Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Week 16 Matchups, In-or-Out, Playoff Decisions

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary
Episode: Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Week 16 Matchups, In-or-Out, Playoff Decisions
Release Date: December 23, 2016

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Episode Overview

In this Week 16 episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast, hosts Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright delve into crucial matchup analyses, player updates, in-or-out decisions, and strategic playoff considerations. As the NFL regular season winds down, the trio provides expert advice to help listeners optimize their rosters for championship success.

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Key Topics Discussed

1. Championship Week Preparations and Playoff Implications

The conversation kicks off with the excitement surrounding championship playoffs. With Dallas clinching home-field advantage, the hosts explore how this impacts player workloads, particularly focusing on key Cowboys' assets like Ezekiel Elliott (Zeke) and Dak Prescott.

• Zeke Elliott's Role:
  • Jason Moore [07:53]: "But I don't think you're going to see 20 plus carries from Ezekiel Elliott. And I think you need to go and acquire Darren McFadden if he's available in your league immediately."
  • Andy Holloway [08:56]: "They are not overly concerned about this. We need to rest everyone's situation."

The hosts agree on starting Zeke but caution against expecting a high volume of touches in Week 17, suggesting potential acquisitions to mitigate workload risks.

2. Injury Updates and Player Status

A significant portion of the episode focuses on player injuries and their implications for fantasy lineups. Key updates include:

• Running Backs:

  • Melvin Gordon: Not practicing; Jason Moore advises not to expect him to play.
  • Matt Forte: Dealing with a torn meniscus and nerve damage, limiting his usage.
  • Jeremy Hill: Back at practice and considered a safe start.

• Wide Receivers:

  • A.J. Green: Clearing concussion protocol but with uncertain snap counts.
  • Tyler Eiford: Dealing with a back injury; likely to miss the game.

• Quarterbacks:

  • Jared Goff: Cleared concussion protocol and expected to play.

• Jason Moore [11:02]: "Melvin Gordon, not practicing. Do not expect him to play all."

• Mike Wright [11:22]: "Matt Forte is not going to get volume in this game."

These updates are critical for listeners to make informed decisions on starting or benching players based on their health and potential game time.

3. Player Recommendations and Strategic Advice

The hosts provide tailored advice on which players to start or sit, considering the latest information and upcoming matchups.

• Running Backs:

  • Jason Moore [02:40]: "If you need him, you need him."
  • Andy Holloway [09:23]: "I completely agree that if you're playing through to week 17, you need to have Darren McFadden."

• Wide Receivers:

  • Julio Jones: Startable and off the injury report.
  • A.J. Green: Playable but with caution due to recent injuries.
  • Tyler Lockett: Back to practice; high upside but volatile.

• Tight Ends:

  • Jimmy Graham: Despite recent underperformance, remains a must-start for many.
  • Greg Olsen and Ladarius Green: Both out due to injuries.

• Jason Moore [28:50]: "It's hard to find upside like that you have with Jimmy Graham."

These recommendations aim to maximize fantasy points while minimizing risks associated with injuries and unfavorable matchups.

4. Matchup Analyses and Betting Lines

Detailed analyses of several key NFL matchups offer listeners insights into potential high-scoring games and favorable player performances.

• Patriots vs. Jets:

  • Betting Line: Patriots favored by 16.5 points over the Jets.
  • Predictions:
    • Jason Moore [17:24]: "I think they win by 17 points."
    • Mike Wright [17:50]: "Pretty much. No."

• Cardinals vs. Seahawks:

  • Betting Line: 43-point over/under with Seahawks favored by 8.5.
  • Player Focus: David Johnson remains a top pick despite past disappointments.
  • Jason Moore [37:14]: "You can't really stop him. So you know, he got you here. Don't, don't put him on the bench."

• Ravens vs. Steelers:

  • Betting Line: 44.5-point over/under with Ravens favored.
  • Player Focus: Big Ben's potential touchdown haul against a strong Ravens defense.
  • Jason Moore [43:44]: "Is that where he keeps like his touchdown? Good perform his touchdown."

• Broncos vs. Chiefs:

  • Betting Line: Chiefs favored by 3.5 points with a 37.5-point over/under.
  • Strategy: Favor low-scoring defenses over high-risk offensive players.
  • Jason Moore [48:09]: "If you are favored on paper in this game, I am 100% starting Derek Henry along with DeMarco Murray against Jacksonville."

By examining these matchups, the hosts guide listeners on where to place their trust in players and potential high-scoring opportunities.

5. Listener Questions and Mailbag Segment

The episode features listener interactions, offering personalized advice based on their unique fantasy league scenarios.

• Question from Trey Turner [54:17]:
  "I've got to start two and set one between Jonathan Stewart, Spencer Ware, and Bilal Powell. Currently, I've got Ware and Stewart starting, but my gut feeling is telling me to start Powell. Just let me know what you think."

  • Mike Wright [54:48]:
    "I'm going to give Spencer Ware a hearty handshake, a thankful pat on the back, and I'm going to say thank you for your service."

  • Jason Moore [55:14]:
    "If you are favored on paper in this game. I am 100% starting Derek Henry along with DeMarco Murray against Jacksonville."

• Question from Anna [55:48]:
  "I'm in the finals in both of my leagues. Nice. I'm playing Elliott and DeMarco Murray in a standard league. But should my flex be Miller, Rawls or Henry?"

  • Jason Moore [56:08]:
    "If you are favored on paper in this game. I am 100% starting Derek Henry along with DeMarco Murray against Jacksonville."

  • Andy Holloway [57:26]:
    "He [Rawls] has the touchdowns."

These segments highlight real-life dilemmas faced by fantasy managers, with the hosts providing actionable advice to navigate critical roster decisions.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Jason Moore [07:53]:
  "But I don't think you're going to see 20 plus carries from Ezekiel Elliott. And I think you need to go and acquire Darren McFadden if he's available in your league immediately."

• Mike Wright [11:22]:
  "Matt Forte is not going to get volume in this game."

• Jason Moore [17:24]:
  "I think they win by 17 points."

• Jason Moore [37:14]:
  "You can't really stop him. So you know, he got you here. Don't, don't put him on the bench."

• Jason Moore [43:44]:
  "Is that where he keeps like his touchdown? Good perform his touchdown."

• Mike Wright [54:48]:
  "I'm going to give Spencer Ware a hearty handshake, a thankful pat on the back, and I'm going to say thank you for your service."

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Conclusion and Final Thoughts

As the regular season concludes, the Fantasy Footballers provide essential guidance for fantasy managers gearing up for the playoffs. From strategic player starts and sits to in-depth matchup analyses, the hosts equip listeners with the knowledge needed to secure their fantasy championships. With a blend of expert insights and engaging discussions, this episode serves as a valuable resource for navigating the final stretch of the fantasy football season.

Happy Championships and Merry Christmas to all Fantasy Footballers!

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Foreign.

[Mike Wright]

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]

Championship weekend for many of you. Keep it right here. The Fantasy Footballers back again Friday, December 23rd. My children are getting very excited. Not for the football, but for the Christmas. Oh, man, the Christmas we're dose dose days.

[Andy Holloway]

I've told my children, if dad doesn't get the championship, no one knows.

[Mike Wright]

No Christmas, no one does.

[Andy Holloway]

So Christmas goes in the furnace.

[Jason Moore]

Alexa informed me that there are only two days left till Christmas this morning.

[Andy Holloway]

That's very handy.

[Jason Moore]

That's a. You put the device in there and it's a countdown to Christmas.

[Mike Wright]

Unbelievable.

[Jason Moore]

Can you set 999.999.

[Andy Holloway]

Can you. Can you set it up on a timer so that it's just going 24 hours a day, just counting down till Christmas?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, like second by second.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Well, it is powered by ac, so it's possible. Welcome to the show. We've got a great Friday for you.

[Andy Holloway]

Sorry, quick update. You mocked me on my thirds comment, yet Twitter came to support me. Apparently Thursdays is translated from Thor's Day, which was named for the Greek God of thunder, Thor. So the more, you know, very entertaining things. Thank you, Twitter.

[Jason Moore]

Twitter's really good for just giving a pat on the back to any idea. There's enough people out there.

[Mike Wright]

Someone's gonna like you.

[Andy Holloway]

I know. Like, seeking knowledge and information is terrible.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Yes, it is. Alright, we've got news.

[Andy Holloway]

Hey.

[Mike Wright]

Hey, Andy. What's a fry? Today's Friday. What's a fry?

[Andy Holloway]

You eat them.

[Jason Moore]

Are you being Mike? Because you sound just like him.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I know.

[Jason Moore]

News and notes. The second half. Second half of the fantasy forecast. The Daily Dose. I guess we don't have Daily Dose on today, but we do have the DFS picks by Ben Cummins on the website. We also have some bonus articles up there for Christmas, including a Christmas Day awards article by Kyle Borgon. Yanni.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, you almost got it.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it's baloney.

[Andy Holloway]

You mispronounced Kyle baloney.

[Jason Moore]

All right, we've got. We got this on the show today too.

[Mike Wright]

Put Clan Friday.

[Jason Moore]

You need to seek some knowledge on your dancing moves there, Jason.

[Mike Wright]

Dude, Twitter come support.

[Jason Moore]

That was a white Christmas right there.

[Mike Wright]

That's what.

[Jason Moore]

That's what that was. And if you want to see it for yourself, go to YouTube and check it out. Because Jason, he was really jamming. He was jamming out.

[Andy Holloway]

Jamming like a middle aged white man can.

[Jason Moore]

All right, the Foot Clan hit him with A twist. Hit him with the twist. The Foot Clan Friday winner was. Is. Is Robert Carolly.

[Andy Holloway]

All right.

[Jason Moore]

Not Robert Kelly, but Robert Corrali. Congratulations. You win a gift card to shopballers.com which will come in handy when you win your Foot Clan title. I want to grab that Foot Clan title T shirt.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Every Friday we give out a gift to a jointhefoot.com supporter. We appreciate your patronage, Mr. Robert Karali.

[Mike Wright]

And everyone over there.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So quick question of the day, twofold. I'm going to allow you guys to briefly share your opinions of last night's game.

[Mike Wright]

Why, thank you.

[Jason Moore]

But then we're going to translate that. Yeah, I'm going to allow you. Permission granted. I'm going to then transition us into the implications of the result of last night's game, which is that Dallas has now clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs. There's two weeks left in the season and a lot of guys in championship week have Ezekiel Elliott and want to know what Zeke and Des and Dak and those players, how are their workloads going to be affected? So that's part two of the question. But first, last night's affair. The Giants handed a defeat by the Eagles. Eli Manning didn't help things with three interceptions. The defense, to me, you know, I did not rate any New York Giant high except for Odell Beckham Jr. Because he can overcome those defenses. But the worry was pretty much what happens that Phillies are pretty good defense. They're at home the divisional matchup and it's not going to come easy for the Giants and they didn't help themselves. So fantasy wise, you know, you didn't get much of anything from anyone except.

[Andy Holloway]

For Elder Beckham Jr. Yeah, Beckham came through.

[Jason Moore]

Well, Shepherd, Sterling Shepard, if you were.

[Andy Holloway]

In a wide receiver three wide receiver league and you played shepherd, that you're very happy with that.

[Jason Moore]

Sure, absolutely.

[Andy Holloway]

But Beckham. So Jason, I are watching this game and both of us are in our championship rounds happen to be up against Odell Beckham and you get into. Around the third quarter, you're like, man.

[Mike Wright]

Beckham's been pretty quiet, done very little.

[Andy Holloway]

You open up the app, 15 points.

[Mike Wright]

Wait, just chunking away.

[Andy Holloway]

What?

[Mike Wright]

What?

[Andy Holloway]

Because even. Even when he's silent like or appears to be silent because he's not making the. The normal Odell Beckham splash play. He's crushing it for fantasy.

[Mike Wright]

I feel like Odell Beckham turned in what we need for a Week 16 performance. Odell Beckham owners were happy.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Everyone playing against Odell Beckham Were also somewhat happy that he didn't get a touchdown and go crazy. Even though he had a pretty solid game in defense of Eli Manning with the interceptions. I would just say that those three passes were terrible and that he's not a very good quarterback on the other side of the ball for Philly. Zach Ertz was a very big disappointment to this guy.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he was. And Ryan Matthews didn't do enough either.

[Mike Wright]

Darren Sprols was your pretty much your lone bright spot. I don't think anybody out there played Nelson Aguilar or Zach Ertz.

[Jason Moore]

I don't know. The Eagles didn't even know they played Aguilar.

[Andy Holloway]

The Eagles D. No, they did. He got a touchdown.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

It was a joke. Oh, I'm aware. They know that. They started him. It was.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, I thought you were clowning on Aglow who finally did something.

[Jason Moore]

I was.

[Andy Holloway]

He finally caught a pass and it was a touchdown.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. The Eagles D obviously they've been very good this year for fantasy and they came through again taking one of those picks to the house. And now let's talk Ezekiel Elliot.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Fifteen carries for Paul Perkins, nine for Rashad Jennings. Perkins is the one to own next week if you need him. All right. The Giants lost means the Cowboys have clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs. I've seen many Twitter questions flooding this morning. People with different options like Spencer Ware over Ezekiel Elliott. Worried about the workload for Ezekiel Elliott. Now Dallas has come out and said they're not, they're not into resting their players. However, I think we need to temper volume expectations versus Zeke Elliott. My opinion of Zeke this week is you start him because you start him because you start him. But I don't think you're going to see 20 plus carries from Ezekiel Elliott. And I think you need to go and acquire Darren McFadden if he's available in your league immediately. Because in week 17, that workload could even diminish more to the point where we don't know what they're going to come out and say. We don't know what's going to happen to Ezekiel Elliott this week. I'm expecting 17 to 18 carries, a good performance, but your. Your upside is capped. They are not trying to clinch home field advantage.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I will say we do have some history and in fact, very recent history from the Cowboys. 2014. They were locked. Playoff spot was locked up. Seed was not going to change. Tony Romo played 57 of 63 snaps. DeMarco Murray had 22 carries. So they're not overly concerned about this. We need to rest everyone's situation. Zeke is still chasing that. Yeah, the, the rookie record for rushing. I, I would imagine Jason Garrett wants to have. Wants to allow him the. The option or the opportunity to get that, but. So the only thing that concerns me is if there is a minor injury of some kind to Zeke, maybe they pull him out a little bit early and he. They don't. He doesn't force his way through it like a twisted ankle or something. But it. To me, it's week 16. Everything is normal to me. But I completely agree that if you're. If you play through to week 17, you need to have Darren McFadden. It's just in case.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it's just. It's just a wise move because I agree he. He twists an ankle, maybe he could play Week 17. Why do it? But that number258.258 is all the yards he needs to have the record. And I'm sure Jerry Jones wants it. I agree with your wisdom, but I'm telling you, Andy, I'll make a water Bet Zeke has 20 carries.

[Jason Moore]

The bottom line is that we all say nothing changes on starting him this week.

[Andy Holloway]

Correct.

[Jason Moore]

If he only picks up 75 yards in this game and he's on the board for, you know, he needs another 175, they're not going to run him into the ground in week 17 right before the playoffs to get that record. So it does matter what happens this week. If he puts up 150 and he needs 108 yards next week, he's playing. He's playing. So I think that's. That's kind of where we're sitting. And obviously next week, you know, if you, hopefully you don't play your championship next week.

[Andy Holloway]

But dag, I'm not concerned about Dak. If you are in a situation where you're playing him, I don't think the Cowboys can play Romo.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Because if Romo comes in and plays well, you're going to. Dallas is going to explode and there's going to be a quarterback.

[Jason Moore]

Two quarterbacks on the field at one time. That's what we need.

[Mike Wright]

News and notes from around the league. This is terrible news.

[Jason Moore]

We're not even into in and outer yet.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, all right.

[Jason Moore]

In and outer. That's what I said. Any. Is there any other news other than injury news that we're catching people up on? It's because I'm not seeing any.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I mean, the Dallas News, and that's about it.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it's really. Injuries what's it gonna be?

[Jason Moore]

Are you in or out? All right. Jared Goff, the one quarterback that we all want to know about. In or out?

[Andy Holloway]

Jason wants to know.

[Mike Wright]

Unfortunately, he has cleared concussion protocol. I'm happy for him.

[Jason Moore]

I was gonna say I'm happy for him.

[Mike Wright]

The man. I'm just unhappy for the man. Sean. Man Neon.

[Jason Moore]

Moving to running backs. Melvin Gordon, Jeremy Hill, Matt Forte. What do we know about those three?

[Andy Holloway]

Melvin Gordon, not practicing. Do not expect him to play all.

[Jason Moore]

It's a green light for Kenneth Farrell against Cleveland.

[Andy Holloway]

It is for me.

[Jason Moore]

I was just reading. Cleveland is. Since their bye week, they are just. They are telling San Francisco, you know what? I'll take your run defense. I'm gonna raise it. I'm gonna raise it up.

[Mike Wright]

It's a competition, dude.

[Jason Moore]

By bringing it down.

[Andy Holloway]

Competition's good.

[Mike Wright]

Jeremy Hill's back at practice. Matt Forte has not practiced. I agree with what Mike said earlier this week, which is if Matt Forte is active and is named the starter, I am not moving Bilal Powell down. Matt Forte is not going to get volume in this game. If he does play, he's got, you know, what is it, a torn MCL or a.

[Andy Holloway]

No, now he's a torn meniscus and now nerve damage in his shoulder.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I mean, they're not going to give him a ton of work and blow. Powell, I believe blah, blah, is going to be very good this week. He had 11 receptions last week. So if the Patriots start, you know, getting up in the game.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, no, he got it. He actually got his name from those old Batman comics.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, yeah. The Adam west show.

[Jason Moore]

Yep. All right. Adrian Peterson, Lamar Miller, Theo Riddick, the last three running backs in or out for those guys.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going. Peterson out. Riddick out. Lamar Miller.

[Jason Moore]

If I had a panic button, I'd push it.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, this is a problem. He has not practiced through Thursday. He had that ankle injury. You have the game on Saturday.

[Mike Wright]

He's going to.

[Jason Moore]

I think he's going to.

[Andy Holloway]

I think he's going to play. But can you play him?

[Mike Wright]

And that's a great question. Here's what I am definitely doing. I'm moving Lamar Miller down in my ranks a bit. I think he's going to be a guy that you might have to play. You might have to start him. But if you've got three, three good options and you only need to start two, and you saw Lamar as a good one, you might want to go with your other two solid running backs, you know, start your Todd Gurley's and sit Lamar, if you have the luxury to do that. Because if he's not playing, if he's not practicing on a Thursday, this was the day I said all week. If he's limited, which I expect, that's fine. But if he misses, he's hurt.

[Jason Moore]

When you don't practice on Thor's day.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

There's an issue. Wide receivers. Julio Jones, he's gonna play. He's even off the injury report today.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Start to Julio's.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, yeah, A.J.

[Jason Moore]

Green says he's playing on Saturday.

[Andy Holloway]

They're back and I'm playing.

[Jason Moore]

So I want to get your take on this because somebody tweeted me today because I had A.J. green, you know, not in the upper echelon this week and said, oh, you don't believe in him. The way I ranked these guys this week myself was Julio is sitting around that 8 to 10 range. AJ Green is more at the back in wide receiver 2 range for me with AJ Green upside. So.

[Andy Holloway]

So he's.

[Jason Moore]

But you. I'm hedging. Yeah, you play him, but I'm hedging the fact that, you know you're coming off an injury. He's the one saying he's playing. Who knows what the snap counts gonna be.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep. Stefan Diggs returned to practice Thursday, ruining my Adam Thielen hook. In or out?

[Jason Moore]

Jordan Reed, out.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, he's either. He's either going to be out of the game or he's going to be out of your fantasy lineup.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he's. He's going to be out.

[Jason Moore]

You're looking for one big catch. If you were to play him, you're.

[Mike Wright]

Just hoping he gets one for seven and a touchdown.

[Jason Moore]

Right. And then a writhing injury. Tyler Eiford hasn't practiced all through Thor's day with his back.

[Mike Wright]

You know, that's not good because some guys have a history of being super slow coming back from India.

[Andy Holloway]

I was going to say IFRT is the opposite of Wolverine, right? Yes, he's what he.

[Mike Wright]

He's got degenerative power. He can degenerate.

[Jason Moore]

His bones are made of Silly Putty.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, I'm not saying that he's extremely injury prone. Just saying when he's hurt. Yeah, it takes forever.

[Jason Moore]

There's no Adamantium. Isn't that what it's called?

[Andy Holloway]

Yes, there is. No, it's a plywood.

[Jason Moore]

Gregory Olson hasn't practiced through Thursday but is expected to play in or out?

[Mike Wright]

Olsen a point.

[Jason Moore]

Ladarius Green, in or out?

[Andy Holloway]

Gonna say he's out. He still hasn't practiced with the concussion.

[Jason Moore]

So Mr. Hooper.

[Andy Holloway]

He'S out.

[Mike Wright]

That. That's sad because he had a really nice matchup.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Yeah. All right, we are done with the. The updates there. Let's move it on. As long as I. Oh, there it is.

[Mike Wright]

Fantasy forecast.

[Jason Moore]

Another reminder to check out the website, the fantasy footballers.com and our Twitter @the FF Ballers for weather updates and reports before the games on Saturday. Oh, and Sunday, but mostly Saturday, you guys. Tomorrow, also known as.

[Mike Wright]

If you're listening right now and you. And you're thinking you haven't set your lineup yet, just do it right now, because you will. This is. Not only is it on a Saturday when we're not used to it, but it's Christmas weekend. Like, you probably got life happening.

[Jason Moore]

Christmas parties and mistletoe and eggnog. And don't mess up.

[Mike Wright]

If you have to pause right now to go set your lineups, do it as quickly as possible.

[Andy Holloway]

You like eggnog?

[Jason Moore]

A lot of people like eggnog. A lot of people like egg, including me.

[Andy Holloway]

Eggnog is like barf in a cup.

[Mike Wright]

Here's. Here's.

[Jason Moore]

That's one.

[Mike Wright]

That's one I love.

[Jason Moore]

But I don't like you comparing him eggnog to Jared Goff.

[Mike Wright]

I love eggnog in tiny portions.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Give me a little tiny cup of eggnog. Yes. I mean. Oh, they're so delicious. The flavor is.

[Jason Moore]

Do you know they. Yeah, because they use eggnog to put you to sleep for surgery. That's what they do.

[Mike Wright]

But if I drink. Don't pour me a giant glass of eggnog. I can't. I can't do that. It's too thick.

[Jason Moore]

But would you sit down and drink a giant glass of milk?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I like. I love.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, you What?

[Andy Holloway]

Because it's eggnog. It's like, hey, I got this pancake batter. You want to drink it? Except it doesn't taste very good.

[Mike Wright]

I'll sip it.

[Jason Moore]

I'll make a pancake with it. All right. Saturday games, jets and Patriots. Patriots. Just a little bit of favors in this game. Sixteen and a half. That brings me back to those. Randy Moss.

[Andy Holloway]

Those were the best playing.

[Jason Moore]

They could not make the line big enough for those games.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, but it. Who will the Patriots cover the spread?

[Jason Moore]

16 and a half. Will they cover that spread?

[Andy Holloway]

I don't.

[Jason Moore]

I think yes. I think they win by 17 points. I think that's perfect.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I would. I would take the points.

[Jason Moore]

I don't think. I mean, over. Under 10 points for the Jets.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I'll go.

[Andy Holloway]

I'LL go over.

[Jason Moore]

I'll take the under.

[Andy Holloway]

I'll go.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, it's going to be around there. I mean, are the Jets. Do the jets have any chance of scoring 20? Because I feel like.

[Andy Holloway]

No.

[Mike Wright]

Pretty much. No.

[Andy Holloway]

No.

[Jason Moore]

I don't think that they might not score. All right. 38 degrees outside, 44 and a half point over. Under Petty and Brady, a battle of opposites. We talked about Forte and Powell. We love Powell. We think we'd play Powell over a lot of guys this week. A great start. I love legara Blunt. He's my start of the week. You're starting legarrett Blunt regardless of whether he's your start of the week.

[Andy Holloway]

I agree. I agree with that.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I moved LeGarrett Blunt down. You and I disagree on him, but when I say down, that means he's an RB2, which is starting.

[Jason Moore]

So Marshall.

[Andy Holloway]

Nope.

[Jason Moore]

Marshall. Marshall.

[Andy Holloway]

No.

[Mike Wright]

Staying as far away from Marshall as possible. You can't.

[Jason Moore]

He could still have.

[Mike Wright]

He is.

[Jason Moore]

He could still have an okay, but.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, but you can't ask for more than 11 targets, which is what he got last week, and he finished with a catch.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, I told Jason about this yesterday. So I'm going on the record here. You're starting quarterback for the New York jets next year, Jay Cutler.

[Jason Moore]

Interesting.

[Andy Holloway]

Jay Cutler. Just. Just putting it out there.

[Jason Moore]

I was curious, where do you guys think Mike Glennon goes? Probably going to get 13 to 15 million dollars leaving and becoming a quarterback.

[Andy Holloway]

I think he will get a chance. Cleveland, maybe.

[Jason Moore]

Maybe. He seems perfect for Cleveland.

[Andy Holloway]

Just a very unproven guy. We overpay him.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he's the next. Is he next year's Osweiler or is he.

[Andy Holloway]

No, I think he's better than Osweiler.

[Mike Wright]

I do think he's better, but he won't get paid like Osweiler.

[Jason Moore]

No, but he's going to get 13, 15 million dollars a year.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Other side. Edelman, Mitchell, Hogan.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm playing them all.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, you're playing Hogan.

[Andy Holloway]

I would play Hogan.

[Jason Moore]

All right.

[Mike Wright]

And don't forget about Martell's Bennett, too. I. I really do believe this is the type of game where Brady could have four touchdowns. I want those pieces. I want the weapons in the passing game. The jets have not been able to stop anyone through the air. Brady's coming off his worst game in Denver that I can remember. I really think he's going to throw. I. You know, I've got Brady ranked number one this week. That's my hope and expectation.

[Andy Holloway]

The jets defense are averaging a sack every 22 pass attempts.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

The jets, well.

[Jason Moore]

And the Patriots, which is the bottom.

[Andy Holloway]

That's the bottom of the league. I mean, that's.

[Jason Moore]

He's going to have time this. It's similar though, to last week's game with the 49ers and the Falcons where depending on how that first half goes, you know, Matt Ryan, he had a good game, but.

[Mike Wright]

But Devonta Freeman was who took over. And that's why you like Legara Blunt. You see, maybe he takes over and then once that starts, then you just keep running the ball.

[Jason Moore]

The Patriots, for our over under discussion have allowed just 10.7 points per game to anybody this year. So good luck, Bryce.

[Mike Wright]

Now, let me ask this question real quick before we move on from the patriots. You like LeGarrett blunt, because maybe they, you know, they're up. They're going to run the ball. Last week it was Dion Lewis. Is there a chance here that Dion Lewis is actually the running back that gets involved?

[Jason Moore]

There's a chance. Both of them have lot of relevance. Would you start second half could have a lot of Dion Lewis. No, I mean, I over who Dion.

[Mike Wright]

Lewis or Isaiah Crowell Crow Dion Lewis or Derek Henry?

[Jason Moore]

I'll take Henry.

[Mike Wright]

Ooh.

[Andy Holloway]

I have some interesting in a PPR league.

[Jason Moore]

I will take Lewis in that. In that matchup.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Before we move on to the Colts and Raiders game, we want to thank today's sponsor. Look, it's Naturebox. We love Naturebox. We love snacks. You can start snacking healthy with Naturebox. And I'm telling you, it's December 23rd, right. You need a gift for somebody. When you do one of these subscriptions like Naturebox, you can go sign up, gift it, print it, you're done. It's not like you're gonna have to wait for this thing to get shipped to you right now to give that gift. You can go and do it right away. They make snacks that actually taste great.

[Mike Wright]

They are so good.

[Jason Moore]

And they're better for you. They are created with higher quality ingredients. They're free from artificial colors and flavors and sweeteners. So you can feel great about snacking. Look, my favorites on there. You want to go sweet and still feel good. Vanilla bean wafers. You got mini Belgian waffles.

[Andy Holloway]

I have those right now.

[Jason Moore]

Awesome, dude. Mike's favorite, the Sriracha cashews.

[Andy Holloway]

They're incredible.

[Jason Moore]

The jalapeno cashews are good too, by the way. They recently made their service even better. You can order as much as you want now, as often as you Want with no minimum purchase required. You can cancel anytime. And look, they've got a deal for you guys. Because that's what we do. We get you a deal on these good high quality services. They help support the show. There's over a hundred snacks you can choose from. You never get bored. New snacks each month and they are inspired by real customer feedback. So check it out. By the way, if you ever don't like a snack, they'll just replace it for free. That's pretty nice. They stand by what they do. Right now you can save even more. Naturebox is offering footballers listeners 50% off your first order when you go to naturebox.com footballers that's naturebox.com footballers for 50% off your first order. Naturebox.com footballers footballers.

[Andy Holloway]

We want to thank Pristine Auction. Making your sports memorabilia dreams come true.

[Jason Moore]

They're making all of our studio dreams come true. I'll tell you, it looks nice.

[Andy Holloway]

They're getting you authentic signatures from your favorite sports stars. And it's not just sports. There's all kinds of other awesome movie knickknacks and things, collectibles.

[Jason Moore]

I just saw they gave away a Back to the future autograph script by Mr. Michael J. Fox.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, exactly. This is the collector's dream. Pristine Oxen. And right now you're getting ready to celebrate your fantasy championship. A signed jersey of a player who took you to the ship. That's a great way to do it. And right now I'm looking at a Ty Hilton jersey signed. I'm looking at a LeGarrett blunt jersey guy Andy loves this week signed Julian Edelman signed jersey. I mean they got, they got crazy stuff and they have new stuff every single day and it's more affordable than you could ever imagine. Head over to Pristine Auction. That's P R I s t I-eauction.com. you make a completely free account and when you do that, you let them know that the fantasy footballer sent you.

[Mike Wright]

You will not be disappointed.

[Jason Moore]

Colts Raiders 52 and a half point over under. Definitely in consideration for the maybe the most fantasy relevant game of the week with Derek Carr and Andrew Luck. You've got Gore and Murray facing off Hilton and Cooper and Crabtree. Oh my. It's going to be a delicious fantasy smorgasbord for the Christmas season. I want to come out and here's what's going on with the Raiders and you guys share your thoughts on anybody you want to talk about in this matchup. Look, The Colts are 20th against the run, 27th against the pass the game and the dance. And the story for the Raiders lately has been, how do you know which wide receiver to start on which week? Last week, I buried Cooper in my rankings. I put Crabtree up high as my start of the week. The matchup just looked that way to me. You had the opposing corner to me, I've completely flipped it this week. And so I'm hanging my hat on Amari Cooper and I'm going to officially change my start of the week. Oh, official start of the week.

[Andy Holloway]

Unprecedented.

[Jason Moore]

You knew I wanted Michael Thomas, but you stole him from me.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

So I went with Alshon yesterday after some consideration of Alshon's circumstances. Still like Alshon, don't love him anymore. Amari Cooper is my official start of the week. And I think it's important to say because you don't have confidence in a guy when they pooped the bed the way they did last week with one reception.

[Mike Wright]

I love this pick so much. I believe Vonte Davis is out, Right?

[Andy Holloway]

Has he really been in. I mean, he's not played very well at all this year.

[Mike Wright]

True. But either way, they have a hobbled number one corner or none. And so Amari Cooper, I really like that pick. In a high scoring game. I actually think this is the type of game where both Crabtree and Cooper should be able to get it done. But I do like Cooper more than Crabtree this week. That's a good start. On the other side of the ball, a guy that I think there's a lot of worry about, Dante Moncrief, who last we saw him, didn't perform well. Injured, can't talk about, yeah, oh, Moncrief. But in a high scoring game, that's going to be back and forth. Moncrief specialty is, you know, those, those touchdowns near the red zone. And I think he's all touchdowns in.

[Jason Moore]

Near the red zone. For the record.

[Andy Holloway]

No, don't touch my red zone, bro.

[Jason Moore]

All touchdowns happen in the red zone.

[Mike Wright]

Not from the red zone. No, no, that was what I was saying.

[Jason Moore]

Okay. You said it so humorously that I had to. Jason Moore is on it. Make sure it shows up.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, you know, Ty Hilton's an auto start, right? If he's on your. Your team, he's 100% Moncrief is the question. And I am thinking that I would start him. You know, you had the question between.

[Andy Holloway]

I had. Yeah, I had the Jordan Matthews, Dante Moncrief decision to make. I went with Jordan Matthews and it kept telling you. Yeah, no, you did. You certainly did. I now just wanted to touch on the, the running back situation for a different team. Never mind. I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm looking further down the list. I apologize.

[Jason Moore]

You're doing well, Mike.

[Andy Holloway]

Thank you. Thank you.

[Jason Moore]

All right, what else do we want to discuss about in this game?

[Mike Wright]

We're starting Latavius Murray.

[Jason Moore]

He disappointed people last week.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And so you need to know that you should start him. You're starting Frank Gore as well. I mean those two guys are very similar in the sense that they are not your, they're not your upper echelon great players, but they are as solid on the season this year as, you know, your second running back in your lineup. I think there are a lot of people with Latavius Murray and Frank Gore in their championship games because those are the type of players that have been consistent and won you matchups. I think you start both. Those guys basically start everyone in this game. I would not start Philip Dorsett.

[Jason Moore]

You guys seem a little sketchy about Derek Carr. You got Philip Rivers ranked ahead of Derek Carr this week. You got Big Ben ranked ahead of Derek Carr this week.

[Andy Holloway]

Tell me why the matchup is so great. It's just his play has been a little bit erratic since the finger injury. I just have my concerns and where, so where I was confused on the running basket because I was thinking about DeMarco Murray and Derek Henry and this situation is very similar for Bob Turbin and Frank Gore. I was just, I was going to talk about the snap counts where Robert Turbin was only on the field for 35% of snaps, which, that's a pretty good amount. That's okay. He was on for 50% last week or the week before. But seven carries inside the 10 for Bob Turbin.

[Jason Moore]

Yep. It's the reality you have to live with now as a go owner really.

[Andy Holloway]

Since week nine, Bob Turbin is getting carries inside the 10.

[Jason Moore]

Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers travel to New Orleans to take on the Saints who still have a sliver of playoff hope. And last time these two teams faced off it was in Tampa. And it was a trap game for fantasy owners because they did not have that big high scoring production. We had one of our listeners kind of warn us, hey, that might happen. They know each other, they're familiar with one another. Vegas has it at a 52 1/2 point over under with the Saints favored by three. We saw the Saints carve up the secondary of a pretty good team, the Cardinals last week, at least on the defensive side. Statistically 48 points in that Game. Brandon Cooks went ham, Michael Thomas looked great. Didn't see a lot from the running backs, didn't need to last week. How do we see this one shaking out? Is it a repeat of that disappointment we had a couple of weeks ago, or is this the time when we get to cash in on all the hope of Jameis Winston in the playoffs, of Mike Evans? Or is this the third straight week that we're disappointed in those guys?

[Andy Holloway]

I'm doubling down. I guess I'm tripling down here that I think this is. This is. The Bucks are going to get it going because they will have to. Jason's. We talked about the scoring the Saints defense allows. Was it five more points at home? Yeah, right around four or five more.

[Mike Wright]

30 to 25 points at home.

[Andy Holloway]

They allow more points because they score more points and just puts more. More pressure on the defense. And they're not a spectacular unit. They can't, you know, go Baltimore Ravens and shut people down. So I like the Bucks. I like everyone involved in this game. I can't imagine you're in a situation where you're saying, yep, I'm benching him. I'm going to sit Brandon Cooks. I'm going to sit Doug Reese.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it's just they were in this situation where the game script didn't work. I mean, it didn't work out for them against Detroit when they were at home. That's the one of the only times in recent memory that my mind was just shocked. You know what I mean, about them being at home and it not coming to fruition. They had garbage time, still didn't get it done. That's the only way that I see this game going wrong is if Tampa gets a defensive score, maybe they run one in and then the game changes a little bit. If New Orleans can't get it going even then, I'm not that concerned. You know, the. The Bucks, they give up big plays in the secondary. When they do give it up, the Saints, they score points. I'm excited about this. I'm excited about Cameron Brait. He's rated really highly for me. Is Fleener a lottery ticket for the desperate, or do we just steer clear.

[Andy Holloway]

Of the Fleener, the tight ends, the tight ends this week, it's rough. It's a rough situation. Your studs are out. Ladarius Green, the waiver wire savior, he's going to be out. I'm me. I'm in my. One of my dynasty leagues. I'm now pushed to the situation where I'm choosing between Fleener And Pitta, I'm in that barfy tight end. I'm going with Fleener in that situation.

[Jason Moore]

Are you really?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I'm going to take the upside of the Superdome.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. That's split splitting your difference with the Superdome.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

All right. We've got six more games to get through, so I'm going to move on now. The 49ers and the Rams, this game is an over. All right, next. This game's only got a 39 and a half point over under. It's just not gonna be good for fantasy minus one player that I know Jason and I to really like. Two for you, one for me.

[Mike Wright]

Two for me.

[Jason Moore]

Todd Gurley.

[Andy Holloway]

T for two.

[Jason Moore]

Todd Gurley is the start of the week for Jason. Would have been mine as well had I not been snaked. So Todd Gurley.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Absolutely. Love him this week. Redemption story. Save your fantasy team.

[Mike Wright]

If he can't run against the 49ers.

[Jason Moore]

This week, he may not be good enough to play in the National Football League.

[Mike Wright]

Everyone, you know, as the season has gone on and the 49ers defense has weakened, everyone has been able to run on them. Todd Gurley will be able to get it going even with a poor offensive line there. So Todd Gurley is a great play. Also, if you're playing dfs, he's a great play because he's a little bit cheaper than those upper echelon running backs. And he is this week going to be an upper echelon guy. So I really do like him. The 49ers defense has just been just. I don't have words.

[Jason Moore]

Well, they're traveling. They're terrible. We don't like them whatsoever.

[Mike Wright]

And you've got a little bit more hope here in the Rams offense, even including guys like Jared Goff in the sense that what I don't think will happen on every single fourth and inches near midfield is a punt. With Jeff Fisher gone, you're going to have a little bit more. Maybe at least you have the opportunity for modern coaching. And so, you know, we talk about Jeff Fisher. Quarterbacks have had such low numbers, and part of that is because he takes the opportunity out of the offense, puts everything on the defense. Hopefully that changes this game. That. That should be good for Todd Gurley. And, you know, I'm not saying start Jared Goff, I certainly wouldn't. But I'm bumping him up a few spots from the bottom. You know, he's usually just the last spot.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure.

[Jason Moore]

And Mike wants to talk about Carlos Hyde.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, Carlos Hyde. Has just been a. He's been an unstoppable train these last few weeks as. And I don't see any reason why the Rams would be able to stop him. They're 19th against the run. It just their overall defense is not what you expected from the Rams when the season began. And Carlos Hyde, he's the team. He's the 49ers team and they're. And Chip Kelly is not slowing down on giving him touches.

[Jason Moore]

It's a tough situation for me because I move, hide down. He's my 15th ranked running back. Last week against Atlanta he had seven fantasy points after four straight double digit weeks. And obviously he's running very well. His yards per carry over the last four games has been outstanding. Last week you saw the Rams obviously, you know, divisional matchup shut down Thomas Rawls in Seattle. To me, you know, the recipe right now is stop Carlos Hyde, make Colin Kaepernick throw the ball. I just don't see running back one upside with Hyde this week. Very startable. He's my 15th ranked. That's how I have him laid out. Jason, why don't you give your perspective on him because it looks like you have him at 15 as well.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I think you illustrated it well. What Mike is pointing out is that Carlos Hyde has just been running great last week. People are very disappointed in his fantasy production because he didn't score a touchdown and he did fumble. So that kind of swung his numbers. But his actual rushing production, 13 for 71 was very good.

[Andy Holloway]

That's five and a half yards of carry.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And if you look over the last, you know, month and a half, he's been doing that every single game. So I, but I agree, I agree with Andy. I mean this is the stop Carlos Hyde game for the Los Angeles Rams. They have a good defensive.

[Jason Moore]

Well, I say you talk about the change of coaching staff. You did see a pretty, a better defensive performance from them.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I'm just saying Billy Belichick knew, knew the score. He knew it was try and stop Carlos Hyde. Yet he ran 19 for 86 against the Patriots. I mean he's. Hyde is not stoppable right now and so poor defense is not going to stop him.

[Jason Moore]

Cardinals Seahawks up in Seattle. Seattle is favored by eight and a half in this game. 43 point over under. Look, a lot of names, right, A lot of names in this game with Palmer and Wilson and Johnson and Rawls and Fitz and Baldwin and Lockett Graham. I mean where do you begin on telling the story of how this game is going to play out the Cardinals, they are sacking the quarterback at an impressive rate. The offensive line for Seattle has not been strong. Palmer is averaging a ton of pass attempts per game, third most in the league. So is there a chance for Arizona to do enough on the offensive side of the ball in this game to give. To give more than David Johnson a chance in fantasy football?

[Andy Holloway]

There's a chance we had. The Cardinals have had some recent success up in Seattle. David Johnson. You play David Johnson. I've seen a couple tweets of the matchup up in Seattle. Play David Johnson.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, 14 straight games of over 100 all purpose yards, right?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Including a matchup against Seattle. I know it was at home, but he looked very good in that game. He didn't score a touchdown, but he still had his yardage. Total was outrageous.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, you can't really stop him. So you know, he got you here. Don't, don't put him on the bench.

[Mike Wright]

Right. Yeah. I think the guy that you can still play from Arizona that isn't named David Johnson is Larry Fitzgerald, you know, since, since 2014. Basically the new, you know, Bruce Arians good Cardinals against a good Seattle team. Fitz has had good games against them. And there's always been those, man, I, I can't play Fitz against Seattle. And they're great passing defense, you know, but in the last four games, he's actually averaged a full point more against Seattle than his average in all the games outside of that, over a reception, more a game. They need him. They need Larry Fitzgerald when you're going up against Seattle. And so, you know, he's involved and I would be fine. I am starting Larry in one of my championship games.

[Jason Moore]

Doug Baldwin, Tyler Lockett. Where do you see those guys finishing this week?

[Andy Holloway]

Doug Baldwin, I think he's a fine play. They move him all over. I mean he's. And he's a great slot wide receiver. That's not generally the Patrick Peterson area. Tyler Lockett is back, man, his speed is back. And we've seen.

[Jason Moore]

Not according to Jason's rankings.

[Mike Wright]

Well, I've always been the anti Lockett.

[Andy Holloway]

He's got, he's got some boom bust in him for sure, but he has that big play ability. And I was saying we've seen firsthand Tyler Lockett has the jets to get past Patrick Peterson. So I'm okay go if you want to go with the, the Hail Mary play of, of Lockett. I just, he would be a piece of my roster that he's my flex play where I know that he's volatile. I know that I can. I have a safe baseline of points everywhere else and he's kind of putting me over the top.

[Mike Wright]

Last guy. I think that's important for us to talk about because there's gonna be a lot of questions about Jimmy Graham.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm mentioning him. Right.

[Mike Wright]

Because I mean, Arizona has been great against tight end and Jimmy Graham hasn't really shown up for the last few weeks.

[Andy Holloway]

And you know who's back? Tyler Lockett.

[Mike Wright]

So you're thinking it's. It's for those reasons.

[Andy Holloway]

Tyler Lockett is back to hell.

[Jason Moore]

Are good against tight end.

[Andy Holloway]

Cardinals are great against tight end. And Jimmy Graham, with Luke Wilson also playing, has been not nearly as effective as.

[Mike Wright]

Well.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, we saw Wilson almost have two touchdowns a couple of weeks ago.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, I just think it's hard because if you're, if you're in the championship, you got Jimmy Graham. Your waiver options. Are you benching him for a CJ Fedorowicz or Ryan Griffin?

[Andy Holloway]

I would not.

[Mike Wright]

Ryan Griffin.

[Jason Moore]

That's a strong sit for you.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I'm not playing him.

[Mike Wright]

I would not. If I could find. I would probably play Antonio Gates over him.

[Jason Moore]

It's hard to find upside like that you have with Jimmy Graham.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I completely agree. But actually Bright, I just don't see any upside for him this week.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, you have him down at 19 this week against the Cardinals where we both have them at 8. So you put your money with your mouth is. Yep. All right. Saturday night game. The Christmas Eve evening game. Bengals, Texans. This game's almost heads up here. We got the Texans favored by a point at home, 41 and a half point over under the Savage takes control of the offense, faces Andy Dalton, faces AJ Green now returning to the lineup. How do you see this one shaking out? I mean, you have kind of some question marks all over this game. Right. You have Hill and A.J. green both dealing with injuries. It looks like Hill's going to start. Lamar Miller dealing with injury. DeAndre Hopkins fresh off a 17 target game, but a season of failure before that. So, you know, I think we're all pretty confident in Hopkins.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Confident enough to play him this week.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm confident because I think that the volume will be there. It's. It's not the.

[Jason Moore]

They only nine points a game, man. That's how bad Brock's been.

[Andy Holloway]

It's not a terribly scary matchup against the Bengals or 13th against the pass, but it's by no means great. Still, Hopkins elite level player will actually get targets and more accurate targets. Than Brock Osweiler can throw, in my opinion. So he's. He's a must play for me.

[Jason Moore]

Jason has no thoughts on any of these players.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I mean, it's obviously a difficult game. I do think this is going to be low scoring with all these question marks. I don't think that all these question marks with good. With, you know, a really good Texans defense is going to turn into a shootout. And so if it's low scoring and I'm worried about injured guys, I'm hoping that I've got better options. You know, we said earlier about Lamar Miller. I think there's going to be a lot of teams that need to start him. And I think you're going to be somewhat okay, but disappointed. I would rather. And that's how I see A.J. green. That's how I see even DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins is my favorite of that group of questionable guys. But this game isn't one that excites me. The players aren't.

[Jason Moore]

Andy Dalton's been a flex or start of the week consideration the past two weeks. We all have him in the early 20s. 23 is our consensus rank.

[Andy Holloway]

Texans past defense. I mean, boy is playing out of his mind.

[Mike Wright]

And Eifert looks like he's not healthy right now. So for me, there's not much that I really like here. I would say Jeremy Hill might be one of the better plays in this game.

[Andy Holloway]

I agree.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

I actually agree with that. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And you're both obviously starting Tom Savage.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, yeah. The Savage must start over.

[Mike Wright]

Over Brady.

[Andy Holloway]

How about just.

[Mike Wright]

Just.

[Jason Moore]

I hope somebody does that because they think you're serious.

[Andy Holloway]

Just a temperature check now with AJ Green back. Do you. Is Boyd back to the bench?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

For you.

[Jason Moore]

Yep.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

He might have been there anyway.

[Andy Holloway]

He had more opportunity.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he did. Let's move into the Christma. All right. We've got a pair of them. We have the Broncos, Chiefs. We have the Ravens and Steelers. Let's start there. Flacco and Big Ben. Big Ben finally returns home.

[Mike Wright]

Come on, Big Ben. I need you.

[Andy Holloway]

Big Ben.

[Jason Moore]

Is that where he keeps like his touchdown? Good perform his touchdown. That's where he's under his bed.

[Mike Wright]

Yep. He's got the touchdowns in a locker under his bed.

[Jason Moore]

See, I was going to go performance enhancing drugs. So I think you took the better. You took the high road.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Do you remember the last time that Big Ben played the Ravens at home? At home.

[Andy Holloway]

At home.

[Jason Moore]

Five or six touchdowns.

[Andy Holloway]

It was six.

[Jason Moore]

It's nice being at home. 44 and a half point over.

[Mike Wright]

Under.

[Andy Holloway]

Does Big Ben have the world's greatest mattress?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Much better.

[Andy Holloway]

Is this. Or, I mean, does he have some kind of weird sleeping situation where he needs to be, like, upright in his. In a chamber of some kind?

[Jason Moore]

If he has a game at home, which I think, you know, we like him. We don't love him. We like him because the last two weeks make you not love him.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And the Ravens are still a very good defense.

[Jason Moore]

Ravens are a good D. They're second against the run, tenth against the pass. Who's the other beneficiary? We know Antonio Brown's in your lineup. You're starting them. Let's not talk about him anymore. Who's the other beneficiary? Is it a Jesse James? If Ladari's green sits, is it an Eli Rogers?

[Mike Wright]

I think it would be Eli Rogers. He's the guy that's been involved. He's the guy that's healthy right now. And if I had to pick a second target, that's the guy I would be throwing out. There would be Rogers.

[Andy Holloway]

It's just more. Bumped Le'Veon Bell for me, and that's.

[Mike Wright]

Kind of what it is for me as well. I'm not starting Eli Rogers. I think Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown can get it done enough. Where all of Big Ben's production, even if he has a great game, might mostly come from those two assets.

[Andy Holloway]

You got Jimmy Smith still not practicing, likely to miss the game. That's gonna. That's gonna be tough. On the other.

[Jason Moore]

On the other side, the second year in a row, the Ravens are throwing the ball more than anybody else in football, despite the fact that it seems like they have some success on the ground when they actually hand it off, 62% of the time, though, they're throwing it. Senior Wallace, Aiken, Pitta. You know, for me, I'm. If I'm picking one, I'm still picking Steve Smith. Senior. He's the go to guy. He's the. He's the player I have the most confidence in, to not disappear in this matchup. Do you disagree at the wide receiver position? I know you're probably not excited about anything.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I'm not excited about it. I'm okay playing Smith. I kind of like Wallace in this matchup. But to piggyback on what you were talking about, Baltimore is their second in pass attempts. Right. So in the top 10 for passing attempts, for teams, there are two teams without 20 plus passing touchdowns. One of them is the Baltimore Ravens.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

So despite the high volume and the other one's the Eagles, by the way. So despite the high passing volume, it's not equaling fantasy success, in my opinion.

[Jason Moore]

The beneficiary of that. Right, because Flacco is. He's completing passes at 10.1 yards per completion, which is near dead last in the league. The beneficiary of the volume without the touchdowns is those running backs. So if Kenneth Dixon's in the, you know, in the field of play, we saw him with a high volume of catches two weeks ago. I think that if, if the narrative of Pittsburgh taking the lead in this game, having success at home comes to fruition, you're going to see a team playing and guarding against the deep play, giving up the underneath and allowing, you know, Joe Flacco to move the ball. Two weeks ago, inch by inch.

[Mike Wright]

Two weeks ago against the Patriots, when the Patriots got up, that was the week that Dixon had 42 snaps, got a bunch of receptions. So I do think Dixon is. Is a decent play here for two reasons. One, because that game script could happen again. And two, the Steelers are far more beatable on the ground.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Sunday Night Football. The Broncos and Chiefs. This is an interesting game. The Chiefs are three and a half point favorites, lowest over under the week at 37 and a half. I don't really blame them for that.

[Mike Wright]

I can remember on the season.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it's really low. Really low. The two good defenses, two okay offenses. Not a lot of confidence floating through this game for me. Really. Only want to start where as a baseline type of player. I think I have him as an RB2 this week. I mean, Travis Kelsey, you're probably starting him. I mean.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

I don't have a fear of Kelsey not producing something. So where else do we go in this matchup?

[Mike Wright]

I mean, you're going to play the two defenses, which are really the stars of this game. I think you can start the Broncos against Chiefs and the Chiefs against the Broncos. I mean, sure, you know, it's rare that you start both sides of the defense in the same game. There's not a lot. I mean, you might have to start Demarius Thomas. He's a talented enough guy where, you know, he can get his.

[Jason Moore]

But yeah, I wouldn't be sitting him or Sanders.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't think.

[Jason Moore]

I don't want. In that 2, 3 range.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't want to sit. But you might have. You got to lower your expectations for sure. Spencer Ware. You guys still okay playing him? I know we've.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I said he's a two for me.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Okay. In the Chiefs Are not. They've gotten better since getting healthier on the. The defensive side of the ball. Justin for set seems to be the primary running back for the Broncos. Do you have any confidence throwing him out for your fantasy?

[Jason Moore]

Confidence? No. Willingness, yes.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

I have a willingness to throw him out there. If you don't have a better situation, you're a map forte owner. You don't have Bilal, pal. You lost forte and now you've been piecing together your running back core for the last few weeks with the, you know, Derek Henry's or Justin for sets or whatever it is. I'm okay rolling him out there. He's going to have enough volume to not destroy you. I don't see any upside.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, Yeah. I mean, he had 14 touches last week, but what is he going to do against Kansas City? I. I'm very. My heart is very unwilling to start.

[Jason Moore]

It's an important game for Kansas City, too. They're fighting for that division. If the Colts knock off the Raiders and Kansas City wins this game, I believe they take over the division lead. Whoo. So it is an important game for them. They're at home. You know, I'm with you. So Monday night. Monday night we have the Lions and the Cowboys. Cowboys clinched the home field. Seven point favorites, 44 and a half point over under here. Interesting game. I. Last week I went against the Cowboys. I think I'm going to do it again.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, I was just thinking.

[Jason Moore]

What?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, Andy's almost upset of the week.

[Jason Moore]

Fool me once.

[Mike Wright]

Hey, you nailed it last week.

[Jason Moore]

Did I?

[Mike Wright]

Didn't you? Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Tampa almost set them.

[Jason Moore]

So you. You were. You gave me credit for that.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. You only feel bad about it because we had another bet.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Look, the game's more important this week for Detroit. They play close games and they play them well. I like their opportunity in this game to keep it close. It doesn't mean that I think that they're the better team. I think Dallas is the better team and they might win the game, but seven points is too much. So I'll take the Lions in the almost upset of the week.

[Andy Holloway]

Theo Riddick probably out.

[Mike Wright]

So here's a.

[Jason Moore]

You know, you're probably out.

[Andy Holloway]

Here's a question for Justin for set you. It's a Justin for.

[Jason Moore]

Let me get him on the phone. One sec.

[Andy Holloway]

Justin. Justin for set or Dwayne Washington.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, give me all the Justin for set I can handle.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, Dwayne Washington very strong stand.

[Mike Wright]

Dwayne Washington is so high on so many different lists that I have seen Theo Riddick's out. Oh, you got Dwayne Wager. He's really fast and he's good on these metrics. He stinks. Look, I'm just so disappointed in Dwayne Washington on the season. I don't. He got 14 carries last week. That's great.

[Jason Moore]

If you. If you've never had a double digit fantasy game in your career, you don't deserve to be started in championship week.

[Mike Wright]

He got 31 yards on 14 carries. So what in the world are you hoping for against the number two ranked defense against running backs for fantasy football?

[Andy Holloway]

Set him down.

[Mike Wright]

Don't. Don't touch Dwayne Washington, guys. I mean, I just told you my heart did not want to start just for sat. And I would. I would give him a. I would embrace.

[Jason Moore]

So you're starting Joint Bell, then a heart hug.

[Mike Wright]

I'm not starting a running back from the Detroit Lions.

[Jason Moore]

What if. Would this talk you into it?

[Mike Wright]

Maybe.

[Andy Holloway]

Maybe just for entertainment.

[Mike Wright]

The glory play, if I can.

[Jason Moore]

That's like Sean Manuel level. All right. We talked about Zeke. We broke all that down in the quick question. So you can go back. Listen to that. If you want to hear our perspective on Zeke, the bottom line is we're starting him. DEZ Bryant, you should have a lot of confidence. It looks like Darius Flame. I missed this game.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's trouble.

[Jason Moore]

Which is unfortunate. With that name, you should really be playing right around Christmas.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, except he's the Ay Spelling. So it's like the. The evil Santa.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. We're on radio though, so I mean, I'm just gonna pretend Darius Slave.

[Mike Wright]

Slave.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, like you're killing somebody.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Have you not seen those?

[Mike Wright]

Those are.

[Andy Holloway]

Those are great Christmas movies.

[Jason Moore]

The Darius sleigh movies now where Santa.

[Andy Holloway]

Goes on a rampage of not giving out toys.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah, sure. That's our family tradition. We watched that. We watched that one on Christmas.

[Mike Wright]

We watched Scrooge.

[Andy Holloway]

And then we watch. And then we watch Krampus.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, you keep them in line.

[Mike Wright]

So, Andy, if the Lions are going to almost upset the Cowboys, how are they possibly. How are they going to do it? What weapons are going to get this job done?

[Jason Moore]

It's going to be a hodgepodge like it's been all season. It's going to be golden tape by far, in a way, the best play, especially in PPR leagues in this matchup. You've got Anquan Bolden mixed in there. Marvin Jones with a couple of deep passes. Eric ebron catching his four balls for 50 yards and probably no touchdowns.

[Andy Holloway]

To be fair, will tie. Last night he went over his allotted budget of two receptions.

[Jason Moore]

That's Christmas time.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

So maybe Ebron can.

[Jason Moore]

Maybe I, you know.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it will be on Christmas.

[Jason Moore]

Are you. Are you confident in Golden Tate? Like I am confident enough to play him. I mean, he's been playing. He's been playing well, balling out. They need him. They need him. So look, we're gonna get into. I'm gonna give us a couple minutes of mailbag here.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, Christmas bonus.

[Jason Moore]

Christmas bonus coming your way.

[Mike Wright]

Mailbag.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't know.

[Jason Moore]

Hey, guys. Trey Turner from Bowling Green, Kentucky, helped me reach my first playoff championship this, this year and had a question in regards to running backs. I've got to start two and set one between Jonathan Stewart, Spencer Ware and Bilal Powell. Currently, I've got Ware and Stewart starting, but my gut feeling is telling me to start Powell. Just let me know what you think. Thanks again. Love the show.

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to give Spencer Ware a hearty handshake, a thankful pat on the back, and I'm going to say thank.

[Andy Holloway]

You for your service.

[Mike Wright]

Rest here on the bench.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Follow your. Follow your Instagram.

[Jason Moore]

Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to start that one. Jumping in. I was letting you do it. Yeah, I agree with you guys. I think, I think the upside of PAL is just so great. The check downs, the opportunity for him to just be that. I mean, he didn't. The garbage man.

[Mike Wright]

He didn't score a touchdown last week and he was like a top five running back. When you get that kind of volume, he doesn't need a touchdown. I really like that.

[Jason Moore]

If you have a question, you go to the website the fantasy footballers.com youm can also dial the voicemail hotline which you just heard at 302-464-TFFB. Here's another voicemail question. Hey, guys, this is Anna from New York City. New York City, your season advice and draft kit. I'm in the finals in both of my leagues. Nice. I'm playing Elliott and DeMarco Murray in a standard league. But should my flex be Miller, Rawls or Henry?

[Mike Wright]

Thanks for helping me.

[Jason Moore]

And I wanted to say, Mike, I.

[Mike Wright]

Stand by the man bun. Don't let the guys get you down.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

All right. It's a great question and I have a crazy answer.

[Mike Wright]

I have. I know my answer that I would start in this situation and mine is going to be not crazy.

[Jason Moore]

If you are favored on paper in this game. I am 100% starting. Derek Henry along with DeMarco Murray against Jacksonville, I am 100% doing that. Lamar Miller, the injury, he could be off the field. If you're favored, you cannot afford Lamar Miller limping off the field in the first quarter. Rawls. Okay. I'm fine with it. He's more upside than Henry playing against a really, really good run D in Arizona. I don't want that. I'm going Derek Henry, last week he looked great. He has high quality of quantity of carries. No matter how the game script goes in Jacksonville. Jason looks like so, like he's just digesting the words.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Chewing them up. He's trying to figure it out. I'm going Elliot Murray, Henry. Unless I'm an underdog. If I'm an underdog, I'm going Ross.

[Andy Holloway]

Either way, I'm. I'm going to go with. With Rawls. Henry was on the field for under 26% of the snaps. I know he got the touchdowns, but that's what you're. That, that's like a Mike Gillislee play and where you're just. You're hoping he gets the touchdowns. That's for me. I'm going to take Rawls. I know the Cardinals, they do have a pretty solid.

[Jason Moore]

He had two touchdowns last week, just so you know.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I said he got the touchdowns.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, okay.

[Andy Holloway]

I didn't hear the plural, but the Arizona has given up some fantasy points to the running back. So I would. I'm going to go with Rawls and.

[Mike Wright]

We'Re going to, I assume because of the man bunch he's going to take your advice, start Rawls. But I am actually going with the third of the trifecta. I would start Lamar Miller here, assuming he's not.

[Andy Holloway]

You're going to take the risk of the guy who. With the ankle.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, yeah, I am. Lamar Miller has played through every injury he's pretty much ever had. He's, I believe the longest active starting running back in the NFL right now for consecutive starts. He'll play. He'll do. All right. Cincinnati is the 20th ranked team against running backs and while I said I'd move him down, I also said I think in most situations you're still going to start him. And this is one of those situations that would be my guy.

[Jason Moore]

So what we taught you there, and I forget what our name was, pick your favorite footballer and go with them on this pick because we all had a different story there. And that's so much of what fantasy football is. It's the way the games play out. It's the narrative. It's what you need from Your team, Are you ahead? Are you behind? Are you favorite? Are you the underdog? So if you have questions, send them into the show. We appreciate all your support. This is going to be our, obviously our last show before Christmas. So Merry Christmas. Happy holidays to everybody out there.

[Andy Holloway]

Happy championships.

[Jason Moore]

Happy championships to everybody. And we're, you heard her mention it too, the udk, the Ultimate Draft Kit. We're going to have that again next year. Everybody that supports us over at Join the Foot gets a discount on that. So check out JoinTheFoot.com, our fantasy community. It's a great place to hang out. We're a season long show. I'm sorry, a year long show, not just the season. And we keep it going into January, February. We know how much you enjoy this show on your commutes. Keeping football in the back of your mind in the off season, really the front of your mind. It makes it so much fun heading into draft season. Great time of year. So thank you for your Support. Check out JoinTheFoot.com join our community. Come chat with us.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you sound, you sound like if I was listening, I would be worried. I'd be like, are they going away after that? We're here Monday, people. So if you're in your week 17 championship.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes. Do not fret.

[Jason Moore]

No doubt about it. No, we're not going away. We're just going. We're gonna go hang out under the tree.

[Mike Wright]

That's right.

[Jason Moore]

No present.

[Andy Holloway]

How are you gonna get under the tree?

[Mike Wright]

How do you think? Santa does it? Wait, Santa goes under the tree? Under my tree?

[Jason Moore]

Under your tree? It's weird. Just deal with it.

[Andy Holloway]

Santa's a mole. Hey.

[Jason Moore]

Thank you again to Naturebox for sponsoring today's show that makes snacks that actually taste good and are better for you, created with high quality ingredients that are free from all those artificial colors and flavors and sweeteners. So you can feel great about snacking or for us, you can feel great about getting that, giving it to the kids and they're not getting poisoned.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Right now you'll save even more. Naturebox is giving Fantasy Footballers listeners 50% off your first order. Go to naturebox.comfootballers, that's naturebox.comfootballers. have a great holiday, everybody.

[Andy Holloway]

Thank you for your support. When you got that trophy, that championship, you got to get a trophy for it. Fantasyjocks.com promo football or something like that.

[Jason Moore]

Bye.

[Andy Holloway]

See you Monday.

[Mike Wright]

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