Fantasy Football 2017 - Week 15 Studs & Duds, Rising Stars, Christmas Wish List

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary Episode: Fantasy Football 2017 - Week 15 Studs & Duds, Rising Stars, Christmas Wish List
Release Date: December 18, 2017
Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast, hosts Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright delve into the pivotal Week 15 of the 2017 NFL season. They analyze key performances, highlight standout players ("Stud Muffins"), identify emerging talents ("Rising Stars"), discuss underperformers ("Duds"), and share their personal Christmas Wish Lists for their fantasy teams.

Championship Race Updates

The hosts kick off the discussion by sharing their current standings in their respective fantasy leagues, emphasizing the excitement and tension leading up to the championship game.

• Andy Holloway mentions being in the championship race next week:

  "Maybe you've locked yourself into a Week 15 win, which means you're in the championship game next week and you're feeling great." [00:58]

• Mike Wright shares his mix of success and setbacks:

  "I lost Antonio Brown and my team is trash right now." [04:58]

The trio reflects on their matchups, with Andy facing Mike for the title and discussing other league dynamics.

Christmas Wish List

As the holiday season approaches, each host shares their fantasy Christmas wishes, hoping for pivotal player performances or recoveries that could influence their final standings.

• Jason Moore expresses frustration with Dak Prescott's performance and hopes for his improvement:

  "My Christmas wish is that upon the return of Ezekiel Elliott, we get not only Zeke back, but we get Dak and DEZ Bryant back into the fantasy fold." [06:06]

• Andy Holloway wishes for another standout week from Nick Foles:

  "My first wish is that I get one more week, just like this past week from Nick Foles." [07:00]

• Mike Wright hopes for Damian Williams' health:

  "My Christmas wish is that Damian Williams just take this week off one more time because Ken Drake, Kentucky Drake, he is." [08:18]

Player Injuries and Returns

The hosts discuss several key player injuries that impact fantasy decisions, offering insights into who might return and who remains sidelined.

• Andy Holloway talks about Brooks' injury and its implications:

  "Brooks got a Brooks like the ample comment. Brooks is wearing a Santa hat." [01:29]
  "He ruined my perfect season, but I took it back." [01:58]

• Jason Moore discusses the uncertainty surrounding Keenan Allen's injury:

  "He was carted in the locker room with a lower or a back injury on Saturday. Saturday's win because we had the two Saturday games." [12:47]

Stud Muffins (Top Performers)

The hosts highlight the top-performing players of the week, praising their contributions and fantasy value.

• Greg Olson emerges as a standout tight end:

  "He was back with an absolute vengeance. 9 for 116 with a touchdown. And he destroyed the value of Devin Funches." [37:32]

• Rob Gronkowski delivers an exceptional performance:

  "He was bigger, stronger, better than the players around him. 9 for 168. Single-handedly that whole drive." [36:38]

Rising Stars (Emerging Talents)

Identifying players who are stepping up, the hosts introduce "Rising Stars" that could become valuable assets in the final stretch of the season.

• Keelan Cole is recognized for his consistent improvement:

  "Keelan Cole, who I pumped the brakes on, now has three straight games with a touchdown. He's firmly on fire." [38:42]

• Blake Bortles receives accolades for his recent performances:

  "Blake Bortles is picking the right time to catch fire now he gets to play San Francisco, which made Marcus Mariota look like he was an actual usable fantasy quarterback." [39:15]

Duds (Underperformers)

The conversation shifts to players who have underwhelmed, discussing their lackluster performances and the impact on fantasy teams.

• Aaron Rodgers underperforms against his matchup:

  "Now you lost Donald Pin. So nobody has a larger disparity of passer rating in the NFL than Derek Carr with pressure versus a safe pocket." [34:07]

• Carlos Hyde disappoints with his inconsistent performance:

  "Carlos Hyde didn't have a big game. 16 for 25 against Tennessee." [44:38]

• Alex Collins and other running backs fail to meet expectations:

  "Alex Collins was 12 for 19 after kind of earning the fantasy, you know, Mantle Space on the mantle. Knock him off." [45:08]

Key Discussions and Insights

Throughout the episode, the hosts provide strategic advice on managing fantasy teams, especially concerning risky matchups and player reliability.

• Jason Moore emphasizes the importance of reliable tight ends:

  "Jimmy Graham is averaging negative points. Where's your trust level with Jimmy Graham if you still made it to the championship week with him putting up one for. I won." [53:21]

• Andy Holloway warns against relying on unpredictable players in week 17:

  "Don't play fantasy championships in week 17." [15:09]

• Mike Wright highlights the significance of game matchups:

  "The Jacksonville Jaguars are going to be scary in the playoffs." [22:25]

Conclusions and Takeaways

As the episode wraps up, the hosts recap the critical points discussed and set the stage for the upcoming championship game.

• Mike Wright reflects on the emotional rollercoaster of championship week:

  "There’s just so much emotion on the line, and it was a blast." [15:51]

• Andy Holloway encourages listeners to stay engaged and anticipates future episodes focused on season reflections and awards:

  "It's going to be fun. We're going to have a ton of shows in January and February reflecting on the season." [17:24]

• The hosts also promote community engagement, inviting listeners to share their Christmas wishes and participate in giveaways:

  "Go to footclangiveaway.com right now. We are giving away three custom fantasy football jerseys." [59:23]

Notable Quotes

• Jason Moore on Dak Prescott's struggles:

  "Dak Prescott has been very disappointing to my heart and to my soul." [06:06]

• Andy Holloway on Nick Foles' comeback wish:

  "My Christmas wish is that I get one more week, just like this past week from Nick Foles." [07:00]

• Mike Wright on Jimmy Graham's value:

  "I would keep rolling with Jimmy Graham because you have to." [55:05]

Final Thoughts

This episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast offers a comprehensive analysis of Week 15, blending strategic insights with the hosts' personal experiences and humorous banter. Whether you're in the championship race or grappling with underperforming players, the Fantasy Footballers provide valuable advice to navigate the final stretch of the fantasy football season.

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Connect with the Fantasy Footballers:

• Website: jointhefoot.com
• Twitter: @the_ffballers
• YouTube: Fantasy Footballers YouTube Channel

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, Foot Clan. Whether you're into podcasts about ghastly crimes or hip hop rhymes, there's always something new to discover on Spotify. With a mix of originals and many of the world's top shows, listening to podcasts on Spotify is easy. You just open the app, tap, browse, and then dive into the growing library. Subscribe to your favorites, including our entire archives, so you'll never miss a show. You can also download podcasts for those moments when you're up in the air or going underground. Podcasts on Spotify are streaming right now. Go check them out.

[Jason Moore]

Foreign.

[Mike Wright]

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.

[Jason Moore]

You went arms up during the entire.

[Andy Holloway]

Primal intro there, and I imagine like.

[Jason Moore]

You'Re the king of the castle.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Well, many of you out there feel like the king of the castle this morning. Maybe you've locked yourself into a Week 15 win, which means you're in the championship game next week and you're feeling great. And maybe others, others of you, you know, got a bad break, a player that didn't perform. We'll be covering all of those today, and maybe you just need to be held. Yeah, you just need to rest your head into Jason's bosom.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, I've been preparing, making it. It's ample, making it soft.

[Jason Moore]

It's succulent.

[Andy Holloway]

Brooks got a Brooks like the ample comment. Brooks is wearing a Santa hat.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Because Brooks's rule is it's now one week till Christmas, so he can actually start celebrating the season.

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, Brooks, are you in need of Jason's ample bosom this morning? Yes. Hey, guess what. Guess what, Brooks. What's that, Andy? Court adjourned. Oh, court adjourned.

[Jason Moore]

Get bodied.

[Andy Holloway]

You know, Brooks, you ruined my perfect season, but I took it back.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

So let's give a lay of the land here because.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, let's talk. Let's talk about our own experiences. People can relate.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you, Andy, you brought up some people. Twitter's being flooded right now with everybody saying, hey, I got in the championship. I'm so happy. And then there's the bad break, heart.

[Jason Moore]

Wrenching stories of there can be only one.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. But Andy's got both of those from yesterday.

[Andy Holloway]

I do. And I'm. I'm okay. I'm going to be okay because I've got one of them. I did play Brooks and my team went bananas. So I took care of Brooks pretty handily in our Dynasty league, and I will be facing head to head me and Mike. Yeah, Mike and I for the title next week. My very beaten up 13 one team takes on Mike's very stout team. So we'll see what happens. I would have beat you this week, which gives me some hope for next week.

[Jason Moore]

Assuming that Julio Jones does not best his already insane performance of the year. I will be in.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, you're fine.

[Jason Moore]

So many people this week are counting on.

[Andy Holloway]

This is also Mike and I's fourth time not in this league, but fourth time overall fighting for a title. So this will be exciting. You guys will hear from us this week. And then in our other league, our league of record 10 years running, I was. I'm in the semifinal in that league and last night I needed.

[Mike Wright]

You needed the impot. You needed the impossible. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

So Jason. Jason Sick.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. Yes, I am.

[Andy Holloway]

So that bosom is a little bit virusy.

[Mike Wright]

Danger zone. You don't want to lay your head on my chest right now?

[Andy Holloway]

No. Or ever. So I needed 19 points from Michael Crabtree, who I boldly declared was a top 10 wide receiver this week. And the way that game started with the way Derek Carr was throwing the ball, I was terrified. Because honestly, you guys should know this. I'm far more concerned with what we say on this show and how your team does than I am with my team. However, I am invested with my team. And Michael Crabtree on 17 targets put up 18.4 fantasy points. Good enough for number eight overall this week and good enough for a six loss to my brother in law who is insufferable and terrible. So I had both ends of the spectrum this week and it made for a very exciting night last night. I know these two guys were watching Crabtree's four targets on the final drive, of which he caught none. I needed one catch for zero yards. So some of us are winners and some are losers. And in my case, I was both.

[Mike Wright]

In the listener league. This is important for the Foot Clan, right? Because whoever wins in the listener league every year, they get to come back the next year. Last year I took care of business and took it down and we had every slot open while I'm back in the championship.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

And so you guys, you guys can root for me so that you have one more spot. However, I lost Antonio Brown and my team is trash right now.

[Andy Holloway]

So it won't matter. You'll find a way to win. Magic. Magic. So today on the show, we have the stud muffins, we have the rising stars, we've got fantasy Rewind the duds, obviously, and we've got a lot to cover, a lot to talk about, and we're going to start it off with a quick question. Quick question of the day is, look, Christmas, Brooks is quick to remind us, is one week away. And the championship game is one week away from any of you. And for those of you that are still hinging on tonight, we'll definitely update you on everything we know about tonight's game and talk about that. But one week away till Christmas, one week till the title game. What is on your fantasy wish list for the final week of the season?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, my wish for fantasy Christmas this season. I mean, of course it's a championship. However, I'll get a little more granular than that. Dak Prescott has been very disappointing to my heart and to my soul.

[Mike Wright]

He's just. He's been a turd.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he's been a lump of coal and the stocking. I truly believe that Dak Prescott would be fine with Ezekiel Elliott out of the lineup. I thought he had grown enough as a quarterback to be able to handle that, to still put up good fantasy numbers, to still have a competent offense. But, alas, that was not true. So my Christmas wish is that upon the return of Ezekiel Elliott, we get not only Zeke back, but we get Dak and DEZ Bryant back into the fantasy fold of we can feel that they are reliable options. You won't have time to find out. You'll just have to go on that Christmas, hope that they're ready to play.

[Andy Holloway]

That's a magic time of year.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that's the present that you open last right there. I mean, if you. If you get the entire Dallas Cowboys offense for fantasy back. That's. That's. Wait, there's one more. We forgot about my.

[Andy Holloway]

My Christmas wish. I guess I have two. If I want to be greedy, I've been very good this year. But my first wish is that I get one more week, just like this past week from Nick Foles, quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, who got it done and got it done for me in Dynasty League. He has a good matchup next week, and I need him against Mike. So my wish is for you all you wentz owners that picked up Foles, that had the guts to play him, that you get another special week from Nick Foles. And then I'm gonna throw in, if Santa's feeling generous, maybe a. Maybe a Thursday stat correction in my favor. So I actually am in two title games. So, Jason, what do you think?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that's another thing for everyone out there that won by the skin of Your teeth or lost by a super close margin. Be aware that the week is not over. Thursday stat corrections come out and tides can change. For me, I was going to ask for Case Keenum to continue his hot streak, but I already know my parents got me that because he's great. So instead I'm, look, I'm out there for someone else this year.

[Jason Moore]

I want, this is so noble.

[Mike Wright]

I want Damian Williams to be as healthy for Christmas as possible and enjoy this week. Like, you know, look, this is Christmas this week. Damian, my Christmas wish is that you just take this week off one more time because K. Drake, Kenya Drake, he is. I need him this week.

[Andy Holloway]

I need him. You want him to enjoy his time with his kids, his family?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Don't hurt that shoulder, man. You got to take practice off. Take the week off, bro.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. You can find us on twitter @the ffballers. Share your Christmas wishes with us over there. We're on YouTube as well. Thank you to everybody for the incredible notes, comments. Congratulations on our 500th episode last Friday. They meant a lot to us. You know, the comments on the throwback video. Brooks, well done. That was great. Going back in time, hearing some of those original inside jokes moments on the show. Jason swallowing his throat, which he's now done on today's show.

[Mike Wright]

Today's the blue jeans episode.

[Andy Holloway]

So thank you to everybody for that. Also thanks to everybody who voted for [e-mail] There were many of you. I know that we'll find out those results in January. And thank you to everybody for the [e-mail] so a lot of gratitude going around this week. Mike, you won the water bet this weekend with the defense. The trifecta water bet. The Ravens defense was much better than the Saints defense, which was much better than the Eagles defense.

[Mike Wright]

About them Giants.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, man.

[Andy Holloway]

We'll get into the pump. The brakes fails. So and a final reminder, if you want to grab a piece of gear, something with our logo on it, something with a nickname shirt or, well, the Foot Clan title shirts up there later this week, you can go to shopballers.com use the promo code. Rudolph, who made a miraculous Christmas recovery and played this weekend.

[Jason Moore]

That was ridiculous, man. He was, wasn't it? So, Kyle Rudolph, if you didn't follow the story, just real quick, here's a summary. He goes from missing practice to doubtful.

[Andy Holloway]

Which technically to an out report first.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Then a doubtful report.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, it went out. I missed the fully out report. So he was out. Then he was doubtful, which even at doubtful Puts you at a 10% chance, less than that. And then he goes to questionable. Then he's playing. Then he's knocked out of the game, Then he's back in catching a touchdown.

[Andy Holloway]

Unbelievable.

[Jason Moore]

Ridiculous.

[Andy Holloway]

So if you played him, it might have been on accident because you swap him out.

[Jason Moore]

Christmas miracle for Kyle.

[Andy Holloway]

Let's talk about more News.

[Mike Wright]

Weekly. Rewind.

[Andy Holloway]

That sound. You warming your hands in front of the microphone.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, this is.

[Andy Holloway]

I got seasonal Mike.

[Jason Moore]

I gotta prepare in Foot Clan. You know what's coming because there. There's a lot of news, but there's really only one news blurb that matters in fantasy football right now.

[Andy Holloway]

Maybe this is why I don't feel so bad about losing that one game. Because I was facing the Antonio Brown owner and Antonio Brown went down and I just felt bad. He's such a good player. He's such a incredible asset to the NFL. And he went down with a partially torn calf muscle. Look, it could have been worse. This could have been a broken tibia, fibia, fibula. This could have been an Achilles. It looked like all those things. X rays were negative. He's unlikely to play next week.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, he's not playing next week.

[Andy Holloway]

There's no point. And he is expected back for the postseason. So if you're a Steelers fan, congratulations on him not having a severe injury. If you're a fantasy owner that needed him, I'm sorry, this isn't what it should come down to. Last week I went on another show and they asked me for my grievance. In the Seinfeld tradition of Festivus, the grievance from this year. And it was all the players taken away from us by injury and how it should be versus how it is right now. We've lost so many. I couldn't even go through all the names. But losing Antonio Brown at the end of the season is as bad as it gets. So the good news is he will be back for the postseason. Doesn't look like a long term injury. The bad news is you're not going to have him, Jason.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that's all right. I won without him. This last week, you were.

[Andy Holloway]

You were under the weather yesterday. Your daughter is sick, your family's been sick, and the moment you left the office yesterday was the moment Antonio Brown went down. When he went down in that heap, you kind of packed your bag.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I took my ball, I went home.

[Andy Holloway]

You're like, I'm going home. I'm going to watch the rest of this from there.

[Mike Wright]

Done with this.

[Andy Holloway]

Keenan Allen was carted in the locker room with a lower or a back injury on Saturday. Saturday's win because we had the two Saturday games. Mike, what are you hearing about Keenan Allen? You're shaking your head.

[Jason Moore]

I've been searching. I've been searching and there is nothing available at this time.

[Andy Holloway]

So the news is. The only news I saw was that he was in a lot of pain and we'll wait to hear. And he was okay.

[Jason Moore]

He was at least in as high spirits as he could have been as he was carted off, you know, given the thumbs up and the claps of encouragement for his team. So hopefully he is back for next week. But he's. He has a history of injuries, to say the least.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Yeah, that's. That's a shame. It's hard to see that. Devonte Adams, concussion, not likely to play next week. Bad hit by Thomas Davis. He did seem like he was remorseful. Remorseful but unfortunate. Rex Burkhead, left with a knee injury. Did not, did not tear his acl. Could miss some time though. So I don't think you're going to be able to count on him.

[Jason Moore]

No, you cannot.

[Andy Holloway]

We'll talk about.

[Jason Moore]

It'll be out next.

[Andy Holloway]

Look, you need a shot in the dark. There's Mike Gillisle, James White. That's what I would say this week. I'd lean the James White side, but this game plan is going to change from what it was. He had been used very heavily. I can't imagine Gillisley not being active and used in a potential goal line scenario. If you need a shot, we'll talk more about the implications, the plans, what we're hearing. We'll talk about that on Tuesday. Mark East Lee, sprained ankle. X ray showed no break. He's going to undergo an mri. I don't expect him to play next week. We'll talk about Keelan Cole. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, we will.

[Andy Holloway]

Herwin Williams, quad injury. Arizona Cardinals running back filling in for the iard, Adrian Peterson. We'll see what happens next week. Elijah Penny would be next in line for the volume if you need it.

[Jason Moore]

Don't do it. Don't do it.

[Andy Holloway]

Another player that can't stay healthy. Guys, Jeremy Macklin, injury, knocked out of the game on Sunday. Not that you're starting him at this point. James Conner went down. I'm not sure a workload can get bigger for Lev Bell, but that one or two plays off will go to Fitzgerald Toussaint now and he would be the handcuff to own if Connor's out.

[Mike Wright]

If.

[Jason Moore]

Well, if you're playing a week 17 or. Or trying to protect against a practice week injury to Le'Veon Bell. I mean, he's.

[Andy Holloway]

Tucson could play all of week 17.

[Jason Moore]

That's. That is correct.

[Andy Holloway]

If there's no fantasy or there's no playoff implications for the Steelers.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

So don't play fantasy championships in week 17.

[Andy Holloway]

Could we not talk for 20 minutes about the end of the Steelers game and the end of the Cowboy game?

[Mike Wright]

Holy moly. I will say this. I will say this.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, go for it.

[Mike Wright]

I realized this weekend just how incredible because there's been a lot of frustration this year with all the injuries, just how incredible football and fantasy football and that, you know, those two things coming together are because this was championship week and we had every guy in our league.

[Jason Moore]

Semifinals.

[Mike Wright]

Well, getting in. Yes, you're right. The semifinals, getting into the championship. We had every person in our league huddled around their own TV for all of these games, texting everyone back and forth, watching these games that were incredible finishes of, you know, every time that there's that epic game, it just so often lets you down. And this weekend it didn't. I mean, you had incredible finishes, such good football being played, people stepping up every time they need to. Last minute craziness in both games. And then fantasy was kind of mirroring this. The amount of tweets I get of everyone just talking about this play affected this one point. There's just so much emotion on the line, and it was a blast. Andy, you know, you got in the championship and out and both, you know, at the same time is just so exciting to watch. And I just want to say to all the Foot Clan out there, thanks for being along with us on this ride because it is so fun.

[Andy Holloway]

It is. And if you, you know, if you're in a title game, you got another week to get hyped. And if you're not, stay with us and enjoy the ride because we're going to be riding along with this next game of. Or this next week of games, all the implications of how this season ends and moving into next year. And we're going to have a ton of shows in January and February reflecting on the season, reminding you about things that happen, reminding you of what to pay attention to, giving out some awards to play the footies. The footies are coming.

[Mike Wright]

Don't go away.

[Andy Holloway]

Definitely not. So it's going to be a good one. A reminder, you know, if you have Zeke, you know this by now, but he's coming back next week and good news, he's been, oh, yeah, he's been on the beach in Cabo.

[Mike Wright]

Thanks.

[Andy Holloway]

You're facing.

[Mike Wright]

No, but I have Antonio Brown and Alfred Morris, so.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, this will be an adventure for you.

[Mike Wright]

The little engine that could.

[Jason Moore]

At least in the photo. We all know in photography, angles are everything.

[Andy Holloway]

It's a Josh Gordon esque.

[Jason Moore]

But that's the. That's the fittest that Zeke has looked all season.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, he made a little bet with Eric Dickerson that he'd run for 200 when he came back. He wants to be your fantasy champion.

[Jason Moore]

And seeing what Todd Gurley just did to the Seahawks, Zeke might be able to hit two hundo.

[Andy Holloway]

You know, we don't hit every prediction, right, but that jersey up on the wall.

[Mike Wright]

Andy.

[Jason Moore]

Andy, look, I was. I was reminded several times on Twitter that I did not believe in Todd Gurley. Coming into this weekend, you were reminded?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, of course. Every weekend.

[Jason Moore]

Well, this one in particular. But, Andy, you got that. You stayed. You had the faith. Jeff Fisher, you are bad.

[Andy Holloway]

Jeff Fisher, you are a bad man.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, you had golf and Keenum, and you had all.

[Andy Holloway]

You had all the pieces to win.

[Mike Wright]

Robert woods is not the difference here.

[Andy Holloway]

That's fair. All right. Goodness.

[Jason Moore]

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[Mike Wright]

Need to make sure that you are well aware of Pristine Auction during this time of year. Pristine Auction is the best sports memorabilia site of all time in all worlds for sure.

[Jason Moore]

All dimensions.

[Andy Holloway]

Hoodie award winner.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, we talk about them all the time. But look, this is where you're getting into the championship. You're about to win the championship and you're going to do it thanks to certain players. And you want to commemorate that experience. You want to go on and grab that Todd Gurley jersey who's brought you along, grab it signed, know that the signature is authentic. You do that at Pristine Auction and you won't believe some of the prices. Even if you're talking about like hall of fame level. Listen to this. Jerry Rice signed 49ers career highlight stat jersey, an awesome piece. 105 bucks. You got Joe Montana going for 113. You got Le'Veon Bell for under 100 bucks. I mean, you can grab these.

[Andy Holloway]

We've been getting so many tweets about Christmas presents.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. So Christmas presents and commemoration go to pristine auction.com p r I s t I n e auction dot com. Make a completely free account. Make sure you let them know that the footballer sent you this week's fantasy stud muffins.

[Andy Holloway]

Cam Newton. Have a game, my friend. 20 for 31. 242 and four with another 58 yards rushing. Number one quarterback on the week, certainly, Nick Foles. Blake Bortles. Mike, you went bold with Blake and Blake delivered.

[Jason Moore]

You're darn right he did.

[Andy Holloway]

He didn't even have to play a whole game.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, that was. That was quite the performance from Blake Bortles and he was doing this without his top three weapons.

[Andy Holloway]

That's true. And they've done a good job of building depth at the wide receiver position, obviously. And at the running back position. They get contributions from Corey Grant. You had the game from Mickens.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, Mickens.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, yeah. Anyways, Blake Bortles, the way he's playing with Fournette back. Are we underestimating the potential for Jacksonville to make do something in the playoffs?

[Jason Moore]

Hopefully not. I think the Jackson Jacksonville Jaguars, they're in prime position right now. I believe they're the three.

[Andy Holloway]

Can they go on the road and bring this powerful defense and win again?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, defense travels. The old cliche. But here's the thing about Jacksonville. They're the three seed right now. They're in play for the two. Even the one.

[Andy Holloway]

They would have had the two if Pittsburgh had won that game. They would have been in position for the two.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So the Jacksonville Jaguars are going to be scary in the playoffs.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. If you're. You know, if.

[Jason Moore]

If Fournette is healthy, I will. I like Blake Bortles right now. I love him for fantasy football, even next week. But Blake Bortles on the road, if you're saying it's. It's all him with no Leonard Fournette, I think that's. That's a little sketchy.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I was just going to say if you're in the playoffs, your team is in the playoffs. The Jags are a team you do not want to go up against.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

Is there any quarterbacks from the Giants that you want to mention in this section?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, man. You know what? Let's just talk about the Giants as a who. I was expecting this Eagles defense to get amped up in the loss of.

[Andy Holloway]

Soar on the wins.

[Jason Moore]

Not just you, Jason.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I mean, you were just the spokesperson for it. I pumped the. Yeah, I'm the spokesperson. I pumped the brakes on the Giants. I didn't believe that they were a good play. Literally, if you played any Giant, you were fine. Eli had himself a huge game.

[Jason Moore]

Shepherd Darqua had a great.

[Mike Wright]

Ingram, King, Lewis. Just name a name. They did great. So apparently, if you want the Giants to perform, you just need to talk some smack. They're listening.

[Andy Holloway]

Brock Osweiler had it.

[Jason Moore]

I told you, it's a. Brock Oswald's gonna end up top five.

[Andy Holloway]

Leave it alone. You're not playing him.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Aaron Rodgers, 26 for 45.

[Mike Wright]

Welcome back.

[Andy Holloway]

He missed on some big plays, and now with the loss, you're going to have to wonder, you know, does he play next week? Does he not play next week?

[Mike Wright]

Here's why he plays next week.

[Andy Holloway]

You're answering the question. But I'm asking the question.

[Mike Wright]

Sure, that. Yes, you asked.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm more asking it to.

[Jason Moore]

Rhetorically.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I'm asking more rhetorically. We're waiting and seeing. But you're saying. You think.

[Mike Wright]

I'm saying he will play because it's Minnesota. This is a really important game for Minnesota to win, to claim division. You know, they're trying to get home field all the way through, including the Super Bowl. If you're a Green Bay Packer, that would be a nightmare. I mean, you don't want your division rival to have a chance at the Super Bowl.

[Jason Moore]

And I'm with Jason. I'm with Jason completely on this.

[Andy Holloway]

I understand that motivation, but that doesn't supersede your future. And if Aaron Rodgers.

[Jason Moore]

What's the Future Aaron Rodgers was healthy enough to play this week. He's healthy enough to play next week.

[Andy Holloway]

But you still have risk in a meaningless game for your team. If you have no chance to make the playoffs. And this is a.

[Jason Moore]

Still technically have a chance to make the playoffs, how.

[Andy Holloway]

No, the packers don't have a chance.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, they do. They're still in the hunt.

[Mike Wright]

I don't think they've been mathematically limited. Right.

[Jason Moore]

Atlanta right now. If Atlanta loses tonight, that's huge for the Packers.

[Andy Holloway]

The packers had to win all three games in order to have a chance. They needed three games plus help. So they're all but eliminated. That would say it's like a 99.9999% chance.

[Jason Moore]

That's fair. But there's. They have not been mathematically eliminated. But I'm with Jason, too, that as a team you go out against.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. They're mathematically eliminated if the Falcons win tonight.

[Jason Moore]

Yes. But as a team in division, the Vikings right now are the two seed. I think that Aaron Rodgers plays, and they try and knock Minnesota out of having that number one seed.

[Andy Holloway]

We'll see. We'll find out. Other good performances this week. Big Ben, you know, he was okay. I was expecting more against New England.

[Jason Moore]

Well, if.

[Mike Wright]

If.

[Jason Moore]

If Jesse James comes down with that catch, then Big Ben had himself a great game.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, let's look at the running backs. Todd Gurley.

[Jason Moore]

Whoo.

[Mike Wright]

Holy moly.

[Andy Holloway]

He did this in about three quarters.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Really? In about two. He got one more touchdown in the third just for fun. 21 for 153 and three. Three for 28 and a touchdown.

[Jason Moore]

So four total touchdowns.

[Andy Holloway]

What the Rams are doing right now, I don't know if you saw this stat. They are the third highest point per game increase in NFL history from one year to the next. The two higher are teams that don't exist anymore that I've never heard of. They're like the, you know, Illinois Bobcats.

[Mike Wright]

And the Baton Rouge skateboards.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jason Moore]

I don't think that that's where your brain goes. If Baton Rouge is known for anything, it's their skateboard. Skateboards.

[Andy Holloway]

But, Gurley, next week against Tennessee, this offense is traveling. You talk about defense traveling. The dominating performance against Seattle was amazing. Kareem Hunt.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Welcome back.

[Jason Moore]

Well, here's what happened. Cream Hunt.

[Mike Wright]

Sir.

[Jason Moore]

There was a lot of whispers. No, I'm not doing it yet. I'm not doing it yet. I'm gonna wait one more week. Kareem Hunt was hearing the whispers from the bushes. All right. Andy's finishing it. He's. He's hearing that people are saying, cream hunt. You're only a second round pick for fancy football. He said, wait, what? I'm a top five pick. And so he's going out there and he's doing work.

[Andy Holloway]

What was the question we got the other day? Fournette or Kareem next year?

[Jason Moore]

I think so.

[Mike Wright]

Something like that.

[Andy Holloway]

Like who would you. If you had to keep one right. Going into next year, where do you lean?

[Mike Wright]

I would lean Fournette and I would.

[Jason Moore]

Lean Cream Hunt right now.

[Mike Wright]

There you go.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't know.

[Jason Moore]

Opportunity and health. Leonard. 4 net health for sure. Leonard Fournette.

[Andy Holloway]

I would say passing game, involvement in health would be what it is for me. So yeah, that could change.

[Jason Moore]

That can change quickly.

[Andy Holloway]

But Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara doing his thing.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, there he goes.

[Andy Holloway]

The Saints know how to run the ball. So both of those players absolutely dominated.

[Jason Moore]

Mark also little garbage man can. Because the jets as they're trying to frantically hold on, maybe scrape together something. They just let Mark Ingram through on a monster.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. 50 yard touchdown run and he was only 12 for 74 on the game. So yeah, a little padded, but his passing work was already on play.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he had a great game. Melvin Gordon had a very good game. Almost 100 yards receiving, had a touchdown and.

[Andy Holloway]

And Austin Eckler season is over. Yes, we should have mentioned that.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Broken hand. Yeah, Melvin Gordon's gonna do work. Latavius Murray and Jerick McKinnon both put up 18 fantasy points.

[Jason Moore]

They certainly did.

[Mike Wright]

They were your.

[Andy Holloway]

So even if you picked wrong, you picked right. C.J. anderson.

[Jason Moore]

I believe that means there's no wrong answer.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's what I should have gone with. And then Dion Lewis. Is Dion Lewis in a better position for success without Burkhead?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, absolutely.

[Mike Wright]

I think Dion Lewis gets the biggest bump. Did you mention Kenyan Drake K. Drake?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I'm just saying because we need to get the. Now he, he had a fine game and he got a late touchdown, but then he just got, he got the dink and dump.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean throughout the rest of the game.

[Mike Wright]

And that was my worry about Damian Williams because he is oftentimes they're passing down back. So if he were in on those two minute type of drills, you're losing like, you know, four or five receptions there in that kind of utilization. So heal up, Damien. But he's slowly.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, all right.

[Mike Wright]

Take, take, take your rest.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. All right, wide receivers, guys.

[Jason Moore]

Jacksonville Jaguars, this is where they dominate.

[Andy Holloway]

Keelan Cole seven for 186 and one on nine targets. Now the nine targets is what you need to pay attention to. I pumped the brakes on Keelan Cole last week because three targets in the previous two weeks and happened to score.

[Jason Moore]

To be fair, Marquis Lee went out of this game rather quickly.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, but I still feel bad. Look, I. I paid the price. I put Devontae Parker in over Keelan Cole in my Dynasty league. Luckily, Brooks didn't show up, so I was fine. But next week, Keelan Cole. Yeah, Against San Francisco. I love him. I think he's going to be great. He's performing and they're giving him a larger target share. They're giving him more work. He was already on the field 60 plus percent of the time. And now with Marquis Lee unlikely to play, Keelan Cole is going up against you, Mike, in Dynasty.

[Jason Moore]

That's. That's fair. I would do it too.

[Andy Holloway]

Sterling Shepard, big week. He was balling out 11 for 139.

[Jason Moore]

Can you trust Shepard?

[Andy Holloway]

I think you can.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. You can absolutely trust Shepard. The only problem with shepherd was his hamstring and now it looks like he's clearly healthy. So I would trust him.

[Andy Holloway]

It's a tough match, even against Peterson.

[Mike Wright]

I was going to say it's a tough matchup next week against Arizona. I don't know that he'll be Peterson to the whole game, but I still think he is too involved. He is their clear number one receiver and they use him on such short routes sometimes that he'll be fine.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. Michael Thomas. Nice game from three touchdowns.

[Mike Wright]

Michael Thomas. Yeah. Except two of them were called back when you were.

[Jason Moore]

If you were playing against Michael Thomas.

[Mike Wright]

Or if you were playing him. Either way.

[Jason Moore]

A buddy of ours was here watching the games with us playing against Michael Thomas and just. He was punched in the heart twice. And then they just got called back by an inch. Of course, then he capped it off with a real touchdown that you could not take away.

[Andy Holloway]

We talked about the other.

[Jason Moore]

What about Jaden Mickens?

[Andy Holloway]

Well, Jaden Mickens stepped into that Marquis Lee gap, I guess, and got on the field and scored two touchdowns. I don't think he's going to be fantasy relevant.

[Jason Moore]

You don't?

[Andy Holloway]

I don't. You still had. You had a subpar game from Dee Dee Westbrook, which was unexpected. I mean, who are you going to start him over? You can start him over. Westbrook or Keelan Cole. No, I just say on a running.

[Mike Wright]

Team in the championship.

[Jason Moore]

I'm not.

[Andy Holloway]

Jaden Mickens is irrelevant to me. It was an outlier type of game. I mean, are you starting TAVARES King?

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

2 for 70 and two touchdowns.

[Jason Moore]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

Also, was Tavares King the one that looks like he's about. Yes, I was like a modern day Gary Payton.

[Jason Moore]

Tavares King was 2 for 70 with two touchdowns. Look extremely sprightly for a 49 year old.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, he's got. He's got the looks of an aged man.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Not quite the Greg Odin levels, but a bit shocking. He took the helmet off and I was like, grandpa. Oh, no, not Brishard, but Richard. Richard Matthews.

[Mike Wright]

All right. He. I mean, the thing is, I never want to really bank on a Tennessee wide receiver right now, but he is the one if you. If you have to. Bad matchup this next week against Los Angeles rams.

[Andy Holloway]

Michael Crabtree, 7 for 39 on 7 and only 2. So 7 for 39 on 17 targets. 39 yards on 17 targets is insanely poor. And if you watch the game, awful. It's Derek Carr's fault.

[Mike Wright]

Derek Carr sucks.

[Andy Holloway]

He stinks right now.

[Mike Wright]

So bad. I mean, I don't know who was worse last night between Derek Carr and Dak Prescott, but both guys look like they do not belong on teams. Even sniffing the playoffs as a quarterback, he can't.

[Andy Holloway]

And now you lost Donald Pin. So nobody has a larger disparity of passer rating in the NFL than Derek Carr with pressure versus a safe pocket.

[Jason Moore]

Clean pocket.

[Andy Holloway]

A clean pocket also. I'm going to throw it out there. I think the offensive coordinator in Oakland doesn't know what he's doing.

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

Because there is no rhythm to this offense whatsoever. They go five wide and every five wide set includes zero Michael Crabtree. They put out five wide receivers and they're having Derek Carr throw the ball within one second all the time. There's no downfield presence. They don't know what they're doing. Going from one to the other. It's just really strange. It feels rigid. It feels like we're doing this play in this set. We have no flexibility. There's no changing the play at the line. And the offenses felt like a problem all year long. I want to bring up DeAndre Hopkins. Can anybody stop DeAndre Hopkins?

[Jason Moore]

No.

[Mike Wright]

No, it's impossible.

[Andy Holloway]

Four for 80 and a touchdown on 13 targets. Next week they play Pittsburgh. Robert Woods. Yeah, we're going to talk about him in a bit.

[Mike Wright]

No, we're not going to talk about. He was almost going to be my razor case rising star, but he's back. It was, you know, in theory, a tough Matchup against Seattle. But 6 for 45 and a touchdown. He. He appeared right off the bat that he's the number one target and he went right back to that role with Jared Goff next week. San Francisco. Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I was going to bring up the opposite of that with. Wait. Or with Robert Woods. Sorry, no. Robert woods gets San Francisco 17.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. I'm sorry. Tennessee.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Still, you confused me there because Marquis, great win. Has been balling out. That's actually Marquis Goodwin, wide receiver for the 49ers with Jimmy Garoppolo, who looks like the truth. Jimmy Garoppolo is going to be a great quarterback.

[Mike Wright]

Not this week.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that's the problem. Goodwin, you've been playing him. The target volume has been unbelievable and the catch rate has been equally unbelievable for. For Goodwin. But he gets Jacksonville in championship week. Raining on your parade.

[Andy Holloway]

And he. I don't know if I would trust him in that matchup.

[Jason Moore]

That's what I'm wanting to bring up real quick.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it'd be tough. Is it? It is. At home, I assume. Is that game at home?

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. Rob Gronkowski did his thing. He was bigger, stronger, better than the players around him. 9 for 168. Single handedly that whole drive.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

To win the game.

[Jason Moore]

And not just the drive, the two point conversion where the Pittsburgh.

[Andy Holloway]

Mike and I looked at each other.

[Jason Moore]

And we said the Pittsburgh Steelers line up just, just one defensive back on Gronk who they split out wide and we're watching this going, what did. What are they doing? What are they doing? What are they doing? The play is going to go to Gronk. How do you not see Gronk? Two point conversion.

[Andy Holloway]

It's like a bomb's about to go off and nobody is running away from.

[Mike Wright]

How do you.

[Jason Moore]

How do you not see what they're doing?

[Mike Wright]

Everyone knew what was going. The commentator said that. You guys said that. Everyone in the stands was saying that.

[Andy Holloway]

What was great is that Gronk didn't even use his size to win. He actually juked. Yes, he juked. The five, eight guy. All right, Greg Olson, welcome back. Nine for one, 16 and one.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, we'll talk about him.

[Andy Holloway]

Those of you that started him last week are mad. He could have given you this.

[Jason Moore]

I had no faith. I will own up to this. I did not want to start Greg Olson. I did not recommend playing him, but he was back with an absolute vengeance. 9 for 116 with a touchdown. And he destroyed the value of Devin Funches.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he did. He did.

[Jason Moore]

If you're wondering what happened. You have Devin Funches, who I loved this weekend. What happened? Greg Olson happened and so did Christian and the targets went back to Christian McCaffrey as well. So there just wasn't enough to go around for poor funches.

[Andy Holloway]

Zach Ertz, Eric Ebron, Delaney, Walker all scored touchdowns. Evan Ingram had a nice game, 8 for 87 on 13 targets. Having one of the best rookie seasons as a tight end in NFL history. Yeah, Evan Ingram with a monster year, really validating that pick for the Giants, which, you know, we questioned him over in Joku. He certainly served a role. There's been a lot of injury there, but he's made the most of it. Lets talk rising stars.

[Mike Wright]

Raising canes. Rising stars of the week.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going to step right into the fire. Keelan Cole, who I pumped the brakes on, now has three straight games with a touchdown. He's firmly on fire. Staying in the flames with him. Marquise Lee's hurt. It all makes sense. Bortles was playing well. Keelan Cole's a rising star. He's a waiver wire pickup in your league. And depending on your situation, he's going to be a start for me next week. Mike, why don't you take his buddy?

[Jason Moore]

It's a combo here, a twofer as we call it in the business. Yeah, I don't. Someone out there has to.

[Andy Holloway]

We found rouge skateboards. Somebody's going to give us a logo for that team.

[Jason Moore]

Three games. Three games and you are on fire. And here's Blake Bortles past three games. 302, 268 and 2, 3, 3, 26 and 3, not to mention, ladies and gentlemen, zero interceptions in that time.

[Andy Holloway]

In all three games.

[Jason Moore]

Yes. Blake Bortles is picking the right time to catch fire now he gets to play San Francisco, which the San Francisco defense this past week made Marcus Mariota look like he was an actual usable fantasy quarterback, which he has not been the entire year. So Blake Bortles, all right, is my rising star because I'm sticking with him.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, my rising star this week is Greg Olson because I thought he was done this coming week in championship week where people have been struggling for their tight end, if you had Greg Olson, you probably didn't play him. They're coming up against Tampa Bay. Now, Tampa Bay has been decent against tight end, but that hasn't been because they're good against tight end. That's simply because nobody's needed to utilize a tight end. They can do whatever they want against Tampa Bay running back and wide receiver. But the thing is is Greg Olson is such a key part of the offense. I think you can start Greg Olson next week. They're at home in Carolina. You're going to see more of the same and I think it'll be a very good week for him. And you know that shout out to Robert woods as well. That I think is both these guys. You weren't sure how quick you're going to be able to play them coming off of their injuries. Light them up.

[Andy Holloway]

Blake Bortles, Keelan Cole, Greg Olson. Those were the Raising Canes rising stars of the week. Remember that game day tastes better. Pretty much every day tastes better with Raising Canes tailgates full of fresh 24 hour marinated hand battered chicken fingers and fresh brewed sweet tea. Visit raising canes.com to find your nearest location.

[Mike Wright]

Pooped in his big boy pants.

[Andy Holloway]

This is it.

[Jason Moore]

Finally happened.

[Andy Holloway]

This is our service to you. We're gonna give some comeuppance to the players that let you down. We'll do our best to shame them it we'll do our best to sympathize.

[Jason Moore]

Finally happened. Russell. Russell Wilson. Wilson found his kryptonite. It was the Los Angeles, Los Angeles Rams, which I mean the Rams.

[Andy Holloway]

Aaron Donald.

[Jason Moore]

The Rams generally speaking do like historically even the Jeff Fisher years played tough against the Seahawks.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't think anyone even too tough for fantasy.

[Jason Moore]

Even the most rambunctious of Rams fan could not have foreseen a 40 point lead on the road against Russell Wilson.

[Andy Holloway]

Russell Wilson, he set a trap for you and he neatly tied it together with last week's performance against Jacksonville. You would probably have played him anyway. But if he had stunk last week you wouldn't have been setting up saying he can overcome anything.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Mike was saying Russell Wilson's going to lose some people their playoffs and he was right. He just got it wrong week one week off. Wrong week. Either he lost you last week because you benched him and then you have the confidence to start him this week and you know and this goes with 13 points still.

[Andy Holloway]

So he didn't just like it wasn't a complete like an utter death to your team but his weapons were. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

I mean Doug Baldwin one for six.

[Andy Holloway]

That is unbelievable. Jimmy Graham was what negative point one.

[Jason Moore]

Was he he had a catch for a negative.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Oh man.

[Jason Moore]

I mean here's, here's the thing.

[Andy Holloway]

If it's going south for the winter.

[Jason Moore]

And this the reason why I I had no confidence start Russell Wilson last week is I, I just felt it Would. The way that he's playing, it's going to catch up eventually. The offensive line, they can't block anyone. That's not Russell Wilson's fault. He's doing the best he can, but scramble, scramble, scramble. Throw the ball as far as you can. It just, it, it can't work every single week if, when you're Russell Wilson, when you're that amazing, it can work the majority of the time, but eventually it catches up. And the Los Angeles Rams were able to get enough pressure and even the Rams still whiffed on quite a few plates.

[Andy Holloway]

The other two start worthy quarterbacks this week to let you down in a big way. Dak Prescott.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

18 for 27. Not a good game at Seattle next week. And then Brooks, what's the other name on the list?

[Mike Wright]

Philip Rivers.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

24, 36.

[Mike Wright]

The Chargers are, I will say this as an analyst, they, they hurt me the most this week for sure because I saw that Saturday game going the exact opposite. I really thought that the Chargers were going to go in there, take care of business against the Chiefs. And the entire Chargers team, with the exception of Melvin Gordon, just let you down. Keenan Allen, Philip Rivers, all the ancillary weapons. Well, and Tyrone Williams.

[Jason Moore]

Hunter Henry scored. Oh, no, that was Antonio Gates.

[Andy Holloway]

Henry actually came off the field.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Due to an injury. So we need to pay attention to that for this upcoming week. Guys, at the running back position, who was your most surprising pooper?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, the most surprising. Hmm.

[Andy Holloway]

You had Jamal Williams with a terrible performance. Zero targets, 10 for 30. You had Lamar Miller yet again let you down. Carlos Hyde didn't have a big game. 16 for 25 against Tennessee.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I'll say the most surprising was Carlos Hyde. I thought, I felt like he, he wasn't, you know, crazy high ceiling, but he's just been so safe. And 16 for 25 is not getting it done. Especially where Hyde has been safe is those dump off passes. But once under Jimmy Garoppolo, those are not showing up with the regularity that they were earlier.

[Andy Holloway]

He's more willing to go down field, extend to play with his legs.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So that's unfortunate for Carlos Hyde's outlook. And then now Hyde has to play Jacksonville in the championship week.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I would say the most surprising to me was Mike Davis. But as we talked about, I mean, when you get down by 40 points in the blink of an eye, your running game goes.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, I would say it's Alex Collins for me.

[Mike Wright]

Yo.

[Andy Holloway]

Alex Collins was 12 for 19 after kind of earning the fantasy, you know, Mantle Space on the mantle.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Knock him off.

[Mike Wright]

I don't know. I don't know what happened in that game.

[Andy Holloway]

Get on the ground.

[Mike Wright]

I don't know what happened because I was. I was tracking that game. Alex Collins wasn't performing well, but he was getting, you know, the bulk of the work. And then the second half comes around, he disappears. I don't know if he was gone, injured, benched, but he was. He basically didn't get any more work. We need to look into.

[Andy Holloway]

You know, it was just. He just wasn't playing well. I mean, 12 for 19 and Buck Allen was playing. And Buck Allen was playing well. It was disappointing. You thought he had kind of worked himself into. Worked himself into a premier position, but he hurt people and he hurt them big time. If you took a chance on Amir Abdullah, you made a mistake.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, Abdullah got. I don't know why you would have done that.

[Andy Holloway]

No. But he was active again. Some people thought he had the starting job. And then Theo Riddick, you know, was ignored because of that. But none of those running backs had a good game over there. Jonathan Stewart. Yeah, not a good game.

[Jason Moore]

Everything went Back to Christian McCaffrey.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Did we.

[Jason Moore]

I know we mentioned his name, Jamal Williams, but that was also.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Let's talk about moving forward because.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Aaron Jones, 37% of snaps this week. And Jamal Williams, with Aaron Rodgers back 10 for 30, no targets this.

[Jason Moore]

And Jamal Williams, even though Jones was back, he still only got three carries. Jamal Williams, 10 carries. The no targets thing, that's destructive for a Green Bay running back. For fantasy purposes, if you joined. If you joined me on the periscope that I do every Sunday morning with those last minute, you know, analysis, news and all that stuff. Jamal Williams was in a lot of questions. And I often turn to the other running back simply based off of touchdown upside, which Amal Williams goes down when Aaron Rodgers is playing, because Aaron Rodgers will throw from the one yard line. He does not care. But I did not foresee 10 for 30 coming up from Jamal Williams. And now he gets Minnesota. What's the. Is the trust level put on pause until, you know if it's Aaron Rodgers or Brett Hundley?

[Andy Holloway]

Would you rather start? Yeah, well, certainly. I mean, Brett Hundley, he's going to need to check the ball down more, but I'm not confident in the snap percentage.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I was going to say being.

[Andy Holloway]

In the right place.

[Jason Moore]

Even if Brett.

[Mike Wright]

Even if Brett Hundley is back, I don't think you can be confident that Jamal Williams has the, the snap Percentage that he had been having while Aaron Jones was gone.

[Andy Holloway]

I would start CJ Anderson next week over Jamal.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, love hearing that, ladies and gentlemen. I don't know if you realize how impactful that statement is coming from dad.

[Andy Holloway]

Just because the first four words were, I would start C.J. anderson.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, Brooks, we're gonna need that cut up. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

That's a historical moment for the show.

[Mike Wright]

That's a drop that we need to. We need to have access to play at all times. Well, it's like last week when Mike.

[Andy Holloway]

Said, I like Doug Martin this week.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

That was painful to say.

[Andy Holloway]

So I'm painful to watch.

[Jason Moore]

Well, he at least scored that week.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. All right, wide receivers. A.J. green let me down huge 2 for 30 on four targets. I guess Andy Dalton let A.J. down, and then A.J. let me down. So that's kind of a. The transitive property. Andy Dalton, I hate you.

[Jason Moore]

So here's the thing, because, you know, there was. There was actual questions of people saying, can I play AJ Green against Minnesota? And the analysis I always give is, I mean, who are your other options? But I go down with my studs. And sometimes you do go down A.J. green, Adam Thielen, bad Brian, bad weeks. But then you have on the other side, if you had benched DeAndre Hopkins, who had a fantastic game for fantasy, you feel really, really bad. So sometimes it's just that game of probability, and you feel like you got to play the player who gives you the best chance, even if everything in the world is against them.

[Andy Holloway]

There's no way that in hindsight you could ever say you should have benched A.J. green. The numbers way I play. Yeah, he's number six wide receiver. And yes, you could have made the narrative. I mean, Minnesota playing for a lot, Cincinnati playing for a little. But he's A.J. green, and he had a. He had a 40 yard catch down the sideline where he just barely was out of bounds on. It would have changed the week a little bit for you, but Doug Baldwin, Adam Thielen, you said it. Jordy Nelson, golden guy.

[Mike Wright]

Jordy Nelson, to me is the one that sticks out because you guys were.

[Andy Holloway]

So jealous of me getting him in our draft draft league, and it didn't even matter.

[Mike Wright]

I think Jordy is done. I mean, whoa, that's a strong. Maybe that's too much from week one, but his age and the fact that, look, devonte Adams went out in this game. You had the second half where he still couldn't find Jordy open the one. I remember one reception coming where Jordy Was, you know, wearing a blanket. He still caught it. It was great. But 3 for 28 on 6 targets.

[Jason Moore]

In defense of Jordy Nelson. I will say one of Aaron Rodgers interceptions was. Jordy Nelson was running free for a touchdown but Rodgers under threw in.

[Mike Wright]

That's. That's true.

[Jason Moore]

But perhaps Jordy Nelson is. Is at the point of his career where he can still be great for fantasy, but he needs someone like devonte Adams on the other side helping out with the coverage instead of just being.

[Andy Holloway]

Able to be supreme Alpha Jason, out of Christmas goodwill, chose to put all of the poor players on his draft lineup this week. So you lost handily. Rex Burkhead, Mike Davis and Golden T. All right now, Mike, I am currently beating you by half of a point.

[Jason Moore]

Are you.

[Andy Holloway]

Your guys are all done and I still have Mike Evans, so I. Oh, you're gonna. I have defeated you, so I didn't even. Jordy Nelson. No harm done in that league.

[Jason Moore]

Golden Tate was. That was. That was strange. Only five targets for Golden Tate on.

[Andy Holloway]

A day when Stafford was fine. So Jason Corey Coleman 1 for 16. I know he's the best player in the NFL.

[Jason Moore]

He's much better than Josh Gordon.

[Andy Holloway]

You did make a bet, a water bet about this week.

[Mike Wright]

Yep.

[Andy Holloway]

So just letting you know.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you.

[Jason Moore]

Soggy bottoms.

[Andy Holloway]

Soggy bottoms.

[Jason Moore]

Yum.

[Andy Holloway]

This guy's going to go there. Dee Dee Westbrook, 2 for 21. Can you trust him next week without Marquis Lee? Is this just a.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Was this just an outlier game?

[Mike Wright]

Every. Every player in the entire league has bad games. Antonio Brown has bad games. So I think this game didn't work out well.

[Andy Holloway]

Only when he's injured. He's the worst example.

[Mike Wright]

Okay. He is literally statistically the worst example. But the point is, the point is he does still have those games where you're disappointed and, you know, so Dee Dee Westbrook, you can't just assume every single week is going to be great. I think with Marquis Lee out, the good match against San Francisco, I'm fine playing dede next week.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. Jimmy Graham and Hunter Henry were the big poopers at the tight end position. I would also throw Ricky Seals Jones in there because, oh, certainly he had six targets.

[Jason Moore]

I thought Seals Jones was going to have a very solid fantasy game.

[Andy Holloway]

I did too.

[Jason Moore]

The matchup was great. Jermaine Gresham was out.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it was all.

[Jason Moore]

It was going to be all Seals.

[Andy Holloway]

Gabbert was so bad.

[Jason Moore]

He was awful. So, so bad question though, for Jimmy Graham. Who it. Depending on your scoring format. But let's Say he plays in a. If you're in a standard league over the past two weeks, Jimmy Graham is averaging negative points. Where's your trust level with Jimmy Graham if you still made it to the championship week with him putting up one for. I won.

[Mike Wright]

I cannot see not playing Jimmy Graham. I really can't.

[Andy Holloway]

I, I would. I mean, it's two straight games of complete nothingness. So it would depend on your options.

[Jason Moore]

And even, even when he was dominant, you know, in that run a few weeks ago, touchdowns, it was touchdowns. It was a touchdown dependent thing, which. Yeah, you. The probability of Jimmy Graham coming down with a touchdown is a lot higher than most tight ends. But are you going. I mean, he's cooling off. He is the exact opposite of heating up. This is two really bad games. But, Jason, you're still.

[Mike Wright]

I would, I mean, I know, I know the other options out there and I think Jimmy Graham still, like you, I mean, you just said he has a higher probability at getting a touchdown than most of the other options. So, I mean, sure, if I have, you know, another great option on my team and I can say, okay, I'm not going to play Jimmy Graham because I can put in Zach Ertz, then sure. But I mean, most of the time you're, you're going with, you know, is it Tyler Croft, you're playing over him, or is it, you know, Cameron Bray? You know, if I'm talking about guys like that, then I'm just going to keep rolling with Jimmy Graham because you.

[Andy Holloway]

Have to, you say, sure. Like a person that puts on like horseshoes onto a horse like you're a shoer.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

All right, so just real quick, we're very early. The analysis has not been fully done on the weekend. But Jimmy Graham, you're putting the faith in that in him, or are you going to go with the tight end matchups, the killer ones like Arizona gets the Giants and it could be Ricky Seals who was disappointing but has been putting up some monster weeks. The other one, the other great one is tough because it's Chicago. So Adam Shaheen was a late scratch. Maybe he's in. Maybe it's Dion Sims.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

So I'd be talking about for sure on that situation, probably on both. Tevin Coleman's out for the game tonight. Devonta Freeman shall run wild. Yes, I. Would you, Would you make a cursory pickup of Tron Ward?

[Mike Wright]

Probably not.

[Andy Holloway]

If you're the Freeman owner.

[Jason Moore]

If you're, if you're the Freeman owner.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm just, I'm just saying Freeman's Been concussed this year. I just am bringing it up.

[Jason Moore]

I believe Freeman has two.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

If I'm not mistaken.

[Andy Holloway]

So you expecting big things from Julio tonight? We're expecting to see everything and anything from James Winston. Not a lot of expectations on that side of the ball, but I'm sure a lot of people with Mike Evans to Sean Jackson starting tonight. And then your money would be on Martin or Barber to have a bigger game tonight.

[Jason Moore]

I've been looking for any inkling in the news sphere of Doug Martin versus Peyton Barber. As of right now, I have received nothing to state if Peyton Barber will in fact be the starter tonight. So as of right now, you have to imagine that it's still Doug Martin.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. My money would be on Peyton Barber, but my hopes, my Christmas wish list, if I can amend that.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, oh, put some on the back of the list.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, the back of the list, Santa. I need Doug Martin to be a workhorse stud because you need him to go full C.J.

[Andy Holloway]

Anderson at the end of the season.

[Mike Wright]

In the listening league. And this happened while we were recording the show in the listener league. I was able to move a player to the ir. Thank you, Damian Williams. And Doug Martin was out there, which is unbelievable. And because he has not played, because he is on my team, he is a bear trap. Yeah, he is.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, but I lost alf. A holiday wish for Doug Martin. I need someone is a holiday wish for Krampus to show up and eat your children.

[Andy Holloway]

Do you know what his current yardage is on the year?

[Jason Moore]

Doug Martin.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, I know that he's real close.

[Andy Holloway]

To that 400 because there are some requirements for his.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, we know he has to finish either with 14 or 402. Is he?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, it's. It's done. He's finishing in the 400.

[Mike Wright]

So that means he's only got 97 yards.

[Andy Holloway]

So for some of you that don't.

[Jason Moore]

Finishing in the 400 yards, that don't.

[Andy Holloway]

Know this Doug Martin in his entire career, he's either finished the season with 1400 yards in that range or 400 his entire career. So he's completely like Brooks here in the studio. Sometimes a home run, but sometimes more of a waiver wire. I'm just kidding.

[Mike Wright]

Brownie face Brooks with Santa hat on.

[Andy Holloway]

But Andy, it's really sad.

[Mike Wright]

This will be really sad.

[Jason Moore]

This will be season four, correct? With the. In the 400?

[Mike Wright]

Yes, that. No, this will be. Yes, that's correct. Here's his. Here's his career. 1454, then 456, 494, then 1402, then 421 and I'm right now at 402.

[Andy Holloway]

It's so amazing.

[Jason Moore]

I would call that not good.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Four out of six years you've accumulated.

[Andy Holloway]

How many of those were injury laden?

[Mike Wright]

All of them.

[Jason Moore]

You destroy me on my love for Ryan Matthews.

[Andy Holloway]

No, no, I'm not. I'm not loving him. I'm not loving Martin.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, that's.

[Mike Wright]

Look, he's only played 16 twice and you can guess which 2 scale has.

[Andy Holloway]

Added up in the side of of krampus. It's much higher than the other site.

[Mike Wright]

By the way, my kids gonna get eaten for Christmas.

[Jason Moore]

If you want Doug Martin to do well, that's the trade off.

[Mike Wright]

Dang it.

[Jason Moore]

That's the trade.

[Andy Holloway]

That is the trade. You want that listener league title.

[Mike Wright]

Hello, Jason. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm getting that listener league title.

[Andy Holloway]

You'll still be a father. And by the way, go to footclangiveaway.com right now. We are giving away. There's only five days left in this. We're giving three custom fantasy football jerseys away from fantasychamps.com oh, those are hot. And you get to customize your team name, your name, your favorite number. These are really, really nice jerseys. We've got them for our teams. People have been raving about them. I know they're adding some new colors this [e-mail] but you can enter to win one for free at Footclain giveaway.com we're giving three of them away in five days. And we'll be back tomorrow with the waiver wire. Good luck tonight and we'll talk to you then.

[Jason Moore]

Absolutely. And do not forget about draft.com ballers if you're out, you want a DFS, that's the place to go. See you tomorrow. Goodbye.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you for listening to another episode of the fantasy football ballers podcast. Join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot.com and follow us on twitterffballers.