Fantasy Football 2017 - Week 6 Matchups, In-or-Out, Zeke Update

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary: Week 6 Matchups, In-or-Out, Zeke Update

Episode Title: Fantasy Football 2017 - Week 6 Matchups, In-or-Out, Zeke Update
Release Date: October 13, 2017
Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright
Duration: Approximately 61 minutes

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Introduction

The Fantasy Footballers kick off Week 6 with their trademark blend of analysis, opinions, and actionable advice. Hosted by the expert trio—Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright—the episode dives deep into last week's performances, current news, and crucial decisions for fantasy managers.

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Week 6 Matchups Analysis

Eagles vs. Panthers Game Recap

The hosts begin by dissecting the thrilling matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Carolina Panthers, which concluded with a narrow Eagles victory, 28-23.

• Mike Wright highlights the improvement in the Eagles' defense with Fletcher Cox returning, which significantly hindered Carolina's ground game. "[04:19] So I credit... Carolina could not get it done at all."

• Jason Moore points out Carson Wentz's strong performance despite inefficiencies, which bolstered his fantasy value. "[05:08] Carson Wentz, he looked... high QBR rating."

• Mike Wright takes note of Christian McCaffrey's evolving role, emphasizing his increased involvement in the passing game. "[05:41] I did love the involvement of Christian McCaffrey."

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News and Updates

Ezekiel Elliott Suspension Update

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to the ongoing saga of Ezekiel Elliott's suspension.

• Jason Moore announces the NFL's decision to reinstate Elliott's six-game suspension, creating uncertainty for fantasy managers. "[07:43] Big news yesterday broke... Ezekiel Elliott is currently suspended."

• Mike Wright expresses frustration over the lack of clarity in the situation, predicting Elliott's likely return in Week 7 pending any legal appeals. "[08:15] If it hasn't been messy enough... likely, in this 14 day window, be unsuspended."

Injuries and Player Status

The hosts also cover other notable injuries and their implications:

• Marcus Wheaton is confirmed out for four to six weeks.

• Darren McFadden's status remains murky, with conflicting reports from ESPN's Todd Archer and Cowboys' offensive coordinator Scott Linehan. "[10:03] Scott Linehan... felt like he earned it."

• Updates on injured players like David Johnson, Matt Forte, and others are discussed, providing managers with essential information for roster adjustments.

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In-or-Out Decisions

Each Friday, the Fantasy Footballers evaluate players with uncertain statuses to guide fantasy decisions.

• Jason Moore presents Derek Carr and Marcus Mariota as key players under scrutiny for Week 6.

• Mike Wright shares his cautious optimism about Derek Carr's return from a bone fracture, though he remains lower in his rankings. "[16:12] I hypothesize that he. Indubitably. He's expected to play."

• Other quarterbacks such as Shane Vereen and Alex Smith are analyzed for their potential impacts based on their health and matchups.

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Matchup Breakdowns

The hosts provide detailed analyses of several key matchups, highlighting potential fantasy gold mines and busts.

Washington Redskins vs. 49ers

• Mike Wright anticipates a high-scoring game, praising Brian Hoyer and Pierre Garcon's offensive capabilities. "[24:40] You know I'm hoping for a shootout here."

• Jason Moore emphasizes starting Kirk Cousins due to the 49ers' vulnerable pass defense. "[25:54] Jordan Reed has not been 100% since he was born."

Buccaneers vs. Cardinals

• Jason Moore recommends targeting Rob Gronkowski and Mike Evans, citing favorable matchups against Arizona's defense. "[33:32] Desean Jackson is a must flex this weekend."

• Mike Wright supports starting Doug Martin as a reliable RB option. "[33:56] Doug Martin's a...must be great."

Rams vs. Jaguars

• Mike Wright advises against starting Jared Goff due to the Jaguars' top-tier pass defense, while recommending Todd Gurley as a safe RB start. "[35:15] If you listen to the DFS podcast..."

• Jason Moore concurs, highlighting the difficulty in capitalizing on Goff against a strong defense. "[35:59] Are you...going to play Big Ben on the road."

Steelers vs. Chiefs

• Mike Wright discusses Ben Roethlisberger's inconsistent performances and advises caution in selecting him, leaning towards Alex Smith as a more reliable QB option. "[38:05] It's a...good matchup."

• Jason Moore voices support for starting Ben despite reservations, citing his Hall of Fame pedigree. "[38:31] I'm going to take Blake Bortles or Big Ben."

New York Giants vs. Broncos

• Jason Moore explores the Giants' lackluster offensive performance under McAdoo, recommending starters like Evan Engram while advising against relying on backup RBs due to Denver's revamped run defense. "[50:34] Get off the show."

• Mike Wright concurs, stressing the importance of tight ends like Engram in the Giants' limited offensive scheme. "[51:05] He's like one less target."

Colts vs. Titans

• Jason Moore promotes Jacoby Brissette as a streaming option against a vulnerable Titans pass defense. "[53:00] The landscape of tight end says that Doyle is really a top 12 option."

• Mike Wright supports starting DeMarco Murray due to his favorable matchup and the Titans' weak run defense. "[53:59] I am Absolutely starting DeMarco Murray."

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Expert Draft Tips

The hosts shift focus to draft strategies, emphasizing the importance of securing reliable quarterbacks early and targeting high-upside players in favorable matchups.

• Jason Moore highlights the benefits of playing aggressive in drafts, especially in head-to-head leagues. "[57:49] I do like Samaj."

• Mike Wright underscores the value of players like Amari Cooper and Marshawn Lynch, balancing ceiling potential with risk management. "[43:44] Two mice in a bucket of crave."

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Head-to-Head Discussion

The episode concludes with a head-to-head draft simulation between Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

• Jason Moore opts for Chris Hogan and Adam Thielen, aiming for high upside despite potential risks. "[57:50] My first pick, a player I love this weekend, Chris Hogan."

• Mike Wright secures D'Jacks and Jordan Reed, balancing consistent performers with high-risk players. "[60:43] Oh, man, I love your team."

• The friendly banter and strategic choices provide listeners with practical insights into constructing competitive fantasy lineups.

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Conclusion

The Fantasy Footballers wrap up the episode with final thoughts on upcoming matchups, player statuses, and strategic recommendations. They encourage listeners to engage with their community and leverage the advice shared to dominate their leagues.

• Mike Wright signs off with well-wishes for the week, "We wish you the best of luck this week and week six."

• Jason Moore emphasizes the importance of aggression and adaptability in fantasy football, "Got to be aggressive. Got to be aggressive."

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Notable Quotes:

• "Company, right? The Fantasy Footballers DFS show... hosted by Mike the Fantasy Hitman." [00:00]

• "If you want the inside scoop, all the expert advice, the weekly DFS picks... got a two pack for you." [00:00]

• "We could probably do an entire hour long episode on Ezekiel." [08:06]

• "Desean Jackson is a must flex this weekend." [33:32]

• "It's a bit of an overreaction from the Zeke owner to just panic." [13:30]

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This comprehensive summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and strategic advice shared by the Fantasy Footballers, providing listeners with valuable takeaways to enhance their fantasy football experience.

Transcript

[Mike Wright]

Hey, Foot Clan, it's Friday. That means it's a great day to play dfs. And if you want the inside scoop, all the expert advice, the weekly DFS picks, the premium reports, then we got a two pack for you. You can go to ultimate dfspass.com and get our DFS pass. That will help you out all season long. And be sure to listen to the Fantasy Footballers DFS show. Subscribe on itunes or wherever you get your podcast, hosted by Mike the Fantasy Hitman. Right, let's do this. Welcome 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]

It's Friday, October 13th, everybody.

[Mike Wright]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. We'll get there.

[Jason Moore]

We'll get there. But first, you have to tip the cap to the real Jason the Masked Crusader, saving us from those deplorable teenagers at sleepaway camps.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, I weren't even following you. I was not following you at first because I missed the Friday the 13th. I was just so enamored by the day of the week that it was.

[Jason Moore]

We'll get there as well.

[Mike Wright]

It is Friday the 13th, and it's not just Friday the 13th, but we're in October. Ooh.

[Jason Moore]

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. I am your host of the day, the final day of my hosting duties, then I get to retire. But I'm Mike the Fantasy Hitman Wright. Find me on Twitter fhitman. I'm joined by Jason Moore. You find him on Twitter at jasonffl. How are you doing, Jason?

[Mike Wright]

I'm doing great. I'm excited for football this weekend. I'm excited for today's show. So much good stuff that we're going to need to talk about. And we're not alone. We're not alone.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, we are.

[Mike Wright]

How are you today, Jay?

[Jason Moore]

He's doing well.

[Mike Wright]

Jay Grizz. Follow him at jgrizzffl on Twitter. The tweet's been hot. And you definitely want to check out his stream of the week, which can only be found at J. Grizz FFL.

[Jason Moore]

On Twitter or Montana.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, you can also find his Streams of the week frequently in Montana.

[Jason Moore]

It is.

[Mike Wright]

Hey, where's.

[Jason Moore]

I botched the joke a little bit.

[Mike Wright]

Watch the joke.

[Jason Moore]

Hold on. We'll redo that.

[Mike Wright]

Wait. Well, I'm curious. What day is it, Mike? It's Friday.

[Jason Moore]

Friday, yeah.

[Mike Wright]

We could do it. Dad's away, the boys are gonna play.

[Jason Moore]

And it's Friday, which also means.

[Mike Wright]

Foot Clan Friday.

[Jason Moore]

It is Foot Clan Friday. That means that we give a $40 gift card to one of our supporters [e-mail] just for being a lovely person supporting the show. This week's winner, Derek Dornfeld. Oh, Derek, come on down.

[Mike Wright]

Congratulations.

[Jason Moore]

This is where it would be awesome if Derek just, like, burst through.

[Mike Wright]

That would be incredible and super freaky. Going to Talk Friday the 13th, but.

[Jason Moore]

He gets a $40 gift card to ShopBallers.com thank you for supporting the show, Derek. We really appreciate you. Let's get into the quick question. That quick question. There was football last night.

[Mike Wright]

There was not just football. There was a great game.

[Jason Moore]

It was a. It was an excellent game. You had drama till the very end. The Eagles took on the Carolina Panthers. The Eagles won that game 28 to 23. Jason, what are your big takeaways from this game?

[Mike Wright]

Big takeaways. So I think the Eagles defense getting healthier going forward. I'm going to.

[Jason Moore]

And they were not. They weren't fully healthy yesterday, but they still. Right.

[Mike Wright]

They still could have room to improve there. But they, you know, they got Fletcher Cox back. He made a big difference. You know, when it came to the running game on the ground from running backs, Carolina could not get it done at all. Not even close. And so I credit.

[Jason Moore]

Well, you don't like four for eight from John McCaffrey.

[Mike Wright]

Four for eight. Well, what was Jonathan Stewart's line?

[Jason Moore]

He was actually an inverse of that. Instead of eight yards, he had eight attempts. And instead of eight yards, he had negative four.

[Mike Wright]

Negative four yards. So, yeah, that run D looks completely legitimate when they're healthy. So I will take that into consideration. Carson Wentz, he looked. He looked very good.

[Jason Moore]

He was also the benefactor of some short skills because he was 16 for 30. I mean, under 54% completion. Still had, you know, 222 yards, three scores. So very high QBR rating. But his defense really did help him out. Turned into a good fantasy play. On the other side, Cam was still a passable fantasy play because he had the rushing touchdown and the passing touchdown.

[Mike Wright]

Cam is.

[Jason Moore]

But this was not a very good performance.

[Mike Wright]

Cam is. Cam. What I mean by that is that we joke about him being a bad quarterback, mostly because he's not a good quarterback as far as. Well, to be more clear, he's not a good pocket passer. He's just never compared to. I mean, he's great compared to me, but he's not a great pocket passer.

[Jason Moore]

You got to give yourself some credit. I can throw a spiral. I've seen you throw a ball. Can go at least 20 yards.

[Mike Wright]

At least. In the air. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, your air yard.

[Mike Wright]

My data is great. It's incredible. You know, three interceptions should have been like 17. I mean the amount of times he threw the ball to a defender about the same as he threw to his team. I did love the involvement of Christian McCaffrey. He is in the passing game. He is 14 targets more and more and more a go to outlet. I think he's going to be safer and safer as the year goes on. Love that he had double digit receptions also. How's our water bet looking? We started out pretty good for me on The Kelvin Benjamin vs Devin Funchester Rest of season.

[Jason Moore]

You certainly did. Kelvin Benjamin nine for 99. That's a great game.

[Mike Wright]

He will remain the go to target. He'll have bad games, he'll have good games, but he is the go to target as far as from the wide.

[Jason Moore]

Well, to be fair, he had 13 targets, Funches had nine, but was only able to reel in three for 36. So the targets were still there for funches. So while I mean the waterbed of funches versus Calvin, I mean when we did it, it was close. It was a, you know, a heads up pick him.

[Mike Wright]

Sure.

[Jason Moore]

But for those who, if you played funches, I'm not going to get down on him after this week.

[Mike Wright]

He had enough targets.

[Jason Moore]

The opportunity was there. I thought you were going to jump in with something else.

[Mike Wright]

Anything else from that game stick out to you? I mean Alshon Jeffrey looked good. I said I would buy him. Last week Aguilar did it again. Yeah. Hard to trust. Hard to trust the secondary weapon there. You know, some weeks it will be Aguilar, some weeks it'll be Tori Smith. You know, you just don't know who to trust. But he did look good.

[Jason Moore]

You know, you can trust. That's Zach Ertz. Two for two, two receptions, two touchdowns.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he's my guy, not yours, Andy. Oh, he's officially one of my three my guys.

[Jason Moore]

All right, let's move into the news.

[Mike Wright]

News and notes from around the league.

[Jason Moore]

Big news yesterday broke right before the football game. Big news. The NFL has reinstated Ezekiel Elliott's six game suspension. The court ruled in favor of the NFL. So that means right now Ezekiel Elliott is currently suspended, correct?

[Mike Wright]

Kind of. So we could probably, we could probably do an entire hour long episode on Ezekiel. Let's do it.

[Jason Moore]

That sounds really fun.

[Mike Wright]

Let's not. This is if it's. If it hasn't been messy enough, it's it. There's no more clarity that has been brought to the table. In fact, right now is probably the least we have known. Yes, he is currently, as of this moment, while we were recording Friday morning, he is currently suspended by rule. There is a 14 day window to file a petition. During that time he could probably get a stay on that ruling, meaning he will most likely, in this 14 day window, be unsuspended. Is that a word? Sure, it is now. Which means week seven against the 49ers. I expect him to play. I don't. That's not a long term, you know, fix. Which means when you're picking up Alpha or you're picking up dmc, we'll talk about who to pick up in a second. You might not know for three weeks. They're on by this week, 49ers next week where Zeke might be active, and then the next week finally figured out. And that's not to say that he doesn't get it. Pushed back the whole season again. I mean, the fight just goes on and on.

[Jason Moore]

What do I have to do to get Andy Holloway suspended for six weeks so I can remain in the host chair?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I don't think that one's going to happen. He's excited to get back. People are excited to have him back. I'm excited to have him back. But maybe you guys can like arm wrestle for just hosting duties in arm wrestle. Well, we probably find some of them.

[Jason Moore]

I will smash him like a bug. All right, let's. Marcus Wheaton is out four to six weeks. Was he in?

[Mike Wright]

Not in my.

[Jason Moore]

Out.

[Mike Wright]

Not in my heart.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, we have an update from Brooks.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, we got a backup. I was gonna back him up.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, sorry, you guys gotta talk.

[Mike Wright]

McFadden. Oh, yeah, we. I was gonna back him up.

[Jason Moore]

That's such a bore.

[Mike Wright]

Is not a board. It's actually really important and really murky.

[Jason Moore]

So Jerry McFadden has been the healthy scratch, which means nothing really in terms of trying to read the situation. Backup running backs are often healthy scratches. Look back to last year. Cameron Artist Payne was the healthy scratch until Jonathan Stewart was hurt and then Cameron Artist pain was the primary ball carry.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, Mike Clay tweeted this out from Todd Archer back in the day. Todd Archer, ESPN reporter for the Dallas Cowboys, saying, Does Darren McFadden's Week 1 inactive deactivation mean that ALF would be the backup? And his response was not necessarily. He said the Cowboys spent all summer preparing McFadden to be Elliott's replacement had the suspension taken effect. So he believes it would be Darren McFadden. That's from Todd Archer ESPN. However, more recently still, a while ago, one month ago, there is shout out, definite shout out for the find here. Scott Barrett tweeted out from Chris Akrainitz, nailed it. Yeah, you know, an article and this was actually Scott Linehan, who is the offensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys, which I think I would take him more serious. You know, he's closer, he's a good source, control, very good source. But you know, he talked about. This is a quote from the offensive coordinator of the Cowboys about a month ago. He said, quote, we were preparing Alfred before the thing with Zeke came final for the week. Linehan said he had taken a lot of reps with the first group, to be honest with you, and we felt like he earned it at that point. He was also great in preseason. He talked about that. So who's it going to be? Eileen?

[Jason Moore]

Alf, Right now you have officially switched your stance.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I think Scott Linehan knows more than I do on the situation.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, the real, the real answer is you gotta, you gotta get both on your team if you can. Now, obviously that's not a very realistic option for the majority of people. Darren McFadden is, is owned in a lot of leagues because the Elliott owner was prepping and it seemed like McFadden would be the guy. So if Morris is there, you do add him immediately. But this is just.

[Mike Wright]

I can tell you it's messy. Who knows in a league where both were on waivers, I cleared room and I made $20 bids on both of them. You know, I wasn't right. I'll hold them. So. And obviously it's going to depend on the league. You have to be realistic. If this ends up being a three week period before, you know and you want to take up two bench spots, that's rough. You can end up hurting.

[Jason Moore]

You do not clear your fab for this either.

[Mike Wright]

No. And the reality is you could hold out three weeks keeping up two bench spots and then Zeke plays every game. And honestly, because of that, today might be a decent time to target Zeke for the super cheap. If you can just get someone who thinks he's a throwaway piece. You. You saw, we did.

[Jason Moore]

We had an email come in from a listener who said, I picked up DMC and Morris off the waivers. And I mean, this is absolutely ludicrous, but they were able to flip the newly acquired Morris and DMC for Zeke.

[Mike Wright]

I would do it. You would? I would. I would acquire Zeke. Oh, yes, of course.

[Jason Moore]

Of course I would. I'm saying that's, that's a bit of an overreaction from the Zeke owner to just panic.

[Mike Wright]

So many ways this could turn out. I mean, you still have Zeke being able to push it back a year. You still have Zeke being able to actually just have it changed from six games to three games.

[Jason Moore]

See, I don't think that's going to happen. I think at this point, the NFL, all the hoops that Zeke has made them jump through to enact the suspension, I can't imagine they drop it from six. If they would have done that, it would have happened already.

[Mike Wright]

Did Brady's change?

[Jason Moore]

No.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it stayed the full. There you go.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Every Friday we. Oh, the last bit of news. I apologize. The Chargers Raiders game, they are evaluating the situation because of the air quality due to the fires in California. So they are looking for other options, quite possibly for the game currently still scheduled. Exactly. But if it's moved, is that. Does that change anything for you?

[Mike Wright]

Probably not. I mean, if they move it, it'll still be.

[Jason Moore]

I assume it becomes a neutral site.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, but it'll. It'll probably be a neutral site. The tickets would remain the same. It would be the same people. Right. Coming out the San Diego. The mayor of San Diego offered. Oh, man. Offered to host it. Oh, that was so funny. They love football there.

[Jason Moore]

If the. If San Diego hosts a Charger game, what is that event like? Those fans, those angry fans, rightfully angry. I'm not. Not saying it's something negative about that, but if your team came crawling back because they had to now, that's my new hope.

[Mike Wright]

I hope this happens.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, you would. You would have to show up in Raider gear.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, man. Raiders will have so many jerseys. That's funny. One more piece of news before we move on, because it was brought to my attention, but David. David Johnson. Bruce Arians has, you know, basically said that he thinks Thanksgiving is the earliest David Johnson could come back. So week 12 looks like a long shot, which means he's probably not coming back before your fantasy playoffs.

[Jason Moore]

Oof.

[Mike Wright]

Just want you to be aware.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Want our foot clan to be in the.

[Jason Moore]

All right, we're going to talk some in and out here.

[Mike Wright]

What's it gonna be, McFly?

[Jason Moore]

Are you in or out? Every Friday we run through these names of questionable players. Will they play? And we kind of give our. Our educated opinion here. Derek Carr coming off of that. Whatever the bone fracture in his back.

[Mike Wright]

But. Mm.

[Jason Moore]

What do you think? Is he gonna play?

[Mike Wright]

I hypothesize that he. Indubitably. He's expected to play. I do worry about it. I worry About a re aggravation.

[Jason Moore]

Would you play him?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I am playing him in one league, but he's lower in my rankings than what you would usually expect from Derek Carr in this matchup.

[Jason Moore]

Marcus Mariota.

[Mike Wright]

So he's game time decision. He's been practicing a little bit more with his hamstring issue this week, which is a good sign, but he's Monday Night Football.

[Jason Moore]

Luckily for if you're holding out hope you want to play Mariota. Jacoby Brissette's a great stream play this week. Who is his opponent?

[Mike Wright]

The beef brisket.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, my goodness. What am I doing? Hey, where's the beef? He is a great pickup. So you can just if you're one, if you want to hold out for Mariota, grab Jacoby, ride it out.

[Mike Wright]

Absolutely. I think that's a perfect pair. And if you can't get Jacoby Brissette, I would look elsewhere. I would not. I mean, you just. You're taking too big a risk at the quarterback position if you have to cut Mariota, like if that's what your roster dictates to pick up some streamable quarterback, then that's what you got to do. Matthew Stafford, he's in. He's. He's a gamer.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Sammy Biscuits.

[Mike Wright]

He'll never play again. No. I hope he gets back in a couple of weeks, but no, he's. He's not playing this time.

[Jason Moore]

Montgomery.

[Mike Wright]

So time Montgomery practicing in full again. Again. This would be week two. We saw Rob Kelly come back in week two from his injury. His was bruised, though. Exactly. That's what I was going to bring up. You know, there's questions. Some people say his were broken, some people know it's just bruised. I think Ty Montgomery broke his. I think Rob Kelly was bruised. So I lean that time on Gummery will not suit up this week.

[Jason Moore]

Rob Kelly, the aforementioned.

[Mike Wright]

Well, different than ankle. Ankle injury. He is not expected to play Blau Powell. Pow.

[Jason Moore]

Blau Powell.

[Mike Wright]

I don't. I do not believe Blau Powell will play. He hasn't practiced. And same with his teammate Matt Forte.

[Jason Moore]

Forte has been practicing. You expect him out?

[Mike Wright]

I. Yeah, I guess that one's that one. That one's more difficult.

[Jason Moore]

Check the news this weekend.

[Mike Wright]

I. I think Eileen Matt Forte will.

[Jason Moore]

Not play Terrence West.

[Mike Wright]

I think they want to see Elijah McGuire. I think they want to have a game where Elijah McGuire is it. However, if Forte plays your pump the brakes on McGuire is is right because Forte if Forte plays, he's the starter. He's not the backup.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Terrence West.

[Mike Wright]

Terrence west definitely out. He'll. He'll be out for a couple of weeks.

[Jason Moore]

Rex Burkitt.

[Mike Wright]

He has been practicing last couple of weeks. He could suit up for sure this week. I'm just not sure if they want to have that many running backs active. Dion Lewis. Seems like he's earned a spot. So. He's so.

[Jason Moore]

So Smash Jackson, AKA Paul Perkins.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. We can't call him Smash Jackson.

[Jason Moore]

You got. It's so good, man.

[Mike Wright]

Smash Jackson. Rip. Rip. We'll convert Smash Jackson to a different name someday. No. Paul Perkins already been ruled out.

[Jason Moore]

Sterling Shepard.

[Mike Wright]

Already been ruled out.

[Jason Moore]

Stefan Diggs.

[Mike Wright]

He didn't practice Thursday. I think he will play. Do you play and I don't play him.

[Jason Moore]

Jordy Nelson. Horty Horty.

[Mike Wright]

He's practicing in full on Thursday. He's a go.

[Jason Moore]

Devonte Parker.

[Mike Wright]

Devonte Parker has not been practicing. I do not expect him to play this week and I hope he does not play this week because we are in a matchup head to head and you have devontae Parker.

[Jason Moore]

You're going to get Andre Ellington in the face. Tyree Kill.

[Mike Wright]

Tyree Kill. Added to the injury report Thursday for a hamstring.

[Jason Moore]

Never a good sign.

[Mike Wright]

No. When late week things pop up. We've also seen Hill hobbled a couple times through the first few weeks. I expect him to play. I expect him to start. I am a little bit more worried of the possibility that he takes himself out of the game halfway through.

[Jason Moore]

We have a lot of these names this week.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, this is. Well, we're in the. When you get to week six, the bodies are breaking down out here.

[Jason Moore]

Mohammed Sanu.

[Mike Wright]

Not practicing. Not going to play.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, Kenny G. Oh, Kenny Golladay.

[Mike Wright]

He's getting in some limited practice, but it's smooth practice. Yeah, he might suit up. I believe it's a good matchup. As you shared on your DFS podcast, you really believe in playing the wide receiver not covered by Patrick Peterson.

[Jason Moore]

You're thinking of the wrong team.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

That's Deshaun Jackson.

[Mike Wright]

That is desean Jackson. Similar situation, though, which is where my brain was going. The deep ball opportunity for the Lions is there. Eileen. Marvin Jones. I wouldn't start Galladay, but he might suit up.

[Jason Moore]

Gronk. Rob Gronkowski.

[Mike Wright]

Rob Gronkowski practiced on Thursday.

[Jason Moore]

Expected to play Jack Doyle.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. So Doyle is in the concussion protocol.

[Jason Moore]

Just give me the in or out, Jason. We have so much show.

[Mike Wright]

He's in.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Travis.

[Mike Wright]

Not only is he in, he's. He's a good Play Travis Kelsey. Travis Kelsey is in. He's practicing.

[Jason Moore]

George Kittle, limited.

[Mike Wright]

He'll play in. Is this. I can only say in or out. I don't know the rules.

[Jason Moore]

There are. Well, to be fair, there are no rules right now.

[Mike Wright]

That's right. Dad's gone. I can say whatever I want. Watch. Ask me the next one.

[Jason Moore]

George Kittle.

[Mike Wright]

Who knows? Who cares? Next. Next question.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Very, very fair. Before we move into the rest of the matchups, want to thank today's sponsor. It's draft. It's our studio sponsor. And we got to let you know, this is the biggest week ever.

[Mike Wright]

Gotta get in this draft.

[Jason Moore]

They're launching multiplayer draft tournaments. They're offering a huge redeposit bonus. These multiplayer tournaments, it's a total game changer. This is the inaugural. The inaugural. You gotta get in.

[Mike Wright]

If you're not in now, you're, you're, you're never gonna be in the inaugural week.

[Jason Moore]

That's true. And you will also be very sad because it's a $10 entry. This is a $35,000 prize pool. Four round tournament with eight people drafts. You win one week, you're in the money. You win four street four straight 5,000 bones.

[Mike Wright]

I'll take it.

[Jason Moore]

Foot Clan. I expect that $5,000 you just got.

[Mike Wright]

To win in an eight man league.

[Jason Moore]

Four times in a row. But I expect a Foot Clan member to take this down. You can get a free entry to the inaugural, deposit $100. You're automatically get a free $10 entry ticket you can use in the inaugural for new and existing users. You must play through your deposit. Prior to withdrawal. Go to draft.comballers. that's draft.comballers.

[Mike Wright]

You bring up the best point ever in that read. I want the Foot Clan to take this thing down. Hey, Foot Clan, when you win this thing, whoever you are, when you win four in a row, make sure you message us, let us know.

[Jason Moore]

It's called the quattro.

[Mike Wright]

The quattro. ESPN4. The quattro. Also definitely need to thank Pristine Auction, one of the longest sponsors of the fantasy footballers podcast. We love them. They have everything you could ever dream of or wish for when it comes to signed authentic signatures of superstars on sports memorabilia. It's an auction site so you know these things that you think, oh, that must be $500. You find it, you bid on it. We win signed jerseys all the time in our monthly giveaways. We are always on Pristine Auction and we bid on everything we could find. You're every month stealing these things at $40, $50, it doesn't cost you anything to bid if you don't win. Unlike other auction sites. I mean, that's so stupid. I can't imagine an auction site doing that. Pristine they're not going to do that, so check them out. Go to pristineauction.com p r I s t I n e auction.com make a completely free account and make sure you let them know that you heard about them at the Fantasy Footballers fantasy forecast.

[Jason Moore]

49Ers travel to Washington the Washington Redskins are favored by 10 and a half. The over under is 46 and a half. Clear skies, good weather. What are you expecting from this game, Jay?

[Mike Wright]

You know I'm hoping for a shootout here. I think we've seen enough from Brian Hoyer and Kyle Shanahan that the offense can get it done when it is not a terrible matchup. You know, they've had two of their five weeks against average or below average opponents and they've put up points. Brian Hoyer's been great. Pierre Garcon's been great. I think they'll be able to do that against the Washington Redskins, in which case the Redskins will then be able to return fire and score. So I'm really hoping that this game is more of a sneaky shootout where, you know, the points are flying. I love P Ryan in this game. San Francisco's run defense not yeah, it's very beatable. Yeah, it's very beatable. Shockingly. I mean it's one of those things that happens when you only have a few weeks of data. But they are the number one defense against the tight end. Are you worried about Jordan?

[Jason Moore]

Jordan Reed has been removed from the injury report although he has stated he's currently not 100%. But that's. That's. I think that's the best you're going to get from Jordan Reed.

[Mike Wright]

Jordan Reed has not been 100% since he was born.

[Jason Moore]

I was going to say since birth.

[Mike Wright]

The birth. 100% though.

[Jason Moore]

On that day the 49ers defense, they have allowed 24 points per game. That's why I am loving me some Washington players. Kirk Cousins I believe is your start of the week.

[Mike Wright]

Kirk Cousins is my start of the week.

[Jason Moore]

Coming off of the buy at home. This is a great situation. You saw it's rail Pryor get his offensive pass interference on wasn't called but got the long bomb. Josh Dachshund's getting a little bit more involved. What do we do with Jameson Crowder? The much loved the much hyped slot man. He's going to play in two wide receiver sets. This. That's, that's all I heard this offseason. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

The problem is it has. It's not true. It's not true. He hasn't been always the guy out there in those situations. I do fully expect him to bounce back to relevance, but his relevance is going to be capped. I think there was a lot of hope in the offseason that maybe he would take over that number one role. As far as the primary target, that's what people hoped and that hasn't happened. And there will be games where he will finish the game with the most targets, but he's not a reliable for sure first target. You know the way that a Keenan Allen is, you know, he's the go to. There's too many weapons. Kirk Cousins doesn't target on one guy unless his name is Jordan Reed. So he's going to spread the ball around, which usually means I don't want to start them. But in this matchup, I'm willing to start Jameson Crowder in a, in a flex position or Terrell Pryor and try to get. Look, if I think Cousins is going to do, you know, I've got him as my quarterback. 4. Someone's got to catch the other side of that.

[Jason Moore]

Carlos Hyde has been practicing and removed from the injury reports. Are you buying into a healthy Carlos Hyde this week?

[Mike Wright]

I am buying into a healthy Carlos Hyde. I think he plays. And what we saw last week with Matt Burrita as the actual, you know, primary carrier, I think that goes away. I think it's the Carlos Hyde show this week.

[Jason Moore]

George Kittle coming off of a decent week, sneaky start.

[Mike Wright]

I picked him up, put him in my starting lineup in a really important league.

[Jason Moore]

Sounds like you don't really feel good about it though.

[Mike Wright]

I then cut him and picked up Hooper. I just can't. I just can't believe, like what. Here's what Kittle is doing.

[Jason Moore]

Did you cut Hooper to pick him up or did you just. Was that a pro?

[Mike Wright]

No, I cut Ben Watson.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

No, so the thing is, I see the world where Kittle has a monster game here. I mean, Kittles and bits. Kittle. I like it. I like it. Kittles and bits.

[Jason Moore]

I knew there was something there. I just.

[Mike Wright]

I couldn't figure it out. I always wanted skittles, but Skittles is marshawn. Yeah, but Kittles and bits.

[Jason Moore]

Kittles and bits.

[Mike Wright]

He gonna eat. Ooh, he gonna eat. Kittles and bits.

[Jason Moore]

He's gonna eat dog food.

[Mike Wright]

It's getting wad. Or is that bad? Do we not want him to eat this?

[Jason Moore]

You know what dog food tastes like exactly?

[Mike Wright]

How?

[Jason Moore]

It smells delicious.

[Mike Wright]

So my point is this. If you want that glory play, Kittle could be it. If you want a DFS big tournament play where he's super cheap and no one else is owning him, you better say Marquis Goodwin. I love Goodwin and I like Kittle.

[Jason Moore]

Okay. Because I wanted to bring up Marquis Goodwin like you said. You think it could be a sneaky shootout here? Marquis Goodwin coming off a good game.

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Jason Moore]

Josh Norman, that's. That is the kicker for Washington. You saw things open up for the Kansas City Chiefs two weeks ago against Washington. They were struggling to move the ball. Josh Norman goes out, boom. Open the gates. Seize the day. That's what they did.

[Mike Wright]

Don't be afraid and don't delay.

[Jason Moore]

The worst thing you could do if the gates are open is delay. That's an actual fact. Moving on, the Buccaneers are traveling to Arizona to take on the Cardinals, the Bucks. Is this correct that The Bucks are one and a half point favorites on the road? Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Wow.

[Jason Moore]

46, 46, 46 point over under.

[Mike Wright]

But Vegas, Adrian Peterson is the hall of Famers there.

[Jason Moore]

He's in town. All right, let's break down the Cardinals offense. Carson Palmer, I believe, was seconds in passing yardage, if I have that.

[Mike Wright]

Remember correctly, his passing attempts, as we've shared, they're through the roof. I think that goes down this week. You know, I don't know how involved Adrian Peterson could be in week one. I do expect him to get more than 10 carries on the ground this week. The Buccaneers defense, I say that's.

[Jason Moore]

You had Carson Palmer as your stream of the week. Yes, I like him. However, there are a lot of Buccaneers.

[Mike Wright]

That they're getting like five of their starters back healthy this week. Four or five.

[Jason Moore]

Does that scare you off of Carson Palmer?

[Mike Wright]

It doesn't scare me off of Carson Palmer to the point where I don't think you can stream him. I think you can, but it certainly lowers his upside. I don't think he'll be able to be a top five quarterback stream. Whereas, you know, if you're missing those four starters, then he could be.

[Jason Moore]

The Arizona Cardinals wide receivers have been targeted nearly 29 times a game. That is highest in the NFL. I think Larry Fitzgerald, you have to play him in this matchup. Even with the defenders coming back. You got to see what the Bucs can do because they're currently 31st.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, there's always the question of which J wide receiver is it. Is it Jaron Brown? Is it John Brown? Is it J.J. nelson when healthy?

[Jason Moore]

Jermaine Gresham.

[Mike Wright]

Ooh, more J's. Is it Jerry Fitzgerald? No, John Brown is healthy right now. He wasn't just splitting reps with J.J. nelson last week. He actually was. He took. He took reps away from John Brown.

[Jason Moore]

So said I. Drink your milkshake.

[Mike Wright]

So John Brown is the Arizona wide receiver not named Larry Fitzgerald that you want to start.

[Jason Moore]

I would agree, Adrian. Pete. So you have voiced your concern for Adrian Peterson. The Bucs run defense is currently ranked eighth. I think that Peterson is an okay flex play because I do think that he will get those 15 carries. Now can the offensive line for Arizona make anything special happen out of those 15 carries? Maybe. And the Cardinals have been searching for a goal line running back and everyone has failed them. I think Peterson can still get that job done. So if they get in close, Peterson could get a touchdown. Andre Ellington, it's a fantastic play. Adrian Peterson, I know he'll take those early snaps, but doesn't matter. The team needs Andre Ellington. They're going to see a lot of third downs and that's Andre Ellington's job.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I mean Chris Johnson who was released was getting double digit carries and Andre Ellington during that time has led the league in receptions from the running back position over targets. I don't remember which one of those targets talking.

[Jason Moore]

Ellington.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. He's getting a boatload is the scientific term, but that's how many targets he's getting.

[Mike Wright]

All right, so what about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Are you starting Jameis Winston on the road?

[Jason Moore]

I still am starting Jameis despite the he came to Arizona last year, had himself a disaster of a game. So I think that the Cardinals are a sneaky DST this weekend with some mistakes made. But there will also be some big plays from Jameis. We alluded to it. Desean Jackson, I think is a must flex this weekend. If he is lined up against Justin Bethel, absolutely terrible things are going to happen.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, Justin Bethel, 100% he's a must flex. I mean, Desean Jackson, he has his big weeks and he's got his disappearing acts. If you can't start desean Jackson against Justin Bethel, you can't start him against.

[Jason Moore]

Anyone on the other side. Patrick Peterson, who's been playing great football this year will be on Mike Evans. I'm still going to play Mike Evans.

[Mike Wright]

Absolutely. You still start Mike Evans. You just get disappointed with the results at the end because it More than likely.

[Jason Moore]

But you know that the ceiling is still there. He should give you at leave wide receiver two floor though.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Doug Martin, he's got them fresh legs. Is he a must start for you?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, Doug Martin's a. An every week matchup proof start for me. Jaquiz Rogers is not involved. I think Charles Sims is only in those super deep flyer roles. Outside of that I think, I think that's covered in camera brait.

[Jason Moore]

Oh yeah, absolutely.

[Mike Wright]

Camera braid's a must be great.

[Jason Moore]

I think he's a must play.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I mean it's, it really is tough because he is a must play when you look at the landscape of tight ends. But Arizona has been for the last two years extremely difficult to Zach Ertz disagree. With the exception of Zach Ertz which was very recent. So yeah, I mean I think you can play Brait Braid braids the tight end six right now.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, you're darn right.

[Mike Wright]

He's one less game than many.

[Jason Moore]

Cameron braid getting it done. He said OJ Howard. Not today my friend.

[Mike Wright]

He said OJ Howard. Thank you for blocking better than I do. You stay on the line, I'll go catch that pass.

[Jason Moore]

Handle that. I'll handle the touchdowns. The Rams travel to Jacksonville, take on the Jaguars. The Jags are favored by two and a half points. It's a 42 and a half point over under so low. This is the game we get to see what is Jared Goff made of. He has, he has looked better but he is taking on in my opinion the best pass defense in football with.

[Mike Wright]

Jackson statistical opinion as well.

[Jason Moore]

If there is third in allowing passing.

[Mike Wright]

Yards, fantasy points to the quarterback, they.

[Jason Moore]

Are shutting it down.

[Mike Wright]

A disaster for quarterbacks. So it will be interesting to see Jared Goff coming off of a home game against another great past defense, Seattle Seahawks. And he looked pretty good. He didn't finish as well because the game winning touchdown was dropped. But he put it in a catchable position. I'm not starting Jared Goff. No way, no how.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

No way, no way, no way.

[Jason Moore]

Todd Gurley. The Jaguars are susceptible on the ground. Do you expect them, the Rams to be smarter than the Pittsburgh Steelers and feature their star running back?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I do think so. Todd Gurley is a safe start this week. I'm not worried about him.

[Jason Moore]

Sammy Watkins.

[Mike Wright]

Sammy Watkins. I traded for him and benched him.

[Jason Moore]

You're going to bench.

[Mike Wright]

No way am I playing. Sammy.

[Jason Moore]

Are you going to play any of the pass catchers?

[Mike Wright]

No. I mean Cooper cup is probably the most reliable option right now. Just because of targets. But there's. There is not one single wide receiver that I will start against the Jaguars from the Rams.

[Jason Moore]

On the other side of the ball, you have the Jacksonville Jaguars. You have Leonard Fournette who is looking like an absolute bonafide. Looking like a superstar. The Jaguars have run the ball on 55, 55.4% of plays. That is highest in the NFL. They were not lying to us.

[Mike Wright]

They do when they said that they.

[Jason Moore]

Want to run on first, second and third down.

[Mike Wright]

Well, the actual question I believe was like how. How much is Blake Bortles going to pass this year? And their answer was like zero. That would be my preferred. My preference is that we don't throw the ball. We can run every single play. The problem is Fournette's been good enough to almost allow that. And so Marquis Lee, who I like, I think he is still the number one target for Jacksonville. Alan Hearns, always a red zone threat. Blake Bortles himself. I just don't think you can rely on these guys because the volume is so low right now.

[Jason Moore]

The Rams defense have allowed 1.4 rushing touchdowns per game. Per game. Leonard Fernet looking like a strong play. Do you have any part of your body that wants to play Mercedes Lewis?

[Mike Wright]

No, never. How dare you.

[Jason Moore]

Well, it would have worked in three touchdowns.

[Mike Wright]

Come on.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Steelers are taking on the Chiefs. The it's in arrowhead. The Chiefs are favored by four and a half points. We are talking a 46 point over under. Is this the redemption for Big Ben? This is.

[Mike Wright]

It's a.

[Jason Moore]

On paper, this is a good matchup.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Because the Kansas City Chiefs past defense is ranked 25th in the NFL. Their run defense is tied for 20th. I mean five interceptions though. Is there any world where you're going to play Big Ben on the road Coming off of that game, Two quarterback.

[Mike Wright]

Leagues where I don't have any other option.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, well, one quarterback leagues.

[Mike Wright]

No, no, I wouldn't. I don't expect a good game from him.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to ask a question for a friend. Would you play Blake Bortles or Big Ben?

[Mike Wright]

Great question. I would play. Oh, that is a really good question.

[Jason Moore]

Because I think I'm going full Jay Cutler. Don't care. And I'm going to play Big Ben.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I lean that way as well. I just worry that I wish I had a better option to get it, get it done. I would play Big Ben over. I would play big Ben here.

[Jason Moore]

Le'Veon Bell must start. Antonio Brown must start. Martavis Bryant. The news on him has been poor this weekend. Juju Smith Schuster seems to have stolen his lunch money and he is out producing.

[Mike Wright]

In the past couple weeks, Eli Rogers has been inactive. He. Juju's taken that role, but Eli Rogers is really good at that role and Big Ben has been struggling. So the rumors are that Eli Rogers.

[Jason Moore]

Will be active because they're saying that Smith Schuster could play more on the outside to, quote, give Martevis Bryant a break.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that's what he needs. Honestly, that's what I need.

[Jason Moore]

You know, it's week six, coach. I'll take a break. I'll take a break. I mean, to be fair, Martavis Bryant has played a lot of football in the past couple years.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he's, he's really tired right now. Yeah, I'm not, I'm not playing Martavis Bryant. I mean, if I don't want to play Big Ben, then I'm not going to take that flyer on Martavis. I believe. Since 2008, Ben Roethlisberger's had two games in Arrowhead. One was pretty good, one was horrific. And the way he looked this last week with those. Was it four interceptions with last week? Yeah, it was five. Five. One was a tipped ball. The others were all just horrible decisions, overthrows under throws. I don't think Big Ben is done for the year by any means. He's. He's a Hall of Fame level quarterback and he's going to get it together. But on the road in Arrowhead against a really good defense is not the time to write the ship.

[Jason Moore]

The Steelers defense has allowed three passing touchdowns on the year that is tied for second fewest in the NFL. Alex Smith, who has gone super Saiyan and fully leveled up, it appears. Do you have any concerns about playing Alex Smith against the number one pass defense in terms of passing yardage?

[Mike Wright]

No. No, I don't.

[Jason Moore]

You'll still play him.

[Mike Wright]

I'm still playing Alex Smith, quarterback one.

[Jason Moore]

So he's in your top 12?

[Mike Wright]

Yes. I mean, he's going to be right, right there. I mean, I think Alex Smith is the type of player you got later, got off waivers where you might have his weapons. You do have concerns because of the health of Tyree Kill and the, you know, the possible health of Travis Kelsey. But the thing is, is we have seen Alex Smith running the ball at home and I think he will do that if necessary. I don't love Alex Smith. He's not, he's not, you know, one of those top five type of quarterbacks in this matchup. But to ignore what he's been doing and sit him just because of a matchup while he's at home, I think would be a mistake.

[Jason Moore]

I would agree. Travis Kelsey, if cleared, in which we expect him to play, he's. You plug him in, it would be recovering from a concussion, which you saw Devonte Adams once. Once you're cleared, allowed to play, you're. You are good to go. Chargers, Raiders, San Diego, who knows? Let's start on the charger side of the ball. Philip Rivers, he's great. He's having a pretty good year. This is much better than I was expecting from Philip Rivers, especially with last year when he was the king. He was the king of the quarterback twos.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And that's where he lived.

[Mike Wright]

Well, that's because he was the king of the interception. Yes. But part of that was because he had all new weapons. You know, he was still working now with Tyrell Williams and Dontrell Inman, and Travis Benjamin was there for a first year. He lost Keenan Allen. Now he's got, you know, another year under the belt with the other three. He adds in the most important, which is Keenan Allen, who's been an absolute go to, has been terrific. You've got a year under the belt for Hunter Henry. I really like Philip Rivers. I feel confident starting him in almost any matchup. And the Raiders are a plus matchup.

[Jason Moore]

They certainly are. Melvin Gordon is a must start. Keenan Allen, of course, is a must start. Are you. Are you throwing anyone else out, though, like Tyrell Williams, Travis Benjamin? We are not playing Mike Williams, despite this should be his first game of his career. But Tyrell or Travis Benjamin, do you have any you could take a flyer on?

[Mike Wright]

You know, it's one of those. It's one of those situations where I'll bet you at the end of the week Tyrell Williams or Travis Benjamin has a really good game. You're going to be happy you started him, and the other one's going to have a really bad game and you're going to be so sad you started him. So it's one of those.

[Jason Moore]

It's like there's two mice.

[Mike Wright]

It's just two mice in a bucket of crave.

[Jason Moore]

I'm just trying to see how many pop culture references can I fit into one podcast. It's my last time listening to the show.

[Mike Wright]

There's not. There's not enough.

[Jason Moore]

No limit.

[Mike Wright]

There's no limit.

[Jason Moore]

I will open the lid, take it.

[Mike Wright]

Off, crack it open.

[Jason Moore]

It's open.

[Mike Wright]

All right. What were we talking about?

[Jason Moore]

Talking about two mice.

[Mike Wright]

Two mice, yes.

[Jason Moore]

Tyrell Williams and Travis Benjamin.

[Mike Wright]

So, you know, it's one of those gamble type of plays, you know, a glory play, but you could be really disappointed. High ceiling, a floor of zero and we don't know how Mike Williams coming in is going to affect their snap counts. For the most part. I'm going to avoid starting those guys if I can. I don't know that the ceiling will be worth the risk.

[Jason Moore]

Are you going with Goose or Iceman from the tight end position for the Los Angeles Chargers?

[Mike Wright]

Give me the goose, man. The Goose is loose.

[Jason Moore]

How loose is your goose? He is your start of the week.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. I think Hunter Henry is an exceptional talent. He's been used downfield in easier matchups and this is an easier match.

[Jason Moore]

Gates is absolutely unplayable. I mean, I'm sure you've realized this, but he's. Aside from the week two, he had a touchdown, he has done nothing, never topping 30 yards in a matchup this year. At some point he got his record. The team, the team has to move on. They have to Hunter Henry.

[Mike Wright]

They have.

[Jason Moore]

You believe it's the transition has happened.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I think it's already happened. I mean, obviously they're not going to say Gates, you play zero snaps and watch from the sideline because he's still on the roster. He's a Hall of Famer, but I think it's already happened. They were forcing the ball his way before he got the first down.

[Jason Moore]

The Oakland Raiders Derek Carr expected to play beast mode. Can we finally get some beast mode action because the Chargers are dead last in rushing defense. Yeah, I mean, can the team finally rely on Marshon? Can we see that 15 carry game? Is that possible?

[Mike Wright]

It's definitely possible. He started the year with an 18 carry game last week. 12 carries. I think you're going to probably end up more around there. I don't think this is going to be the type of game where they need to run the clock out because Philip Rivers can always keep you in a game even if Oakland gets the lead. So it's just a matter of will Marshawn lynch in his 12 or 13 carries be able to exploit a really beatable run defense? He is a definite startable running back. I don't see him as this top 10 option. But when you're talking about the landscape of RB2s and RB3 pass catching backs, Marshawn lynch is good enough to plug in your lineup.

[Jason Moore]

Now, Derek Carr better be ready because the Chargers defense have. They have averaged a sack every 8.8 pass attempts. That is best in the league. Joey Bosa.

[Mike Wright]

Not Joey Bosa. And I want to say Melvin. Gordon Ingram. Yes. Melvin Ingram.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

They are a duo for pass rush. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

They are dominating. So his back better be right because he's hitting the ground at least once in this match. A Michael Crabtree. He's a must start for me every single week.

[Mike Wright]

Every single week. The only times I would maybe consider Denver would be Denver.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I apologize if they're playing Jacksonville. Yeah, that's. That's fair. But his teammate Amari Cooper is startable.

[Mike Wright]

I would. I'm plugging Amari Cooper in the lineup that I have him in, assuming that Derek Carr plays. If Derek Carr is out, then Amari Cooper's out to me because he only got two targets last week with E.J. manuel, but he is still heavily targeted. And as. And of course, as Amari Cooper himself said, the ball's going to find him.

[Jason Moore]

Yes. It's very ethereal with his getting very deep and philosophical.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. You can start Amari Cooper and Crabtree this week if Carr plays here.

[Jason Moore]

Amari, Amari, you got to be the ball.

[Mike Wright]

Gotta, gotta. You are the ball.

[Jason Moore]

You envision the ball.

[Mike Wright]

There is no ball.

[Jason Moore]

Ooh.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. See, that's. That's the way he pop culture.

[Jason Moore]

That's the way he's playing lately though. There is no ball. There is no ball because he's not worried about it.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

Sunday Night Football. The New York Football Giants. E. It's gonna be. It's gonna be a little bit rough for the New York Football Giants this week. They are traveling to Denver to face the Broncos where they are 12 point underdogs, 40 point over under. Let's get it out of the way. The New York Giants. Eli Manning, start or sit?

[Mike Wright]

Sit.

[Jason Moore]

Wayne Gallman, start or sit? Start.

[Mike Wright]

I know.

[Jason Moore]

Look, Roger Lewis.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I retract my start on.

[Jason Moore]

Oh. On Wayne Gallman.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I think the combination of Wayne Gallman and Orleans Darkwa, who should be active, they're going to need to be relied on. And the problem is the matchup. Denver this year, they figured it out. Yeah, they figured it out. Son of bum went from Denver to the Rams and they went from being a middle of the pack run defense.

[Jason Moore]

Brought his terrible run defense over to Los Angeles.

[Mike Wright]

That is absolutely true. They flip flop positions. So it's just not the week for Darkwa or Gallman for confidence. But I am picking those guys up. It might be an okay week for Shane Vereen just because of, you know, you talk about Mr. Necessary. They gotta, they gotta.

[Jason Moore]

Charles Clay's not Available Jason.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, but Shane Vereen again, if you're in a full PPR league, I wouldn't be surprised if he has like 10 receptions for about 44 yards.

[Jason Moore]

I think Wayne Gallman is startable just due to the landscape of running backs including bye weeks. I mean it's my worry with golf.

[Mike Wright]

I'm not confident that it's him and not Darkwa. Sure Darqua looked great.

[Jason Moore]

He did. And this is a kind of just trying to think outside of the box and project but similar to the jets of saying what they may want to see what they have in Elijah McGuire. The Giants, the season's done, it's gone. You're not recovering from your over record and your team is dismembered. At some point you got to see what you have in Wayne Gallman because Orleans Darkwood is not the future of your running back position.

[Mike Wright]

Another shout out to a good friend of the show, Scott Barrett. Scott who?

[Jason Moore]

Get off the show.

[Mike Wright]

Scott. Scott, come on on. Come on down. No, he tweeted this out. I don't know if you saw this, but the Giants have never scored more than 28 points with the offensive minded McAdoo as the head coach. The year that Coughlin got fired, they hit 30 plus seven times. Now to be fair, McAdoo was the offensive coordinator, sure.

[Jason Moore]

But yeah, some guys we have seen this like Ken Wizen. Hunt, right, can be a great offensive coordinator, just not a head coach. Also, I have had several French McAdoos before and they are delicious.

[Mike Wright]

Mmm, I'm hungry. Evan Ingram Kittles and pits for me.

[Jason Moore]

Evan Ingram is really the only giant that I want to start. I know he goosed. I know it happened last week, but I think Evan Ingram will. I think the ball will find him, so to speak, in Amari Cooper terms.

[Mike Wright]

I know a lot of people love him because he's the only target in town. That kind of scares me though because he's the only target to cover.

[Jason Moore]

But the tight end is the only position getting anything done against the Broncos.

[Mike Wright]

That's true.

[Jason Moore]

Because their DB shut everyone down.

[Mike Wright]

Other side of the ball.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Denver.

[Jason Moore]

Yes. That's.

[Mike Wright]

That's. Is there any, Is there anybody that you're not starting?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, man.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, I'm starting C.J. anderson, Emmanuel Sanders, Demarius Thomas and Trevor Simeon within reason.

[Jason Moore]

And if you listen to the DFS podcast, Ben Cummins gives a very passionate and very factual defense of even possibly playing AJ Derby. So the Giants are terrible, terrible against the tight end.

[Mike Wright]

I saw that catch.

[Jason Moore]

I saw it too.

[Mike Wright]

It warmed My heart.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Fantastic. Monday Night Football. The Colts are taking on the Titans. We do not have lines yet because we don't know who the quarterback for the Tennessee Titans will be. So let's start over on the Colts. Jacoby Brissette is my stream of the week. I like him. I like the matchup. Tennessee, their past defense, they are 24th in the league. You can get it done through the air. And Jacoby, he. I feel like it's taken some time, but that connection with Ty Hilton, you saw it in a big way last week. So I am confident playing Brissette and Hilton that you talked about Jack Doyle as a possible. Good point. What. What are your thoughts on Doyle?

[Mike Wright]

So the thing with Doyle is he, you know, when a guy comes back from a concussion, they're able to plug right back in the lineup and you don't have to worry so much about are they hobbled? Because that's. It's just, you know, we saw it with Devonte Adams after that monster hit, came back and got two touchdowns. He's not, you know, he's. He's not worried about it.

[Jason Moore]

Sure.

[Mike Wright]

Pulling the hamstring. And I think this is a good matchup. The landscape of tight end says that Doyle is really a top 12 option. We've had games with Brissette where he hasn't targeted him, but we've had games with Brissette where he has this match. I just think, you know, he's a guy that's going to be definitely on the waiver wire. And if you lost Charles Clay and don't have anybody else, you could pick up Doyle and I think you could do worse.

[Jason Moore]

The Colts defense have allowed 1.2 rushing touchdowns per game this season. DeMarco Murray, or is this the get right.

[Mike Wright]

I am Absolutely starting DeMarco Murray. I think he has a good game without Marcus Mariota. I think he has a very good game if Marcus Mariota plays. Derek Henry, not so much. No. He hasn't been involved enough to say that you can start him over the last week.

[Jason Moore]

The thing. So the Tennessee pass catchers, Rashard Matthews, Eric Decker, it's not going well so far this season. It's even worse when Matt Castle is under center. So it.

[Mike Wright]

But the matchup is juicy. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Colts 30th against the pass. If Mariota plays, Matthews is in.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And that's. That's.

[Jason Moore]

Or is this regardless Matthews is in?

[Mike Wright]

No, that's the issue with Matthews is I really like Matthews. If Mariota is in and I don't like him at all if Mariota is out. But it's Monday Night Football, right? There's. There's just, you know, not another good option. There's not a Jacoby Brissette you could pick up where if Mariota doesn't play, you know, you could. Dante Moncrief, for example.

[Jason Moore]

Sure.

[Mike Wright]

I think Rashad Matthews without Mariota is as good as Dante Moncrief without luck, which is not good. So I don't know that you can rely on it. You could take that gamble and just say you can watch the news over the, you know, leading up through this weekend and make an educated guess better than we can make today on a Friday as to whether or not Marcus Mario will play. And if he looks like he will, then you could take that gamble and say, I'm going to play Rashad Matthews. And I guess in that situation. In that situation, though, at least if Mariota is out, you still can play Matthews and get some points there. It's not like he is the one injured. And now you're going to have a goose.

[Jason Moore]

We have to bring you this.

[Mike Wright]

Andy's almost upset of the week.

[Jason Moore]

Vacation cannot stop. Andy's almost upset pick of the week. He wanted to make sure that everyone knew. It's the Bears versus the Ravens.

[Mike Wright]

It's the Bears again. Andy is in love with Mitch Trubisky.

[Jason Moore]

Jay Grizz loves it.

[Mike Wright]

He's the happy bear, which is good.

[Jason Moore]

Because you don't want an angry bear.

[Mike Wright]

No net. Mom always told me, never anger the Bears.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Well, I believe it's don't poke the bear.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, there you go. There's even a phrase for it.

[Jason Moore]

All right. On Fridays, we go head to head to head usually. So this week, I guess it's just head to head.

[Mike Wright]

It's mono.

[Jason Moore]

Mono Emano.

[Mike Wright]

Well, see, we actually were. Someone wrote in and said mano a.

[Jason Moore]

Mano is not technically correct.

[Mike Wright]

Hand in hand. Mono a mono means like hand against hand or something. But I always thought mano e mano just meant man. Man against man. I don't know. Americans barely know English.

[Jason Moore]

Well, okay, we gotta. We gotta figure this out.

[Mike Wright]

All right, the daily dose brought to you by Play Draft Head to head.

[Jason Moore]

Is what we're going to do Head to head. And before we jump into this, we do a weekly draft on draft using the Draft app, which you can [e-mail] Ballers I just wanted to update. Sam Bradford has been ruled out. Stefan Diggs is not practicing. Devonte Parker is not practicing. So I would not expect either of those wide receivers to play.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you, Mike, for those updates.

[Jason Moore]

So it's head to head on draft.

[Mike Wright]

We're doing an expert draft. So all the best players are gone.

[Jason Moore]

It is myself versus Jason and Jason gets the first pick.

[Mike Wright]

So looking at who's available now, you got Blake Bortles, Ben Roethlisberger. You're going deep down here. I am going to go with a guy that I just. I think is really good. And I don't like the landscape of the other quarterbacks I saw.

[Jason Moore]

So I am very happy.

[Mike Wright]

Philip Rivers.

[Jason Moore]

That you went with Philip Rivers. Because now I can wait forever on my quarterback. My first pick, a player I love this weekend, Chris Hogan.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, man.

[Jason Moore]

Wide receiver for the Patriots. And Jason is ashamed.

[Mike Wright]

I am ashamed. Well, the thing is, you know, it's like I was up first. I didn't know who would be available.

[Jason Moore]

When you're on the board first, it's. It can be very tough. I'm. I'm surveying the landscape. There's actually a lot of names I like and so I'm going to go ahead and don't take him.

[Mike Wright]

Don't take my pick, man.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to take Samaj.

[Mike Wright]

No, Come on. You're going to whoop me. Samaj is great in these expert leagues this week. Man alive. That. That one hurts. That stings where it counts.

[Jason Moore]

It's a hurts donut.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. No, no fun for me there. We've said desean Jackson must start.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I very strongly considered desean Jackson.

[Mike Wright]

So I'm taking desean Jackson for my first wide receiver and I am going to. I'm thinking between Elijah McGuire here and. All right, I'm going to go Mike Gillisle. I'm going upside of multi touchdowns.

[Jason Moore]

I got you. He looks good. Just, just. Unfortunately those touchdowns are not showing up. Who? Man, it's these expert leagues, man. This gets tough in the streets. I really like this player. I think that he is. The breakout is official and real. And with Stefan Diggs likely to miss. I'm going to grab Adam.

[Mike Wright]

That was the only guy I knew. I want. You're just literally taking everybody that I want. I have your list. I like it.

[Jason Moore]

I have your list of players that you really like and I am grabbing them. And then I do not need to take a quarterback because you have already done that.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. You know what that was.

[Jason Moore]

So that was a rookie mistake. I'm very surprised you made that.

[Mike Wright]

The problem is we're head to head and I have yet to do a head to head here. Used to three players.

[Jason Moore]

I'm Going to take Tevin Coleman. I'm going to take some juice at the running back position. Despite him not being the starter, he's getting it done through the year.

[Mike Wright]

All right, so I get the last pick here for my wide receiver. I'm not taking one. I'm going to go Jordan Reed.

[Jason Moore]

Nice.

[Mike Wright]

Take a tight end for that wide receiver. Tight end spot. All right, so since it's just me now, here's some of the running backs out there. Elijah McGuire, Amir Abdullah, James White.

[Jason Moore]

I do like Abdullah.

[Mike Wright]

I could go AP or Andre Ellington. There's a lot of guys there. I could go, but I do as well. Like you just said, I really do like Abdullah this week. So he's my pick. And I believe we're over an hour because daddy's gone.

[Jason Moore]

I still have to make my last pick.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, really? Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

I got to get a quarterback in here.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, that's right.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to go with the beef brisket. Jacoby Brissette Monday night. So let's reback these teams. We got. I got Jacoby Brissette, Samaje, Tevin Coleman, Chris Hogan, Adam Thielen.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, man, I love your team.

[Jason Moore]

And Jason's rockin. Philip Rivers, Mike Gillislee, Amir Abdullah, D. Jacks and Jordan Reed. Huge upside potential. Huge downside potential.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I am projected to win by three.

[Jason Moore]

I like it, man. You got to be aggressive. Got to be aggressive. So if you want to check out one of those drafts, make sure you go to draft.com/ballers. We are over the hour mark. No, we got it. We got to shut it down for the weekend. Thank you so much for joining us, Foot Clan. It's been an honor serving as your captain for the week.

[Mike Wright]

It's been fun. It's been crazy. We wish you the best of luck this week and week six. Get those hashtag Foot Clan titles.

[Jason Moore]

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 at theffballers. It's Friday.