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FantasyPros - Fantasy Football Podcast
Week 16 Fantasy Football Reactions & Injuries + Early Week 17 Waiver Wire (Ep. 1911)
00:35:19
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- [00:00]
Tara Roberts
This is an I heart podcast.
- [00:02]
Seth Wilcock
Guaranteed human. This is Sophie Cunningham and West Wilson.
- [00:07]
Tara Roberts
From Show Me Something.
- [00:08]
Seth Wilcock
The second the weather drops, I'm instantly in holiday mode.
- [00:12]
Tara Roberts
Sweaters, comfort food, all of it.
- [00:14]
Seth Wilcock
And nothing hits better on a cold.
- [00:15]
Tara Roberts
Day than unwrapping an Arby's classic roast beef facts.
- [00:19]
Seth Wilcock
When that tender slow roast beef is warm and juicy, it's like soul therapy. And if you're feeling a little extra like we usually are, go for the double dude.
- [00:28]
Tara Roberts
Double roast beef, double beef and cheddar. Twice the meat, twice the happiness.
- [00:33]
Seth Wilcock
You know what you want? Get an Arby's double roast beef or a double beef and cheddar in store or delivered today, available for a limited time at participating locations while supplies last. All right, and welcome into the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football podcast. It's the Week 16 Sunday night recap show. Our final instant reaction episode of of the season coming to you live right here on the FP YouTube channel. I'm your host, Seth Wilcock, and a lot like many of you, I'm still very much sweating out some semifinal matchups. And back with me is a woman who I'm sure went through it last night with her Green Bay packers blowing a big time game to the Chicago Bears. She's Tara Roberts. Tara, how are you? Hopefully a little better than about 24 hours ago.
- [01:17]
Tara Roberts
No, it didn't get any better. It's just been a cascading sad week. I got puka ed. Green Bay got nuked by every injury possible. Like he, yeah, I, I, I need a pick me up. So let's, let's have a happy positive show. Pick Tara up from her from her Green Bay sadness.
- [01:33]
Seth Wilcock
All right, well send us some spam the chat with some emojis for Tara. She needs all the good vibes she can get right now, as I'm sure do many fantasy managers. Tonight's program does look like this. We'll break down all the notable injuries and the potential fantasy impact. Then we'll give you our top five storylines of the day. We'll take a trip to the panic meter and then we'll round out the program we with a rapid fire Q and A. So if you're still alive, if you have 20, 26 questions as well, go ahead and drop those below and be sure to get to as many as we can. And before we jump in, huge shout out to everyone tuning in with us either right here on The Fantasy Pros YouTube channel or the audio feed after the fact. We appreciate all the support so much, especially this time of year. I know it's very busy with the holiday season kicking into gear, so thank you for that. Please also be sure to subscribe if you're new and subscribe, help us. We are trying to get to 300,000 subscribers by the end of 2025. We can only do that with your help. And Tara, what do you say we go ahead and jump right into the injuries?
- [02:28]
Tara Roberts
Yeah, let's do it.
- [02:30]
Seth Wilcock
All right, here we go. And it starts off at the top with a pretty brutal one for Cleveland Browns running back Quinn Shot Judkins carted off with a leg injury. This was described as a fractured fibula, a dislocated ankle with a potential knee injury as well. Tara, obviously significant hit to Judkins dynasty value and his 2026 outlook. But in the meantime, it also really muddies the water for this Cleveland Browns backfield against Pittsburgh next week. Jerome ford is on IR. Dylan Sampson missed his second straight game and we had Travion Williams take 20 snaps this game. 9.5 fantasy points for him. He's been a vet. He's been around this league for a while. And then Raheem Rocket Sanders, a favorite from the Devi community a couple years ago and end up having a bad injury down there in Arkansas, transferred to a different SEC school where he was okay for the last remainder of his career, but definitely still a guy who's kind of just been floating around since the NFL draft on the Browns practice squad and third and fourth on the depth chart. So, Tara, what do you make of this Cleveland backfield? If obviously no Judkins and let's say there's no Sampson, how do you approach it between Williams and Sanders? Are you going after one? Anyone heavily on the waiver wire?
- [03:38]
Tara Roberts
I am. And it's not a. It's not a good Week 17 matchup. It's Pittsburgh. Obviously, there have been some late developments in that game, but for the most part, Pittsburgh made it a horrific day for the Detroit running backs there, who are very talented. So it's not a great matchup, but I think we got a clear, you know, a clear split at least from the indication here. But, you know, snap count was even. Sanders had the edge in terms of bulk of the work on the ground, and then Williams had the edge in terms of bulk of the work through the air there. And Shitter Sanders has been successful with, you know, jumping off and creating checkdowns that guys have been able to successfully create a lot of fantasy points based off yards after the catch. So I do think I lean towards like a smidge towards the one that catches the passes. So we go with Travion Williams on that. But I think, you know, given the injuries that we've got, if you need to go that direction. Yeah, lean towards that in ppr.
- [04:29]
Seth Wilcock
Yeah, I prefer to like, honestly start neither one of them really. Like, I think maybe there's a chance that Rocky Sanders gets a little bit more involved just because he is the rookie. Let's see what we have. We have nothing really left to play for, but at the same time you mentioned it like as far as fantasy production, it's better to usually bet on the receiving back. So Williams might have that edge. But you know, who knows, Dylan Sampson could come back and kind of blow this all up in our face. So just kind of really a situation to monitor. Keep your head on a swivel for throughout the week. I'm sure Joey P. And Fitz and Debra are going to have some insight on the waiver wire episode for you as well this week. Next on the injury front, Tara we did have Los Angeles Chargers running back Kamani Vidal, who's been a really, really great waiver wire ad for most managers this season. He suffered a neck injury today. OMarion Hampton saw 12 of the remaining 19 snaps in that game. He scored 16.5 fantasy points on 17 touches today. Where will he be ranked for you next week Against Houston if Vidal cannot get up for this game. Houston, known to be a very good and tough matchup for opposing running backs, but we saw Ashton Genti score not one but two long touchdowns on them today.
- [05:32]
Tara Roberts
Yeah, he'll be a top 20 back easy for me. It's not a great matchup. But the thing about the Chargers is for all of the struggles that the offensive line has, it hasn't been in run blocking. The the only problem we've had with the running backs is when everyone is healthy, they force it to be a committee. So if Kymani Vidal isn't active, that puts Maureen Hampton directly into the bulk of the carry workload. So yeah, I want the guy who's going to get the vast majority of the back. So if like we were comparing the situation saying like okay, do we go with Amari and Hampton or do we go with somebody in a split backfield like maybe turning to, you know, maybe Houston and Gerard Jordan if Woody Marks can't go or going towards those Cleveland running backs. Now you take the guy that is going to get the bulk of the workload in even if it's a bad matchup because he can still be successful in terms of breaking off A run and having a good day there.
- [06:18]
Seth Wilcock
Yeah, I'm, I'm with you there. I'm sure we'll see a little bit of Hassan Haskins, the former Michigan Wolverine, but for the most part I do expect Omari and Hampton too. Like you said, be a top 20 play and we're seeing finally a floor come in for him as well, which you like to see greatly there. So another injury here on the quarterback front. This time though, it's Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. mcCarthy. He was rolled out with a hand, hand injury. Not only could this be the former Wolverine's third stint on the shelf this season, but also we now potentially get Golden Gophers quarterback Max Brosmer, a guy very familiar with this state in Minnesota under center. Brosmer was 7 of 9 today, 52 yards for him. Where are you next week on the Viking skill players? Tara if it is Brosmer versus McCarthy next week against the Lions, let's stick with the pass catchers first look, it's.
- [07:05]
Tara Roberts
It'S a great matchup in terms of being able to take advantage of, you know, fantasy points, but at the same time we've seen Brosmer start and it was as ugly as humanly possible with multiple interceptions completely nuking our pass catchers there. So I don't feel super comfortable about it. It was good to see a nice bounce back game here from Justin Jefferson, but at the end of the day this is probably a situation where we want to look the other way, especially because we've got a lot of streaming options that have come on strong here as well and we've got multiple flex options. So I just wouldn't mess with it in championship week if you got McCarthy and you've been streaming him, pivot to another option like a Tyler Shuck or something like that in a good matchup.
- [07:44]
Seth Wilcock
Yep.
- [07:44]
Tara Roberts
And Jefferson becomes a low inflex option and you probably need to just stay away from Jordan Addison there.
- [07:50]
Seth Wilcock
Yeah, it's so funny because like everyone gets on J.J. mcCarthy because he was kind of a low volume passer at Michigan right in a Big Ten school. And then we kind of have something very similar with Max Brosnar. Like this was a guy that they heavily featured their running back Darius Taylor over the last few years with Brosmar under center. So I'm not, not expecting super high things for any of the Vikings pass catchers. Like I think if you need a flex and you're at options, Justin Jefferson is still in that mix. Finally. He hit his receiving yards prop a week after, I bet it. But he's in the mix but it doesn't inspire confidence. I don't think the ceiling is there with Brosmer under center. It hasn't really been there with McCarthy either. Staying with the Minnesota Vikings as well, we had their running back Jordan Mason, he suffered an ankle injury. Aaron Jones, he was also nicked up in this game, did come back as he usually does and he returned to have 23 touches on the day turned into 11.3 fantasy points. Jones has not scored over 16 fantasy points in any game this season and it took Mason leaving this one for him to score his first double digit performance in the past five games. So Detroit to me we just saw them get absolutely lit up by running back. So maybe there is upside there with Jones. We just haven't seen it. Tara. So how much faith do you have in the veteran if there's no Mason behind him?
- [09:01]
Tara Roberts
Yeah, I think this game of, you know, Pittsburgh and they're the Pittsburgh running backs are very good and it's a consistent punch that wears you down there. So I think it's an outlier performance there. Detroit has been so good at limiting fantasy points to opposing backs and this was an excellent matchup for Aaron Jones. For us to get like 11 fantasy Boyd's in what was a complete layup matchup, it's not super encouraging there. So I think we are a little bit limited, especially if we're not going to have goal line opportunities there because of the poor inconsistent play that we might see at quarterback.
- [09:33]
Seth Wilcock
Yeah, I think he's probably a borderline RB2. That's kind of where he's been all season. Maybe he gets a little bit of a tick up if there is no Mason, but it's not someone I'm necessarily like trying to jam into my lines. Right. Like if I have other receivers at the flex I'll go that way. But right now the RB2 streets like there's not much out there. So yeah, definitely kind of. I think what we're both feeling mid about Aaron Jones, safe to say and then maybe the sass injury of today for me at least. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Gardner Minshew rolled out the knee injury. This is rumored to be a torn ACL. We'll have to keep up with Dr. Deepak Chona's social media accounts and everyone out there in the fantasy injury streets to get a confirmation on this. This left Chris Ola Dukin under center who replaced him. This is a guy who was drafted in 2022 by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He spent most of his college football career in the SES had a little bit of time at South Florida, but really with South Dakota and those types of schools there. So did have one career pass attempt before for today. He completed 11 of 16 past attempts for 111 yards sacked four times and this was in a game that was a loss of 9 to 26 to the Tennessee Titans. So Tara, is there any faith in any of the Kansas City Chiefs pass catchers if it is Ola Dukin back under center Travis Kelsey, huge dud this week. Even Xavier Worthy, which we thought would may be a smash spot, obviously came to a halt with Rice out and then Gardner Minshew taking a seat as well.
- [10:54]
Tara Roberts
I had kind of been looking ahead to this one, assuming that we were going to have Minshew at quarterback and trying to figure out if there was anybody that we could use in the Week 17 matchup because it's against Denver. I'm super scared unfortunately, man, because this is against Tennessee. It was a good matchup here and there just wasn't a level of productivity that we can feel comfortable with and to see what it would look like against Denver's defense. I don't want to go there, unfortunately. I had some hopes that maybe we could use one pass catcher assuming that maybe we had Richie Rice out for an extended period of time there. Now if Rice comes back, that obviously does put a wrench into it because Rice is a guy who operates as your wide receiver once, so it's tough to sit him in that situation. But when it comes to a Xavier Worthy or a Travis Kelce, we got a lot of streaming options so I would lean another direction there.
- [11:40]
Seth Wilcock
I think I'm with you. I mean, look, the Steelers quarterback room was pretty much in shambles for two or three years. Ola Dukin couldn't even make the team on that. And like think about what we kind of consider Trey Lance at this point in his career, right. Even when Dak Prescott goes down and is not healthy, he's not the next man up in Dallas. And you know, also an FCS quarterback who has barely played in the NFL. He has, you know, almost double or triple or quadruple whatever you want to times that experience level that Ola Duken does in the NFL and he hasn't played in so long. So I think it's a no for me dog as well on the Chiefs. Like if you got to throw Rashi Rice out, maybe they can get him some engineer touches near the goal line and to save his day. But it's a risky proposition no matter who is up for the Kansas City Chiefs, especially against the Denver Broncos and week 17. I'm like I'm with Tara. I think we're have to look elsewhere. 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They refused to compromise, refused to not trust anything other than their spirit and the result is a Kentucky Straight Bourbon with award winning taste and impossible to miss character that stands out in any cocktail. Wild Turkey Bourbon Trust your spirit. Copyright 2025 Campari America, New York, NY Never compromise. Drink responsibly and Tara, let's go ahead and get into the top storylines of the week where it feels like this team has been one of the hardest to predict down the stretch here. The Los Angeles Chargers. They help managers coast in the championships, at least those of you who were, let's just say, daring enough to to play them right. They beat the Cowboys 34:17. They controlled time possession in this game for over 34 minutes. Justin Herbert 22 of 39, 300 passing hours, two touchdowns, 30.2 fantasy points. QB3 now after Trevor Lawrence's performance pending Sunday Night Football, no sacks in the game form for the first time in quite some time. We talked about Hampton earlier. 16.5 fantasy points for him. Quinton Johnson four for 104 and one on five targets. 20.4 fantasy points for him. Lad McConkey 443 and one on six targets, 14.3 fantasy points. Week 17 it's against the Texans, who again been very stout but looked a little suspect today against the Raiders. So Tara, this is going to be a Saturday night game for the Chargers. How excited are you to play these pass catchers and Herbert?
- [16:14]
Tara Roberts
I'm not. I was very pro Chargers this week because of the matchup against Dallas. Just hey, is this kind of. You're like hey, this is your last opportunity to start him. This is your last opportunity with Justin Herbert and lad McConkey your last hurrah. I don't want to start them against Houston. I know they looked vulnerable, which happens every now and then. They look vulnerable. But for the most part Houston has been so stout again. Marion Hampton, you still roll them out based on pure volume if Kamani Vidal is out. But when it comes to Herbert and McConkey and Quentin Johnston It's a tough order there, particularly because it's about the offensive line and if the defense that they are facing has a defensive line that is excellent at the pass rush, it's a done deal there unfortunately. So yeah, I just, I can't get there with Justin Herbert this week, but it was good. You know, hey, this was good proof in terms of Dallas and how you approach Dallas next week. They are literally the most easily targeted defense possible through the air there. So feel oddly good about potentially going with, you know, Terry McLaurin or Debo Samuel next week if you have to.
- [17:22]
Seth Wilcock
Yeah, I think I'm with you. I'm not excited to play these folks. I think Justin Herbert's probably going to be a low end Q1, high end QB2. Maybe he's in lineups, but likely if you're in your championship game, you have probably better options out there. And I feel similar about the receivers, right. Probably lads probably in that low end wide receiver two mix and Quint Johnson's really a flex play at this point because Keenan Allen still is involved and now we're seeing more Trey Harris too who just came back from being nicked up a little bit get involved. So it feels very much like a pot committee. I don't want to touch it. I'm not expecting huge volume against the Texans as well. So I am there with you. Tara. Let's get to the next storyline of the week which It's Harold Fannin Jr. He saves the day with another hero performance. I love this guy coming out of Bowling Green. I'm a big Maxion fan. Got to catch a lot of Tuesday Wednesday night games with Fanon last year at the collegiate level. He is from the great state of Ohio. Got to meet up with his parents in Canton this year they were at the Fancy Football Expo. So love the story here but this is more than just a feel good story now the Browns they hang around all day with the bills. Harold Fandom Jr. Continues to deliver for fancy managers as well. 4 for 34 and 1 on 6 targets, 1 rush 1 yard on another touchdown run as well. Good for 19.5 fantasy points. Currently the tight end one pending Sunday Night Football Week 17 Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday 1pm Eastern time how confident do you feel in Harold Fannin Jr. For me I was a little bit lower on him this week in particularly because the Bills have just been so strong against tight ends this year in previous seasons as well. But I think Fanon is realistically a top three guy and I don't know if I can start Anyone over him, even in a flex spot.
- [18:58]
Tara Roberts
Yeah, yeah. He was still top 10 for me this week, but I had moved him back to a little bit in terms of saying like, no, you know, I think I would rather take my chances with some other options and just be careful at the matchup here. It's funny, the Bills and the way that they play to the competition that they play is one of the great mysteries.
- [19:14]
Seth Wilcock
Yeah. Right.
- [19:15]
Tara Roberts
But yeah, I feel good about the connection between Shitter Sanders and Harold Fannin Jr. It's just, it's. It's legit. And we know that the wide receivers are just so incredibly inconsistent. You cannot rely on Jerry Dudy as a pass catcher. So it's not surprising that we continue to see this overwhelming connection between the two because Fannin is so talented and at this point, he is the best pass catching option for Cleveland.
- [19:40]
Seth Wilcock
Yeah. And you know, just. We'll talk more about it, I'm sure on the fancy pros NFL draft show this winter and spring. But you know, a lot of people have their doubts sometimes with these players coming in out of G5 programs. And I get it. The competition level isn't always the best. But at the same time, when you're doing things like Harold Fannin Jr. Was at the collegiate level where you're having arguably the best tight end season of all time from a receiving standpoint. And then you also showed up against big teams like Penn state, like Texas AM, like he did back in 2024. I think that's just something to note with prospects moving forward that we'll talk a little bit more about in rookie season. A guy who's been on the spectrum as a borderline elite wide receiver since his rookie season is Chris Olave. He delivered here in crunch time, proving to be maybe the top 2025 value in drafts, right? Quietly. Wide receiver 11 on the season in points per game, 14.7 per game is what he's going for right now. He was ranked as the Preseason Wide Receiver 31 in Fantasy Pros ECR today. He had 10 receptions, 149 yards, two touchdowns on 16 targets. He gets the Titans next week. Tara, it really feels like this guy has been so consistent all year. Shahid leaving unlock kind of another level for him. And how do you feel about Chris Olave against the Titans? Is he a top five play for you and where do you think? You're just kind of on him feeling out 2026? Let's just say that it is shuck back under center.
- [21:00]
Tara Roberts
I feel good about it. You know, is Is Shuck, was he worth that second round pick? I still debate that. Probably not there, but arguable, yes. Yeah, but since he's been in, I mean, he has looked like a very solid option. He's been able. He's showcased it through the air on the ground as well. And the primary thing that we care about is that he is delivering balls to Chris Olave and they're not hospital balls. That's key thing. We've been waiting for a quarterback to not throw hospital balls so that Olave could make it through an entire season here. And cross our fingers, I didn't just jinx anything, but Olavi has looked fantastic here. So I'm not surprised that, you know, getting a quarterback that can deliver some level of competent targets to helm is resulting in this. Because he was such an elite prospect, we were just finally seeing him emerge in terms of getting somebody that can accurately get him the ball.
- [21:44]
Seth Wilcock
Yeah, I agree with you. We'll see what happens. For the Saints quarterback position, I wouldn't be surprised. Maybe they bring in a vet to push shuck or maybe invest a day two or a day three pick in a quarterback. But it's certainly been good times out there for Chris Olave and you know, one of those process plays, right, like this has always been a talented wide receiver. He controls a lot of volume. It just was the injuries is really what was kind of holding him back from being a top 30 guy and in most drafts at the wide receiver position. So he'll definitely be prop back up to probably his third fourth round value that he was seasons before and certainly, you know, the type of player we should be looking for in 2026 drafts. Also in this Saints team, we had Taysom Hill take over the backfield for really a surging Saints team. I should probably add as well. Like this team has been really pretty good over the back half the season. 12 for 42 on the ground. For Taysom Hill, the next closest player was Adric Estimate, who I apologize, folks, he had five carries. I thought it was a little bit cleaner of projection than someone like Michael Carter turned out not to be. With Taysom Hill getting involved, I kind of saw this maybe come with Devin Neal and then like I shouted, hey, maybe Taysom Hill's a guy and maybe we should be a little lower on Neil, it wasn't a factor. But here, I guess when we got down our top three running backs, when you get to the fourth one, it's okay, let's throw Taysom Hill out there. Also caught 4 for 36 on six targets. Also had a passing touchdown of 38 yards in this one. So we get the Titans next week for the Saints. Unknown whether it's going to be Alvin Kamara or Devin Neal out there. Tara, would you be starting Taysom Hill at your tight end spot if those running backs cannot go? And also would you even consider him maybe as a flex with just this, you know, once again Swiss army knife role he's playing?
- [23:18]
Tara Roberts
I have put him into my top waiver wire ads for the week. I do think it's legit. You're right. We learned that. We learned the baseline here is Alder estimate. Once you get to that level, the Saints were like, ugh, okay. I mean we gave it a go with several guys. Now we need to pull out Taysum Hill here and if this were another situation, another matchup here. But they close out the season so strong. They've been delivering all fronts here. So yeah, I think it's reasonable. You hate to pull out someone randomly like this in a championship week matchup here. But I think we got enough evidence here that they don't feel very good about giving a strong workload there to estimate. And Taysom Hill looked good.
- [23:57]
Seth Wilcock
It worked.
- [23:58]
Tara Roberts
And if it worked, I trust Kellen more to repeat it. At least from that perspective as a.
- [24:02]
Seth Wilcock
Head coach every year. Sometime Taysom Hill will be in the mix. Do you know when? Absolutely not. But he, he's just always sticking around. So let's go ahead and let's get to quarterback landmines that absolutely nuked title runs today. The QB1 on the season by 3.5 fantasy points per game is Josh Allen. He went 12 for 19, 130 yards, seven rush attempts, 17 yards against the Browns, just 6.9 fantasy points. He has Philly next week and then the QB12 on the season, averaging 18.2 fantasy points per game. Jackson Dart. He went 7 of 13, just 33 yards and an interception. 2 for 7 on the ground. No rushing floor to speak up against the Vikings. 0.2 fantasy points as well. He'll be playing Las Vegas at Las Vegas next week. And then C.J. stroud has really been a streamer most this season, but it was a decent spot for him against the Raiders and he also did not deliver in this game for fancy managers. Actually kind of got pretty tight there at the end but for Stroud in particularly 23 of 35, 187 yards, one touchdown for C.J. stroud and nothing on the ground as usual. So Tara, where do you kind of sit on these quarterbacks obviously you're still throwing Josh Allen out there next week, but definitely a stinker. But like Jackson Dart, C.J. stroud, can these guys be trusted in a win or go home scenario for.
- [25:17]
Tara Roberts
Fancy managers, I can potentially get there with Jackson Dart. It was ugly. But at the very least we do know that Minnesota's defense can be very problematic to young players and rookies. Right. Just because they can come at you with a lot of different things that can confuse you. And that is we definitely saw some confusion there from Jackson Darton. They tried to eliminate it and rely on the ground there. But we could get a bounce back here in a much more agreeable matchup against Vegas here. C.J. shroud, you know the Chargers defense, you can, we obviously saw, you know, when you're, when your offense is elite and you have elite players, you can push on them. It's not a complete no go there. But I don't know if I trust CJ Stroud in particular against the Chargers next week. So I might lean into a more higher upside streaming up streaming option with some rushing upside a better match up there so I can get on board with Dart. But maybe, but I got a lot draw the line at C.J. stroud.
- [26:16]
Seth Wilcock
All right, well, I appreciate that. And before we get into the panic meter, a quick reminder that today's show is brought to you by our new presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet. Are you out of your fancy football playoffs like a lot of us are and you want to get in on the week 17 action? Well then head over to Hard Rock Bet today. They make it super, super simple to bet both kickoff and between the snaps in just a few simple taps. I go ahead, I open up the app, I find a bet I like and then bam, I place that bet. Super, super simple. Just in time to get me back to wrapping all those Christmas presents, maybe doing the last minute Christmas shopping as well and enjoying my favorite holiday movie. Sign up today and bet $5 on any single game. And if it wins, you're not only going to get your winnings back, but also $150 in bonus bets. Now that's what I call holiday magic, folks. Plus, Hard Rock Bet is also going to be filling your stockings every single day with new promos. So whenever you're listening, just fire up the app and check out what they've got going on any day this week. Go ahead and download the Hard Rock Bet app now and make your first deposit payable and bonus bets. Not a cash offer offered by the Seminole Tribe of Florida in Florida offered by Seminole hard Rock Digital LLC in other states must be 21 plus in physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee or Virginia. Play terms and conditions apply. Concerned about gambling in Florida, call 1833 play wise in Indiana, if you or someone you know has a gambling problem wants help, call 1-809 with it gambling problem, call 1-800- gambler in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and folks, we are going to fire up the panic meter. So let us know who you're panicking about and we'll rate them on a scale from 1 to 10 about how much we're panicking on them. One means, hey, we're not really panicking. All heading into the final week of the season. 10 means it's full blown panic mode and I've been seeing a lot of comments come in on some players who let some folks down today, Tara. So let's go ahead and get to those first and it starts with our good friend Dredis. Dread is great to see you as always saying, I hate fantasy and I quit. Between Josh Allen, CD Lamb and Parkinson, I'm just done. If there's no Devonte Adams this next week, Tara, and I'm expecting there not to be. What is your panic level meter on? Colby Parkinson? Can he be fired up or is this really like, hey, he had the good matchup against Seattle this week. He didn't come through. It's back to the waiver wire for him.
- [28:32]
Tara Roberts
There were some ugly drops there and it was weird because we hadn't seen that from him before. So I am mildly concerned that that might be an issue. And they do have multiple, you know, tight end options that they can lean into. But it's weird because they have been very steadfast in the focus and the trust there with Kobe Parkinson. So I'll still have him as a borderline streaming option next week. It was, you know, good to see we can still rely on guys like, you know, Kyle Pitts, even Drake London coming back here. So he naturally he'll fall a little bit further back there. But that's a tough break. It really is. I think so many people started, parkinson said. I mean there's no way that you don't start Josh Allen. So fantasy football can be extremely painful.
- [29:12]
Seth Wilcock
We're still also starting CD Lamb, right? But at the same time, I think this is another situation where we said earlier in the season we have to adjust expectations because George Pickens can have George Pickens games and while they haven't been big GP games over the past two weeks or so. We found it here for him. 7 for 130 and one that resulted in CD Lambda 6 for 51. It is the Washington commanders. So that's got, you know, he's got that going for him in week 17. But also it's a Thursday Night football game which we know that can be weird, especially for the Cowboys team who they have nothing to play for now. And Dax said every game matters. There's nothing, you know, there's no such thing as a game that doesn't matter. But at the same time, the Cowboys didn't play with a lot of heart today. Tara, so what is your panic level meter on? CD Lamb heading into the final week of the season, Will he be a fantasy league winner or maybe someone who.
- [29:58]
Tara Roberts
Is a bit of a dud somewhere between? I don't think complete dud here. I trust it. But, but at the end of the day we might be lacking that high upside. And you know, George Pickens always does George picking things when he wants to. So it's just one of those things where you get a couple of down weeks on Pickens, then he comes back as you know, better performance there. CD Lamb. So yeah, it's just, it's a, it's can be a bit messy there. I trust Dax. So at the very least I think there's a good baseline there and a good matchup for him.
- [30:25]
Seth Wilcock
So you know, one other player here that I've been seeing a lot of people on social media chatting about that let them down today. Bucky Irving, 7.1 fantasy points for him today. Been a pretty strong return from him in the first two weeks. And it's back to back games with under nine fantasy points for him. And it's Miami who Miami had started to put together a really good run defense before this past week. Right. They really kind of suffered against Kenneth Gainwell and then again here today. So where are you at on this running back against the Miami Dolphins?
- [30:56]
Tara Roberts
I was trying, I was giving it one more week because we had a good matchup here. But again we've got a major problem if all of a sudden they have shifted to this, you know, three headed monster and when we get the red zone, we've got to the goal line, we're going to try different things and you would think like, hey, you've seen exactly what Bucky Irving can do at the goal line. It's not been a major problem. This is not somebody who has failed and now you've had to pivot. You're just trying to do different things to inspire this team and unfortunately it's not inspiring at this point. So I've moved him. I'll move him back this week for sure. Unfortunately, he'll be an rbt. I can't trust him to the level where we were trusting him as a top 12 option. So there will be big debates in terms of, you know, comparing him to some of those mid tier tier options. Like would you start, you know, if we get no commodity Vidal in a bad matchup, but we know there's going to be a certain volume. Would you go with the Martin Hampton over a Bucky Irving who now has this reduced workload? Yeah, I can make an argument.
- [31:52]
Seth Wilcock
Yeah, I think I absolutely would. I think that's a great argument to make. One more panic meter player, Tara. Jacoby Brissette. He had been just on this absolute heater of a run. Just, I mean, QB1 after QB1 after QB1 performance. Every single start this season for really more than the last two months. Right. And he comes in today. Atlanta. It's a matchup I wasn't afraid of and I apologize to anyone that I said to start Jacoby Brissette 10.62 fantasy points for him today. But it's Cincinnati next week, so panic meter level on Jacoby Brissette. Are we right back in or are we a little bit trigger shy after.
- [32:27]
Tara Roberts
Today, I'm right back in. This was underwhelming. I guess, you know, that always happens in fantasy. Once you get super comfortable with somebody, you're like, can't miss Smash start top six. Don't you like? Yeah, because I did the same thing. I, there was anybody and everybody that I recommended him over with the exception of your top tier options. And I really matter anyway because you know, Josh Allen went down anyway and was disappointing anyway. So yeah, I'm heading back to Jacoby Brissette. He had been so solid and hopefully maybe a better performance from. Granted, you can make the argument that Marvin Harrison Jr. In his drops is really unhelpful to the situation there because there was one in the end zone that should have been, you know, you, you should have caught that Marvin Harrison Jr. So it could have been a little bit better of a day there. But I'm, I'll, I'll get back on board with Jacoby. The volume has been so solid.
- [33:16]
Seth Wilcock
Okay, I'm right there with you. And before we keep it moving to the questions, go ahead and drop those below. But you can also ask questions over on our fancy pros discord community. You can chat with other fans and get access to exclusive AMAs that actually are going to wind up on our podcast feed. Our current schedule looks like this. We have Worm and Fitz at 5 Eastern on the first Tuesday of every month, then Boggs and Fitz at 5 Eastern on the third Tuesday of every month. And of course Welsh and Erickson, they're with you every single Thursday at 2pm Eastern time during the season. No show this week on that one folks, just because of the holiday happening that day. So come get your questions answered and be on the show@fantasypros.com chat. We want to hear from you over there. We also want to hear from you right now as well in the question segment before we get out of here. Tara. First one I'm seeing come through in the chat. Are you starting a buka next week? Tara? I've also been seeing that out on socials getting tagged in that because I mean again this was kind of thought to be a pretty good Ameca Buka spot. I liked what he was doing last week now that Mike Evans was back playing that true X role. And then he comes out today and really quite a dud performance once again, five fancy points. This guy has been like literally droppable the last, I mean 10.4 points last week but before that it was four or five straight games of single digits today. A single digit performance. He's hurt everyone.
- [34:32]
Tara Roberts
Yeah. And it's, it's a good matchup. That's the only, you know, thing that you could maybe point to. But at the end of the day he's moved back and has consistently moved back over the last several weeks. Just he's a low influx option and I would rather go about 10,000 different directions there with him. And it's, it's not even just, I mean you've got Godwin and Mike Evans and you're still seeing a reduced snap count because there also rotating in Jalen McMillan as well. And he has to his credit he, you know, has looked better than a Mecca has. It's been a little shaky there so I don't trust it. I had to start him out of sheer no other option this week. I would not have done it if I had another option. I do not trust him. I just don't.
- [35:14]
Seth Wilcock
Can you trust Hampton against the Texans next week? Coming from Jaywood? Yeah, we've kind of talked about this a little bit. With Fidel out he's a top 20 pretty much a sit it and forget it play. I think, I think if Ideal's back based on even what we saw Genti do against the Texans today, Tara, I would probably still have him, you know, still in that top 24, top 25 mix. Probably still a flex play, maybe an RB2 if I'm strapped for RBs.
- [35:36]
Tara Roberts
Yeah, I. I completely agree with that for sure.
- [35:38]
Seth Wilcock
Okay. Well, Tara, thank you so much for all the analysis you've done, not just on the Sunday night recap show, but also at Fantasy Pros in general this year. What do you have coming on the next couple weeks that we should be paying attention to?
- [35:50]
Tara Roberts
Oh, as we whittle down here, I think we've still got some live Q I know for sure, some live social Q A there for anyone that's got questions for sure. Then also, and I never mentioned this, I don't know why I always forget Seth, but I do. I do do some betting videos over on the betting YouTube channel as well. Some shorts there which are always good. So early touchdown bets, touchdown props as well. So you guys can look out for that as well.
- [36:18]
Seth Wilcock
Yes, absolutely. Doing great work over there at Betting Pros this week. A couple live opportunities if you want to catch me. I'll be Tuesday noon Eastern time on the Twitch channel. Also be back on the Twitch Channel Friday with Welsh at 2:00pm Eastern Time. So a lot of good stuff happening. I'm sure we'll have some more Analyst Q&As in the Discord throughout the week as well. So make sure you guys are tuning in for those. A lot of great stuff happening here. That is going to do it though for us on this episode of the Fancy Pros, Fancy Football Podcast and the Sunday night Recap show as a whole this season. Thank you so much for riding along with us every single Sunday during the NFL season in 2025. Let us know your biggest fantasy football winners and losers of week 16 down the stretch. We want to hear from you and also make sure you are smashing that like button and subscribing to the channel if you're new. We really appreciate that for Tara Roberts and Seth Wilcock. I will talk to you guys next week. Thank you so much and we'll see you then. 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@fantasypros.com review or on Spotify. Follow us on X Instagram and TikTok at fantasypros and subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube.com fantasypros.
- [37:54]
Tara Roberts
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- [38:10]
Seth Wilcock
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Tara Roberts
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Seth Wilcock
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Tara Roberts
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Seth Wilcock
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Tara Roberts
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- [39:56]
Tara Roberts
All.
- [39:56]
Seth Wilcock
This is that classic HBCU vibe. Non stop action. The bed is rocking and moving, the crowd lit chance echo drum beat everybody showing that school pride game like this. Yeah, it calls for an ice cold Coca Cola. Ah, crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer right there. Yeah, that taste always hits the right note. Just like the band at halftime. And just like that we're back at it. Passionate fans, school colors every everywhere and in ice cold Coca Cola. That's a winning combo no matter the sport, no matter the yard. Everybody knows fan work is thirsty work. So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going.
- [40:41]
Tara Roberts
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- [40:43]
Seth Wilcock
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