January 3, 2025 • 47 mins
It's Fox Sports Radio's official fantasy football podcast! Dan Beyer and Mike Harmon open the show going through this week's positional rankings to help set you up for a Week 18 win -- hopefully a championship! Then, they get into some Hot Plays that just missed the top fives, some Cold Sores to avoid at all costs, and some Fantasy Ninjas to potentially sneak into your lineup in a pinch. Finally, they go through all of the relevant contract incentives still at play in Week 18 -- for example, Mike Evans gets a $3 million bonus if he can manage at least 5 more catches and 85 receiving yards in his final game of the year.
Hosts: Dan Beyer, Mike Harmon
Producer: Ian Roddy
#fsrweekends #jss
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ladies and Jules.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
You want experience during your football season, Well, buckle up,
sweet cheeks. We've got all the experience in the world.
This is I want your flex with Dan Bayer and
Mike Harmon. Mike and Dan break down everything you need
to set your lineups, from position rankings to starts and sits.
(00:24):
The guys help you make those hard decisions. And now
let's get your flexod Here's Dan Bayer and Mike Harmon.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Well we made it to the end of the regular season.
There are sixteen games left that Mike Harmon will cherish
in him up at Swollen Dome. You can also find
him on Blue Sky at Mike Carmon. You can find
me on Blue Sky at Dan Bayer and also on
X at Dan Byer on Fox. The show's executive producers
Ian Roddy, Happy New Year to you all. You can
(00:54):
get Ian on X at Ian Underscore Roddy and Ian
can we get you on Blue Sky yet?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
You can now find me on what WHOA five Geez?
Happy twenty five fellas. You can now find me on
Blue Sky at Ian Dash Roddy.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
He put the put underscore.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
He puts the dash in Ian Roddy. There is sure enough,
this is him one follower and he is following Blue Sky.
Speaker 5 (01:31):
I don't even I didn't even know I had a follower.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Yeah, Tiko Ramao, Hello, Tiko Ramao, assistant lecture at the
University of Alberta.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
How about that cool?
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yeah, not too bad?
Speaker 4 (01:43):
So follow thinks it's the other Ian, Roddy, who is
a Canadian, right, He's.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Only following twenty nine thousand other people on Blue Sky,
So just tweet tweet back at him. Thanks for the
follow man.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
I don't know.
Speaker 6 (01:58):
I used to feel special when I had back and
forth with Chuck d and he followed me, and then
I realized how many people he followed.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
It happens, so you know, if you respond to with you, yeah, yeah,
that's cool.
Speaker 6 (02:11):
I've had some cool exchanges with a bunch of celebrity
one offs, and then there's really not a whole lot
of conversation thereafter.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
But that's okay.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Hey, that's all yeah, yeah, it's absolutely all good. I
sent out a TikTok from the Rose Bowl and I
put this on all the social you know. I put
it on Twitter, and I think I put it on Instagram,
which then accidentally went to Facebook because of the settings one. Sure,
(02:41):
so the whole deal, but I put I spread it out.
It's maybe pouring it out, but I just figure, let's
just do it on the platforms. And there is a
full right versus left war going on in the comments
of my TikTok Rose Bowl video of the flyover. Oh no,
I just posted it, guys as a seller bration of
(03:01):
football of the new year? What has scene the Rose Bowl?
How cool it is, the flyover of the fireworks, And
it is becoming all out war between the right and
the left of arguing their positions on whether it's worthwhile
what the reason is for. I thought we were going
to be arguing at big ten sec you know how
(03:23):
the Rose bowls better than all the other bulls. That
sort of thing. That did not turn out to d case.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
I feel like I need to go read all the comments.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
It truly is. It's it's you know, it's just kind
of someone in the middle of it. It's just it's
pretty entertaining.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
Well I just looked at it. Four twenty six likes. Yeah,
pretty good. Yeah, if they wanted to go political.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Everybody's yeah. That's the thing is like people have liked
the video, but they have hated the reason or the comments,
and it's yeah, it's just been.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
Yeah goose bumps and all this amazing area instincts and chi. Yeah,
it's all cool.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Yeah, wait till you.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Find the political patch.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Huh. Well there's there's uh is.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
Not lost people. We just need to get rid of
these blank eaty blank politics.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Yeah, there's there's three million dollars in tax money. Will
never get back, shut up comedy. I gathered by this
comment you don't understand that these pilots are getting flight time,
that it is much needed and it's in the budget.
Every flight is a training flight for peace. It's also
a tool for interest in our nation's military. In other words, marketing.
(04:42):
That is true.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Video game like ads that they did right, same kind
of thing.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Man. Yeah, yes, it's great. I'm glad people enjoyed it
and that's where it was from. But it's just been
both sides, and I feel like I've been caught in
the middle.
Speaker 6 (05:01):
Guy wrote a little bit of love to a cool
little tradition that they have.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
Yeah, and you filmed it beautifully.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
It's good job. I appre I appreciate that. One One
guy wrote, thanks for the fast forward and the reason
why the video is so long, and we'll get the
fantasy football in a second. Was because you can kind
of see the speck of the bomber appear and then
you're like, is that it is? That it? And then
you watch it and you're like, no, that's not and
then sure enough, like that's what it ends up being.
(05:30):
But that's why it took so long. Was if I
just had it appearing, then it wouldn't have the suspense
of what it was. So anyway, enough about that video though, yeah,
thank you, I'm sorry.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Hey, you know, if it gets folks and tongues wagon.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
It just was. It was good. It was. It was.
It was actually a good chuckle to see it and
to see the different different ways. But it's just funny
and how how you know, just something what I thought
was just shot of a football game. Some people didn't like, so.
Speaker 5 (06:06):
Shut up, Cami is crazy.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Oh man, America, It's yeah, it's it's great.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
But and the Canadians that follow Ian's.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Yeah, yes, absolutely, he's big in Alberta. All right. Yeah,
let's uh, we're going the week eighteen as funky. Everybody
knows that with the matchups, the games that don't mean anything.
Some that kind of means something. I guess that's what
Saturday's about, guys, the matchups of the AFC North. The
(06:42):
Ravens can win early against the Browns and then it's
their division. So maybe Pittsburgh doesn't have something to play for,
but Cincinnati sure does because they're on the wild card picture,
hoping for a Broncos loss on Sunday along with the
Dolphins loss on Sunday. So there's all these things that
are that are playing in, but you also have a
bunch of games that just don't matter anymore. Both teams eliminated,
(07:05):
one team's in, one team's eliminated. So it's kind of
a crapshoot as we look at Week eighteen. So Mike
Scott his rankings, Mike Scott is information. We're going to
go over that right now. We're also going to do
a little something different, something you can look ahead to
in week eighteen, and also, Mike, maybe take some of
these advantages and play some daily fantasies.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
Welleah, no question about it. If nothing else, it's also a.
Speaker 6 (07:24):
Good week to go to a game and a lot
of these municipalities because you don't have necessarily stakes. So
if you ever wanted to just go to a game,
here's an opportunity. Because I'm looking at the grid right,
because we look at it for points spreads, and I
love that it's an AFC North ONLYFC North Saturday, like
they own the calendar themselves, but like legitimately you can
(07:45):
go to Tennessee to get in is five bucks.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
Oh wow, five dollars, Washington's.
Speaker 6 (07:51):
Gallary seventeen dollars to see the commanders at the Cowboys
and just go on down the line. Yeah, there's a
few that still have there. Their high price tags and
stakes that are that are huge. To get in for
the Sunday night game is three hundred and fifty dollars.
But if you ever just wanted to go to an
NFL game to experience it, Yes, you've got preseason games
(08:13):
which this kind of access, I guess in some of
these capacities, but you know it might be worth a LOOXI.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Well, I will also say this, Mike and I throughout
the year, on various episodes, we talk about our issue
with the NFL scheduling, whether it be the same division
opponent in a span of three weeks, where you're playing
playing a team one week, then a team another week
and then you're playing that team you played two weeks ago. Again. Heck,
(08:44):
wasn't there last year, Mike where a team I don't
know why. I was thinking it was like the Jets
or something, but they played a team had to buy
and then played that same team out of the bye
like it was. It was absurd. Maybe it was the Colt.
Speaker 6 (08:57):
I can't remember how it was, but you're one hundred
percent all right that situation did happen.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Yeah, it was. It was weird last year. Well, this
is another reason why Mike and I hate the way
that the NFL schedules, because what they do is they
tell you that winning your division is so important and
the division matters and the division is all about this,
And then you look at this slate and when you
only play six games a year against your division, and
now one of those doesn't matter, and about half the
(09:24):
slate that we've got on Sunday, that's a problem, Like
that's a real big problem, and it shows the inadequacies
of the NFL schedule. But hey, why not take the
Seahawks and Rams, a great rivalry and make it absolutely
meaningless because of strength of schedule or I'm not even
complaining about the tie breakers. I'm just making the point of, see,
(09:44):
had a loss the tiebreaker. Now you can't even have
a good game out of it. So what's the point
of putting all this emphasis on the divisions if you
can't play meaningful divisional games?
Speaker 6 (09:52):
I mean, look at the Steelers still playing a meaningful
game in theory here against against Cincinnati, but the the
way their schedule was so backloaded.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
By that point, You've got the attrition of.
Speaker 6 (10:06):
Injuries and all of those things that you played, or
the teams that had Week fourteen by where maybe you
could have, you know, used a week in week six
or seven to maybe get some folks healthy for the
back end of the schedule, but it didn't come to
week fourteen, so you never had that full strength opportunity
(10:27):
or some of the craziness where you get these long
breaks because of the scheduling for the holiday and everything else.
Like it's just an odd convergence of circumstance that you know,
to me, just every year we have these kind of
things like, well, that's the way it goes. But legitimately,
the Steelers played all of their division games and they
(10:50):
play Cincinnati Saturday night. They played it all in the
second half of the year. How the hell does that
make any sense?
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Yeah, none whatsoever. And you know, with the high letting
of the Christmas Day games and they got to put
you know, value on those, all of those matchups that
we saw during on Christmas could actually happen in the playoffs, right,
you know, like we could we could see Ravens Texans,
we could see in the wild card round if certain
(11:16):
things happen like it's yeah, it's just it's a mess.
But point number one and twenty nine on why they
schedule stinks. So all right, let's get to the ranking. Gas.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
Yeah, let's go.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
We'll do the we'll do the quarterback running backs of
wide receivers, and we'll do some hot plays and stuff
after that. Go ahead with your top five quarterbacks. Four
week eighteen.
Speaker 6 (11:33):
All right, we still have meaning hell football in the
nf NFC South. So Baker Mayfield takes the cake going
up against New Orleans right off the jump. Last four
games twenty one, twenty nine, twenty three, thirty five. Yeah,
that's some pretty lofty stuff. Joe Burrow against Pittsburgh fifth
most over the last four weeks, averaging twenty two and
a half points per game. Pittsburgh, we've seen them slumping
(11:55):
a bit, and right now we're just watching Joe.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
Burrow in that offense.
Speaker 6 (12:00):
Obviously, some injury concerns to a couple of principal players
doesn't matter. Chase is still there, and this offense has
to make up for what has been a poorest defense. Third,
and this is where it starts to get fun. When
we look at Lamar Jackson. On paper, it's great, They're
a twenty point favorite against Bailey Zappi quarterback forty since
(12:23):
nineteen ninety nine and the Cleveland Browns. But he's never
had fewer than fifteen points in a fantasy game this year, right,
So we're looking at him and on paper it looks great.
But if this game gets out of sort, guess what,
He's probably an operation shutdown. He's either in the game
handing the ball off, He's not going to be running
(12:43):
all over the joint once it gets out of his pocket,
and may leave all together. So that one we hang
a star on. Great matchup, great opportunity, but you're operating
with a little bit of a leap of faith. Sam
Darnold against Detroit, Let's go Detroit worse against quarterbacks the
last four weeks, meaningful game, all the marbles, all that
(13:04):
fun stuff. So lock and load. The over under actually
got up to fifty eight and a half. At one
point it settled back down a little bit, but it
got up to fifty eight and a half. We were
talking with Todd Furm and our guy that the Board
podcast joins Jason and I every week on our show.
Always great information from Todd.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
He just goes. It was insane.
Speaker 6 (13:26):
It was like, you know, you were watching a stock
having a run during a day where it was going
up a half point every couple hours. Just really odd.
And then finally Jaden Daniels going up against Dallas six
most allowed over the last four weeks, nine touchdowns to quarterbacks,
twenty one point two points per game, and obviously he
(13:48):
makes plays with his legs too, so opportunity there.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
There are your top five quarterbacks that's jumped to the
running backs. Some big names could be sitting out Week eighteen,
so others could be moving up. Mike, who's in your
top five?
Speaker 6 (13:59):
Rally with Bjeon Robinson having himself a really really big
run over the last five weeks, which is why Michael
Pennix Junior owners. You know, he's a guy that you'll play.
He's he'll lead the hot playlist. But bijon getting it done. Second,
Bucky Irving eighteen Fantasy points per game over his last three.
(14:21):
Jonathan Taylor, he may have screwed you all season long,
sorry Dan, but during the fantasy playoffs absolutely immense. So
if he didn't kill you rallying for you later, forty
and twenty six his last two games. Jamiir Gibbs also there,
twenty five or more points three straight games.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
Just absolutely insane.
Speaker 6 (14:41):
Sonic and Knuckles are no more because you know, Jason
jinks them on the show when he got into asking
them all sorts of questions about doing if you know,
with Sonic Burger not recognizing dude doesn't eat meat, got
really weird, not great. I mean, he had well, you know,
they did the whole thing Thanksgiving when he was standing
there with the carrot. I don't know how much they've
(15:03):
labored the point at that, but unfortunately, I mean it
made a good look. He had a great answer for it,
but we think it might have jinxed him. So we'll
wear that one and then Aaron Jones against Detroit, we
go back to that game again, great expectations on the ground.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
Back to back games.
Speaker 6 (15:19):
He's you know, has been fewer than ten points, but
he's got twenty three receptions over the last six weeks.
So looking for him to be active in the passing
game to give us our PPR love.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
And who knows if Sam Darnold will be back, but
Aaron Jones is all about returning to Minnesota next season,
but that is for a different day, all right. Finally, Mike,
your wide receivers top five for week eighteen.
Speaker 6 (15:41):
Keep beating the dead horse with this matchup. Justin Jefferson
top wide receiver over the last four weeks thirty two
to twenty thirty six seventeen, So odd Even says he's
going to have a monster game right and back over
the thirties. Jamar Chase right behind him, only one point
behind him in the last four weeks. Expecting some fireworks
in that. How about a little Mike Evans action. He's
(16:02):
got the incentives which we'll get to and history and
all of that fun stuff. To thirty point games in
his last four weeks, two down games, So again odd
Even going the other way trending wise on him, but
expecting greatness once again Brian Thomas, who's third over the
last four weeks, who's just been fantastic seventeen, thirty two,
(16:24):
twenty eight and twenty four points. Look for him to
continue against an Indianapolis team where there's a lot of
finger pointing and locker room stuff and general hatred towards
each other and going around there.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
So very curious situation and.
Speaker 6 (16:39):
Then finally a little Milik neighbors action normally going up
against that Philly secondary and you're like, I don't want.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
Any part of that. What are they planned for?
Speaker 6 (16:50):
How much of those guys, first team, first unit getting
after it? And let's face that, the Giants want to
end with a bang, and he's been kind of vocal
about some things, so maybe it's the squeaky wheel feed
the guy to finish the season. So there's at least
a little bit of good feelings going out into the offseason.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
There they are your top five rankings at the quarterback,
running back, and wide receiver position four week eighteen. There's
going to be some sleepers as well. We'll dive into
that with our Ninja plays Mike Scott, some other hot
plays and cold soores as well. Plus we'll look at
some numbers, and Mike mentioned incentives. At the end of
the podcast, we'll tell you who's really playing for the
cash this weekend, which could help you win some cash
(17:31):
in fantasy football. He's Mike Krmen and I'm Dan Byer.
That's our producer, Ian Roddy. We'll be back next here,
and I want your flex all right, Tom dan Bayer,
He's Mike Carmen. That's Ian Roddy, our executive producer. Mike,
let's get into your hot plays, cold Soores and Ninjas. Again.
We're not diving super deep because of the wacky schedule
(17:52):
we've got, but there are some names to at least
circle and maybe put in in your lineup as we
wrap up the regular season.
Speaker 6 (17:58):
Yeah, a little bit of chaos, certainly the scheduling and
as we record this late on a Thursday night, West
Coast time, who knows by by time and practice ends
on Friday. A bunch of guys we just see you
know what I've done. I'm taking the week off, coach,
thank you. Play the backup. So we're rolling the dice.
But we do have some meaningful games out there, so
(18:18):
we're looking at Michael Pennix Junior mentioned him before going
up against Carolina. Look not lighting up the fantasy numbers.
Thus far, it's been b Jon Robinson as we talked
about last segment. But seven points, twelve points the last
two weeks, and we see the arm is live and
the action is there. And against Carolina, even though they've
shown some life of late offensively, still giving up a
(18:40):
bunch of points. So opportunity for the Atlanta offense here.
Russell Wilson averaging fifteen points his last four games, downward trend.
Talk about all those division games and all of the
problems schedule wise, but you know, loser leaves down match
kind of thing. You know they're they're looking to make
some make some hay and the meaning of this game
(19:02):
may change in great complexion as we go, but for
Russell Wilson, an opportunity to go out with a bang
and make his case for twenty twenty five. Jared Goff
just the obligatory just appreciation moment two eighty and two
against the Floras defense their first meeting, multiple touchdowns in
seven of his last eight games, So giving you a
(19:23):
lot of love fantasy wise, and a guy that doesn't
get mentioned like we've been doing a lot of MVP
debates he's got no love onsoever, So I'll raise my
hand just for giggles here.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Sure, I think he was there for a little while,
but then like maybe mid season around that time. But yeah,
you're right, he has not been a speck on the
radar since.
Speaker 6 (19:45):
Right excitable about Saquan all of a sudden, everybody wants
to make the Joe Burrow case late again.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
I go for Burrow in the late Darnold push as well.
Speaker 6 (19:54):
So yeah, I keep going back to Justin Tucker is
gonna cost Lamar Jackson the that's all comes down to.
We're going in if Lamar has a big game against
the Cleveland Browns when they're twenty points favorites. That's not
weighing people and winning over the Josh Allen thing. It's
just and in Joe Burrow, they lost a lot of games,
(20:18):
no matter how great he's been down the stretch.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Yeah, I do think the addition of Derrick Henry hurts
Lamar no matter what they were done. But yeah, but yeah,
it'll probably be Allen's in the end.
Speaker 6 (20:31):
Yeah, heavy favor coming into Week eighteen. Anyway, Let's go
back to the rankings. The Rams may not play anybody,
I may get a call before game time, So Charboney
gets a nod. Even coming off a couple of lackluster
performances for fantasy purposes, look for an opportunity here. Rico
Dowdell four one hundred yard games in his last five,
(20:52):
very quietly, Dallas putting up some points down the stretch
and the decent lay.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Yeah, and they've been good since McCarty named him the
lead back like he's been productive. Otherwise it was a
mess for most of the year.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
I want to talk McCarthy to the Bears.
Speaker 6 (21:08):
The latest in the Mike McCarthy is going to be
a free agent and have suitors. If Jerry Jones doesn't
take care of business there, would.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
You rather have Pete Carroll or Mike McCarthy.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
I'll punt give me option three.
Speaker 6 (21:22):
I mean, I guess out of those, I'd be curious
to see what a McCarthy offense would look like. Yeah, right,
either way, I'd look all the pie and the sky
stuff about, Oh, here's Kingsbury or here's our guy coming down,
Ben Johnson from Detroit.
Speaker 4 (21:42):
Johnson's not taking that job.
Speaker 6 (21:44):
There's too much instability in that organization for him to
want to be any part of that. Who's actually in charge?
Is it Kevin Warren or Ryan Poles? Because I argue
Ryan Poles is an empty suit, But every chance they get,
they keep saying.
Speaker 4 (21:56):
Ah, the hires Ryan Poles, get.
Speaker 6 (21:58):
Kevin Warren standing over there like he's a puppeteerd.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Did I tell you my line about Pete Carroll and
the Bears? No, that the leave it to the Bears
to go with back to back coaches who had Shane Walter.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
No, it's a good one.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Leave it to them. If that would that would be
the case. I don't think it's going to but it
would be a Bears thing today.
Speaker 6 (22:20):
I mean, i'd bring him in to talk to him
like all of the elder guys, right, the veteran coaches,
like the Jets did with Ron Rivera. I don't think
i'd hire him, but the guy's got a long perspective
on the league, sure, and had some successes along the way.
I wouldn't give him another bite at the apple. I
had to rebuild, you know, re reconstituting my roster and
(22:42):
organization mode. But certainly he navigated some heavy waters in
Washington and and I don't think it should go completely
unnoticed what they did as laying a groundwork? Was he
the guy to take you to point see? No, but
you know they did some heavy work there, so sure,
why not? Why not have the conversation like anything that
(23:04):
costs you whatever.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
Lunch is lunch in a little bit of your time.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Yeah, that's all it is.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
It's just lunch. Isn't that like a dating app?
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Yeah? I think it might be something like that I had.
I don't want to search it on any of my
good point Yeah no, in trouble with the wife.
Speaker 6 (23:27):
No, that's a bad Yeah, good job by you. Good
protect this house. I had a friend when I was
at Santa Clara doing my MBA that was a thing
a site called Date my Friend. I don't know if
it got bought and respun out or whatever, but it
was the curiosity of you know, here are people that
are vouching for you. Oh so it was a verification
(23:48):
of them vouching for you before you ever got set.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Up on it. Not a idea. It seemed like a pretty.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
Good structurally sound thing.
Speaker 5 (23:56):
You think of that, you it looks like it is
called It's just lunch. See there it's still yeah, there
you go, he's.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
He was he was good with it.
Speaker 5 (24:04):
Yeah, I do have a girlfriend, but she's not.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
You're on a work competer too, so someone else.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
So time of day, who was in that studio?
Speaker 6 (24:15):
All right, let's get back to the hot play is
how about Jalen Warren thirty three touches over the last
two days. He was back at practice, so that bodes well.
Najee Hair is also worth a look. See you a
little bit first meeting. Seventy five yards and a touchdown.
Fifty four receiving yards on six catches, So take a
look there. Zay Flowers, welcome to the Pro Bowl, even
though you've done nothing the.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
Last three weeks. Six point two points per a game.
Speaker 6 (24:39):
So curious what fantasy owners did with him in the
playoffs either way, an opportunity against Cleveland here and then
going back to that Michael Panix, let's bookendate here. Drake
London again quiet his last four but opportunities, had some
target opportunities. Let's see if they can make some hay
here in week eighteen.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
I would also say, I'm not sure you really have
any cult stares because there's so many guys on benches
and whatnot.
Speaker 6 (25:05):
No, yeah, a lot of them it just becomes the
engineer injury cautionary tales.
Speaker 4 (25:11):
Sure, I go nowhere.
Speaker 6 (25:13):
Near my Bears offense against Green Bay, even if they're
just playing for seeding. I still don't want any part
of that defense the way they've played the last Caleb
Williams is twenty first quarterback fantasy wise the last four weeks,
so he's been fairly useless to you in that regard.
I did appreciate him coming up and again, not to
(25:34):
make it all about the Bears, but you know, fantasy
owners went heavy in on Bears players for sure, yes,
and are still reluctant to take them out based on
percentages that I saw starting in the final weeks, you know, thinking,
you know, Caleb was one play away here, one play
away there. I did appreciate him standing up, and I
(25:54):
think the line is still bad, but he did take
some accountability for the sixty seven sacks, saying look a
throwaway here, run here, check down here, faster In my progressions,
I have much many fewer sacks, so I bear the
brunt of some of the responsibility of that. That's what
(26:16):
I said all year long, right, I'd love to sit
with people evaluating the all twenty two as they do
ex quarterbacks X linemen coordinators whoever to say, all right,
let's let's give the who are we putting the share
of the blame on each of those sixty seven and
to do that with quarterbacks to be more fair because
it's not always the line's fault. They don't have to
(26:38):
be great, but it's not always on them.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
No, no, And honestly, it's just good business for him
to shore as well, whether he means it or not.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Sure, I'm not sure those guys.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Yeah, yeah, I'm not trying to make him sound insincere
at all. It's just yeah, it's just a smart thing
to do.
Speaker 6 (26:55):
Absolutely, So, yeah, that was the one I was going
to see. The other is, you know, on the other
side of that matchup. As much as I love Josh Jacobs,
we've espoused the virtues of him all along. You have
no idea what his workload's going to be, sure, right,
It's like we were saying with Saquon Barkley, like at
this point, Jacobs is in and it's the quote rivalry
(27:16):
gain the Bears never win. So I don't know if
it's a rivalry, but they certainly do talk a lot
about each other. And hate each other, and Aaron Rodgers
even talking about his old love of that kind of stuff,
while also declaring the Jets the best two years of
his career, which the whole other topic and philosophical thing
for another time. But you know, you have no idea,
right might be ten carries before he seeds way, he
(27:38):
might run the whole game. You just don't know.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Well, Bears and Packers just probably try to stay away.
Speaker 6 (27:47):
Yeah, so Chase Brown's injured, so we look at other options.
He'll play, But the question of how much of the
pain threshold he has if it's a legit high ankle sprain,
that's a tough turnaround. Right back on that, McConkey was
back at practice. But again, as much as the Chargers
can say, hey, we want to go all for it,
do they really because that's really their main guy with
(28:10):
the playoffs already secured, So cautionary tale. And then Jerry
Judy I already mentioned it's Bailey's appy under center. I
don't know if I want to go down that road.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Yeah, dtr could see some snaps, but yeah, to that point,
I Baltimore is a nineteen and a half point favorite
as well.
Speaker 6 (28:30):
So yeah, I mean, you may get some garbage time,
like if it plays to form, then maybe there's that opportunity.
But just straight up, I gotta think, you know, Baltimore,
they lost the first matchup to these guys. I want
to go in as strong as they are.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
They can and all of this, so go handle it
and get out exactly. So there they are the cold source.
Any ninjas, any sneaky plays.
Speaker 6 (28:55):
Well, you know for daily Fantasy, maybe you throw a
buck on Drake Man. He's gonna play against Buffalo, who's
probably gonna sit a lot of starters, you know in
Queen's way. Josh Allen, as we talked about Monday, you know,
he's gonna show up to keep his game streak going.
Not like when Gino Smith took over for Eli Manning
(29:17):
and screwed that whole thing up back in the day
with the Giants. That are not going to do that
to Josh Allen here. So we'll keep his streak going.
But Mac Jones against Indianapolis again, think they've quit rashein
a lee, you know with Justice Hill has been already
been declared out in another situation, if it plays to form,
(29:37):
they're beaten the snot out of the Browns, So Derek
Henry's not playing a full game and a full compliment
of touches, so maybe an opportunity there. Jacoby Myers four
more catches, nine straight games going up against the Chargers.
We've already seen the Raiders don't care about their draft status,
not quite sure what the philosophy is in the building,
(29:58):
but they keep playing. Adam Thielan's been on a big
run five or more receptions five straight games, three touchdowns
the last two weeks. So against Atlanta as they try
to play spoiler in this whole thing, maybe you get
another game out of here. Khalil Herbert against Pittsburgh because
again the Chase Brown injury, so maybe you see a
little bit of that once upon a time he was
(30:19):
a tough runner for the Bears. So and then gainwell
going up against the Giants again, assuming the plan goes
to form that Berkley doesn't actually suit.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
Up, I'm gonna just be extremely negative because why not,
Number one, let's go stupid. How stupid is it to
have the Raiders and Chargers open the season and then
have the Raiders and Chargers close the season. It's like
you start on this journey and then you're like, okay,
well just meet at the end, like maybe it's like
a trip to the mall and for for however long,
(30:49):
and then you just meet by the water fountains at
the center of the mall at that time, and you've
got all your bags and leave. This is the schedule
process again. So you have you have season opener division game,
and then you have a season ended. What did we
learn about this? That just makes no sense at all
to me. That's gripe number one.
Speaker 6 (31:11):
But that goes back to the you know, week one.
I've always argued, look over, we're thirsty for football. You
can put a bunch of crappy games like that. Are
the schedule fillers elsewhere that we moan about. It's like
people are gonna watch whatever in record numbers. Sure have
the standalone for the Super Bowl champion. Make it a
(31:31):
big matchup, you know, out of conference whatever, and do
that kind of thing. Have at it, Sunday night football,
Monday night football. Give the rights holders their love. But
the reality is for the rest of it, we always
talk about September and feeling out games right as you're
just getting because you haven't done any real work, you know,
hitting and all and we always talk about sloppy tackling
(31:54):
and kind of the numbers and all of those things.
The first couple of weeks, Week one should not be
a division game.
Speaker 4 (32:00):
Just it just shouldn't be.
Speaker 6 (32:02):
Like if we're, like to your point of being consistent
about where the value is, like we we should put
everything on the same slate as best we can.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
I just I don't understand it. But again, why should
I try? And then again, you know, and I think
I said this on the last pod that that we
did our little when we did the show on Monday night,
I sat in for Jason on Your Guys Show and
we did the Josh Allen thing. If this game meant something,
Josh Allen was gonna play like the Eli Manning thing was.
(32:34):
They're just trying to keep the streak when they didn't
want to play him anymore. So it's you know, for
anybody to want to compare it and say, oh yeah,
what about that, it's they're not the same scenarios. The
Geno Smith replacing Eli Manning was solely just to keep
Eli streak going. Playing Josh Allen a few snaps to
keep his streak going is legit because you would have
(32:54):
played the whole game if it meant something.
Speaker 6 (32:56):
Yeah, they hate ELI obviously had odds the coaching staff
and them too, and they were directionless with no way home.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
But yeah, a couple of just quick things. Actually, you
know what, I'm gonna do it on the other side, Yeah,
we'll do in our final segment, We're gonna do some incentives.
I'll give you some stat numbers that I just think
are interesting entering the final week of the season. Ian's
gonna hop back into the pod. It's gonna be a
good time. Mike Carmen, Ian Roddy, I'm Dan Byer. It's
all next here, and I want your flex wrapping digs
(33:27):
up here, and I want your flex again. You could
get all of us on Blue Sky. I'm at Dan Byer,
Mike's at Mike Carman, and Ian is at Ian Dash Roddy.
I almost said underscore again, but Ian Dash Roddy, that's
where you can find him. And you can find us
on next Ian Roddy Underscore, Dan Byer on Fox Swollen Dome.
(33:49):
I got it all right, right, Yeah sounds right, yeah,
all right, perfect. We I've only done it thirty six
times so far this season. It's our final two episode
week here of I want your flex moving forward throughout
the playoffs and all the way through the Super Bowl.
We'll have one new episode a week. Is Mike and
I will take a look at the playoff matchups, what
it means, maybe some daily fantasy plays and a whole
(34:11):
lot more. But before we bid a dude to the
regular season, we're going to dive into some incentives and
how they could play out in Week eighteen. But I
just want to bring up a point of stats and
maybe it'll look different Mike when Week eighteen ends up ending.
But we are so enamored with Saquon Barkley in the
two thousand yards, the gaps between Barkley and even Derrick
(34:34):
Henry and everyone else, another big one. Derrick Henry is
about four hundred yard next almost five hundred yards more
rushing yards than Kyra and Williams so far this year.
And what is super striking to me? In the wide
receiver business, because you mentioned Brian Thomas Junior of Jacksonville,
it was pointed out on social media that Brian Thomas
(34:57):
is currently second in yard in the AFC for wide receivers.
Just for anybody second in receiving yards in the AFC,
and I'm like, geez, that just sounds odd. Eleven seventy
nine for Brian Thomas puts the fifth in the NFL.
But you have Jamar Chase sixteen hundred, you have Justin
(35:19):
Jefferson fourteen seventy nine, and then you have fifteen guys
sandwiched right now between eleven ninety four and ten thirty four. Now,
Darnell Mooney's probably going to be a thousand yard guy,
and I know there could be some others with incentive wise,
but there's just this logjam of guys, Mike, that are
(35:40):
gonna be at, you know, between probably about thirteen hundred
and twelve fifty, you know, and around one thousand. Its
just it's crazy. There seems to be no separation. You
have fifteen guys basically within one hundred and fifty yards
of each other.
Speaker 6 (35:53):
It's insane. It's a four hundred and thirty three yard
gap between Chase and Thomas in the see that's just insane. Yeah,
and then you look at where we're at, just beyond
the thousand yard mark you mentioned Mooney Nikua needs ten yards. Well,
everybody else is sitting down. I got to imagine they
at least give him a thrower two to get him.
Speaker 4 (36:15):
The ten yards.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
Yeah, I would think so, I would.
Speaker 6 (36:17):
Think to get him over DeVante Adams needs twenty five
yards for one thousand. Courtland Sutton seventeen, which also we
start getting into incentives and stuff from him. Mike Evans
needs eighty five to get to that thousand yard mark
to keep the streak alive.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
Well, that's and I'm sure he'll get it. It is
a meaningful game, and as you pointed out, he's been
a target to be able to fight through it after
an injury that he had through mid season.
Speaker 4 (36:47):
No God would opposite him. Yeah, crazy.
Speaker 6 (36:50):
And George Pickens, even though everybody hates him and he
has missed several games due to injury, and he's really outspoken.
He had that little back and forth with a reporter
asking about with the stuff with Russ not being on
the same page, and they just pulled his you know,
under armor, under gear over his mouth and didn't say
(37:11):
another word like, oh, that's healthy. Fifty eight catches nine
hundred yards, averaging fifteen and a half per catch. Geez,
and he's one hundred yards from one thousand, despite the
injuries and despite that period where he wasn't catching much
of anything.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
The numbers he and Darnel Mooney. AJ Brown also a
big yard sper catch guy. You only have right now
as I look at it, one, two, three, eight guys
in double digits for touchdowns and t Higgins had gotten too.
That Mark fakes to the three touchdown after last week.
(37:51):
Mark Andrews is actually one of the guys, so kind
of unique in that case for a double digit touchdown
Considering at the beginning of the year, we're like, what
is with Mark Andrews. But those are just some of
the numbers that stood out to me as we wrap
up the regular season.
Speaker 6 (38:05):
You know, there's one guy I want to mention, just
because you brought up the double digit touchdowns, we need
one more for Westbrook Aikine.
Speaker 4 (38:12):
Right, Yeah, he's at nine.
Speaker 6 (38:15):
He's got twenty eight catches, nine touchdowns.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
Absolutely that he's on my bench. I got to play
him in a week eighteen. Content about that. I don't
know who to take out, that's the question.
Speaker 6 (38:29):
That's just insane though, right that level of efficiency, that's
the old Jerome Betti stat line. When he was teamed up,
I think it was Staley, right, So Staley doing all
the work between the twenties, and then he had Bettis
five carries, one yard, three touchdowns in a game.
Speaker 4 (38:47):
That's one of my favorites.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
Out as Cooper cup in his neck, Nick Westbrook Akine
in my Week eighteen scramble in one of my leagues.
All Right, gets these in incentives. You mentioned some of
the names. Mike, you can start it out. Uh, you
mentioned Mike Evans. There's others as well. Who has some
interesting incentives heading into the weekend.
Speaker 6 (39:10):
Five catches, eighty five yards go back to Evans, three
million dollars.
Speaker 1 (39:16):
Yeah, he's going to get that. Yeah, he is going
to get that.
Speaker 6 (39:19):
Tony Pollard eighty three rushing yards for an extra two
hundred and fifty thousand. Zach zach Ertz is another one.
Last week had the trifecta that made him an extra
seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
Speaker 4 (39:33):
He can do it again.
Speaker 6 (39:34):
Nine receptions to fifty ninety yards to fifty two receiving
touchdowns to fifty that's those are lofty though. Yeah, that's
a lot of stuff.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
Yeah, I that is especially especially in the nine catches
in the two touchdowns. Then you know that you're just
going to be forcing it to him. Yeah, I think
that's going to be tough to get.
Speaker 6 (40:00):
Yeah, those are some of the favorite tried off the bunch.
And then Courtland Sutton, who I almost had as one
of the hot plays because Bo Nicks and everything they've
been doing.
Speaker 4 (40:10):
Eighty two receiving yards, two million dollars.
Speaker 1 (40:15):
He's getting it.
Speaker 4 (40:15):
Against the Kansas City squad.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
Well they need it. Yeah, that is.
Speaker 6 (40:20):
We'll see what they do playing defenders and how intense
that is.
Speaker 1 (40:24):
You know what. I take that away. I take that back.
I don't know if he's going to get it. It
seems absolutely reachable, but I don't know if he's going
to get it.
Speaker 6 (40:31):
Yeah, he's had a couple of quiet weeks in the
last few so I mean it's certainly. I mean he
had options opportunities against Cincinnati in that you know, thirty
twenty four loss but scored a touchdown, but just fifty
five receiving yards before that, fifty yards, thirty two yards,
one hundred yard game back against Cleveland to start the month.
(40:54):
But otherwise you're looking at seventy to eighty yards most weeks.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
Ian Roddy, you got any incentive plays that pique your interest?
Speaker 3 (41:03):
I like Kyler Murray fifty rushing yards and one rushing touchdown.
So if he gets both of those, he gets seven
hundred and fifty dollars or.
Speaker 1 (41:11):
Seven it's not much incentive.
Speaker 5 (41:16):
He'll get you five bucks.
Speaker 4 (41:18):
Here's your five dollars.
Speaker 6 (41:21):
You spent a bunch of money at the movies, and
they give you the extra five bucks towards popcorn.
Speaker 3 (41:26):
Yeah, there no Kyler Murray fifty rushing yards and one
rushing touchdown away from seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars
salary that way.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
That is a lot, that is, but it's also a
lot to get.
Speaker 3 (41:39):
It is, but he hasn't been running a lot this year,
so I feel like like if he'd been running more
to his usual standard, he would have hit this already.
Speaker 5 (41:46):
We know that he's capable.
Speaker 4 (41:47):
Of doing this.
Speaker 5 (41:48):
It's just a matter of yeah, well.
Speaker 1 (41:49):
He he had a touchdown run against the Niners in
their first meeting. But now again with nothing to play for,
do you really want your quarterback running around the field
like he is. It's almost like, okay, if he gets
fifteen yards like on an early scramble, would you continue
to play him just so he gets it? I think
that's I think that's going to be tough. That's the
thing with Saquan as well, Like going for the rushing
(42:11):
record like one hundred and one hundred yards is not
going to be easy, especially when everybody knows you're trying
to get him one hundred yards. So you know the
point of everybody having to play. You know, we're talking
about incentives here, not necessarily records, but it's not going
to necessarily be as easy that you know then you
(42:32):
would think, especially with some of these numbers hovering around
eighty or one hundred or whatnot.
Speaker 6 (42:36):
Yeah, the barklay one, just the debate has been fascinating
to me. Right, we talked about it on the show Monday, Dan,
and I think you made a point that that many
have missed.
Speaker 4 (42:48):
To encapsulate it quickly.
Speaker 6 (42:50):
Was just, you know, the run game being much harder
back then because most teams.
Speaker 4 (42:57):
Ran the ball, yeah more frequently now.
Speaker 6 (43:01):
He does have thirty four fewer attempts than Dickerson did
in his record setting season. So all of that on
games and whatever else. I think the point of a
spread out offense and not being able to stack the
box like he once did. Again making the point you
did more eloquently. Is a big deal that's getting lost
(43:22):
in this conversation.
Speaker 1 (43:23):
Yeah, it's to me, it's a completely different game. And
another people try to like stack up carries and it's
just not it's not an all numbers thing, Like we're
talking about numbers, but it's not all about numbers.
Speaker 6 (43:36):
So just the game being played much differently. We talk
about the thousand yard receivers, we talk about running backs
as pass catchers. Right back when Dickerson was playing, they
know a guy like Roger Craig was invaluable, yet in
the annals of history, like he's a guy that's left
out of a Hall of Fame consideration and discussions, no
matter how integral he was to what the forty nine
(43:58):
ers were doing as an offense.
Speaker 4 (44:00):
You know.
Speaker 6 (44:00):
So, and now the game has changed that way to
where we talk about guys as past catchers all the time.
Speaker 1 (44:08):
Well, I think there's a whole generation of running mix
that should be in the Hall of Fame that aren't
because of the dual threat. And for a while it
was all about rushing and now it's not about rushing
at all. But that's that's for another day. Nicky Waters,
Come on, I've said Ricky Waters, Fred Taylor or done
Teky Barber. The whole shebang should be should be in
(44:31):
Seahawks quarterback Gino Smith one hundred and eighty five yards
away from two million dollars. Curious about that, Ian, Did
you have any others any.
Speaker 5 (44:38):
Yeah, there was one more. It was Dobbins JK. Dobbins.
Speaker 3 (44:42):
Yeah, he's got fifty eight rushing yards away from three
hundred thousand dollars bonus.
Speaker 4 (44:47):
Oh no, no, no.
Speaker 3 (44:48):
He's actually no sorry, he's already secured the three hundred
thousand dollars. But if he gets fifty eight more rushing yards,
that becomes four hundred and fifty thousand.
Speaker 1 (44:56):
Gosh. I don't know for a guy who's already injury
prom I dismissed time this year. Yeah, I just don't see.
Speaker 3 (45:03):
That interesting though. It's not like it's, you know, some
insane line. It's it's tough, but he could he could
feasibly do that.
Speaker 5 (45:10):
And it's against the Raiders too, he's playing the Raiders.
Speaker 6 (45:13):
Yeah, just I think your offense needs him too much
to risk him this week right now off of CBS
Sports like the Geno Smith has two other incentives, so
this could be a six million dollar game.
Speaker 1 (45:32):
Spot.
Speaker 6 (45:33):
Yeah, sixty nine point seven completion and then another win
and the win. The win would get him to ten wins.
Ten wins, which is another two million.
Speaker 1 (45:46):
She's unreal. All right, let's end on that notes.
Speaker 4 (45:52):
I was trying to get into an angry thing. Damn,
I really wasn't.
Speaker 1 (45:57):
Ten and seven.
Speaker 4 (45:59):
I want your.
Speaker 1 (46:02):
Oh man, gosh, Kyler Murray, just why'd you chuck it
at Trey McBride's helmet like you had the rams beat?
Speaker 4 (46:11):
He did a nineteen eighty movie Flash Gordon when it
hits Flash Gordon quarterback New York Jets in the head
and it ends their little attempt at a breakout. Same
thing Trey McBride.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
When Art imitates life. Absolutely, oh man. All right, Well,
the regular season has been fun. We're gonna have some
fun in the postseason as well, so you'll want to
stick around. New episodes will be out probably every Tuesday morning,
but as they usually do, as we look back at
the week, and then we'll look ahead at the playoff slate,
and the next time we get together we will have
a playoff slate. We will know who is where and
(46:48):
doing what. So for Ian, Roddy and Mike Carmen, we
wish you all a happy New Year and can't wait
to talk to you in the postseason. Right here, and
I want your FLEs
Ladies and Jules.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
You want experience during your football season, Well, buckle up,
sweet cheeks. We've got all the experience in the world.
This is I want your flex with Dan Bayer and
Mike Harmon. Mike and Dan break down everything you need
to set your lineups, from position rankings to starts and sits.
(00:24):
The guys help you make those hard decisions. And now
let's get your flexod Here's Dan Bayer and Mike Harmon.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Well we made it to the end of the regular season.
There are sixteen games left that Mike Harmon will cherish
in him up at Swollen Dome. You can also find
him on Blue Sky at Mike Carmon. You can find
me on Blue Sky at Dan Bayer and also on
X at Dan Byer on Fox. The show's executive producers
Ian Roddy, Happy New Year to you all. You can
(00:54):
get Ian on X at Ian Underscore Roddy and Ian
can we get you on Blue Sky yet?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
You can now find me on what WHOA five Geez?
Happy twenty five fellas. You can now find me on
Blue Sky at Ian Dash Roddy.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
He put the put underscore.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
He puts the dash in Ian Roddy. There is sure enough,
this is him one follower and he is following Blue Sky.
Speaker 5 (01:31):
I don't even I didn't even know I had a follower.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Yeah, Tiko Ramao, Hello, Tiko Ramao, assistant lecture at the
University of Alberta.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
How about that cool?
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yeah, not too bad?
Speaker 4 (01:43):
So follow thinks it's the other Ian, Roddy, who is
a Canadian, right, He's.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Only following twenty nine thousand other people on Blue Sky,
So just tweet tweet back at him. Thanks for the
follow man.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
I don't know.
Speaker 6 (01:58):
I used to feel special when I had back and
forth with Chuck d and he followed me, and then
I realized how many people he followed.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
It happens, so you know, if you respond to with you, yeah, yeah,
that's cool.
Speaker 6 (02:11):
I've had some cool exchanges with a bunch of celebrity
one offs, and then there's really not a whole lot
of conversation thereafter.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
But that's okay.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Hey, that's all yeah, yeah, it's absolutely all good. I
sent out a TikTok from the Rose Bowl and I
put this on all the social you know. I put
it on Twitter, and I think I put it on Instagram,
which then accidentally went to Facebook because of the settings one. Sure,
(02:41):
so the whole deal, but I put I spread it out.
It's maybe pouring it out, but I just figure, let's
just do it on the platforms. And there is a
full right versus left war going on in the comments
of my TikTok Rose Bowl video of the flyover. Oh no,
I just posted it, guys as a seller bration of
(03:01):
football of the new year? What has scene the Rose Bowl?
How cool it is, the flyover of the fireworks, And
it is becoming all out war between the right and
the left of arguing their positions on whether it's worthwhile
what the reason is for. I thought we were going
to be arguing at big ten sec you know how
(03:23):
the Rose bowls better than all the other bulls. That
sort of thing. That did not turn out to d case.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
I feel like I need to go read all the comments.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
It truly is. It's it's you know, it's just kind
of someone in the middle of it. It's just it's
pretty entertaining.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
Well I just looked at it. Four twenty six likes. Yeah,
pretty good. Yeah, if they wanted to go political.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Everybody's yeah. That's the thing is like people have liked
the video, but they have hated the reason or the comments,
and it's yeah, it's just been.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
Yeah goose bumps and all this amazing area instincts and chi. Yeah,
it's all cool.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Yeah, wait till you.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Find the political patch.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Huh. Well there's there's uh is.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
Not lost people. We just need to get rid of
these blank eaty blank politics.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Yeah, there's there's three million dollars in tax money. Will
never get back, shut up comedy. I gathered by this
comment you don't understand that these pilots are getting flight time,
that it is much needed and it's in the budget.
Every flight is a training flight for peace. It's also
a tool for interest in our nation's military. In other words, marketing.
(04:42):
That is true.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Video game like ads that they did right, same kind
of thing.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Man. Yeah, yes, it's great. I'm glad people enjoyed it
and that's where it was from. But it's just been
both sides, and I feel like I've been caught in
the middle.
Speaker 6 (05:01):
Guy wrote a little bit of love to a cool
little tradition that they have.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
Yeah, and you filmed it beautifully.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
It's good job. I appre I appreciate that. One One
guy wrote, thanks for the fast forward and the reason
why the video is so long, and we'll get the
fantasy football in a second. Was because you can kind
of see the speck of the bomber appear and then
you're like, is that it is? That it? And then
you watch it and you're like, no, that's not and
then sure enough, like that's what it ends up being.
(05:30):
But that's why it took so long. Was if I
just had it appearing, then it wouldn't have the suspense
of what it was. So anyway, enough about that video though, yeah,
thank you, I'm sorry.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Hey, you know, if it gets folks and tongues wagon.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
It just was. It was good. It was. It was.
It was actually a good chuckle to see it and
to see the different different ways. But it's just funny
and how how you know, just something what I thought
was just shot of a football game. Some people didn't like, so.
Speaker 5 (06:06):
Shut up, Cami is crazy.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Oh man, America, It's yeah, it's it's great.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
But and the Canadians that follow Ian's.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Yeah, yes, absolutely, he's big in Alberta. All right. Yeah,
let's uh, we're going the week eighteen as funky. Everybody
knows that with the matchups, the games that don't mean anything.
Some that kind of means something. I guess that's what
Saturday's about, guys, the matchups of the AFC North. The
(06:42):
Ravens can win early against the Browns and then it's
their division. So maybe Pittsburgh doesn't have something to play for,
but Cincinnati sure does because they're on the wild card picture,
hoping for a Broncos loss on Sunday along with the
Dolphins loss on Sunday. So there's all these things that
are that are playing in, but you also have a
bunch of games that just don't matter anymore. Both teams eliminated,
(07:05):
one team's in, one team's eliminated. So it's kind of
a crapshoot as we look at Week eighteen. So Mike
Scott his rankings, Mike Scott is information. We're going to
go over that right now. We're also going to do
a little something different, something you can look ahead to
in week eighteen, and also, Mike, maybe take some of
these advantages and play some daily fantasies.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
Welleah, no question about it. If nothing else, it's also a.
Speaker 6 (07:24):
Good week to go to a game and a lot
of these municipalities because you don't have necessarily stakes. So
if you ever wanted to just go to a game,
here's an opportunity. Because I'm looking at the grid right,
because we look at it for points spreads, and I
love that it's an AFC North ONLYFC North Saturday, like
they own the calendar themselves, but like legitimately you can
(07:45):
go to Tennessee to get in is five bucks.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
Oh wow, five dollars, Washington's.
Speaker 6 (07:51):
Gallary seventeen dollars to see the commanders at the Cowboys
and just go on down the line. Yeah, there's a
few that still have there. Their high price tags and
stakes that are that are huge. To get in for
the Sunday night game is three hundred and fifty dollars.
But if you ever just wanted to go to an
NFL game to experience it, Yes, you've got preseason games
(08:13):
which this kind of access, I guess in some of
these capacities, but you know it might be worth a LOOXI.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Well, I will also say this, Mike and I throughout
the year, on various episodes, we talk about our issue
with the NFL scheduling, whether it be the same division
opponent in a span of three weeks, where you're playing
playing a team one week, then a team another week
and then you're playing that team you played two weeks ago. Again. Heck,
(08:44):
wasn't there last year, Mike where a team I don't
know why. I was thinking it was like the Jets
or something, but they played a team had to buy
and then played that same team out of the bye
like it was. It was absurd. Maybe it was the Colt.
Speaker 6 (08:57):
I can't remember how it was, but you're one hundred
percent all right that situation did happen.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Yeah, it was. It was weird last year. Well, this
is another reason why Mike and I hate the way
that the NFL schedules, because what they do is they
tell you that winning your division is so important and
the division matters and the division is all about this,
And then you look at this slate and when you
only play six games a year against your division, and
now one of those doesn't matter, and about half the
(09:24):
slate that we've got on Sunday, that's a problem, Like
that's a real big problem, and it shows the inadequacies
of the NFL schedule. But hey, why not take the
Seahawks and Rams, a great rivalry and make it absolutely
meaningless because of strength of schedule or I'm not even
complaining about the tie breakers. I'm just making the point of, see,
(09:44):
had a loss the tiebreaker. Now you can't even have
a good game out of it. So what's the point
of putting all this emphasis on the divisions if you
can't play meaningful divisional games?
Speaker 6 (09:52):
I mean, look at the Steelers still playing a meaningful
game in theory here against against Cincinnati, but the the
way their schedule was so backloaded.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
By that point, You've got the attrition of.
Speaker 6 (10:06):
Injuries and all of those things that you played, or
the teams that had Week fourteen by where maybe you
could have, you know, used a week in week six
or seven to maybe get some folks healthy for the
back end of the schedule, but it didn't come to
week fourteen, so you never had that full strength opportunity
(10:27):
or some of the craziness where you get these long
breaks because of the scheduling for the holiday and everything else.
Like it's just an odd convergence of circumstance that you know,
to me, just every year we have these kind of
things like, well, that's the way it goes. But legitimately,
the Steelers played all of their division games and they
(10:50):
play Cincinnati Saturday night. They played it all in the
second half of the year. How the hell does that
make any sense?
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Yeah, none whatsoever. And you know, with the high letting
of the Christmas Day games and they got to put
you know, value on those, all of those matchups that
we saw during on Christmas could actually happen in the playoffs, right,
you know, like we could we could see Ravens Texans,
we could see in the wild card round if certain
(11:16):
things happen like it's yeah, it's just it's a mess.
But point number one and twenty nine on why they
schedule stinks. So all right, let's get to the ranking. Gas.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
Yeah, let's go.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
We'll do the we'll do the quarterback running backs of
wide receivers, and we'll do some hot plays and stuff
after that. Go ahead with your top five quarterbacks. Four
week eighteen.
Speaker 6 (11:33):
All right, we still have meaning hell football in the
nf NFC South. So Baker Mayfield takes the cake going
up against New Orleans right off the jump. Last four
games twenty one, twenty nine, twenty three, thirty five. Yeah,
that's some pretty lofty stuff. Joe Burrow against Pittsburgh fifth
most over the last four weeks, averaging twenty two and
a half points per game. Pittsburgh, we've seen them slumping
(11:55):
a bit, and right now we're just watching Joe.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
Burrow in that offense.
Speaker 6 (12:00):
Obviously, some injury concerns to a couple of principal players
doesn't matter. Chase is still there, and this offense has
to make up for what has been a poorest defense. Third,
and this is where it starts to get fun. When
we look at Lamar Jackson. On paper, it's great, They're
a twenty point favorite against Bailey Zappi quarterback forty since
(12:23):
nineteen ninety nine and the Cleveland Browns. But he's never
had fewer than fifteen points in a fantasy game this year, right,
So we're looking at him and on paper it looks great.
But if this game gets out of sort, guess what,
He's probably an operation shutdown. He's either in the game
handing the ball off, He's not going to be running
(12:43):
all over the joint once it gets out of his pocket,
and may leave all together. So that one we hang
a star on. Great matchup, great opportunity, but you're operating
with a little bit of a leap of faith. Sam
Darnold against Detroit, Let's go Detroit worse against quarterbacks the
last four weeks, meaningful game, all the marbles, all that
(13:04):
fun stuff. So lock and load. The over under actually
got up to fifty eight and a half. At one
point it settled back down a little bit, but it
got up to fifty eight and a half. We were
talking with Todd Furm and our guy that the Board
podcast joins Jason and I every week on our show.
Always great information from Todd.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
He just goes. It was insane.
Speaker 6 (13:26):
It was like, you know, you were watching a stock
having a run during a day where it was going
up a half point every couple hours. Just really odd.
And then finally Jaden Daniels going up against Dallas six
most allowed over the last four weeks, nine touchdowns to quarterbacks,
twenty one point two points per game, and obviously he
(13:48):
makes plays with his legs too, so opportunity there.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
There are your top five quarterbacks that's jumped to the
running backs. Some big names could be sitting out Week eighteen,
so others could be moving up. Mike, who's in your
top five?
Speaker 6 (13:59):
Rally with Bjeon Robinson having himself a really really big
run over the last five weeks, which is why Michael
Pennix Junior owners. You know, he's a guy that you'll play.
He's he'll lead the hot playlist. But bijon getting it done. Second,
Bucky Irving eighteen Fantasy points per game over his last three.
(14:21):
Jonathan Taylor, he may have screwed you all season long,
sorry Dan, but during the fantasy playoffs absolutely immense. So
if he didn't kill you rallying for you later, forty
and twenty six his last two games. Jamiir Gibbs also there,
twenty five or more points three straight games.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
Just absolutely insane.
Speaker 6 (14:41):
Sonic and Knuckles are no more because you know, Jason
jinks them on the show when he got into asking
them all sorts of questions about doing if you know,
with Sonic Burger not recognizing dude doesn't eat meat, got
really weird, not great. I mean, he had well, you know,
they did the whole thing Thanksgiving when he was standing
there with the carrot. I don't know how much they've
(15:03):
labored the point at that, but unfortunately, I mean it
made a good look. He had a great answer for it,
but we think it might have jinxed him. So we'll
wear that one and then Aaron Jones against Detroit, we
go back to that game again, great expectations on the ground.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
Back to back games.
Speaker 6 (15:19):
He's you know, has been fewer than ten points, but
he's got twenty three receptions over the last six weeks.
So looking for him to be active in the passing
game to give us our PPR love.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
And who knows if Sam Darnold will be back, but
Aaron Jones is all about returning to Minnesota next season,
but that is for a different day, all right. Finally, Mike,
your wide receivers top five for week eighteen.
Speaker 6 (15:41):
Keep beating the dead horse with this matchup. Justin Jefferson
top wide receiver over the last four weeks thirty two
to twenty thirty six seventeen, So odd Even says he's
going to have a monster game right and back over
the thirties. Jamar Chase right behind him, only one point
behind him in the last four weeks. Expecting some fireworks
in that. How about a little Mike Evans action. He's
(16:02):
got the incentives which we'll get to and history and
all of that fun stuff. To thirty point games in
his last four weeks, two down games, So again odd
Even going the other way trending wise on him, but
expecting greatness once again Brian Thomas, who's third over the
last four weeks, who's just been fantastic seventeen, thirty two,
(16:24):
twenty eight and twenty four points. Look for him to
continue against an Indianapolis team where there's a lot of
finger pointing and locker room stuff and general hatred towards
each other and going around there.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
So very curious situation and.
Speaker 6 (16:39):
Then finally a little Milik neighbors action normally going up
against that Philly secondary and you're like, I don't want.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
Any part of that. What are they planned for?
Speaker 6 (16:50):
How much of those guys, first team, first unit getting
after it? And let's face that, the Giants want to
end with a bang, and he's been kind of vocal
about some things, so maybe it's the squeaky wheel feed
the guy to finish the season. So there's at least
a little bit of good feelings going out into the offseason.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
There they are your top five rankings at the quarterback,
running back, and wide receiver position four week eighteen. There's
going to be some sleepers as well. We'll dive into
that with our Ninja plays Mike Scott, some other hot
plays and cold soores as well. Plus we'll look at
some numbers, and Mike mentioned incentives. At the end of
the podcast, we'll tell you who's really playing for the
cash this weekend, which could help you win some cash
(17:31):
in fantasy football. He's Mike Krmen and I'm Dan Byer.
That's our producer, Ian Roddy. We'll be back next here,
and I want your flex all right, Tom dan Bayer,
He's Mike Carmen. That's Ian Roddy, our executive producer. Mike,
let's get into your hot plays, cold Soores and Ninjas. Again.
We're not diving super deep because of the wacky schedule
(17:52):
we've got, but there are some names to at least
circle and maybe put in in your lineup as we
wrap up the regular season.
Speaker 6 (17:58):
Yeah, a little bit of chaos, certainly the scheduling and
as we record this late on a Thursday night, West
Coast time, who knows by by time and practice ends
on Friday. A bunch of guys we just see you
know what I've done. I'm taking the week off, coach,
thank you. Play the backup. So we're rolling the dice.
But we do have some meaningful games out there, so
(18:18):
we're looking at Michael Pennix Junior mentioned him before going
up against Carolina. Look not lighting up the fantasy numbers.
Thus far, it's been b Jon Robinson as we talked
about last segment. But seven points, twelve points the last
two weeks, and we see the arm is live and
the action is there. And against Carolina, even though they've
shown some life of late offensively, still giving up a
(18:40):
bunch of points. So opportunity for the Atlanta offense here.
Russell Wilson averaging fifteen points his last four games, downward trend.
Talk about all those division games and all of the
problems schedule wise, but you know, loser leaves down match
kind of thing. You know they're they're looking to make
some make some hay and the meaning of this game
(19:02):
may change in great complexion as we go, but for
Russell Wilson, an opportunity to go out with a bang
and make his case for twenty twenty five. Jared Goff
just the obligatory just appreciation moment two eighty and two
against the Floras defense their first meeting, multiple touchdowns in
seven of his last eight games, So giving you a
(19:23):
lot of love fantasy wise, and a guy that doesn't
get mentioned like we've been doing a lot of MVP
debates he's got no love onsoever, So I'll raise my
hand just for giggles here.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Sure, I think he was there for a little while,
but then like maybe mid season around that time. But yeah,
you're right, he has not been a speck on the
radar since.
Speaker 6 (19:45):
Right excitable about Saquan all of a sudden, everybody wants
to make the Joe Burrow case late again.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
I go for Burrow in the late Darnold push as well.
Speaker 6 (19:54):
So yeah, I keep going back to Justin Tucker is
gonna cost Lamar Jackson the that's all comes down to.
We're going in if Lamar has a big game against
the Cleveland Browns when they're twenty points favorites. That's not
weighing people and winning over the Josh Allen thing. It's
just and in Joe Burrow, they lost a lot of games,
(20:18):
no matter how great he's been down the stretch.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Yeah, I do think the addition of Derrick Henry hurts
Lamar no matter what they were done. But yeah, but yeah,
it'll probably be Allen's in the end.
Speaker 6 (20:31):
Yeah, heavy favor coming into Week eighteen. Anyway, Let's go
back to the rankings. The Rams may not play anybody,
I may get a call before game time, So Charboney
gets a nod. Even coming off a couple of lackluster
performances for fantasy purposes, look for an opportunity here. Rico
Dowdell four one hundred yard games in his last five,
(20:52):
very quietly, Dallas putting up some points down the stretch
and the decent lay.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Yeah, and they've been good since McCarty named him the
lead back like he's been productive. Otherwise it was a
mess for most of the year.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
I want to talk McCarthy to the Bears.
Speaker 6 (21:08):
The latest in the Mike McCarthy is going to be
a free agent and have suitors. If Jerry Jones doesn't
take care of business there, would.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
You rather have Pete Carroll or Mike McCarthy.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
I'll punt give me option three.
Speaker 6 (21:22):
I mean, I guess out of those, I'd be curious
to see what a McCarthy offense would look like. Yeah, right,
either way, I'd look all the pie and the sky
stuff about, Oh, here's Kingsbury or here's our guy coming down,
Ben Johnson from Detroit.
Speaker 4 (21:42):
Johnson's not taking that job.
Speaker 6 (21:44):
There's too much instability in that organization for him to
want to be any part of that. Who's actually in charge?
Is it Kevin Warren or Ryan Poles? Because I argue
Ryan Poles is an empty suit, But every chance they get,
they keep saying.
Speaker 4 (21:56):
Ah, the hires Ryan Poles, get.
Speaker 6 (21:58):
Kevin Warren standing over there like he's a puppeteerd.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Did I tell you my line about Pete Carroll and
the Bears? No, that the leave it to the Bears
to go with back to back coaches who had Shane Walter.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
No, it's a good one.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Leave it to them. If that would that would be
the case. I don't think it's going to but it
would be a Bears thing today.
Speaker 6 (22:20):
I mean, i'd bring him in to talk to him
like all of the elder guys, right, the veteran coaches,
like the Jets did with Ron Rivera. I don't think
i'd hire him, but the guy's got a long perspective
on the league, sure, and had some successes along the way.
I wouldn't give him another bite at the apple. I
had to rebuild, you know, re reconstituting my roster and
(22:42):
organization mode. But certainly he navigated some heavy waters in
Washington and and I don't think it should go completely
unnoticed what they did as laying a groundwork? Was he
the guy to take you to point see? No, but
you know they did some heavy work there, so sure,
why not? Why not have the conversation like anything that
(23:04):
costs you whatever.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
Lunch is lunch in a little bit of your time.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Yeah, that's all it is.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
It's just lunch. Isn't that like a dating app?
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Yeah? I think it might be something like that I had.
I don't want to search it on any of my
good point Yeah no, in trouble with the wife.
Speaker 6 (23:27):
No, that's a bad Yeah, good job by you. Good
protect this house. I had a friend when I was
at Santa Clara doing my MBA that was a thing
a site called Date my Friend. I don't know if
it got bought and respun out or whatever, but it
was the curiosity of you know, here are people that
are vouching for you. Oh so it was a verification
(23:48):
of them vouching for you before you ever got set.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Up on it. Not a idea. It seemed like a pretty.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
Good structurally sound thing.
Speaker 5 (23:56):
You think of that, you it looks like it is
called It's just lunch. See there it's still yeah, there
you go, he's.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
He was he was good with it.
Speaker 5 (24:04):
Yeah, I do have a girlfriend, but she's not.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
You're on a work competer too, so someone else.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
So time of day, who was in that studio?
Speaker 6 (24:15):
All right, let's get back to the hot play is
how about Jalen Warren thirty three touches over the last
two days. He was back at practice, so that bodes well.
Najee Hair is also worth a look. See you a
little bit first meeting. Seventy five yards and a touchdown.
Fifty four receiving yards on six catches, So take a
look there. Zay Flowers, welcome to the Pro Bowl, even
though you've done nothing the.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
Last three weeks. Six point two points per a game.
Speaker 6 (24:39):
So curious what fantasy owners did with him in the
playoffs either way, an opportunity against Cleveland here and then
going back to that Michael Panix, let's bookendate here. Drake
London again quiet his last four but opportunities, had some
target opportunities. Let's see if they can make some hay
here in week eighteen.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
I would also say, I'm not sure you really have
any cult stares because there's so many guys on benches
and whatnot.
Speaker 6 (25:05):
No, yeah, a lot of them it just becomes the
engineer injury cautionary tales.
Speaker 4 (25:11):
Sure, I go nowhere.
Speaker 6 (25:13):
Near my Bears offense against Green Bay, even if they're
just playing for seeding. I still don't want any part
of that defense the way they've played the last Caleb
Williams is twenty first quarterback fantasy wise the last four weeks,
so he's been fairly useless to you in that regard.
I did appreciate him coming up and again, not to
(25:34):
make it all about the Bears, but you know, fantasy
owners went heavy in on Bears players for sure, yes,
and are still reluctant to take them out based on
percentages that I saw starting in the final weeks, you know, thinking,
you know, Caleb was one play away here, one play
away there. I did appreciate him standing up, and I
(25:54):
think the line is still bad, but he did take
some accountability for the sixty seven sacks, saying look a
throwaway here, run here, check down here, faster In my progressions,
I have much many fewer sacks, so I bear the
brunt of some of the responsibility of that. That's what
(26:16):
I said all year long, right, I'd love to sit
with people evaluating the all twenty two as they do
ex quarterbacks X linemen coordinators whoever to say, all right,
let's let's give the who are we putting the share
of the blame on each of those sixty seven and
to do that with quarterbacks to be more fair because
it's not always the line's fault. They don't have to
(26:38):
be great, but it's not always on them.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
No, no, And honestly, it's just good business for him
to shore as well, whether he means it or not.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Sure, I'm not sure those guys.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Yeah, yeah, I'm not trying to make him sound insincere
at all. It's just yeah, it's just a smart thing
to do.
Speaker 6 (26:55):
Absolutely, So, yeah, that was the one I was going
to see. The other is, you know, on the other
side of that matchup. As much as I love Josh Jacobs,
we've espoused the virtues of him all along. You have
no idea what his workload's going to be, sure, right,
It's like we were saying with Saquon Barkley, like at
this point, Jacobs is in and it's the quote rivalry
(27:16):
gain the Bears never win. So I don't know if
it's a rivalry, but they certainly do talk a lot
about each other. And hate each other, and Aaron Rodgers
even talking about his old love of that kind of stuff,
while also declaring the Jets the best two years of
his career, which the whole other topic and philosophical thing
for another time. But you know, you have no idea,
right might be ten carries before he seeds way, he
(27:38):
might run the whole game. You just don't know.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Well, Bears and Packers just probably try to stay away.
Speaker 6 (27:47):
Yeah, so Chase Brown's injured, so we look at other options.
He'll play, But the question of how much of the
pain threshold he has if it's a legit high ankle sprain,
that's a tough turnaround. Right back on that, McConkey was
back at practice. But again, as much as the Chargers
can say, hey, we want to go all for it,
do they really because that's really their main guy with
(28:10):
the playoffs already secured, So cautionary tale. And then Jerry
Judy I already mentioned it's Bailey's appy under center. I
don't know if I want to go down that road.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Yeah, dtr could see some snaps, but yeah, to that point,
I Baltimore is a nineteen and a half point favorite
as well.
Speaker 6 (28:30):
So yeah, I mean, you may get some garbage time,
like if it plays to form, then maybe there's that opportunity.
But just straight up, I gotta think, you know, Baltimore,
they lost the first matchup to these guys. I want
to go in as strong as they are.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
They can and all of this, so go handle it
and get out exactly. So there they are the cold source.
Any ninjas, any sneaky plays.
Speaker 6 (28:55):
Well, you know for daily Fantasy, maybe you throw a
buck on Drake Man. He's gonna play against Buffalo, who's
probably gonna sit a lot of starters, you know in
Queen's way. Josh Allen, as we talked about Monday, you know,
he's gonna show up to keep his game streak going.
Not like when Gino Smith took over for Eli Manning
(29:17):
and screwed that whole thing up back in the day
with the Giants. That are not going to do that
to Josh Allen here. So we'll keep his streak going.
But Mac Jones against Indianapolis again, think they've quit rashein
a lee, you know with Justice Hill has been already
been declared out in another situation, if it plays to form,
(29:37):
they're beaten the snot out of the Browns, So Derek
Henry's not playing a full game and a full compliment
of touches, so maybe an opportunity there. Jacoby Myers four
more catches, nine straight games going up against the Chargers.
We've already seen the Raiders don't care about their draft status,
not quite sure what the philosophy is in the building,
(29:58):
but they keep playing. Adam Thielan's been on a big
run five or more receptions five straight games, three touchdowns
the last two weeks. So against Atlanta as they try
to play spoiler in this whole thing, maybe you get
another game out of here. Khalil Herbert against Pittsburgh because
again the Chase Brown injury, so maybe you see a
little bit of that once upon a time he was
(30:19):
a tough runner for the Bears. So and then gainwell
going up against the Giants again, assuming the plan goes
to form that Berkley doesn't actually suit.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
Up, I'm gonna just be extremely negative because why not,
Number one, let's go stupid. How stupid is it to
have the Raiders and Chargers open the season and then
have the Raiders and Chargers close the season. It's like
you start on this journey and then you're like, okay,
well just meet at the end, like maybe it's like
a trip to the mall and for for however long,
(30:49):
and then you just meet by the water fountains at
the center of the mall at that time, and you've
got all your bags and leave. This is the schedule
process again. So you have you have season opener division game,
and then you have a season ended. What did we
learn about this? That just makes no sense at all
to me. That's gripe number one.
Speaker 6 (31:11):
But that goes back to the you know, week one.
I've always argued, look over, we're thirsty for football. You
can put a bunch of crappy games like that. Are
the schedule fillers elsewhere that we moan about. It's like
people are gonna watch whatever in record numbers. Sure have
the standalone for the Super Bowl champion. Make it a
(31:31):
big matchup, you know, out of conference whatever, and do
that kind of thing. Have at it, Sunday night football,
Monday night football. Give the rights holders their love. But
the reality is for the rest of it, we always
talk about September and feeling out games right as you're
just getting because you haven't done any real work, you know,
hitting and all and we always talk about sloppy tackling
(31:54):
and kind of the numbers and all of those things.
The first couple of weeks, Week one should not be
a division game.
Speaker 4 (32:00):
Just it just shouldn't be.
Speaker 6 (32:02):
Like if we're, like to your point of being consistent
about where the value is, like we we should put
everything on the same slate as best we can.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
I just I don't understand it. But again, why should
I try? And then again, you know, and I think
I said this on the last pod that that we
did our little when we did the show on Monday night,
I sat in for Jason on Your Guys Show and
we did the Josh Allen thing. If this game meant something,
Josh Allen was gonna play like the Eli Manning thing was.
(32:34):
They're just trying to keep the streak when they didn't
want to play him anymore. So it's you know, for
anybody to want to compare it and say, oh yeah,
what about that, it's they're not the same scenarios. The
Geno Smith replacing Eli Manning was solely just to keep
Eli streak going. Playing Josh Allen a few snaps to
keep his streak going is legit because you would have
(32:54):
played the whole game if it meant something.
Speaker 6 (32:56):
Yeah, they hate ELI obviously had odds the coaching staff
and them too, and they were directionless with no way home.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
But yeah, a couple of just quick things. Actually, you
know what, I'm gonna do it on the other side, Yeah,
we'll do in our final segment, We're gonna do some incentives.
I'll give you some stat numbers that I just think
are interesting entering the final week of the season. Ian's
gonna hop back into the pod. It's gonna be a
good time. Mike Carmen, Ian Roddy, I'm Dan Byer. It's
all next here, and I want your flex wrapping digs
(33:27):
up here, and I want your flex again. You could
get all of us on Blue Sky. I'm at Dan Byer,
Mike's at Mike Carman, and Ian is at Ian Dash Roddy.
I almost said underscore again, but Ian Dash Roddy, that's
where you can find him. And you can find us
on next Ian Roddy Underscore, Dan Byer on Fox Swollen Dome.
(33:49):
I got it all right, right, Yeah sounds right, yeah,
all right, perfect. We I've only done it thirty six
times so far this season. It's our final two episode
week here of I want your flex moving forward throughout
the playoffs and all the way through the Super Bowl.
We'll have one new episode a week. Is Mike and
I will take a look at the playoff matchups, what
it means, maybe some daily fantasy plays and a whole
(34:11):
lot more. But before we bid a dude to the
regular season, we're going to dive into some incentives and
how they could play out in Week eighteen. But I
just want to bring up a point of stats and
maybe it'll look different Mike when Week eighteen ends up ending.
But we are so enamored with Saquon Barkley in the
two thousand yards, the gaps between Barkley and even Derrick
(34:34):
Henry and everyone else, another big one. Derrick Henry is
about four hundred yard next almost five hundred yards more
rushing yards than Kyra and Williams so far this year.
And what is super striking to me? In the wide
receiver business, because you mentioned Brian Thomas Junior of Jacksonville,
it was pointed out on social media that Brian Thomas
(34:57):
is currently second in yard in the AFC for wide receivers.
Just for anybody second in receiving yards in the AFC,
and I'm like, geez, that just sounds odd. Eleven seventy
nine for Brian Thomas puts the fifth in the NFL.
But you have Jamar Chase sixteen hundred, you have Justin
(35:19):
Jefferson fourteen seventy nine, and then you have fifteen guys
sandwiched right now between eleven ninety four and ten thirty four. Now,
Darnell Mooney's probably going to be a thousand yard guy,
and I know there could be some others with incentive wise,
but there's just this logjam of guys, Mike, that are
(35:40):
gonna be at, you know, between probably about thirteen hundred
and twelve fifty, you know, and around one thousand. Its
just it's crazy. There seems to be no separation. You
have fifteen guys basically within one hundred and fifty yards
of each other.
Speaker 6 (35:53):
It's insane. It's a four hundred and thirty three yard
gap between Chase and Thomas in the see that's just insane. Yeah,
and then you look at where we're at, just beyond
the thousand yard mark you mentioned Mooney Nikua needs ten yards. Well,
everybody else is sitting down. I got to imagine they
at least give him a thrower two to get him.
Speaker 4 (36:15):
The ten yards.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
Yeah, I would think so, I would.
Speaker 6 (36:17):
Think to get him over DeVante Adams needs twenty five
yards for one thousand. Courtland Sutton seventeen, which also we
start getting into incentives and stuff from him. Mike Evans
needs eighty five to get to that thousand yard mark
to keep the streak alive.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
Well, that's and I'm sure he'll get it. It is
a meaningful game, and as you pointed out, he's been
a target to be able to fight through it after
an injury that he had through mid season.
Speaker 4 (36:47):
No God would opposite him. Yeah, crazy.
Speaker 6 (36:50):
And George Pickens, even though everybody hates him and he
has missed several games due to injury, and he's really outspoken.
He had that little back and forth with a reporter
asking about with the stuff with Russ not being on
the same page, and they just pulled his you know,
under armor, under gear over his mouth and didn't say
(37:11):
another word like, oh, that's healthy. Fifty eight catches nine
hundred yards, averaging fifteen and a half per catch. Geez,
and he's one hundred yards from one thousand, despite the
injuries and despite that period where he wasn't catching much
of anything.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
The numbers he and Darnel Mooney. AJ Brown also a
big yard sper catch guy. You only have right now
as I look at it, one, two, three, eight guys
in double digits for touchdowns and t Higgins had gotten too.
That Mark fakes to the three touchdown after last week.
(37:51):
Mark Andrews is actually one of the guys, so kind
of unique in that case for a double digit touchdown
Considering at the beginning of the year, we're like, what
is with Mark Andrews. But those are just some of
the numbers that stood out to me as we wrap
up the regular season.
Speaker 6 (38:05):
You know, there's one guy I want to mention, just
because you brought up the double digit touchdowns, we need
one more for Westbrook Aikine.
Speaker 4 (38:12):
Right, Yeah, he's at nine.
Speaker 6 (38:15):
He's got twenty eight catches, nine touchdowns.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
Absolutely that he's on my bench. I got to play
him in a week eighteen. Content about that. I don't
know who to take out, that's the question.
Speaker 6 (38:29):
That's just insane though, right that level of efficiency, that's
the old Jerome Betti stat line. When he was teamed up,
I think it was Staley, right, So Staley doing all
the work between the twenties, and then he had Bettis
five carries, one yard, three touchdowns in a game.
Speaker 4 (38:47):
That's one of my favorites.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
Out as Cooper cup in his neck, Nick Westbrook Akine
in my Week eighteen scramble in one of my leagues.
All Right, gets these in incentives. You mentioned some of
the names. Mike, you can start it out. Uh, you
mentioned Mike Evans. There's others as well. Who has some
interesting incentives heading into the weekend.
Speaker 6 (39:10):
Five catches, eighty five yards go back to Evans, three
million dollars.
Speaker 1 (39:16):
Yeah, he's going to get that. Yeah, he is going
to get that.
Speaker 6 (39:19):
Tony Pollard eighty three rushing yards for an extra two
hundred and fifty thousand. Zach zach Ertz is another one.
Last week had the trifecta that made him an extra
seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
Speaker 4 (39:33):
He can do it again.
Speaker 6 (39:34):
Nine receptions to fifty ninety yards to fifty two receiving
touchdowns to fifty that's those are lofty though. Yeah, that's
a lot of stuff.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
Yeah, I that is especially especially in the nine catches
in the two touchdowns. Then you know that you're just
going to be forcing it to him. Yeah, I think
that's going to be tough to get.
Speaker 6 (40:00):
Yeah, those are some of the favorite tried off the bunch.
And then Courtland Sutton, who I almost had as one
of the hot plays because Bo Nicks and everything they've
been doing.
Speaker 4 (40:10):
Eighty two receiving yards, two million dollars.
Speaker 1 (40:15):
He's getting it.
Speaker 4 (40:15):
Against the Kansas City squad.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
Well they need it. Yeah, that is.
Speaker 6 (40:20):
We'll see what they do playing defenders and how intense
that is.
Speaker 1 (40:24):
You know what. I take that away. I take that back.
I don't know if he's going to get it. It
seems absolutely reachable, but I don't know if he's going
to get it.
Speaker 6 (40:31):
Yeah, he's had a couple of quiet weeks in the
last few so I mean it's certainly. I mean he
had options opportunities against Cincinnati in that you know, thirty
twenty four loss but scored a touchdown, but just fifty
five receiving yards before that, fifty yards, thirty two yards,
one hundred yard game back against Cleveland to start the month.
(40:54):
But otherwise you're looking at seventy to eighty yards most weeks.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
Ian Roddy, you got any incentive plays that pique your interest?
Speaker 3 (41:03):
I like Kyler Murray fifty rushing yards and one rushing touchdown.
So if he gets both of those, he gets seven
hundred and fifty dollars or.
Speaker 1 (41:11):
Seven it's not much incentive.
Speaker 5 (41:16):
He'll get you five bucks.
Speaker 4 (41:18):
Here's your five dollars.
Speaker 6 (41:21):
You spent a bunch of money at the movies, and
they give you the extra five bucks towards popcorn.
Speaker 3 (41:26):
Yeah, there no Kyler Murray fifty rushing yards and one
rushing touchdown away from seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars
salary that way.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
That is a lot, that is, but it's also a
lot to get.
Speaker 3 (41:39):
It is, but he hasn't been running a lot this year,
so I feel like like if he'd been running more
to his usual standard, he would have hit this already.
Speaker 5 (41:46):
We know that he's capable.
Speaker 4 (41:47):
Of doing this.
Speaker 5 (41:48):
It's just a matter of yeah, well.
Speaker 1 (41:49):
He he had a touchdown run against the Niners in
their first meeting. But now again with nothing to play for,
do you really want your quarterback running around the field
like he is. It's almost like, okay, if he gets
fifteen yards like on an early scramble, would you continue
to play him just so he gets it? I think
that's I think that's going to be tough. That's the
thing with Saquan as well, Like going for the rushing
(42:11):
record like one hundred and one hundred yards is not
going to be easy, especially when everybody knows you're trying
to get him one hundred yards. So you know the
point of everybody having to play. You know, we're talking
about incentives here, not necessarily records, but it's not going
to necessarily be as easy that you know then you
(42:32):
would think, especially with some of these numbers hovering around
eighty or one hundred or whatnot.
Speaker 6 (42:36):
Yeah, the barklay one, just the debate has been fascinating
to me. Right, we talked about it on the show Monday, Dan,
and I think you made a point that that many
have missed.
Speaker 4 (42:48):
To encapsulate it quickly.
Speaker 6 (42:50):
Was just, you know, the run game being much harder
back then because most teams.
Speaker 4 (42:57):
Ran the ball, yeah more frequently now.
Speaker 6 (43:01):
He does have thirty four fewer attempts than Dickerson did
in his record setting season. So all of that on
games and whatever else. I think the point of a
spread out offense and not being able to stack the
box like he once did. Again making the point you
did more eloquently. Is a big deal that's getting lost
(43:22):
in this conversation.
Speaker 1 (43:23):
Yeah, it's to me, it's a completely different game. And
another people try to like stack up carries and it's
just not it's not an all numbers thing, Like we're
talking about numbers, but it's not all about numbers.
Speaker 6 (43:36):
So just the game being played much differently. We talk
about the thousand yard receivers, we talk about running backs
as pass catchers. Right back when Dickerson was playing, they
know a guy like Roger Craig was invaluable, yet in
the annals of history, like he's a guy that's left
out of a Hall of Fame consideration and discussions, no
matter how integral he was to what the forty nine
(43:58):
ers were doing as an offense.
Speaker 4 (44:00):
You know.
Speaker 6 (44:00):
So, and now the game has changed that way to
where we talk about guys as past catchers all the time.
Speaker 1 (44:08):
Well, I think there's a whole generation of running mix
that should be in the Hall of Fame that aren't
because of the dual threat. And for a while it
was all about rushing and now it's not about rushing
at all. But that's that's for another day. Nicky Waters,
Come on, I've said Ricky Waters, Fred Taylor or done
Teky Barber. The whole shebang should be should be in
(44:31):
Seahawks quarterback Gino Smith one hundred and eighty five yards
away from two million dollars. Curious about that, Ian, Did
you have any others any.
Speaker 5 (44:38):
Yeah, there was one more. It was Dobbins JK. Dobbins.
Speaker 3 (44:42):
Yeah, he's got fifty eight rushing yards away from three
hundred thousand dollars bonus.
Speaker 4 (44:47):
Oh no, no, no.
Speaker 3 (44:48):
He's actually no sorry, he's already secured the three hundred
thousand dollars. But if he gets fifty eight more rushing yards,
that becomes four hundred and fifty thousand.
Speaker 1 (44:56):
Gosh. I don't know for a guy who's already injury
prom I dismissed time this year. Yeah, I just don't see.
Speaker 3 (45:03):
That interesting though. It's not like it's, you know, some
insane line. It's it's tough, but he could he could
feasibly do that.
Speaker 5 (45:10):
And it's against the Raiders too, he's playing the Raiders.
Speaker 6 (45:13):
Yeah, just I think your offense needs him too much
to risk him this week right now off of CBS
Sports like the Geno Smith has two other incentives, so
this could be a six million dollar game.
Speaker 1 (45:32):
Spot.
Speaker 6 (45:33):
Yeah, sixty nine point seven completion and then another win
and the win. The win would get him to ten wins.
Ten wins, which is another two million.
Speaker 1 (45:46):
She's unreal. All right, let's end on that notes.
Speaker 4 (45:52):
I was trying to get into an angry thing. Damn,
I really wasn't.
Speaker 1 (45:57):
Ten and seven.
Speaker 4 (45:59):
I want your.
Speaker 1 (46:02):
Oh man, gosh, Kyler Murray, just why'd you chuck it
at Trey McBride's helmet like you had the rams beat?
Speaker 4 (46:11):
He did a nineteen eighty movie Flash Gordon when it
hits Flash Gordon quarterback New York Jets in the head
and it ends their little attempt at a breakout. Same
thing Trey McBride.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
When Art imitates life. Absolutely, oh man. All right, Well,
the regular season has been fun. We're gonna have some
fun in the postseason as well, so you'll want to
stick around. New episodes will be out probably every Tuesday morning,
but as they usually do, as we look back at
the week, and then we'll look ahead at the playoff slate,
and the next time we get together we will have
a playoff slate. We will know who is where and
(46:48):
doing what. So for Ian, Roddy and Mike Carmen, we
wish you all a happy New Year and can't wait
to talk to you in the postseason. Right here, and
I want your FLEs
Host
Mike Harmon
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