Starts of the Week, Wk 5 Matchups, Hinesquarters

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary: "Starts of the Week, Wk 5 Matchups, Hinesquarters"

Release Date: October 4, 2018
Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright
Episode: Show 621

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Introduction & Weekly Updates

The episode kicks off with the hosts expressing enthusiasm for the show's 621st episode. Andy Holloway welcomes listeners and briefly mentions ongoing promotions, including Foot Clan memberships and giveaways. The trio shares light-hearted banter about their support for the Phoenix Suns and recent attendance at a preseason game.

Notable Quote:

• Andy Holloway [02:20]: "The best 621st episode of any podcast of all time."

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Injury News & Updates

The hosts delve into current injury reports vital for fantasy owners:

• Thursday Night Updates:
  • Out Players: Ty Hilton, Jack Doyle, and Marlon Mack are officially out for the Colts and Patriots.
  • Gronkowski's Status: Expected to play, but fantasy managers are advised to monitor his status closely.

Discussion on Naim Hines:

• Jason Moore considers starting Naim Hines despite Marlon Mack's absence, emphasizing Hines' potential for multiple receptions in a high-scoring game.

  Notable Quotes:

  • Jason Moore [04:17]: "If Vegas is correct and Indy's going to have to battle back, how they don't use him in a check down fashion over and over and over. He should put up plenty of points."
  • Andy Holloway [10:06]: "It's time to start thinking about who to play this week."

Mike Wright expresses caution about relying on players like Eric Ebron due to bye week mechanics.

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Week 5 Matchups Analysis

The hosts break down key matchups for Week 5, providing insights and recommendations for fantasy plays.

Titans vs. Bills

Overview:

• Titans: 3-1
• Bills: 1-3
• Spread: Bills are 3.5-point underdogs in Buffalo with a low over/under.

Key Points:

• Concerns about the Titans' run game consistency, particularly Corey Davis' performance against Tredavious White.
• Jason Moore [13:15]: "This is the year of punting people off the bridge."

Fantasy Recommendations:

• Start: Derek Henry (with some hesitation)
• Alternative: Dion Lewis for steady points

Notable Quote:

• Jason Moore [14:58]: "I'm willing to start Derek Henry this week even though he's, you know, one of those final straw guys."

Giants vs. Panthers

Overview:

• Giants: 1-3
• Panthers: 2-1
• Spread: Panthers are 7-point favorites in a high-scoring game.

Key Points:

• Giants' offensive struggles, especially Odell Beckham Jr.'s shallow target depth.
• Andy Holloway [21:01]: "He's 34% that's seen. It's a matter of how much they pass."

Fantasy Recommendations:

• Start: Devin Funches over Odell Beckham Jr. due to Beckham's limited deep targets
• Alternative: Sterling Shepard as a flex play

Notable Quote:

• Jason Moore [24:10]: "Sterling Shepard is a fine flex play."

Bengals vs. Dolphins

Overview:

• Bengals: 3-1
• Dolphins: 1-3
• Spread: Bengals are 6.5-point favorites with a high over/under.

Key Points:

• Joe Mixon's return is pivotal against a weak Dolphins run defense.
• Andy Holloway [25:32]: "Joe Mixon has a little more juice."

Fantasy Recommendations:

• Start: Joe Mixon as RB1
• Flex Options: Tyler Boyd for increased targets

Notable Quote:

• Mike Wright [26:40]: "Tyler Boyd has absolutely leveled up to me. The targets are there and he's coming through with big time production."

Packers vs. Lions

Overview:

• Packers: 3-1
• Lions: 1-3
• Spread: Lions are 1-point underdogs in a moderately high-scoring game.

Key Points:

• Concerns about Aaron Rodgers' reliance on injured and underperforming receivers.
• Andy Holloway [40:14]: "If Devonte Adams is out, that is definitely rough."

Fantasy Recommendations:

• Start: Kerryon Johnson over Packers' running backs due to favorable matchup
• Flex Options: Tyler Boyd or Alshon Jeffery

Notable Quote:

• Jason Moore [43:26]: "You're willing to start Alex Collins because he ran 32 routes last week."

Ravens vs. Browns

Overview:

• Ravens: 3-1
• Browns: 3-1
• Spread: Browns are 3-point underdogs in Cleveland with a balanced over/under.

Key Points:

• Joe Flacco's strong performance against a vulnerable Browns defense.
• Alex Collins' inconsistency due to fumbling issues.

Fantasy Recommendations:

• Start: Alex Collins as RB despite risks, leveraging his target share
• Alternative: Frank Gore if Collins remains unreliable

Notable Quote:

• Jason Moore [35:38]: "If Devonte Adams is out, that... is definitely rough."

Jaguars vs. Chiefs

Overview:

• Jaguars: 3-1
• Chiefs: 4-0
• Spread: Chiefs are 3-point favorites in a high-scoring matchup.

Key Points:

• Chiefs' explosive offense potentially overpowering the Jaguars' top-ranked defense against quarterbacks.
• Concerns about Sammy Watkins' hamstring injury.

Fantasy Recommendations:

• Start: Patrick Mahomes as QB despite matchup risks
• Alternative: T.J. Yeldon for RB due to high usage

Notable Quote:

• Jason Moore [45:48]: "There is a bit of an update on Devonte Adams. Maybe it'll change your opinion."

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Starts of the Week

The hosts share their top fantasy picks for the upcoming week, categorizing them by position.

Quarterbacks:

• Mike Wright: Alex Smith against the Saints as a streaming option
  Quote:

  • Mike Wright [51:15]: "He's got a healthy Jordan Reed. And I think that you can stream Alex Smith."

• Jason Moore: Philip Rivers against the Raiders
  Quote:

  • Jason Moore [52:59]: "Philip Rivers has his average career score about 21 fantasy points a game against the Raiders."

• Andy Holloway: Big Ben (likely referring to Ben Roethlisberger) against Atlanta
  Quote:

  • Andy Holloway [54:37]: "He's my start of the week at."

Running Backs:

• Andy Holloway: Mark Ingram vs. Ravens
  Quote:

  • Andy Holloway [54:57]: "Mark Ingram is fantastic."

• Jason Moore: Sony Michel vs. Colts
  Quote:

  • Jason Moore [55:36]: "Sony Michel gets 20 carries against Colts, you have to start them."

• Mike Wright: T.J. Yeldon vs. Chiefs
  Quote:

  • Mike Wright [60:07]: "Tyler Boyd is a PPR monster right now."

Wide Receivers:

• Mike Wright: Jordy Nelson against the Chargers
  Quote:

  • Mike Wright [60:07]: "Jordy Nelson has been a huge part of that."

• Jason Moore: Tyler Boyd vs. Dolphins
  Quote:

  • Jason Moore [65:04]: "Tyler Boyd is going to be a matchup where I think the game is going to fall on his shoulders."

• Andy Holloway: Alshon Jeffery vs. Vikings
  Quote:

  • Andy Holloway [60:12]: "Alshon Jeffery is going to take advantage of the situation."

Tight Ends:

• Jason Moore: Eric Ebron vs. Patriots
  Quote:

  • Jason Moore [65:04]: "Eric Ebron will be needed because Ty Hilton is out."

• Andy Holloway: Vance McDonald vs. Ravens
  Quote:

  • Andy Holloway [65:38]: "Vance McDonald offers the big playability."

• Mike Wright: Kyle Rudolph vs. Vikings
  Quote:

  • Mike Wright [61:20]: "Kyle Rudolph has been good."

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Kicker of the Week

Jason Moore: Matt Bryant vs. Atlanta
Quote:

• Jason Moore [66:23]: "Matt Bryant is my kicker of the week. Start him with a high-scoring game against Atlanta."

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Concluding Remarks

The hosts wrap up the episode by reiterating their fantasy recommendations and encouraging listeners to stay engaged with their community via social media and the Foot Clan membership.

Notable Quote:

• Jason Moore [67:22]: "Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast."

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Final Thoughts

This episode of the Fantasy Footballers podcast offers comprehensive insights into Week 5 matchups, injury implications, and strategic fantasy starts across all positions. The hosts provide valuable advice, backed by thoughtful analysis and humor, ensuring listeners are well-prepared to make informed decisions for their fantasy teams.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, Foot Clan. I want to thank Everybody [e-mail] for supporting this podcast. Supporters of the podcast receive access to our ever growing fantasy football community, including an extra episode each and every week. They also get access to Foot Clan only leagues, premium projections, flex rankings, priority fantasy questions, monthly giveaways, Q and A, live streams, early access, and other special rewards. That's what you get for being an official Foot Clan member. Check it [e-mail] welcome to the Fantasy.

[Jason Moore]

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

[Andy Holloway]

Ah, welcome in.

[Jason Moore]

Mmm.

[Andy Holloway]

It's time to talk to my friends about football.

[Jason Moore]

I love talking to you. Thanks, my buddy, old pal. About football.

[Andy Holloway]

Cat Week continues for Mike Cat Week now you're repping the Phoenix Suns cap. The vintage cap. And we had the chance to go sit courtside for that preseason game last.

[Mike Wright]

Big win. Big win last night. Took him down over the New Zealand Breakers.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

We showed those people how we do it. On top of the globe.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Where the toilet flows correctly.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

We said go back down under.

[Andy Holloway]

Yep. Then we whooped them by six points.

[Jason Moore]

Even though we were. I believe the spread was 28.

[Andy Holloway]

I believe that the Utah Jazz defeated their Australian team by 58 points, but the Suns took care of the breakers by a sweet win. A wins. A win. And that's why you're up in them this morning. This is not a preseason basketball podcast, as much as you might like it to be. This is the face. Goodness. Brooks is happy about that. It's Thursday, October 4th. This is the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Andy, Mike and Jason back once again. This is show 621 in our storied history. And this one's going to be good, fellas.

[Mike Wright]

The best 621st episode of any podcast of all time.

[Andy Holloway]

I TBD, but Fantasy Forecast on the show today. Starts of the week, Jason's Boom Boom Kicker. Some mailbag. If we got time, you can check out footclangiveaway.com we got a couple weeks left. They're giving away a signed Corey Davis jersey and a championship belt. And all you got to do to enter is go over to Footclang giveaway.com some different ways you can enter. You can leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, which is always welcomed and enjoyed.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, so much like a nice chianti.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, sure. Instagram.com fantasy footballers@the ffballers on Twitter and YouTube.com the fantasy footballers. I believe Jason silence is indicative of him preparing his Boom Boom kicker crafting A statement. Weeks and weeks of research.

[Jason Moore]

The boom boom kicker is now officially locked and loaded in my brain. We're ready to go. We won't do a full super giant today.

[Andy Holloway]

Really?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Now is that a New York Giant?

[Jason Moore]

Nope.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, maybe. Don't say no, man.

[Jason Moore]

Stick around, find out.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, we will.

[Mike Wright]

Gotta tease it out, man.

[Andy Holloway]

I'll be here. We've got a lot to cover today getting into the Week 5 matchups. So I wanted to update people on a couple Thursday night things. You got the Colts, Patriots tonight, Ty Hilton, Jack Doyle and Marlon Mack are all officially out out.

[Mike Wright]

So that's three strikes.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, look, I've kept an open mind on Naim Heinz. My hesitancy was related to Marlon Mack and Robert Turbin's return. Marlon Mack is not returning. And you guys have been big Naim Hines fans. I assume you're still fans.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I considered making him my start of the week. He was in consideration because I just don't see how with all the weapons gone, Naim Hines doesn't get at least five receptions. And if you're a running back, that's, that's two. Shown well in the passing game, in a high scoring game. If Vegas is correct and Indy's going to have to battle back, how they don't use him in a check down fashion over and over and over. He should put up plenty of points.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, what else is going on? Rob Gronkowski expected to play on Thursday night. Obviously you want to be careful, monitor this close to game time and if he's in there, look, it's Thursday. You get the advantage of if he's not, he gets marked as out, you get to put him on your IR and you get assigned somebody off of the waiver wire. So you could be targeting a player like Brait. You could pick up an.

[Mike Wright]

Eric Brait doesn't work this week.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, because of the bye week.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, you can play him, but you'll probably get less points.

[Andy Holloway]

Same. No, same amount of points as well. Fewer points, but no. Eric Ebron could be a target.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

You know, we just talked about. Jason, you said if this is a high scoring game and there's all these targets, Eric Ebron's there. Without Jack Doyle again.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, absolutely. While Jack Doyle remains out. I mean, it's the exact same argument for Naim Hines. There's just going to be enough volume to go around. And Eric Ebron, despite his lack of ability to catch the good passes, he will have to catch some. It's just, just mathematically he Will have some receptions.

[Andy Holloway]

He makes a good catch here and there and he makes a bad drop.

[Jason Moore]

That's the thing about him. You, if you give him a difficult catch, he's got it. But if it's important, if it's third down or if it's, you know, game winning drive, no one around him and you hit him wide open, that's never happening.

[Andy Holloway]

I also wanted to, you know, we'll just jump in here. Nothing like advanced Joseph hype train. He wants to get Royce Freeman more touches. He says, I'm looking forward to it.

[Mike Wright]

Hey, advance.

[Andy Holloway]

He's playing good football.

[Jason Moore]

Do it.

[Mike Wright]

Just do it. These are, these are the most frustrating Hype trains.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, I hope it comes at the expense of Devonte Booker.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Not at the expense of Philip Lindsay. If you're a Lindsay owner, you're hoping that this becomes a regular two headed monster as opposed to a, you know, two good players and then one that just soaks up losses.

[Mike Wright]

The Broncos were winning the game against the Kansas City Chiefs and then Royce Freeman got one touch in the fourth quarter. Your bruising back who weighs like 230 pounds. It was crushing people's souls. Mean, come on, do it.

[Jason Moore]

Well, in fairness, they said they want to do it and sometimes it does. Take after the game going back watching and seeing your mistakes. So this is great news coming from Vance. I buy in because of what an egregious mistake was made and because like Andy said, the Devonta Booker role can go away. So maybe, I mean he's, he was.

[Mike Wright]

The two minute guy. They're getting more touches to Royce Freeman to me does not mean we're all of a sudden I'm going to put Freeman in on two minute drill.

[Jason Moore]

He's got, he has that skill set. I agree.

[Andy Holloway]

But Lindsay has it. Lindsay is probably more proficient in that situation.

[Jason Moore]

I would rather than put Lindsay in the two minute punt, you know, Devonta Booker off a bridge and then get, get Freeman. I just look, this is the year of punting people off the bridge.

[Mike Wright]

The body is collecting at the bottom of your bridge.

[Andy Holloway]

A lot of them.

[Jason Moore]

There's a risk taking their down to the ocean. It takes them all the way out.

[Mike Wright]

Back to the earth.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Back where you came from.

[Andy Holloway]

There's an inlet somewhere just filled with players. Jason has cascaded away.

[Jason Moore]

Darn right. And Devonta Booker got a one way tour.

[Andy Holloway]

A one way tour of the ocean. We don't know where this is going. Devonte Adams on the other hand, will not practice Thursday because of a calf injury he suffered during Wednesday's session.

[Mike Wright]

You know who else isn't practicing? All starting wide receivers for the Packers.

[Andy Holloway]

So what?

[Jason Moore]

What do you or their quarterback if.

[Andy Holloway]

Devonte Adams doesn't play, I have less confidence in the. Look, I know you like Jamona.

[Mike Wright]

Jamona? Jamon Mora.

[Andy Holloway]

Come on.

[Jason Moore]

Jamonia Marquez.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, but where's your confidence lie? Isn't it. Wouldn't it be better placed in a place like Jimmy Graham or Ty Montgomery?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, those two are my first two up. But then it would be Marquez, Valdez, Scantling, who looked very good and would be the next guy up.

[Mike Wright]

What do you.

[Andy Holloway]

I guess you start Hines or Montgomery. Let's say Hines Adams is out. You won't know that, but Montgomery has had four or five carries, six catches, two catches. You'd rather go Heinz?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, just because I know. I know what the role is for Heinz tonight and I would have to. I don't know who's going to be out for the Packers.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. All right. What else is going on? Is that it for news? I think that's all. We have a reminder in and out tomorrow, all the injury news. We'll make our predictions on who starts, who sits and then foot clan game day alerts one hour before kickoff on Sunday [e-mail] Sunday live featuring Mike. I believe he will have a haircut by then, so it won't be. It won't be a hat livestream. It will.

[Mike Wright]

I don't know. Hat year sounding pretty good.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, great.

[Mike Wright]

Hat year.

[Jason Moore]

No, no, no.

[Andy Holloway]

YouTube, Instagram Live, Facebook Live, Periscope, Twitch, wherever you want to watch him.

[Mike Wright]

And as your friendly reminder, it's Thursday night. If you are playing some fantasy players like Naim Hines, get him out of your flex, put him in your running back position. Don't find yourself in a really bad situation on Sunday where you have a player you cannot play.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, fair enough. All right, let's get into the forecast.

[Jason Moore]

Fantasy forecast.

[Andy Holloway]

I'll be honest, I was a little bit distracted trying to dad joke my way into Hinds quarters. You know what I mean? But I couldn't get there. Couldn't get there. All right, teams on by. And we.

[Mike Wright]

That was like a weird Jeopardy joke where like, you gave the punchline right.

[Andy Holloway]

What is a bad joke? The answer is Heinz quarters. What is a joke you can't make?

[Mike Wright]

Don't worry. I think Jason's about to save you. He is. He has opened up the book. You better hurry up, man. I'm stalling pretty well.

[Jason Moore]

What did the bowling pins do when they were mad?

[Mike Wright]

What did the bowling Pins do when they were mad? I don't know.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, they went on strike. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

Give them the rim shot.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, well, if you're still with us. Teams on by in week five, the Bears, the Buccaneers. Don't play them. Don't take my earlier Cameron Bray suggestion. All right. The Titans take on the Bills. Titans are three and one. The Bills are one and three. This game's in Buffalo. The Bills are three and a half point underdogs in this matchup. And you know what?

[Jason Moore]

No way.

[Andy Holloway]

I wasn't going to do it. But no.

[Jason Moore]

Andy's almost upset of the week.

[Mike Wright]

I don't disagree.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, I think, look, that.

[Jason Moore]

What world am I living in?

[Andy Holloway]

It's a tight line there. Three and a half points at home. I just got a feeling, man. I got a feeling. Well, I got some Josh Allen bubbling up.

[Mike Wright]

Well, you're not helping your case by going to Josh Allen, but where else does he go?

[Jason Moore]

I mean, what is the case? I want to hear this case.

[Andy Holloway]

The case is, this is the NFL. The Titans have squeezed by. The Bills have shown up at home before. It's a low over under. The game's going to be tight. They beat the Vikings at home and I'm believing in a little upset here.

[Mike Wright]

Here, here's my. Here's where I'm concerned for Tennessee. They have not been able to get the run game going. I know we've talked about if, if any game is works out for Derek Henry, it should be this one. But like Corey Davis, he's going to be matched up against Tredavius White, who's an excellent, excellent cornerback. I'm concerned for Corey Davis. I mean, this. I'm with Andy. I'm all about Corey Davis moving forward. But this particular matchup on the road for the Titans, I have my concerns for Davis. And then if they can't get Derek Henry going, I think that the Bills might be able to sneak one out.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean, I still believe in Deion Lewis, Tawan Taylor. I think there are other options here, other weapons to get it done. My issue is that the Titans defense has looked so good while the Bills offense has looked very poor. So I don't understand how that happens. I mean, the Titans are coming off back to back shocking wins over Jacksonville and Philadelphia, you know, so I. This is one where I think that the Titans are going to win. I think Derek Henry does get it going. I'm willing to start Derek Henry this week even though he's, you know, one of those final straw guys that I was talking about. I Mean, he's not by any means a must start, but I'm willing this week.

[Mike Wright]

Sure.

[Jason Moore]

I'd like to start Dion Lewis. I think he'll have a good game this week.

[Andy Holloway]

I would certainly feel more comfortable with Dion Lewis having that floor. I mean, last week he didn't even gain a yard, but still put up, you know, 10 fantasy points because of the passion.

[Mike Wright]

Rushing yard.

[Andy Holloway]

Correct. Did not gain a yard on the ground. I should have said. But when we talk about your willingness, your willingness to start Derek Henry, which is a very difficult thing to do in mind and body, are you talking, would you rather start Derek Henry, Jason, or would you rather start Aaron Jones at Detroit?

[Jason Moore]

That's a really good one. I've got them very close in my rankings. You do?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I got them back to back.

[Jason Moore]

Right now I would slightly lean towards Aaron Jones, but I think. I do think the safer play is Derek Henry because we still don't know the usage at all for Aaron Jones. So if I'm a. If I'm a favorite, my opponent stinks. I'd probably switch that around and put Derek Henry in.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, this will be a very. I don't think it's going to be an illustrious game for fantasy owners myself.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I think it'll be low score.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't have a lot of confidence in and I'm with you. I love Corey Davis, but I'm looking at other options on my rosters and I'm seeing Kenny Golladay, I'm seeing John Brown, and I'm saying I feel pretty fine starting those guys. I think the floor is lower for Corey Davis.

[Jason Moore]

Agreed.

[Andy Holloway]

It could end up in a situation where you're a little less comfy. Now, he does lead the league in target share on his team, but it's a matter of how much they pass. Not so much the target share. He is 34% that's seen.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

So for me, the guys I actually want to play from this, even though I'm talking about the Bills potentially sneaking out of victory, I understand the probability lies with the Titans. The Titans defense is a tremendous play. That's really where I'm most confident in this matchup. We talked about Buffalo allowing the league high in sacks and the Tennessee Titans are racking up their own sack count.

[Jason Moore]

So that's.

[Mike Wright]

That's the guy I want to play the dst.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. No, I'm with you. I'm starting them. No doubt about it. Even if the game's close, even if the Bills win, it's going to be a productive day. For the defenses in this one.

[Mike Wright]

Are you. Are you auto starting Shady McCoy?

[Jason Moore]

He's not an auto start. No, I mean, you're.

[Andy Holloway]

Would you rather start Henry or McCoy?

[Mike Wright]

Henry?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I would. I think I lean Henry in this game. I mean, the Titans have been pretty solid against the run. They have not given up a rushing touchdown on the season. So I think Shady. I think it's going to be more of the same where Shady will be involved. The Cats catch a few passes, get some yards on the ground, but will be held out of the end zone. So I think his upside.

[Andy Holloway]

More of a. More of a shame.

[Jason Moore]

More of a shamey.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

I mean the problem, the ribs, of course, is a problem for Shady McCoy. And he had a hand injury pop up. He was spotting him with a wrap. He's just. He's not getting the volume and the. And the snaps that we need from Lashawn McCoy.

[Jason Moore]

Absolutely. That's another issue. I mean, if you look at the split, usually Shady just completely owns every backfield he's ever been in. Nobody else touches the ball. It's his workload and last week. And maybe it's just the risk.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it's the injury. It is definitely.

[Mike Wright]

That's.

[Jason Moore]

But is the injury done enough to where they just say, Chris Ivory, you're not going to continue to share that load?

[Andy Holloway]

Probably more than last week.

[Mike Wright]

He played only 62% of the snaps for. I'm talking about LaShawn McCoy.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Wouldn't you expect that to go up? I mean, that'll be up at.

[Jason Moore]

It is.

[Mike Wright]

But yeah, I mean, I expect it to go up 70%. He's not getting carries. I don't know.

[Jason Moore]

He just.

[Mike Wright]

He's troublesome. And I'm with you if like, if you have that scenario of Derek Henry.

[Andy Holloway]

I'd rather play fair summary. Avoid players in this game if you have a better option.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

Because there's not a lot of upside. All right. The Giants 1 and 3. They go to Carolina off the buy. The Panthers are two and one. They're seven point favorites in this 44 and a half point over under. Look, the Giants. Listen to this. They've given up the most quarterback rushing yards per game in the league. Light up your Cam Newtons.

[Mike Wright]

I'm scooting the booty.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm scooting the booty. Booty. Scooting Cam Newton. He's going to be scooting it all game long and he's coming off the bye week. I love Cam Newton this week. I'm playing him over. Pat Mahomes who is home against Jackson, Jacksonville. I like the upside of Cam Newton a little bit more.

[Mike Wright]

I blame you.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I love all the Panthers right now. I mean the New York Giants defense has not shown what I had hoped they would be, which was kind of two years ago. The Giants have allowed the fourth most rushing yards. Christian McCaffrey has been killing it both. Not finally, not just as a receiving back, but even on the ground coming off of a buy with fresh legs with Norv Turner. I think Christian McCaffrey and Cam Newton are awesome. The real question is which wide receiver are you going with? I know my answer between the Panthers. Yeah. DJ Moore Devin Funches do you roll one out? Do you roll both out?

[Andy Holloway]

I would feel more comfortable with Devin Funches Target Share he said nine and seven in the last two games since Greg Olson was out. We know that Greg Olson will be out again. He is progressing. He was hoping to play four to five weeks after breaking the foot but not going to be back this week. So I Eileen Funchester statement was enigmatic.

[Mike Wright]

To me because Devin Funches is the only guy I would even remotely consider.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm wondering if this is his way of trying to say DJ Moore's name.

[Jason Moore]

Yes. Well, I wanted to bring DJ Moore up because a couple weeks ago he was, you know, he had the 51 yard touchdown. People are really excited. He's the hotel rookie. The first round and then update. He has two receptions on the year.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, thank you. And he has four targets on the.

[Jason Moore]

Year so they use them a little bit in the running game, but it's definitely Funchus. I mean he is the clear one.

[Mike Wright]

On your loving on north Turner over there. You buying the coming out of the bye week first round rookie wide receiver, maybe they get him a little bit more involved.

[Jason Moore]

I'll keep my eyes on him, but I'm starting Funches and in our dynasty league, I'm happy to do it.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. On the other side of the ball, the Giants offense has struggled. Graham Barfield tweeted this. This year, just 8.9% of Odell Beckham Jr's targets have traveled 20 plus yards in the air in his two prior seasons combined, 18% had done that. And if you watch the games, it, you know, it's obvious what has happened to Odell Beckham Jr. This year. His targets have been close to the line of scrimmage and he hasn't had one of those slant routes or plays that he's been able to manufacture a long touchdown out of. Therefore, you're not getting the fantasy Results that you expect from somebody in the top three at the position. That's all there is to it. You watch Eli. Every time I see. Yeah, yeah. Every time I see him take the.

[Mike Wright]

Ball, that's Eli taking a snap.

[Andy Holloway]

He takes a snap, he screams at the top of his lungs and he chucks it three or four yards in front of him. Now it's going to Saquon, it's going to Beckham, but the average depth of target is so close to the line of scrimmage that you're, you're disappointed right now.

[Jason Moore]

You're definitely disappointed, but Odell Beckham has still been pretty good. I mean, if you're in any kind of half point or full point league, 11 receptions, nine receptions, seven receptions, two games over 100 yards, always getting near that 15 points he hasn't scored yet. Had he have scored, we'd have a completely different view. And like you said, Andy, he just hasn't taken one of those slants to the house yet. Is this the week it happens? You know, coming off the bye, Carolina's defense has looked very good. I'm not expecting this to be his huge breakout. Obviously, you're starting Odell Beckham. I have called him one of my biggest trade for targets, but ironically, yesterday, I don't remember how it happened, but we, we got into a little rabbit hole of watching old Victor Cruz highlights.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And while watching those, we. The one takeaway was like, other than, well, Victor Cruz was really fun for that year, was, wow, Eli Manning looks so much better here. Like, even when it's just like faking to the left and going back to the right. It takes him a full second longer now to do that little pump to the left and look to the right. He looks like an old man on the field. When you go back and watch, you know, five years ago. Eli.

[Andy Holloway]

Mike, can I ask you a question? I want to get into this Odell Beckham Jr. Because I know that the right answer most likely is to say, look, he's a trade target. Let's go after him. However, this is a bad offense. It's been a long time since they've scored a number, a lot of points. He missed a year last year. Eli's a year older, and ultimately this, you know, 10.7 yards per catch for Odell Beckham Jr. Right now is a result of a terrible, shaky offensive line and a quarterback that has no maneuverability, no evasiveness, no ability to extend the play, to take advantage of the strengths of Odell Beckham Jr. If I have to If I told you right now, you're going to have to depend upon Odell breaking slant routes to make his season right. Like we've seen Julio Jones struggle with the touchdowns before. At least he's playing in a proficient offense. This might be a bottom five, bottom eight offense in the NFL. Is there a world where you're adjusting that high end wide receiver one expectation with Odell Beckham Jr. Like, do you want him over Keenan Allen? Rest this season where you see the Los Angeles Chargers offense being so much better.

[Mike Wright]

I still do. I still put him up in the echelon. Your hope and your argument for Corey Davis, right, has been the volume, which is true. This is what you got to do. You got to follow the volume. 15 targets, 9, 10, 11. So only one game without double digit targets. The opportunities are there for Odell Beckham. I think it's just a matter of time before him and Eli actually get it going again.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's fair. Right Now Odell Beckham Jr. Is eighth in the league in targets. So that speaks to your point. In case you're curious. Adam Thielen is number one. He's balling out Antonio Brandon Juju, 2, 3.

[Mike Wright]

Now, what about Mr. 100, catching 100% of his passes last week? Sterling Shepherd 10 for 10.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, Sterling shepherd did miss practice. He's expected to be back out there. You still don't have Evan Ingram. You certainly can give him a shot in this one, Jason.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, no, I agree. The defense always is going to focus on Odell if you don't have Evan Ingram. Sterling Shepard is a fine flex play.

[Andy Holloway]

You like Corey Davis as the number one with that target share over Sterling Shepherd?

[Jason Moore]

Yes, I do.

[Andy Holloway]

The dolphins three and one take on the Bengals in Cincinnati. The Bengals are six and a half point favorites. They're also three and one and this game's got a 49 and a half point over under. So there are points to be scored and we expect Joe Mixon to be back on the field. Yesterday we talked.

[Mike Wright]

We do.

[Andy Holloway]

We do. Well, we expect it. Yeah, I expect his head coach came out and said the sun is up. Gio Bernard missed practice and Joe Mixon was in full pads in practice yesterday. So after the show we had a lot of positive movement in the Joe Mixon expectations. I expect Mixon to be out there. I expect Mixon to be great.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I mean this was the timeline that every doctor in the world has given everyone from the team, outside the team, pro football doc, Everyone has said they expect him to be back this week. And when the coach says the sun is rising, things are good. He hasn't been cleared, but that's just because they don't need to yet. They know the plan for Joe Mixon and I would be blown away if he's not out there. Plus you got Giovanni Bernard a little banged up. So the combination is they need Joe Mixon and he should be ready to go. I'm definitely firing him up against the Dolphins. The Dolphins run defense both. Last year they ranked 26th. This year they are 29th. They're the 29th best.

[Andy Holloway]

Right? They look. They've actually been great everywhere else. Yeah, but they've been horrible. Giving up 30 fantasy points a game to the running back position. And whoever's had the lead dog status in the Cincinnati backfield in every game has produced fantasy points. It's been geo twice, it's been mixing twice. And Joe Mixon has a little more juice. A little more juice. Gio Bernard is a sit if Mixon's active.

[Mike Wright]

Correct.

[Andy Holloway]

A.J. green, you're lighting him up. Tyler Boyd, you like him again?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, man. Tyler Boyd has absolutely leveled up to me. The targets are there and he's coming through with big time production. John Ross is not practicing.

[Jason Moore]

You.

[Mike Wright]

You saw him, he scored the touchdown, but in kind of classic John Ross fashion. He hurt himself, has a groin injury. Dad. My girl, you got me off guard there. So it's Tyler Boyd you have. Tyler Eiford is out for the rest of the season. I think that puts even a little bit more on Tyler Boyd's shoulders. And between Tyler Croft and CJ Uzuma, we. We still don't. That's kind of been a hot topic this week. We just aren't sure which tight end is going to show up.

[Jason Moore]

You're not sure?

[Mike Wright]

Okay, I'm not sure that is correct.

[Jason Moore]

I think I really. I will be shocked if it's not Tyler Croft, but you guys brought up great stats that make it seem very much that it should be Uzuma.

[Andy Holloway]

Use them. It's Usama. Either way, you might not want to use either of them.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that's.

[Andy Holloway]

That's the most likely result saying. And then on the other side of the football, Kenyon Drake, make or break final. My last straw player here, Kenyon Drake. Last week he earned his spot on my bench. Officially this. This week he may earn a spot on the old drop into the waiver wife.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, wow. I thought for a second you were going to say the starting lineup and I was.

[Andy Holloway]

No, I'd rather be dead.

[Jason Moore]

My eyes got wide. You can't start Kenyon Drake right now. I mean if you. Eight rushing attempts is not enough and that's over the last two games combined.

[Andy Holloway]

So it's not enough for one game.

[Jason Moore]

It's not enough.

[Andy Holloway]

Not enough for two games.

[Jason Moore]

It's crazy. He came out week one, 14 carries. He's looked great when he's been given the opportunity, but the coaching staff does not want to give him the opportunity. You saw Frank Gore run decently last week and he's the guy getting the work. So can you start Frank Gore?

[Andy Holloway]

I'd rather be dead.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, me too.

[Mike Wright]

The point I was going to bring up, you might look okay, the Bengals, maybe they've given up some points to running backs. Vontae's burfict is back now for the Cincinnati Bengals. He has served his four game suspension. That's a huge boost.

[Andy Holloway]

Bengals are going to destroy the Dolphins.

[Mike Wright]

The Bengals are going to destroy the Dolphins.

[Andy Holloway]

Were there any Dolphins you would start is the question that I comes down to and my answer is no. Not one. Not Stills, not Parker, not Amendola, not Grant, not Wilson, not Gasicki. Although he would be kind of the flyer considering he's playing on 84% of snaps.

[Mike Wright]

I would still be okay playing Stills. I don't want to, but I'm like a wide receiver. Three.

[Jason Moore]

I'll still play. I think that's where Eileen as well because if you're going to play someone, play the guy who can have the 60 yard get behind him. Touchdown. And that's always been Kenny Stills. His game.

[Andy Holloway]

And Andy Dalton is not one of our starts of the week today however, he was our stream of the week or my stream of the week and I love him in this game.

[Mike Wright]

Sure.

[Andy Holloway]

40 passing attempts in each of his past three games.

[Mike Wright]

The Bengals are balling out. Yeah, absolutely. Before we move on, want to thank today's sponsor, Tommy John. Think about your current underwear. Are you proud?

[Andy Holloway]

I'm thinking are you proud of your choice?

[Jason Moore]

Yes, if the answer is because, because.

[Mike Wright]

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[Jason Moore]

It's not going to be free because it's going to be the best pair.

[Mike Wright]

Ladies and gentlemen, I have been Wearing Tommy John's for years and I thought, you know, it's just underwear. What kind of difference in my life could this actually make? And it's a massive, massive difference. I love my Tommy Johns. Go to tommyjohn.comfootballers for 20% off your first order. That's tommyjohn.comfootballers For 20% off tommyjohn.comfootballers Tommy John, no adjustment needed.

[Jason Moore]

And foot clan since we already know that you guys out there and gals are fantasy champs, never forget fantasychamps.com it's what you're going to need at the end of this season. In fact, call your shot now. Go there, get your championship ring, get your, get your entire league one of those, you know, long term perennials trophies where you could get a custom engraving for every champ. You can put the plaques on backwards and say, here's our last 10 champs. They're all me. Put my name on that and have this traveling trophy. Or you can get the awesome jerseys that we talk about where you get a custom fantasy football jersey. You want the Tenacious Z on there, you want the Ventura Bravehearts on there. You get a custom jersey with your name, your team. It's really cool. The rings and the belts and the trophies are the best out there. So check them out. Fantasychamps.com and you can save 10% if you use our code. Baller ballers.

[Andy Holloway]

The 3 and 1 Ravens take on the 1, 2 and 1 Browns in Cleveland. The Browns are three point underdogs at home. The game has a 47 point over under. And let's break it down, divisional matchup. The Ravens have been playing very well and we saw Joe Flacco come out. He's averaging 313 passing yards and two touchdowns per game. He's in the top 10 in passing yards, touchdowns, completions. He's fourth in pass attempts. And we have seen this in his past, right. This team has put it on his shoulder before in terms of total pass attempts. Now that didn't always translate to fantasy production. A lot of what they got four tight ends that'll be active this week. Mark Andrews, Nick Boyle, Max Williams and now Hayden Hurst should be back on the field. Somebody that look, I've heard different fantasy analysts say, look, they buy into Hayden Hurst. Are we blinded to the potential value of Aiden Hurst because of the four packet tight ends or are we just smart?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I was going to say it's not that you're blinded, it's that you're able to see that yes, there could be production. I mean if you started Max Williams last week, you were pretty happy. There was enough production from the tight end group. But it's going to be a roulette. I mean, Joe Flacco is not just passing it to one of these guys because he's closest friends with him. He's going to pass it to whoever is open. And when you've got four tight ends running routes, it's not always going to be the same guy. It's going to be divvied up. There's no tight end here that you can reliably start. You could take a guess and get it right, but why do that? Don't you. You avoid that. You start John Brown. I think this is a decent matchup for the Ravens. I am. I'm a little worried for the everyone's Cinderella story right now, the Browns this week because the Ravens have been playing great.

[Mike Wright]

Big time.

[Jason Moore]

And then they get Jimmy Smith back.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, big time.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't want to depart real quick. I want to go back to Alex Collins, though. I don't want to leave the Ravens off Mike, talk to Jason, talk to the concerned Alex Collins owner, lay out the situation. What should they expect not only this week, but what is on the table for him? What is the potential outcome of a good or bad performance?

[Mike Wright]

It's still so wide what Alex Collins can possibly do. We have not yet seen the Alex Collins from last year and all four events. Alex Collins has not cracked four yards of carry. His fumbling problems are popping back up. He's splitting more and more time with Javorius Allen. He's losing goal line work to Javorius Allen. It's. It's not the season that we had hoped for. Alex Collins has not seized the day. He did not open the gates right.

[Jason Moore]

But I think a lot of people are afraid to start Alex Collins because he fumbled at the goal line, which really changed the momentum last week. And then he got benched for the rest of the first half. Now, he did get back out there, right? And then late in the game when it was clock killing time, it was Buck Allen, which makes sense, right? You don't want to, if the whole point is kill the clock, hold on to the ball. You can't put the running back out there that's had fumbling problems, but you can absolutely start Alex Collins. Even last week he had more carries than Buck Allen with all of those things combined, he still had a touchdown because he was in near the goal line. And then he was given the second opportunity in near the goal line again. That's where he unfunged. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

But will he get the opportunity again?

[Andy Holloway]

I do believe Harbaugh has come out and given a vote of confidence for Alex Collins. And Buck Allen was a player that was benched by John Harbaugh for fumbling before. Back in 2015, Harbaugh said, quote, alex is a trustworthy guy. I expect him to clean it up real quick. Fumbling is always troublesome. You can't have it. It's not worth it. He'll focus on that. One thing I know about Alex is that he'll make it his job to hold on to the football. That being said, if you fumble again, you're still going to probably ride the pine.

[Jason Moore]

Absolutely. He fought that is the risk. The risk of Alex Collins is he fumbles, gets benched, ends the game with six carries. And you are so upset. But they were working on that this week. You know, it's not like Alex Collins with a fumbling problem, just fumbles every week. That's no running back, you know, averages 16 fumbles. So I think he's going to be. I think he's going to be a good play this week. I don't think he fumbles. They were practicing punching the ball out all week. And if he, you know, this is not a tough matchup. The Browns defense is much improved over the previous season, but they're still 22nd against, you know, running backs and fantasy points given up.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, so now we can move to the Browns. Baker, Carlos Hyde, Jarvis, Landry, Landry right now has the seventh most air yards in the league because they're using them downfield a little bit more. Baker, he likes to air it out.

[Mike Wright]

Now.

[Andy Holloway]

It cost him to the tune of a couple turnovers last week, but can we have expectations against this Baltimore defense? Mike Jason, you brought up, you know, the return of Jimmy Smith, great cornerback.

[Jason Moore]

And he has, he has been such a part of this lockdown defense in the past. The fact that they've played this well without him and now are getting him back, I. I'll just say this. Not fantasy, just football. I can't wait to watch Baker against this defense. I want to see what Baker does when he's got a great schemer across the field with great talent and can he beat it? If he can, that will impress the heck out of me. There's no way in the world I'm going to take that risk with these players in my lineup. I'll start Jarvis because targets, of course, but I'm not starting Callaway. I'm not starting Baker and In Joku, I'm willing simply because. Not because of Njoku or the Browns, just because of the landscape of tight ends. I'm willing.

[Andy Holloway]

Darren Fells got the touchdown last week.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I, you know, there's, there's a couple middling tight ends that I would prefer over in Joku and are you.

[Mike Wright]

Still playing Carlos Hyde? Did I miss that?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, we didn't discuss him, but I would. Now here's a question that came up when I was at the gym this morning and I was like, that's tough. And you got to decide this today. Carlos Hyde versus Naim Heinz.

[Andy Holloway]

I'd play Hyde.

[Jason Moore]

That's what I went with as well. But that's tough.

[Mike Wright]

In a half or in a full point ppr, I think I would play Hines. But if it's a, if it's half or less, that's a very tough question.

[Jason Moore]

Jason.

[Mike Wright]

You're right. I'll probably go with the volume of Carlos Hyde though.

[Andy Holloway]

The two one and one packers take on the one and three Lions in Detroit. The Lions one point underdogs at home. A 51 point over under. I'm excited about this game from a fantasy perspective, but I'm not excited at my lack of ability to discern who will catch the ball or be a part of this Aaron Rodgers offense. Rodgers came out criticized the play calling last week despite winning once again referred to his desire to go home and have a couple scotches because only 19 points were scored. He thought they should have scored 40 to 50 points.

[Mike Wright]

If you watch the game, the packers offense looked bad against the bill. I mean they still trounced them. But if this was not, if they were not playing the Buffalo Bills that week, they would have lost.

[Andy Holloway]

Say what you want about play calling, they don't have playmakers that are active right now. I mean Geronimo Allison's questionable. Randall Cobb's likely to be out but he' questionable. Devonte Adams with a calf injury. I mean if you're leaning on a trifecta of rookies at the wide receiver position, good luck. I mean what are you supposed to get out of that? And so Rogers, do we need adjusted expectations or you know, he goes into Detroit controlled environment. Do you have any concerns about getting a top, you know, a high performing game out of Rodgers? Let's say you're in a position to have Rodgers or Mahomes or Rogers or Cam Newton.

[Mike Wright]

Man, this is the ultimate test of faith of how much do you believe in Aaron Rodgers if his top three wide receivers are in fact out, I will, I Would pivot, man. I would play somebody else.

[Jason Moore]

I will not.

[Mike Wright]

You won't. You'll still play Aaron Rodgers.

[Jason Moore]

I will play Aaron Rodgers over Patrick Mahomes this week. I wouldn't.

[Mike Wright]

We're talking about with the top three.

[Jason Moore]

Wide receivers out if Devonte Adams is gone. If he is out, then I would probably, probably still play Aaron Rodgers over Pat Mahomes this week against Jacksonville. But it's definitely a close, difficult decision. I don't think Devonte Adams is going to be. I think that his calf issue, they're. They're working through it and I expect right now that he's in. So I'm operating under that assumption, right or wrong. And if he is in, I'm definitely going. Aaron.

[Andy Holloway]

There is a bit of an update on Devonte Adams. Maybe it'll change your opinion.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, no. That means it's bad.

[Andy Holloway]

He did not practice on Thursday at all. He suffered the injury on Wednesday. And so a little bit more concerning when you have a missed practice after a midweek injury. Allison still in the concussion protocol. Randall Cobb did not practice again today.

[Mike Wright]

I expect him to be out.

[Andy Holloway]

So it is. It's a little shaky. It is Aaron Rodgers. It is hard to start anybody over him.

[Jason Moore]

If Devonte Adams is out, that. That is definitely rough.

[Andy Holloway]

Aaron Jones, Jamal Williams, Tom Montgomery in the backfield. Aaron Jones, I think you can start.

[Jason Moore]

Agreed.

[Mike Wright]

Agreed.

[Jason Moore]

Ty Montgomery, I think you can start as a flex option in any kind of PPR or half PPR league, especially.

[Mike Wright]

If some of these wide receivers are missing. Yep.

[Andy Holloway]

And Jamal Williams, he's on the team. Detroit has Matthew Stafford and company trying to battle back the packers and save their season. Carry on. Johnson, he's a running back. What?

[Jason Moore]

This week he is a running back.

[Mike Wright]

Running back to. I mean, he's just.

[Andy Holloway]

Packers not giving up a lot against the running back thus far this year.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, but Kieran, look, we need the Detroit staff to come out and basically pull a Vance Joseph and say, you know what? We are wrong. We've been doing it wrong. We've been giving our most talented running back not enough work and we're going to fix it. But that's not going to happen. So Kerryon Johnson is just a running back to low end too.

[Jason Moore]

And I also think that the packers rush defense, this is another one of those. It might be a little too early to really say that. They've been strong against the run. They played Buffalo this last week while Shady was injured. Didn't give up much. But Shady was injured and they're dealing with, you know, Chris Ivory, they dealt with Minnesota when Dalvin Cook got injured and then when they played against Washington, they gave up 140 yards and two touchdowns. So I actually think that Green Bay is not that scary. If Kerryon Johnson comes out and gets the start, which he got last week, there's no reason in the world I could see they would be like, oh, he played really well. Let's put him back on the bench. If he gets the start, he gets more opportunity.

[Andy Holloway]

He needs the middle and the finish as well.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, the finish probably won't be there. And that's so frustrating because if the packers are up, honestly, if the packers.

[Andy Holloway]

Are up, it's great for carry on to be on the field over Blunt, but it could be Riddick situation.

[Jason Moore]

That's the thing. I think it would be Riddick if they're actually down multiple scores. So you might say that if Devonte Adams misses the game, that's good news for carry on.

[Andy Holloway]

Johnson, you're starting all three Lions wide receivers. Golden Tate, Marvin Jones, Kenny Golladay.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, all three. Firing them up.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, I don't think that we need to cover anything else in this game right now. I will keep you up to date on the wide receiver situation heading into tomorrow. And with the game day alerts on Sunday, let's talk about the final matchup of today before our starts of the week. And it's a doozy. The three and one Jaguars take on the four. No. Chiefs. Chiefs are three point home favorites in this one 48 and a half point over under. Look this. When you're three point favorites and the lines that big, the Chiefs are going to score against this Jaguars defense. They're going to find a way to manufacture points. I think that this game has the potential to be more than we expect. Now does that mean that Mahomes is an auto start? Close to it. Close to it. When he's at home in this matchup and has the ability to, like last week when he was pretty much shut down, still put up an okay fantasy day with the rushing touchdown and the passing touchdown. I know that Mr. Tyreek the Freak is very excited to go up against Jalen Ramsey and most people are excited. It doesn't always work out.

[Jason Moore]

It's like the Mike Tyson quote, you know, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. Yeah, you're excited until he's got to cover you.

[Andy Holloway]

It's funny because he said, he goes, I hope he presses me. He says, I hope, I hope he comes up.

[Jason Moore]

Honestly, how do you breast? It'll Just go right past you. That's a great matchup to watch.

[Andy Holloway]

It'll be exciting. But the Jags defense, just to give you context here, they were number one against quarterbacks last year. They're number one against quarterbacks this year. They were number one against White House last year. Number three this year. Look, they're great. They don't give up fantasy points. That's just been the situation that we have. So I do think there's a ceiling here, but it's going to be a great battle. Do you start? Let's start on the Jaguar side of the ball. T.J. yeldin.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yes.

[Andy Holloway]

He saw 21 opportunities last week. He's averaged 17.8 per game. And Leonard Fournette is gone. Yelden's AN Auto start.

[Mike Wright]

100%.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Now, if you're a fantasy owner making a decision, would you rather, you know, how high on the list is Yelden for you? I mean, are you starting him over James Conner?

[Mike Wright]

No. Not Connor?

[Jason Moore]

No, not that high.

[Andy Holloway]

But are you starting him over Sony Michelle against Indianapolis tonight?

[Mike Wright]

Nope, not that high either.

[Jason Moore]

But Mark Ingram.

[Andy Holloway]

Mark Ingram on the game back.

[Jason Moore]

That's my sandwich. That's my TJ Yeldin sandwich. I've got Sony Michelle, TJ Yelden, Mark Ingram, in that order. Right in half point rankings.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he's a lower, lower end running back one to me.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, he's going to catch the ball and he's going to have opportunities. Caitlin Cole, Dante Moncrief, dd, Westbrook. Moncrief and Westbrook decided to have big games last week. Cole had an off week. To put some confusion in your minds, if you had to pick one, who was it going to be?

[Mike Wright]

I mean, if you can only pick one, I'm.

[Jason Moore]

Man, I'm going Keelan Cole. If I have to pick one. As am I. I am still sticking with the guy that I think gets the more valuable type of targets, who is also talented. Dante Moncrief gets the valuable targets, but is not as talented, drops a lot of passes. The volume of targets leans towards dede Westbrook. So I would, in my opinion, I would go Cole, dede, then Moncrief.

[Andy Holloway]

But could you start them all the same way that you start all of the Lions wide receivers?

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

The Chiefs are allowing, listen to this, 451 yards per game. That is on pace to allow the most yards in the history of the.

[Jason Moore]

NFL, which we know won't stay that way. Andy Reid's defenses, very similar to the Patriots, often start horrifically bad. And then get better as the season goes on.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, but they are start worse than that.

[Jason Moore]

No, no, no. You so but you can't keep that pace. I mean, I guess someday someone will break the record and maybe it's, maybe it's happening right now but you know, they're at home. They. There's going to be some slight rain, some 10 plus mile an hour wind. I just don't think this is, I mean yes, I'm willing to start most Jaguars in this situation against Kansas City. I love playing against Kansas City right now. But it just might, you know, because that defense is so good and the conditions aren't necessarily perfect. I don't, I don't think this is a guaranteed barn burner. It's a hopeful barn burner. But it could just be, you know, just a burner.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, just, just a barn, a barn simmer.

[Jason Moore]

Just like a shed burner, you know, a full barn. It's not going to be like as the flames aren't as high.

[Mike Wright]

It's just my lawnmower.

[Andy Holloway]

For those, for those that are really afraid, I want to contextualize the Jags dominance against opposing quarterbacks a little bit. They faced Eli Manning, Tom Brady, an injured Marcus Mariota and Sam Darnold. Thus far this year, none of those are doing what Patrick Mahomes is doing right. Thus far. So they do give up more points a game on the road. You know, they average. They gave up 15.7 at home, 19.7 on the road and the Chiefs are still favored. So is there any hesitancy on the chief side? I mean all of their stalwarts, you just play them, right? I mean you pay Mahomes, Hunt Hill, Kelsey Watkins is the only one that's a question mark. He did practice in some capacity on Wednesday. Do we know anything else about Watkins situation?

[Jason Moore]

Yes. You know that you should not play him.

[Andy Holloway]

You know, you know that. Why don't you tell us why you know that?

[Jason Moore]

I know that because if you've got a hamstring issue that's always worrisome to start because we've seen so many times. You don't even have to have played fantasy for a long time. If you've played this year, which you're listening, you probably have. You've seen people come in and re aggravate hamstring issues. So there's already a big worry. But then you're going up against the best defense in football. Why? You know, usually most people with Sammy Watkins have other options. He's not the type of guy that was drafted where it's like, man, I don't have any other options. So I would rather pivot away from an injured guy against Jackson. That's my stance.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't. I don't mind that stance. I do think it matters for Patrick Mahomes. I think it helps Mahomes to have him on the field. I think they missed him this past week. The good news is, is when you have a hamstring injury, you'd expect them to miss the first practice. And he didn't. He participated, so that is a good sign. Another hamstring update. As you know, this is going to be a new segment. The amount of hamstrings out there.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, we need. Mike, when you make the sound drop for that, I want only strings. Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, yeah.

[Jason Moore]

No, you can't. Can't rock it out. I want violins.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

I want. You play some.

[Andy Holloway]

Take care of the ham part.

[Jason Moore]

Right. I'll do the ham, you do the strings.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Will Fuller expects to play in week five.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, so maybe that you downgrade.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes. Kiki.

[Jason Moore]

The cute one.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, Kiki Cootie.

[Jason Moore]

Kiki Cutie.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I would. I would downgrade him a little bit. Anything else you want to talk about in the Kansas City game, Mike?

[Mike Wright]

Nope.

[Jason Moore]

Starts of the week, Mike, I'm going.

[Andy Holloway]

To toss it to you. Why don't you kick it off? All right?

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to start it off with my quarterback, you know, because I wanted to throw this guy out as another streaming possibility. We gave you three earlier in the week. This guy might still be on your waiver wire. I have confidence in Alex Smith this week, and it's all about the matchup. He has to go on the road against the New Orleans Saints. But the New Orleans Saints are just giving up numbers. Like, if the Chiefs weren't doing what they were doing on defense, the New Orleans Saints would be the dominant headline. I mean, not that people aren't talking about it, of course. And Alex Smith, he's been all right. He's got two multi touchdown games on the year. The game where he didn't throw a touchdown, he threw for nearly 300 yards. He's got a healthy Jordan Reed. And I just. I think that you can stream Alex Smith, like if you're looking at.

[Jason Moore]

Some.

[Mike Wright]

Of these, some of the options where you're like, oh, crap, man, do I really want to play Patrick Mahomes against Jacksonville? Look, I'm just. I'm throwing out possibilities for people who are worried about playing Patrick Mahomes. I know your face is shocked.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, I Just I picked. I pictured you saying any other name except for Patrick Mahomes in that situation. Just because I can't see myself playing Alex Smith over Patrick Mahomes, then that's, that's fine.

[Mike Wright]

But I'm. Jason has been on. Jason has been on record saying he will not play Patrick Mahomes against Jacksonville. And I still.

[Jason Moore]

Not that I won't, but that I would be willing to. Sure.

[Mike Wright]

And that's my point. I have Mahomes ahead of Alex Smith, but they're still very close in my rankings. Close enough that you don't want to mess around with that situation. I'm not going to blame you for going with that.

[Andy Holloway]

Jason, who's your quarterback?

[Jason Moore]

My quarterback this week is Philip Rivers. Playing against the Oakland Raiders, we saw last week, Baker Mayfield have a lot of yards, a couple of touchdowns. In fact, Oakland has given up five passing touchdowns in the last two weeks. That Philip Rivers been throwing those touchdowns. I mean, if you look at his season so far, maybe you've wanted more yardage. Like week one when he threw for 424 yards. And over the last three weeks he's been around that 250 mark. But three touchdowns, three touchdowns, two touchdowns, three touchdowns. The Raiders have absolutely no pass rush. They're going to be. They had one, they had one, they got rid of it. And then they were like, where did that pass rush go? Can we get that Khalil Mack guy back? And then if you look at Philip Rivers career against the Raiders, he. His average career score is about 21 fantasy points a game in normal standard scoring formats against the Raiders. And Philip Rivers has this really weird. He's one of those players that kind of does the same thing against the same team over and over and over and over. He always has bad games, you know, against certain divisional opponents and good games against others. Oakland, it's good. He averages almost 26 points a game when he's on the road in Oakland. Now, the reason I say on the road, he's at home this week, but not really, not really that that stadium will be packed with Raiders fans and there will be a few fans of the Los Angeles Chargers there. This is basically a road home game and I think he's going to light it up.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going to go with Big Ben against Atlanta. Atlanta's defense is shot. The Steelers are up against it. The weapons are innumerable for Big Ben to be able to put up a monstrous fantasy game. And while he let people down last week, I think he's back on it this week. Monster game against Atlanta. He's my start of the week at.

[Mike Wright]

The running back position. Mark Ingram. This is just a confidence play. We all know that Mark Ingram is fantastic. He was an absolute dominant running back one as soon as Adrian Peterson left town. 2, 7, 10, 1, 2, 6, 3. These are finishes of marking them at the running back position in the second half of the season. And if you've been holding on to him, you have options, right. Because you you've had to set a lineup without Mark Ingram. But Mark Ingram goes immediately back into my starting lineup as a high end running back to with running back one upside.

[Jason Moore]

My running back start of the week is a guy that I wish I had on my roster. I just traded him last week before the Rex Burkhead news came out and now I got to play against him. Fantastic. But Sony Michelle, you met my fitness consigliere. Michelle is my running back start of the week. Look, if it's a two back system, which it now is for the Patriots, you start both of them. You start James White, you start Sony Michelle, you start them every week. You definitely start him against Indianapolis. He got 25 carries last week for 112 yards and a touchdown. Indianapolis, yes, they have looked good as far as stopping, you know, the ground game. They're averaging I think 3.6 yards per carry given up. And I am not a Sony Michelle truther. If you've listened to the show, I don't, I don't think he's as talented as a lot of other people do, especially in the passing game. But if you are on the Patriots who are, you know, doing their yearly, it's October now. We're getting our act together. The other weapons are back. Julian Edelman will be on the field. I think Sony Michelle gets 20 carries and if you get 20 carries against Colts, you have to start them.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I'm going to go give you that boost. We talked about him a lot earlier, but TJ Yalden at Kansas City is a must start this week. The opportunity, the fact that this game affords, I think, look, the game plan is going to be what Denver did last week. You want to keep Pat Mahomes and the Chiefs offense and their explosive players off the field. That means you're going to need to run the football. You're going to need to run it proficiently. Yelden offers you both the floor of the passing game with the upside of being the main runner in Jacksonville. Love him this week.

[Mike Wright]

My start of the week at the wide receiver position. I'm Going with jorts. Jordy Nelson. Derek Carr has been playing good for fantasy. Fantasy purposes. Not good enough for The Raiders record three games already over 300 yards. The Quattro touchdowns last week against Cleveland with 400 yards through the air as well. And if you take a look the past two weeks, 345 yards, 437 yards. Jordy Nelson has been a huge part of that. And I think that. That Derek Carr is finding more and more that he needs to rely on Jordy Nelson, who still has most of it. Maybe not all of the jorts. They've. The jorts have gotten a little shorter.

[Andy Holloway]

Or it's just been washed a lot.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, they're.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, they're. They're fading a little bit. Maybe a couple extra rips. But as a deeper play at the wide receiver position, I think that you can start Jordy Nelson this week against the Chargers.

[Andy Holloway]

Just one game. I just want one game where he wears them, the shorts. Everything else is normal about his uniform. He wears the socks, he wears the cleats, he wears the jersey, wears the pants, but he's got jorts on him.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, no, that makes sense.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Speaking of Jorti, two weeks ago, Jorti Nelson, he had a monster game. 173 yards and a touchdown. He had that game while Amari Cooper pooped his pants. And one thing that has not been considered is the absolute breakout of a name that we will surely hear over the next few years of Xavian Howard, star cornerback for the Miami Dolphins, who has been locking down opposing ones. He's been unbelievable, right? The beat has happened from training camp, from last year, even. He's got A.J. green. Tyler Boyd has just been on fire. I am staying in the Flames, and my start of the week is going to be Tyler Boyd. I think they're going to need him. They're going to use him. Why would you go away from him? And if he's one of those guys where it's like, I know he's been playing well, but his name is Tyler Boyd. I don't trust him. Trust him. This is going to be a matchup where I think, look, Vegas is saying there's going to be a lot of points scored. The Bengals are going to score those points. If for some reason AJ Green struggles a little bit against Xavier Howard, they might have to look towards Tyler Boyd. So that is my start of the week for those reasons.

[Andy Holloway]

Makes sense. Makes sense. He's been just a PPR monster right now.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to go with 11 for 100 last week, 6 for 132 the week before. Tyler Boyd.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going to go with the clear pass catching preference for Carson wins, and that is Alshon. Jeffrey came back, had a big game last week, just under 20 fantasy points, and Minnesota's secondary has been taken advantage of. Now, look, the Rams are the Rams, so I'm not projecting the Carson Wentz led wide receiving core to put up the 379 receiving yards in four touchdowns that the Vikings gave up last week. But they have been. They've been giving it up. I mean, in week two, 30 fantasy points to the wide receiver position. Week one against San Francisco, they gave up a touchdown and over 100 yards. Alshon's going to be the main guy and he seemed healthy and he seemed like, you know, I don't think we expect Minnesota to get shut out in this game. So I think there's a lot of opportunity here on both sides of the ball, and Alshon's going to take advantage of the situation. So Alshon's the start of the week.

[Mike Wright]

And I'm going to go with a guy on the opposite side of the field and I just want to.

[Andy Holloway]

For your tight end.

[Mike Wright]

For my tight end. Start of the week. And give some people that confidence boost, that push. Kyle Rudolph has been good. Yeah, I mean, I feel like his. The success of the Vikings, the passing game of Adam Thielen and Stefan Diggs has massively been overshadowing what Kyle Rudolph has been doing the past three weeks. He's averaging nearly six receptions and 60 yards a game. And once again, 60 yards never sounds great, but those are fantastic numbers for the tight end position. And he's always a touchdown threat. Kirk Cousins. They're the Vikings. Kirk Cousins. The Vikings are throwing more than nearly every single team in the league. And I know that's a. They've been a victim of some weird game scripts. Halo. With the Buffalo game, they had to keep up with the Rams, but Kirk Cousins already has two games over 400 yards. A third game at nearly 300 yards. I just want in on that. And the Eagles. You can't run on the Philadelphia Eagles. Who from Minnesota is going to be able to run on the Philadelphia Eagles? I think once again, the game script is going to fall on the shoulders of Kirk Cousins. And so I'm just trying to get a cheap option in that passing game, and that's Kyle Rudolph.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And the good news is, you know, the Vikings defense has not been what we thought it would be. So the Philadelphia Eagles, if anybody can score on them. The Eagles should be able to. And if that happens, Kyle Rudolph will need to be used. I'm going with a guy who I have had a long and illustrious relationship with on this show. And when I have made him my start of the week, man, has he let me down in the past. So feel free to binge this start of the week. But I have tried to trade for this player this week as I was an O.J. howard owner and an Evan Ingram owner. And they were like, hey, you want one of these knee issues? Me too. So I'm going with Eric Ebron. Now you might be out there and go, whoa, Eric Ebron's facing the Patriots, who are currently the biggest red, the smallest red number in the fact that they they're the number one. The Patriots are number one against the tight end. If you're looking in your platform and you're like, wait, I can't start that. But if you, if you dig a little deeper and see who they played against, they've played against teams that basically don't have tight ends. Miami with a rookie, Mike Gasicki. Detroit, whose tight end now is Kenny Golladay replacing Eric Ebron. And week one Houston, who just doesn't really use the tight end. And week two against Jacksonville, they gave up 62 yards and a touchdown. So I think Eric Ebron will be needed because Ty Hilton is out, because everybody's out, Jack Doyle is out. And you know, look, surprisingly he's the number five tight end on the year. He's been averaging seven and a half targets a game, which is great for a tight end. Over four receptions and almost a touchdown a week. So I'm willing to start him tonight, which means you should probably bench.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm going to go with the stance. Vance McDonald last week, 5 for 62, which is a nice week from a tight end. Right? You're getting 80. That's an 80 reception pace. And the week before the 4 for 112. What I love about it is they don't want him to do anything but run routes. He ran 32 routes last week. He blocked three times, three snaps.

[Mike Wright]

He don't need to block.

[Andy Holloway]

He is the pass catcher. Dance and tight ends look it, he. I put him in the kittle category.

[Mike Wright]

Kiddo Cattle gory, the kiddle corner.

[Andy Holloway]

What I mean is there's a lot of upside and I look, if I'm going to put a tight end on my offense, as much as I like Kyle Rudolph and I would be more than happy to start Kyle Rudolph, he represents the unsexy safety at the position, right. 600 yards, maybe a touchdown. Vance McDonald offers the big playability, the kind that you saw from George Kittle last week where he brought a Brock broke a long touchdown. You saw it from Vance two weeks ago with the long touchdown. I just love that about my tight end because if your tight end goes off, you win the week.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

If you get 20, if you get the Jared Cook 28 points, congratulations.

[Jason Moore]

That's what I loved about O.J. howard is that, you know, he might stink, but every time might stink. But when he has a game, it's an 80 yard touchdown down the side. So I and Vance McDonald, if you're not familiar with his days back in San Francisco, he did that several times in San Francisco where he had the long touchdown breakaway. So I completely agree with with the analysis. I would love to start Vance McDonald this week.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, those were our starts of the week. Again, follow us on Twitter @ the FF Ballers to keep up to date with everything going on so you can win in week five. And we'll hit our final segment right.

[Jason Moore]

Jason Moore's ironclad, locked and loaded, 100% guaranteed. Boom, boom. Kicker of the week. I'm going chalk this week with a legit supergiant. I want the high scoring game with Atlanta's Matt Bryant.

[Andy Holloway]

Poor Matt Bryant. I mean, because everything makes sense.

[Mike Wright]

What have you done?

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, but now, now what's gonna happen? I mean, no, very nice, Matt Bryant.

[Jason Moore]

That just means start your Matt Ryan's.

[Andy Holloway]

It's all touchdowns apparently. So any, any concluding thoughts? Brooks, how you doing over there? You still with us? I'm pretty good. Okay. All right, well, that is it for today's episode. Thanks for listening, tuning in, subscribing, reviewing.

[Mike Wright]

Check out draft.comballers if you're gonna place them daily. And make sure you tune in tomorrow for the conclusion of hat week. Goodbye.

[Andy Holloway]

Good luck. Eric Hebron.

[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.