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Running Back and Wide Receiver Sleepers For Week 9 || Fantasy Football 2025
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- [00:00]
Matt Waldman
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- [00:20]
Dave Kluge
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- [00:51]
Matt Waldman
Not recording tomorrow, what are the Halloween plans? What do you, what do you do?
- [00:56]
Dave Kluge
Scare some children at the house and then go and watch a movie. So pretty, pretty, pretty low key Halloween this year.
- [01:02]
Matt Waldman
Do you mean like when they knock on the door, you scare children or just.
- [01:06]
Dave Kluge
Yeah, I wasn't sure if you were.
- [01:08]
Matt Waldman
Just like, yeah, you know, no panel van.
- [01:12]
Dave Kluge
No, we, we, we always do. Our favorite gag is like the. I dress up in costume and sit in a chair with a bowl of candy on the front yard. Like you know, it doesn't work on like anybody over the age of like 8, but like somehow 4 year olds, 3 year old, like they just fall for it. They see it and they're like somehow.
- [01:28]
Matt Waldman
The 3 year olds just fall for it. What a bunch of idiots.
- [01:31]
Dave Kluge
Those three year dumb little underdeveloped brains. Yeah, they fall forward.
- [01:36]
Matt Waldman
Mush brains.
- [01:37]
Dave Kluge
You know the first time and I've realized like to be kind of like gentle with the scares and like the first year we ever did this, we had this like, it's like a little three step walk up onto a porch and this little kid like cute as heck comes walking up dressed up as Buzz Lightyear. And I'm like sitting there and I've got a mask on and the parents know what's going on and they're like, it's okay buddy, like go take your candy. And then I did like a blah like scared him. And the kid runs, falls down our steps. All of his costume goes flying. Like his little like laser gun goes like flying across the front yard. The parents are cracking up. But I was like, I think that was a bit much. Like I can't have kids face planting down my porch.
- [02:13]
Matt Waldman
I think kids falling down is hilarious and I will always, I will always support that.
- [02:19]
Dave Kluge
Well, the first year we did it, too. We were like, is this going to be, like, too much? Like, are the parents? And the parents love it. Like, we thought, like, some of the parents might get, like, upset, you know, that, like, we were, like, scaring their kids. But, like, we have parents, like, after Halloween will come tell us, like, thank you. Like, you know, this is our favorite house to go to every single year because we. We go all out. We. We have fun with it.
- [02:35]
Matt Waldman
I. I used to do that. And then, like, I could tell there's some where you kind of have to be like, okay, mask is off. Hi. Yeah. Like, when the kid is walking to the house in tears, I'm like, you know what? Maybe we don't traumatize them that much.
- [02:50]
Dave Kluge
My favorite is at, like, 7:38, when, like, the teenagers start coming out and they'll be walking down the street and they'll look at our house and they'll just say, nope, nope, we're skipping this one. They'll just keep on.
- [03:10]
Matt Waldman
Happy Halloween, everybody. We are giving you our week nine starts and sleepers. Dave Kluge and I are going to go through our rankings for running back wide receivers, and we're putting a little bit of a twist on this one. We've been playing with the format of this, and we're going through so many different players, but what we really want to do is help you guys, the audience, with the players that you are most worried about starting, players that might be sleepers for you, players that might be your flex decisions. So we're going to. I don't want to say gloss over, but we're going to skip past some of the more obvious ones, Dave, like, you know, top 15 running backs, those players everyone's starting. We kind of don't need to say.
- [03:47]
Dave Kluge
Anything about Christian McCaffrey in your lineup, Bijan Robinson in your lineup. Yeah. You guys know that.
- [03:51]
Matt Waldman
You guys get it. You guys get it. What we want to talk about is that running back 28 in the rankings, the running back 32. And you're wondering who to start. That's what we're going to help you out with today. But before we do, Dave, this is a very important episode because we're dressed slightly different than we normally do.
- [04:10]
Dave Kluge
Yeah. We're in the spirit. And by saying in the spirit, I mean, I picked this up at Walmart last year for $8, and this will be my Halloween costume for the foreseeable future.
- [04:21]
Matt Waldman
And you are what, a sandwich?
- [04:23]
Dave Kluge
Technically, yes. You might even say a processed meat taco.
- [04:27]
Matt Waldman
Processed meat taco? Yes. Let Us know in the comments. Hot dog. Is it a sandwich? If not, what is it? Processed meat? Taco, we need to know.
- [04:36]
Dave Kluge
I am trying to figure out what you are, and I don't quite know. I'm not too good with the pop culture references. I'm thinking there's something spider manish there, but you also have some sort of jet. I don't know. I don't know. I'm thinking you're like Spider Man. Yeah.
- [04:54]
Matt Waldman
Okay. You know what?
- [04:56]
Dave Kluge
Spider Man. Moonlighting as a nighttime photographer is my final answer.
- [05:01]
Matt Waldman
Wow. You know what? Like, I do want to give you bonus points because when, before we started the show, I asked you if you knew what I was, and you're like, if it's anything pop culture, it's not going to get it. It's basically anything outside of food. It's not working out right. You know what? Not bad. Not bad. I'm Gambit from the X Men. Dave are.
- [05:20]
Dave Kluge
You know, it was my second guess.
- [05:21]
Matt Waldman
You know the. Yeah, second guess. Second guess. You were almost there.
- [05:24]
Dave Kluge
I don't know who Gambit is. I know. I know. Wolverine. The. The guy.
- [05:28]
Matt Waldman
Okay, so did you see. Did you. Did you. You. You. I don't think you saw it, but are you aware of Deadpool and Wolverine, the movie that came out a couple years ago? Two years ago.
- [05:35]
Dave Kluge
One year ago? No, I have not seen it, but, yeah, I know it's a movie.
- [05:38]
Matt Waldman
Yeah, I wouldn't. It is. It's. It's definitely. It's a movie. It's a. And I'm like, a fan of those. Like, it was just. Yeah, it's a little gratuitous, but Channing Tatum is in it, and he does, like, just a really funny accent for this character. It's just awful. But that's exactly what the character does sound like. So, yeah, YouTube, it'll be great, man. Spider man, though, like Moonlighting. That's. That's a pretty good guess. All right, let's get into the actual reason everyone is here for this episode, and that is to talk about the starts and sleepers for week nine. Dave, we're gonna do this like we always do. We're gonna start with the running backs. We're gonna go tier by tier. We'll start with tiers one and two for the running backs. I think we can just kind of say these. We're not really going to give. Maybe we can talk about one or two players that really stand out to us. But I'm going to list these off for the audience and for you. So tier number one we got Christian McCaffrey, Jonathan Taylor, Jameer Gibbs, Bijan Robinson, Derrick Henry, Devon Achan, James Cook, Josh Jacobs, Javante Williams. And then in Tier 2 we move down to Kyron Williams, Chase Brown, Kamani Vidal, Ashton Ginty, Jalen Warren, Tyrone Tracy, Travis Etienne, rico Dowdle and J.K. dobbins. So if you heard any of those names and those names are on your roster, those are must start players. There shouldn't really be a conversation there, Dave, but is there a name here that stands out to you?
- [06:57]
Dave Kluge
I think the two that people might see like as a little bit questionable, like are we sure these are must start guys? Rico Dowdle and Tyrone Tracy. And they absolutely are for me. I mean all the comments that we've heard from Dave Canales, he's talking about Chuba Hubbard and like when he does it sounds like he's given a eulogy like, oh, he was great for this team. He was such a leader. He was, you know, the guy that we really rallied around last year. Like he's still there, he's still on the team, but like it's always in past tense and he's talking about how Rico Dodle has just been so good that they can't ignore it. So I know we saw a little bit of a split over the last couple weeks and I expect that split to maintain. But as I've said, you know, analytics, film, watching the game with a beer in your hand, it doesn't matter. Like Rico Dowdle is so much better however you look at it. So I think we're probably going to see like a 70, 30, 80 type split there and then Tyrone Tracy is the other one. There's a lot of like weird resentment towards Tyrone Tracy and we were talking about a pre show a little bit probably just because these wide receivers converted to running backs never really pan out. But Tyrone Tracy did last year like he was an RB2 on a per game basis. And now with Cam Scatter Boo out of the picture, I expect that to maintain. So yeah, Rico Doddle, Tyrone Tracy, not like the, the big names, you know, not a Derrick Henry, Chris McCaffrey type guy, but still in the must start category for us.
- [08:07]
Matt Waldman
The two names from here that I'm looking at that they're still must start players but maybe their value starts to diminish over the next could be Travis Etienne and J.K. dobbins. With Dobbins, like we always have that little voice in the back of our head that's worried about injury, but also how much more of RJ Harvey could we see over the next few weeks and then with Travis ETN coming out of the buy, are we gonna see a little more Bayshal, Tootin, Travis Etienne, the I wouldn't say the efficiency has totally been starting to drop off, but it we haven't seen the same explosive plays that we were seeing early in the season. We didn't see the same volume that we were seeing earlier in the season. And the Jaguars offense worries me because it was starting to unravel bit, especially with Brian Thomas in that passing game. So those are the two guys that.
- [08:50]
Dave Kluge
With the J.K. dobbins thing too. I think a lot of people are expecting RJ Harvey to take over because of the touchdowns last week, but his role didn't change at all. He was still playing a quarter of the snaps, like still got his like eight touches and like he does every single week. He just kind of got lucky with touchdowns. That to me doesn't signal any sort of takeover. This is still J.K. dobbins backfield one.
- [09:09]
Matt Waldman
100%. 100%. That's where I'm at. So those are guys that maybe have concerns going forward forward, but this week you are absolutely starting them. Dave let's go into tier number three because this is where we have the players that we are starting to look at as some sleepers, some flex plays. So tier number three, let's list these off at 19. We've got Ken Walker III, then David Montgomery, Alvin Kamara, Jakori Kraski Merritt, Kareem Hunt, Randre Stevenson, Woody Marks, Bam Knight, Zach Charbonnet and Aaron Jones. Dave, any players from this tier, why don't we we'll trade back one and one. Any players from this tier that you see as a start, flex or sleeper.
- [09:45]
Dave Kluge
Woody Marks jumps out to me just because it's a tough matchup and we have seen that it's been this frustrating shape shifting, kind of ambiguous split between Woody Marks and and Nick Job and we see some Daria Goombawale in there as well. But when I'm looking at it like Woody Marks has had a clear stranglehold on the receiving work in this backfield. When I'm looking at Denver right now, Denver clear favorites in this matchup, this should push them into a position where they're forced to throw a little bit and I think this could be a Woody Marks game. So you and I both prefer Woody Marks quite a bit ahead of Nick Chubb and I think that just comes down to the fact that this is a game script that should work in his Favor.
- [10:23]
Matt Waldman
Yeah, Woody Marks is my running back 28. And Denver's not really bad against running backs. Like, it doesn't look like a desirable matchup on paper, but Woody Marks nine targets of the last two games here and Denver's allowed at least three receptions to running backs in four of their last six games. So this is something where you can see Woody Marks start to get more involved in the passing game. Also four touchdowns louder the last three games. One of those is buoyed by a two touchdown performance. But there's been at least 12 PPR points in three of his last four games for what he marks. This is a guy who it's. It may not be this big explosion, it may not be a full takeover of the running back spot, but the production is coming in and if you need sort of a desperate RB3 flex play with some upside in the passing game, I'm looking at Woody Marks as well.
- [11:06]
Dave Kluge
Who else jumps out to you in this tier? I mean, there's a, there's a lot of names that we should be discussing here because this almost feels like when you look at this tier, it's like a weird mix of, I don't want to say has beens, but like guys who like used to be those plug and play RB1s. When you see in this tier that we've got Alvin Camara and David Montgomery and Kareem Hunt and Ramadre Stevenson and Aaron Jones and then you've also got these new guys that are kind of, kind of coming on and making a name for themselves. So this is a, an interesting tier and there's only one team that has two names in this tier and I think that's probably what people really want to hear about is Zach Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker and like how to rank these guys, how to start them, I'm of the belief that you just keep putting them both in your lineup every single week and of hoping for the best.
- [11:46]
Matt Waldman
Yeah, I mean it's. I, I wouldn't say that it's unlikely that if you drafted one, you drafted the other. You probably had that, you know that, that insurance policy there. I think I'd still lean Walker just because I continue to believe better player, more explosive plays. We'll see that. But yeah, it's, it's a tough one, man. Like, I don't really have much on either of these guys because I'm. It's hard to recommend them as starts. Like, you just kind of have to sit there and keep playing them. Like you said. Another team though, that does have A couple actually. Do you want to add anything to that, to the Walker Charbonnet?
- [12:19]
Dave Kluge
No, I mean really, it's just I think as simple as putting them both in your lineup. You know, Walker could always have that 60 yard touchdown. Zach Charbonnet could always plunge in three times from the one yard line. I mean like that's the upside that you're looking at here is both of these guys are on a good offense and, and the scary thing is they're very volatile. Like you can get a 2, 3, 4 point performance from either of them but the ceiling is so high that I feel like you just got to keep going back to the well every week.
- [12:42]
Matt Waldman
I think that a pairing or at least the player that we need to talk about here is going to be the Chiefs backfield. It'd be negligible if we or negligent if we didn't cream Hunt. It's my running back 23 and Bashar Smith's my running back 35. The chief's going up against Buffalo this week. Bills are allowing the six most fantasy points to running backs. Isaiah Pacheco is going to be out 7 running backs scored at least 10 PBR points against the Bills. Hunt, he's had at least 11 points in three of his last four games. Smith has been receiving threat that we've seen. We haven't quite seen the role like expand the way we want to. It got a little wonky where he got up to five receptions in a game and then it was almost a nothing burger this past week. So I want to see how this turns out without Isaiah Pacheco and going up against the Bills where this could absolutely be a shootout. So Rashard Smith becomes a guy who we could see five plus receptions for him, but also Kareem Hunt. But the way that this offense works, we could end up seeing a lot of running and, and cream Hunt could be getting work in the passing game. We could end up seeing a couple touchdowns for him. So I think both these guys become. I think Kareem Hunt is very much in the RB2 Flex conversation. And then I think that Burchard Smith is in that RB3 Flex conversation.
- [13:54]
Dave Kluge
Yeah. And I think like the, the gut reaction is that like Kareem Hunt is the safe boring play and Rashard Smith is like the exciting big play play. And I, I kind of see that. But also like there is upside with Kareem Hunt like we see.
- [14:06]
Matt Waldman
I almost see it the other way around. Smith is the safe like PPR floor play. Kareem Hunt is the guy that could walk out of here with two touchdowns.
- [14:14]
Dave Kluge
Right. And, and I think something that when I was doing my rankings, I noticed I'm a little bit higher on Rashard Smith than, than you and a lot of the other people. And I just wonder like, with this being such a big game, like two of the top dogs in the AFC facing off against each other. We, we have seen them kind of keeping Rashard Smith on a short leash and I wonder if this is where they like really unleash it and just like add that wrinkle to their offense and we see a bigger dose of Rashad Smith and like they waiting for this game because they've got everything else clicking right now. Like they've got three good receivers. Travis Kelce looks rejuvenated. Patrick Mahomes is playing the best football of his career arguably. And I wonder if now we see this like dosh of Brashard Smith just catch him a little bit off guard. So I'd say there is a ceiling there. But Kareem Hunt, like we just saw two touchdowns last week. He could score two, three touchdowns on any given week. So there's a lot of ceiling in with Kareem Hunt that I don't think people are really recognizing.
- [15:06]
Matt Waldman
You know, another guy who this is probably the last week you'll be able to start him. Bam Knight for the Arizona Cardinals going up against the Dallas Cowboys. And it's one of those, it's like an ugly start. You're starting them because it's like, okay, he is technically the starting running back for the Cardinals. It is technically a good matchup against Dallas. But there's also a narrative here where the game gets very out of hand and the Cardinals are trailing and it becomes a pass heavy game script against the Dallas Cowboys. Now it all depends what kind of Kyler are we getting when he comes back here, right? Like, is this something where he struggles in the first game back Cardinals immediately get down by two touchdowns or something and we're looking at a lot of Amari Di Mercado in, in the passing game. So that is something to consider here. But the Dallas Cowboys are allowing the second most fantasy points to running back. So this is it looks like a decent matchup on paper. Seven running backs have scored at least 13 PPR points versus Dallas and the Broncos running backs just went off last week. So it is very possible that you're looking at Bam Knight. Solid performance here. Dave, where. Where would you be comfortable putting Bam Knight? Like if we're talking about are you. Are you willing to Put him as an RB2. Are you putting him more so as a flex? And I think it all depends on roster construction and desperation here.
- [16:19]
Dave Kluge
Yeah, I'm a little bit lower on him. I've got him outside of the RB2 consideration. I'm also much higher on Michael Carter as well. I just think that we're going to see a split backfield here like we have seen ever since Trey Benson has been out. And, you know, there's so much talk about who the starter is going to be. It doesn't really matter. Like, we do.
- [16:35]
Matt Waldman
We have confirmation that Carter will be active for. For game day. I know he was signed back to the practice squad. Do we have that. That confirmation yet?
- [16:42]
Dave Kluge
No, but that was kind of my read on the situation from the beginning, and that's what I said. Like, you know, the. The news came out that Michael Carter was released, and everybody immediately, you know, went to, like, Bam night season, and I was like, you know, this, this. These are just those roster games that teams are forced to play. So I'm guessing that he'll be back out there. Marty De Mercado has also been practicing, so I think we might see him out there as well. Truth be told, this is kind of an avoid for me. Like, I know it's a good matchup, and if you're desperate, you know, you're hoping that one of these guys can get into the end zone. But I. I did cop out a little bit and put them much tighter in my rankings. I'm not really taking a stance on, you know, Bam Carter or Michael or Bam Knight or Michael Carter. Yeah, let's just call them Bam Carter. You know, there's just kind of this enigma, you know, just two guys. But, yeah, I'm looking at them both as, like, RB3 Flex plays that you're hoping can score a touchdown, which I will say, I mean, Bam Knight has had the goal line work here. So if that's what you're looking for as a touchdown, I think he might be able to give you that out.
- [17:33]
Matt Waldman
Do you have anyone else from this tier, this tier, number three that you like? I got one more player, so I just want to throw it to you first.
- [17:41]
Dave Kluge
Aaron Jones. Just, you know, same guy. Oh, all right. Yeah. Aaron Jones, just familiar with this Detroit defense. Should be a game script that works in his favor. We saw Jason Jordan Mason get, like, completely pushed out last week, and this is another game where I think that the Vikings might be trailing, which benefits Aaron Jones.
- [17:59]
Matt Waldman
Yeah, same thing here. Like, the Lions are actually pretty strong against running Backs, but it's mostly on the run defense side. They're allowing the 10th highest target share to running backs and that's what we kind of see. Burr Jones, he's going to get used in the passing game. 13% target share last time that he and J.J. mcCarthy were together. Excuse me. No, actually much higher. 16 and a half percent target share last time that he and JJ McCarthy were together on the field. JJ McCarthy is expected to start at the start this game and even if he doesn't end up playing or gets taken out. Max Brosmer.
- [18:28]
Dave Kluge
Brosmer.
- [18:28]
Matt Waldman
I've heard it both ways. If he's in there, I'm expecting a few more checkdowns to Aaron Jones in this run. I don't want to say that this offense is going to run through him, but this could be one of those. Like you said, Dave, bad game script. Forced to check down, forced to pass a lot. Get that ball into Aaron Jones hands. And Jordan Mason has been highly ineffective as of late.
- [18:46]
Dave Kluge
Yeah, and I think it's that, you know, a lot of people concerned about the age, concerned about the offensive environment, concerned about Justin Jefferson. Like we kind of talked about this yesterday on our trade target show. There's just like not great feelings right now around the Vikings as a whole. But this is a game script where, like it wouldn't surprise me one bit if Aaron Jones leaves this game with eight targets.
- [19:05]
Matt Waldman
All right, let's go down to tier number four. This is going to be running backs 29 through 38. I'll list them off for you. Taje Spears, Kyle Manungai, Tony Pollard, RJ Harvey, Jordan Mason, Trevon Henderson, Rashard Smith, Nick Chubb, Chuba Hubbard, and Samaj P. Ryan. Dave, give me your first guy that you want to talk about from this tier.
- [19:25]
Dave Kluge
Trayon Henderson is an interesting one because Ramadre Stevenson didn't practice on Wednesday. I don't know what's going to happen though. Like, I, I know it's so easy to just say like Travion Henderson season, it's here. Like fire him up. This is the moment we've been waiting for. But we, we know how the Patriots operate. Like Terrell Jennings is going to come in, he's going to get some touches. They signed Dernis Johnson off the practice.
- [19:46]
Matt Waldman
You see the rumor that the Patriots are looking to add another pass catching running back before the trade deadline, which.
- [19:52]
Dave Kluge
Wouldn'T concern me too much for this week. Like it's already Thursday. Like even if they signed somebody today, by the time he flies there, gets the playbook. I mean it's going to be like a very limited package.
- [20:01]
Matt Waldman
Just in life, just in general, right?
- [20:03]
Dave Kluge
Long term. Yeah. And again, you know, we see a lot of buzz around the trade deadline and I've seen people say that this is just like the most damning thing imaginable for Travion Henderson. But to me, like when I see this, that they want to go out and sign a running back, to me, that just tells me that like, maybe this is a more serious injury for Madre Stevenson. They were going in for the last month, they only had two running backs on the roster. Like that Terrell Jennings activation a couple weeks ago took so many people by surprise. I'm like, yeah, that's just the Patriots getting up to three running backs on the roster like every other team in the NFL. So you know, I, I know like trading for a running back, people think it's going to be a breeze hall or Travis Etienne, but like it might be.
- [20:42]
Matt Waldman
Get ready to start speaking. Jerome Ford, buddy.
- [20:44]
Dave Kluge
Yeah, like a Jerome Ford or like maybe even smaller than that. Like, I'm trying to think off the top of my head, but this could be like, you know, like, hey, let's swap six.
- [20:52]
Matt Waldman
We want to go small.
- [20:54]
Dave Kluge
Yeah, something like that. I mean, like, and I think everyone's expecting this like huge splashy trade and it's going to be like Isaac Arundo moved to New England as a depth piece. You know, something that like, we just don't even really care about.
- [21:05]
Matt Waldman
Xavier Scott going, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Another guy from this tier that I think both of us have really liked. We've talked about him a couple times. Taji Spears, he's our running back 29. Here's my running back 30. He's your running back 29 in the rankings. This to me like screams blow up game for Tajie Spears. Because the Titans are going to be in such a pass heavy game. Script here, Dave. Chargers are first and past attempts per game. Tennessee is second and pass play percentage per game in the NFL. This is going to be a pass heavy game. Who's out there on passing downs more often than not? It's Tajie Spears. I, I just, I, I cannot put it any clearer than that. He's been an RB3 or better in each of the last three, three weeks. He's out snapping Tony Pollard each in two of the last three weeks. This, this is, this is the Taji Spears blow up game. I, I, I feel like this is where it's got to be if the Titans are looking to stay in this Game in any form or fashion with the Chargers.
- [22:06]
Dave Kluge
Yeah, I, I was cracking up. Matt Waldman had a really good tweet the other day because, like, we're seeing like this like, kind of slow ramp up for Taj Spears. And Matt Waldman shared the video of Taj Spears big run where he took it, you know, from midfield all the way down to the one yard line and he goes, Titans. Tajie Spe acl. What are you being cautious about? Are you waiting for him to grow it back? It doesn't work like that. Use him or lose him. And that's exactly how I feel 100%. I mean, he's just looked phenomenal. Like, I'm at the point this week I've got Tony Pollard ranked at like the RB4 bubble. Like, I don't even want to start Tony Pollard if I had him. I think the opportunity to trade him is gone now. Like, his value is just in the toilet at this point. Like, he's just getting outplayed by the better, younger running back right here. I'm firing up Tajie Spears in so many leagues this week.
- [22:51]
Matt Waldman
Yeah, I, I also have Spears ranked ahead of Pollard. And just with the. The matchup here, man, the matchup. Just watching the film, he looks better. He's more explosive. Everything is going Taje Spears way. Chargers also, by the way, bottom five in targets allowed to running back. So, yeah, expect the PPR scam here for Tajie Spears. Dave, anyone else in this tier you want to talk about?
- [23:14]
Dave Kluge
Nobody jumping out specifically? You know, we already kind of talked a little bit about Travion Henderson and we talked about Taji Spears. Those are the big ones for me that I'm. That I'm gonna be watching closely. We already talked about RJ Harvey too, kind of with the JK Dobbins thing, I see a lot of excitement for plugging J.K. dobbins into the lineup. I'm still kind of looking at him as like an injury away back who is like, you know, when you're looking at starting him, like very much so. Just kind of a desperation flex.
- [23:38]
Matt Waldman
I'm gonna give one that's like a, like you just said, desperation flex. He's my running back. 38 in. In this. In these rankings. But Samaj P Ride, who has like, continued to take more and more of a role. Now I say this with the disclaimer. Joe Flacco is looking like there could be injury concerns heading into the week. So if he plays. Yes, Flacco, P Ryan, Cool desperation flex. If Flaco's out. Like, just don't, don't, don't start your Bengals. Like, don't, don't start Samaji P. Ryan. Chase Brown's a flex and then you got to start Jamar Chase and T. Higgins. But going up against Chicago this week, Dave Chicago seventh most fantasy points allowed to running backs. Six running backs have scored 13 or more PPR points against them this season. And P. Ryan is like in a near 50, 50 split. He had 43 of the team's rush attempts last week. He's already the better pass blocker. So you'll see him out there on passing downs as well. So if this is a, there's a potential shootout here. If Joe Flacco is playing and, and Caleb is on his game against this Cincy secondary, we could actually see a lot of Samajp Ryan in this game. So he's a fun desperation flex if you are really, really hurting at running back. Yeah.
- [24:47]
Dave Kluge
And I think this is one of those games, like we get a few every single week that's just like a fire all cannons, like get everybody in your lineup. And that's this Bears Bengals matchup. To me, like two pretty bad defenses. And it's not that the Bears are like a terrible defense, but it's just there's such an aggressive defense that they regularly give up big plays. And like, if they're not getting a running back down in the backfield, he's making it all the way to the safety. So we see these big chunk plays from the running backs. We see the big explosive plays in the passing game when the Bears defense is blitzing heavily. So this is one where like, you know, Samajp Ryan, he's in flex consideration for me. We're not talking about tight ends on this show, but like, even Colson Loveland is kind of in that streaming discussion. Like, this is just like if I'm looking for people to pick up off of waivers, this is like, oh, Colson Loveland's available. Lamade Zakis is available. Andre Josevash is available. Like in those really, really deep leagues. This is the game that I'm targeting.
- [25:38]
Matt Waldman
I will say one of the guys you mentioned there and I'll, I'll bring it up later as well. The Bears do have some injuries this week, the guys that have not practiced. So I know Luther Burden still out after the concussion. Lame Zakius I believe was the knee that he has not practiced yet this week. So we'll see. We're, we're recording this Thursday morning, 10:30am Eastern so we'll see what the reports say later.
- [25:57]
Dave Kluge
If Burden and Zacchaeus are both out this week, Loveland might be like inside my top eight because we've seen him getting pretty comfortable playing out of that flex role.
- [26:06]
Matt Waldman
Yep, yep. And that's a, That's a tease for maybe some DJ Moore talk a little later in the show. Let's go down to the final tier here for the running backs. This is tier number five. This is running backs 39 through 45. Dave. We're looking at Ollie Gordon II, Kenneth Gainwell, Emmanuel Wilson, Jeremy McNichols, Bashel Tootin, Blake Coram, and Tyler Algier. Let's each pick one out of here. Any who stands out to you.
- [26:30]
Dave Kluge
Manuel Wilson has looked really, really good with his limited opportunities. And last week, you know, we, we saw. It was a pretty close game at the final score, but really it was the. The packers just kind of running away with this one. And because of that, we saw Emmanuel Wilson get some extra looks and five and a half yards per attempt. You know, also 8.7 yards per reception. He's just been efficient with his touches and we're seeing that slowly start to grow. You know, he saw six touch or six series two weeks ago, saw 11 carries last week. I think in what could pot be, you know, maybe a little bit of a closer game. We might not see him completely blowed up there, but Carolina's been playing well recently. But if this game does get out of hand as well. Emmanuel Wilson always kind of has that garbage time out in the fourth quarter where he can just get some carries, he could punch a touchdown in, he can catch some targets even if it's a closer game. I think what we're seeing is Matt LaFleur has always kind of had this two headed backfield approach. And since trading for Josh Jacobs last year, they've really just leaned on Josh Jacobs. And I think over the last few weeks they've realized, wait, Josh Jacobs plays better when he gets a little bit of rest and we can get him. Emmanuel Wilson out there and he is not a liability on the field. He's playing good football as well. So again, I mean, we're deep in the rankings here. Like, I'm looking at Emmanuel Wilson in most situations. It's just kind of a handcuff running back. But if you are really, really desperate, there is some upside there.
- [27:48]
Matt Waldman
So I think a lot of it is just the packers understand that they are a team that is more than just making the playoffs. They want to try to win a Super Bowl. Here. And the way you do that is if you're going to ride Josh Jacobs through the playoffs, you got to keep them healthy, get some of the wear and tear off them. So we might see that a little bit here throughout the rest of the season. So I would not be surprised to see more Emmanuel Wilson. We've never really been able to see any Marshawn Lloyd, so yeah, Wilson's a guy I think is interesting. Where would you do you have him as like a second flex? Because I don't think we're. He's not a top, he's not a running back, one or two in your fantasy lineup. I don't think he's your first choice as a flex. But this is in some of those deeper leagues where you're starting multiple flex flexes. Is that kind of where you have them?
- [28:26]
Dave Kluge
Yeah. Or just if you're hurting with injuries or bye weeks, which a lot of teams are right now. Like, I'm not saying he's like a must flex player, but you know, when we're looking in this tier, there's some other guys with the upside too. But I, I like the upside with Wilson. And the weird thing too is like he's still available in a ton of leagues. Like most leagues out there, redraft leagues. You can just pick Emmanuel Wilson up for free off the waivers right now. And it doesn't make sense to me. Like, we see Blake Corum is rostered, we see Tyler Algiers roster like all these other handcuffs on good offenses are rostered and people are just like completely ignoring Emmanuel Wilson out there. Whatever reason, you know what it is?
- [28:58]
Matt Waldman
He needs a cooler name. It's not a cool name. Like give me you when you, when you mixed up Bam Knight and Michael, give me Bam Carter, that guy I want. I'm rostering him. I'm starting him sight unseen. Like I. Yes, in Emmanuel Wilson, not as fun.
- [29:15]
Dave Kluge
I mean, I'm looking right now, he's still available in 87% of leagues. So if you're listening to the show, flip over your sweeper sleeper app and pick Emanuel Wilson up. Like, at worst, he's a stash that could give you some very usable weeks. And even right now, you know, he's still a desperation flex.
- [29:32]
Matt Waldman
The guy that I like out of this tier, Jeremy McNichols, a name that not a lot of people are starting. Probably not a lot of people rostering. Running back, 41 on the rankings this week. But I really see him as a decent flex play, especially in PPR leagues. He's been a top 35 running back in three straight weeks. Dave. He was a top 20 running back last week with his five receptions for 64 yards. So we've seen seen he is going to get involved in the passing game. He's at roughly anywhere from like 17 to 20 target share over the last few games, which is massive for a running back like that is not seen, especially with the injuries. Terry McLaurin. I'm going to be expecting that this offense is going to have to find some new players to target. And Seattle, this is an interesting matchup because on paper it doesn't look great for the running backs, but that's going to apply more so to Jakory Crosky, Martin Merit to Bill. But Seattle's allowing the most receptions per game to running backs. They're allowing the second most receiving yards per game to running backs. Who benefits? The receiving running back. The guy that just caught five passes for 60 plus yards. So for me, this is a nice PPR matchup for Jeremy McNichols. I know like you said, there's a lot of people that are hurting at running back or hurting and need a flex starter. McNichols is going to be out there probably on your waiver wire or you've just been holding them on your bench as a handcuff. So McNichols is a guy that I actually really like this week and I'll probably be moving him up a little bit higher. Higher in my rankings after the show.
- [30:53]
Dave Kluge
Yeah, I just bumped above a few spots. You made a compelling argument there. And I. I've been a big fan of Jeremy McNichols since he came into the league. You know, MC weapon is. He was nicknamed in high school. I love that.
- [31:03]
Matt Waldman
And like, it sounds like the worst order at McDonald's.
- [31:07]
Dave Kluge
Yeah. Like weaponizing my gut, by the way.
- [31:14]
Matt Waldman
No, no. Available in 91 of fantasy league leagues. BT dubs. Yeah, yeah, Unsleeper. Go get them.
- [31:22]
Dave Kluge
And I don't even like to talk about it because, you know, anytime people are so sensitive about Jacori Crosky merit, like, you can't have any sort of like rational discussion about Jacori Crosky Merit with people flooding the YouTube comments, like, I, I just have like an anti. I'm not talking about Jacqui crossing Merit on Twitter anymore because people just can't be reasonable about it. But he's been struggling the last few weeks. Like, he has not looked very good and it's been very much so. Like, hey, he looks good now he does it. Okay, now he's looking good again and now he doesn't again. It's been a very up and own roller coaster type of season for Jecori Crosby Merritt. The opportunities have been there, but like watching last Week's game, Jeremy McNichols looked like a much more explosive player than Jakory Crosby Merit. So this isn't a guy that they drafted in the first round. This isn't a guy who's sitting on a massive contract like this is going to be a fluid situation in Washington. And if we're looking for the hot hand approach right now, Jeremy McNichols has the hot hand.
- [32:13]
Matt Waldman
I'm going up against Joey Wright this week in the flex league. League.
- [32:16]
Dave Kluge
Oh yeah. I am starting JP Ryan then just for the if he's available for the clout. Just the emotional, yeah, the stress when he sees that he's playing against Samaji P. Ryan, he's probably already in that league.
- [32:29]
Matt Waldman
In my flex spots right now I've got Jeremy McNichols and Colston Loveland if both Luther Burton and Alami Zakias are going to be out. So this will be a fun matchup. I'm projected to lose by one point. So, so Infinite sadness here on Halloween week.
- [32:45]
Dave Kluge
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- [33:16]
Matt Waldman
For Albertsons and Safeway now through November 4th. Shop the annual beauty event and save $5 when you spend $25 on select beauty products.
- [33:24]
Dave Kluge
Shop in store or online for items.
- [33:25]
Matt Waldman
Like Dove Body Wash, Native Body Wash, Cetaphil gentle skin cleanser, Dr. Squatch body wash, Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel, Dial.
- [33:34]
Dave Kluge
Liquid Hand Soap and Olay Body wash.
- [33:36]
Matt Waldman
And save $5 when you spend $25 or more. More.
- [33:39]
Dave Kluge
Offer ends November 4th. Restrictions apply. Offers may vary. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.
- [33:45]
Matt Waldman
All right, Dave, let's go over to the wide receivers. We just went through 45 running backs. That was, that was good. And we did it efficiently. I'm proud of us. This is a good show so far.
- [33:54]
Dave Kluge
Look at us.
- [33:54]
Matt Waldman
Look at us. Who'd have thought, who'd have thought, who.
- [33:57]
Dave Kluge
Thought these guys, an X Men and a hot Dog.
- [34:00]
Matt Waldman
We're doing it. We're doing it. My mom is so proud. By the way, just you really quick personal thing. Shout out to my mom and dad. It was their 14th wedding anniversary yesterday. Just love you guys. So much. Love. 14 more years. Please stay married.
- [34:15]
Dave Kluge
Congratulations.
- [34:16]
Matt Waldman
Yeah, happy life. Love you both. All right, let's go over to the wide receivers, man. We are going to do the same thing here. Kind of go through these first two tiers, and we'll slow it down. I mean, wide receiver. So tier one, wide receivers one through nine. Jackson Smith.
- [34:31]
Dave Kluge
Missing. Jamar Chase. There was a formatting issue, it appears.
- [34:34]
Matt Waldman
Of course there's a formatting issue, because why wouldn't there be?
- [34:37]
Dave Kluge
You know, while you're reading these, I.
- [34:39]
Matt Waldman
Will get the apostrophes. Jamar Chase is number one. Let's just. Jamar Chase is number one.
- [34:44]
Dave Kluge
Yes.
- [34:45]
Matt Waldman
Then it's Jackson Smith and Jigba Puka. Nakua. Amanda Saint Brown, CD Lamb, Rasheed Rice, Roma Dunze, Justin Jefferson, Drake London, Devonte Adams. Luckily, that doesn't really mess up the rankings all that much. It just pushes everyone down one with Jamar Chase.
- [34:59]
Dave Kluge
Chase.
- [34:59]
Matt Waldman
We do it on a spreadsheet, guys. And then the apostrophe throws things off. It's just. It's. It's weird. So, Dave, once again, I don't think there's anything.
- [35:07]
Dave Kluge
Shout out Dylan, though. I just opened up base camp, like, our internal messaging system to let Dylan know, and he was already at it. He goes, jamar Chase is supposed to be wide receiver one. Shout out Dylan. Yeah, that's why. That's why you hire, like, people who live and breathe football to do your graphics. Because, you know, he sees it and he's like, no, this ain't right.
- [35:24]
Matt Waldman
Way to take it seriously, guys. Hosting a podcast, talking about it. Could you imagine the comments if we just didn't have Jamar Chase in the rankings?
- [35:31]
Dave Kluge
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I. I just realized it at first because I was like. Like, I've got Jamar Chase. He's my wide receiver one this week. And it was tough. Like, you know how much I love Jason. Like, we were both all over JSN this weekend or this. This year. So, like, you know, felt good being able to move him up to wide receiver one. But the. The pace, like, what Jamar Chase is doing with Joe Burrow right now, you can't have anybody else in that top spot.
- [35:53]
Matt Waldman
Yeah, okay, let's. So we'll make that. We'll make that adjustment as we go along here. You guys are seeing us just fall Apart in real time. I'm gonna need, I'm gonna need some candy after this. Let's go to tier number two. Oh good. And now everything has totally shifted on the spreadsheet, so this will be fun. So tier number two, everything has just gone off the rails. Tier number two here as we get into this one. Michael Pittman Jr. George Pickens. This is by the way, wide receivers 10 through 16. Michael Pittman Jr. George pickens, DK Metcalf, Lad McConkey, Jalen Waddle, Zay Flowers and Nico Collins. Dave, anyone that stands out there for you?
- [36:34]
Dave Kluge
Michael Pittman. Like, you know, we're just ranking him as wide receiver one now and I think we should but you know, when we were doing that trade show yesterday, I said I ran some of that regression stuff looking and like I don't want to say that the Colts are going to regress because Daniel Jones has been playing great. I love the offense that Shane Steichen has built there. This team leans on pre snap MOT more than anybody else. Like they are just the most efficient team in football right now and they're 7:1 for very good reason. But at the same time, like so much of Pittman's production has come from touchdowns, so much of Jonathan Taylor's production has come from touchdowns and we're seeing like decent usage there. But I don't know if we are seeing what warrants wide receiver one consideration. Like we have him in our rankings. So it's a really delicate balance between like looking at the player profiler because right now know Michael Bittman is 24th in the league in target share. But also the Colts are red hot and he keeps scoring touchdowns and he's playing like a wide receiver one. So you want to rank him there. So he's probably the riskiest of the guys that we have in this tier. But also like I'm just not going to bet against the Colts right now because they look awesome.
- [37:36]
Matt Waldman
Yeah, I mean honestly if anything I might say riskiest is is going to be Nico Collins who both of us have up relatively high and I labeled him as a trade target yesterday and I still still stand by that he's a trade target. But we're also seeing, we're not sure what type of Texans offense we're going to get back this week. You're starting him no matter what. It's more of a matter of are you going to get that wide receiver one production. What's going to happen with this wide receiver room with how ambiguous it is. Right. Because they've Got three different Iowa State wide receivers. Xavier Hutchinson, Jalen Noel, Jaden Higgins. All three guys were able to produce last week. We got Christian Kirk coming back. It's. It's. It's weird. Like, there's not really advice to give. It's more so of just manage expectations. But I think Nico Collins probably ends up being one of the more volatile players in this tier, which is very weird to say after his career.
- [38:27]
Dave Kluge
And, you know, for as much as we're talking about these as like, your plug and play wide receivers, there's a lot of dissension in our rankings. Like, you know, typically in this, like, top 20, you and I are just like one or two spots off from players.
- [38:37]
Matt Waldman
We're pretty off on Jalen Bottle, but.
- [38:39]
Dave Kluge
Yeah, like this whole. Like this. This whole wide receiver tier 2 tier, we've talked about it a lot this year. Like, once you get past that kind of top eight, top 10 players on a weekly basis, there is really no consensus. Like, all of these guys are very volatile. So where you and I are usually very much so in lockstep, there's quite some dissension with these next 20 or so receivers.
- [39:00]
Matt Waldman
Yeah, I've been eating a lot of candy this week, so might be effective the way I'm analyzing things. Let's go down to tier number three. And Dave, this will be wide receivers 17 through 23. So just. Just a small batch, a little batch of wide receivers at 17. We've got Tetaro McMillan, 18, Marvin Harrison Jr. 19, Chris Olave, 20, Brian Thomas Jr. 21, T. Higgins, 22, Cortland Sutton, and 23 is Travis Hunter. So, Dave, who stands out to you from this tier?
- [39:29]
Dave Kluge
I mean, we got to talk about the Jaguars receivers, right? Like, that's if we're talking about.
- [39:33]
Matt Waldman
Travis Hunter was my guy to talk about in this one.
- [39:35]
Dave Kluge
Yeah.
- [39:35]
Matt Waldman
And.
- [39:36]
Dave Kluge
And we could just kind of open the discussion there because, like, I did the thing that I do often with these situations. I just put them back to back in my rankings and like, figure it out. I don't know, like, you know, Travis Hunter, to me, I've been saying for the last month now that I think he's just the better wide receiver. And now did you see Yesterday, Brian Thomas Jr. Is in a no contact jersey at practice. I don't know what's going on here, man. It's. It's a weird situation. I'm making the switch right now. I'm. I'm putting Travis Hunter ahead of Brian Thomas. Know you here.
- [40:03]
Matt Waldman
So what I like to do.
- [40:04]
Dave Kluge
It took me 10 seconds of talking to myself.
- [40:07]
Matt Waldman
Yeah, like you didn't even do anything. You just spoke to yourself. Things you already knew. What I like to do, at least for these early in the week is say, okay, if player X is playing, this is where I would rank them. Then once player X is, because you can have so much gray area and rankings if you don't do it that way. And so once I find out that player X is not playing, then I adjust everything, remove them, put, you know, the next trickle down player up, up. So as of right now, I still do have Brian Thomas ahead of Travis Hunter, but like you said, there's the non contact jersey. It's just been weird vibes with the Jags and Brian Thomas Jr. The, like, you and I talked about this when the injury occurred on field. Nothing happened. Like, nothing happened. He just grabbed his shoulder and that was it. But we didn't, we didn't see what, what went down. It could have been from a previous play.
- [41:01]
Dave Kluge
I think, and I don't, I don't want to speculate too much. You know, I'm not a doctor. I'm not analyzing Brian Thomas said the.
- [41:07]
Matt Waldman
Man in the hot dog costume. No, you're not a doctor. Correct.
- [41:10]
Dave Kluge
But I had a torn labrum a while back and you know, I had to deal with that injury for like a year. And when I went back, like, I watched that Brian Thomas Jr. Play like 100 times in a row, just like what happened here. And like what he does, he puts his arms out in front of him and then kind of grabs at his shoulder. And if you have a torn labrum, that's what it is. It's like when you put your arm out in front of you and you put your arm like ahead of you. That's how you deal with these like, injuries. And it just kind of causes this like sharp stabbing pain here. And NFL teams aren't obligated to tell us the specifics of injuries. Like, they don't have to say, like, he has a torn labrum.
- [41:41]
Matt Waldman
Boy, are they not right.
- [41:43]
Dave Kluge
So all we see is shoulder and labrum injuries are tricky because there's different places that it can tear. There's different severities of the tear. You can play through it sometimes. Sometimes it requires surgery, sometimes physical therapy can. Like, it's a very complex injury. And part of me wonders if that's what he is dealing with. And that would explain the alligator arms. When he's going across the middle of the field and he's like not stretching out for these balls. That would Explain why he's shying away from contact. That would explain why just like, reaching out and just engaging with the receiver is enough for him to hurt his shoulder. I really think that we're going to get, if not within the next week or two, at the end of the season. Like, the season's gonna end. We see this all the time. Like, these players kind of have down years and then the season ends, and then they're just like, oh, by the way, Brian Thomas Jr. Is getting surgery or surgery. Surgery on his shoulder. Right. I think that's what's happening here with Brian Thomas Jr.
- [42:32]
Matt Waldman
It wouldn't surprise me. I. I mean, we can't really speculate because I don't. We don't. We don't know.
- [42:36]
Dave Kluge
Right.
- [42:36]
Matt Waldman
But it just wouldn't surprise us. I mean, we've been very reactive. And I said the royal. We, by the way, as just as a community for fantasy football, watching these players, specifically a guy like Brian Thomas sort of struggle throughout this year, it would definitely lend a lot of explanation. But the point of this show is to figure out who we're going to start in week nine. I think both of us would agree Travis Hunter is a good player to start this week. You like that? That's called a transition.
- [43:03]
Dave Kluge
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I. I'll ask you right now, like, I am in a situation this week where I have three wide receivers and I can only start two of them. Brian Thomas Jr, Travis Hunter and Jameson Williams. And like, I have just been, like, I don't want to start both Jaguars wide receivers, but I don't want to have to make a choice between one of them either. I also don't want to bench Jameson Williams. Like, I have probably tweaked this lineup a hundred times since Tuesday morning.
- [43:29]
Matt Waldman
This is one of those where I always like to explain that rankings are sort of a language that need interpretation. And right now, like, Like I said, I have Brian Thomas ahead of both those guys, but if I was making the. The. The determination of who to start this week, it's going to be Travis Hunter and Jameson Williams. Williams. Well, one, because I have both those guys on my show sheet as sleepers, but two, because of the Brian Thomas Jr. Injury, I don't want to sit around waiting for that and seeing is that going to work out. What if he goes out there and it's hurting him and he comes off the field after one play, like, I. I can't take a zero. Right. And people are probably laughing on the other side of this. Well, you don't want to take a zero. Don't start. Jameson Williams, we'll talk about that in just a little bit. But Dave, I mean I'm going with Travis Hunter and Jameson Williams in that scenario.
- [44:12]
Dave Kluge
Yeah. And I, you know, I do have Jameson Williams a little bit further down in the rankings because we have him exactly the same. Yeah. Because the, the medium median outcome for Jameson Williams is like seven points is basically what we've seen this year. But we're also hearing the good buzz coming out of the buy. We're hearing Dan Campbell say that he wants him to be a little bit more involved and really just like simple regression here. Like, like positive regression I should say. Like I just don't see a world where a 24 year old receiver just, just falls off and like just doesn't start playing well. Like this guy looked awesome last year. He's been very underutilized this year. I, I have faith in Dan Campbell to do some self scouting during the buy and say, hey, this guy that we just gave $80 million to, let's get him involved in the game plan.
- [44:56]
Matt Waldman
By the way, everyone that's just listening, it's just, it's regression to the mean. I just gotta let you everyone know that it's not possible.
- [45:02]
Dave Kluge
I felt like I had to say positive.
- [45:04]
Matt Waldman
Yeah.
- [45:04]
Dave Kluge
I say, you know, I'm expecting regression from Jameson Williams and people are, you had zero points. What's a regression from zero?
- [45:11]
Matt Waldman
Yeah, it's been, it's been topic of conversation for like 12 years in sports media.
- [45:16]
Dave Kluge
I saw it like blowing up on Twitter again a couple days ago. It's like it is so cyclical, like regression. What does it mean? And then two weeks later it's like, oh, we're going to talk about PFF grades. Like we just do the same thing every single year. We just keep the same. Yeah, yeah, I'm, I'm over it.
- [45:33]
Matt Waldman
And your most wisdom is outfit as a hot dog. Give us all the best advice. Okay, let's get back here, let's get back here to the tier number three.
- [45:43]
Dave Kluge
Do that.
- [45:43]
Matt Waldman
Travis Hunter is the guy that we wanted to talk about and Travis Hunter sort of showing. Right. He can be the guy to take over this wide receiver room. Last game, big time performance, 14 targets, eight receptions. He had 21 targets over the last two games. Games, Dave. And like this is something that you and I have talked about. The role is growing on offense. You mentioned the post buy rookie bump that we can be looking out for here. And with Brian Thomas dealing with the injury, it's, it's not only is it a good opportunity, but it's a good matchup with the Raiders allowing the fifth most fantasy points to wide receivers. Travis Hunter, I think if you have him on your roster and especially where you drafted him, I do think that he is a must start this week for week nine.
- [46:23]
Dave Kluge
Yeah, similar to what I said yesterday about Jameson Williams, where I was, like, trying to trade away Jameson Williams, and then when, you know, I realized how people were valuing him, I was like, oh, I'm gonna go buy Jameson Williams. Had a similar experience with Travis Hunter. Like, I was thinking some people would want to, like, buy in, seeing that he's been, you know, running more routes than any other wide receiver in football. Seeing that Brian Thomas is junior. Hearing what they're saying out of Jacksonville, and when all of my trade offers for my Travis Hunter started getting rejected, I was like, okay, well, I guess I'm gonna buy Travis Hunter now instead, because I think that he's just undervalued the market right now.
- [46:55]
Matt Waldman
All right, let's go down to the next tier. We got two tiers left here, tiers four and five. Tier number four. It's going to be wide receivers 24 through 32. We're going to kick this off with Khalil Shakir, Keenan Allen, Stefan Diggs, Jameson Williams, Debo Samuel, Xavier Worthy, Wondale Robinson, DJ Moore, and Jordan Addison. Dave, who stands out to you in this year?
- [47:14]
Dave Kluge
Keon Allen is definitely the most interesting player because last week we saw him play just 24 of the snaps, and he typically, you see a guy with a 24 snapshare, he is so far off the fantasy radar. But that was one they just. That was such a beat down, like, they didn't need Keenan Allen out there. Like, they were doing fine without him. So I think that was one of those. Just like, you guys got this. I'll just. I'll just watch you from the bench. And I think that's kind of where they were at in that game.
- [47:40]
Matt Waldman
Veteran rest day on game day, right?
- [47:42]
Dave Kluge
Veteran rest day kicking in, like, midway through the second quarter. So it was. It was just like one of the funniest things I saw, like, him catching a first down, like, sliding, getting up, signaling for the first down, and then just walking to the bench like, it's just like, he is like, all right.
- [47:54]
Matt Waldman
I'll see you guys tomorrow, right?
- [47:56]
Dave Kluge
And. And this game against Tennessee could end up getting out of hand again. And I think that's the fear here, is like, how often are we going to see this, like, mid Game load management for Keenan Allen because I could see them again going into halftime against Tennessee, up three scores and Keenan Allen just saying, hey, let's go get a Ronda Gadson some reps. Let's get Keenan Quentin Johnson's confidence back. And, and that worries me a little bit. Bit. We know when he's on the field in close games, he is, you know, the, the most trusted guy behind Lad Bikake. But this game script does worry me a little bit.
- [48:27]
Matt Waldman
Yeah, I mean it could, right? But like, we are we. Yeah, I think I'm with you on that one. I know, I know charges past plenty, but like there could be. Let's get Trey Harris more involved as the game goes on here and that's it.
- [48:41]
Dave Kluge
I. The term I used the other day, you know, Jeff Bell and I, we did like a deep dive on the Chargers. I just said it's an embarrassment of riches, like it truly is. Like we talked after week one saying like you and I were saying that this is like one of the best wide receiver trios in the league. And then they get to add a Ronde Gadson on top who like right now looks like the best pass catching tight end in the league. And they've got Trey Harris out here doing things now. And now like even without Omari Hampton and Najee Harris, they've got Kamani Vidal playing great football. Like this team just, they, they, they are deep and everybody is ready to step up. And that, that, that concerns me a little bit though. Like they're going to have some games where they just don't even need Keenan Allen.
- [49:16]
Matt Waldman
These are always risky too though, because, yeah, you could have the game script just totally take Keenan Allen out, but also like, it's an easy matchup, so.
- [49:24]
Dave Kluge
He could be a part of the reason that they're up three scores.
- [49:26]
Matt Waldman
Right, right, exactly, exactly. Like you don't bench him and then he's got two touchdowns in the first quarter and everything goes a different way. So. Yeah, I mean, it's good conversation, man. Like, this is why we have. It's wide receiver 25, like he's a flex.
- [49:41]
Dave Kluge
I'm even a little bit lower on him this week than that. Like, I've got him all the way down at wide receiver 30, which feels sacrilegious, but you know, the 24 snapshare really, really concerns me from last week.
- [49:51]
Matt Waldman
Yeah. And once again, game script, you're right on that. A guy that I'm interested in this week, Jameson Williams, he is my wide receiver 29, he's wide receiver 27 in our consensus rankings that we have here. This is risky, so I will say approach with caution. But. But we talked about this in yesterday's trade target episode where Jameson Williams has been talked about by the coaching staff as a guy. They want to get involved coming out of the buy. And Dave, I've looked around. A lot of people have Jameson Williams as a sit this week, a player that they are just not interested in. Starting this week. I'm comfortable saying that we are zigging while everyone else is zagging. And I'm. I'm not worried about, I mean, a little worried, I'm not gonna lie, but like, I'm not. I. I'm not coming in here with really the downlook that I think so many other people have. Since week six, no team has allowed more fantasy points per game to the wide receiver position than the Minnesota Vikings. Minnesota's given five touchdowns to wide receivers in the last two games. If we're talking about a player like Jameson Williams who is a big play threat constantly, which, by the way, the downfield threats, DK Metcalf, AJ Brown, a few other guys on here had some big games against Minnesota, Minnesota. What are we, what are we talking about then? Like, if. Is there not. If there's. If this is not a time to take the risk on Jameson Williams and start him, then you're probably never going to start him. And then you just shouldn't have him on your team. Is that where you're at?
- [51:16]
Dave Kluge
Kind of, yeah. And I think it's like kind of contrary to what you think, like contrary to logic because, like, it's such a blitz heavy team from Minnesota. The best way to beat the blitz is just like getting the ball out of a quarterback's hand quickly, like hitting those hot reads, getting the ball to a modern St. Brown in the flat. But then like you said, you dig into it a little bit deeper and it's like, wait, DK Metcalf, like huge breakaway plays coming deep downfield against this Minnesota defense. You talk about the big AJ Brown game as well. So it's not even like Jameson Williams is so quick that Jared Goff can get the ball out of his hand quickly. He can hold the ball for a second and a half and still hit Jameson Williams 35 yards downfield.
- [51:53]
Matt Waldman
And tell me that they can't have Jameson Williams on a quick crosser underneath. Exactly.
- [51:57]
Dave Kluge
And that's how we saw DK Metcalf. That's exactly what we saw DK Metcalf. It was just like on a slant, got the ball out of his hand, super quickly hits him in stride and he's off to the races for whatever it was a 70 yard touchdown or something like that. So yeah, Jameson Williams, we know who he is. Like he is a very boom bust player. But I just what we saw through the first half of the season, it's hard to contextualize because it doesn't make sense to see a young ascending player just not getting usage and not being as efficient with his touches. I think that they're going to be making a more concerted effort to get him more involved. So yeah, you and I are both well ahead of consensus on Jameson Williams this week.
- [52:31]
Matt Waldman
Week.
- [52:32]
Dave Kluge
I, I wish I knew how to quit him.
- [52:34]
Matt Waldman
Yeah, I'm expecting course the course correction this week. You know who else from this tier interest you, Dave?
- [52:42]
Dave Kluge
Honestly, nobody. This is a, this is a pretty flat tier. We talked about DJ Moore a little bit already. Like if there's injuries to Burden and Zakias, he, he's worth discussing. But I think we kind of hit on everybody here. Stefan Diggs, like, everything I said about Keenan Allen, I could say about Stefan Diggs. He's great when he's on the field. He just isn't on the field that much and I was hoping to see that grow, but it just hasn't happened yet. So. So yeah, this is your wide receiver three in the infinite sadness, as our, our friend Chris Harris likes to say.
- [53:07]
Matt Waldman
I think if there's no Luther Burden and no Lamide Zakias, you have to start DJ more like you just find a way to get him into your lineup.
- [53:13]
Dave Kluge
He'll move into my top 20 if that happens.
- [53:15]
Matt Waldman
Yeah, yeah. Like I think you gotta find. And it's funny because I'm looking at it, looking at the matchup, I was like, oh, since he's like surprisingly good against wide receivers, when did that happen? And then I started to look. It's really been over the last few weeks. Here we go, six through eight where they gave the fifth fewest points to wide receivers. And then you look at the context. It's the jets without Garrett Wilson, it's the packers who completed only 10 passes to wide receivers, and it's the Steelers who had the three touchdown game to each of their tight ends. It's just, it's been a weird, fluky time over the last few weeks and it's totally adjusted. So when you look in the apps and you're like, oh, the Bengals are good against wide receivers. D.J. moore has been kind of bad. I don't want to Start him. Contextual. Contextualize it. I think DJ Moore becomes an easy start if Zacchaeus and Burden are both.
- [53:58]
Dave Kluge
Going to be out. Yeah, and I think a lot of that too, like the, the context behind why Cincinnati has been good against wide receivers is because these games are over by halftime. Like the, the Jake Browning led Bengals were a fake football team and like they didn't have to throw against them. So I think now with like a little bit more of, I mean if it's Jake Browning out there, I, I'm gonna be a little bit concerned for the Bears receivers like still starting them but won't have the same projections to see Joe Flacco out here keeping the offensive afloat and keeping the Bears playing hard through the end of the game.
- [54:31]
Matt Waldman
Let's go down to the final tier. Tier number five. And this is going to be wide receivers 33 through 40. Dave at 33 we got Romeo Dobbs 34 is Juwan Jennings 35, Quentin Johnston 36, K Sean Booty 37, Josh Downs 38, Alec Pierce 39, Trey Tucker, and at 40, Rasheed Shahid. So let's each pick one out of this tier to discuss. I know I want to talk about Trey Tucker, but who do you have on your mind?
- [54:57]
Dave Kluge
I think Quentin Johnson's hurt right now and I like that's why I think we're seeing a Ronnie Gadson breakout. That's why we're seeing Quentin Johnson not doing much of anything. Like we know he missed games with that hamstring injury and you don't just come back from injury and well, what. Back to 100. Let's go do exactly what I did. Like, you know, he, he's, he's able to suit up, but that doesn't mean that he's the player he was in weeks one, two and three when he was just like taking over the NFL. So, so you know, with Quentin Johnson, I think if you want to bench him this, this week, it's okay to take a like, wait and see approach from here on out. Like once we see the big blow up game from Quentin Johnson, then we know he's healthy, we know he's ready to do it again, then you can put him back in your lineup. Based on what we've seen since he's come back from this injury, I'm okay. Benjin. Quentin Johnson, if you can.
- [55:41]
Matt Waldman
This whole tier is basically a bunch of dart throws of like Romeo Dobbs gives you four or five reception floor sort of. I don't even want to say same thing with anyone else. Because everyone, maybe Juwan Jennings is another guy that gives you a four or five reception floor, but just there hasn't been the production there. Pretty much everyone else here, Kon Booty, Alec Pierce, Rashid Shahid, even Trey Tucker to an extent, like, have just been the guys that are going to get you three catches, 85 yards and a touchdown or, or less. Right? It's, it's the big play. Josh Downs is, is interesting, but it's sort of like a roulette over there for the Colts.
- [56:20]
Dave Kluge
I like Downs just because he's getting more snaps and more valuable targets. Like, Josh Downs is good when he gets the ball in his hands, but Alec Pierce is like really starting to develop into a like, good NFL wide receiver.
- [56:32]
Matt Waldman
I kind of still see them about the same. Like, yeah, I have Downs just a few, a few spots ahead because of the volatility of Pierce, but it's, it's, it's a negligible difference. You just kind of do that based on your matchups. If you're projected to win, get the easy points of Josh Downs. You're projected to lose, go for the upside with Alec Pierce on a big play. But one of the guys that I think is interesting because there's so much in the air for the Raiders is Trey Tucker. Is. Do we get Jacoby Myers starting this week? Is Brock Bowers officially going to be back this week and going up against Jacksonville? It's a good matchup.
- [57:04]
Dave Kluge
Buried the lead. Do Tyler Lock is with the team.
- [57:07]
Matt Waldman
Now and like, that's not the lead, Dave. That's not the lead.
- [57:10]
Dave Kluge
I said it a couple of weeks ago where I said like, Trey Tucker is kind of playing the Tyler Lockett role in this offense. It terrifies me that like Pete Carroll is just at this age, like, you know, he's just going to be like, oh yeah, Tyler. Like he can do all the things. It really does concern me that we're going to see Tyler Lockett on the field much more than anybody wants to see this.
- [57:30]
Matt Waldman
This feels more like NFL hospice right now for, for like, for Tyler Lockett in his fi. And what it looks like his final year as a player. And it. He asked for his release and then he signed by the way, with like everything being that he wanted to go sign with a contender. And then it's like, ah, I'm gonna go hang out with the Raiders. My old coach, my old quarterback. This is more of just like a, well, we only got. This is a run the clock out situation. We only got so many more weeks. I want to Go have some fun with my old buddies, hang out in Vegas for a little bit bit, and, you know, ride off into the sunset. So, like, I wouldn't be concerned about him coming in and taking over a massive role. Trey Tucker's just a better player in Lockett at this point in his career, and Gino has.
- [58:10]
Dave Kluge
I agree.
- [58:11]
Matt Waldman
Yeah. And I know you weren't saying anything other. Right. But like, which I know what you're more worried about is does Trey Tucker lose snaps or lose any type of targets? Because Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly get cute with the offense. Right. That's exactly different things. Yeah. So I do think he's an interesting story. Start play this week. Tucker as a. As a. Like a second flex. If we don't have Jacoby Myers, if Jacoby Myers is in, I think all bets are off and you have to sort of just adjust your game plan. But Brock Bowers think adds up, brings back that wrinkle to the offense, opens things up for some of these players. Is the hot dog getting hot, Dave? It's getting uncomfortable. You're. You're muted. You're. You're muted and adjusting your hot dog on camera. Come on, man.
- [58:51]
Dave Kluge
Yeah, my. My. My hair was starting to, like, poke out the front, and it just looked weird, like a.
- [58:56]
Matt Waldman
We were so close. Yeah, we were so close, man. We had, like. This is the end. This is. This is the last player I expected.
- [59:03]
Dave Kluge
This noise is. It's a noisy costume. So, like, every time I adjust my mic, that's because I've heard my mic while I've been adjusting it.
- [59:11]
Matt Waldman
Ah. Yeah. Well. Yeah. Thank you for not adjusting your Harry Wiener directly into the mic. I think we're. On that note. I think we're.
- [59:20]
Dave Kluge
Yeah. Let's just sign off. We did it. Yeah, we did it. Yeah. Let's go get some candy and everybody. Yeah, let us. I don't know. We've been doing some, like, fun end of show Easter eggs. That. Yeah.
- [59:29]
Matt Waldman
If you made it this far, comment below Harry Wiener.
- [59:32]
Dave Kluge
Oh, boy.
- [59:32]
Matt Waldman
Yeah, there you go.
- [59:34]
Dave Kluge
See how quickly those deleted.
- [59:37]
Matt Waldman
That'll be a fun one.
- [59:38]
Dave Kluge
All right, everybody. My wiener. Sorry.
- [59:43]
Matt Waldman
All right, everybody, go enjoy the rest of your weeks. Good luck to everybody in week nine. Have a happy Halloween. Be safe out there and eat as much candy as you want. Don't let anyone tell you what you can do. For myself, for Dave, I want to thank everybody for watching or listening all the way through. We'll see you next time. Adios.
- [60:13]
Dave Kluge
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- [60:44]
Matt Waldman
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