Starts of the Week + Wk 11 Matchups, Pounce Back Candidate

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary: "Starts of the Week + Wk 11 Matchups, Pounce Back Candidate"

Release Date: November 15, 2018

---

1. Introduction & Hosts' Banter

The episode kicks off with the familiar camaraderie among the hosts—Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright. Their lighthearted conversation sets an engaging tone for the episode.

Notable Quote:

Andy Holloway [00:00]: "Hey, Foot clan, let's talk about Loop... [advertisement]"

Note: Advertisements and non-content introductions are briefly acknowledged but largely skipped as per the content guidelines.

---

2. Quick Question: Player Likely to Appear on Most Championship Teams

The hosts dive into a quick question sourced from the Reddit community: "Who is the player that will be on most championship-winning teams?" This segment offers insightful discussions on potential standout players based on performance trends and playoff schedules.

Key Discussions:

• Jason Moore champions Christian McCaffrey, highlighting his consistent performance and favorable playoff schedule.

  Quote:

  Jason Moore [05:07]: "Christian McCaffrey. He is the clear cut workhorse back... his playoff schedule is favorable."

• Andy Holloway proposes Odell Beckham Jr. as a contender, citing his high target volume and improved performance in the playoffs.

  Quote:

  Andy Holloway [06:02]: "Odell Beckham Jr. is everything you hoped he would be despite the offense, and I think it continues."

• Mike Wright supports James Conner, emphasizing his acquisition by many teams and potential for high fantasy output.

  Quote:

  Mike Wright [07:27]: "James Conner was before week one and has absolutely shaken things up."

Conclusion: The consensus leans towards Christian McCaffrey and Odell Beckham Jr. as prime candidates expected to feature prominently on championship teams.

---

3. Week 11 Matchup Analysis

The hosts provide a comprehensive breakdown of Week 11 NFL matchups, offering strategic insights and player recommendations to maximize fantasy football performance.

A. Carolina Panthers vs. Detroit Lions

• Focus: Tight End Position

• Recommendations: Austin Hooper vs. Eric Ebron

  Andy Holloway [11:28]:

  "Do you chase the touchdowns or the reception totals?"

  Jason Moore [12:06]:

  "I would chase the, the receptions when you can."

• Wide Receiver Insights: Devin Funchess vs. DJ Moore

  Jason Moore [27:00]:

  "This is not an accident. ... your DJ Moore Devin Funchess, Cam Bounce Back is not a bad play here."

Notable Quote:

Jason Moore [08:50]: "Flags are up."

B. Dallas Cowboys vs. Atlanta Falcons

• Focus: Tight End and Wide Receiver Strategies

• Recommendations:

  • Tight End: Austin Hooper recommended over Eric Ebron due to higher reception potential.
  • Wide Receiver: Emphasis on Amari Cooper's increased targets and performance.

  Andy Holloway [12:29]:

  "I have Ebron, it looks like slightly. Nope, just behind Hooper as well."

Notable Quote:

Jason Moore [12:28]: "Kickers for me, kickers for you."

C. Tennessee Titans vs. Indianapolis Colts

• Focus: Quarterback Streaming and Running Back Choices

• Recommendations:

  • Quarterback: Marcus Mariota as a streamer due to favorable matchup.
  • Running Back: Preference for Joe Mixon over Marlon Mack based on consistency.

  Jason Moore [30:02]:

  "Love it. My start of the week at the running back position is Tariq Cohen."

Notable Quote:

Andy Holloway [32:09]: "If your quarterback's playing poorly, it just trickles down to everybody."

D. Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. New York Giants

• Focus: Wide Receiver Performance and Quarterback Choices

• Recommendations:

  • Wide Receiver: Favoring Larry Fitzgerald due to increased targets and improved offensive coordination.
  • Quarterback: Jared Goff highlighted as a top pick despite unconventional choices.

  Jason Moore [51:49]:

  "Jared Goff as my number one overall quarterback this week."

Notable Quote:

Mike Wright [35:26]: "I'm completely the same."

E. Houston Texans vs. Washington Redskins

• Focus: Running Back Utilization and Defensive Matchups

• Recommendations:

  • Running Back: Preference for Lamar Miller over Alfred Blue, considering potential volume.
  • Wide Receiver: Debating between Calvin Ridley and Sterling Shepard based on target consistency.

  Andy Holloway [43:11]:

  "Marvin Lewis said, 'We don't want to run him into the ground.'"

Notable Quote:

Jason Moore [43:18]: "I would start."

---

4. Starts of the Week: Player Recommendations

The hosts provide their top picks across various positions for the upcoming week, offering strategic advice to listeners.

Running Backs:

• Andy Holloway: Kerryon Johnson

  Andy Holloway [48:46]: "I'm actually making Kerryon Johnson my start of the week."

• Jason Moore: Alex Collins

  Jason Moore [49:26]: "My running back start of the week is Alex Collins."

• Mike Wright: Tariq Cohen

  Mike Wright [50:29]: "My start of the week at the running back position is Tariq Cohen."

Wide Receivers:

• Andy Holloway: Marquez Valdes-Scantling

  Andy Holloway [54:56]: "... Marquez Valdes-Scantling... he gets in the end zone tonight and makes him start of the week."

• Jason Moore: Larry Fitzgerald

  Jason Moore [55:54]: "Larry Fitzgerald is leading the way... a great play this week."

• Mike Wright: Amari Cooper

  Mike Wright [56:55]: "Amari Cooper is getting the volume that we had hoped he would get."

Tight Ends:

• Andy Holloway: Austin Hooper

  Andy Holloway [58:05]: "I'm chasing the 10 receptions. I'm going with Austin Hooper."

• Jason Moore: Jack Doyle

  Jason Moore [58:32]: "... I'm playing him ahead of Eric Ebron and he's my start of the week."

• Mike Wright: Eric Ebron

  Mike Wright [59:28]: "I'm chasing the 10 receptions. I'm going with Austin Hooper."

Quarterbacks:

• Andy Holloway: Jared Goff

  Andy Holloway [51:38]: "Jared Goff as my number one overall quarterback this week."

• Jason Moore: Dak Prescott

  Jason Moore [52:29]: "My quarterback start of the week is the aforementioned Dak Prescott."

• Mike Wright: Marcus Mariota

  Mike Wright [54:26]: "My start of the week at the quarterback is Marcus Mariota."

Kickers:

• Jason Moore: Graham Gano (Carolina Panthers)

  Jason Moore [60:35]: "Pounce Back Candidate for kicker of the week."

---

5. Kicker of the Week: Pounce Back Candidate

Jason Moore highlights Graham Gano of the Carolina Panthers as the kicker of the week, emphasizing his reliable performance post a significant game.

Notable Quote:

Jason Moore [60:35]: "I really like that one."

---

6. Conclusion & Final Thoughts

The episode wraps up with final reminders, updates on player injuries, and teasers for upcoming discussions. The hosts maintain their humorous and engaging banter, ensuring listeners are well-prepared for Week 11.

Notable Quote:

Jason Moore [61:44]: "Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast."

---

7. Additional Insights

Throughout the episode, the hosts interject with valuable insights on player performance trends, matchup-specific strategies, and the importance of flexible lineup adjustments. Their expert analysis provides listeners with actionable advice to optimize their fantasy football teams for Week 11.

---

Tune In Next Week: Stay updated with daily doses of fantasy football action, injury reports, and strategic advice by joining the Fantasy Footballers community at jointhefoot.com and following them on Twitter @theffballers.

---

This summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and player recommendations from the Fantasy Footballers podcast episode "Starts of the Week + Wk 11 Matchups, Pounce Back Candidate," providing listeners with a comprehensive overview to enhance their fantasy football strategies.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, Foot clan, let's talk about Loop. Loop is making engagement ring shopping easier with personal service, expert style advice, customization options and beautiful inspiration to help you find a ring that fits your style and budget. All Loop rings are hand set, individually screened by their team of experts and meet the highest quality standards. Finding her ring is a big decision, so here's $100 off your ring. To free up dollars for that special night, just go to loopjewelry.com pages footballers and use the code Footballers.

[Jason Moore]

Welcome to the fantasy footballers podcast coming to you from Draft.com Studios with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Andy Holloway]

Welcome to the show. Just a few of my closest friends.

[Jason Moore]

Just the three of us.

[Mike Wright]

You're not counting Brooks.

[Jason Moore]

Just the four of us.

[Mike Wright]

What about baby Josh?

[Jason Moore]

Just. That's enough already. Baby Josh doesn't count.

[Mike Wright]

Well, you could have gone like four and a half.

[Jason Moore]

Just the four and a half of us.

[Andy Holloway]

I can never actually see baby Josh. I have no idea whether baby Josh is here. Oh, you smell him? Ah, it smells like an intern. Why don't interns shower? That's what I want to know.

[Jason Moore]

They just.

[Andy Holloway]

Just a thing.

[Jason Moore]

He just showers with baby powder. Of course.

[Mike Wright]

Call that the. And he lets Lebron James bathe him.

[Andy Holloway]

That's a strange direction. Thursday, November 15th. Welcome to the fancy footballers podcast. We have a great quick question. Fantasy forecast on the show starts out and Jason's boom boom kicker, of course. Jam packed show.

[Mike Wright]

Did you remember that's today?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

He's probably smirking because he came up with some elaborate, beautiful wordsmithing rhyme.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, no, certainly not. I am. I'm just ashamed of. Look, the Cougars got a hold of Adam Vinitario last week.

[Andy Holloway]

Are you saying you're embarrassed because you didn't perform?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, no, I'm just saying kickers are the worst part of fantasy football. Get rid of them from your league.

[Andy Holloway]

Roses are red, violets are blue. Kickers for me, kickers for you.

[Jason Moore]

Jason hates kickers. So should you.

[Andy Holloway]

Twitter twitter.com that's a cool site we're on there at the FF Ballers. You can follow Jason at jasonffl. Follow me at Andy Holloway. Follow Mike@ffhitman. The website's the fantasy footballers.com where you can submit questions. Yesterday we had a big mailbag show. You can find us on Instagram communities. Join the Foot.com. look, we've got a list of websites you could go to. It'll take you, you know, 20 minutes to get through them, but it's worth so many websites. It's worth it. Congratulations to the winner.

[Jason Moore]

Who?

[Andy Holloway]

I don't know your name yet, but the Saquon Barkley jersey, that is over.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, nice.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. So somebody's won that. I don't know who it is yet. We'll figure it out. We'll say your name on the air, we'll ship you a signed Saquon Barkley jersey, and we'll have a Megalodon giveaway up very soon.

[Jason Moore]

Very.

[Mike Wright]

Look, look, I know what some of the items are for. The Megalodon giveaway is going to be serious.

[Andy Holloway]

Is that because you're the one who purchased them? Maybe because I don't know what they are. Oh, they good. Do you want a hint? Do you want to tell people?

[Mike Wright]

Let me, let me pull up the. Hey, look, the list is large.

[Andy Holloway]

Do we have money? Do we have any money left? No, but we have a really cool Megalodon.

[Jason Moore]

Megala.

[Andy Holloway]

Broke.

[Mike Wright]

Look, I'll just mention. Mention a couple names.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

Hopkins.

[Andy Holloway]

All right.

[Mike Wright]

Thomas.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Dalvin. I could go on, but I'm gonna stop right there. It's gonna be legit.

[Andy Holloway]

That sounds pretty good. Brooks, you cannot win that. Okay, yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Eligible.

[Jason Moore]

When will that be up? Soon.

[Andy Holloway]

Soon. Megala soon. Don't know.

[Mike Wright]

Has anyone seen the Meg yet?

[Jason Moore]

I have not.

[Mike Wright]

Those con artists stealing our brand, not a sponsor.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, we should have at least been extras in that movie. Quick question. Today's quick question, by the way, comes from the Reddit community out there. If you're on Reddit, if you're on the fantasy football channels, you know that we lurk. We're lurkers. We see what you. You're talking about. We listen, we've done some. We did a.

[Mike Wright]

An ama.

[Andy Holloway]

An ama on there and I like checking in with the Redditors. So what we did this time is we posted and asked for a quick question. Whatever got voted the highest is the quick question of the day. So here you go. Who is the player that will be on most championship winning teams? This is fun thing to look at at the end of every season. Alvin Camara had a big role last year in championships.

[Jason Moore]

Todd Gurley.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, Todd Gurley was decent. Yeah, kind of decent. Who is the player that you think will be on the most championship winning teams this year? We're heading into week 11 at six weeks left.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, usually the most common are later drafted running backs who pop and hit hard. This guy wasn't super late. I mean, he was early, but he was back of the first. Maybe fell to the second in some leagues, but When I'm just looking at, you know, all of the, you know, different variables coming together at the same time. It's Christian McCaffrey. He is the clear cut workhorse back. He's been excellent this year. Half point format. He's the running back, seven on the season. Believe he's got five touchdowns in the last two games that got rid of C.J. anderson and, and his playoff schedule is. I mean, we've talked about it with Cam. Cam. Could. You could put Cam in this conversation.

[Andy Holloway]

Too, because this conversation.

[Jason Moore]

This. Oh, what? I like it.

[Andy Holloway]

What? I'm not. I told you guys before the show I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, so I would expect more of the same.

[Jason Moore]

So here's the. Here's the playoff schedule starting Week 13. Week 13, the Panthers play Tampa Bay, who Christian McCaffrey just torched. Then Cleveland, then the Saints. That's going to be a high scoring game. And Atlanta in championship.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, my.

[Jason Moore]

So I, you know, there's. There's. He's been a target in a couple different leagues. I have not been able to acquire him, but I have no qu.

[Andy Holloway]

I have no doubt that I'll be facing him in fantasy playoffs because I faced him like four times this year already and it's not fun. He's very good. I'm actually going to. Maybe not the name you'd expect, but I'm going to throw Odell Beckham Jr's name out there as the name I think will be on a lot of fantasy championship rosters. Mostly because if you bought him lower because of the way the offense was performing, he's been great from week five on. He's the number three overall fantasy wide receiver. He's scoring, they're force feeding him. And Odell Beckham Jr. Is everything you hoped he would be despite the offense, and I think it continues. They have a very juicy playoff schedule as well, some opportunities there, and I don't have to worry about whether they're going to bench guys because they're making the playoffs.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I believe they play the Colts in the championship week. So that's a very nice. A nice thing to hear.

[Mike Wright]

And for me, it's James Conner. He fell into the laps of nearly everyone who had him. I know some people traded for him, but I would say the majority of fantasy players scooped him right up off the waiver wire, which means it's legitimately possible that you have Melvin Gordon, Christian McCaffrey and James Conner all on one team free. Like Jason said, waiver wire. Running backs who pop and become top five guys like Alvin Camara did last night. That carries you and it, I think usually it happens like halfway through a season. Guys like Nick Chubb. But James Goner was before week one and has absolutely shaken things up.

[Andy Holloway]

I think that answer is the most likely to be accurate because of the fact of what you said you could end up with if you drafted a girly. Well, hopefully not Bell, but if you drafted Gurley or Hunt, a Camara, Barkley and then you got to pair him with Conor, that's just very, very powerful for winning a fantasy title. And now the pathway is perfectly clear for Connor to continue dominating. Not a lot of news. We'll get into it during the matchups today, so we'll progress and jump right in.

[Jason Moore]

Fantasy forecast.

[Andy Holloway]

Couple of reminders. We have the Thursday night game. We previewed it on yesterday's show. But take your Thursday night players out of the flex spot, put them in a dedicated positional spot so that you have more flexibility later. We remind you every Thursday and further.

[Jason Moore]

On that if you have a Monday night or a Sunday night player, we don't talk about this too often, but it's good practice to put those players into your flex position. So that should something happen, you have the ability to, you know, pivot to a running back or a wide receiver or a tight end, someone else that can be used in that flex, get them out of your running back wide receiver slot.

[Andy Holloway]

That's such good advice. Jason. Yes, Mike, as always, will be on Sunday Live one hour before kickoff on YouTube. YouTube.com the fantasy footballers. Check it out, subscribe, click the bell and we'll let you know when Mike is live.

[Mike Wright]

This bell will show up.

[Andy Holloway]

It will toll. Oh, yes.

[Mike Wright]

Did I throw you off your game?

[Jason Moore]

No.

[Mike Wright]

Just.

[Andy Holloway]

No. Just a moment of silence for Those that drafted Le'Veon. The 4 and 5 Cowboys take on the 4 and 5 Falcons. This game is in Atlanta. The over under is 48 points. The Falcons are three point favorites. Let's break down the matchup. Matt Ryan right now is averaging the most passing yards per game despite the disappointing performance last week in Cleveland. And this is an important game. Both teams fighting for a playoff spot. If you lose this game, you're probably not making the playoffs. Both teams four and five, they need a win. So where will they turn for fantasy value purposes? Where will we find value?

[Jason Moore]

I think there's quite a bit of value to be had because the game is in Atlanta. Dallas's defense won't be quite as good and Atlanta's offense will be Better, which means if they're scoring and the new Dak with Cooper combo has to keep up. I think you're going to have a lot of fantasy relevance here. Usually it's Zeke and Zeke only and then it's, you know, multiple pieces from the Falcons. But I think you can start. I'll start with Austin Hooper. I think he's actually in a week with a lot of bye weeks. Obviously he's coming off a great game, but that was after two duds in a row. This matchup bodes well for him. Dallas's middle of the pack, being at home and a high over under. I think Hooper is definitely a guy you could. You probably should start this week.

[Andy Holloway]

It will talk about three of the players from this matchup in our starts of the week segment, but I'm definitely with you. I'm chasing the receptions from Hooper. I mean you. When you decide on a tight end. Let me ask you this because we've talked a lot about Eric Ebron on the show on the foot cast yesterday, on our live stream Yesterday for the JoinTheFoot.com supporters, would you rather start Austin Hooper in this game and chase the 10 receptions or start Eric Ebron in his matchup and chase the three touchdowns? Because in either case there's an argument to be made that there's going to be a lot of, you know, regression. But do you chase the touchdowns or the reception totals?

[Jason Moore]

I would chase the, the receptions when you can. There's very few tight ends that have, you know, the potential to have, you know, eight plus receptions in a game. And if you've got one of those, then your baseline is usually a little bit safer. I have Austin Hooper two spots ahead of Eric Ebron currently in my rankings.

[Andy Holloway]

Interesting. Yeah, I, I think it's pretty, pretty tight. I have, yeah, I've got Ebron, it looks like slightly. Nope, just behind Hooper as well.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I have Hooper a little bit higher. How are you guys feeling about Calvin Ridley? Are you chalking last week? I mean the matchup was delicious for Calvin Ridley and he showed up without an appetite. He did not eat as they would say.

[Andy Holloway]

No, no, keep talking about food. Keep going. You got anything else?

[Mike Wright]

I like burritos.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm not talking it up to anything.

[Mike Wright]

I mean he over really this was the most snaps of his career. He actually, he surpassed the 70% threshold for the first time. But he's not been, he hasn't been what you thought you were going to get there after the first three or four weeks.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, fantasy owners, if you overreacted to the three touchdown, two touchdown game, then yeah, you're disappointed. But if you've been paying attention for the last five weeks, it's been, you know, 4 for 38, 3 for 47, 5 for 43, 6 for 71, 3 for 37, one touchdown in that entire span. So he is a very boom bust, lower tier option on that roster. Julio is the man. Over 100 yards in six of nine games, touchdowns and two straight. This is simply expectation control. So I guess the question I'd ask you, Jason, is Amari Cooper or Calvin Ridley? I think we'd all go.

[Jason Moore]

Cooper, definitely go. So Dallas's defense against wide receivers has been fantastic.

[Mike Wright]

Hey, frogman, what is happening over there? My goodness.

[Andy Holloway]

Zeke. 187 total yards, two touchdowns, against the Eagles. Stout run D last week. Atlanta's just playing bad against running back. Zeke is an auto start. So Tevin Coleman bounce back week for him.

[Mike Wright]

Bounce?

[Andy Holloway]

He's hard to predict right now.

[Mike Wright]

Bouncy, ish bounce. There's a little bit of little rubber in there maybe so. Not expecting it compared to last week, I am. The Falcons offense just as a whole fell completely flat. So I'm expecting much bigger things from all the pieces.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, I've got Coleman at 12, right as the fringe RB1. This week, the Bengals take on the 4 and 5 Ravens. Bengals are 5 and 4. Big game again. Big divisional matchup. AJ Green. This was the news yesterday. Marvin Lewis says he hopes to have AJ Green ready for Sunday's game. Take that for what you will. I think it's, you know, an optimistic report about AJ Green is a surprise because a lot of reports had him not playing until December and then John Ross is dealing with a groin injury. So if AJ's back is better news for Mixon, is better news for Boyd, better news for, better news for Dalton. All the players I pumped the brakes on, all of a sudden we get news late afternoon. I said, look, you can't, you can't expect a lot from the Bengals if AJ's out, but maybe AJ's back and this is a very important game for them.

[Jason Moore]

If AJ is back, I feel like there's going to be a lot of trap here because AJ is going to be back a little bit hurt. And if AJ was here from the get go and AJ never got injured, you can't forget that this is a really bad matchup. I mean, the Ravens, even though, you know, the, the last game or two, they haven't looked great, they're still, what, the sixth best against wide receivers on the season, the eighth best against quarterbacks.

[Andy Holloway]

Pull up your last six weeks for the Ravens.

[Jason Moore]

So the last six weeks they have not been good against tight end or quarterback.

[Mike Wright]

But to be fair, the quarterback when on the season they're eighth against quarterback and that's allowing about 17 points a game. But they dropped to 20th in the past six weeks at 19 points. So there's the margin there is so small. What I would focus more on is they're still shutting down running backs. They're still shutting down wide receivers. The tight ends though, that's been kind of the one exploitable part which does.

[Jason Moore]

Say I know CJ Usama has been just terrible but in a week with a bunch of buys, he's a guy that I still think you should look at. He is still running routes, he's still on the field, his opportunity is there. This matchup kind of says if you're going to pass on us, it's going to be at the tight end position. They need him to step up. So I think you could do worse.

[Mike Wright]

Usama or I mean if you're playing Usama, you're streaming the position.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

But Usama or the recently sort of surging Johnnu Smith for Tennessee.

[Andy Holloway]

I'll take you Zama.

[Jason Moore]

I would as well.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I'm not excited about Uzama though. He's my tight end 17 this week. So he just does not seem to have some it factor with Andy Dalton that you had with Iford or even Croft around the goal line. There's a lot of start sit decisions to be made in this game though. Overall we don't know who the quarterback in Baltimore is going to be. It could be Joe Flacco, could be Lamar Jackson, could be Robert. The only one I'm playing if he's active as the starter is Lamar Jackson. We've talked about.

[Jason Moore]

Really?

[Mike Wright]

You wouldn't stream Flacco?

[Andy Holloway]

No.

[Mike Wright]

Just because of Joe Flacco? Because of the injury?

[Jason Moore]

Both of those. You put those together. The fact that it is Joe Flacco and then it's a hurt hip, injured Joe Flacco version.

[Mike Wright]

Joe Flacco against the absolute worst. It's also a fantasy defense against quarterbacks the past six weeks.

[Andy Holloway]

No, I get it. But it's a divisional game and you can throw some of those statistics out the at the door. I mean you're going to get if I had to bet on the over under this game which is we don't even have one right now because of the quarterback situation. But I think I'll take the Under, I think it'll be. I think it'll be a lower scoring game.

[Jason Moore]

I do believe that Alex Collins is a great start and we'll talk about him a little bit later.

[Mike Wright]

So how do you feel about Boyd if A.J. green is out?

[Jason Moore]

I think Boyd is a.

[Andy Holloway]

He's a wide receiver too. In probably both cases.

[Jason Moore]

I feel like he's a wide receiver three. But you know, with maybe wide receiver two. Upside, I'm not excited, but he's got enough volume coming his way. Where he. To me, he's like a Sterling shepherd this week. I actually like Sterling Shepard and. But you're. You're limited. I just don't think the offense is something where you go, man, he's a, he's a must start.

[Andy Holloway]

John Brown, Michael Crabtree, both been very disappointing recently. Michael Crabtree has six catches for 63 yards total in the last two games. And then John Brown after the hot start, despite the, you know, the 17 yard average depth of target, he said four out of five weeks where you were not happy. You played him and you're waiting for the big play with him. He's our consensus wide receiver. 19 this week because the matchup is great. You're at home, you're against the Bengals. But not knowing the quarterback situation, I think you need to have a different plan in mind.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he could, he could obviously boom for a great game, but if you can pivot away, I would.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I think he's. His variance, like as in the safety of John Brown is very in flux. But I still have him ranked pretty high this week. I'm. I think he has bounces back this weekend.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, cool. We're going to move on to another matchup here.

[Jason Moore]

Before we do, look, you're getting together with your loved ones this Thanksgiving. You can discover more about the genetic connections you share with 23andMe. 23andMe is a super cool service. All three of us have used it. In fact, we've all done it. We did it years ago. I don't know who is the most recent, but I was like five years ago.

[Mike Wright]

I'm probably the most recent of the three of us.

[Jason Moore]

It's really cool. You simply spit in a tube that they provide and send it to them and they map out and discover parts of your DNA. It's unbelievable. You can see and learn so many things about yourself, about your connections, your relatives, your ancestry. There are really cool things. And you can share the reports with family and friends, even if they aren't customers. Although this Thanksgiving, tell them to hop on board because comparing them is my favorite part. Now through Thanksgiving, 23andMe ancestry service kits are only $49 per kit. When you buy two or more kits, that's 50% off the regular kit price of $99. This holiday, order your 23andMe ancestry service kit at 23andMe.com footballers. That's the number 23andMe.com football footballers like.

[Mike Wright]

To thank SeatGeek for sponsoring today's show. Getting tickets online can be far too complicated. That's why seat week.

[Jason Moore]

Wow.

[Mike Wright]

That's why SeatGeek is the way to go. Not seat wheat. I would not recommend not gluten free. Check out SeatGeek. They search multiple ticket sites. They grade every ticket based on a value. They help you immediately identify the best seats that fit your budget. Plus every purchase is fully guaranteed. You can shop in full confidence on SeatGeek. Whether you're searching for a last minute deal, planning that night out, looking for a perfect gift, SeatGeek has you covered. We've had SeatGeek on the phone installed for years. It's helped me out several times in a pinch grabbing those last minute tickets. Right now, our listeners can get $20 off their first SeatGeek purchase. Just download the SeatGeek app, enter promo code Footballers today. That's promo code footballers for $20 off your first Seat Geek purchase. SeatGeek. Life's an event. We have the tickets.

[Andy Holloway]

Don't get seat Wheat. Oh, no. Very painful.

[Mike Wright]

And you get a soggy bottom.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep. Is wheat soggy, Mike? Why wouldn't.

[Mike Wright]

When you sit on it, really, it.

[Jason Moore]

Could cause warmth and moisture.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, really?

[Mike Wright]

I mean, think about it, man.

[Jason Moore]

If my seat were made out of.

[Andy Holloway]

Wheat, what is that old breakfast that like you guys probably would expect me to? Grape Nuts. Cream of Wheat.

[Jason Moore]

So good.

[Andy Holloway]

Wait, is that really so good, Jason?

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, Cream of Wheat is fantastic.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, that's a very old man take.

[Jason Moore]

Hold on, hold on.

[Andy Holloway]

That's as old as taste.

[Jason Moore]

Malt oatmeal is better than Cream of Wheat.

[Mike Wright]

What do you put in your Cream of Wheat?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, it's covered in butter, sugar, brown sugar. So it's delicious.

[Mike Wright]

So those three things are delicious and you just. Cream of Wheat happens to be the device that carries those things.

[Jason Moore]

Exactly. If it's toast and I'm putting butter and sugar and then toast is delicious. I mean, whatever. It's a mechanism for sugar.

[Andy Holloway]

I do want to just highlight because I'm often called the old man. The tagline for Cream of wheat is since 1893, when you're doing it right. It's been around the block.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that's true.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh man.

[Jason Moore]

Well, Malt O meal is greater sign. Cream of wheat.

[Mike Wright]

What is the difference?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I have no idea.

[Jason Moore]

Malt O meal has like.

[Andy Holloway]

Neither are part of my life.

[Mike Wright]

So you put brown sugar in with the brown sugar.

[Andy Holloway]

Malt O meal has built in brown sugar. No, they're both. They're both hot. Yeah, they're both just hot wheat cereals. Delicious hot wheat. It's the best six and three Panthers against the three and six Lions. The Lions are at home in just a four point favorite or I'm sorry, a four point underdog. 51 point over under Panthers. Coming off that dud of a game where you said, huh, what team, what kind of team is this?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean this is, you know, some teams bounce back really great from a shellacking. I expect the Carolina Panthers to be one of those teams. They've always been well coached.

[Andy Holloway]

As you say, it's a well coached equation.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And you know, it's also playing the.

[Andy Holloway]

Lions that makes it easy.

[Jason Moore]

That makes it easy. It's in a dome so you don't have to worry about, you know, weather conditions or anything else. This is just a team that is really good in. The Panthers needing to have some self respect after that drubbing they got last week. And the Lions are going to be the punching dummy.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I think you're right. I mean the Lions offense struggled immensely with that Golden Tate last week. Marvin Jones is banged up. They don't have a lot of cohesion on offense or defense right now and their season's falling apart. Matthew Stafford looked bad. They were a pump the brakes team last week. The one player that has emerged and continues to emerge despite the kind of troubles surrounding the team is a man who I, you know, you're familiar with.

[Jason Moore]

Oh yes. Oh.

[Andy Holloway]

He'S been an RB2 or better three the last four weeks and really surprised us last week because he's so good. I mean that's just when in 21 touches. Doesn't hurt.

[Jason Moore]

It doesn't hurt. Thank you Lions coaches for finally getting involved. I almost thought about having Kerryon Johnson be the player who's going to be on championship teams because he's a late drafted guy that's a second half of the year player. His schedule stinks.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Rest of the way his schedule is terrible.

[Andy Holloway]

But I like him in this game.

[Jason Moore]

I don't know that it matters. I think that they're going to have to use him and if you give him the ball. He will be productive for fantasy because he's great.

[Andy Holloway]

Very simple. Honestly, the argument for carry on Johnson's success is very, very similar to David Johnson's in Arizona. Both teams stink. Both teams offenses are probably going to struggle rest of season. Schedule problems, talent. Kerryon Johnson will be David Johnson light to me because he has to share some of the load with the Garrett Blunt and Theo Riddick. But he's the only running back that you can start on Detroit this week. And look, you're going to start Kenny Golladay. Those smooth routes are going to deliver they did last week. I hope Marvin Jones is active for the sake of Kenny Golladay because it's not going to be. There's just not gonna be a lot of offensive snaps if he's not.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it could be T.J. jones. That's what the whispers of the Bushes are saying.

[Jason Moore]

And me.

[Mike Wright]

If Marvin Jones is to miss on the wide receiver side of the ball, the pass catchers. Do you have any level of excitement for Funches or DJ Moore? It Funches has, yes. He's got a solid matchup the last six weeks. The Lions defense is dead last against fantasy wide receivers, 27th against the quarterback.

[Jason Moore]

If you were to look, we've got, we've got, you know, data in our show docs of the season defense and the last six weeks defense. And if you look, it's a complete inverse of being bad at stopping the run but pretty good against wide receivers, tight ends, quarterbacks, to a complete flip where you're terrible against those but you're actually top 12 against the run. This is not an accident. This happened. If you look at the data, specifically when they traded for snacks Harrison that flipped everything, all of a sudden they were able to stop the run. But since teams couldn't run on them, they were like, oh, you know what, I can actually throw the ball on them pretty easily. So that's where I think your DJ Moore Devin Funchess, Cam Bounce Back is not a bad play here.

[Andy Holloway]

It's just predictability on which guy will have the effect or whether Cam Newton's going to make all of his hay through the air with Christian McCaffrey or Greg Olson. Yeah, baby. Josh threw this in here. Devin funches is averaging 1.4 1.9 yards after the catch, which is dead last of all qualified wideouts. And that's because Devon Funches is the size of a tight end.

[Jason Moore]

It's very similar to what we used to see in Kelvin Benjamin.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. So if you had to pick a wide receiver to Start for Carolina then. Who are you picking?

[Jason Moore]

Guys, it would still be fun, just for me. I'm going to stick with the targets over the talent.

[Andy Holloway]

I think I go. DJ Moore.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. The targets not really there either. 13 targets total in the past three games combined.

[Jason Moore]

Is that still greater than DJ Morse?

[Andy Holloway]

Probably.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. That's.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't know if it is.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, it might not be. I mean, 13 is a pretty low, Pretty low number there, but yeah, I have funches about 10 spots higher than DJ Moore in my rankings.

[Andy Holloway]

Last question. DJ Moore. 10 receptions over the last three games. I mean, but it's not been great. Last question. If Marvin Jones is healthy and active and practicing, which we'll keep you up to date on, on this show each and every day, are you going to play him in the game?

[Jason Moore]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

You're not?

[Mike Wright]

I prefer not to.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I think that there's a lot of players. I mean, he'll be, he'll be in that wide receiver three range. So can you start him? Yes.

[Mike Wright]

I'd rather start John Brown than Marvin Jones.

[Jason Moore]

I would as well.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I mean, I. I'd water bet you if I thought Marvin Jones was going to play, but he's not. The Titans 5 and 4 taking on the 4 and 5 Colts. Colts are two point favorites at home. 48 point over under the Titans. Odd season continues. Divisional matchup. Marcus Mariota. I know we like him right now. He's playing a lot better and that's helping Corey Davis, it's helping Dion Lewis. It's helping everybody involved. If your quarterback's playing poorly, it just trickles down to everybody. So confidence level in Marcus Mariota as a streamer this week. I think we all feel pretty comfortable. Where is he on your rankings this week?

[Jason Moore]

Mariota? Yeah, I have Marcus Mariota because I.

[Andy Holloway]

Got him outside the top 12.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he's 20 right now for me. But I don't think this is a bad matchup. I mean, when you've got a guy ranked 20, you're like, oh, he's not a quarterback one. But the problem is there's 20 good options and any of them can Finish as a quarterback 1. The match up here is pretty good. You do wonder if, you know, how much are the Colts going to be able to score on the Titans, whose defense has been really good. They've been number one against tight end, which of course is the only position Andrew Luck throws to. But Even though we're 11 weeks in, it's a little bit of a misnomer because I remember Andy and I were Looking this up in the, in the studio a couple days ago and it was like everybody that the, that has played against the tight end, the teams that they've played just haven't had tight ends at all.

[Andy Holloway]

And within a great against them. But it's like Buffalo.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Here's their list. Miami, so no, no tight ends. Houston pretty much no tight ends. Especially week two. Jacksonville, no tight ends. Then Philly, well, you got Zach Ertz and they gave up 12 receptions and 125 yards to the tight end position. Then Buffalo again, the Chargers, the Cowboys, and then the Patriots last week without Gronk. So it's like they're first but not really.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I would be willing to start both Ebron and Jack Doyle only because Andrew Luck throws the Titans so often. Now our Kyle, our editor, he went through all the game film over the last two games, looked at the red zone routes run. Ebron ran nine red zone routes. Jack Doyle ran eight. Those are the numbers I care about the most. So right now there is a connection between Andrew Luck and Eric Ebron. That's why he's on pace to break the tight end or tie the tight end touchdown record. I'm willing to start him. You do risk. I mean, you run risk. He ran 30. He was on the field for 38% of snaps after being 100% player before Jack Doyle returned. But he's come out and said, hey, he's cool with that.

[Mike Wright]

Well, because he's catching touchdowns.

[Andy Holloway]

Exactly.

[Mike Wright]

If the touchdowns disappear, Eric Ebron was, is not going to be cool with it.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. So they're going to give him more touchdowns.

[Mike Wright]

I hear it's fun to score touchdowns in the NFL.

[Jason Moore]

It's funny, I still have Jack Doyle one spot ahead of Ebron in my rankings just from a, you know, it's kind of that conversation we had earlier. Would you rather chase the receptions or the touchdowns? And if you can chase receptions and targets, which you can with Jack Doyle, I think, I think the baseline, the odds are more in your favor.

[Andy Holloway]

Is Corey Davis the truth in this game? Is he a wide receiver 2 or a wide receiver 3? Rest of season.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, rest of season. I think he's a two. Rest of season.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going to go three. Because he just, he finds a way of disappearing.

[Jason Moore]

He does.

[Mike Wright]

But for me it's the confidence in Marcus Mariota being actually back to competent.

[Andy Holloway]

And you think that continues too?

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Huh. On the basis of just health. Okay, got it. Marlon mack last week, 12 for 29. Not good. Titans are.

[Jason Moore]

They're difficult to run against a good matchup.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm not loving Marlon Mack this week. Marlon Mack or Carry On?

[Mike Wright]

Carry on, for sure.

[Andy Holloway]

Marlon Mack or Joe Mixon against Baltimore?

[Jason Moore]

Mixon. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

It's Mixon's every week, no matter what.

[Andy Holloway]

Dion Lewis in the same matchup or Marlon Mack?

[Mike Wright]

That's a very interesting question. Dion Lewis is. His floor is very safe to me because of the opportunities. He's the number one guy. He's the primary running back for the Tennessee Titans, but he is a bit capped. Dion Lewis. Wow. Is this baby Josh really. One rushing touchdown for Dion Lewis? And that's. That's horrific because in the end, Derek Henry still has that role, is able to succeed, apparently, because that's what Derek Henry has done the past couple weeks. So Dion Lewis is safer than Mack, but he doesn't have the huge upside.

[Jason Moore]

Dion Lewis still had 20 carries.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

[Andy Holloway]

He's great.

[Mike Wright]

His floor is excellent.

[Jason Moore]

And this is the type of matchup where he could be involved in the passing game more like last week, they, you know, they. They were in charge. So I think this is a good Dion Lewis game.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, you guys ready to move on to another matchup? Yep. Let's talk about The Buccaneers at 3 and 6, taking on the 2 and 7 Giants, 52 point over under. So despite the teams playing the records involved, Giants are one and a half point favorites at home after Eli Manning put up a nice performance last week. And there are fantasy points to be had in this game. There are players that you want and you want to start. We'll talk a little bit about Eli Manning and his upside this week. Right now, he's our consensus quarterback, 15 on the week, facing a Tennessee defense. That probably takes it as a great compliment to be even referred to as a defense at this point. But what do we expect from both sides of the ball? Especially, let's start with Tampa. Ryan Fitzpatrick last week, 403 passing yards, zero touchdowns. Strange game. Mike Evans, Deshaun Jackson, Chris Godwin, Adam Humphries, O.J. howard. Where's your confidence level on these pass catchers after last week's kind of strange performance?

[Mike Wright]

I'm completely the same. For me, it's so anomalous to throw for over 400 yards.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, you like that part?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you just got to take the probability. And a guy who throws for 400 yards, the fact that he didn't have at least two scores is extremely shocking. So I'm still. I'm still good playing all these guys. Ryan Fitzmagic, you. You still stream him. Evans. And Evans is right back in there. I think the more interesting question is Jacquiz Rogers and Peyton Barber, because we're in. We're in dire straits here. People need running backs to play. Payton Barber has been fine, been 513 for 61 on the ground this past week. However, the big outlier, if you want to know where Ryan Fitzpatrick's yards went, you had Tampa Bay Buccaneer players and you went, wait, he had 400 yards, but my guys sucked. Eight receptions for 102 yards for Jacques Rogers.

[Jason Moore]

Break the glass is this. This.

[Mike Wright]

Are you going to keep the glass shattered or are you picking it up?

[Andy Holloway]

That really depends. I think in this matchup on what you expect from the Giants at home and the fact that they're favored in Vegas, the fact that the defense struggles. You do have some upside to Jaquez Rogers, like if you're staring down Jaquiz or TJ Yeldin this week or Theo Riddick. Are you playing him over both those guys? Ooh, PPR League. Theo Riddick or Jaquiz?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean, at that point, I would.

[Mike Wright]

I have Theo slightly higher.

[Jason Moore]

I was gonna say. I think I would still go Theo Riddick here. You're exactly right. It depends on what you believe in the Giants. And I don't believe even against Tampa, I'm not sitting here thinking that the Giants are going to put up 35 points and make the Buccaneers have to come back and dump off to the running back a bunch if that happens, which could. I mean, Saquon and Odell Beckham could torch the Buccaneers. And if that happens, they will, by the way. Sure.

[Andy Holloway]

And if that happens, point totals around.

[Jason Moore]

27, then Jacquiz would be a fine play. But it's hard for me to put a lot of faith in the Giants offense right now.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I mean, I think the key, at least for me, philosophically speaking, as a fantasy owner, if I'm playing players on bad teams, I'm not messing around with the lower tier because I'm not going to roll the dice as much on those players. So I'm staying at the very top of these performers. The Saquon Barkley and Odell Beckham. My confidence level on Sterling Shepard and Evan Ingram is more of the dart throw, is more of the coin flip, even if the matchup's good than it is confident.

[Jason Moore]

Sterling Shepard, I think we should talk about him because he's been sneaky good as far as, you know, he's getting the targets that you look for he's getting receptions. I mean, if you look back over the last several weeks, he's usually getting about seven targets plus and this is a really good matchup against Tampa Bay. I think Shepard could be one of those fringe flex type plays on a bi week where you're, you're deciding, do I like Shepard this week, Do I not? I think if you're in that position where you're comparing him against other meh players on your bench, I would usually lean Shepard in that situation.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm less confident. Mike, where do you stand on that? I mean, I think with Evan Ingram's return, you know, if Shepard doesn't score last week, he only had three targets on the day. Corey Coleman had one target.

[Mike Wright]

Sure.

[Andy Holloway]

But you feel okay with him?

[Mike Wright]

I still feel okay with him last week. Yeah, it was rough. Only three targets. But Jason's right. Eight, eight, seven.

[Andy Holloway]

Those are Ingram less weeks though.

[Jason Moore]

It's been since week two that he hasn't had at least seven targets in a game. Seven, ten, seven, seven, eight, eight.

[Andy Holloway]

Evan is, you don't, you don't factor Ingerman at all, Jay, because he was missing him. He was missing other options. I'm just Evan Ingram.

[Jason Moore]

Well, Evan Ingram was back for some of those games. I mean, two weeks ago when he had eight targets, Evan Ingram was there.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, Ingram's been back for three games.

[Andy Holloway]

Calvin Ridley or Sterling Shepherd?

[Mike Wright]

Calvin Ridley.

[Jason Moore]

That's a good one.

[Mike Wright]

I'll go. Calvin Ridley. Ingram is a curious case because he's, he's actually getting a little bit ahead of it. But he's my start of the week at the tight end position because we're, we're trying to find guys who might be off the waiver wire. At least that's what I'm talking about. And he's still good. His yards per reception this season, it's, it's gone way down. He's only at 9.1 yards per reception. It was, it was a much better situation last year. But it's like Eli Manning completely forgets that Ingram is a huge mismatch for the defense.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. All game till the end.

[Mike Wright]

And then the final two minutes he goes, oh, oh, yeah, I remember you, Angram.

[Jason Moore]

Here's the ball. He's just dead. It's, it's possum. It's. We're not going to throw to him. We're not going to throw to him. And then when you need it in the last two minutes, you're like, you forgot about him.

[Andy Holloway]

It actually concerns me quite a bit. I Mean baby Josh pointed out his yards per reception is down this year because at the end of the game, what is he looking for? You know, Eli's end of game strategy is check down city. It's Saquon Barkley check down if, if ever Ingram represents check down city to him. That's bad for fantasy owners. It makes me wonder about his total health picture. But I do agree. I mean he's an upside guy because he's super talented, but Eli has to stay upright and Ingram has to run down the field for that to happen.

[Jason Moore]

O.J. howard, we should bring him up as well in this game.

[Mike Wright]

He's fine.

[Jason Moore]

He's leading the way in yards per reception at the tight end position and he is a fine play. I wanted to make him my start of the week, but he was, you know, look, he's, he's, he's an auto start. But if, because last week you only got 15 yards and you're like, oh, that I can't trust them. You can't trust any tight end deal. I mean you really can't. So other than, you know, Kelsey and Ertz, you can't trust anyone. So go ahead and put in the guy that has the ceiling of an O.J. howard in this matchup.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. Feel like we talked about that one quite a bit. Texans, Redskins, 6 and 3. Tax and 6 and 3 Redskins. Two playoff bound teams right now. And this is a 42 and a half point over under. That's very low. That's a very low over under. Expecting good defense in this game. Redskins are three point home favorites. What do fantasy owners do with Lamar Miller? Last week was a very strange game. It was. You have the Texans performing well, winning games, leading the division. Lamar Miller, two straight 100 yard games and all of a sudden Alfred Blue makes his appearance. Stepping in, it's like the understudy, right? Like you, you expect the main actor to come out on stage and they're like, no, we're going to give this performance to Alfred Blue today. And, and you're not really, I mean it's not impressive.

[Mike Wright]

The role of Hamilton today.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Will be Alfred Blue.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh no.

[Jason Moore]

These are thousand dollar tickets.

[Andy Holloway]

But how do you reconcile, you know, how do you deal with the uncertainty surrounding Miller? Because the upside is great. If they give him the carries. This is a game they need to win against a very good team.

[Mike Wright]

Matchup is pretty rough for the running backs. I'll play Lamar Miller. I'm going to chalk up the. With the. Two weeks ago, the game against Denver, the lack of volume. Head Coach O'Brien said, We don't want to run him into the ground. Okay, fine. You gave him that week off. Basically, he's had a bye week. Let's see if he's telling the truth.

[Andy Holloway]

Maybe he just meant we don't want to run him. Maybe that's all he meant on the ground. But even good, we don't want to run him.

[Jason Moore]

Here's.

[Mike Wright]

Here's two straight 100 yard games on the ground before that.

[Jason Moore]

Lamar Miller is a guy that you very well might need to start. He is pretty much like the last of all the starting running backs. Like, I'll play Lamar Miller ahead of your Edo Smiths and Austin Eckler's and you know, the guys that are pretty much the backup for their team that can still pop and get touchdowns because of the volume. But he's the last. He's. Of all the starting running backs who get volume, I'm the least confident here because it's a tough matchup. Low over, under, not guaranteed volume with Alfred Blue. There's a lot, very, a lot of.

[Mike Wright]

Ways this could be a really gross question. Jason.

[Andy Holloway]

Lamar, do you eat your toenails? Yes or no?

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Jason Moore]

They're crisp.

[Mike Wright]

They're very crispy.

[Jason Moore]

You eat my toenails.

[Mike Wright]

Yours in particular. What if I put butter and brown sugar on them?

[Jason Moore]

Here's the thing. If you put butter and brown sugar, at the very least they would be upgraded.

[Mike Wright]

All right, Lamar Miller or Jordan Howard?

[Jason Moore]

Tell the truth.

[Mike Wright]

Tell the truth.

[Jason Moore]

I would start.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, you would.

[Andy Holloway]

Weeping. You would start groaning.

[Jason Moore]

Jordan Howard. I'm gonna, I'm gonna tweak my rankings to where it's Jordan Howard.

[Mike Wright]

Okay. I have Lamar Miller one spot ahead.

[Jason Moore]

I do as well. I'm looking at that and thinking, I don't want to answer them.

[Mike Wright]

I will. I would play Miller over Howard.

[Andy Holloway]

This is not a good matchup for running backs in general Adrian Peterson. Look, he's going to be out there on the field. He'll be playing running back for the Washington Redskins.

[Mike Wright]

That much we know.

[Andy Holloway]

He also, he dropped a little bit of a Jason Moore ism today. He said, you know, dealing with the shoulder and ankle injury. He said he is feeling, he is, quote, feeling all the way healthy.

[Mike Wright]

All the way healthy.

[Andy Holloway]

All the way healthy.

[Mike Wright]

That's better than moderately healthy.

[Andy Holloway]

It kind of sounds like he's trying too hard to tell you how he's feeling to me. But at the end of the day, look, Houston's defense is on fire right.

[Jason Moore]

Now and Washington's offensive line, I mean, they Picked up Jonathan Cooper, who has failed everywhere he's been. Been atrocious.

[Andy Holloway]

Wasn't playing Washington yet.

[Jason Moore]

They picked him up and they started him last week. And I guess I didn't. I didn't watch him enough because I didn't have the barf bags nearby. But with Jonathan Cooper off the street at guard against this J.J. watt and Jadavian Clowney line.

[Mike Wright]

No, thank you.

[Jason Moore]

No, thank you.

[Andy Holloway]

You're starting Deandre Hopkins, obviously, if you want to start a pass catcher in Washington. Maurice Harris has seen 26 and 18% of the target share the last two weeks. And Josh Docson has scored in the last two weeks. Pick your muddy wide receiver. Three fringe poison Harris. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Yep.

[Andy Holloway]

And then Demarius Thomas. Kiki qt. I got some Twitter feedback. They felt like I was being disrespectful to Kiki's talent when I marginalized Jason's excitement over Kiki. I think he's very talented. I think when you pick a guy that the team probably perceives as at best a co wide receiver too, I think it's just difficult to predict. Maybe I'm wrong. Do you guys think I'm wrong? I think Kiki's a seven catch guy.

[Jason Moore]

I think Kiki is a seven catch guy if he's healthy.

[Mike Wright]

How many games?

[Jason Moore]

What do you mean?

[Mike Wright]

Like, how many games are you combining for those seven total?

[Jason Moore]

Each good game.

[Mike Wright]

Three games.

[Jason Moore]

No, look, Kiki. Kiki is a really talented guy. I thought he was a good waiver wire pickup, but I did caution. It depends on his injury. He said he's not going to come back until he's 100%.

[Mike Wright]

He's not Adrian Peterson all the way healthy.

[Jason Moore]

They're after their buy and after the buy, he was limited in practice. So I don't have the confidence of Kiki for this matchup. Certainly not when he's healthy. I do. He's not healthy. So don't start Kiki yet.

[Andy Holloway]

Most important question. Is Kiki sneaky?

[Jason Moore]

Kiki sneaky?

[Andy Holloway]

You think of. Kiki is sneaky.

[Jason Moore]

He's going to be sneaky.

[Mike Wright]

You're going to tweaky your lineup.

[Jason Moore]

Well, he's gonna tweaky his hams. Kiki's tweaky his hamstring. And so you got. It's a sneaky. When Kiki tweak Hammy, he leaves. He lives in a. He lives in a teepee. Teepee. Yeah. He. That's where he lives.

[Andy Holloway]

Kiki lives in a teepee.

[Jason Moore]

Mm.

[Mike Wright]

He could have gone with, like, cheeky. No. But the words that actually rhyme well, you know, you can live in someone's cheeks.

[Jason Moore]

All right.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, you're the song. You got to take some liberties with these rhymes. You're not just, you know.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, well, that's exactly why I got to put my foot down and say that. That is not a proper rhyme.

[Andy Holloway]

Let's put this down.

[Jason Moore]

Starts of the week.

[Andy Holloway]

All right.

[Mike Wright]

People rhyming door and door. No, I messed it up.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, that was a good one.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, you're really on fire. But you cheeky. And rhyming door with.

[Jason Moore]

Ah, that's.

[Mike Wright]

That's a hot one. Get on.

[Andy Holloway]

Can we blow? Can we back him out of these starts of the week? I'm confident in. Mike. Let's start here at the running back position. I'm actually making Kerryon Johnson my start of the week. I. I love 21 touches. I love 14 carries. Despite the fact that they were getting boat race by Chicago last week and they don't have a lot of healthy options on this team. If Marvin Jones is missing the game, it's Kenny Golladay and that's the end of the list.

[Mike Wright]

Yep.

[Andy Holloway]

Outside of Kerryon Johnson, they will have to use him. It's a volume play. But your confidence level in carry on might be down.

[Mike Wright]

Mine is. Mine's shaky.

[Andy Holloway]

I know. I cannot believe you're thinking about starting John Brown over Kerryon Johnson this week. It is a. It's an assault on my sensibilities, Mike. I mean, John Brown, single digit guy for four or five weeks. Carry on. Johnson on your team, mind you, on your bench, dropped a huge game last week. He'll have 20 total opportunities in this game. John Brown might have three opportunities to make a big play. So I'm going to go the carry on direction. Jason, who is your running back start of the week?

[Jason Moore]

My running back start of the week is Alex Collins. I mentioned him from Baltimore. Look, the matchup is great this week. Cincinnati's defense has been terrible. They're 31st against the run on the season over the last six weeks. They're one spot worst and that also known as the worst in the league. They are easy to run on and I think the quarterback situation for Baltimore works in the favor of Alex Collins because no matter what happens, if Joe Flacco is there and he's a little hurt, they might want to run the ball more and they'll be able to. So Alex Collins, if it's Lamar Jackson or Robert Griffin, guys that can run and get mobile and teams have to scheme for shadowing that Quarterback and looking for the run pass option and who's got the ball that benefits Alex Collins. So you have the great matchup coming off their bye week. I think Alex Collins is a guy that, you know, if he's on your roster, he should, he should be started.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I love it. My start of the week at the running back position is Tariq Cohen. Turok Turf Hunter. Turok, the dinosaur Hunter.

[Jason Moore]

Thank you.

[Mike Wright]

The matchup is not great, as in it looks bad on paper.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, for prototypical running, yes.

[Mike Wright]

The Chicago Bears against the Minnesota Vikings could be tough. That's why I like Tariq. I also like the usage and even in a very, very positive game script for what Jordan Howard can do for this team last week, which is be up big against an inferior opponent and you can run out the clock. Cohen still out snapped Jordan Howard. I think the team has seen the success that they can have with him, and I'm expecting more of the output that, that Cohen put out in the middle of the season where he was getting the eight targets, the nine targets, it finally went back to seven this past week. That didn't turn into a bunch of success. But I think the opportunities is what I'm after.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, quarterback, start of the week. I don't even know exactly where I'm going here. I wanted to bring up two names. Eli Manning against Tampa Bay, one of the worst pass defenses in football. Great streak with Odell Beckham Jr. Is a. I think he's a top 12 guy this week. Eli Manning can end up in that range. I also want to bring up Jared Goff.

[Jason Moore]

Jared. Jared, Jared.

[Andy Holloway]

Now, nobody, I mean, most of you out there with golf is starting him, but I have Jared Goff as my number one overall quarterback this week. And so I wanted to give a vote of confidence, a little pat on the butt start of the week for golf with Eli.

[Jason Moore]

So this says if you. You've got Jared Garf and Pat Mahomes. Are you. You're throwing golf in your starting lineup.

[Mike Wright]

Number one over Mr. Mahomes.

[Jason Moore]

That's what I mean.

[Andy Holloway]

Nobody has that.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, but what if you do? Hypothetical.

[Andy Holloway]

If I. If I do, you theoretically could. If I do, I'm playing Pat Mahomes.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

Which may seem a little bit antithetical, but I still want to play the guy that I think has the best chance of throwing, you know, six touchdowns as opposed to, you know, splitting hairs on one and two over the course.

[Jason Moore]

It's actually worth bringing up because a lot of people listening are like, wait, what? You're number One binary rankings, you know, they are not the end all, be all. Sometimes we say things on the show. Well, your rankings have it slightly different. There are so much variations within every decision. Rankings are probability odds of a player finishing near this spot versus what's the range of outcomes. I would rather start a guy like it's exactly what you laid out. You'd rather start a guy that could have the big upside or rather start a guy that's safe in certain situations even though they're ranking might be two spots behind a guy or whatever. My quarterback start of the week is the aforementioned Dak Prescott. Look, he has been really good and we, I think we haven't realized it since week six. This is before Amari Cooper till now. On a points per game basis, he's the number nine quarterback in fantasy football. He's top 10 and he's been, he's been fantastic. Now you have him on the road in Atlanta with a great matchup. Atlanta gives up the fourth most quarterback rushing yards, which is what Dak has been doing lately. He's been rushing inside the 10, getting rushing touchdowns. He's got a Murray Cooper. They're going to need to keep up with Atlanta. Dak to me is, you know, he's, he's a quarterback one this week.

[Andy Holloway]

It's an unfortunate truth considering I'm facing him one of my leagues and don't want him to be that good. But I think you're right.

[Jason Moore]

You're facing him in the league with me because he's my quarterback.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Why didn't you play Alex Smith against me like you did against somebody else last week?

[Jason Moore]

Well, yeah, Alex Smith's not playing Tampa Bay this week. All right.

[Mike Wright]

My start of the week at the quarterback, it's Marcus Mariota. I want in on this action against the Colts. Blake Bortles, Derek Carr, Sam Darnold, all quarterbacks that you wouldn't typically want to start for your fantasy football team. Yet against the Colts, they're a good play. They're raining down top 15 performances. So I like Mariota and the Tennessee offense.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, where are we moving on to now? Wide receiver?

[Mike Wright]

Sure.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going with. And this was tough for me. There were several decisions I could have gone with Corey Davis and him keeping it rolling, but he's. He's too scary. I like Marquez Valdez scantling MVS tonight in the Thursday night game. I think he's going to score a touchdown. Seattle's been giving him up to the wide receiver position. Randall Cobb is out. Drona Mallison is done. Marquez is just more talented, has a wider range of ability that I think Aaron Rodgers is learning how to take advantage of. So I think he gets in the end zone tonight and makes him start of the week because the consensus ranking on him is very wide receiver, three range. I think he's a wide receiver, too. For this week. I am making the decision to flex or to essentially flex him over Philip Lindsay this week, which I'm not saying everybody should do that, but I'm going ceiling over floor. And I think the ceiling of MBS is higher tonight than the floor, you know, than the ceiling is for Villa Lindsay this week.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I. I am going with a player that has been overlooked a lot because of the unfathomably putrid start to the year that is hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald in his first five weeks on the season. Remember, he had Mike McCoy, he started with Sam Bradford and then had a rookie come in, thrust into the starting lineup. This was not a good situation and was dealing with a hamstring issue during those first five games. He was on pace for 54 total receptions on the season. 54 and 563 yards with zero touchdowns. That's a horrific line since that time. In the last four games, two of which we have a new offensive coordinator who has. In those two games, Larry has 22 targets.

[Mike Wright]

So I was going to throw in there. They're getting more. 10 more plays a game.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Over as the offensive coordinator. And that's a big deal.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that's a huge deal. For the number one target. He's on pace over the last four games for 92 receptions, 924 yards and eight touchdowns. And I've brought up in the past that Larry Fitzgerald is a much. At this stage in his career, he is so different home and road. He is a great home player. I don't really love starting him on the road. He just gets jacked up for the hometown crowd. And this is a matchup against Oakland at home with the new coordinator, where I think Larry Fitzgerald is going to be a great play this week.

[Mike Wright]

I actually agree. I like Larry this week, my wide receiver. I'm hanging. I'm hanging with Mr. Cooper, Amari Cooper, since. Thank you. Since joining the Dallas Cowboys, he's averaging nine targets a game, about five receptions a game. Like Jason said, Dak is playing better and is in a very good spot. Amari Cooper is getting the volume that we had hoped he would get in Oakland, but he's actually getting it now with Dallas after they made the big Trade. So I like him this week.

[Andy Holloway]

It helps Dak a lot.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

We knew it would do that. We didn't know if it would give Amari the value, but it seems to be. And then my tight end start of the week, I'm chasing the 10 receptions. I'm going with Austin Hooper against Dallas. Dallas is 22nd against the tight end position this year, and Hooper was a target monster last week. So locking down Austin Hooper of Atlanta for my tight end start of the week, when you're making that tough decision, I like them more than Hireman, I like them more than Usama, I like them more than those middling Titans.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, no, I agree. I was considering Austin Hooper for my tight end start of the week. I'm going to do the exact same thing you're doing and really chase the targets, chase the routes, chase the snap percentages, and I'm going to make Jack Doyle my tight end start of the week. You look on paper and you say, I mean, we brought this up. The Tennessee defense, number one against tight end, it's terrible. It's atrocious. And they haven't really faced any tight ends except once. And when they did, they gave up plenty of yards to him.

[Andy Holloway]

Now they face a team of tight ends.

[Jason Moore]

Now they face a team of tight ends. It's gross in the sense that he has not done much to put confidence. But like we say all the time, most tight ends haven't done enough to give you supreme confidence. So I am going to go with the guy on the field this week. I'm playing him ahead of Eric Ebron and he's my start of the week.

[Andy Holloway]

Mike, you've got a garbage man.

[Mike Wright]

Well, hopefully he doesn't have to be a garbage man this week, but I mentioned it earlier. Evan Ingram going with the talents and the opportunity in this game against Tampa Bay. That defense is just so horrific. And of the guys that you can kind of find maybe on your waiver wire, I think Ingram is the one who actually has top five upside this week. I don't know if he'll finish there, but it's in his range of outcomes, which is. It's difficult to find that.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, those were the start of the week. The start of the weeks.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Multiple weeks.

[Andy Holloway]

The start of the weeks.

[Mike Wright]

Been a rough show.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it's been a strange one.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, Jason Moore's ironclad, locked and loaded, 100% guaranteed. Boom, boom. Kicker of the week. Some teams bounce back after a blowout. You know, I think the Panthers pounce back with the foot of Graham Gano.

[Andy Holloway]

I really like that one.

[Mike Wright]

It's not a bounce back.

[Andy Holloway]

It's a pounce.

[Mike Wright]

It's a pounce.

[Jason Moore]

Look, they're Panthers.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's pretty good. There's no way Graham Gano fails you this week. Not with a rhyme like that.

[Jason Moore]

Honestly, I think he was my start of the week on the week where he had like the 63 yard field goal or something.

[Andy Holloway]

That was fun, man. That. That was one of your best. One of your best rhymes of all times.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, you did it.

[Andy Holloway]

Anything else going on? Brooks, you put some A.J. green news. What's going on with A.J. green? Just update. He's not practicing today. That's not good.

[Mike Wright]

So he's not practicing on Thursday. Get out of here. Marvin Lewis.

[Andy Holloway]

He's just trying to put the scare into Baltimore.

[Jason Moore]

Is this was Hugh Jackson coming to go? Hey, hey, I got a good idea. Hey, Marvin, listen, you tell him. Go tell him this. Go tell him. A.J. green. You expect him to play. You're hopeful it'll give him a.

[Andy Holloway]

It'll give him a huge advantage.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, I see what you did.

[Andy Holloway]

Rest of the matchups on tomorrow's show. Daily Dose and lots more. All the injury updates, we'll keep you Posted.

[Mike Wright]

Check out Draft.comBallers this weekend for some daily action. See you tomorrow. Goodbye.

[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 @the ffballers.