Week 17 Waivers + Christmas Football Preview! - Fantasy Football Podcast for 12/24

Summary

Fantasy Footballers Podcast Summary Episode: Week 17 Waivers + Christmas Football Preview!

Hosts: Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike "The Fantasy Hitman" Wright Release Date: December 24, 2024

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1. Championship Week Motivation and Playoff Scenarios (02:05 - 12:07)

As the NFL regular season nears its climax, the Fantasy Footballers delve into the motivations of playoff-bound teams. Jason Moore notes the stark contrast between the AFC and NFC, highlighting that the AFC remains fiercely competitive with five teams still vying for playoff spots. He states, "Most of the playoff teams are still highly motivated. Staying motivated." (08:07).

Andy Holloway echoes this sentiment, emphasizing the impact of single-buy leagues in maintaining team motivation during the final stretch. He remarks, "I think that's been a nice change. Like I think that's made for better late season football having one buy to play for." (08:14).

Jason further analyzes the AFC dynamics, pointing out the Chargers' effort to secure a playoff spot by bringing back James Conner and the strategic implications for other teams like Indianapolis, Miami, and Cincinnati. He adds, "The Chargers are trying to hang on to your spot. And Indianapolis, Miami, and Cincinnati are hoping some things go south for those teams because they need a couple of losses." (08:55).

In the NFC, similar battles are unfolding with teams like Atlanta, the Rams, and Washington fighting for their playoff chances. Jason observes, "In the NFC, you have the Lions and the Vikings who play each other in the final week of the season." (12:07).

Key Insights:

• The AFC remains highly competitive with multiple teams still in contention.
• Single-buy leagues enhance late-season motivation.
• NFC teams are similarly engaged in intense playoff battles.

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2. Waiver Wire Strategies and Player Highlights (24:18 - 34:35)

The podcast transitions to a comprehensive waiver wire segment, focusing on high-impact players available for championship matchups. Jason Moore emphasizes the importance of targeting players who can deliver big points in the final week.

Running Backs:

• Tajay Spears and James Conner: Jason advises prioritizing Spears due to his favorable matchup and Conner's uncertain availability. "Tajay Spears is a great play... if he's active after the month off, he is the starter that he was when he left." (25:02).
• Madison Abdullah and Deontay Johnson: These players are discussed as potential pickups, with Jason cautioning about their inconsistent performances. "Madison Abdullah had the better week... but he's a gamble." (26:35).

Wide Receivers:

• Jalen McMillan: Highlighted as a breakout candidate, Jason praises his recent performances and potential upside. "Jalen McMillan has been an outstanding wide receiver... he's putting up pretty large counting stats." (30:03).
• Dalton Schultz: Identified as a sneaky tight end play with excellent matchup potential. "Dalton Schultz is the sneaky play for me, beyond Chigakonko." (34:17).

Notable Quotes:

• Jason Moore: "If you have Sunday pivot options, you do not want to bench Connor." (16:07)
• Andy Holloway: "If you've got two similar options, go ahead and wait." (18:51)

Key Insights:

• Target waiver wire players with favorable matchups and high upside.
• Running backs like Tajay Spears offer reliable points in crucial matchups.
• Wide receivers such as Jalen McMillan can provide significant boosts in the final week.

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3. Christmas Day Football Preview (40:18 - 50:28)

The hosts preview key Christmas Day matchups, offering strategic insights for fantasy managers.

Baltimore vs. Houston:

• Jason Moore discusses Lamar Jackson's performance and the Ravens' defense improvement. "They haven't given up more than 18 to 20 points since that Cincinnati game." (49:07).
• Andy Holloway highlights Derrick Henry's potential impact, stating, "They have Derek Henry giving you a return to greatness." (48:58).

Seattle vs. Chicago:

• Jason Moore emphasizes Keenan Allen's resurgence under the new coaching staff. "Keenan Allen's been really good since Waldron left." (52:04).
• Mike Wright expresses concerns about Chicago's quarterback instability with Caleb Williams struggling. "Watching Caleb Williams right now is difficult." (53:31).

Notable Quotes:

• Jason Moore: "The Ravens defense is a very difficult defense, which is more like the Baltimore Raven way." (49:40)
• Andy Holloway: "Keenan Allen is the number one wide receiver for this new offense with Caleb Williams." (58:51)

Key Insights:

• Baltimore vs. Houston is a must-win game with high fantasy implications.
• Seattle's Keenan Allen is a strong play against Chicago's struggling defense.
• Quarterback performances, especially with potential injuries, are pivotal for matchups.

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4. Player Injury Updates and Lineup Adjustments (14:08 - 22:00)

The hosts provide updates on key player injuries and discuss their impact on fantasy lineups.

James Conner:

• Jason Moore addresses Conner's availability, highlighting his crucial role and potential impact if he plays. "If he plays, he's a top 10 running back." (14:32).

Dalton Schultz:

• Facing ethical dilemmas, Jason considers Schultz's viability if promoting team success over personal gains. "I don't have to go play like a scramble."- (15:53)

Kendra Miller and Deontay Johnson:

• Discussions revolve around Kendra Miller's waiver status and Deontay Johnson's signing with the Texans, emphasizing strategic pickups. "Deontay Johnson, who's signed by the Texans, that's a smart waiver pickup." (20:02).

Notable Quotes:

• Andy Holloway: "Here, you just don't have a clear path, you'd need to go to the waivers, get someone that you could pivot into." (16:07)
• Jason Moore: "Dalton Schultz is the sneaky play for me, beyond Chigaconko." (34:17)

Key Insights:

• Monitoring player injuries is critical for last-minute lineup decisions.
• Prioritize versatile players who can adapt based on game flow and team needs.
• Make strategic waiver pickups to strengthen championship matchups.

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5. Final Waiver Wire Recommendations and Flex Options (24:25 - 46:18)

In the concluding waiver wire segment, the hosts provide final recommendations for last-minute pickups and discuss flex options.

Running Backs:

• Tank Dell: Out due to a serious knee injury, making him unavailable for the final week.
• Michael Carter: Highlighted as a reliable option if Deonte Johnson is limited.

Wide Receivers:

• Jalen McMillan and Dalton Schultz: Strong recommendations for high-impact plays.
• Xavier Worthy: Presented as a flexible and high-upside pickup, especially in favorable matchups. "If you have Sunday pivot options... I would throw in my Christmas player." (18:51).

Tight Ends:

• Dalton Schultz: Continues to be a top recommendation due to favorable matchups and consistent usage.
• Chig Okonkwo: Identified as a strong play against tough defenses, despite concerns about his performance. "Chig is someone that... he is available. Go get him." (34:35).

Notable Quotes:

• Jason Moore: "Dalton Schultz is the tight end 7 and 4, two out of the last three weeks." (35:58)
• Andy Holloway: "Chig is someone that... you have to make the decision." (34:35)

Key Insights:

• Focus on high-upside players who can capitalize on favorable matchups.
• Utilize flexible players like Xavier Worthy to maximize scoring potential.
• Tight ends such as Dalton Schultz offer reliable points in crucial games.

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6. Closing Remarks and Community Engagement (55:00 - End)

As the episode winds down, the hosts share personal anecdotes about holiday traditions and encourage listeners to engage with their fantasy communities.

Personal Stories:

• Andy Holloway and Jason Moore discuss their experiences with holiday activities such as gift wrapping, adding a light-hearted closure to the episode.

Community Engagement:

• The hosts remind listeners to join their fantasy football community at JoinTheFoot.com and follow them on Twitter @TheFFBallers for ongoing updates and support.

Notable Quotes:

• Jason Moore: "Enjoy the holiday, everybody. Thanks for following along." (63:44)
• Andy Holloway: "Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast." (63:49)

Key Insights:

• Building a strong community enhances the fantasy football experience.
• Personal connections and shared traditions foster listener loyalty and engagement.

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Conclusion

This Christmas Eve episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast provides a comprehensive analysis of the final NFL regular-season week, focusing on waiver wire strategies, key player evaluations, and Christmas Day game previews. The hosts offer valuable insights and actionable advice to help fantasy managers optimize their lineups for championship success.

For More Information:

• JoinTheFoot.com: Access premium Discord, the ultimate dashboard, and bonus episodes.
• Follow on Twitter: @TheFFBallers

Enjoy the holiday and good luck winning your league!

Transcript

[Andy Holloway]

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[Jason Moore]

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[Andy Holloway]

Merry Christmas. Welcome to the Fantasy Football Callers podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore and Mike Wright.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, welcome in.

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, it's Christmas time.

[Jason Moore]

Welcome in one and all.

[Mike Wright]

And we're at work.

[Jason Moore]

You know, it's. It is championship week.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Gotta be here.

[Mike Wright]

And the NFL's like, can't play football on Wednesday. Ah, Mr. Goodell, it's Christmas.

[Andy Holloway]

Hmm.

[Jason Moore]

Seems like a good day for football.

[Mike Wright]

Seems like a great day.

[Jason Moore]

There's a deal with Netflix to be made. Oh, look at, look at Deucers Alley.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, man, we got the hate blockers on.

[Jason Moore]

Look at the. That Christmas drip, man. Yeah, no, you look good. You look like a guy who's.

[Mike Wright]

It's his first time and Papa Josh remains monochromatic.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, we give. You know what's great is the guy on the left over there. If you're watching on YouTube, that's why I beat in last year's playoffs, to win a championship. And then the guy sitting next to him. This is both sides of the betrayal, by the way.

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

So like last year, Papa Josh got his comeuppance, got his butt whooped. I got a trophy this year, Al who's been denying his involvement in that.

[Mike Wright]

You know, is about to win a championship somewhere somehow.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, I guess the truth is about to be seen, right?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

You know, ball don't lie. So this is one of those situations where we're going to find out if Jeremy was really the problem and a villain in this or if what he's been saying and all he did is.

[Mike Wright]

Click accept and does can the ball hold a year long grudge?

[Andy Holloway]

Oh yeah, oh yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Oh yeah. And I feel like last year Al was a little jealous of the, you know, all the attention papa Josh got and then Josh got smashed. So we can do that for you.

[Andy Holloway]

Nah, that's all right, man. Congrats on the dub.

[Jason Moore]

You know what? Yeah. I'm not playing that game with you. I'm going to beat you. That's the game. The game is I'm going to play players, they're going to score more points.

[Mike Wright]

Yesterday. You tried to do it.

[Andy Holloway]

You tried to do it. You tried to do it.

[Mike Wright]

You're doing a double back. Never double back.

[Jason Moore]

Welcome into a jam packed Christmas Eve edition of the fantasy footballers podcast. Thank you for listening on Spotify, on Apple, for your reviews over there. We appreciate them, they help the show out and for subscribing on YouTube, YouTube.com/the fantasy footballers. We will have a. Is this the final Sunday live this week? This is the final Sunday live. Probably another ultra triple tilt addition.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, that is the hope. And look, week 18ers we do our best to let you know, like hey, remember, fix your league. Don't have championship week on the final week of the NFL season. But we do remain here all week long. Like next week we will be here. Well, we'll have New Year's Eve, New Year's will be off. So it'll be a very similar scheduled to this week but there will not be a Sunday live next week.

[Jason Moore]

And we really make no bones about it. It's the worst week for us to do. Oh, we do it.

[Andy Holloway]

Hey, week 18, we do it for you.

[Jason Moore]

But much in the way that like.

[Andy Holloway]

A parent has to go to a recorder concert. Yeah, yeah, that's what it is. If you show up, we love you, we're going to support you. What you're doing is stupid.

[Jason Moore]

But we'll be here for. We'll be here for you for your recorder concert in week 18. JoinTheFoot.com is the community get access to the premium Discord and the ultimate dashboard and the bonus episodes of the show. So when we drop down to two a week you get an extra episode over [e-mail] I'm not going to spend forever. On Monday night it was 34 to nothing. There was a pee wee football team that.

[Mike Wright]

You've already overdone it.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I feel like we've talked about that game too much. Mike said it perfect before the show when he was talking about the game. Said it was just a waste of time for everybody. And so everybody. True everybody, every player, every coach, every fan. There were crews that had to record that game.

[Mike Wright]

People paid to be there.

[Andy Holloway]

Exactly. What a waste of time.

[Jason Moore]

There was zero redeemable qualities on the New Orleans side of the football in any capacity. The biggest headline there and it's adjusted in our waiver rankings with Kendra Miller's involvement. Minimal success, minimal opportunities for success, minimal. And Jordan mims got the second half. Jacobs did enough in one half. Jaden Reed, 76 yards. Injury once again to Christian Watson. It's impossible for that dude to stay healthy.

[Mike Wright]

Man is fragile.

[Jason Moore]

Him and Rashad Bateman, they have like a. They've pooled all of their braces and wraps and they just share them on a week to week basis. Take what you need.

[Andy Holloway]

He needs to play in a warm weather environment. Maybe the. It's just too cold. Like a Miami tightens it up like a rubber band.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, okay.

[Andy Holloway]

You know what I mean?

[Jason Moore]

That's an interesting theory. Let's talk difference makers.

[Andy Holloway]

Welcome to Difference Makers presented by I'm's Pet Food.

[Jason Moore]

We do have waivers on the show today. We also have previews for the two Christmas day games and the Thursday night football games. So it will be a busy one. Although our waivers will be. It will be quick, it will be brief. It will be the big names. It will be.

[Andy Holloway]

It'll be only the players that you can actually start in your championship matchup if they're available for you.

[Jason Moore]

That's right. So difference makers though I wanted to take a few moments and just walk through a little bit of the fantasy football NFL context for team motivation, playoff scenarios and what's on the line. Jason and I in the studio yesterday, we took quite a bit of time just kind of walking through the if this, then that scenarios for these teams. The headline at the very tippy top is that most of the playoff teams are still highly motivated. Seating with the single buy keeps them quite motivated.

[Andy Holloway]

That's been a nice change. Like I think that's made for better late season football having one buy to play for.

[Jason Moore]

What is more interesting to me is that the disparity in the AFC and nfc where in the AFC there aren't any teams recently eliminated. The bad teams in the AFC have been bad for a while. Have been eliminated for a while. And so you have a group of basically five teams, really, that are sort of playing for their lives in their playoff lives. The Chargers in Denver are trying to hold on to those final two spots. Highly motivated. The Chargers are bringing back J.K. dobbins, and there's a reason to force him back onto the field. You're trying to hang on to your spot. And Indianapolis, Miami and Cincinnati are hoping some things go south for those teams because they need a couple of losses.

[Andy Holloway]

Shockingly, still not eliminated. I feel like every week the last month has been like, okay, this team's about to be eliminated, but they've won the games that they needed to win, which means they're all very much playing for their lives.

[Mike Wright]

And since he's playing Denver this week and there's like, it's a really control.

[Jason Moore]

Over part of that score.

[Mike Wright]

It's a must win for both of them. But really, Cincinnati, after the way the season started and the way that y'all have fought back for our fantasy football teams.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Staying motivated.

[Mike Wright]

Thank you.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And one more week, please. Jamar Chase. Let's keep it going. So in the afc, that's the scenario. The other thing I wanted to touch on, it's part of the game today. Houston, Baltimore, very, very unlikely that Houston can slip into the three seed, because what happens here is the division winner for the north, the Steelers or the Ravens, is very, very likely to be that three seed. There is a scenario where that happens because Houston plays Baltimore this week. So that is going to even their records up. If Houston won, Pittsburgh can very easily lose their last two games. Kansas City, Cincinnati, and then Baltimore, I believe, has the tiebreaker over Houston. So they would need. I think they'd need Baltimore to lose against Cleveland in the last week of the season.

[Andy Holloway]

That's the issue, is that they're playing Cleveland. So unless they are resting their players or something, you just expect them to be able to walk over the current version of the Cleveland Browns.

[Jason Moore]

I do think it's too early, though, for Houston to not believe that that's possible. I don't think Houston at home on Christmas against Baltimore is going to lay down in any capacity. So that's the AFC and the nfc. What kind of is more troublesome? I think, you know, you have those teams that really, really, really care. They're trying to hang on Atlanta, the Rams and Washington trying to hang on to playoff spots. Tampa and Seattle fighting for their lives. Tampa trying to win the division. That's their path into the. Into the playoffs. Seattle, same thing. But there were three teams last week that were eliminated with the games that didn't happen in the afc. Arizona, eliminated last week. San Francisco eliminated. Dallas now eliminated. So you start to look at scenarios with James Conner, who we'll talk about in the news. Will he play? Will he not? What's the pride factor there? San Francisco, Isaac Garando could be back. He's not really. I don't think they're like, oh, gosh, we got to hold him off for next year. So if he's available, I think he plays. And then Dallas with CDs arm and shoulder situation. CD came out and said. I mean, he basically said, look, the fans pay to see the best wide receiver in the game play football.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Which I loved it. Joe Bryant, great friend of the show. We love you, Joe. He had a wonderful tweet saying that kind of attitude would not fly in the NBA.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Because they like to take their time off in the NBA.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. Risk management.

[Jason Moore]

So that's kind of the scenarios on both sides. Lot of motivated teams. Some question marks around the freshly eliminated teams in the nfc. But. But it's nice you want this. And the one buy helps. And, you know, the fact that you play your championship game a week before week 18, very important.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I mean, this is. There's been years in the past, or even the week prior to the final week of the season, championship week, there's been like, oh, no, a handful of important players are really not going to suit up because of motivation this year. It feels pretty darn good. I mean, I think even those names you mentioned, Connor, CD Garrindo. I think if they're able to play, they play this week. So that's great.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And I just like how it's worked out in the north with the battle. Like Cincinnati's in it, but then Baltimore, like you're talking about the difference between a home game and the fifth seed, this battle with Pittsburgh. So there's a lot on the line. Like Zay Flowers with the shoulder in Wednesday game. He's got to be out there. You know, they have too many injuries and so very excited about that. Motivation factor is very high.

[Andy Holloway]

And in the nfc, if you want to talk very similar, you have the Lions and the Vikings who play each other in the final week of the season. And assuming that they both win this week, which right now I think they're favored, that means that One of these two teams would be a 14 win, fifth seed on the road, tragedy on the road to start the playoffs. While the other whoever wins that game is not only not playing in the first week, but they're at home the entire playoffs. Insane.

[Mike Wright]

And yeah, and the NFC south might send a sub 10 sub 10 win team into the playoffs.

[Jason Moore]

And wasn't it last year that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers barely made the playoffs and then won a home game in the playoffs. So all right, that was Difference makers presented by IMES Pet food. When you choose iams you can see a difference in your pet with your own eyes. Healthy energy in 5 days, healthy digestion in 10 days and healthy skin and coat in just 25 days. Feed IMEs and see a visible difference.

[Andy Holloway]

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

[Jason Moore]

Well, a lot of you out there. James Conner was a key cog in your semifinal victory. Although he was injured and he missed the last quarter and a half. My dear sister going for her repeat championship, lost by five points. Lost Connor and face Brandon Aubrey. So lost to a 21 point kicker.

[Andy Holloway]

Didn't she also have Jalen hurts?

[Jason Moore]

She also had Jalen hurts. Multiple scenarios to barely lose the game. Connor would have at least scored another 10 to 15 points. 21 point kicker, 21 point kick. That's why I told her I got. This is why we don't have them. That's why we don't have kickers.

[Andy Holloway]

Out of your league.

[Jason Moore]

Here's what Jonathan Gannon had to say about James Conner's availability this week. No, we'll see how he goes throughout the week. You know what I mean? I know he wants to play, so we'll do what's best for him first and then what's best for the team. So with James Conner like I have. Here, here, here, let me do this.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

Mike, are the Cardinals going to make the playoffs?

[Mike Wright]

No, we'll do whatever is best for the Dean. No, sorry.

[Jason Moore]

We hate you.

[Mike Wright]

I'm told we're mathematically eliminated.

[Jason Moore]

Here's the thing is that the decision on Conor is. It's kind of multifaceted because you have three games that happen before the weekend and there's a lot of flex players in those games right where you might be on the edge. Is it a Xavier worthy right? There's tough decisions to make there with James Conner. If you can wait through the weekend because you have a better pivot, you know that's a path you can take. Connor has been really, really good this year.

[Andy Holloway]

If you do not have path based on this news if there's not a clear one, you'd need to go to the waivers, get someone that, you know you could pivot into. Would you just bench Connor on Wednesday and start someone in that. In that game?

[Jason Moore]

It's really tough. It's a Rams matchup. Right? That's a plus matchup for Connor. It's a Saturday night game, so you do get it a day before Sunday. If you have Sunday pivot options. It's a divisional game. So you talk about, yes, the Cardinals were eliminated, but you know what they'd love to do? Keep the Rams out of the playoffs. Connor is coming off of a 21, 29 and 26 point game. Like, I don't know if people really. This is a top 10 running back. So I think in most scenarios, you want to get that guy into your lineup. If he says he's going to be active. It's Tuesday, we got Christmas, we got practices. You need to stay glued to that.

[Andy Holloway]

The Rams, over the last three weeks are the 31st most difficult matchup against running. So the last three weeks they played the Buffalo Bills. That's your way of jets, they've the.

[Jason Moore]

Easiest team to run on, is that what you're saying?

[Andy Holloway]

No, no, no. I'm saying the most.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, they've been.

[Mike Wright]

They've been staunch, yes, because the jets, they gave up nine points to the jets, they gave up six points to the San Francisco 49ers in the middle there. They're not in the middle. But right before that, the Buffalo Bills, that was the shootout. That was the 44 to 42. And right before that, the Saints scored 14 points like the Rams are lately. It's hard to know who the Rams.

[Jason Moore]

Are because, yes, the last three games.

[Mike Wright]

Saints, 49ers, jets, offenses like that's. Those are not prolific scoring offenses. It's weird.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, they were softer the first five weeks of the year. They were. But you're right, they have kind of like, what is your answer to the question? Like, are you. Are you trying to play?

[Andy Holloway]

I presume because they play on Saturday that most players have a pivot option. You have a handful of. It's not like when you're playing on Sunday night and you've got to have someone in the Monday Night Football, but.

[Jason Moore]

Xavier Worthy, bring the name up. I mean, he's played pretty good. Are you playing him on Christmas?

[Andy Holloway]

I think.

[Jason Moore]

Are you playing Zay Flowers over him on Christmas?

[Andy Holloway]

As of now, if we don't get any more information, and hopefully, man, that's tomorrow, we're not going to Know if James Conner is going to go. I think if I only if I didn't have a later pivot, I would put in a Xavier Worthy over James Connor. Just because you have to, you have to have those points. Now you've got a perfect situation. I would personally play Xavier worthy over Jalen McMillan. You have those two players, but Jalen McMillan is a good enough, not that big enough a gap where I would absolutely wait on Connor if I could.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I like McMillan more this week anyways.

[Andy Holloway]

Sure. Yeah. But I'm just saying, like, if you've got two similar options, go ahead and wait. If you don't and you don't have a good option left on Sunday, then I would throw in my Christmas player.

[Jason Moore]

Do you have any other thoughts on that, Mike? I mean, it's a tough one.

[Mike Wright]

I'm in agreement.

[Jason Moore]

Okay. All right. We have Chargers opening up the 21 day window for J.K. dobbins.

[Andy Holloway]

From what I have, I mean, we don't know for sure. This does not mean he's going to play. But from everything I've been able to read beat reporters that, you know, I've seen talking about it, the expectation, I believe, is that he's going to play this week. So this is important. We'll talk about it more in waivers as far as where he ranks if he's, you know, been dropped. But they need them. This is a very important must win game. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

And the Gus Bus just had a big week. He was going to be potentially talked about here during the waiver segment.

[Mike Wright]

The running back waivers are difficult with the way that the flow charts are set up.

[Jason Moore]

Right now we have Tank Dell diagnosed with dislocated knee, torn ACL, additional damage, probably gone for all of 2025, big time.

[Mike Wright]

Bummer.

[Jason Moore]

Deontay Johnson.

[Andy Holloway]

Hopefully it's just 2025.

[Jason Moore]

Right. Deontay Johnson, who's signed by the Texans.

[Andy Holloway]

That's a smart waiver pickup. Apparently there were a couple of teams that put in waiver claims on Deontay.

[Mike Wright]

But because each team wants to find.

[Andy Holloway]

Out personally what the problem is, like, we're not sure what the issue.

[Mike Wright]

Maybe it will work for us.

[Andy Holloway]

It was funny, though, because one of the other teams that put in the claim was the Chargers, which is another Harbaugh. You got to think he, like, I don't know, called his brother and was like, dude, should I put in a claim or what?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. And he was like, totally.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. You're going to playoffs, right? We could beat you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Pick him up. Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

No, no, he's great.

[Jason Moore]

For your locker room, we have Dorian Thompson Robinson dealing with a calf injury.

[Andy Holloway]

I know a little tiny hope for your Jerry Judy's and honestly I'm not sure if, if Jameis would Dorian Thompson wouldn't be there.

[Mike Wright]

So what is their depth chart? Even so it's Bailey.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, yeah, that's right. That's right.

[Jason Moore]

Zap, zap, zap.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, it's probably crap, crap, crap. It's probably Bailey.

[Andy Holloway]

They want to lose.

[Jason Moore]

Probably not going to have Xavier Leggette back out there for the Panthers. So Adam Thielen still in play. Mike McDaniel said basically, you know, we don't know what it's going to look like for Jalen Waddle. If Waddle misses, you could take a shot with Malik Washington and if you're desperate, if you have injuries, he was involved. Played 83% of snaps had targets. Zay Flowers did not practice on Monday dealing with a shoulder, Harbaugh said. Pretty optimistic he'll play big game for them. I'd be shocked if Flowers wasn't out there.

[Mike Wright]

I agree. George.

[Jason Moore]

George Pickens.

[Andy Holloway]

George Pickens.

[Jason Moore]

Christmas Day to play George.

[Andy Holloway]

He's going to play.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, but I need him to play.

[Andy Holloway]

Very well and he's going to play well.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. You're going to play him?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Do you need to.

[Mike Wright]

Yes. Jerome Ford, who's the quarterback. And you play Pickens over Ford currently. That's how I would do it. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

All right. There you go. That was today's news and notes presented by USAA Insurance. Learn [e-mail] insurance let's take a break, then we'll hit the waiver wire. This episode is brought to you by Abbott. Let's talk about a small thing that can make a big difference if you have diabetes, the Freestyle Libre 3 sensor. It's amazing how the sensor gives you real time glucose readings so that you can see the impact of every meal and activity to make better choices. The Freestyle Libre 3 sensor can help you live life with diabetes on your terms. This is progress. You can try it for free at FreestyleLibre US. Offer available for people who qualify. Visit MyFreestyle US to see all terms and conditions. Certain exclusions apply for prescription only safety info found @freestylelibre us.

[Mike Wright]

This episode is brought to you by Rocket Money. Managing finances can feel complicated and time consuming. But it doesn't have to be. Rocket Money simplifies everything, making it so easy to see exactly what's happening with your finances, track your spending and give you full control of all of it right from your phone. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, monitors that spending and helps you lower your bills so you can grow your savings. See all your subscriptions in one place and know exactly where your money is going. For any you don't want anymore, Rocket Money can help you cancel them with a few taps. Look, Rocket Money will even try to negotiate lower bills for you, sometimes by up to 20%. They automatically scan your bills to find opportunities to save. Then you can ask them to negotiate for you. They will deal with the customer service. Rocket Money has over 5 million users and has saved a total of 4,500 million in canceled subscriptions. Stop wasting money on things you don't use. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to RocketMoney.com Footballers that's RocketMoney.com Footballers RocketMoney.com Footballers.

[Jason Moore]

All right, it's time. Big names, big week. Waiver time.

[Andy Holloway]

Welcome to the waiver wire.

[Jason Moore]

Man. I was, I was really having a hard time finding the proper levels of motivation for this back to back championship. But now that we've kind of unraveled the double deucer deceit situation like two.

[Mike Wright]

Dooses, now you actually want to win two doers.

[Jason Moore]

Twice the deceit, twice the titles. For me, I like the way that the script is being written.

[Andy Holloway]

I like your confident.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, no, I like my confidence too.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, I said confidence but I let go of the button.

[Mike Wright]

You weren't pushing the button very confidently.

[Jason Moore]

All right, we will. Here's our abridged important only waiver wire segment. Running backs, guys, Tanjay Spears, lots of snapshots dealing with it and then you got the J.K. dobbin situation in LA, you've got the Madison Abdullah in Las Vegas and you've got the if Connor doesn't play situation in Arizona. I can tell you for me as a Connor manager, I'm going to go with other options than I am the roulette of the backfield of Arizona beyond Connor. Like I don't want to go. I'm not going to try to get like Benson's hurt.

[Andy Holloway]

Benson is hurt.

[Jason Moore]

If he plays he will be a committee back. There is no question. The Cardinals made Connor a committee back to their own demise this past week. There's no way Benson gets more work than Connor.

[Andy Holloway]

I agree. If Benson is active it makes everyone a sketchy start. We just brought up that the Bills have been shutting people down recently. If he doesn't play though, Michael Carter should have a backfield pretty much to himself and he could volume his way to DJ Dallas. Yeah, I mean DJ Dallas, if you.

[Jason Moore]

Want to try to win with Michael Carr, go ahead.

[Andy Holloway]

I don't, I don't. I'm just saying. I guess my point is I view like if you're in the situation where you got to pick one of those guys up. I would rather pick up Carter's your guy. I would rather pick up Carter because I do not expect Benson to play and if Benson does, he'll be in a definite committee and the.

[Mike Wright]

But the like Alexander Madison, you would play him over?

[Andy Holloway]

No, no, I would play Alexander Madison.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah. I would play Madison over not James Conner, but over the remaining Cardinals should Connor miss.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I'm trying to avoid that backfield too. Madison Abdullah, Tajay Spears to me is the. If they don't score a touchdown, if those two guys, neither of them score a touchdown, you're doomed.

[Mike Wright]

Madison.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. You're doomed for both of them. I mean Abdullah had the better week, more efficient, had the touchdown, had the better passing game numbers. So you know, Madison looked terrible, fell into the end zone.

[Mike Wright]

That's kind of what he's looked like all the time.

[Jason Moore]

No, I know. I'm just saying like that's the gamble you're playing with those two guys is either one could score.

[Andy Holloway]

And the nice thing is they're playing against that Saints team. You know what I mean? The Saints are so bad that I think they're.

[Jason Moore]

I'd rather play Kareem Hunt than any of those names. I'd rather take the chance on the better team where he's looked better, where he's gotten into the end zone that if I'm betting on a touchdown for any of those guys, I'm betting on Cream Hunt.

[Andy Holloway]

That's fair. I don't think that's a bad process at all. The two guys I have at the top would be. And they are probably rostered. Tajie Spears is rostered in 57% of leagues, so. But that there's still a lot of leagues out there. He's available. He's number one. Because Tony Pollard is super banged up. Keeps trying to play through it and get those incentives. He hasn't. The matchup against Jacksonville is perfect. It's the type of game where you could throw a backup in in championship week and have a two touchdown game. He's been doing it. He's been a running back one the last two weeks on the back of touchdown. So Tajie Spears, I think he's a great play. And then Dobbins, who's Even more rostered. But if he was dropped and is active for this game, I fully expect. If he's active after the month off. He is the starter that he was when he left. They need him. I know, Gus, I wish you wouldn't.

[Jason Moore]

Have said the part where he's the starter that you want when he left.

[Andy Holloway]

Well, I'm saying that.

[Mike Wright]

Workload.

[Andy Holloway]

Workload. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Okay.

[Mike Wright]

I got Spears. I got Spears at the top. And then I would. I would play Madison over Dobbins.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And Kendra Miller has fallen out of consideration for me, unfortunately. The Vegas matchup's good, but, I mean.

[Andy Holloway]

Kendra Miller or Michael Carter, I mean.

[Jason Moore]

If no Benson and no Connor, I'd play Michael Carter for sure.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

For sure. He'll catch passes.

[Andy Holloway]

And we do have more.

[Jason Moore]

Five targets, five catches in the game with Connor.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. There might be people out there in a championship matchup that are like, I have to ride super dirty. We have more waiver names on the waiver wire tool on the website, so you can go to jointhefoot.com and look at who's available in your league for deeper settings. But for the most part, we're talking about only the guys that you can really play in A championship here.

[Jason Moore]

Four names at wide receiver to mention. Jaylen McMillan, 50% rostered. I love him this week. He has been a just an outstanding wide receiver. 19.9 fantasy points. 16, 14 the last three weeks. Seven targets, six targets, seven targets, four touchdowns in three weeks. Playing Carolina. Carolina's been able to move the football. That's what you hope for in this Tampa game. Carolina putting up points against Tampa. I think they can do it. Tampa's defense has struggled. You want to shoot out. You want 300 yards from Baker. And there's just. Look, it's Mike Evans and it's Jalen McMillan. Shepherd's hurt, Otten's hurt. You know, it's going to be Jalen McMillan to some floor in my opinion this week. I am. I'm pretty excited about him. Yeah, it took me a while, brother, but these last three weeks, I've been.

[Andy Holloway]

Mr. McMillan, you've been on him. And the truth is this. We've seen this play out for really good players in the past where their rookie season, it took a couple injuries in front of them, and then they got the opportunity and they did something great with it later in the season. You know, we saw that with Amon Ross St. Brown in his rookie year, and that was obviously to a much greater degree. But these guys. I like that you're essentially calling a Shot here, Andy, because if the next two weeks, he puts basically four star weeks together, we're going to go into next year thinking of Jalen McMillan as someone, you know, that needs to be drafted high. And yet right now we're only two weeks in. So you've got to call your shot. You got to say he's going to do it a third week in a row or he's not. You're saying he is. You actually said before the show that you're going to. That you want to play Jalen McMillan over James Conner if he's active. So that's. I mean, I don't. You can change your mind on that, but that's what you said. So that's kind of how bullish you are on McMillan in this really perfect matchup.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I love him this week. I loved what I saw in film from Hollywood Brown. To me, they obviously limited his work, but when he was on his snaps.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Yes, his snaps. When he was on the field, they drew up plays for him and I thought he looked great. You got to remember, Brown's injury was not to his legs. His explosiveness is the same. He's 27. He's got Patrick Mahomes. They are desperate for targets. He got eight targets last week in.

[Andy Holloway]

Limited snaps, 27% of snaps, eight targets.

[Jason Moore]

He looks. To me, he looked the best of the receivers last week when I watched the film. It's a weird, hilarious wide receiver room there because you have the kind of recombination of Hopkins, Hollywood from the days in Arizona. So, you know, Hollywood looks good to me. He's a sneaky desperation play. If you want a touchdown play and you just hope you get the big one because you got to get the big one with him. But Rashad Bateman against Houston, that would be your desperation play. And then I mentioned it. Malik Washington played a bunch of snaps.

[Andy Holloway]

For Miami in Week 10. Rashad Bateman caught a touchdown, had a great week. The next week, no touchdown.

[Mike Wright]

Bad week.

[Andy Holloway]

The next week, touchdown. Green. The next week, red. This is very Christmassy. The next time he played, two touchdowns. Then a down week. We're back to green, baby Christmas. Ho, ho, ho.

[Jason Moore]

Well, he did score last week, though.

[Andy Holloway]

I will say that he still scored. The reason he's on this list is because there's not a ton of players that are widely available on waivers where you can really take a shot and say 80 and a touchdown is totally reasonable. Yes, it is totally reasonable.

[Jason Moore]

A little bit like Jameson Williams.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Do you. If you had Lamar Jackson, would you Play Bateman or would you play McMillan?

[Andy Holloway]

I think I would go for the shot of Bateman there because you're stacking together and championship week and some of it depends on are you a super favorite or are you an underdog? Like, if I'm an underdog, I would throw Bateman in there and hope that if Bateman has one of his good games, it correlates with Lamar. Doubles up my scoring opportunity.

[Mike Wright]

Nelson Aguilar may miss again.

[Jason Moore]

So Jalen McMillan, last three weeks, wide receiver, 11 better than AJ Brown, Keenan Allen, Jameson Williams, Devonte Smith, Malik Neighbors.

[Mike Wright]

He's been touchdowns.

[Jason Moore]

It's because Baker is just. He's such a volume quarterback. So you talk about who do you want to play in those weeks, Some confident quarterback, receiver combinations at tight end, Chiga Conqua.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, there's one.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. End the list.

[Jason Moore]

That's who you want.

[Andy Holloway]

He's still available in 91% of leagues. He is out there. And the 9% he is rostered in. I am pretty positive are the people listening to this show. So you either you've either already got him or you can go get them.

[Jason Moore]

If you want to go beyond a conquo, which you shouldn't. I think Dalton Schultz is the sneakiest play. You have lost Diggs, you've lost Dell. You will not have Deontay out there. And Dalton Schultz had eight targets last week. That's the play to me, beyond Chigaconko, It's a conqueror. And Schultz.

[Mike Wright]

I'd go Hunter over Dalton Schultz, and.

[Andy Holloway]

I would go Zach Ertz over Schultz. But, I mean, the nice thing about this is we're all saying Chig Chigaconkwo is the play. The matchup is there, the utilization is there. Everything is great for. And it's not one of those names where it's like, well, Chig. Chig's on a. Chig is available. Go get him.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And Chig is someone that, like. I mean, would you be playing Chig or Kelsey Chig?

[Mike Wright]

I've seen that question a lot.

[Andy Holloway]

It's a legitimate. I mean, Travis Kelsey has just been terrible. And the last game, the eyeball test was like, whoa, out of sync. Like, I've never seen Mahomes and Kelsey out of sync turn in the wrong ways. Not being in the, you know, the right spot of a zone. You've got a lot of players here where even, like David Najoku. We don't know who the quarterback is right now or if it's also banged up. If it's dtr, would you. You Know, would you play him over David Najoku? Would you play him over Hawkinson who kind of has been disappearing?

[Mike Wright]

I would, yeah. I think Okonkwo is like, it's 10 targets and 11 targets. That's. Those are tight ends. Don't get those types of numbers.

[Andy Holloway]

And the perfect matchup and the.

[Mike Wright]

And the matchup is there. And it's. It's still Mason. Like, I would play Okonkwo over a lot of tight ends this weekend. I've got him, like, if. When you're clicking him in, like, over Kelsey. I get it. That's going to feel real yucky.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. You got to make the decision. We're just saying if it was my decision, I would put Okonkwo in there. He's my tight end. Six on the weekend.

[Jason Moore]

Okay. And I can tell you right now, beyond. Beyond Okonkwo, I think Schultz will be my start of the week at tight end.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Andy Holloway]

Nice. I mean, do it two times in a row, brother.

[Jason Moore]

I am. I'm. I feel really, really confident about Dalton Schultz. He's been the tight end 7 and 4, two out of the last three weeks anyways. And now no Tank Dell. You just don't. I mean, who are you going to throw the ball to? Nico? Nico's there. Robert Woods?

[Andy Holloway]

The Ravens?

[Jason Moore]

No, I don't think so. Ravens are 31st against the pass defenses. You like, talk to me.

[Andy Holloway]

Defenses I like against.

[Mike Wright]

Sorry, I was on a different page.

[Andy Holloway]

We both were. The Colts, they're, you know, playing against the Giants are as good a matchup as you can get. Drew Locke is so bad. And the Giants team, they've just imploded. I also think the Dolphins defense is actually a good defense, and they're playing against Cleveland with maybe a banged up DTR or a Bailey Zappi. Even if it's Jameis. Like, Jameis is the one weird quarterback where it's like, I don't mind if my defense gives up 30 NFL real points. They're still going to score a ton because James is going to pick six a couple times.

[Jason Moore]

Did you guys watch the game last night?

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, we kind of have to.

[Mike Wright]

I watched a little bit of it and I was like, no, I'm not. I'm not doing this.

[Jason Moore]

It's. It's the. The Raiders defense is the play. To me, New Orleans is capped on what they're capable of doing, and the Raiders have made it very clear. Antonio Pierce has made it very clear. They don't give a crap about losing the number one pick. They're going to play this.

[Mike Wright]

He's not going to be there.

[Jason Moore]

They're going to play this season out as hard as they can. The Raiders last week they played Jacksonville.

[Andy Holloway]

Had a good week and you got.

[Jason Moore]

The they gave up 14 points to Jacksonville and now you got Spencer Rattler and Kendra Miller to worry about.

[Andy Holloway]

I would throw the Chargers in there as well. The Chargers are another one of those good defenses. That's the thing is, like, the Raiders defense isn't good. The Dolphins defense is good. The Chargers defense is good. Both have very good matchups. The Chargers playing for their lives against Drake May and the Patriots.

[Jason Moore]

That one is on the road.

[Andy Holloway]

Almost all of these. Every defense this week that we like, the Colts, the Dolphins, the Raiders, the Chargers, they're on the road. The Saints on the other side of the Raiders, okay, Like, they're at home and it's a bad matchup and whatever.

[Jason Moore]

But they're just scared of short fields, man.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I know.

[Jason Moore]

Really scared of short fields. All right, we'll take a break, then we'll hit the streamers.

[Andy Holloway]

This episode is brought to you by the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas Celebrate the unexpected at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, the most unique luxury resort and casino in the heart of the Strip. Discover a one of a kind restaurant collection, a vibrant mix of bars and lounges and three distinct pool experiences. From panoramic views on your private terrace to countless ways to be entertained, find a scene that suits your every mood and experience. Elevated luxury, nothing is off the table and temptations around every corner. Reserve your stay now @cosmopolitan Las Vegas.com this episode is brought to you by Mattress Firm. We've all been there agonizing over lineup calls only to deal with that one person who changes the rules in mid season or the trash talker who somehow gloats even after a loss. It makes me wonder, how do they sleep at night? Probably on a mattress. For Mattress Firm, they will help you find the right bed for your needs because when matched with the right mattress, anyone can sleep at night, even the league's biggest villains. Mattress Firm offers quality mattresses at every price for your best rest. And with free and fast delivery, you could be snoozing in no time. No more restless nights worrying about your team. Get matched at Mattress Firm's semiannual sale and clearance and finally, sleep at night. Text Football to 766693 for $100 off your next Mattress Firm. Purchase restrictions apply. See mattressfirm.com or visit.

[Jason Moore]

All right, just in case Jalen hurts isn't there.

[Andy Holloway]

Full stream ahead.

[Jason Moore]

Jason has Bo Nicks, Mike has Anthony Richardson against the Giants, and I have Matthew Stafford. If I was putting them in order, there it is. That'd be my order. Bo Nicks, Richardson, Stafford. If I was without Jalen Hurts.

[Andy Holloway]

We are unanimous that that Denver, Cincinnati Bengals game is must win for both. They are going to. They're going to do everything in their power. I think it'll be a back and forth game. The Bengals just give up so many points and Bo Nicks has been scoring points. He's been running. He'll run in this game. Anthony Richardson against the Giants, you could have three rushing touchdowns and the Cardinals suck for Stafford. So that's the order.

[Jason Moore]

Okay, well, we'll move on to Christmas day football.

[Mike Wright]

You mean christmas football.com christmasfootball.com football.

[Andy Holloway]

I love christmas football.com. i use that website literally every single day. And that's not even a lie.

[Jason Moore]

Do we normally have a drop for this?

[Mike Wright]

We don't normally have Christmas.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, we have a website for it. We don't have a drop, but we own a domain.

[Mike Wright]

You got to get out there, man. You got to snatch those things up. It's like real estate. There's only so many.

[Jason Moore]

Well, as we made it very vocal. This is where we make all our money.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

On Christmas.

[Jason Moore]

On domains.

[Andy Holloway]

On domains.

[Jason Moore]

Christmas football.com, christmas football. Biz.

[Mike Wright]

Look, NFL. It's available.

[Jason Moore]

Netflix. It's available.

[Mike Wright]

You know, whatever.

[Andy Holloway]

You know what?

[Mike Wright]

Highest bidder.

[Jason Moore]

Netflix might want that.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, we'll take highest bidder.

[Jason Moore]

You know what I mean? This is supposed to be. They're really driving at home. This should be a new tradition, dude. Netflix. Christmas Netflix. You need Christmas football dot com.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, Christmas football is a thing. You want christmas football dot com.

[Jason Moore]

Whoever owns that.

[Andy Holloway]

Mr. And Mrs. Netflix.

[Jason Moore]

Mr. And Mrs. Netflix.

[Andy Holloway]

We have christmas football dot com.

[Jason Moore]

Kansas City 14 and 1. Jerks.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, man.

[Jason Moore]

At Pittsburgh 10 and 5. DraftKings sportsbook line is Kansas City minus two and a half over under 43 and a half.

[Andy Holloway]

Thank you. Kenny Pickett playing this game or George Pickens? I kidding. George Pickens playing in this game changes so much. It was kind of the opposite of what we talked about last week. Him not playing really felt like it hurt. The potential upside their offense. The Steelers need George Pickens so much.

[Jason Moore]

How much?

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, it doesn't. It doesn't. It doesn't work without him because they're, you know, the Calvin Austin I think is a decent, like wide receiver three who can stretch the field and.

[Jason Moore]

Pretty decent.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, he's not bad. Mike Williams at this stage, you know, of his career and injury history can again get down on the side of the field. But the defense can handle those guys no problem. They need an alpha. They need a one. And George Pickett's has been so good this season. I think it's, it's great news. Even if you're playing Chiefs players that Pickens is in this game.

[Mike Wright]

So Pickens is in does that. Then how do you feel about the running backs for Pittsburgh? Because the last two weeks for Najee, it. If you're, if you've been playing Najee in the playoffs and you're alive, it's not because of Najee who has scored a combined what about seven points in two games?

[Andy Holloway]

First of all, you're talking to nobody. Second of all, you couldn't convince someone to put Najee in for the third time. I just don't think that's possible.

[Mike Wright]

But so, okay, so Najee's out. Is Jalen Warren a flex option? A flex level player? You know Jaylen, he passed your almighty bar last week.

[Andy Holloway]

He did get, he got 10 plus points.

[Jason Moore]

You talk about the Warren line. Yeah, the Warren line is 10 points, right?

[Andy Holloway]

The Warren line is 10 points. I think against Kansas City he's not going to get it. They're the number one defense against running backs. I'm benching both running backs.

[Jason Moore]

And just to speak to the other side with Xavier Worthy and the performances of late, I do think that he is more complicated than just riding a couple of good games. He scored on the ground two weeks ago. He scored last week. His yardage is not prolific. It's important to Note that like 41, 46 last week was good. It was 65 yards. I do think Hollywood will be more involved. I do think that you are, you're more in the Bateman territory with Worthy than I think you might believe.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I agree with that. The reason you don't believe that is because of the back to back 11 targets. So you feel a little safer target. That's true. Targets are wonderful. It's like, okay, he's very involved in the offense. He's playing the three weeks in a row even with Hollywood back 80% of snaps. So this is a full time player who's out there getting a bunch of targets, who's a rookie with speed, who also has, you know, as many touchdowns as he's got to be. Top five in the NFL in total offensive touchdowns. Yeah, they show at the wide receiver.

[Mike Wright]

Position and when they, you know, they take those lists of like okay. If. Let's flip it upside down. Teams that lost one score games, if they had won every one score game. It's like Xavier Worthy, if he had hit on any of these near misses.

[Jason Moore]

Like, you know what I mean?

[Mike Wright]

He has to be at 10 plus one foot stopped him from scoring a touchdown.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Either.

[Jason Moore]

Either into the sideline on accident because he couldn't get his feet down or a misplay over the top. His catch rate. His catch rate is 57%.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, that's not normal with Patrick Mahomes.

[Jason Moore]

He's also got a yards per catch of 11. So to have a 57% catch rate with 11 yard per catch, you think of him as oh, I'm going to be a burner. No, they run him in the screen game, they run him in the short stuff and they try to get him loose.

[Mike Wright]

He's a wild card. That I think is worth.

[Jason Moore]

He's flexible.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Flex worthy.

[Mike Wright]

Nice.

[Andy Holloway]

Are you telling me to do it?

[Jason Moore]

Oh, crap.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, you heard it here. Flex Xavier Worthy.

[Jason Moore]

All right. Emphysema. Kareem Hunt. We talked about him earlier. He looked. He's looked better than Pacheco. I'd be scared out of my mind to play Pacheco. I definitely would want Hunt over him just because I think I'm looking for the end zone like Kareem Hunt's always a threat for two touchdowns. They're both terrifying.

[Mike Wright]

They could. There is a world where both of them do literally nothing.

[Jason Moore]

Let's talk about the best game ever. Ever.

[Andy Holloway]

Ever.

[Jason Moore]

Baltimore 10 and 5. Houston 9 and 6. The Draft King sportsbook line. Baltimore -5 and a half over unders 46 and a half. Al, I'm going to make a invitation. You won't come over 2:30 in the afternoon, Christmas Day and sit down and watch this game with me?

[Andy Holloway]

Absolutely not.

[Mike Wright]

No, no.

[Jason Moore]

You don't like the fact that I mean I got Lamar and flowers on one side, Nico and mixing on the other. What? What could happen?

[Andy Holloway]

I just don't want to see you sit there whining when your guys underperform.

[Jason Moore]

Well, look, it's going to be is a fun one. 46 and a half point over under.

[Andy Holloway]

Al could die during that game. On Christmas. On Christmas. It is cruel. You could. You could literally murder Owl.

[Jason Moore]

Is it murder if he dies from his own insecurities?

[Andy Holloway]

No, I guess not. That's he manslaughter.

[Jason Moore]

He was manslaughter by Lamar Jackson. He would be charged. Lamar's playing outrageous football. I don't think the MVP race is over. Personally that's fair. I think that there's enough time left.

[Mike Wright]

Ticket stubs like hearing that.

[Jason Moore]

Did you take the plus 400 on Lamar?

[Mike Wright]

I got him a long time ago, brother.

[Jason Moore]

Higher than that then.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

I still think he's got a shot at it. He's on pace for 4342 with another 867 on the ground. Both of these defenses are pretty great. You know, Baltimore has clamped it down so, you know, fantasy points given up all of the, all the major metrics. The last six weeks, the Ravens have really improved. The Texans have been soft against wideouts all season long. That'll be, you know, potentially good news for Flowers and Bateman. Nelson Aguilar is hurt. Mark Andrews keeps catching touchdowns. And I think, you know, I think Isaiah likely here and there will be sprinkled into this offense. Derek Henry last week kind of had a, a return to greatness after a little bit of a disappointing performance against the Giants. I mean, this game is really. Me telling you the players on the teams is not helpful and you're starting all the good ones.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. The question is, could this turn into a defensive.

[Mike Wright]

No.

[Andy Holloway]

You don't think so?

[Jason Moore]

No, I don't think so either.

[Mike Wright]

It could turn in. I think it could go one sided.

[Andy Holloway]

Yes. I think Baltimore could end up potentially crushing the Texans. I'm not calling for that. The fact that this game is in Houston is very valuable and helpful for the Texans. But the Ravens defense, if you look at them over the course of the season, they're average because at the beginning of the season this was a defense we targeted. But over the last six weeks, their top three against quarterbacks, number two against wide receivers, top 10 against tight ends. They're. They're a very difficult defense, which is more like the Baltimore Raven way. They've figured some things out and yeah.

[Jason Moore]

They haven't been given up more than, you know, 18 to 20 points since that Cincinnati game. And it's up to Strauss.

[Andy Holloway]

Just hasn't looked, he hasn't looked like the promise of his rookie season. I don't. You lose Tank Dell.

[Jason Moore]

I don't really like. I feel like that. I don't feel like Stroud has played bad football.

[Andy Holloway]

I think it's more play calling and opportunity.

[Jason Moore]

I think it's play calling. I think it's missed plays here and there. You know, it was an injury to Nico for part of the season. Like this is the playoff team and I think Stroud has done okay. I. Fantasy wise, we've been really let down and that has impacted I think a lot of how we view him, he's obviously not had a prolific type of year, but there's. The play calling has been horrific. They've leaned on mixing more, which I don't hold against Stroud.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, no, I don't either. But it's like his yards per attempt down over a full yard from his rookie year. He went from five interceptions his rookie year to 11.

[Mike Wright]

So far he's down four touchdowns. And that's the same exact games played like he played 15 as a rookie. 15 this year. The numbers are way too.

[Jason Moore]

This year wasn't a lot of fantasy greatness, no speckled in, but mostly managing a team that wins games.

[Mike Wright]

But in the. I mean, I'm not looking at game logs. This is just the season. But in. In 15 games last year, he threw the ball 499 times. 15 games this year, 495 times. So they're leaning on mixing. But his. The raw numbers are similar. Are very similar, except production is way down.

[Jason Moore]

Well, I talked about. I like Dalton Schultz this week. If the game script you guys are talking about comes to fruition, which the Baltimore Ravens are heavily favored, you're talking just about what's the easiest pass rush, protective target. It's going to be Schultz.

[Mike Wright]

Would you go Schultz or Isaiah? Likely I'd go Schultz.

[Andy Holloway]

If Schultz has 10 receptions, can he cross 50 yards?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay, good. Thank you.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, he'll cross it very, very, very slowly.

[Andy Holloway]

It's too funny for slow.

[Jason Moore]

Are you guys watching?

[Mike Wright]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

This is what's funny about you calling yourself tied Together man Schultz, is that I have never. I don't remember the last time watching on Sundays. Watching football. A player has made you more viscerally angry when it doesn't matter.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, yeah. Yeah. You just.

[Andy Holloway]

Every time Schultz has the ball, you're like, he's so slow.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, I just. It just bugs me. He. I don't feel like he was this.

[Mike Wright]

Slow like when you're. When you're watching a monster movie and the monster's gigantic and it. But so it looks like it's moving so, so slow. That's how Dalton moves.

[Jason Moore]

But.

[Mike Wright]

But he's not gigantic.

[Jason Moore]

He's. He's the non Chig sneaky play. For me, this.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

That I feel really good about. Seattle at Chicago is the Thursday night game. The last one we'll preview today before we head into Christmas. 8 and 7, Seattle 4 and 11, Chicago the DK sportsbook line. Seattle minus three and a half. The over unders 43 and a half. Seattle must win. They gotta win. Caleb Williams in Chicago don't know how to win. But Keenan Allen's been really good under Waldron.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Or since Wall. Since the change. Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

So since Shane Waldron left.

[Jason Moore]

Yes. Since the departure. Since the jettisoning of the head coach and the offensive coordinator. But, I mean, he's been the. He's been the wide receiver. 9, 5, 55, 15 and 2.

[Andy Holloway]

Wow. So I don't know how I missed this. I really. I'm looking at the show, Doc, and I see that the bears are 4 and 11.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

And I'm like, well, wait, wait a minute. They're 4 and 11. Weren't they like 4 and 2?

[Mike Wright]

Yeah, something like that.

[Andy Holloway]

They were. They were 4 and 2, had their bye week and have lost every game since. I mean, that. That's. What. That's. That's insane. I didn't realize that they have not won this many games in a row.

[Mike Wright]

Watching Caleb Williams right now is difficult because he, like, by the end of the game, he's giving you production, but it's just watching him in the pocket when the first read is covered up, he just. He freaks out.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, breaking news. What.

[Mike Wright]

What are we. Breaking news camera over here.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, no.

[Jason Moore]

On this one.

[Andy Holloway]

Uh.

[Jason Moore]

Oh. The jets is two minutes ago. They are uncertain about the playing status of quarterback Aaron Rodgers this week due to knee injury.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, man. And owl. Do you have any reason that matters to you? I do have Devonte Adams. Okay. How does that make you feel inside? You said they're uncertain.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, uncertain.

[Andy Holloway]

That's how it makes me feel as well.

[Jason Moore]

So, yeah, he just. I noticed he switched his status in sleeper and breaking news two minutes ago. Uncertain about his playing status with a knee injury.

[Mike Wright]

Okay.

[Jason Moore]

How would that make you feel about. Oh, Mike, hold on. Mike is also worried because he's got Garrett Wilson in his lineup.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Tyrod Taylor, anybody? You will not have a peppering of targets to the Aaron Rodgers capacity with Tyra Taylor. But you could still have big plays.

[Mike Wright]

But maybe. Maybe Taylor likes Garrett Wilson more than Aaron Rodgers because Aaron Rodgers seems to hate him recently.

[Jason Moore]

You mean Devonte Adams.

[Mike Wright]

No, Garrett Wilson. He's not throwing him the ball.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, I see what you're saying.

[Mike Wright]

And like, did you see Garrett after the game?

[Andy Holloway]

Who?

[Mike Wright]

Garrett is unhappy. He is not pleased.

[Jason Moore]

He's never been happy.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Since he arrived in New York.

[Andy Holloway]

That's why.

[Jason Moore]

Poor soul, man.

[Andy Holloway]

That's why he arrived in New York.

[Jason Moore]

If I were Garrett Wilson, I would. I would force a trade.

[Mike Wright]

That's kind of the that's what people are alluding to.

[Jason Moore]

Isn't he on the edge of fifth year situation? He's the Drake London year. So he could do this. He could get out and I would get out.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, if you can get out.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. So back to this matchup. Ken Walker didn't practice. He's hurt.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

Zach Charbonnet still limited. People, you know, they need to understand. Zach Charbonnet missed practices last week and there was a point during the week where Walker was further ahead than Charbonnet. That was the report. So because of that, Charbonnet got limited work in the game even after Walker's injury.

[Mike Wright]

Kenny McIntosh involved, but charbs was listed as limited.

[Jason Moore]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

So this is.

[Jason Moore]

This is gross for championship week. I agree.

[Mike Wright]

But it's at least that's somewhat good news, to be honest.

[Jason Moore]

Like, if Sharp is active, are you just playing him?

[Andy Holloway]

I think so. Assuming that Walker is out, I think Charbonnet is a good play. The Bears rush defense has not been good. They're 26th against running back.

[Jason Moore]

Dude, I'm scared. I did not like what I saw happening last week with an active Charbonnet that they could still barely use. I mean, he played. He had one carry.

[Mike Wright]

He had three opportunities.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I'm not saying you're wrong. You could be right. He could be fine this week. But I don't like the precedent that has already been set of he can be active and do nothing. When they needed him, they needed him in that game.

[Andy Holloway]

Right.

[Mike Wright]

But I'm my read of that would be that he would. He was missing all that time. And so the game plan was it's Kenny Walker and then and Kenny McIntosh because that's what we practice. Those are the plays that we set up and ran.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And the nice thing is three points. I mean, they needed him.

[Andy Holloway]

The nice thing is one carry this last week for Charbonnet means that he did not exacerbate that injury. He's got. He should have a little bit of time to heal up.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. I mean, if Ken Walker's out and Charbonnet is practicing in full, you've got yourself a starter.

[Mike Wright]

Yep.

[Jason Moore]

DJ Moore has not done what Keenan Allen has done of late. He makes you nervous. In fact, what's more bothersome to me, DJ Moore has pieced together relevant fantasy weeks. What is bothersome is it's all in just annoying fashion. It's not in like down the field. Every time Caleb threw the ball down the field last week, it was Keenan Allen or Roma Dunes A. And then here's little screen Jay Moore?

[Mike Wright]

Yes.

[Jason Moore]

Like, he's. Why are we doing this? Why are we not giving him these deep opportunities?

[Mike Wright]

He's forcing his way over 10 points.

[Andy Holloway]

Like, oh, over the last five or six games.

[Mike Wright]

Over the last five. Over the last five games, he's been very startable in four of them. And you can back it up to six. Five of the last six is just. Don't watch it. Don't watch it because we've. We're out now. But Jason and I have been playing DJ Moore and it's like, I'm watching these games and I'm, like, freaking out of why DJ Moore is getting absolutely nothing. And then the. I look at the log at the end, I'm like, what? T.J. moore had 10 points. You don't need that stress in your life.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. But Keenan Allen, on the other hand, he seems like someone that you really want to play.

[Mike Wright]

Yeah.

[Andy Holloway]

I mean, the last five games, 86 yards, 73 yards, 30 was a down game. 82, 141. And during those games, one touchdown, two touchdowns, one touchdown, one touchdown. He is the number one wide receiver for this new offense with Caleb Williams and Caleb Williams. I know what you're saying, Mike, when you say you watch him, and it's frustrating. He's got a lot of rookie play. But I also see. I actually enjoy watching it. I totally get what you're saying, but he's shown me a lot of, like, I believe in his future completely. I don't. I haven't watched Caleb and said, this guy can't get it done. He looks like a rookie struggling with rookie things with a lot of tools that are working. And in the end, I mean, he's been putting up, you know, pretty. Pretty large counting stats.

[Jason Moore]

Where are you with Metcalf this week?

[Mike Wright]

I still play him.

[Andy Holloway]

I would prefer to pivot away. The Bears defense is pretty good against wide receivers. JSN is still the one for this offense.

[Jason Moore]

You're going to need the one big play.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. I mean, you're going to need the touchdown. And I don't know if it comes against the.

[Mike Wright]

Would you play Devonte Smith?

[Andy Holloway]

Yes.

[Mike Wright]

Assuming it's Kenny Pickett.

[Andy Holloway]

You got you. You. You like, jabbed. And then there was the right hook.

[Mike Wright]

Clearly you didn't remember that. That hurts. Has a concussion. That's where I'm saying, like DK Metcalf, he's a wide receiver three type.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah. And I guess that's probably where Devontae Smith moves.

[Mike Wright]

If Kenny Pickett is in like Darnell Mooney with Michael Pinnocks.

[Andy Holloway]

I would play Mooney. Mooney looked good with pinnocks.

[Mike Wright]

Okay, man.

[Jason Moore]

You know what I realized?

[Andy Holloway]

Tell us.

[Jason Moore]

I'm going to watch Die Hard tonight.

[Andy Holloway]

Okay. Fantastic. Making Mike happy.

[Mike Wright]

I like to hear it.

[Jason Moore]

Have you watched it this season, Mike?

[Mike Wright]

I have not.

[Andy Holloway]

That's very off brand.

[Mike Wright]

It's come over. Normally it's the Christmas wrapping movie, but we wrapped on Sunday and I had to watch that Sunday night game. There was too much at stake.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm planning on wrapping from about. Oh gosh to about 4am that's the.

[Mike Wright]

Usual for me in my household as well.

[Jason Moore]

The usual for Jason.

[Andy Holloway]

I know that it's every year. Yeah.

[Jason Moore]

You should live stream your wrapping.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, no. For so boring. Oh, no.

[Jason Moore]

With sip after sip of whiskey.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, there'll be too much whiskey and too much just underwear.

[Jason Moore]

Have you ever had the kids come in to the room on Christmas morning while you're rapping and just take in the like.

[Andy Holloway]

No. You gotta go back to sleep. I'm not done rapping.

[Mike Wright]

We got another one ready. See you in five minutes.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, my God, I'm so slow at rapping. Oh, I believe that. It's unbelievable.

[Jason Moore]

Do they look good at the end?

[Andy Holloway]

Very good. I could do an excellent job wrapping.

[Mike Wright]

I am so fast at rapping. Mine look like butts.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah, dude.

[Andy Holloway]

You just literally get a big sheet, bend it over, twist it.

[Mike Wright]

Dude, I had so like, I forget how to wrap every single year. And then I was handed a fresh roll that it was double sided. I didn't have my grid.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, you want that for the straight line.

[Mike Wright]

I undercut five pieces and that they had to turn into something else. So that gift now has about 3x too much wrapping paper on.

[Andy Holloway]

I'm surprised you didn't just cut like a little strip extra and like.

[Jason Moore]

Oh, I did. I do that. I do that crap and I hide.

[Mike Wright]

It on the bottom. Dude, you guys, I have Frankensteined so many packages, brother.

[Jason Moore]

I've done such a bad job wrapping. I'm not asked to participate anymore.

[Andy Holloway]

Oh, that's the problem. Well, that's.

[Jason Moore]

I didn't do it on purpose. I just tried my best.

[Andy Holloway]

That's how it is with me. With speed. It's like you just go and do something else. Because I can wrap 30 presents at the time you wrap two and so I. And. But I've still got to like.

[Jason Moore]

I'm in charge of carrying them.

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, I'm. Me too.

[Jason Moore]

You know what I mean?

[Andy Holloway]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got to do the stuff.

[Jason Moore]

I got to do the move. I got to move them from the hidden closet.

[Andy Holloway]

All right, well, I got to start rapping pretty soon.

[Jason Moore]

All right, well, Merry Christmas, everybody. Enjoy the holiday. We will not be with you tomorrow, but some of these big questions you brought up, let's just be honest. We're not going to know more information until we get into Thursday, Friday, heading into the weekend, stuff like Charbonnet, Connor, and we'll keep you posted and congrats to everybody that's made it through. That's a hard thing to do.

[Andy Holloway]

It is.

[Jason Moore]

And there's a lot of you that.

[Andy Holloway]

And every single person in this room has done it. Right, Josh, did you get. You did. You got in on your. On your toe clan league?

[Jason Moore]

Yeah.

[Mike Wright]

All right.

[Andy Holloway]

Look at that. Good for us and the falcon we got. We said he can't be here this week because I assume he's not in a championship.

[Jason Moore]

Yeah. And he doesn't come to work very much.

[Andy Holloway]

Right. He's probably on the toilet right now.

[Jason Moore]

Enjoy the holiday, everybody. Thanks for following along. Enjoy the families. We'll catch you Thursday.

[Mike Wright]

Merry Christmas, everybody. Goodbye.

[Andy Holloway]

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 FF Ballers.