Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Starts of the Week, Week 16 Matchups, Boom-Boom!

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary

Episode: Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Starts of the Week, Week 16 Matchups, Boom-Boom!
Release Date: December 22, 2016
Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright

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1. Splitting Prize Money in Fantasy Football Finals

Timestamp: [04:18] – [06:08]

The hosts delve into the controversial topic of whether finalists in a fantasy football league should split the prize money. Mike Wright advocates for splitting, emphasizing agreements made before the matchup:

"I'm all for it. If you are in the finals with someone and you before the matchup happens, you make the agreement, say, hey, no matter what, we're just going to split the money." ([04:26])

Andy Holloway disagrees, arguing that splitting diminishes the championship's prestige:

"It's a season-long battle for a championship. If you do anything to diminish that single title holder, I don't like it." ([05:08])

Jason Moore adds a nuanced perspective, suggesting that the impact depends on the players' performances:

"I feel like it somewhat diminishes the championship like the trophy... I don't care if I win or lose because now I got the same money as the loser." ([05:26])

The discussion highlights differing philosophies on competition and reward in fantasy leagues.

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2. News and Notes: Player Injuries and Updates

Timestamp: [06:13] – [16:02]

Injuries:

• Adrian Peterson: Sidelined with a new groin injury, likely out after Minnesota's loss.

  "I don't think he plays either way." ([06:57])

• Matt Forte: With a new nerve injury in his shoulder, his playtime remains uncertain.

  "Todd Bowles said that Matt Forte will not play if his new Nerve injury in the shoulder does not improve by Saturday night." ([07:04])

• CJ Fedorowicz (Mad Hatter): Cleared concussion protocol and returned to practice, expected to play.

  "He's a mid to lower tight end now. He's been a stud all year." ([07:34])

Player Performance and Strategy:

• Jarvis Landry: Despite a disappointing week, remains a staple starter due to the Bills' tight defense.

  "The Bills only give up 19.3 completions per game, which is second best in the entire league." ([14:05])

• Ted Ginn: Exhibiting high variance with a low floor but significant ceiling, making him a risky but potentially rewarding start.

  "His floor is the 2 for 21 game, but his ceiling is so high." ([18:06])

• Deion Sims vs. Charles Clay: Debates on whether to prioritize Sim's red zone opportunities or Clay's consistent yardage.

  "I would rather start Charles Clay because he's much more involved in the offense throughout." ([16:02])

The segment underscores the importance of monitoring player health and matchup-specific strategies as the playoff weeks approach.

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3. Fantasy Forecast: Key Matchups and Game Scripting

Timestamp: [10:01] – [21:32]

Weather Considerations:

• Week 16 Weather Conditions: Andy Holloway emphasizes the impact of weather on player performances, noting adjustments based on forecasts.

  "Last week I made a number of morning adjustments, like dropping Mike Wallace down due to the wind in Baltimore and I dropped Aaron Rodgers down a little bit based on weather reports." ([10:16])

Key Matchups:

• Giants vs. Eagles: Anticipated as a solid game with Eagles' defense potentially limiting key Giants' players like Jenorris Jenkins.

  "Dorial Green, Beckham or someone like that. So I don't have confidence level in Watkins this week." ([10:14])

• Dolphins vs. Bills: Andy predicts a Bills victory due to defensive strengths and unfavorable weather conditions for Miami players.

  "I think the Bills are going to win it. And I don't like Matt Moore." ([11:02])

• Falcons vs. Panthers: Expected to be a high-scoring affair, leveraging Cam Newton's potential comeback.

  "This game's going to be a high scoring game in my opinion." ([16:40])

Strategic Insights:

• Jay Ajayi vs. Jonathan Stewart: A pivotal decision point for fantasy managers, with Jonathan Stewart being favored over Jay Ajayi due to consistency.

  "I have Jonathan Stewart 12 spots ahead of a Jay." ([20:32])

• Rushing Defenses: Analysis of teams like the Chargers and Browns, highlighting opportunities against weaker run defenses.

  "The Chargers are pretty solid against the run... but Crow hasn't done anything spectacular since week four." ([37:12])

This segment provides listeners with strategic insights into upcoming games, emphasizing the importance of matchups and external factors like weather.

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4. Starts of the Week: Player Selection and Rankings

Timestamp: [47:09] – [60:26]

Running Backs:

• Rob Kelly: Highlighted as a top start due to high volume and favorable matchup against Chicago's run defense.

  "He is going to be a dominant type of a fantasy running back." ([48:48])

• Todd Gurley: Endorsed as a must-start for his potential against the relatively weak 49ers run defense.

  "Todd Gurley is a must start and he is going to win people championships." ([50:13])

Quarterbacks:

• Andy Holloway: Chooses Cam Newton for his redemption arc and favorable matchup.

  "I like Cam Newton to finish get this in the top five this week." ([52:33])

• Mike Wright: Opts for Philip Rivers against Cleveland, praising Rivers' consistent touchdown performance.

  "Philip Rivers can put up monster production." ([53:42])

• Jason Moore: Selects Jameis Winston for his potential against a Saints defense that struggles at home.

  "James Winston's going to have to go, you know, back and forth." ([54:23])

Wide Receivers:

• Michael Thomas: Favored by Mike for his consistent performance and strong matchup.

  "I like Michael Thomas... that's a vintage Kyle Rudolph line." ([55:29])

• Jason Moore: Chooses Malcolm Mitchell for his high involvement and favorable game script.

  "Julian Edelman... I am going with Malcolm Mitchell as my official start of the week." ([56:45])

Tight Ends:

• Kyle Rudolph: Selected by Mike due to high target volume and favorable matchup against Green Bay.

  "He just, he gets it done." ([58:24])

• Jason Moore: Advocates for Zach Ertz for his consistent targets and favorable defense matchup.

  "Zach Ertz has been a monster over the last... I think Zach Ertz, he's getting too many targets for me to sit." ([59:22])

Decision Highlights:

• Jonathan Stewart vs. Jay Ajayi: Andy favors Stewart consistently, while Jason adjusts his rankings to place Stewart above Ajayi.

  "Ajayi will be moving down for me, certainly below Jonathan Stewart." ([20:47])

• Pierre Garcon vs. Taylor Gabriel: Jason prefers Garcon for his steady involvement over more volatile options like Tyreek Hill or Ted Ginn.

  "Tyreek Hill, Ted Ginn, Taylor Gabriel. Their ceilings are higher than Pierre Garcon." ([31:12])

This comprehensive evaluation of player starts emphasizes the importance of matchups, recent performances, and strategic ranking adjustments to maximize playoff success.

---

5. Boom-Boom Kicker of the Week

Timestamp: [60:26] – [62:17]

Jason Moore introduces the "Boom-Boom Kicker of the Week" segment, discussing his selection for the top-performing kicker:

"So that's Goskowski, he's your boom boom." ([61:30])

He contrasts this with other kickers like Chandler Catanzaro, expressing a preference for veterans like Justin Tucker but ultimately selecting Goskowski for his reliability in scoring. Andy Holloway humorously critiques Jason's choice, emphasizing the unpredictable nature of kickers:

"This redemption story thing is just weaving its way through the show, even with Goskowski." ([61:54])

Jason defends his choice by highlighting Goskowski's ability to score in high-pressure situations, particularly during "garbage time" when teams are likely to attempt field goals:

"Once a team is up by 50, they can kick some field goals." ([61:30])

Despite playful disagreements, the segment underscores the importance of reliable kickers in fantasy football championships.

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Conclusion

Throughout the episode, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright provide in-depth analysis and strategic advice for fantasy football managers heading into Week 16 of the 2016 season. From debating the merits of splitting prize money to meticulously selecting player starts based on matchups and recent performances, the trio offers valuable insights aimed at helping listeners secure victory in their leagues. Their discussions balance statistical analysis with personal anecdotes, making the content both informative and engaging for fantasy football enthusiasts.

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Notable Quotes:

• "I think the Bills are going to win it. And I don't like Matt Moore." – Andy Holloway ([11:02])
• "Todd Gurley is a must start and he is going to win people championships." – Jason Moore ([50:13])
• "Philip Rivers can put up monster production." – Mike Wright ([53:42])
• "Zach Ertz has been a monster over the last... I think Zach Ertz, he's getting too many targets for me to sit." – Jason Moore ([59:22])
• "Once a team is up by 50, they can kick some field goals." – Jason Moore ([61:30])

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, Foot Clan. Do you know what? It is? The ninth day of Foot Clan. Only three days remain. Check it [e-mail]. see Jason dressed up in his holly jolly goodness as we celebrate a great fantasy football season [e-mail].

[Jason Moore]

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers podcast coming to you from the fantasyjocks.com studios with your host, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Andy Holloway]

It's Thursday, December 22nd. We are the Fantasy Footballers. And we are back again, Andy, Mike and Jason.

[Mike Wright]

What is a thirst?

[Andy Holloway]

A thirs.

[Mike Wright]

Because it's the day of thirz, right?

[Andy Holloway]

It's when you're really, really thirsty.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, you got a bad thirst.

[Andy Holloway]

You got a bad thirst.

[Mike Wright]

That's a bad joke.

[Andy Holloway]

It's a bad start. All right, welcome to the podcast. You're just a weird dude with your questions. I mean, I have questions on what's a thirst?

[Jason Moore]

Who says that?

[Andy Holloway]

People who say that.

[Mike Wright]

Enlightened people who have questions about life.

[Andy Holloway]

Enlightened people know answers to those questions.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I'm going to go with Andy on this one. All right, so real dumb question.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

So what is the third then, Jason?

[Andy Holloway]

Most of the time we just ignore that.

[Jason Moore]

A third.

[Mike Wright]

I will not be ignored.

[Andy Holloway]

You will be ignored right now. All right, welcome to the show. We have starts of the week for week 16, your fantasy football playoffs championship game. Jason's Boom boom kicker. We have news and notes. We have the fantasy forecast. We have a great quick question and it's all coming your way right here on today's episode of the Fantasy Footballers. You can find us on twitter @the ffballers. Mike, did you figure out when you're periscoping this week?

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. All right, keep us posted. All right, keep us posted over on Twitter @FF Hitman. Jason's @Jason FFL. I am at Andy Holloway and the website is the Fantasy footballers dot com. As I said, it's the ninth day of foot clan. Jason's been giving away gift cards and holly jolly goodness over at Join the Foot. So you can check that out. A lot of people are being. They're enjoying your videos quite a bit.

[Jason Moore]

Sweet. Happy to make them happy to give out shopballers.com gift cards.

[Andy Holloway]

Even if you can't count, Even if you don't remember what you're giving away. They enjoy it.

[Jason Moore]

Great. Cuz I can't count and I never.

[Andy Holloway]

Remember shout out to our wives.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, geez.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, we were given a gift yesterday.

[Jason Moore]

I see. I don't like opening Christmas gift. I don't like opening Gifts. Mike's like, it's. Here's why. Here's why. Because I don't ever want to have to fake a reaction.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep.

[Jason Moore]

I worry that, what if I open it and it's not great? Because I'm gonna say it's great, but then I'm lying. You know what I mean?

[Andy Holloway]

Like, I totally get it.

[Jason Moore]

Before I open, I'm always like, oh, I've got the anxiety.

[Andy Holloway]

I had. I had a family member who every time they gave me a gift, I think they built this, like, self consciousness into me. Every time they give me a gift, they put it in a box or something else so I'd have to fill the reaction to the thing in the box just because I didn't want to be rude. Like, one time they gave me, like, some toy I really wanted, but they put it in the box for, like, a gerbil cage. So I had to, like, act like I was getting gerbils. And I was like, oh, cool, I get a gerbil.

[Jason Moore]

So anyways, we opened this gift.

[Mike Wright]

I don't give people fake reactions.

[Jason Moore]

Well, see, there you go.

[Mike Wright]

If your gift stinks, then you need to work on your gifting.

[Jason Moore]

That's one way to get rid of one anxiety. So here's the deal. Open that gift. Yesterday, our wives dropped it off to the studio, and the reaction was awesome. It was really cool.

[Andy Holloway]

You could see it on Twitter. You could see it on Instagram. They made some mini versions of us.

[Jason Moore]

We got Barbied.

[Andy Holloway]

We pretty much got Barbied. It was pretty. Pretty darn funny. Especially for Man Bun over here.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he's the best. He's got the neck tattoo on.

[Andy Holloway]

On his neck. Yeah, on his neck. All right, quick question of the day, guys. How do you feel about the finalists in a fantasy football league splitting the prize money?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, okay. Well, I brought this up because I've actually, I've been asked. I've been fielding this question quite a few times, and I'm all for it.

[Andy Holloway]

Not me.

[Mike Wright]

I'm all for it. If you are in the finals with someone and you before the. Before the matchup happens, you make the agreement, say, hey, no matter what, we're just going to split the money. Say everyone takes a guaranteed part of the half of the pot. That's fine by me.

[Andy Holloway]

Cool. How about before the season, we just all. We put in our 50 bucks and then, like, we all just, like, distribute it evenly amongst all of us and they don't play what he's saying.

[Jason Moore]

Like, you know, you could say in the beginning, but you don't get 50.

[Mike Wright]

Bucks, you get like 500.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't like splitting it. I don't mind making an agreement and being like, hey, you know here, 660, 40 or something. But make, put something on the table, man. It's not fun for anybody.

[Mike Wright]

There's. The title is still on the line. You're not, you're not saying here we're going to cut the trophy in half.

[Jason Moore]

See, here's, here's my only issue with it. Because in truth, like when I used to go play sit and go tournaments, 10, you know, 10 person. No, hold them tournaments. When you got down to the final two, I would always drop. I'd be happy.

[Mike Wright]

So how was this different?

[Jason Moore]

And that's what I was going to say. The only reason I think it's different is because I feel like it somewhat diminishes the championship like the trophy. The. Because I don't care if I win or lose because now I got the same money as the loser.

[Andy Holloway]

It's very different. It's very different. A sit and go tournament is a one night affair too. This is a season long battle for a championship. If you do anything to diminish that single title holder. I don't like it.

[Mike Wright]

It's not the title though. It's just the money.

[Jason Moore]

See, I guess here's the thing.

[Mike Wright]

I completely differentiate the money in the championship.

[Jason Moore]

Sure.

[Andy Holloway]

And that. I get it. I can see you doing that.

[Jason Moore]

I'm not splitting unless my team looks terrible and it looks great.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure.

[Jason Moore]

Sign me up.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. I don't know what we answered there.

[Jason Moore]

News and notes from around the league.

[Andy Holloway]

Ian Rapoport saying there's a new groin injury for Adrian Peterson. Does he have a new groin?

[Mike Wright]

He has a lot of new.

[Andy Holloway]

Same groin, but a new injury.

[Jason Moore]

When you're out for a long time and then you come back, you know, full force. Very common in old age to, you know, re injure.

[Andy Holloway]

My guess is that I don't know if he played.

[Jason Moore]

That's what I was going to say. He's probably gone. After Minnesota's loss, I feel like, you know, why rush him? Why? Yeah, they do. I think they have a 1.7% chance of making the playoffs.

[Mike Wright]

Sure you are Vikings. You're still in it.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, so you. Do you think he's going to play or not?

[Jason Moore]

I don't think he plays either way.

[Mike Wright]

It was, I mean we said I'm not playing him last week, I'm not playing him this week.

[Andy Holloway]

Todd Bowles said that Matt Forte will not play if his new Nerve injury in the shoulder does not improve by Saturday night. Good.

[Jason Moore]

Because blah, blah, blah, blow, pow.

[Mike Wright]

He will be a spectacular play once again.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I'm going to have to move him up the rankings if Forte is declared out. CJ Fedorowicz, named the Mad Hatter by our writers, has cleared the concussion protocol, returned to practice on Wednesday. So he'll probably play and I like.

[Mike Wright]

Him, you know, mid to lower tight end one. He's been a stud all year.

[Jason Moore]

I worry about him.

[Andy Holloway]

It's a new quarterback.

[Jason Moore]

That's my issue is I know last game Griffin got targets from Savage. So you. But that's such a small sample size to say that Savage uses the tight ends, trusts them with a week of practice as the starter. I have a hard time in championship week throwing out either of those tight ends and saying I'm putting my future on the line with two average tight ends.

[Andy Holloway]

They could both see targets too.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean, that could.

[Mike Wright]

Griffin is a danger to me because the Bill O'Brien's offense heavily utilizes the tight end. It's not just Brock Osweiler. Before Brock was the qb, tight ends would still get targets in Houston.

[Jason Moore]

I don't know about that. Think about last year, right? Bill O'Brien was the head coach.

[Mike Wright]

I recall the tight ends having. Having several games last year.

[Jason Moore]

I recall Ryan Griffin bleeping like once or twice last year. Like I feel like tight end was not a big. Like Houston didn't have one. All targets went to Hopkins.

[Andy Holloway]

Bryce Petty's gonna start. So start your Robbie Anderson.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Stefan Diggs is dealing with a hip injury, so you're gonna need to monitor that. That is troubles if he's out.

[Mike Wright]

I'm hooked on a feeling.

[Andy Holloway]

Are you? Wow. Oh, Wasn't he concussed?

[Mike Wright]

No, he was.

[Jason Moore]

He was just blown up.

[Andy Holloway]

He was just.

[Mike Wright]

He was smashed. He should be good to go. But we've seen what happens in this offense if Diggs is out. Adam Thielen gets a target increase and he's already a useful fantasy player. Getting more targets becomes a sneaky snort for sure.

[Andy Holloway]

Tomorrow. Tomorrow on the show we have in and out guys who didn't practice on Wednesday. Melvin Gordon, Jordan Reed, Jeremy Hill, Tyler Eifer, Lamar Miller, ladarius Green, Austin Hooper. So lots of injury updates.

[Mike Wright]

The Jeremy Hill news is that's not good. I wasn't expecting him to miss any practice. So it's Rex Burkhead. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Probably need to pick him up.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, you should. You should absolutely pick him up.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. You guys have anything else you want to share? Before we break down the games for week 16. Kind of a big week.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Let's move on to the games.

[Jason Moore]

Fantasy forecast.

[Andy Holloway]

You excited for the Giants Eagles matchup?

[Mike Wright]

It should be a decent game.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Jenorris Jenkins is questionable right now. That's. That's a pretty big deal. Now obviously you go, well, who's, who's he guarding? But you know, Dorial Green, Beckham or someone like that. So I don't Nelson Aguilar, but this at the same time, he has allowed the Giants defense to do so much by locking someone down. So that'll be interesting. But I am looking forward to tonight, mostly because I want to watch football. It's been a few days.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. All right. Don't forget week 16 weather conditions. We put out an article on Sunday Morning. Eric Ludwig writes that and it is a great resource at this time of year to jump in, take a quick look, see how things are breaking down. Last week I made a number of morning adjustments, like dropping Mike Wallace down due to the wind in Baltimore and I dropped Aaron Rodgers down a little bit based on weather reports. So you want to pay attention to that if you have one of those split decisions. It's just a great article to check out Saturday. We're starting with Saturday games now because it's Christmas Eve and we're going to start with the Dolphins and the Bills. Look, I've made my opinion known on what I believe happens in this game. And I did not know the line until just now. The Bills are favored by three and a half. I think they win this game. I think they just, they disappoint every fantasy owner for Miami players. So that's my outlook on the game. I think the Bills are going to win it. And I don't like Matt Moore. Despite his four touchdowns last week he only had 12 total completions. Now he travels. I don't like it. 30 degrees outside, you're not in Miami. You guys share your opinions on starts and sits in this game because Jay Ajayi is one guy that we have to talk about. Last six games he has like one touchdown, hasn't surpassed 87 yards.

[Mike Wright]

The offensive line has been an issue for the Miami Dolphins. When he was racking up back to back 200 plus games, the offensive line was healthy. The offensive line has lost key pieces in and Jay Ajay's play has absolutely plummeted. I'm still okay playing him as a running back, too. He's a starting running back. He's going to get volume, but I'm not expecting huge things. In this weekend against the Bills.

[Jason Moore]

I wonder. I mean, this is silly, right? Because totally. NFL defenses are always, you know, up for the task. They're, you know, they've riled themselves up.

[Mike Wright]

Tell that to the New York Jets.

[Jason Moore]

Okay. If there's anything to play for at all. But remember Buffalo is where Jay Ajayi got 28 carries for 214 yards and a touchdown. That's pretty embarrassing if. And at that point.

[Andy Holloway]

And it wasn't in Buffalo.

[Jason Moore]

Buffalo was supposed to be a good run defense.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

And then Buffalo, you know, oh man. Jai exposed some stuff. I feel like they have some payback. You know Jai. I agree. Jai had those three monster games. 204, 214, 111. Since then, he has not crossed 100 yards and that's dating back almost seven games.

[Andy Holloway]

I have him buried. I have him at 24. So right at the end of the RB2 list doesn't mean you can't start him. I just temper those expectations. And I wouldn't expect what Jason just brought up his monstrous 200 plus yard game.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I will say just recall the Bills running defense as of late has not been very good. You had that Levy on Bell explosion before that against Oakland. They gave up 135 and two touchdowns on the ground 100 yards before that to Jacksonville. So it's. It's not out of the question for me that Ajay can have an a fine game.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, so what do you do with Landry? Because I did not like Jarvis Landry last week. I felt like I was right and then he got that 66.

[Andy Holloway]

Only three catches. I buried Landry as well.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he's. It's. Matt Moore is a much different quarterback. Matt Moore, it will go deep. So it. You have to lower your expectations for Landry. I would still play.

[Andy Holloway]

The Bills only give up 19.3 completions per game, which is second best in the entire league. So there's not a lot to go around necessarily for that wide receiver core. Landry falls in line. Right. You're still starting.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I was still playing.

[Andy Holloway]

You don't have a better option.

[Mike Wright]

And I would still play Stills as a wide receiver. Three. Because it takes just one play.

[Andy Holloway]

The Dolphins defense has allowed five yards per carry and now faces my number one running back of the week, the slippery fish, LaShawn McCoy. I, you know, I'm only disappointed, Mike, that you didn't make the championship game in our league of record where you have McCoy. Because I wanted the normal weekly occurrence where you complain about McCoy the whole day. But he always has two touchdowns and 5,000 yards. Yeah, I'm gonna miss it. Hey, can you do that for me? Even though you're not.

[Mike Wright]

I certainly.

[Andy Holloway]

You're playing for third place.

[Mike Wright]

Certainly can. And the Shady McCoy owners out there, I know that they're right there with me.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Enjoying owning him, that's for sure. Sammy Watkins is not healthy. That's what Rex Ryan came out and said. He's not 100%. He only played 64% of snaps. I don't have a confidence level in Watkins this week. Not with all the other options that are out there, all the other potential good plays, like a Robbie Anderson, those type of guys. Do you guys disagree with that on any front?

[Mike Wright]

Nope. I do not disagree. And then before we move on Deion Sims two touchdowns last.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, you might as well bring up Charles Clay because Clay has two touchdowns over the last two weeks.

[Mike Wright]

So anything there for you guys. You have.

[Andy Holloway]

Deon Sims scored both his touchdowns when Damian Williams failed and then J A Jay failed on the goal line.

[Mike Wright]

I think they're both going to fail.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, but I don't think that means Deion Sims is going to have two touchdowns again.

[Jason Moore]

No, I agree.

[Andy Holloway]

Three, right? Yeah. I'm saying he's going to go to three. I'll say this, they'll be lucky to get on the goal.

[Jason Moore]

Adam Gay's offenses have notoriously used the tight end, especially around the goal line. Ryan Tannehill has never been able to get the ball going with a tight end, so it's worth noting. I bumped Deion Sims up in my rankings, but I don't think I've bumped him up to the point where you can play him in a championship week. Same with Charles Clay. I would rather start Charles Clay because he's much more involved in the offense throughout.

[Andy Holloway]

More yardage.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, exactly. If he doesn't get the touchdown, he's not going to crap your team. But I still think there are better options that I hope you have if you're in a championship. Unlike me, who I am playing Charles Clay in a championship.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Deion Sims is at least on the field, you know, I mean, you're going to have an opportunity around the goal line if they get there. But that's what you're banking on. I hope you have a better option. Falcons Panthers, 52 1/2 point over under in this game. Panthers are three and a half point underdogs at home. This game, to me, is going to be very interesting because I think there will be points put up on the board. Or as Jason said, on the clock.

[Jason Moore]

Thank you.

[Andy Holloway]

I love Cam Newton. We'll talk about him in our starts to the week later. Hint, hint.

[Mike Wright]

Ooh, you have a bounce back coming then.

[Andy Holloway]

A bounce back from what?

[Mike Wright]

From last time they played.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, I thought you meant last week where Cam was the top five quarterback.

[Mike Wright]

This is a different team that just demolished Cam Newton last time.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Demolished.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, I, you know, I like Cam this week. I like Matt Ryan. I don't think, you know, you're going to sit Matt Ryan. People have asked, would you sit Matt Ryan for these other kind of upside plays? Not a chance.

[Jason Moore]

No. Ryan was, he was almost my start of the week, so certainly not. Not a guy you need to sit going to Carolina.

[Andy Holloway]

He's a start of every week right now.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he is. Julio, if he plays, you're playing him.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Oh, absolutely.

[Mike Wright]

I'm just, just confirming for the people.

[Jason Moore]

You brought up yesterday. Last time Julio faced the panthers, he had 300 yards. I think he was resting up for that. He's like, oh, that Carolina game looks good. I have a rest up.

[Mike Wright]

I need 400 next time.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. This will come down to the Panthers defensive line versus that offensive line for Atlanta and what they can do to give Matt Ryan time. The Panthers defense, for all of their faults, the one thing they do well is sack the quarterback. They're the number one team in the league and doing that. So can they cause enough problems for Matt Ryan? Probably not. Probably not. This game's going to be a high scoring game in my opinion. I. Here's what I want to know, guys. I mean, are you, what do you do with Ted Ginn this week? Because Ted Ginn, I play him. I mean, every week right now they seem to be back in that groove towards, you know, of last year where Ginn is getting two or three deep shots a game. Last week he could have easily had a second touchdown. He just barely dropped another bomb. He has scored in four of the last five weeks. Double digits in four of the last five. His floor is the 2 for 21 game, but his ceiling is so high.

[Jason Moore]

What's crazy is the last five weeks he has outscored Kelvin Benjamin in fantasy football. That's nuts.

[Mike Wright]

Since week 10. So weeks 10 to the present, he's number seven. He is wide receiver. Seven.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. You've got to play him.

[Mike Wright]

I would play him. I mean, it's like Andy said, the floor is sub basement levels. But they're, they've realized that they can't just lock on to Kelvin Benjamin and you got to Get Ted Ginn involved.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Yep.

[Mike Wright]

What about the running backs? You good with J. Stu this week?

[Andy Holloway]

Totally. Yeah. I'm pretty high on Jonathan Stewart this week. I like Freeman and Coleman. Coleman's obviously down the list a little bit compared to Freeman.

[Jason Moore]

Jonathan Stewart, over his last five games has been in double digits for fantasy every week, except for the one week where he went to Seattle, the number one running defense. You're not going to fault any running back for not getting it done on the road in Seattle. Outside of that, 12 points, 23 points, 15 points, 16 points. I think Jonathan Stewart is a guy you must play against a bad Atlanta defense at home. Jonathan Stewart should not be on your bench.

[Andy Holloway]

So here's a great question for you guys to debate because we already talked about Jay Ajayi. Would you start Jay Ajayi or Jonathan Stewart? Because that's a great question. You know, I have Jonathan Stewart 12 spots ahead of a Jay. I have Stewart 12. Ajayi is 24 right now as of. We just put our rankings up last night and these, you know, these are going to bounce around. But you guys both right now have Jay Ajayi above Jonathan.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, Ajayi needs to. I already have a note on my list. I remember where I have him and I don't like where I have a Jay. So Ajayi will be moving down for me, certainly. I believe below Jonathan Stewart. I like. I want to play Jonathan Stewart. I worry about playing a Jay. That shows me where my rankings should be.

[Andy Holloway]

Taylor Gabriel has been on fire. Do you ride those flames into your fantasy championship week even if Julio Jones is back?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it's like Ted Ginn. I mean, just you're reluctantly going to play him.

[Andy Holloway]

But is the reluctancy simply because there's no volume? Is that true, though?

[Mike Wright]

Yes, it is true.

[Jason Moore]

Well, the last two weeks, he's had three receptions in both games, and those were the weeks without Julio. Ironically, the two weeks prior, he had more four and five receivers.

[Andy Holloway]

Those are the hardest guys to play.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, they really are.

[Andy Holloway]

Gabriel or Ginn?

[Mike Wright]

Gin. Gin.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I'm gonna play Gin, too. Yeah, I'm gonna make sure my rankings say that.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that's. That's interesting. Hey, before we go to the next matchup, we want to tell everyone once again about Fandings. You've heard us talk about him before. In fact. In fact, we've done fan dings debates of the week on the show before because we love debating topics. Right. Our quick questions every single day.

[Andy Holloway]

Every sports fan loves debating.

[Jason Moore]

Every sports fan and Every fantasy football fan. You like winning things, you like winning debates, winning topics.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, Mike likes to split the pot, but other people like to win, likes.

[Jason Moore]

To actually take it to the limit. Fandings, I mean, you can go on. You can download their app. It's completely free on iOS, I believe they even have fandings.com you can go check out their new website. Sure, that looks good. And I mean, here's a perfect example of a question. Here's one that's on there right now. What excites you more over the weekend? A win by your favorite team or a win by your fantasy team? And why? And so people are debating that right now. You can go debate.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going to jump in today because I have some strong feelings about that.

[Jason Moore]

You can vote on that for the next day or so and just check out all the questions. You can post your own and just debate, just win. And I think there's even leaderboards now where you can show that you are a better thinker than all of your foes out there and enjoy yourself. Go get the Fandings app right now or visit fandings.com yep, you can actually.

[Andy Holloway]

Go to app.fandings.com and it's a one button click and it's free. I mean, that's the thing. It's a free app. It's really great to debate one another. And they've redesigned the app to be even better. So we're talking. Also, look, Christmas is here. I cannot wait to open up presents under the tree and find my JJ Watt signed red matt mini helmet or my Dak Prescott Cowboys custom frame jersey. Or the other hundreds of gifts [e-mail].

[Mike Wright]

Must have some friends who are just shelling out the cash for you, my friend.

[Andy Holloway]

No, no, you're wrong. You're wrong. You can get authentic autographed sports memorabilia at a completely affordable price. And look, it's an auction. So if you snag something at a low price, they don't come back to you and say, well, that's too cheap. You owe us another 50 bucks. No, they don't do that. And they don't have that voice. Even they have a much nicer voice [e-mail] Look. Yes, come check it out. Look, we love them. We've loved them all year long and told you about them. And everybody, literally every single person that we have communicated to about Pristine Auction, they check it out. They love it. Yesterday one of our friends sent me a text. They spent eight bucks and bought a signed Jay Feely 8x10 photograph from the Cardinals and he's like, bring feely back. He just wanted to go on there and grab something from the Cardinals past. We all have those memories and there's no way that you want to commemorate something more than having that on your wall. So it's really cool. Please bring feely Bad so oh yeah, you hate Shane Lynch. Correct me if I'm wrong, you rated him number 99 in the Kickers this week.

[Jason Moore]

He is my kicker. 99 this week. That is correct.

[Andy Holloway]

That's a lot of all the backup kickers are behind him. All the third string kickers.

[Jason Moore]

I'm taking punters ahead of him.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, check it out. Pristinauction.com P I S T We're talking Redskins and Bears now. Another very interesting game. To be honest with you. A lot of the matchups this week really intrigued me. You wouldn't think a Redskins Bears game would intrigue you at this time, but the Redskins fighting to get in the playoffs. Bad performance last week from Rob Kelly. On the other side, Matt Barkley somehow made three wide receivers fantasy relevant with Thompson, Meredith and Jeffrey. Jordan Howard's been on four. Jordan Reed, the other Jordan in this affair has been retired.

[Jason Moore]

I had a dream last night.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh goodness.

[Jason Moore]

About you.

[Andy Holloway]

Another dream?

[Jason Moore]

Yes. You two had rated Jordan Reed super high and we're recommending people to start him this week. And I was. I had to fight you on it and say no.

[Andy Holloway]

In the dream.

[Jason Moore]

In the dream. What are you doing? So I'm having nightmares about Jordan Reed's performances over the last few weeks. Here.

[Andy Holloway]

Here's what I want to know about that though. If Reed plays, would you play Vernon Davis?

[Jason Moore]

We saw last week that Vernon Davis was the better play over Reed, so.

[Mike Wright]

But he was so bad he dropped.

[Jason Moore]

Down that he normally would get. I would be willing to. I would certainly play him over Reed at this point. But again, that's like, well, look, last.

[Andy Holloway]

Week we dumped Bilal Powell a little bit. Not, not all of us. But look, Forte was active and that scared people about Blalpel.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

If Jordan Reed is active, which he probably will be, nonsensically Jay Gruden, that might scare people off of Vernon Davis, where Vernon Davis might be an actual better play than a CJ Fedorowicz or a Deion Sims or a Charles Clay or any of those guys.

[Jason Moore]

I have the choice right now between Davis or Charles Clay. I have currently decided to go with Charles Clay and based on what I said earlier, hopefully you have better options.

[Andy Holloway]

But you See them close?

[Jason Moore]

I do. I see those two guys as very close.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, Mike, do you have any thoughts? You're the resident Jordan Reed, apologist, owner, all of those things.

[Mike Wright]

You don't. Don't play them.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, so I know you like Rob Kelly.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I would actually. I would disagree that he had a bad game. At least speaking for fantasy purposes, as he was in our league, had basically 14 and a half points because Rob Kelly's turned into a pass catching machine.

[Jason Moore]

It's those sweet hands.

[Andy Holloway]

You like the nine carries for eight yards?

[Mike Wright]

No, but I like. But I do like the 4 for 47. And he also scored a touchdown.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

And you have the Bears, who are not a good run defense. They were destroyed by a wide receiver converted to a running back last week. Okay, so. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

So what you're saying is when. When I say he has a bad week, you're saying the silver lining was he really, even though he didn't run well, he didn't hurt you in fantasy.

[Mike Wright]

Correct.

[Andy Holloway]

He found a way to make a bad game a good game for fantasy owners. It's like you've got enough confidence in him.

[Jason Moore]

Carolina's run defense is very good. They were, they were on it. The game script was against Rob Kelly. He still had a good fantasy day. I do like Rob Kelly this week.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. All right. Well, you love Jordan Howard. No doubt.

[Jason Moore]

He's good.

[Andy Holloway]

Would you play Matt Barkley?

[Mike Wright]

I would.

[Jason Moore]

I would not.

[Mike Wright]

If you're in that streaming situation. I am. Okay. Streaming Matt Barkley.

[Jason Moore]

I refuse. Well, look, the rest to buy in.

[Andy Holloway]

The Redskins have given up.

[Mike Wright]

That's fine.

[Andy Holloway]

They've given up a completion percentage of 66.2% in the league this year, which is, I think, fourth worst in the entire league. If there's an opportunity for Barkley with weapons. Right, Jeffrey, Meredith Thompson, the weapons are there. And I'll talk about Alison. Jeffrey in a little bit as well. So on the other side, last week, Mike, you were. You're a big D. Jacks fan. Yeah, he had a big game. He had a volume game. But the game script was a lot of comeback from Kirk Cousins. A lot of yards between the 20s, no touchdowns. Fine. Starting D. Jacks this week.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I'm still. I'm still fine with it. Hopefully the referees can accept the fact that D. Jacks is an awesome wide receiver and he, when he's on the sideline, he makes catches.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, those were super impressive.

[Mike Wright]

They were really making Gruden challenge everything.

[Jason Moore]

Honestly, that second challenge, I. There's no way, if I was a Ref there that I would have called that a catch in live action because that was impossible. And he got that. That was amazing.

[Andy Holloway]

And one. And we saw that rule carried into fruition again, where it's like Gruden had to challenge them both. Well, you've won both your challenges, so we're going to award you a third challenge as a gift.

[Mike Wright]

Fine, we will let you do it.

[Andy Holloway]

You can have a third one.

[Jason Moore]

You know who I'm starting in leagues is Pierre Garcon.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Pierre Garcon has quietly been a great second or third wide receiver for fantasy teams since the buy in week nine. So basically the entire second half of the year, there's only been one game where he's been in single digits for fantasy points and half point ppr. You're talking about six or seven receptions in four of those six games. He's just been extremely involved. And you saw it last game. Right. He didn't get a touchdown, but he got seven for 78. And if you're in, you know, a PPR or half point, he's getting the volume and he's clearly been involved enough, especially with the absence of Reed. I think Garcon is. If you've got the big guys, if you've got your Odell Beckham and you know, and you need that flex, that's just not going to have two points. I think Garcon fits in.

[Andy Holloway]

Can I ask him a follow up real quick?

[Mike Wright]

It's just I want to piggyback on real quick. Since week 10 in half point PPR, which is our scoring format, he's been the wide receiver 10 in that time period. I mean, he's getting it done.

[Andy Holloway]

So you said, Jason, that you'd. If you had an Odell Beckham Jr. Maybe a Mike Evans, a bigger guy.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

You like Garcon, Would you play him over Taylor Gabriel as your two?

[Jason Moore]

Absolutely.

[Andy Holloway]

So that's a good example, right?

[Jason Moore]

That's a perfect example.

[Andy Holloway]

Over Tyreek Hill, Over Ted Ginn.

[Jason Moore]

Yes. Tyreek Hill, Ted Ginn, Taylor Gabriel. Their ceilings are higher than Pierre Garcon. They can go out and put up 38 because they took two screens 70 yards to the house, but their floors are much lower. And I have a. I have. You know, you need those solid points when you're constructing your roster. So. Yes, perfect example.

[Andy Holloway]

We need to move on. Talk Vikings and Packers. The packers are nearly a touchdown favorites in Green Bay this week. Weather's going to be in the 20s. We'll monitor that and let you know what's going on. It Might affect the passing game if it. If it deteriorates over under 43. What do you think?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that's with. I got a little jumbled up on boards there. I like it. It's Rogers. You're playing him. It's. There's very, very few quarterbacks who I would play over Rogers this week. Despite him being hobbled and despite the weather concerns, you know, with his. His hamstring and his calf. You can see it while he's playing, but it's not affecting his play. He's still getting it done. Ty Montgomery has. It continues to show his. His elite levels of skill for. For football and he improves that team dramatically.

[Andy Holloway]

He improves that team. We however, with Minnesota coming into town, we have Montgomery right now. Somebody asked me on Twitter is your ranking for time Montgomery this week an error, a problem on your. On your website because we have him consensus 28 for as a. For as a. Right now that's in. In wide receiver. So that's the hard part is that you have him eligible in both. So let's talk less about the rank and more about the production levels you can expect. Against Minnesota this week it wasn't like Christian Michael struggled. He's a great change of pace to Montgomery. A great opportunity for Michael last week scoring a touchdown.

[Mike Wright]

That's really all he did though. I mean he had a. Yeah, he had on the. On the week I think he had around 45 or 46 yards and that included a 42 yard touchdown.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it was a good. It was a good run, but it.

[Mike Wright]

Was the time on coverage.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that's what I was just going to say.

[Andy Holloway]

But what does he do against Minnesota? This game does not have a high over under. Minnesota is a pretty tough defense. Obviously they have not been as much of late, but they only give up 12 points a game on average time. Montgomery is a RB.

[Jason Moore]

What this week I think Ty Montgomery is an RB2, which means in most leagues you're going to be starting him. I think you know, if when you look at the rankings between wide receivers and running backs. Running backs, once you get past those first few guys, they just fall off a cliff. And Ty Montgomery when he's in your running back position is. Is even more valuable. There are plenty of wide receivers in those top 20s, which is why you see Time Montgomery down at 28 for wide receivers. Personally, I think that Montgomery has a fine game. He's going to be the starting running back. He's going to be utilized. I don't expect a touchdown in this game, which just limits his upside for.

[Andy Holloway]

Me, I mean, he has scored in the last two weeks, obviously, and played well against Seattle. I can see him on that. On the fringe. That's where I have rb.

[Mike Wright]

I have him right on the. On the fringe of low end one. High end to the Vikings. We're coming off a week where old man strength, Frank Gore was unstoppable over a hundo. Unstoppable against this vaunted Vikings run defense. There's. I'm not worried about Montgomery at all.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. Devonte Adams let everybody down last week. Had a terrible week.

[Mike Wright]

Still had massive opportunity.

[Andy Holloway]

Jordy Nelson, on the other hand, was great again despite not scoring big yardage. You rank these. Nelson, Adams, Cop.

[Mike Wright]

I'll take Nelson at. Oh, Cobb is an afterthought. Cobb is not even getting targets.

[Andy Holloway]

So much for Randall Cop. Yeah, they paid him that money.

[Mike Wright]

It's really disappointing.

[Andy Holloway]

And he's not the same player.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, something's missing from. From his game, but it's. It's Jordy Nelson's must play. And Adams is still a fine play. I know that the Vikings have great corners, so if you're concerned about anyone, it would be. I would lower my Jordy and Devonte Adams expectations a little bit, but they're still. I'm playing him.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm not touching Jordy myself. Jordy is. He's up there for me.

[Mike Wright]

But you're not moving him down.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I'm not. I'm not moving him. Both my guys are like, sorry, no, I said that horribly. I'm not touching. I'm not moving him down. He's my fourth ranked wide receiver.

[Jason Moore]

We were. I was. My mind was exploding inside. Well, I was like, wait, you're not touching Jordy Nelson.

[Andy Holloway]

I'll touch him all over.

[Jason Moore]

Wait, what? Okay. All right, we're back.

[Andy Holloway]

Love, Jordy Nelson. Devonte Adams, you look, you're playing with fire. You might get burned. You might.

[Jason Moore]

I'm starting Devonte Adams. If you didn't watch the game last week, devonte Adams had two touchdowns that were. He just beat his guy and he laid it right in his hands and he dropped it on the right side. And then he comes back, a different drive, drops it on the left side.

[Andy Holloway]

You heard it here first. When you drop it. You're a great wide receiver.

[Jason Moore]

No, I'm just saying that the opportunity was there and it wasn't like he wasn't getting the targets or the red zone work that we were used to. He just had a bad game.

[Andy Holloway]

We talked about Adam Thielen, the potential for him in the absence of Diggs.

[Mike Wright]

Sorry.

[Andy Holloway]

I like. I like that call. I think this is a game where they'll be playing from behind Adrian Peterson. We don't know if we'll play. We'll talk about Kyle Rudolph and he's been great. He's been targeted 7.7 times per game, which is second. Second among tight ends. He's my second ranked tight end and we'll talk more about him in the starts. We need to move on though. Let's talk about the Browns. Chargers. The Chargers heading into Cleveland. Cleveland has two shots left to save their season. Yeah. Save their season by winning a game. RG3 is going to start. I'm not touching a Brown other than Isaiah Crowell. I actually like Isaiah Crowell. I think he's okay this week. I'm not touching another guy. I'm not touching Pryor.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm not touching Coleman. I'm all about touching people this week.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you're getting very handsy.

[Andy Holloway]

Handsy. Very handsy thoughts.

[Mike Wright]

I'm with you. I'm okay playing Crowell. I don't personally love it. The Chargers are pretty solid against the run. 9th when it comes to yardage. I mean they, we still kind of have the imprint of. They are terrible. They're a terrible run defense. That was the beginning of the season. That was minus Joey Bosa. That one defensive player has really helped turn things around as. I mean, it also helps that their corners have been tremendous. Shutting that down so they can focus more on the running game.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, but Crow hasn't done anything spectacular since week four. He's had only a few double digit games since then.

[Mike Wright]

You know, he's been okay.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's what I mean.

[Jason Moore]

He has been okay.

[Andy Holloway]

20Th ranked running back and I've been 19 this week.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And San Diego's for fantasy purposes, the 26th best defense, which is not the good against running backs. Duke Johnson is another name we should at least mention. You know, we had our bet, which is why Andy is eating lunches that I make him eat this week.

[Andy Holloway]

Yesterday's lunch sucked, by the way.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, if you didn't see the.

[Andy Holloway]

No, I really sucked.

[Jason Moore]

You didn't see our tweet of the photo. Mike and I went to a ribs to go place. We got all these ribs, Mac and cheese, chicken.

[Andy Holloway]

No, I can name everything. You got onion rings, you got Texas toast, You had Mac and cheese, you had beans, you had ribs, you had barbecue chicken. I smelled it all, I saw it all. I loved the thought of eating it.

[Jason Moore]

We laid it all out on the table and then on the right was Andy's little side salad.

[Andy Holloway]

Got me like a side salad.

[Mike Wright]

The side salad had chicken salad with it. Come on, we're not barbarians.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, it was great. So anyways, the reason for that is because part of the bad Duke Johnson's vault. Well, no, no, no. I was going to bring up. We. We've been talking about the fact the over under was. Was, you know, three receptions and we've been talking about Terrell Prower got four for 19. But Duke. Duke Johnson was kind of lost in that.

[Andy Holloway]

I'd rather eat a side salad and start Duke Johnson this week.

[Jason Moore]

Five receptions for 31 yards. So he actually had five.

[Andy Holloway]

Crushed.

[Jason Moore]

Crushed the bet.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, crushed the bet. All right. We don't think Melvin Gordon's gonna play. You gotta like Kenneth Farrow.

[Jason Moore]

You. Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

As an RB2 with upside potential this week. Tyrell Williams, Dontrell Inman. Which of those two guys would you start, Mike, if you had to choose one?

[Mike Wright]

It's. It's a scoring. Fat scoring, fat scoring format. Dependent question. If it's standard leagues like Tyrell, I'll still go with Tyrell Williams. I'm gonna go with the big play guy. But PPR Dontrell Iman has been. Become a pretty reliable guy here towards the second half of the season.

[Andy Holloway]

Dontre Uman or Pierre Garcon this week?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, I'm going Garcon.

[Andy Holloway]

Because you're looking for that solid right? You're looking for that five, six catches.

[Mike Wright]

I would go with Garcon.

[Andy Holloway]

You both would.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Interesting. Very interesting. We're talking Garcon and Inman at this time of year. Isn't that fun?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you got. You got to talk with guys you're going to play.

[Andy Holloway]

You guys will have to tweak your Garcon rankings.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, I have a note here to do that.

[Mike Wright]

I like Philip Rivers a lot. I'm going to actually talk about him in the starts of the week. That's how much I like him. The tight ends, you have Gates and Henry Gates chasing the record. Henry preventing Gates from getting to the record. You are. Who are you playing, Gates or are you playing Henry?

[Andy Holloway]

I'll play Gates.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going Gates first, but both of them, I think are okay starts.

[Mike Wright]

Hunter Henry or the Mad Hatter.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to go Hunter Henry.

[Andy Holloway]

I'll play Fedorowicz.

[Jason Moore]

I think we've seen Cleveland be so bad against tight ends every single week. That's why I played Charles Clay last week, who was the number two tight end. We've seen Hunter Henry break loose. I'm going to go for the upside of Hunter Henry in that.

[Mike Wright]

Hunter Henry or Charles Clay?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I was going to start Hunter Henry. I'm in the league that I'm starting Charles Clay in our championship. I was going to go start Hunter Henry. And he's rostered dummies.

[Andy Holloway]

So Hunter Henry, for perspective, I know he doesn't catch. Has not had more than three catches since week six. Yeah, but it was last week, which he had three.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Recency bias.

[Andy Holloway]

But he has. But he has four touchdowns in that span. So that's what you're 100% banking on? That I wouldn't touch him.

[Jason Moore]

I'm not 100% banking on that.

[Andy Holloway]

How can you not be?

[Jason Moore]

So here's. Here's my rationale. I'm banking on the. When we watch film, he looks really good. He's made great catches. He's used in the red zone, and he's talented. He was drafted as a talented guy coming out of college.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't care what he looks like or drafted. I want his fantasy points.

[Mike Wright]

Regular MC Hammer over there.

[Jason Moore]

And the matchup against Cleveland. It is the conglomeration of all of those things that allow me to take.

[Andy Holloway]

A gamble on Over Gates.

[Jason Moore]

No, I said.

[Andy Holloway]

So you're going. You'd rather start the tight end, too, with very limited catches against Cleveland than a lot of other starting tight ends.

[Mike Wright]

Than the two I listed.

[Jason Moore]

Yes. Then CJ Fedorowicz or Charles Clay? Charles Clay was close, but yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, so then what's the bet? Because we're making a Hunter Henry bet. Oh, there's no doubt about it. And you can name it.

[Jason Moore]

Okay. Top 15. Tight end. Oh, it's own.

[Andy Holloway]

That's a great bet. That's a great bet for me.

[Jason Moore]

It's own.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Because I love betting on Cleveland. That's my. That's my real. That's why I'm eating a side salad right now. All right, The Titans again. Titans and Jags. Titans and Jags. I'll try to get through a preview without saying I'm gonna touch anybody.

[Jason Moore]

Not likely.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't want to get infected with whatever Bortles has, so I will not touch Bortles.

[Jason Moore]

I will. He's my stream of the week.

[Andy Holloway]

I know. I just click. We really disagree on some guys this week. Marcus Mariota, Blake Bortles facing off. Love Rashard Matthews. Love DeMarco Murray. Love Marcus Mariota. Love the Titans. Hate the Jags.

[Mike Wright]

Okay. Yeah, that's. That's.

[Jason Moore]

I think that's.

[Andy Holloway]

I would Start. I would start no Jags. I would start all my Titans.

[Jason Moore]

I think that that is. Is fair. Where. Look, the Titans have looked like a playoff team. They could very well be in the playoffs. Mariota, Murray and Henry have been great. I agree with your premise. But if the Titans are going to be the better team and they're going to have a lead, I think you're going to see some Garbage Production that might come from an Allen Robinson, Marcus Lee or Blake Bortles.

[Andy Holloway]

Garbage Production is the best name for Blake Bortles.

[Jason Moore]

Just like that's his band. He's in.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he's in the band Garbage Production with Alan Robinson and.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, vocals only. Yeah, Garbage Production.

[Mike Wright]

Blake Bordles.

[Andy Holloway]

He. That's his band. He's the lead singer on the drums, Marquis Lee. Sorry, look, that's on bass guitar. You're 100% banking your title on garbage time.

[Jason Moore]

No, not 100%. It's not like the first three quarters. They can't score any points. I am just saying that the Jags.

[Andy Holloway]

Garbage Time always begins in the end of the first.

[Mike Wright]

Exactly. Exactly.

[Andy Holloway]

So you're buying a ticket to Garbage Time. You're going to the show. You're in front of Garbage Production. Garbage Production.

[Jason Moore]

And it is important, it is important to make sure we're clear on this week's episode. This is Championship Week. We said on our streams of the week that they were. They were low and hopefully you have stashed some of the guys we talked about for a while. I am not hoping to play Blake Bortles, nor am I starting him over many other options. I think he's around my quarterback 15, maybe even lower this week. There are plenty of guys I like more, but I do think that what we have seen recently from Blake Bortles that has been an abomination will not happen this week for Fantasy. I think he can have some production against the Titans because if you look at the Titans, you know, last two months, they had a good week. This last week and prior to that it was. They've really given it up to the quarterback. So that gives a little bit of hope for Alan Robinson. But I'm hopefully not playing Alan Robinson, not playing Bortles. So I want to temper those expectations and say I think that if you play them, it's not the end of the world for you, but hopefully you have.

[Mike Wright]

Let's. Let's run some names. Let's run some names. Put it to the test.

[Andy Holloway]

Not Bortles.

[Mike Wright]

Blake Bortles or Carson Palmer in Seattle.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going Bortles.

[Andy Holloway]

Andy's face says, why would you start with that one?

[Mike Wright]

Because it's difficult.

[Andy Holloway]

Very rude.

[Jason Moore]

It is super close. It is super close.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm looking at the Palmer. I have Palmer two spots higher.

[Mike Wright]

All right, Bo. Blake Bortles or Colin Kaepernick?

[Andy Holloway]

Cap.

[Jason Moore]

I would go cap.

[Mike Wright]

Blake Bortles or Matt Moore.

[Jason Moore]

That's where I'm going. Blake Bortles.

[Andy Holloway]

Blake Bortles.

[Mike Wright]

All right, last one. Blake Bortles or Matthew Stafford. Matthew Stafford with a busted finger takes on Dallas Stafford.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I'm gonna go Stafford as well.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, Dallas. Shutting people down.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, guys, it's time tough this week. It's time to get into the starts. Yes, it is tough this week. I. I laugh because there are opportunities this week with DeAndre Hopkins. Okay, maybe Blake Bortles. If you're deeper league, you have to start him. Todd Gurley, who we're going to talk about in a minute. There's opportunities for a season of redemption. We're in holiday season. You can be completely redeemed.

[Mike Wright]

Blake Bortles or Sean Manion.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yes. I'm not going to tell anybody to start Shawn Manion other than myself, who I did not get.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm just saying you can be completely redeemed by winning somebody a title. Blake Bortles. You might be buying an autographed Blake Bortles jersey from pristine auction by the end of the week if you start him. Of course, I don't think you'll be doing that, but there are guys like Todd Gurley who have had a tough year that we're going to talk about right now.

[Jason Moore]

Starts of the week.

[Andy Holloway]

Let me let you know how this is going to go today. We're breaking down starts of the week one at every position from each of us. I'm not going to speak first on any of them, and I hate you both. Every week we have a, you know, we prepare for the show. We have a document that we go through. And the rule that we have on starts of the week is basically if you get a name in there before the other guys get the name in there, they're yours.

[Mike Wright]

Early bird gets the worm.

[Andy Holloway]

A man and I went in this morning not knowing that these two gentlemen who are oftentimes the later ones to get them in, had already done it. And so I went into my rankings, I dug around, I picked guys out. Three of the four guys that I picked out. And this should only give you confidence as a listener. Three of the four that I picked out had already been claimed And I cried into the heavens in agony. And yet I don't. Because you love them too. And so I love them. But I'm gonna let you go first because I'm gonna have to piggyback and say, yes, I love that pick. Mike, let's start at the running back position. Okay, break down your running back start of the week real quick for us.

[Mike Wright]

My running back start of the week is Rob Kelly. Thank you. He has been very productive. He's had high volume since taking over the starting role. And you look at sometimes, you know, you go look, what is this team done against the running back position? And he's playing the Bears. And you look and go, oh, the Bears, they only gave up 4 for 45 and a touchdown last week to the running back because Ty Montgomery was the one who did all the damage. The Bears have given up over 100 rushing yards for five straight weeks. We talked about Rob Kelly and his seal hands getting it together in the passing game. Six receptions the last two weeks. He can get it if that is going to grow into his repertoire. He is going to be a dominant type of a fantasy running back. So I really like him. This week against Chicago, Washington fighting for their playoff lives. Kirk Cousins. I know it was a bit of a disaster last week all around for Washington. The offense still got it going though. And I like Rob Kelly.

[Andy Holloway]

Jason.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, well, for me, look, you talk redemption season. If you drafted him, you spent a first round pick on him and if you're in the championship, you probably ended up actually trading for him, buying him on the cheap. And that is Mr. Todd Gurley. Todd Gurley is a must start and he is going to win people championships. This week he plays the hapless 49ers run defense. They are not bad. They are the worst team. So very hapless in football against the running back. How bad? How about in 11 of their 14 games they have given up over 100 yards and how about they have given up over 200 yards to running backs in three different games? I apologize. Four different games they've given up over 200 yards on the ground. Including this last week where Devonta Freeman went off. Todd Gurley's got some payback from that week one when he was in San Francisco. Now they go to LA. Start him. He's going to get you 20 fantasy points.

[Andy Holloway]

I give that a hearty keeo. Todd Gurley was going to be my start of the week. I love it. I love the pick. I have him up at number five. I completely agree. I think there's no way the offense moves the ball worse with Manion at quarterback versus Goff.

[Jason Moore]

Actually, I've got super sad news on that. Jared Goff practicing fallen as expected start.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that is sad news.

[Jason Moore]

I know. It was going to be so fun.

[Andy Holloway]

It also ruined my entire what I was saying. Didn't know that. Regardless, San Francisco is terrible. They'll be in the red zone. Look, I wish I could have picked Gurley. I have my number five. I'm going to back you up on that. But I'm going to go with LeGarrett Blunt. LeGarrett Blunt. I haven't 8 overall this week, which is the highest I think I've rated him maybe this year. All the guy does is score touchdowns. He's going to have opportunities in this game and look, maybe it's only two and a half quarters worth of opportunities. That's enough for me. I love Blunt against this jets defense. They're going to have to scheme against Brady and Blunt's going to do what he always does which is. Yeah, I know we disagree.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I was good. I was just going to say I know this is. You just brought this up but this is yet another guy we disagree on. I think that they're going to scheme and pass the ball 50 times in this game and go away from Blunt when you've got such a bad receiving defense and such a good running defense.

[Andy Holloway]

But they Blunt, they haven't done it yet.

[Jason Moore]

Blunt is leading the league in rushing touchdowns and as we say they are the Patriots are always on the one yard line.

[Andy Holloway]

Never, never had a game this entire year with less than 11 carries.

[Jason Moore]

There you go.

[Andy Holloway]

So but to your point, those 11 carries, the one time he was that low. It was the Jets. It was the jets. So last three weeks, 18, 18, 17 with a touchdown in each. I love LeGarrett blunt. I will give you my quarterback because we didn't have a disagreement on quarterbacks. It's Cam Newton redemption in part. Again, the redemption story is here. Cam Newton for me he's ranked well above the consensus. You're in a divisional matchup with a high over under Cam Newton against the Falcons. All you need is a couple of those deep throws. He's been good. He hasn't even run the ball a ton based because of the shoulder injury but he had a solid two touchdown week last week. Could have had more if it wasn't for Graham. Good knows magic foot. So I look I like can to finish get this in the top five this week.

[Jason Moore]

Whoa.

[Andy Holloway]

In the top five all right, who's your starting, your start of the week at quarterback? Mike?

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to keep the song of freedom going with Philip Rivers. He has thrown double digit touchdowns every week since week eight. He gets to take on the Cleveland Browns, the dream matchup for really any, any position for fantasy football. He also has a little bit of a mojo on his side. Last year he took on Cleveland 358 and three in that game. Philip Rivers can put up monster production. I like him in this game. They are not. We like Kenneth Farrow this week, but that's because he can catch passes. I think they're going to boat race the Browns and because of Philip Rivers.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, for me, I'm going with Jameis Winston as my start of the week. A few weeks ago we were excited about him playing the New Orleans Saints. When he put up his worst or second worst game of the season, he only threw for 184. No touchdowns. And so some people are going to be afraid to start him again. However, the New Orleans Saints, we talk about Drew Brees home road splits all the time. The Saints offense is way better at home, which means their defense is actually worse because other teams have to score to keep up. And you know, if you look at the points given up, the Saints defense give up 30.2 at home and only 25.7 on the road. This is going to be a game script where if Drew Brees can get it going, which we saw last week, that he is just fine. If he gets it going against Tampa Bay in another kind of redemptive game, then James Winston's going to have to go, you know, back and forth.

[Andy Holloway]

Mike went with Rivers, Jason with Winston. I got Cam Newton. Let's talk about wide receivers. Mike, why don't you kick it off?

[Mike Wright]

I'm going in that game. I'm going in that Buccaneers Saints game. I'm going Michael Thomas, he has been spectacular throughout the entire season and he should see a lot of Vernon Hargraves from the Buccaneers. That is not a scary matchup for me at all. I want a piece of that the Saints offense and I'm going to take what I think is the most reliable, most consistent piece and that's Michael Thomas.

[Andy Holloway]

Couldn't agree with you more. I wanted to grab Michael Thomas. I have my number eight this week, so I completely love that play. Mike, I have him a couple spots ahead of Brandon Cooks. You're always playing with fire when you rank them ahead because cooks go ham. But it could also go eggs and eggs are bad. No Eggs are good. Unless they're all running.

[Mike Wright]

You could go ham or you could go spam.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, there you go, Hammer. Spam.

[Jason Moore]

You did it.

[Andy Holloway]

Well done. That's why you got Michael Thomas and I didn't. All right, my start of the week is going to be Alshon Jeffrey last week, nine targets, great performance, scored a touchdown. He is the lead dog. And Matt Barkley actually looks pretty darn good. Yeah, Jason and I think Jeffrey is looking nice for title week. This week. Once again, the tale of redemption continues. I love Alison Jeffrey with the matchup. Jason, let's talk about the young guy you have at that wide receiver start of the week.

[Jason Moore]

Sure. My wide receiver start of the week is a guy.

[Andy Holloway]

We do disagree a lot this week, man.

[Jason Moore]

Look, I'm right. Here's who my wide receiver start of the week is. Last week, I pumped the brakes on the New Orleans wide receiver or on the New England wide receivers. This week, I am starting all New England wide receivers.

[Andy Holloway]

Cut the line. The break lines are cut.

[Mike Wright]

Wild card.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, Tom Brady. If I can start Tom Brady, I'm doing it. And so wide receiver.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

He's got a touchdown before. Here's the reality. I put Julian Edelman in as my start of the week because I've got him extremely high rated. Mike called me a coward, and then I was like, I'll call Malcolm Mitchell because I think Tom Brady's throwing four touchdowns against the jets this week, and I want a piece of that action. So that's why I'm. I'm going with Malcolm Mitchell as my official, you know, my official start of the week. And if you look last week, he had a bad week that was on the road against Denver. In Denver, the number one passing defense, Tom Brady had the worst game I can ever remember before that, even including that game, including the terrible game where Malcolm Mitchell did Nothing since week 11. Guess Malcolm Mitchell's fantasy rank at wide receiver, including the one point he got.

[Andy Holloway]

Last week, number one.

[Mike Wright]

No, he's just trying to make him look bad.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I'm trying to ruin you 9th.

[Jason Moore]

Best wide receiver because he has been on it and he's getting it done with volume. Seven catches, eight catches. The guy is. The guy has been great and I think he's going to torch the Jets.

[Andy Holloway]

You've got Malcolm in your Mitchell.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, I do.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, we're going to close out the starts of the week with the tight end position. I'm going with Kyle Rudolph.

[Mike Wright]

You are not, because I got it first.

[Andy Holloway]

I know. I love Kyle Rudolph and I Couldn't help myself. No. Mike has Kyle Rudolph this week. I love him. I'm going to go with Cameron Brait though. He has been carrying a lot of fantasy owners through these fantasy playoffs. He has that great matchup we've talked about with the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers taking one another on in the division this week. I love Cameron Bray to keep the trend going in that 52 and a half point over under we got his ownership over 70%. Finally.

[Mike Wright]

We did it.

[Andy Holloway]

Mike, you have Kyle Rudolph. I got ruined the surprise.

[Mike Wright]

I got Kyle Rudolph. We talked about him getting tons and tons of targets last time he took on Green Bay. So many. The best, the best targets. 3 for 31 and 1 against Green Bay last time. That is a vintage Kyle Rudolph line. I like him to score in this game. He just, he gets it done. And the Green Bay secondary does not terrify me very much.

[Andy Holloway]

Close us out. Jason, I like your pick as well.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it's always scary to me to pick a guy on Thursday Night Football because we talk about it and then we get to see and it's like, oh, I hope a bright but I there's no way I'm not starting Zach Ertz if he's on my team. Zach Ertz has been a monster over the last, I mean since week nine he's the number two tight end. He has been great. Last week we were worried about that very difficult matchup against Baltimore. They are super good against tight ends. He was 6 for 80 and that was coming off of a 10 for 112. The volume is there for Zach Ertz and I know that New York Giants defense has been very, very good this year. But they're only the 20th ranked team as far as fantasy points given up against the tight end position. So I think Zach Ertz, he's just, he's getting too many targets for me to sit. I'm going to start him.

[Andy Holloway]

Love it. All these starts of the week will be on the website, the fantasy footballers dot com. Check it out. Let's move on to the most important segment of maybe the entire year of your life.

[Jason Moore]

Jason Moore's ironclad, locked and loaded, 100% guaranteed boom boom kicker of the week. All right, here it is. I'll tell you, I'm excited for this one. I'm stoked.

[Andy Holloway]

Chandler.

[Jason Moore]

Chandler Catanzaro.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, right.

[Jason Moore]

Is never going to be the boom boom kicker. There's. All right, here's the deal. I'm gonna give you a couple guys that is not who I like. I love Vinitari I'm always going to love Justin Tucker. I gave you the real sleeper here of a guy that apparently I believe in that no one else in the world does. Caleb Sturgis tonight, however.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, Thursday magic going with that?

[Jason Moore]

Well, they're not favored, are they? I doubt it. There you go.

[Mike Wright]

I doubt it.

[Jason Moore]

But I'm not going with the Thursday magic. I'm reaching back. I'm reaching back a year, one year ago. The best, the greatest. The goat at the kicker is going to win championships.

[Andy Holloway]

This week.

[Jason Moore]

It's Guskowski. And yes, I know that there's going to be a lot of extra points that he's kicking, but once a team is up by 50, well, they can. They can kick some field goals. Okay, so Goskowski, he's your boom boom. My boom boom locks and loaded.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm telling you, we didn't even plan this. But this redemption story thing is just weaving its way through the show, even with Goskowski. I mean, that's impressive.

[Jason Moore]

So that's not good. If this redemption story works out for fantasy football championships this week.

[Mike Wright]

Chandler Canzero.

[Jason Moore]

No, he's a loser. Maybe someday I'm not going to win the championship.

[Andy Holloway]

Mike can redeem himself for that man bun. It's possible.

[Mike Wright]

Maybe someday.

[Jason Moore]

Save your beard.

[Mike Wright]

Get the get your trophies. @FantasyJocks.com the promo code is footballer.

[Andy Holloway]

Enjoy the game tonight. We'll be back tomorrow.

[Jason Moore]

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 the ffballers.