Starts of the Week + Week 10 Breakdown, Loose Moose - Fantasy Football Podcast for 11/7
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Welcome to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your hosts, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Welcome in. It's football time. For reals. It's not Wednesday. Welcome in, one and all. It's Thursday. And boy, oh boy. It's football time. It is football time.

Very excited about tonight's game. Even more excited now that I know that the Ravens are wearing their purple rising helmets tonight. I have not seen that. Do you know that? All I see is the chitter-chatters about the Houston Texans wearing their red getup, which is en fuego. It is very, very nice. So, wait, the Ravens are wearing something cool? Purple rise helmet, you said? Purple rising, yeah. It's a purple helmet.

It's a big hat. Is it? Ooh. Okay. What do you think? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Are they Matt? Yeah, they're Matt. Woo! Let's go. So it's a battle of the jerseys this weekend? Oh, that's Texans are going to win that. Sorry. They have the gloss.

The Texans whole red uniform is incredible. Yeah. Well, hey, the drip is back. Let's get after it. Well, it does make us buy more things. I mean, it just does. The NBA figured this out. Wait, is that why they do it? What? I mean, the NBA has these city jerseys every year. And I buy them every year. You buy them every year. I mean.

Welcome in. We have a great show for you. We want to get you ready for week 10, get you prepped for your fantasy football matchups. I received a text from my son this morning who is managing a team in jeopardy of, well, whatever the last place punishment is. Oh no. But he sent me a, he said, here, here is the state of my bench right now. And it's just like,

questionable questionable Olave is doubtful yeah that's come on likely is out juju questionable ET and questionable so he's in the same boat of many of us where we're trying to navigate who do you even hold on to when they're injured I have a roster where the entire bench is just by players

By weak players. It's ridiculous. That makes it easy start-sit decisions, though. That part is good. It's like, I'm not going to mess this one up this week. But should I get any bumps in the road here heading into the weekend, it will be chaos. So we've got matchups on today's show. We've got two big pieces of news to discuss, in my opinion. I think there are two really big pieces of news. One of them had to do with the Carolina Panthers. One of them has to do with

Kendra Miller. And so we'll talk about those three big pieces. Yeah. The Kendra Miller stuff is that's good stuff. And yeah, you're right. Three. And so we'll get into that. A reminder, the ultimate dashboard available now, along with bonus episodes of the show and a ton of premium perks and resources like the strength of schedule tool, the consistency charts, the stream finder tool, all of that available at join the foot.com and all of that now available on the mobile app as well. The

the fantasy footballers mobile app on iOS. And I think, uh,

I believe it is up. This morning? I think so. On Android? On Android, yes. So go see if there's an update if you're on Android and grab it and use that spot start tool this week. I've seen a lot of people using the spot start tool that they just don't really think enough about their defense. And so sometimes it's like they go to the spot start and they're like, oh, looks like there's a better matchup to play this week.

For my defense. And then they report back. It's like, oh, I won the week because, because you know, it won't always work, but at least it's another set of eyeballs on your specific roster and your specific leagues. And now on mobile, that was a very infomercial finish to what you said. All right. Into the news. News and notes from around the league presented by USAA insurance. Do you want the rant?

Or the reports first? Let's report and then rant. Report then rant? Yeah. If we're reporting, we'll start with the fact that, I mean, we just talked about it yesterday, but the Carolina Panthers like Chuba Hubbard so much that

that moments after our discussion about his wonderful season... And being an unrestricted free agent. They signed him to a four-year, $33.2 million contract with $15 million guaranteed. The day after, not even 24 hours after, they activated early...

What, second round? Second round draft pick, Jonathan Brooks. The first running back taken in this year's draft. They spent high draft capital. And keep in mind, their second round pick is a very high second round pick for the Panthers. This was an important piece to their franchise, Jonathan Brooks, they hope. I mean, they're the only ones that have seen it. And then they give a big bag of money to Chuba, who has been good. And so I think our rants will be...

Really on two sides here because I think Mike and I are on the not big GM side. Okay. And Andy over here is big GM. I don't even know. I'm big Chuba. First, good for you, Chuba. Get paid. 100%. We love that. If you're a running back, get that money. But the building of a team that doesn't have a franchise quarterback. Maybe. Maybe.

Well, okay. You're back on Bryce Young? I'm not on Bryce Young. Okay. We don't have to speak in extremes. I just said maybe. Okay. So the jury is still out currently on Bryce Young. If you were the GM right now. And you end up with a top pick. I think.

I think in a vacuum, I like the move. I think if you want to contextualize it with how many holes they have to fill. And that is literally everything. All I'm saying. I don't think you cannot contextualize it. This isn't in a vacuum. This is a very specific team that did this. There's no Hoover in sight. Take the vacuum out then.

I will be the contrary. Okay. Chuba Hubbard is an outstanding running back who deserves this contract with a team. Yes. Your aspirations...

for Jonathan Brooks would be to achieve a level of efficiency similar to what Chuba Hubbard has performed for your terrible team that can't pass. Like Chuba's done so much in two years without a threat of a pass. So I think Chuba independently, great running back. You hope Jonathan Brooks can become that. Brooks also coming off a serious injury. Also, and I know the comparison, you didn't like it as much, Jason. I'm still going to make it.

The best team in football invested the most money in draft capital on David Montgomery and Jameer Gibbs. The highest paid contracts in football at running back, CMC, Taylor Barkley, Jacobs, Henry Mixon, playoff teams. We've also watched how...

horrible it has been for teams that have decided to punt the the running back position we also have cowboys cowboys raiders uh bangles to an extent the list goes on there are more teams in that we can't say with one breath help your future rookie quarterback or bryce young either one you can pick either one you got to get him something to help him and then bemoan

a general manager and a team willing to spend that money, in my opinion. So you need two backs in this league because if one goes down and you're running out junk behind him, now this is a full nut kick to every Jonathan Brooks dynasty manager in the universe. It's a wide foot. It's a wide foot. We've talked about it. It may be going up inside you. The foot is doing things. But the reality is, is

is you wanted Jonathan Brooks to have the opportunity to be Joe Mixon or Saquon Barkley or Eckler in his prime, the guy, and that's gone. Yeah, well, and that is the issue I see from a team-building standpoint is –

And I will credit them or at least give them the benefit of the doubt in that maybe they, being the only ones right now who have seen Jonathan Brooks practicing and seeing what he's doing, maybe they're disappointed. Maybe they're going, man, we expected him to really be a sensation here at practice and he's not.

He's not. We're worried. Let's make sure we've got Chuba in the future. I don't know. But when they drafted Jonathan Brooks as the first running back off the board, this was to be their... We talked about the Rashad White role that Dave Canales had just had, whereas you've got this bell cow back, this great pass catching back that's a centerpiece of your offense who doesn't come off the field much. We hoped that they had that, and if they did...

to then spend that much money when they have so many holes on the roster and have a double investment. I know the Lions did it to success, but the Lions are doing it behind an incredible offensive line with a great team. They were already above .500. They were 9-8 when they let Jamal Williams go, and in that offseason,

you know, did those moves. So I see it as wildly different. This is a franchise that has so many needs to dump a four-year extension on an unrestricted free agent middling Jaguar. You're competing against yourself here on the contract. He's not setting the... You know, if Chuba goes out to the open market, is he getting this money from another franchise? Yeah. You think he is? Oh, yeah. I do. I mean, then... I don't think they're competing against themselves. I think that it was...

I honestly think they may have got him a little bit cheaper than what his fair market contract would be. And this is like Chuba saying, no, I'm not going to. He could risk it and go out there and see if the market didn't end up being wrong or take a guaranteed $15 million. So good for you, Chuba. Here we thought we were just reporting and not ranting. Silly us. Well, no, we said we'd report first. Then rant. Oh, in the same news story. 100%. Got it. Well, listen, there's another report.

Well, actually, there's two more reports. I'm going to rant on all of them. You give me the report. Well, Dak and Trevor Lawrence are the two that I want to bring up. Two quarterbacks throwing the football to CeeDee Lamb and Brian Thomas Jr. They look like they could be on the shelf. Dak Prescott, the technical term, partial avulsion of the hamstring, the non-technical term, ripped off the bone. I do love meat off the bone. Well. But just not in this situation. No, not in this situation. Less delicious. I don't know how you like muscle.

What do you think the meat is you're eating, Mike? Is it pure muscle? Yeah. All right. You're eating muscle. I mean, it's more fat, but you don't like the fatty parts. Yeah, that's the flavor. That's flavor town. Dak, we're not eating Dak's hamstring, first of all. Second of all, he may require surgery. So CeeDee Lamb said he's going to be out there on Sunday, but he's going to be out there with a different quarterback, likely Cooper Rush with a pinch of Trey Lance. I mean, I don't know what –

clown show play calling is going to happen. But Cooper Rush, two quarterback leagues, pick them up. Would you rather pick up Mac Jones or Cooper Rush in two quarterback leagues? Because we haven't got to the Trevor Lawrence. Well, let's just share that real quick. Trevor Lawrence, left shoulder, weighing options. There was a report from, I believe, Jay Gruden saying that it's going to be surgery for Lawrence. So Mac Jones or Cooper Rush, which would I rather have? I think Mac Jones is a better quarterback.

I don't know. But I think the game plan for the Jacksonville Jaguars is going to revolve around the running game because they can do it with Bigsby and Etienne, whereas in Dallas they can't and they'll have to throw and their defense has struggled. I tend to lean Cooper Rush. Oh, I'm more on the Mac Jones side. I realize you've got Seedy, and that's awesome. That might be enough to take Cooper Rush over the top.

But you do have weapons in Evan Ingram and Brian Thomas Jr. and Travis Etienne out of the backfield. Mac Jones, you know, he's a top 15 draft pick. He's been a starter in the league. Yeah, he was. It was incorrect. His rookie year, Mac Jones looked absolutely fantastic.

For a rookie, I mean, he didn't look bad. And the offense sputtered and sucked. And he certainly, I'm not sitting here banging the drum that Mac Jones is a great quarterback, but he showed enough where as a competent backup who can come in and run an NFL offense, there are some times where these backup quarterbacks come in, and I think this could be the situation with Cooper Rush, where they come in and it is,

The offense is over. We saw that in Miami where it's like the offense didn't work without Tua. Just flat didn't work. You couldn't do anything. And I don't see that for Mac Jones. Mac Jones is going to struggle. He might be on the Kenny Pickett starter level, but he can still get the ball to Brian Thomas Jr. a little bit more, and I would expect him to score more points than Cooper Rush personally. Cooper Rush is 5-1.

in starts. Yep. He also only threw three total picks. It was all in one game and didn't throw any interceptions in their other three victories. Won 20-17, 23-16. That was a much better Dallas Cowboys team. So we'll see. Right now,

Jason says he'd add Mac Jones. I'd add Cooper Rush, but I'd add them both. And we're losing what we came to expect from these offenses. That's the fundamental truth. I will say if my dream comes true, CeeDee's fine. Alave's going to take time off before returning to the field. Yeah. And the big news that I wanted to just make a pure rant about

is that the news is reporting now, I mean, we're getting sources close to the situation telling us that essentially Dennis Allen put Kendrick Miller on the injured reserve out of spite. I mean. Out of spite. They were jokes. He. They weren't actually jokes. They weren't jokes, though. The best jokes are based in truth. Comedy is based in truth. And the thing is, the whole old rant against Dennis Allen was like,

You suck as far as taking care of your players, building them up. You are frustrated at a player getting injured, and you let that internalize and make you into a mad person instead of being a rise-above-it head coach. Yeah, I mean, basically, he had a hamstring injury. Miller does. The team acknowledged this was a minor injury, and out of pure, unadulterated spite,

He put him on the IR because he couldn't rely on him. It's funny. When he went on the IR, we thought as a collective, we were like, oh, man, Dennis Allen's going to be so pissed that Kendrick Miller is on the IR again. And little did we know, he was celebrating. He put him there. He was like, get rid of that. You're going in timeout, Kendrick. Here's what he did. I saw some –

footage inside his office. He made the call, said put him on IR. He got up. He walked over. He had a signed football hanging on his wall. He picked that football up. He spiked it. He was so thrilled with his transaction. And then the team removed Dennis Allen from the premises and said, you are no longer the head coach. Well, what else do we have news-wise? We have Gus Edwards coming back from injured reserve.

You have Will Levis was limited. He's going to practice a bit more for the Titans. So we could be back to Will Levis for the starter as the Titans. And we are getting a report that Baker Mayfield is not practicing today. However, we are told he will be fine. So if you see Baker's not there, that's the report we have right now. Yeah, a long Monday night game with 40-plus passes makes sense to take a day. Nico Collins? Oh, man.

So I heard. So he's passed all the tests for his hamstring. Jason is as close to flying to freaking Houston as a man has ever been. Yeah, I'm going to. He wants a pair of binoculars. I want to just have a conversation with the people around there and know what's going on and really encourage them to get Nico back out on the field. My understanding, no setbacks.

He has his full speed and mobility there. Passed the test. I heard, and more information on the test, he was running at over 20 miles an hour, which is, I mean, that's full speed. That's, you know, the tweets that go out, oh, so-and-so hit, you know, 20 miles an hour or whatever. Yeah, but did he practice? No, he's not practicing, and they don't know if he's going to play this week. What are you, like, come on. Don't play it safe. No risk it, no biscuit.

I need Nico now. Tell that to Mike Evans. But that was different. He was literally hobbling on the sideline with a hamstring problem and then was like, I'm going to go back out for one more play and then another. You think Nico wouldn't do that? I'm not saying he wouldn't do it. My point is right now he's fine. He's had the weeks off. Maybe. He passed all the tests, Mike. I don't know how bad these tests are, but he's passed whatever test they came up with.

Do you, are you excited that it's a Sunday night matchup? I am not excited that it's a Sunday night matchup. I really, really need, I just made a huge trade for him and in so doing got rid of other startable players. You were trying to get rid of the injury uncertainty that is Pukunuku. Yes. And instead I picked up the, I mean, here's what I picked up. I picked up the

fully healthy and ready to dominate Nico. I'm just tilting in preparation. I can't. Those Houston Texans, man. Up to no good just taking a fully healthy player and saying we're not going to play him. That's unbelievable. And we don't need that guy. Look at our receiving core without him. Our passing game is dominating. Because we got these cool helmets. Oh, I want to see Nico in that uniform. He'll be so good.

You better hope he stays healthy if he plays. That was today's News and Notes presented by USAA Insurance. Learn more at USAA.com slash insurance. We'll take a break. We'll come back with our Shards of the Week.

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Before we get into the start of the week, I'm not sure if we missed the news, but regarding tonight's matchup, Isaiah Likely is out. Oh, yes. And T. Higgins is listed as doubtful. I can't imagine his place. What a...

What a free agent year for T Higgins. He is, uh, he's not doing the Chuba path. Yeah. But the thing is, is he's a wide receiver, not a running back. So when he hits the free agent market, if he, if he literally doesn't play another game this entire year, he will get a super big bag of money. Maybe I'll put a dollar on it right now. Uh, okay. Okay. Okay. But so if he doesn't play a game for the rest of the year, right? Well, that's not a very good bet. So, uh,

Yeah, I mean, T is necessary for this team to make the playoffs, I think. Yeah, their offense is not as good without him. But Sticky Gasicki is a play tonight. Agreed. And I think a play over most tight ends other than the top four or five. Let's jump in. Starts of the week.

All right, starts of the week for Week 10. I'm going to start with my quarterback, a player that I tried to pick up off of the waiver wire to play this week over Kyler Murray. And instead, my opponent picked him up and will be playing him against me. It's Brock Purdy. The 49ers are coming off the bye. They got a 28-point implied total. They're on the road in Tampa, who gives up a ton of points.

And, look, there is a variable there for Brock Purdy. Oh, yes, there is. And you think I'm going to say Christian McCaffrey. Yeah. Christian McCaffrey helps. I'm talking about rushing touchdowns. Yeah, I mean, that's true. Mason was scoring rushing touchdowns. To me, it is actually the health and wellness of Debo Samuel and Juwan Jennings, who both did not practice on Wednesday, even though they've been off the bye.

I think they're going to play football. But if you go out there and it's Kittle and Pearsall and dot, dot, dot, that would be the only concern. But if those guys are back out there, I just don't see a path where Purdy isn't 202 in this game, which is the streaming standard. And the upside is even greater with the ability to throw the football to Christian McCaffrey. I think we're all really anticipating that debut, but...

You know, Tampa's shown an ability, even against Kansas City, to put up enough points to make the game more competitive. And I think the 49ers are a step down from where they were in the kind of dominating everybody tier last year. So I think it will be more competitive. Yeah, I love the matchup. That's why I want to Brock on my team. If he doesn't have his weapons, another good option. My start of the week was my stream of the week. It's Kirk Cousins against New Orleans in New Orleans.

The Falcons have a 25-point team-applied total. That's good. Since week five, you know, you had Kirk Cousins coming off the Achilles, but he's been on an absolute heater. He's 72% completion percentage. He's on pace since that time for 5,000 yards and 44 touchdowns. I mean, any...

Quarterback, 4,500 passing yards and 35 touchdowns. That's going to be basically a top six fantasy quarterback. He's been blowing that out of the water. And over the last month, the Saints' schedule adjusted. They're 25th in allowing fantasy points to quarterbacks.

So eat it, Dennis. Dennis Allen, you can watch your former team get cooked by Kirk Cousins. And just like my Brock Purdy, Deebo, Juwan Jennings situation, do you retract your confidence that Drake London is not available? Yeah, it certainly makes it more difficult where I might look at other options, but the expectation that I have seen so far this week is they're day-to-day and should be good to go this weekend. Mine's pretty clear-cut. It's Sam Darnold.

For the Minnesota Vikings against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He's been top ten four times. He's really only had one dud, and that was against the New York Jets. So...

That happens. He leads the NFL in passing touchdowns inside the 10. That is fabulous. And just it's the matchup. We've been talking about it all year. However, just to remind you, the Jags defense, 32nd in schedule adjusted points to the quarterback, 32nd in expected points added per play, 32nd in yards per play, 31st in explosive pass rate. This is a very good situation for the Vikings. There are 32 teams in there. Yeah, yes. And they are last in nearly every metric.

All right, let's turn over to DeAndre Swift at running back. I'm going to take him against New England. You know, last week, that offense really, really struggled. The Shane Waldron experience, the Waldron Express derailing at the moment. What? But Swift is averaging 19 opportunities per game. He's been the running back six since week four. The Patriots are 31st in schedule adjusted fantasy points allowed to running backs.

This is going to be a game you can win on the ground, protect your quarterback, and so I'm going to go DeAndre Swift. I'm going with James Conner at home against the Jets. Yes, I think he's a good start. You ignore the fact that last week two other Cardinal running backs scored touchdowns.

James Conner was awesome in that game. He went over 100 yards against the Bears. He's the engine of this offense. He's seen 40% of the team's total rush attempts plus targets over the last three weeks. That is a phenomenal number. And on the road this year,

The Jets have allowed the six most fantasy points to running backs. Jordan Mason was the running back three. Tony Pollard was a running back two. He had five receptions. The Minnesota running backs combined for 18 fantasy points and a touchdown. Ramondre Stevenson had two touchdowns, was the RB7. Joe Mixon last week was over 100 yards, was the running back 11. At home, they're favored by a point. James Conner is the engine. He should be a great start, should be started.

I'm going Tyrone Tracy in the international game against the Carolina Panthers. He's averaging 18 opportunities a game over the last five with three top 10 performances in that span. He's a good player. The Giants, they found themselves a player later in the draft. So congratulations to them and the matchup. And later in life. Yeah, sure. He's an elder statesman for a rookie. Sure. Carolina, dead last in schedule adjusted points to running backs. It's going to be great for Tracy.

I'm going to go with the other side of Jason start of the week, Kirk Cousins. I'm going Darnell Mooney against New Orleans. He is the wide receiver 12 on the season. He is a player that I think a lot of decisions have to be made on a weekly basis because you didn't draft him to be a starter, and now he's turned into that. Drake London's banged up.

We've talked about the Saints. They struggle against wide receivers, 26th, and fantasy points given up. And guess what? No more Marshawn Lattimore. Let's get Darnell Mooney out there, and he's my start of the week. And oh my gosh. What do you got? Nothing. What? No. What? Oh, you didn't see mine. Yeah. I told him as I was walking out the building yesterday, I said, Jason,

You don't have to. You don't have to do it. That's right. I don't. But I get to. Quadruple down. Hey, look. When I made him my start of the week last time, he was fine. Caught a touchdown. Last week, he's coming off of 126 yards. Nine targets. He had a great game. He's playing good football. The first month of the season was terrible, but

But my start of the week, Tank Dell, he's been good, guys. The fact that you guys are like, you don't have to do this is a reason why I think it needs to be done because maybe people are still thinking he hasn't been playing good football. He has. Double-digit fantasy points at three of the last four weeks. Now, Nico, I expect back.

All the hullabaloo, I expect back. But either way, whether he's back and it's just those two because Stephon Diggs is gone, or whether he's the only guy like he was last week when he got nine targets and led the team in target share and finally connected on a deep bomb 50-yarder,

This is a team where you've got to throw the ball. Joe Mixon's going to have a tough time being the center of the offense against the Detroit Lions. They're the second highest opponent pass rate in the NFL. You have to throw on Detroit. The Lions secondary ranks 28th in schedule adjusted fantasy points allowed to wide receivers and wide receivers in the slot where Tank Dell is good from there as well. They give up a lot of points there. So I think in Detroit,

temperature controlled environment uh good game script for him tank dell should be started i mean you got to look at your options but he's a good start did you just edge at the end a little bit my point i'm just saying what you made this long robust compelling compelling argument it was fully statistically based it all made sense it was it convinced me

Yeah, and now I'm out. And then it's like, I'm looking at the other pieces on my team. Everybody was putting him in the lineup. Now they're looking at the other options. You should put him in the lineup. But look at the other pieces on your team. Just in case you don't want to do it. If you're making a decision between Devontae Smith

you know, or Tank Dell. Nobody's making that decision. Okay, well, then we're good here. Let's start Tank Dell. Who would you start? Genuine question. We got two starts of the week, and honestly, they're back-to-back in my rankings. Mooney. Tank Dell or Darnell Mooney. Okay, so there's a situation where it's like,

That's not an anti-tank they'll take. That's like Mooney's just been unstoppable. We're just having fun. My wide receiver star of the week, it's Jawan Jennings. What an idiot! Andy, I will update you. Jennings and Samuel were listed as limited. It was not an out of practice. They are limited. Jennings, he hasn't played since week six. But when he's been on the field, everything we wanted from Brandon Ayuk,

It was like, seems like Jennings might be that guy. He's tied with Kittle for the team lead. Percent of routes targeted, 25%. It's a 51-point over-under. And Tampa Bay's secondary is allowing the most completions per game. The second most fantasy points to outside wide receivers. Great matchup. I know that Christian McCaffrey is back, but I believe in the Brock Purdy start as well, and I just want pieces of this game. Well, I'm going to need to borrow a pair. Oh, brother, we got...

The blacksmith's working overtime this week. Is he? Let me hold on. I'm going to look at... Oh, yeah, you do. Titanium underpants. Oh, yes. I'm going to try a rookie tight end on for size along with those underpants. If you are not playing a top five tight end that you have confidence in, I think Theo Johnson is an interesting streaming candidate against Carolina. You know Darius Slayton's dealing with the concussion issue.

He has quietly ran the seventh most routes. Not quiet. I mean, that's a beast of a man out there. Theo Johnson for the Giants, 84% of snaps, seventh most routes at the position, scored last week, at least three receptions the last two weeks. I think the matchup is just glorious. The Carolina Panthers, it's about the matchup.

They're dead last against tight ends. And they also give up touchdowns, five in the last three weeks. So that's the play. It's a matchup play. I would jump in there versus trying to – a good example here. I would not try to play the roulette in New Orleans. Foster Moreau, Juwan Johnson, Taysom Hill. I would actually go Theo Johnson. Really? Yeah. I think I'd go Taysom over. That's fine. But I like the play. It's like Dalton Schultz.

If you've been rolling him out, pick up Theo Johnson. The matchup. He's so slow. The matchup is certainly there. I'm going to make TJ Hawkinson my start of the week. I think you can put him in the lineup. Last week, we took a wait-and-see approach. First game back. Only played 45% of the snaps.

He is a player that last year was often in the 80%, 90%. This is a full-time star tight end for their offense. They got him out in week one, let him play a little less than half the snaps. He looked good out there. I thought he was utilized well. He was targeted four times on 24 routes. I expect those numbers to come up this week. And the matchup, Mike, you talked about Jacksonville.

Not good. Yeah. Well, guess what? Not good against tight end. I know it's shocking, but since week three, they ranked 30th in scheduled adjusted fantasy points, allowed two tight ends.

Oh my goodness. What is happening? We are down a deucer in Deucer's Alley. And the Falcon is reported. He's here. The Falcon has... Who's... Deucers be deucing, man. Are you kidding me? No, I'm not. Papa Josh? The show is an hour long. Poopa Josh? Poopa Josh. I mean, this is a one-hour podcast. We just do it every day.

We even know the time during in-season. It's a scheduled hour. Let me ask you something. How many shows have we done? We're on show 1,672. Between all shows, thousands. Did any of us, have any of the three of us ever had to go Falcon? No.

Yes. One time. Yes. Oh, okay. We didn't have to pause the show once. All right. But this is becoming a theme, and I don't know if we should have like a health kick for our Deucer's Alley roll. They are spending our money on new breakfasts every day. Yeah, they are. I've seen this. I could smell it this morning. Oh, the oatmeal smelled delicious. With a little extra fiber. It did not work well for Papa Josh, or it worked really well, depending on what your goals are. All right, Mike. Hunter, Henry, is your start of the week at tight end? Hold on.

Do you need them? Yes. Steel underpants. Yes. I'm putting steel underpants on. Steel's layer one, but I don't think you need them. I don't think so either. I think you can take your underpants off. I think you can rock Donald Duck style here. Well, he's the tight end eight on the year. I'm keeping him on. He's the tight end eight, and yet people, are people playing Hunter Henry? Yeah. They're playing him over Theo. I know that.

Look, in three, Drake Mays starts a 21% target share, averaging nearly six receptions per game. So we got a lot of tight ends here on the bye. Bowers, Najoku, Kraft, we got to find options that we can play. And I think that Hunter Henry, there's a great chance that him and Theo are on your waiver wire. And I think that they're both in play. The Bears, 23rd against...

in schedule adjusted against the tight end position. Evan Ingram, 10 receptions versus him in his first game back. Zach Ertz, the

The jackpot Zach Ertz game, 7 for 77, was against the Bears. I'm putting Henry. Yeah, the Bears' defense, their passing defense is very, very good, and especially against wide receivers. And so if you are going to lock down Pop Douglas and whoever else, if Jalen Polk's getting an opportunity to do it. That's cute, the thought that we have to lock down Pop Douglas. My point is Hunter Henry is your primary outlet in this game. I like him as a start.

By the way, Brooksie pointing out that we don't even change the clocks here. This is not like their cycle. Welcome back, Josh. Welcome back. How are we doing? You thought we wouldn't. I knew it. Of course you knew it. Take a dump. Get dumped on on the show. I can tell you a tip because I don't know if this is great for health or not. But no.

you're allowed to hold it for like 45 more minutes. I already did that. I mean, I'm just saying I've done it so many times in my life where I feel my body and my body goes, oh, I think I can poop. And I'm like, what? Now's not the right time. I'm going to wait an hour. Not with these modern free bowel culture that we got. I would have an argument of when my body's like the rockets, we're cleared for launch.

I'm going. There's no hour holding. You are. I'm more of a loose moose. Oh, man. Next segment. Next segment. Go. It's time for Fantasy Forecast, presented by DraftKings Sportsbook. Look, we don't want to talk about these things, but we are, in fact, in authority. Oh, we sure are. Okay. Okay.

All right, we have three deuces, and we have, well, make it four with this London game, maybe. The New York Giants at 2-7, taking on the Chuba Hubbard-led Carolina Panthers. Take that, London. You'll watch this game, and you'll like it. We're giving you our best. By the way, the Browns, Packers, Raiders, Seahawks on by. But London, it's a morning game. It's a 40-point over-under, according to DK Sportsbook. The Giants, 6.5-point road favorites.

I do love me some Giants defense. That is the go-to in this one. Bryce Young has played better, slightly, but there are still so many plays. He has. So many plays in a game where I feel like he has moved around in the pocket, set himself up, planted his feet, and thrown a just nasty football. And so the Giants defense is a great start here. Malik Nabors, of course. Tyrone Tracy, of course. Mike, you brought him up. And his rushing line.

That was what I was going to bring up. It's outrageous. On DK, it's 73.5 yards. That is awesome for a start of the week. You should not have traded him, Jason. I can see that. You have Hawkinson. You probably want to play Hawkinson. And you traded Tracy for Najoki. Yes, I did. But I got an upgraded pick swap.

as well in there. Hindsight being 2020, I would rather have Tyrone Tracy. He's been outstanding. He has taken over the role ahead of Devin Singletary. He's a great start this week against the Carolina Panthers because the Panthers...

And presumably they will be down in this game, which actually brings up to me, I think this is a good matchup for starts for the Giants. Not that anyone is not starting Malik Neighbors, but Malik Neighbors has been down. I mean, week seven through nine, he's averaging under 10 fantasy points a game. It's been the wide receiver 43, 38, and 29. However, this is a get right week for him. The pass rush for the Panthers doesn't exist. When they blitz,

They get after the quarterback like so far and away worst in the league behind second worst that Daniel Jones is actually going to have time in the pocket to find neighbors, connect with some throws that are a little bit further down the field. Theo Johnson. Or Theo Johnson. But I do think – Or Wandale. Yeah.

I mean, Daniel Jones, Mike, he was your stream of the week. I ended up trading for Baker in our League of Record, but I lost Dak Prescott, and I have Geno on by, and I'm looking at the waivers. I was going to start Daniel Jones this week. I think you can do it in this matchup against Carolina. So Chuba Hubbard, yes. If you took a shot on a wide receiver, it would be Xavier Liget. Yep, it's still him. And would you play Xavier Liget in this matchup, or would you go to the newly not suspended Jameson Williams against Houston?

I imagine I'd be playing Jamison. I think it's really, really close. I think I'm going Leggett. Jamison wasn't dealing with an injury, so you don't worry about re-aggravation. This was a suspension. But Leggett has been...

I've brought it up. He's basically been double-digit fantasy points three of the last four weeks. Now, those are on the backs of touchdowns, but at least he's being utilized and looked for in the red zone when he's a big-body guy. Yeah, the last four games, like Jameson Williams came out the gates. It was like, hey, this is one of the steals of the draft, which nine targets, 11 targets, but then it's three, two, four, and one. He's Jameson Williams, and so his calling card is the huge play, but if you're only getting –

three to four opportunities a week, your consistency of hitting that is going to be lower. Did you realize there are seven teams tied at two and seven for the number one pick right now? I did not. Wow. There are seven teams that are two and seven. New England, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Carolina, Cleveland, Las Vegas, and the Giants.

Man, so who's going to really try to tank it first? I guess the Panthers are. They said they're starting Bryce Young, right? Yeah. Imagine being 2-7, tied with the worst record, but get the seventh pick. I mean, that's what the Giants are in right now. Speaking of 2-7, New England. They take on the Chicago Bears in Chicago. Chicago's six-point home favorites. The over-under is just 38-and-a-half.

38 and a half. I think both defenses will be fine in this game. 100%. I really do. Although DeAndre Swift I think will have a big-time game. But beyond that, I have no confidence starting Moore, Odunze, Allen, Komet. I dropped Allen in a certain league this week because there's just better options with upside. He had 10 targets. He still does nothing. The way this offense functions right now, it's kind of –

Swift and no one else. Yeah, Mike and I traded for DJ Moore in our champ, champ, champ dynasty league. But he's on our bench right now. We see him as a dynasty play until...

Maybe until Shane Waldron is gone or until Caleb Williams overcomes the offensive system and shows improvement. I don't think you can start the pass catchers there. On the other side, Ramondre Stevenson is such a funny start because he's been putrid, terrible, but it doesn't really matter in the sense that the opportunities are being given to him still. They aren't looking at his lack of production and saying,

we've got to get Gibson more involved. We've got to find a different way, a different player. They're just continuing to give him the ball, the red zone work. He's scoring touchdowns. So in this matchup against the Bears where it's very difficult to throw on them, but they aren't the strongest rush defense, I think you've got a flex option here in remandre. And then Mike brought up Hunter Henry earlier. His reception line's at four and a half. I'll take that. Yeah, it'll get you by. Yeah.

You know, you got them underpants on. I'd take the over on that. I actually think that's – Ooh, that's a high one, though. It is, but – He's been over it for three straight weeks. Yeah, I mean, his target – That's how you lose money. His target pecking order. I think, you know, you've got a guy who nine targets, six targets, eight targets in the last three weeks. And they're going to need him. A friend to a rookie quarterback, no question. And Drake May has had his – you know, he's had his good plays, good production. He's averaging almost 50 yards rushing.

every game, which is almost double what Caleb Williams is doing. So he's making things happen. They got to overtime last week, couldn't pull it out. But, you know,

Not my favorite game of the week to watch. No. Caleb Williams' touchdowns have been coming at home. I don't know if that's just small sample size. I guess so. No, no. I couldn't even get it. Is there a button for not even getting it? Buffalo, 7-2. The Colts, 4-5. The DraftKings Sportsbook line, Buffalo, minus 4. The over-under is a much more palatable 48 points. So...

Joe Flacco at home, I think we'll bounce back. I really do. I think this will be a bounce back performance for Joe Flacco, for Josh Downs, and for Jonathan Taylor. I don't think it's going to be easy, but I do think it's going to be more competitive than people think. And that's why, look, Buffalo record-wise, far superior than Indianapolis. It's a four-point gap. Where do you guys sit on this game and the options?

Yeah, I was surprised that it was only four points, but I think it is giving the Colts a little bit more credence at home. Their offensive line has been good. They're number one in PFF's run-blocking grade, and that is where the Bills, very similar to the Bears, the Bills have a pretty much great pass defense, and you can run on them. They're 29th.

In schedule adjusted, fantasy points given up to the running back position. 30th in total fantasy points given up to that position while being top 10 against all the others. And when you look at at home Jonathan Taylor with this offensive line, Jonathan Taylor should eat big time this week. Jonathan Taylor, last time that he was at home against Buffalo as a big underdog, he had 185 yards and four touchdowns.

So I do think that stylistically there is a path here for the Colts to surprise and be okay in this game. Josh Allen, of course. James Cook, the RB11 on the season, five receptions last week. Ray Davis still being involved and making big plays from time to time. What on earth is happening at wide receiver? Because Keon Coleman might miss several weeks. They got some wrist problems. It's a wrist injury. Amari Cooper, questionable, limited on Wednesday, a wrist problem.

Is Khalil Shakir a smash play in this one? I don't think you can ever call him that, but he's a good start. Seven targets, ten targets, seven targets the last three weeks. He's the wide receiver 23. PPR-wise, Shakir is certainly someone that you can start. I mean, if you're looking at different flex options, he is –

he is someone that I wouldn't, I see him as having an extremely high floor because they give him so many screens and he, you know, there's lots of players out there that have screens designed for them that never go anywhere. It feels like every one of his screens picks up yards. They've just got that down to a science. I don't know if it's Josh Allen getting the ball out quicker or the blockers being schemed better, but they work. So I think at a full PPR league

Khalil Shakir is like, yeah, I mean, it's hard to put him on your bench. Would you flex him or would you flex Dalton Kincaid who had 10 targets last week? The Colts are 29th against...

Over the last six weeks, 29th against tight ends, 31st on the year season adjusted, and then you have these wide receiver injuries. I'd go Shakir. I'd go Shakir. You know, you look at Dalton Kincaid, and even with all those targets, if you go from week four, his last six games, he's on pace for 121 targets. That is a number that's outrageously great for a tight end, and he's also scoring, on average, seven fantasy points. Want to hear something crazy? What's that?

Catch percentage for Shakir versus Dalton Kincaid, 93% for Khalil Shakir. That is absurd. 59% for Dalton Kincaid. Their yards per catch, 11.2 for Shakir, 10.4 for Dalton Kincaid. He is throwing...

What, less accurate passes? Oh, gosh. Oh, no. No! Are you kidding me? No! Dude, don't let... Josh, where's Josh? Don't let Poopa Josh eat oatmeal anymore in the morning. What happened? He's leaving again. He said he had a round two. Oh, my brother. Goodness gracious. It's about time. Jeremy, ow. You have got to prepare yourself now because it's moving its way down Deucer's alley. The falcon has usually been the one struggling with the bowels. Now it's on to Poopa Josh.

and soon no i'm good man i'll hold it'll be yes that's what i was going with it's gonna be bowel borland this is i'm sorry everybody but uh josh better stay here an extra 30 minutes right at work today yeah for sure even when his work is all the way to 12 30 yeah all right um michael pitman is week to week right now and he didn't practice on a wednesday because look

Remember, we are two or three weeks removed from Michael Pittman's going on the IR. He didn't do that and he went right back to practice. It was a horrifically bad production game for Pittman last week. He, I think, is the biggest question here of...

I would not start Michael Pittman. No? I think there's an emergency situation where you... The first three games with Flacco, over 10 points a game. He had four targets. That's not Pittman-like. The injuries are concerning. It's a combination of the injuries, what we saw from Flacco last week, and the matchup. This is not a great matchup. They're fourth against...

wide receivers the Buffalo Bills are. And so I don't like the matchup for an injured player who's coming off of back-to-back one reception games. Yeah, I'm with you, and I'm worried about the fact you could get completely nothing out of it. One interesting fact about Josh Downs, whose receiving line is at 61.5 receiving yards, I know you were let down by him last week. Buffalo plays the fourth highest percentage of two high safety games

Downs is a 40% target per route run against too high safety. So it's a good matchup for Downs at home with Joe Flacco and a likelihood that they'll need to continue to throw to get back into this game. I mean, on the season, you got Downs with 82 yards, 69 yards, 66 yards, 109 yards, 60 yards. He is a reliable player that you can put in your lineup and should be started. The Denver Broncos are 5-4. They travel to...

A daunting Arrowhead Stadium to play the Chiefs who are 8-0. DraftKings Sportsbook line, Kansas City, minus 7.5. The over-under is just 42. That implies only 17 points. Oh, man. I thought you were hitting the button. 17 points. Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no. No? No. The Broncos 7.5 versus this defense? I don't like rookie quarterbacks on the road in Arrowhead trying to – I tried to do this two weeks ago.

and um i'm hitting the button for you yeah this is your almost upset of the week all right yeah oh they're gonna get their butts so here's the thing i really genuinely believe what i'm about to say okay i think that the broncos played decently well last week against the baltimore ravens when i watched them they they made a lot of good plays they they moved the ball enough they they

I think they played well. They lost 10-41. If you just look at the box score and be like, you got blown out 41-10, you'd think they stunk. They can't score enough against Kansas City. They can't do it. I agree. Javante's not going to do it.

This is a tough situation for a rookie. I think Bo Nix has been fantastic. You know, on the Dynasty show this week, we had kind of a bold prediction the rest of the season, and my bold prediction was I think Bo Nix is going to be a top 10 fantasy quarterback the rest of this season. Starting next week. Yeah, I do. I think that Bo Nix is a –

sit him down situation for this week. Yeah, I'm not saying I'm playing, but I'm not enthusiastic about the fantasy options for Denver on this matchup. You've got every right to call an upset. I think this game will be close. Is that right?

Closer than it's being projected. Close would make sense. Kansas City's yet to cover the spread as a touchdown favorite this year. They're 0-4. 7.5 is a lot. Yeah, it's divisional. But they're going to win by 24. The Ravens, that was the third time they've hit 41 points on the season. They're outrageous on offense. Meanwhile, I think last week was...

The first time the Chiefs have, yeah, 30 points. That was the first time that they've gotten 30. I could see this being a close game, but it's not going to be because of Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos offense. It's going to be because Denver Broncos defense is very good. They couldn't stop the Baltimore Ravens offense, who nobody can stop right now. I think they can stop Mahomes and this offense.

You don't think that in a divisional match up here. Okay. No, because I think the Chiefs are figuring it out on offense. And I think we've seen that over the last couple of weeks. Travis Kelsey, the effectiveness that he's had. DeAndre Hopkins, 8 for 86 and 2. Those are basically non-factor for, I mean, Hopkins wasn't there. Kelsey wasn't utilized.

I do think they're figuring it out. And I think Kareem Hunt makes the difference. Like if you look back at this, like two thirds of those guys weren't even playing football for this offense. It's a different offense. Mahomes has been good for two straight weeks.

But it's going to be a fun one to watch. I mean, the implied point total doesn't give you confidence to start a Bronco. No. Sutton would be the only one. 52-point yardage line. You're taking a chance. Yes, you're definitely, without a doubt, not starting Javante Williams. You sit him down this week. But Kareem Hunt? Kareem Hunt is in. Hopkins is in. Travis Kelsey is in. Mahomes is a good question. I wouldn't start him personally. I'd try not to. I'd try not to, but he might be fine.

He was okay last week, but last week, again, awesome matchup against Tampa Bay. That's why you've got Brock Purdy as your start of the week this week. They're able to keep up pace, and I don't think that they're going to need Mahomes to do much in this one. I'll give you the final word, Mike. Anything on this matchup? No. I think we've covered everything. Do you want to end it with a go Broncos? No. Okay. I don't. I'm just making sure. Do you want to end it with a go Chiefs?

You're the one who made the prediction. I just thought maybe you'd be rooting for your prediction. Apparently not. I don't have to. It's going to happen. Thanks for making a closeout really hard. I do think the Broncos frustrate the Chiefs offense this week. Somebody remember to come back to this, and then one of us on either side is going to have to. You think I'll forget? If you lose it, yeah, 100%. I think you'll forget if you lose it. Oh, yeah. But if I win. Forget what?

So maybe we'll forget. All right, we'll take a break. We'll be back in a minute. Okay, we've gone. We went to break. Is Josh back? Back on the toilet. Did he come back in between at all? No. Not yet. Moving forward. So as a producer. Hey! He's walking in right now. No, don't crawl. You're trying to crawl and pop up. The camera is on. It's literally on you.

Now he's talking without his microphone button. This is a disaster. I had to check something under the desk. There was a wire loose. Al, can I ask you a question? You can. How much, like as a producer, what would you say the most important part of your eight-hour day is? Producing this podcast. And how long is this podcast? About an hour. Okay. Yeah. It seems like an eternity right now. All right. The Atlanta Falcons at 6-3.

They are taking on the New Orleans Saints sitting at 2-7. DraftKings Sportsbook line Atlanta minus 3.5. The overrunner is 46. It's not a huge line. It's the divisional game. It might speak a little bit to the Drake-London injury situation.

It might also speak a little bit to the coaching bump. We talked about this, but the first game after a coach is removed from their services, usually that team does get a bump up. Their winning percentage goes up for the first week. So you're going to get – this is a home game for the Saints, and you're going to get some new juice and excitement and invigoration from both sides of the ball. This one I could see being an upset. Oh, not me. But –

I hope that three and a half and divisional games like this. It just reminds me of the Colts Jacksonville years where when they played each other, it was it was very, very close, but they don't have any wide receivers. Alvin Kamara is going to get work to the bone.

So that's good for fantasy. His rushing receiving yards line combo? Goosh! 111 and a half. 111? What? Heck yeah. Yeah. And I know what his... Try to guess how many opportunities he had last week in total. Can't guess. I know the answer. Try to know the answer and say it out loud. 38 opportunities? That's crazy. For a player who started his career as...

He was undersized. He's always going to be efficient. He's never going to be one of those guys that gets a ton of work. I remember back in the day, Sean Payton was kind of leaked that someone somewhere had to get a bar or something. Said Sean Payton was calling Alvin Kamara a little soft or weak. I don't remember. It was years ago. That is what happened. But now all of a sudden, Kamara is like, he's just...

Give him the beating. He'll take it and he'll keep going because you can give him the ball all the time. His work in the passing game is going to be outrageous. First of all, and we'll talk about this episode, but the Falcons... Right now. The Falcons are always giving up a lot of pass catching to opposing running backs. The fact that the opposing running back is Alvin Kamara, who is getting a lot of pass catching because there are no wide receivers here. Do we need to ban him?

From what? From our DraftKings lineups. That would be fun because he certainly will be in my lineup. We're just going to spend $8,600 or something, all of us. Yeah. Look, he's totally banned, guys. Oh.

Totally banned. I would agree to it. I would have the final agree. I agree that you two have banned Alvin Kamara. Okay. He's not in your lineup? I don't have my lineup yet. I haven't set mine yet, but he will be in my lineup. If we want to have a gentleman's agreement that he's not in there, that's fine. Sounds like we might have screwed ourselves, Jason. Sounds like you might have screwed us. I didn't bring this idea up. You said you'd agree to it.

No, I did. Yeah. No, I would. It wasn't my idea. I think I threw a full line. No, he's in there. I threw just a quick lineup to be in our tournament. Come here. It is in there. So what are we doing? Am I taking him out?

We can have this discussion and decide for tomorrow. We'll offline this. Yes. Bijan, his rushing line, 75 and a half. You play him. Algier could get into the end zone in this one. The Saints, 29th against the run. I do think Algier might be one of those touchdown guarantee type of weeks. Darnell Mooney started the week at wide receiver. Pitts not only had a bad week against the Saints in week four where he was goosed. He had a bad week last week, one catch, and he's dealing with a hamstring injury.

You know, you talk about he just feels like a risk this week. Yeah, he is. He is risky. But if Drake is out, or I mean, Drake will be limited no matter what. So, the matchup the last six weeks, the Saints defense is 10th against fantasy tight ends. So...

I mean, it's just like who, what waiver wire guy, like, are you doing our, are you putting the underpants on over Kyle Pitts? Not if Pitts was active. No, I wouldn't. I just try to play Pitts. I'm just a little nervous about what you're going to get. And what about Hawkinson? I'd play over him. Yeah. And Hunter Henry. I'd play Hunter Henry over Kyle Pitts. I'd be very fine doing that. I think you'd protect yourself against the hamstring injury. See what happens on Thursday, Friday as well. Practice report wise. So Taysom Hill, maybe.

Maybe you could do it. Yeah. It was a tight end five last week. If you – what we don't know is how much does the new coach love Taysom Hill? Like, does he have just –

an unstoppable, unconditional love for Taysom Hill like Dennis Allen and Sean Payton? Everyone does. If you meet him, the cologne he wears, the pheromones are unstoppable. I can't imagine that just because the head coach changes here that they would stop using Taysom the way that they have. Five targets, five attempts on the ground. That's pretty good. The pronunciation of the interim coach here, Kyle, is it Darren Rizzi?

Can we get an answer, Kyle? The Rizzler. Yeah. Oh, the Rizzler. That's what it's saying. In this world of skibbity toilet Ohio Riz, and you have a coach who's got the Rizz?

I mean, that's a pretty good sign for those Saints. To be fair, Dennis Allen had the least risk. Oh, yeah. Sometimes you got to. That reminds me. Pop it out. Not it. Just pop out. Yeah, it's just. That's Andy Holloway. It is the real problem with the sentence. You just pop off. You don't, you know. You're not popping it out. Yeah, you're going to jail. Look, I hadn't thought of that Camara story in forever, and it's like,

So if it was Sean Payton being a bit of a mentor for Dennis Allen, how are we surprised that he's mad at running backs and calling him soft? Well, I mean, to be fair, Sean Payton sucks and it's Alan sucks. And,

And their defensive coordinator. To be fair, Sean Payton. What was his name? Greg Williams? Oh, yeah. That dude sucks. Hey, guess what? He sucks. Payton is a good coach. I stand by that. He sucks. You've always been very anti-Sean Payton. I am not. It's because he's a sucky person.

He might be an okay coach. Those two things are never, they never have to be connected. No, no, they don't. You think Bill Belichick's a good dude? I think Bill Belichick's a good coach. Yes, he's a good coach. He's a terrible dude. Maybe. Yeah, maybe. I don't know. Very few people that are just doing one thing and one thing only.

Good. Very good people. Wow. That's, that's very philosophically deep and powerful. This is impressive knowledge. It's just hard to detour like the best of the best. They have a late, I mean, do you watch the Jordan documentary? Okay. Jordan's a butthole here. Jay, here you, Andy Holloway, Andy reads a bad person. Andy Reed is very focused on football. Sometimes the best of the best, but reads pretty cool. Mike Tomlin, bad person. Bundle Ruski. Yeah.

bundle ruski do oh man all right maybe i should be less uh exhaustive in my kind of yeah you could just cut it off at sean could we just leave it at sean payton yeah there you go yeah there you go i don't think so but yeah um

You like him? I do. Are you Big Peyton? I'm Big Peyton. I think he's got a massive ego, but what successful coach doesn't? That's almost what I literally just said. You just made the same argument. You said bad. Ego's not necessarily equal to bad person. Not a good trait. I love this conversation. The nuance. The nuance here. All right. Nuance is good. Sure. Sure. San Francisco, 4-4. Tampa Bay, 4-5.

We have... Wow, San Francisco's favored by six on the road in Tampa Bay. That is a little bit surprising to me. I agree. Oh, Andy is laughing. No, no, no. You guys talk about the game. This podcast is out of control. All right, DraftKings Sportsbook line in San Francisco favored. Quick check over to Deuce's alley. Okay, all three? They're all there. All right. The 49ers are favored by six. The over-under is 50 and a half. This is juicy. We want in on this game. This one is...

This is probably the most fun matchup of the week. Do you feel a little bit like Baker Mayfield with how injured his offense is, is just hanging on for dear life? He's waiting to push the clock back from midnight. He's like, you know what I mean? Because you're waiting for a pumpkin to happen, that clock strikes midnight, and he goes back to old Baker.

But he's doing everything in his power. I mean, he looked so good in such difficult situations last week against Kansas City. Obviously, the San Francisco 49ers, they are a good defense. But I agree with what you were saying earlier, Andy, that they're not the team of last year or the last several years that have just been unstoppable on both sides of the ball. This is an above-average team. Now, the sportsbook line being minus 7th,

six on the road. Maybe I'm just wrong and coming off the bye, the Niners are ready to just go out there and dominate. But the Buccaneers have showed so much fight that that line surprises me. I mean, I think San Francisco will play very well in this game. It's 28-22 in the implied point total. It's just, can we be excited for fantasy purposes? You've got Rashad White, kind of a resurgent Rashad White, double-digit fantasy points in three straight. What do you do with Rashad White here, though, of

Like it was six opportunities against the Chiefs. It was 12 the week before. I mean, like his opportunities aren't changing is what I'm getting out of those first five weeks before his injury. He's on pace, but he's just producing more. So are you buying into the uptick in production? So are you starting Rashard White? He's startable, but it's not what he was last year.

For sure. Because Bucky Irving is a very, very good player. Still limited with the toe injury. Going to be that way every week. He's a better runner. But Rashad White has found a way to even score on the ground in recent weeks. He has looked better on the ground. I mean, maybe this is better for him. 4.8 and 6.3 a carry on limited touches. Their offensive line has also played much better than last season. I think that's a part of both Bucky Irving and Rashad White's success. If...

Sterling Shepard is dealing with a hamstring and hip, and Jalen McMillan dealing with a hamstring. And then you've got Trey Palmer and Rakeem Jarrett. If you have to pick one in a game with a nice over-under.

I would play McMillan. That is who I would play if they were active. I thought a lot about this this week. I thought you were saying if McMillan and Shepard are out. No, no, no. I was saying if they're all there, I would play McMillan. Yeah, 100%. I'm not going to chase the very last drive of Sterling Shepard just because the injuries have been there and I don't believe he falls –

where you'd want him to in the pecking order with everybody healthy. Yeah, nor does he fall where you want him on explosive athlete at this stage in his career. So I would agree if they're all out there, McMillan would be the one in. I don't know that McMillan's going to play. He didn't practice Wednesday. It's only a Wednesday, but with a hamstring injury that already kept him out of a game, that's usually a multi-week injury. Kate Otten obviously is in everyone's lineup. Fantastic start with all these, you know,

know injuries we didn't even bring up obviously Mike Evans and Chris Godwin not playing Kate Otten is absolute must start material you'll just have you know eight plus targets in this game do we know if McMillan is out formally already can we I don't know I don't he's not listed as out I'll we can double check it but he is on sleeper he's listed as questionable okay

I saw some people talking about him being out. He's trending to be out. With a late week hamstring injury, ruled, doesn't make it to the game, it doesn't practice on Wednesday, I would say it's longer odds. Debo and...

John Jennings are both in if they play. If they don't play. Wait, he's practicing today, Kyle? Yeah, I was just going to say that. Oh, man. So it's the opposite of out. Jalen McMillan, Sterling Shepard, and Greg Gaines all practiced. We don't know in what. Take back what I said. I kind of like McMillan. Today was a walkthrough for what it's worth. Okay. So this is not, you know, they want him to be part of this game. TBD on the health. Tomorrow's practice will be everything. On the other side, Brock Purdy, Andy's start of the week. I'm in on that.

And then our fantasy football king should be back, Christian McCaffrey, whose DK touchdown odds are minus 215. What? Christian McCaffrey's anytime touchdown odds on DK is minus 215. That basically just, if you're not sure what that means, that means the flat out expectation that,

That's 68% odds that he will score a touchdown in this first game bet. That is absurd. And correct. Right. It's 100% correct. If I got a bet at one, I think he's going to get a touchdown. Are you nervous? I'm not nervous. No. I'm not nervous at all. Only cowards are nervous.

I don't know. That's so stupid. Christian McCaffrey will 100% be in every single lineup for everyone that drafted him. How were you when you had to do the finger prick for the blood test? Would you say cowardly? I would say I was a lion. A cowardly lion. Yes, I was. Oh, my goodness. I couldn't even believe that.

How big a baby I was knowing how big a baby I am. People on this podcast have no idea what we're talking about. So listen, we all started having this conversation in the office about what blood type we are. Some people knew what it was. Some people said their parents knew what it was and they started texting their parents. And we found a pack of 10 blood tests on Amazon and the whole office was testing for our blood type. Mike and I are A positive.

They've got this little spring-loaded lancet you just put up by your finger, push a button, and it just snaps, and then you'll bleed a drop of blood. Or in the case of Jeremy and I, bleed everywhere. No, this thing was like...

It was a little sword. James Bond could kill a man with that thing. Oh, for sure. But he's very talented at that. Anyways, what was the... Oh, yeah. So, I mean, I know I'm a big baby. Jason had a hard time using the small lancet. I couldn't get myself to push a button. I was walking around trying to hype myself up. I couldn't do it. But as they say...

Only cowards get nervous. That's right. To play Christian McCaffrey. To play Christian McCaffrey. Look, it's going to be exciting. It's going to be exciting to see him back out there. And you want to see him get through the game. You want to see him reach the end of this matchup with Tampa Bay, be healthy, and go into the next week knowing what the 49ers have. Whether this negatively impacts...

George Kittle long-term, that'll be interesting to see. Yeah. Just because you've had to lean on him so much. Like, he's been far and away the number one tight end. Maybe that softens. It should. Touchdowns is certainly – that's an issue. George Kittle has six on the year already. Oh.

I don't think this has a negative impact on it. Christian McCaffrey coming back because we've seen Christian McCaffrey with – when there is one of the wide receivers, Debo or Brandon Ayuk, with Christian McCaffrey active, we've seen enough games of that. And Kittle's been awesome in those games. Well, but not the number one tight end is what we're talking about. It's touchdowns. He's number one overall. George Kittle, touchdowns throughout his career. Once he became a starter, 5'5", 2'6", 11".

six and he's currently on six like he is he's running really hot and Jordan Mason for who's one of the league leaders in rushing has three rushing touchdowns I guess my only point is gonna get one a week while he is the number one I don't think he's being propped up by six touchdowns that's not an outrageous number he's on pace for a hundred receptions um and and 1221 yards I mean those are facts if you're him and then haunted by the touchdowns I mean that'd be a career high

Yeah, but I guess I'm just saying I don't believe at all that George Kittle will go down to become the tight end six while you're missing Brandon. He's still a top five guy. I'm saying like rest of the way, yeah.

Obviously, by the end of the year, he'll be there because he already is established. All right. Let's jump into the parlay partay to close out today's show. All right. Yeah. Okay. All right. Looking good, Jason. Oh, you too, Mike. You look like a king over there.

You know what? King of the castle. You're a king because you went with a running back over on receptions. Yeah. And I'm a king. I went with a running back over on receptions last week. We both took Devon H. And I said over three and a half receptions. Actually, if you if you went on those DK Sportsbook app, it was over four and a half. Don't matter. We still hit. He had eight and Barkley over two and a half. He had three.

So you did it. So what are you doing? Well, this week? Yeah. Well, I'm taking running back over receptions, baby. I'm taking Alvin Kamara is over four and a half receptions. I can't believe it's only a four and a half. Against Atlanta. We talked about it. 38 opportunities this last week. The last six games. Here's his reception count.

7-6-5-6-6-6. Mark of the Beast. He only needs five to cover this line. He has no Chris Olave. Super Camario. I think we'll cover that line. I'm going James Cook over two and a half receptions against the Colts. Last two weeks, it's been three and five receptions. And the pace should be running pretty quick here with Buffalo at 26 points. Team implied total. Going with James Cook.

Over two and a half receptions. Andy, who's your over running back reception total? I don't just do the same things that you guys do. I know. I know, like wear crowns. Well, look, I tried to take Tyreek Hill over 72 yards, but somebody with a crown in this group talked me out of it. I'm not going to name names. Aaron Jones, 60 plus rushing yards against Jacksonville this week. He averages 71 yards.

And this is a team that gave up 159 to Barkley, 127 to Jacobs. 60 seems like a low bar for Aaron Jones. It does. So we'll see. That was Fantasy Forecast presented by DraftKings. Pick six. Download the new DraftKings Pick 6 app now and use the code BALLERS. That's the code BALLERS for new customers to play $5 and get $50 in Pick 6 credits. That'll do it for today's show. Thank goodness. We'll be back tomorrow with more matchups. The Fantasy Face-Off for...

Two of us will spin the wheel of shame. Good luck today. Good luck tonight. Take those players out of your flex spots. We'll catch you tomorrow. Goodbye.