Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Starts of the Week, Week 5 Matchups, News

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary
Episode: Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Starts of the Week, Week 5 Matchups, News
Release Date: October 6, 2016

---

Introduction

On October 6, 2016, the Fantasy Footballers—Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright—hosted an engaging episode focusing on Week 5 of the NFL season. The trio delved into starts of the week, analyzed key matchups, provided news updates, and shared their expert opinions to help listeners make informed fantasy football decisions.

---

Starts of the Week: Interactive Trivia Segment

Jason Moore kicked off the show with an interactive trivia segment, challenging the hosts with questions about wide receiver snap percentages:

• Question 1: Which team has a wide receiver trio with a snap percentage of 96% or higher?

  • Answer: The New York Giants — Victor Cruz, Sterling Shepard, Odell Beckham Jr.

• Question 2: Which two wide receivers from the same team are both top five in snap percentage among all wide receivers?

  • Answer: The Miami Dolphins — Kenny Stills (99%) and Jarvis Landry (96%)

This segment highlighted the importance of consistent snap counts in evaluating fantasy football assets, emphasizing players like Sterling Shepard and Jarvis Landry as reliable starters.

---

News and Notes

The hosts provided updates on player statuses and team news impacting fantasy lineups:

• Carson Palmer Injury:

  • Jason Moore reported that Carson Palmer was out for Thursday's game, leading to Drew Stanton stepping in as quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals.

    "Jason was air driving through the, through the imaginary roads." [00:53]

• Latavius Murray Status:

  • Latavius Murray was listed as doubtful for Week 5 due to a toe injury. If sidelined, DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard would have increased roles.

    "Latavius Murray is doubtful for week five. He's going to try the toe out." [06:53]

• Other Injuries:

  • Zach Ertz from the Philadelphia Eagles was reported to have a new back injury, raising concerns about his availability for the upcoming week.

    "It's being reported that he has injured his back in addition to the ankle." [10:05]

---

Matchup Analyses

1. Washington Redskins vs. Baltimore Ravens

• Ravens' Defense:

  • Fifth-ranked against the run and third against the pass, limiting big plays.

    "They have incredible...they're not giving up big plays, which is the forte of a guy like DeSean Jackson." [15:11]

• Redskins' Offense:

  • Joe Flacco remains a viable quarterback option despite a steep pass defense.

    "Flacco, Kirk Cousins, I'm not afraid to start him, but I would personally be looking for a better option." [17:09]

• Key Players:

  • DeSean Jackson facing hot cornerback Sharice Wright, potentially leading to a breakout performance.

    "DeSean Jackson could go off this game." [16:19]

2. New England Patriots vs. Cleveland Browns

• Patriots' Advantage:

  • Tom Brady returns, making the Patriots 10.5-point favorites.

    "The Patriots are going to binge on the scoreboard this week." [24:26]

• Browns' Strategy:

  • Relying on Isaiah Crowell and wear clock down tactics against a strong Patriots defense.

    "They have to just wear out the clock." [19:08]

• Fantasy Implications:

  • James White and LeGarrett Blunt were recommended as key starts for the Patriots.

    "James White. LeGarrett Blunt." [24:27]

3. Philadelphia Eagles vs. Detroit Lions

• Eagles' Strength:

  • Strong against pass defenses, leading to opportunities for Zach Ertz and Michael Crabtree.

    "Eddie Royal should put up some good numbers." [35:16]

• Lions' Offense:

  • Matthew Stafford poised for a productive game against a struggling Eagles defense.

    "I like Eli Manning this week." [55:03]

• Key Considerations:

  • Ryan Matthews' usage and Wendell Smallwood' involvement were discussed with differing opinions.

    "I think you're going to need to throw the ball." [20:50]

4. Chicago Bears vs. Indianapolis Colts

• Colts' Defense:

  • 24th against the pass and 18th against the run, presenting favorable conditions for running backs.

    "The Colts defense is not stopping the run." [34:15]

• Bears' Offense:

  • Reliance on Jordan Howard, who has exploited the Colts' weak run defense.

    "Jordan Howard is rushed for 10 or more yards on 7 of 34 carries." [34:12]

• Fantasy Insights:

  • Jordan Howard recommended as a strong start due to the matchup.

    "Jordan Howard is my start of the week." [53:57]

---

Starts of the Week: Player Recommendations

Tight Ends

• Gary Barnage (Mike Wright):

  • Increased usage with Cody Kessler at quarterback.

    "Barnage is getting regular usage, which is what you want out of a tight end." [46:02]

• Cameron Brait (Jason Moore):

  • Expected volume against Carolina's defense, especially with ASJ potentially out.

    "Cameron Brait, he's a special talent. I don't think you're going to see this balance of touchdowns." [46:35]

• Zach Ertz (Andy Holloway):

  • Returning strong post-bye week, high target volume against Detroit's vulnerable tight end defense.

    "Zach Ertz should be safe... he's set to play Week 1." [47:40]

Wide Receivers

• Amari Cooper (Jason Moore):

  • Favorable matchup against a stingy San Diego defense, poised for high targets and touchdowns.

    "Amari Cooper is a special talent. I think this is the week that Cooper and Crabtree see success." [48:46]

• Steve Smith Sr. (Mike Wright):

  • Ascending target numbers and consistent performance against Washington's beatable defense.

    "Steve Smith has been ascending." [49:57]

• Eddie Royal (Andy Holloway):

  • High involvement in the passing game against the Colts' secondary, good for flex spots.

    "Eddie Royal should put up some good numbers." [50:09]

Running Backs

• LeGarrett Blunt (Andy Holloway):

  • Expected significant usage against the Browns, either grinding out yards or capitalizing on Patriots' leads.

    "LeGarrett Blunt will be involved... he averages about 5 points more per game." [51:16]

• Jeremy Hill (Mike Wright):

  • Consistent increases in carries with Dallas, showing flashes of reliability without severe fluctuations in points.

    "Jeremy Hill has been much better overall on the year. I think that Dallas is beatable." [52:28]

• Jordan Howard (Jason Moore):

  • Dominant matchup against the Colts' poor run defense, high involvement in the offense.

    "Jordan Howard is my start of the week." [53:57]

Quarterbacks

• Eli Manning (Jason Moore):

  • Favorable home game against a weak Giants defense, expected high passing volume.

    "Eli Manning has made my top 10." [50:03]

• Ben Roethlisberger (Mike Wright):

  • High potential at home against the Jets' porous pass defense, despite inconsistency.

    "Big Ben is a must start because he's my number one guy." [55:59]

• Derek Carr (Andy Holloway):

  • Expected to exploit San Diego's defensive weaknesses with high touchdown potential.

    "Derek Carr will have a very good game." [56:35]

---

Fantasy Strategy Insights

• Defense Matchups:
  The podcast emphasized the importance of evaluating defensive strengths and weaknesses, particularly how they can limit or enhance player performances. For example, Baltimore's top-tier defense against passes makes Joe Flacco a safe if not standout option, while the Colts' permissive run defense makes Jordan Howard an attractive running back start.

• Injury Impacts:
  Injuries play a crucial role in determining player starts and flex options. The uncertainty surrounding Latavius Murray's status highlights the need for contingency planning with backups like DeAndre Washington.

• Player Consistency vs. Upside:
  The hosts debated the merits of consistent performers like Jeremy Hill versus high-upside players like Amari Cooper and Eli Manning, advising listeners to balance reliability with potential breakout performances in their lineups.

---

Concluding Remarks

The Fantasy Footballers wrapped up the episode by directing listeners to their website for comprehensive player rankings and premium projections. They encouraged engagement through their community platform, JoinTheFoot.com, ensuring fans have access to the latest insights and expert analyses to dominate their fantasy leagues.

"Check it out on the website. And today we also release our premium projections." [57:45]
"Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast." [58:35]

---

Notable Quotes

• Mike Wright:

  "Grave Before Shave has everything you need. Literally everything." [00:00]

• Jason Moore:

  "Sterling Shepard is an actual viable fantasy asset right now." [03:23]

• Andy Holloway:

  "LeGarrett Blunt will be involved because... you have to throw the ball." [54:02]

• Jason Moore:

  "I'll take the under on the 40 points." [42:09]

• Mike Wright:

  "Jerick McKinnon is still a fine play." [45:00]

---

This comprehensive summary encapsulates the essential discussions, insights, and player recommendations from the Fantasy Footballers' Week 5 podcast episode, providing valuable information for both seasoned and novice fantasy football enthusiasts.

Transcript

[Mike Wright]

Hey, Foot Clan. Before we start today's show, I got to remind you about Grave Before Shave, fellas. Do you care about your beard? Then freaking take care of it. Grave Before Shave has everything you need. Literally everything. They have nine different scents of beard, oils and balms. Condition that thing, get it glistening in the sun, keep it super healthy. Here's a great part. They have free US shipping and your order goes out the next business day so you know that you're getting it quick. Use our code ballers at Grave Before Shave and you can save 10%.

[Andy Holloway]

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

[Jason Moore]

Back again. There's a what, 290th time for everything?

[Mike Wright]

Jason was air driving through the, through the imaginary roads. Whoa.

[Andy Holloway]

That's how you air drive.

[Jason Moore]

That's not driving. That's like.

[Andy Holloway]

This is the quintessential white man dancing.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

I imagine you air driving it like an atv.

[Andy Holloway]

Just. Oh, just so I got the big steering wheel that's down on the bottom.

[Mike Wright]

ATV does not have thinking of like a giant RV semi.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't know. How's fantasy football going?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, fantasy football is doing very well. Very well. Welcome to the show the Fantasy Footballers back again, Thursday, October 6th. That was a prime example of why I need a vacation. I need to get away from that sort of dancing.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, man. These shows, when you're not here to rein us in, they're gonna be dangerous.

[Jason Moore]

They're gonna be very dangerous.

[Mike Wright]

I'm gonna be, I'll be the taskmaster, my friend.

[Jason Moore]

I was gonna say, when we get feedback, I'm gonna be much more appreciated.

[Mike Wright]

Or will you?

[Jason Moore]

Or will I? They'll be like, yeah.

[Mike Wright]

There are no rules.

[Jason Moore]

There are no rules. Anarchy. We're happy to be back. Very excited about today's show. Have my favorite segment of the week on here, the starts of the week. We've got our matchups. We've got. We're going to go through the first six matchups of the week, talk about the fantasy players involved and the decisions you have to make as a fantasy owner. And we got a good quick question. Gonna catch you up on a good amount of news and notes. And then obviously tomorrow we'll give you kind of the final rundown of injuries, practice reports, everything going on, so you can make last minute waiver wire decisions, whatever it is. So let's jump right into it as we always do. I've got another quick question for you guys on the season. This Is a question about what team. What team has a wide receiver trio with a snap percentage? All of them at 96% or higher.

[Mike Wright]

So somebody. They are running six. They're running three wide basically every single play.

[Jason Moore]

Correct.

[Mike Wright]

Ooh.

[Andy Holloway]

My guess would be the Packers.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, they don't run three wide every time, but I. I have to believe that all three of those guys are in the 90s. I don't know about 90s.

[Mike Wright]

I am gonna. I'm gonna go with the Giants.

[Jason Moore]

Mike has nailed it. Yeah. Yeah, it is the Giants. Victor Cruz, Sterling Shepard, Odell Beckham Jr. Nice. All at 96% or above. So, yeah, they run three wide all the time or 96% of the time.

[Mike Wright]

And that's how Sterling Shepard is an actual viable fantasy asset. Right now.

[Jason Moore]

I actually have Sterling shepherd very high this week. Yeah, I have all those wide receivers.

[Andy Holloway]

Good week to start those Giants.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Bonus question, though, guys. All right. Which two wide receivers from the same team are both top five in snap percentage among all wide receivers? So you've got a tandem, a pair of teammates that are both top five in snap percentage among all wideouts.

[Andy Holloway]

If it does not include games missed. I would lean towards the jets with Decker and Marshall, but no, Marshall got hurt.

[Mike Wright]

He missed.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, that's right.

[Jason Moore]

And Decker missed last game.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, well, that's. But that shouldn't affect the percentage. But.

[Jason Moore]

Well, you're looking at top five. You don't finish top five by missing a game.

[Mike Wright]

So I'm trying to narrow it down as quick as I can. No, I mean, my guess was this is wrong, but I'm going to go with the Patriots with Hogan and Edelman.

[Jason Moore]

Hogan got shut out last week. You see that?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, from a production standpoint, Jacoby Bursett.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it's his quarterback. Shut him out. Yeah, his quarterback.

[Jason Moore]

All right, the answer is the Miami Dolphins.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, okay.

[Jason Moore]

You have Kenny Stills and Jarvis Landry. Landry's at 96%. Kenny Stills, 99. Yeah, he's 99%.

[Mike Wright]

He's playing a lot.

[Jason Moore]

He's playing a lot. He's doing a little.

[Mike Wright]

That's my mom.

[Jason Moore]

Gotta Bouncing back and forth. He's a hard guy to stat. We did all of our rankings. You can find them on the website, the Fancy Footballers.com. and you know, you look at Stills and it's like, okay, I've got one for 75 and a touchdown. But then the game before, he had five catches.

[Mike Wright]

But Stills is last year's Ted Ginn.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, you might. That's a pretty Good comparison.

[Mike Wright]

He's always out there, but you never know.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean he has the, he's the deep threat and so like a Wallace or a D Jacks or again, there's always the chance that he can turn a zero game into a top 15 performance on one play. So. Follow us on Twitter @the ffballers. Connect with us at JoinTheFoot.com or Fantasy Community. Let's get into the news.

[Andy Holloway]

News and notes from around the league.

[Jason Moore]

Well, I'm wet. Carson Palmer out for Thursday. I bet that he would be active. I was incorrect. It happens occasionally. I mean, rarely, but it does happen. So my punishment is Drew Stanton at quarterback.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's. That's much worse than the cup of water. Same punishment that's going to have to go to Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd and John Brown.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, they're not getting a cup. They're getting a full bucket.

[Andy Holloway]

Looking back to where when Drew Stanton play because we do still have to, you know, there's going to be people that have to start Arizona Cardinals. The wide receiver that was the most affected by Drew Stanton playing was Michael Floyd, which makes sense that down the.

[Jason Moore]

Field, jump ball, take less chances.

[Andy Holloway]

Exactly. So that's the guy I would certainly not start this week.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, you have to temper expectations for everybody else as well. I think my highest rated Cardinal whiteout is David Johnson. Well, as a whiteout, you're saying yes. Yeah, I have Larry at 21 this week.

[Mike Wright]

If there's any silver lining for those who have to play Cardinals, at least the 49ers past events is not good. And they've lost Navarro, Bowman.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Pressure will not be as imminent there. All right. Latavius Murray is doubtful for week five. He's going to try the toe out.

[Mike Wright]

That escalated quickly.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he's going to try it out in practice today. I think this is a doubtful with a chance of recovery. But if he's out, I mean, doubtful is doubtful. Right. So if he's out, you're looking at DeAndre Washington getting the nominal start and then Jalen Richard being worked in as well. Last week you saw both of these guys have kind of an issue. Jalen Richard had drops on back to back plays. DeAndre Washington had a crucial fumble late in the game that let that, you know, slip away from. From Oakland or nearly dead. Right, right. And so both of those guys last week we also had a report right before the game that they want to involve DeAndre Washington. Moore, here's your excuse. Right. So you have a good matchup with San Diego. You have opportunities for both of these guys. I think DeAndre Washington to me assuming Murray is out, DeAndre Washington is a running back two candidate for me.

[Andy Holloway]

I love DeAndre Washington in this. He was before the season. You know if you've been listening since the draft season he's definitely been one of the guys I was highest on. I got a little lower on him because of Jalen Richard. You didn't have that clear cut. If Latavius Murray goes down, he's the 100% workhorse but everything he's shown on the field is he's hyper efficient, he's running well, he catches the ball well. He's going up in such a great matchup especially for pass catching running backs where he has excelled in college.

[Jason Moore]

Well last week we had the coon Kuhn attacked the New Orleans Saints for three touchdowns. The week before Indy scored two on the ground against them 31st ranked run defense. So definitely I would start.

[Mike Wright]

I'll say the I think the upside is DeAndre Washington but Rashard is a is seen as a third down back and he has out snapped Washington three of the four games so far out.

[Andy Holloway]

Snapped and yet DeAndre Washington has more touches.

[Mike Wright]

I'm just, just saying that it's not an auto. He's a high end guy.

[Jason Moore]

We're hearing this morning the Bills are expected to resign free agent Carlos Williams.

[Mike Wright]

Welcome back.

[Jason Moore]

Now off of suspension. Does this mean he'll be worked in like he was last year? Is there a chance he gets back into that role and impacts Sean McCoy?

[Mike Wright]

There's a chance. Jason's laughing over here.

[Andy Holloway]

Sorry. I'm laughing because while you guys were talking about this I just wanted to see what the yards per carry was on Jalen Richard. So I did a little quick math. It came out to 129 yards per carry. So I did something wrong there.

[Jason Moore]

So yeah, I think you're just a bit outside.

[Andy Holloway]

Continue.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, let us know when you do that.

[Andy Holloway]

Really good.

[Mike Wright]

I would start him.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, let me, let me know when. Oh we have a report this morning, Jim Bob Cooter said Golden Tate's going to have a huge week. Do you buy it?

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, we're going. There are so many little injury reports that that I was trying to decide whether we want them in today's show or we just want to do them in the in and out tomorrow. I mean there we're going to get through a few of them. But listen tomorrow for updates on kind of more final updates on all these players. We did have Tyler Eifert seemingly have a Bit of a new injury. New injury?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it's his back.

[Jason Moore]

Okay. So what's. Is that all you have for us?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. It's being reported that he has injured his back in addition to the ankle. We don't know whether or not he'll play this week. It's looking doubtful that he will play, in my opinion, but they're still saying optimistic things. Very reminiscent of Bruce Arians saying optimistic things about Carson Palmer.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I don't think there's any way I.

[Andy Holloway]

The one thing that history has shown us with Eifert is he's not a quick healer. I mean, he has a long history of injuries.

[Jason Moore]

Rashad Jennings has a chance to play on Sunday.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I don't think he becomes a great start. This is more just a. For the people, if you were hoping, hey, I'm going to squeeze some points out of Darkwa or Perkins.

[Jason Moore]

This is not a good situation. No, we're trending back towards four, man.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Backfield with Rainey and Darkwa and Perkins flashing, you know they're going to work Perkins into the screen game. Clearly that's what he was in there for.

[Andy Holloway]

And this week you've got the Green Bay packers, who are giving up at home fewest yards on the ground of all teams in the league, and they're giving up the second most yards through the air of all teams in the league. That says pass the ball.

[Jason Moore]

Cam Newton's not practicing. You need to monitor him closely, make plans. We just. We just don't know. He has the extra day with Monday night being the game they play. So packers cornerback Sam Shields out. That confirmed for week five against the Giants.

[Mike Wright]

That's a fist pump for Odell Beckham.

[Jason Moore]

The fist pump for that whole offense. That's why I have Eli Manning quite high this week. Tight end, rundown real quick. Jared Cook, Four to six weeks, he's out. Eric Ebron not expected to play. Zach Miller didn't practice. Kyle Rudolph didn't practice. Clive Walford didn't practice. And Antonio Gates was spotted at practice stretching. How long do you think that takes a guy at Gates's age?

[Mike Wright]

Longer stretch.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I mean, on a scale of one to Jason stretching.

[Mike Wright]

Well, if you have not heard this story before, Foot Clan, Jason is literally the. He's on record. He's in Guinness, the book of Records for being the least flexible human being on the planet.

[Jason Moore]

Well, he actually does not stretch. Like when we used to play flag football games. He doesn't stretch. Right.

[Andy Holloway]

I have never stretched before a game pretty much in my life. I Mean, I've done a butterfly once or twice, but when I do, you can barely tell that I'm stretching because I am not a limber man.

[Mike Wright]

Randy Moss didn't stretch.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, me and Randy, we have a lot in common.

[Jason Moore]

Straight cash, homies.

[Andy Holloway]

Fantasy forecast.

[Jason Moore]

All right. The only Thursday Night football update we have for you from yesterday's show is the fact that Palmer was declared out. And we've talked about that at length. A reminder that the Jaguars, Chiefs, Saints and Seahawks are all on by. So you should temper your point expectations from all of their players.

[Mike Wright]

It's a good, good warning.

[Jason Moore]

Very likely to be low. All right, let's get into the matchups. Let's start with the Washington Redskins traveling to Baltimore taking on the Ravens. Ravens are favored at home, 45 point over under and a lot of storylines in this game. I mean you have sometimes these teams that have very few fantasy relevant players. I see this game and I say, wow. You have questions about the carry difference between Terrence West, Javorius Allen and Kenneth Dixon making his debut. You have an incredible like with Matt Jones. If you look at Matt Jones, not only the insane stats you gave me yesterday about him being Pro Football focus is what number one ranked running back? If you look at the snap counts, I mean you just look at, I mean Robert Kelly gets nothing.

[Andy Holloway]

Correct.

[Jason Moore]

This is not, I mean this is Matt Jones show good or bad Jones and Thompson. Yeah, and Thompson. But Thompson scored last week through the air and he's a passing down guy. I mean he'll get three or four carries a game. So let's start on the Baltimore side with the running backs. How do you see this breaking down? Mike, you are a Kenneth Dixon owner.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

What are you going to do this week? Tell me exactly because I'm playing you.

[Mike Wright]

I'm very unlikely to play Dixon this week. I think that Terrence west showed, showed the team enough. I mean he had great game, 20 plus carries, over 100 yards, got a touchdown. So they, and there's reports they're going to ease him in now. I mean that everything could just do a complete 180 and Dixon could be the guy immediately. I just don't see it.

[Jason Moore]

Now Jim Harbaugh did not say, he came out to say that, that Terrence west was not going to be declared the lead back. Right?

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

But Terrence west will be the lead runner. But like I said, totally agree. Terrence west is not. Pass catching is not his specialty. Where Dixon excels at that. I think I had said on an earlier show a very Telling sign will be, is Buck Allen actually active or not? He was inactive the first two weeks. If they, if he goes back to inactive, then Dixon might be an okay flex play, but I'm not expecting it. Big game. I'm gonna, I expect it to take a couple weeks.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, you. We've talked Dixon up a lot for a while, and so I think there's a lot of listeners who are excited to have him. You can't start him this week. It wouldn't shock me if he ended up having a productive game, but you can't. We haven't seen it yet. He's coming off of an injury. You can't start Kenneth Dixon. I think that would be foolish and if you, if you hit, it would be more of a lucky, lucky start.

[Jason Moore]

Now, the Ravens are fifth against the run, third against the pass. Is that right?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, the defense has been pretty strong as far as yardage.

[Jason Moore]

That's yardage.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, I know Carr tore him up with four touchdowns, but I think he had about 200 yards.

[Jason Moore]

Okay. And the Ravens defense has allowed 20 or more yards on just 6 of 84 receptions this season, which ranks first in the league. That's only 7% of plays, which is basically half of the league average. So they're not giving up big plays, which is the forte of a guy like desean Jackson.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, now, that being said, so how do you.

[Jason Moore]

That being said, desean Jackson owner, how do you see, I mean, a bad week from D. Jacks last week on the road against a team that doesn't give it up deep and with, you know, good corners.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I think DeSean Jackson could do more than just get deep balls, but that's where you get those huge, giant blow up games. This is from Scott Barrett, but over the last three weeks, Sharice Wright, the corner for the Ravens, he's given up 16 receptions, 205 yards and five touchdowns to opposing wide receivers prior to this season. The second most fantasy points. Right. Ever allowed to an opposing wide receiver, DeSean Jackson. So if that's the matchup, I think the Jacks could go off this game.

[Jason Moore]

Interesting.

[Mike Wright]

That's fair.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Are you starting either the quarterbacks in this game?

[Mike Wright]

I think Joe Flacco is, is still a fine streamer. He's at home, so you get better. Flacco, Kirk Cousins, I'm not afraid to start him, but I would. I would personally be looking for a better option.

[Jason Moore]

Redskins 25th against the pass, leading to Mike saying that Flacco's an okay start here.

[Mike Wright]

Right. So. And Jordan Reed's a must start every single week. I think Pitta is for. For the tight end selection out there. Pitt is a weekly starter for me as well.

[Jason Moore]

Last week, Cousins was very good in the touchdown category, but the yards came down because they didn't need to use him. Matt Jones had a good game. Cousins, I think was under 200 yards.

[Mike Wright]

Right. And there was the rumblings of. Joe Flacco is a little upset with the play calling, that they are not going deep. If you look at his attempts, I think he threw the ball over 50 times and got just under 300 yards. I mean, that's your. Your efficiency there is way down. They're not taking the shots with Mike Wallace where they connected early in week one, so that's. That's something to keep, keep an eye out for. I'm not calling for a big game for Wallace, but it wouldn't shock me.

[Andy Holloway]

And start your Steve Smith, senor.

[Jason Moore]

Of course, Steve Smith. Eight catches the past two weeks over. Under eight catches in this game.

[Mike Wright]

Ooh, over.

[Andy Holloway]

I'll take the push. Yeah, I think he triples. Triples it. Eight, eight, eight.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Dennis Pitta slowed down. You start him in this game.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I'm compared to the tight ends who are out there somehow. Ertz or maybe. Maybe Cameron Brait. They're on your waiver wire, but otherwise I'll roll with Pitta.

[Jason Moore]

All right, so we're talking Patriots, Browns. Now, where is this game?

[Andy Holloway]

This game is in Cleveland, I believe.

[Jason Moore]

Can you confirm that for me? New England is at Cleveland, Correct?

[Andy Holloway]

Correct.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, so we've got the Browns, obviously huge underdogs in this with Cody Kessler behind center and Tom Brady returning for the Patriots. They're 10 and a half point underdogs, 46 point over under. Is there hope on the Cleveland side of the ball playing at home, the efficiencies in the run game where the Patriots have been middle of the pack against the run. Give me the lay of the land on the. On the brown side of the ball.

[Mike Wright]

I'm still playing Crowell. I think that he's still an RB2, that if the Browns have any sort of chance to win this game, they have to just wear out the clock. And the way they're going to do that is with Isaiah Crowell, Duke Johnson, maybe a sneakier start in ppr, but definitely not in standard prior. I'm okay throwing Pryor out there. The. He just is involved so much. And there's still always the potential that maybe play some running back, maybe some quarterback. So I'd still throw him out there. Huge upside. Gary Barnage. Gary Barnage is quietly getting his usage up. I think that people have not really paid attention. He's on waiver wires out there. Hey, you talk about a guy who, who would I play over Dennis Pitta? There's a name, Gary Barnage. I'd pick him up off my wire.

[Jason Moore]

And I'd play him Gary Barnage or Cameron Brait.

[Andy Holloway]

Bright.

[Mike Wright]

Ooh, that one will probably go bright.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I'm a little worried about Pryor this week.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, I'm not.

[Jason Moore]

If they're creative with him, which they weren't last week.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

See, last week he got matched up with Norman a lot. And so with outside the touchdown, he wasn't very good. And I worry a little bit about Prior. You saw Will Fuller on fire for this season, come in, face this Patriots defense, basically get shut down, and then come out and play well the next week. I worry a little bit about, you know, Malcolm Butler being matched up against Pryor. The fact that the Patriots defense hasn't allowed a 40 plus yard gain to any of their opponents on 107 receptions, which is best in the league. I just don't know if the big play upside is there. It's hard for me to project a touchdown for Pryor in this game. Therefore, I don't know if I'd rather start him or somebody else.

[Andy Holloway]

The way that I look at Pryor is. I mean, New England's putting up points, right? They are going to. I mean, there are ten and a half point favorites. Tom Brady's back. They're going to have a massive lead, and I think you're going to need to throw the ball. I agree. The Malcolm Butler matchup is they had.

[Jason Moore]

To throw it last week and they played against Washington. They were down by a lot. I mean, that's where I didn't see it manifest itself because he did not get behind center, a quarterback, and he did not take wildcat snaps last week.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I guess I see him as a low end wide receiver, too, which to me means you. You usually are going to start that guy. I'm less confident in Crowell than you are.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Hey, before we get into the remaining.

[Jason Moore]

Matchups to the Patriots.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, sorry. To the Patriots. Look, fellas, grave before shave is spectacular. My beard is growing. My beard is flowing.

[Jason Moore]

Whoa.

[Mike Wright]

And then a lot of that is in part to our good friends at grave before shave. This morning I grabbed my gentleman's blend bottle because they have so many scents. There's so many things to choose from.

[Andy Holloway]

I have the cigar on.

[Mike Wright]

And this morning I went with the gentleman's blend, the bourbon scent. I got the beer. It's look, it's looking, it's smelling, it's feeling incredible. You know how I keep my facial follicles fresh and clean? I use gray before shave beard wash.

[Jason Moore]

Look, Mike's beard endorsed as a bearded fella.

[Mike Wright]

I'm telling you, if you're using regular shampoo on your face, you're doing it wrong. You grave before shave your beard, you'll have. You will have. It will have never felt better. And they got the oils, they got the balms. You want a little bit of hold, they got the balms for you. The wash. I talked about it. And there's much, much more at grave before shave. Get in on this free U.S. shipping. Quick turnaround so you're not just waiting by the mailbox.

[Jason Moore]

Grave Before Shave.com like a chump.

[Mike Wright]

Grave Before Shave.com youm use our code ballers, you're gonna get 10% off. So I'm telling you, my fellow Viking warriors, get it up. Get over to Grave Before Shave.com. use our code ballers and you shall not be disappointed.

[Jason Moore]

And we are going to talk about the Patriots. I heard a very funny Brady's back parody rap Eminem yesterday. Yeah, the Eminem. Guess who's back. Brady's back. Before we do that, I do want to thank our other sponsor of this podcast. Today we want to thank Texture. All right, well, I'm going to tell you about texture. Look, thank you to Pizza for helping us all binge eat. Thank you to Netflix for helping us all binge watch. But now if you get involved with Texture, you can start binge reading. You need to trust us. This is gonna be a thing. The Texture app allows you to tap into all of the world's most popular magazines anytime, anywhere. Using your smartphone or tablet, you can breeze through hundreds of your favorites, including back issues. Pick articles that interest you the most. Texture makes it easy to find articles that you care about. Sometimes I'm reading a magazine I can't control. F. Right? I can't find a physical. Like, if I'm looking for something in a magazine, I can't find it. You can do that with Texture. You know, I don't just get to read ESPN or Popular Science or Wired. The Texture editorial team recommends content to me every single day so I can dive deeper with personalized collections. So you sign up for Texture right now. Gain insider access to all the content from the world's best publications and the best Part, they're offering our listeners a free trial. When you go to texture.comfootballers, you gain immediate entry to all of the top magazines, including back issues and bonus video content. So start binge reading for free right now. When you go to txter.comfootballers, that's texture.comfootballers. look, speaking of binging, I think the Patriots are going to binge on the scoreboard this week.

[Andy Holloway]

Start your Patriots.

[Jason Moore]

Start your Patriots, start.

[Andy Holloway]

James White.

[Jason Moore]

Sign your Patriots.

[Andy Holloway]

Start. Legar Blunt.

[Jason Moore]

I have fairly high this week.

[Andy Holloway]

Start Julian Edelman.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, but what about Gronk?

[Jason Moore]

Gronk, you need to pump thy brakes. Pump the brakes. I wait until last possible moment to rank him this week. I've done it the past two weeks. I've ranked him high the past two weeks. And I get it, it's Jacoby Brissette. But the routes he's been running, the limited amount of routes, the fact that they were desperate for points against their rival Buffalo last week, they scored nothing and they didn't send him out on more passing routes.

[Andy Holloway]

Here's.

[Jason Moore]

I'm pumping the brakes on Gronk until I see old Gronk.

[Andy Holloway]

Here's why I would start Gronk, because two weeks ago, when he was even more hobbled than he is now, he. He played almost no snaps. And then they got near the goal line and he came in and they targeted him. And he was a giant monster of a man who was pretty much open, but Jacoby Pressette couldn't hit him. And when they get down there on the five, which will happen a lot, I think this game, I think they're going to bring him in and Tom Brady's going to hit him and go, hey, Jacoby, that's what you do. He's got a giant target radius. Just throw it anywhere near him. I agree. You have to monitor it. You have to be careful. I would have a backup plan. I would certainly try to sign Martellus Bennett in case the news shifts poorly. But if they say, yeah, he's okay to go, he might be a little bit limited. You're smirking. Is there Gronk, dude, Gronk rule.

[Jason Moore]

Why? This isn't, you know, a definitive report, but the Giants are prepared to bench or suspend Odell Beckham Jr. If his antics.

[Mike Wright]

I'll stop.

[Jason Moore]

Continue.

[Mike Wright]

No, they aren't. No, they are not.

[Jason Moore]

I have.

[Mike Wright]

Where did that come from?

[Jason Moore]

Is that Bleacher Report?

[Mike Wright]

That sounds like a Florio report.

[Jason Moore]

It does, but it was. It was important that I brought it up.

[Mike Wright]

Where's the source?

[Jason Moore]

Look, Mike, it's not about the source on this one. It's about Jason's face because I just traded him Odell Beckham Jr.

[Andy Holloway]

I paid a lot to get Odell.

[Jason Moore]

Beckham Jr. Look, should owners be worried about that side of the equation? I've heard from. I was talking to a friend of mine who's, you know, been around the game a long time, says he doesn't feel like Odell Beckham Jr. Is the kind of guy that translates bad emotion into good play on the field.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, I think you can see that in the scoreboard. I mean, you look at the games where he's been least effective, they're the games that he's popped his, you know, his lid off the most.

[Jason Moore]

Popped it right off. Look, he. He has. He's had his issues. He says he's not having fun playing anymore.

[Andy Holloway]

You know what's going to make it more fun?

[Jason Moore]

Like, I mean, Hypothetically, Odell Beckham Jr. Or Alshon Jeffrey this week?

[Mike Wright]

Beckham. Beckham.

[Jason Moore]

I know. I'm just joking around. I'm joking. Come on, Mike, get into the game here. No, don't you understand? You're sitting here trying to analyze the report, and I'm trying to troll Jason. You're doing nothing.

[Mike Wright]

I'm trying to be a professional. That this report is garbage.

[Jason Moore]

Have you seen. All right, never mind. We'll move on. I digress. We're talking Eagles. Lions.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, wait, so the Patriots. Browns. That's not your almost upset of the week.

[Jason Moore]

Thanks, Mike.

[Andy Holloway]

Andy's almost upset of the week.

[Mike Wright]

Patriots, Browns, you heard it first.

[Jason Moore]

No, no, no. It's the Eagles. Lions. All right. The Lions are at home. But somehow, I guess everybody is living in Winsylvania now because the Eagles are three point favorites in Detroit.

[Andy Holloway]

But Andy, Carson Wentz is the best quarterback that's ever played in the history of the league.

[Jason Moore]

Well, according to the amount of fab spent on him in our league this week, he is Carson Wentz. They report came out this morning that they might try working more runs.

[Andy Holloway]

That's dumb.

[Jason Moore]

Drawn up runs because they're interested in injuring their franchise quarterback. Now, Wentz is an athletic guy. I think when you say runs, you're talking about maybe what you saw from Ryan Tannehill a couple of years ago, where some of the read option action, really, you know, safe stuff.

[Andy Holloway]

You do some read option with a slide. I can get behind that.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So let's talk about this. My almost upset of the week. I think the Lions can hold their own at home. I think you saw them Struggle last week. And so the reaction is panic in this, in the streets. But Stafford has been good outside of last week. You have a lot of weapons for him when it comes to Marvin Jones and Theo Riddick, and you're obviously struggling between the tackles. So I think you're going to see a lot of. A lot of passing volume from Stafford. I think Tate can get back on track this week.

[Mike Wright]

He could. I don't expect it.

[Jason Moore]

I expect an okay game from that. I think you got. You still got Bolden. Ebron's out. I mean, they're gonna have to lean on Tate more if Ebron is out.

[Mike Wright]

That's fair. I didn't factor in Ebron.

[Jason Moore]

So you guys on board with my almost upset?

[Mike Wright]

Almost upset, maybe.

[Jason Moore]

Are you almost on board with my almost upset?

[Mike Wright]

Almost.

[Andy Holloway]

I could very easily see the Lions winning this game. If I had to pick a winner, I would probably pick them Eagles. I think their defense, I've been saying for a while, is underrated. I worry a little bit about a Marvin Jones trap game here. He's been so on fire that he's an automatic start. But we haven't really seen anybody carve up the Eagles cornerbacks group. And so, you know, there's a little worry there, but it should be a close game.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And far. So let's take a look at the Eagles running backs. Ryan Matthews is practicing in full. Doug Peterson declared that he's healthy and he will remain the starter. So we have a disagreement in this office that. Are you still, Andy, that you think that Ryan Matthews will not touch the ball very much.

[Jason Moore]

I don't think he gets 15 touches. I think I. Actually, since the way we do rankings in this office is we go through and we individualize and stat players.

[Andy Holloway]

I added 14 touches.

[Jason Moore]

I said Ryan Matthews for nine carries.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, that's okay.

[Mike Wright]

So you're burying Ryan Matthews.

[Jason Moore]

He is buried.

[Mike Wright]

Okay. Because nine. Nine carries. That's not a starter.

[Jason Moore]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I come. You know, and that's where Mike brings up the disagreement.

[Jason Moore]

I have nine carries for Wendell Smallwood as well.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm on the complete other side of this. We saw before he had a side.

[Jason Moore]

From me or Mike from.

[Andy Holloway]

From you in the sense that. I mean, I have the water bet with you. You know, a couple weeks ago, we saw him get 22 carries. He had been very good for the Eagles, productive, got important touchdowns when they needed it that were difficult to get. And then they're coming up against their bye week. His ankles were hurt. Wendell Smallwood was running well. I don't I don't. I think it was wise of them to shut him down in that game, give him two weeks of rest. Now, coming back, the fact that he's saying he's the starter. I expect Ryan Matthews, like I said, to get 15 carries and Smallwood will be involved as well. This is going to be a team that wants to. Wants to run the ball.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. We just disagree on this guy. I mean, when he went nine for 32, he saved that week with the touchdowns. With the two touchdowns on nine for 32.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

And guess what happened after that game.

[Andy Holloway]

He got.

[Jason Moore]

He's my starter. He's going to be my starter. He came out and said all the.

[Andy Holloway]

Things he's saying this week, but that was an injury. That was. That was.

[Jason Moore]

He came in.

[Andy Holloway]

What do you mean?

[Jason Moore]

That was the ankles. He came in and said, he's our super. He's our starter.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, but.

[Jason Moore]

And he got two carries. And you're saying that's because of the injuries?

[Andy Holloway]

That's right.

[Jason Moore]

And I'm saying that Wendell Smallwood and Kenyon Barner, who was awesome, and Darren Sprols, who was awesome. I think you're. I think you're a fool to play Ryan Matthews as a starter this week. I think it is. It's just.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, that's the fun thing about fantasy football.

[Jason Moore]

He could surprise him, but he hasn't done it since week one.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't think it'll be a surprise.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it wouldn't surprise. Lions with a 23.

[Jason Moore]

Mike, are you in on this bet then?

[Mike Wright]

For 15 touches? Yeah, I haven't started for more than 15 carries, so I'll get in on it.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I realized I don't have the button to play.

[Mike Wright]

That's all right. I love Zach Ertz this week. I know it's his first week, but. But we were talking about. In these. Talking about this in the office. They are coming off of a bye week, so hopefully there's been extra time for Ertz. And week one, we saw that he was the number two passing option behind Jordan Matthews, who. I like Jordan Matthews in this game as well, but I think Zach Ertz returns to being the number two guy. And so I think if you got him, he's a must play. If he's on your waiver wire, pick him up because he is a must play for me.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Anything else from this game? You guys want to discuss?

[Mike Wright]

The running? We still don't have an update on Dwayne Washington. Really? I believe he's not practicing.

[Jason Moore]

I don't think he's going to play.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. So you have Theo Riddick and Zach Zenner.

[Jason Moore]

Zach Zinner is a speculative ad to me this week just because if you need a, if you're in a deep league and you just need a body, I mean, Zach Zinner is the Matt Aziata of this equation where you maybe he is. I don't think Riddick's going to get it. If they're on the one, I think it'll be Zach Zinner to get into the end zone.

[Mike Wright]

Probably. I can agree with that. But I don't really want to start either of these guys.

[Jason Moore]

All right. The Lions are 23rd against the run this year, 21st against the pass. Did you guys discuss Jordan Matthews at all?

[Mike Wright]

I just quickly had said that I like him a lot this week. Detroit's giving up 282 and three touchdowns per game through the air in four weeks. So the points will be scored by Carson Wentz and the pass catchers.

[Jason Moore]

I guess sometimes you got to move on and talk Bears and we're going to do that right now. Bears travel to Indianapolis, take on the Colts. Look, this is one of the higher over unders of the week at 48 points. And it makes sense because you have an offense obviously with, with luck and those whiteouts that even when they lose, they find a way to garbage time a number of yards and scores. And you have a Bears offense that gets to face the Colts defense. Colts defense is 24th against the pass, 18th against the run. Very, very excited about Jordan Howard.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Hint, hint for a segment later on.

[Mike Wright]

I completely agree with that. I'll throw out the nugget. Jordan Howard is rushed for 10 or more yards on 7 of 34 carries. I mean, that's, that's spectacular production. While the Colts are just not, not stopping the run. We saw them last week where the TJ Yelden, who has been averaging 2. Nothing per carry, had a monster game because the Colts defense, the way they approach the run is the offense snaps the ball and they separate. Like Moses has come in and said, just this is how we're going to do it. Just split. We'll let him run for 8 yards and then we'll try and tackle him.

[Jason Moore]

Safety safeties are in charge of tackling their running back.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, they want their pattern.

[Andy Holloway]

Those tackle stats.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Three of their four games have given up more than 100 yards rushing. I expect that it will be four out of five and there's not a lot of competition for the ball right now with Jordan Howard. So I Completely agree. I mean, look, the Colts, they've allowed first downs on 32 1/2% of their plays.

[Jason Moore]

That's insane.

[Andy Holloway]

That's near the bottom of the league. That's great for a running back. Right? You get those first downs, you keep grinding that game out.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Just more opportunities you get. You give up first down. So that guy's going to get it on first and second down.

[Mike Wright]

Kadeem Carey is listed as doubtful. Oh, wait, that was last week.

[Jason Moore]

And then it's every week.

[Andy Holloway]

You have Kevin White obviously gone.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And Eddie Royal has stepped up. I'm going to talk about him later. Hint, hint.

[Jason Moore]

I think he's all right. Look, Elson, Jeffrey, from the target numbers, we talked about it yesterday, he averaged, you know, he's averaged like 9.8 for his career. He's only been in the Sixes this year, still averaging 79 yards a game. Just hasn't gotten to the end zone, so we'll see if he has. He was limited in practice yesterday, which is his standard procedure.

[Mike Wright]

It's Wednesday.

[Jason Moore]

It's just a matter of can he really get healthy? Because if he can't get healthy, he's going to have to come in and basically give you a few plays and hit on those. I mean, if he's healthy, it's a different, different story.

[Mike Wright]

So for the Colts pass catchers, I think Hilton is a perfectly fine play. I don't know if I would fire up Dorsett. The Bears have actually had a pretty solid. I mean, they're not allowing a ton of yards through the air. So I have. I know Luck is at home, but I have him. You know, as far as Andrew Luck standards, I have him a little bit lower this week.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Chicago has yet to have the opposing quarterback throw for 250 yards. That's. I mean, they haven't given up 250 on the year. So even though the Bears defense has had a lot of injuries and they're really maligned publicly, they've done a pretty good job with their secondary.

[Mike Wright]

Run defense is bad. So. Old man.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

Frank Gore still finds.

[Andy Holloway]

Frank Gore is a great player.

[Jason Moore]

Gore has been so consistent. I mean, if you look at what Frank Gore has done and you look at what let's say Lamar Miller has done.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

You know, they are very similar from a what you can expect on a weekly basis standpoint where you just kind of solid, tried. True. A nice guy to have in your lineup, and he just keeps doing it. I mean, he's no John Kuhn. Don't get me wrong.

[Andy Holloway]

There's only one John Kuhn.

[Jason Moore]

There's only one John Kuhn. But yeah, Gore and he's the worst Gore. This year's right around that. You know, he's averaging a point more than Lamar Miller.

[Andy Holloway]

Note to self, always draft John Kuhn in best ball leagues. Okay. Next year when I'm playing in an MFL10, I am getting John Kuhn for a couple of those monster games.

[Jason Moore]

Well, yeah, we hadn't seen this for a couple years, right?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. He's back. He's back.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

Brian Hoyer, I like him. I keep. Can I continue to like Brian Hoyer?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he have Hoyer just outside my top 12.

[Andy Holloway]

He hasn't done anything to say that he's slowing down yet. Over 302 touchdowns. And then you have a great matchup again, no reason to.

[Mike Wright]

It stinks that Kevin White is out because he was clearly the favorite target. But I think Hoyer will get along just fine.

[Jason Moore]

All right. New franchise traveling to Miami to take on the dolphins. The DeMarco Murray's are in town. Do you see they updated their logo. It's just DeMarco Murray's face and snap. I mean what three carries last week for Henry.

[Mike Wright]

Yep.

[Jason Moore]

DeMarco Murray dominating targets, dominating everything. Efficiency, number one running back and I think at this point losses. Yeah, well, come on, Mike. See Philly, Philly dominated losses and DeMarco couldn't do anything.

[Andy Holloway]

That's true.

[Jason Moore]

So I'm, you know. And you don't normally see running backs outside of like an Adrian Peterson from years past be able to do it always being down. But Marcus Mariota, I'm going to put him at top 5 most disappointing players this year. He is. Because it's not just the fantasy side, it's.

[Mike Wright]

You had big expectations for him.

[Jason Moore]

I expected him to take a step forward and he has been. He's been turnover prone, bad throws, inaccurate, making mistakes, mental mistakes. Things that I did not expect.

[Andy Holloway]

James Winston took a step forward. Marcus Mariota took two steps back.

[Jason Moore]

Winston is not taking a step forward, he's taking a step back.

[Mike Wright]

Well, Winston has taken a couple forward, but then he takes a couple back.

[Jason Moore]

You're saying in this year.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

If you had to, if you had to tell me my steps back, that's.

[Mike Wright]

That's where I was going.

[Jason Moore]

Winston has been. He's been Fitzpatrick levels of turnovers. I mean he's just been.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I don't, I wouldn't say he is.

[Andy Holloway]

I just wanted to get to the spot.

[Jason Moore]

With all due respect, Mariota doesn't get to Throw to Mike Evans either. So.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

So Taj Sharp, you know he's been faded at this point, Kendall. Right. I mean you can't start anybody other than Delaney walker maybe and DeMarco Murray on that side of the ball.

[Mike Wright]

I completely agree.

[Jason Moore]

And now they're traveling to Miami. I just. I fade everybody but DeMarco pretty much Tannehill, Ajayi, Landry. The beat goes on for.

[Andy Holloway]

Give me Landry. Give me Landry. Just about any game, any matchup. I'm fine with that.

[Jason Moore]

I believe his catches this season are 7, 710 and 7.

[Mike Wright]

That's how. But how many catches has he caught?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, Jason, this is a question for you.

[Andy Holloway]

Let me do some math. 197.

[Jason Moore]

197 caught catches.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Very impressive. Landry is the only guy that you're confident to start here. The Titans defense has been pretty okay especially against the past 12th in the league. They tend to keep these games to be a little lower scoring and I think Vegas sees that as well with a 43 and a half point over under not high expectations. Wouldn't feel good starting Devontae Parker this.

[Andy Holloway]

Week or Stills and I wouldn't feel good starting any of the Dolphins running backs. If Arian Foster is healthy and practices the rest of the week in full and gets a start I would not feel confident starting him against the Titans. And less than that is worse. I think if Drake or Ajayi, you don't know and you're not going to know until the game is over who is the guy there? Maybe you assume it's a jai and if it is, maybe you're right. But it's in a bad matchup. I don't. I'm staying away from the Dolphins running back.

[Jason Moore]

I have them currently ranked back to back 2728 this week.

[Mike Wright]

If I have to play one of them I would prefer to go with the Jay. There was the report that Adam Gase has said hey guys, sorry about the four running backs. That doesn't work. It's never worked. It's never going to work.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. That was awesome.

[Jason Moore]

I zeroed out Damian Williams this week.

[Mike Wright]

I think I gave him no touch.

[Jason Moore]

I think Damian Williams doesn't touch the field. I don't think Pete touches the field.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, good. Which that's a. At least a check mark for a jai. A small check mark.

[Jason Moore]

Sure. When it's there think I think Drake's more explosive ajah. He's gonna have better odds at getting that touchdown. So one more matchup and then the starts of the week fellas so let's talk Texans. Let's talk Vikings. Oh, look, I'll take the under. I'll take the under on the 40. On the 40 points. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Ooh, that's bold.

[Jason Moore]

Put me at 23 to 10.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

You know what I mean? I think I'll take the under. The Vikings defense is decent.

[Andy Holloway]

All right.

[Jason Moore]

No, they've been. They've been incredible. And I just.

[Andy Holloway]

The Vikings are at home.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, they're at home. Seven point favorites almost.

[Andy Holloway]

We. We have not seen. We have not seen the Houston Texans travel well. We haven't seen their offense really well.

[Mike Wright]

They overpack every time.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's. That's a big mistake. You got to leave some of.

[Jason Moore]

They drive to the wrong hotel sometimes. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

So. So I, you know, I'm not liking any of the. Of the Texans. I mean, I'm not in love with any of them. I would start. I guess I would still start Fuller Hopkins and Lamar Miller if I needed to, in kind of that, you know, third tier, that flex category, but I'm not loving any of them or expecting a big game for any of them.

[Jason Moore]

I think that's a fair summary. I'm putting Ryan Griffin on the radar for people this week. Griffin, when Osweiler is frightened and afraid, it's the. It was the Ryan Griffin show. I think they'll be losing. I think you're going to have an opportunity to just. I mean, the Vikings are going to give up the underneath passes like they did to Victor Cruz, who led the team last week, and Bobby Rainey underneath, because they were. I mean, I see that scenario being the exact same this week. And, you know, on the Minnesota side, I've been telling people to sell Diggs since he blew up. The volume's never there for Diggs for the whole season. He can have these big games, but.

[Mike Wright]

I will say he's been fighting through groin injury, so I think that's really limited.

[Jason Moore]

He's also fought through being, you know, slightly undersized for that number one type of wide receiver. I saw him targeted a couple times and didn't quite, you know, match up with Bradford last week. I think Rudolph. Rudolph is a guy that has a connection with Bradford.

[Mike Wright]

Sure.

[Jason Moore]

And I'm not. I don't want to bear, mind you, Diggs is going to have his good games. I'm just saying. Yesterday I was talking to somebody, okay. And I was comparing Doug Baldwin with Stefan Diggs. Because the argument being made to me was that, look, Diggs is ranked the same as Baldwin right now in total points. Sure. Yeah. Yeah, your fantasy ranked through four weeks because Diggs has had a couple big weeks. I'd rather have Baldwin all day, every day than I would Stefan Diggs. Do you guys disagree with that?

[Mike Wright]

No, I completely agree with that 100%. The dangerous. The. The overall ranking, which is good when I'm trying to sell a player, and it is nonsense when someone's trying to sell me.

[Jason Moore]

Darn right. Darn right. Welcome to trading. All right, a little snap. Snap.

[Mike Wright]

Something's got to give.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I was gonna say a stat nugget from this game. Bradford has a pass rating of 105.5, which is third in the league.

[Mike Wright]

Hey, Sammy Biscuits.

[Jason Moore]

Texas defense has allowed the fourth worst passer rating, so something's got to give. I'm gonna go with the home team. Yeah, I would personally go with the home team. So I do think it will be the under, though. Any final thoughts or can we move.

[Mike Wright]

On just real quick? I think Jerick McKinnon is still a fine play. The run defense for the Texans is not as strong as you would assume. In fact, they are 27th in allowing yards.

[Jason Moore]

It's not my start of the week if McKinnon is number 10 for me this week.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, if there are some of those tight ends on waivers that, you know, we mentioned earlier, the Cameron Braits, Zach Ertz, if he's available, I would play them over Kyle Rudolph this game. The Houston Texans have not given up 35 yards in a total in a game to the tight end. That's against Travis Kelsey, Zach Miller, Delaney Walker. Those are all good notable guys.

[Jason Moore]

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

[Andy Holloway]

Starts of the week.

[Jason Moore]

I love our starts of the week, especially when they're Steve Smith and he goes out and blows it up. All right, this week, let's start with. Let's start at the tight end position. We'll work backwards here. Tight end, start of the week. Mike, why don't you kick it off?

[Mike Wright]

I'm going with the aforementioned Gary. Hey, remember me? Barnage. Yeah, he's coming off games of 5 for 66, 7 for 57, nothing. He hasn't blown up yet. But since Cody Kessler has taken over, Barnage is getting regular usage, which is what you want out of a tight end. You got old Billy B. Coming in here being crafty with his defenses, and I think that could mean that the rookie has to go short to Gary Barnage even more than he normally would. So I just. Andy was talking about scared Osweiler going to Griffin. I see Scared Kessler going to Gary Barnage.

[Jason Moore]

I think he's good for six catches in this game. I really do. I'm on board with you on that one. I'm going to give you mine. I'm going with Cameron Brait. Yeah, Cameron Brait, he's got a Monday Night Football game. He is. He's going to be up against it. That offense is going to be up against it against Carolina. And I think this is going to be one of those scenarios where, look, Cameron Braise been the number two wide receiver for that team, the pass catcher. Number two pass catcher for that team. He has five catches in each of the last two weeks. He has two touchdowns between those weeks. And for me, seeing what they're doing with him without ASJ on the field anymore, where they're not splitting time, I mean, there was a lot of hype about Brait when it looked like ASJ would be down the depth chart. Now ASJ is gone, who, by the way, might play for New York this week and they could use a pass catcher, too. But Cameron Brait, he's my start of the week at the tight end position. I just think you're going to see enough volume there to get it done. So. Jason, I know I disagree with you on yours, so go ahead.

[Mike Wright]

Well, you know, nice intro.

[Andy Holloway]

My tight end start of the week is the aforementioned Zach. I believe they held him out on purpose through the bye week when you got a guy coming out.

[Jason Moore]

You mean they didn't play him in the bye week?

[Andy Holloway]

I'm saying before the bye week. They weren't going to rush him back so that he could have the extra time to heal up through the bye week, come out strong. He's set to play Week 1. Like Mike said, he was 6 for 58. He was the number two target there. You've got a great matchup as well. Did you know that on the year, the Detroit Lions have yet to have a game where they haven't given a touchdown to to the tight end. In fact, they've given up six touchdowns. Just two tight ends in four games. I think the matchup aligns. He should be safe if he doesn't get a touchdown because he's got volume and I think there's a great chance of him getting a touchdown. The only worry here at all is are they bringing him back slowly from injury and he's going to play half the snaps. Maybe that's your worry, Andy. If that happens, then sure. But I believe from everything that I've seen that he's just back and he's playing and he's starting. It's not. It's not the same situation as like a Tyler Ifert that's missed the whole offseason and preseason and camp and now he needs to get brought back slowly. So I am fine starting Zach Ertz this week.

[Mike Wright]

I love it. I have him top three as of right now.

[Jason Moore]

All right, I'm going to give you guys my wide receiver start of the week. Now I'm going to go with Amari Cooper and this is a bit of a law of averages play. This is also the play where Jason Verrett is gone from the San Diego defense. Feel bad for him, but he's out for the season. He's a special talent. Amari Cooper is a special talent. I don't think you're going to see this balance of touchdowns where right now every touchdown at the wide receiver position has been Michael Crabtree, Carr, Derek Carr, number three quarterback. San Diego's defense has given up a lot through the air and I think this is the week that Mari Cooper and Crabtree see success. But I'm going to make Cooper my start of the week and if I had to choose between the two, I'm actually choosing Cooper this week.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, very interesting. I'll jump in here. I'm staying in the fire with Steve Smithson or Washington is very, very beatable. You have home Flacco, like I said, is much better than road Flacco and this is just a matter Steve Smith has been ascending you. You want players who are moving up 11 targets the past two weeks. He showed that vintage Steve Smith. I got gasoline coming out my butt of in furious anger when he threw that guy down, he scampered.

[Jason Moore]

I've never heard that described that way.

[Mike Wright]

Well, you would be angry if it was happening to you. And that's why Steve Smith is very angry.

[Jason Moore]

That's impressive.

[Mike Wright]

But he had a great 50 yard touchdown. He's going to keep getting the targets and he's clearly healthy.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, no, I think all three of us like Steve Smith.

[Jason Moore]

He was very close to my start of the week, number seven in my rankings.

[Andy Holloway]

My wide receiver start of the week is almost more of a stream of the week. I went a lot deeper. I'm not talking about this guy being like, you've got to get him in your lineups. But I believe that Eddie Royal is a fine start this week because look, you've got the Colts matchup, right? The Colts have been pretty decent against wide receivers despite their injuries to their secondary. But they're not, they're not the best right that's not a defense that really scares you. You have a kind of hobbled Alshon Jeffrey and he's going to be matched up against Vonte Davis. So that means that in a high scoring game, there's going to be a lot of passes to go around and they're going to go to Eddie Royal, who last week had seven for 111 and a touchdown. Currently on the year, he's the 19th ranked wide receiver. So he's gotten it done so far this year. I think in a high scoring game without Kevin White, where Vonta Davis is on Alshon Jeffrey, Eddie Royal should put up some, some good numbers there. So if you're like, you know, low on wide receiver, he's still available in a lot of leagues, I think you could pick him up and play him in that flex spot.

[Jason Moore]

All right, Jason, why don't you move on to your running back?

[Andy Holloway]

Sure. My running back this week is LeGarrett blunt and some people might, you know, people have really different opinions on LeGarrett blunt. You might be going, well, of course, you start LeGarrett blunt, he's a top back, but you might be smart and realizing, oh, Brady is coming back. LeGarrett Blunt was going to shut down last week. I'm not sure if now LeGarrett Blunt's value is gone. Well, here's the deal in this game, I think that LeGarrett blunt will be involved because whether or not it's just him destroying the soft, buttery run defense of the Cleveland Browns or whether Brady just goes, you know, full nuclear and destroys the Browns and then they just run the clock out for the second half. In either situation, I think LeGarrett Blunt is going to be used. Last year, last year you saw that when Brady was having a great year, you had so many games where LeGarrett Blunt had 20 plus carries and we forget about that. So good matchup. Plus you've got them. Vegas has them favored by more than 10 points. And when LeGarrett blunt is in those situations, he averages about 5 points more per game.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, yeah, I like it. Mike, why don't you give us your running back start of the week?

[Mike Wright]

Well, if for the longtime listeners, you know that I regrettably had this man tattooed on my chest last year, but he's turning it around and that is Jeremy Hill. The carries are going up every single week. Talked about the ascension with Steve Smith. This is what I like from Jeremy Hill. We're actually, we're seeing a little bit of the flashes of rookie Jeremy Hill. Not as indecisive back there. And over 20 carries last week. What the nice thing about Hill right now is he's. He's not crapping your team. Well, last year we had several instances where he either gave you one and a half points or he gave you 16 because he scored a bunch of touchdowns. He's giving you at least consistent production. There was even week two where he was. He was shut down a little bit in the running game, but then he had 30 receiving yards. So he just. Jeremy Hill has been much better overall on the year. I think that Dallas is beatable. We talked about this last week. Where Andy started the week was Carlos Hyde because Dallas was. While they're ranked. Kind of scary for fantasy. It's more of a fraudulent type of thing.

[Jason Moore]

For the run against the run.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Where Carlos and Carlos Height had a fine game. So I think Jeremy Hill has a solid game as well.

[Andy Holloway]

I like that. I just want to add to that. The carry counts for Jeremy Hill through the season. Week one was nine, then 11, then they gave him 17, then 21. They're. They're ascending and they're shifting more towards that.

[Jason Moore]

He'll be at 40 before you know it. Interesting question. Jonathan Stewart, Jeremy Hill, rest of season.

[Mike Wright]

Ooh, I'll take.

[Andy Holloway]

I think I'll take Jeremy Hill because he's playing.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, if you have three more.

[Mike Wright]

Three or four more weeks of.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, no, I think you'll see Stuart in the next couple weeks. Well, the last report was four weeks total. That was the report.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, okay.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So my running back of the week is Jordan Howard. Jordan Howard. We talked about him a little bit earlier last week. 23 for 111. Also had three catches. You've got no more Kevin White who had been soaking up targets. So I think Howard is at least as involved in the passing game as he was last week. And oh, so beautiful. You get to play an Indianapolis run defense that, as Mike said, was like the Israelites cruising. You know, I guess they're more like the water the Israelites went through.

[Mike Wright]

Yes, they are the Red Sea.

[Jason Moore]

They are. And so you look 29th ranked run defense. Jordan Howard is the man. All praises from John Fox. He didn't even try gamesmanship. He didn't say. He didn't even try to be like, well, Jordan Howard was. He's decent. He's got a long way to go. We're going to use a big backfield that is.

[Mike Wright]

This is throwing up red flags for me.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, no. Yeah. Howard doesn't see the field. No.

[Mike Wright]

John Fox.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, well, Jordan Howard is my start of the week. I love him this week. And my quarterback start of the week is Eli Manning at Green Bay. The world is sad about Eli Manning because look, you have those guys out there 96% of the time and you're not seeing production from Eli. But Green Bay is going to be the solution. Green Bay is a good offense at home. And you saw Matthew Stafford find volume. No Sam Shields, they gave up Green bay gave up 385 yards and three touchdowns to Matthew Stafford a couple of weeks ago. And I don't expect the Giants to win the game. I do expect Eli to pass the ball a lot. And so I like Eli Manning this week. He made my top 10.

[Mike Wright]

I agree with that. And mine is while it might sound a little more chalk, this is just the reassurance Big Ben is at home. We know that Big Ben is a little flaky, a little bit inconsistent when it comes to fantasy football.

[Andy Holloway]

And people think the jets are this great passing defense.

[Mike Wright]

There's still that, that still exists out there. I mean, the involved and plugged in player knows that the jets are just getting torched through the air. Their secondary is absolutely abysmal. But Big Ben, I got him at number one this week. I love it. I don't. You don't usually or I don't usually want to chase Big Ben's points because of he can give you the five touchdowns and then the zero. But at home against the Jets, I think he is an absolute must start because he's my number one guy. So that's a must start.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, my number one guy. I like that they're another team like the packers where, you know, a good run D, a bad passing D, and then you meet Big Ben at home. That's not going to work out well. I am going with Derek Carr this week. I'm going to stay in the Flames. Look, so far this year he's averaging two and a quarter touchdowns per game. You lose Latavius Murray presumably. Right. And so you might need to go a little bit more through the air. You have San Diego, who have, has already given up two touchdowns through the air in three of their four games. But, but that was with Jason Verrett, one of the best lockdown corners in the league who already, you know, had a part in shutting down Jeremy Macklin and shutting down Alan Robinson. And I think he shut down one other really good cornerback this year. He's gone. So he's out. Brandon Flowers might be out. You have, you know, the Amari Cooper start of the week over there for Andy. I agree. I mean, the only worry here is that they get their touchdowns on the ground because you know that the Raiders are going to score plenty of points. Vegas has this line very high. This, this should not be a low scoring game. Which means if they can go through the air, Derek Carr will have a very good game.

[Jason Moore]

All right, that does it for today's show. I want to remind everybody all of our rankings for week number five are up on the website, the fantasy footballers.com It's a great way to, you know, you have those start sit questions. You want to see where we as a consensus rank a player or if you want to see where us individually rank a player, you can kind of see the gaps there. Check it out on the website. And today we also release our premium projections. So we have actual point projections for every single player, fantasy relevant player, as well as flex rankings. And those are both available exclusively to JoinTheFoot.com supporters.

[Andy Holloway]

And hey, shout out all the Foot clan listening right now, the awesome Foot. Don't forget about our extra show happening today, right, we've got the foot cast going on over at Join the Foot. Get your questions in and we will answer. Answer them on the show.

[Mike Wright]

And thank you, studio sponsor fantasyjocks.com Getting your all your trophy needs with the promo code Footballers. See you tomorrow.

[Andy Holloway]

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