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FantasyPros - Fantasy Football Podcast
The Biggest Fantasy Football Questions For Each Team in Week 8 (Ep. 1795)
01:10:16
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A
Hello everybody. Welcome into the Fantasy Pros Football Podcast. I'm Ryan Wormley, joined as I am every Friday by Derek Brown and Pat Fitzmaurice. We are talking some key questions ahead of week eight. There are six teams on by guys which makes it a little easier for us. There are fewer games to have to squeeze into. This episode makes it a whole lot harder for fantasy managers. Though we are missing the Cardinals, the Lions, the Jaguars, the the Rams, the Raiders and the Seahawks. There are a lot of good fantasy players in those on those rosters and on just that, we are missing from our teams here in fantasy this week. Quick reminder that all of our weekly consensus rankings and tiers can be found@fantasypros.com rankings before we get into our key questions for every matchup this week, I do want to talk about Thursday Night Football. It was a blowout 37 to 10 victory for the Chargers over the Vikings in in LA. Fitz the Vikings, like there's almost one of those things where it's like what can you even say about this team? Like Carson Wentz was bad and very banged up in this game. Like they was out of hand early. So clearly they weren't gonna be able to rely on the running game. It was just kind of like a almost a flush it type of performance for everybody. Addison did get in the in the end zone. Jefferson had his usual 11 targets. The backfield specifically do you have any I mean Aaron Jones 5 carries, 15 yards. Jordan Mason 4 carries, 3 yards. Again, the running game didn't really have the chance to get going with the Chargers jumping out to an lead. But what are your expectations just for like what this breakdown is going to look like between Jones and Mason going forward now that Jones is back?
- [02:07]
C
Really complicated. And you would hope the Vikings offensive line would have better games than it had last night because that was a big problem and we kind of blindly trusted in Kevin o' Connell to get the Vikings offense right no matter who was at quarterback this year and what we maybe overlooked was just, I don't know, I thought the Vikings offensive line was going to be pretty good and last night it was a problem. So I don't know where my I just thought I saw with last night's game, dark storm clouds on the horizon for fantasy managers because the Jordan Mason, Aaron Jones situation is going to be really hard to navigate going forward and whether either of those guys can give you like flex value in a given week. And then now the Chargers pass catchers are going to be really hard to sort out every week and who you can play. I guess we're playing a Ronde Gadsden every week. He's a must start. And I was totally wrong about him. I thought maybe I worried that because Justin Herbert had thrown 93 passes over his previous two games, including 55 passes in Week 7 and Quentin Johnston hadn't been there in Week 6, didn't play that week then maybe Gadsden stats were kind of artificially pumped up in week six and week seven, but last night Justin Herbert threw 25 passes, five of them to Irande for a 20% target share. And he made some hay and he did it early on. And you just wonder what his final stat line could have looked like if the Vikings had been able to keep the game competitive. So. But boy, Quentin Johnston, no targets. And the thing is, you know, he's going to have splash plays going forward, splash games. But you, you just can't start him confidently now. And Keenan Allen I guess gives you a floor. And we kind of got the floor yesterday, but the ceiling is getting a little smaller with a ronde asserting himself. Lad McConkey was kind of all over the place and we might get more of that. And weirdly, I mean, Aronde Gadsden might be the most confident start going forward of any Chargers pass catcher.
- [04:17]
A
I did. I was going to bring this up, Fitz, when we got to the Charger side that I got a DM this morning on Instagram from one of our show listeners and all it said was you guys got a hammer fits on his Gadsden call. So the, the listeners were picking up on your your fate of him and wanted me to bring it up.
- [04:35]
C
So totally got it wrong. Mayor Culpa. I. I did. I whiffed on that one.
- [04:41]
A
Dbra, what do you think is the kind of trickier situation to navigate going forward? Is it the Vikings backfield or is it the Chargers pass catchers?
- [04:48]
B
I think it's gonna be the Chargers pass catchers, but I'll quickly weigh in on the. The Vikings backfield here. I mean, I think the schedule upcoming for the Vikings is going to be brutal for their rushing attack. I mean, you get the Lion.
- [04:59]
A
It's number. It's the most difficult in football. Right?
- [05:02]
B
I don't, to be honest, I'm not, I'm not sure about that. But like with the Lions, the Ravens, I mean, look, you get the Bears coming up, but then it's the Packers, Seahawks. I mean, it's really not until you get to where. And this is maybe like if you're looking at like you're a team that has only like one, maybe two losses on the season and you were looking at how do I stack my team for the fantasy playoffs? Maybe you trade for an Aaron Jones or Jordan mason. Because weeks 15 through 17 are pretty good. Like they get Dallas and the giants in weeks 15 and 16, but outside of that, it's rough, man. And that offensive line, like Fitz Talked about, bottom five, I mean, bottom 10, like, they, they played horribly. Ryan Kelly can't stay healthy and on the field, even when he is on the field, he's been playing bad. They've been having problems with their guards everywhere. That was a big problem that nobody want to talk about for J.J. mcCarthy and for Carson Wentz last night. Like, side note here, why the heck was Carson Wentz even playing in that game in the second half? Like, once the game got out of hand, this dude is playing and I'm sorry, people can miss me and I, and I'm not going to just throw out names here, but some of the commentary out of that game last night, talking about emotions and guys playing like, you could miss me with all that crap. Carson Wentz, I'll give it to him like, he did not play good. But going out there, as much pain as he was in my head is off for him because he was out there like doing the best he could and you could definitely tell he was hurt and not able to like function really. So I don't know what KOC is doing. I think a little bit of the shine has kind of come off of Koc this year. And that's not a JJ McCarthy take, that's not a Carson wins take. But like some of the things he's doing from an offensive play calling standpoint don't make any freaking sense. So I, I'm not trying to bury him. I still think he's one of the best coaches in the NFL. But dude is not in his bag. That is definitely. Sure. But getting back to the Chargers Pass catchers man, like yeah, Gadsden balled out man like he had a 23 first read share what And I think some of the nature of this game, it's going to go under because it was a blowout towards the end. It's going to go under the radar a little bit. Keenan Allen only had a 50 route share. I do think some of that was just game script. So like if the Vikings pushed that would have been a little bit different. But I wasn't if anybody checked out the primer, I wasn't surprised by the QJ Quiet game one. I don't think he's fully healthy. If you look at his target shares of the last two weeks like last week, 9% target share 9% first read share the game where he got hurt with the hammy before he went out for the week 12% target share so the Chargers can lie all they want to about their injury reports. Like he wasn't even on the injury report this week. I don't think he's fully healthy. But I think this also goes back to we are going to have to play matchups with the Chargers wide receivers moving forward. Like if it's a good slot matchup, if it's too high coverage, if it's single high. I think QJ is still going to be involved a lot in this offense. But could he be not the wide receiver? One unquestioned play every single week set forget. I think that that maybe could be out the window and he looks like more of a coverage dependent play moving forward.
- [08:12]
C
And by the way, can I just add one more thing? Just getting back to the Vikings real quick. I think Christian Derrisa left the game maybe was it like late first quarter? So that offensive line, I mean yes, it's bad but it is really banged up.
- [08:25]
B
Yeah.
- [08:26]
C
With Darris, Ryan Kelly, Brian o' Neill I think has been unhealthy. So like they're missing or have guys playing at less than 100%. Like it's, it's a really injury riddled offensive line.
- [08:41]
B
I don't want to linger on this game too much but I do think it does bear bringing up here. Kamani Vidal Fitzy. I know like dude, everybody that loved him as a prospect, we're all vindicated to a certain extent. Like everybody came out and he had the big game versus the Dolphins. They're like, well you can't play the Dolphins every single week. All right, where y' all at now? Because he had a really good game last night and he looked really good doing it like Absorbed a lot of volume. I think this takes the Chargers off of the trade market probably for a running back. But the other thing that got brought up in that game, they showed Amari on Hampton still in a walking boot. Again, I don't think we're getting the full picture about Amari on Hampton's health, what that all looks like. Like, people that I. I trust out in the injury space have talked about. Maybe we don't see Amarion hampton until week 12, week 13. Like, he's been out for a number of weeks. He's still in a walking boot. He could have had a fracture. He could have had surgery. So if you got Kamani Vidal, hold on to him, man, I think you got an RB too. And a lot of people could be saying, sell, sell, sell. I. I'm not there. I'm not.
- [09:45]
A
Yeah. For the record, I wasn't going to move off this game without bringing him up, but you guys keep jumping on to other topics when I ask you a question. So I'm. You're not giving me the chance.
- [09:54]
B
We're trying to help you, Worm. Trying to help.
- [09:57]
A
It's fine. Because before we started taping to pull back the curtain, we said, do we. Do we want to talk about this game? It was a blowout. And I was like, yeah, I think we should hit on it, but we don't need to spend like 10 minutes on this. You guys just keep going, going different directions. Again, of questions I'm not asking. Fitz. Yeah, Videl, you know, 23 carries, 117 yards and a touchdown. It also just like, looked really good running the ball. Like, just even like eye test, you could say, like, this guy just looks like an awesome running back in this game. I mean, the Chargers offense was really doing whatever it wanted this whole game. But yeah, like, on the, on the ground, vital was just fantastic. I totally agree with DBRO that, like, this is a very clear sign that they do not need to trade for a running back if that's something they were considering. Um, and like Debra said on the walking boot for. For Hampton, like, this could be a bit of a Runway here for Vidal. Like, I. I wonder what if he could. If he keeps this up, I wonder what it will look like when Hampton comes back and if we're at all worried about that. But. But for now, Vidal, just like I said it and forget it. Running back in your starting lineup, it.
- [10:53]
C
Sure seems like pretty much. And the presence of Joe Alt certainly helps. Like, that's a big difference maker.
- [11:01]
A
I was going to ask this before before we got off Gadsden, just very quickly, I saw somebody say last night on Twitter that Gadsden is now like actual analyst said this. I forget who, but they said that Gadson is now a top five tight end in Dynasty. Do you guys agree with that?
- [11:17]
B
That's lofty. I, I'm not, I'm not there yet. I will say I did move him up in my rest of season ranks for redraft. I put him up to tight end 9 for the rest of the year. Like I would rather aande Gadsden than Travis Kelce. Dalton, Kade Hunter, Henry Mason, Taylor, Zach Herz, Kyle Pitts, Mark, even Mark Andrews and TJ Hawkinson with what they're doing and not doing.
- [11:38]
A
I mean, I mean if you're saying that you'd rather him than those guys rest of season given the age, it might make sense to say that he's up in that top five range for Dynasty too. I mean I, if, if you already are liking a better rest of season now why would that not be?
- [11:52]
B
I mean top.
- [11:53]
C
You can't put them ahead of Bowers, Tyler Warren or Trey McBride. So Tucker Craft. I'd personally rather stealth Kraft number five, Sam Laporta.
- [12:03]
B
I can't put him above Sam Laporta. I can't put him above Sam Laporta.
- [12:06]
A
I think that's, that's.
- [12:07]
B
I think him versus George Kittle was a very interesting conversation with age and productivity and stuff.
- [12:11]
A
I think that, I think that's easy. It's just are you a win now team or are you playing?
- [12:15]
B
Yeah, but I think that's kind of the line. So maybe not top five but I mean he's top ten but definitely top seven or eight.
- [12:21]
A
I think it sounds like. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're, we're being aggressive.
- [12:23]
C
Well, the real, the real interesting debate is Ronda Gadsden versus Colston Loveland. You know a top ten sticking to.
- [12:32]
A
The draft capital or one was a.
- [12:35]
B
First round rookie draft pick and one was a guy you got off the scrap.
- [12:39]
A
I think Loveland vers Harold Fanon versus Gadsden is interesting. Just the three rookies that aren't Tyler Warren I think, I think would be a really interesting head to head headed. All right, let's get to the key questions. We went long enough on that game. We'll start with Dolphins at Falcons. This one I just want to talk about Bichon Robinson. Unstoppable force meets a highly movable object in there with Dolphins run defense. Hard Rock Bet has Bijan's over under at 95 and a half rushing yards which is a very high number and yet it feels like it's like not even half of how high as it needs to be given what we've seen out of Bijan this year and what we've seen out of Miami this year. So basically I just want you guys to predict Bijan stat line for this question. D Ro, I'll start with you.
- [13:20]
B
I think it's going to be a similar game to what we saw in Buffalo and I'm not saying he's running for a buck 70, but I think I'm putting him at 18 carries, 140 on the ground, 35 through the air and I think he gets in the end zone twice. I think it's a weak defining kind of performance.
- [13:35]
A
I, I'm. What makes you say that you don't think he gets 170 on the crowd?
- [13:40]
B
I well I, because I think what's, what's stopping him? Okay, because the matchup is so good for the Dolphins like versus the Dolphins through the air. If you want to inject some life, some hope and some confidence for Michael Penck moving forward for the rest of the year, this is the kind of matchup where you say yeah Bijan, you're going to get yours. But also this is a really good opportunity to inject some life into this passing game and fuel Michael, Michael Penix's confidence moving forward for the rest of the year.
- [14:11]
A
It's also fits, maybe a good opportunity if you're playing the fade Bijan a bit game. It's maybe a good opportunity for Tyler Algier to just take a whole bunch of the workload because he is a more than good enough back to take advantage of this run defense and maybe save a little wear and tear on Bijan. What do you think, what do you, what do you think Bijan's stat line is going to look like?
- [14:29]
C
Well, first of all I'll agree with you on Tyler Algier. He is absolutely playable in a 16 bye week. He's had four of his six games double digit carries. All three of his home games he's had double digit carries and the Falcons are at home for this one. Let's just review the performance of the Dolphins run defense the last three weeks they gave up 206 rushing yards and a touchdown to Rico Dowdle. 206. Then 124 rushing yards to come on Kamani Vidal. That was in week six and then last week 84 rushing yards and three touchdowns to Quinton Judkins. So I'll say Bijan carries 18 times for 117 yards and a touchdown. And, you know, add some receiving goodness on top of that and I'll say Tyler alier goes over 50 rushing yards.
- [15:16]
B
Fitzy, I love the fact that you brought up Alier because I wrote him up at the primer and really what it's come down to with him. If you think the Falcons win, you flex Taylor Algier, his splits and their wins and losses. He has three touchdowns in their wins. He has averaged almost 60 total yards and over 15 touches. So if you think like I've got him As a top 24 running back this week, man, like I, I know we have six teams on by and I know that sounds crazy, but if the Falcons roll and this everything with the trends lines up for towers here. When you want to talk about home splits, wins, a great matchup, I think he scores a touchdown this week. I'm. I'm totally with you. Like I would play Tyler Algier over Isaiah Pacheco this week.
- [15:56]
C
They're probably. I would not do that. But there are probably some people who wish they had played him over Jordan Mason this week.
- [16:02]
B
That's fair.
- [16:04]
A
Also, I mean, point of order, Fitz did not bring up Tyler Algier. I brought up Tyler. Keep trying to cut out me from the like two segments in a row here. D RO well, we haven't talked about.
- [16:15]
B
The Ravens, so I'm, you know, I'm giving you your shine later.
- [16:18]
A
Well, we're going to talk about the Ravens next. Bears at Raven. I think we can move off this game, right? I mean like Dolphins offense is ugly. We know their fox going to run so we can move off that game. Bears at Ravens with the Ravens defense finally getting healthier, which it is, everybody was practicing this week in full besides Lamar obviously not on the defensive side. On the defensive side, they're all practicing in full. It's really just matabk that's missing. Everybody else is back at this point. Who do you believe in more for this week? In fantasy from the Bears offense, their running game or their passing attack? Because both parts of the Ravens defense have been bad this year. But it's harder to ascribe the same level of badness in this week because they are healthier than they've been since week two. So who do you like better, Bears running game or Bears passing attack? Fitz, you can go first.
- [17:04]
C
Well, it's just Matabwe worm. I mean, who needs him?
- [17:07]
A
He's great. Listen, I'm not saying that the defense is solved. I'm just saying they're actually healthy for the first time you in a long time.
- [17:14]
C
Yeah, but guys like Roquan Smith though, he is a sideline to sideline guy who, you know, not really a guy who routinely sheds blockers and stuffs the run at the point of attack. Like he needs to play behind defensive linemen who can eat blocks. And I just, I don't know if the Ravens have enough of those guys up front without Matabike. So the Ravens actually did do a pretty decent job against Kyron Williams when they play the Rams. Right before the buy they held Kyron to 50 yards on 13 carries, although Kyron did have a rushing score in that game. Still, I I do kind of like the Bears running game in this matchup. Like Ben Johnson has that ground game clicking since coming out of there by the Bears have run for a combined 367 yards in wins over the Commanders and Saints. Bears running backs have averaged 6.6 yards per carry over those two games. And the offensive line has just been mashing up front with Joe Thuney, Chris Dallman, Jonah Jackson on the inside. All free agent additions in the off season. So yeah, sorry Worm, if the the Bears can keep this one close or somehow manage to play with a lead, I think they'll have success on the ground.
- [18:23]
A
You don't need to apologize. My favorite bet of the entire week is Bears plus six and a half.
- [18:28]
C
Which I I, I got that one like on Tuesday because I think the Bears are live with it. Even if Lamar Jackson played and earlier in the week there was some doubt about that and if he didn't play, obviously six and a half points for the Bears is a steal.
- [18:45]
A
I totally agree. Lamar has still been limited in practice. He's the one guy that has been limited in practice. Again, everybody else seems to be back kind of in full. I yeah, I think six and a half would be too much even if Lamar was guaranteed on the field, just knowing that he'll be in somewhat limited capacity and what the defense has looked like this year. The other thing DBRO is I mean I remember talking with you on shows. I was really nervous about the Ravens run defense before the season started. It was the one part of the roster that I was nervous about. Then you lose Matabk, which makes it look even worse. So I I think the running game is the correct answer to this question that I would have more confidence in because I mean the secondary has not been great for the Ravens, but it is at least something close to what we expected full strength to look like. Now the run, the run defense was already expected to be kind of a weak spot and is still the one piece, you know, area missing a really big piece in this game. So, so I, I think the run game's the right answer here.
- [19:37]
B
Oh, I, I agree wholeheartedly. I mean like be the other thing about this is before the buy, if you point to what they did versus the Rams and a better passing attack, better quarterback play, I, I, I think the run game is the answer on multiple fronts here. One that the Chicago Bears like offensive line like Fitzy talked about. They have the second highest adjusted yards before contact per attempt. So they're, they're clearing holes for DeAndre Swift and Kyle Manangai. And the Ravens have given up the seventh most rushing yards per game, fourth highest yards after contact per attempt. The other part about this and, and I don't want to bury this too far. I don't have any faith in Caleb Williams, man. He's not playing good football. He's not playing good football. After they get off script. He's not playing good football. Like look at what he did versus the freaking Saints. Everybody has torched that secondary and he looked clueless. So I think a lot of different parts of this, like whether it's the matchup, Ben Johnson leaning on the run game. But I think the Ravens past defense did figure some things out after they made the trade for the secondary help what they did with Kyle Hamilton before the buy, I think their defense is going to come out and, and look a lot better. I think the Ravens are going to win this game. I actually think the Ravens cover that line. I'm going to sound like the Ravens homer here.
- [20:44]
A
Interesting. I, well I will let me ask you this since we all like the running game here, Obviously we're starting DeAndre Swift. He's looked great last two weeks coming out of the buy and we like to match up. Are we in a six team bye week dbro? Are we starting Kyle Manangai?
- [20:58]
B
Yep, we sure are. I've got him at RB27 right now, so very much flex worthy. Like, I mean come on guys, like if we believe in this run game and, and the splits between him and Swift, which I think two parts to that, I think that split is real and I think it continues. And even if people are like, oh well maybe that's just because Swift isn't healthy and he walked into last week banged up. Have you seen the injury reports this week? You think he's any healthier this week? He opened the week with a dmp, not Only got practice yesterday. But like as of recording this. But I mean, still, I think Mananga is going to be a part of this backfield. Like give me Kyle Manon guy over. I mean, I'll play him over. Woody Marks, Tony Pollard, another, a host of other guys. Like, as far as flex plays and maybe depending on your roster, maybe you picked him up and you had a role with him as an RB2 this week. I mean, I guess what's interesting to.
- [21:52]
A
Me, dbro, is you saying that you would, you would start the second running back in a game that you expect that you're, you're picking the team to lose by a touchdown because Manangai is not like a pass catcher. So you're, you're, you're not worried about game script saying, like, both these guys are not going to like, because I think they'll both be effective. But if you think the Ravens are going to cover the touchdown, then it makes it harder to play two running backs, right?
- [22:12]
B
I mean, not necessarily. If, if you're within a score, that's neutral game script, you're not taking the, the Bears out of what they want to do. Like, I think the game could be close and the Ravens still cover by 7 to 10 points. Like whether that's a field goal at the very end of it. But if the game is neutral script, most of the game, Ben Johnson's still going like, he's not crazy. Like, I don't think this is a game where he says to Caleb Williams, all right, bud, we're gonna go out there and 45 times you airing it out this week. I don't think that's, that's in play at all.
- [22:39]
A
What do you think fits on Manungai?
- [22:41]
C
I've got a marvi 29. Like, I've got him right ahead of Nick Chubb. I, I think I do have him just behind Woody Marks and Tony Pollard just behind that. That's kind of the class that he's in because it wouldn't shock me if he only got five or six carries. If, if the game script kind of goes haywire on the Bears, but the hope is that he is Ben Johnson's new David Montgomery to DeAndre Swift's Jameer Gibbs.
- [23:08]
A
Let's go to Bills at Panthers. How differently will we be ranking Tedro McMillan based on Andy Dalton potentially starting versus if it was Bryce Young deeper. I'll start with you.
- [23:18]
B
I mean similar, because I'm projecting a similar amount of volume. I mean, considering all the bye weeks and stuff. Like, I've got him at wide receiver 23 right now, but somewhere in that mid range to low end, wide receiver 2 range. What I will say is I do think that, I think the floor is higher for Ted Roman Millen with Andy Dalton back there. I just think Andy Dalton's a better quarterback like than Bryce Young. And I don't think that's crazy. That, you know, a crazy thing to say considering if you look at just Bryce Young this year, Andy Dalton when, when he played last year, their highly accurate throw rates are almost identical except you look at catchable target rates. Bryce Young 71.9%, which is terrible. Andy Dalton is at 78%. So Ted Roman is going to see probably similar volume, but you're giving him probably like a two, maybe three more catchable targets on a weekly basis when as long as Andy Dalton is the starter. And dude, like if Andy Dalton goes out and like if this is a close game or he rips off like say he gets two starts and he wins one of these, I don't know if it's a given Bryce Young gets that starting job back. He's looked terrible this year.
- [24:27]
A
So Debro is below consensus on Ted McMillan. He's up at wide receiver 16 in ECR and our half PPR rankings for the week fits. Are you with Debro or are you more aligned with consensus?
- [24:39]
C
Consensus. I've got him wide receiver 14. And I would have had McMillan wide receiver 16 if it were Bryce Young starting. And I mentioned this on one of our shows Yesterday, for Teoa McMillan to be averaging 7.8 yards per target when Bryce Young is averaging 5.8 yards per pass attempt suggests that McMillan is really, really good. And McMillan is also averaging 1.70 yards per route run. He's tied with A.J. brown and Michael Pittman in that category. Those are good veteran receivers playing with better quarterbacks. So unless you play in a shallow league, McMillan is pretty much an auto start every week, or should be. And before the last two weeks, he's only had five targets each of the last two weeks. But before that he'd had at least eight targets in every game. Seems like the Panthers have been able to lean into their running game a little more the last couple of weeks. I don't know if that's going to be the case with them being what, seven and a half point dogs to the the Bills this week. So I think McMillan will be busy and I think he's going to cook.
- [25:44]
A
Let me do an impromptu like head to head here. Tet McMillan or Stefan Diggs, who would you Rather start this week.
- [25:49]
C
I'm starting Diggs McMillan.
- [25:52]
B
I'm very high on digs this week.
- [25:54]
A
Okay. Okay. I have a second question on this game. Just any hesitation with James Cook this week? I'm not saying hesitation in terms of not starting him, but just maybe dialing back expectations just because the Panthers run defense has been really improved this year. Debra.
- [26:08]
B
I mean, you're still starting him, but yes, like I dropped him in ranks a little bit. Like I've got him at RB8. I've kind of like gone back and forth between like, like RB8 to RB11ish this week only because. Yeah, dude, like the Carolina Panthers, like I thought their run defense was going to be much improved this year and like they came out the gate and they looked at the same old run defense. But since week four, people need to put respect on this run defense, man. Like they've allowed. Since week four, they've allowed the fewest rushing yards per game in the NFL. They have the highest stuff rate and the fourth lowest yard to contact per attempt. Like the. The thing that can help James Cook is the Bill's offensive line is pretty good. Like they're 14th best in adjusted yards before contact per attempt. So like, if the Bills want to impose their will, they. I mean, they're going to probably try to in this game. So I've still got cook as an RV1, but I'm probably going to be below ECR on him.
- [27:01]
A
Fitz, what do you think? Where do you have Cook ranked?
- [27:04]
C
I have him, I believe RB8. And if this were a matchup against the 2024 Carolina Panthers defense, we would have Cook unanimously ranked running back four right behind the big three of Jonathan Taylor, Christian McCaffrey, Bijan Robinson. But yes, it's. It's certainly worth acknowledging the change in the weather here. As far as the Panthers rushing defense, they give up the most fantasy points per game to running backs last year and it wasn't close. The next worst team against running backs was giving up three and a half fewer fantasy points per game to running backs than the Panthers were. But so far this season, Panthers have allowed the ninth fewest fantasy points per game to running backs. And I guess we have to give credit to Debro. Not. Not our Debro, but the Panther. Oh yeah. Yeah. Defensive tackle Derek.
- [27:49]
B
Big man in the middle, baby, who.
- [27:51]
C
Was hurt last year, but he is back with a vengeance in 2025. Pfft. Currently has Derek Brown graded second best among interior defensive linemen this season, only behind Malik Collins of the Browns.
- [28:04]
A
Cookie is RB6 in ECR so he is being ranked highly but you guys slightly fading him obviously still starting him. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor Hard Rock bet. Huge sports weekend in football and really all sports right now, so don't miss out on all the promos right now on the Hard Rock Bet Sportsbook app. We talk football on this show, but there's plenty to bet for the NBA, hockey and a big game one in baseball as well. If you're doing some fantasy research for Sunday, don't forget to check out those players odds to score on the Hard Rock Bet app. And if you want to ride a hot hand, look at the Hard Rock Bet stats hub Fantasy Pros is Christian McAffrey as our consensus third ranked running back this week. He's reached the end zone in nine straight October games. You can bet those streaks and find more insights any day of the week on the Hard Rock Bet app. And for you sports bettors, if you haven't tried your first bet on Hard Rock Bet yet, there's still time for you to get $150 in bonus bets. If you win, just place a $5 bet and if it hits you, get not only your winnings but $150 in extra bonus bets. Download the Hard Rock Bet app and make your first deposit payable and bonus bets.
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B
We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel?
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C
That was my other big takeaway from that game.
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A
What was that?
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C
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B
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B
What's up everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here and I'm Bucky Brooks on Move the Sticks. We take you inside the game. From scouting reports and player development to team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots. From college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a die hard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [32:07]
A
It's kind of funny that Christian McCaffrey is only our consensus third ranked running back. It just speaks to like how insane Bijan and Jonathan Taylor are ahead of him because McCaffrey is like on pace to be like the sixth best receiver in football, let alone what he does on the ground. Like just been an absolute monster. And it's like yeah, he's only third this week because the other guys are just so great as well and also have great matchups. So fun week for those big three. Let's go to jets at Bengals. By the way, Garrett Wilson has officially been ruled out of this game. So you know, not that we were really expecting him to play even if he was playing. Not that we'd be thrilled about him from a quarterback perspective. But he is officially out and I believe Sauce Gardner is also officially out in this game. It seems clear that Jamar Chase and T. Higgins have saved their seasons for fantasy managers now that Joe Flacco is a quarterback. But do we also believe in Chase Brown again going forward? I know he had a good game in this last week with Flacco, but I don't know if we're as like oh he's back. We're ranking him the way we did with Burrow, kind of the way we are with with Chase and Higgins, at least close to it. So I'm curious both for where he is ranked for you in week eight debro but also rest of season Chase.
- [33:15]
B
Brown so week eight because of all the buys. I've got him at RB19 for the week. I think like mid range RB2. I've got him at RB24 five for the rest of the season only because I just dude, I worry about the re. Like his rushing share has dropped in this offense. He's played good that still hasn't stopped since week six. He's only played 58% of the snaps. He's had 20 of 33 running back rushing attempts and like he's still getting the work inside the red zone. But I, I do think it's notable that Samaj P. Ryan is cutting into his work. So on a pass first team they get into the red zone, they're throwing, they're not running. I, I, I think he's like a low end anywhere in a low end RB2 conversation. But I'm not rushing out to like go trade for him or you know, rushing to plug him into a lineup right now.
- [34:04]
A
So D Roy is slightly below consensus both for this week and rest of season just by a couple of spots here. Fitz Chase Brown is in consensus rankings RB17 for the week and RB21 rest of season. Does that sound right to you or would you go differently for either of them?
- [34:19]
C
I'm going the other way. I'm solidly above on both counts. I've got an RB14 this week, RB16 rest of seasons. I just think Jace Brown is going to be among the ships lifted by the rising Joe Flacco Tide in this offense and it's a simple formula. And I realize DBRO makes a good point about he's not getting the snap shares he did last year when he was getting these crazy 90% snapchairs and 95% of the running back touches for the Bengals. It's not going to be that, but the formula is simple. Move the ball more effectively, get more first downs, run more plays. That leads to more volume for Chase Brown and chase Brown had 37 carries in the Bengals first two games this season. It looked a lot like last year and Joe Burrow was starting at quarterback for those two games. Since then, Brown has not had more than 11 carries in any game since. Now that does include two Flacco games. The rushing volume hasn't picked up for him yet, but I'm pretty optimistic that it will.
- [35:21]
A
Let me throw another question your way in this game because it's largely an ugly game that we don't care about. Would you guys rather start Joe Flacco at quarterback this week or Breece hall at running back this week? Bearing in mind Sauce Gardner is he is officially out in this one. So past defense for the jets look a little more enticing. We don't know the quarterback as of the time we're recording this for the Jets. Tara Taylor is questionable. Would you rather start Bree hall or Flacco at their respective position?
- [35:47]
B
Flaco.
- [35:49]
C
I mean Bree is the only game in town for the jets offense right now. You'd think he has to. And it's not like the Bengals defense is any good. It's a bottom three defense against running back. So I, I got to go with Bree here.
- [36:02]
A
All right.
- [36:02]
C
Like you never. You're going to get the, the big Joe Flacco interception game is coming though. That, that's the thing about Flacco. Like he's going to complete passes.
- [36:11]
B
I don't think it's coming this week though.
- [36:14]
C
Probably not. But you never know.
- [36:17]
A
Man. Do the jets have a turnover yet on defense?
- [36:20]
C
Right? They really don't. But man I love the jets catching six and a half this week. Like the Bengals should not be favored by six and a half against anyone.
- [36:29]
A
Let's go to 49ers at Texans. Houston's offense looked great against the Titans and the beat up Ravens defensive back to back weeks and they had their buy and then they looked terrible against what is a great Seattle defense. So what kind of performance are you expecting against another injured defense in the Niners? Not maybe injured to the same level that the Ravens were in that week five game. But you know, another banged up defense here that's missing key players. Fitz, I'll start with you on this one. I'm. I'm guessing that the answer will be something in between what they were against Baltimore and what they were against Seattle. But kind of what. What do you think we're going to be closer to?
- [37:02]
C
Closer to another ugly performance like the one against Seattle.
- [37:05]
A
Yep.
- [37:06]
C
The Texans, they are not likely to have Nico Collins, who has a concussion, and since he got the concussion on Monday night, not much of a chance he's going to clear the protocol in time to play. And Nico is far and away the best playmaker in the Houston offense, really the only playmaker. And the 49ers defense looked great against the Falcons last week. And I don't know what kind of magic or, you know, voodoo witchcraft Robert Salah performed to get that performance out of a defense that was playing a bunch of guys who had never played significant NFL snaps before. And somehow the 49ers defense looked almost super bowl caliber last week against the Falcons. It was really impressive.
- [37:49]
A
Deborah, I saw you nodding that you agreed that you were not expecting a good performance from the Texans offense this week. Do you agree with what Fitz said about Nico being really the only playmaker in the offense? Because I know you were high on these rookie receivers coming into the season if they were going to get the opportunity. They just really haven't.
- [38:06]
B
Nick Kaylee is one of the worst offensive coordinators in the NFL. He's bottom five. He shouldn't make it out of this freaking season. He is horrible. That's part of it. That's part of what's going on here. The fact that Xavier Hutchinson, Braxton Barrios played more snaps and man ran more freaking routes last week than Jalen Null. The problems here are easy to see behind an offensive line. Nick Kaylee thinks they could be a power run game. They can go run up the freaking a gap continuously with Woody Marks and freaking Nick Chub and impose their will on short yardage downs. What world are you living in, bro? Are you. Are you seriously looking at the depth chart that you have? Because the fact that you play Xavier Hutchinson over two talented rookies, the fact that you are not giving CJ Stroud any easy button answers for quick pressure for when he's hot. Any of this like C.J. shroud's not playing good football. Absolutely agree with that. This offense looks emphatically broken, but a lot of this comes back to their play. Caller is freaking clueless about the depth chart that he has the talent that he has and what he's supposed to do with it. Because why did you go out and draft both of these rookie wide receivers to help your quarterback into this season and you're playing these veterans that are not difference makers throughout the entirety of the season. I. I cannot. Like, that's why, like I. I didn't want to add him to the waiver wire column this week with Jalen all and Jaden Higgins because I can't put them in the lineup if Houston won't even put them in a lineup. I'm. I'm gonna stop at the rant but like I can't have faith in this offense because Nick Kaylee is an utter buffoon.
- [39:52]
A
Geez, Fitz, how do you think Deebro really feels?
- [39:54]
B
I'm just being honest.
- [39:55]
A
I just wish you would.
- [39:56]
B
How can anybody watch Texans football and not think this right now?
- [40:00]
A
I. Well, I guess I'm curious. Who would you rather start between the two? Because I know Noel had the bigger game in Seattle. Higgins was the one that I felt like in the. In August people were almost calling like the Nico Collins handcuff. Like this is the guy who could step into that role. He didn't do anything against again against Seattle. But if you had to start one just in a pinch. 16 by they're ranked is to finish few spots apart in ECR fits. Like who would you prefer, Higgins or Noel?
- [40:25]
C
I've got them basically ranked next to each other. I think I've Higgins ranked a little higher.
- [40:30]
A
Deep rough. You had to start one.
- [40:33]
B
Can I say neither? I don't want to start anybody from this freaking offense. Nobody. Nobody.
- [40:37]
A
If you had to start either, you would just zero.
- [40:40]
B
I'd play Jaylen Null. Only because the 49ers have given up more production to slot receivers now. Watch Braxton Barrios go out there, run more routes than him this week, get five targets, score a touchdown. I. Fitzy, what are your thoughts on this offense before we move off of this? Am I crazy with the fact that I can't stand this freaking offense because the OC is. I just question what the heck he's doing.
- [41:05]
C
The Barrios thing was pretty maddening.
- [41:07]
B
It doesn't make any sense, dude. Doesn't make any sense.
- [41:10]
C
We knew the offensive line was going to be bad though, and it hasn't disappointed. And I just. I feel bad for CJ Stroud and I know he's not playing especially well. But then like C.J. stroud puts one in Nico Collins mitts for what looks like it should be a big play last week and Nico drops it like. It's just. It's a lot of things kind of going haywire in this offense right now. But I agree that it's. It's not a very well designed offense.
- [41:37]
B
No, it's Bad dude. It's, it's really bad. It's, It's. You're asking C.J. stroud to drive a car that has two flat tires and the other one is sitting on a rim. I, I How does he do that?
- [41:50]
A
Let's go to Browns at Patriots. Drake May and the Pats have been rolling as of late, but the Browns defense has been excellent all season. How can they slow down New England? Debro, what do you think?
- [42:01]
B
The pass rush has to get home and they have to expose the Patriots offensive line. Like outside of that, Drake May is going to roll. I'm extremely high on Drake May this week. I'm high on Stefon Diggs versus single high coverage. He has been eating as long as, you know, we could project like he's going to play a full time role and he's fully healthy. I know he's got the chest issue and stuff like that, but still the pass rush for the Green or excuse me, for the Cleveland Browns has to get home for to wreck the Patriots day like they are 11th and pressure rate and quietly New England Drake May has been navigating like muddy pockets like a savant all year. But if that goes sideways at all, like the Patriots are giving up the fifth highest pressure rate. So Miles Garrett has to have a big day in this pass rush, has to get home.
- [42:44]
A
Fitz, how do you see this one playing out?
- [42:46]
C
I sort of agree with dbro like make the Patriots one dimensional and that lets the bronze pass rushers pin their ears back and go after Drake May because in the two games New England has lost this season to the Steelers and I don't know how the Raiders in those two games Patriots running backs had 45 and 74 rushing yards and they averaged 3.5 yards per carry against the Raiders, 3.4 per carry against the Steelers and the Browns run defense ranks number one in dvoa. So maybe Cleveland can make New England one dimensional.
- [43:18]
A
I want to be really clear that what I'm about to say is not fantasy advice. Do not start this person. Wouldn't it be so hilarious and just like the most fantasy football thing if Travion Henderson like had his big breakout game against Browns, wouldn't that just be so. It would.
- [43:33]
B
It would. The only thing that would make that better if it was like a Thursday or Monday night like an island game and that's what happens.
- [43:40]
A
Yeah, don't start Henderson. I'm just, you know, making a fun comment. That's again, that does not constitute fantasy advice. Yeah, I, I don't really yeah, the Browns, they have been better against the run than the past, but they've just been so good, you know, in general, that I get that it's like, kind of scary. Like, are you guys starting Drake May, like, confidently this week? I know, I know he's ranked as. As a start, clearly. But, like, do you feel, you know, excited to be starting in this week or are you a little hesitant?
- [44:10]
B
I mean, if you got to be.
- [44:12]
C
Do you have any serious questions for him?
- [44:14]
A
I'm just saying it's a tough matchup. Okay? I. Fitz, nobody besides you loves Drake May as much as I do. So I, you know, I'm not saying you don't start him. I'm saying, you know, dialing back expectations a little. Given the match, I would say.
- [44:29]
B
Do you feel bad about starting the MVP candidate this week? Do you. Do you feel bad about doing starting one of arguably a top three quarterback in the NFL? You worried about that?
- [44:40]
C
I mean, I don't have him QB1, but yeah, he's among two of the.
- [44:44]
A
Last three weeks he's been outside the top 10 at the position. So it's not like he's been. I mean, he's awesome, but hold on.
- [44:51]
C
One of those games was just because he didn't have a touchdown pass against the Buffalo Bills. But, like, everyone was raving about what a masterful performance he put on in a nationally televised.
- [45:01]
B
Golly, Worm. Watch the tape.
- [45:03]
A
I don't know why this is being framed as if I've anti Drake May. I'm just saying it's like the best defense in football. And I'm just. I've just. I'm just asking if you're a little more hesitant than usual. I'm not saying don't start him or anything. You know, that that would also not.
- [45:20]
B
Be Worm first bad Drake May week. Great for Anderson. Let's go.
- [45:25]
A
I was raking Drake May as like a top seven Dynasty quarterback in June in Conversations with the fits. Okay. I love May. You will not take this rub me. I'm just pointing out it's a tough matchup. That's. That's all I'm all I'm pointing out.
- [45:38]
B
Just try to give you the business, man. It's too, too good, too funny.
- [45:41]
A
I'm gonna. I'm gonna do the same thing next week when he's facing Atlanta. I'm like, are you guys hesitant at all about s. Drake May Falcons pass rush, man? We'll have this conversation again. If you are worried about your own lineup decisions, you can let autopilot manage your fantasy football lineup automatically so you never have to worry about last minute changes. Auto swap inactive players and ensure your lineup is always optimized even when you can't be online. Take control with the flexibility to approve lineup changes via email or let Autopilot handle everything. Stay ahead with my Playbook Autopilot available now for Fantasy Pros Premium subscribers@FantasyPros.com MyPlayBook or on the Fantasy Pros app. Try Premium for free right now by claiming your three day trial of fantasy pros premium@fantasyprose.com premium last game in the early slate guys Giants at Eagles these two teams just faced off two weeks ago. Which players from that matchup two weeks ago do you think will do better this week and which do you think will do worse than in that Week 6 game?
- [46:39]
C
Fitz I think this one is kind of easy to answer. Worm on the Eagle side, Devonte Smith will probably do better. He had four catches for 49 yards against the Giants two weeks ago. But now A.J. brown has a hamstring injury, might not play. You have to figure devonte will be busier this time and he's coming off that huge game against the Vikings. We didn't get the revenge game results from Saquon BARKLEY in that first meeting with the Giants. 12 carries, 58 yards. I think he has a bigger day this time in PHILLY and if A.J. brown is out, Dallas Goddard could have another big day. But realistically, probably not as big a day as he had against the Giants two weeks ago when he had nine catches for 110 yards and a touchdown on the other side. I just, I think it's going to be tougher sledding this time around for Jackson. Darts the Eagles didn't have Jalen Carter in that first game against the Giants and I think one of their corn, I think it was Quinion Mitchell left that game sort of early. So they were down on manpower and Jalen Carter is just such a wrecking ball and now he's back. So Jackson Dart was QB3 in fantasy scoring the week he played the Giants. I think he finishes out of the top 10 this week and as much as I like Cam Scatter Boo, he's probably not scoring another three times.
- [47:52]
A
I was gonna say the first name you were gonna say was Scattered.
- [47:58]
C
He's the obvious fan.
- [47:59]
A
Yep. Yeah, it's probably too obvious, right? That's. It's a. You don't.
- [48:03]
B
I mean, dude, that was the low hanging fruit that I was picking. I was just gonna say he's not scoring Three touchdowns. There you go.
- [48:09]
A
Well, but what actually are your expectations for Scattery? Where are you ranking him this week? Like, clearly you're not gonna sit him again, but like, yeah, are you just. Are you viewing him differently? You know, just with a little more health on the Eagles?
- [48:21]
B
No, I mean, I, I think, I mean right now I've got him at RB12. Right now if you got Scatterable, you're freaking starting him at sixteens on a buy. He's gonna flirt with probably 20 touchdown. I mean 20, 20 touches in this game and he's probably going to score at least once and he's game script proof like he's going to get past game utility. So.
- [48:39]
A
But yeah, would you rather start Scatter Boo or Bree Hall? They're back to back in ECR and ecr.
- [48:46]
B
I'm surprised by that thing about Breeze is he's not fully healthy. So I don't know how much Isaiah Davis we're going to see this week and I'm not saying we're going to see a ton, but can the usage get wonky enough? Possibly.
- [48:59]
A
How about this? Deborah Scatter or Rashad White?
- [49:02]
B
I'll take Rashad White only because I think they're going to lean on him a little bit harder with igbuka still not 100%. This is a game they should win and stuff and he's going to be the clear like bell cow. So yeah, I'll go Rashad White, but to Fitzy's point, yeah, I think my two easy answers for this one were less of a game for Scatter Boo because he's not going to freaking have the hat trick again. But even if A.J. brown was active in this game, I'm still sky high on Devonta Smith like the the coverage matchup because the Giants have switched from being a single high heavy team to too high and Devonta Smith has eaten versus too high. Like he's got a 26% target share, 33.8% first read share versus too high coverage. And the Giants over the last two weeks have utilized it on 52 to 65% of the defensive snaps. So big day for Smitty coming in whether A.J. brown plays or not. And then, I mean if A.J. brown's active, I think he's out in this game. But if he's active, all that means is we're going to get more cryptic tweets from AJ Brown this week.
- [50:00]
A
You know. Yeah, I did want to ask like, I mean I hate when a player has had a hamstring all week. And then is like it's questionable all week even if they do play. I feel so nervous about. It's obviously been an up and down season for Brown anyway. Now we just saw Mechag Buka who's younger but we just saw him questionable all week with a hamstring and he did end up playing and earned 12 targets in that game kind of gutting through the hamstring injury. But it just makes me nervous on Brown like if he, if he is questionable in a gametime decision and does end up being active like I Almost it's a 16 bye week so it's going to be really hard to find somebody else that you like better. But I almost like if you have a lot of depth at the position I would consider looking elsewhere.
- [50:39]
B
I'll just, I'll just this is one of those instances where you just lean on are they playing tool AJ Brown 9% chance of playing right now.
- [50:45]
A
Yeah. So so certainly trying to but, but.
- [50:48]
B
I agree with you like how we've seen A.J. brown go out there and be less than 100 healthy. Like I, I. It depends on your options. Like I, I'm not against starting him or sitting him. It just depends on who you're weighing that against.
- [51:01]
A
By the way, I pulled up the quarterback staff rankings just because when Fitz mentioned Jackson Dart I was curious where he was. And, and I couldn't help but notice that Debro is lower than consensus on Drake May this week. So I'm just throwing it out there that he might also be fading Drake May and I'm sorry I pushed Justin.
- [51:20]
B
Herbert above him in rankings. That didn't seem like a bad.
- [51:23]
A
I'm not saying. I just say we're on the same side here. Okay. Okay. All right. Let's, let's get to the late slate. I've mentioned actually I mentioned Rashad White and Egbuka. We're talking about the Bucks at S Saints here. First in the late sleep. I want to ask about the receivers. Chris Olave and Emeka Ibuka are both ranked in the back half of the top 10amongst wide receivers in ECR this week. Who will have the better day? Alave coming off a two touchdown day. Ibuka obviously coming off a 12 target day like I just mentioned despite that week of of hamstring issues. No Mike Evans now. So who do you guys like better in this game, Alave or Igbuka? I'll start with you Dibra.
- [51:58]
B
I'm sky high on Olave this week. I, I will I have him right back to back with with A Mecca Ibuka like. But I think that there's a chance he comes away with a better game. Like, Ibuka is clearly not 100. I'm not saying that he's not going to get a ton of targets, but this is also a game where you could see Baker also utilize Kate Otten in a good matchup. You could also see him them just ride Rashad White. Tez Johnson can get involved. And so Igbuka, like he's clearly not 100. Like he, he went out and he had a lot of targets and really there was a really good defensive game plan against him last week. But I love Chris Olave this week, man. Like the, the coverage matchup is fantastic. We know he gets a ton of targets and I know we're worried about like okay, Todd Bowles in the blitz and stuff like that. Spencer Rattler's not amazing, dude. Against the blitz, Chris olave has a 36% target share and 4.0 yards per route run and the Bucks had the fourth highest blitz rate. Like I, I'm, yeah, I've already bet Chris Olave over, so I'm going to lean a lave here.
- [53:03]
A
Who do you like better? Fitz?
- [53:05]
C
I have both in the top 10. But hey, I'll go with the guy tied to the better quarterback. Mechan Buca plays with Baker Mayfield. Chris Olave plays with Spencer Rattler. Not that Rattler has been awful this year, but he's no Baker Mayfield.
- [53:17]
B
Yep.
- [53:18]
A
Yeah, I, I think like even though he played last week, I, I guess I just get nervous with hamstrings. So maybe like a slight lean. I'll let me know. Is technically questionable as well.
- [53:27]
C
So 75% snapchair, 12 targets. Like I, I think he's, I'm not.
- [53:33]
A
Too worried about it. It's less that like of what he did last week and more that it's just like it is an injury that can get re injured. I don't know. It's, it's just nervousness. I, I, I'm not saying you're wrong for having him higher. Obviously they're both Inside the top 10 for a reason, but okay, let's go to the next game here. Cowboys at Broncos. This is the only game in week eight with a total over 50 on Hard Rock Bet. But are there any players you are fading in this game relative to consensus or are you just expecting fireworks the way Hard Rock Bet seems to be expecting fits?
- [54:02]
C
I'm fading Bo Nix relative to consensus. Like I know everyone wants to jump on the matchup against the Cowboys. But Knicks has not been good lately. 5.8 yards per attempt over his last three games. That passing attempt attack has just not looked very good.
- [54:21]
B
Where do you have him ranked, Bitsy?
- [54:23]
C
Well, put it this way. I've. I think in ecr he is above Dak Prescott. Oh, I think that's.
- [54:30]
B
That's crazy.
- [54:31]
C
That's a travesty. Yeah, I'm not doing that. Absolute travesty.
- [54:34]
B
I've got him a QB10. Are you with me or are you lower than that?
- [54:38]
C
No, I've actually got him QB8.
- [54:40]
A
Okay, so he's QB6 in consensus.
- [54:44]
C
Right.
- [54:44]
B
But I agree with Fitzy. That's too high. That's too high. Like, like I had Justin Herbert above him. I have Drake May, Baker Mayfield. I have Daniel Jones above him. Like, I think Daniel Jones shreds Tennessee this week too.
- [54:53]
C
I've got him just ahead of Daniel Jones. Like, I don't know how you can put Dak below him. All due respect to the Denver defense, but over Dak Prescott's last four games, 13 touchdown passes, no interceptions, 71.4% completion rate, 8.1 yards per attempt. He's only been sacked three times in the last four weeks. Like, Dak is playing MVP caliber football right now.
- [55:17]
B
I, I agree with you. I've got, I've got Dak@QB5 this week. I'm not worried. And this is not a shade to the Denver defense. Dude, Dak is playing inspired football. Like he's, he's playing awesome right now.
- [55:30]
A
I, I don't think anybody would disagree that Dak is playing better than Bo Nicks. But I mean, these are pretty extreme opposite ends of the matchup you can have.
- [55:38]
B
Yeah, I think there's going to be a lot of fireworks. I think to back to your original question, Worm. I'm not fading anybody, but honestly, like, I mean everybody. I'm pretty close to consensus. I mean, maybe like we talked about with Bo Nix on below consensus, but he's still a top 10 quarterback for the week. So it's like you're just splitting hairs there. But like, I'm really high on Cortland Sutton. I'm high on Troy Franklin. I think Marvin Mims is definitely flex worthy this week. Play all your Cowboys if you got Cowboys stardom. Let's go.
- [56:09]
A
Like, do you think Lamb gets a better sir tan? Obviously you're starting Lamb, but you think he gets a better sir tan? I think.
- [56:15]
B
I don't know if he gets the better of certain. I think that what Dallas can do because certain doesn't always go to the go to the slot. I think they could hide him and kind of put him in bunch and like they could do creative things to get Patrick certain out of his back pocket.
- [56:28]
A
Who do you like in that one on one matchup? Fitz?
- [56:32]
C
Yeah, I mean I, I think Lamb will get his but like Debro said, I mean I think CD Lamb is playing about a third of his snaps in the slot, so it's not like he's going to be seeing Patrick certain every single route.
- [56:45]
B
They could bump that up to like 40 or 50 this week and just put his target bureau run rate really high in the slot too.
- [56:51]
A
So do you guys like the over in this game? I think it's 50 and a half. I like the oh no, it's up to 51.
- [56:55]
B
Yeah, I like the over. I mean really, this comes down to like I, I just don't think Dallas has a competent defense.
- [57:02]
C
Yeah, I'm not betting that.
- [57:04]
B
No, I'm not betting it. But if I have to take one part of taking the over, I don't like to get like when we get above like totals above 50, I'm usually just kind of like ah, there's more ways to like this like to go bad than to hit. So I usually just avoid if you.
- [57:17]
A
Want a chance to win a signed AJ Brown Eagles jersey for free courtesy of our friends@pristineauction.com all you need to do is head to fantasypros.com contest, complete the form and either download the Fantasy Pros app, leave a review for the podcast, or follow us on x Instagram or TikTok at Fantasy Pros or the more actions you complete, the more entries you receive. We will be announcing a winner on the podcast near the beginning of next month. If you're watching on YouTube, be sure to subscribe and turn on those notifications so you can be alerted when new episodes are up. And to claim your prize, let's go to Titans at Colts. This is an easy matchup. Fantasy purposes. I think so. I want to have some fun. Debro has Bijan Robinson, RB1 this week, which is what Consensus has as well. Fitz has his Wisconsin guy Jonathan Taylor as RB1 this week. Of course facing the Titans. Make the case for your guy. We already talked a bit about Bijan so I will let Fitz go first here on Jonathan Taylor.
- [58:09]
B
I love this question so much I just had to throw. This is my favorite question of the entire week. I love this.
- [58:15]
A
God to hear it.
- [58:16]
C
Great matchups for both guys. The Dolphins have given up the third most fantasy points to running backs. Titans have given up the fourth most. Dolphins have given up the most. I think rushing yards to running backs. And the Titans have given up the third most. The difference for me is the touchdown outlook. Jonathan Taylor has 11 touchdowns in seven games. He's the only running back in the league with double digit rushing touchdowns. And the Titans are the only team in the league to have allowed double digit rushing touchdowns to running backs. They've given up 10 plus one touchdown catch to running backs. Bijan has four touchdowns in six games. Dolphins have only allowed five touchdowns to running backs, five fewer than the Titans. I'm just going with the touchdown outlook here being a little bit better for Taylor.
- [59:00]
B
I want three hat tricks this year. I just wanted to contextualize that for everybody. Three hat tricks. It's hard to get a guy do that once in a season, much less three times. And we're at freaking week eight. Guys like that. That's wild.
- [59:16]
A
I mean, t. Taylor. It's funny because Taylor is somebody that I really, I, I kind of felt was a little underranked in during the draft season and yet I never drafted him because there was always a receiver I wanted more in the area that he was going. It wasn't even that I was like, like I thought he was underranked amongst running backs, but I always, there was some receiver on the board that I was going to take ahead of him and he's just been, I mean, I.
- [59:40]
B
Was out, I was out. I was worried about the offense. I was out. I, I and I am, I've been big, big wrong on that.
- [59:47]
C
We've had this crazy big three at running back with like Bijan, Taylor and McAffrey being so far ahead of the pack. Like you could have, the way the places where Taylor and McCaffrey were going in drafts, you could have conceivably come away with both of those guys. And I'm sure there are probably some people watching this show, listening to the show right now who do have that combination. Congratulations.
- [60:08]
B
Yeah. In the comments, if you all drafted those two.
- [60:11]
A
Yeah. Let us know if you have that.
- [60:12]
C
You're seven and oh. Or probably six and one at worst.
- [60:15]
A
Or I mean, if you played in a salary cap league, you might have got in and say, I want to go RB heavy and said I'm going to get Bijan and McCaffrey or whoever it is.
- [60:23]
B
You're looking unstoppable. Like at this point of the season, if you got both those backs, like that's crazy.
- [60:28]
A
Yeah. Dbro. I mean, do you want to kind of hit on why you have Von higher. I mean, obviously, we're just having fun here.
- [60:36]
B
All right, I will. I will say on this. The way that this goes sideways and the way that JT outpaces Bejon is exactly what I kind of alluded to with Bejon. This is also a really freaking good spot if you want to inject confidence into Michael Penck that that secondary for Miami is clueless. And it's a good spot also to feed Drake London, Kyle Pitts, Darnell Mooney. Get him going. So the way that Bijan fails and he's not the RB1 overall this week is Pennix just absolutely shreds them. So, like, that. That could happen, man. Like, I'm not saying that can't.
- [61:07]
A
By the way, the total in this game, colts, Titans, is 48. I don't see how that's going to hit. I. I don't. I just don't think the Titans are any good. I can't.
- [61:15]
B
Are the Colts putting up 50?
- [61:17]
A
I don't know. I'm like, this is gonna have to be all indie. Which Indy will score a lot? But, like, I. I just don'.
- [61:24]
B
Indie polls all their starters in the fourth quarter and Cam Ward, like, the Titans get 10 points. Like, I'm not. I'm not touching that either.
- [61:31]
A
Yeah. The spread, by the way, on Hard Rock bet for that game is 15. Can you imagine going back to August and telling yourself that The Colts fade.
- [61:39]
B
15 and the totals at that? Like, that's just. I mean, the implied team total for the Colts. I mean, they're basically saying, yeah, J.T. hatrick again.
- [61:49]
A
Yeah. By the way, I like how Fitz said that the difference between these two in his ranking is the touchdown equity there. I think the real difference is that Bijan played college in Austin, Texas, and Jonathan Taylor played college in Madison, Wisconsin.
- [62:07]
B
I would be very curious of Scott Bogman's rankings of these two running.
- [62:12]
A
Exactly. Bogvid definitely has Bijan.
- [62:15]
B
RV I was gonna say Bo. Dude, if Bachman has JT over Bijan, I need to drop Bijan then. Okay.
- [62:21]
A
That would be a real sign of it.
- [62:22]
C
Yeah.
- [62:22]
B
Okay, I gotta go. I gotta go double. I gotta go double check that.
- [62:25]
A
After this show, let's go to Sunday Night Football. Packers at Steelers. Speaking of Fitz's favorite teams, which teammate has the higher weekly positional finish this week? Josh Jacobs at running back or Tucker Craft at tight end? And then I'm gonna ask the same question for some Steelers teammates. Let's start with the packers ones, though. So who finishes higher at their position? Tucker Craft at tight end or Josh Jacobs at running back Fits.
- [62:50]
C
This is the question for the. The Aaron Rogers ball worm. We're not going to talk about Aaron Rodgers.
- [62:55]
A
I don't enjoy talking about Aaron Rogers.
- [62:57]
B
Leaving it for you to set up Fitzy.
- [62:59]
A
All right. Yeah.
- [62:59]
B
All right.
- [63:01]
A
By the way, every time I send you guys the questions, I say let me know if you want. If you. If I missed anything or you want me to add a question or tweet.
- [63:08]
B
We would rather bring it up on air. I don't think we just do it on air.
- [63:12]
A
Gotten a single feedback from you guys. If we have to change this, you.
- [63:16]
B
Know, or, I mean, golly, can we not talk about the Ravens for 50 minutes? That's my only feedback.
- [63:21]
C
You Tucker, Tucker Craft or Josh Jacobs? I have Kraft ranked tight end, too, and I just. I think he has the easier path to be a top three fantasy scorer tight end since, you know, Josh Jacobs has to reckon with the big three at running back with Jonathan Taylor, Christian McCaffrey, Bijan Robinson. So I think Kraft is the answer there.
- [63:39]
A
Dbro Kraft or Jacobs at their position?
- [63:41]
B
Yeah, it's Craft, and I think it's Craft easily. For me, it's won the positional stuff, but it's also. The Pittsburgh Steelers have been a fantastic matchup for tight ends. Like, they're giving up the fifth most receiving yards per game to tight ends. Third most schedule adjusted fantasy points per game. You look at the coverage matchup, I think this is a big game for Tucker Kraft and Romeo Dobbs this week. So I'm in on both those guys. And yeah, I think Kraft beats Jacobs because of the positional stuff and the matchup.
- [64:06]
A
All right, how about this to appease fits. Same question. Who has a higher weekly positional finish? DK Metcalf at receiver, Jaylen Warren at running back, or Aaron Rodgers at quarterback?
- [64:15]
B
Oh. Oh, you're throwing it in there. I like the curveball here. It wasn't on the show sheet Worm.
- [64:20]
A
How. How.
- [64:21]
B
How spry of you, sir. I think it's gonna be DK Metcalf. Jaylen Warren's gonna get a lot of volume, but it's. I mean, the. The packers run defense is really freaking. Like they're. They're up there. They're top five this year, man. So Warren's gonna have to do it just based off of volume and stuff. I think this is also. I mean, we talked about, and he has not put out cryptic tweets. He has not chirped in the media. This is also a really good game. For like if Aaron Rodgers is gonna have a. A throwback performance or something after last week and DK Metcalf getting left out of the. The tight end party for touchdowns and stuff, this is also a really good spot where DK goes over to him and says, hey man, you want to have a big game? How about you feed your boy the ball? Come on, let's go.
- [65:04]
A
Fitz, what do you think? Warren is RB16 in consensus. Rogers is QB16. Metcalf is up at wide receiver 12. So the consensus rankings have him finishing higher.
- [65:14]
C
Yeah. And I've got Metcalf one spot above consensus. So he's the answer wide receiver 11. I just, I'm fascinated by this DK Metcalf makeover that we're seeing. We thought he was a very special.
- [65:25]
B
Yep.
- [65:25]
C
Yeah, he used to be the air yards guy. Not a lot of yak. It's funny, he already has more yards after catch through six games, 240 yards after the catch, than he had in the entirety of the 2022 season when he played 17 games and had 1048 receiving yards. Like he only had 217 yards after the catch in those 17 games. His best season with yards after catch per reception, best mark of his career was 5.6. He's a 10.9 this year and his average depth of target is the lowest of his career. He's just like become malleable. And Aaron Rodgers is kind of a different guy. He started dinking and dunking this and maybe that's a good thing against the packers because you don't want to stand in there and take seven step drops against this Green Bay pass rush. So really fascinating matchup this week and I do like DK go to Monday Night Football.
- [66:23]
A
Kind of a weird game to cover. Just like, you know, we know Mariota's starting. There's still these question marks about health in the receiving room for Washington, so I wanted to just kind of do a head to head here on the running backs. Who would you rather start in this game? Isaiah Pacheco or Jakory Crosky? Merritt, obviously. The Chiefs, coming off this dominant performance against the Raiders, you know, with Jaden Daniels out, you would be nervous about, you know, the commander's keeping this game. How does that impact Bill? So I'm curious what direction you guys go. Fiz, I'll start with you on this one. Pacheco or Bill?
- [66:54]
C
In this matchup, I initially had Bill ranked higher, but I have pivoted to Pacheco and it sounds like I like Pacheco. A good bit more than Debro does. I want the guy in the high powered offense on the team that's favored by what, 12 and a half points. Plus it seems like Kareem Hunt is probably going to be out with an ankle injury. This game just sets up well for Pacheco. Although it is worth noting that the Chiefs do have the highest pass rate over expected in the league. So we're not going to see Pacheco get the same sort of rushing volume that dudes like Derek Henry and Josh Jacobs are going to get. But still, I could see him easily getting 14 or 15 carries and you know, maybe some goal line work.
- [67:33]
A
Debra.
- [67:35]
B
I'm going to go Bill. And it's just based off the volume, I know that he's going to, he's still going to get like, he's still going to get like 15 opportunities. I just don't feel good about Pacheco's role in this offense. What this team does, I mean like dude, like they get inside the 10 yard line. Like right now the Chiefs are fourth and passing rate. They're throwing the ball inside the freaking 10 yard line at 63%. I, I just, I.
- [68:02]
C
That, that their goal line back is a receiver.
- [68:05]
B
Yeah, exactly. Like their goal line back is actually, actually Patrick Mahomes. Like so you're more likely to see him take off running or heck you're more likely to see a passing touch a receiving touchdown for Bashard Smith this week. So that's where I, I just, I don't feel good about either one of these backs. I'll lean Bill with the volume because I just don't have any. Like Pacheco is not playing good. I don't have a good feel about his touchdowns. Like I think the Casey offense is just, just going to keep lighting it up like throwing the freaking ball, man.
- [68:34]
A
Since we're talking about Pacheco, I'm going to very shamelessly ask you guys a question that I have a decision I have to make in one of my leagues. Here we go. Pacheco or Diggs? And, and from what you said Debra, I'm sure you're gonna say Diggs. You said you're really high on Diggs this week. What do you think?
- [68:47]
C
PPR or half point ppr?
- [68:50]
A
It's, I believe it's ppr. It's the Guillotine league that we're in. Fitz.
- [68:53]
C
Yeah, then it's, it's ppr. So I'm, I'm going with Digs.
- [68:56]
B
Okay.
- [68:57]
C
Ppr.
- [68:57]
A
All right. I was just talking to you Yesterday.
- [69:04]
B
Even after you said that Fitz, he was fading Drake May this week. So.
- [69:08]
A
Yeah. All right. I do have a second question in this game. I just want to ask what you guys thought of Rishi Rice's usage in his return to the field. It's only 42 receiving yards, but obviously he caught two touchdowns. They clearly were making an effort to get him the ball near the red zone early, but then the game got out of hand early so they didn't really need to use him that much. You know, on the one hand it was like, hey, let's work him back in, shake some of the rust off because the Raiders are terrible. We know we're going to win this game. On the other hand, you know, it was like I said, it got out of hand so they didn't need to keep using him later in the game. How did his game in week seven change your outlook for him rest of season? Debro.
- [69:44]
B
It didn't. I thought as soon as he came back into the huddle he was going to be Casey's Almond Ross and Brown and that's exactly what he's doing. Like at a 25 target chair man, the snaps are going to go up. I don't think that he's gonna get a 53 target per round run rate on a weekly basis. But I think with this all this, what this all comes back to, he is the clear and emphatic wide receiver one in this offense like everybody else is the two and three and whatever the heck you want to talk about. Like Xavier Worthy. People should have been trading him away before Rashid Rice came back and I think that's still true, man. Like Rasheever is going to get all the freaking targets, man. He's going to. I mean dude got nine targets when he's a full time player, he's going to live in that 9 to 12 target bucket every single week.
- [70:31]
C
Fitz just jaw dropping production. He ran 19 routes and got 10 targets. And Rasheed Rice, here's the really crazy stat. Rasheed rice had four targets in the green zone from the 10 yard line or closer. Rasheed Rice is already tied for sixth among wide receivers in green zone targets after one game in which he ran 19 routes. And again just to reiterate the point, the Chiefs have the highest pass rate over expected in the league by a pretty wide margin. Actually the Chiefs pass rate over expected is plus 7.9%. The Chargers are second at 5.6%. On the plus side, so Rasheed Rice is a high end wide receiver one for the rest of the season top six every week. But I do disagree with dbro. Like I don't think Xavier Worthy is just going to shrivel on the vine here when the Chiefs are throwing at like almost 8% over expected. It's just if you get these games, like I don't know if you can feel super confident in Worthy this week with the Chiefs 12 and a half point favorites over the Commanders, but they get into some shootouts. Like Worthy is going to eat too because he and Rice have complementary skill sets. So I still think Worthy has like playable fantasy value. I think he's a guy you're still probably starting every week under most circumstances.
- [71:53]
B
Yeah, you're probably still starting him. But I do think it's notable since week five, since he came back, he only has a 16% target share. I don't know how much that's going to actually go up and like kind of behind Rice. I think they're going to, they're going to still get in Juju, Smith, Schuster and Marquis, Hollywood Brown and Travis Kelsey is going to have some weeks. Like that's where it's like, I think Worthy kind of falls back and he's competing in the pack with all those other guys for targets where Rice is going to be like, he's on another level, man. Like, I'm not worried about his target share on a weekly basis at all.
- [72:23]
A
I love how just with the three of us being on a show together, we have our most teams on by the entire season. So our fewest games to talk about of the whole year and we still went like way over on time. We just have too much to talk about here. So we'll go ahead and wrap things up there. Best of luck surviving this bipocalypse, everybody. For Debro and Fitz, I'm Ryan Wormley. Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you next time. Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast. If you love the show, the best free way to support us is by leaving a positive review on Apple Podcasts, at fantasypros.com review or on Spotify. Follow us on X Instagram and TikTok Antasypros and subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube.com fantasypros.
- [73:28]
C
The NFL is rolling.
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A
That's right, and you should be listening.
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C
To NFL Daily as we march along to Super Bowl 60.
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A
It's in the name NFL Daily so.
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C
You'Ll have fresh content in your feed all season long.
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A
Join me, Greg Rose, in an all star cast of co hosts for previews.
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C
And recaps of every single game.
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NFL Daily will keep you up to date with everything you need to know.
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C
So you can sound smarter than all your friends.
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A
Listen to NFL daily on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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C
No purchase necessary.
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A
Void where prohibited.
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B
Ends 28:26 Open to legal residents of the 50 US states and DC 18 and over.
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C
For complete details, how to enter prizes.
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B
And official rules, visit toyotasgamedaygiveaways.com welcome to.
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C
In Case youe Missed it with Christina Williams, the podcast that's your go to.
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B
Source for women's hoops. From buzzer beaters to breaking news, I.
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A
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Listen to in case you missed it on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or.
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C
Wherever you get your podcasts.
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A
And remember, in case you missed it, don't worry, I've got you covered.
- [74:40]
B
Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here and I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Six, we take you inside the game. From breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sundays. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [75:13]
A
This is an iHeart podcast.