The Extra Point: Tough Week 14 Decisions, Playoff Prep, and Chat Q&A (Ep. 1883)

Summary

FantasyPros – Fantasy Football Podcast

Episode 1883: The Extra Point: Tough Week 14 Decisions, Playoff Prep, and Chat Q&A
Date: December 6, 2025
Hosts: Chris Welsh & Andrew Erickson
Format: Live audience Q&A from FantasyPros Discord
Main Theme: Navigating tough Week 14 start/sit decisions, preparing for fantasy football playoffs, and live Q&A addressing a wide range of listener-submitted questions.

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Episode Overview

This episode is a special live Q&A edition, with the hosts fielding real-time questions from their FantasyPros Discord audience. The show focuses primarily on crucial Week 14 lineup decisions, strategies for playoff roster optimization, dynasty league moves, and the ever-important subject of fantasy defenses for playoff weeks. Intertwined with the fantasy advice is some light-hearted banter—including a spirited debate about pickles—giving listeners the blend of sharp analysis and entertainment that FantasyPros is known for.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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1. Week 14 Quarterback Dilemmas

Discussion:

• Josh Allen or Dak Prescott in Guillotine League?
  • Erickson firmly supports Allen:

    “As a Guillotine winner and FantasyPros’s biggest winner on the planet, I would go with Josh Allen.” [08:22]

  • Consensus: Despite Prescott's presence on waivers, Allen offers greater upside.

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2. Dynasty Trades and Outlooks

Topic: Trading for Jacoby Brissette (Dynasty, Superflex)

• Listener traded for Brissette using a late 2023 3rd.
  • Erickson approves pushing chips in for the playoffs:

    “People hug those first round picks… I think that’s a great return for a guy that's got a decent shot at starting next year in your playoff run.” [04:23]

  • Welsh agrees, emphasizing the minimal value of late rookie picks and Brissette's short-term value for the Cardinals (and possibility of Kyler Murray being traded in the offseason).
  • On Brissette’s future:

    “He’s not a franchise quarterback… maybe you draft a QB early, bring Jacoby back, let him start for a year.” [06:09]

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3. Running Back Quandaries & Injury Updates

Topic: Concerns about the Chargers’ RB Bucky Hampton’s Week 14 return

• Erickson expresses initial hesitation due to Herbert’s injury and offense uncertainty:

  “My confidence level is low, low… RB2 to a high-end RB3.” [09:57]

• Welsh agrees, sees a split workload with Kymani Vidal, especially in Hampton’s first week back.
• Pivot after Jalen Carter of the Eagles is announced as out for MNF:

  “That does change things pretty substantially… Now I’m actually kind of pivoting a little more towards Hampton as an upside play.” [13:20]

  • The Eagles defense is much weaker against the run without Carter.
• Rank Context:

  “I had him [Hampton] at 24, you at 26 before the Carter news.” [14:42]

  • Both agree: With Carter out, Hampton’s upside surpasses comparable options like Jalen Warren.

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4. Wide Receiver Streamers and Drop Decisions

Topic: Is Brian Thomas Jr. droppable for AD Mitchell or Jaden Higgins?

• Erickson is in favor of moving on:

  “I have AD Mitchell above Brian Thomas, in a different tier for this week.” [21:52]

• Welsh on Brian Thomas Jr.:

  “Can he put together back-to-back good weeks? Right now, you don’t feel confident.” [22:12]

• Both recommend dropping Thomas for a more promising streamer if necessary, especially for the playoffs.

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5. Playoff Defense Stashing Strategy

Listener Query: Picking up defenses for playoff weeks (16 & 17)

• Welsh highlights priority: target defenses facing weak offenses like the Titans/Raiders; Chiefs and Lions both hold value but prioritize soft matchups. [46:26]
• Erickson assures listeners they're "ahead of the game" for preparing multiple weeks out, especially with available bench spots.

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6. Start/Sit Debates: Flex and Receiver Depth

Topic: Manangai vs. Deebo Samuel in Flex, 0.2 points per rush, PPR

• Welsh goes Manangai, citing matchup and injury news:

  “Bears running attack has run on everybody… Manangai would be the play for me.” [18:46]

• On defenses with similar choices (Bucs, Eagles):

  "You could start the worst defense in the NFL against the Raiders and you’ll get pressure.” [20:11]

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7. Playoff Roster Optimization

• Dropping Joe Burrow?
  • Both hosts agree holding an elite QB is critical, don’t drop Burrow just for another WR. Prevents opponent upgrades and offers streamer flexibility. [24:25]
• Receiver Depth:
  • If Brian Thomas and AD Mitchell/Mechie have similar floor/ceilings, lean toward the upside (Mitchell).

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8. Injury/Usage Impact

• QB Justin Herbert’s Impact on Chargers’ Offense and RB Value:

  “Are you gonna be looking to scramble and run around when your hand is exposed? … They’ll look to protect Herbert with more runs and quick passes, which boosts short passing to RBs like Hampton but limits Herbert’s own rushing.” [26:41]

• Hampton may benefit in the passing game; avoid trusting WR Quentin Johnston.

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9. Tight End Streamer Choices

• Juwan Johnson vs. Ertz (No Daniels for Arizona):

  “Go with Juwan Johnson… If Daniels was active [for Arizona], that would change things, but Johnson is the play.” [29:55]

• Brenton Strange over Travis Kelce?

  “Not crazy. Colts are horrible against tight ends, and Strange’s usage is strong… the ranks support starting Strange as a legit top 5-6 play this week.” [42:03]

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10. Miscellaneous Quick Hit Q&A/Lightning Round

• Kincaid vs. Ron’Gadsden: "Absolute Bengals stank against TEs. Kincaid easily." [53:46]
• Redraft & Dynasty Trade Queries:
  • Example: Amon-Ra St. Brown & Rice for Bucky Irvin & Malik Nabers—both agree it's close, but lean Nabers/Bucky side for a rebuild due to youth and upside. [54:37]
• Flex Start Conundrums: Guests ask about OL-injured players, third-string options, and upside flexes. Hampton consistently presented as a riskier but higher upside play if rostered depth is thin.

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11. Recurring Themes/Banter

• Pickle Debate:
  • Multiple listeners and hosts bantered about opinions on pickles and sandwich toppings.

    “If anybody has followed my work… my heaviest stance of anything is anti-pickle.” – Chris Welsh [07:23]

• Community Engagement:
  • Hosts encourage listeners to join Discord, Twitch, YouTube, and participate in AMAs.
• Q&A Show Format:
  • Questions are led by the audience and answered on the fly, providing candid, up-to-date insight.

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Notable Quotes

• "You could start the worst defense in the NFL against the Raiders… you’ll get pressure." – Chris Welsh [20:11]
• "My confidence [in Bucky Hampton] is low, low… RB2 to a high-end RB3." – Andrew Erickson [09:57]
• "Can he [Brian Thomas Jr.] put together back-to-back good weeks? … You don’t feel confident." – Chris Welsh [22:12]
• "If Joe Burrow scores the most points, then that's my best chance of winning." – Chris Welsh [52:53]
• "We are not asking our clients to be the first experiment on [AI]." – IBM CEO (ad read), [32:57]
• "If you want to go week by week, that’s an approach." – Chris Welsh, on roster churn [23:46]

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Key Timestamps

| Time | Segment & Key Points | |----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:35 | Show intro, live Discord Q&A format explained | | 03:43 | Listener Q1: Jacoby Brissette dynasty trade & Cardinals QB future | | 07:08 | Pickles vs. olives banter, Guillotine league: Allen or Prescott? | | 09:57 | Bucky Hampton injury/game confidence, Herbert’s limited impact | | 13:20 | Eagles DT Jalen Carter injury impact — pivoting to Hampton as upside play | | 14:42 | Updated RB rankings post-injury news | | 21:52 | Drop decisions: Brian Thomas Jr. vs. AD Mitchell/Higgins | | 24:25 | Burrow vs. May (QB strategy for playoffs, holding elite QBs) | | 29:55 | TE streamer: Ertz or Juwan Johnson? (Go Juwan) | | 32:57 | Ad break with notable AI business quote | | 42:03 | Brenton Strange over Travis Kelce as tight end play—logic and matchup | | 46:02 | Playoff defense stashing—Chiefs, Lions, Titans-centric matchups | | 53:46 | Kincaid vs. Gadsden at TE, redraft/dynasty trade values | | 56:17 | Monday flex: McConkey or Hampton? (McConkey) / Jordan Love vs. Herbert? (Love) | | 59:17 | Superflex: Tyrod Taylor vs. Shuck (Tyrod), prop bets chat |

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Tone & Style Recap

The episode is lively, interactive, and community-focused. Welsh and Erickson strike a conversational tone, balancing deep fantasy analysis with warmth and humor (“Pickles are the bomb, pickles are not the bomb, but that’s okay."). Their candid admissions of past hits and misses (“I talked a lot of smack about Joe Burrow and I was very wrong…") humanize their expert advice while ensuring even casual listeners feel welcome in the discussion.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

• This episode is essential listening for managers prepping for the fantasy playoffs—offering tailored advice on trades, waiver wire moves, sit/start debates, and defensive stashing.
• It provides nuanced takes that adjust in real time to breaking NFL news (notably with Jalen Carter’s injury).
• The recurring Q&A format ensures coverage of all common conundrums fantasy managers face during crunch time.
• Listeners will benefit from the broad spectrum of topics and levels tackled: Dynasty, redraft, streaming, and deep bench considerations are all covered.

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Final Takeaways

• Trust elite QBs and don’t drop them, even if streaming is tempting.
• Be proactive with playoff D/ST stashes targeting the weakest opposing offenses.
• Adjust RB/WR ranks dynamically based on late-week injury news—especially at key positions.
• Don’t get sentimental about low-ceiling depth WRs—play for upside and clear roster space as the playoffs approach.
• Engage with the FantasyPros community for the most up-to-date info and comradery—sometimes, the best tip is in the chat.
• And when in doubt, just don't start Tyrod Taylor over Joe Burrow—no matter what!

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For more, subscribe to FantasyPros everywhere podcasts are found, join their Discord at fantasypros.com/chat, and set your playoff lineups for victory!

Transcript

[Chris Welsh]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. The United Airlines app has all the bells and whistles to make flying easier and can save you around 30 minutes at the airport. Get real time flight updates like live countdown clocks to boarding. Even if your screen's locked. Get play by play directions through the airport with personalized maps. And if you want to make a game time decision and go home early or stay longer, there are no fees to change your flight. You get the united [e-mail] app no fees to change your flight. Excludes basic economy applies to flights originating in the United States. Fare differences may apply.

[Andrew Erickson]

What's up friends? And welcome into Fantasy Pros the Fantasy Football Podcast. This is the Extra Point. I am Chris Welch, that is Andrew Erickson and we are with our live audience on our Fantasy Pros Discord. We got a crew that is going to be producing for us. There's no prep except the prep we've done during the week. We don't know what's gonna be in store for us because you the people are gonna produce this show by coming up and asking us questions live on the podcast. Kind of like a radio show. And if we run out of hands and we still got time, we're gonna go to a chat and you can be a part of all of it by going to fantasypros.com chat. We'll talk about it more. But Fantasy Pros Discord meets podcasts meets Andrew Erickson. What's up brother?

[Chris Welsh]

What's going on? Welsh, glad to have you back after your one week hiatus. I did Extra Point with Boggs last week and I'm not sure if you caught the show, but I talked a lot of smack about Joe Burrow and I was very wrong about Joe Burrow. So I said I was gonna take the L. So that's the first thing I'm doing. Addressing the elephant in the room. My Joe Burrow take from last week. The L exactly where ECR was. Yeah, the L offense in the room being wrong about Joe Burrow finished exactly where ECR had him and he was the reason why I didn't finish higher in the accuracy contest. Probably would have been top 10 if I just been like, nope, wisdom of the crowds. Just go with Joe Burrow. ECR would have been fine, but no, had to be Contrarian was wrong. If anything, I got lucky because he didn't score even more fancy. Yeah, because like he could have probably had like an even better game. He had like 18, 19 points. So again, like a good game for fans. Quarterback, not oh my God he just went like 30, like scorched earth, which that might be this week. So definitely on board. Joe Burrow, right? With consensus that Buffalo Bills Bengals game is going to be a scoring bonanza, especially because the weather is not out of control for Buffalo in December. Usually you get some of these games, you think, oh, no, it's going to be ruined. Why didn't they just build a dome for Josh Allen? But no, like, we got a couple flurries here and there. Nothing that's going to stop Joe Burrow and Josh Allen from cooking. So should see a lot of points in that matchup. So looking forward to it.

[Andrew Erickson]

Well, we did the rank show, so I was. I could have guessed if you would have been like, what's the stance Erickson's going to take this week? I would have said it's a Burrow anti Burrow take. That's definitely where it is. I think. I feel like the rank show that we do is like the second step of your narratives for the week. Like, you probably started a little bit with Worm, I think, because you guys did like the trade show or whatever, the predictions and. And then like the rank show is a start of the help of, like, what you're going to be talking about during the week. So make sure you're checking out that. And this is going to be us reacting with you guys. So like I said, we. I'm glad to be back. Totally random actually, too. I was just like, oh, I'm not on the show. Okay, cool. That's easy. No real reason out, maybe to give me a breather. But I'm glad to be back with the people. So let's roll it out. We got a bunch of hands raised with a bunch of our awesome people. So let's jump into it. What do you guys got for us? Kicking it off for the show today is Catalyst. Catalyst. Come on down. What you got?

[Chris Welsh]

Hey, guys, what's up?

[Andrew Erickson]

What up?

[Chris Welsh]

Oh, can you hear me?

[Andrew Erickson]

Yeah, you sound great.

[Chris Welsh]

Okay. Good God. Thank you. So on one of the shows earlier this week, they gave me the advice of trying to trade for Jacoby Brissette for my Dynasty league in a super flex because my only other quarterback at that time or two quarterbacks were May and Rogers. And since like the fall of Pittsburgh's offense is pretty relevant, like, usually around this time of the year, I had to, like, think about another quarterback for my playoff run. So I got Brissette for 2023, a late third for next year. So I just wanted to grade on that.

[Andrew Erickson]

I love that. I mean, I, I'm like a little bit more, I don't know, pissy about like dynasty trades and football and stuff where I'm like, yeah, dude, win it. Proximity. Like people hug those first round picks. Like you can only trade a first round pick if you get Jamar Chase back. Like, I think that's a, that's a great return for a guy that's got a decent shot at starting next year in your playoff run. And I gotta imagine you agree.

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah, especially if it's a third that you're moving. I mean anything outside of, to be honest, like rookie picks, like once you get outside of the top 15, 16 overall, like even like late seconds, yours just don't translate to anything. Right. And especially third. So I know that we all like to be like the most optimistic about I can find the diamond in the rough, the Isaiah Pacheco in the sixth round of my rookie draft. Well, that, that's the point, right? You don't need a third to find that guy. You could have a fourth, a fifth, the sixth, depending on how deep your rookie drafts are. So I think that that's fine to just deal for a player that can help you right now has value right now and has a pretty good rest of season outlook just based on the Cardinals and how their offense is operating. They just want to throw, throw, throw. And dude, I don't think Trey Pantson's coming back like, like this. Like he had a dnp. It seems like he had a relapse in his type of injury or so. I think if it's going to be the Zoman Knight in Michael Carter show, I think it just means more drop backs for Jacoby Brissette and looks like Harrison might miss again, which means Michael Wilson back to 18 targets a game.

[Andrew Erickson]

Do you think that the Cardinals are going to trade Kyler Murray in the off season and then resign? Because I believe Jacoby's only on a one year. If I remember correctly, I could be wrong. But do you think they would bring Jacoby back and get rid of Kyler Murray next year?

[Chris Welsh]

Definitely they're going to get rid of Kyler. I think Jacoby. It might depend on what they do with their offensive coordinator because Jacob Drew Petsing, he has a relationship with Jacoby that goes back to Cleveland. I think he's part of the reason why Jacoby ended up signing with, with Arizona. I don't think Jacoby signed with Arizona because he thought, yeah, well, I'm gonna take over the QB1 job because Kyler's gonna lose it. I don't think that was the reason why he signed in Arizona. It's probably just because, like, weather's nice or taught there and got a good deal. He knows the offensive coordinator, the coaching staff. So I think it makes sense. If they're going to draft a quarterback, I don't know what they're going to do at quarterback. I mean, Jacoby's not answer like he's not a franchise quarterback.

[Andrew Erickson]

Well, I would say I think, I think the answer is you draft a quarterback early and you bring Jacoby back for another year.

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah.

[Andrew Erickson]

And maybe I'd give him a two year deal, to be honest with you, knowing that, hey, you're going to get to start this year and then you're going to be the backup next year and you're going to get a nice little bag. And I think that's the play. And I think, and I do think Kyler Murray is gone after this year. I've been saying that for quite a while, honestly. All right, Tim. Tim B. Sup?

[Chris Welsh]

Sup.

[Andrew Erickson]

Did. Come on down, Tim. There we go.

[Chris Welsh]

All right, you guys hear me?

[Andrew Erickson]

Okay, we got you, Tim. What's up, dude?

[Chris Welsh]

All right, first of all, pickles also gross olives. Oh, gross.

[Andrew Erickson]

Oh, both of them.

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah.

[Andrew Erickson]

We didn't even realize we were piggybacked on the twitch that was going on. And apparently there was a heavy pickle conversation. And if anybody has followed my work for a long time, they know my heaviest stance of anything is anti pickle. Which it's a tough one because the pickle lovers of the world are usually pretty. They're pretty loud. Erickson said, don't mind pickles, hate olives. I have no problem. But Tim, you are against both, so that's hater on both. I have no problem with that.

[Chris Welsh]

I'm against both. And my wife is one of those pickle advocates, so. Oof. Ooh.

[Andrew Erickson]

Rough household. That's like Michigan. Michigan and Buckeye fan in the same house. Pickle and non pickle. That's rough.

[Chris Welsh]

All right.

[Andrew Erickson]

What you got, Tim?

[Chris Welsh]

A couple questions. In my Guillotine league, I have Josh Allen at quarterback and Dak Prescott is on the wire. Would you start Prescott over Allen this week?

[Andrew Erickson]

I would go Allen as a Guillotine winner and fantasy pros is the biggest winner on the planet. I would go with Josh Allen. So you definitely want to listen to me.

Okay, perfect.

[Chris Welsh]

And then same league, ppr, would you start Jameson Williams or Jalen Waddle?

[Andrew Erickson]

Jameson Williams. Jalen Waddle. Go Erickson.

[Chris Welsh]

Jameson Williams. Yeah.

[Andrew Erickson]

Quietly. Oh, you're so Quiet. Jameson Williams.

[Chris Welsh]

Whisper it. There's a question I'm not happy about answering.

[Andrew Erickson]

I did. I didn't set the rules. I'm rusty. I wasn't here last week. Didn't set the rules. No Thursday questions. You're right. I could see it on your face now. Got it. They got them.

[Chris Welsh]

Disappointed.

[Andrew Erickson]

Very disappointed. Listen, not mad. We're just disappointed that anyone would ask.

[Chris Welsh]

A Thursday to take advantage of us because we're trying to be nice and not say no to answering questions.

[Andrew Erickson]

But it's a good point.

[Chris Welsh]

I respect the rules.

[Andrew Erickson]

Gotta respect the Thursday Bobby. Bobby's in the house with no Thursday question. Because he's a good boy. What's up, Bobby?

[Chris Welsh]

No Thursday question. But I do have to mention pickles are bomb. I don't know what you're talking about.

[Andrew Erickson]

Really? Are you like a, like the thick, glizzy pickles or are you like a sliced pickle guy?

[Chris Welsh]

Oh, no. Thick, crunchy, juicy.

[Andrew Erickson]

Give it to me. Well. Oh, man. Never go. What's your question?

[Chris Welsh]

All right, on to the business. What's your confidence level in Hampton? I mean, I know it's not too great for the week coming up, but for the future of the playoffs.

[Andrew Erickson]

Okay, so for this, it's a good question. This week, my level of confidence is relatively low. I have been kind of spouting out like I would imagine the. The Chargers are going to try to run a bunch, but you, as stupid as it is. It wasn't a stupid comment, what you said. You said something super smart. But in stupid in my brain, I was like, yeah. I just realized that Herbert really isn't going to be able to move to the right side. He's not going to be able to hand the ball off to the right side. So there might be with the opposite hand, the non throwing hand being broken because he's not going to be able to like hand it off this way. So you might have like different looks on the team trying to pitch, you know, do pitches like they did with, with Aaron Rodgers or, you know, having like delays out of the shotgun. All I'm getting at is like now I kind of feel weird about them running the ball. And I don't think Hampton's on a, on a full, a full run this week, regardless of how he's going. So my confidence level is like low, low. Running back two to a high end, running back three. Erickson, do you feel different?

[Chris Welsh]

No, I think that the whole Chargers offense, you kind of feel lukewarm at best. Right. So many receivers that you're trying to figure out matchup's terrible against the Philadelphia Eagles. And we saw how the Eagles got beat last week against the run. Okay, we're going to see some volume. And the thing is just Kymani Vidal just completely go away. I don't think so because he was really good for the most part, like filling in for Hampton. Like, he had a lot of monster games. And I think the Chargers again, they drafted Hampton and they signed Naji Harris. Like they wanted to have a two running back room didn't end up working that way because of all the injuries that hit to their backfield. So I don't think that Videl is going to be like totally supplanted, especially in Hampton's first game back. I think that this for, if you're a Hampton manager, you're hoping, okay, he plays, he looks healthy, looks explosive, Maybe is like 50 50, but like has the 55% of the workload over Vidal and we expect it to grow. And then you start him with more confidence next week in the fantasy playoffs.

[Andrew Erickson]

There's, is there no Bucky scenario for you? There's no, but you know, where they're like, hey, listen, Bucky's going to be on a limited snaps. And then all of a sudden Bucky was just like ballistic and got. Because I agree with you though, I don't think Vidal just like goes away with this. But you don't think there's a Bucky in his future.

[Chris Welsh]

Not, not this week. I, I, again, I liked Bucky a lot last week. I, I don't really feel the same with, with Hampton because Hampton is a less established player. I know he was a first round pick, but Bucky had it all of last year with this coaching staff, with the head coach to, hey, I'm the guy when I'm healthy. And I'd also say, yes, Sean Tucker was good for a couple games, but Rashad White didn't like take the job and run off with it. I thought Videl, like all like his overall body of work was probably better than Rashad White and Sean Tucker, but they did. So I think the Chargers kind of feel like, hey, we still want to get Vidal evolved a little bit here. But then you also go back to the Herbert injury thing again, if Herbert wasn't hurt, maybe I'd feel different. And if the Chargers had not a terrible offensive line, maybe I'd also feel different. But those things are also true. So I think that I'm willing to maybe miss a monster game from Hampton his first game back, which is, I don't think any guarantee, and I don't feel nearly as great about it as I felt like with Bucky last week. And if it just means that he's going to be healthy in the fantasy playoffs, then I'm willing to wait another week, probably. Yep.

[Andrew Erickson]

I mean, I kind of. With you on the take. One interesting note, Eagles Jalen Carter is out for Monday's game. He's undergoing a procedure.

On both his shoulders, so.

[Chris Welsh]

Okay, well, that does change things pretty substantially because we saw again, the one game that Chandler Carter missed, or technically he missed, the Cowboys game. Javante had a monster game. Cam Scatterboo, when he faced the Eagles, they didn't have Jalen Carter. He had a monster game. So now I'm actually kind of pivoting a little bit more towards Hampton as an upside play. Again, the floor is a lot of question marks based on the help of the quarterback, and all the things are kind of listed out. But now you get a scenario where this Eagles defense, if it's really that bad against the run without Jalen Carter. What we saw last week, Greg Roman has shown in the past that, hey, I'm willing to let it rip with the run game with an injured quarterback. So now I'm probably a little bit more open towards it actually being a Bucky scenario. I'm not trying to change my stance, like, on the fly like that, but that is a significant injury. That matters a lot. It does with Jalen Carter.

[Andrew Erickson]

That's why I brought it up.

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah. The interior linchpin of that defense. I know that this is the first injury report we're getting. Right. Because they play on Monday night. Yeah. So. No, I'm glad you brought that up.

[Andrew Erickson]

What was your rank prior to the Jalen Carter? Did you say like or even vicinity? You don't even have to give me, like, exact, because I think I had him at, like, 26 prior to knowing about the.

[Chris Welsh]

I had him 20, 24.

[Andrew Erickson]

Okay. So with this injury, Jalen Warren or Hampton?

[Chris Welsh]

I think Hampton is probably more upside than Jalen Warren does. I don't like the Steelers offense.

[Andrew Erickson]

So that. That's actually decently up for you then.

[Chris Welsh]

Well.

I. I think, too, with Monday night being when o' Mary and Hampton is going to play, I guess you're gonna have to make that decision. Yeah, that's tough. I think. No, but, like, do. Do you think my analysis is wrong with saying he has a higher upside than Jalen Warren does?

[Andrew Erickson]

No. No, I don't. I mean, Kenny Gainwell kind of takes away from that a little bit. I think the upside of Ham I think you legitimately have to look at the upside of Hampton similar to Buck Irving and like what Buck Irving did. Like if the Chargers were to get inside the red zone all of a sudden, Hampton might start thriving. Vidal might have got them there and then Hampton kind of takes that. So I don't. I think the upside is there. I agree with you for sure.

Come and be a part of the show. You can ask great questions. Like I believe that was Tim. You don't have to have the best takes because Tim didn't on Pickles, but you can have great questions and you can be a part of these shows. On the Fantasy Pros Discord fantasypros.com chat sign free come and hang out. Then you just have to have a Fantasy Pros account, just a free account. Join up. You can hang out and be a part of shows. This is a Discord chat that becomes a podcast. Me and Erickson are here every Tuesday, Thursday at 2pm Eastern. We've also got a couple other offerings on the first and third Tuesday of every month. Worm Fits Boggs. There's a combination of them and who knows of what else is out there. So come and be a part of the community. There's AMAs, there's, there's more. Fantasypros.com chat fantasypros.com chat Nick Lauren Nick, what's up? Nick was concerned about his service, so hopefully we got Nick early enough that he can jump in. What's up Nick?

[Chris Welsh]

Hey guys, appreciate you taking the time. I'm I sent my questions in the chat as well, but I'm just kind of curious. This week I have like 0.2 points per rush but also PPR. Do you think I should go with Debo and the flex or menung guy then? The other question is more like playoff defense related. I have the Bucks in Philly for one that I'm locked in in the playoffs and I'm just wondering obviously with the Carter news is Philly's still the move in Week 15 against the Raiders and kind of beyond that I was kind of hyped for the Bucks over the playoffs. I don't know still as in on them curious what you guys think. I listed some of the available ones as well. There's you know, guys like Atlanta or the Giants against the Vikings or like week two of the playoffs or Buffalo against Cleveland, New England against Baltimore. Those kind of options are available.

[Andrew Erickson]

Okay. We got you Nick. His service a little spotty there so we can but you had the first Question is, with a fifth of a point per rush attempt, does that do anything for you? Deboer Mananga. I kind of lean. I mean, Minanga's a little bit banged up. If Mononga plays and they give a little bit of like a health bill positive, I think I would lean still. Manangai but what does that do for you? Erickson?

[Chris Welsh]

What? Manangai My lineup. Not Debo. Samuel. I think that I'm getting a lot of this. Commander's is a trap game. Again, emotional loss in overtime. Prime time. Mariota, which is actually the right way to pronounce his name.

[Andrew Erickson]

It's actually. Well, there. There is one caveat. It actually was Mariota. It's the mar. The Mario versus Mario was. And all the jokes aside, because it was so ridiculous, because of how enunciated the T was is why everybody on the planet was like, what the hell's going on? But the real key from Marcus was the mar. So Mariota was so Mario. So you can say, I'm gonna say Mariota because enunciating the T makes me want to put my head through a wall. But the mar is what we want to focus on. So. But please go on.

[Chris Welsh]

Super Mariota.

[Andrew Erickson]

Yeah, not super Mario.

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah, yeah. Not Mario Mario. Super Mariota. I. I think that this might be a trap game for the Commanders. A little bit on the road against the Vikings. The Vikings defense kind of boomer bust, but Terry back if they're not throwing 50 times, I'm not sure Debo's going to see as much volume as he saw last week and was productive. So I like manang guy. The Bears running attack has been able to run the ball on basically everybody. And talking about defensive line injuries, I know you mentioned Jalen Carter, Devonte Wyatt. He got put on injury reserve for the packers after the Thanksgiving game and some pretty stark splits. This is from next gen stats. I'm doing this off the cuff, but basically when teams ran away from his side, they were averaging over 5 yards carry. So that matters pretty substantially for the Bears who. I mean, it really hasn't even mattered who they're playing. They can run the ball on anybody. Just Ben Johnson is scheming it up so well. So my Nangai, I think he scored in four straight games as well. His red zone equity, as long as his health is fine, which will get more information. This isn't the first time he's been on the injury report either, so I. I think he'll probably be okay. I know Swift has also been on the age report a Couple times this year. So I think that Manangai would be the play for me. And then for the defenses, I. I think kind of overthinking it just a tad. It doesn't matter. Like, and you could start the worst defense of the NFL against the Raiders. And they're going to get pressure on Genus. Like, they just. The offensive line is just so bad for Las Vegas and all the options.

[Andrew Erickson]

That we're given are, like, bad defenses.

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah.

[Andrew Erickson]

So.

[Chris Welsh]

And I like the Bucks too. Like, the Bucks have a great schedule rest of the season, so I know I have them in a couple leagues where I stash them as my playoff defense. So I think that you're fine with running between Buccaneers and Eagles.

[Andrew Erickson]

I agree. Tcb. TCB in the house. Premium Member Fantasy Bros. Discord.

[Chris Welsh]

Sup? Hey, first of all, my pickle hot take is that I hate them on burgers, but I love them by themselves. Like, I would rather just have like a whole dill pickle, but, like, you put it on a burger, can't stand it.

[Andrew Erickson]

That's interesting. I have like a. An opposite take of, like, tomatoes. Like, put tomatoes on, like, a sandwich or something, and I'm like, let's go. But like, eating a tomato, like, sliced up tomato. I'm. That's not. I'm not a fan of, like, tomatoes without a product with it. So that's interesting take. Okay. I don't. Seth and DBRO completely just incepted our episode here. Just pickle straight in. But I appreciate your take.

[Chris Welsh]

What do you got?

[Andrew Erickson]

What else you got? Tcb.

[Chris Welsh]

All right, so I am basically guaranteed to make the playoffs. So this week isn't super relevant for me, but want to make sure my roster is set up as best as possible for the playoffs. So.

Just two parts real quick. On the receiver side.

I have Brian Thomas. Is he droppable? There's guys like Jaden Higgins, A.D. mitchell. You know, I don't know if there's somebody out there who you think would be worthy of dropping BTJ for.

[Andrew Erickson]

Yeah, let's stop there. Let's stop there for a second. I think is like an overarching thing. I think he is droppable.

There's a part of not wanting to probably drop him, you know, for if things start to click, but it's just never happening. But I'll tell you this. I have Adnai Mitchell above Brian Thomas, like, in a different tier for this week. So, like, I just. I understand why you could hold on to him, but I am okay with cutting Brian Thomas for Adnai Mitchell. Erickson, would you do such a thing?

[Chris Welsh]

I think I would. The thing with Brian Thomas Jr. That is concerning for me is can he put together back to back good weeks? Right. Because right now you don't really feel confident playing him. So he has to show you something one week and then you're like, okay, let me put him in my lineup. He doesn't have any good games back to back all year. So I'm concerned that it's one thing to have him as okay, he's my wide receiver. 4. I just need someone to play versus I'm starting him in my fantasy championships because he's coming off a good game and then he face plants because that's kind of what he's been doing most of the season. And you look at the schedule, week 16, he's at Denver. That's terrible. Week 17 at Indianapolis and by then SAS guard is probably back for the Colts. So are you going to start either of those weeks? If the answer is no, then get this guy off my roster.

[Andrew Erickson]

I'd also argue that Brian Thomas and Adam Mitchell have about the same floor and Adaine Mitchell has a higher upside right now, especially after last week. So that's why I would make that move.

[Chris Welsh]

The only thing with Mitchell is Garrett Wilson can still come back and that would significantly hamper what he would do on a week to week basis. So just if, if it took him.

[Andrew Erickson]

Out of the lineup more than Mechie. I'm not sure that Mechi might be the one that gets smacked a little bit like because they're still throwing the ball to Met you just he can't catch every week. Just someone's not catching them. But that's a good point. Yeah, it's a good point.

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah. I just want to layer in it. I mean it may not, it may not be like Metchie is the answer to your Brian Thomas Jr. Problem. Like that's the only thing I'm just trying to add here that this week, you know, if I gotta play someone this week, I want to play Mitchell. If you want to go week by week, that that's an approach.

[Andrew Erickson]

I would and I, I think going week by week. Yeah. Is definitely. Was there another question?

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah, it's a 1 QB league, but I have both Drake May and Joe Burrow. Well, obviously I'm starting Burrow this week, but when it gets to the playoffs, like should I drop burrow for one of those guys? Like am I ever gonna start burrow over May or should I keep rostering both guys?

[Andrew Erickson]

I would hold on to Burrow because a. You could play elite streaming matchups be the other that like the idea of dropping Burrow to keep Brian Thomas makes me sick. And then see you don't throw back an elite quarterback into the pool for someone else to pick up and play against you.

[Chris Welsh]

So yeah, that's. I would be too. Again, someone wants to play Brian Thomas Jr. Against me, be my guest. Yeah, I don't, I don't want it.

[Andrew Erickson]

Brian Thomas beats me because I cut him. Like okay, like that's fine. But yeah, I don't want to throw Joe Burrow going out against, you know, whatever the Steeler I have. I don't know what the matchup is.

[Chris Welsh]

I would almost rather. I get it and I would like I'd rather start Drake May every single week. And even if Joe Burrow outscores him every single week, I would still feel better about that than throwing Burrow back into the player pool and having him his points score for somebody else again. If he's going to be scoring points, at least it's on my bench and not on someone else's starting roster.

[Andrew Erickson]

Dude, can you believe in a 16 team keeper league I acquired. Now a little caveat. It's a three sport league so there's multiple sports. But I acquired Drake May for a NFL second round pick and I believe an MLB second round pick. So for all intents and purposes, not a lot. I got Drake May in a 16 team league when I was rostering Aaron Rodgers. Isn't life good?

Tell me. Life's good. That's a great trade. When you trade for Drake May for nothing. It's sweet. It's sweet. Baby Billy, Baby Billy, did you pay all your scientists and your people?

You're taking no money. Taking no money whatsoever. You do it because you're selfless.

[Chris Welsh]

Yep. All right. What's up, Baby Billy, I got a couple questions and maybe like an observation, I guess about Monday night. So I have Hampton because I got Henderson on by and my backup is Corum and Algier. So I'm gonna hope that Hampton goes off. But I was wondering if Herbert might take off running more with the hand injury to maybe open up some space because he can't, you know, stay back there with the bad offensive line.

[Andrew Erickson]

I think he runs less. I think he runs less, to be honest with you, because you're, you're more susceptible to like, you know, know, two defenders coming in and smacking that hand. That's my take. Do you feel different, Erickson?

[Chris Welsh]

I think the only way that they can help protect Justin Herbert is to obviously run the football and just quick passes right where you can't. You're not putting him in a situation where he has to then worry about protecting the football, but protecting his hand. I mean, put yourself in Justin Herbert shoes. Are you gonna be looking to scramble and run around when your hand is like exposed? Right. Because you're. You're protecting the football, not your hand, which is on the other side. So. And everyone on the defense knows you're playing with a broken hand.

[Andrew Erickson]

Oh, helmet. Helmets are going straight into the side. They're just going down to the hand.

[Chris Welsh]

Like they're gonna hit. They're gonna try to hit his hand like. So it's a really tough stage. I'm again just like Arba, Greg Roman, like they got their cut work out for them.

[Andrew Erickson]

But another benefit would be Hampton in the short passes. He could potentially be more involved as long as he's out there. So that's our take. What else?

[Chris Welsh]

If anything, it's like just Quinn John, not Quinn Johnson in any way, shape or form.

[Andrew Erickson]

No, never was.

[Chris Welsh]

You could. You could barely trust him when Herbert was healthy and functioning. This is just a no, no fly zone for.

[Andrew Erickson]

Agreed.

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah, I was just wondering that because, you know, I figure he won't run like Jackson Darton, just get smacked every time. I thought he might be a little smarter and take some slides if he. But my questions were. So somebody dropped Mike Evans and luckily I picked them up and I'm on the verge of the playoffs and I have Olave as my starter and then my other receivers would be Devontae Smith, Watson, Pittman Worthy, and I believe that's it. And I could put one as a receiver, two and one as a flex.

Am I starting Evans if he's good to go this weekend?

[Andrew Erickson]

I'm not. But I would want to play him next week. I think it'll be limited, but it might be a touchdown. I think he just had too good of options. If you can throw Olave, Devonta Smith and I think he had one other in there. I just rather play it a little bit safer and then let Evan. I hope Evans is active this week and I think they'll do exactly what they did with Godwin. Limited snaps. Let him get that out of his system and then next week he can start to go. So that's my approach.

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah. Because if I make the playoffs then. Sorry, go ahead. No, no, I was going to say with Welsh. It's just we have a litmus test of guys coming back, the receivers. Godwin. Right. Came back from an injury, they slow played him. It would probably make sense that they do the same thing with their other veteran wide receiver coming off. Again, not the same type of injury, but still an injury regardless. I mean Mike Evans, I think you're hoping he just does the one, one, one thing where he has one catch for one yard that just happens to be a touchdown. Right.

[Andrew Erickson]

But it's not enough to warrant putting him over those other guys that you had. Did you say there was was there one more?

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah, I'm just hoping I make the playoffs so then I could use them next week when the playoffs start and that could help me repeat. But my last question was I have Erts and Juwan Johnson as tight end because I've been streaming. Who would you lean towards this weekend?

[Andrew Erickson]

Juwan for me? John yeah, especially if Olave is out even more so but if not I I'm still Juwan Johnson. If not if Jane Daniels was active that activates Ertz. It's like a Power Ranger. You know, it's like and he's good to go. But you know, I mean Mario did nice this week, but he's not going to have 50 pass attempts every single week. So Go with Juwan Johnson and go with My Playbook. Sync your league instantly to my playbook and get customized advice on how to manage your team throughout the season and or playoffs. You can see your league's available players, power rankings and more for free. Are they playing Might be one of the most valuable tools you could find in the playoffs. You can get a report and the latest game day availability for all the injured players on your team. If you're premium you can unlock all kind of other helpful waiver trade. Not probably not trade now but lineup and league analysis tools and just to play it extra safe, you can set auto start to put an optimal lineup in each week with Autopilot Sinker League and dominate every week of the season with my [e-mail] myplaybook or on the Fantasy Pros app.

[Chris Welsh]

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[Andrew Erickson]

Supplies last Zyn After Dark Bring on the night.

[Chris Welsh]

This product contains nicotine.

[Andrew Erickson]

Nicotine is an addictive chemical. PCs powered by Snapdragon X Elite processors are made to go the distance with blazing fast performance, next level efficiency and multi day battery life. Snapdragon processors are built to tackle it all, from highlight reel editing to intense player research. So you can be at the top of your game wherever the day takes you. Learn [e-mail] laptops Snapdragon, the heart of your PC. Battery life varies significantly based on device settings, usage, and other factors. Hello. Hello. I'm Malcolm Gladwell, host of the podcast smart talks with IBM. I recently sat down with IBM's chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna, and I asked him, how can companies use AI to its fullest potential to create smarter business? My one advice to them, pick areas you can scale. Don't pick the shiny little toys on the side. For example, if anybody has more than 10% of what they had for customer service 10 years ago, they're already five years behind. If anybody is not using AI to make their developers who write software 30% more productive today with the goal of being 70% more productive.

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah. Wow.

[Andrew Erickson]

So we are not asking our clients to be the first experiment on it.

[Chris Welsh]

We say you can leverage what we did.

[Andrew Erickson]

We are happy to bring out all our learnings, including what needs to change in the process. Because the biggest change is not technology. Technology is getting people to accept that there's a different way to do things. To listen to the full conversation, visit IBM.com smarttalks.

Father man. Father man does whatever a father man can. What's up?

[Chris Welsh]

What's going on, guys? How y' all doing?

[Andrew Erickson]

We're doing good, dude. Get closer to the mic. You're far.

[Chris Welsh]

A little bit better. Yeah. What's up? All right. Sorry about that. Hey, first off, I ain't gonna be as crucial as Tim was, man, but pickles in the bomb.

[Andrew Erickson]

Pickles are the bomb, and pickles are not the bomb, but. Okay. That's okay. We.

[Chris Welsh]

We're.

[Andrew Erickson]

It's. It's more Team Pickle, and it's. That is like. That's the world. That's understandable.

Oh, Father man, we're having a. You know, try to get, like, real. You're, like. You're really breaking up here. I want to get your question, but we're having a really hard time hearing you.

Oh, brother. We don't got it. We don't got it. See if you can fix the thing. I'm sorry. Or put it in the chat and we'll answer your question. Sorry, Father man, you were. You were rough. I assume there wasn't a Thursday question in there, but that was. That was rough to hear, but we'll. All right, he's typing. We'll get to the next one and then we'll go back to father man in the meantime.

[Chris Welsh]

Kyle.

[Andrew Erickson]

Kyle.

[Chris Welsh]

Hey, how's it going boys?

[Andrew Erickson]

What's up, Kyle?

[Chris Welsh]

I am, I am Team Pickle, but I am anti Team Onion, so also.

[Andrew Erickson]

Very, very anti onion. I am as well.

[Chris Welsh]

I mean I like powder and stuff like that, but like the onion crunch, the gross.

[Andrew Erickson]

Couldn't agree more.

[Chris Welsh]

All right, so one question is I have secured the pretty much everything, but I just want to crush this person so that they. They know I'm dominant, I assume.

[Andrew Erickson]

Are they, are they your best friend or your biggest enemy? It's one of them.

[Chris Welsh]

Cousin.

[Andrew Erickson]

Ah, okay. Yeah. So family, that's the co manager and.

[Chris Welsh]

The next league that I'm going to ask about.

[Andrew Erickson]

Excellent.

[Chris Welsh]

So yeah, so obviously T got rocked pretty, pretty good in the head the other week and I'm looking for an auto sub possibly. And my options aren't necessarily that great because I kind of traded around a little bit to get CMC to go along with Jonathan Taylor to really get my running backs set. So my options on the bench are gonna be Cooper Cup, Chris Godwin, and then I have Loveland and it's a one point tight end premium at half point ppr. So if he can't go out of those three, would you think that is.

[Andrew Erickson]

A super good question Because I'm a little bit more Godwiny though. If Evans and McMillan are both active, I kind of don't like it, but.

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah, that's where I was.

[Andrew Erickson]

Loveland's a pretty good floor, especially with like a dunes a kind of banged up a little bit. And if you're getting a premium, I think I would lean Loveland in that. What do you think, Erickson?

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah, I would do Loveland if the receivers come back for Tampa Bay. If not, then I would probably play Godwin.

[Andrew Erickson]

Yes, agreed with that. If they're. If both McMillan and Godwin are out or Evans are out, then I'm gonna go with Team Godwin as well. Just because of the target share. What was the other question?

[Chris Welsh]

The other question? In the league I co manage with him, we have gotten really lucky with our drafting and also we're just better than everyone. Our receivers that we have to choose from are Chase Pickens.

It's kind of, kind of a murderous row here. Chase Pickens. Sun God's obviously a little rusty, but that's Thursday question.

[Andrew Erickson]

We don't talk about Thursday. We don't talk about Thursday. Good call.

[Chris Welsh]

AJ Brown is also on the bench and Nico Collins, so. Oh, and we have Rashid Rice in the flex. So yeah, we're. And this is one point ppr. Would you take. So we have right now starting we have Chase Pickens, Rashi and.

AJ Brown. Would you swap out AJ Brown or anyone for.

Nico Collins? Possibly.

[Andrew Erickson]

Erickson does not like Nico Collins this week. I don't hate. But I probably stick AJ Brown with how he's been getting involved. And I don't love how the Texans like we're gone from the days where Nico gets 12 to 15 targets. You know, I mean, it's just like it's Higgins, it's Hutchinson, it's. They're spreading the ball out. Colin still gets like the big force of it, but I think I'd probably go. It's a tougher matchup. I would go with A.J. brown in that spot. I'm guessing you're the same Erickson.

[Chris Welsh]

No, not actually. I have Nico.

A.J. brown. So does ECR. I mean, use the ranks, right? Like they're there for a reason. I get it's tight, but I think, look, Zaggle's offense is just. It's hard to trust. I know A.J. brown's been bouncing back the last couple weeks, but a lot of mouths to feed still. Nico's still the guy in this chief's offense or excuse me, in this Texans offense. So it's close. But Nico's projected higher. He's higher on ecr. So that's. I'd pick one. That's who I would pick.

[Andrew Erickson]

All right, the father's real quickly pick up because I think father man typed. Who the hell is it? Why am I. Oh, complete upside play. Have.

To win to get in Vale or Shakir full PPR flex spot.

Yeah, I wanna. I kind of want to say Valley, but it's definitely Shakir.

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah, the valet was very.

Someone that has been pumping the. The Vale stock for. For two.

[Andrew Erickson]

Yeah. You don't seem very excited about it. You're like Vale Bailey.

[Chris Welsh]

I was. I was pumped when he had a breakout game last year. But then I re watched the game and it was almost all in the fourth. He had no caption in the first half. Like that kind of scares me when you think, oh, it was all last fourth quarter comeback drive. That concerns me. So it's different. It's. I'd say it changes a little bit if a lot of he's not playing. But look, I get Shakir's super boom bus. But dude, I mean we just talked about at the top, right? This game could. This game could have 70 points. Shakir is inconsistent, but he's by far the most consistent Bills wide receiver. So I know that the Bengals have been good against wide and receiver ones this year. Just really weird quirk. If you just look at, like, matchups and data that the Bengals are good against number one wide receivers, but Shakira plays the slot. So it's probably getting more keon Coleman getting D.J. turner, he gets erased, and we don't really care about that. So I think Shakir is probably going to be the best play.

[Andrew Erickson]

Boom. That's how it rolls. Royalty's about to join. Whether it's Twitch or Discord, you have heard the great Dredis. And Dredis is back. What's up, Dredis?

[Chris Welsh]

Hey, guys. How are you?

[Andrew Erickson]

Peachy, peachy. How are you?

[Chris Welsh]

I'm still a little sick, so you'll have to excuse my voice. I'm glad you're feeling better, Ericson. Thank you. Thank you.

[Andrew Erickson]

Were you guys hanging out? Erickson, did you get everybody sick now?

[Chris Welsh]

My wife got me sick.

[Andrew Erickson]

Really? It's her fault. It's always someone's fault. It's like my kids. It's always their fault. Knock on wood. I am. Probably shouldn't say it. I have not gotten smacked this year. And I. I know. My wife even says she's. And I'm like. I don't know. Like, I feel like it's coming, but I have not got. So. I'm glad you're feeling better. Hope you're feeling better. Dredis, what do you got?

[Chris Welsh]

Definitely anti pickle, by the way. I was being ganged up on on Twitch as the only pickle hater. I can't even eat it if it's touched the pickle. I. I can't.

[Andrew Erickson]

It's disgusting.

[Chris Welsh]

I can't. Chick Fil A puts the pickle on the bun. I can tell. I can't do it.

[Andrew Erickson]

Yeah, agreed.

[Chris Welsh]

Okay, I have two questions. They're just really quick for my flex. If London plays this week or if he doesn't, him, Harvey or Wattle.

[Andrew Erickson]

Well, it's London.

[Chris Welsh]

Sorry, Half ppr.

[Andrew Erickson]

It's London no matter what. If he plays, that's her for sure. If he doesn't play, I'm gonna go waddle over Harvey. What are you gonna do, Erickson?

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah, same for me. Waddle.

[Andrew Erickson]

Okay.

[Chris Welsh]

Really? Even with his like 5, 6 points the last couple.

[Andrew Erickson]

Couple weeks, but jet secondary this week.

[Chris Welsh]

That's true. That's true.

[Andrew Erickson]

I want to say Harvey, but we did this a lot on the RB episode. It's like you want to say Harvey, but he's Just not doing. It's like we're not getting any big explosive stuff. Like he now has the opportunity and it's like where's the volume, where the big plays. It's just they're not using him in that capacity. So I would. I just rather the number one receiver against the jets defense, but there you go.

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah, thanks. The second one is am I crazy for wanting to start Strange against the always giving Colts to tight ends over Kelsey and Houston?

[Andrew Erickson]

No, I. I think in the tight end episode, which I have no idea if it's even aired, Erickson, I think you may have presented this exact thing that you like Strange. Wasn't it you that like Strange over Kelsey?

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah, I like him a lot this week. Colts have been really bad against tight ends. And something I was reading when I was writing up some of the betting stuff is he's like by far the most targeted receiver on the Jaguars against zone coverage. And what do you think the Colts are going to do without their number one cornerback? Play more zone coverage. Right. You can't play, man, when you don't have the right personnel to do so. So they're playing more zone. You're going to see more checkdowns underneath passes to Brent Strange and he's been kind of a monster since he came back the last couple weeks. So. Tough, brutal matchup for Kelsey down offensive lineman for the Chiefs. Yeah, I would place range.

[Andrew Erickson]

Yeah, it's a great. It's a great question. Traders and thank you for the. Thank you for the. Thank you. Yeah, that was. I mean, he's 5 in ECR this week, so it's like a. It's not crazy to be putting Brenton Strange in your lineups, but I don't think Kel Ike, I don't think Kelsey belongs in the tier of like, you can't ask the question of. That's McBride, that's Bowers. Like, you just don't. You don't even think about anybody else. Kelsey's in that tier of like Ferguson or when Gadsden was getting hot. It's like they're fine. But if you. If you like the matchup, you can 100% go in favor of Britain Strange and the ranks are definitely supporting of it. You guys have heard us talk a lot about Pickles today. That is a come off of our twitch and make sure you're being a part of our twitch. You can check out. We've got a bevy of shows, so if you want to know what the hell's going on on some podcasts here or there we go. We got an entire universe, a fantasy pros universe you can be a part of. And sometimes the Twitch stuff doesn't get to the podcast so you want to make sure to be there. One that is a podcast. Out of bounds. Me, Boggs and Pizza Pia every single Monday, 2pm Eastern. Be there, be square. It's a great show. Kind of recapping the weekend. Me and Boggs. Two hours we've been doing on Madden 12pm Eastern. There might be some time changes on that but we're there on Tuesdays. Great game this week. I beat Bogman. It's fantastic. Best game we've had with me winning Seth and Debro. That's where the pickle stuff came from. They're here Thursdays and Fridays at 1 and 2pm Eastern. That carried over into this show. We've got the fantasy I believe the Fantasy dude also does the Thursday night stuff. We've got the Sunday stream at 12pm Eastern. Check it out. Just follow Twitch TV fantasypros. Don't want to miss any of it. Be a part of the action. Be a part of the fun. All right, little where are we at here? Little lightning round. Ish. We we started a little bit later so probably go a couple more.

What is Mantakia? I say that right.

Okay, good. 95% I did that. What's up?

[Chris Welsh]

Nothing much. I have two questions. One of it is theory. So I have a lot of leagues that I am locked in for buys. So I'm trying to get ahead for defenses for 16 and 17 and I am really hammering Casey for week 16 against Tennessee and then 17 for New Orleans against Tennessee. But I also have Detroit available in a couple of them. They're going against the Vikings. Do you have any preference on defenses for week 16 and 17 and kind of clearing my bench where I have a little extra like a fourth or fifth wide receiver and I'm just wanting to dump them to get these defenses lined up.

[Andrew Erickson]

That's a great this has been maybe one of the most popular questions we have had in the last like week and a half. I feel like in every live there are like every fourth question is about not the coming week's defense. It is about the preparation for week 17, 16 or 17 that are throwing in there. So what do you think Erickson? What's your take on a the theory idea? And Manteke, I think you got all your question and if not let me know. I can bring you back up. But I think your theory was holding the multiple defenses in preparation, getting running Some of the bench. And then what do you think about the names itself, Malik?

[Chris Welsh]

The Chiefs against the Titans. I think, as he said that, that they were playing. So that. I mean, that seems pretty obvious to me. That's a defense you want to have. I would say the Lions against the Vikings is okay. That's a road game, I believe. And we already saw the Vikings beat the Lions already this year, so that's like just kind of one thing to kind of keep in mind.

But, yeah, I think you're ahead of the game here. I would say, like, don't like over think it a little bit. You know what the good matchups are right at this point. We don't need to reinvent the wheel. Who's playing the Titans, who are playing these terrible offenses? Who's playing the Raiders? Who's playing these terrible offensive lines? Those are the defenses that you want to target. So, yeah, I think that they're set up well here.

[Andrew Erickson]

And then I'm revi. Inviting you back up, Mantica, because you had one more question. So accept it. There we go.

[Chris Welsh]

Perfect. So I have one league that I'm in the playoffs for right now, and I need to win to solidify it. But I have the bye week from God, an awful where I have four of my main players on five. So I have a situation where I have marks in my flex, which I don't love. I have Hampton in my IR.

[Andrew Erickson]

And.

[Chris Welsh]

Then I also have London, who's injured, and I'm trying to decide if I need to hold out for marks. They also have, I think, Franklin and Godwin on the waiver wire. And I have Tesla that I have a weird thing. But we're not talking about Thursdays. Yep. But I'm just trying to. I need kind of a high flyer on my flex, and I'm. I don't want to have a dud with Marks on Sunday night.

[Andrew Erickson]

Well, I think. I think Hampton would probably be the option I think we're looking at. But do you have to cut someone like Marks to bring him up? Is that the problem?

[Chris Welsh]

No, I would. I probably cut Henry. I'm holding Henry because I have May, so I was doing a little stack because I lost Craft earlier.

[Andrew Erickson]

And you have another tight end.

[Chris Welsh]

I do.

[Andrew Erickson]

I have.

[Chris Welsh]

I have Duan Johnson in which they're pretty similar right now, so it wouldn't be that big of a drop if I dropped him.

[Andrew Erickson]

Yeah, I would cut one of the tight ends and I would bring up Hampton as the flex. On the upside. That's. I think that's what I would end up doing. I mean, there's some decent. Sounds like a couple of decent guys in the wire. What do you think about that, though, Erickson?

[Chris Welsh]

I mean, Hampton's going to play this week. They said he's playing so well.

[Andrew Erickson]

Oh, did they? I mean, the last thing I saw is, like, he is positioned. He's looking good to play. I didn't hear official, like, he's in.

[Chris Welsh]

I. I'm. I mean, I guess he's technically on the injured reserve, but I mean, the expectation is he's playing this week, and I would definitely play him over Woody Marks. Like, wouldn't think twice about that. And to your point about dropping Hunter Henry, it feels really weird after he's had, like, these two, like, really strong games, but he's on a bye week. This week they play Buffalo. Week 15. Buffalo is one of the toughest matchups for tight ends. And as much as I love Hunter Henry, he's not of a level of tight end that can, like, rise above it. So you're almost kind of like dropping a landmine where it's, hey, oh, Hunter Henry's available. Someone picks him up, doesn't realize they're facing Buffalo, and he tanks your lineup that week. So there are a couple better matches for Henry after week 15. So that would be reason why you want to hold on to him. But to the listener's point or the caller's point, you're gonna get pretty similar production from Duan Johnson. So I think that would be the move if you have to drop somebody.

[Andrew Erickson]

Agreed. Prezzy. Prezza in the house.

[Chris Welsh]

Sup?

[Andrew Erickson]

I think we've had prezzy before. You have to accept it. Accept it to come up on the show. Oh, sold. Three, two.

You can re. Raise your. Oh, you made it. Oh, no, I booted Prezi right as I came up. Hold on. Yeah, yeah, There you go. Literally, I've never seen that before. I hit X and then you came up on the screen. I've never seen that before. What's up, dude?

[Chris Welsh]

Currently actively working, so I'm scrambling to grab my phone real quick. I just had a question.

I'm in a league that's their playoffs start this week, so I'm in a weird position.

And of course, I get the league behemoth who's got Bijan, Ashton, Genty, Puka, and jsn. Am I crazy for wanting to start somebody like Tyrod Taylor over Joe Burrow and Darren Waller over Goddard just for the upside?

[Andrew Erickson]

Yeah. What was the second? I mean, what was the second one?

[Chris Welsh]

Why? Why Does Tyrone.

[Andrew Erickson]

I think he's trying to say like, you. You wanted. You want to take a. Like is your logic. If Chase sucks, then you take the other guy who isn't scoring point. Is that like. Am I making sense? I'm saying that like, you don't. Yeah, he doesn't want to start Burrow because the other guy has Chase hoping that Chase sucks, and then that internally makes Burrow suck. But I. There's. There's no multiverse like Doctor Strange that there's 50 million reality. There isn't one reality where I would start Tyra Taylor over Joe Burrow to even save the universe. So that one note. What was the second one? I. I don't think I caught it.

[Chris Welsh]

Waller. Waller over Goddard. Yeah. Like I said, I'm in a position where, like, if I want to have any shot of winning, I've got to try crazy things anyway. Otherwise, like, my season's done. But. Yeah.

[Andrew Erickson]

Gotcha got. I got what you're going. Definitely, definitely not the Burrow one. And I feel bad because now Tower Taylor's gonna have seven touchdowns and Burrows gonna have 12 picks and whatever. But like, there's just. I can't reiterate enough how much I would never do that. The Waller one's perfect. Waller could have three catches for three touchdowns. All the upside in the world, and Goddard is a. Who cares? So I don't think that one's even a question. But yeah, there's no chance I. Would you consider the Burrow one under that logic?

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah, I guess I missed the part with that. The other person having Chase. Yeah, I mean, I definitely do. Waller over Goddard like you said. Yeah. Waller just ranked ahead of Goddard anyway, so I think he has more upside this week. It's interesting if. Because. Can Burrow have like a monster game without Chase? Like, probably not. Especially if T. Higgins, like, doesn't play. But if Higgins does play, then it's definitely like, in the range of outcomes. Your Burrow has a monster game. Higgins catches the touchdown. Yeah.

[Andrew Erickson]

How sick would you. How sick would you be if you didn't start Burrow and T. Higgins goes off and Jamar Chase is shut out?

[Chris Welsh]

That's what I mean. Yeah. Yeah, but that's. But we still like, don't have like, confirmation of T. Higgins playing. So I guess maybe, like, maybe you could. Galaxy Brain, if Teagan's doesn't play, then you would consider doing tie rod over Joe Burrow. But I. I guess I lean with you where it's like, if Joe Burrow scores the most points, then that's my best chance of winning.

[Andrew Erickson]

Yeah, it's your bet. Like, Tyra Taylor could just do absolutely nothing. Worst case, if Chase goes off, it's at the benefit of your player as well. So it's like you just have to do that. The Darren Waller is a good one. And by the way, I don't think I realized that Prezzy has what I'm told. Is this a beer? Seth Wilcock, AI Image. I didn't realize that is Seth.

[Chris Welsh]

I thought it looked like Seth.

[Andrew Erickson]

Yeah, it definitely is. Sethi in there with a cowboy hat, just holding a beer, so. All right, cool. We're just doing that now. It's a keeper league, by the way, so. Yeah, you keep rolling. You keep rolling, Prezzy. All right. A couple more here before we get out, Redbeard. All right, Beard, what's up?

[Chris Welsh]

What up, y'? All? Y' all doing all right?

[Andrew Erickson]

Doing good, dude. How you doing?

[Chris Welsh]

And not too bad. Two quick ones. First one, if Kincaid plays, are we doing Kincaid or Ronde Gatson this week?

[Andrew Erickson]

Oh, baby. Ken freaking Cade. Absolute Bengals stank. Absolute stank against tight ends. King. Kate Bogman has Kincaid at 4 this week. I put Kincaid at a limited.

[Chris Welsh]

He's limited. I know my play.

[Andrew Erickson]

I think he's gonna. I think he could play. So I already moved him up to 11. So he's a tight end. One to me. I am so out on Gadsden this week, it's not funny. I think I have him down at 16 right now, so no, thanks.

[Chris Welsh]

Awesome. Second one is a trait question in a dynasty league.

I get Amon Ra and Rasheed Rice for Bucky and Malik neighbors. Ooh.

[Andrew Erickson]

Amun Ra and who?

[Chris Welsh]

Steve Rice.

[Andrew Erickson]

And then you trade away Bucky and Malik neighbors.

[Chris Welsh]

Ooh.

[Andrew Erickson]

What do you think about that, Erickson? I think, like, I think I want the Bucky Malik side. Rice. And why does my brain not work? Who the hell is the other one?

[Chris Welsh]

Rice and Aman Raw St. Brown Jesus, right?

[Andrew Erickson]

I mean. Yeah.

[Chris Welsh]

It's too crazy. Or as I like to call them. I'm on. I'm on Brown Saint. That was called out on the Rank show for calling it by accident.

[Andrew Erickson]

I don't know, man. I guess, like, in a rebuild like, you. Okay, you cannot trade for Bucky and Malik and give those pieces away if you are competing right now. If you're completely out of it. I mean, I. I think Malik could be the best of all those. Yeah.

[Chris Welsh]

Let me ask you something. So you think this is pretty. He's pretty tight, right? You think this is a Pretty even deal both sides. Like, that's why we're kind of struggling pretty tight. I guess for me, it's. I just still have in the back of my mind all this Rice off the field stuff that just constantly seems to be part of his profile. So if that's the tiebreaker and to your point, if neighbors is healthy, he's probably the highest valued player when we're talking about this next year. This could be a clean sweep towards Malik Neighbors with Jackson Dart Mike Tomlins, the head coach of the Giants. We love it. It's awesome. So I will lean on the Neighbors Bucky side here, but I agree it is really close and I would not poo poo anyone that thinks otherwise because Rice might be the guy that's actually has the most value. Because right now he has the most value out of these four guys.

[Andrew Erickson]

Yeah. All right, two more. Cordy, what's up?

[Chris Welsh]

You guys hear me?

[Andrew Erickson]

Yeah, we got you traversed.

[Chris Welsh]

I had two quick questions. So for the Monday game, for a flex, I was asking if we should start McConkey or Hampton.

[Andrew Erickson]

I McConkey. I go McConkey. Erickson.

[Chris Welsh]

Got it. Got it. Yeah, I agree. Okay, cool. And then for QBs, I'm on a buy this week. So I've got love and I have Herbert love.

[Andrew Erickson]

Easy love for me. No Herbert for me.

[Chris Welsh]

Love, love.

[Andrew Erickson]

Loving you.

[Chris Welsh]

It's easy.

[Andrew Erickson]

Cause you're beautiful.

Stan. You remember that now. South park made that famous. What's up, Stan?

[Chris Welsh]

Hey, how you guys doing today?

[Andrew Erickson]

We're doing good, dude.

[Chris Welsh]

Good.

[Andrew Erickson]

How you doing?

[Chris Welsh]

I'm doing fantastic. I'm sitting 12 and 1. A lot of that help came from Andrew throughout the year.

The lineup. So, you know, I kind of put myself into a bad position this week. I'm not necessarily worried about winning. I really don't have to. Next person is, I believe, 9 and 4. So I don't need a win, but I need a flex. Did a last minute trade, got rid of my bench depth. Somebody offered me. Who was it? A Moss, St. Brown. And we're not talking Thursday. So I can't play them today or my tray on and Zay Flowers. So that kind of took my depth away on my bench. So there's a few flexes that are available right now. DJ Moore was just dropped today. Rodriguez and Jaden Higgins. So who am I picking up to to put in flex?

[Andrew Erickson]

What do you think, Erickson? You are his champion.

[Chris Welsh]

Rodriguez.

[Andrew Erickson]

Ew over. Even over DJ Moore.

[Chris Welsh]

You want to play DJ more?

[Andrew Erickson]

I don't play any of them. Can you Pick up Adnai Mitchell.

[Chris Welsh]

No, we do that for you guys because he also has a good schedule. Rest of the season he gets Cowboys and giants. All right.

[Andrew Erickson]

Erickson's taking you to the promised land. You listen to him. That's your as a early Christmas present Dress had one more so if Dredis asks, we have to comply.

[Chris Welsh]

Well, you don't have to. I appreciate it.

[Andrew Erickson]

I told you it's twitch Discord royalty. I mean you're like we. It would be interesting to do like the characters, the non fantasy pros, content people of the care. You have to be top three in the character pool. Right? Who else would be on that?

[Chris Welsh]

Maybe Dev, Father man.

[Andrew Erickson]

Father man. Dev.

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah.

[Andrew Erickson]

Yes. Stank hasn't been around. I think it's. I think it's Dev father man and you. I think you guys are like in the Mount Rushmore of our personality. So what you got?

[Chris Welsh]

I have to beat Boggs this week to make playoffs important.

[Andrew Erickson]

Okay.

[Chris Welsh]

In our out of bounds league. So I need get your take between starting shuck or Tyrod.

[Andrew Erickson]

Easy though the only thing I want to point out Bogman really like shuck and he picked Shuck over Tyrod Taylor. So you he's wrong. I think he could be but you could also start the guy that he loves over him or he could be planting a trojan horse out there to solely attack you Dredis by saying yeah, I like Shuck more than anybody. I'm probably totally what he's doing. It could be. Yeah. We did it on in this league. So I don't know.

[Chris Welsh]

We've seen Tyler Schuck go against the blitz. No bueno not good against the blitz. Todd Bowles, all that guy does is blitz. He doesn't know how else to play defense. So I think Tarot Taylor is easily play here. He rushes. He has building that chemistry with Andy Mitchell. John Mache, he squeezes. The football will be in good shape. It's got Mason Taylor, Dolphins defense. They're playing at home. It's gonna be jets moneyline two weeks in a row. It's my best bet last week. Best bet this week. Jets on the money line against TUA outdoors. Outdoors in December.

[Andrew Erickson]

Dude, can I play the under? Can I play the under on that game?

[Chris Welsh]

Full prediction. Jets get an interception this week. Their first of the season.

[Andrew Erickson]

Oh, what's can. What's the.

No, is it really? Hold on, I want to look interceptions to. Where is this stupid game? We're doing this live. Yeah, it is. It is plus 109 on a certain book. Dude, what about this. Wait, hold on. It's almost six to one for two interceptions for Tua.

[Chris Welsh]

Really?

[Andrew Erickson]

Could that be the funnest bet of all time?

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah, because the thing with interceptions, we know how they work. It's they pile. Once you throw one, the floodgates are open.

[Andrew Erickson]

Oh, here's a good parlay. Cam Ward and Tua both to throw an interception. It's three to one. Almost three and a half to one. Is that the best of all time?

This is going to be a fun prop show. Make sure you guys join us. You can check it out. It'll be on betting pros. I think it posts on Friday. We recorded on Friday Me Erickson giving out our props with Joe Pizzapia hosting it. We did not have a show last week so we're gonna have to recap the previous week before that. But we'll be giving out our five best props of the week and. And yes, by the way, Dredis Tyrod was the choice that we're both gonna go with here. And shout out to you guys to Rod. Sorry, sorry. To Rod Mota. Shout out to you guys. And I liked. Where is it? Prezi was like, don't worry. Coming for that list. You guys can be a part of our Mount Rushmore of characters or you could just simply become a living character in the fantasy pros universe just by being a part of the stuff. Join us on our Twitch channel, Twitch TV fantasyprose. You guys can obviously get in on any of the YouTube lives. We do. Make sure you subscribe to the podcast and get into Discord fantasyprose.com chat. There's so many ways to be involved and we try to get you guys involved in the shows and chat with you as much as possible. You can also follow us on the Twitter's at. Is it the Welsh? And the hell is yours, Erickson? Andrew. Just Andrew Erickson. Isn't there an underscore? Isn't like Andrew Erickson underscore at the end?

Who has there. There's another Andrew Erickson out there that stole it.

We should get him. Get him. Let's get cease and desist, sucker. All right, that is it. That's the show. Thank you guys so much for hanging out with us. Hopefully we helped you out. Good luck in the final regular season week. Unless you're a crazy person like us and our content team, which is the playoffs starting this week. Playoffs next week. Let's do it. You know where to find us. For Erickson, I'm Chris Welsh. You guys have a fantastic one extra point it's good.

[Chris Welsh]

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 [e-mail] review or on Spotify. Follow us on X Instagram and TikTok at fantasypros and subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube.com fantasypros.

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[Andrew Erickson]

Find them at select retailers.

[Chris Welsh]

Available while supplies last.

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[Chris Welsh]

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