Fantasy Football 2017 - Week 4 Studs & Duds, Rising Stars + Biggest Surprises

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary Episode: Fantasy Football 2017 - Week 4 Studs & Duds, Rising Stars + Biggest Surprises
Release Date: October 2, 2017
Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright

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1. Celebrating Success: Podcast Awards Win [02:25–03:25]

The episode kicks off with the hosts expressing their excitement over winning back-to-back Podcast Awards. Jason Moore shares, “We were nominated for the sports and recreation category as well as the People's Choice Award. And we won them both” (02:27). Mike Wright adds humorously, questioning if this makes them “the best podcast of all time” (03:25). The trio shares gratitude towards their listeners, acknowledging the support that led to this achievement.

2. Week 4's Biggest Surprises [04:38–08:05]

Discussing Week 4, Mike Wright highlights the unexpected struggles of the New England Patriots' defense. He remarks, “Everyone has been destroying the Patriots. They've been putting up massive points” (05:10). Jason Moore concurs, pointing out the Jaguars' surprising defensive performance, especially against Matt Forte, who amassed over 250 rushing yards (05:20).

Andy Holloway shifts focus to Deshaun Watson’s impressive performance, stating, “Deshaun Watson looked mostly unstoppable” (06:41). However, he remains cautious, saying, “It's hard for me to buy into Watson moving forward” (07:49), reflecting on inconsistent performances against strong defenses.

3. Injury Updates and Their Fantasy Impact [09:38–19:33]

The hosts delve into significant injuries affecting fantasy teams. The most notable is Dalvin Cook's suspected torn ACL, which Jason Moore bluntly states, “...Cook is done for the season” (24:02). Andy Holloway advises persistence, emphasizing, “you've got to stick through” (10:21).

Other key injuries include:

• Marcus Mariota’s hamstring concerns and possible week-long absence (13:18)
• Julio Jones’ hip flexor injury, expected to play despite minor setbacks (14:19)
• Derek Carr's back injury, with uncertainty around his availability (12:17)
• Chris Carson’s broken ankle, projecting a late-season return (16:14)

Jason Moore adds sympathy for those managing these injuries, noting, “...this is the nature of fantasy football” (10:07).

4. Studs and Duds: Player Performance Analysis [23:57–43:55]

Studs of the Week

• Deshaun Watson: Jason Moore praises Watson’s talents, stating, “All signs point to start with the Sean Watson when you have the talent on the outside” (24:57).
• Cam Newton: Despite initial underperformance, Newton finishes strong with “three touchdowns on the ground” (25:39).
• Andy Dalton: Shows improvement with 25 completions and multiple touchdowns, indicating his offense is getting better (27:00).

Duds of the Week

• Jay Cutler: Hosts criticize Cutler’s inconsistent performance, calling his season “pooped in his big boy pants” (47:07).
• Amari Cooper: Disappoints with only 2 receptions in his matchup against a strong defense (56:12).
• Matt Ryan and Mike Glennon: Both quarterbacks underperform, leading to frustration among fantasy managers (48:33).

Notable Quote: Andy Holloway on Jay Cutler’s performance: “You pooped like nobody's pooped before” (47:22).

5. Rising Stars: Players to Watch [40:52–46:59]

The hosts spotlight emerging talents who are proving to be valuable fantasy assets:

• Evan Ingram (TE, NY Giants): Andy praises Ingram’s increasing targets, mentioning, “He is the definition of a rising star” (41:53).
• Alvin Kamara (RB, New Orleans Saints): Jason Moore lauds Kamara’s dual-threat as a runner and receiver, stating, “Alvin Kamara had 10 targets this last week which he caught all 10 of them” (44:32).
• Duke Johnson (RB, Cleveland Browns): Despite concerns, Jeff Wright encourages starting Johnson due to his involvement in the offense (43:55).

Mike Wright underscores Kamara’s importance: “I think the outlook is looking better right now for Kamara than it is for Cohen” (44:37).

6. Honorable Poopers: Disappointing Performances [47:07–52:46]

In this humorous segment, the hosts discuss players who have failed to meet expectations:

• Jay Cutler: Mentioned again for his poor performance, reinforcing his status as a dud (47:07).
• Matt Ryan and Joe Mixon: Both quarterbacks and running backs face scrutiny for underperforming despite favorable matchups (53:07).

Andy Holloway humorously concludes, “Jay Cutler pooped like nobody's pooped before” (47:22).

7. Conclusion: Strategic Moves and Final Thoughts [58:01–61:23]

The hosts wrap up by advising fantasy managers to stay vigilant with their lineups, considering player performances and upcoming matchups. Jason Moore emphasizes the importance of targeting high-volume players and making informed decisions based on the week’s outcomes.

Notable Quote: Jason Moore on lineup strategies: “...when you have Russell Wilson as your fantasy quarterback, you have really liked Detroit's defense this year” (28:53).

Mike Wright concludes with humor, reinforcing the community aspect of the podcast: “Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast” (60:42).

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Key Takeaways:

• Stay Informed on Injuries: Significant injuries like Dalvin Cook’s ACL tear can drastically affect fantasy strategies.
• Identify Rising Stars Early: Players like Evan Ingram and Alvin Kamara are emerging as reliable assets.
• Monitor Studs and Duds: Consistent underperformance from players like Jay Cutler and Amari Cooper should prompt lineup adjustments.
• Strategic Trading: Consider trading high-performing players early to maximize value before potential downturns.

Notable Quotes:

• “Deshaun Watson looked mostly unstoppable.” – Andy Holloway (06:41)
• “We were the first back-to-back winners in both categories.” – Jason Moore (03:02)
• “Jay Cutler pooped like nobody's pooped before.” – Andy Holloway (47:22)

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This episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast provided in-depth analysis of Week 4 performances, emphasizing the importance of staying adaptable in fantasy football. From celebrating their podcast achievements to dissecting player performances, the hosts delivered valuable insights to help listeners make informed decisions for their fantasy teams.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

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[Jason Moore]

Foreign.

[Mike Wright]

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

[Jason Moore]

We are back. Back in black.

[Andy Holloway]

Two of you are.

[Jason Moore]

Look at you guys. Got your looking good, looking good, the Back to the future shirt. Mike, you're wearing all black. Going Johnny Cash this morning.

[Andy Holloway]

That's right.

[Jason Moore]

Welcome into the show. Back once again, fresh off a very exciting week of how cool, how cool.

[Andy Holloway]

Are you as a person that, like, when you wear just a plain black T shirt, you're like, oh, that's Johnny Cash.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah, that. He is. Like, he owns a color.

[Andy Holloway]

He owns black T shirts.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it's just a. It's just an undershirt, really. He's just wearing a T shirt.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, that's a cool dude.

[Jason Moore]

That's the goal in life. You want a color associated with you for the remainder of your natural life.

[Andy Holloway]

It's a green shirt. You're like, holy crap, that's a Mike Wright T shirt.

[Mike Wright]

But that's like a Smash Jackson thing if his last name wasn't Cash.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, if it was like, no, that voice.

[Mike Wright]

Johnny Tambourine.

[Andy Holloway]

That's a fair point.

[Jason Moore]

That's one of those ones where as long as it's ordinary or cool, he'd have been fine. But if it's tambourine, you don't call the shirt.

[Andy Holloway]

That's an uphill battle with the tambourine.

[Jason Moore]

That's enough. You change that line. You got to do that before you go into show business. All right, today we've got the studs and duds on the show talking some surprises from week four. And we'll get into the pooped in their big boy pants. The rising stars, maybe some mailbag. We'll see what we got time for. It's going to be a great episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Find us on Twitter @ the FF Ballers. Let's start out with this huge, huge thank you to. Oh, yes, the Foot Clan.

[Andy Holloway]

Thank you.

[Jason Moore]

Now, we did not. Maybe we did not herald this enough leading up to the event, but you guys nominated Us for the Podcast Awards many months ago. And then those awards went into the.

[Andy Holloway]

It was a really long process.

[Jason Moore]

It was totally different. You actually didn't have the option to vote on the final winners. Those were decided by a panel of randomly selected individuals.

[Andy Holloway]

So if you did vote on those.

[Jason Moore]

Thank you.

[Andy Holloway]

Thank you.

[Jason Moore]

And we were nominated for the sports and recreation category as well as the People's Choice Award. And we won them both.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, baby.

[Jason Moore]

Which means we are back to back winners in both categories. And we do the show for you, not for awards, but awards are kind of cool. And so we're very thankful and excited. And from my understanding, the first back to back winners of the People Choice Award in the history, the 12 year history of the podcast awards, does that.

[Mike Wright]

Mean we're the best podcast of all time? I'm just curious if that's.

[Jason Moore]

That would be a very.

[Mike Wright]

Is that science?

[Jason Moore]

A very humble statement for you to make, Jason.

[Mike Wright]

No, no, no. Just a question.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he's just.

[Mike Wright]

Just a question. I would never, never say something like that.

[Jason Moore]

Does that make us the best? Yeah, I mean, it's really.

[Mike Wright]

It's up to you to decide.

[Jason Moore]

No. Very cool. And I want to say this, too. We were up against some very, very, very good shows, great competition, and very honored to be nominated with them and very honored to win. So thank you very, very much. Also, both of you gentlemen are getting wet today. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Chris Blash.

[Jason Moore]

Because I bet Jason that Deshaun Watson would outperform Marcus Mariota. What I didn't know is that he would perform outperform Mariota and Brady combined.

[Mike Wright]

You know what? I'm going to say it was only because of the injury.

[Jason Moore]

That is Mariota. Yeah. Outlandish and hogwash.

[Mike Wright]

Only reason he was going to come back.

[Jason Moore]

And Mike, I believe we bet Cam Newton versus Tyrod Taylor.

[Andy Holloway]

We did.

[Jason Moore]

And Cam Newton took care of business. So we will put those up on Twitter. Very soon, you'll both be wearing black shirts that will be covered in water.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I had to protect the nips today.

[Mike Wright]

All right.

[Jason Moore]

Hey, quick question of the day. What is the biggest surprise of week number four for you?

[Mike Wright]

Well, speaking of Cam Newton, the biggest surprise to me is how bad the Patriots defense must actually be. Like, I still just don't want to buy into the fact that the Patriots are a terrible defense because it makes no sense. They've never really been a bad defense. They have the pieces to be a good defense. If you look at the defense they had last year as far as personnel and then what they have this year, I Feel like it should be better.

[Jason Moore]

But outside the linebacking core, that's the big problem for me. The corners, they're great. You got Gilmore in there, but you're right. And you expect them to scheme better.

[Mike Wright]

Everyone has been destroying the Patriots. They've been putting up massive points. I mean, Cam Newton, he got to play San Francisco, a bad defense, he got to play New Orleans, who at the time looked like a terrible defense, couldn't get it done either of those times. So the Patriots defense was the biggest surprise for me.

[Jason Moore]

And to piggyback before I give mine, maybe New Orleans defense isn't as bad as we said, because this week it looked like it was going to be great for Miami. They did nothing. They didn't score. Now, I know they've struggled on offense, but then Cam Newton being able to not do as much against them and do a lot against New England, we're learning, right? This is week four. My big surprise would have been the one of the better defenses in the league, the Jaguars. Look Matt Forte out. They let Bilal Powell and E.J. mcGuire go absolutely bananas against this defensive front. 250 plus yards rushing. Multiple long touchdowns from those two. And so I, it was shocking to me to see those two players, especially when you know that New York's offensive strategy is to kind of control the clock, run the ball, put McCown in a position not to, you know, blow the game through an interception with limited passing weapons, and then to see the running backs just destroy this defensive front, that was a surprise for me.

[Andy Holloway]

The big surprise for me of the weekend. It's in a way is related to what Cam Newton was able to do against the Patriots. Deshaun Watson looked mostly unstoppable. A couple mistakes, but I mean, he looked, he looked like he was in control of the offense. He's making plays with his legs. He looked like a very solid quarterback. And I got a lot of questions on yesterday's periscope and it was Watson, this player. And I said, I just, it's hard for me to buy into Watson because he just did it to the Patriots. And we've seen people destroying the Patriots. I mean, Alex Smith looked like a Hall of Fame level quarterback against the Patriots. So it was just of how bad Watson was against the Bengals and then the Patriots. The up and downs, I don't know if I can buy in, but going back to back weeks of just absolutely going full ham, eggs and cheese in one sandwich.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, delicious.

[Andy Holloway]

How do you not buy into Deshaun Watson moving forward?

[Mike Wright]

Well, and he's got that skill set that you have. We have seen other guys come into the league with that type of skill set and be able to succeed from, you know, the get Russell Wilson and Dak Prescott come to mind where they can roll out, they can bootleg, they can run.

[Jason Moore]

And yeah, the balanced offense too from that team. And you know, Hopkins, the Arrows trending up, getting Fuller back, another weapon. If they ever get that left tackle in, they're going to get even better on the offensive line. So that was very, very impressive. While I did bet him against Mariota, nowhere in my wildest imagination did I imagine five touchdowns from desean Watson. So we are going to get into the fantasy rewind. Before we do that, I do want to take a second and reflect on the tragedy that took place in Las Vegas last night. I want to send our thoughts and prayers to those that are recovering, those that were wounded, those that are mourning, those lost. And you know, part of sports and part of this show is to provide a reprieve from current events and from some of the things politics, we don't get into politics on the show, but I felt it was worthwhile to take a minute and just share our thoughts and prayers, our condolences to those lost. And you know, we do this show so that you do have kind of some of the normalcy and routine of American life that helps us get through and recover from tragedy, but just a tremendous tragedy that took place. And make no mistake, fantasy football is very unimportant in comparison to those things. And so did want to take a moment to say that. And we'll go ahead and get into the rewind.

[Mike Wright]

Weekly rewind.

[Jason Moore]

All right. We'll start out with some injury news. A lot of injuries took place this weekend. A lot of long term fantasy football impact. The big headliner and it's really unfortunate, Dalvin Cook, the team fears that he suffered a 20 ACL. He's going to have an MRI today and even Jerick McKinnon left that game. If you're a Dalvin Cook owner and you're scrambling right now, you look like you were golden. But this is the nature of fantasy football.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Where are you turning?

[Mike Wright]

I was just going to point out first we talk a lot about don't bail early in the season. Sometimes teams that look like juggernauts, they lose a piece and another piece just doesn't stay as hot. And all of a sudden they go from the best in the league to the worst. You've got to stick through.

[Jason Moore]

You're speaking of other teams in your league, yes.

[Mike Wright]

Other teams in your league, you've got to just keep persevering week after week. As far as the backfield here in Minnesota, I still lean towards McKinnon, I don't think. I mean, look, both of these guys now are dealing with an ankle problem. But one, Latavius Murray, his. He's talking about how he's still not 100% from the ankle surgery that was months ago. He doesn't look 100%. He hasn't shown signs of life yet. So I lean towards McKinnon, but I don't think either guy is really going to be great. When you lose your starting quarterback and your star running back, your offense is going to hurt. This is a downgrade for all parties involved, even Stefan Diggs and Adam Thielen.

[Andy Holloway]

I believe they're going to have to bring someone in or upgrade or promote someone from a practice squad. I mean, they, you can't move forward with just McKinnon and Latavius Murray.

[Jason Moore]

And if you want to plan ahead, I think Chicago's defense in Chicago next week against Minnesota looks like a great streaming week winning type of option. I stuck with the Lions this week against Minnesota just on the basis that the Lions have looked great as a defense and the basis that Case Keenum consistently can't get it done. And then losing Dalvin Cook, one of the game breakers in the offense, is going to handcuff their upside. So very. Yeah, that's very unfortunate news. You're gonna have to find another option because I think the backfield is going to end up looking a lot like, you know, Seattle or New Orleans or some situation that's hard to predict. And week to week upside is in trouble. Derek Carr exited with a back injury. Suddenly that offense is not churning, not moving. And Derek Carr, he's, you know, he's having back spasms as of the most recent report this morning. And we're going to have to figure out whether he plays against Baltimore next week. He probably will.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he, from what I hear, he is likely to play. And this offense, they're just, they're matchup dependent. I mean, it, it was a huge blow to that offense. Michael Crabtree is a huge part of what they do. He didn't play. But even still, the Broncos have just shut down Derek Carr. And all I know for fantasy, Carr was somewhat okay because he had that long bomb touchdown. But I mean, Amari Cooper shut down. Marshawn lynch shut down. It's just if you're playing Raiders, you're playing matchups and there you go. That's unfortunate. Great take for a high draft capital to be like, well, I got to bench this guy now is what.

[Jason Moore]

Last week we said trade away Derek Carr with the slate that he has. Last week we said punt the brakes on Marshawn because of the Denver matchup and because of his involvement. I felt like watching that game, the only way that something was going to happen was some crazy big play.

[Andy Holloway]

And that. Yeah, that's what happened.

[Jason Moore]

And that was. You're right, Mike. You're right. Marcus Mariota left with a hamstring injury. He's going to undergo an MRI today. Do you have any updated news on Mariota? Because I'm concerned about this offense as well.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't have an update, but at the same time, if he had a, you know, a strained hamstring and the team is just getting absolutely blown out, as a coach, I know that players, they always want to go back in, but as the coach, you're the franchise quarterback, I personally would pull him out. Now, like I said, I don't have an update that says Mariota is possibly missing this week or if it was just that light strain.

[Mike Wright]

But he was ruled out. He was ruled out very quick. And usually when there's a hamstring problem, you know, you don't just get immediately ruled out, but when he went out, they were just getting blown out. And I agree with you, Mike. We haven't heard things yet that there's huge concern. So I think it was more a matter of not wanting to be in harm's way. I mean, it's still a hamstring injury.

[Jason Moore]

With him going through the mri, I'm worried about maybe a one week absence from Mariota, but we'll find out. Yeah, Julio Jones left with a hip flexor. He's not expected to miss any time, according to Adam Schefter. But welcome to Julio Jones. In the existence of owning Julio Jones, he's not been the difference maker you need thus far this year.

[Andy Holloway]

He looked like he was on pace to have a very solid game. He went down. Mohammed Sanu also went down in this game and they have the week five buy. Is that correct?

[Jason Moore]

That is correct.

[Andy Holloway]

If there's a chance that Julio and Sanu are going to miss time, do you have any Matt Ryan concerns?

[Jason Moore]

I think that that's fair. I would say that that's.

[Andy Holloway]

We're talking two weeks.

[Jason Moore]

I think Tevin Coleman, Austin Hooper, they get the minor bump. I don't really translate it to Taylor Gabriel's target share, but maybe he Goes up a little bit, but yeah, the offense obviously struggled this week.

[Andy Holloway]

Austin Hooper and his seven targets ruining everything.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I think this was another. You talked earlier, Andy, about how we're still learning and I think one of the things we learned is that Buffalo's defense. I realize Julio left during the game and Mohammed Sanu left, but I think Buffalo's defense is good, legitimate.

[Jason Moore]

You're talking about the division leading Buffalo Bills.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, I am.

[Jason Moore]

Speaking of the Buffalo Bills, Jordan Matthew, he's going to undergo thumb surgery to have a pin inserted. Could miss a month.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Chris Carson carted off with a leg injury. The report, the report now is that a broken ankle. So he was in an air cast and then this morning they had updated. That looks like a broken ankle. You're toast at that point. You're not probably coming back until late, late in the season. And he hasn't earned kind of the, you know, auto start once he's back. So who actually is the beneficiary there in a very struggling offense line?

[Mike Wright]

Eddie Lacy looked pretty good. McKissick. Yes.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, he only had four carries and he's. He's more of a scat, isn't he?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, well, because he's a converted wide.

[Jason Moore]

Receiver, he took the place of process. He would have had those carries and that role no matter what.

[Andy Holloway]

Just saying. I mean, he looked, when he came in on, on his touchdown run, I was like, holy crap. Like, that's the first run from Seattle that I can think of this season. Where's that guy? That guy ran like an animal.

[Mike Wright]

And then to hear Collinsworth and you know, the announcers talking about how in practice that week they kept going, who's that guy? And he. And he did it. You know, he's definitely a guy that will be on my waiver claims as a flyer.

[Jason Moore]

Really?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, really.

[Andy Holloway]

I agree.

[Mike Wright]

He looked too fast and the opportunity is there.

[Jason Moore]

Rawls was a healthy scratch. Pro size is injured. Lacy was active. I think it's a mess, obviously, with that offensive line.

[Andy Holloway]

That's why it's only a flyer at this point.

[Jason Moore]

No Flyers turn into starters. You never know. Tariq Cohen, for example, right? Amir Abdullah, rolled his ankle, didn't sound concerned. Said he could come back into the game. Scored in this game on a nice run and actually look, he looks great. He was someone I was targeting last week and I'm targeting this week with, you know, I had been starting to quiz Rogers. I'm looking for another running back. Maybe your Dalvin Cook owner.

[Mike Wright]

He's not my rising star. This week, but he was in consideration the arrows pointing up for me.

[Jason Moore]

Paul Perkins left the game with a rib injury. You saw Gallman Jr. Do you think.

[Andy Holloway]

That Wayne Gallman takes over this job?

[Jason Moore]

I don't think that. I think it's one of those jobs that you're not excited to take over.

[Mike Wright]

There's no job to take over but saying fantasy.

[Andy Holloway]

We're very excited but just real NFL. Do you think Gallman has will be taking off that job looked a lot.

[Mike Wright]

Better than Paul Perkins did.

[Jason Moore]

Paul Perkins, when he takes the hand off, he closes his eyes and runs straight. It's just what it looks like. And he hits the butt of his guy. He hits the butt of somebody else. It doesn't matter. He is just trying to run straight. Odell Beckham Jr. Said he's all right after suffering finger and ankle injuries in Week 4. He dislocated his finger. He aggravated the ankle injury. He went full Paul Pierce. He was writhing in pain and then just ran back out for the next play.

[Mike Wright]

Should be okay.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he should be all right. Jack Doyle concussion left the game. Marquis Goodwin left with the concussion. And then we had the scratch that Mike mentioned. Michael Crabtree didn't play. Golladay Burkhead sneed. They all were inactive. My goodness. All right, some non injury news. The Ezekiel Elliott hearing with the fifth Circuit Court of appeals is scheduled for today. This is why, you know, picking up a McFadden or a Morris just as a flyer, as a maybe look out.

[Andy Holloway]

For more 70 yard run.

[Jason Moore]

70.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I mean that was. It was ridiculous.

[Jason Moore]

It was.

[Andy Holloway]

It was a little ridiculous. He wasn't able to score. I mean it was like, you know that.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, Alf, he was my. He was my pickup on Sunday morning. If Crabtree had been moved to out in time for our waiver pickups, I was sitting there waiting and waiting.

[Andy Holloway]

Just a JIC pickup and.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Just in case, you know, have somebody on your roster now. But he'd. He'd be a cursory waiver wire flyer just in case. Ezekiel suspended. Hey, Mitch. Mitchell Trebison.

[Mike Wright]

Hey, you. You said yesterday that or last week. Last week you said Mitch will right.

[Jason Moore]

After the Thursday night game.

[Mike Wright]

And sure enough, he has been named the starter. Mitchell Trubisky. Are you. You had alluded to the fact that you were a little worried for Tariq Cohen.

[Jason Moore]

This. I'm neutral on Cohen and I'm excited for Jordan Howard because if the. If the offense can move at all, it just benefits Howard's opportunities to get into the end zone because you need the pass and the run, and they've been run only. That's their offense. You know, you need the balance that you saw from Houston.

[Mike Wright]

Part of that's the fact that they don't have any wide receivers, though.

[Andy Holloway]

I was going to say this is. This is actually tight end watch. For me, it's Kendall.

[Jason Moore]

Right watch.

[Andy Holloway]

Too fair. But just seeing the way that. That Trubisky was targeting Adam Shaheen in the preseason, I mean, they. They already had a connection going on. So whether that's Shaheen getting more playing time, whether it's Zach Miller, it's something I will be keeping my eye on this week.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Yeah. Doug Martin, your suspension is over. We'll find out what happened. They play Thursday, so you're going to get an early indication of their plans with Martin. Do they, you know he'll be the.

[Mike Wright]

Starter given the complete workload? That's my belief.

[Jason Moore]

Interesting. Now, when your suspension's over, that's when you can resume practicing with the team. My thought is, if you're going to practice three days this week and play a game, there might be a pretty shared workload. Now it's New England. That might be enough to get it done for fantasy. So I lean that side. You said he gets the full workload to Jacquiz Rogers. Credit. 5.2 a Carry this week.

[Andy Holloway]

He looked. Yeah. He's just so sneaky, man. He's always getting these games. He's always looking good.

[Jason Moore]

Screen passes. All right, Week five buys. Keep it in your mind. Falcons, Broncos, Saints, Redskins. All right, all right, all right, all right. Before we move on into the stud muffins, we do want to thank a sponsor of today's show, Harry's Razors. All right. I love. I love my face and I love my face and my neck.

[Andy Holloway]

It's not bad.

[Jason Moore]

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[Mike Wright]

The three of us. All three have MVMT watches ourselves. Mike, you are rocking a beautiful.

[Andy Holloway]

You're darn right I am.

[Jason Moore]

Is it time to check them out?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, very nice. No, these are really nice looking watches. They were started by two broke college kids. They wanted nice watches but the problem with that is nice watches are so expensive. So they decided to fix that and they created really nice looking, well crafted, minimalist designed watches. And they did that starting at just $95, which is unheard of for really nice looking watches. That's a fraction of what you're going to find even in department stores. They cut out the middleman. They did everything online. These are beautiful watches. So you can get 15% off. Just go to mvmt.com footballers that's mvmt.com footballers get 15% off plus free shipping and free returns. That's mvmt.com football footballers join the movement.

[Jason Moore]

All right, guys, let's move it on.

[Mike Wright]

This week's fantasy Stud muffins.

[Jason Moore]

Confirmed torn ACL for Dalvin Cook. Done for the season. He's having surgery.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Jason Moore]

So Mike Zimmer just talked about it. All right, let's get into the quarterback stud muffins this week We've talked about DeSean Watson, but let's give you the numbers. 25 for 34 for 283 and four through the air. And then another four for 24 and a touchdown on the ground has Kansas City, Cleveland and then a bye week coming up. All signs point to start with the Sean Watson when you have the talent on the outside. And what we got from Lamar Miller this week, man, it must.

[Andy Holloway]

And Will Fuller, I mean, and Will Fuller is not necessarily. I'm going to run out and grab him because it was. He had, you know, the two touchdowns on whatever, three or four receptions. It's just another weapon for Deshaun Watson. Fuller is a bigger upgrade for the quarterback.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, and he's a burner.

[Andy Holloway]

He can make a big play at this point. You got to stay in The Flames. So you're Sean Watson.

[Mike Wright]

You're starting to Sean Watson against Kansas City next week.

[Andy Holloway]

I would be.

[Mike Wright]

Will he be in your top 12?

[Andy Holloway]

I imagine that he will be against Kansas City at home. Kansas City at home, Cleveland. That's the light them up.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

That's a solid two weeks here for.

[Jason Moore]

Watson, by the way, for all the crap that Chicago got on draft day. This is why you do what you do. Look at the hope that Houston has with deshaun Watson. Look at the hope that even Cleveland has with desean Kizer. Now, you look how bad Mike Glennon is. You drafted Mitch Trubisky, and if you hadn't, you'd be staring down Mike Glennon the rest of the season. At least now you've got some hope. This is the NFL. You've got to have that young quarterback.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And you know, this. This year's rookie quarterbacks, they've surprised, I think, you know, I'm always worried, okay, Tom Brady's going to retire. Peyton Manning just retired. You know, Drew Brees. How many years does he have left? Well, the incoming rookie quarterbacks, they're looking like they're going to take over.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Good.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So look, Cam Newton. Welcome back. 22 for 29 for 316 and three. Also scored a rushing touchdown. Eight carries for 44 yards. Cam Newton.

[Mike Wright]

Was that misdirection, all that coach talk about, hey, we're not going to run the ball with Cam.

[Andy Holloway]

Was that him just playing poorly the first couple weeks?

[Jason Moore]

Well, here, Mike, this might speak more. Now it's New England, but it might speak more to what you said, which is he was getting healthy during the year.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure.

[Jason Moore]

Also had Kelsey Benjamin back for the full allotment of slaps. Snapshot, not slaps, the snaps.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, I don't know what to do with this Patriot defense because quarterbacks like Watson last week, quarterbacks are having these huge games. But is it. Is it that confidence boost that all of a sudden propels you like. Oh, yeah. I'm actually a good quarterback. By any. You have.

[Mike Wright]

You have really liked Detroit's defense this year. You rolled them against Minnesota. Cam is going to Detroit next week.

[Jason Moore]

I'm rolling the Detroit defense.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

I'm playing them again.

[Mike Wright]

If you are playing. If you've got Cam and you've got Watson on your roster.

[Jason Moore]

Watson.

[Mike Wright]

All right.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I was going to ask you. Rest of the season, Watson, Newton, Dalton. Actually, Dalton had a monster week. We expected as much against Cleveland. 25 for 30, though, for 286 and 4. Andy Dalton, even when he tries his hardest, can't normally accomplish this level of accuracy. So he's making some improvements and that offense is getting better. They have Buffalo, then the buy. Not a great start next week against Buffalo.

[Andy Holloway]

So I would not do it.

[Jason Moore]

He was the start of the week this week against Cleveland, but not going to do it. But this is one of those situations like Simeon, where, you know, one week he's, he's good one week you play the matchup. Winston, Manning, Wilson, they all had great weeks. What are your takeaways from the stud muffins? Prescott, Prescott, Prescott, Prescott.

[Mike Wright]

You know, I know Rogers, I know Mike had already claimed. He said yesterday he's like, my start of the week this week is going to be Jameis Winston because he's playing against New England. But the guy that sticks out to me the most is Russell Wilson. Russell looks like the offensive line. Russell Wilson, the offensive line for Seattle looked, you know, strong enough to where they could run some of his design plays. I realized it was against, you know, the Colts and it was in Seattle. But this is back to back weeks now. He did it the week before against Tennessee where he is doing what he's done for fantasy. You got to erase those first two.

[Andy Holloway]

Weeks and do not watch the first half. Yeah, well, the thing is, that's my piece of advice. If you have Russell Wilson as your.

[Mike Wright]

Fantasy quarterback, you know what he figured out? Don't watch the first half. Because we've been talking about how Russell Wilson's bad first half of the year quarterback. A really good second half of the year quarterback. Maybe he figured out because this is the same in the Tennessee game. Let me just be a good second half quarterback of the game.

[Andy Holloway]

I think you're on a.

[Mike Wright]

Every game I can be. All right, because he wasn't good the first half of either game, but I believe Russell Wilson will be top five quarterback the rest of the way.

[Jason Moore]

All right, let's, let's move on to some running backs here.

[Andy Holloway]

Todd Gurley, my goodness, still keeps getting it done.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he has a, he has the gauntlet. Seattle, Jacksonville, Arizona. But it's not much of a gauntlet. Let's be honest here. Seattle, they're banged up and they've been, they've been able to be run on this year. Jacksonville just had 250 plus put up by the jets. And Arizona's defense has been at best a dumpster fire. Invest a mediocre defense when you expect it. They don't have class Campbell anymore. Let's not be afraid anymore of this Schedule. I do not think that you can trade Gurley. Don't do it.

[Mike Wright]

The thing that gives me hope about Gurley is what he's been doing in the passing game. You look at, you know, your Le'Veon bells and your David Johnson's, the guys who are at the top that are matchup proof, that are game script proof. It's because of how involved and successful they are in the passing game. That's what you've seen from Todd Gurley. I agree. I am not afraid of the gauntlet. I'm not going to ever bench him. I'm not going to drop him outside of my top 12 in my rankings. However, I disagree with you a little bit on the unwillingness to trade him just because I don't. If you can capitalize on the value. If you could trade Todd gurley for a Le'Veon bell right now, when Todd Gurley looks like he is on fire, I think then you are maximizing. Look, nobody is going to keep the pace that he's had for an entire season. And so over this next stretch, if you can capitalize on that value and still have a just as good or a better running back in a trade for him, I would be willing to do that. Because now he's got nowhere to go but down at this point. That's not to say that he's going to fall out the bottom.

[Jason Moore]

Mike, I'll let you speak.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm not trading. All right.

[Jason Moore]

No, I mean, I just don't know I at this.

[Mike Wright]

Look, I'm not saying you should or have.

[Jason Moore]

I just don't understand that there's no. It's not fair. It's not fair. If you're not. If you're not sitting here saying trade Kareem Hunt. I don't hear that. Why aren't you saying that after.

[Mike Wright]

You can't.

[Jason Moore]

That's the pace. You can't. The amount of 50 plus yard touchdowns for Kareem Hunt is unsustainable. Whereas Todd Gurley, he didn't score a rushing touchdown this game, put up 35 fantasy points.

[Mike Wright]

I was saying to try to trade cream hunt for Le'Veon Bell and a.

[Jason Moore]

Lot of Bell is the only situation that I'm moving Todd Gurley right now. Lebl had 35 carries this week for 144 yards and two touchdowns. But I just love what I'm seeing from Gurley and those of you that grabbed him in the third round, congratulations.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep, Todd Gurley is. He's winning. He's. He's won me Over Zeke.

[Jason Moore]

Big game.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Two touchdowns and one half a yard short on that fourth down. That would have moved them. Hey, the Rams won.

[Andy Holloway]

They did.

[Jason Moore]

Almost upset.

[Mike Wright]

That was a full upset. But I know.

[Jason Moore]

I'm always happy.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. No, I did it. You called the shot.

[Jason Moore]

Anytime. I don't have. There's no segment called Andy's upset of the week. It's called the almost upset. I'm happy when they win.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. You like being wrong.

[Mike Wright]

Lamar Miller.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I do.

[Mike Wright]

My guy, Lamar Miller got it done big time. He looked.

[Jason Moore]

Now he's your guy again. Welcome back.

[Mike Wright]

I have waited for years for this.

[Andy Holloway]

Take this away from groundhogging this.

[Jason Moore]

Is this a rough.

[Mike Wright]

The Houston.

[Andy Holloway]

Did Lamar Miller have a good game yet?

[Mike Wright]

The Houston Texans.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

Come on. I have stuck with Lamar Miller through the gutter.

[Jason Moore]

You have. You have equivocated.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, my goodness.

[Jason Moore]

I'm not trying to take it away. There's nothing to take away because you haven't stood up for it.

[Andy Holloway]

He has stayed with Lamar Miller.

[Mike Wright]

The offense of the Houston Texans. If what we're saying for Lamar Miller about Watson, we said before the year, the running quarter, the running quarterback. If you don't understand why we're laughing. Andy did a full groundhog peeking up.

[Andy Holloway]

Two weeks of winter.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you got to check that one out on the YouTube.

[Jason Moore]

Summer has come.

[Mike Wright]

But if rushing quarterbacks are good for the running back, I mean, statistically, historically, those have always been good.

[Jason Moore]

This was just volume.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, but he's had the volume all year.

[Jason Moore]

But Devonta Deontiforman didn't take away anything this week, despite the fact that, you know, he could have. So I'm excited. I'm just.

[Mike Wright]

Forman had 50 yards plus on the ground. I mean, this is just like what you're saying. Alfred Blue had 100 carries last year. If the offense is chugging Lamar Miller, that's.

[Jason Moore]

That's really like 57 points were scored in this game.

[Andy Holloway]

Almost.

[Mike Wright]

Almost.

[Jason Moore]

Blah, blah.

[Mike Wright]

Hey, blah, blah.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, it should be more like blow back from the grave eating some brains zombies.

[Jason Moore]

He gets Cleveland next week and Fortes. Even if he's back, Forte is probably going to be a little bit limited. The trouble with Powell, I'll start with the bad. The bad part is Forte does what Powell does. He catches the ball. He's tougher than Powell and therefore his role is pretty darn secure in that offense. That being said, Powell took full advantage of his opportunity and took full advantage of his opportunity to discourage me, a person that has shipped him off. And then Forte got Hurt and Powell went insane.

[Mike Wright]

Why do you think he came back from the dead? Andy the fantasy Reaper shipped him out and Blau Pow came back from the dead. He's got.

[Jason Moore]

And then we had Matt Forte on the show and Matt Forte was then injured and Reaper strikes again. I'm fully responsible for pal success is what you're saying.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. In the negative. Cleveland and the Patriots are his next two matchups. So I think you can. I expect Forte to miss a couple weeks. I think Blau Powell is going to be a good spot start here.

[Jason Moore]

Leonard Fournette, dominant once again. This time four receptions, 59 and a touchdown. And then Alvin Camara had a monster game, 10 receptions. And we'll talk about him more on the rising stars as well.

[Andy Holloway]

What's interesting, you see. Well, you can't see it if you're not looking at a show dock here, but all of these running backs in the stud muffin section, at least four receptions.

[Mike Wright]

Yep. That's just.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean his receiving is huge.

[Jason Moore]

We're going to talk about Duke Johnson as well. Had a good week and then he'll be, he'll be mentioned later. Wendell Smallwood, 10 for 34 and a touchdown on the ground. 4 for 45 through the air. Not insane like Garrett Blunt had a very good game, 16 for 136. You know, this was. You're going to see it shake down, I think, both directions the rest of the year. You're going to have a good blunt game. You're going to have a good small wood game and you're going to have games where neither of them does very much and you're throwing the ball 40 plus times.

[Mike Wright]

So blunt, he gets, he gets made fun of a lot because he looks slow and bet. But we got to say he looked good. Like, you know, there were a couple runs where it was like, wow, there's some power and is that a hint of speed? Yeah, I saw it. I just want to give him credit where credit is due.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, right. Wide receivers, stud muffins of the week. DeAndre Hopkins, 10 for 107 and a touchdown on 12 targets. Love that efficiency has Kansas City, Cleveland.

[Andy Holloway]

Love that volume.

[Jason Moore]

Love that volume. He's the target leader in the NFL. So we've always said Hopkins needs a quarterback. When you give him competence at the quarterback position, he's one of the best receivers in football. We know that Jordy had a great, great game on Thursday. Let's talk about Devin Funches, seven for 70 and two touchdowns. Benjamin still had more yardage in this game, but the Touchdowns went funches way.

[Mike Wright]

And the targets have been going his way. This is three weeks in a row where Funches is.

[Andy Holloway]

No, Olson.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, Olson is gone. Funchess is giving enough targets to be involved and to be successful if he can actually reel the ball. In the last couple of weeks he has, I think he is someone that should be picked up and in the right matchups I think you could play.

[Andy Holloway]

Him well, it's Detroit, Philly, Chicago. Is one of those a correct matchup?

[Mike Wright]

Not especially. I mean I don't look at any of those and say he's a must start. But I do believe because of the target volume, because of how many targets he's getting, if you are in a deep league or if you have really, really bad options, he might be a flex worthy start.

[Jason Moore]

I'm gonna give you some of the target leaders from this week and you guys tell me your thoughts on them. You had Michael Thomas with 11, Keenan Allen with 11. You also had Mike Evans with 11. But here's one that's interesting. Mike Wallace, 10, 10 targets this week, 6 for 55 and a touchdown. Jaron Brown, 12 targets this week for Arizona in that matchup that went to overtime against the 49ers. Anything to say about those guys?

[Andy Holloway]

I mean Jaron Brown has, he's been getting the snaps, he's been getting the targets. He didn't have those big sexy numbers like JJ Nelson who was, I mean, scoring touchdowns every single week. But Jaron Brown was the safe target share guy. And it was, when you look at those, you're like, okay, this offense is okay. I guess that's the best you could say about the Cardinals right now. But when you have an offense that's at least okay and you're seeing a player get the healthy target share is usually just a matter of time before something big happens to that player.

[Mike Wright]

And he is, he's developed into that Michael Floyd role.

[Andy Holloway]

He is the two and, and sometimes the one, right?

[Mike Wright]

So I, he's a guy that should be picked up. Now it's worth noting because when John Brown came in, he took all the snaps away from J.J. nelson. But in the press conference afterward, Bruce Arians was talking about how that was the game plan because both guys are dealing with injuries. They wanted to basically have them take one role and you know, half, each one is getting half the snap. So it'll be interesting next week if they're both healthy to see now does Jaron Brown come out. But if he stays in that wide receiver two role or like you said, even that Wide receiver, one in one wide receiver sets. He's been the guy out there a lot of times. Then I think you, you got to start him.

[Jason Moore]

All right, tight ends, that stood out this week. Tyler Croft had two touchdowns in the other. Tyler in place of Tyler Ifert, Brait Derby, Clay Howard. What are the rest of season implications of this week's stud muffins at the tight end position?

[Andy Holloway]

Cameron brait. I mean, O.J. howard had that really long touchdown on the completely broken play, but Cameron Brait is. He's the go to passing tight end. And Jameis Winston, he was Cameron.

[Mike Wright]

Great.

[Jason Moore]

Am I right? Am I right?

[Andy Holloway]

You are right. And I love that joke. AJ Derby with one of the best catches of the year.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, my goodness. That was.

[Andy Holloway]

If you have not seen the AJ Derby touchdown, do yourself a favor, finish this podcast, of course, but then immediately go watch AJ Derby's one hand tiptoe through the tulips.

[Mike Wright]

It was awesome. And you know, you mentioned his name, but Charles Clay, we've been pretty big fans.

[Andy Holloway]

He's the number one receiver on Buffalo.

[Mike Wright]

He is just.

[Jason Moore]

And now Jordan Matthews is gone for a month.

[Mike Wright]

Love, love, Charles Clay. Considering the landscape of how bad tight.

[Andy Holloway]

Ends are, are you buying into Tyler Croft as a startable tight end?

[Jason Moore]

No, no. He was tempting for my rising stars, but because he has Buffalo in a buy in the next two weeks and IFRT's potential to come back, I'm holding off the endorsement of Tyler Croft. Well, let's say Iford, he's more in the Mercedes Lewis situation with the two touchdowns this week and Iford's out long term. Yes, he's a, he's a potential streamer option. Let's get into the rising stars.

[Mike Wright]

Raising canes. Rising stars of the week.

[Jason Moore]

All right, my rising star is a tight end, so I'll piggyback there. It's Evan Ingram of the New York Football Giants. Look, every week, Evan Ingram has been consistently targeted. Four receptions the first two weeks, then five last week in Philadelphia. This week, six receptions for 62 yards in Tampa Bay. That is the definition of a rising star. An increase in targets, routes run, the ability to get downfield. He is, as Mike has said, another. Another coming of Jordan Reed. Maybe you go back to when Aaron Hernandez was able to be a speed route running tight end. And the beautiful thing is Ingram is not much of a blocker. So you bring him in, you give him 11 targets, 11 targets in yesterday's game. And with kind of the inconsistency of this offense and then in terms of rushing the ball, you've got to throw it. So I love Evan Ingram. I think he's a player that I would start rest of season over anybody. Like Jared Cook, for sure. You know, I love Evan Ingram.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, Evan Ingram was my. If you follow us in the off season, he was my favorite dynasty tight end because he can't block. I mean, he's an athletic freak.

[Jason Moore]

You don't get points for blocking.

[Andy Holloway]

Exactly. I don't want. It's. It's like O.J. howard. I mean, you're like, the guy's a sensational football player, but in fantasy, I want receptions.

[Jason Moore]

And you're blocking too well, son.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. So you got. Well, you got to stay in and block. No, I want the guy who can't block but is too big for a wide receiver. Exactly. So Evan Ingram. This is much sooner than I thought for Evan Ingram. I thought we were looking at at least a two year learning curve here from anger, but love it. Now I'm going to give you guys some numbers and let me tell you, let me ask if you can find the trend that is happening here. 5, 6, 7, 10. What's going on there?

[Mike Wright]

They're going up.

[Andy Holloway]

They are going up. And those are the targets for Mr. Duke Johnson, running back from the Cleveland Browns. While Isaiah Crowell has been an absolute bust of a fantasy player. Duke Johnson is saying, it's not a word, guys. This is not a word. You should pick me up, play me. Because he's game script proof. And I know that they were getting absolutely blown out in that 10 target game this past week, but when they were in a competitive game with the Colts, that was still seven targets. He's going to be involved. He's on the field. And he's out snapped Crowell in two of four games. So he's. At this point. These aren't full on flames of glory for Duke Johnson. There's a. Definitely a slow burn here that I'm gonna. I'm gonna put my spaghetti sauce on there. Cook it up, Cook it up. Get the fragrance permeated, bubbling.

[Mike Wright]

So pro tip, put some brown sugar in your spaghetti.

[Andy Holloway]

There you go.

[Jason Moore]

Really?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, so good. Yeah, put some.

[Jason Moore]

Put some brown sugar on blank and.

[Andy Holloway]

Put Duke Johnson in your starting lineup.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, there you go.

[Mike Wright]

All right.

[Jason Moore]

That's not going to help me trading for him today. Like I'm trying. Because whoever I. The guy I'm trying to trade for is definitely listening right now.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, the.

[Andy Holloway]

That just you. Just you, whoever Andy's talking about. Duke Johnson's bad.

[Jason Moore]

Thank you.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. My rising Star is Alvin Camara. We actually had a little thing where computer technology aside, Andy and I both wanted to pick Camara but I got him and he cheated. You know, he was the guy that before the season I made on the bold predictions episode saying he would finish the year as one of the top three rookie running backs for fantasy. Despite how great the rookie running backs have been, right now he is, he's fifth. Dalvin Cook is gone and he's just like two points behind Tariq Cohen. I think the outlook is looking better right now for Kamara than it is for Cohen. Kamara had 10 targets this last week which he caught all 10 of them. He has developed trust speaking game script wise Drew Brees.

[Andy Holloway]

The Saints were dominating the entire game.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

So this wasn't a comeback measure.

[Jason Moore]

No, this is, they weren't dominating the entire game. It was three, it was three nothing at halftime. Okay, I'm sorry but they were, they.

[Mike Wright]

Weren'T down getting boat raced where you have, you have to have that to get these targets.

[Jason Moore]

Sean Payton, Sean Payton basically said look, I don't, I don't care what Ingram thinks. We already know that he's willing to offend Ingram. He does not care about Adrian Peterson and his offense needs pass catching running backs. Camara was on the field all the time.

[Mike Wright]

The reason that I like him and lined up wide is because in part of Adrian Peterson, this three headed beast of running backs here has become a two headed tandem. I mean Adrian Peterson is not involved. He is barely a factor in this offense and that allows Alvin Camara to go into that Darren Sprouls role, that Reggie Bush role, this offense, we've seen it be successful. I think Camara is going to come out of the buy next week and just be all that more utilized and involved in the offense. He's going to be a startable asset rest of season.

[Jason Moore]

And just to add to last week, we said we can drop Adrian Peterson. Six total snaps. Four didn't get his first snap until late in the second quarter. As Jason said, he's an afterthought. If it wasn't for his name, you would not even be talking about him. You would not even be referencing him. You're just paying attention to the name. And he has no role in this offense. Unfortunately it didn't come to fruition there. And look this week I thought it'd be Ingram. I thought Ingram would take that carry share. It was Camara. So those were the raising canes, rising stars of the week. Ingram, Duke Johnson, Alvin Kamara. Remember game 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]

That was funny. You were talking about Ingram and then you said the rising stars were Ingram. And then I was like, oh, that was Ingram with an e. Yeah, Ingram. But on Mark Ingram, you said you thought he'd have the carries. He did this back to back weeks where he had four. So I think Ingram.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he just needs to get in the end zone and he'll give you a good week. I think he's startable. I think he's a startable player.

[Mike Wright]

Pooped in his big boy pants.

[Jason Moore]

All right, all right. Honorable Poopers of their big boy pants. Jay Cutler. You pooped like nobody's pooped before.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, man.

[Andy Holloway]

And it's crazy because he's got two.

[Jason Moore]

Weeks worth of his pants filled.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And great matchups, at least on paper. But the way the game started, Jay Cutler was sharp. He was very accurate. Yeah, he made a bad pass, a bad fade pass to Julius Thomas in the end zone, and then it was done.

[Jason Moore]

Yep.

[Andy Holloway]

Everything fell apart after that. On top of Miami just loving. They were loving those yellow flags. Every time something good would happen for J. Ajayi or the Miami Dolphins, there would be a penalty.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, yeah. Not good. Not good. You got to remember Jay Cutler, he wasn't that good. He wasn't that good with Chicago. Deshaun Kaiser had a stinker of a game. You know, he's up against it in Cleveland. And so you're trying to catch the lightning in a bottle week to week with him. You know, he's a streamer. A couple weeks ago, did not look like a good matchup with Cincinnati in this one. Matthew Stafford against Minnesota, disappointing week. They won the game on their defense. On the back of their defense. Matt Ryan, though, against Buffalo, 24 for 42, 242 and 12 picks.

[Andy Holloway]

He lost his number one and number two wide receiver. So it's hard to give a guy a free hall pass when they fail your fantasy team. And it just. It hurts in your soul. But I mean, come on, what do you.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So when we go through the Putin their big boy pants segment, what we're looking at too is do we believe these trends are going to continue for these players or do we believe they're anomalous? So as we get into some big names in the running back position, I want that to be our framework to talk. Talk about, help the listeners out. Melvin Gordon, Marshawn Lynch, DeMarco Murray, Jay Ajayi, Isaiah Crowell. Those five names, those are all guys drafted within the first three rounds. Several first round candidates. We know there are injuries in play from Elvin, Gordon, Jai, potentially. What do you think the headline. I mean, what should we be paying attention to as fantasy owners with these big names? Because the default is going to be. You got to keep them in your lineup.

[Mike Wright]

The two biggest worries to me would be DeMarco, Murray and Isaiah Crowell. Isaiah Crowell is unstartable. He is borderline cuttable right now. That's tough. But DeMarco. DeMarco has not looked good this season. I was very high.

[Andy Holloway]

He had the big run.

[Jason Moore]

I know.

[Mike Wright]

But if you take that one run away, Week one, he didn't look good. Week two, he didn't look good. Week three, got that big run. Week four, he didn't look good. So you got a decent sample size for me to worry a little bit. So are you not worried about.

[Jason Moore]

I'm actually. He's at the bottom of the list of worries out of this group other than Corwell, which you. You definitely are right about Murray. I mean, they got bow race. This was a matter of. I mean, he got seven carries, so it's hard to say. He didn't look good in seven carries. Derek Henry only had six carries for seven yards.

[Andy Holloway]

Hope that Murray would get more than two targets.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, but Mario to win out and they were boat race. So I mean, I.

[Mike Wright]

That's fair, I guess. It's seven six carry count, right?

[Jason Moore]

No, that sucks. But yeah, I mean that's. That's definitely a problem. I'm more concerned about lynch long term. I think he's almost unstartable right now. And then, you know, you got Baltimore next week. I'm not excited about lynch in that game. Jay Ajayi is a concern because of the third down work and you know, he was on the sideline furious, being taken off the field on third down for Kenyon Drake or Damian Williams.

[Mike Wright]

Jay Ajayi is a guy that I will probably be trying to target when I watch him run. There was nothing wrong with him like you said he had. He had a couple plays where it was just the yellow flags again. He'd make this great run and then he'd turn around and be like, come on, guys. Like, stop. Let. Let me go. And you know, Adam Gaze, I think can turn things around enough. And look, if I was the coach there and Jay Cutler has been so bad, you have got to say, I'm Going to put the offense on JJ's shoulders. And there wasn't anything that I saw on film that made me think he has lost a step or doesn't look good. So I know you're disappointed with him. He sucked this week. He sucked a couple times this year, but I'm not, I'm not writing him off. And Melvin Gordon, to me, I think this was a lot of this, what might have been an injury. Injury limiting his work. He only had 10 carries.

[Jason Moore]

So long term, though, one reception. Are you concerned?

[Mike Wright]

No, I'm not.

[Jason Moore]

Mike Gillisley. Mike, are you Concerned with Gillisley? 12 for 49, no touchdowns, no targets.

[Andy Holloway]

What was more concerning was when they're actually inside the three and they go to this nonsense, play action to Mike Gillislee so they can throw a pass to. I believe it was Jacob Hollister, the third tight end. Like just the getting.

[Jason Moore]

They do what they want.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, no. And I get it. And it's. Generally speaking, it has worked very well for Bill Belichick and the Patriots. But the getting cute around the goal line now for a couple weeks has been really frustrating. And he, he was running well. I mean 12 for 49, I believe at some. At one point he was 10 for 45 or so. And so he looks good, but he's.

[Jason Moore]

Just, he did get the goal line carry. He just got stuffed.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he.

[Andy Holloway]

And he only got the one chance at it. So if he's not getting the touchdowns, it's going to be. It's going to be disappointing.

[Jason Moore]

Mike, I'm going to toss it to you one more time. Another guy last week, he liked him a lot. Joe Mixon at Cleveland.

[Andy Holloway]

Who?

[Jason Moore]

I certainly liked him. He's 17 for 29, four for 19 on four targets. Basically had the same workload as last week, not the same production, about eight or nine fantasy points. Joe Mixon has Buffalo then the buy than Pittsburgh. What is the situation for Mixon?

[Andy Holloway]

It's not good. And even more so was you. As the fantasy community, we're trying to take the temperature of the team, you know, from the outside. They had Bill Lazer coming in as the O coordinator. You saw him willing to give Joe Mixon a bunch of touches last week. He came through with over 100 yards from scrimmage. Then Jeremy Hill starts the game, comes out, he's getting the first of the carries. You had a situation. Jeremy Hill fumbled and got back in the game. And while I commend the Bengals for doing the right thing, when you're running back fumbles once, it's you got to put them back in. But that's fumbling for Marvin Lewis is usually.

[Jason Moore]

Well, they recovered the fumble. They didn't lose it.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

But even still, when you're running back drops the ball for Marvin Lewis team, you are sent to the bench, you're not coming back.

[Jason Moore]

So 17 to 6, carry count between the two.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Joe mix has still got the work. He was really up against it because they're dominating so much. So it's. They're just trying to run out the clock, and the defense knows exactly what. What Cincinnati is going to do. But the offensive line is so bad for the Bengals, and Joe Mixon's not getting anything done. Can you really continue to start him at this point? We thought. We thought that this week was going to be the changing.

[Jason Moore]

I still think he's a flex. He's a flex play.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he absolutely is. He got 17 carries and four receptions. If you give me anyone in the NFL with 21 touches, I'm going to be starting him. And he's talented. This one didn't work out because, like you said, they were up by a bunch. They're running the clock out. He's just running into jammed boxes for a lot of those carries.

[Jason Moore]

I was just going to say, you talk about the touches, Jay. 21. McCaffrey had 10. Exactly 10 touches. Are you concerned about McCaffrey?

[Mike Wright]

You know, I'm concerned with McCaffrey. No different than I was preseason now. I was super disappointed this week. I thought he would be what the outlet that was used against this Patriots defense that's been giving.

[Andy Holloway]

Didn't need to. Yeah, they bomb it out on the Patriots. Exactly.

[Mike Wright]

They didn't need to. It's kind of a similar situation with Joe Mixon. It was like the team, the matchup, everything that we saw there was correct. It was just the wrong weapon being used. It wasn't McCaffrey. It wasn't Mixon.

[Jason Moore]

All right, let's transition to the wide receivers that had disappointing weeks. You had a couple big names, but there's no real fantasy value in talking about Antonio Brown. Four for 34. That'll get. That'll get right. It happens. But let's talk about. Look, Amari Cooper, 2 for 9, 3 for 38 for Brandon Cooks, Golden Tate, really disappointing. I loved him this week against that Minnesota secondary that had been struggling, and he just plain laid an egg. Three for 29. You have some reasons for the other ones. Julio Jones, the injury. Pierre Garcon had Patrick Peterson, Ty Hilton had Jacoby Brissette, and The Seattle defense. But what about Sammy Watkins? One catch in this game, they come out, they beat Dallas in Dallas and you have one reception, which was at the very end of this game on two targets.

[Mike Wright]

He only had two balls thrown his.

[Jason Moore]

Way, which has been the. I mean, other than the two touchdown game, which was only seven targets when he was 6 for 7 and the two touchdowns, he's been a real low target guy this far. I was really hoping to see him take off in this game.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I mean, I feel like he is somewhat similar to a Martavis Bryant. He's going to need that big play to be involved, but he's got a higher floor. I do think he'll still be usually more involved than Martavis Bryant, but he's in that category of kind of a boom bust play where you're just hoping because of his physical talents he can, he can break one long. His target share does not give me confidence.

[Andy Holloway]

The Broncos wide receivers are my headline story of this week. Take it at home. Taking on the Oakland Raiders secondary who have not shown up hardly at all this year. I expected big things from both of these wide receivers. So that was.

[Mike Wright]

AJ Derby took care of that. I'll take your.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, Simeon felt it. Simeon's fantasy numbers felt the fact that those receivers weren't involved. They won with their defense in that game and the loss of coach. We knew Cooper would stink, but now what do you do with him? Like, we knew Denver was a tough matchup, but you got Baltimore, Louisiana and Kansas City. The next three weeks, can. Can you confidently start Amari Cooper?

[Mike Wright]

Confidently? No. Certainly Baltimore is not the best matchup. The next two weeks after that. I realize they aren't the best, but they're startable. Mike nailed it in the sense that when you're talking about the Raiders, all the pieces other than Crabtree, I think when you're talking about Carr, lynch and Cooper, you're playing the matchups and then depending on, you know how juicy the matchup is versus how difficult you have to use those to kind of map your expectations so that you can make the rest of your lineup decisions properly.

[Jason Moore]

Do you drop Ted Ginn?

[Mike Wright]

I didn't have him already, so. But yeah, not with you, sir.

[Jason Moore]

This is more of the hypothetical move on. Do you drop Eric Decker?

[Mike Wright]

I finally do.

[Jason Moore]

Fourth week, two for 13.

[Mike Wright]

This was my last hope, my last chance.

[Jason Moore]

J.J. nelson, do you drop him now that John Brown has been active?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he probably can drop him.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, tight ends. Jason Whitten, not good. Again, one for nine. Hopefully you cashed in on those first couple games. Kobe Fleener didn't do anything. Gates, Eric Ebron, two for 27. Do you drop the. These guys? All four of them. I mean, I mean, I guess you stick with.

[Andy Holloway]

To pick up for who?

[Jason Moore]

I don't know. We brought up a few different names. Cameron, Brait. I mean Evan Ingram, Jared Cook, Austin Safari and Jenkins. Second straight way, ASJ has led the team in targets and reception.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, those names we just mentioned. I would take over. Anyone else on this list?

[Jason Moore]

Kyle Rudolph. Two for 34.

[Andy Holloway]

You got it.

[Jason Moore]

When are you guys going to give me the. When do I earn Kyle Rudolph respect for my off season? Takes on Rudolph?

[Mike Wright]

When Sam Bradford comes back and he's not using Kyle Rudolph.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it's great.

[Jason Moore]

This other six years of his, five years of his career and.

[Andy Holloway]

But check out these. These tight ends.

[Jason Moore]

I'm just seeing you loyal. You're very loyal to Kyle Rudolph.

[Andy Holloway]

We haven't had Monday, but Tyler Croft. Camera Brait, AJ Derby, OJ Howard, Clay. But Clay's in every week. But James Hannah, Rhett Ellison. Look. Luke Wilson, Ed Dixon.

[Jason Moore]

Are these the leaders?

[Andy Holloway]

Those are those. Your Gronk and Hunter Henry are in there. But that's the top 12 at the tight end.

[Mike Wright]

Let's talk on the season. Which means Austin Hooper is still the 10. Who knows? Austin Hooper is still the 10th best wide receiver or tight end on the season because he had a decent game this past. So you got. I mean, you've got Jason Whitten, Evan Ingram, Jesse James, Cameron Brait, Kobe Fleener, Austin Hooper. All those guys are still in the top 12 for tight ends on the season.

[Jason Moore]

That's why I like Evan Ingram for the target carry. That's why even. Even if you guys don't love Martellus Bennett, the targets are there for Martellus Bennett every single week. He's still been a top target in that offense. So if you're going to be randomly selecting tight ends, at least go with the target number. That's why I like ASJ moving forward as well. Okay, let's. That's it. We're done. Tomorrow's Waiter show. We did it. We made it through. Thanks again for listening to the podcast. If you are a new listener to the show, click that little subscribe button. That helps the show out a lot. It'll put a new episode in your pocket. Boop.

[Mike Wright]

Boop.

[Jason Moore]

It doesn't make a sound, actually. It just. It's a sound. It's like. It's like a. Yeah, they can't hear that.

[Andy Holloway]

It's coming through.

[Mike Wright]

I pop quiz. Who has more targets so far on the season, Rob Gronkowski or Evan Ingram?

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, Evan Ingram.

[Jason Moore]

Is that just a trick question? Is it a trick question?

[Mike Wright]

They're tied.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, wow.

[Mike Wright]

They both have 30. They're second in the league behind my guy, Zach Ertz.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, if you don't have Zach Ertz or Gronk, just. Just don't even play a tie.

[Jason Moore]

Every time you say my guy Zach Ertz, I feel like you have stolen my girlfriend. 10 years of loving this man. Draft.com ballers to play with us. Take care.

[Andy Holloway]

Goodbye.

[Mike Wright]

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.