← FantasyPros - Fantasy Football Podcast
FantasyPros - Fantasy Football Podcast
Week 8 Lineup Advice: Starts, Sits, Player Debates, and TD Calls (Ep. 1793)
01:06:14
Loading summary
Transcript185 lines
- [00:00]
A
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:05]
B
Look, if you smoke or dip, I'm going to give you a few good reasons to try Zyn nicotine pouches. First, Zyn is America's number one nicotine pouch brand and Zyn offers an unbelievable rewards program. There's a lot of options for nicotine satisfaction, but there's only one Zen. Visit zen.com find to find Zen at a store near you. Again, that zen.com find zen spelled z y N. This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.
- [00:39]
A
Hello, everybody. Welcome into the Fantasy Pros Football podcast. I'm Ryan Warmley, joined as I am every Thursday by Pat Fitzmaurice and by Jake Seeley from the Athletic. We are talking our starts and sits. We're talking some popular waiver pickups. And are we starting or sitting them this week or just stashing them? We're going to plant our flag on some players. We're going to do touchdown calls. It's a jam packed show as always. And if you're watching on YouTube, you might think, are we about to start talking some hockey based on Fitz's hat? We were just talking. This is a total coincidence, Fitz. But the Nordics, AKA the Avalanche, are playing the Whalers, AKA the Canes tonight. And you are wearing a Nordiques hat.
- [01:16]
C
I didn't even know. Jake informed me of this shortly before the show. And apparently they're going to wear their throwback uniforms tonight. So I might have to catch some of this game. It's too complicated. Now. There is every sport going on, all four of the major sports. You know, we're right before Halloween, so we're getting all these classic horror movies airing on various cable networks. Which reminds me, are you guys scary movie guys? Worm. We, we have that company, company horror movie bracket set up where we're voting on the greatest horror movie of all time. So Jake is a horror movie guy. Are you a horror movie guy for him?
- [01:53]
A
I am decidedly not. Far in that company wide bracket that some of the folks here have put together. There have been 32 movies that are in the bracket. So far there will be 64 of the 32. I have only seen five of them. And it's the five I've seen are like, you know, class, like Jaws is on there. Alien, Charles is in a horror movie. I, I kind of, I agree with that. But I didn't make the list. Yeah, Jaws, Alien, I saw get. They did like a modern region. So I did, I get out. I've seen 28 days later. I forget the fifth.
- [02:29]
B
So you won't see weapons is what you're telling me.
- [02:32]
A
Probably not. Like I never saw like the Shining. I never saw.
- [02:36]
B
What about Sinners? Sinners is kind of not super horrory.
- [02:40]
A
I want to see Sinners horary.
- [02:42]
C
But Jake, what do you. Yeah, Jake, what is your favorite horror movie of all time or the best horror movie of all time?
- [02:50]
B
I know it's off the normal from what people will say but like so horror movies for me have to like impact me the second time because you know everything. So it's like really needs to. Event Horizon will always be my number one. Like I've seen that four times and still the fourth time I'm like this still freak. I saw it the first time in college. I was like, we should probably do a Bible study after this movie. It's that fearsome.
- [03:13]
C
I'm telling you that didn't even make our company bracket. That's a really good one mine right now. I used to always say the original Halloween. But then there was a theater in our area doing a classic movie night recap and I saw rewatched the thing from 1980.
- [03:30]
B
The original thing.
- [03:31]
C
Kurt Russell. Yeah, well I don't know if there was one from like the 50s or 60s, but this was the.
- [03:36]
B
So that's the thing. So you go for everybody out there and the show starts in four minutes or whatever it is. So you're already on YouTube after this. Go to honest trailers. They just did the Thing and actually the Thing is a remake funny enough. Like the thing from 1980. Yeah, there's a black and white and I guess it's the Thing Something. I think the Thing emerges or something. It's funny. Like that's actually a remake.
- [03:58]
C
And right now there is a matchup in our brackets horror movie bracket at the company and it's between Carrie and the Thing. And Carrie was ahead of the Thing. If Carrie beats the Thing, I might have to leave it.
- [04:08]
B
You just done that.
- [04:10]
A
Carrie is currently up 16 to 8. I refrain from voting in that one because I haven't seen either of them. Yes, some of the ones in our classics region. Psycho, the Exorcist, the Shining, Halloween, the Thing, Frankenstein, Carrie, Night of the Living Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Rosemary's Baby, Creature from the Black Lagoon. I've seen none of those.
- [04:28]
B
You haven't seen that?
- [04:30]
A
No, I haven't seen the Exodus. I, I, I, I watched Paranormal Activity, the first one in the theater with a on a date like back in high school and I had such a bad time. I was like why would I ever. Why? I don't like genuine horror movies. Like, I. I like thrillers.
- [04:45]
B
So you saw it, but you also saw it back when people thought it was real at first. Just like the Blair Witch. People thought it was like real footage.
- [04:52]
A
Yeah, yeah. Like. Or like Blair Witch Project. I remember like, you know, hearing about that kind of like people thinking it was real and that sort of thing. Yeah, I just like, I don't enjoy the experience of like scaring myself. I like, like thriller, like, like Silence of the Lambs is one of my favorite movies. So, like, I can be a little scared. But like a true horror movie is just very much not for me. I learned that a long time ago.
- [05:14]
C
Well, we've got fantasy football horrors this week with six teams on. Bye.
- [05:19]
A
It is. It is a bi apocalypse here, which is scary in its own right. I forgot to write down the names of the teams on by. It's the Seahawks. It's. I can pull it up if we.
- [05:28]
B
Want to write everybody but Raiders, Rams, Cardinals, Seahawks and Jaguars.
- [05:33]
C
Raiders.
- [05:33]
A
Yep. All right. Thanks. Yeah, so lot. A lot of teams, a lot of good players there. Reminder for everybody that all of our 2025 consensus rankings and tiers can be found at fantasypros.com/ Rankings. Let's jump into the show because we talked about movies long enough. We're going to start as we always do with the waiver ads here. Some of the popular names this week and are we considering starting them right off the bat or these guys that we were just picking up to stash on our benches for the foreseeable future might be more inclined to start them this week than other weeks, just given all the players on by. We'll see what you guys think here. The most popular AD in our rankings was Kyle Manungai of the Bears. He of course is behind DeAndre Swift. But getting more run. They go up against what has been a very bad run defense in Baltimore so far this year. Ravens are getting some players back. I wonder what you guys think here. Fits Kyle Menung, guys. He start somebody that you're considering starting here in week eight.
- [06:27]
C
You could. I am starting him in. In one league where I'm particularly obliterated by buys. He's running back 29 in my rankings. Part of it is just the playability factor going against the Ravens run defense. Sorry, Worm. Yeah, it's just been so terrible and I will like Manangai more if Lamar Jackson isn't able to play for the Ravens this week because right now with the assumption that Jackson is going to be back. The Bears are six and a half point underdogs. They might not have a super run friendly game script but if Jackson is out different story that could flip the script.
- [07:06]
A
That's actually one of my favorite bets this week is Bears plus six and a half because a if Lamar ends up not playing, that's going to look like amazing and they're live.
- [07:14]
C
Even if he does play. Exactly.
- [07:16]
A
Even if he does play, I don't think that's a bad line at all. So when you're, when you're baking in the extra fact that he might not even end up playing, that's like one of my favorite bets of the whole week. Jake, what do you think about Manangai? Where's he ranked for you? I think Fitz said like you know, kind of the late 20s. Does that sound about the right range.
- [07:32]
B
For the fact that I mean we talk about how long it takes us to agree on things. Well guess what, he's RB29 for me as well. So that right out of gate boom on the same night number ranking from an on guy I compared it. It's very easy. Everybody's making the comparison for Ben Johnson to David Montgomery. But the cause here or the caution I should say is here is that look at Dave Montgomery this year. He has four games under eight points. He has three games over 13. And I think that's kind of what you need to understand with Menanga is that that's the risk and that's the upside. He could get you 13 plus. He could also eventually only get you 4 or 5 points and you guys both bring up a really good point. Lamar actually playing in this game would push the fact that maybe he doesn't get him any toug especially with Swift in the passing game. So that's the downside of things. I will say this helps you worm like they're getting defensive pieces back more so in the secondary as you know. But if Lamar's back because we've done this with the Eagles, we've done this with the Ravens, we do this every single year with the Bills and the Chiefs and everything like this. I just feel like if Lamar's back, I feel like they're going to wax the Bears, like they're just going to come out and like it's going to be back to the Ravens. Being back to the Ravens just like it's one of those feelings like I could be completely wrong. It's just like I had that feeling last week about the Eagles with Devonta Smith and AJ Brown like, like they These teams, all of a sudden, they get on track and I just feel like if Lamar is out there, I feel like the Ravens are set to get back on track.
- [08:51]
A
If Lamar is out there and 100% healthy, that I'm with you. I worry that they're so desperate given.
- [08:57]
B
The one that he's not 100%, that's.
- [09:00]
A
Yeah, he's, he's good enough. We can get him back out there. And he, I mean, hamstrings are really, you know, have a high risk of re injury. He's so, you know, relies on mobility, obviously. Like, he can be a great pocket passer, of course, but, you know, that mobility is what makes them special. Like, if that's limited, there's just like a lot that makes me worried that they are kind of in desperation mode. I mean, people. I don't know if like the national folks are talking about this as much. People in Baltimore, like really kind of want Harbaugh gone. They're just kind of like, it's been, you know, 18 years. We're just kind of ready to, to be done with this and move on and do this Free coaching staff feels a little fresher. Like, just get Lamar out there. Like, Lamar has saved his job once before, trying to do it again. So like I, I just, I tell.
- [09:39]
B
You what, them rushing it back if he's gone. If they fire a mid season, the Giants should immediately push Dable out the door and go hire Barbara, like to fix that situation. Like, this is so stupid. This is three years in a row people have been clamoring for the Eagles to fire their entire staff and then they turn things around mid season and they win Super Bowls and it's still like, oh my God, things are so terrible. Fire the staff again. Like, could we just stop?
- [10:03]
A
It is. It is funny, the difference between fits, like the national folks talking about a guy who's really respected, like carbohydrates versus the people in Baltimore. It's like night and day.
- [10:12]
C
It feels like if spurs fans a couple of years ago had been clamoring for Greg Popovich to be fired because the team was bad. Like, come on, what are you doing here? This guy has had a phenomenal track record.
- [10:25]
A
I could talk about this for a full hour. I won't make everybody listen to that. Let's go to another player. Among the popular waiver ads, Brashard Smith. This is somebody that our colleague fits. Debro has talked about a lot in the off season, during draft season, into this season, as a, as a player that he really likes. And wants to see get more opportunity in Kansas City. There was a we put a video video up on Social, excuse me, from Brian Drake, who's been contributing to Fantasy Bros this year. He was talking about how maybe we should be fading this this kind of extra hype on Burchard Smith a lot. So there's kind of different ideas about what to do with Smith right now in the KC backfield. Jake, I'll start with you on this one. What are you doing with Smith this week? Is he somebody that if you're in, you know, tough buy situation, are you considering starting?
- [11:08]
B
Well I think everybody's in a tough buy situation. So yes, he's considered. He is in the RB3 range for me and that's with no cream Hunt. I think Kareem Hunt sounds like he's possibly out but we don't really have any news. It sounds like we'll get some today. They were very quiet yesterday it seemed but you know with the Monday night game, if we get news by Friday or even today that there's going to be no Kareem Hunt, then I would keep him in the RB3 range. I have him sandwiched between Kenneth Gainwell and Justice Hill right now. To kind of give you an idea of the names I'm considering and it really comes down to I know what Debro was talking about because we did a lot of offseason stuff. I even did some with Fitz on the Dynasty type talk and I said in the draft process I said Bershad Smith could be a Jerick McKinnon type and then funny enough the Chiefs draft them. I will caution one thing is the difference between McKinnon and Smith is I think McKinnon has more had more opportunities to touch the ball inside the five. I don't think they would turn to Smith in that range especially because he also wasn't out there on pass blocking downs. They don't really trust him for those kind of opportunities. So I think expecting McKinnon where with some weeks we got RB2 top 15 return from him. I think you have to understand that Bershada Smith is more of like a true RB3 pass catcher.
- [12:15]
A
What do you think Fitz?
- [12:17]
C
I'm on the same page with Jake again back end RB3 for me but in a 16 bye week the back end RB3 territory is pretty yucky if we're being honest. And yeah Kareem Haunts I'll have to drop him if Kareem Hunt plays. I'm I'm doing my rankings right now as if Kareem Hunt is not going to play. That's the one thing that could maybe prop up Rashard Smith if he gets those extra snaps. But I'm, I'm not real excited about him. I, I think he's still more of just a stash right now, a worthwhile stash. But rolling him out this week, I think the ceiling would probably be pretty limited.
- [12:56]
A
To your point about some of the names in this range from wide from running back 30 to running back 36 is. And this is an ECR and half PPR scoring. Kyle Menangai, Nick Chubb, RJ Harvey, Kenneth Gainwell, Burchard Smith, Isaiah Davis, Tyrone Tracy. That's not inspiring.
- [13:12]
B
Wait till we get to the. I was going to say wait till we get to the wide receiver fives that are in the Wide Receiver 3 conversation this week.
- [13:19]
C
Yeah, there's. And some of those guys are going to have like six touches this week.
- [13:23]
A
By the way, every one of those names I just read is ranked higher than Trayvon Henderson this week. And deservingly.
- [13:28]
B
Deservingly.
- [13:28]
C
So sad. So sad.
- [13:31]
A
Last popular waiver ad here, Ronda Gadsden the second. Obviously had this huge game at tight end. Tight end, you know, is a tricky position always. He's ranked as high as tight end eight on the week. Again, there are some buys going on, but he's ranked certainly as if he'd be a starter. Obviously. This was this awesome, cool blow up week. It's the first time he's been in double digit scoring. So I wonder if there's any inclination from ufits to maybe dial back some of that, that aggressive ranking a bit. I don't know where you actually have him ranking. I didn't pull that up. But like I said, he's tight end eight in ECR and half PPR scoring, seven catches, 164 yards and a touchdown in week seven. Is he somebody you were willing to start here on week eight?
- [14:11]
C
Yeah, I, I think he's in that streaming conversation. It's weird. Like there are a lot of possible streamers at tight end and I have a hard time sorting them out this week. And Gadsden is a prospect I really liked. I think you should be excited about him for Dynasty, but I am a little skeptical of the production the last two weeks because for the first big game he had, there was no Quinton Quentin Johnston for the Chargers. And Justin Herbert threw 38 passes. Kind of elevated passing volume for this last game. The Chargers digging out of this deep early hole. Justin Herbert throws 55 passes, basically two games worth of passes in one game and you know, that obviously helped boost the target count and reception count for Ronde Gadsden the second. So yeah, I, I just don't want to go overboard here, but I do think he's a guy you could stream and like a lot of other tight ends, it could work out or it could fail spectacularly.
- [15:15]
A
We don't Jake usually talk about the Thursday night players because of the nature of when the show comes out. It's like there's not a lot of shelf life there. But I just felt like Gadsden was, was such a, you know, hyped up and interesting waiver ad for anybody who had an interest in picking up a tight end that I did want to include him at least have the conversation. So, so not just for this week, but also longer term around where do you have him rest of season in your tight end rankings and kind of.
- [15:39]
B
Somewhat what Fitz just said. So somebody that I liked in the draft as well, I said he's kind of a smash up in my opinion between like Mark Andrews and Kellen Winslow. I called him Mark Winslow as a fun little name and sounds like he should have been on the TGIF with that name. But it really comes down to it's stream tight ends, as in the fact that I just talked about it on my podcast too when I did my Speedrun this week and I said we need to talk about tight ends as a whole because outside of four or five guys, you're going to get 50, 50, you're going to get half good games, half bad games, and the bad games are going to be bad because it's tight end. But the problem that people make the mistake of in fantasy is they chase the production, which means you already missed one good game. And then if they have the bad game, then you're like, oh crap, I need to go find somebody else. And then they bounce back because that's what tight ends are. So it's more of an overall look. It's like I'm not going to say Gadsden's definitively a fringe tight end one. I would put him in the same conversation of like a Mason Taylor, a Mark Andrews. If he scores a touchdown, Hunter Henry is going to bounce back at some point. Like I said, Dalton Schultz is a great play this week because what we just saw with no Nico Collins and the volume that should be there, but you wouldn't expect that long term. So I'd say fringe tight end one. But to Fitz's point is we're not going to expect 55 to targets every single game going around the entire field and on top of it. The biggest detractor here is that if he succeeds, somebody has to fall off. We're not going to have four guys successful. We're already having problem with three wide receivers. The concern would be the one that he brought up that being Fitz is that he said Quentin Johnston and they don't run the same area of the field. I know that. What my problem is is they run the same option red zone, end zone presence. So if Gaston's still a thing in the touchdown department, that means Quentin Johnston might be falling off. If Johnston bounces back, Gasson's probably going to struggle to be consistent. So French tight end one but understand it tight end. You're going to get 50, 50. You have to understand, just accept the 5050 is coming.
- [17:31]
A
I feel like there's really only four tight ends that I'm like pretty happy to be starting this week. It's Warren Craft.
- [17:36]
B
Oh, this week I was going to say there's five. As for the full season like the five. Was Warren, Kraft, Kittle even coming off that game. Bowers when he's back And I would put Jake Ferguson now in that conversation.
- [17:49]
A
Yeah. And obviously for those not Bowers, you know him being on by the other four play this week. The rat like you get to tight end five in the consensus rankings. Dallas Goddard who's currently questionable with calf. Travis Kelsey. Rashi Rice just came back. Who knows what that target Alex gonna look like long term. Dalton Kincaid, also questionable. Ronnie Gadsden who's just done it one week. Mason Taylor, who knows what his quarterback's gonna be. Harold Fannin Jr. I like it just gets ugly really quickly at the position.
- [18:12]
B
Yeah.
- [18:14]
A
All right, let's get to our plant your flag players and hopefully some guys that we feel more strongly about and are very excited to be starting this week. Fitz, we'll start with you. Who are you planting your flag on?
- [18:22]
C
Isaiah Pacheco. It appears that Pacheco has regained his rightful place as the Kansas City Chiefs lead back. He had a 62.5% Snapchat in week five, a season high 76.6% Snapchat in week six. And he was dominating snaps last week until the Chiefs emptied the bench late because they were dog walking the Raiders. Pacheco had 15 carries last week and had his first rushing touchdown of the season. I think I'll have another nice game this week with the Chiefs 12 and a half point home favorites against the Commanders and probably in a Run friendly game script most of the day.
- [18:57]
A
Where is he ranked for you?
- [19:00]
C
I have Pacheco at RB18 this week.
- [19:03]
A
Okay. He's RB22 in ECR. Jake, where do you have him?
- [19:08]
B
I have him right around, I think I like 2021, so I'm like right there with him. And it comes down to the fact that like also on top of it, the commanders have been losing pieces and they actually just lost a significant piece on the defensive line for at least this week. And you look at the last two games, they've actually been destroyed by running backs. Gave up 100 yards in two consecutive games and only took 13 or 14 carries for Swift to do it. So I'm good on this call. I think Kareem Hunt would just be more of an annoyance, but I wouldn't slide down Pacheco that far if Kareem Hunt was active. So I like this call.
- [19:37]
A
Jake, who's your plant your flag player?
- [19:39]
B
I'm going to stay at running back and it's not like, oh my God, you have to start them. But I put my plant my flag as a more of like to ease the concerns because everybody saw the coming back of Chuba Hubbard and like, oh my God, what are we going to do? And it's like you can't go away from Rico Daddle. And they started Chuba Hubbard to start the game initially if we hadn't even seen Rico Daddle and then by the end of it it was pretty much a 50, 50 split better in yards. But at the point being here is that it's okay to say you can start both of them and you can start both of them because I put this in the column over the athletic. Here's the backfields, the running backs backfields for games against the Bills. 29.6, 5.5, 18.9, 19.7, 20.0 and 38.6. Both of them can succeed. The 5.5 was the jets, by the way. That was a really bad game for Breeze hall and the jets as a whole. But everybody else at least 19 plus points where they can both be productive. We are in a 16 by and the comparison I made to this is they're the better version of the Seahawks. Not necessarily talent wise and not team wise, but they're the better version for fantasy because we know both will be used. Whereas the Seahawks, it's like, oh, Charbonnet is getting the goal line carries and it's Kenneth Walker week and it's Charbonnet week. Like at least we know with these they're both going to get 14 ish plus touches any given week because they're going to lean on their backfield even with Andy Dalton.
- [20:59]
A
What do you think, Fitz?
- [21:00]
C
Yeah, I know. As much as the Rico Dowdle investors would love for Chuba to just go away, the Panthers gave Chuba a four year, $33 million contract extension in the off season that included 15 million guaranteed. They're not kicking this dude to the curb. That's not happening. And Chuba actually played more snaps than Rico Dowdle last week. And as Jake pointed out, like, you can run on the Bills. In fact, I think there's incentive for the Panthers, whether it's Bryce Young or Andy Dalton at quarterback, to hide their quarterback as much as possible and run on the Bills.
- [21:36]
A
Well.
- [21:37]
B
And the good thing too is if the game gets out of hand, Chuba Hubbard was on the field a lot more for the passing downs than Rico Dowdle was. So that kind of makes you feel a little bit better about the concerned split workload.
- [21:48]
A
Dowdle at RB19 in ECR, Chuba Hubbard at RB25.
- [21:52]
B
Yeah, I have back to back.
- [21:55]
A
Okay. Yeah, so you've definitely got the the closer gap there. I want to let everybody know that today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet. If you want to turn all your fantasy football knowledge into real money sports bets, the Hard Rock Bet app makes sports betting simple, easy to navigate. If you're starting out with all the features you want to go deep. Week 8 kicks off with the Vikings versus the Chargers. Check out these streaks from the Hard Rock Bet Stats hub right there in the app. Fantasy Pros gives Justin Herbert a B grade in our consensus quarterback rankings this week. He's thrown for over 260 yards NFC north opponents in four straight games. His over is at 257 and a half. You can find odds for streaks just like this right now in the Hard Rock Bet app. It's not too late to try your first sports bet on Hard Rock bet. Place a five dollar bet and if it wins, you'll score $150 in bonus bets on top of your payout. There's new promos every day, including a profit boost for Thursday night's game tonight. Download the Hard Rock Bet app and make your first deposit payable and bonus bets.
- [22:50]
B
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 and physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee or Virginia to play terms and conditions apply. Concerned about gambling in Florida? Call-888- admit it in Indiana. If you or somebody you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-809 with it gambling problem call 1-800- gambler in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois and New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia tired of spills.
- [23:16]
D
And stains on your sofa? Washablesofas.com has your back featuring the Annabe Collection, the only designer sofa that's machine washable inside and out where designer quality meets budget friendly prices. That's right, sofas start at just $699. Enjoy a no risk experience with pet friendly stain resistant and changeable slipcovers made with performance fabrics. Experience cloud like comfort with high resilience foam that's hypoallergenic and never needs fluffing. The sturdy steel frame ensures longevity and the modular pieces can be rearranged anytime. Check out washablesofas.com and get up to 60% off your Anna Bay sofa backed by a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. If you're not absolutely in love, send it back for a full refund. No return shipping or restocking fees. Every penny back Upgrade now@washablesofas.com Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.
- [24:15]
C
AI agents are everywhere, automating tasks and making decisions at machine speed. But agents make mistakes. Just one rogue agent can do big damage before you even notice. Rubrik Agent Cloud is the only platform that helps you monitor agents, set guardrails and rewind mistakes so you can unleash agents, not risk. Accelerate your AI transformation@rubrik.com that's R U B R-I K.com hey, this is Matt.
- [24:47]
B
Jones and I'm Drew Franklin and this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that. What was that? Oh my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts. Or you get your podcast.
- [25:18]
A
Toyota, the.
- [25:19]
C
Official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit toyota.com NFL now to learn more.
- [25:24]
A
All right guys, let's get into some more start sit player debates here. Starting off with the running backs. As always, I'll start with you, Fitz, Chase Brown or Bree hall this week. Chase Brown obviously has been dealing with quarterback issues for a lot of the year. That's looking better with Flacco Breeze hall has his own quarterback uncertainty and even if we knew who was starting poor play likely coming from them so who do you like better this week, Chase Brown or Breeze Hall?
- [25:50]
C
Right now I've Chase Brown ranked one spot higher and there's a group of five running backs I've been having a really hard time sorting out. In this week's rankings, it's running backs 13 through 17 who I have right now. In order DeAndre Swift, Chase Brown, Jalen Warren. I guess I have two spots separating Brown and Hall. So it's Swift, Chase Brown, Jalen Warren, Breeze hall and Rashad White. And I'm just kind of flummoxed about how to order these guys. I'm sure some of the people consuming this show have strong feelings about one or more of these guys and where they should be vis a vis the other RBs in this group. But I guess my sales pitch for Chase Brown would be that the Bengals win over the Steelers last week sort of gave us hope that the Bengals offense can be, I don't know, maybe 80% of what it would be with Joe Burrow at quarterback, minus the soul crushing interceptions that Joe Flacco is inevitably going to throw. I realize Chase Brown hasn't had more than 11 carries in a game since Joe Burrow got hurt, but if Flacco can keep this up and keep the chains moving, Brown is going to get more carries. As for Breece hall, he could get a big workload this week against the Bengals. These guys play each other, but you would have thought the same thing last week against the Panthers in a game that was pretty close and pretty dreadful throughout. Jets wound up losing 13 to 6, but Breece hall played a season low 54% snapshare and had 13 touches in that game. And I wonder if the jets might just manage his workload judiciously in advance of the November 4th trading deadline. I I just wonder if if hall might be on the table for a possible trade. And by the way, Breeze hall still hasn't scored a touchdown this season. He is 118 touches in 2025, but no touchdowns.
- [27:42]
A
To your point about them maybe trying to take it easy to get to that trade deadline. They're on by next week, so if you get through this game, you know, you get that much closer to the trade deadline without, you know, risking an in in game injury to him. If you think that is a path that they're going down. J. Crew, do you have ranked higher? Like Fitz mentioned, these guys are facing each other this week. Jets at Bengals Yeah, I think it's.
- [28:06]
B
Going to come down to the practice reports of whether or not this will change. I have Bruce hall slightly in front of Chase Brown and you know the fact he got hurt in that game and exited for part of it and I know Fitz knew that like I was like, like believing it out. Like haha, I'm tricking you guys or whatever. Like. But like it really comes down to like I think that was of last week. But also I wanted to bring that up because I agree with you. Like that's part of the risk is if he's limited in practice. Limited in practice. Well they already got news on Wednesday that like they were kind of holding him out of practice and they're of course the speculation immediately ramped up as you brought up the bye week, the trades, the rumors and everything like that. So it'll be interesting to watch if he's a full practice come Friday. I'm going to keep Reese hall in front of Chase Brown to talk to that point and the two games with Joe Flacco. There's still targets going to Chase Brown, but I don't like the way that they're different to when Chase Brown was with Browning and briefly with Joe Burrow is that they're more of like oh my gosh, there's nothing. I'm going to dump it off almost basically in the backfield. Like he had receptions last week that ended up being negative yards total. He actually lost yards in the receiving game. And so I bring that up to say they're very similar in the fact that they're going to get targets, they're going to get opportunities. I just like Hull's passing game better than Chase Brown's where I'll give it that slim margin. I'll do one. I don't even know if you ever saw it because you haven't seen anything or ever been to Taco Bell or all your things. You've never. I'll reference X Files for you. I want to believe in Chase Brown because I bought low. You have never seen X Files. Is that why you're shaking your head.
- [29:29]
A
Like I'm familiar with the show. I know what it is. I've never seen an episode, of course.
- [29:34]
B
Say, but I want to believe just like X Files that Chase Brown is back with Joe Flacco. I bought low on some spots so I'm rooting for it. But a full practice would go to Hole if he's limited still on Friday I will come around and be on Fitz's side of it is a Limited. A limited practice is going to be enough of a concern that I would start Chase Brown in front of them.
- [29:52]
A
I just did a, A puzzle. Cuz like with the surgery, it's, you know, it's just easy to sit on the couch and do a puzzle. And it was like a bunch of 90s stuff all together in one big image. And you're like, you didn't know half of it. I was, I knew some, you know, there, like Seinfeld and the Simpson. I've never seen the Simpsons, but like, I, I'm aware of the Simpsons and there was like a Game Boy.
- [30:10]
B
I wasn't even bringing that up. You've never seen the Simpsons. I was letting that one go. There's enough that you've got going on.
- [30:18]
A
But yes, a lot, A lot of the references in that puzzle were, were a little over my head. Yeah. Breece Hall, I mean, he has the 13th most rushing yards in the NFL this season. Every player with more rushing yards than him has multiple touchdowns. He, of course, has zero. In fact, the only other player inside the top 34 in rushing yards this season without a touchdown is Jalen Warren. Everybody else has at least one, and a lot of those guys have multiple.
- [30:43]
B
So that's not crazy. Jaylo Warren's like, like allergic to the end zone.
- [30:48]
A
Yeah. Yeah. So just interesting. Like, even if you were fully confident in health and the offense that they're in, you know, it just. The scoring opportunities have not been there for hall so far. I mean, Chase Brown only has one touchdown, so obviously it's not like it's much better. But, you know, clearly does look a little different with Flacco there. These guys are in a similar range in ECR fits. I know you said they're kind of in a. A group for you of players that you're struggling to rank in Breeze hall is RB13 in ECR and Chase Brown is RB16 in ECR. So there are a few spots apart there. Let's go to another running back debate here. Jake, I'll start with you on this one. Jakory Crosby Merritt or Ramondre Stevenson? Would you rather start Bill or Ramandre here in week eight?
- [31:31]
B
I saw the sheet and I know you did this on purpose, didn't you? Because I jinxed myself. I said it was going to happen. And Crosby Merritt did not score a touchdown last week and broke my streak of starting the season off so well. So I know 100% you put him in this list just to. Just to dig right at me with this.
- [31:47]
A
I would never.
- [31:49]
B
I Will say I had them back to back. I have Stevenson one spot over Krosky Merritt and I'm not even that afraid of the Chiefs run defense this year like we were last season. It just comes down to exactly why he didn't get the touchdown. They went back to Chris Rodriguez at the goal line and Chris Rodriguez got the touchdown. And I know maybe that's part of it. Just you know, no Daniels for part of it or like he got hurt again. But that's the other side of it. Like if there is no Jaden Daniels, which there isn't and we have Marcus Mariot, does this offense click as well? It's just a lot of questions going right now with the commander situation where at least I know Stevenson is the lead and he's going to be the lead and he's going to fumble and still be the lead. Whereas Crosby Merritt, I never know in a week to week what his touch workload is going to be. If I knew both of them were going to get 15 touches, I would start cross game Merritt, but I just don't know that's going to happen.
- [32:36]
A
Yeah, as it turns out, Ramadre Stevenson maybe has the strongest job security of anybody in the NFL this season.
- [32:41]
B
The entire NFL.
- [32:43]
A
Yeah. Yeah. So these guys are also, they're back to back for you, Jake. They're also back to back in ecr. It's funny because it's two names that I don't really want to be starting fits but with the buys they are both inside RB2 range. They are RB23 and RB24 respectively. You know Radre Stevenson like again has this job security but he's going up against Cleveland whose run defense has been amazing this year. Yep. Bill like is going up against the Chiefs who if you think the Chiefs are going to dominate Washington in this game, like there's a good chance that he maybe gets game scripted out and right. He has not really done for. As excited as everybody has been about crossing merit this season, it's really only been one blow up week in Week 5 against the Chargers. Two touchdowns, 111 yards. Besides that, he did have a touchdown in 82 yards back in Week 1. It's been a whole lot of like RB 64, RB 26, RB 43, RB 36, RB 44. There has not really been a very high ceiling outside of that one main breakout game in Week 5, but hopefully.
- [33:43]
C
There'S a sturdy floor because he's had 13 carries at minimum in each of his last three games and probably would have had more than 13 last week if the Commanders weren't getting blown out by the Cowboys. So I. I know the Marcus Mariota factor is not ideal. You'd rather play Bill with Jaden Daniels in there, but maybe they have to lean harder on Bill with Daniels out. And as Jake said, the Chiefs run defense not really a matchup to fear this season. The Chiefs are 13th in DVOA against the run, giving up 4.6 yards per carry to running backs. Stevenson much tougher matchup against the Browns, first in DVOA against the run, 3.5 yards per carry to running backs. And Ramondre hasn't had more than 54 rushing yards in any game except for his 88 yard rushing day against the lowly Tennessee Titans last week. And as much as we joke about the Ramon Ray Stevenson job security, like, if you're an investor, you are living in constant fear that the next Ramondre fumble could send him to the bench.
- [34:46]
A
Where do you have them ranked? Fit. So like I said, RB23 and RB24. Is that the right range for you?
- [34:52]
C
So I've got Bill a little higher. I've got him RB19 and I have Stevenson and RB23.
- [35:01]
A
Okay. So, you know, close. Ish. But definitely having Bill stronger on cross.
- [35:06]
B
Game here a little bit.
- [35:07]
A
Yeah. Would you start these guys? And I'm just asking because he's very close in ecr and again, we don't usually do Thursday games, but he's right there. Actually, the two guys I should say, Jordan Mason and Kymani Vidal, are right next to these guys in ecr. Would you start these two over or behind those. Those guys playing on Thursday night or are they kind of in the middle in that same range for you?
- [35:27]
C
I have Vidal in between Crosky, Merritt and Stevenson. And I. I have Mason lowest of the group. But that depends. And that is, do we know what Aaron Jones status?
- [35:40]
B
Don't know.
- [35:41]
A
No. No, I have not seen yet anything official yet.
- [35:44]
C
Yeah. So if he's act. This is. I'm kind of assuming Jones is active for this game, but if he's not, then I'd have to probably elevate Mason above all these guys.
- [35:53]
B
That's what I was gonna say. I have Vidal ahead. I would play Vidal and then I would play Mason with no Jones. And then if Mason has Jones, I might still lean him, but that makes it tougher.
- [36:07]
A
Okay. Yeah. So if Jones is playing, you would have Mason behind Pacheco and Stevenson, you're saying?
- [36:13]
B
Or definitely I would have Mason definitively behind Pacheco. It would come down to I'd probably still start.
- [36:19]
A
I was looking at Pacheco, I meant to say, and Stevenson.
- [36:22]
B
No, yeah, I would probably go Mason. I would still probably go Mason over both between all the splits, like he's still the lead and it's Jones first game back, like so.
- [36:32]
A
Yeah. Okay, let's get to the wide receiver debates here. Fitz, starting with you again. Tea McMillan or T. Higgins. We talked a little bit about the Bengals offense already when we're talking about Chase Brown. Higgins obviously somebody who has been kind of resuscitated by Joe Flacco. Not to the same degree that Jamar Chase has been, but it is clearly looks better with Flacco than it did with Browning. So T. Higgins or Teo McMillan who has been a darling of the show all season, not coming off his strongest game. He did have his first two touchdowns a couple of weeks ago. Didn't get back in the end zone this last week. So Tedaro McMillan or T. Higgins this week fits. Who do you like better?
- [37:10]
C
I'm going to go with Tedro McMillan. He is wide receiver, 27 1/2 point PPR scoring right now. T. Higgins on wide receiver 35. Although obviously T. Higgins outlook is brighter with the arrival of Joe Flacco in Cincinnati. Big game last week against the Steelers. Now he gets a Jets defense that may or may not have sauce. Gardner, who has a concussion, I believe. I just think McMillan is really good and for him to be averaging 7.8 yards per target when Bryce Young has averaged 5.8 yards per pass attempt sort of hints at what a terrific player McMillan is. And, and maybe Andy Dalton would be an upgrade for him if Dalton were to play like Dalton is a veteran. He understands the assignment. He's going to find the 6 foot 5 rookie. So for tmax sake, I kind of want to see Andy Dalton play in this game.
- [37:59]
A
I was going to ask that. So, Jake, I'll ask you. Andy Dalton, you know, potentially, possibly even likely playing in this game, is that something that would want to make you rank Ted Ron McMillan Higher or lower? Is this going to be like a Flacco thing where a veteran comes in and says, let me just spam the best receiver on the team the way he's done with Chase, and not that McMillan is as good as Chase, but kind of that version of it on. On the Panthers, or would you be less excited about McMillan if Dalton does end up starting?
- [38:28]
B
So I would be slightly more. And I actually have Dalton in. So I. I fully believe Bryce Young is. He's not playing.
- [38:37]
A
Yeah, I think it will be Dalton, but just kind of couching it in case.
- [38:40]
B
But Yeah, I have McMillan at Dalton. If it was Bryce Young, I'd probably slide him down two spots. I'd still keep him in front of Stefon Diggs going against Cleveland, even though he's been the number one decent buy low and maybe even a better buy low after this week. That's kind of a tough match up there. But actually, the reason I'm going T. Higgins is what Fitz just said. This was already going to be the benefit of being the two versus the jets, which has just been destroying that team all year long because Gardner sits on the one. Well, guess what? We don't have to worry about Gardner sitting on the one. And maybe that just means Jamar Chase is going to have one of his 250 yard days again. But I lean for Higgins with what Flacco's been doing with this team against the jets defense, which is nothing. And the caution for Dalton is like, we should be more excited. That's why he's a few spots higher. And I'm not saying Fitz is wrong because he might be right. We actually, we want him to be right because we want Dalton to come in and throw 12 targets to McMillan and just go, go, go. But Dalton's a veteran who will also spread it around at times if that's what he's being given. So if the focus for this game being Buffalo and what little defense they do have in the passing game is better than their run game and they sit on McMillan and treat him as a one like the jets would treat Jamar Chase if they had Gardner. That's my only hesitation of why I'm going T. Higgins over McMillan. They're two spots apart, so I'm not like, oh my God, you're crazy to start McMillan over Higgins.
- [40:04]
A
This is another. I don't always do this. I, I try to look more at your guys's rankings and ECR when I'm coming up with these, but this is another one where they are back to back. In ECR, it's wide receiver 17 for Tedro McMillan, wide receiver 18 for T. Higgins. So the consensus is that they are, you know, right back to back. And some of the names around them, like Michael Pittman Jr. George Pickens, Jalen Waddle, Diggs is a couple spots behind them. So that's kind of the range that they're in. Yeah, I, I've, I feel like this one. Of all the kind of players I put head to head in this episode, this is the most One where I feel kind of just like it's kind of almost like a coin to flip. Like you could convince me. Either way I see these as as very close between Tet and T. Let's go to the other wide receiver debate here. George Pickens or Stefan Diggs, who I just mentioned both of those guys kind of being in a similar range here. Jake, who do you prefer, Pickens or Diggs?
- [40:58]
B
So I'm getting a lot of pushback for this. I am way down on Pickens this week because of the Denver defense and I have a pretty decent gap even with going against the Browns that I just brought up For Stefan Diggs to kind of lead you into this one. I mean just look at here. I'll bring it up on the season. There's four double digit scores against the Broncos. Four Two were in the same game when Justin Herbert went off for kind of kind of went off in that game. They didn't score you know a ton in that game but it was 11 targets to Keenan Allen, 10 to Quentin Johnston. They both scored double digits. Outside of that Devon Devontae Smith and Wandell Robinson what did Wanda Robinson and Kenan Allen do And Devontae Smith at times in that game is actually a lot more slot work and people are like oh my God you're going to get the Patrick Surtan treatment on CD Lamb. So that means the number two it's not the same as the Jets. The number two Moss is actually one of the better rated corners in the league. It's not like this huge drop off. Their number twos are actually stifling throughout the year. I mean you can look at A.J. brown struggled in that game against them. You go to like lad McConkey was quiet Jamar Chase, NT Higgins and Grant Dennis. It was Browning at the time but both of them came out with nothing. So it's not like they're just going things happen to the number twos. So I have Pickens down way behind consensus and it's just because I am really worried about the Denver Broncos defense. I just think they're really good job against corn or against wide receivers this year. So I have Diggs and I have digs a good like 6, 7 spots in front of George Pickens this week.
- [42:22]
A
Are you just out of curiosity Jake fading Lamb at all in this matchup too like you just kind of the receivers across the board or is it specifically Pickens?
- [42:30]
B
It's more so Pickens especially the touchdown reliance from what we've seen with with Lamb. Not that I hate Pickens and I think Dak Prescott's a good enough quarterback to do it. It just comes down to if you're Dak Prescott and you're going out this defense like this is one of those ones where I don't like to play matchups too much because I'm not going to fade CD Lamb against certain. I'm not going to fade any elites against certain. But it's enough of a concern where like it's just I know what you're going to get in this game or the risk. I should say I know what the risk is in this game. The risk is this is possibly Dak Prescott's wor and I would trust the one, not the two.
- [43:04]
A
In that case, Fitz, how do you see this one? Pickens or Diggs this week?
- [43:09]
C
I like Pickens here. I knew it definitely. And yeah, I mean I'm not I think last week was a reminder not to and I have immense respect for the Broncos defense. It is a really tough pass defense, probably the best pass rush in the league. But last week was kind of a reminder not to overinflate the importance of the defensive matchup. I guess with a defense like the Broncos who gave up 32 points to the Giants and probably should have given up more if the Giants kicker could actually convert a kick. Pickens has six touchdowns in his last six games and he's averaged 96 yards a game over that stretch. And I know the matchup is is daunting, but like I don't know if it's a lock that Patrick Certain junior Is going to be shadowing Pickens all game because maybe CD Lam is going to line up in the slot. I mean maybe. But Lamb is only lining up in the slot 32 and a half percent of the time according to our friends@player profiler.com so if CD Lam is lining up outside a good amount of the time, you would think the Broncos might occasionally line up certain opposite Lamb. And then I don't, I don't know. I don't think quite as much as Jaquan as much of Jaquan McMillan and Riley Moss as Jake does.
- [44:27]
B
So it's more so Moss for me. But again, like it was mostly out of the slot and tight ends. I mean honestly. And it's not like the Giants have anything at the number two wide receiver. But I get your point. I think that's just the difference in the so what's your out of curiosity like how far is your gap to Pickens? The digs?
- [44:44]
C
Not not great. I have Pickens let's see, wide receiver, is it 16? It is wide receiver 15 and Diggs wide receiver 19.
- [44:56]
B
So, so we're, we're basically almost in lockstep of Diggs. It's just the fact that I have Pickens behind him that really comes down to it.
- [45:03]
C
Yeah. And like we, we saw Sauce Gardner shadow Pickens earlier this season was when Lamb was hurts and Pickens did only have two catches in that game but one of them was a 43 yard touchdown where he won a contestant catch against Sauce. And that is George Pickens special sauce making tough contested catches against tight coverage. So I worry about shadow coverage or like tough cornerback matchups less with George Pickens than I do with just about any other receiver because of how he makes plays. And I like Stefan Diggs, drafted him in a lot of leagues, going to start him in all of those leagues. But Drake may does spread the ball around somewhat and, and there's only been one game this year where Stefan Diggs has had more than seven targets. But of course Diggs has been really efficient with his targets.
- [45:54]
A
It's, it's. I'm glad you, you know, kind of hit on Diggs a little at the end there, Fitz, because I felt like he was kind of getting short shrift in this conversation. It was very much about like the gap on Pickens and, and Diggs kind of like you guys agreed almost on him. It's just, you know, where you had Pickens on either side of it. An interesting matchup against Cleveland. They're so good against the run. They're a good defense overall, but they're particularly good against the run. So it'll be curious to see what New England does against them. Pickens interestingly in ecr so you can see some names will have like a little arrow next to them on fantasypros.com rankings and if you hover over that, it'll show you how their positional ECR has risen or fallen in the last X number of days. Pickens has gone up 18 spots in the last two days. So like he was ranked a lot lower before, you know, the last couple of days here and that has really shot up. He is now up at wide receiver 16. When I put this together, he was a few spots lower even just yesterday. So he, he for whatever reason the consensus has, has been rising on Pickens here throughout this week. Let's go to some more rapid fire start sit decisions here. Got another running back one for you. Start with you Fitz. Nick Chubb or Taj Spears this week.
- [47:05]
C
Yeah, Ugh I've Spears ranked one spot higher. Just give me the guy with the pass catching potential. Don't make me talk about these guys again.
- [47:14]
A
It is, it is a heavy bye week, which is why these guys are in range of you might have to make this decision. Tajie Spears is RB 29. Nick Chubb, I mentioned earlier is RB 31. So this is very firmly in startable territory and decision making time. Jake, what do you think? Do you have any interest in weighing in more heavily than Fitz did on Chubb versus Spears?
- [47:37]
B
No, and it's a good thing it's rapid fire because it's basically the same thing as Spears. One spot in front of Chubb. Unfortunately, they're facing the Colts, which you expect the Colts to offense to keep churning along. So we got a 6040 split, spears on the 40, but that's the biggest we've seen and it could push to 50, 50 this week. So that's why I'll take it.
- [47:55]
A
All right, how about maybe a more interesting one? We'll see what you guys think. Juwan Jennings or Tez Johnson? Obviously Mike Evans out for a long time for Tampa Bay. Jennings has been dealing with his own injury stuff, but, you know, played last week and appears to be fine to play this week. Jennings is wide receiver 31. Tez is a little lower, wide receiver 38. So there's more of a gap on this one. Jake, I'll start with you. Tez Johnson or Dwan Jennings?
- [48:20]
B
Tez Johnson. And it comes down to the comparison I made earlier this week and I'm not calling him 100%, but he's very similar. Just picture Tank Dell on the Buccaneers as the number two. People be losing their minds. We'd be like top 20 Tank Dell, like forget about it. And again, I say Ted Johnson's a rookie. He's not quite Tank Dell, but he's Even if he's 90%, we don't have at least for this week, we don't have Chris Godwin. It's a question mark after the buy what he's going to be. So I'm going to play Tez Johnson on the upside of what does Baker Mayfield keep doing? It's just going out there putting his case in the MVP conversation. He's not not going to get it because Patrick Mahomes is doing his thing. But I'm going to play Tez Johnson over, I don't know any given week what the hell Juwan Johnson is. He goes from hey, I'm going to be fine for Monday Night Football and then it's like, oh by the way, I had five broken ribs and all these twisted ankles and then he goes back last week. I'm like off their injury report. I'm the healthiest I've ever been. Like what the hell dude. So it really comes down to, you know, Kittle's back in the mix. Kendrick Bourne fell off last week but has been a thing. I do have Pearsall in the ranks right now. It actually sounds like he probably won't play because he's still not missing practice. But even with no Pearsall, Jennings isn't going to get past Tez Johnson for me. Fitz.
- [49:30]
C
Yeah, warm. It's annoying how you find these points of weakness in my rankings and then go on the attack. I currently have Jennings ranked a few spots higher than Tez. I don't know if that's the right call. Jennings just hasn't done much this season. He's banged up. George Kittle is back and even the Kittle had zero catches last week. He's going to be prominently involved going forward. If Piersol comes back this week, I would certainly pivot to Tez. Although as Jake said, Pearsall wasn't practicing as of Wednesday. I think I'm going to have to push Tez ahead of Jennings. Like I think Tez was the better waiver AD than Sterling shepherd who's just a short area possession receiver while Tez is. I love Jake's Tank Dell comparison. Like Tez is a serious big play threat averaging 17 yards per catch, scored a touchdown in two straight games. So yeah, the heck with it. I'm going to start.
- [50:25]
A
Yeah for him after.
- [50:28]
B
To your point Fitz. Juwan Jennings has one game better than wide receiver 55 and part of it is because of the injuries and everything but like he has five games, only one of them is higher than 55.
- [50:40]
C
And I do wonder like it seems like Juwan Jennings has pretty good chemistry with Brock Purdy and not so much at all with Mac Jones. So maybe if Purdy comes back eventually that perks up Jennings some, but I don't know. I would rather just roll with Tez.
- [50:57]
B
Yeah, yeah, those seven targets, some of those were not catchable last week.
- [51:00]
A
Yeah, let's do some flexes here. DK Metcalf or Alvin Camara. These guys are ranked close together starting with you, Fitz, Metcalf or Camara?
- [51:10]
C
Metcalf by a pretty wide margin for me. I'm not really buying this idea that the Kendra Miller injury is going to lead to a big uptick in Alvin Camara's workload. I think Miller snaps and touches just go to Devin Neal, a rookie from Kansas. I really liked pre draft but Neil was drafted later than I thought he'd be and then got outplayed by Kendra Miller in training camp. Camara is averaging 3.6 yards per carry and 4.9 yards per catch this season. I know he is a sacred cow in fantasy, but Camara does not look good this year and it's his age 30 season and maybe the juice is gone and he's just not the same guy anymore. Yeah, for me this is like a snap call for Metcalf.
- [51:51]
A
Like I said, they're back to back in the flex rankings. Metcalf is 29th, Camara's 30th. Fitz, what do you expect out of just Metcalf and the Steelers in general against your your packers defense?
- [52:02]
C
I don't know. It's been such a weird year for Metcalf in that he is normally a big air yards guy and not a big yards after catch guy and that has been totally flipped on its head this week with like the shorter passing attack with Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers. And DK already has more yards after the catch than he's had entire seasons during his heyday in Seattle. So I don't know. It really depends on how much heat the packers can put on Aaron Rodgers because he has no time to throw, which might be a distinct possibility then DK is going to have a hard time doing much of anything. But if Rogers has time to throw you can absolutely beat the packers cornerbacks.
- [52:46]
A
Jake, who do you like better, Metcalf or Camaro?
- [52:49]
B
Yeah, I have Camaro one spot in front of Metcalf. I don't feel it as strongly one side or the other as Fitz does and I do like Devin Neal. I actually thought that he had some comparisons to like James Robinson from back in the day who should have been drafted but like kind of that. But the point being is that like actually better profile of the NFL as a true number two which that's the point here is I think that Fitz is making is that he could step into the Kendra Miller role. The only concern I would have is that they basically bell cowed Camara after that point and we've seen this before. That was an in game adjustment with a full week's practice that could absolutely change with Neil. But I'm going to lean slightly towards the workload of Camara and this is just maybe just there's no basis behind it but Fitz knows this like where I'm what I'm about to say is I just feel like the packers are going to be like, if there's one thing we're going to do, we are going to make sure that Aaron Rodgers just gets gets obliterated in this game. And we do not let Aaron Rodgers beat us because he's Aaron Rodgers and it's us. Like it's just one of those like NFL things. Like it just feels like I just, I don't even like Aaron Rodgers that much this week coming off the game. And maybe I'm a fool and maybe Aaron Rodgers should have proved to me that he can still do it last week in a game that we all thought was going to be a slog. But I just have a real concern that this offense outside of James, outside of the running back with Jalen Warren isn't really going to do much of anything in this entire game.
- [54:03]
A
Game. Let's go to another one here. Jake, I'll start with you. Xavier Worthy or Chuba Hubbard, a guy that we talked about already, Hubbard or Worthy, who do you like better?
- [54:13]
B
So I do this a lot, but it's, it's context. I so I do have Hubbard in front of Worthy by a decent amount of spots. But it comes down to also, what do you want? Because I do think definitively if you need Ceiling and there were still some opportunities for Xavier Worthy last week with Rasheed Rice and Rasheed Rice didn't even play the full game and part of it was also because the starters didn't play the full game. But even before that, Rasheed Rice wasn't even out for the full amount. And I say that to say I think we're going to get full Rasheed Rice this week. They were finding ways to get the ball in his hand obviously with those little scoop passes at that goal line. And I do have concerns of Xavier Worthy and Travis Kelsey, but more so for Kelsey. But if I'm still shooting for Ceiling, like I'm still going to shoot for Xavier Worthy. And that's where I say, like I bring that up a lot. I would go in a vacuum Chuba Hubbard. But if I needed the potential for a 20 point game, I don't think Hubbard gets that even against the Bills run defense because of how much that backfield will be split.
- [55:08]
A
Chiefs are so interesting. Fitz just like trying to guess what they're going to do because that game was so unique in that they just completely, utterly dominated the Raiders in such a way that they didn't need to really do anything early on. Clearly it was like, all right, let's get Rice kind of back involved. I think you could paint the, I think you could paint a picture that the offense going into that game was like, we know we're going to destroy the Raiders regardless. So let's, let's just like make an effort to get Rice back and comfortable and almost use this as like a warmup game for Rice for the rest of the season. And then they didn't need to do much later again because they were so thoroughly dominant. So I find it really interesting to evaluate what we expect out of the Chiefs offense going forward. So having said that, would you prefer Worthy or Hubbard this week?
- [55:55]
C
I would prefer Worthy. And yeah, I know last week's results might have been dejecting for worthy investors, but I don't think the return of Rasheed Rice is going to crush Xavier Worthy's value like Rice and Worthy of complimentary skill sets. They are different types of receivers and hey, Andy Reid is letting Patrick Mahomes sling it this year. The Chiefs have the highest pass rate over expected in the league by a wide margin and I do think Chuba Hubbard is playable. We talked about this earlier with Chuba being a flag plant guy for Jake Split backfields and the Bills are not a tough matchup. But the Panthers do have a below average offense and I would prefer the explosive receiver in a very high powered offense.
- [56:41]
A
Let's stick with the Chiefs offense here. The next flex one. How about Isaiah Pacheco or Jalen Waddle this week? Fix.
- [56:48]
C
Yeah, another case of the explosive offense versus whatever the Miami Dolphins is these days. So you know, not that I'm scared of starting Waddle like he and HN are the two guys you can still fire up for Miami. But 2o is just so awful last week, really the last two weeks. I mean he has six interceptions in two games and the Dolphins have a pretty tough matchup against a very underrated Falcons pass defense. So give me Pacheco here, here Jake.
- [57:16]
B
Yeah, I'm going Pacheco by a decent chunk on this one. The Falcons defense is beyond like underrated at this point. People, I mean there's people out there that might respect them but they're shutting down a lot in the passing game, not even letting up almost 200 yards to most quarterbacks. So where's it going to go by? Also by the way, 1099 and 1. I know we're not talking Titans, but that's on the entire year. What they've given up to tight ends including George Kittle, Hawkinson, Zach Ertz, Kate Otten, like it's like names that they're facing. Like these aren't schlub tight ends. So definitely worried about the Falcons matchup. I am going Pacheco easily in this one.
- [57:51]
A
I'm really interested to see what you guys think about this one. Tyler Algier or DJ Moore? Moore obviously has been up and down but going up against this Ravens defense that is maybe getting healthier but has been quite bad this year. Algier going up against the worst run defense in football. Like he's the guy who's is very likely to score a touchdown in games where the Falcons win and I certainly expect them to beat the Dolphins. So I actually think Algeria is like a really sneaky great play this week given the matchup. So I'm curious Jake, I'll start with you. Who do you like better between Moore and Algier?
- [58:23]
B
So I'm going to go back to that whole like do you need the upside or the floor play? And it's actually the opposite. This is not the norm. Normally you say the floor plays the running back. I'm guaranteeing touches. If you're guaranteeing touches, it's actually DJ Moore hovering around wide receiver 30 to 40 most weeks and that's pretty much what he's been. It's been a disappointment for Moore, but he's been consistency and like he's basically been Jacoby Myers at this point. Whereas if you look at aligier, here's his finishes 52, 16, 70, 28, 1558. If you need the ceiling, it's Algier. But this is the same thing that we said weeks ago when they got completely destroyed and the upset of getting 30 to nothing against the Panthers. And nobody expects that to happen, but that's the risk is that in a down game where they do Leon Bijan because it's close or they're even losing and you don't see a lot of Algier, you might only get three points. But if we expect if what everybody thinks will happen does happen, then Algier is probably going to have one of his top 20 finishes because everybody expects them to roll right over the Dolphins.
- [59:28]
C
Fitz yeah, for me it's Algier. More well, first of all, Morton practice on Wednesday, he's got this hip injury, but I think it's the same injury that, well, it actually briefly hospitalized him shortly after the Bears Week 6 game, but more still played in Week 7 against the Saints. I'm guessing he plays this week, but I would rather play Tyler Algier against A Dolphins defense that has been getting wrecked by running backs every week. 84 yards and three touchdowns to Quin Sean Judkins last week 124 rushing yards to Kamani Vidal the week before that 206 rushing yards and a touchdown to Rico Dowdle the week before that. You get the idea. Algier has gotten double digit carries in four of the Falcons six games so far and in all three of their home games. This is their fourth home game I think Algiers absolutely playable on a 16 bye week against the terrible Miami Dolphins defense.
- [60:24]
A
For what it's worth, Algier did pop up on the injury report as a limited participant on Wednesday at practice with a hip slash knee. Yeah issue. So a couple issues there. So Wednesdays just yeah yeah it's it's just by chitting it because we mentioned you know possible injury concern for more. I know it's not the same but just double check keep an eye on it. I really like Alier this week. I I will be starting him in a lot of places to try and take advantage of that matchup for sure. Let's look at a quarterback one here. How about Caleb Williams again going up against that what has been a very poor Ravens defense or Jackson Dart who just faced this Eagles team a couple of weeks ago? Fitz starting with you Caleb or Dart this week?
- [61:04]
C
Caleb Worm. Do I really have to remind you how bad the Ravens defense has been this season? Now there's no denying how good Jackson Dart has been. This this kid has got moxie. I wasn't high enough on him and our dynasty shows this off season total mea culpa for me. I thought the NFL might be a tough adjustment for him coming out of Lane Kiffin system in Ole Miss. I just, I could not have been more wrong about Jackson Dart who has the it factor. But Jackson darts best wide receiver right now is Wandell Robinson. His second best receiver is Little Jordan Humphrey, his third best receiver. I don't know, probably some other dude with an apostrophe in his first name. The Eagles get a rematch against the Giants this week after the Giants just embarrassed them on Thursday night a couple weeks ago. You know the defending champs are going to be out for vengeance in this one. And by the way, the Eagles did not have wrecking ball defensive tackle Jalen Carter for that first game against the Giants. They will have Jalen Carter for this rematch on Sunday. So I'm taking Caleb Williams over Jackson Dart who I think, I think could maybe have his first game where he struggles a bit.
- [62:21]
A
Caleb faced A very bad defense last week and had under six fantasy points. So I know the Ravens have been quite bad.
- [62:29]
C
It was super windy in Chicago. The Bears led the whole game. I'm not saying he played well but and obviously the Bears running game was working quite well against the Saints.
- [62:41]
A
I wonder if that will be the case again where it's the Bears running game. That could be because Matabika is the guy that's out for the season for the Ravens. They're getting so many players back like more in the secondary where I wonder if it will be a game where they just say hey let's see if like Swift and Menangai can can go dominate this thing for us which, which I think is is possible. I'm not saying I wouldn't guarantee it, but I think it's on the table. So that's like kind of the hesitance with with Caleb even in what normally would be like oh Caleb versus what this Ravens defense has been this year would seem like a no brainer. But that's why I I bring it up. Jake, what do you think? Caleb or Dart?
- [63:14]
B
And so for all these reasons here, the pieces that the Ravens are getting back possibly up to three, at least two it sounds like are all past defense options. It's not the run game as you're bringing up. And then Caleb Williams has two games over one touchdown. Two. He has a 12 touchdown game and 14 touchdown game. And so when I'm kind of splitting the hairs if I agree with Fisk, this is a rematch two weeks later against the Eagles could easily destroy them. But I'm just going to take when I have questions about both quarterbacks, the one that I know is going to run, I know he will and I know I'll get the rushing upside of Jackson Dart. So it's a slim margin. I have Dart and Caleb Williams two spots apart from each other. I just think the Giants need Dart a lot more than the Bears need Caleb Williams to be contenders in their.
- [63:57]
A
Games at tight end. Dalton Schultz or Cade Otten? Jake?
- [64:02]
B
Dalton Schultz. Like this is a decent chunk for me. Kate Otten's a thing with no Mike Evans and no Igbuka and no Godwin or like basically when they're all out and we've seen that Kate Otten is not much of a thing when they have at least one wide receiver, if not two. And after factoring in Tez Johnson for that, Dalton Schultz was peppered to death with no Nico Collins and was even seeing a decent chunk because they were down to Basically rookies at wide receiver and Xavier Hutchinson. So I'm going to chase Dalton Schultz again. It's an opportunity where like the 49ers are most vulnerable to slot wide receivers. Well, Schultz plays a lot in that same area, which is why I also like Noel in this game as a deep flyer because that's where the area that they really struggle against. So you have that clear option is between Noel and Schultz, and that's why I'm going to give Schultz the easy thread over. Like, do they even need Kate on to win that game? They should win that one over the Saints handily.
- [64:57]
A
Fitz. They're back to back in ECR, tight end 14 and tight end 15. Who do you prefer, Schultz or Otten?
- [65:02]
C
I prefer Otten. There's not a big gap. Ranking the tight ends is really tough this week. I don't think there's much separating like the guys from tight end eight to tight end 19 or 20.
- [65:14]
B
I was gonna say 28.
- [65:16]
C
Yeah, I mean there is. It's just like streamarama at tight end this week. And there are a bunch of guys in that big group who have elevated fantasy outlooks because they have injured wide receivers on their teams. And that's the case here with Dalton Schultz and Kate Otten. With Nico Collins pretty unlikely to clear the concussion protocol after getting his concussion Monday nights and having one less day than usual to clear the protocol. Buccaneers lost Mike Evans to the broken collarbone. Won't have Chris Godwin either, obviously. So just for me, it's better quarterback, better offense. That's what it comes down to for me.
- [65:55]
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 and every 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 do our touchdown calls for the week, but first join our free touchdown calls 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 fantasypros.com chat and heading to the touchdown calls channel, I am on running back this week. I will be taking Tyler Algier. We just talked about it. He often scores when the team wins. I expect them to win. Terrible run defense. I like Algier this week. I almost took Bijan just to make it, but that just felt too easy.
- [66:51]
B
So I was gonna take them both.
- [66:52]
A
Here because I do think he scores. Yeah, they will both score would be my bet. Jake, you are on wide receiver.
- [66:57]
B
I got a rebound this week and I thought about, you know, rebounding and take the layups and going like Rasheed Rice or Igbuka and like, yeah, you know, get back on track. But I'll go a little bit deeper. I'm gonna to that jets matchup, especially potentially with no Sauce Gardner. So I'm not taking Chase, but I'm taking T. Higgins. I think T. Higgins scores again. I think Joe Flacco is waking up this offense and I told you you didn't put it in there. I'll even give you a bonus because I need to make up for last week. I'll give him two.
- [67:20]
A
I'll go.
- [67:20]
B
I'll try to go two for two. Cortland Sutton, definitely against the Cowboys. That feels. That actually feels more of a layup than T. Higgins does.
- [67:28]
A
Yeah, yeah, probably. Fitz, your on tight end.
- [67:31]
C
You guys are coming in with these fun touchdown calls and I just have to go with boring old Dalton Kincaid this week. Kincaid, you know, three touchdowns in five games so far. And Bill's tight ends have combined for five touchdowns this season. Josh Allen just looks for his tight ends when the Bills get into scoring range.
- [67:51]
A
And going up against Carolina.
- [67:53]
C
And going up against Carolina.
- [67:54]
A
Yeah. So Tyler Algier, T. Higgins, Dalton Kincaid, those are our picks. You can dominate your fantasy football league with Fantasy Pros Premium, now available for 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. For Jake and Fitz, I'm Ryan Wormley. Thanks for tuning in. Good luck here in week eight. 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, positive review on apple podcasts@fantasypros.com review or on Spotify. Follow us on X Instagram and tick tock at Fantasy Pros and subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube.com fantasypros foreign. The NFL is rolling. That's right. And you should be listening to NFL Daily as we march along to Super Bowl 60. It's in the name NFL Daily so you'll have fresh content in your feed all season long. Join me, Greg Rosenthal in an all star cast of co hosts for previews and recap of every single game. NFL Daily will keep you up to date with everything you need to know.
- [69:24]
C
So you can sound smarter than all your friends.
- [69:26]
A
Listen to NFL daily on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [69:31]
B
No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Ends 28:26 Open to legal residents of the 50 US states and DC 18 and over. For complete details, how to enter prizes and official rules, visit toyotasgamedaygiveaways.com welcome to.
- [69:45]
D
In Case youe Missed it with Christina Williams, the podcast that's your go to source for women's hoops. From buzzer beaters to breaking news, I bring you the highlights, analysis and expert insights you need to stay ahead of the game. The people have spoken and it's time to give the stories that matter most the spotlight. Listen to in case you missed it on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And remember, in case you missed it, don't worry, I've got you covered.
- [70:15]
B
Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here and I'm Bucky Brooks on Move to six. We take you inside the game. From breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching.
- [70:26]
C
Trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters.
- [70:29]
B
We study the tape, talk to decision makers and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand and.
- [70:37]
C
The why behind what happens on Sundays.
- [70:40]
B
Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [70:48]
A
This is an I Heart podcast.