Midseason Review + Trade Targets, Hungry for More - Fantasy Football Podcast for 10/30
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Hey, this is Patrick Mahomes, quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs, and you're listening to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Oh, welcome in. The Fantasy Footballers Podcast back with you, Wednesday edition. It's the end of October. Mike Wright is here, Jason Moore, Andy Holloway.

Full deucers alley. Al Borland, Papa Josh, the Falcon in the building. Stinky back in that alley. Good work, everybody. Yeah, look at us. Everybody came to work today, and we pay by the hour. So that's good news for you. And, you know, that's why we lobby against...

The raising of minimum wage for a reason. Oh, for sure. I mean, because. Gotta keep them profits in our pockets, boys. If you out there, if you're listening, if your employees, the people that you support were the deuces. Right, yeah. Like if you had to work with those. Chase. If we could call them people. Okay. Back there, you wouldn't want to pay them anything. It's laying it on pretty thick. Love you guys.

But they're here, and we've got a show for you today. We've got a midseason review. It should be a lot of fun. I love taking a look at where we're at during the season, and I'm sure a lot of our conversations today will be based around the question, will it continue with some of these players that are in the top 10 of points per game per position? So, I mean, to me, that's a lot of fun because it's a little bit of a –

rest of season ranking show in a way yeah and i also think that there are a lot of surprises when you go through it you're like like we're we're playing every week we're paying attention we're getting our wins we're getting our losses but sometimes when you take a gander and you're like you know who's second in points per game right now you're like really yep well i mean and it helps um like the name effect you know i made a trade for kate otten

That doesn't feel as good as making a trade for Sam Laporta. Right. But I think Kate Otten will be better than Sam Laporta the rest of the year. So, I mean, we've been there. We've seen those names come through, and you just have to, you know, we'll have the conversation about some of those guys.

What else is going on? You can follow the show. I know. Yeah, we do have news. You can follow the show on X at the FF ballers. We shared a quick reaction to some of that news yesterday. Follow Jason at Jason FFL, Mike at FF hit man. I'm at Andy Holloway and be sure to join us for our Halloween episode tomorrow. Should be a lot of fun. YouTube.com slash the fantasy footballers. You know, as long as the costumes get here on time.

That's true. You know what I mean? That's true. We should order them pretty soon. Don't overnight your stuff. Oh, dude, Amazon's got this same day by 5 p.m. There might be some other people in the market for those products. Nah. Welcome to Hungry for More, presented by Uber Eats. Uber Eats.

It is another Wednesday, which means we have our hungry for more candidates. And Jason, you should be pleased that I am, you know, bringing up the name of Ladd McConkie. Oh, it's my little lad. Week eight against New Orleans, six targets, six for 111 and two finally looked healthy. And there were some boxes that I needed checked for Ladd McConkie to be relevant for fantasy this season.

And through the first six weeks, those boxes were not being checked. He was touchdown dependent. They were 30th in the NFL in pass rate. And he had a lot of competition. That doesn't seem to be the case the last couple of weeks. They are passing at a 60% clip, which is ninth in the NFL over that stretch.

So they're using the all pro superstar quarterback that they were gifted, that Jim Harbaugh was gifted when he came to Los Angeles. I know a crazy idea. What's a little bit weirder about it is the fact that they've turned to Justin Herbert right when they've lost some talent at wide receiver. So, you know, we've been joking about Will Disley getting it done and, you know, they've had to start some other players. Quentin Johnson's been hurt, but Ladd McConkie,

In an offense that's passing the football, you know, this is a player that we love the tape of. And it was more about do you find a way to get him the football enough to be consistent even if he doesn't score? Now, last week he scored twice. But, look, take the touchdowns away. Six for 111, you're happy with that performance. Jim Harbaugh came out and said he reminds him of Steve Smith.

I don't know about that. Yeah, I love Ladd. Look, I love Ladd. I've talked him up all offseason. Come on, man. That's too far. Well, I mean, maybe it's more technical than it is athletic. I think it's just he's short. He's a small guy that's a crisp route runner. But he doesn't have the same athleticism. He certainly doesn't. I mean, I like Ladd a lot. I've been a little bit sad that he's not a squeakier wheel. He don't have that dog.

I mean, Steve Smith was like... Sad McConkie? He could have the puppy. Oh, maybe he's got... The puppy just, we got to feed and nurture this thing, and then he turns into the dog. Yeah, I doubt it. He was already this way at Georgia. He's fine being like, just use me how you should. I don't want a wide receiver like that. I want a wide receiver that's like, I want the ball every play. This is my game.

I don't know. I'm always open. I don't know. Cooper Cup. There's a happy medium. Cooper Cup is not that guy. That's true. But what if he was? Larry Fitzgerald was not that guy. Cooper Cup does it, but it's a real menacing whisper. You can barely see Cooper Cup's face anymore. I know. He's beard. He might be angry. You can't tell. The 17-game pace for Ladd-McConkie, 73 for 913. You wouldn't get it done...

Only with those numbers, but the 10 touchdowns, the fact that he's, you know, this is the progression of a rookie wide receiver. Earn the trust of your quarterback and your head coach. Get on the field more. Become a go-to guy on third down and in the red zone. He's on that trajectory. I'm hungry for more in the schedule coming up. Three of the next four games against bottom five teams

Wide receiver defenses in terms of fantasy points. So it seems like the right time to jump in on Ladd. Since the bye week, Justin Herbert is averaging almost 290 passing yards per game. That is everything for Ladd McConkie. The beginning is 144, 130, 125 passing yards. They hit the bye week and they went, ah, no.

Guys, maybe we should change some things up. And they started having less success in the running game. Yeah. And on defense. That's fair. J.K. Dobbins stopped hitting those big plays that he was hitting the first four weeks. So it's great to see the utilization of Herbert is the most exciting thing for me. The lack of good quarterbacks out there is nauseating. And then you get –

You get a Ferrari and you're like, eh, let's take the golf cart, everybody. I think they have to. I still don't believe that they want to make Herbert the centerpiece. They want the offensive line to be the centerpiece of this offense. The truth is, they can't run the ball. They lost Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins has just not been...

That good. I know the first couple weeks he was good. He got in the end zone fine for fantasy this last week. Good start. But he has been very inefficient for like five, six weeks in a row. And so they're not moving the ball well on the ground. I think they have to throw. And then, yeah, it's like, well, yeah, guess what? You can because Justin Herbert's really good. So I love it. I hope Ladd continues with the arrow pointing up for my League of Record team. Before you get into your name, it will be tied in. But I just thought you might be entertained by the fact that

You, last week, bamboozled the two deuces into giving you $2 for Anthony Richardson, who just was released this morning. Yes, nice. I did not know that. Anthony Richardson hitting waivers. You could probably have him for free now, considering when we get in the news, we'll talk about he doesn't have a starting job. I thought you might get into it right now, because you're about to talk about Josh Downs. I thought that might be a good chance. That's a great segue. My other League of Record wide receiver, Josh Downs,

I am super hungry for more Josh Downs. He has been very, very good. He was even good this last week with Anthony Richardson. It was a broken play, was a large chunk of his yards and fantasy production, but he's still very, very good. He had another play that was more him where, oh my goodness, it was so close to a second touchdown. He's been great.

How great has he been? He's among the league leaders in targets per route run, ahead of A.J. Brown, Justin Jefferson, and Amon Ross St. Brown. How good has he been? How good has he been? Joe Flacco, three games basically with Joe Flacco and Josh Downs together. The first game was like 80% Joe Flacco. That's when he came in. But in those games, he is averaging in half PPR 15.2 fantasy points per game.

Now we're going through today's episode and we're talking about the top wide receivers, top running backs on a points per game basis. So this is like if Josh Downs was injured, let's say Josh Downs didn't play any of the Anthony Richardson games and it was like, okay, this player's only played three games, but in those three games, he would be currently between CeeDee Lamb,

and Malik Neighbors. Malik Neighbors right now, 15.1 fantasy points per game, and in the three games with Joe Flacco, 15.2 and half PPR for Josh Downs. So I'm very, very hungry. And then this week, they get the Minnesota Vikings, who is so funny. The Minnesota Vikings and the Baltimore Ravens, these defenses... Yeah, it's weird. They're so weird, they crack me up. They are legitimately very good defenses, but in the passing game,

you pretty much end up always having good fantasy games against them because their offense is chugging and you can't run against them easily. So you end up being forced to throw the ball. Sometimes it's garbage time, sometimes it's not. But at the end of the game, the passing volume against those two defenses are always good. So I think downs is a great play this week.

I agree with that. I want to say I'm hungry for more of Jalen McMillan, the rookie wide receiver from Tampa Bay, trying to figure out what's going on here with the absence of Chris Godwin and Mike Evans and diving into the actual film, what was happening. McMillan did not take over that slot role. At least I personally was kind of hoping for it. I think that if you put him in there, he can be

A decent replacement here for Chris Godwin, but he played on the outside. The actual production wasn't... It was not incredible at all for Jalen McMillan in the first game as him kind of being the guy.

But the opportunities were there. There were seven targets. He had 30% of the team's air yards. He ran a bunch of routes. And when you go back and watch what actually happened, there were three potential touchdown opportunities for Jalen McMillan. His first target was...

A great design play. I don't know if McMillan, I don't know if it was an option route and McMillan turned the wrong way or if he just messed up the play. But the connection with him and Baker had McMillan turned left and turned out instead of turning in. It's a wide open touchdown. His next target, McMillan beats the double coverage. He has the safety and the cornerback beat. He's wide open in the end zone. Baker just barely misses him. Then there was another one where they wheeled him out from the halfback position and

the safety tricked Baker Mayfield. But it was a shot towards Jalen McMillan that would have turned into a touchdown. So,

I like the opportunities I see. I like that Baker Mayfield still looks like a very competent quarterback despite the lack of elite weapons around him. So I think that Jalen McMillan, he'll be fascinating to watch moving forward. Unfortunately, he plays Kansas City this week. That kind of sucks for if he's going to be a spot start. But you've got to keep your eye on him despite only 4 for 35.

All right, that was Hungry for More presented by Uber Eats, where you can get all the best deals on game day food all season long. Uber Eats, the official on-demand delivery partner of the NFL. News and notes from around the league. Presented by USAA Insurance. Stephon Diggs, we had not heard. They were confirming via testing, and apparently nothing leaked. But out for the year, torn ACL.

It's 31 years old next month. Free agent after the year. So strange that it took this long. They feel like they almost always know if it's an ACL tear, but this is a big time bomber for Stefan Diggs at his age. He will be going into the market without a contract at that age coming off of a torn ACL, uh,

The good news for the Texans, at least, is that it sounds like Nico Collins, he is eligible to return next week, and it sounds like that's what the plan is, to have him right back in at Week 10. But in the meantime, huge opportunity here for Tank Dell.

I don't know if he'll come through. Tough matchup. Oh, yeah, against the Jets, right? I think this is probably just very bad news for C.J. Stroud. I'd be benching him. But for Stephon Diggs, like dynasty perspective, this is probably the end of relevant Diggs because I doubt he's going to get a bunch of money to go to an important role. And we'll see at age 32 coming off of an ACL how he'll heal, how he will play.

Last year, Tank Dell, 700 receiving yards on just 47 catches. This year, so far, on pace for about 500 receiving yards. Oh, that one. On 58 catches in four and a half seconds. That one hurts. So the knife went right between these two ribs right here. It's close to the heart, but it's far enough. I'm still alive. They're doing whatever they can to get him more and more target share.

And by they, I mean like Nico's hamstring and Stefan's knee. You know, it was now or never for Tank Dell. He'll have the chance. Yes, it's a bad matchup, but also, you know. They need him. It'd be really hard to not play him, in my opinion, just in the fact that you've got four quarters of football to play where you get the ball on offense and, you know, you don't expect Tank Dell to have fewer than seven targets in this game. Yeah, I mean, he's got to have –

close to seven targets that should result in a decent fantasy output you don't know if sauce gardener is going to be on him since there really isn't another player to focus on would you would you start tank dell or lad mcconkey the chargers play i'd play lad mcconkey this week it's the cleveland browns well i mean yeah i don't know cleveland looked so good last week we've got a denzel ward issue there too it's it is uh i'd probably play lad

I know this is you asking, and this week you and I play one another. We'll talk about Ladd tomorrow too. Deontay Johnson got traded. The Ravens pick him up. This was not the destination that I wanted as a dynasty manager of Deontay Johnson. I wanted him to stay in Carolina with Andy Dalton. That would have been the ideal situation for me. I agree. Just...

Down by a million points every game, just throwing him the football a ton. This was a trade where the Panthers barely improved their draft stock. He goes to a team where he's going to help Lamar Jackson in Baltimore, but we already had problems relying on any pass catcher in Baltimore. This is the Derrick Henry-Lamar Jackson offense with –

Zay Flowers being sometimes good, Mark Anders being sometimes good, Rashad Bateman being sometimes good. Let's just add another name in there where he's not acclimated to the offense. We've already seen Amari Cooper experience that through two weeks. Hopkins had 23% of snaps in week one. That'll be a time that we have to wait for with Kansas City. And it's going to be the same with Deontay. I think we're going to get to the point in three weeks from now, and come back to me on this,

Where we ask the question of if you would flex Andrews, Dave Flowers, or Deontay Johnson, and you will not know the answer.

Every single week. Yeah, it could get very, very murky. I agree it's good for Lamar, bad for Deontay, but the thing that blows my mind, from an NFL standpoint, what a great move from the Ravens. The Ravens' offense is already very good. You add a super capable NFL wide receiver who can get open to a team that has Super Bowl aspirations, it's brilliant. If Deontay Johnson leaves in the offseason and signs a good contract after a good year in a Super Bowl run...

They get a compensatory pick. I mean, Carolina...

The franchise is being run very poorly. I mean, I don't know if it's the general manager. Obviously, the owner has his meddling fingers involved, but it's like you just traded for Deontay. You are paying him more than anyone else. You're paying him more than Pittsburgh, more than Baltimore. You're paying the contract for the player you don't have that you rented for a couple of weeks, and you won't get the compensatory pick now. It's just like... Yeah, I mean, I think they took their shot, and I think we would have been mad at them if they didn't.

In the sense that Bryce Young needed targets. It didn't work. Like Bryce lost the job. I think he's saying why trade him away for that when you can just write out the rest of the year. Yeah. And then let him go. Let the free market sign. Like if he signs a really big deal, then you'd get a better pick. It would be a better pick. I think so because it's compensatory. So it's just a straight up pick.

It depends on the contract and everything that Carolina does, too. Well, that's compelling. If he didn't want to be there, though, and wasn't going to play football? Yeah. Deontay Johnson is – we're at the point now where it's fascinating to me. The Pittsburgh Steelers are a great organization as opposed to the Carolina Panthers. It seems like the Steelers are always doing things right. The Steelers get rid of wide receivers –

seemingly at the correct time, and they traded him away. Mapletron. I mean, just a lot of guys. And they had refused to give Deontay a huge extension. They eventually met in the middle and gave him, I think it was like a year or two and a decent amount of money, but it was not a superstar wide receiver contract.

Then they trade him to Carolina. It was Dante Jackson who I think playing fine for the Steelers and a 6-7 swap. He was not traded for a ton back then. Now he gets traded for very little again. The actions of the NFL...

are that Deontay Johnson is not valued nearly as much as the fantasy community likes Deontay Johnson. I believe that that will be proven incorrect this offseason. He'll be an unrestricted free agent, and because the wide receiver market is so important, you see teams trading for him, signing big contracts, and there's not usually a lot of good wide receivers who hit the market. I think he'll get a bag.

He could. TBD. He could. And then what does it do to Flowers and Bateman? Doesn't help them. No, no. I agree. I agree that it should just take targets away. Was it Josina Anderson? Yeah, I believe that's who. Reporting. Following the trade, Flowers and Bateman will remain the top wide receivers. For the first week. For a while. It...

To me, I don't know if it's an indictment of either of those two players or more of a they're disappointed with Nelson Aguilar. They're disappointed in their depth of Aguilar is Nelson Aguilar. And then their rookie Devontae Walker Walker has he can't even get on the field. Well, I mean, look, Rashad Bateman has not been on the field for three and a half years.

He is having insurance when you're going for a Super Bowl title or having an assortment of options. They disappear quick. Unless Deontay is a locker room problem in a way that I am unaware, like a massive...

you know, cancer to the locker room. I think any team that could have got him for this price that is going to the playoffs, even if you've got wide receivers, even if you're great, like why not add a depth piece before the trade deadline? I think it's brilliant. The Colts are benching Anthony Richardson for Joe Flacco. It's not even temporary. They said this morning that Joe Flacco is the quarterback moving forward, gives them the best chance to win. That is exceptionally true. I would,

inversely say Richardson gives you the worst chance to win and you've got to make this move it is a wild one when you consider the age and the expectation we've been here before Trey Lance

We've been here before. The 49ers are... They've been here this year. I mean, we've been here for a while with a lot of players. From Darnold to Zach Wilson to Bryce Young to Richardson to Fields. I mean, the list of young quarterbacks that get thrust into these starting roles instantaneously and then quickly get the rug pulled out from under them.

You know, everyone's shooting for the stars. I get it. You want to catch lightning in a bottle and get a superstar first season. But this is not like it's not close. Like this is not like Joe Flacco is so much of a better quarterback.

than Anthony Richardson is at this stage of his career, and they have so many other players. They have a chance to win the division. They just saw Houston lose another wide receiver that's fundamental to them. Houston's won a bunch of close games this year. They're not blowing people away. C.J. Stroud is not taking the next step into MVP caliber play. The Colts are a good enough football team to win the division, and Joe Flacco gives you that opportunity week in and week out. And it's not to me about what's going to cause more Ws this season for the Colts.

Even long term, for the good of Anthony Richardson, who they've come out and said they're not quitting on Anthony Richardson. He is their future. But right now, he's not ready. And the truth is, he's not ready. People act like the only way that this player can get better is getting out for those 60 minutes every Sunday on an NFL game. And there is a little sliver of truth to there's some stuff you can't learn outside of being there. But there is plenty you can learn.

it's not like he's not practicing. He's not running teams. He's running offenses, you know, throughout the week, throughout the off season through they're going to train him and try to get him better. You know, when they made the move to Brock Purdy from Trey Lance years ago,

There was still an offseason where it was like Trey Lance came in. It was like, who's the starter? We don't know for sure yet. But the Niners knew. The Niners knew Trey Lance doesn't have it because they see him every day in practice. We don't. And we're like, we don't know. Maybe he's got it. But this was not some big shock to the Niners. The Niners were practicing every day and they're like, he doesn't have it. And then they trade him to the Cowboys and they didn't know. And now they're like, yeah, we know. You know, it's like...

Anthony Richardson can still develop into something great. This is the best move for him because if you put him out there and he breaks a record for the worst completion percentage of a starting quarterback for the year, you don't want to Zach Wilson him. You don't want to go out there and break the man's confidence in the NFL in front of everybody over and over and over and just have him start his career failing constantly.

And then that's where it goes. So I think this is a great move for the Colts. I think it's a hopefully good move for Anthony Richardson, which feels like inevitably not going to be one. But it is great for fantasy. And at the end of the day, that's all I really care about. Josh, this is a fantasy show. This is a huge. The fact that we got clarity on how long this change is going to happen, huge for Josh Salas.

Josh Downs is a top 15 receiver the rest of the season, in my opinion. I think it is humongous for every single player on the Colts. Maybe not Alec Pierce, but like, yes. And Alec Pierce had good games with Flacco. Josh Downs, huge upgrade. In weeks four through six, Michael Pittman averaged 12.5 points per game. Yeah, he was on pace for 1,048 yards through three games with Joe Flacco. Michael Pittman is absolutely a startable fantasy asset. Johnny Taylor, who's been...

Much better. I was concerned, how would he do with Richardson? And the answer has so far, you know, small sample, but the answer is, oh, Jonathan Taylor's back. He's great. He can't hit that elite top three status because he's not getting enough targets. I should say consistently getting enough targets. But with Flacco in there, the target share is definitely going to go up. Like Jonathan Taylor to me, this is...

He's the one that I think skyrockets. I agree with Josh Downs and everything, but Taylor can go from a good RB1 to he might finish at the end as the number one running back. If you have a floor of three receptions a game at running back, which I think is now about what I expect Jonathan Taylor to average, that is such a boon. And you know who's not going to vulture goal line touchdowns ever? Right. Joe Flacco.

Looking at the numbers, just so you have them, 9.8 completions per game was the average under Anthony Richardson. In the three games we saw Flacco, 23.7 completions per game. Yeah. Which, just to be clear, if you told me that you could start Josh Downs, but he gets eight quarters with Richardson every week, that would be a good start. Yeah. Because it's double the completions. It's more than double the completions. So that's the math behind it. Flacco brings a lot of good things to this Colts offense.

Jordan Love says he's determined to play in week nine against the Lions. I expect him to play. That's such a huge divisional game. Do you worry, though? I worry because of what we saw before he exited the game but after he was injured. There was a stretch of a quarter and a half, two quarters of football where he looked bad. Ask Mike who's got to make the decision on playing him this week. All right, Mike. Are you willing to start Jordan Love with his hurt groin but active

I want to. What's your other option? I just picked up Matthew Stafford. Oh, to me, I feel like I would rather play Stafford, who just threw four touchdowns with his team intact. I lean that way right now, but if you get the full goal from Jordan Love,

it will be very difficult to bench him. He's been, in full games, he's been fantastic. And it does project. I mean, I don't know what the over-under is yet. We're not doing that preview, but I'm guessing 50 points. 48 and a half, says Kyle. 48 and a half, and maybe that's factoring in a little question mark next to Jordan Love's availability. Doug Peterson says he feels good about Travis Etienne playing in Week 9.

I think ETN is going to bounce back for fantasy players rest of season. I do too. The injuries at wide receiver, his capability in the passing game, and the team's vocal commitment to him tell me that ETN is going to have, you know, he's kind of been worthless.

That's not the reality of ETN. So if you wanted to buy a super low, I think you're onto something. And I believe you nailed it when you said that it's in the receiving game. They need more outlets for Trevor Lawrence to throw the ball and dumping it down to ETN has been something that works. You know, it's

You talk about, oh, maybe Tank Bigsby is going to take over more. And Dearness Johnson was involved when Travis Etienne got injured. But he was more involved in the passing game. They still weren't relying on Tank Bigsby in the receiving game. But this is a player who last year had 73 targets in Travis Etienne. He's on the same pace this year. Without those wide receivers. Even with limited snaps, yeah. I don't think he's...

And right now, I believe that a lot of fantasy managers who have him feel like they would be willing to just get a serviceable piece. If you've got like a startable wide receiver and a good defensive matchup, like just go make a crappy offer and see if someone wants to get out of the Travis Etienne game. He had seven targets and 38% of snaps the last time we saw him on the field.

That's nice. So something to pay attention to. All right, that was today's News & Notes presented by USAA Insurance. Learn more at USAA.com slash insurance. We'll take a break. We'll jump into the midseason review.

Future You faces some big expectations. Work out more, go to bed earlier, and most importantly, make smart money decisions. Thankfully, today you has Bank of America, one place with tools and guidance to help balance tasks from budgeting to saving. So you can just be you with big plans. Do more with the bank that asks, what would you like the power to do? Explore our tips and more at bankofamerica.com slash future you. ♪

Oh, apparently we have a drop for this. So I don't want to. I don't want to forget that. By the way, let me take a moment. OK. Subtitles validated the fact that it was a legal shift. A legal shift. Subtitles did great work with, you know, put putting their context together. I see. You think it was more of a. I turned the volume up. Oh, man. It was, you know, it was a little suspect. Let's jump in.

Review-a-saurus rags. Really? Really? Oh, man. So when I said we had a drop, we were going to the archives. I was like, we have a drop? Oh, just now? This one comes in from mid-season review. That's going into the archives. Classic listeners there. Yes. Yeah, the old mid-season review-a-saurus rags, as we've always called it. Why not use it? That's genius.

Good work, Al. And by the way, the review of SourceRex was probably in its heyday, what, about 2015 to 2018? Yeah. Did it last that long? I think so. I think it did. Every now and then. We'd do a review of SourceRex every now and then. It's now the most recent drop we've used. I think Brooks was one of the first ones. He was. Yeah. You can't retire that thing. All right, quarterbacks right now. We're looking at points per game, minimum four games played.

That makes me a little bit sad. Somebody get me the points per game on Joe Flacco because he played three games. I'm on it. And I would like to know where he slots in with these names because I think he might be relevant even in redraft. I've got it. I mean, in redraft, rest of the season. Now, keep in mind, the first game he only played 80% of snaps, but his points per game was 18.4. Where would that slide him in? 18.4, that's his average in the three games? Correct. That would put him just behind Joe Burrell. At 8%.

That's pretty good. Which would be just ahead of Kyler, Brock Purdy, and Jordan Love. The top 10 right now, Lamar Jackson at 25.3. Whoo, doggie. Baker at 23.1. I think the interesting thing about Baker is that he is, like every other bit of separation at points per game, is very tight. He's two points better than Jalen Hurts is right now. Hurts is at 21. Jaden Daniels at 20. And then Josh Allen at 19.9.

Justin Fields is gone, so he was at 18.9. Then Joe Burrow at 18.5, Kyler at 18.2, Brock Purdy at 18.1, and Jordan Love at 18.1. So reactions to that to me, I mean, the Baker conversation moving forward, I think some people wanted to get out of that business with the— I did not blame them if they did. Yeah, I'm still not completely 100%— Like, Baker has looked—

He has played his version of perfect football. He scrambles when he needs to and picks up a lot of yards on the ground. He's reading the defense great. His pocket mobility is awesome. He's out there, you know, with lasers.

Laser Mayfield. That freaked the crap out of me. But I was looking at some stats and then that got me. Without the two star wide receivers, I view him at least until Mike Evans comes back as a streaming option, a good streaming option. Like I like Matthew Stafford quite a bit, but Matthew Stafford is not a player I would start week in, week out. It's like, does he have a good matchup? So for instance, this week, Baker Mayfield. I'd play Matthew Stafford. Yes. Baker Mayfield against Kansas City. It's going to be a real test. Now if Baker comes out,

and is firing lasers against Kansas City, maybe you just got to play him in all matchups. He will throw the ball. Let me put it this way. I think he will attempt 40 to 45 passes against the Kansas City Chiefs. So if that's the case, what's the result, right? I mean, last week was 50 attempts. The week before, 45. Season average is 35.5 pass attempts for Baker.

The Kansas City Chiefs have slowed games down, been pretty ugly. I'd be surprised if he gets up to 40-45 in this matchup. Yeah, I'm very nervous. But you expect Kansas City to be ahead. I do. Yeah, I mean, Baker's tough because he's just, he's voluming his way there. He's the touchdown leader, but I get that. I just could see a world where you're kind of wishing you had stayed in the flames with Baker over the last five weeks instead of going to, you know, Matthew Stafford,

Played a ton of football games with his best players last year. And there were a ton of terrible fantasy weeks. So I'm not saying he's going to do that this week. I like the pick. But let's just remember that he's had these players for a long, long time and not delivered because sometimes the game, Kyron, the red zone, the way the game goes, I just kind of hate to miss out on what Baker's been doing, I guess.

Yeah, I get it. And I mean, really, I can visualize how Baker has a very good game this week. I just don't think I've got the cojones to start him. I'm afraid. I'm afraid of a good defense without weapons for Baker. They do struggle. They're the second worst team against tight ends, and he's been using Kate Otten like crazy.

Yeah, the matchup is there for Kate Otten for sure. And they're middle of the pack against, for what it's worth, they're 16th in fantasy points given up to the quarterback position. That's not an area where they're like top five. Well, it is funny in the sense that I feel like usually at this point in a season, we've got a real clear indication on defenses. But this last week, they gave up three points more than the average to the Raiders in that divisional matchup. So they were kind of

soft this last week. The week prior, it was average against Brock Purdy. That's because Purdy had, what, multiple rushing touchdowns? Yeah, but he had them. The Saints and the Chargers, which are not good defenses. So I just don't know over the last month. Maybe Kansas City's passing defense is middle of the pack, similar to the Vikings and the Ravens I was talking about earlier, where it's like, this is a great defense, but you still have to throw on them.

Well, let's look at these top 10 names and who do you expect to be the most likely to fall out of the top 10 in the second half? And no, you can't choose Justin Fields. He probably won't. His points per game will stay the same. Do you think Purdy... That's a real solid point, Mike. Definitely not falling out. Do you think Purdy is a name? Yeah, Purdy would be... Because of losing Ayuk and... Well, Purdy's the one I would look at because, I mean, over... Like, his touchdown rate is...

is lower than average right now. So maybe that regresses positively. But three rushing touchdowns here for Brock Purdy in the last two weeks when last year in 16 games he had two of them for the entirety of the season. Three in eight games, that's what's keeping him afloat right now.

Do you believe that Dak is the most likely candidate to enter the top 10 over the rest of the season? You've got players. 11 is Sam Darnold right now. Bo Nix right behind him. Jared Goff, obviously always a threat week to week. And then Dak is sitting there at 18th right now. I think Dak will enter that list.

I talked about him as my second half sleeper. The schedule after the San Francisco 49ers game that's now over is pretty bright and rosy. Rest of the way, it's top five for quarterbacks. I think he hops up in. The player I would pick to drop that I'm a little bit confused about, and Andy, we literally sat down yesterday and watched every single offensive play

snap on a brilliant game is Kyler Murray I don't know what to make of him I don't either man the the first month of the season he was averaging 16.9 fantasy points was very inconsistent and that's including a game where he was the number one where he just dominated the Rams but now the last month he's up to 19.6 fantasy points per game has been consistent and looks better is this just

Like, which one is the real deal? Because I've never seen a player, I've never seen one that I can think of where not based upon matchup, but just based upon how the player woke up, goes out there and looks like he can't see the defense, can't find the open players, or...

sees everything crystal clear and is like a savant. I mean, it's like who do you get on a week-to-week basis? I think if you want to look to the encouraging side for Kyler Murray, it would be the fact that he's played eight games. He's only had six of the eight games he's had one touchdown, okay? And he's still in the top ten. So his touchdown percentage is like four-point-something. He's also played, what, one game without Trey McBride, one game without Marvin Harrison,

So there have been some bumps in the road where it hasn't really gone his way very often, and he's still hanging around 18-something fantasy points a game. That would be the more rose-colored perspective. He's got two home games coming up. Yeah, but one is against the number two-ranked Chicago Bears this week, and I find it so fascinating. I'm playing against Andy in the League of Records. So I will recuse myself, and I will recuse Andy here.

Okay. I recuse myself. No, Mike, you can't. I recuse you, Andy. The most fascinating matchup here. He has Kyler Murray and Caleb Williams. Okay. Caleb Williams coming off a dud. Kyler coming off a good game. But the Arizona Cardinals defense, not great against quarterbacks. Right. And the Bears great against quarterbacks. And he has to make that decision. And I'm sitting there going,

Like, I hope he plays Kyler. Or, I'm sorry, I hope he plays Caleb.

I thought you recused. I'm not giving my... Okay, all right. Can we strike that from the record? Inadmissible. Also, I feel like... Stricken. I will have to be not recused at some point to make the call. Yes, but Mike, who do you think is the better player? Matchup or player? I know the answer of what Mike's going to say. I would play Kyler. Oh, okay. Never mind. I didn't know it. No, I would play Kyler at home.

That's who's in my lineup, and I also tried to get rid of Caleb this morning so I don't have to make the decision. Literally, that's why. I tried to just sell him off for fab so I don't have to make the call. I lost last week making that call incorrectly. Well, I hope you do it again. I'll probably lose doing that again. At running back, looking at the top 15 in fantasy points per game, half PPR, Henry, and get this. Here's what's more amazing to me. Henry's at 21.4.

0.4 points behind him is Joe Mixon. So Henry's been the headline. Joe Mixon is sitting 0.4 points behind him. 21.4 and 21 fantasy points per game. That is number one and number two on a points per game basis. Only, only...

If you think that the Dolphins are not different with and without Tua, because in games with Tua, Devon A. Chan, 23 points per game should be the running back one. How many games is that? Three. Three. Three games? Yeah. I mean, you got to bring that up.

Yeah, that's like bringing up Josh Downs with or without Joe Flacco. I think it's worth bringing up. Yeah, he's not in this list. He's not in the top 15 in points per game right now. But if you look, I mean, we throw out. He didn't have Mostert, though, for two of the three games. Because Mostert was not. He was there this last game. I think Mostert. I think Mostert was out both those other games. He played. No, he played week one. He got knocked out. He got hurt on the first play of the game.

It was the first snap. No, Mostert played 44% of snaps. In week one? In week one. He played 46% of snaps this last week. So two of the three games was with Mostert.

I swore he got hurt on the first play. He may have gotten hurt on the first play, but he powered through what he could. Interesting. He was inefficient that week. Yeah, it is worth bringing up. So you wanted to just hijack the order real quick with A-Chan? Well, because the order starts with A-Chan. If you're talking about, like, we don't view Tua. I don't think A-Chan deserves to be included because of the fact

In fact, he's got a huge injury history and misses games. So him playing and averaging that over time is the only thing I care about. That's fine. I mean, my point is Tyreek Hill, you know, we throw out the games. Joe Mixon's already missed three games. Yeah. Thank you, Mike. I mean, these are all good points from all angles here. But, you know, you don't look at Tyreek Hill and factor in his full season PPR. Like, that's just irrelevant. It's nonsense. No one would do that.

Even casuals wouldn't do that. So you shouldn't really do that with Devon Aitken. He has utterly dominated in games with Tua because of the receiving work. So now let's go to Derrick Henry, Joe Mixon, and beyond. Well, Saquon's at 19.4, Kyron at 18.5, Gibbs at 18.

Gibbs is hilarious because you don't get to see him on the field as much as everybody else. And yet because he's too good, he's always, he burns too bright. It's always a 70 yard touchdown in the making. I mean, he's had two huge touchdowns in the last two games. Camara, Kenneth Walker, Jonathan Taylor, who you talked about earlier, James Cook at nine. He has slipped a little bit. B. John Robinson at 10. And Jason, I got to keep reading here. Kareem Hunt.

At 15.4, that's wild. David Montgomery, DeAndre Swift, Aaron Jones. And then at 15, Brees Hall. I was talking about this yesterday in the studio. Just Brees Hall is so frustrating because from a fantasy standpoint, he goes out. I mean, I'll say kind of the same with Bijon. I've got these two guys as like my one-two punch in Dynasty.

And they are frustrating, man, because you watch the talent on the field, you watch the breakaway speed for Brees, you watch just the electric cuts and athleticism of Bijon, and you say, why aren't these guys consistent? Why aren't they every single week a floor of 13, 14 fantasy points, and they just are able to disappear? It shouldn't happen. And what's most concerning for Brees is the fact that he

Once the changeover was made with the offensive coordinator, we saw him out there with 87%, 82% of the snaps the first two weeks. We saw him with the vast majority of the running back shares, 100% of the running back targets. And now this last week, it was a real down week from a utilization standpoint comparatively to those first two seats. I don't know. It's frustrating. Do you expect Brees to...

rest of season be better than 15 or just stick where he is and keep doing what he's been doing? Well, I mean, you can ask the question based on who's ahead of him and whether you'd take Brees the rest of season over them. And I don't see a lot of names that I would. I mean, I'd probably take, I'd take Brees over Swift, who's two spots higher. I'd take him over Aaron Jones, who's a spot higher. I'd take him over Aaron Jones. But I mean, beyond that,

I'm not going to take him over. I mean, you could have the debate about Montgomery. Yeah, I'd take Brees over Montgomery. But Hunt is the hard one. I mean, you're like... Dude, I will say this. Genuinely. I have, in League of Record, my running backs are Brees Hall and David Montgomery. And I know who my one is. My one is David Montgomery. He's just more consistent and better on a week-in, week-out basis than...

I'm more confident in his start every single week than Brees. So I'm not sure that I would take it. Look at the offensive difference there. I'm not even sure David Montgomery doesn't have more red zone chances in a committee on a regular basis than Brees does. I'm sure that he does have more. He has to, right? He has to. The Lions are going up putting up 40, 50 points a game. The Jets can't get out of their own way.

Yeah, so at the bottom here of the top 15, Brees is very interesting. Kareem Hunt is also very interesting. He's been riding hot on touchdowns, which could still happen because you're on the Chiefs and you've got Patrick Mahomes, but usually around the goal line they do fancy little shovel passes that they haven't been doing lately, and he's not. I'm shocked how little Kareem Hunt has been involved in the receiving game because when he was formerly a Chief, very...

very involved in the receiving game. And so far,

Two receptions, one reception. Two receptions, one reception in his four games. Also, you do have Isaiah Pacheco. I was going to bring the name up. That's what I've been over here trying to find actual information. Oh, I got the info, man. Do you? Well, I'm just, dude, I'm waiting for him to come back, praying he could come back. The latest thing that I've seen where it's like optimism is he shared, there's a video from him on the 21st running on a treadmill. Now, he doesn't have shoes on.

I'm going to be honest, man. He was walking on a treadmill. And the text says he's running on a treadmill. I want to see him running. But point being, this isn't a next week thing. It's a does. And I don't even know if this is a I'm going to pick up and stash Pacheco and just cross my fingers. But it's a what happens in the fantasy playoffs if all of a sudden Isaiah Pacheco is back and splitting time with Kareem Hunt. Like he could.

It's a situation that might get blown up. Again, we don't have a ton of information, but I've seen whispers of,

hope that by the end of the year that Pacheco could be on the field. I have as well. And I know that we've said on this show a couple times, like I have counted Pacheco as gone for the season. And that is how I've managed my roster. I don't think he's coming back. That's like the blinders I put on to make sure that I'm doing what I need to do for my team. I do believe he comes back.

during this NFL season before the playoffs. Whether that's in time for the fantasy playoffs or before the fantasy playoffs is a question, but that does hurt the long-term outlook to me of Kareem Hunt. You could end up having Kareem Hunt get you to the playoffs and then disappear. So just be prepared for that. Most likely to drop out of this list, let's just say most likely to drop out of that top 10 of Henry, Mixon, Barkley, Kyron, Gibbs, Kamara, Walker, Taylor, Cook, and Bijan. It's tough.

I think I would have answered Kamara before this last week and the contract and the car return. Yeah, I think Kamara goes north. I think Kamara overtakes Gibbs. That's tough to pick a name from that group. I think maybe it's James Cook. James Cook. Because he's been so touchdown dependent. Now, speaking of Kamara, I'm not factoring in Derek Carr games in or out, but it's like his –

He's been great. I'm not trying to, I'm not taking away from Kamara, but it's like his average is for this list is he's number six.

He had a 43-point game. Again, I'm not taking that away from him, but it's like since the 43-point game, which was week two when everyone got bamboozled into thinking that the New Orleans Saints are actually good. Yeah, and we put a thing on the wall. Yeah, it turns out they're not as good as they were in the first two weeks. So from week three through eight, so after the 43-point game, he's at 13.5 points. Still very good. It's just a – that's –

That's not almost 18 points a game. Yeah, if I had to pick one in the top to drop, and not necessarily to drop out of the top 10, but to drop who I think is overperforming what he'll do for the whole season, and he's been excellent. This is not an anti-player case, but I think Joe Mixon has been

Running a little hot. Running a little hot. I mean, he's, you know, he's averaging 4.9 yards a carry, which he hasn't done since his second year in the league, which was a long time ago. Also losing Stephon Diggs, you know, it's not going to help in the short term from a stacked box perspective.

And you've also got a lot of touchdowns. He's got five touchdowns already on the ground, one through the air. So I can see Joe Mixon not being the sensational superstar. He hasn't even had a week where he's not a top five running back. That's not going to happen for the full season. That might be true, but I'd expect targets to go up for him, and he's already on pace for over 70, or around 70. So it's a strong bunch at the top. It's a good follow-up to what we talked about yesterday.

with the late running back strategy, the zero RB, most likely to slip into that top list. You already said Devon A. Chan. Slip in. Yeah. I think that's the easy one. But of the guys who are next in the highest of average, you have Dobbins, Jacobs, Brian Robinson, A. Chan, and James Conner. If anyone's going to jump into that, I would go James Conner. That's the name I would say too. I'm actually a little surprised that his points a game are that low. I am –

Yeah. Yeah. So this is a player and it's worth it's worth noting there are players that do this consistently over their career and they are a certain build of player where the second half of the season when you

Human beings are banged up and the weather gets colder and these big bruising backs. Derrick Henry has done it time and time again. Just been a second half sensation. Najee Harris the last couple years has done it and James Conner has done it. The second half of seasons, these big bruising backs, it's...

It's harder to tackle them. I mean, that's anecdotal, but there is data on their career that just support that. So that's why I would have his name up there. Making it not anecdotal. Well, I'm saying it's anecdotal for the reason of it's hard to tackle. I don't know the reason, but we've got historical evidence of the second half of the season for some of these big body backs breaking more tackles. All right, we'll take a break. Come back with wideouts. We'll be right back.

All right, we're going to turn the page here. Mid-season review. Fly through the wide receivers. Number one, Nico Collins at 18.1 points per game. Oh, I feel so bad for you, Mike. Sweet Nico. Well, he'll be back next week. A.J. Brown at 17.3. Both those guys have been hurt. Jamar Chase, 16.8. Justin Jefferson at 16.5. And then, oh, Chris Godwin. Chris Godwin was on pace for 121, 1,412 and is now gone.

Beyond that, CeeDee Lamb is sitting at six in points per game. So one big week for CeeDee erased a lot of fears last week. Malik Nabors at 15.1. Brian Thomas Jr. sitting there at 13.4. Tee Higgins at 13.3. Day-to-day, of course. And then Drake London at 13.3. So, you know, glaring omissions from that top.

10 right now, Amon Ra at 13. He scored in five straight games and is still sitting at 13, which the volume has not quite been there because they've been so effective on the ground and in some of the misdirection. And they haven't been in competitive games. I mean, if you don't need to do anything but waste a clock. They scored. I mean, look, it was a full team effort, of course, because they had the special teams.

of this past week, but just hilarious to see. Versus the Tennessee Titans, the Detroit Lions won 52-14, and Amin Ra had two targets, two for seven yards and a score. Thank goodness he scored. If you look at the last two years, he has averaged 155. That's it!

Targets in both the last two years where he's been dominant. And this season, he's on pace for 128 right now just because that running game is unstoppable. Yeah, and the defense is very good. But I mean, you're disappointed in Laporta and you're disappointed in Amon Ra relative to where you drafted them this year. Yeah, you are, but I am... And Goff. I am still... I certainly expect Amon Ra to finish in the top 10. When you watch the games...

Some of these have gotten out of hand, and Amon Ra has been unnecessary. But whenever the game is not out of hand, Amon Ra is usually the clear chain mover, the primary target. Nothing has changed there. So he's at 12, Garrett Wilson at 13, Jaden Reed at 14, and DK Metcalf at 15. Most likely to jump into the top 10 out of some of the contenders that are outside of that group now.

I think Marvin Harrison's the name that I'm going to say because he's at 10.5 points per game, but we just talked about Ladd-McConkie. You could have done a hungry for more for Marvin Harrison. They finally played. They had a good game together. Six of seven targets, scored again. The targets didn't change. It was the types of targets changed, and he actually caught them. Brief aside, I know we're getting through this name, but Jason and I, like we said, we watched all 22 of every Kyler pass.

I think that part of the fundamental issue in Arizona is play calling. Right now, the play design is the better way to put it. There are so many plays, and the Cardinals offensive line is doing their best. I mean, they haven't given up a sack in three games. But when you look at Kyler,

There are plays where he's had lots of time in the pocket, and he sees the back of four guys. Yeah, you drop back. He hits his three- or five-step drop. He's looking, and we're still a second before a wide receiver turns around. Because all four routes are just downfield, like even McBride. And so there are some play design issues in Arizona, and I think those are something you can link back to Marvin Harrison. But they got it going this past week.

Tyreek Hill, though, I mean, is the real obvious one. Yeah, he's cheating. He's the cheat. He's at 40, by the way.

He's a wide receiver. Wide receiver 40 in points per game. Yeah, you're not worried about him. He'll pop in. Rest of season, he'll be a top 10 wide receiver. The name that I would throw in, he was a trade for a target. It was scary because it looked like they might add a wide receiver. I think the wide receivers that are available are gone, but George Pickens... He's my pick, too. George Pickens has been really good, and he's been good on a film standpoint. I think he's been good the whole season. I really do. He has not gotten it done. When he had Justin Fields, it was frustrating. I...

I have to believe, I don't have the data in front of me, but I will be blown away if he does not lead the NFL in touchdowns called back. Because even before this last week where he had two, there were... Put both feet down. Sure. That won't happen. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's like there were... Big refs! Several, yeah. And in his big ref, there are several plays like his, there's been a lot left on the field due to offensive line holdings that have come back. But even...

Every penalty existing the last two weeks with Russell Wilson, very small sample size, but they have moved the offense and his yardage. He's on pace for over 1,500 receiving yards. Are you saying, though, by saying he's your pick, Mike, that you would take him over Marvin Harrison or Tyreek Hill? No. Tyreek Hill is the cheat. You're just saying he's another name to bring up? Tyreek Hill, I'm ruling him out, but it's like Pickens or Marv moving forward.

I think I'd go George Pickens. Scott Barrett put out the tweet that heading into the week coming up, Pickens has let all players in fantasy points overturn and negated due to penalty. There you go. So I guess that was going into the last game, which he also had. I mean, I guess in that game it was negated due to just close misses. Well, yeah, close misses. One was a penalty, though. Yeah. Stop committing penalties.

Yeah, I mean, if you look at the – it's funny because there are a lot of players that are in the top list right now. Chris Godwin is gone. Brian Thomas might miss some time. We don't know when T. Higgins is coming back. Rushie Rice is done. So there's opportunity for a lot of these secondary wide receivers to jump up. So I think it's important to name these guys, the Josh Downs, Marvin Harrisons, Pickens, even Olave, who's going to get card back and has looked good on a per-game basis. Those are the players that you need to target for the second half of the season.

And I know this is going to hurt, man. This is going to hurt. I don't think it's good this week. I really don't. But I do think Tank Dell has an awesome second half of the season without Stephon. No, I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. But Andy, just like you said, you know, Calvin Ridley, you're you double down. This is a player we saw when it was Nico and him last year. Ball out.

He doesn't look like the same player. I will say that. He does not look like the same player as last year. The schedule opens up, and I would agree with that. One of my fears was the Tony Pollard fear because, remember, he broke – was it his fibula or – His ankle. I don't know. Yeah, it broke – it was whatever happened to Tony Pollard. Very similar injury. And we saw last season when he was a cowboy that the first half of the season was very bad for Pollard, and he did get – It was like the first –

This is like two thirds almost. Sure. But he did end up strong and he looks pretty fantastic this year. So without Stefan digs, um,

Wait for a bad week this week from Tank Dell and then trade for him. I do think he's necessary to what should be a good offense. And when Nico comes back and it's just him and Nico, I believe we'll see a lot of success. It pains me to say that because I know if we don't, my Twitter timeline will hear it and I will take that on the chin. But I genuinely believe that it's a long season and the second half of the season will be very good for Tank.

All right, tight ends right now. George Kittle's at 15.2 points per game. He's five points better than the next highest. Is that true?

Is that really true? Brock Bowers is only at 10.8? That makes sense because Brock Bowers, while he's been an awesome manimal out there dominating everyone, he doesn't have any touchdowns. He's got one touchdown on the season. Yeah, and Kittle's got a lot of them. He's the only tight end since 2019 to finish in the top 10 every single week. So he's on fire right now. Yes, he is. Ayuk is gone. Yeah, there's no path to him not being on fire, really. I mean, McCaffrey's going to soak up targets, but Kittle's going to be fundamental rest of season.

Bowers at 10.8 McBride at 10.2 Tucker craft at 9.6. Um, I believe he's only got, let me see here. Yeah. I mean the last four out of five weeks has been very good. His catch to touchdown rate is outrageous. Yes. David Najoku, 9.4 Kyle pits, 9.3 commit 9.1 K dot. And,

K. Dotten at 8.5, Goddard at 8.4. Farewell. And then Travis Kelsey slipping into the top 10 at 8.4 points per game. At 11 and 12, by the way, Ingram and Andrews at 8 and 7.7.

How do you see the, like Tucker Kraft, I think with the touchdown dependency is coming down. I would say Njoku, like tight ends that I think have an upward trajectory. I'm going to go that way. The names that I'll say, Njoku. Yes. Otten. Yes. Ingram. Yes. Yeah. And I think, I think Laporta.

Relative to where he is at 16.

This week should be good without Jamison Williams, but Jamison Williams is going to be back from his two-game suspension. And like we're talking about with Amon Ross St. Brown, Amon Ross has been a little disappointing, and he is quite very necessary for this offense. I would throw Travis Kelsey out there. Obviously, Hopkins coming in might change things a little bit, but you've got a guy who's averaging eight and a half fantasy points per game. However, since the Rushie Rice injury in week four, he's averaging 12 fantasy points a game. And that's

That's more what we have come to expect and enjoy from Kelsey. Well, 12 would be second. Yeah. I mean, 12 would put him right behind Kittle. With the Sam Laporte hope, I will throw out a cautionary optimism for Mark Andrews. Whoa. What is that? For what? For Mark Andrews. Okay. That was some word jumble. Cautionary optimism. Yes. Yes.

However you want to say it. Cautionism. Sure. Oh, I like it. Have a little cautionism in your life. Of the route participation last week was...

It's like we're moving up. It was like Mark Andrews' usual route participation. It's still lower than last year's elite Mark Andrews, but it's at least moving up. And if you have another week like that, this week of route participation moving up, I know Deontay's there and will be worked in the offense, but...

It's just we need snaps here. We need routes for Mark Andrews because if he runs routes, he will be very usable. In the last five weeks, which you can see on our stat page for 2024, you can sort it by last three, last five. In the last five weeks, he's the tight end five. Kittle, Pitts, Bowers, Otten, Andrews over the last five weeks. I forgot because this has been such just an electric show. We've got a preview of Thursday Night Game. ♪

Thursday Night Breakdown. Wait, the Jets are in primetime? Well, they're at home and they're favored as well. Houston 6-2, the Jets 2-6. DraftKings Sportsbook line, Jets minus 1.5. Jason's blinking like a man who doesn't buy it. Over-unders 42. They're favored? The 2-6 Jets who just...

I do think they win the ballgame. I said this yesterday when we were going through the picks. I had no clue whether they were favored or not. Houston is... I can tell you I will be taking the Texans. They're beat up, and they're on the road. If you don't like Tank Dell in this game, then who do you like scoring points? Joe Mixon. You remember C.J. Stroud?

playing the Jets last year. It wasn't pretty. Yeah, it wasn't pretty. And C.J. Stroud, I mean, okay, let's talk about that because... It's a low over-under, too, by the way. We've brought this up for over a year now that C.J. Stroud, while an awesome...

Wonderful future franchise quarterback. When he's on the road against any kind of top half passing defense, he has... I mean, he sucked. He has straight up... He's not been good. And now he loses Nico. He loses Stephon Diggs. So yeah, okay, I get that. I see why they could be favored at home. It's a good defense.

On the flip side, the Jets have not been great on the ground. You can run on the Jets, and Joe Mixon, who has been really the current key cog for the Texans' offense, should have an outstanding game and be able to keep them in this. I worry more about what does the Jets' offense look like against a pretty darn good Texans' defense? You know...

It's not been a fun one to watch this year in general. I mean, Rodgers and Adams, like this past week was not the week to look at the traded wide receivers producing for your team because Adams had a fairly down week. Cooper was invisible. Hopkins not being utilized. So this was not a good week for that. I mean, Adams has 15 targets. Rodgers,

Clearly dealing with lower body injuries. The defense of the Patriots came out after the game and even commented about his lack of mobility. I think he's completely fine. He found cayenne pepper. Oh, yeah. We're back. What was that? And lemon? Or was it water? I think it was water. Yeah, he says he's cool now. He's younger than ever. I didn't know if you'd bring this up. I just feel like it's like...

It's very Aaron Rodgers. Well, when you're two and six, he's already dead. He brought it up. This isn't me. He did this to himself. Well, the punter introduced it to him. You know punters. He found the fountain of youth in cayenne pepper water drink. Can we get some of that? I'm 40. I need some of this cayenne pepper. What's the ratio you got to go with?

80% pepper, 20% water. I would like to know that. I would like to find the fountain. He's been trying to get on hot ones for a while and they're like, prove it. So he is. Jokes aside, are you...

Are you in on Wilson and Adams in this game? Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I mean, the Texans' run defense has been more stout than the pass defense. If you look at the season adjusted for schedule, they're top five against running backs, but they give up quite a few points to wide receivers. So I think both Adams and Garrett Wilson at home in a game they're favored are in play. They did. Braylon Allen had his highest snap share since week four, had 12 opportunities on the ground, did score. It's a little bit of a...

a red flag just the fact that he got into the end zone in terms of, you know, you just talked about Montgomery and Brees Hall, right? Like Montgomery is going to get tons of red zone opportunities if Brees Hall suddenly loses a couple. We thought the Allen experiment might be behind them. I don't know if it was just, hey, we're not succeeding, so let's try something different in this game, but it's worth noting it. Yeah, he's got three touchdowns on the season, you know. You and I get to have, I didn't realize this, Jay, in our matchup,

You have Brees Hall, right? Yes, I do. And I've got Joe Mixon. So we get to have a Thursday night football faceoff. I don't think that's going to be fun for me. Are you? Okay. Andy, are you playing Tank Dell? I'd try not to. Okay. I'd play Cedric Tillman over him. I am at the place this week I would try not to play Tank Dell. Tank Dell is like what I said about ETN last week.

I will, if he performs well while he's on my bench, I'll just be happy that I have a future with him. Okay, I've got some names for you because I completely agree. All my Tank Dell stuff, if he stinks this week, don't hit my timeline because I said after this week, and then you can destroy my timeline. But for this week, would you play Tank Dell or Amari Cooper, who has not yet been fully integrated, and Amari Cooper's playing against Miami.

That one's pretty close. I think I might try Tank Dell just for the Thursday information. And what about DJ Moore? Against Arizona, a good matchup, but he's been disappearing. DJ Moore over him? Mike, are you there? I'd go DJ Moore, yeah. Michael Pittman? I'd play Pittman. I'd give Pittman the shot. I think Pittman is an absolutely fine start this week. Tank Dell...

Tank Dell could get a touchdown. He's going to be involved. And so you could sneak out an okay game, but my expectation for Tank Dell is four for 46. You starting any quarterback in Thursday Night Football? No. It's a low over-under. Damian Pierce is hurt again, by the way. He's not going to probably play this week. Oh, I did check groinindex.com, and I saw him. Yeah, his quote was, ah, my groin. Yeah, that's a very common refrain. If I have Stroud, I'm streaming this week. Let me ask you, as we close the show out,

A very important question. If you were sitting in a dynasty league, and would you rather have like a second and a third round pick in Josh Downs? Second and a third in Josh Downs, okay. Or would you rather have like Ramondre and Tillman in a dynasty league? Cedric Tillman and Ramondre. Or Josh Downs in a 2-3? Yeah. I would take Josh Downs in a 2-3.

Got it. But I'm out on Ramondre. See, it's close to me in the sense that Ramondre just got a contract. I saw that trade just get completed. Oh, did it go through? I don't know what you're talking about. Okay, so you just traded Ramondre. What are you talking about? So you just traded four Josh Downs in our Dynasty League. Is that what happened? That is correct. He probably did. He got Josh Downs 2-3 for Tillman and Stevenson. Oh, that's nice. My goal now is the greatest goal of all time. Oh, that's great.

It's the Joe Flacco, Josh Downs championship. Oh, I like it. All right. So we'll wrap it up. We've got a Halloween show tomorrow. YouTube.com slash the fantasy footballers. We've got starts of the week. We've got matchups. We've got wheel of shame delayed. Is that what's going on? I think so. I think that's what we got. Here's the way it's going to work.

I'm winning this week. Either Jason. Yeah, if you win this week. Me and one of you will dress up. Yeah, I was going to say, it'll be a double trouble, double spin next week. If I lose, I can do Thursday too. If you lose, we will do the Wheel of Shame at the beginning of the show.

Oh, no. And then you will get it for the entire episode. Oh, that sucks. Oh, my gosh. I'm going to be grinding my line up this week. That's what we're going to do. All right. I agree. It's a plastic bag. Oh, my gosh. That'll be it for today. We'll catch you tomorrow. Goodbye. Bye. Bye.

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 at the FFBallers.