Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Wk 12 Studs, Duds, Rising Stars, News

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast - Week 12 Summary (November 28, 2016)

The Fantasy Footballers hosted a comprehensive and engaging Week 12 episode, delivering valuable insights into fantasy football strategies, player performances, and upcoming matchups. Here's a detailed breakdown of the key discussions, analyses, and conclusions from the episode.

Introduction and Recap

The hosts began by celebrating the success of their previous Megalodon episode, highlighting its record-breaking downloads and sustained listenership throughout Week 12 ([01:29]). Andy Holloway expressed gratitude, stating, “The downloads of that podcast. People listening throughout the whole week and getting ready for week number 12" ([01:38]).

They set the stage for a content-rich episode, promising analyses of fantasy studs, duds, rising stars, Monday Night Football previews, and listener mailbags ([02:36]).

Strategy Discussion: Acquiring and Holding Waiver Players

A listener named John (@theFFBallers) posed a strategic question: Should you acquire and hold players off waivers to prevent other teams from starting them?

Jason Moore responded thoughtfully, emphasizing the importance of this strategy, especially during playoff runs. He shared a personal anecdote: “This last week I was... I was able to play keep away from Andy. You lost Andrew Luck...you lost me” ([04:55]).

Andy added, “It's good. Know your matchups. You should also be signing teams for the future” ([06:26]), reinforcing the idea that strategic waiver acquisitions can provide significant advantages.

Injury Updates & News

Key Player Injuries:

• Rob Gronkowski ([09:01]): Gronk exited the game early due to a back injury, initially not expected to miss time. However, he may miss 2-3 weeks, prompting the need for backup tight ends.

• Jordan Reed ([11:03]): Suffered a Grade 3 AC joint separation but returned to play, raising concerns about his availability for upcoming games.

• Derek Carr ([12:16]): Dislocated his pinky, one of the most painful injuries, affecting his gameplay.

• Lamar Miller ([12:41]): Limped off with an ankle injury, necessitating close monitoring for future updates.

• Jeremy Hill ([13:00]): Ankle injury led to underperformance despite being on the field.

• Chris Ivory ([13:00]): Started strong but left with a hamstring injury, leading to considerations of picking up T.J. Eldon as a replacement.

• John Brown, Tyrell Williams, Patrick Peterson ([13:42] & [14:07]): Multiple wide receivers faced injuries, impacting their fantasy value.

• Andrew Luck ([14:07]): Returned to practice and is expected to play, providing relief for fantasy managers.

These updates underscored the critical need for fantasy managers to stay informed about player health, especially as playoffs approach.

Weekly Rewind

Quarterbacks

• Colin Kaepernick ([09:01] & [35:53]): Delivered a standout performance with a game-clinching 43 points. Jason highlighted his consistency since Week 6, noting, “he is a viable option” ([36:42]). Despite a challenging schedule ahead, Kaepernick remains a valuable asset.

• Kirk Cousins ([17:47]): Achieved 41 completions for 449 yards and 3 TDs, showcasing record-breaking efficiency. Although facing a tough playoff schedule against Arizona, Philadelphia, and Carolina, his current form makes him a strong contender.

• Big Ben Roethlisberger ([18:21]): Jason expressed a preference for Big Ben due to his talent and favorable matchups, despite an overall challenging playoff schedule.

• Other QBs: Discussions touched on performances of Cam Newton, Blake Bortles, and others, highlighting inconsistent starts but potential for turnaround performances.

Running Backs

Stud Muffins:

• Mark Ingram ([25:00]): Overcame concussion concerns to post 146 yards, a touchdown, and a 21-yard receiving TD, proving his resilience and value.

• Jonathan Stewart ([25:15]): Scored two touchdowns with Carolina, affirming his role as a reliable RB1.

• David Johnson & Ezekiel Elliott: Both had impressive performances, with Ezekiel delivering a monster game that solidified his position as a top running back.

• LaShawn McCoy ([26:18]): Despite a rocky start, McCoy finished with 103 yards and two TDs, demonstrating his explosive play capability.

• Carlos Hyde ([26:51]): Recommended as an RB1 due to his versatility in both running and receiving, along with favorable upcoming matchups.

• Kenneth Dixon: Finally secured more snaps, consistently producing double-digit fantasy points weekly.

Duds:

• Frank Gore ([48:26]): Underperformed due to ineffective offensive play-calling, becoming a disappointment for fantasy managers.

• Matt Forte ([49:03]): Faced tough upcoming matchups and inconsistent performances, leading to benching considerations.

• Rob Kelly ([48:28]): Despite some disappointing stats, remains a viable option with favorable schedules ahead.

• Others: Rashard Matthews and DeAndre Washington were noted as underperforming, adding to the list of RB duds.

Wide Receivers

Stud Muffins:

• Antonio Brown, Mike Evans, Odell Beckham Jr.: Delivered strong performances, with Beckham scoring two touchdowns, solidifying their status as top WR1 options.

• Taylor Gabriel ([29:19]): Despite being released by Cleveland, Gabriel excelled with two TDs for Carolina, emerging as a rising star.

• Tyreek Hill ([37:46]): Achieved a rare feat with a rushing TD, receiving TD, and a kick return TD in a single game, showcasing his multidimensional threat.

• Malcolm Mitchell ([40:29]): Showed potential, especially with Chris Hogan’s involvement in the Patriots’ offense, making him a valuable addition.

Duds:

• Brandon Cooks: Failed to register a single catch in a game where his team scored 49 points, marking a significant letdown.

• Allen Robinson, Amari Cooper, Julio Jones, Steve Smith, Jarvis Landry: Struggled to perform, leading to frustration among fantasy managers.

The hosts emphasized the importance of monitoring these WRs closely, especially for potential benching or trading during the playoff push.

Tight Ends

Stud Muffins:

• Travis Kelsey ([34:28]): Achieved 101 yards and a touchdown, reinforcing his position as a reliable TE1.

Duds:

• Antonio Gates ([52:29]): Unexpectedly recorded zero fantasy points due to lack of targets, causing confusion and frustration. Jason shared his bewilderment: “I was caught in this loop while I stared at Antonio Gates. Number going, wait, I know that San Diego played” ([52:38]).

• Hunter Henry ([52:22]): Although he scored touchdowns, overall performance was lacking, sparking debate over whether to start Gates or Henry.

The hosts debated the merits of starting Gates over Henry, ultimately suggesting that Gates should still be considered, albeit with caution due to his unpredictable performance.

Defenses and Matchups

The discussion focused on the importance of streaming defenses and understanding team matchups to maximize fantasy points:

• Patriots Defense ([06:55]): Highlighted as a solid option with favorable upcoming matchups against Cleveland and Miami.

• Bills Defense ([06:55] & [07:38]): Initially deemed a good pick, though recent performances suggested mixed results.

• Tampa Bay Defense ([32:03]): Praised for recent performances against Chicago, Chiefs, and Seattle, though Jason expressed skepticism about their long-term elite status.

Hosts emphasized the necessity of matching defenses to opponents’ weak points and the value of rotating defenses based on weekly matchups.

Rising Stars

Identified Rising Stars:

• Colin Kaepernick ([35:53]): Viewed as a rising star due to consistent performances and high fantasy rankings since taking over as a starter.

• Tyreek Hill ([37:46]): Recognized for his explosive play style and versatility, making him a valuable fantasy asset.

• Malcolm Mitchell ([40:29]): Emerging as a potential breakout player with increased opportunities in the Patriots’ offense.

The hosts encouraged listeners to monitor these players closely for potential trade or start opportunities as they continue to develop and perform at high levels.

Monday Night Football Preview

The hosts briefly previewed the upcoming Packers vs. Eagles game, discussing the over/under of 47.5 points and strategizing which players to start or sit based on defensive strengths and offensive potentials.

• Running Backs: Mike Wright opted to start Smallwood, while Jason highlighted the importance of defensive matchups affecting RB performance.

• Wide Receivers: Emphasized the significance of choosing between Devonte Adams and Jordan Matthews based on defensive coverage.

• Defenses: Analyzed the strengths of the Eagles' defense, noting their ability to limit receptions and force turnovers.

Conclusion

The Fantasy Footballers concluded the episode by reaffirming their commitment to supporting fantasy managers throughout the entire season and into the offseason. They highlighted upcoming content, including waiver wire opportunities, draft strategies, and award shows, ensuring listeners remain engaged and prepared for future fantasy football challenges.

Notable Quotes:

• Jason Moore on Kaepernick: “he is a viable option” ([36:42]).
• Mike Wright on the Patriots Defense: “The Patriots are a solid defense we've talked about for a while” ([06:55]).
• Jason Moore on tight end strategy: “You have to start Gates on a weekly basis over Hunter Henry” ([53:11]).
• Andy Holloway on team improvements: “These ones are really out of the park” ([32:03]).

The episode provided a wealth of information, blending strategic advice with player-specific analyses, ensuring that both seasoned fantasy managers and newcomers gained valuable insights to enhance their teams and approach to Week 12 and the approaching playoffs.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, Foot Clan. You know, we are all about making your fantasy league better, more fun. And if you've listened to this show long enough, you hear us make water bets all the time. Now, what you might not know is that we have a free app that we put out there called the Wheel of Water. It is fun. It has a bunch of ways that you can douse your friends after you dominate them in a fantasy football bet. And then go ahead and tweet those videos out with the hashtag wheelofwater and get in on the fun. Go to wheelofwater.com.

[Jason Moore]

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

[Mike Wright]

It makes sense now. Told you.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Nailed it.

[Jason Moore]

I thought it was this amazing, you know, engine and. No, it's a. It's a little bubble car. One of our.

[Andy Holloway]

One of the listeners submitted a live dubbing of that sound effect over one of Rawls's runs, and it. It's on my Twitter. You gotta go check it out.

[Jason Moore]

I do.

[Andy Holloway]

It's very funny. It's very funny. I loved it. So welcome to the Fantasy Footballers podcast. Because we're a daily show, it feels like it's been 4,000 years since we last recorded. Thank you.

[Mike Wright]

There's some people who might still be listening to the Megalodon episode.

[Andy Holloway]

I say thank you for making the Megalodon the most successful episode in our history by a lot.

[Mike Wright]

In the history of the world of podcasting.

[Andy Holloway]

It. It was incredible. The. The downloads of that podcast. People listening throughout the whole week and getting ready for week number 12. But we're all back this week and we've only got a few weeks left. Yeah, well, in the regular season, we're here all year long, all year round.

[Mike Wright]

Most people only have one week of regular season left.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, my goodness. A lot of people have none. I mean, this is week 13, so for those of you who are in the playoffs already, congrats. And hopefully you don't have any Tennessee Titans or Cleveland Browns to start your playoff run. To start your playoff run. So today's show is jam packed. We have. Do I sound funny?

[Jason Moore]

No, not at all. To me.

[Andy Holloway]

Wow. That means I can. I'm hearing funny. I'm a little under the weather today and you know, when your ears are a little off now, everything sounds weird.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, you always sound funny, right? If that's what like.

[Andy Holloway]

Like a wise person? Like a wise funny.

[Mike Wright]

No, no. Like a clown.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, good. Thank you. Fantasy rewind. Today we've Got the fantasy stud muffins we've got pooped in their big boy pants. Monday Night Football preview. The Mailbag. If we have time for it, it's going to be a great show. Why not start it off by reminding everybody that I won the bet? Dak Prescott was outscored by Big Ben Roethlisberger.

[Jason Moore]

Yes. Yes, he was. It was very close.

[Andy Holloway]

It was. Which I also said I loved them both.

[Jason Moore]

They both did great, which is good. They were each of our starts of the week. So hopefully you started Big Ben or Dak.

[Andy Holloway]

I like winning bets and also succeeding in our fantasy advice.

[Jason Moore]

That's good. That's good.

[Andy Holloway]

How was your weekend, Mike? How was your Thanksgiving?

[Mike Wright]

The Thanksgiving.

[Andy Holloway]

Did you have your Jack in the box?

[Mike Wright]

Certainly did. It was an eventful day. I had too much food. I watched a lot of football and the. I was one of those. I was on the positive side of the Kirk Cousins, Jordan Reed double stuff delight.

[Andy Holloway]

It's like, reminiscent of last year.

[Mike Wright]

So that was. That was. That was a great way to start Thursday or start.

[Jason Moore]

You knew what you were thankful for.

[Mike Wright]

I did not.

[Andy Holloway]

When you thought Jordan Reed went down.

[Mike Wright]

No, no. And then there's. There's still the. The lingering possibilities that we don't know exactly, but we'll talk about him in the news, of course.

[Andy Holloway]

All right.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, quick question. You had to get a pin there.

[Andy Holloway]

Quick question of the day from John on Twitter @ the FF Ballers. He says, should you acquire and hold players off of waivers simply so other teams don't start them against you?

[Jason Moore]

Any.

[Andy Holloway]

Any good example. He also wants to know if there's any good examples from years past. Wow.

[Jason Moore]

What do you think? Did you write this?

[Andy Holloway]

No, I did not. Get in the wayback.

[Jason Moore]

All right, let's go on the Wayback machine, too. This week, this current active week. Look, I'm still going to say that the strategy matters, and then it is certainly not a quality strategy. Just not if you're in the playoffs and your team, you know, look, if your playoffs start this week and it turns out Jordan Reed is out and there's only two good tight ends, you know, on the waivers, grab them, play, keep away from your opponent. I think it's still a good strategy.

[Andy Holloway]

However, sometimes it's not a guaranteed.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. This is fantasy football. This is the thing that, you know, people rage, quit over is that sometimes you think you can make all the right moves and you ended up.

[Andy Holloway]

And sometimes you have the Seahawks.

[Jason Moore]

So this last week I was. I think I said this on the show. Yes, you did. That I was able to play keep away from Andy. You lost Andrew Luck, I believe live.

[Andy Holloway]

On the Megalodon episode. You stole players from me.

[Jason Moore]

I stole Carson Palmer away from you. He was, he was all right. He was okay.

[Andy Holloway]

Pretty good. 23 points.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. It's all right. I mean, sure, you know, I stole Tyrod Taylor away from you. Who was your stream of the week? Who? I know you had higher and well, you had both those guys.

[Andy Holloway]

Both of those guys.

[Jason Moore]

So haha, you didn't get them. Instead you got Colin freaking Kaepernick who in our scoring format put up 43 points. I had Drew Brees. And so it's like, okay, you just. I had Drew Brees, monster game and you just canceled it out. This is stupid.

[Andy Holloway]

Hundred plus yards rushing, three touchdowns for Kaepernick. Yeah. But to the bigger question. Yes, you should still do that. Especially effective when you claim defenses away from your opponent and quarterbacks in general away from your opponent if they're facing the situation. Is it a guarantee? No, but it can help you and it can help assure you of not getting destroyed a lot of the time. So I like that strategy at this time of year. It's good. Know your matchups. You should also be signing teams for the future.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

So not just keeping them away, but signing some defense two weeks from now.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. When it comes to defenses, those are the things where when you're getting towards the playoffs, you need to stream those. It's very rare that you're going to have a defense on your team that you're going to start if you win the championship, that you're going to start them week after week after week. So you look and you go, oh, week 14 is great. I'm going to start the playoffs great. But week 15, you know, maybe they're playing Atlanta or they're playing some high powered offense and there's another team out there. Go pick them up and keep both on your team.

[Mike Wright]

The Patriots are a solid defense we've talked about for a while. For my team, I'm getting ready for the playoffs. As of right now, this is what I'm doing. I grabbed the Bills. That didn't work out as well as you hoped because Bortles sometimes takes care of your defense. But the bills for weeks 15 and 16, you get Cleveland at home, you get Miami at home. Now Miami, we'll see. They seem to be turning it on here. Ryan Tannehill looks like an actual good quarterback for the last month. I also picked up the Bengals to take on, take on the Eagles Because I'm not. I'm not scared of the Eagles offense. And this is what that's next week. And then week 14, they get the Browns.

[Jason Moore]

Just look for the Browns.

[Mike Wright]

I have. I have double stuffed those.

[Andy Holloway]

You guys see Hugh Jackson? He was on the brink of tears in the press conference.

[Mike Wright]

I was just going to ask was he weeping?

[Andy Holloway]

It sucks, man. It stinks. I mean, he's. I still love him.

[Jason Moore]

There's no way they win a game, right?

[Andy Holloway]

I think they could win a game.

[Jason Moore]

Most projection systems I've seen still give them a majority percentage chance to win a game. And I'm thinking what, they won't lose this week.

[Andy Holloway]

Good news, because they're on by. You get to stay at Owen 12 for another extra week. So.

[Mike Wright]

All right.

[Andy Holloway]

If you want to follow the show on Twitter, you can do so at the FF Ballers. Mike was on Periscope again on Sunday morning.

[Mike Wright]

Yep.

[Andy Holloway]

Great place to come and hang out with the show right before the games get started. And let's go ahead and get into the rewind.

[Jason Moore]

Weekly rewind.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, let's talk Rob Gronkowski. Let's talk. Rob Gronkowski had to leave in the first quarter due to a back injury. Not expected to miss time. But are you just. Is this Mr. Glass at this point? I mean, are you just closing your eyes, covering your ears, hoping that you get him through a game?

[Mike Wright]

I mean, that's. That's been the deal with Gronkowski. I know that he had. He has these monster seasons, but because of the recency bias of fantasy football, you, when you make through one complete season, oh, this player is no longer injury prone. That's just the way we react to things. You look okay. Jordan Reed, majorly, major injury concerns here. The guy is like you said, he's made of glass. Gronkowski is very similar. He misses games all the time. So this is, this is part of owning Rob Gronkowski. You have the best fantasy tight end, but you also have a guy that you should expect him to miss at least two to three weeks.

[Jason Moore]

We're 12 weeks in, and he has five games where he's had a zero for either not being healthy to even start or not being able to be there. And that's not including his bye week.

[Andy Holloway]

So if you're a Gronkow 5 of 11, if you're a Gronkowski owner, Jason, and you know he can win you the championship, what do you do in terms of like waiver priority and getting somebody that you can start in his place?

[Jason Moore]

I think it's got to be a supremely important thing to you. I'm not going to. For me, I have to have another quality tight end on my roster if I've got him. If, you know, sometimes Gronk being out there like we, we had, you know, last week like there was in week four is almost more of a decoy. The defense is going to have to pay attention to Gronk and if he's not 100% healthy, he's not always able to, you know, put up Gronkian numbers. And, you know, you, you start the playoffs in Week 14 against Baltimore, which is one of the best defenses this year and last year against tight ends, you know, that's, that's a dangerous proposition. If he's not healthy, you've got a hobbled Gronk with a bad matchup. You might be able to grab someone else that you would, you would play over. All right, just not have them staying.

[Andy Holloway]

With the tight ends. Jordan Reed has a grade 3 AC joint separation. He came back in that game and was amazing. But this is the type of thing where he may miss a game.

[Jason Moore]

It's.

[Mike Wright]

The grade three is the worst you can get for a joint separation. You're talking a serious condition here. Now they did whatever magical things they do in the NFL and Jordan Reed was able to come back and have a monster game. But be prepared for him to miss the game is expected to be a full on game time decision. So grab me, grab. We haven't talked about this and I take the blame as a Jordan Reed owner. If you have Jordan Reed, just have Vernon Davis on your roster. Have him on your bench.

[Jason Moore]

We talked about him the week that you were gone. He's, he's certainly good to have. And I will say this as someone who has experienced a sold a shoulder separation in a football game and was able to go back out and play that game because the adrenaline is running. And then, oh my goodness, it was like, I can't. There was no chance I could play that next week. And his past history of not being the strongest guy certainly grabbed the backup.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. He said he could not use his arm after the game.

[Andy Holloway]

You need your arms. All right. Derek Carr, for football, dislocated his pinky. He said it was one of the most painful things he'd ever gone through. If you see the replay, you'll probably cough up some of your breakfast. But he had to put back in place and he let a touchdown drive because the Raiders are awesome. Lamar Miller limped off the field with an anchor ankle injury at the end of the game. I saw this play. You're going to have to monitor Lamar Miller once again.

[Jason Moore]

So, yeah, we'll talk about Akeem Hunt on tomorrow's waiver wire show, see if he's worth picking up.

[Andy Holloway]

Jeremy Hill left with an ankle injury, returned in the start of the second half, finished the game. He was out on the field. He didn't have the production we would have hoped for, but the snap counts were there.

[Mike Wright]

Well, he was. You could see he was not at full strength as well.

[Andy Holloway]

Chris Ivory got off to a hot start, looked good, and then left the game with a hamstring injury.

[Mike Wright]

This was bananas because you had. TJ Eldon doesn't practice all week. There's no news updates. You have to fully expect him to miss.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, he'll miss, right?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, guess who's active. T.J. eldon. You think I'll tear up your papers of. Of hoping that you could start Chris Ivory.

[Andy Holloway]

See, if you had the policy of just not having any papers of any Jaguars, you wouldn't have had a conundrum.

[Mike Wright]

That's. That's very fair. However, if Chris Ivory is going to miss some time, I don't mind picking up Yelp.

[Andy Holloway]

You heard it here first. Mike and Yelden, volume sitting in a tree. All right, John Brown exited with a hamstring injury, as did Alan Hearns.

[Mike Wright]

All the Cardinals wide receivers actually retired.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, don't forget, Patrick Peterson did, too. And he has a painful knee injury and may be in trouble. So John Brown, we talked about it. You know, Larry Fitzgerald's the only guy you want to own with any confidence on that offense other than David Johnson. So Tyrell Williams left with an arm injury. Inman with a concussion.

[Mike Wright]

Possible.

[Andy Holloway]

Possible concussion.

[Mike Wright]

He was cleared.

[Andy Holloway]

So, ho hum, you're gonna have to pay attention to that wide receiver core once again. Andrew Luck returned to practice today. That's good news. He'll play. And the league. Did you guys see this? The league's looking into Thursday Night Football.

[Mike Wright]

I did see this. The. The contract is still through next season, so everything will be status quo. But after that, I mean, they're taking some shots here in the media of the ratings are down. The NFL is oversaturated. I think getting rid of Thursday Night Football is good. I love as much football as possible, but I just don't think that these games are good for the league.

[Jason Moore]

Well, it's not like you're going to miss any games, right? I mean, you're still going to have the same number of games. You just won't have that exclusive primetime spot.

[Andy Holloway]

And I. I can't imagine them not adding a second Monday night game.

[Mike Wright]

I was going to say I'm fine.

[Andy Holloway]

Which is better.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Well, it's better for the west coast people. That stinks for East Coast.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, I just mean it's better for the players. You don't get these Sunday to Thursday short weeks. I mean, those are tough. Those are rough. And sometimes you get a Sunday night to Thursday short week. Right, right. What was the Sunday night game two weeks ago?

[Mike Wright]

Do you remember one before?

[Jason Moore]

Is that Washington?

[Andy Holloway]

I think whoever it was, one of those teams played on Thanksgiving and it was like, you know, you go Sunday night to Thursday afternoon. That's rough.

[Jason Moore]

I know Washington was complaining on. On Thanksgiving that they basically didn't get practice.

[Mike Wright]

It must have been Washington because Cousins has had two primetime games in a row and just dominated. Yeah, two games in a row. How you like me now?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he's. He's playing well. He's going to get Bills. We'll talk about him right now.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

This week's fantasy stud muffins.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. Don't start your defense against the New Orleans Saints.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, the Rams are a really good defense.

[Andy Holloway]

It doesn't matter. Voice of public opinion. Because Drew Brees went 28 for 36, four touchdowns, ran a touchdown in. Because he's really good.

[Mike Wright]

And old Sean Payton, I have to imagine there was some happiness in his heart as he ran it up on Greg Williams. Oh, you know, looked him in the eyes and said, eat my butt.

[Jason Moore]

They were up.

[Andy Holloway]

Is that what he said?

[Mike Wright]

That's. He's on record.

[Jason Moore]

He said they were rude by like 20 points when they ran. That really play where Willie Sneed threw the long touchdown pass to Tim Hightower. It was. It was a full. Yeah, you're. Here you go, Greg. Welcome back home.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that was, you know. But everybody's starting Drew Brees, so that's just a great game by Brees. Kaepernick 29 for 46 for 296 and three came two yards short of tying this game.

[Mike Wright]

Pretty body bended.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, his body bent in half by Nadam.

[Mike Wright]

And I said bended.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, bended. Jason bended like Beckham. Yeah, he was. He was great. He ran for 130, 113 yards on the ground. Was absolutely awesome. I've been telling people, pick him up for the playoff run if you don't have one of those frontline Drew Brees type of guys.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, we'll talk about him in a second.

[Andy Holloway]

Kirk Cousins, 53 attempts, 41 I believe he broke the record for completions in this game. I'm not positive. But 41 for 53, 449 and 3 playing well. Schedule isn't great. Arizona, Philly, Carolina. But probably can do enough in those games the way he's playing right now.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he's. He'll be a very tough character the next couple weeks. As if you're with. If you're like me. I've been saving Jameis for the fantasy playoffs because he gets the Saints twice. Meanwhile, I've been streaming in Kirk Cousins.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, I'm hard to pinch.

[Mike Wright]

That's Cousins. That's a situation coming up here in the next couple of weeks.

[Andy Holloway]

You said a quarterback controversy.

[Mike Wright]

There is a quarterback controversy for my fantasy team.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, Trevor, Simeon, Ryan Tannehill and Big Ben all had big weeks. Who's the best playoff guy among those three?

[Mike Wright]

Man, no one really has among those favorable matches.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to take Big Ben because of. Because of talent between those three. But again, not really a favorable playoff schedule. I'm looking elsewhere between these. From these three guys. I would rather have a different quarterback.

[Mike Wright]

There were so many quarterbacks this week that were horrible for the entire first half. I can't. I felt like I just kept typing in messages to you guys on slack saying so and so has 50 passing yards in the first half. They're just. They stink. Cam Newton, terrible first half. Blake Bortles, terrible first half. And these guys just end up turning things around. And Simeon was the same way. I mean, you have. What was. Half of his production was. Were those two plays to Emanuel Sanders.

[Andy Holloway]

You notice that some weeks. So all the games start, you know, at two different start times. Pretty much. You know, sometimes it's 205 and 225 out here for the afternoon game. But you notice certain teams are always in these games where the second half gets going right and every game's in the fourth quarter. And then you look in one game's like. It's like eight minutes left in the third. Yes. And it's always the Saints because they pat. I mean, all the passing in those games stops the clock. So often these games feel like they lasted forever. I felt the same way with the. The Cam Newton game with. With Oakland. So other honorable mentions. I want to mention Philip Rivers, who had a three touchdown game and has Tampa, Carolina, Oakland, Cleveland over the next four weeks.

[Mike Wright]

Great schedule, schedule. You know who should be mentioned? Matt freaking Barkley. Oh, my goodness.

[Andy Holloway]

What?

[Jason Moore]

He looked. He looked pretty darn good.

[Andy Holloway]

He could have won the game, you know.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, my goodness.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, the drops were insane.

[Jason Moore]

They were. They were crazy. But the reason that there were so many drops is because the guys that you were throwing the ball to were, I mean, fourth tier wide receivers in the NFL. I mean, these aren't guys that you expect to get it done. You got guys like, obviously Cameron Meredith was there, but he wasn't. It was Marquis Wilson and Deontay Thompson.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Who I loved listening to the announcers go, he's definitely going to be looking for Thompson here. I was like, yeah, he's. Over the course of the game, he became like the go to.

[Mike Wright]

But there was 10. There was 10 drops in that game.

[Andy Holloway]

Including two, two touchdowns that would have tied the game. I want to bring some attention to something here. I'm going to give him credit. Although Brooks, our production coordinator who works on these docs with us, he put in. He put in Tyler Goff, who instead of Jared Goff. That's the level of respect that we have been giving.

[Mike Wright]

More like Tyler, Jared Goff, Gaff.

[Andy Holloway]

No, more like three touchdowns. But he played against the Saints.

[Mike Wright]

He was okay.

[Andy Holloway]

He made a couple of throws that I thought were much better than what Keenum could have done.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I will say this. What it does do is it helps Mike, your quarterback controversy when you're deciding between Jameis Winston against the Saints or a tough matchup for Kirk Cousins. Probably going to go Jameis.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it did make me that. That was exactly what I was thinking as I'm watching this. Like, well, good, good thing. The Saints defense, who they were turning it on a little bit last couple weeks. Hey, Jared Goff took care of that, making me feel pretty comfortable with Jameis Winston. Before we get to the running backs, I want to thank today's sponsor, Omaha Steaks. Look, Foot Glan. If you're following me on Twitter, you've seen me dominating the grill because, look, Arizona, it's grill season. It's grill season in the winter. And I'm doing that with the help of Omaha Steaks. The food is fantastic. It's extremely easy to prepare. And Omaha Steaks, they offer unique gifts. It's officially Christmas season. I get a little, little grief and some guff here because I go full Christmas season right after Halloween. But now, now the entire country's on board. It's Christmas season. Get ready with Omaha Steaks. Great steak experiences at home. Over 500 gourmet gift ideas that comes right to your door. It's all vacuum sealed. Look. Delicious meats right to your door.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, we could end.

[Mike Wright]

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[Jason Moore]

I'm starving.

[Mike Wright]

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[Andy Holloway]

What's that code again?

[Mike Wright]

Fantasy.

[Jason Moore]

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[Andy Holloway]

All right, stud muffins at the running back position. The two guys that surprised me the most this week were Mark Ingram and Jonathan Stewart. Yep, Mark Ingram had the concussion concerns during the week. He's Been splitting time, not to mention facing a Rams defense whose front seven I thought could contain the Ingram, but he could not be contained.

[Mike Wright]

No, no, no, no, no.

[Andy Holloway]

14 for 146 and a touchdown. Also caught a 21 yard touchdown pass. Has Detroit, Tampa, Arizona and Tampa coming up and suddenly that's pretty delightful. He seems like his resurgence may continue.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he's, he's been rising in snaps. I know that he's still in the timeshare. Timmy Hightower is still heavily involved, but.

[Andy Holloway]

Only on Willie Sneed pass.

[Mike Wright]

Mark Ingram is by far the better back when you watch.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, so Jonathan Stewart, two more touchdowns for Carolina. You know, he's been great.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he's. He is what he is, Jonathan.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he didn't surprise me that much in this game. Marking room certainly did, especially with the concussion issues during the week. J Stu, he gets the volume. This next week he's going to Seattle. That's a little bit scarier proposition. But if you look at his playoff run, goodness gracious, you've got San Diego, Washington, Atlanta. When you come to rushing defenses that don't scare me, I'll take it. Those three are great when you've got volume with those defenses. I think J. Stu is going to be a very helpful playoff run piece.

[Andy Holloway]

David Johnson and Ezekiel Elliott were great again. Devonta Freeman had a monster game. Lev Bell was awesome. Awesome. Excuse me.

[Mike Wright]

LaShawn McCoy is really, really fast.

[Andy Holloway]

I was going to say I was rotating Lashawn McCoy. You're starting all those other guys. McCoy started the game horrendously, much like a couple of those quarterbacks Mike alluded to. McCoy ended 19 for 103 with two touchdowns and almost had a third.

[Jason Moore]

He had a 75 yard run. So when you look at 19 for 103, you could do the math and see how the rest of that game went for him. It was not, not easy. But when you've got a guy who can break that off and a guy that can do it in the passing game as well, you're pretty much safe against all matchups.

[Andy Holloway]

Don't forget we have our raising canes rising stars coming up very soon. Before we leave running backs, talk to me about Carlos Hyde's future right now. He had a Pretty good game, 13 for 65. Also scored a touchdown, caught some passes. So do you like Hyde moving forward as an RB2?

[Mike Wright]

I like him. And look, we talked about the volume and the. Carlos Hyde is the guy getting the volume. Chicago, Atlanta, these are fine matchups.

[Jason Moore]

I said this last week and I'LL say it again. I think Carlos Hyde is an RB1. I don't think he's an RB2. He's the centerpiece of that offense. Even though Colin Kaepernick might look like it right now from this current week. When you've got an offense that wants to have as many plays as Chip Kelly's offenses do, and you've got Carlos Hyde, who's involved in both the running game and the passing game, your matchup, you know, proof there. He had five receptions this last game. Chicago, New Jersey, Atlanta and la. Pretty much only the New York jets are the. Did I say New Jersey? The New Jersey Devils. It's hard to run on ice.

[Andy Holloway]

Do you even know what I was going to say? Do you know what, sport?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, but you know that that's the only tough matchup for a running back. And really he should be able to catch enough screen passes to be involved. So I really like Carlos Hyde. He was in consideration for my rising.

[Mike Wright]

Star and he's not in a stud muffin category here and we've been talking about him all year long. Kenneth Dixon finally won the snap battle.

[Jason Moore]

He was tied on carries, had the.

[Mike Wright]

Exact same carries, but he had 17 touches. So maybe, yeah, I feel like I.

[Andy Holloway]

Said that every week, double digit fantasy points.

[Mike Wright]

But you got to grab these guys if, if you're in need of a running back.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, this is. We're going to talk wide receiver stud muffins. Now, you know, you have your expected Antonio Brown, Mike Evans, apparently you can expect three from Antonio Brown, because I do at this point. Mike Evans, I think people doubted against Seattle and he put that to bed in about three minutes. And Odell Beckham Jr. Had two more touchdowns this week. So those are the three big guys that had great weeks. But there are a lot of other names worth discussing, specifically Taylor Gabriel and Tyreek Hill. Now Hill I'm going to talk about in a minute, but Taylor Gabriel, two more touchdowns.

[Jason Moore]

You have to start him at this point. I mean, we were talking about how he had three weeks in a row of 16 fantasy points and then he just torched that. They use him when he's a weapon, right? He's not a great wide receiver, but he is a great weapon. They can, if they can get him the ball in open space. He is extremely fast and that's how they are using him. They'll run him, you know, on a jet sweep, they'll give him the ball.

[Andy Holloway]

He scored twice on runs, on runs, on runs. They weren't even screens, were they?

[Mike Wright]

I Think they were considered passes? Yeah, technically, because they went forward. But the, the best part of the entire Taylor Gabriel experience this weekend was the Atlanta Falcons tweeted out from a picture from their official account, a screenshot of Wikipedia documenting that the Cleveland Browns had released him.

[Jason Moore]

You know, what's crazy is that they released him. You know, for years when he was on Cleveland, he was always one of those guys, like, this guy's talented. Watch for Taylor Gabriel. I, you know, yes, you would draft him in those deeper leagues, thinking maybe Cleveland could figure out how to use him. Well, they couldn't. And thankfully, he's not on Cleveland anymore.

[Mike Wright]

So grab and start Taylor Gabriel and then Marquis Wilson. We talked about it. He had a pretty solid game here. Emmanuel Sanders and then the man, Michael Thomas. Michael Thomas back. He's. Is he an every week starter for you or is he an every week starter when they're in the dome?

[Jason Moore]

Well, certainly I will play matchups with Drew Brees when they're on the road. If Drew Brees throws, you know, half the touchdowns on the road that he throws at home. You've always got the situation with the Saints right where you have so many mouths to feed. And usually with Drew Brees in, you know, 75% of the matchups and 100% at home, you have enough volume where you can feed all of the mouths. None of the children are going hungry in New Orleans, and so I'm fine starting him. If you look at his schedule coming up, I think he's got a pretty good playoff run.

[Mike Wright]

Well, here's the thing we thought we have. We talk about Tampa Bay, they get to play the Saints twice. It's an oh, well, the Saints, they get to play Tampa Bay twice.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

Except the Buccaneers are surging at the right time. We've had three tremendous performances in a row by the Buccaneers defense against Chicago, the Chiefs, and then Seattle, who by all accounts, the Seattle offense looked like they were rounding into form, getting ready for their playoff run. And Tampa Bay said, no, you can score a field goal. I am five total points.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I'm not buying into Tampa Bay's defense as the elite defense we have seen. First of all, you've got Kansas City where their offense isn't that electric. And yes, Seattle we expected more of, and they do have a good offense. And Russell Wilson looked healthy and he was running. But I was talking to Andy this morning. You know, Tony Dungy last week was kind of calling this as a game where Seattle, because of their schedule and where they had to go, he said Tampa Bay was going to beat Seattle and he said that last week because he saw, you know, Tampa Bay is going to be coming off that high, winning against Kansas City and Seattle is going to be terrible schedule. Yeah, cross country is just going to be bad for them. And you know, kudos to Dungy. He called it. But I think that, that, that's kind of what I'm going with. I think it was more situational football than just a great Tampa Bay defense because I don't think Tampa Bay has the pieces to really be a great weekly defense.

[Mike Wright]

All right, we got to talk about them. Brandon Marshall. Hey, Brandon Marshall actually had a good game. He almost had a monster game. He just missed on a second touchdown. What do we, what do you do?

[Andy Holloway]

What do you. Marshall, you certainly have. Yeah, I was gonna say you certainly expect Brandon Marshall to have these type of games. But yeah, I don't blame you for benching him. He played New England and he had been terrible. Yeah, Noonwa had a good game with Marshall.

[Jason Moore]

Well, and that's, that's what he needs. Right. I mean people ask me what is it, what's happened to cause the change in Brandon Marshall because he was great in the beginning of the season. And the only thing I can kind of look to is Eric Decker.

[Mike Wright]

That's the obvious thing.

[Jason Moore]

Eric Decker went out around the same time and so the offense itself sputtered.

[Andy Holloway]

And Fitzpatrick.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, well, Fitzpatrick is, has sucked but Fitzpatrick was, you know, the quarterback those first four or five weeks when Marshall was good. And so I look to targets and the target volume says that Marshall should be safe. He is still one of the league leaders in targets. Fitzpatrick has not been good enough on those targets to actually, you know, give him enough catchable balls. But I do think you're going to end up starting him. That's why I was really happy about the bye week last week where I didn't have to sit him, I started him this week I'm happy. And going forward I think you got to, you got to put Brandon Marshall in your lineup.

[Andy Holloway]

Tight ends that were stud muffins this week. Rule 86 obviously worth mentioning. Kelsey, great game. 8 for 101 and Eiford. One of my favorite playoff schedules and situations has Philly, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Houston for the last four weeks. And look, Tyler Ifert is one of a few reliable targets that Andy Dalton has left.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I was.

[Andy Holloway]

And that's a double edged sword just like it is for Jeremy Hill losing. I mean man, it was tough seeing Dalton struggle the way he did picking up third downs.

[Jason Moore]

Brandon LaFell sucks. I mean, Brandon Lefell is just. He is. He is a wide receiver 3 and he is thrust into a wide receiver 1 role. Right now, watching that game and just seeing, like if there is a 50, 50 ball, I can guarantee you Brandon Lafell is not getting it.

[Mike Wright]

It's not 50 50.

[Jason Moore]

No, that's like a 25 75.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. Brandon Lefell or Justin Tucker rest of the season.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, Justin Tucker threw up the old 2575 ball.

[Jason Moore]

Go ahead and give me Justin Tucker with. I'll give you heavy odds on that.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. All the studs from today's show will be on article form on the website as well. The fantasy footballers dot com. Let's get into our rising stars.

[Jason Moore]

Raising canes. Rising stars of the week.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, you guys kick it off.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

All right, I will. I'll start. Since we've talked about him a little bit, get mine out of the way. The amazing story of how I gave Colin Kaepernick to Andy this week and he trounced my face with his fantasy goodness, with his fantasy hooves. But here's the reality. Here's the reality with Colin Kaepernick is that it's not just this week. This week is not a complete outlier out of the norm. I mean, it's certainly the highest fantasy points he's put up so far, but he has not been bad, in fact, since he got the start. Okay, he started. He started in week six and took over for Blaine Gabbard. He's the number seven quarterback in fantasy football during that time. He is 0.6 points behind Tom Brady's average over that time.

[Andy Holloway]

What?

[Jason Moore]

Yes. Tom Brady is the sixth best quarterback since week six. I'm not saying, you know, go, certainly are. Go trade Tom Brady for Colin Kevin. I am not saying that, but what I am saying is he is a viable option. That. I mean, he was your third choice off of waivers this week, right, Andy? And because I was just.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that was just because he's traveled to Miami.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

And so he still had him. I mean, at a monster game.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he had a monster game.

[Andy Holloway]

Chicago, New York, Atlanta, L.A. for the next four weeks.

[Jason Moore]

That's what I was going to bring up. So that's why to me, he is a rising star. Should be on a roster and probably started in at least half of those matchups.

[Mike Wright]

If you wanted to trade Tom Brady for Kaepernick, you couldn't even do it because Kaepernick is only owned in about 22% of leagues in ESPN. So you just. You could trade him for the waiver.

[Jason Moore]

One and it would just get vetoed, so there's no chance. But don't do that. I'm not saying trade Tom Brady for Colin Kaepernick.

[Mike Wright]

The Gazelle.

[Andy Holloway]

When you can run the ball. When you can run the ball, your baseline rises. It goes way up. It's not like he's had a stinker. 23, 17, 33, 28, 24, 43. You would have been happy or content in every single week. All right. My rising star, my raising canes rising star is Tyreek Hill on full display last night? The first player with a rushing touchdown, receiving touchdown, and kick return touchdown in a single game since Gail Sayers did it in 1965.

[Jason Moore]

And look like that's wrong. Didn't David Johnson do that last year?

[Mike Wright]

No, it wasn't all in one game.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, all right.

[Andy Holloway]

Correct. Five of the last seven weeks. He's helped your fantasy team catches over the last three weeks. 10, 4, 9. Last night. He's doing it. He's a weapon, and they're using him more and more. And you could say you can make the argument, okay, Jeremy Macklin's been out. Yeah, it definitely helps him that Jeremy Macklin's been out from a wide receiver perspective, but they are using him in so many different ways. He's just a dynamic weapon, and Andy Reid knows how to use dynamic weapons. He doesn't have Jamal Charles out of the backfield anymore. All of a sudden, Tyreek Hill is a piece of that puzzle. And obviously last night, amazing plus, plus, really important here. He also high fives people while he's running into the end zone.

[Jason Moore]

Amazing. Also, if.

[Andy Holloway]

What else can you look for in a fantasy option?

[Jason Moore]

I'm sure he's already picked up if you're in any kind of return yardage league, but he. If you're in that and you've got him on your team, just.

[Andy Holloway]

He won. He won me multiple leagues yesterday. I started him in two different leagues, and he won him for me. So he's playing very, very well.

[Mike Wright]

He's widely available, so I'm sure he will be on the waiver wire show tomorrow. My rising star. Look, this guy, to me, is the definition of a rising star, where maybe he's. He's not there yet, but this is a guy who is rounding into form that is the rookie sensation. I'm calling him a sensation because he's had two big weeks.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's. That's a strong word, Mike.

[Mike Wright]

That is a little bit bold.

[Jason Moore]

In fairness to you, before this season started, he was one of the guys you were highest on, and I thought you drafted way too high in a. In a dynasty.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, I'm. I look very happy. Malcolm Mitchell, 5 for 42 with two touchdowns. And last week, 4 for 98 and a touchdown. Tom Brady loves this guy. And that's what I want out of a wide receiver for the, for the Patriots right now is Tom Brady coming out and talking about how smart a wide receiver is. And that's the praise that he is showering on Malcolm Mitchell. His future production, it's reliant on Chris Hogan. Chris Hogan actually got the most wide receiver snaps for the Patriots, which limits Malcolm Mitchell. But if anything happens to Hogan, then Mitchell takes over that job immediately.

[Jason Moore]

I got to say, you know, I thought Malcolm Mitchell, and he was talking him up last week, and I said, yeah, well, Chris Hogan was out. Let me see him do that with Chris Hogan in the game.

[Mike Wright]

There you go.

[Jason Moore]

And that, I think, you know, look, Chris Hogan was in there. He had the most snaps, and Malcolm Mitchell was still talented. Malcolm Mitchell, do you remember how on fire he was in the preseason? He was catching and they were playing Tom Brady in those games. Remember, bizarrely, like trying to get him some reps before. And then, yes, Malcolm Mitchell tore his elbow.

[Mike Wright]

Dislocated.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, yeah, just look.

[Mike Wright]

Tore it nasty.

[Jason Moore]

Tore it nasty. But yeah, he dislocated his elbow in a really gross looking play. And then he was out for a little while and had to, you know, even when he got back, he's not fully healthy. So now he's healthy. He's got Brady.

[Andy Holloway]

It reminds me a little bit of how Breeze has shown increased trust, especially in the red zone with Michael Thomas. You've got Malcolm Mitchell. He ran that out yesterday. Ran it to perfection. The double out with Edelman on the same side. Great play, great throw. I just like the potential. And when you're playing with Brady, I mean, you could take a worse flyer out there, that's for sure.

[Mike Wright]

And I was going to say, I brought this up last year. This is the time you think, oh, well, maybe my fantasy season's over. Maybe I'm getting ready for the playoffs. Start making your list for next season right now. Look, we will get into the offseason. There's plenty of time for that, and things evolve. But take these opinions you have right now. They are fresh. You are remembering things accurately. Start making a list of. I cannot forget these guys. I cannot forget how I was thinking about them towards the end of the season. Malcolm Mitchell is a very Strong candidate for this list, Tyreek Hill. These are the kind of guys where you have to remember them. And what like, because like I said, the offseason just jumbles things up. The draft jumbles things up.

[Jason Moore]

Always go back to that list.

[Mike Wright]

But right now I've, I've done this for years and I. It really, really helps you just getting ready for next year of making this list. Guys, I cannot forget.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, those were the raising canes, rising stars of the week. It's the holidays. Feed your holiday party with a raising cane's tailgate. This year, their 24 hour marinated cook to order chicken fingers will make anyone have a holly jolly holiday. That's holly and jolly, by the way. And while you are there, don't forget to pick up a raising cane's gift card for the perfect holiday gift. If you want to send them our way, we're totally willing to accept those right now. Buy a $25 gift card, you get a five dollar bonus for free. Now that is a raising cane's kind of jolly.

[Mike Wright]

I'm having a tailgate party and inviting only myself.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm not surprised.

[Jason Moore]

Pooped in his big boy pants.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I'm not surprised. That's coming from the guy who wants us to, like, fully invest in his fantasy team.

[Mike Wright]

Get on team Borrows, man.

[Andy Holloway]

Get on team Borrows. His team borrows. Borrows mclemonade. Okay.

[Mike Wright]

Championship material.

[Andy Holloway]

The world revolves around the man bun, I guess. Quarterback poopers. There's one. He stands alone like an old Devonte Adams cheese.

[Jason Moore]

Russell Wilson, man, you got to just say the Seahawks.

[Andy Holloway]

The Seahawks in general.

[Jason Moore]

Thomas Rawls, Russell Wilson, Doug Baldwin.

[Andy Holloway]

A listener tweeted me a picture of their roster with. With Rawls Baldwin and Russell Wilson. Or was it Rawls Baldwin and Jimmy Graham? And said, hey, lucky I didn't go all in on the Seahawks versus Tampa this week.

[Jason Moore]

Ouch.

[Andy Holloway]

Just the. I mean, this game got off.

[Jason Moore]

Don't rage. Quit. Don't rage, quit. Fantasy football.

[Andy Holloway]

This game got off on the wrong foot for the Seahawks. Two quick touchdowns given up to Mike Evans and it seemed like from that point on they were out of sync. And Jason talked about it earlier. The long trip.

[Mike Wright]

That's the offensive line.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, the offensive line was. Tampa Bay was not blitzing. They were just rushing base.

[Mike Wright]

They were sending one guy.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

For the whole game.

[Jason Moore]

Their defensive line just like just got through every play.

[Andy Holloway]

Aside from just dwelling on the pain, which I will try not to do, what do you do with Russell Wilson for the playoffs with Carolina at home and then you go to Green Bay and then the Rams at home. The Rams always playing pretty tough in Arizona.

[Jason Moore]

I like that schedule. Yeah. Carolina, I assume they will still be without Luke Keakley. They.

[Mike Wright]

What they can do is rush the passer.

[Jason Moore]

Sure.

[Mike Wright]

They can stop the run and they can rush the passer.

[Andy Holloway]

A. I'm not a fan of the schedule.

[Jason Moore]

Then the next week, Green Bay, they can't do anything on defense. They can't rush the passer, they can't guard the wide receivers, they can't guard the tight ends.

[Andy Holloway]

The weather could be an issue. I'm out, I guess. In or out on Russell Wilson rest of the season, I'm out. What are you, Mike, in or out?

[Jason Moore]

You're the tiebreaker.

[Mike Wright]

I'm out.

[Jason Moore]

All right.

[Andy Holloway]

All right.

[Mike Wright]

That was quick.

[Andy Holloway]

There's not a lot of other pooping quarterbacks this week, so we're going to move on. They're running backs that let you down. There were a lot of them. There were plenty. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Thomas Rawls, 12 for 38, didn't catch a pass, which is surprising to me considering I saw him targeted and he was the only man in town. But 12 for 38, no touchdowns. Does this performance change any of your expectations for Thomas Rawls? We just talked about Russell Wilson in the schedule. What can you expect from Rawls for us, the season? Is he. What is he for you?

[Jason Moore]

He doesn't have a great. I mean, you just said they're scheduled that you don't like. I don't mind it.

[Andy Holloway]

I didn't like it for Russell.

[Jason Moore]

What's. That's ironic because I'm. I'm the opposite and I don't.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm not Carolina.

[Jason Moore]

Carolina is a good rushing defense, not a good passing defense. That's why I'm better with Russell Wilson, but not so much with Thomas Rawls. Then Green Bay, they had a stretch this year where they were great against the run. They've. They've been kind of loosened up over the. Over the last month or so. But there's still a better rushing defense than they are a passing defense. And LA is a great rushing defense. If you get to week 17. Arizona is a great rushing defense. So Thomas Rawls to me is. Is looking a little bit scary. I do think this, though. I think that the problem with Thomas Rawls this last game was that the game got out of hand quickly. They got down, they had to pass. And I don't necessarily expect that to be how it goes forward. So I'm kind of he's in neutral.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, yeah, I'll put him in neutral as well. Frank Gore, Rob Kelly, Matt Forte, those.

[Mike Wright]

Guys really let you down, the Frank Gore situation. I liked him this weekend.

[Andy Holloway]

Even with Tolzie.

[Mike Wright]

Even with Tolzie.

[Andy Holloway]

That was the problem for me, is I couldn't get excited.

[Mike Wright]

Well, here, here was the problem is they would get to the goal line and go, hey, Scott Tolding, let's throw it three times in a row. What were they doing?

[Jason Moore]

I think they saw.

[Andy Holloway]

They got stopped on fourth down twice inside the red zone.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I think what happened is that they saw that Frank Gore was ahead of running back 12. He was up at running back nine, and they said, well, we got to bring that down a little.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. Part of it was Frank Gore's fault, though, guys. He didn't get into the end zone on one of his opportunities, but they.

[Mike Wright]

Just, they limited his opportunities. They.

[Jason Moore]

I just.

[Mike Wright]

When you have Scott Toldzing as your quarterback and you're on the two yard line, run the ball.

[Jason Moore]

All right, going forward, he has a stretch of really bad run defenses that he's going to go up against. Really good run defenses, really bad matchups. Is that the look that I was getting over?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's the look you were getting.

[Jason Moore]

The New York jets, the Houston Texans, the Minnesota Vikings.

[Andy Holloway]

I still think he's a fine play with Andrew Lock back behind center.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Because he has been all year long.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

You're not expecting him to win your week, but I think he'll be solid.

[Jason Moore]

He's going to be what he always is, which is a great, solid, you know, guy to have in your second running back slot.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, what do you do with R. Kelly?

[Mike Wright]

Well, my mind's telling me no, but my body look, Rob Kelly got game scripted out. Unfortunately here. Dallas started the game on fire and they just, they couldn't run the ball. They couldn't establish that he's still, he's still a fine play to me. 14 carries, 37 yards is disappointing, but 16 total touches, I'm still there for Rob Kelly.

[Andy Holloway]

Arizona, Philly, both on the road the next two weeks. Tough, tough matchups.

[Mike Wright]

I'm still. Still with them in the running back to era.

[Andy Holloway]

In or out? Rob Kelly, rest of season?

[Mike Wright]

I'm still in, still in.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm gonna go out.

[Jason Moore]

All right, we got two ends, one out.

[Andy Holloway]

Matt Forte, are you in and out? In or out on him rest of season? He's got Indy, San Francisco, Miami. That probably says in.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, I mean, it was weird, though, that, you know, he got. He only got 13 carries. Blel Powell got eight which was blow Powell's highest total so far this season. So interesting to watch but I'm in.

[Andy Holloway]

With that schedule the poopiest of all pants maybe all season. This is belongs to a wide receiver definitely named Brandon Cooks.

[Jason Moore]

Look for the second time he goosed.

[Andy Holloway]

Out to the point where we wrote zero with red letters in our show Doc today Brandon Cooks took no part in the Thanksgiving Day feast.

[Mike Wright]

49 points that they put up. The team scored 49 points and Brandon Cooks did not catch a single pass.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean listen to these. These names that stunk this week. This is just a gauntlet of I mean Brandon Cooks, Allen Robinson, Amari Cooper, Julio Jones, Steve Smith, Jarvis Landry. You know what's not a good failing? You talked about this being the rage quit time of year occasionally here's not a good feeling. One of my leagues rotate Julio Jones into the starting lineup. Put Tyree Kill on the bench. Tyreek Hill scores six times the points.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean you're not that you're.

[Andy Holloway]

Going to do it any differently.

[Mike Wright]

It's just well in two just to add into the tilt that was wide receivers of week 12. I'm going to read through some of the as of right now it's still Monday. There's, there's chances but these are guys in the wide receiver one category. We got Quincy Noonwa, Tyreek Hill, DeSean Jackson who hey, welcome back. I think people have given up on Donchrell, Inman, Marquis Wilson, Ted Ginn Taylor, Gabriel Sanders. I guess he's. He's okay. People have been still playing him. But the overwhelming majority of the wide receiver ones are guys who are on your waiver wire or certainly on your bench.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that was the reality is that these the wide receivers pooping probably didn't hurt you quite as bad in the sense that, you know I could have gone to 50.

[Andy Holloway]

Darn well did hurt you. How does it not hurt you?

[Jason Moore]

My point is you might hurt everybody other your opponent very well might have.

[Andy Holloway]

Had a pooper as well.

[Jason Moore]

And most of the guys that did great probably weren't started. That's kind of what I'm saying is is the wider position was just turned inside out.

[Mike Wright]

Did you guys start Benny Fowler?

[Andy Holloway]

No, I didn't start Benny Fowler this week. Should have I benched him. But this is one of those things we just talked about. What would you rather have I think this was on one of our Thursday shows for join the Foot.com members. What would you rather have Give me the running back all day, every day. Because, look, even today when we're talking through stud muffins, the Tyree kills, the Taylor Gabriels, these guys that you can go out and sign and start, you can go start them.

[Jason Moore]

Two weeks ago, I'm not doing that with any running back.

[Andy Holloway]

Two weeks ago, it was Rashard Matthews. I mean, look how hard and painful it's been to wait on Kenneth Dixon at the running back position. Paul Perkins didn't come along. Getting a running back much harder. Much harder.

[Jason Moore]

And then DeAndre Washington was a healthy scratch.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, Yeah. I think he's working at Costco now. All right, tight ends, tight ends.

[Mike Wright]

That's rough for the holidays.

[Andy Holloway]

That pooped the bed. Antonio Gates goosed it to the point where ESPN on my app didn't even show him, like, playing in the game.

[Jason Moore]

I had the same thing.

[Andy Holloway]

There wasn't even a zero next to him.

[Jason Moore]

I saw the same thing on that and I go, wait. I'm telling you. You know how my brain doesn't always think right? Right? I mean, you've experienced.

[Andy Holloway]

I know how your brain doesn't always think, right.

[Jason Moore]

I was caught in this, like this, this loop while I stared at Antonio Gates. Number going, wait, I know that San Diego played right? This is saying that they haven't played. Yeah, but I know San Diego played. But wait weeks.

[Andy Holloway]

So Gates zero, Hunter Henry. Touchdown. Touchdown.

[Mike Wright]

We're falling apart, America.

[Jason Moore]

It's been a long weekend.

[Andy Holloway]

What do you do with these guys moving forward? That's no confidence for the playoffs with Gates.

[Mike Wright]

No, look, the barfy tight ends, they.

[Andy Holloway]

Gates is now one of them.

[Jason Moore]

You'd still rather. I think you'd still rather start Gates on a weekly basis over Hunter Henry. Hunter Henry is the future and he's great. I love him.

[Andy Holloway]

In Dynasty, we talked about Tyrell Williams and Inman's injuries. Now you go out there. I'd play him. I'd play Hunter Henry. I would. Over Gates, I would.

[Jason Moore]

Or you'd play both.

[Andy Holloway]

If both of those wide outs are out, sure. I don't. It's a coin flip for me for sure. Definitely. Because the Hunter Henry is more likely to me to rack up yards in the absence of those guys.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And I can stand on an island for that.

[Jason Moore]

No, you're not on.

[Andy Holloway]

Spit out words incorrectly.

[Jason Moore]

I agree with that. If those two wide receivers are out.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I'm just. You got to pay attention to it. I signed Hunter Henry this past week. Unfortunately, I didn't play him. I played this next guy, gary stinking barnage. 1 for 11 with McCown yeah.

[Jason Moore]

The guy I want to talk about.

[Mike Wright]

I was going to say, hey, Greg Olson, owner.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. Greg Olson. Look, I have loved. I won last year's championship. Greg Olson, you were a big part of it. I don't want to be mean, but I'm like, I hate you right now. I don't. You're not getting a Christmas card, bro. Not. Not until you step. Not until you step it up. Because I traded for you at your peak and I paid the price. And you have. You haven't been. Okay. You have been downright pure and utter garbage. You. I have been. I have been literally eating a sandwich out of a dumpster with you on my roster.

[Andy Holloway]

And you know what?

[Jason Moore]

And I'm starting them next.

[Andy Holloway]

You've had to eat the sandwich. Oh, you have to take every bite. After you trade for a guy like.

[Jason Moore]

Greg Olsen, there's no chance that I am going to bench him.

[Andy Holloway]

And the mayonnaise is sour and you have to swallow it.

[Jason Moore]

The mayonnaise is green, my friend.

[Andy Holloway]

It's gross.

[Mike Wright]

This is terrible.

[Andy Holloway]

It's what he's. Hey, he did it to himself.

[Jason Moore]

Trading for.

[Mike Wright]

No, it was.

[Andy Holloway]

No, not you. Greg Olson did it to himself. Getting that.

[Jason Moore]

And what's crazy is he had that great. Was like a 30 yard pass that. That lost Carolina the game. They could have kicked the field goal and won right at the end of the game. But he dropped it.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, that was.

[Jason Moore]

It was a. It was a somewhat difficult.

[Mike Wright]

If he had pulled that in, that would have been.

[Jason Moore]

No, it hit him in the hands.

[Mike Wright]

But when he's fully stretched out, he's still a tight end. Look, I, I actually don't blame Olson. I think this is Cam Newton problem since his buy.

[Jason Moore]

Not good.

[Mike Wright]

Cam. Look, if you watch the first half of Cam playing, he was discombobulated. I mean he was. He was firing the ball at 150% not accurate. It wasn't until the. The Ted Ginn bomb that things started getting on track for them. There's just something. Something's off with. With Cam since the bot.

[Jason Moore]

Since their bye week. Greg Olson is the tight end number 18 behind Kobe Fleener and behind. I don't know, even Zach Miller, who has not been playing. And this is in total points. I mean, come on.

[Andy Holloway]

But you're playing him next week.

[Mike Wright]

Yep.

[Jason Moore]

He's 23 on average. Yep.

[Mike Wright]

You're going to start.

[Andy Holloway]

We need to get into the Monday Night Football game, guys. Packers Eagles tonight, 47 and a half point over under. Eagles favored by four and a half what is the. Who are you starting? Who are you sitting? From this matchup before we close out.

[Mike Wright]

The show, I'll say I am in one of my leagues. I have Sprols and Smallwood. I'm starting Smallwood, as would I for sure.

[Andy Holloway]

I really like what they've been saying about him, which of course means that he'll be benched.

[Mike Wright]

Kenyan Barner.

[Jason Moore]

I like the fact that Ryan Matthews is just officially out. I think that makes Smallwood somewhat safe play. You know, I also like. I like Jordan Matthews. I like the weapons. I'm almost more confident in the Eagles weapons because of the packers or defense now. Someone on the packers is going to get it done. I love the Eagles defense at home. I talked about it on the Megalodon. They're great. But you know Aaron Rodgers can overcome a good defense. I just don't think there's going to be enough to go around to where you're not going to be happy with Jordy. With Devonte Adams.

[Andy Holloway]

You think Devonte Adams would put up like 22 points or so?

[Jason Moore]

America, America, you need to root if you're. If you're on team Andy, you need Devonte Adams to get 22 points. If you're on team Jason. Less than getting back to it.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, go ahead.

[Jason Moore]

I think you're going to. I don't think we are changing things for people. We're already to Monday. They've already made their decisions on who they have to start. If they had to start Cobb, they've already made that decision. I have had Adams.

[Andy Holloway]

I've had more questions about people that own multiple wide receivers for Green Bay.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

Where they say who. I'm down by seven. Is it Adams or Montgomery tonight? And I'm like, okay, go Adams.

[Jason Moore]

Right. I don't.

[Andy Holloway]

Adams.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, so that's a good question because I don't see much. I think we're all going to put Montgomery on the bottom of that list. Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

So we'd go Nelson, but then you do. Do you do Cobb or Adams next tonight?

[Jason Moore]

Between Cobb and Adams. I'm going to go Cobb.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going to take Adams.

[Jason Moore]

All right.

[Andy Holloway]

For about 22. I like Zach ers tonight too, by the way.

[Jason Moore]

Sure.

[Andy Holloway]

But yeah, okay. All right. Is that. You're right. People made their decisions. Starks. I like Starks tonight. And you're starting Rogers. So will be an interesting game. The Eagles defense is only allowed 19.6 receptions per game. So that's the way that Rogers has been throwing the ball. Something's got to give. You guys have so much to say. All right, that's it for the podcast. Thanks for listening. We'll be back with the waiver wire show tomorrow. It's going to be a great week, playoffs. Hopefully you had a great holiday weekend. We appreciate you listening, subscribing and remember, we'll be here all year long even when your fantasy season is over. We'll be one the ones helping you make that list for next year, getting you through draft season, waiver wires, waivers in the NFL. And it's going to be a fun one. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, that's the best part of the off season is important, I think to the success of your future seasons. Like paying attention, keeping going. But the off season, it is fun.

[Andy Holloway]

Very fun. We'll have our awards show too.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And check out fantasyjocks.com for all your winner gear promo code footballo.

[Andy Holloway]

Good luck. Bye.

[Jason Moore]

Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot. Com and follow us on Twitter at theffballers.