[Unknown Speaker]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

Okay. C.J. anderson or Darren McFadden.

[Unknown Speaker]

I would go C.J. anderson.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I'd probably play Anderson.

[Mike Wright]

Hold on, I'm pulling up another team. Sorry it's taking so long.

[Andy Holloway]

Is it a list of inactive players?

[Mike Wright]

No. Okay, so C.J. anderson or Jay Ajayi? Oh, Ajayi just traded to a new team.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

I was actually hoping you guys would talk about Ajay. Yeah, we were going to get there. So you'd rather play the guy who's just recently traded against Dan Denver?

[Andy Holloway]

Correct.

[Mike Wright]

That's madness.

[Andy Holloway]

How much madness?

[Mike Wright]

Yes, do it.

[Unknown Speaker]

That's madness.

[Mike Wright]

You don't even know if JJ will get five carries.

[Andy Holloway]

You know that CJ Anderson will get five carries.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

That's it.

[Unknown Speaker]

No, CJ Anderson will be over ten carries. If I have to take one of those two. I mean, your. Your higher upside play is Jai in the hopes that he just gets super involved.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And they go hot hand and decide to stay.

[Unknown Speaker]

But I would probably side with C.J. anderson here. I would play C.J. anderson over J.J. all right, Jai, it's and Legara Blunt. I mean, look, the Denver defense against the running backs have been not good. They've been great. The one weirdo game where you know the after New York lost every wide receiver that they had and they go and it's expected to be just the easiest cakewalk for Denver and Denver doesn't show up and they let Orleans Darkle run all over them. Outside of that one weirdo game, Denver has shut down everybody and we're not talking good running backs, we're talking great running backs. They've shut down Kareem Hunt, they've shut down Zeke. Zeke. They've shut down Shady. Yes, the combination of LeGarrett Blunt and some of Jay Ajayi is not getting it done against Denver. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

And we have at least the Eagles VP of football operations has said that Blunt is the starting running back at least for this week.

[Unknown Speaker]

Makes sense. JJ's been there for a couple of days.

[Mike Wright]

I agree.

[Andy Holloway]

Demarius Thomas Emmanuel Sanders. Sanders should be back.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you play them. Brock Osweiler for his ineptitude has he's had or demarious Thomas and Sanders have had success with him at quarterback and the Eagles pass defense can be beat. So.

[Andy Holloway]

And we're going to talk about AJ Derby.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, so we certainly are, aren't we Mike?

[Andy Holloway]

Maybe Indianapolis Colts take on the Houston Texans Texans are 13 point favorites. That's maybe generous to the Colts 48 and a half point over under.

[Mike Wright]

That is brutal.

[Andy Holloway]

That's the truth can be. The truth can be brutal.

[Mike Wright]

It sets you free but it can be painful.

[Andy Holloway]

DeSean Watson, Lamar Miller, DeAndre Hopkins, Will Fuller starting them all.

[Unknown Speaker]

Fire them up.

[Andy Holloway]

Will Fuller. Jason, you're going to talk about him in a little while. The real question is what? Jack Doyle, you can start him. He's been great.

[Mike Wright]

The baby hands have been stronger than usual.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, I'll talk about that as well.

[Andy Holloway]

What about Frank Gormar Lemak, what do you do there? What do you do with Ty Hilton? They came out and said they need to get him the ball more. We talked about him earlier in the week and trying to trade him away.

[Unknown Speaker]

They literally said that two weeks ago as well when they came out and got him the ball. None or close to none. I don't, I don't. You know, look, they need to get Ty Hilton the ball more. It's difficult to do when your quarterback drops back in his sacked and the defensive line, even without J.J. watt is still one of the, you know, best parts of the Houston Texans defense. Jadavian Clowney has been complete beast mode and he's going to give Jacoby Brissette struggles in finding Ty Hilton. Maybe they'll get him some screens maybe, and Ty Hilton can get something done. He's a talented wide receiver, but I'm, I'm not, I'm not about the wide receivers there. The number one pass catcher isn't Ty Hilton. The number one pass catcher for the Colts is Jack Doyle.

[Mike Wright]

Sure. All right. What about Frank Gore coming off that big game 16 for 82 last week? The Texans have a pretty stout run defense on the year.

[Unknown Speaker]

I prefer Marlon Mack. Okay, then Gore in this matchup, I.

[Andy Holloway]

Take them both over C.J. anderson.

[Mike Wright]

That's fine. I wouldn't argue with that. You're going to play Marlon Mack over him.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, let's find out who we are about this week.

[Jason Moore]

Starts of the week.

[Andy Holloway]

Jason, kick it off with your start of the week at the quarterback position.

[Unknown Speaker]

All right, my quarterback start of the week this week is Alex Smith. He had a somewhat down week this last week and you might be saying, okay, is he the number one quarterback.

[Mike Wright]

Is your start of the week?

[Unknown Speaker]

He sure is. Look, Alex Smith, you're following that up with Lev Bell. Yes, Lev Bell. I'm going to also say that you need to start even though he's on by. Oh, man, Gotcha. Don't start Lev Bell. You really hoodwinked me there. No, look, there are owners who are waiting for Alex Smith to come back to earth and he did. And I think Dallas secondary is atrocious. You start Alex Smith over darn near everybody. And so he is my start of the week this week. It's always tough at quarterback because we do. We do the streamers where we're going low and we're saying, okay, not the obvious plays, but then you go and you go with the quarterback start of the week. But you don't want to go to the top. Some people still don't see Alex Smith at the top. I think the upgrade, you don't want.

[Mike Wright]

To, but you, you stared those people in the face and I said, watch. I'm not afraid to pick the number one guy to be my start of the week.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, start of the week. All right.

[Mike Wright]

Deshaun Watson is my new start of the week at the quarterback position. No, I'm going with Matthew Stafford. Golden Tate is back in. The matchup is great against Green Bay. May smooth rounds. Anyone.

[Andy Holloway]

No, no, no. He probably won't be out there.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Okay, well, he could be back. But regardless of that, the matchup is. I really like Matthew Stafford more than more than usual this week.

[Andy Holloway]

I like Tyrod Taylor. The jets game tonight, I think it's going to be a fun One, he's got his new weapon in Kelvin Benjamin. He's been playing well. One of the impressive things to me about Tyrod Taylor, only two turnovers this year which has been the recipe for victory. The recipe for victory for Buffalo has been great defense limit the problems on the offensive side of the ball, the turnovers and the jets have given up two plus touchdowns in all their weeks, but two this entire year. They're very beatable secondary and Tyrod offers you a very high floor with the rushing yardage. So I love Tyrod Taylor's my start of the week as well as my stream of the week.

[Mike Wright]

Double up.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, Mike. Or let's go. Jason's running back start of the week.

[Unknown Speaker]

Sure. My running back start of the week is Alvin Camara. He has been great since the Adrian Sean McCoy. Since Adrian Peterson has been gone, Alvin Camara has been. The Tampa Bay run defense is not that great and this has one of the highest over unders. He's at home. I think Alvin Camara is a guy that you could, you know, you're going to start him as basically an RB one. So there's no team that I imagine you're going to want to sit Alvin Camara on.

[Mike Wright]

Mike, I'm going to go with Adrian Peterson, which is look, the matchup says that's kind of easy since San Francisco is giving up by far the most points to the running back position. But there's also that hesitation of Carson Palmer is gone, Drew Stanton is in and he stinks. So you could get game scripted out, but that's why I'm saying he is my start of the week. That I still feel very confident that Adrian Peterson will eat up the San Francisco 49ers.

[Unknown Speaker]

All right.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going to go with one of the worst running backs in football, Christian McCaffrey, because he catches the football the best. The baseline is really sexy now for Christian McCaffrey. I mean, it's not a matter of whether he'll receive the ball. It's just what is he going to do with his six receptions.

[Mike Wright]

Sure.

[Andy Holloway]

And so I think, you know, with Benjamin out the door, he's pretty much wide receiver, two out of the backfield for that team. I mean, if Devin funches is the one, McCaffrey's the two, maybe McCaffrey's, you know, in that situation like we expected in Baltimore where, you know, Danny Woodhead could have led that team in receptions had he been healthy all year, he would have. So Christian McCaffrey started the week. Jason, Jason, you. I see you're going. Jason. I see you're going with the number one wide receiver over the last four weeks.

[Unknown Speaker]

You're darn right I am. And you can.

[Mike Wright]

What is happening?

[Unknown Speaker]

You can say whatever you want.

[Mike Wright]

I will.

[Unknown Speaker]

But Andy has been throwing shade every week saying, hey, now's not the time. Will Fuller.

[Andy Holloway]

Why am I called out by name?

[Unknown Speaker]

Will Fuller has been.

[Andy Holloway]

I didn't even get on your case.

[Unknown Speaker]

Hot fire. I know. This is. This is just the. I feel like Mike is. Mike's on a mission.

[Mike Wright]

Well, I'm reading in the DOC here your tight end start of the week is Zach Ertz.

[Unknown Speaker]

You darn right. No, it's not Will Fuller. He has touchdown regression coming for sure. He's not scoring 60 touchdowns. He's not going to get two touchdowns a week. But he's still a very good wide receiver who's lightning fast. And he's playing in a matchup where the Indianapolis Colts give up huge plays all the time. That's. That's their. I mean, that's their big problem is the big play. That's Will Fuller's specialty. So I don't care if he only gets two or three targets in this game, he's going to take those two or three targets for, you know, 80 plus yards and a touchdown. And if he gets, you know, four targets, he'll probably get four touchdowns. So Will Fuller, you got to stay in the flames. I apologize to Deshaun Watts.

[Mike Wright]

All right, My wide receiver start of the week, I'm going with Ted Ginn because Tampa Bay, they're giving up the third most points per game to the wide wide receiver position. And he has had at least 66 yards or a touchdown in four of the last five matchups. So I think that Ted Ginn has worked his way in. You gotta. You gotta trust him as that flex. Maybe even a wide receiver two position.

[Andy Holloway]

So Ginn is in.

[Mike Wright]

Gin is in.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm gonna go with Golden Tate if.

[Mike Wright]

You want to win.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, thanks. Thank you. That. That would win at first grade.

[Mike Wright]

Where would you like to begin, Andy?

[Andy Holloway]

Golden Tate, I'm going to match up with your Matthew Stafford start of the week. You know, second week back from the injury combo plays Green Bay, he'll be peppered with targets. He's still the most reliable target source in Detroit. So Golden Tates the start of the week. Let's go to the tight end position. Jason, I'm almost positive he's the number one tight end over the last four weeks.

[Unknown Speaker]

You're darn right, no. Jack Doyle, Baby hands. He's had a bad game and some good games, but Jack Doyle is the number one target. I expect Houston to be out leading in this game. This is the game that I'm really wanting to watch, this Houston Indianapolis game. I expect there to be a lot of points put up by Houston and he's going to have to throw the ball a lot and it's going to go to Jack Doyle, whose market share has been unbelievable.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going with no. I'm going to go last, Mike, go ahead.

[Unknown Speaker]

Sure.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to go I gave you a tight end streamer last week. I believe it was Tyler Croft and this week my kind of my tight end start Streamer of the week is AJ Derby, tight end for the Denver Broncos. Philadelphia giving the seventh most points to the tight end position. But here's the deal. Last year when Bronco Osweiler was the quarterback for the Houston Texans, the tight end position accounted for 51% of their receptions. The second highest for the tight end, 34%. Brock Osweiler locked on to the tight end position last year. I expect AJ Derby to get more targets than usual. He scored last week. He is the top pass catching option for the tight end position for the Broncos. So if you're in a pickle, I'm gonna pick him up.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. I'm going. Tomb raider Tyler Croft once again, look the the Bengals. We talked about the matchup with Jacksonville. Jacksonville shuts down the wide receiver position. I mean Tyler Croft, he had a, he's had a very nice baseline lately. Ever since Ifert went out. He's already, I mean just on this season he's the 15th best tight end and the consistency, I Love it. Jacksonville's 20th against the tight end. You're going to get what you want with the tight end. That's not elite, which is at least four or five, six catches. I think Tyler Croft is the pass catching option there this week outside of AJ Green. So those are our starts to the week before we close out the show. It's the all important but curse.

[Jason Moore]

Jason Moore's ironclad. Locked and loaded, 100% guaranteed boom boom kicker of the week.

[Unknown Speaker]

This week we get nuts. We go with Will Lutz. I think phone up Mike's. You need a first grade.

[Andy Holloway]

You need a rhyme for every boom boom kick of the week from here on out.

[Mike Wright]

All right.

[Unknown Speaker]

It shall happen.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean because the analysis a lot.

[Unknown Speaker]

Of Will Lutz, a lot of Will.

[Andy Holloway]

Lutz, it's all going to be rhyme based kickers only. Butker's going to be a tougher one.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. To Vecchio.

[Mike Wright]

Things get scary with Adam Vinateri.

[Unknown Speaker]

There you go.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, my God.

[Unknown Speaker]

Well, we know next week's this week.

[Mike Wright]

You want Dr. Seuss Rhymes. You know where to go.

[Unknown Speaker]

You go to the beard.

[Mike Wright]

I'm right over here.

[Andy Holloway]

Stop, stop, stop. Otherwise I'll be rhyming a Justin Tucker thing and I don't really want to.

[Unknown Speaker]

No, don't do it.

[Andy Holloway]

Pucker up with Justin Tucker.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, sure, sure. Wink, wink.

[Andy Holloway]

You guys, thanks for listening to the fantasy footballers podcast. It's dad and his two boys signing out. We'll talk to you tomorrow. Check out draft.comballers. come play some DFS with us.

[Unknown Speaker]

If you play Justin Tucker.

[Mike Wright]

Goodbye.

[Unknown Speaker]

Oh, never mind.

[Jason Moore]

Thank you for listening to another episode of the fantasy footballers podcast. Join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot and follow us on Twitter at theffballers.