Transcript of Starts of the Week + Week 9 Games, Nasty Boys - Fantasy Football Podcast for 11/5

Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast, with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright.

Oh, welcome in!

Yes, Diepo, DeFootball Americano.

How do we—okay, I don't know. I don't know if that worked exactly, but not bad. We gotta do that this week?

I'm trying it out, man. The game wants to expand, so we're expanding.

That was, um, was that Spanish?

It was.

Okay.

Bonjour.

Because the game's in Madrid?

Yes.

Okay. Was that the, um, like, isn't there a different form of Spanish for Spain than there is for Mexico? Did you look into this?

This, according to my translator, was Spanish.

Okay.

Just appears to be.

Am I wrong about that?

I think there's some differences. Just like our English and then the, uh, the old tea baggers. They have a little bit of a different English over there.

I don't think you could call them tea baggers, man. Those that the.

I guess we bagged their tea, right?

We did.

In the ocean.

This is a good start. This is a good start.

Did we invent it?

I don't know how.

Did the revolutionary Americans invent tea bagging?

Oh my goodness.

Please stop saying tea bagging.

Okay. Welcome into the show. Yeah, keep digging. Thursday, November 5th, the Fantasy Footballers Podcast, episode 2009. Jay Griffiths in the house, Mike and Andy with you. We've got Starts of the Week, the Fantasy Forecast on today's show. Yeah.

I'm Jay Griffiths!

It's way too much Jay Griffiths these days.

Yeah, he saw a comment yesterday that said they didn't play the song.

Oh, did he?

I know what happened. That's exactly what happened. Um, we have, yeah, matchups to get into, news to talk about, and not news to talk about. That's what I'm calling it. I'm calling all the trade stuff not news, but we got to talk about it. And lots to get into for your Fantasy Football matchups this week. It's a two-man band again. The Foot Clan. Head over to jointhefoot.com, support the podcast, the website defantasyfootballers.com. We're on socials on X at the FFballers on Instagram, instagram.com/fantasyfootballers, and the Discord is ballersdiscord.com.

News and notes from around the league.

Well, this is news news. We have a game-time decision for Bashal Tutin tonight. If he is active, Mike, are you playing him? It's been an ankle injury. I saw the replay.

Oh, yeah.

Of the play where it happened.

Mechanism?

Yeah, it was just another one of those that looked like the kind of mechanism that a, like a hip drop tackle creates. It was just, it was an ankle sprain. If he's active, I mean, he has not practiced. It's Thursday night.

If he's active.

You might have, you've got Crodd. There's limited work.

Man.

Maybe a limited need for Bashal Tutin tonight.

Yeah, let me, let me try and pull up some names. Because I, like, Ramondre against Green Bay. Or Bashal Tutin with this news.

Yeah, I play Ramondre.

Jonah Coleman against Carolina.

That's a good one.

Juicy matchup.

That's a good one. I play, I play Jonah Coleman.

Okay. So I think there's, Tutin would not be out at all costs, but there's definitely players who you may have acquired over time.

Yeah, those ones are always risky and scary and, yeah, that's not fun. He can be a difference maker. He's been one of the best running backs in football. But you run a risk of, like, starting your week on a Thursday with a really disappointing.

Yeah.

Low opportunity performance where he could lose goal line anyways.

Plus they, I mean, the Ravens defense is solid. It's not a bad one by any means, but their offense will not be able to keep up. Like, the game will eventually break open, and at that point, is it just all Rodriguez? I don't know.

And the reason being that their offense won't be able to keep up is because they won't have this guy in the building yet, but.

Oh, yeah, no, that was on the Footcast. We got this guy.

We did. We talked about, well, we talked about it on the show yesterday.

Oh, no.

About the man that might be able to save Zay Flowers.

Yeah.

And his name is Jacobie Brissette. And then we got news, you know, after the show. The Ravens and Cardinals.

Yes.

In the process of finalizing a trade for Jacobie Brissette.

Yes. And I do want to be clear. This does not mean that Zay Flowers is what he would have been with Lamar Jackson.

Right.

This just means that.

He's not dead.

That in two weeks, hopefully, we're not fielding do I drop Zay Flowers questions.

Right. Which was a possibility with Finn Yano.

Yes.

So.

Hey, where's the beef?

Yeah, Jacobie Brissette. There is no news of the compensation. The deal is not finalized yet. I know the Cardinals reworked his deal to translate some of the money they owed him into a signing bonus. So the Cardinals had to facilitate some of the salary. They're hoping to finalize it by the weekend, but it is not completed yet. It's a process of finalizing the trade. It should happen. The Seahawks have ruled out Sam Darnold.

What?

We got this news when you and I were at lunch yesterday, Mike. And they said, well, Drew Lock is expected to start. And then we got news that Drew Lock is nursing an injury.

I do believe that Drew Lock will start. Darnold, I guess, got hurt. So it's a quad injury. He also, I saw the reports that he's dealing with a rib injury. I don't know if you remember the, like, he had a play where he just got a free blitzer just smooshed right into his ribs. I believe he has a rib injury as well. So Darnold will be out. Drew Lock, should he be the starter? You could do worse than Drew Lock against Arizona, who has already played Arizona and put up huge numbers.

I was going to say, will there be conversations if Drew Lock lights it up after how Darnold's played? I don't know. I mean.

Oh, man.

That would be such a bad beat for Darnold. Gets all the tough matchups. And then Drew Lock gets the Cardinals twice. Yeah. When we first got the news, we assumed Darnold injury, but it wasn't like 100%.

Yeah.

Like, there was a fart in the back of my mind.

Yeah. You were like, Drew Lock is starting. I'm like, oh my God, they did it.

Did they make the.

They benched him?

The move? I, you know, Darnold has been not great. So there you go. Sam Darnold, quad injury. Eagles have made a change at quarterback. They are starting Joe Milton. Joe Milton.

Azooka, Joe, this one's fun. This one's fun. Let's see if the Milton truthers are accurate in their assessment of what he could become.

Yeah. I mean, why not? Two and six. Let's figure it out. Adam Schefter said this morning, it sounds like it is trending towards Carson Wentz for the Vikings on Monday Night Football. Now, this is the, here's the thing that I want to bring up about it, beyond the fact that the Vikings are the best at inventing injuries to eliminate bad play at quarterback. Do you know who they play on Monday night? Do you recall at the top of your head?

I don't.

Well, it's Buffalo.

Oh, yes, yes.

Which means that you are going to have one of the most fortuitous matchups possible for Carson Wentz.

To put up numbers?

To put up numbers.

Yeah.

So it's like you look at a situation like that. If Carson Wentz goes out and their offense looks really good, mostly because of a matchup, have fun, Minnesota, with that conversation.

Mastermind up there.

Yeah.

A mastermind to get out of the problem that he also created.

I set the house on fire and I put out the fire.

I put it out, everybody.

Yes. I am a hero. Garrett Wilson in concussion protocol on Wednesday. So maybe Adnai Mitchell and Omar Cooper would be viable this week if Wilson misses. David Montgomery will not play this week. Week to week. Could come back soon. Groin injury. It's the Chargers. It'll be Woody Marks. We'll talk about him later. Cam Skatibu did not practice on Wednesday. Working on the side with trainers. Day to day.

This is after a bye week.

Yeah.

Devin Singletary is going to be in play.

Yeah, that's somebody you cannot forget this week. 49ers injury updates. Mike Evans with the Achilles.

This is also coming out of the bye.

Yeah, there was a comment and Kyle, I know you're with us. Can you find the quote from Shanahan about Evans and give that to me? I want to read it for the listeners because I think it's important to contextualize. Like the matchup's really good this week, but I'm not so sure that he's going to play. He said, I think we've made a lot of progress. I think he's going to be going in the right direction and it's something we're definitely going to be smart with. Not overdo it. We want to wait till he's healthy. So it didn't sound like somebody who's 100% by any stretch of the imagination.

Right. Yeah, but TBD, it is, it's coming out of the bye week, so you hate it, but it is a old Christian McCaffrey who the 49ers need to make sure he's healthy. Like I'm more, the fact that Cam is not back, like a younger player who could bounce back quicker, that's more concerning to me than McCaffrey missing.

Okay.

But I'm not saying this is good.

No.

I do not like this news. I do not like it.

Like I am. Yeah, I was like, I do not like it in a boat. I do not like it on a moat. AJ Brown, Trevion Henderson did not practice.

Did you see?

How is the Trevion illness going? How is it a multi-week illness?

Yeah, it's super suss.

Are they sick and tired?

It's very suspicious.

A trade suspicious.

And then we have, well, no, I don't know. I've just, they were done with this. And then it's all hearsay. So look, I'm just throwing out full speculation. I apologize. But there was a clip of a radio show in the area and they had someone, a listener called in and was like, yeah, I saw him at the store and I talked to him. And they're like, well, did he seem sick? He said, no, but he said he's not playing this week.

Yeah.

Okay.

AJ Brown, like I said, missing time. Kyle Mananga did not practice on Wednesday. He has not played in a while.

They got a bye week next week, so he'll.

It could be week 9, 10, 11.

Yeah.

Okay, let's get into the starts.

All right, Mike and I with our starts of the week. I'll give you the honors of starting at the quarterback position.

I thought you said you. I apologize.

I said I'll give you the honors.

Oh.

Yeah, yeah. You as in Mike.

I apologize. Let's see, I'm going with Jared Goff against the Miami Dolphins. He is the quarterback for in fantasy points per game. The always forgotten Jared Goff. He's on pace for almost 4,800 yards and 36 passing touchdowns. They are, Detroit is a touchdown favorite on the road against Miami. And look, the Dolphins pass defense, they're not very good. They are actually dead last in EPA per drop back allowed. Dead last in yards per attempt allowed. So shout out to Jameson Williams.

Patrick Mahomes is my start of the week against the New York Jets. We saw a QB3 from Patrick Mahomes last week with the return of Rashi Rice. Feels like a really good spot for the Chiefs. They've dropped two straight, 10-point home favorites. And I like the matchup, so I'm going to go with Mahomes.

I'm going Jonah Coleman, Denver Broncos rookie against Carolina. The matchup is delicious.

I wanted to claim him, but you beat me to it.

The matchup is great and the signs are good for Jonah.

So you'd play him over Bashal?

I would.

Yeah.

I would. Look, last week, 16 opportunities, over 100 yards, rushing touchdown, and 66% of the snaps with RJ Harvey out and JK Dobbins seemingly being phased out. Looks like Jonah Coleman's going to be the guy moving forward. Like I said, the matchup is great. Carolina, the most rushing touchdowns allowed. 30th in schedule, adjusted points to the position. And just a little dap up here. Denver has the second easiest rest of season schedule for the running back position. So assuming.

If he grabs a hold of it.

Assuming they don't trade for Jonathan Taylor, it's probably Jonah Coleman time.

I am going, you look, Mahomes, that's not been an easy start. I'm going with another one that's not been an easy start. I'm going Woody Marks. No David Montgomery this week. Coming off the bye week, the Houston Texans taking on the Hapless. And I do mean that. Like vocabulary wise, Al's probably not heard that word, but Hapless.

It's like what man of history sounds like Hapless.

Chargers, let's not search for that. 19 opportunities a game over the last month with no David Montgomery. Four and a half point road favorite should be running the football a little bit. And Marks looked like he's got a lot more juice than Monty had. Look, we don't love the offensive line, but we do love playing the Chargers these days. 30th in rushing touchdowns allowed. I'm going to go with Woody Marks.

I'm going with, look, it's a bit nastier here at the wide receiver position, but I want in on this matchup. I'm going Caleb Douglas, rookie wide receiver from the Miami Dolphins. In four games, he's averaging over 10 points a game. 82% of the snaps. The over-under is delightful. And everything I just said about how bad, you know, Miami's pass defense has been. Line secondary is also terrible. Add in the fact that Malik Willis has looked better over the last couple of weeks. I think that given the circumstances, if you're up against it, Caleb Douglas is not a bad play.

All right. This one is not quite in the Caleb Douglas territory, but it's not quite in the always feeling good about it territory. I'm taking Justin Jefferson. I'm taking JJ, Jay Jettas against Buffalo. Monday Night Football. Carson Wentz.

You sneaky wheel.

You sneaky snook. Squeaky wheel. Justin Jefferson. Bills are 31st in schedule, adjusted points allowed to the wide receiver position. They've given up the most receiving touchdowns to opposing offenses. And the nice thing is, like, this is a Minnesota game where, like, we saw what happened last week. Detroit wasn't amazing. But if you played Jameer Gibbs, or you played Jameson, or you played Almanrah, you were happy. And Buffalo's going to score on Minnesota. That's going to happen.

Yeah, they will.

So I'm encouraged. I think it's a bounce back for Jefferson that you'll be happy with.

I'm going with a bounce back for Kyle Pitts Senior.

Oh.

Who's playing over in Madrid.

Pity City.

Come on. Come on. What are you, you can't recycle that one.

You can't retire the other guy?

No.

Okay.

No.

That city's empty though.

It is. But it was like Rome. It was once great.

Sure.

Michael Pitt, but now.

Fallen.

Kyle Pitts, 52 and a half point over-under. Delicious. It's tied for the highest of the week. Kyle Pitts is seeing six targets per game over the last month. And the Bengals, this is who we attack at the tight end position. So just a reminder, last week was the rainy game. So don't just box score hunt with Kyle Pitts and be like, oh man, you killed me last week.

That game was irrelevant. It's just going to mess up his season long average.

Yeah, he'll be back.

And this one, I'm going to go with tight end Harold Fannin against New Orleans. Shadour Sanders is going to start. If you wanted to have confidence in Shadour Sanders, you should not listen to him speak to reporters.

Oh no. Did he do it again?

He's just.

He's a unique cat.

He's just too much to handle. Or too little. I don't know. He's something. He smiles and doesn't answer questions and kind of makes you feel like.

Just not confident.

I don't know. But he loved throwing the ball to Harold Fannin last year. Three of the last four weeks of the season, Fannin was on fire. Heated up last couple of weeks here with Watson, 21 targets, 245 receiving yards in the last two weeks. He is a fundamental key to the offense. And the Saints, the Saints are vulnerable to the tight end position. I'm going to play Fannin over Tucker Craft.

Whoa.

And I'm in a matchup where I don't care about the, I don't care, like I'm going to win.

Yeah.

I care about the median. I care about the points scored. I'm going to play him over Tucker Craft. I think those guys are in the same kind of category. I don't like the matchup for Green Bay. It's in New England. I think there's going to be a cap on Craft's upside, right? So I like Fannin against New Orleans in a plus matchup for the tight end position. New Orleans is going to score some points. I kind of lean that direction. I think it's close.

My favorite stat is the Shadour Sanders targeted the tight end position 32% of the time.

Yeah.

Which is only Jacoby and Kirk Cousins have targeted their tight end higher.

All right, Mike. It's football time, right?

Football Americano.

Thank you.

In Spain, the letters C and Z are pronounced with a TH sound, where in Mexico, C and Z and S are all pronounced like a standard S sound. They call it Castilian Spanish.

There we go.

So I don't know if your intro was Castilian, but.

I can tell you.

Maybe work on that.

I can tell you it was horrible American speaking Spanish.

Is that the version you were?

Yes.

The dialect?

Yes.

All right, we get the 49ers Giants, Saints and Texans back from the bye week. We say goodbye to the Steelers and Titans as they go into the break.

Oh no.

And then we've got a Madrid game. If you didn't figure that out already. The Cincinnati Bengals at five and two taking on the three and five Atlanta Falcons, who are still in the midst of toweling off from their last football game. Cincinnati minus three over-under. A delicious, magnificent 52 and a half points. So Bengals, they've won three straight games, scoring 31, 35 and 43 points. I will say this, PSA. If this game starts off and it looks like the Falcons are the best team in the league and that Joe Burrow doesn't know how to play quarterback and the Bengals are going to lose by six touchdowns, just remember they won't.

Yeah, it does seem that way. But man, I have Joe Burrow in a couple spots. Even I didn't realize how good he was playing. Burrow's completing 73% of his passes, averaging over 300 yards per game at a 7.9 yards per attempt. And he is now the first quarterback in NFL history with three straight games of four or more passing touchdowns completing 70% of his passes. Like Joe Burrow is playing extremely well.

It will get better. It will not be as good as it was without P. Ryan in the mix and things like that. I mean, P. Ryan's getting how many touchdowns does P. Ryan have?

I mean, just a couple. I mean, probably more than Brown.

Yeah, I'm just saying like he has been in the mix.

Let's see, he has two.

Okay. How many does Brown have?

I believe he has one. Let me double check that. Yeah, one.

All right, these Falcons are weird, man. They win games that no one thinks they're going to win. They beat Green Bay and Green Bay and crushed them. They were underdogs. They beat New Orleans and New Orleans. They were underdogs. They beat the 49ers. They were underdogs.

That 49er game was wild.

And then they get smashed and Michael Penix looks terrible. You know, four interceptions last week. Shouldn't have been throwing the ball at all. That's what Baker did. That got him through it. I expect bounce backs across the board. You also saw kind of a big time reversion for the Cincinnati defense last week.

Yeah.

That was rough. So the fact that like these lines implied point totals 25 for the Falcons. Cincinnati's 28. It's a neutral site game. To me, that's saying that we're throwing out the rain game and we're throwing out this maybe resurgent expectations for the Bengals defense.

Yeah, I'm excited.

This one should be great.

Like I don't normally.

Play Kyle Pitts, Mike's start of the week.

I don't usually like to put the alarm on to wake up for these early games.

Oh, and you're going to do it?

Because we're the West Coasters and I'm happy to do it for this one.

Oh, look at that. And I, look, Mike is not a morning guy.

Nah.

He has to get up in the morning, but he's not a morning guy.

But I'm also not an afternoon or a night person.

No, no.

So keep that in mind.

There's like a small, about 30-minute window.

No, it's like.

With your coffee.

No, it's like a.

Mid-morning?

It's like a six to eight hour window.

Okay.

It happens when I'm asleep.

Oh, that's your favorite time of day.

Yeah.

Joe Burrow, yep. Chase Brown, we talked about him. Yep. Chase and Higgins, easy. Gasicki, you could do worse, it seems, at tight ends. So there you go. Bijon.

I mean, look, if Burrow's going to throw four touchdowns a week, then holy crap, Mike Gasicki. I didn't realize he has scored in every game but one.

Yeah.

Michael.

Well, remember those Chase Brown touchdowns? You were like, where are they?

Yeah.

Found them.

Yeah. Mr. Gasicki is stealing them.

Yeah. Sticky Gasicki taking them touchdowns.

Yes. Like the Hamburglar. Get out of here.

This is not a very complicated start sick game, though. Bijon, London, Kyle Pitts.

Yeah. No, this one's.

I mean, Pitts or Kincaid against Minnesota. Kincaid's been playing well, but it's Minnesota on Monday night. I like Pitts in this one. I like their start of the week.

I would go Kyle Pitts. But Kyle and I were talking and he had found, see if I can find this stat real quick. Kyle, I don't remember where you pulled this one, but the Bills with DJ Moore on the field, Dalton Kincaid, his yards per route is 3.32. With DJ Moore off the field, Dalton Kincaid's down at 2.02. So like he is.

That's helpful.

He is a player that needs DJ Moore on the field to truly thrive.

Yeah, I agree. Shall we move on?

Yes.

Let's talk about Dallas. Oh boy, the Cowboys. Three and five taking on the, what's the word I would use here, Al? What would you say the Colts are?

Hapless.

Thank you. Two and six and circling the drain. Dallas minus five and a half on the road. And this is not a Dallas team that's been great, but the over-under 51 and a half. I mean, we expected big things from Dallas last week. We didn't get them. We didn't get them from Pickens or Dak or CD Lamb. So, you know, this is two of the worst defenses in the game. So that's good for fantasy, right?

Yeah. I'll walk back into the meat grinder. With Dallas, I'll do it every single week.

Yeah, you have to do it. And, you know, I'm not going to make George Pickens my start of the week. He's been limited with a hamstring issue. CD Lamb's prize picks projection is 80.5 yards. Pickens is at 63.5. Keenan Allen on the other side is at 50.5. Tyler Warren down at 42.5. That one scares me. Tyler Warren scares me altogether.

Yeah.

Because if you get 40 yards and no touchdown, I mean, that's not special stuff. And right now, Daniel Jones, he's been in the rumor mill. Jonathan Taylor. Jonathan Taylor is the biggest question for me in this entire game. Not because the matchup isn't great and you should play him, but because what are they doing? I saw another, like I'm following Jonathan Taylor's wife now in every post that she makes about the situation. And she's like polling her audience. What's worse? Like being traded to a new place or being the last, like the last man standing.

Going down with the ship.

And going down with the ship. And like there's been some talk this morning that the Taylor move might not happen until after the weekend. So if it doesn't happen until after the weekend, then how much does he play?

Yeah.

Don't you just have to play him?

You do. It is the most unfortunate situation here for fantasy football because you have a superstar in Jonathan Taylor in a perfect matchup against a horrible defense. Like these are exactly the matchups where Johnny Taylor wins you your entire week because he goes off for 170 rushing yards.

Three touchdowns.

Yeah. I mean, I'm playing him. It's not a full confidence click into my lineup, but I will be playing him unless there's some other news pops up.

42 to 7 last week, 16 to 10 the week before in their losses.

And Taylor barely got used last week. Oh, we didn't even mention this because it's, okay, Jonathan Taylor off of a week where he had eight carries and four receptions, didn't practice on Wednesday and was listed as rest.

Mm-hmm. Mintal.

Like the Colts are not, the Colts are driving me crazy because like the narrative of Jonathan Taylor could be completely made up and just media getting their stories out, getting their clicks, getting us hype for sports of like it's fun because it makes complete sense. The Colts are rebuilding. They should trade Jonathan Taylor. I would say this over and over and over. And the news out of the Indianapolis is that like they are like, yeah, we don't know.

I don't know what.

It's so obnoxious.

I feel like there should be just a button I push now that says I don't know what's true because you can't understand.

But yes, I will be playing Jonathan Taylor.

I saw a rumor that the Giants had offered the Colts a 2027 second, a sixth, and a 2028 second. So two twos, which were declined.

If that is true, that is such a horrible.

I mean, it's a future two, but that's like you get two second round picks.

That would be a mismanagement of your team to decline.

And there's still conversation about it.

But we don't, is that true?

They want him to be part of the rebuilding, which again.

You can't. You can't rebuild on a 28-year-old running back.

Are you playing Keenan Allen this week over Caleb Douglas your start of the week?

Ooh, he's definitely safer. The matchup with the Cowboys is great for everybody across the board. If I'm in a full PPR, I think I might do that.

Okay.

But like Caleb Douglas is far more likely to hit a big play. So if I need.

Yeah, I actually lean Douglas in that one.

Do you?

Yeah.

Okay.

Josh Downs is not worth putting into your lineup. In fact, you know, Tyler Warren and Keenan Allen are the two you can consider. You know, Taylor, if he's active, you got to play Jonathan Taylor in this matchup. You can't afford to have him on your bench if he gets a bunch of, maybe they've made a decision. You know what I mean? Maybe they were like, no, these offers aren't good enough. And Taylor gets 24 carries against Dallas. And 24 carries against Dallas is a lot of yards.

Yes.

Dallas is 28th right now in fantasy points, allowed the running back. Warren, the good news, 10 targets last week. Here were the targets. A check down, a low pass, a contested catch and late throw from Daniel Jones, a bad pass that was almost picked, a tipped interception, return for a touchdown. He tipped it. A check down after he was blocking. Another pass that should have been picked, went straight to a defender. Nice play. Target eight, a solid yak. Almost got a first down.

Yep.

Givante, mm-hmm. Dak, where's the confidence level right now?

Not great. It is definitely not at a level that we are used to having for Dak Prescott when he's got all of his weapons. But I will be starting here.

You're playing him?

Yeah.

What are your other, Shaq is your other option?

Yeah.

And that is, what's that matchup? We just said it.

Cleveland.

Cleveland, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Now you're thinking again?

No, I still lean Dak, but the, oh, some more positive news. I can't remember the tackle's name now, but they're, so the Saints, not only Jordan Tyson was practicing, their tackle that they had lost, Kelvin Banks, thank you, Kyle, of like.

He is practicing?

It sounds like he's going to be back sooner than later.

That's the one that you need to care about.

Yes.

Yeah, Banks is the big one.

Those are both big pieces of news for Tyler Shaq over the second half.

Big time, big time. Yeah, that could really brighten the second half for him.

Yes.

All right. The New York Jets at two and six taking on the Chiefs at Arrowhead, five and two, Kansas City minus 10 over under 47 and a half. Already brought up Mahomes. He's my start of the week at quarterback. The return of Rashi Rice helps a ton. I also think this is a game where Ken Walker could get back on track. You're not facing those wildly stout strategic defenses here. So Ken Walker, of course you play him.

Yes.

What about the Jets side of the ball?

So Garrett again.

Because there's questions in every area.

Yeah, the Jets side, well, let's start with the running back position here.

The running back's position.

Yes.

That's what you call it.

Brees Hall limited again on Wednesday, but we are expecting him to play. Coach had said if both of these guys are healthy, they will both play. The matchup is not great for either of them against the Kansas City Chiefs. Like it's going to be tough for these guys to score where Braylon Allen has just been the hulk. And if he gets everything, it's a volume play, chance of falling into the end zone. With the two of them going, it is going to be a risky coin flip, I think, for playing either of them.

Yeah, this matchup in particular is troublesome.

It's going to be whoever rips off the big play.

And then you have the Garrett Wilson injury. Beyond the injury, it was going to be a question about how much confidence in Garrett Wilson. Adnai Mitchell had his day in the sun, nine targets, seven for one, 42 and one.

And the two targets he didn't catch because I broke him down for this week's Dynasty Podcast. It was like he could have caught it and they were two massive passes again. So 142 and one.

With a chance for more.

He could have been closer to 200 yards.

So are you playing him? Are you chasing that? Right now, the Chiefs defense only gives up 19.7 fantasy points to wide receivers. That would be combined across all of them.

I do want Adnai on my bench. I want Omar on my bench as well. Prefer not to play them this week. They do get Buffalo and then the Chargers and then Miami. So like I want those guys for the upcoming run, but at Kansas City, it's not my favorite play.

Okay. Let's move on. Detroit five and two, looking pretty good. Kind of getting it figured out after the big win over Minnesota. The Dolphins games in Miami, they're one and six. Vegas line has Detroit minus seven over under 50.5. Dan Campbell's return to where he was the interim head coach in 2015.

I mean, that puts Miami at over 21 points.

Yeah, yeah, because that's not bad.

Because Detroit's defense, unless you're a running back, you don't get stopped. Right now, by the way, Jameer Gibbs, his prize picks projections are hilarious. 133.5 rushing and receiving yards. He's averaging 29 opportunities a game. I recommend starting him. Oh, I forgot to mention this during the Cincinnati game. I don't know if it has changed, but the prize picks, T Higgins versus Jamar.

Oh, no.

Someone's yardage was higher.

Higgins?

Yeah.

Oh, no. What does that mean?

It means that we're admitting that T Higgins is absolutely on fire. It wasn't substantial. It was like one or two yards, but it was like, what?

That's crazy.

This is where we are? Oh, Chase is ahead now by a yard.

Oh, okay. He heard you. Goff, Gibbs, Aman Ra, Jameson Williams, LaPorta, play all five, right?

Correct.

On the other side, you brought up Caleb Douglas because you can pass against Detroit. You're also going to be losing against Detroit. So that is a great opportunity. Malik has been kind of your, Malik Washington has been the, you're going to get a few points.

I'm perfectly fine playing him.

He's there for a little Shakir opportunity. Caleb Douglas is the big play. The explosive pass rate against Detroit, it's been high. So you have an opportunity there. The Ollie Gordon start is a tougher one. Lions defense, that's the one area they've been very good at shutting down. You did not see anything from Mason or Aaron Jones last week.

Right.

So that, we brought that up the week before. It's like, this is not a good, it seems like a bad defense, but they're not a good matchup for running backs. Ollie Gordon has been really good, averaging 80 yards a game since he came back in or came in for A-chan. Ollie Gordon, Mike, I'm going to make you make some choices.

Okay.

Or Derrick Henry tonight with.

Oh my goodness.

With Finn Yano. And we'll hold you to it.

Classic. Derrick Henry right now at running back 20. Ollie Gordon right now at running back 21. So it is a coin flip. Don't love seeing the implied total for the Ravens be down at under 15. Under 15? Yeah. I mean, it's the question of if Derrick Henry, how many carries is Derrick Henry going to be able to get tonight?

They'll get him there. Yeah. I would bet, I bet he gets like 18 or 19. Whether they're good or not, I think that they're, what is your choice? Every time you don't do it, you drop that back to pass with Finn Yano.

Yeah. I guess.

I would play Henry.

I think I play Gordon.

Okay. Genti or Ollie G?

Guess who's one spot below?

Oh, come on. You have them in sequential order?

That's not a joke.

That's wild.

I guess probably Gordon until, you know, they, we saw something in, I saw some stuff on Twitter referring to what happened to Genti as, you know, the soft benching, which it kind of was. Is that going to stick? Is that, was it, were they.

They said it was a wake-up call. That was a comment.

Did they take, I'm saying, did they take one game and be like, you don't, you have to earn this. You don't just get it because you're Ashton Genti and you were a top five or six pick. Like you got to be able to play. So do they just go right back to Ashton Genti being their featured player?

At San Francisco, I would play Ollie Gordon with more security.

I have Gordon one spot ahead, but I, that's a brutal one.

Ollie Gordon or Woody Marks, who's my start of the week, what would you do?

What's the mat? Remind me the Chargers.

I'd probably take the matchup with Marks.

I probably would too.

So, uh.

I got to move Woody up.

We'll take a break. We'll talk about Tyler Shaq and the Saints in just a second. The five and three Cleveland Browns take on the two and five Norland Saints. That's a, if I had told you that at the beginning of the year, I think you would have been bummed out.

Yeah.

That the Saints are two and five and the Browns are five and three.

You're telling to me right now and I am bummed out. So yeah.

Yeah. I think if I would have told you that right now, you would be bummed. Norland's minus three and a half at home, over under 42 and a half. Saints coming off the bye, Browns in the mix in the AFC North where the Baltimore Ravens are not giving up. They go out and get Jacobie Brissette. They're going to give it a shot.

Yeah.

You got two teams that are traditionally run funnel type of defenses. They like to, you know, that's where they're willing to give up points. Saints to a degree that they would like to not do it.

Shedur Sanders likely starting for the Cleveland Browns.

Okay.

This is unbelievable.

Talking about the projection.

His prize picks projection is 184 and a half passing yards. That's not unbelievable. The fact that.

Oh my gosh.

Only.

I might have to go switch my.

Which.

I'm just like, I don't like hearing that when I'm talking about Fannin.

Right. Well, I mean.

But I mean, it might all be Fannin. I'm leaving it.

Joe Finn Yano is the only lower projection this week.

That's good. That's good. All right. So Quinchon Judkins. It's a juicy, juicy matchup.

Yes. I know.

That's a must start.

Absolutely. You destroy the Saints defense with the running back position. Like Junkins and even Dylan Sampson, I'm okay with that. Like if you're in a PPR situation, last week was seven targets, six for 62. He'll, he will, Sampson will be involved. And then you get the chance, what if the Saints are actually out in front? Guess who's getting more targets? Like, so I think it's okay as a desperation low end running back three type of a play for Sampson.

Where are you right now with Denzel Boston? I think everything I see from Boston on the field is great. I mean, hands catches, separation. I love everything about him, but you have kind of, you know, a very volatile situation around him at quarterback with other targets.

Love the 22% target share, especially combined with that he gets true big boy targets. Last couple of weeks has not.

And now you have a new quarterback.

And now you have a new quarterback. I think I'm sitting him down. I would prefer, if I'm going to make the gamble on a Browns wide receiver, I'd go Concepcion over Boston this week, just based off of.

If you had all three.

How should you do it, please?

If you had Concepcion, Fannin, and Boston, and a flex spot, you had to sell.

I'd be playing Fannin.

You'd flex.

Yeah. The only evidence we have for Shedur is that, like I said, 32% of his targets went to the tight end position. It's, I can't imagine that completely flips on its head.

Right.

On his first start.

So off the bye, Tyler Shaq, the offensive line's been in trouble. They haven't been able to run. Travis Achan Jr. still not having his practice window opened yet, which I thought might happen by now.

And they brought Estime back again for this week.

Yeah. It'll be Kendra Miller.

Their actions have said that Achan is not ready.

Are you avoiding all of them? Or would you play like Camara for the checkdowns? Would you play Kendra Miller for the touchdowns?

Man, let me try and find some names. Does someone have the hiccups back there?

I didn't know Falcons could hiccup, but apparently they can. That was just.

Brother.

That was just, I mean.

Brother, what are you doing?

How do you get that out of the thin air?

He jump scared me, man.

I'm sorry.

You were just, you were just sitting there.

Yeah. He was just sitting there like a normal.

And you had the hiccups?

Yeah.

What's wrong with your body?

A lot. A lot. A lot. He got on, we were playing some video games last night and he got on there and he must have smoked 18 packs. I mean, he gets on there and he's like, guys. And I'm like, what is happening? He's like, I don't know. I don't know, guys. My voice has been weird lately. Now he's just hiccuping.

I don't know.

I don't know. He's just been hiccuping out of, I love you. I love you, Falcon.

All right. Let's find some.

But also get see a doctor.

So let's, we were talking Saints, a Saints running back or Mike Washington against San Francisco.

Oh, yeah. I, I.

Is that too far to you?

I, I, okay. Saints, this was probably easier, but a Saints running back or. You didn't make the answer to that. That's so thoughtful.

I thought I, I was like, we went too far down. That was the vibe I got.

I don't, too far down meaning who won?

Oh, okay. Okay.

I mean, Washington won or Kendra Miller won?

Okay. We'll come back to that.

Okay.

A Seattle running back, Jadarion Price, Charbonnets against Arizona.

Yeah. I'll play one of those, both of those.

Over the Saints guys?

Yeah. Mike Washington, Mike, or Kendra Miller, or Alvin Camara, which of those?

I think I'd still go with the Saints guys. I need to see Washington confirm that he's going to actually get that type of a workload. I would, last one, tonight, Chris Rodriguez with an active Bashal Tutin.

Yeah.

Or.

One of these guys?

Or one of the Saints guys.

That's a good question.

I think I'd go Crodd.

I think I'd go Crodd.

Crodd. Just chase game script.

You notice one name we haven't talked about a lot lately. We don't even mention him. It's sad.

Oh, is this Jawonson?

It's Jawonson.

Don't worry.

Don't worry?

Don't worry. We're going to be back, you know.

No, we're not.

I think.

Tyson's going to be back.

Oh, yeah.

That's what you're thinking about.

If Tyson is back, then that's really going to hurt the outcome for Jawonson, but the past three.

Maybe they're making him block.

Well, it's the past three games have been bad matchups for Jawan Johnson and the tight end position for fantasy.

Well, zero, three, zero and one fantasy points.

But this one.

You can't have that low of a low.

This one against the Browns. You can when you're just like.

A dude.

A replacement player. Like when you're streaming the position, I think that you can.

I think we were getting to the point where we wanted to make him.

We did.

An official.

We definitely, I always have.

Regular player.

I love Jawan Johnson. He's a very fun player and like when he makes a big catch, it's just, I don't know, you feel it. This week, if you're streaming the position, it should work.

The New York Football Giants at 4-2-1 with a dominant divisional lead, taking on the two and six Philadelphia Eagles, who will be starting Joe Milton against them. Vegas line, New York minus three and a half, over under 38 and a half. To me, only being three and a half point favorites is, you know, it just shows the unsettled nature of that Giants record. You have one game with JJ McCarthy. You're getting Bazooka Joe on the other side. Cam Scataboo is hurt. Like I don't think we would have come into a game and been like, all right, it's JJ McCarthy and Devin Singletary, guys.

Yes.

And so McCarthy, we have a small sample with the Giants, but 71% of his passes completed against Houston. That's basically a quarter of glory, right?

Dude, this matchup is awesome because there are nasty boys everywhere that I am open to playing.

Okay. Name them.

So Malachi Fields.

Nasty.

I mean, that's crazy, right? They're a rookie wide receiver.

But best matchup for wide receiver.

He's averaging 76% of the snaps. We have one game with 9-9 and Malachi Fields came through with a very usable game. Devin Singletary, I think he is a replacement running back, very playable. On the other side, Saquon Barkley didn't practice on Wednesday.

Management?

Probably.

Yeah.

But this is like, this is a two watch. And even last week, Saquon played Elijah Mitchell, AKA Elijah Missile.

Formerly known as.

Yeah. Formerly known as out snapped, out produced, way more opportunities. If Saquon Barkley remains banged up, Elijah Mitchell, the Elijah Mitchell-Devin Singletary matchup is so gross and so perfectly awesome for fantasy football.

Man. What, if any, pass catching player can you start for Philadelphia?

You can go, I'm still, I'm still going to play Lemon. Like Smith and Wicks are still not practicing. They're both very banged up. And the team, they got to find out what they have with McCai Lemon. Now, will the ball go through McCai Lemon's chest?

Because of the bazooka. We TBD. Don't, but look away if it does.

Yeah. And NFL, don't replay it if it happens.

No, that's.

Just describe it.

Do you, is there a different tent you go to in that situation? The red tent?

Yeah. The morgue.

Oh, okay.

If you have a football-sized hole in your body, I don't think you're going to make it.

The blue tent in the sky, is that what you said?

Yes.

That's Al Borlin. He gets credit for that. Yeah. I'm excited to see what Joe Milton can do in a full game. It's at least exciting. The four and four Rams take on the two four and one Washington Commanders. Vegas line loss Angeles minus five and a half over under 47 and a half.

Because of the way JJ McCarthy also throws.

Oh, yeah.

Of like, will anyone have a touch pass in this game?

No.

Or will it just be.

Just catch this. Yes.

And you're like, dude, I'm like two yards in front of you. Just give me the ball.

Yeah. Okay. Who are the Rams?

That's a great question.

Both of these teams, Commanders and Rams, are sneaky top 12 neutral pace teams. So you could have some.

Yeah. We like that.

You like that in fantasy. The Rams running game, we know that's good. Kyron Williams, Blake Corum, Ben Cookin. Corum, would you believe he's the RB 10 over the last month? Fantasy finishes of 14.7.

Wow.

13, 16.6 and 13. That is startable every week.

How many opportunities?

I'll put it this way. You start Blake Corum over anybody.

12, 18 was nice, but that might, was that the bench game? I don't remember against Vegas, but 12, 18, 11 and 9. Oh, man, you are dancing. Dancing with the devil.

Why would you play him over Rashad White, wouldn't you? Rashad White is the dude right now.

Yes.

Eckler's getting 33% of snaps.

Yeah. With Rashad White, them playing the Rams defense, I would much rather have the Rams offense.

Puka Nukuwa is an auto start every single week, but beyond that, I am not really going to start anybody. No Higbee, no Parkinson. Those guys have not been practicing.

Ferguson's, Terrence Ferguson, they're tight end for the Rams. One of the thousand that they have. His 21-day window has been opened.

How much has the window been opened?

I don't, that's, we will find that out.

Just a crack?

Washington is the second best matchup for the tight end position.

You wouldn't go there in week one though, would you?

That's what I'm asking.

I wouldn't. I wouldn't. I'd want to see it. I want to watch it.

All right. So at least pick up and stash Terrence Ferguson.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. This is the time to do that. Rashad White has scored 10 plus points in four or five weeks. You're not happy about him having relevance, but he has it.

Yep. He has volume right now.

And then Stefon Diggs. Stefon Diggs is weird because his games this year that he's been productive in, which are four of the six. So that's checkbox number one.

Does he have a touchdown in there?

He's got a touchdown in every one of them.

Yeah.

And so you, you know, your yardage numbers, listen to this. So he's been, he's been good. He's like the wide receiver, he's in the wide receiver 20s with some missed games. So he's probably, you know, his points per game is at 11 and a half. You're like, okay.

Yeah. That's not bad.

Here's the games that he's been productive in. 55 yards, 47 yards, 44 yards, 38 yards.

Don't love that.

I mean, I play, if I had Antonio Williams or Diggs, I'd play Antonio Williams.

Really?

That's what I would do.

I don't, I don't mind the take. Antonio Williams led in routes and targets.

I'm not saying they're, I mean, maybe, maybe it's better to say Diggs is the red zone guy and you should go that direction.

I think they're.

But I'm looking for a little more.

Yeah. They're, they're both lower level starts. I wonder though, with how good the Rams defense is playing, if though the Wiley veteran is probably the better play. But again, even if you're not playing Antonio Williams, you should pick him up and stash him.

Yeah. I agree. And then the Broncos at six and two take on the Carolina Panthers in Carolina. They're sitting at three and four. They did not look good last week. Denver minus two and a half, over under is 44 and a half. And when I said they didn't look good last week, Carolina, I actually meant.

Did you mean the last two weeks?

The last two weeks. Yes. Because they looked terrible two weeks ago. And then they kind of battled back a little bit against Green Bay, but Green Bay was pretty much in control of that one. Denver right now is sitting at six and two. They have won 16 consecutive one-score games. If you want to put a feather in the cap of Sean Payton. Okay. Let's do it. Jonah Coleman, Mike, your start of the week. Running back, Denver Broncos. Carolina is 28th in yards per carry allowed.

Yeah. They're a horrifically bad run defense.

Do you then, where's JK Dobbin sliding into the equation anymore?

He's not.

Nowhere?

No.

Rashad White over Dobbins.

Yes.

Mike Washington over Dobbins.

Oh, that's a good one.

I mean, seven carries for Dobbins.

I think so.

Last week.

I think so.

His carry is six and seven the last two weeks. He's got to be pissed.

Yes. Yeah. He cannot be happy with the situation.

Is Jalen Waddell startable this week? Has he ever been startable before?

I, no. I'm starting Jonah Coleman and I'm logging out.

Okay. Interesting. Yeah. You would think that Bo Nix, you know, you could have the conversation.

Look, Bo Nix played better. Was it last week or Arizona? I don't know what the year is.

It was two weeks ago.

Two weeks. Okay. Oh, last week was Kansas City. But he played well.

Yes. For what we have seen in the year of Bo Nix, he played way better these past two weeks. Oh, I didn't get a chance to say it on here, I think. I might have replied to a couple of tweets, but it was definitely a false start on that goal line play. I saw some.

Oh, did you went back to the tape?

I saw some new angles. The angles I had seen in the broadcast, you couldn't see it in the broadcast. So for those that demonstratively were angered by me, I did go back and look at it and I was wrong. So there you go. It was a false start and it was fair. Okay.

And I will, I will whisper this. Pat Bryant's 21-day window is opened.

Hmm.

That's why I will just whisper.

Bo Nix still is quarterback.

I will just whisper it.

Okay.

That.

Yeah. Please keep it down.

That the schedule is opening up. Cortland Sutton is done. Jalen Waddell, I don't know. Apparently done. Very bizarrely. After they traded a first to get him. Pat Bryant might be their best wide receiver.

What do you do? There's a chance. What do you do with Jalen Coker? Ted McMillan on the other side. Coker, Coker saved last week with the late garbage time ask touchdown. I mean.

Man.

Talented player.

Yes.

Difficult matchup. Wide receivers don't put up points against the Broncos. To me, it's been, you know, it's been a roller coaster ride. Number one, number 87 when he got hurt. Comes back, number 18. Cool. Then 80. Last week a touchdown for 37th at wide receiver. I wouldn't play in this game.

I, I don't want this to sound hyperbolic because I just want to, I think it's a fair question and it's going to sound like it's an unfair question. Is Tedaro McMillan an auto weekly start?

He is for me.

Okay. I wasn't sure if he still maintains that.

Yeah. He does. I know that he, here's the truth. Week four has done a remarkable job of heavy lifting for his fantasy.

That's what I'm saying.

Numbers. I mean, if you look outside that stretch, like since that big game, you're on pace for 90 for a thousand and no touchdowns. He hasn't gotten back into the end zone. He's only scored in one of his seven games. That's been a problem. I guess auto start, I mean, I think so.

Okay.

I think you can't, you can't miss those games.

If he's an auto start, then you just, you plug him in.

Yeah. Yeah.

But if he's, if he's not, then this is a horrifically bad matchup.

Right. Right. Yeah. I don't, I don't, I think he is for me.

I get there's probably not players on your bench that you're going to have the confidence or their, their situation or their talent level to plug them in over Tedaro McMillan, but it's just, it hasn't been very good. Or what you, it hasn't been anywhere what you drafted.

No, which is weird because Bryce Young's been part of the story of the first half of the year. But yeah, I think, I think that's a good summation. A couple injury updates for you for the 49ers. Mike Evans, according to John Lynch, Debo Samuel, also on, both of those guys unlikely to be available in week nine. Emeka Abuka, back at practice for the Bucs, testing the injured foot, running at full speed. I don't like that it's, you know, it's been lingering. And then the Falcon, are we doing okay back there, Falcon? I'm doing okay.

Yeah. I think the people like it though.

I just, I want to be clear. This is like if, if you do sound like that. It's the same exact voice that if you were traveling in the Highlands, you know, of Scotland, and you found a cave and you journey deep into the cave and there was a sleeping dragon that had been there for hundreds, maybe thousands of years and it hadn't cleared its throat. So when it first talks, the first time it speaks, it sounds, well, what does it sound like, Falcon? Thank you. Yeah.

I'm just saying my grandfather, who was a lifelong smoker at the age of 70, that's what he sounded like.

Exactly. You have pre-mature emphysema. I'm sorry. I'm sorry to break it to you in such a public setting. Are you okay?

Like the pre-hernia?

Yes.

You got some markers, bro. You want to check that out. Get ahead of it.

Come on, Ravens. Give us something tonight.

You have Zay Flowers benched tonight?

I have Flowers and Henry benched right now.

Yeah. We've got more matchups tomorrow. The Wheel of Shame as well. So please join us on tomorrow's episode. Tune in. And we'll get Falcon to a doctor right now. I have a doctor on the line specializing in dragons that are emerging from slumber. Goodbye.

Thank you for listening to another episode of the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Join our fantasy football community on jointhefoot.com and follow us on Twitter @TheFFballers.