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FantasyPros - Fantasy Football Podcast
Week 7 Lineup Advice: Starts, Sits, Player Debates, and TD Calls (Ep. 1778)
01:05:00
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- [00:00]
A
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:05]
B
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- [00:39]
A
Hello, everybody. Welcome into the Fantasy Pros Football podcast. I'm Ryan Wormley. Joined as I am, I would say, every Thursday morning. I wasn't here last week. You guys were with Seth. He did a great job filling in. Appreciate him stepping in for me. But as I am joined most Thursday mornings by Jake Seeley from the Athletic and by Pat Fitzmaurice. Guys, how are you doing heading into week seven? We are a third of the way through the NFL season. We are, you know, border, borderline halfway through the regular season for fantasy already. And it just, it gets more and more shocking every week just how quickly it goes by. Fitzy, how are you doing?
- [01:11]
C
Doing well. The question is, how are you doing? You had this foot surgery. How are the crutches?
- [01:16]
A
First of all, don't, please don't violate HIPAA and tell everybody the surgery. I had. No, I. Yes, I had foot surgery. I had two kind of issues in the foot. Uh, one fracture, one kind of bone resetting thing. So I am in a boot. I am on crutches. I was just telling you guys before the show that I have never had crutches in my whole life. I've never been in a walking boot either. So it's been an adjustment. Uh, I'm very grateful to my mother who flew out to kind of help out for a couple of days post surgery and do stuff like walk my dog and, you know, just kind of make food and do dishes and just general chores that are really difficult on crutches. Uh, she is now gone. So it is now just up to me to, you know, figure out how to get around. You know, I'll go to the bottom of the stairs and just like, throw my water bottle up the stairs and then go up after it on crutches and pick it up at the top because you just can't carry stuff very easily. So if anybody has any ideas, you know, the fanny pack they used when they were on crutches or, you know, where start wearing a backpack around. I. I'm Open to ideas. I'm not gonna be on the crutches very long. I will be on the boot for a while, so get it.
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B
Getting a little bit of the bags that's in the front, but the clip is also in the front. That's what you need.
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A
Yeah, Yeah. I don't. I like those, like, shoulder bags. Yeah. Did a buddy of mine who had. He tore his Achilles two summers ago. He lent me a knee scooter that he had. Doesn't really work inside the house. Just the way my house is set up, it wouldn't be very helpful. But out of the house, that. That has been helpful. And there is, like, a bag on the front of that, so that.
- [02:42]
B
That I will say if you're going to be on that for a while. So Nicole has surgery twice. Well, since I've known her, she's had actually five ankle surgeries. If. If you guys were Juwan Jennings, you'd be out there playing this week as a decoy.
- [02:53]
A
Yeah.
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B
But the truth is, it's two things. Game changer. Put an extra knee pad on because your knee is going to get really worn out. And then if you go to Amazon, you can find tires to go over the tires, because if you go over cracks or anything, that's really easy for that thing to get stuck and everything. So I found these tires that you can put over the tires for, like, more track. You can off road while you're on your knee scooter.
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A
Well, I was gonna say the knee scooter is, like, super, like, loose and wobbly, honestly. And I can't tell if it's on purpose, so it can handle some of the stuff or, like, I feel like I'm gonna fall over on it. So I. I try to use it in, like, I like the grocery store places where it's like a smooth, you know, surface or something. So, yeah, maybe I'll look into those tires. I do have the extra padding on the. On the crutches themselves. Like, just because you're. Yeah, see, they're on them so much.
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B
All right, so you want to do it?
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A
That's what I'm. So.
- [03:36]
B
So everybody out. That the real podcast starts at 3. 10.
- [03:40]
A
Yeah, yeah, we'll have that comment on there for sure. Nobody cares about my. They don't care about my injuries. They care about the injuries to their fantasy team, of which there are plenty. This is our starts and sits show, waiver ads, touchdown calls, all that good stuff we always do on Thursdays. All of our 20, 25 consensus rankings and tiers can be found at fantasyprose.com rankings let's dive into the popular waiver ads and see if we are interested in starting any of these guys right away or if they were just pickups that we are stashing to see what happens. First name here had a great game. Kymani Vidal. Obviously there was some, I'll say confusion about who was going to be the starter for the Chargers backfield fits. Was it going to be Vidal? Was it going to be Hasan Haskins? It ends up being Vidal in terms of the production here clearly was, you know, really good. Is this the sort of thing that you expect to continue into week seven and beyond as long as he, you know, has this role? Or do you think that was maybe more of a one off? It was up against the Dolphins run defense and you'd be maybe be a little more hesitant about starting him this week. How are you approaching Videl?
- [04:40]
C
I think you're starting him if you picked him up. I have him at running back 25 and I think I'm below ECR on that. If a player's a lead back for his team, you're starting him unless he's terrible or unless his offense is terrible. I don't think either of those caveats apply here with Kamani Vidal. Like no doubt Vidal benefited from the matchup against the Dolphins who just have this cotton candy run defense. He averaged 6.9 yards per carry against Miami. Gets the Colts this week they're more of a neutral matchup. Things won't be quite as easy, but Vidal's usage last week was lead back stuff, 67.2% Snapchat, 21 touches, usage in the passing game, four targets, three catches. Yeah, you're. You're playing him.
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A
What do you think Jake? Are you at all worried that this might be a week to week thing where it was the Vidal week in week six and then week seven ends up being a Haskins week or do you think that this is his backfield?
- [05:34]
B
I think it's his backfield but I would say the worry only comes down to is Haskins going to get inside the 5, inside the 10 carries because there weren't a ton of opportunities for that. Videl was doing plenty just in the general sense of things. So maybe he loses a touchdown here or there but it's not enough that knock him out of the RB2 range. I'm a little bit higher than Fitz but not by much. Still have him in the same mix behind Jordan Mason but in with like a DeAndre Swift. The Jalen Warren, some split backfield running backs, a Swift who gets all the touches but you know, has been pretty much inefficient outside of last week, which was just one really big play for that touchdown. So you kind of get the sense of where I would risk Videl and I guess against the Colts there's a little bit more risk. But the good thing here is what we expect the Colts to be and worrisome on defense but expect them to be a team that still scores as the almost at will at this point. It is a tougher matchup that they've seen most weeks, but if they are scoring they're probably not going to use Haskins much. That being the Chargers because Vidal is in the passing game.
- [06:33]
A
Haskins is not the next most popular waiver AD this week. Bam Knight and he, you know, Videl I think is kind of an easy one at least just in terms of where he's ranked in ECR. He is ranked as a low end RB2. So that is, you know, for, for by and large most people are going to be starting him. Knight is more ranked in that mid to back and running back three I might have said wide receiver, I meant running back, running back 3 range. So it's a little bit, a little trickier. And also you know he didn't have this great smash start already that we just saw out of Idel. You know he'd hit 11.9 Knight, I'm talking about 11.9 fantasy points in half PPR scoring back in week six, just 34 yards on the ground but he did get the touchdown for the Cardinals. So Jake, I'll start with you on this one. Is Knight somebody that if you picked him up you're saying hey like lead back in the Cardinals backfield, I'm going to roll with him. He's listed as questionable but assuming he plays.
- [07:25]
B
No, I honestly don't want to start him unless I'm desperate. I have him behind both Texans running backs to give you an idea of how far down I am and I have him 36 mostly because there was something interesting in that game for anybody that just might check the box score is that Knight didn't see much until day Mercado left the game and then additionally by that point of the game was when they were in contention and then with briefly the lead for a little bit and that's where Knight was getting a lot of his run. Which suggests what we knew about Michael Carter 2 minute drill passing game option is that Carter is going to be the negative game script one which is what we expect most weeks, especially against the Packers. So I don't expect a lot of opportunities in general for this offense once they get inside the tent, if they even get there. But I do expect them to probably try to keep catch up with the packers offense. So I have Carter just in front of him. That all being said, I have Carter one spot in front of him. I have him 35 and 36, which is what I'm telling you in my rankings is I'm not starting either unless I'm desperate because it could go either way. We got that news that Knight was going to be the lead. Clearly wasn't. Michael Carter was getting all the run until those injuries happen. The injury happened. But I still don't want to start either unless I'm desperate.
- [08:34]
A
What do you think fits? I mean Jake is lower than consensus, but not by much. Knight is RB32 in the half PPR consensus rankings. What do you think? Where do you have him?
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C
I'm between Jake and ECR. I have Knight 34 and I think I have Carter 93 35. But I should probably flip that because I think Jake nailed it. I think Carter is probably the guy to have in a negative chase game script and that's probably what they're going to get against the Packers. And by the way, the packers are giving up A League Low 66 rushing yards per game to running back. So this is a pretty tough matchup for a guy who depends on his rushing. Yeah. So this is like it is a split backfield and kind of interesting by the way that you've got a University of North Carolina guy, Carter and an NC State guy, Bam Knight sharing a backfield. We just need a Duke guy to make it a three way backfield. I guess so.
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A
Yeah.
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C
I just, I don't really want to play either of these guys this week. I think you'd have to be pretty desperate at running back.
- [09:31]
A
Wake Forest fans are like, what? We could. You couldn't get one of our running backs.
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C
Or wake.
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B
I was going to say if you're going to do three running backs, that's technically you should be Georgia Tech. So to be clear.
- [09:42]
A
Yeah, yeah.
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B
With the wishbone.
- [09:45]
A
Those were the two most popular running backs. I do want to throw a wide receiver out here as well. Kendrick Bourne, who, you know, because of injuries in that receiving room. Lots of injuries in that receiving room, has had two wide receiver one weeks. He was wide receiver nine in week five against the Rams, wide receiver 11 in week six against the Bucks. You know, he had 142 yards receiving in both of those games. He had 10 catches in week five, just five in week six. But obviously has been very productive with this opportunity of there's, you know, again, just so many injuries going on in San Francisco. So Fitz, I'll start with you on this one. Kendrick Bourne, he's wide receiver 29 in ECR. So again, kind of in that range of like you could definitely have multiple options better but you know, he's not buried in the rankings to the point where we're not buying into this so much. It's kind of a hard thing to answer because they're, you know, there are question marks, you know, surrounding what this receiving room will look like on Sunday. But how are you approaching Bourne right now? Is he somebody you're interested in starting?
- [10:43]
C
Not really. Well, definitely not if Ricky Piersol comes back and I don't know, I mean it if Piersol plays the target outlook gets more complicated for Bourne. Like it's already getting more complicated because it seems like there's an excellent chance George Kittle comes back this week. Juwan Jennings is banged up as he'll be the first to tell you, but it seems like he's going to play and we know Christian McCaffrey is probably getting double digit targets. I guess the good news for Bourne and what could maybe buoy his fantasy outlook a little bit is that Brock Purdy is not ready to come back yet. So Bourne gets to play with Mac Jones. These two just seem to have chemistry together. They played on the Patriots a few years ago. Bourne has had 142 yards each of the last two weeks. He's been the primary target for Mac Jones. But yeah, things are not quite as sunny with some of these past catchers coming back and cutting into Bourne's target share.
- [11:43]
A
Peirceau still listed as just a 15% chance to play in the Fantasy pros are they playing tool that's based on, you know, the history of him missing practice and, and the fact that he did not practice on Wednesday. This is not including any kind of Thursday or Friday practice report yet as when we're recording. So keep an eye on that. That is subject to change. I would recommend everybody check out the tool the are they playing tool on fantasy pros again right now? Piersoft 15% chance to play. That'll maybe be more clear as we get later in the week. Jake, what are you doing with Kendrick Bourne?
- [12:11]
B
We need the Charlie Day flowchart behind us for this one because like you have Purdy versus Mac Jones which Fitz just brought up. So if it's Mac Jones, feel better than if it's with Purdy, because as Fitz said, there's some kind of chemistry between Mac Jones and Kendrick Bourne. So if it's Purdy, is that chemistry still there? Then you go down. Is Pearsall playing? Completely agree with Fitz. If Pearsall is playing, you knock down Bourne, probably similar ranking between the two of them. And then if he's out, I would probably keep like right now I have Bourne at 26. He's sandwiched between the Chargers wide receivers, which of course we don't even know Quentin Johnson's playing. But he's kind of right there right now at 26 with names like Ted Row. He's behind Tedro McMillan, but in front of Jameson Williams, even though I like the matchup. And then of course, the George Kittle factor as he brought in, he probably dings him the least, that being Kittle dinging Bourne the least. But if we had all three, if it was Purdy, Pearsall and George Kittle, I think you have to almost treat Bourne as a wide receiver three with the still potential to be top 15. But a lot of risk there because we had now factor in the Purdy connection, Kittle and Pearsall taking targets away. If we completely go back to last week and it's nobody, none of them are out there, then Bourne is honestly a top 20 wide receiver. And if you throw Kittle into the mix and he's the only one that plays, that's actually where I have born right now. I've born at 26, as in Mac Jones with George Kittle.
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A
Okay.
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B
That flowchart that enough for everybody?
- [13:35]
A
Yes, I think he did. I was going to say, I think that is a good call. That like, there's a lot of moving parts on this one. So it's almost like you don't want to say 100% like yes or no right now. It's not a binary decision. It's very much A, like if X, then Y.
- [13:50]
B
And then if they trade for Chris Olave.
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A
Yeah, yeah. All right. So pay attention to all of those moving parts before you decide what to do with Kendrick Bourne. If. If you had to, let's say you were picking between him and somebody in the Thursday night game. This usually comes out late enough that we don't talk about Thursday players, but if you had to pick between him and a player in the Thursday night game. So you don't know the answer to these questions yet you.
- [14:11]
B
You.
- [14:12]
A
It sounds like based on your ranking, you would go with starting him and kind of lean in that direction. Or is that not right?
- [14:16]
B
The only one. I would. I would wait. I would not start T. Higgins. I would wait.
- [14:21]
A
Okay, let's go to our plant.
- [14:24]
B
Oh, no. Fitz looked like he disagreed. I want to say that.
- [14:26]
A
How do you. Fitz.
- [14:28]
C
So I've got. I've got T. Higgins ranked ahead of Kendrick Bourne, but that is also with the assumption that Ricky Pearsall does play. Okay, so if. If Piersol does not play, I might scooch born ahead of T. Higgins.
- [14:46]
A
But. But we won't know. Well, possibly we won't know.
- [14:49]
B
Right. We should have a good idea of the practice Wednesday as you got. I'm not saying this to you guys because you guys know this, but for Wednesdays are pretty much meaningless at this point. So if you get Piercel, I would say even if it's not limited, but like, there's no word for it. But if it's above limited but not like a full. Like he's out there and he's like doing most everything, I would be more with fits on that because now on a Thursday, if Pearsall is doing that much, that would probably point to him. Blaine.
- [15:13]
C
And I'm kind of cautiously optimistic that, like Joe Flacco, I don't want to say it's going to be the same as it would be with Joe Burrow, but that he can sort of pump new life into T. Higgins.
- [15:25]
B
I mean, he understood the assignment. Don't throw to anybody else. Except for chasing.
- [15:29]
C
Yes, for sure.
- [15:32]
A
All right, let's move on to the plant your flag segment. These are the guys that you guys feel really strong conviction in that you just really, you know, it can be any position. Ironically, you guys both pick the same position. You got the quarterback for this week. You guys are planting your flag. Just that you really believe in them. They are going to have a good week. That you want to be above consensus on here. Jake, let's start with you. Who's your plant your flag quarterback this week?
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B
Yeah, this came up because I got a lot of questions about the fact that he was one of my top. I think he was top two streaming quarterbacks this week because his roster ships fallen below 60% because everybody got frustrated at the beginning of the season. And then of course the buy but CJ Stroud. And a lot of the questions I got were like, oh my gosh, the Seahawks defense is really good. Look out for the Seahawks defense. And like, no, it's not really that good. Like, yes, it was. But they've also lost Two, almost three. Like, three players. One has been in and out in the secondary. And if you look at what they've just done over the last three games, Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Trevor Lawrence, all two touchdowns. Kyler Murray was actually the low scorer in those three games at 16, and then Trevor Lawrence was just at 20. Depending on your league, it was like 1920. Baker Mayfield had a really nice day, throwing for almost 400 yards. And even if you go back to when their defense was healthy in week one, Brock Purdy threw for two touchdowns and has 17 points against them. So I'm looking at C.J. stroud, and yeah, the offensive line is always a concern, but I go back to what I was saying about the Seahawks. They're not healthy right now. If they were healthy, of course, I would be more concerned. But they've been giving it up, especially in the passing game, as I just mentioned, for their last three games. There's just a lot of injuries right there. And if you need quarterback help, I'm starting CJ Stroud over Justin Fields. Justin Fields, like the Panthers defense, is strong these past two weeks against the run, but it's also, he has no Garrett Wilson. He got him killed. And that's why I wanted to bring up C.J. stroud, because a lot of people right now need a quarterback. Like, I love Jackson Dart for the potential of his rushing upside, but I'm starting Shroud over Dart in Denver. I'm doing that this week.
- [17:22]
A
What do you think? Fitz Stroud is QB16 in ECR.
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C
I think that's about where I have him. So, like, I can't. I think Jake might be a little more excited about him than I am. Like, I just. I can't get excited about a quarterback with a bad offensive line going against the Seahawks. In Seattle, like the Seahawks, they're sixth in pressure rate, tied for second in sacks. And yes, they are really banged up in the secondary. They've been playing without Devon Witherspoon and Reek Wolin, their two best cornerbacks, and Julian Love, their excellent safety. It's possible they could get one or more of those guys back. I think they'll probably get Reek Wolin back. He had a concussion. And guys typically only miss one game with a concussion. Not always, but typically not as sure about Witherspoon, who's got a knee issue, and Julian Love, who's got the hair hamstring issue. I guess I'm okay with playing Stroud if all of the DBs are still out for Seattle, but if one or two of them come back, I'm probably going to be fading. Stroud my rankings a little.
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B
I would be with you if two came back. One, I'm still probably strongly on Stroud, but if two, I'm with you. That's a good point to bring up.
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C
That's fair.
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A
By the way, for anybody who hasn't looked at the actual schedule yet, this is of course part of the Monday night double header that is going to be 10 o' clock Eastern. As somebody who's not on the East Coast, I don't mind it as much from the timing perspective. I don't like that there are double headers on Mondays especially. More like I get why they do one early in the year. I don't like that there's multiple now. I mean we're into mid August or August, we're in the mid October and we're still doing this. So I don't enjoy that at all. But the 10 o' clock one, like, I actually at least do prefer that they're separate and I don't have to have them, you know, kind of going on at the same time.
- [19:01]
B
I don't just put it at 8:30. Like I, I'm not, I'm not as opposed to the double headers as everybody seems to be because I don't mind two games at the, at the same time. Especially like last week where most of the overlap was about 2/4 because the other two, the bookends didn't really overlap a lot and then you had the off top, the halftime offsetting it. So I don't mind it. I just, I mind the 10 o'. Clock. As an east coast person, I'm sure.
- [19:22]
A
Yeah, yeah, Fitz. It's like, it's not that I, it's not that I mind the two on at the same time. It's just that it just feels wrong. I'm just like Monday Night Football should just be one. It's like, it's not even like a specific like, oh, I can't stand watching two games at the same time. It's that I just don't. I just, I like having Monday night standalone.
- [19:39]
C
Yep, totally agree with you. I mean, man, the 10 o' clock East coast time. Like, I don't see how they can do that to people on the east coast like Jake, who's twice in a year.
- [19:48]
A
I mean they already did one earlier and they're doing it again.
- [19:50]
B
Oh yeah, like the Raiders game. I did it. I said, look, here's my waiver column. It's still posting at midnight. Like it always does and if anything happens I'll be updating it early in the morning. But see as the sidebar is, this is why I also like it too is because there's only six one o' clock games and I can focus more. It saves me work on Monday from having to go back and rewatch games on NFL plus is being able to watch more and be more attentive like it pulls off from the one o' clock games. And that's what I like about yeah, that's fair.
- [20:20]
A
Fitz, who is your quarterback that you're picking for planting your flag?
- [20:23]
C
It's going to be Jared Goff and look it's a home game in the Ford Field of the Coors Field of the NFL. We know that scoring is always way up when the lines of home games against a pass funnel Buccaneers defense. In a game with a Vegas Total of 52 and a half, Goff gets to throw to Amon Ross, St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Sam Laporta, Jameer Gibbs. It's just a great setup. I've Got him ranked QB8 this week, one spot behind Baker Mayfield. And I'll probably move Goff ahead of Mayfield if Mike Evans isn't able to come back from his hammy injury this week. And I think Jake is on board with me because I think Jake has golf ranked even higher than I do.
- [21:00]
B
Yeah. Why do you hate golf? I have him at 6.
- [21:05]
A
He just for the record in terms of weekly finishes this season, he has that QB1 overall finish in week two. He has not been a QB1 at any other point. His next highest finish is QB13 so far this season. So this is higher than he has been almost every week of the year. Jake.
- [21:22]
B
Yeah, and this is what happens with golf. And honestly it's the same argument for CJ Stroud when you have to do it all with your arm to really reach that number one or even top five finish. I mean there's a lot of quarterbacks that sneak into like the 4th 5th spot just with Jackson. Dart is done like that's the issue there. So. But I think as Fitz said, this is why you're attacking the Buccaneers defense. You're tagged. And I think honestly to his point that if there's no Mike Evans, you honestly start to worry about the over under for if it was anybody but the Lions because the Lions are just like oh we're still up 40 to 10. Cool. We're going to keep passing like who the hell cares? Like that's just what they do.
- [21:56]
A
Would you guys start golf over somebody like Jalen Hurts, who's playing at Minnesota this week?
- [22:02]
B
I got that question in the discord over at the Athletic this morning. No, I have hurts one spot in front of golf and like, I'm not that scared of Minnesota as everybody else seems to be. Like, I'm scared. Fitz has brought it up twice this year. I am scared. If it's an inexperienced offense, if it's an experienced quarterback, a young quarterback, yes, then I am definitively terrified of the Vikings defense. But hurts experienced teams like that, like, no, I'm not going to, I'm not going to steer away from Hertz.
- [22:28]
A
Yeah, Fitz, what do you think about that? Same thing.
- [22:30]
C
I, I have Hurts ranked higher too.
- [22:32]
A
Okay. Yeah, I, I have hurts in a Guillotine league this week. So I'm thinking about picking up a, a quarterback, you know, maybe like a golfer or Caleb Williams. Because you get to this point in the season and teams are just holding on to one qb. So you actually do have some pretty decent options available you could pick up and stream instead. So yeah, we'll see what I end up doing there. But yeah, I mean, the Vikings are very good. This isn't a Hurts conversation.
- [22:56]
B
I'm at five. I have. I got the only four at Daniels, ma, Prescott and May are the only ones I would start over. Hurts.
- [23:02]
C
Yeah, it's. It's not an easy matchup, but it's not a skull and crossbones matchup either.
- [23:07]
A
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- [24:49]
B
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- [25:17]
A
All right, guys, let's get into our player debates here. Running back debate number one Cam Scaboo versus Rashad White. In terms of the vibes on these guys in general coming into like the season and where we are, it might feel like there's a clear answer, but they are back to back in ECR right now in the half PPR scoring. So, Fitz, I'll start with you. Who do you like better, Cam Scatterboo or Rashad White In Week seven, who.
- [25:43]
C
Is the better running back, Cam Scatterboo or Rashad White? I think it's Scatterboo. I don't think it's particularly close. Maybe I would consider starting Rashad White over Scatter Boo if White had a cushy matchup. That's really not the case here. White goes up against the Lions. Scatter Boo goes up against the Broncos. They're both kind of tough matchups. White's matchup is arguably tougher. The Lions have allowed fewer rushing yards per game to running backs than the Broncos have. The Lions run defense ranks fifth in DVOA. The Broncos rank eighth. And like White, scatterboo catches passes, too. He's averaged four catches a game over the last four weeks and has at least two catches in every game this season. White has 599 career carries. He's averaged 3.8 yards per carry for his career. Like start Cam, Scatterboo is actually good at football.
- [26:32]
A
Yep.
- [26:32]
B
As seems to be like the kids, like what was last week. It took a while for us to agree and maybe like right out of the gate we're doing this. It's going to take a while to agree. Possibly. I'm on the other side. I have White. It's close. Mostly because I think both are volume plays. Like, I think that Scatter Boo has been a volume play. It's not like he's averaging five yards of carry. And I know the touchdowns just came, but maybe this is my Viking similarities, but I am deathly afraid of Jackson Dart in this offense in Denver like that. I just, I am worried that they just completely get stomped and defensively, not like they're the Broncos are going to put up 35 points. And maybe I'm underestimating what Dart and Scatter Boo do just from like a personality standpoint, whatever it might be. And Rashad White is pure volume. That's. He's still been pure volume. He's has 18 and 20 touches the past two weeks, but he gets into the end zone. And Fitz is right. But the one thing that the Lions have done, if you look at it like Judkins volume play got into the end zone. Swift volume play got into the end zone. Josh Jacobs volume play got into the end zone. And maybe I'm banking too much on the Bucks being able to get into the scoring range for White to get into the end zone. But if I'm picking between the two, that's just where I'm going to give the edge is I'm going to give the Buccaneers the slight edge over the Giants offensive being able to get their running back into the end zone. But that's the thing. I'm not going to disagree that vehemently because I could see them both having 20 touches for 80 yards and then the difference is going to be who scored.
- [27:59]
C
Yeah, that's. That's fair. Jake makes a great point. Like Baker Mayfield closes the gap between these guys because he is more likely to keep the chains moving against the Lions defense that's missing a few defensive backs. So good point on that. That's what makes it kind of close.
- [28:15]
A
And you, Fitz just called it, you know, Coors Field. Like you are expecting a lot of points in that game. Whereas Giants at Denver. I know the giants just scored 34 points in a game last week, but that doesn't sound like a high scoring game just when you hear it.
- [28:28]
C
No.
- [28:29]
A
What if I asked you, I we only do like a head to head in this segment usually. But what if I threw in a third name here because it's Rashad White. ECR is RB15, Scatterboo is RB16. RB17 is in the game with Scatterboo. It's JK Dobbins. Do you guys agree with Dobbins being behind both of those guys or would you put him ahead of either or both of them? Jake?
- [28:46]
B
I'm behind both but barely. Like I've been like arguing go get JK Dobbins in trades because nobody wants him. Like, everybody's just like, oh, it's not going to keep happening. He's not. But he's, he's just that consistent RB 16 to 22. Like he's just, he's not going to be top 10. And I think that's why the ceiling just isn't the same for him versus the other two. And of course now watch him score two touchdowns against the Giants. But it just comes down to Dobbins being more of that. He's the floor. Like if you told me between the three who I wanted to like, hey, I need to bet that I get at least eight points this week it would be Dobbins. But like if I wanted to go for who has the higher ceiling, that's why I would go with the other two fifths.
- [29:27]
C
So I've got Dobbins behind the other guys. Dobbins far and away the easiest matchup, but that brings pretty much zero to the table as a pass catcher. Like he can't even catch passes in a Sean Payton offense where they always throw to the running backs. They're not throwing to J.K. dobbins. The other guys are pretty prolific pass catchers.
- [29:45]
A
All right, let's go to our next running back debate here. I did want to include Vidal because he was highly ranked even though he was in the popular waiver wire segment as well already. So Vidal is one of the names here versus DeAndre Swift, who Fitz is coming off a great game. He where he looked very good. He obviously had the 55 yard catch and run for the touchdown, which, you know, really add to the scoring. But he also had, you know, just 14 carries over 100 yards on the ground as well. It just looked a lot better coming out of the buy I felt watching that game. So who do you like better this week, Swift or Vidal?
- [30:14]
C
Maybe it seems like I'm chasing the previous week's points. The ultimate fantasy sin. But I do have Swift ranked higher. I don't feel that strongly about it. Swift had not been all that effective as a runner up until he had the 108 yards against the Commanders. He's averaged 3.1 yards per carry or worse in three of his first four games and then had the big day. Also that huge 55 yard touchdown catch late and that was against a good run defense. So maybe Ben Johnson worked out the bugs in the Chicago running game while the Bears were on by because the running game was really good, just humming on Monday night. The run blocking looked great. So cautious optimism that maybe Swift gets a little more consistent from here on out.
- [30:58]
B
Yeah.
- [30:58]
A
What do you think about this one, Jake?
- [31:00]
B
I have them almost back to back. I go Vidal slightly and it's, it's not anything against like disagreeing with Fitz on this one. It's just there's a couple factors here. I hope, like to his point, I hope Ben Johnson fixed it. And the thing that you saw that they did in that game is, oh, by the way, what do we want to do? What the freaking Patriots should be doing with Henderson. Get Swift into space. Stop running in between the tackles. Why are we running Henderson? I started this. I know it's not a Henderson thing, but I'm just bringing up for comparison's sake. But part of that too is Ben Johnson did have two weeks to prepare for that game. Two weeks to say, this is our game plan going forward. And as you said, Fitz, maybe, hopefully Ben Johnson has said, you know what, this is the way my offense can work with DeAndre Swift. He clearly wants DeAndre Swift to be Bell Cowie. He's still barely. I mean, there was a slight uptick from a non guy, but it wasn't enough to be like, oh, that he's really coming for the job at all or even for a 5050 split with like David Montgomery or whatever. But. But I just, I want to see it a second time. And I know the Saints matchup is a cushy one, but again, getting into space and using them that fashion. Yes, please do that with Swift going forward. If you want to go Swift. I'm not going to argue. This is another one where I'm not going to be like, oh my God, you got to start Vidal. But I just, I have to see it a second time.
- [32:15]
A
How close did you say they were? Do you say they were back to back for you, or.
- [32:17]
B
No, I go. I go, Vidal, Warren Swift, in order. Like, back to back to back. Like. And they're all inside the top 22.
- [32:25]
A
So Vidal is 22 in consensus. Swift is up at night.
- [32:28]
B
I basically have him reversed of consensus. I have Adele at 20, Warren at 21, and Swift at 22.
- [32:34]
A
Okay. Yeah. All right. Yeah, we'll see how that one pans out. I. I just, like. I. I just really liked what I saw from Swift, and. And I totally get wanting to see it again. I think that's completely fair, Jake. I. I just. I. I want to believe. I. I want to. I want.
- [32:49]
B
I'm with you. X Files. There you go. Want to believe.
- [32:53]
A
Yeah. I've never seen X Files, but I.
- [32:54]
B
Knew you were gonna say that. That's why I said it. Like, it came to my mind. And I knew the response out of your mouth was gonna be, I've never seen it.
- [33:01]
A
There was some. I can't remember what it was. I didn't listen to the entire episode last week because I was kind of out of it for recovering from surgery. But I did listen a little to last week's episode, and there was some reference that you guys were talking about, and I was like, almost. I was screaming from my bed. I was like, I actually know this reference. Oh, was it you. Was it this a show that you guys were talking about the Dark Knight last week? And I was like, oh, yeah, okay. Because I knew that they filmed the early one in Chicago and then Dark Night.
- [33:24]
B
The first two in Chicago.
- [33:26]
A
Yes. And I was. I was, like, screaming that from my bed. And you guys were talking. I was like, I actually. This is a reference I could actually talk about. And I was unable to. So that was disappointing to me.
- [33:35]
C
That's what we do.
- [33:35]
B
We only bring up references, you know, when you're not here.
- [33:37]
A
Yes. You wait till I'm not here to talk about the movies I've seen. All right, let's get to the wide receiver debates here. We had to ask about Rasheed Rice. Just with him coming back, I want to know what you guys think about him right off the bat. Clearly, this is somebody that, if you have been sitting on him for six weeks, you have been waiting for this moment to get Rashid Rice back into your lineup. I mean, he was going as high at certain points in the summer as a second round pick in drafts. So this is somebody that you expected to be a potential league winner here this is somebody who you expected to be like a real key cog in the machine of your fantasy lineup. So. So I want to see what you guys think about him in week seven, first week back. Is there going to be rust? Is there not? What does the offense look like? All that stuff. So Rashee Rice vs. Brian Thomas Jr. Who is coming off of his best game of the season? Jake Fitz. I'll start with you on this one, actually. Do you like Rice or Brian Thomas Jr.
- [34:26]
C
Better? Yeah, I'll take Rasheed Rice. Things have been getting better for BTJ. Four catches for 80 yards against the Chiefs two weeks ago. Eight catches for 90 yards in his first touchdown of the season last week against Seattle. His two best games of the season, really. His only two good games of the season. But we talked earlier about how banged up the Seattle secondary has been. So that probably factored into Brian Thomas's big game last week. I just think Rice is going to be full go for the Chiefs right away and all the stuff they do with him, those wide receiver screens and little quick hitters, like, it's some of the best stuff in Andy Reid's playbook. I don't think it's going to be a slow build for Rishi Rice. They're going to use him heavily right away.
- [35:08]
A
I'm curious what you think, Jake. And I'm curious too. Like, I'm almost more curious just where you have Rice ranks because I think Brian Thomas Jr. Is a little, maybe not easy to rank just given what the season has looked like. But Rice is the one where I feel like there could be a pretty wide variance here in terms of where you would come down on him again just for his first week back. So where do you have these guys ranked and who do you like better this week?
- [35:31]
B
So I, I apparently hate Rasheed Rice. Having him at 14 now, that's also with Debo and no Terry. So if Terry's back, Debo slides behind him. If Debo doesn't play, obviously that's. And Terry would not jump Rishi Rice if he plays. And there is no Debo Samuel. So Rasheed Rice, probably for all intensive purposes, ends up at 13. I have Brian Thomas at 11. That's how narrow the gap is. But the reason I'm going with Brian Thomas, I wrote it up in the waiver column this week and like I do a power up section of like what to believe and everything and watching Brian Thomas and this is why I went and dug into the metrics. Like I'm watching him the past two weeks And I'm like, like he looks different. And we can speculate. And I even said that we could speculate. It was the wrist. And the wrist was bothering more than he let on. And that was causing some of his hesitation for contested balls and running over the middle when he made the business decision and all that type of stuff. But it was also the catches, just he's making the tougher ones that were contested. And I went back and looked over the past three games after having a 42% on target percentage from Trevor Lawrence in the first three games, the last three games, 100%. Not 90. Not what? 100% of the targets to Lawrence to Brian Thomas have been on target. They're connecting similar to somewhat. We saw Ridley before he got hurt, was starting to connect with Kevin Ward. It's not even to this level. Trevor Lawrence and Brian Thomas are on the Mac Jones and Brian Thomas train right now. Back with Mike Jones last year. It's working. And Brian Thomas looks good again. And Brian Thomas looks like himself. And that's why I give him the slight edge. I do think Fitz mentioned he listened to the podcast that I had J.J. zacharyssen on and mentioned that he listened to that. And we talked about this and JJ brought up the really good point. He said Rasheed Rice can walk into 25% target share and Worthy can still be a thing. Because if you look at Worthy and then the other wide receivers, the other wide receivers basically equate to 25%. And I agree with him and I agree with Rice potentially being a wide receiver one going forward. But that conversation also included expecting Travis Kelsey to fall off as he was last year year and earlier this year. I don't necessarily know that that happens. Boom, right out of the gate. Travis Kelce's look good finally again, in the first year, the past couple weeks, you know, maybe they just say, why do we need to force it 10 times to rush you? Right. So it's a. I mean, we're talking splitting hairs here.
- [37:50]
A
The.
- [37:50]
B
The biggest answer that I will say in this entire corporate incorporation of this conversation is I have him at 13/14. So that means you bench Pittman, you bench Olave, you bench guys that if you've been waiting and those have been your wide receiver threes, they hit the bench for Rishi Rice.
- [38:07]
A
I assume you guys both have Rice ahead of Thomas in rest of season rankings, right?
- [38:11]
B
Narrowly, yes, I do.
- [38:14]
C
Yeah.
- [38:14]
A
Okay, let's go to another wide receiver debate here. You just mentioned Olave, Jake. How about Chris Olave or Stefan Diggs? Who had a very good week five, had a less good week six, although he had a 50 yard catch that was called back on kind of an iffy, you know, penalty. So it would have looked a lot different if you if that pass had stayed completed. So Diggs or a Lava Jake, who do you like better this week?
- [38:36]
B
Spider man meme pointing at each other the essential same wide receivers of volume PPR guys both facing defenses that we want to exploit. Like this is play them both but I have a lobby at 20 and Stefon Diggs at 22. Again, a very slim margin. Pittman is sandwiched in between them. I'm just going to take a lobby on the fact that the one thing that we can say about both teams is a lobby is always going to be the main target. He's going to always be. I think Diggs will be more often than not. And I actually think Diggs I brought this up in the podcast too. I think he's a good buy low because the two weeks prior to last he was 90% out there and like the clear number one, he was getting the targets. But Drake May is Josh Allen is Lamar Jackson. He will spread it around. He won't target the same guy every single week. He will take what's given to him. And as we just saw with Booty, which is why I'm kind of cool on Booty phrasing is the fact that like this was the first good game since week one because May's just going to take what's there. This is the week where Diggs should be able to exploit that. But the slim difference going to be I know I don't have to worry about a Lava being the main target. There's always the chance that Diggs might be the second or third.
- [39:42]
A
Jake, you're almost exactly lined up with consensus. The you have a lot of two spots higher and you have them at 20 and 22. The consensus rankings have them two spots apart with lave at 19 and digs at 21. So you're, you're very, very close to being aligned with consensus on both of them. Fitz, how do you see it? Do you like Diggs or Alave better?
- [40:02]
C
So Olave has 64 targets and 39 catches this year. Diggs has 37 targets and 32 catches. So Alave has more catches than Diggs has targets. But olave is averaging 5.3 yards per target. Diggs is averaging 10.5 yards per target. That's where the superior quarterback play comes in. I mean one guy is playing with Drake May the others tied to Spencer Ralph so it's close. I have Diggs Wide receiver 20, Olave Wide receiver 21 in a half point PPR but in full point PPR just because of the volume. I've got Olave ranked a couple spots higher than Diggs.
- [40:40]
A
Okay, let's go to some more start sit decisions here guys. We'll do another running back one here. How about Isaiah Pacheco or either Patriots running back? I'll let you guys pick and choose between them. If you want to separate them. If you have them kind of, you know, hand holding, then that's fine as well. But Pacheco versus either Patriots running back fits.
- [40:59]
C
Ooh, it's dealer's choice. I'll take the dealer's choice for him. Give me Ramon Ray Stevenson over Isaiah Pacheco. Like I know there seemed to be a usage shift in the Chiefs backfield last week. Pacheco played more than twice as many snaps as Kareem Haunt. But is that the way it's going to be henceforth? I don't know. Like it wouldn't be shocking if it went back to being a near even split between Pacheco and Hunt this week with some Burchard Smith mixed in. And the Chiefs have been really pass heavy. Their passing rate over expected last week against the Lions was plus 13.5%. Just give me a reminder in the easy matchup like the Titans have allowed A League high nine touchdown runs to running backs. They're giving up 4.7 yards per carry to running backs. Their run defense ranks 27th in DVOA. I know Ramondre might be one fumble away from getting yanked. I'll. I'll take my chance.
- [41:48]
A
What do you think Jake? And again you can also pick your your Patriots right back of choice here.
- [41:53]
B
Well how about like I'll do the Will Ferrell like yeah, fist bump. We finally agree. It took a while but we got actually we got here quicker this week. I have Stevenson at 26, Pacheco at 27, Henderson at 30. I slightly Stevenson. Everything Fitz said I agree with. And this comes back to kind of the similar conversation we had from earlier in the show. I want again, I want to believe X Files again two times for you. I want to believe that Pacheco is finally going to be the guy. But this is not. This is one game and I know it's against the Raiders, but like again do they even need their running backs with the way that Patrick Mahomes is playing, it's almost kind of like he's proven like hey you know, you made the joke about the warriors are just coasting through the season from past years. It's like this is clearly. We did this show at the beginning of the year and we speculated and I brought up the point. I was like, maybe taking it on the chin in the super bowl was like their wake up call. Patrick Mahomes has come out this season and being like, we're not just going to coast through this season. He is going for the MVP at this point. So it could just be all passing volume. And that's where Pacheco obviously takes a big hit. So that's why I give Stevenson the slightest of edges.
- [42:57]
A
I don't know what the odds are right now. I would bet on Mahomes winning the mvp.
- [43:01]
C
Like, it's been a few years.
- [43:03]
A
Okay. He should be the favorite. And I, I, I, Unless it's like pretty poor odds, like even with him as a favorite, I would bet on him right now.
- [43:12]
B
Baker's climbed up a bit. I know he's now number three. I forget who's two fits if you know. But I think at this point your, your point being? I would agree with you unless Mahomes got hurt. I just don't, I don't see anybody taking it from him at this point.
- [43:24]
C
Yeah. Has someone jumped Baker? Last I checked, I thought Mahomes was 2 to 1 and Baker was 3 to 1. And then it was a little bit of a drop off golf.
- [43:31]
B
I mean, Baker might have pulled up to number two then because I remember Baker's been awesome.
- [43:36]
A
I don't wanna, I don't want to diminish Baker when I say that I think Mahomes is going to be the mvp.
- [43:40]
B
No, Alan's still number two. It's Mahomes, Alan Baker, and then golf is a distant fourth, which is just crazy.
- [43:48]
A
Yeah. I mean, injuries can always change things, right? Obviously they have changed things already. That's why guys like Lamar and Burrow aren't in the conversation. But yeah, it's hard for, from like even Allen, like, to, to win it back to back. You have to be so good and like he's already just been just enough worse that like, it almost rules him out. That I just like, I think, I think voters are gonna say, like, hey, it's been long enough since Mahomes got one. He's the best quarterback in football. It's, it's. And he's playing awesome. Like he's genuinely playing at a deserving level. Like, it's him. And then if you want to take a long shot It's. It's Baker. Just because Baker's been. I. I think. I think It's Mahomes at 40 to 1.
- [44:22]
B
I just checked that. Would you ever take the long shot on that? The Ravens somehow run the table and then everybody's like, Lamar, like, there's that just because of how.
- [44:31]
A
40 to 1 has. Not terrible for that.
- [44:33]
B
That's what I'm saying. That's super long odds. But, like, if they just.
- [44:36]
C
Especially. Yeah, especially since a lot of people think Lamar kind of got jobbed, including Worm last year.
- [44:43]
A
I. I don't just think it. I. I have two eyes. I had a brain. I can recognize.
- [44:47]
B
It's fine because Alan should have had it the year before.
- [44:49]
A
Before.
- [44:49]
B
Lamar should have had it last year. So just offsets. They can go trade the dates on their little. They can just change it.
- [44:54]
A
Yeah, I. I don't actually totally disagree with that, but I just. I like. I hate that Lamar's historic season is like, now kind of lost to history in terms of. Didn't actually win anything from it. I can't. My. My Internet's slow, so I can't pull up the odds. Well, I'm glad you guys were able to check it out, but yeah, 40 to 1 is not bad for that possibility because he only ended up missing two games, so his stats, I mean, assuming he comes back, could be fine.
- [45:16]
B
And if they ran the table, they could leap. The Chiefs, they're only two losses behind. That's why I bring it up off.
- [45:21]
C
Schedule the rest of the way.
- [45:23]
A
Yeah. Stop trying to get my hopes. Okay. This is like the. There's like the Avengers meme of Hawkeye. Like, don't do that. Don't give me hope. So we're not gonna. We're not gonna get optimistic about that. Let's go to a wide receiver start sit decision here. How about Matthew Golden, Jake coming off of. You know, what we saw out of him coming off of their buy in week five against Alec IO Manor, who. You know, Calvin Ridley has his own. I think it's a hamstring issue at times. This year has been a favorite target of Cam Ward. The offense isn't very good, But golden or I.O. manor, who do you like better?
- [45:55]
B
Yeah, this one comes down to, and I want to say the general offense, 100% Christian Watson. And it's not that I think Christian Watson deserves to be the threat to be the number one as we've seen the history of just the inconsistency in his own right. But we're going down the packers road Again of like they don't have a one, they have 18 number twos. But if Christian Watson's back and he's out there, it just goes back to I've wanted we should just put like an X Files GIF or AVI on the thing for this. The thumbnail is I want to believe I'm a Golden person. Like I said pre season, I'll bring up and say the fact that I missed this one. I felt golden was their answer to being a number one. Not that he's an NFL number one, but he was the one that could step in and be like, you know, let's stop with these games that Romeo Dobbs and Jaden Reed and Dontavian Wicks and all the rest of the golden can be the constant and then somebody's alongside of them. Probably read if healthy. But at this point, I mean it basically took Wicks getting hurt for golden to pull away. Like Wicks going back to the previous game had played more routes and was more opportunities than Golden. So I want to believe in Golden. It's just I see what the packers do and I see what LaFleur does and he does it all the time. So if Watson's out there, I don't I would actually go IU Manor, but if Watson's not back then 100% I would go Golden.
- [47:10]
A
It fits.
- [47:12]
C
I have golden ranked higher and I will have to reevaluate if Watson comes back. Right now I don't have Watson ranked. The packers are pretty notoriously conservative about bringing back injured players. So Worm, you and I do the Dynasty podcast together with our good friend Scott Bogman. You know, I'm an enthusiastic Alec I a Manor supporter and you know how skeptical I've been about Matthew golden and and I a Manor has been used more heavily this season. He's averaging 5.7 targets a game, Golden 3.8 targets a game. And maybe I.O. manor gets a target bump with Calvin Ridley out. But ultimately Worm, I want the guy in the functional passing attack and that ain't I a Manor. Like there is something to be said for quality of targets. Golden is averaging 11.2 yards per target and I Am Manor is averaging 5.8 yards per target.
- [48:01]
A
Good. Let's go to some flexes here. Jaylen Waddle versus Jordan Mason. And I don't know if, I don't know if you guys saw this. Andy Slater tweeted this morning that this Dolphins Browns game could have 50 to 60 mile per hour wind gusts in in Cleveland. So and, and considering who the Quarterbacks are in that game. Not exactly the strongest arms of any signal callers in the NFL. So just an interesting thing to note there.
- [48:30]
B
If you.
- [48:31]
A
It's weather wise for that one, but Jalen Waddle in that wind. Jake or Jordan Mason.
- [48:37]
B
I already had Jordan Mason in front of him and I have a Fantasy 101 column over the Athletic and I bring up weather and the wind being a factor because you have wind, precipitation, all those type of things and temperature all come into play. And one of them is that 15 + doesn't really usually do. That's kind of a tie break. 25 plus. You start to think about like, hey, maybe I bench blank for blank. Like, you're not going to go out there and bench Jalen Hur to go start Justin Fields. Like something like that. That's not good. But when you talk 35 plus, then it's like, oh my God, I might want to actually consider even benching my studs now. Again, studs, I'm talking like that's. You're not benching Patrick Mahomes and 35 plus. You would think about it though. And the point is, is that thinking about it, as you just said, brings up everything you need to know because we're talking about tua. Jalen Waddle is the one who would fall off, obviously, if TUA is going to be that bad. So I already had Mason in front of him. If the wind is really that. It's not just the fact that I would def. I mean, wide gap Mason over Waddle is that Waddle now potentially falls into the wide receiver 3 range because it's going to have to be short to get it to him. And it's going to have to be after the catch, which can be done. But 35 plus is going, yeah, we've seen it time and time again. It destroys passing games.
- [49:52]
A
Yeah. What do you think, Fitz?
- [49:54]
C
Yeah, and I'm a fade the weather guy generally. And I always love it when like people ask questions on Twitter, Discord or whatever. Like, you know, oh, you, you'd play that quarterback over the other quarterback. When the wind is going to be 15 miles an hour, I'm like, 15 mile an hour. Winds will not even tussle your hair, man. Like, I can go out in the backyard with my son and throw the Nerf ball around like, oh no, 15 miles an hour. It might blow over the fence like, no. Oh hell, 15 miles an hour is nothing.
- [50:22]
B
I'll add to it 80% chance of rain. You're getting precipitation too. Like this is get the hell away from this game.
- [50:30]
C
Cleveland is is one stadium too where I do worry about the wind because there is like a wind tunnel effect in that stadium.
- [50:37]
B
So.
- [50:37]
C
Yeah, yeah, I mean I had Waddle in neutral conditions. I would play Waddle because he has been like we've seen a serious uptick in his production without Tyreek Hill in wind like that. No, I'm. I'm playing Mason.
- [50:50]
A
Weather can change, of course, so you know, don't just assume that it's going to be. Yeah, it's going to stay that forecast so everybody should, should keep an eye on that. But as of right now, yeah, that was. I saw that tweet a few hours ago that it's looking really extreme. So keep an eye out for that. Let's go to another flex here. Tony Pollard or Jacobe Myers? I know Myers has his own injury stuff going on. When I put this together, he was still kind of in the rankings and everything. I haven't checked for an update there. Fitz, what do you think Myers if he plays or Pollard.
- [51:21]
C
Pollard wasn't exactly ringing the bell in fantasy when he had the backfield all to himself. And now Taji Spears is getting more run like Spears played more snaps than Pollard last week and looked better. Pollard is going against the Patriots who are pretty tough against the run. So if he plays, give me Myers. Like the recent production has been super discouraging. Under 40 receiving yards in three straight games. You would have thought that Myers would smash with Brock Powers live action. It hasn't happened. I still think Myers is better bet than Pollard with the Raiders probably in chase mode against the Chiefs.
- [51:55]
B
Yeah, that's why I'm going.
- [51:55]
A
By the way, did not practice Wednesday. Yeah, just. Just to note that. Yeah, go ahead Jake.
- [52:00]
B
I put that in quotes too because I wonder how much of that has to do with the trade rumors. But like the. The fact is it fits his right but it's also four receptions in each of the last three games. He actually one game with three receptions. Everything else has been four plus and he's still going to get those and so you know, non ppr if you want to make an argument but everybody knows by now I'm anti poll just for the fact that like the argument I brought up all the time from last year going into this year and that was before Tajie Spears was in the mix. And to be honest, as a complete Pollard conversation, I wouldn't be surprised if Spears starts pushing for 5050 and then we're talking about Spears in the way we used to talk About Jalen Warren alongside Najah Harris is that we'd rather have the better looking, more explosive option. So I'm with him, I'm with Myers on this one. As long as he's playing and healthy, just there's very little upside for Pollard, let alone the matchup to that Fitz brought up with the Patriots.
- [52:48]
A
Let's go to Zach Charbonnet versus Jerry Judy who also is obviously has that weather consideration now and I'm wondering if.
- [52:54]
B
Well, Dylan Gabriel in that win, I mean he might get knocked over. So I think we're just.
- [52:58]
A
Yeah, I was. Yeah, yeah. Tua and Dylan Gabriel being the two quarterbacks in that game with that wind kind of hilarious. Jake, who do you like better here, Charbonnet or gd?
- [53:09]
B
So jokes aside, I will even say even without the let's just say the weather breaks and it's clear and 10 mile an hour winds, I'm still going Charbonnet just because if you're going to tell me who has the better chance for probably similar touches potentially. But even if they do have similar touches, who's more likely to score? I'm just going to lean with Charbonnet on this one.
- [53:31]
C
Fits the weather I got to take. Charbonne is 2.6 yards per carry apparently so.
- [53:38]
B
But they can't use him at the goal line.
- [53:40]
C
They are insistent and that is his only valid value. Jake the the foil into the end zone. But the weird thing about Judy, like he is currently wide receiver 57 1/2 point PPR fantasy scoring. But get this, he leads all NFL wide receivers in number of routes run. He ranks fourth among receivers in air yards. He's tied for 10th among receivers in targets. But obviously like the quality of targets. Not great. Only 60% of his targets this season have been deemed catchable. He's playing with a third round rookie quarterback, Dylan Gabriel. And Judy himself bears some of the blame. Let's face it, he's been kind of a career underachiever. So with the usage I would have been really tempted to take Judy here. But with the wind there's, there's no way I'm just going with Charbonnet.
- [54:28]
A
One more flex here. Woody Marks or Keisha and Booty. We talked a little bit about Booty when we were talking about Diggs Marks of course coming off of his bye week. So Fitz, I'll start with you on this one. Marks or Booty, who do you like better?
- [54:40]
C
I know which way Jake is going with this, but I got to be the Lex Luthor to Jake's Superman Here I'm going with Kayshawn Booty. He's not been heavily targeted this season, but he has been wildly efficient. Booty is averaging 13.1 yards per target and 1.86 yards per route run. Just excellent numbers. Has three touchdowns. Marks is in a split backfield with Nick Chubb. Tough matchup against the Seahawks, who ranked second in DVOA versus the run. And Houston's offensive line is not so good.
- [55:10]
B
Yeah, this is the one area where the Seahawks still are strong even with those injuries as you brought up earlier. So I will say, yeah, you do know where I'm going because I'm going to go with Marks. But I will say definitive higher ceiling. I would go with Booty if you need that play. And this is why I bring this up a lot of times, not to, like, put the onus on the people watching, but we're talking about flex plays, so we're talking about positions where you are going to have to make that decision and look at your team and say, you know what? Do I have a really strong team and I'm fine and I just want to be the better, you know, the better consistent play out there. The thing is with Marks is the touches were almost equal. The opportunities were actually more for Marks in that last game is that Chubb just had the bigger game. It's still a split backfield and there's always the potential. As you guys both, everybody knows this coming out of buys, and it usually skews more towards wide receivers than running backs. But it does happen is that rookies, young players coming out of buys sometimes see an uptick. Again, usually that's more true for wide receivers, but it happens with running backs, too. If Marks was all of a sudden the 6040 side of the split, I wouldn't be shocked. But again, we're talking safe play. I will agree with Fitz 100%, though. If you're looking for the ceiling, Booty has the higher ceiling.
- [56:15]
C
But Jake made this point on his podcast and it's spot on that Drake May is basically like Josh Allen. He just throws to the open guy. So it's going to be real hard to, like, peg the right guy in that.
- [56:26]
B
Yeah. And I know we're not talking about it, but a lot of people are like, should I drop Hunter Henry for Mason Taylor? And I'm like, this is what happens one at tight end and with Drake May, he'll go back to Hunter Henry. And then everybody like, oh, my God, I can't believe I missed the Hunter Henry game. Like, it's going to come back around.
- [56:41]
A
Let's go to quarterback here. Justin Fields or Trevor Lawrence? Jake, who do you like better?
- [56:48]
B
I have. This is the now the inverse. I have Fields just in front of them and this is the lowest I've ranked Justin Fields all year. It's the rushing but I brought up before Carolina's run defense has been playing better over the last two weeks. It's not a huge sample so I'm not all of a sudden like Carolina defense, watch out for it. But it is. It's number one in rush epa. As in toughest as in the worst matchup possibly for rush EPA over the past two weeks. And it's not like they're facing slouches over the past two weeks. So again, I'm not saying Panthers. Oh my God. Run for the hills with the run game but Justin Fields did just get Garrett Wilson killed. So he's going to be throwing to Josh Reynolds, Mason Taylor and a bunch of people will be like who? So that's part of the issue. But Fields is there. As in he can run for 100 yards and has the ceiling. If you do not want to risk. I say this all the time. If you don't want to risk what we just saw with Justin Fields last week as in in three points Trevor Lawrence is your play like Melanie, make that 100% clear.
- [57:45]
C
Fitz, I don't even know if he's going to have Josh Reynolds. Jake, I thought I saw Josh again be questionable for this game. Yeah. Sidelined at practice Wednesday with a hip injury is Josh Reynolds.
- [57:57]
B
Who gets more hurt, Josh Reynolds or Juwan Jennings? At least Joanne Jennings plays through injuries.
- [58:02]
C
No kidding. Yeah. So I do not want to play Justin Fields this week. And if you do play him, you better hope he gives you 10 rushing points because I don't think you're getting 10 passing points out of him.
- [58:12]
B
Last I the rushing touchdown too. That's it?
- [58:15]
C
Yeah. You need a touchdown? Yes. Of him. No question. I think his odds of giving you a rushing touchdown are probably better than a passing touchdown. And last I last I checked, the prop for Fields passing yardage on hard rock bats was 173.5 passing yards. I'm smashing the under on that bed. No Garrett Wilson maybe no Josh Reynolds. Top two receivers could be Arian Smith who is really fast but had a 12% drop rate in his final college season and Tyler Johnson who has 80 career catches in 54 career games. And man, I just. If he is going to get 200 passing yards you would need to see some Keystone Cops tackling by the Panthers where they just fall down and let guys run for 60 yards after the catch because and that really hasn't been the case. The Panthers not an easy matchup. Their defense has not been bad this year. Middle of the pack in terms of fantasy points. A lot to quarterbacks. Give me Lawrence and I'm never excited about using Trevor Lawrence, but I've got him ranked QB15. I've got Fields QB19. I'm like seven spots below consensus.
- [59:19]
A
Okay, well speaking of fields, the tight end I have here Mason Taylor who is. I mean who else is going to catch passes or Harold Fannin Jr. Who again I did put this together before I saw the wind thing. I didn't mean to keep using players in that game but Mason Taylor or Harold Fannin Fitz, who do you like better?
- [59:39]
C
Man, I so want to say fan in here. I'll have to check day of game weather and even if there is some win I might still go Fannin Broncos tight ends have had 29 targets and 20 catches in Dylan Gabriel's first two starts and I know if David Najoku is out and it looks like he will be that all the target spillovers not just going to Harold Fanon Matchup against the Dolphins defense that's allowed the fifth most receiving yards to tight ends. We'll have to see on the weather because Taylor is a decent play too. I know he flopped last week, one catch, two yards against the Broncos, but the Panthers have not been able to cover tight ends. That is their Achilles heel on defense. They have given up the most fantasy point, second most this year, most I believe last year to tight ends. And you know, like you said, Worm Fields has to throw to someone. Come on.
- [60:30]
A
Jake, what do you think I mean fan and like to the point about the wind like you would think his usage might be such that the wind wouldn't be as much of a detriment to him as it would be to other players. But again, the opportunity for Taylor just to get every target he can handle. So who do you like better?
- [60:47]
B
So as of today and before this weather situation, by the way, all that typing I was doing, I was looking everywhere. There's no Justin Fields rushing touchdown prophecy yet on anybody. I found the passing is minus 275 for over a half of a touchdown, which is by the way insane to think about. It's not one and a half, it's a half and it's still minus 275. And even I'm like eh, I don't think I'd even bet that for a passing one. I just want to throw out how insane that is. So by looking through all this but I'm with Fitz now with the weather. Initially I had Fannin and 10 and Mason Taylor at 13 and that's with no David and Joku in my ranks. Assuming that stays the course with that weather though like I just don't know how he can ignore it and I would knock Fannin down. I'm going to do my projections later today as I do on Thursdays. I can see this being super close and I feel like honestly I know he's one of the last men standing but this was being one where I would actually go Mason Taylor a non ppr. If I was going full ppr I would probably stole and fan and barely.
- [61:48]
A
Say goodbye to Start Sit Dilemmas with Fantasy Pro Start Sit Assistant within seconds, you'll know exactly who to play for optimal results each week. Leveraging insights from numerous experts, the Start Sit Assistant aligns your lineup decisions with the top minds in fantasy football, giving you a competitive edge. Maximize your lineup's potential with just a few clicks. Head to fantasypros.com myplaybook or download the Fantasy Pros app and make winning decisions in no time. We are about to get to our touchdown calls for the week, but first join our free Touchdown Calls content contest in the Fantasy Pros discord. Each week, pick four players you think will score with a bonus flex worth double weekly. Winners get a 25 fantasy pros gift card and the season champ takes home a signed Bijan Robinson jersey. Play now by going to fantasyprose.com chat and heading to the Touchdown Calls channel. How did you guys do with this last week? I didn't get to I hit the tight end.
- [62:39]
B
We're on a tight end roll. Fitz hit it first. We're two for two.
- [62:44]
A
That's too much pressure on me. Now that's my turn at the tight end. Jake, you're on running back this week. Fitz, you're on receiver and I will be trying to continue our good luck charm on the on the tight end side of things. Start us off with running back Jake.
- [62:57]
B
Yeah, so I already jinxed myself on the athletic discord because somebody asked this question and I was like, you know what? By the way, I'm five for six and the only one I've missed, I've actually hit the running backs and the wide receivers. The only one I missed was the first tight end touchdown call of the year and so now I've completely jinxed myself. So I might as well say it again. I've jinxed myself and I'm not going for the easy. I feel like Jonathan Taylor and Josh Jacobs are the super easy ones. I wanted to go a little bit more interesting and I'm going with Bill crossing merit against the Cowboys and I think the uses that we're seeing from him, I, I would be concerned in fantasy and full point PPR or if this was a receiving thing because they just don't want to use him in that fashion. Very similar to Brian Robinson and the like. But that matchup and that opportunity for him, I think that we just saw what we wanted to finally as he got the start before Chris Rodriguez got hurt and he got basically the vast majority of the touches. So going against the Cowboys I think that Crosby Merritt gets the touchdown. So now be ready for that to ruin my streak and everybody is being mad about Bill Crosby Merritt having a terrible week.
- [63:57]
C
Fitz, let's stick with the Washington commander's theme. I'll go with Terry McLaurin, aka Terry McLovin. It seems like he's going to return from his quad injury. He got in a limited practice on Wednesday. McLaren gets into the end zone against the Cowboys defense that's given up A League high 12 touchdown catches to wide receivers. And McLaren had a touchdown in both of his games against Dallas last year.
- [64:23]
A
I am tempted to pick Zach Ertz to just continue just whole Washington make it a sweep. When I put it in the sheet, who I picked initially was Mason Taylor doesn't have a touchdown yet this season. The Panthers like while they are good against the run run have not been good against tight ends for a couple of years now. I am kind of scared off just by the fact that when you listed that over a half a passing touchdown prop Jake I was like I don't want to take the over now I'm like why am I picking you are.
- [64:54]
B
You might as well double down with it if you're going to do that.
- [64:57]
A
Yeah, yeah bro. I should. Yeah, I'll stick with Taylor. I mean kind of like you were talking about like Jonathan Taylor, Josh Jacobs. Like you don't want to just pick the easy like most obvious names every week. So. So I'll, I'll. I'll stick with Taylor and hope to.
- [65:09]
B
We're giving you the opportunity. He can change.
- [65:11]
A
Yes, he will. He will have the chance. You could dominate your fantasy football league with Fantasy Pros Premium now available free for six months when you deposit and place your first wager on one of our partner sportsbooks. This is the easiest way to get full access to our top fantasy tools all season long. Go to fantasypros.com premium to get started. Did hopefully we hit this Jecori Crosby, Merritt, Terry McLaurin and I'm sticking with it. Mason Taylor for Jake and Fitz. I'm Ryan Warmly thanks everybody for tuning in. Good luck here in week seven. We'll see you next time. Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast. If you love the show, the best free way to support us is by leaving a positive review on apple podcasts@fantasypros.com review or on Spotify. Follow us on X Instagram and tik tok at fantasypros and subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube.com fantasypros.
- [66:24]
B
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- [66:51]
A
This is an I Heart podcast.