Week 15 Waivers + Difference Makers, Playoff Bound! - Fantasy Football Podcast for 12/10

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary Episode: Week 15 Waivers + Difference Makers, Playoff Bound! Release Date: December 10, 2024

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Introduction to the Playoffs

As Week 15 kicks off, hosts Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright delve into the excitement surrounding the fantasy football playoffs. They discuss their personal playoff standings and the anticipation of the upcoming matchups.

• Andy Holloway [01:53]: "I thought we might get an... It's playoff time."

• Jason Moore [02:17]: "Congratulations on your successful season... it's exciting. It's fun to go and look at the matchup and figure out how you're going to back your way into a championship."

The trio highlights the competitive nature of the playoffs, emphasizing the strategic moves fantasy managers must make to secure victories in the crucial weeks ahead.

Difference Makers Segment

The "Difference Makers" segment focuses on six key players who could significantly impact fantasy playoff teams. Andy introduces the segment by presenting each player and soliciting yes or no predictions from Jason and Mike, along with brief justifications.

1. Brock Purdy (QB, 49ers)

   • Andy Holloway [11:28]: "Difference maker, Brock Purdy, yes or no?"
   • Jason Moore [12:00]: "No. I think we're at the time of the year where the best teams are in and you need monstrous performances."
   • Mike Wright [12:17]: "I'll go with no. I don't want it to sound like I think that Brock Purdy's a bad start [...] difference maker at the quarterback position? I don't think so."

   Conclusion: No – Concerns about Purdy's consistency and the overall team's reliance on him make him a less reliable choice as a difference maker for the remainder of the season.

2. Sincere McCormick (RB, Raiders)

   • Andy Holloway [14:04]: "Difference maker, Sincere McCoy."
   • Jason Moore [14:16]: "I think yes."
   • Mike Wright [14:17]: "Okay. I am a yes as well."

   Conclusion: Yes – McCormick's increasing opportunities and solid performance metrics make him a valuable asset for fantasy playoff teams.

3. Zach Charbonnet (RB, 49ers)

   • Andy Holloway [16:09]: "Zach Charbonnet, difference maker, rest of season, yes or no?"
   • Mike Wright [16:22]: "No because I think that Ken Bone Walker will be back."
   • Jason Moore [16:36]: "I agree. [...] I don't think he is the difference maker rest of the season that he was."

   Conclusion: No – With the potential return of a key teammate, Charbonnet's impact is expected to diminish, reducing his effectiveness as a difference maker.

4. Adam Thielen (WR, Vikings)

   • Andy Holloway [17:22]: "Adam Thielen, yes or no?"
   • Mike Wright & Jason Moore [17:27]: "Yes."

   Conclusion: Yes – Thielen's chemistry with QB Bryce Young and his consistent target share make him a reliable difference maker for fantasy teams.

5. Jordan Addison (WR, Packers)

   • Andy Holloway [18:49]: "Jordan Addison has been cooking."
   • Mike Wright [19:15]: "I'm going to go. I'm going to go. Yes."
   • Jason Moore [19:29]: "I do. I think he should have a couple big games down the stretch."

   Conclusion: Yes – Addison's recent performance and favorable matchups position him as a strong candidate to elevate fantasy playoff lineups.

6. Roma D'Unezay (RB, Bears)

   • Andy Holloway [20:09]: "Roma Dunes, a difference maker, yes or no?"
   • Jason Moore [20:26]: "No, because I don't think people are going to be able to start him."
   • Mike Wright [20:26]: "No, he's a no."

   Conclusion: No – Despite a recent performance, Roma D'Unezay's limited usage and inconsistency make him an unreliable difference maker for the playoffs.

News and Notes

The hosts provide updates on player injuries, team dynamics, and other pertinent NFL news affecting fantasy managers' decisions.

• Jonathan Brooks’ Injury [23:30]:

  • Andy Holloway [23:40]: "Jonathan Brooks tore his ACL in his right knee. He will be done for this year."
  • Jason Moore [23:40]: "This is devastating. It's heartbreaking. I feel terrible for the young man."

  Brooks' injury has significant implications for his team’s running back depth and for dynasty league managers who had invested in him.

• Derek Carr’s Injury [26:43]:

  • Andy Holloway [26:45]: "Derek Carr did suffer a fracture in his left hand and is in concussion protocol. Will miss time."
  • Jason Moore [27:00]: "He's planning to definitely miss a couple weeks."

  Carr’s absence impacts his team’s quarterback stability, posing challenges for fantasy managers relying on him.

• George Pickens’ Status [29:10]:

  • Andy Holloway [29:10]: "George Pickens is not expected to play in Week 15 against the Eagles due to a Grade 2 hamstring injury."
  • Mike Wright [29:29]: "It's the rule of two here. So he just misses the two."

  Pickens' injury sidelines him temporarily, affecting his fantasy value and prompting managers to consider alternatives.

Waiver Wire Recommendations

The trio discusses strategies for navigating the waiver wire, emphasizing the importance of securing key players who can influence playoff outcomes.

• Sincere McCormick [32:43]:

  • Andy Holloway [32:47]: "We jump into the waiver wire with Sincere McCormick."
  • Jason Moore [34:16]: "I would go with Isaiah Davis against Jacksonville or Patrick Taylor."

  McCormick emerges as a top waiver wire target due to his increased usage and consistent performance.

• Other Notable Waiver Picks:

  • Isaiah Davis (RB, Jets): Highlighted for his recent performance and potential as a starter if Breece Hall remains sidelined.
  • Patrick Taylor (RB, 49ers): Considered as depth, but with reservations about his upside compared to other options like Isaiah Davis.
  • Jalen McLaughlin (RB, Broncos): Mentioned for his recent opportunities but noted as a high-risk pickup due to limited usage.

Streaming Quarterbacks

The hosts offer recommendations for streaming quarterbacks, focusing on favorable matchups and current performance trends.

• Justin Herbert (QB, 49ers) vs. Buccaneers [57:59]:

  • Andy Holloway [58:34]: "Streaming quarterback this week is going to be Justin Herbert against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers."

• Caleb Williams (QB, Cowboys) [58:24]:

  • Jason Moore [58:33]: "You could stream Caleb Williams this week. [...] two of the last three weeks he's been a top six option."

• Bryce Young (QB, Falcons) [59:35]:

  • Mike Wright [60:08]: "A true streaming quarterback this week is Bryce Young."

  Despite some concerns, Young is considered playable based on his team's status and potential for explosive plays.

Tight Ends Recommendations

With tight ends like Juwan Johnson sidelined, the podcast explores viable alternatives for fantasy managers.

• Hunter Henry (TE, Chargers) & Zach Ertz (TE, Cardinals) [51:34]:

  • Andy Holloway [52:13]: "Hunter Henry and Zach Ertz both have opportunities for touchdowns in every game."

• Alternative Tight Ends:

  • Noah Gray (TE, Chiefs): Highlighted for his increasing target share.
  • Cole Comet (TE, Ravens): Mentioned as a high-ceiling but risky option.

  Key Takeaway: Henry and Ertz are solid choices due to their consistent involvement and touchdown potential, while alternatives like Gray offer lower floors with some upside.

Defenses and Team Strategies

The discussion transitions to defensive pickups and strategic considerations for team settings during the playoffs.

• Commanders' Defense [55:33]:

  • Andy Holloway [55:39]: "The Commander's defense, which will have Lattimore for the first time, will face a backup in New Orleans."

• Baltimore vs. Giants Defense [55:54]:

  • Mike Wright [56:01]: "Baltimore plays the Giants, by the way. That's going to be outrageous."

Analysis: Selecting defenses facing weaker offenses or backup quarterbacks can provide reliable fantasy points, as these units are less likely to give up significant scores.

Closing Remarks and Final Insights

As the episode wraps up, the hosts emphasize the importance of strategic gameplay during the fantasy playoffs, urging listeners to make informed decisions based on player performance, matchups, and injury reports.

• Andy Holloway [57:59]: "Streaming quarterback this week is going to be Justin Herbert against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers [...] He's been a top 12 quarterback and four straight at home."

• Jason Moore [58:33]: "You could stream Caleb Williams this week [...] in fantasy he's looked good in spurts."

• Mike Wright [60:08]: "Bryce Young, I think that he is playable, hopefully more as a quarterback, too."

The hosts encourage listeners to visit their website for waiver wire rankings and tailored tools to enhance their playoff strategies.

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Notable Quotes:

• Andy Holloway [03:03]: "Look at your playoff bracket."

• Jason Moore [05:27]: "Jamar Chase is unstoppable."

• Mike Wright [17:28]: "He's going to be one of the guys we're talking probably the highest about."

• Andy Holloway [40:56]: "No more buys."

• Jason Moore [52:49]: "He's been reliable. So those three guys are the guys you're hoping for."

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Conclusion: This Week 15 episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast provides comprehensive insights into the fantasy playoffs, highlighting key players as difference makers, offering strategic waiver wire and streaming quarterback recommendations, and updating listeners on critical NFL news impacting fantasy decisions. By leveraging expert analysis and timely information, the hosts equip fantasy managers with the tools needed to navigate the final stretch of the season successfully.

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

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[Jason Moore]

The fantasy footballer Studio is brought to you by Amazon Prime. Welcome to the the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Andy Holloway]

Welcome in.

[Mike Wright]

Really squeezed that one out.

[Andy Holloway]

I thought I might. I thought we might get an. It's playoff time. I wasn't. I wasn't sure if you'd just break us into the fantasy playoff. I don't. I don't know.

[Jason Moore]

No, I get it. I get it. This is. Today is the day where everyone can log into your platform, your fantasy platform. Look at your playoff bracket.

[Andy Holloway]

Look at Marvel Papa Josh Can't.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, right, right, right.

[Andy Holloway]

But I mean, everybody that's in the playoffs can't, right?

[Jason Moore]

Like, the people who listen to this show. I was actually just about to make the joke. Like, what's a playoff?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, no, I. You know.

[Jason Moore]

Well, congratulations on your successful season. That's over. But for everyone else, we were all in some playoffs here or there, and it's exciting. It's fun to go and look at the matchup and figure out how you're going to back your way into a championship.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, that. Look, Jason, you slipped into the sixth seed with an O in two weeks somehow.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, baby.

[Andy Holloway]

And you'll be facing off against Al Borland in our league of record playoffs. Al, you are feeling confident? I think I like my odds. Yeah, you like your odds. Now, I don't know if we'll have a producer if things.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, man. If I actually Win.

[Andy Holloway]

You are very much.

[Jason Moore]

Josh will be here. He's got nothing on the line. No new video games have been released today. Yeah, I've talked about a lot of my injuries. My team at this point in the season, it's hot trash. It's just like, this is nasty boy season. And so. And Jeremy's team, to his credit. It's the first time he's had a great team.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

So he's done a. He's got an excellent. You two, I think, are the. Are the two current front runners.

[Andy Holloway]

Al Borland is the leader in points scored in the league.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And you are the leader in your own right. Of the least points against.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. You got. Defense wins championships, baby.

[Andy Holloway]

So going into next week, look, I. It will be. You're like Cinderell, but uglier. You know what I mean?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah. No, that's a good comp for me.

[Andy Holloway]

So we got fantasy playoffs, hopefully in some of your leagues. If you're tuning in, you're ready to get going. The waiver wire, setting yourself up for these next couple of weeks. Despite my bye week, I decided to come to work anyways.

[Mike Wright]

What a hero.

[Andy Holloway]

And so we'll get into it. We had a fantastically entertaining, I think, Monday Night Football game. A lot of people out there with Burrow and chase and dowdle. 18 for 131. Mike. Boy. Mike was my beautiful boy. Let me say this. And no need to record it. And I don't say this lightly or often.

[Mike Wright]

I don't know what's about to happen.

[Jason Moore]

I know what he's going to say, but.

[Andy Holloway]

Mike.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. That's what.

[Mike Wright]

Hey. Okay. All right.

[Jason Moore]

I knew it.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, at every step of the way, it was always, if Dowdle had a chance.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And it was always like, if he has a chance. This is my. It was our view that it wouldn't matter. And he has a chance. And it did matter. He did not score a touchdown.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, unfortunately.

[Andy Holloway]

Much. You know, that was the only thing I got right about Dowdle this week. But a career high in yards for the second consecutive week. 18 for 131. CD Lamb, 6 for 93 and a touchdown. Wincing at every turn.

[Mike Wright]

Seriously.

[Andy Holloway]

Jamar Chase. 1400 receptions for over 17,000 yards and 25 touchdowns in last night's game.

[Jason Moore]

Jamar Chase is unstoppable. I tweeted out early in the game. I was just. I'm like, how do you. How do you stop Jamar Chase? I don't have him in any of my leagues because he's one of those players where you either get lucky in your draft slot, you know.

[Mike Wright]

Right.

[Jason Moore]

Or is not a fifth round pick. So you just get them. Or in our keepers and our dynasties, I don't have them. I don't have him anywhere. And it's a darn shame, you know, I watch other people have so much fun with him.

[Andy Holloway]

It's the time of my life.

[Jason Moore]

It's great.

[Andy Holloway]

It's so. And Mike in our dynasty league has the Boro Chase stack. And I truly believe it's because there's no way for Chase to do all of the points and them not come from the ball thrower. Do you know what I'm saying?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Oh yeah. The ball thrower has to be involved.

[Andy Holloway]

The ball thrower has to be involved. Now I think that last night I'm watching this game and here was my headline from it. There's about a minute left or whatever it was two minutes left, the Bengals have to punt. And at that moment in time it's 4th and 26. I think to myself as a Jamar Chase manager. Oh, no. Because the Cowboys are going to win the game and that means that the Bengals are going to go to 4 and 9, which means that the Bengals are toast. And then they block the kick and they muff it and they win the game. If you're in fantasy football right now, you're thrilled at the outcome because the Bengals still have a puncher's chance and you need that for Burrow and Chase to keep doing what they're doing. We also got interesting comments out after the game from Joe Burrow saying like in so many words, T. Higgins is going to be here.

[Mike Wright]

I mean he's like, he doesn't write the checks right. But he, I mean he's saying like, no, basically he was telling the team, I'm the captain, you are going to figure this out. You're going to keep T. Higgins here.

[Andy Holloway]

With and that he'll do whatever he needs to do.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

I mean I don't know if that's a like a restructure or anything wild like that, but for him to be so forward like with the media of right away putting the team on blast saying, no, you better get T. Higgins.

[Andy Holloway]

Back here and because they need that two for 23. They need that two for 23 on the way back it T. Higgins doesn't.

[Mike Wright]

Produce every single game, but he makes an impact on every single game.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, he helps Jamar Chase tremendously.

[Mike Wright]

Exactly. So it's. And like, see, I think the, you know, in fantasy football as we're all trying to project, where these guys going to go is like, man, T. Coming back to the Bengals is such low odds, probably even closer to zero. And this helps. It was Joe Goodberry on Twitter, who is like a real Bengals guy. He had tweeted out the other day that in his opinion, he's like, oh, I think that the Bengals will actually franchise.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, they'll just franchise him again.

[Mike Wright]

Bunch of cast base. And it was like the double franchise. I mean, that's something that I hadn't even considered to be a possibility. And yet it makes so much sense that of making sure that Higgins is back one way or the other.

[Andy Holloway]

There was also a report yesterday about the Patriots basically offering the sun, moon and stars for T. Higgins this free agent period, like going into next year. So I thought I'd mention that too, because there was a report that they're going to do whatever it takes to land T. Higgins.

[Jason Moore]

Well, and remember, Jamar Chase did not get the bag of money. So they're going to have to pay Jamar Chase. The idea of giving both of them the contracts that they need from a franchise that has historically been ran not the best. I don't know if they would do that.

[Andy Holloway]

But the franchise for one more year, that makes sense. That could happen.

[Jason Moore]

That's so much money.

[Andy Holloway]

$25 million.

[Jason Moore]

I know, but they're going to give Jamar Chase more than Justin Jefferson. So that'll be. That'll be maybe. They look at their roster this year and they're like, man, it went so well. This offense, these guys this year, let's re up this for a ton of money.

[Andy Holloway]

Their offense. No, but it did. Their offenses, it's a championship offense.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I'm just saying they maybe need to spend on their defense.

[Mike Wright]

They may need me to spend some money, period.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Fair.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. So that was last night's game, by the way. We will be going through team motivation levels in the coming weeks. We will take care of that for you, let you know which teams are incentivized to, I guess, you know, step on the throttle, like keep it going. Because it does matter. It matters on how they are going to rotate in youth and it's certainly going to matter if teams have the one seed locked away if you're a Week 18 title game, which hopefully you're not.

[Jason Moore]

Motivation is very important and real in football, in whether you're betting, playing fantasy or whatever. There are, you know, next week we're going to also take a look at on a player level and see who has Incentives, who has bonuses, who's, you know, 200 yards away from a million dollars or whatever. Those things matter. You hear after the season is over, you always hear these coaches talk about, ah, we had to get this guy a touchdown because I wanted him to hit his bonus. That's real. It happens.

[Andy Holloway]

And we're going to break it all down. And motivation does matter. That's one of the reasons why I'm going to do a really pissed, poor job hosting the show this week, because I don't really need. I get it to be here.

[Jason Moore]

So why weren't you motivated last week?

[Andy Holloway]

Are you implying that I did?

[Jason Moore]

Swish?

[Andy Holloway]

Goodness gracious. All right, let's jump in.

[Jason Moore]

Welcome to Difference Makers, presented by Imes Pet Food.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, today I wanted to do a little, you know, do something different with Difference Makers. And I'm going to throw out six names and I'm going to throw them out to you guys. And I need a yes or no. Do you think that this player that I mentioned will be a difference maker rest of season? For fantasy playoff teams heading into the most important time of the year, you can be brief. Give me a reason, yes or no. Why you believe it. But let me start with the quarterback, Brock Purdy. Difference maker, yes or no?

[Jason Moore]

No. I think we're at the time of the year where the best teams are in and you need monstrous performances. I don't think he's going to give that to you. Debo is not who he once was. Obviously. IUK is gone.

[Mike Wright]

Debo said he's good.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, really? Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Just needs the ball more.

[Mike Wright]

He's the. I mean, he deleted the. The. That. He said that, but he said no. Everything's good. I'm just not getting the ball. Okay.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going.

[Andy Holloway]

Mike. Difference maker, Brock Purdy, yes or no?

[Mike Wright]

I'll go with no. I don't want it to sound like I think that Brock Purdy's a bad start. The schedule is not the greatest, but I think Brock Purdy is still a start, but a difference maker at the quarterback position? I don't think so.

[Andy Holloway]

49Ers playoff probability right now is 8. Sitting in 11th place with the remainder.

[Mike Wright]

Of the season, Brock Purdy's chance of buying a Scrooge McDuck vault very high.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And I don't. You know, that's a tough one.

[Jason Moore]

Really, for you. You're saying it's a little bit.

[Andy Holloway]

It's a little bit tough. Yeah. Because I think Brock is. He's kind of in that. He's kind of right now in the Lawrence category of like, not worth the money, but you're stuck paying the money. Like he's not quite worth. He's not worth league record money.

[Jason Moore]

I don't think he's going to get league record money, but he absolutely is worth his weight in gold as a franchise.

[Mike Wright]

I think he's a franchise quarterback.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, he really is.

[Andy Holloway]

I just, I could see things going south for the team.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, that is for sure.

[Andy Holloway]

And so I guess you're just kind of like if without Shanahan, structure, without cmc, without some of these, you know, Debo playing up to level. I don't know. I just think we could look back in a couple of years and say Brock Purdy is okay. And that's expensive for. Okay.

[Mike Wright]

It's like, that's all. It's like Darnold, where. Yes, it is like Darnold in Minnesota is worth franchise money. Darnold somewhere else, probably not.

[Andy Holloway]

That's exactly how I see it. You're right. Difference maker. Sincere McCormick, running back for the Las Vegas Raiders, who just had another 18 opportunities. Yes or no?

[Jason Moore]

I think yes.

[Mike Wright]

Okay. I am a yes as well.

[Jason Moore]

The reason I think I'm a yes is because if you are a playoff team that needs sincere McCormick, which one of mine is, do you really need them? Like, you know, there are very few players who have come from nowhere late in the season, and at this point, going into the playoffs, you feel like might have a chance to score a lot of fantasy points that, you know, when you dealt with an injury late in the season, you know, Breeze Hall, I don't know if he's back this week or not, but if you lost Breeze hall and you're in the playoffs, you might have a gaping hole. And I think sincere McCormick has looked good and he has found a lot of success. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Okay. I said gaping hole. All right. Let's just call a spade a spade.

[Mike Wright]

What.

[Jason Moore]

What are you talking about? These boosters can't handle it. You silly little boys.

[Mike Wright]

He.

[Andy Holloway]

That's a yes for sincere McCoy.

[Mike Wright]

Not only.

[Jason Moore]

It's.

[Mike Wright]

It's a yes for me. It's. It's not only the. Is he getting the opportunities. And I do I really think that he's going to keep getting them. Even if Madison is back this week. I think that the Raiders should and will be like, no, let's see what. Let's see what McCormick can do. And the fact that he is. Against Denver, it was only five carries, but against Denver, 6.6 a carry. Against the Kansas City Chiefs 5.3 a carry on 12 this past week against Tampa, 15 carries, 5.2 yards per carry. Like, this guy is bringing actual juice to the opportunity. This isn't the oh, I stumbled in a guy into a guy who's going to get volume and I really Hope he gets 20 carries and a touchdown. Like this dude is making the most of his opportunity.

[Andy Holloway]

Let's make it more difficult. Zach Charbonnet, difference maker, rest of season, yes or no?

[Jason Moore]

Mike, you go first.

[Andy Holloway]

I felt like that one would be the most difficult name that I'm going.

[Mike Wright]

To bring rest of season. I will say no because I think that Ken Bone Walker will be back. It may not be this week, but I think that he'll be back. And if Walker's back, it's splitsville for Sharps.

[Jason Moore]

I agree. And you've also got, you know, two weeks from now he plays Minnesota. I cannot imagine Charbonnet having a great game against the Minnesota Run d. So I don't think he is a. I don't think he's the difference maker rest of season that he was. This, this last week.

[Mike Wright]

He easily could be like, we may not have information on the Walker injury. And it's like, oh, we were joking. Walker was going on the IR and then Charbonnet is truly a difference maker.

[Andy Holloway]

The three games that he's played without Ken Bone Walker, 14 for 38 and a touchdown with five catches, 18 for 91 and two touchdowns with three catches and 13 for 134 and two rushing touchdowns with seven catches. So when Walker is out, Sharp cooks.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Difference maker Grandpa Thielen. Adam Thielen, yes or no?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he is.

[Jason Moore]

He's going to be one of the guys we're talking probably the highest about. On the waiver episode today is target share with Bryce Young, who's playing good ball.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he is.

[Jason Moore]

And honestly. So I went back, I watched every single snap for Bryce Young and when, you know, we've seen this with a lot of quarterback wide receiver combos. When he throws the ball to Thielen, they're in sync. When he throws the ball to Leggett, there's no.

[Andy Holloway]

I was going to bring that up. Like, Xavier Leggett is a disappointment.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, for sure.

[Andy Holloway]

Like that. His performances have been a disappointment and his reliability is going the opposite direction of what Thielen is right now.

[Jason Moore]

I think it's just being a rookie. I mean, you see this with Marvin Harrison Jr. And Kyler. They're out of sync a little bit. And some of it is because they are playing like a rookie, but let's give them a little bit of credit because they're a rookie, so it's okay. They're going to make these mistakes. Adam Thielen is a vet who is always in the right spot. I think he's going to be a real difference maker.

[Andy Holloway]

Really impressive catches, including one that didn't count. That should have counted.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

He's got great.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, that was ridiculous.

[Mike Wright]

And I went back and watched all of Thielen as well. Like there were more times had Bryce looked at Thielen first that there would have been easy catches for him. Like there was room for growth.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Jokes aside, don't be embarrassed to put Thielen into lineups.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And the schedule is good. Jordan Addison, difference maker, yes or no? Jordan Addison has been cooking.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. He's not consistent, but he has been. He's been having a lot of really good games lately.

[Andy Holloway]

Six touchdowns in the last six games. He has 12 targets. Six targets, nine targets, eight targets. What do you think?

[Mike Wright]

I'm going to go. I'm going to go. Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Would you rather have Addison or Darnell Mooney rest of season?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, great question.

[Jason Moore]

I think I would go.

[Andy Holloway]

My vote would be Addison.

[Jason Moore]

Because he.

[Andy Holloway]

Doesn'T have Kirk Cousins.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I mean, obviously Kirk. Kirk has not been great, but Mooney just had a good week. This last week with Kirk Mooney has been solid. And I believe the. Yeah, I'm looking this up.

[Andy Holloway]

Mooney has more yards than Drake, London.

[Jason Moore]

The Raiders, the Giants and the Commanders are left. I'm going to stick with Mooney, but it's close.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. So do you guys think. Yes. On Addison?

[Jason Moore]

I do. I think he should have a couple big games down the stretch.

[Mike Wright]

The fact that we're. It seems like in the last month that we're getting an uptick in targets. Maybe they're finally like, hey, we need to actually focus on getting him the ball, not just every once in a while.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. And just in case, Roma DUNESAY, he had two touchdowns, four for 42 this past week against San Francisco. Hard to argue with the schedule coming up for Chicago. So I'm going to bring him up. Roma Dunes, a difference maker, yes or no?

[Jason Moore]

No, because I don't think people are going to be able to start him. I mean, to have the confidence of a player who just got four catches after just getting two catches, he could absolutely have a big week this week. I like Caleb Williams a lot this week. The matchup against Minnesota in the passing game is pretty good, but he's not going to be a difference maker because I don't think people are starting him. And if you do and I don't think you should start him because you're basically saying I hope he gets the touchdowns and he might, but that's just not the way to, you know, that's not the way I want to play.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, he's a no, but he, my opinion hasn't changed of I think he should be on a bench just in case like over these last few weeks.

[Andy Holloway]

If, if either of the other two went down, I feel like your confidence level would start to go through the roof with the amount of yardage that Caleb's putting up.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, there's that. And there is a world where over the last few weeks the with nothing to play for and it's, I mean I don't, I'm doubting that Keenan is back for the Chicago Bears. So they may say, hey, over these last four weeks or three weeks, whatever, let's, let's see what happens if we.

[Andy Holloway]

Focal Point Rome alright, that was Difference makers presented as always by IMES Pet Food. When you choose imes, you can see the difference in your pet with your own eyes. Healthy energy in five days, healthy digestion in 10 days and healthy skin and coat in just 25 days. Feed IAMs and see a visible difference. We'll take a break. We'll hit the news.

[Jason Moore]

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[Andy Holloway]

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[Jason Moore]

News and notes from around the league presented by USAA Insurance. Some sad news.

[Andy Holloway]

Jonathan Brooks retour his ACL and his right knee.

[Jason Moore]

That is the same knee. So he will be done for this year. He will be on basically the same timeline as I believe this is a later tear than it was last year and it took him until week 10 to get here. I mean, it's not good. You could, he could never be the same. This could be like Javante Williams who was a sensational athlete and then, well, there's.

[Andy Holloway]

There's two sides to it, right? One is just like, can you ever perform at that level? But the bigger piece for me is just could a team ever have confidence in him as a bell cow? And that is a much, much further place to get to and a very, very relevant one for fantasy outcomes. So if you in a dynasty league invested in Jonathan Brooks, I mean the pathway for him to get to where he delivers on what you thought he was going to be. We went from a preseason where as soon as he got healthy you thought he's their future to now they signed Chuba Hubbard long term and he retires his acl. It's devastating. It's heartbreaking. I feel terrible for the young man.

[Jason Moore]

This is a team that went out and signed Miles Sanders to a big contract, used a second round pick on the first running back draft, had just signed Chuba Hubbard. My point here is that running backs matter to this team, this general manager. They want a couple of good running backs. I wouldn't be shocked if this off season they bring someone else important in because they're not going to have Jonathan Brooks. They can't rely on him and say, you know what, this coming season we're going to get Brooks back. They just did that experiment and lost. So, yeah, whether the team can wait around and make him a big part of the game plan is sad.

[Mike Wright]

It will. It would be surprising if Jonathan Brooks plays any meaningful stuff next year.

[Andy Holloway]

I would, yeah, I'd be shocked. Which will Disley expected to miss?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, no.

[Andy Holloway]

Couple of weeks. So Montana on the mend and then Kenneth Walker. Additional tests being done on his calf.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. I hadn't heard that yet.

[Andy Holloway]

It's a calf injury and they'll know more in the next day or two. I don't like the sound of new tests coming Tuesday, Wednesday after you missed a game. That sounds pretty ominous for week one of the fantasy playoffs.

[Jason Moore]

That sounds ominous for the rest of the season. But this is a team right now that they're in first, right. I think they're leading the division. So I mean, they want him back for sure. They're not going to just put him on the shelf and say we're done. It does make Charbonnet more appealing.

[Andy Holloway]

Aiden O'Connell avoided the season ending knee injury that we heard about and has a bone bruise and has not been.

[Jason Moore]

Ruled out for this week. So he went from.

[Mike Wright]

So stupid.

[Jason Moore]

He was air casted, you know, which is almost always.

[Andy Holloway]

He was.

[Mike Wright]

He was pronounced dead like he was. He was in the morning.

[Jason Moore]

Time of death.

[Mike Wright]

They put him in.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, he's in the bag and he's trying to get out of the bag.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, they put him in. Then they just heard a. Hello? Guys, guys, I'm actually. I'm really okay. Freezing in here and I'm hungry.

[Andy Holloway]

Derek Carr did not suffer a fracture. I'm sorry. Did. All right, hold on.

[Jason Moore]

We're just going to go. Everyone is fine. You know what? Jonathan Brooks back on the field this week.

[Andy Holloway]

No, no, sorry. I wish I had that news. Derek Carr did suffer a fracture in his left hand in concussion protocol. Will miss time.

[Jason Moore]

I saw it reported that. Yeah, I mean he's. He's planning to definitely miss a couple weeks.

[Andy Holloway]

Not IR though, right?

[Mike Wright]

He has unfortunately a contract situation where if he can't pass a physical coming up here in the off season, it's something like 30 million. Kyle, I don't know if you'd have this.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, CAR has 30 million injury guarantee.

[Mike Wright]

If you can't pass the physical, he would be guaranteed $30 million. So that will factor in. Also, we did just get a report straight from the source. Boys, the new Bendanucci is back. He has signed with the Saints.

[Andy Holloway]

Cool reports. I didn't need to know. For 5,000 nicknames.

[Jason Moore]

I don't want to hear the new. Yeah, no, no, thank you.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I'm out on that one.

[Mike Wright]

All right.

[Andy Holloway]

It's no Jennings.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

The support you received from the world, Jason. I mean, I'm so happy I got in at the end.

[Mike Wright]

I'm happy I'm still out.

[Andy Holloway]

Cedric Tillman.

[Jason Moore]

That's because you haven't been saying it, brother.

[Andy Holloway]

You're. You're pushing up against. You know, you're a crowd.

[Jason Moore]

Jennings.

[Mike Wright]

Try it out, Jennings.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, That's a good time, right?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

You know what's fun? The new.

[Jason Moore]

All right, I'll try it on. Well, we all got to be willing.

[Mike Wright]

To try new things.

[Jason Moore]

All right.

[Andy Holloway]

Try new things. Senator Tillman, Romeo Dobbs, both still in concussion protocol.

[Jason Moore]

Dude, that is sad for both of them. Tillman's been a long time.

[Mike Wright]

It has.

[Jason Moore]

You know the waiver wire Today, when I was looking at it yesterday, I was like, I kept moving him up and up. I'm like, you know, if this is the week he's back. When he's back, he looked so good. He's got the size, speed combo and. But this is. It was week 12 when he got the concussion. They didn't put him on ir and it looks like he's going to be out a while.

[Andy Holloway]

George Pickens not expected to play in Week 15 against the Eagles. He is dealing with a Grade 2 hamstring injury.

[Mike Wright]

My looking into it, it's. Yeah, I'm expecting him to miss this game, but then I think he will be back for week 16.

[Jason Moore]

It's Baltimore. They.

[Andy Holloway]

That could depend on the stakes, too.

[Mike Wright]

It could, but the, the way that the Steelers were talking and Mike Tomlin, like Mike Tomlin was, I think, being earnest and honest about. No, I think that George is going to play. We're going to test them out in the morning and we'll see how it goes. So their plan as a team was for George Pickens to play on Sunday. And then they just reevaluated and said, we don't want this to. Basically, they didn't want to Mike Evans. It put him out there for limited snaps, have him injure himself and be out for four weeks. So just saying Grade two, that sounds really scary, but I don't. I think he's back in a couple of weeks.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I mean, I. I think he misses the two. I don't think it's a great sign personally that you go from he might play to a ruling him out for another week.

[Mike Wright]

It's the. It's the rule of two here. So I think that he just misses the two. I'm following it.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. Any other news that we need to cover? We didn't have a practice for Garindo. We're waiting to hear about him.

[Mike Wright]

The reporting on the quote from Shanahan on Garendo was very funny to watch because we were simultaneously getting glasses half empty, glasses half full from the same exact quote. But essentially Shana had said, if we had practiced, Grendel would not have been able to do it. I'd be surprised if he's able to go tomorrow. So Patrick Taylor will be talked about on the waiver wire, and I think he is a. You got to add him just in case. But we don't have the full news.

[Jason Moore]

So Garrindo is Thursday. Yes. And so basically what we know now is that he's not practicing this week. We're not going to get new information on Garendo before the game. We're just going to find out like he's not going to practice. He didn't practice yesterday, he's not going to practice today. And then it's going to basically be maybe he gets in a limited practice which would be a walkthrough and then he's either active or, or he's not. So this is just be prepared for him not to be active. But the quotes were basically he's not going to practice. We hope he plays.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, yeah, that's, that's a quick turnaround.

[Mike Wright]

Because of the quick turnaround here for Thursday like we know they, they have. So Patrick Taylor is depth chart wise he's the next man up. Like he's.

[Andy Holloway]

And just for the record, fifth.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Fifth on the depth chart for a reason and.

[Mike Wright]

But he is technically the next guy up. But you have Keyshawn Vaughn who came in in garbage time this past week. The they picked up a bandicanda. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Get that whip out. Get that whip out.

[Mike Wright]

Mike, I don't know if I have the drop.

[Jason Moore]

Come on, Izzy.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, I do. But with it being the quick turnaround I would say I have if Grando is out, I would have more confidence that Taylor will be the guy just because they don't have time to get.

[Jason Moore]

The other guys ready and I will throw this out. I believe Isaac Grindo will be the starter. That's my current. I know he's not going to practice. They've already said that. But I think he plays on Thursday and is good.

[Andy Holloway]

That was today's news and notes presented by USAA Insurance. Learn more at USA.com insurance.

[Jason Moore]

Welcome to the waiver wire.

[Andy Holloway]

Well you can say bye to the buys. No more buys. The Broncos, Colts, Commanders, Ravens, Patriots and Texans, you get their players back this week. We jump into the waiver wire with Sincere McCormick. Aforementioned Sincere McCormick somehow only rostered still in 18% of leagues despite being brought up. I feel like prominently last week people didn't believe but 15 for 78. Nothing really to play for but the future for the Raiders who may or may not even have their second string quarterback. So I do think the opportunity will be there for McCormick. It's a matchup against Atlanta, then Jacksonville, then New Orleans.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that's nice.

[Andy Holloway]

That's difference making stuff. That's been the fab on it. If you have a need type of stuff. I'd be curious if you know, Thielen and McCormick were somehow both out there where you'd go on that.

[Jason Moore]

I would Go Thielen, simply because he is going to be the primary target. And we know that Sincere McCormick, I'm with Mike, that I think he's earned and will retain the work when Alexander Madison comes back. But there's a chance he doesn't. Alexander Madison comes back and now it's like, okay, well, we've got the starter's back. He gets the. And you know what, Sincere, you've done a good job. You're going to get a couple of carries, too. But it's, you know, that still exists. So I would go Thielen first.

[Andy Holloway]

All right. Other running backs that you have the highest amount of interest in. We just talked about Patrick Taylor. I am personally nervous about that.

[Jason Moore]

Me too.

[Andy Holloway]

If he was to get that opportunity, it's not that he couldn't perform. It's just that, you know, when you look at who they've had, I don't look at Patrick Taylor as possessing any of the elite traits and skills that, you know, Garando had elite speed and Mason elite tackle breaking. And, you know, Mitchell was a very well rounded back. And obviously cmc. CMC Taylor is fifth on the depth chart for a reason. And I don't know if he's the kind of back that Shanahan would look to do everything with. Like, if you had to start one, I guess he'd be the one you'd start. But it would be with trepidation. It would be somebody that I would start. Sincere McCormick over or Julia McLaughlin over. Or, I mean, probably even Gus Edwards over.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, I wouldn't go that far. I'd play Taylor over Gus.

[Jason Moore]

Man, I have more.

[Mike Wright]

I have more confidence just in the Shanahan system and the matchup, I guess, than you guys do.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I mean, the system has always worked.

[Mike Wright]

It's just nobody's into somebody's all the time.

[Jason Moore]

So this might sound really, really stupid, but I feel like if Garrindo can't go, I think it's going to be Izzy. I think Izzy would be the guy. Obviously he wasn't. He wasn't a part of the game plan last time just because of speed. Because of speed. He fits the system far. Like, Patrick Taylor wasn't brought in to be one of these running backs. He was fifth. He's a special teams type of, you know, Jag. He's a 4, 5, 7, 40 time. This is not the type of running back that, that the 49ers have ever used. Izzy, I think, like his pit pro day was like in the four threes. You know, he's got that trait where it's just like, I don't care who it is. Next man up.

[Andy Holloway]

There was. There was an example of this, and I. Kyle, if you can search the recesses of your mind or the Internet for the name, but there was one San Francisco running back picked up off the street a few years ago because the 49ers lose three to four running backs a year, but there was someone they signed straight off the street that came right in to be their starter in lieu of the depth chart.

[Jason Moore]

Right.

[Andy Holloway]

And I cannot remember his name. I will probably find it here in a few minutes.

[Mike Wright]

I don't remember.

[Andy Holloway]

But there was somebody that they grabbed, I want to say, off of the Bears practice squad or something. He was a truck, and he played on Monday Night Football. But my point is they signed him and they played him, and he was the guy. If. If you want to lean towards Vaughn or. It's messy. It's really messy. From a fantasy waiver wire. How much Fab. How much. How much do you go at it.

[Jason Moore]

For that Patrick Taylor is currently the next man up. He was next on the depth chart. Whatever. If I knew Patrick Taylor was the starter for this game, I'd be happy to play him. I'll be happy to play whoever the starter is for the 49ers, but I don't think it's as clear as just saying as Patrick Taylor with Izzy there. Yeah. Or Keyshawn Vaughn, maybe. Maybe it's Keyshawn Vaughn.

[Andy Holloway]

Other names to bring up.

[Mike Wright]

I mean, the jets guys should be. They're more priority pickups. We don't know what the health of Breeze hall is going to be. And you get the matchup with Jacksonville, the discussion there then becomes Braylon Allen versus Isaiah Davis. And if, like, if you want to talk total work, Braylon Allen was 11 carries, 43 yards. Isaiah Davis, 10 carries, 40 yards, and he got the touchdown. Six targets for Isaiah Davis, five for Braylon Allen. They really split it up. And watching the game, Isaiah Davis was the guy who had the better day.

[Jason Moore]

Like, he just looked awesome. He is.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. He's the running back that. If I were running the Jets, I know that Braylon Allen projected to be that guy. But I'd be like, no, we got hot hand here with Isaiah Davis. I'm giving him all the work. So the. If Breeze misses again, it's probably a timeshare, which puts them both as startable, not the confidence level that we had hoped we would have with Braylon Allen being the true back.

[Jason Moore]

The matchup against the Jaguars Means I think you can start both of them if Brees is out. I did make the playoffs so I expect Breece to be out again until I'm out and then he will dominate. That's just.

[Mike Wright]

I got.

[Jason Moore]

That's how the math should work. But Isaiah Davis is a worthy pickup. He's available in most of the leagues and if you need someone to start, I mean if I'm talking about Isaiah Davis against Jacksonville or Patrick Taylor, I think I go Isaiah Davis just because, you know, if he gets 50% of the work against Jacksonville, that could be safer than Patrick Taylor being the backup. I don't know.

[Mike Wright]

Would you go with any of those guys where it's a we're in flowchart season right now of, you know, if this player is out then I can start these guys. Or would you prefer Jaleel McLaughlin? Denver Broncos coming back off the by, he gets the matchup with the Colts he had. I mean McLaughlin has done really not much except for this past week. He got a whole bunch of opportunities.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And he looked great with it. You know, like two weeks ago we talked about how they are writing the hot hand. Obviously they usually give Java the first opportunity to show that his hands are ice. McLaughlin was so good last week. The matchup is great. He's certainly in play and I think you could pick him up and take a shot. But it's very Patrick Taylor in the sense that he might not, he might, he might go out there and get three or four carries. So it's very difficult to rely on that. You also have Kendra Miller who, you know, came in, got a touchdown, was.

[Mike Wright]

He's at least ahead of Jamal Williams.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, he's definitely ahead of Jamal. I mean he had 10 carries, one.

[Mike Wright]

Carry from the team picking him up and taking him into the end zone.

[Jason Moore]

Dude, he didn't go down, man. He was. He started at the eight yard line. When contact happened, I think the team got involved at the three. That was, that was a, that was a boss run.

[Andy Holloway]

Talk to me for a second about philosophical change. You know, we've had the waiver show all year long. There's been a lot of the. Okay, we're going to pick up players, we're going to hold them, we're going to have the insurance backs. How do these change mindset wise? Are you dropping insurance backs at this juncture? If you are viewing somebody else's, you know, how are you approaching the shift in the win one week situation?

[Jason Moore]

Right. Win one week is priority. If you need to drop someone to get someone for this week, you have to do it. I'm willing to drop a backup. I would also prefer to roster at this point. I'm looking a lot at the defenses and I'll take a look at next week's defense and even the championship week defense to make sure that, you know, there's in most leagues, there's five or there's usually six teams that are in the playoffs. And I think the majority of those teams that make the playoffs, they're all going to be looking at their playoff defenses now. So the waiver claims are going to come in for those defenses. And I would rather play that game and make sure I get the points that I know will be scored, you know, because they're not going to get injured. The defenses can't get injured as a whole to where you can't play them. So I would rather roster them than the insurance backs. But I'm not like dropping insurance backs of my own players just because it's playoffs either.

[Andy Holloway]

Wide receivers, by the way, all of our waiver wire rankings on the website the fantasy footballers.com Also, if you would like them customized to your specific league and scoring type, all of those things are in the ultimate dashboard, which can be [e-mail] if you want to see who's available. That is a tool that can help you there. A wide receiver heavily rostered, but at the tippy top of our waiver rankings. Thielen, number one.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Andy Holloway]

Quentin Johnston.

[Mike Wright]

He's still there.

[Andy Holloway]

Five for 48 and a touchdown. I thought the lack of McConkey would benefit him. It did. And he's had games. So like he's a. He's a much higher ceiling dart throw than playing, in my opinion, a legat or a McMillan or a Palmer or a David Moore or a Westbrook. Akin Air and Wick, some of the other names that are dart throws, but Quentin Johnson plays a lot of snaps and can score touchdowns.

[Mike Wright]

Do you want to play huge this week at Tampa or Elijah Moore against Kansas City?

[Jason Moore]

That's an easy. Huge for me.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, on that side, too.

[Jason Moore]

Elijah Moore's had some good games and Elijah Moore is in play. I'd like to roster him as well. I think last week he only had three catches.

[Andy Holloway]

He did three, 34.

[Jason Moore]

And the matchup, if you look at the matchup, you're talking about one of the most difficult for Elijah Moore and one of the easiest for Quentin Johnston against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

[Andy Holloway]

Completely agree. And Elijah Moore, I mean, even with Winston 15:3, 15:4, well, that just means a 15's coming.

[Mike Wright]

Come on. We know how stats work.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, yeah. Only if he's on your bench, though. Remember the rules.

[Jason Moore]

Not for me.

[Mike Wright]

I've been playing him everywhere.

[Jason Moore]

This is the type of week where I think what you need to be taking a shot at what you're looking for, you're not looking rest of season, you know, Adam Thielen, great. Quentin Johnston involved enough. Great. Those two, to me are in kind of a tier of their own. They're heavily rostered. They're probably not available. If you are looking for a wide receiver to start and play, we really have to be. We have to have the mindset of you need a touchdown. This is the playoffs. Who can go out there and get a touchdown? That's kind of how I look at it. You know, is a Rashad Bateman who.

[Andy Holloway]

Octavian Wicks. If Dobbs is out is the answer for me.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, that's a great answer. The matchup against Seattle is good. He's got more snaps. He's very, very capable of the big explosive game. You could throw Keon Coleman in there as kind of a. As a dart throw. He. We still don't know if he's going to be active, but if he is, you know, Josh Allen could throw five touchdowns with the.

[Mike Wright]

With that same line of thinking for Cedric Tillman. Should you get news today like, oh no, Tillman's actually. He's back at practice. It's limited, but this looks like he's going to trend to play for the weekend. Where would he jump to?

[Jason Moore]

He would probably be third if I knew.

[Mike Wright]

Behind huge.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Yeah. But he would be very, very high. He would jump into that tier.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't think my confidence level would shoot up there. You talked about how bad the matchup is. It's very concerning. And the rapport with Judy is building. Like you already saw that switch start to happen before the injury. So I'd be less bullish. I'm not saying he's out of the picture, but there's also floor play options like Ray. Ray McLeod is being used a ton in the Atlanta offense. Like if you need, you know, a floor play of 7, 8 points, I. To me, that's where he represents. I mean, he had 11 targets. I never ignore targets in an office. And he is functioning. If you look at the way things have trended for Atlanta, delete Kyle Pitts and add Ray. Ray McLeod into that equation. Targets 6, 6, 11 the last three weeks.

[Jason Moore]

But I guess if you're. If you're talking about.

[Andy Holloway]

And he said 95 and 98 yards the last two weeks.

[Jason Moore]

If you're comparing the targets, just remember Cedric Tillman, when Javis took over, had 12 targets, nine targets, 11 targets, eight targets and then four targets in the game that he got hurt early, didn't play half of the game, so. And then you'd want to talk about. Okay, they both got targets, they both can get yards. Tough matchup. I agree. But then it's playoff weeks. Who has the higher likelihood of a touchdown? I believe Kirk Cousins is not allowed to throw touchdowns anymore. That is one of the things he has.

[Mike Wright]

You said he's done with that.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he's. He's ruling out any more touchdowns for the rest of the season. Has it been a month. Has it been a month of games before since he's thrown a touchdown?

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Crazy.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it's been four games, but when's.

[Mike Wright]

The last time he threw a pick?

[Jason Moore]

About 20 minutes ago. Think they're practicing right now.

[Mike Wright]

He is. The last month. His touchdown to interception ratio is 0 and 8.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, man. It's not been good. He was. I don't know if we had it in the news or we brought it up. He was announced that he is absolutely the starter. He is the leader of the team. But your point of Ray. Ray is very involved. He is getting targets. He should be looked at. But you said it right. He's a floor play. He's not really a ceiling.

[Andy Holloway]

No. He's the player you play when you don't want to risk 1 for 19 from Westbrook. Akin. That's my point.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Is if you are a heavy favorite that still needs a flex. I'd rather have that in there than risk a one for four from Calvin Austin, a one for 19 from Westbrook. Aquina.

[Jason Moore]

I completely agree. I think the majority of people that are scouring the waivers are probably the underdog that are looking for a starter. But there's definitely a situation where you lost a wide receiver. You're the favorite. Yeah, exactly.

[Andy Holloway]

Walker.

[Mike Wright]

It feels gross to say it, but I'm going to say. I'm going to say it anyways. I would pick up and play Michael Wilson over Ray. Ray McLeod.

[Jason Moore]

Tell us why.

[Mike Wright]

Well, he's up against New England. He's been like. If you want to talk about floor, he's been 50 yards for three straight weeks and he just. He is more likely to get a touchdown than Ray Ray McClure. I think Ray has won on the year. And this I like. I like.

[Jason Moore]

Pretty good percentage of the team's touchdowns, though.

[Mike Wright]

I like. Yeah, that's fair. I like the Cardinals this week. I think that they're going to be just fine.

[Andy Holloway]

Would you drop Deebo or MBS for these guys?

[Mike Wright]

Mvs. Sure.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

MVS has no car. Goodbye.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Yeah. He's walking.

[Mike Wright]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jason Moore]

All right, Boston.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you.

[Andy Holloway]

Debo. Debo. It's tough.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, man.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, for some of them, for sure. For huge. For Thiel in. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, I would. If I had to start.

[Andy Holloway]

If you had Tillman, you'd play Tillman.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, if Tillman was active, I think I would start. Tillman over Samuel. Thielen over Samuel.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, again, check out all the waiver rankings on the fantasy footballers.com we'll take a break. We'll hit tight ends, defenses and quarterbacks.

[Jason Moore]

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[Andy Holloway]

This episode is brought to you by Instagram. Though we can't all agree on our picks, we can all agree that we want social media to be a safe place for teens. So it's good to hear about Instagram Teen accounts, which provide automatic safety settings for teens built with parents top concerns in mind. Things like making their teens profiles private by default, having automatic contact limits so they can only be messaged by people they are connected to, and content restrictions that place them in the most restrictive setting, limiting sensitive content they see in places like Explore and Reels. And all of these settings are built in so no extra work for parents. Instagram is automatically placing teens into teen accounts, and teens under 16 will need a parent's permission to change any of these settings to be less strict. Basically, Instagram teen accounts will limit who can contact teens and the content they see and help ensure teens time on the app is well spent and that's something everyone can agree on. All right, tight ends, hello. Goodbye to Juwan Johnson. It's not impossible that he's relevant rest.

[Mike Wright]

Of season, but really tough, though.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it's really hard to rely on that without a quarterback that you can trust. So, you know, I wanted to come in here. I assumed we'd come in here and be talking Juan Johnson a lot until that injury happened. Hunter Henry comes back from the by.

[Mike Wright]

He is at the top as two.

[Andy Holloway]

By week tight ends that are probably on your waiver wire or could be. Hunter Henry and Zach Ertz both have opportunities for touchdowns in every game. Both are the starting tight ends with big snapshares and that's kind of all you can hope for. I mean, I, I would still like Kate Otten more than Hunter Henry, but the gap is not that big.

[Mike Wright]

Since week seven, Hunter Henry is averaging seven and a half targets a week.

[Andy Holloway]

It's just that, like, Baker represents a much higher chance of touchdowns, but Hunter Henry, otherwise, you know, are you guys both on the side where you'd rather have Kate Otten than Hunter Henry or. No.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, man, it is very close. But I lean with you on the. Baker will throw more touchdowns than Drake May. So I would be on the Kate autonomous side in searching for that touchdown. But ahead of probably both of them would be Zach Ertz.

[Andy Holloway]

Zach Ertz, the last three weeks, man, yeah, he's been.

[Jason Moore]

He's been.

[Andy Holloway]

Touchdown, Touchdown, touchdown, Exactly.

[Jason Moore]

So and that's what you're looking for. Jaden Daniels, probably the higher likelihood of everyone to throw a touchdown. Well, him and Baker, maybe Baker a little bit more. But the matchup is pretty good against New Orleans for Zach Ertz. He's been reliable. So those three guys are the guys you're hoping for. And then if they're not available now you're. Now you're dropping down a tier and you don't have a reliable target share.

[Mike Wright]

Would you go Calcaterra for them from the Philadelphia Eagles? He plays Pittsburgh. Or would you go Noah Gray, tight end one from the Kansas City Chiefs.

[Andy Holloway]

Tight in 1.5? No, no, Gray. Five more targets last week. Last four games, target pace 85.

[Mike Wright]

I would play Noah Gray.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, I probably, if I'm being honest, I'd probably play Calcuterate if it were me because of the snapshare. Like now that he's there and Dallas Goddard's gone. He played 91% of snaps and I'm. I mean, what's the snap count for Noah Gray?

[Mike Wright]

60% yeah, the snap count is not as consequential when the other quarterback is like 150 yards a game.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, no, I'm not. You can have your opinion. I just.

[Mike Wright]

I just said, like, that's why I'm going to chase the offense here from the Chiefs.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't like the whole frame of conversation around those two. I mean, if you're Calcatera or Noah Gray, you are in trouble.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, you are in trouble. You might as well. I mean, I would throw Cole Comet into that mix, too. Obviously just goosed. But he's had a couple big games.

[Andy Holloway]

I throw them right out.

[Jason Moore]

Sure.

[Mike Wright]

I reject your Cole commit.

[Andy Holloway]

I'd just be terrified.

[Jason Moore]

I'm terrified to play any one of these three guys. But you're just talking upside. Sure. I don't think.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, he had 10 targets the week before.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Grant Calcaterra, Noah Gray, Cole Comet. The highest floor is probably Noah Gray, but that floor is four. It does. It's. It's not a relevant number. So then you go, okay, well, who's got the highest ceiling? Who can go out there and actually dominate? Colcomet can actually go out and dominate a game. He's done it many times.

[Mike Wright]

Until you lose by four points, Jason. Then you're like, no, agree.

[Andy Holloway]

There are defensive options this week that are highly attractive. The Commander's defense, which will have Lattimore for the first time, will face a backup in New Orleans.

[Mike Wright]

Is it Hayner? Is that who's going to play, Kyle?

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, thank you, Jake. Heinous.

[Mike Wright]

Well, we didn't ask for your commentary over there. You're stat boy. You give us hard, cold facts.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, he'll be heinous after the week. The Cardinals play at home against New England. The Cincinnati Bengals face Tennessee. That's a little bit like the Bengals defense is just not that good.

[Jason Moore]

Baltimore, you can always play. You can always play a defense against Will Levis.

[Andy Holloway]

Baltimore plays the Giants, by the way. That's going to be outrageous.

[Mike Wright]

I was happy to see it get called out because I noticed the play from Will Levis, who. Oh, gosh. Putting my faith in Will Levis last week is absolute disaster. But there was an end zone play they had, for whatever reason, two players, you know, leaking out to the left of the end zone. And Will Levis ignored the wide open aconquo. He's like, no, I'm going to throw the guy who's got an actual defender on him for whatever reason. That guy sucks.

[Andy Holloway]

The 49ers, I don't really like them. Against the Rams at all on Thursday? Yeah, I mean, that would be a terrible start. I don't know why it's in this list. Delete.

[Mike Wright]

You got to have options.

[Andy Holloway]

The jets against Jacksonville. Yeah, yeah. Give me the jets against Mac Jones. You're looking, you're targeting backup quarterbacks. The Falcons against Las Vegas. Yeah, backup quarterbacks.

[Jason Moore]

I would also throw in the Atlanta Falcons. They are playing Baltimore this week. That is not what you want the next week or they're not playing Baltimore. Sorry. But next week they are playing the Giants and that is going to be an important game for the Falcons at home. And if you look at the week 16, if you're looking, you know, two weeks out to get ahead of your opponent, the most of the teams that you focus and try to play against, you know, you want to play against the Titans, that's the Colts defense. It's like, okay, they're not that good. You want to play against James and the Browns. That's the Bengals defense. It's like, okay, so I think the Falcons are really the team for next week that you can get now.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, let's move forward.

[Jason Moore]

Full stream ahead.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, my streaming quarterback this week it's going to be Justin Herbert against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 31st against quarterbacks 30th and passing yards per game allowed. I know he's been banged up. We'll see if lad McConkey can get back out on the field. I think Herbert will do enough. 202 should be okay. Game has a 46 and a half point total. He's been a top 12 quarterback and four straight at home.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to go and you know, scared money don't make money. It's a little scary. But I'm going to say that you could stream Caleb Williams this week. Oh, gosh.

[Mike Wright]

What are you doing?

[Jason Moore]

Well, I mean, look, he played against Minnesota a couple of weeks ago. He was the quarterback three. You know, he threw for 340 yards, two touchdowns, ran for 33 yards. I know it's a divisional game. Minnesota is still a team that you want to target for the passing game because you really just can't run on them. It's a 44 point over under. It's dangerous. But you could in. You can see the path where it works. I mean, two of the last three weeks he's been a top six option. In fantasy he's looked good in spurts.

[Mike Wright]

In second half.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, in second half. Really, it's all in the second half.

[Mike Wright]

It was another at halftime the Chicago Bears had like a handful of yards in the first half like this. I don't know how this can keep happening. That you could be shut out for an entire half and then you put up.

[Jason Moore]

It's a rope. A dope, Mike. They're like, ah, you guys are too good for us.

[Mike Wright]

Falcon, is that more punts than yards?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I think so.

[Mike Wright]

Well, whatever. I don't know. I'm not verifying that. But that's fun to say. More punts than yards. Speaking of dangerous, a true streaming quarterback this week. It's gross. Like we're playoffs, please. Hopefully you have your guys, but Bryce Young. This is the first time in the Bryce Young era they are favored at home by two and a half points against the Dallas Cowboys. What in the world?

[Andy Holloway]

I know you're talking about Bryce Young, but I just want to know how many packs a day. Freaking Falcon is smoking.

[Jason Moore]

More pressure, more puns than yards.

[Andy Holloway]

More puns than yards. One back, one pack.

[Jason Moore]

You eat it though, right?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it's a pack of 75, but it's just one. But Bryce Young, I think that he is playable, hopefully more as a quarterback, too. But the section is about trying to find streamers.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, it's wild. All right. Hungry for more in the Thursday night preview. Tomorrow, some mailbag playoff mailbag to help you out as you head into your fantasy football playoffs. And we'll continue to follow along the Jason v. Al Borland battle for the week. I know Jason. I've known him for a long time. I've known him for 20 plus years. I know exactly how he's going to be playing this week. I know his exact psychological state. I know exactly what he's going to be doing. And it's going to be a man that on the surface presents with indifference. It will be a man who care. A man who doesn't care about the matchup that's just gonna. I'm just happy to be here. Is the. But inside, he still believes he can win a championship.

[Jason Moore]

I mean, look, I can.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Yeah. So just expect a lot of concessions, Al. Maybe I'll buy you a pizza. We'll see. I'll take that, too. Goodbye, everybody.

[Mike Wright]

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.