Fantasy Football 2017 - Week 4 Matchups, In-or-Out

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast: Fantasy Football 2017 - Week 4 Matchups, In-or-Out

Release Date: September 29, 2017

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The Fantasy Footballers trio—Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright—delivered an engaging and comprehensive episode focused on Week 4 of the 2017 NFL season. The hosts delved into matchup analyses, injury updates, player evaluations, and fantasy football strategies, ensuring listeners were well-equipped to make informed decisions for their fantasy teams. Below is a detailed summary capturing all key discussions, insights, and conclusions from the episode.

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1. Introduction and Housekeeping

The episode kicks off with the hosts bantering about it being Friday, sharing light-hearted moments about their shared love for certain songs and expressing excitement for the episode's content.

Mike Wright [00:42]: "Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast coming to you from Play Draft Studios with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright."

2. Thursday Night Football: Injury Riddles and Impact

The hosts begin by dissecting the Thursday Night Football game, which was notably plagued by injuries rather than standout performances.

• Injuries Highlighted:
  • Ty Montgomery and Jamal Williams faced setbacks, leading to the emergence of Aaron Jones for the Green Bay Packers.
  • A particularly concerning injury involved Devonte Adams, resulting from a late-game incident.

Jason Moore [02:06]: "Devonte Adams, the MRI on his neck came back clean. He has been diagnosed with a concussion. He avoided a serious neck injury, and that is very, very good news for Adams."

The trio expressed concerns over the severity of the injuries and the actions that led to them, especially criticizing Danny Trevathan for a helmet-to-helmet hit.

Jason Moore [03:22]: "I feel like there should be a rule where if a flagged play, an illegal play, causes an injury, you got to at least be out that series."

Geronimo Allison is recommended as a waiver wire pickup due to Adams' injury.

Mike Wright [04:27]: "And Geronimo Allison, to me, is a receiver to pick up on waivers."

3. Fantasy Rundown: Player Performances and Projections

The hosts reviewed key player performances from the previous games, focusing on quarterback efficiency and wide receiver contributions.

• Aaron Rodgers demonstrated high efficiency with four touchdowns and 179 passing yards without rushing.
• Jordy Nelson and Devonte Adams also had notable performances, though Adams' injury cut his game short.

Jason Moore [05:42]: "Cobb got a touchdown. Yeah."

They discussed the potential rise of Randall Cobb as a beneficiary of Packers' running back injuries, predicting a Wes Welker or Julian Edelman-like role in the passing game.

Jason Moore [05:15]: "It's going to be a Wes Welker, Julian Edelman type of role where you know the quick slants and run through the air with Cobb. If you're in a PPR league, I love it."

4. In-or-Out Segment: Player Availability and Recommendations

A significant portion of the episode was dedicated to assessing whether specific players would be available for Week 4 based on their injury statuses. The In-or-Out segment provided critical insights for fantasy managers.

• Notable Players Assessed:
  • Sam Bradford: Out
  • Jay Ajayi: In
  • Melvin Gordon: Limited concerns but still in
  • Matt Forte & Geo Bernard: Forte out, Bernard questionable
  • Michael Crabtree: In
  • John Brown & J.J. Nelson: Mixed statuses
  • Jimmy Graham: Playing

Andy Holloway [13:42]: "I'm going out" (referring to Sam Bradford)

Jason Moore [15:15]: "Out" (referring to Matt Forte)

Rob Kelly's rib injury was a point of contention, with differing opinions on his availability.

Andy Holloway [14:19]: "Think that he plays."

Jason Moore [14:21]: "I think that he sits."

5. Matchup Forecasts and Strategy

The hosts analyzed upcoming matchups, providing strategic advice tailored to fantasy football contexts.

• Panthers vs. Patriots:
  • Patriots favored by nine points with a 49-point over/under.
  • Discussion centered on Cam Newton's potential against a struggling Patriots defense.

Mike Wright [17:19]: "49 point over under."

Jason Moore [20:04]: "Tom Brady, you're starting him. Mike Gillislee, starting, you're starting him."

• Giants vs. Buccaneers:
  • Focus on the Giants' offensive struggles, particularly their minimal run game impacting fantasy relevancy.
  • Recommendations included starting Odell Beckham Jr. and considering Tevin Coleman for favorable matchups.

Andy Holloway [39:43]: "Take that, Paul."

• Raiders vs. Broncos:
  • Broncos are three-point favorites with a focus on improving Oakland's offensive woes.
  • Trevor Siemian highlighted as a favorable start against Denver's defensive struggles.

Jason Moore [44:29]: "Trevor Simeon has shown the ability to be a chain mover at home."

6. Foot Clan Friday: Listener Engagement and Giveaways

The hosts introduced Foot Clan Friday, a weekly giveaway segment rewarding listeners with $40 gift cards to shopballers.com.

Mike Wright [11:15]: "Foot Clan Friday. $40. We give away 40 bucks every Friday..."

The winner, Jacob Dechant, was announced, fostering community engagement and rewarding listener loyalty.

7. DFS Podcast Promotion

Promotion of their Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) podcast featured multiple hosts, including Mike Bing, Mike Wright, Bing Cummins, and Chris Meaney. The segment emphasized strategies and lineup recommendations for platforms like FanDuel and DraftKings.

Andy Holloway [12:15]: "Today's episode, it's amazing... getting you ready for those FanDuel DraftKings lineups."

Listeners were encouraged to subscribe and explore additional resources such as dfspass.com for premium content.

8. Expert Draft: Engaging Listener Participation

In an interactive segment, the hosts participated in an Expert Draft, showcasing their drafting strategies and player selections for Week 4.

• Notable Selections:
  • Jason Moore picked Odell Beckham Jr. despite having low confidence.
  • Andy Holloway opted for players like Adam Thielen based on favorable matchups.
  • Mike Wright selected Alex Smith and Chris Carson, emphasizing consistency and strong performances.

Mike Wright shared a humorous anecdote about assigning jersey numbers in high school, reinforcing camaraderie among hosts.

Mike Wright [38:36]: "And when we showed up for game one... I gave him double zero. But, like, a good..."

9. Daily Dose: Real-Time Injury Updates

The Daily Dose provided timely injury updates crucial for fantasy managers making last-minute lineup decisions.

• Highlights:
  • Kenny Golladay sidelined with a hamstring injury.
  • Brex Burkhead and Ben Watson returned to practice, increasing their availability.

Andy Holloway [54:12]: "Kenny Golladay did not practice on Friday with a hamstring, by the way."

10. Final Thoughts and Closing Remarks

The episode concluded with reflections on the drafted teams, emphasizing the importance of strategic player selection and adaptability. The hosts encouraged continued listener participation and support through their platforms.

Jason Moore [58:41]: "Because this is a food bet on the line. Go Marcus Mariota for my quarterback."

Listeners were reminded to engage with their community at jointhefoot.com and follow them on Twitter for ongoing updates and insights.

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Notable Quotes

• Jason Moore [03:22]: "I feel like there should be a rule where if a flagged play, an illegal play, causes an injury, you got to at least be out that series."
• Mike Wright [11:15]: "Foot Clan Friday. $40. We give away 40 bucks every Friday..."
• Andy Holloway [13:42]: "I'm going out" (referring to Sam Bradford)
• Jason Moore [15:15]: "Out" (referring to Matt Forte)

Conclusion

This episode of Fantasy Footballers served as an essential guide for fantasy managers navigating the challenges of Week 4. Through detailed analyses, strategic recommendations, and engaging segments, the hosts provided valuable insights to help listeners optimize their fantasy rosters and enhance their chances of league success.

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For more insights, player updates, and fantasy football strategies, visit jointhefoot.com and follow the Fantasy Footballers on Twitter @the_ffballers.

Transcript

[Mike Wright]

Today's show is brought to you by Squad Ql. If you want an unfair advantage to dominate your league, look no further than Squad Ql, the only mobile app you need to crush your friends and rivals this year. Squad Ql recommends the best starting lineup each week based on your starters, bench players and free agent pool. Head to Squad QL.com to download Squad QL for free. Again, that's Squad QL.com to download the app for free.

[Jason Moore]

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

[Mike Wright]

Welcome in. Welcome to the show. It's Friday.

[Jason Moore]

It's Friday.

[Mike Wright]

Friday. Oh, man. I was really hoping you didn't do that.

[Andy Holloway]

It's impossible to say it's Friday and not have that, like an alarm just exploding.

[Mike Wright]

How do you spell that? F R A I D. Fray Friday. That song was terrible.

[Andy Holloway]

I disagree. That's a hot jam.

[Mike Wright]

You're ruining a very good, a very good day. You're ruining the good name of Friday. It is September 29th.

[Andy Holloway]

Rebecca Black is my homeboy.

[Mike Wright]

Your homeboy, homegirl, whatever, whatever. Well, like last night's game, we're bringing the thunder and lightning with takes like that on today's. It's going to be a good one. We have Week 4 matchups. The second half of those we've got in and out, get through the injuries, talk about that. And we're going to start off the show, obviously, by discussing the Thursday night football game. So let's jump right in. You can find us on Twitter at the ffballers. We're on YouTube as well. So head over to YouTube.com the fantasy footballers if you want to see our beautiful faces. And it is in high definition, a new technology, high definition.

[Jason Moore]

We, we verified from Yesterday it is YouTube.com the fantasy footballers. So you don't have to try both. Now we know what it is.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. It's just been three years. Yeah, three years. We know it. I got it. We got to figure Brooks. We got to figure it out first try. So. All right, let's talk about the Thursday night football game because the headlines of this game were not necessarily stat line related, right? This was an injury riddled game. We had Ty Montgomery go down. We then had Jamal Williams go down with a knee strain. So you saw the emergence in part of Aaron Jones, the running back for the Green Bay packers, and you had the very scary injury to Devonte Adams. When I saw that injury, I was sick to my stomach. I mean, it was an instant fear for Devonte Adams. And I hope that Danny Trevathan is suspended for what he did. That was just ridiculous. Leading with the crown of the helmet.

[Jason Moore]

Just a player necessary, too. He was wrapped up with a couple other guys. I mean, you got to come in and help finish that tackle. But you're all taking out his frustration. Tony Romo got it right. He was frustrated with how the game was going. He's like, here's my chance to just give some payback. I completely agree.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. If the bears were up 21 7.

[Jason Moore]

He doesn't make that tackle 100%, he should be suspended. And you know what made me kind of sick to my stomach?

[Mike Wright]

Thrown out of the game?

[Jason Moore]

I was going to say it's one of those things where it made me sick to my stomach, where once that play was over, you know, and he got to the ambulance and was on his way to the hospital, there's Trevathan on the field for the next play, and I'm going, well, that's.

[Mike Wright]

That's not right.

[Jason Moore]

I feel like there should be a rule where if a flagged play, an illegal play, causes an injury, you got to at least be out that series.

[Mike Wright]

The NFL has instituted the leeway for referees to instantaneously eject players on plays like that. That's what we saw. Jeremy Lane, cornerback for the Seahawks, got thrown out of a game earlier this year for a supposed punch because a referee made that call. And so I think there will be criticism of that referee. Here is the headline news for you. Devonte Adams, the MRI on his neck came back clean. He has been diagnosed with a concussion. He avoided a serious neck injury, and that is very, very good news for Adams. I cannot imagine him playing next week. We have to turn it to a fantasy question now, and we have to say, we hope you get back quick, Devonte. And Geronimo Allison, to me, is a receiver to pick up on waivers.

[Andy Holloway]

Absolutely.

[Mike Wright]

I do want to say this as well, and I hate saying it, because it's actually what I'm going to be doing in our league of record. I have Jaquiz Rogers. I'm going to play him this week. I made a reminder on my phone today to target Randall Cobb next week, who is owned by the Doug Martin owner. And I want to work a package together where I acquire Randall Cobb in an effort to give him Jaquiz Rogers the handcuff insurance. Maybe I need to give something else, but I think Randall Cobb is one of the beneficiaries you're going to see from the running back injuries in this offense. The packers have always shown a willingness to run through the air, as we say on the show. And while Aaron Jones is talented enough to be there every down back if necessary, I don't think they're going to lean on him the way they would have leaned on time Montgomery and I think that Randall Cobb is the beneficiary.

[Jason Moore]

I completely agree. It's going to be a Wes Welker, Julian Edelman type of role where you know the quick slants and run through the air with Cobb. If you're in a PPR league, I love it.

[Mike Wright]

The fantasy rundown last night. Aaron Rodgers, very efficient. Seven for nine in the red zone, four touchdowns, 179 yards. Didn't have to run the ball at all. He was a great play. If you look at the other wide receivers, Jordy Nelson, obviously a great fantasy start. Devonte Adams did get you a touchdown before the injury.

[Jason Moore]

Cobb got a touchdown. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean he had two touchdowns. One was called back on a holding call.

[Jason Moore]

Correct. And that was the play before the injury.

[Mike Wright]

And then Jordy Nelson ended up with the touchdown after that. If you look to the other side of the ball, I want to ask you guys about Tarik Cohen in this game. You have a lot of issues with the Chicago Bears offense and Jordan Howard got you a garbage time touchdown to save your day for Jordan Howard. So he was fine. He was in the 15, 16 point range. Tariq Cohen, not a great game for Tariq Cohen wasn't on the field. Wasn't on the field. Jordan Howard had another brutal drop in this game. I mean, I feel bad because I love Jordan Howard. Like I, I know how much Jordan Howard wants to win. Like you've got those players that are just so committed to the team and want to succeed so bad. And it has to be the most frustrating thing in the world to have the ball continually bounce off your hands and not be able to change that fact. But here's the thing. If you watch the game and I want you to ignore the numbers, except for maybe the turnover number for Mike Glennon. Glennon's time is done. Mitch Trubisky will start the next game. That is my solid stone cold prediction. They have 11 days from last night's game till their Monday Night Football game. If you're ever going to change the position, the time is now. The team's offense with your eyeballs. You watch it. It's terrible. Last week, Deontay Thompson was the only player, only wide receiver to catch a pass. I mean, this is Mike Glennon's efficiency When you look at his passing, his completions to total attempts, it looks okay because he's just dumping the ball off every single play to Zach Miller or Tariq Cohen or trying to do it to Jordan Howard. It's a mess in Chicago.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I'm not as confident as you that Trubisky will start, but I definitely agree with you that he should. Some of the interceptions that were thrown, it's very simple, is he missed the receiver by four yards. And when you miss a receiver by four yards, guess who's probably going to get the ball? The other team. So I agree. Glennon is, is not a trustable guy when it comes to Tariq Cohen. I'm not as like I would go target Tariq Cohen because he still looked amazing. He had this super long run that was just unbelievable. Call back on a hold towards the end of the, towards the end of the game. Last night just went really bad for the Bears all the way around. I mean, you, you, you started off with several turnovers that weren't their fault, and then, you know, the touchdowns from Green Bay, then you have the game.

[Mike Wright]

Stopped saying who weren't their defense's fault. Right? Is that what you're saying?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I'm saying that it's not the fault of Tariq Cohen.

[Mike Wright]

I got you. I just meant, like, the team made a ton of mistakes and I wasn't sure who you were.

[Jason Moore]

But then there was the lightning stoppage of the game for a long period of time. Then there was the injury that really kind of changed the mood of the game. The rest of it was just a weird game. And I realized that Tariq Cohen wasn't out there as much as, you know, fantasy owners would have liked to see him out there. But he was still electric. He still got it done on some plays that were called back. I'm not, I'm not, you know, by any means scared off of Tariq Cohen because of a bad game.

[Andy Holloway]

The notable numbers are three. Cohen had played at least 40 plus percent of snaps in every single game yesterday. Only 26 and a half percent because Benny Cunningham jumped from his averaging of 6% of the snaps all the way into the 20s. So, I mean, you literally just took half of Cohen's snaps and they gave them to Benny Cunningham.

[Mike Wright]

I'm concerned for Cohen because of the transition that might happen as well.

[Jason Moore]

To Trubisky.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, because Trubisky showed in the preseason and a willingness to drive the ball down the field and not a fear of doing so and therefore having to, you know, those Targets for Cohen, I think everyone, you know, tons of them were inside slant routes from.

[Andy Holloway]

He's a short target guy. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

And so you mix that with Benny Cunningham, who looked fine. I didn't think you look bad. I thought he had a little pep in his step. I just worry that we've basically handed Cohen a title or role or position that he may not have the ability to sustain. I do not think you go drop him. I do not think you go trade him for pennies on the dollar. I just think if you're counting on him as your running back, too, and you're making plans for the rest of your NFL season, you need to add more pieces to your backfield so that you can match up play, so that you can basically hedge against Trubisky changing things in this offense. Because Cohen is so young, he's barely been a part of this offense. We don't know the blueprint yet for his usage rest of the season.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I think that's a good take.

[Mike Wright]

All right. It is Friday, and that means one very important thing.

[Jason Moore]

Foot Clan Friday.

[Mike Wright]

Note to self, Brooks, don't introduce. Like, when I come in on the Friday show for the introduction, I need to never say, it's Friday.

[Jason Moore]

What?

[Mike Wright]

That exact phrase. It's Friday. Like, I don't. I just. I'm not going to do it anymore. I want you to bleep the word Friday.

[Andy Holloway]

Good luck. I saw you trying to eliminate the month of May from your vocabulary.

[Jason Moore]

Didn't work yet either.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, like, Jason may have problems with vocabulary. You actually remove words from mine, Mike. You make it impossible. All right, look, that's a compliment that.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm able to get in your head.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

And make you stop using certain words.

[Mike Wright]

Yep. Yeah. No, it is. It is. It is. Foot clan Friday. $40. We give away 40 bucks every Friday to everybody supporting us to a randomly selected winner.

[Andy Holloway]

We're closing the show.

[Mike Wright]

Everybody from jointhefoot.com. yeah, that would be a big bill if every single person had joined the foot.com got a $40 gift card to shopballers.com but today's winner is Jacob Dechant.

[Jason Moore]

Dechant, Dechant or Dechamp. Oh.

[Mike Wright]

So congratulations to Jacob on the big win. And we'll send you over the $40 to shotballers.com. thanks for supporting the podcast. Without further ado, I do want to mention the DFS podcast.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Is up this morning. Every Friday, the new Fantasy Footballers DFS podcast is released. Mike Bing. Mike Wright. Bing Cummins. Chris Meaney.

[Jason Moore]

They work hard on this podcast, they certainly do.

[Andy Holloway]

It was. It's a fantastic show. Today's episode, it's amazing. I mean, they're. Trust me, if you like the good times that are happening on this show, you're going to have some good times on the DFS show, as well as getting you ready for those FanDuel DraftKings lineups.

[Mike Wright]

Today's episode was so nice. They did it twice.

[Andy Holloway]

That is very correct. When technology strikes back.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, Mike was in the studio late into the evening recording an amazing DFS show for you. So check that out. That's the Fantasy Footballers DFS podcast on itunes, on Stitcher, and wherever you listen to your podcast, you can subscribe to that one if you're into DFS. And if you're into DFS, don't forget to check out dfspass.com where you can get our. Is that ultimate DFS pass?

[Jason Moore]

It's both.

[Mike Wright]

Thanks for the. No, it is. It is dfspass.com. it is both. Yeah, you can go to either one.

[Jason Moore]

You can go anywhere.

[Mike Wright]

We got to give options. We have all domains on lockdown for that one, but we've shortened it. I appreciate you jumping in there, Brooks. You thought we made a mistake, but for once, we did not. It was I. Oh, yes. It was you. This one time. All right, let's go ahead. We don't have a bunch of headline news, so we're just going to get right into. In or out.

[Jason Moore]

What's it going to be, McFly?

[Mike Wright]

Are you in or out? All right, Every Friday, we jump into all the players that are kind of. They've been limited this week. They've been dealing with injuries, and we want to know if they're going to play. So Sam Bradford, that one's easy.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going out.

[Jason Moore]

I'm guessing he's not going to play.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, Officially. Officially ruled out. All right, at the running back position, let's run through some big names on this list. Jay Ajayi, in or out?

[Jason Moore]

In.

[Andy Holloway]

He'll play.

[Mike Wright]

Melvin Gordon.

[Andy Holloway]

He will play as well.

[Jason Moore]

I believe in. As well.

[Andy Holloway]

Just limited practice.

[Mike Wright]

Carlos Hyde, in. In all three of those, you have confidence.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I do. Full.

[Jason Moore]

Who do you have the least confidence in those three? Because my. My least confidence would be Melvin Gordon.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that would be the one I'm more concerned about, but I'm. I can't do it.

[Andy Holloway]

Right. Yeah, I'm still playing Ajayi and Gordon, but there are definitely concerns.

[Mike Wright]

All right, let's get into the Washington running backs. Rob Kelly, with the rib injury, I.

[Andy Holloway]

Think that he plays.

[Jason Moore]

I think that he sits.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to go out.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

He practiced last week as well. It's a pain tolerance issue.

[Andy Holloway]

So it's a Monday night game. So if you are waiting on Rob Kelly, I mean, one, he gets the extra day of rest, but you better. You need to be prepared to have someone else to plug in from that Monday night game.

[Mike Wright]

And I think that person should probably be Samaj P. Ryan. He is healthy, he practiced, and I think he's on the waivers for most people after last week's disaster and the.

[Jason Moore]

Injuries, which means if there isn't a guy that's in that Monday night game that you have available to you already on your roster or on the waivers, then you need to, I think, bench Rob Kelly and play another guy in your. In your flex.

[Mike Wright]

I was going to say fair point.

[Jason Moore]

If.

[Andy Holloway]

If you're like, I gotta play Rob Kelly, Josh Dachshund would be the flyer of. He's. He's very likely to be available on your waivers.

[Mike Wright]

All right, in or out? Matt Forte.

[Andy Holloway]

Out.

[Jason Moore]

Out.

[Mike Wright]

Geo Bernard.

[Jason Moore]

Hmm.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. He's been limited all week, but I bet he plays.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

And I hope he sits. Sets out for my Joe Mix. Rex Burkhead.

[Andy Holloway]

You hope that he rests.

[Jason Moore]

Health.

[Mike Wright]

You just don't want to come back too soon. 2018 looks like the time to come back from that injury. Well, you just got to take your time, right?

[Jason Moore]

No, it's about player health.

[Mike Wright]

He's a real guy. Look, we play fantasy football, Mike. This is how we think.

[Jason Moore]

I'm sorry.

[Mike Wright]

I'm not. I will apologize for it, but I still think it in my head. All right, Rex Burkhead, in or out? All right, let's move on. Wide receivers. Michael Crabtree. In or out?

[Andy Holloway]

He's been. I mean, he's limited. He's cleared to play. I think he'll. He will play. I'm trying to find another option, though.

[Jason Moore]

Agreed.

[Mike Wright]

Doug Baldwin, in or out?

[Jason Moore]

In.

[Andy Holloway]

You think? You think in?

[Mike Wright]

Well, I would vote in.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, it's tough because he didn't practice Thursday. And so though, you know, that's a good indicator that maybe you're not ready to play. But everything out of Seattle has said that he was going to play. And so I'm not super confident, but I lean in.

[Mike Wright]

Kelvin Benjamin.

[Andy Holloway]

In.

[Mike Wright]

Sammy Watkins.

[Andy Holloway]

That one. Is he cleared?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he. Well, no, he hasn't been officially cleared, but all signs point to that happening. And remember, the concussion came on Thursday last week.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure.

[Mike Wright]

John Brown.

[Andy Holloway]

Out.

[Jason Moore]

Out.

[Mike Wright]

J.J. nelson.

[Jason Moore]

I'll say In.

[Mike Wright]

Jordan Reed. Oof.

[Andy Holloway]

You never. Wild card. You know, I'm.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to say out.

[Andy Holloway]

I'll say in.

[Mike Wright]

Okay. I think out. Ben Watson, out. Yeah, I think he's going to be out as well. Jimmy Graham, he'll play. I think he's going to play. Jimmy Graham still up in the target totals for tight ends, so he hasn't been impressive, but he might get it done for you eventually. Here. Delaney Walker.

[Andy Holloway]

In, In.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, let's move on to the forecast.

[Jason Moore]

Fantasy forecast.

[Mike Wright]

All right. The second half of the games, if you missed the first half, it was on yesterday's show. You just. It's easy. Just click yesterday's episode and then it starts playing and then you hear it and then you listen to the music.

[Jason Moore]

Laugh and you giggle.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

We are having a good time.

[Mike Wright]

We are having a great time. Okay. Panthers Patriots in. Foxborough Patriots, nine point favorites at home in this one against a very good defense against a team that they're going to probably beat. I don't know if they beat him by nine, though. I don't know if I'd go that far. 49 point over under. And the reason is, is not because of Tom Brady's failure against this defense. I think he'll do what he does, which is take care of business. I think it's because the defense for the New England Patriots has yet to find itself. They are leading the NFL in a lot of bad defensive categories in terms of points given up and in terms of their secondary struggling right now. So we saw Deshaun Watson move the ball. I think that Cam Newton can move the ball. Let's look at the fantasy.

[Andy Holloway]

You believe Cam Newton will.

[Mike Wright]

I think he can.

[Andy Holloway]

The matchup is amazing. But so was last week's matchup. I mean, I have my. I have my concerns for Cam Newton.

[Mike Wright]

It's.

[Andy Holloway]

It's a crazy world we live in where the Patriots. The Patriots are the matchup. You want your quarterbacks and your wide receivers in. That's. Well, it's insane.

[Mike Wright]

It's always been that situation where you know they're probably going to get out into a big league.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

And you like the garbage time. But now garbage time works. Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Right. I think a big part of that is Hightower missing from that defense. He was inactive last week against the Houston Texans. I expect he will not play this week as well. But when Hightower comes back, because he changes a lot on that defense, I will try to mentally shift, you know, how I feel about the Patriots defense when it comes to matchup project.

[Mike Wright]

He did have Gilmore banged up as well and he played, but hopefully he's more healthy now.

[Andy Holloway]

Andy, with Kelvin Benjamin returning to practice, looks likely to play. Are you still willing to roll those dice on Devin Funchester?

[Mike Wright]

No, I am not. No. No. The, the attraction to, you know, when you're trying to decide between a difference maker or I mean the differentiator between some of these streaming wide receiver options, you're looking for the kind of opportunity you hope for with funches with, you know, Benjamin missing the week. And I, I am less confident in funches in that situation.

[Andy Holloway]

Both McCaffrey and Stewart this week or just McCaffrey.

[Mike Wright]

McCaffrey is more attractive to me. Stewart, he needs to get in the end zone to give you the, the kind of game you want. But you know your running back options are limited. So would you go Stewart or would you go Jaquez Rogers this week? I think I'd rather start your quiz in that situation.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I probably would start your quiz as well.

[Jason Moore]

Make it three for three.

[Mike Wright]

Make it. So Tom Brady, you're starting him. Mike Gillislee, starting, you're starting him. You starting James White?

[Andy Holloway]

I would.

[Jason Moore]

I'm a little bit more hesitant to start James White. I don't, I don't think they will need him as much. We saw a little bit less usage. If you have to play him, he will be involved, especially in PPR leagues. But I don't love him.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure snaps were there.

[Mike Wright]

The production wasn't there.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. James White is a. He's basically an every week flex for me. When I'm saying I'm starting, I'm not. He's not a running back. Two in my lineup, but he's a, he's a great flex option for the.

[Mike Wright]

David Johnson owners out there. He's our, he's our rb.

[Andy Holloway]

He's your RB one. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. All right. Brandon Cooks, big week last week. Chris Hogan, you confident in starting him or Amendola this week?

[Jason Moore]

More confident in Hogan this week. I feel like right now you have to be starting both Cooks and Hogan. You're going to get games where they're not the ones that get it done, but you just, you don't want to miss those. The opportunity with the Tom Brady touchdowns that will come. It's. It's just like what you see in Green Bay. I mean you. Did you start Cobb, you were fine. Did you start Jordan Nelson, you were fine. Did you start devonte Adams? You're fine. Because there's so many touchdowns being thrown. So I'm start. I'm saying that right now. Brandon Cooks, Chris Hogan. They are weekly starts.

[Andy Holloway]

Now the Panthers defense, they're allowing a low yard per completion, just eight and a half yards per completion. Best in the NFL. Do you. So are you still feeling the Hogan or maybe you think this is an Amendola? They gotta dice him up on the inside.

[Jason Moore]

I always love Amendola when he plays. You know, I'm.

[Mike Wright]

What is that Rule 80:11.

[Andy Holloway]

It's got an asterisk that says Edelman has to be out as well.

[Jason Moore]

Right. So I think you could start all three. And I'm not sitting here saying Chris Hogan's got a great matchup and I expect a huge thing. It's more about I'm going to be willing to take my lumps in bad matchups to get the big win me a week games out of these guys.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, let's move on to the Jaguars and the jets matchup. The jets are three point underdogs at home in this one. We saw some signs of life from the jets offense last week. Talked about Josh McCown on the show yesterday. Looks like Matt Forte is going to miss this game. I think this is an opportunity for Blah Powell just on sheer volume to give you kind of a. He's back. Yeah, maybe Blau Plow.

[Jason Moore]

Maybe. Yeah. I think Blau plow is a very good start this week. With Forte out of the way, there's an expected heavy workload and I don't think that Elijah McGuire can do enough to. I mean, Bilal Powell will get enough use to be valuable for fantasy football. And we already know he's talented. And when he. Have we seen him get heavy usage and not be productive like ever?

[Andy Holloway]

No, when he gets the targets. When he gets the.

[Mike Wright]

That's what it is.

[Andy Holloway]

He's great.

[Mike Wright]

It's the targets he needs to be involved in the passing game. I'm going to tell you something else I'm doing this week in our league of record, I am starting Austin Safarian Jenkins and I'm doing it over Evan Ingram. I'm doing it over Jared Cook.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm not. Okay. I'm not trying to talk you out.

[Mike Wright]

Of it because I'm playing you.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

But what you were talking about earlier in the office about how you were talking about his blocking. Correct.

[Mike Wright]

I was talking about on the show yesterday, I said he only missed one blocking assignment and like he only was beat once. Right.

[Jason Moore]

He was only asked to block once. Just kidding.

[Andy Holloway]

But just the way I feel about the game here against Jacksonville, I mean their pass rush is insane. So will Safari and Jenkins be called on to block more than he was last week?

[Mike Wright]

I don't think so.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I mean, obviously I'm making the decision to start him. I was very impressed with the fact that while he was such a good blocker, he was just on the field a lot. And they need weapons in the passing game.

[Jason Moore]

It's like a Greg Olson. Greg Olson is unbelievable. He's able to block well. He's on the field every play. That's a good point because he's on the field so much, he'll get his shots.

[Mike Wright]

At the end of the day, I went with the home tight end versus the risk of like Jared Cook. I brought up the point yesterday and he's still my start of the week. Like, I still love him at that position, but at the end of the day, I went with. I like the matchup better for Safari and Jenkins from my roster to have a big play happen. I don't think a big play necessarily is going to happen against Denver. I think the baseline might be better for Cook than it is for Austin, Safari and Jenkins. But this is why we talk on the show all the time about, like, it's not just the matchup the player has.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

It's the matchup that you have as a fantasy owner against the opponent you're playing. And I would like the upside of a big play. We've seen Austin Safari and Jenkins. The last time he showed his face in Tampa, that was one thing he could do is he could give you a very big touchdown. And so I'm taking a big touchdown opportunity with Austin Severian Jenkins in this one. And you know the rule for tight end this year, if your name's not Rob Gronkowski, you're required to have a zero week every two weeks. So look, you're taking a shot with somebody you like. Ryan Griffin this week.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, I do. And for in this game, though, Jason, you like Marquis Lee a good bit?

[Jason Moore]

I do. I think Marquis Lee is their number one wide receiver. And if he's the number one wide receiver, he's run the most routes, got the most targets. He's looked good. Remember back in the day, he was. He was a first round pick. I mean, this is a talented wide receiver who struggled with injuries early and now he's got the opportunity. So I do. Like, I'm just certainly not afraid of the jets defense.

[Andy Holloway]

Just so the comp.

[Jason Moore]

He's a second round pick.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he was. He was drafted. What you're remembering is he was drafted before Alan Robinson that year.

[Jason Moore]

All right, so he was. Thank you judge Gil.

[Andy Holloway]

He was.

[Mike Wright]

I don't think that was the same year.

[Andy Holloway]

Vet me on this one.

[Mike Wright]

I will continue talking about that offense and I'll vet you. I don't think that was the same year.

[Andy Holloway]

So he likely. I think that Hearns is still a good play as well. He's getting involved, he's getting those touchdowns. And as gross as it might be, Blake Bortles is a fine play. He's a fine play this week. Before we move on to the next game, want to thank today's sponsor, Pristine Auction. The best sports memorabilia site on the planet Earth and Mars. Maybe they count as well. You guys are extraordinary to get to Mars. Yeah, it's a tough look out there, but whenever I'm trying to get a jersey signed by my favorite player, I jump onto Pristine Auction. Every single day. They have new items for you to browse, for you to peruse. They have things for all budgets. They have. Are you trying to get that high end piece that just sets the office? And people go, they come in, they go, holy crap, where'd you get that? You say, I'm not telling you, I'm not telling you. But you know that you got it from Pristine Auction. The jerseys is on our walls. They always come from Pristine Auction. Never worry about the signature being inauthentic because they use the best authenticators in the world because they're the best site. Right. So head over to Pristine Auction. That's P R I S T I n e auction.com. you make that completely free account, you let them know that the fantasy footballer sent you.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. You won't be disappointed. We want to thank hello Fresh not only for sponsoring the show, but you know what, for their mission. Their mission to save home cooking. I've said this on the show before. My wife and I, we do these love dinners is what we call them, where we want to make a meal and prepare it and we spend time together and cook. The hardest part of that was always figuring out what we were going to make. Going and getting all the ingredients, doing all of that. Hellofresh takes all that away and they're just going to deliver you whatever you decide. Three to five different meals per week, whether it's for two people or four people. You've got the options of a classic box, a veggie box, a family box. So they're going to make your meals. They employ two full time registered dietitians on staff who review each recipe to ensure that it is nutritionally balanced. And they're offering light and fall meals and they have breakfast options less than $10ameal. So, you know, here's what you need to do. You need to save $30 off your first week of deliveries by visiting HelloFresh.com and enter Footballers30 when you subscribe. That's Footballers30 ellofresh.com Mike, you are 100% correct.

[Andy Holloway]

You're darn right I am.

[Mike Wright]

You know, what was in my head was I knew Hearns and Robinson came out in the same year.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, Hearns was undrafted.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. But it was the 2014 draft that he was signed after. So you had Robinson Lee and Hearns Lee was the 39th pick, Robinson was the 61st pick, both in the second round. And then Hearns was undrafted and made a big splash. So they just stocked their whole wide receiver core in one draft. So you were right. Well done.

[Andy Holloway]

Got one.

[Mike Wright]

You're starting Leonard Fournette. What about. I saw somebody on Twitter, asked the question, they said, are we sleeping on the Blake Bortles Bounce back.

[Andy Holloway]

That's what I was saying. It seems gross, but he is absolutely worth. Worth a play. My concern here is the jets pass defense has been adequate. It's been okay. While the run defense has been rough. So I'm expecting a huge day for Leonard Fournette.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And how much of that past defense was inflated by a near shutout? Yes. You know, last week, it's only three weeks into the season. I think it's. That was a great performance and they played well at home. The. The 49ers take on the Arizona Cardinals in. Arizona Cardinals touchdown favorite in this one. 44 and a half point over. Under what? 49ers. Are you confident starting. What are the tough decisions there?

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, I mean, Carlos Hyde is. He's still an every week start despite it being a really rough matchup against the Cardinals. I know Zeke ended the day. He had to find fantasy day. That's why, you know, you can still play Carlos Hyde and feel okay about it. The wide receivers, though, I mean, Pierre Garcon, I guess, but I'm not.

[Mike Wright]

I would be trying to bench Pierre Garcon.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I would too.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he. He's all right as a last resort. He's not. I don't think he's going to end the game with, you know, two for 14. He's still their main target and they will need that. But it's not a great matchup. So you're talking about, you know, in the wide receiver in the 30s range.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it's a rough game.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, so on the Cardinal side of the ball. The Cardinals wide receivers have been targeted 28 times per game. That's the second most in the NFL. Larry Fitzgerald is the third most targeted wide receiver. He's second in the league.

[Andy Holloway]

Last week really helps.

[Mike Wright]

It did. It did. But I saw this morning Larry Fitzgerald has. He's the greatest wide receiver in history. Against the 49ers, no wide receiver has had more production ever against the 49ers. I think you're starting Fitzgerald with confidence based on those numbers. Palmer, however, has. He's had an up and down year. Mostly down, mostly down, mostly down. 56% of his passes completed. But the problem has been the offensive line. And at least in this matchup, the 49ers defense, they've only sacked the quarterback on just 3.3% of attempt. So that's the second worst number in the NFL. So maybe a little bit of a reprieve for the Arizona offensive line. They also should get some pieces back, right?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

I had last I had seen Mike Ayupati or Upati.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, yeah. He is not going to play this week.

[Andy Holloway]

He's not?

[Jason Moore]

No. I was. I was hearing from Mike Dreckey.

[Andy Holloway]

He says there's 100% chance he returns on Sunday.

[Jason Moore]

That would be awesome.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he did say that.

[Jason Moore]

That is a huge difference maker. Every. Every beat reporter that I've heard talk, every coach comment, all say that they would be shocked if. If he plays this week. So.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, he's. He's saying. Yeah, I mean, he's saying he's playing and there's an expectation that DJ Humphreys can make it back this week as well. So.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that's what I mean. The left tackle was going to be back. Now they lost Alex Boone the guard. And so Iupati coming back makes a gargantuan difference for Carson Palmer and for the running game.

[Mike Wright]

As you say, would you start Chris Johnson this week?

[Andy Holloway]

If I.

[Mike Wright]

Would you start him over Jonathan Stewart this week?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I'd start him over Stewart. Just with the news of him being named the official of coach Arian saying he's still the starting running back and you can run. Clearly you can run on The San.

[Mike Wright]

Francisco 49ers, whose stream of the week was Carson Palmer.

[Jason Moore]

Mine.

[Mike Wright]

Okay. All right.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I like it. It's Palmer. It's a home quarterback in against a bad defense. So I think it's a great call.

[Mike Wright]

All right. The Eagles take on the Los Angeles chargers, who are one and a half point favorites in this one at home. 47.5 point over under. We've seen the emergence of Carson Wentz in the passing game this year. The volume has been there. Do you start Carson Wentz in this game against the Chargers? The defense on in Los Angeles, They've sacked opponents 11 times this year, tied for the second most in the league. Should be under pressure in Los Angeles. What do you think of Wentz?

[Andy Holloway]

I think that he's a fine start. He's not a. I wouldn't project that top five type of week for him, but he's. When he's in a positive matchup in. I know that the past defense. Look at the numbers for the Chargers, say, well, fifth best in allowing yards. I don't think. I think that's one of those small sample. It's skewed right now. That's not where they actually belong. Especially with Jason Verrett out for the season. So I'm fine playing Carson Wentz this weekend.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And his number one target is Zach Ertz. Love Zach Ertz. He's been targeted more than any other tight end in the league. But you do have to temper expectations this week. It's not a great matchup. You saw the Chargers last week hold Zeus himself to one reception for one yard. And over the last.

[Mike Wright]

The Greek God.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Wow.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's. That's tough holding the Greek God. Is Zach Ertz better than Travis Kelsey?

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Jason Moore]

For fantasy football.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm talking about NFL. Is he a better?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, no.

[Andy Holloway]

Is he a better.

[Mike Wright]

I don't think he's passing weapon in either capacity.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Only because I believe that Kelsey has more of the Gronkowski aspects to him that allow the very, very big play to happen. While I believe Ertz is super athletic and very talented, he's more of a PPR player to me. He's never been able to find the end zone consistently.

[Andy Holloway]

So there is Kelsey.

[Jason Moore]

I agree.

[Mike Wright]

They're very close. I mean, they're very close.

[Jason Moore]

I agree with what you're describing and the injury situation. But the difference is that even though he's Gronkian in his ability, he does not have a quarterback or an offense that's going to utilize that heavily the way that Tom Brady does. We've seen that. Right. I mean, his touchdowns haven't come. So that's why I would, for fantasy, prefer Ertz just because of the target volume. And, you know, that's.

[Mike Wright]

That's totally fair. If you had to pick a running back on Philadelphia to roll the dice with this week, Jason, is it Blunt or is it Smallwood?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, man. I mean, you're. You're it's not rolling the dice. That's Russian roulette. I mean, that's just saying I hope I get this right, because if not, it's going to explode in your face. And I would pick Wendell Smallwood this week. I would, too, because you have the opportunity for him to get some of that first and second down work as well as the work he was already getting, as well as Sproul's work now that Sprouls is out. So I think Wendell Smallwood is the safer option.

[Mike Wright]

We've talked about Melvin Gordon in the inner out segment. You're starting Philip Rivers at home in this matchup. The Eagles defense has allowed 79 completions this year. That's third most in the NFL. And so their past defense is ranked 25th. I think Rivers, you can start.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, yeah. I love all the Chargers.

[Mike Wright]

Big game for Keenan Allen.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes. Over on the DFS podcast, we always give our favorite stack of the week and where you're factoring prices on and production and Philip Rivers, Keenan Allen. That's the stack I gave. I love both of them this week. And I just wanted to real quick follow up on Wendell Smallwood, his passing production profile in college. You're talking his sophomore year caught 31 balls, his junior year, 26. So he has that in him. So just a little bit more fuel for the fire of him taking over that Sprouls role.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it'll be very interesting to see that play out. Jason, play Russian roulette one more time. Give me Gates or Henry. We just talked about how great the matchup is.

[Andy Holloway]

Hashtag never Henry.

[Mike Wright]

People, is this what you're starting?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

You've been goosed twice.

[Andy Holloway]

The upside is through the roof, but with Antonio Gates still there and the fact. Two zeros, two zeros is no, thank you. No, thank you. I'm not going to chase that ceiling.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I'm not necessarily chasing the ceiling, but if I had to pick one, it would still be Henry. In this matchup, what we saw, that's.

[Andy Holloway]

Riding the dragon, man.

[Jason Moore]

But I think there's.

[Andy Holloway]

You'll never catch him.

[Jason Moore]

I think there's reason for it because if you look at the matchups they had in week one and week three, they were against these defenses that were. That were just juggernaut defenses, and they chose to not utilize him, you know, in the same way they were keeping Gates in more. And then when they got to just kind of a, you know, an average NFL defense in week two, Hunter Henry was kind of set free. I feel like they had the ability to do that. So it's just a matter of what do you think about the matchup here? And I think you're playing an average defense.

[Andy Holloway]

So when they're playing.

[Jason Moore]

When they're playing one of the juggernaut defenses, I don't think they're going to utilize. Yeah, that's my hope. I mean, that's a fair take. That's just a hypothesis that will be proven right or wrong over the next five weeks. But that's. Maybe that's just because I hope Hunter Henry can be something. And so I'm justifying maybe that was.

[Andy Holloway]

It the problem then for that if. And I can buy into that. You saw it week one, they were getting massacred by the Broncos, so Henry had to block. The problem with that is then you're always. You're always rostering two tight ends. If you have to play matchups with Hunter Henry, which makes him not attractive.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, the two zeros talk me out. I have a somewhat entertaining story about two zeros. Do you want to hear it real quick?

[Jason Moore]

You know it.

[Mike Wright]

When I was.

[Andy Holloway]

What if I say no?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I'm going to tell it anyway.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

When I was in high school, I joined a recreational basketball league friend of mine. His name is Paul.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, no more Paul stories.

[Mike Wright]

And when we showed up for game one, we all had to draw, like, we had jerseys, but they didn't have numbers on them. So they literally handed us a Sharpie and said, put a number on your jersey so that the refs can call things. So Paul's like, hey, just put a number on mine. So I took Paul's jersey and I gave him double zero. But, like, a good.

[Andy Holloway]

Unfortunately, drew it like a juvenile delinquent.

[Mike Wright]

Well, I mean, I know I just tried to draw a couple O's.

[Jason Moore]

And were they too high?

[Mike Wright]

Unfortunately, his nickname for the rest of the year was boobs, so. Oh, man, they called him Boobs. Like, all the teammates called him boobs all year. And it was 100% my fault. And I told you I had a good story. That's good. I can't think of double zero without that story.

[Jason Moore]

Never put the double zeros too high.

[Mike Wright]

Never let your friend give you a number. That's the trick.

[Andy Holloway]

The larger story.

[Mike Wright]

All right, the Giants take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

[Andy Holloway]

Take that, Paul.

[Mike Wright]

Tampa Bay is favored by three, and the over under is 44 points in this matchup. Are we going to see what we hoped we'd see from the New York Giants offense this year? Now that you have a healthy Otto Beckham Jr. A more involved Brandon Marshall. You got Evan Ingram consistently targeted. What do they have to get the running game going to make fantasy relevance out of these players?

[Andy Holloway]

If that's true, then there will never be fantasy relevant players from the Giants because they are not going to get the run game going.

[Mike Wright]

They've only run the ball in 26.7% of plays. That is the lowest in the National.

[Andy Holloway]

Football League for that team. That's about 13% too high for that team.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Production wise for the Giants. It needs to come down.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. You got to go full Patriots here and just always run through the air. Who cares?

[Mike Wright]

I believe Shane Vereen is active this week. He was another one of those in or out guys. I don't know. He's probably out in your lineup, but it's just worth mentioning. He, he's been okay this year, but you're. You're counting on passing yardage for Vereen, not rushing.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. You've also got Tampa Bay back at home after, you know, that. That horrific week two or, you know, week three.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

But their second week, I think their defense is going to play better at home. There's a chance for rain in this game.

[Andy Holloway]

It's Brent Grimes. Brent Grimes did not play last week and he's expected to be back. And that's. He's. He's an excellent cornerback. So when you lose him, that's. That's a giant loss for your defense. So while the numbers are really, really bad for the Buccaneers on the year because they've only played the two games, that's another number that I'm. That's the 31st in terms of allowing pass yards. That's not who the Buccaneers really are.

[Jason Moore]

Right. I agree.

[Mike Wright]

Okay. You're starting Beckham. We know that. Yes. Marshall or Shepherd? I think I asked you earlier this week, you both said, shepard, let's move to Tampa. How confident are you that desean Jackson can have a good game? The Giants have a pretty good pass defense. I think everybody is starting Mike Evans. So the question is kind of like Jackson, Brait Rogers, how do you feel about those ancillary pieces And Winston?

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, they haven't. They have excellent cornerbacks on the Giants, but they can be exploited by the tight end, which is why in that realm of barfy tight ends, who can score a touchdown, Cameron Brait is near the top of that list. A touchdown from camera Brait this weekend it will be. I'll have no shock on my face. You go. Yep.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

There. There goes camera braid.

[Mike Wright]

By the way, much like Arizona, the Buccaneers Defense, they've only sacked opposing quarterbacks on 1.3% of pass attempts, which is worse in the league. So another reprieve for a struggling offensive line. Maybe a little bit for Eli Manning. Let's talk Raiders and Broncos this week. The Broncos are back at home, three point favorites. We saw the disastrous offensive performance from Oakland last week. You know, I kind of gave my word of caution about Marshawn lynch earlier in the week. You guys were very surprised at that. You're hoping for a touchdown though, in this matchup from Marshall lynch if you're starting him. And I, I think most people have to with where you drafted him. But you know what, where's the bright lights for this Oakland offense?

[Andy Holloway]

The bright lights were that last week was the opening act for the horror story that it's going to be the Oakland Raiders offense because it's, it's going to be worse.

[Mike Wright]

You're saying the horror story that is they're, they're slate.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

They have a ton of tough games.

[Andy Holloway]

Derek Carr does not have great success in individual games. It's on the road against.

[Mike Wright]

We got possibly. We got a ton of heat on our Derek. Cart takes people coming to his defense saying it's one game, talking about how much we're over.

[Andy Holloway]

It's not one game. Go look what Derek Carr did against his division mates last year. I mean, it's rough. It's really, really rough. The numbers for Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper against the Broncos, really rough.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

Derek Carr is one of the up and coming quarterbacks in the league. He's not ready to take on the Denver Broncos.

[Mike Wright]

Fair enough.

[Andy Holloway]

On the road.

[Mike Wright]

I think that's, I think that sums it up.

[Andy Holloway]

So it's. I don't want anything to do with their car. You'll play Cooper and in Crabtree if you have to, but I'm looking for other options now.

[Mike Wright]

Trevor Simeon, your start of the week.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, yes.

[Mike Wright]

The Raiders defense, they've given up a passer rating of 111.8, which is third highest in the league, which means that they're not playing very well. And Trevor Simeon shown the ability to be a chain mover at home.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

And a big impact for fantasy owners.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he's much better player at home. I think the Broncos as a whole play much better at home and they have that kind of home field advantage being up in altitude and they're used to that.

[Mike Wright]

So coming off the loss too.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And they looked so good before that trip to Buffalo. So I think, you know, they're going to be focused. You saw problems with the offensive line of the Raiders last week, and you've got incredible pass rush here. So that'll be the trenches is what I'll be watching this game. But offensively for the Broncos, I think they'll be able to run the ball and pass the ball. I'm not worried about Broncos offensive weapons. I would start Demarys Thomas. I would start Emmanuel Sanders. I would start C.J. anderson, and I think you can stream Trevor.

[Andy Holloway]

What about Benny Fowler?

[Jason Moore]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, Just checking.

[Mike Wright]

This is the reason why pump the brakes was Marshawn Lynch. By the way, the Broncos defense, how many rushing touchdowns on 69 attempts this year?

[Andy Holloway]

I would gather it's a zero.

[Mike Wright]

It's a zero.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

It's a boobs. It's a boobs. Yeah. It's zero. That's the last time I'll say that. All right. The Colts at the Seahawks on Sunday night. We get to experience Jacoby Brissette on Sunday Night Football. The Seahawks are 13 point favorites at home. Brissette shown the ability to, you know, drive it down the field, do run. He's in the top five in the NFL in yards per completion at the quarterback position. Thank you, Ty Hilton, for his contribution to that. But you have a weapon that in any circumstance with Ty Hilton, he can get open. He's going to get open down the field. If Brissette's willing to throw the ball, there could be a big play there. And we've seen that. The Seahawks past defense, it's in the top 10, but it's not been completely shut down this year. This is all my way of asking, are you starting pass catchers in Indianapolis this week, including Ty Hilton?

[Andy Holloway]

I am not.

[Jason Moore]

I'm not. I mean, Ty Hilton is one of those borderline. If you need to start a guy, I mean, I would start. So I think we might have brought this up earlier, but, you know, when you're talking about a Pierre Garcon or a Ty Hilton, Ty Hilton has more individual talent right now to break something on his on his own and get away from a defender and go for a lot of yards. So the problem with Jacoby Brissette, you know, I think he's been pumped up to where it's like he really helped because their game scripts have gone better once he's been in. You know, last week he threw for a touchdown, he ran for two touchdowns. And so that was what really inflated his numbers the week before against Arizona. You're talking about what he threw for 216 yards, one interception. No touchdowns and only ran for. So, I mean, that's. That's the Jacoby Brissette and the offense I expect when you travel to Seattle, which means if I can avoid any and all Colt weapons, I would.

[Mike Wright]

What about the Seahawks rush D that now ranks 30th in the league? Do you start Frank Gore.

[Jason Moore]

In my dynasty league where we've got deeper teams?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. What are you doing?

[Jason Moore]

I've got Frank Gore and I chose to sat him. I have. You chose.

[Andy Holloway]

How do you. How do you manage to do this all the time? I mean, it's.

[Mike Wright]

Do you not. Do you even know what you said?

[Jason Moore]

I never know what I say, man.

[Andy Holloway]

You said you chose to sat him.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, that sounds terrible.

[Andy Holloway]

It. Yeah, it sounded bad when you said.

[Mike Wright]

I genuinely feel so bad for Jay because he gets the. He's got a look on his face like we are being. No, you look at me like, what happened?

[Jason Moore]

I welcome the shame. What happened? What happened? I welcome the shame. I deserve the shame. You know? Idiots. I choose to sat him.

[Mike Wright]

I choose to sat.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, but he is on my bench.

[Mike Wright]

It's the moral of the story.

[Andy Holloway]

When I was logging that highlight just now.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, yes.

[Jason Moore]

I even typed. I chose to sat him. I chose to go.

[Andy Holloway]

You wrote it in, right?

[Mike Wright]

That's how you wrote it down.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Just didn't.

[Mike Wright]

I chose to satisfy. Who else Are you choosing to sat on the Seahawks side of the ball? Are you. I mean, Chris Carson is my start of the week. Do you guys feel confident with that?

[Andy Holloway]

I do. I think that the Seahawks will handle this game and then you're going to see a big dose of Chris Carson in the second half.

[Mike Wright]

Are you starting Paul Richardson?

[Jason Moore]

Only.

[Mike Wright]

Only if Baldwin's out.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, Only if Baldwin is out.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Jimmy Graham, you're good to go.

[Andy Holloway]

Jimmy Graham. I'll play him. Yep.

[Jason Moore]

Russell, he's in.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Mike Wright]

All right. The Redskins and the Chiefs are playing on Monday Night Football. The Chiefs are undefeated. They're playing great football. Seven point favorites at home in this matchup. 49 and a half point over under. And I'm taking the over in this. Really, I am. I'm taking the over on Monday night.

[Jason Moore]

Wow.

[Mike Wright]

I think you're going to see some things get done by the offenses in this matchup.

[Andy Holloway]

So I was going to say, by the look of the over unders, is Washington's defense getting the respect that it deserves?

[Mike Wright]

I guess we'll find out. Yeah. You're playing it in offense. That's been very, very good. They're second most in the league in Terms of points scored per game, Chiefs are moving the ball frequently. Kareem Hunt is ridiculous moving the ball. It makes such a difference.

[Andy Holloway]

Corey, don't give Jason a chance to get in there.

[Jason Moore]

No, I wouldn't. Yeah, I mean, they. The. The Chiefs have three incredible weapons not to sing. They have three incredible weapons that for fantasy purposes, you know, you're going to start all three every week. But for NFL and game script purposes, they are able to move the ball. Kelsey Tyree Kill and Kareem Hunt.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, Just big plays.

[Jason Moore]

Those options are what have made Alex Smith a fine fantasy player this year and going forward. You know, last year, what happened is you saw Alex Smith, who was always a good, startable, streamable guy because he ran well. He stopped running two years ago, and it seemed like his production was going to be gone and you're not going to be able to start him. But then he got game breakers. You know, you got guys that can. That can move the ball for you, even though you're only throwing the ball five yards. And so I think Alex Smith going forward is a guy that you can lean on.

[Andy Holloway]

Do you. Can you lean on him against Washington, though?

[Mike Wright]

You can. I think I would. I'm playing him in our dynasty league.

[Andy Holloway]

You're playing him over Trevor Simeon this week?

[Mike Wright]

I am.

[Jason Moore]

Ooh.

[Mike Wright]

I'm staying in. I'm staying in the Flames with Alex Smith. Here's the deal. I'm 3. 0 in that league, and I cannot tell you the level of satisfaction it brings me to have played Alex Smith every week. It's like you went to Baskin Robbins and they did a contest for the most delicious flavor, and vanilla won. I am in. I'm on top of the world.

[Andy Holloway]

We have access to the 33rd flavor. Like, that's how elite.

[Mike Wright]

Is that what Trevor Simeon is?

[Andy Holloway]

No. I was saying when you went with Alex Smith, everyone's in those 32 flavors, but you're. You're outside the box.

[Mike Wright]

Hey, I'm quite happy. And look, I said I would start him over. Simeon, to just kind of argue with you. I'm not 100% sure I'll start him over Simeon, but I probably will because of just how he's so consistent right now. I. I like the odds of him having a good game at home on Monday Night Football. Andy Reid with an extra day to prepare for this matchup.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure.

[Mike Wright]

And everything that they've done so far. So I'll probably stay in the Flames and count on Kareem Hunt and Tyreek Hill to take it to the house for Alex Smith on the other side, a lot of talk has been, you know, where is Terrell Pryor? What's happened to him? And that question came up this week and the opinion was, watch out for Josh Dockson. That was the opinion on Terrell Pryor. What do we make of that? And should you speculatively add docs and for an increased role in this offense?

[Andy Holloway]

I'm absolutely doing the speculative ad of Dachshund not playing him this week, but just the snaps are going up. He was drafted to be this guy, Terrell Pryor. It's not, it's not materialized. The guy he's played one year as a wide receiver is an absolute off the chart, athletic monster, but he hasn't got that rapport going with, with Kirk Cousins. Granted, Kirk Cousins, the first couple weeks was. Was nothing special. So I'm not giving up on Terrell Pryor. I'm not. I'm not cutting him.

[Mike Wright]

He's been a buy low for you this week.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

The way you've talked about.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep. I like the buy low, but even when I'm buying low, I'm not buying him to play this week.

[Jason Moore]

Right. It's not a great matchup this week. Even though the Chiefs are ranked 22nd for fantasy points against the wide receivers, there were a couple broken plays in that Eagles game that really went to.

[Mike Wright]

How good is Minus Peters?

[Jason Moore]

He's unbelievable. It's a good defense and it's a tough place to play. I would not take the over in this game just because I. I don't know that Kirk Cousins going to Arrowhead with the current weapons he has will be able to drive up the score.

[Mike Wright]

You know what we've never done? We've never done an over underwater bet. Ooh, that seems like it would be really entertaining on Monday night.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

To do an over underwater bet. I mean, I say the over, you say the under. It's 49 and a half points. Fight, fight, fight, fight.

[Andy Holloway]

I'll get it.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Water.

[Mike Wright]

Will you throw that in the. On the board there, Brooks? I will. Thank you. Thank you for that. All right.

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, Every Friday, well, we have a couple injury updates.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

Before we get into the daily dose.

[Mike Wright]

Go ahead.

[Andy Holloway]

Kenny Golladay did not practice on Friday with a hamstring, by the way.

[Mike Wright]

Marvin Jones will be matched up with Xavier Rhodes.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

So, yeah, he has been eliminated.

[Jason Moore]

Start your goal.

[Mike Wright]

He has been eliminated.

[Andy Holloway]

Brex Burkhead did return to practice, so maybe he gets in. And Ben Watson also returned to practice.

[Mike Wright]

All right. Oh, thank you for those.

[Jason Moore]

Good.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you. For those updates, every single Friday, we jump in to the daily dose.

[Jason Moore]

The daily dose brought to you by play draft.

[Mike Wright]

Hopefully you have been playing along with us this year on the draft app. It's great. It lets you continue that whole offseason draft time fun all through the year. And we do a head to head to head draft each and every week where the loser has a terrible lunch bet. And this week I had to watch Jason and Mike eat piles of delicious Mexican food.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, it was so good.

[Mike Wright]

While they. They got me a side salad to eat and they removed the cheese. They took the. It was lettuce and tomatoes. That was my gift. So the loser this week has to endure some type of terrible lunch bet. And I will not forget the day I ate lettuce. So the day I choose to sat.

[Jason Moore]

We'Re doing the expert draft where all the top players are gone.

[Mike Wright]

Yep.

[Jason Moore]

Okay. So it's pretty much garbage. And I've got the first pick. It's hard to pass up Mike Gillislee here. I'm even saying his name, but I have to because Odell Beckham being here is absurd. And I'm gonna take him.

[Andy Holloway]

Dang it, man. I thought you were with all that Mike Gillesley talking about, maybe you did not see that.

[Mike Wright]

Seems like a broken.

[Jason Moore]

Well, hey, you got to take advantage of whatever you can find.

[Mike Wright]

What is he doing there?

[Jason Moore]

It's probably an algorithm of the first couple weeks. And obviously he had a bad week when he was in there injured, so he's low. He's on my team.

[Mike Wright]

Congratulations to you.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm feeling good over here.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, my goodness.

[Andy Holloway]

I like the matchup. I trust in case Kingdom at home after last week's performance. So I picked up Adam Thielen.

[Mike Wright]

All right, I'm gonna. I'm gonna get a little cute here. Oh, I'm gonna double up on running backs. And they're both on the Patriots. I'm taking Gillisle and James White back to back to have a little fun in this expert draft.

[Andy Holloway]

I do not hate that.

[Mike Wright]

I don't want to be mad and draft one of them and the other one scores.

[Andy Holloway]

And that means I'm drafting Emmanuel Sanders.

[Mike Wright]

It's a great pickup.

[Andy Holloway]

He's a fantastic player. Gets Raiders.

[Mike Wright]

He's most targets in the NFL right now.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, people, you got to give Emmanuel Sanders the respect that he deserves.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I'm going to take Jaquez Rogers at home. The New York Giants rushing defense has not been quite as great as they were last year. And then there's. There's several wide receivers I still like. So I will probably stick with running back. Man. There is not a lot here to love. They really do take the top options out. But I'm going to grab love Bell. I'm going with Levy on Bell. No, I'm going to pick up Tevin Coleman at home. He can always break a long play.

[Andy Holloway]

Ooh. And there's a guy I like here immediately. But knowing the strategy, Andy already took two running backs.

[Mike Wright]

So you don't want to. You don't need to take a running back.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. So I'm going to. I'm going to get my stack here just in case Andy thought about it. I don't think he was. But I'm going to grab Trevor Simeon.

[Mike Wright]

Ah. You know who I was afraid you were going to say he's my next pick? Devonte Parker. Taking devonte Parker and I have the back to back picks here.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going to be honest, I did not see his name on the list.

[Mike Wright]

Otherwise you would have taken him.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, I had. I already took two wide receivers.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. I'm running out of time here. Seven seconds. I'm going to go Jarvis Landry. How did I Parker. I'm going to double stack. What for two teams. I'm going two Dolphins, two Patriots. Let's get nuts.

[Andy Holloway]

All right.

[Jason Moore]

Wow.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going to chase the volume of Chris Carson at home against the Colts. Oh, beautiful play to round out.

[Jason Moore]

All right.

[Mike Wright]

Going. I'm going to be some terrible stuff based on Odell Beckham being drafted. Chris Carson was a steal there.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to start of the week that Andy disagrees with. So I'll put my food where my mouth is. Right. Because this is a food bet on the line. Go Marcus Mariota for my quarterback. And now I've got the option to stack him with Rashad Matthews. But I'm not going to do that because I really believe Alshon Jeffrey is a good player. Not the greatest matchup, but.

[Andy Holloway]

No but. Oof. I have the question now.

[Jason Moore]

My roster is complete.

[Andy Holloway]

I only need one running back here to stay in the Flames with Chris Thompson or scroll it on down and grab somebody like Wendell Smallwood. I'm going to stay in the Flames, fellas. We're going to see what Chris Thompson can do on Monday night.

[Jason Moore]

I got to be honest, I'm pretty happy you did that.

[Mike Wright]

Well, here we go, guys. Smoke them if you got them. I got Jay Cutler with my final pick. I'm stacking. It's all Dolphins and Patriots this week. We'll see how that turns out ironically, I have the highest projection of all three of us. Cutler, James, White, Gillislee, Parker, Landry. So I'm going all in on the Dolphins. Mike, you went in on the stack with Trevor. Simeon, you got Emmanuel Sanders, Chris Carson, Chris Thompson, the double Chris's and Adam Thielen. And Jason, you got Mariota Rogers, Coleman, Odell Beckham Jr. Come on. And Alshon, Jeffrey. So Jason, as usual is cheating and we will let you know how it goes. We'll pay out that lunch bet. And don't Forget, play with us Draft.comballers it's easy. Draft.comballers all right, that is it for today's episode. Good luck this week. And week number four, don't forget to check out the DFS podcast and thank you for supporting us. If JoinTheFoot.com you guys are Sunday morning.

[Andy Holloway]

One hour before kickoff, I will be doing the weekly periscope. Get those questions. Have some fun.

[Mike Wright]

Oh yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Goodbye. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot.com and follow us on Twitter @the ffballers.