Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Week 14: Caleb Williams, Woody Marks, and Justin Jefferson

Should you start Caleb Williams, Woody Marks, and Justin Jefferson this week? Marcas Grant, Michael F. Florio, and LaQuan Jones are here to break down the key start-sit decisions of the pivotal week fourteen matchups.

The guys also give you their previews of the Sunday night matchup between the Texans and Chiefs and the Monday night game between the Eagles and Chargers. They also play “Either/Or” with the toughest start-sit decisions, share their bold predictions for the week, and chat with NFL Network reporter Cam Wolfe.

Start 'Em, Sit 'Em QBs: 1:16
Start 'Em, Sit 'Em RBs: 6:23
Texans at Chiefs Preview: 11:20
Eagles at Chargers Preview: 15:08
Start 'Em, Sit 'Em WRs: 19:29
Start 'Em, Sit 'Em TEs: 24:58
Either/Or: 30:48
Bold Predictions: 38:51
Cam Wolfe Joins the Pod: 41:48

The NFL Fantasy Football Podcast is part of the NFL Podcast Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wow, what's up everybody?

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Welcome to another edition of the NFL Fantasy Football Show.
It's media man named g Marcus Grant, joined by Michael
Florio and Lakwan Jones.

Speaker 3 (00:18):
Lakwan, Welcome to Week fourteen. Hey, let's go Week fourteen. Man,
it's a very important game. It's the last regular season
fantasy football, you know, season of regular game that I
think that a lot of folks are going to be
a little disappointed with some florio sits today.

Speaker 4 (00:34):
We'll get into the wow wow seem that seems personal.

Speaker 5 (00:38):
I know.

Speaker 6 (00:38):
I think it's because he's said that the MVP isn't
playing football this week.

Speaker 4 (00:42):
That's That's what it comes down to.

Speaker 7 (00:44):
You know what, peak behind the curtain.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
Flora's been trying to get me to crash out the
last couple of weeks. But we are clean. We are
ten days clean.

Speaker 7 (00:52):
I don't think we need a peak behind the curtain.
I think everyone knows. I've been trying to it's pretty.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Much on roll, pretty much on front strad of what's
been going on on this show for the last several weeks.

Speaker 7 (01:03):
We'll see.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
We got forty SOMEEID minutes to figure out what's going
to have it on this show, But we do have
starts and sits four week fourteen, plus some either or
scenarios that have Fantasy playoff implications. Are bold predictions for
the week and of our weekly visit with cam Wolf
as well. But lets it started with some of those
starts in sits and we'll see which ones Lakwan might

(01:24):
have an issue with. So we'll start at the quarterback position.
Who are your starts and your sits for the week?

Speaker 6 (01:30):
Only two names on the start side because the other
guys were in TNF, but Patrick Mahomes and Jordan Love.
I really like this matchup for Love because the Bears
blitz at an above average rate and play man and
Love has the best EPA against both of those. And
in the six Lamar Jackson, We've spent a lot of
time on different shows this week.

Speaker 7 (01:48):
I wrote a lot in the article.

Speaker 6 (01:49):
It's a little bit option dependent, but he's struggled against
the Steelers in his career. I don't think he's fully healthy.
He's coming off of legitimately his worst game as a pro,
so that all is kind of working against and what's
working for him is he's Lamar Jackson. Justin Herbert broken
hand tough match against the Eagles on a Monday night.
It's just too risky for me. And he's been trending downward.
Daniel Jones has been trending down He's dealing with this

(02:11):
foot issue. The Jackson have been getting a lot of
pressure as of late. Caleb we spoke a lot about
this week. His floor is a league losing floor and
the Packers have been tough against the pass as of late.
And then Jaden if he does play it as his
first game back from a dislocated elbow, there's a theme
on the sit side right, like four of the five
of these guys not healthy.

Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yeah, that seems to be kind of an important thing,
especially this late in the season. Come, I want to
ask you about Tho lakwan one. Caleb Williams, who has
been good in the good matchups, not so good in
the bad matchups. This feels like a bad matchup and
it also feels like it's going to be stupid cold
in Green Bay.

Speaker 6 (02:48):
It's going to be.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
Brick is going to be disrespectfully cold. I would say
this though, like Caleb for me has QB two expectations.
Now while we're looking at those floors at Florio's talking about.
It's been consistent these last couple of weeks, man, And
when it comes to the passing game, they really relied
on this running game really getting them out of trouble.
And like, I think, folks in a very important week

(03:09):
should not get cute this week with Caleb. I know
you guys have other options. I know guys that are
in super flex guys, and guys are in super flex
leagues are probably thinking about him as an option. Just
have your expectations in order. More so as a QB too,
because when we look at this Packers defense as well,
they're one of the best defense to shut down those
scramble quarterbacks. So he's even going to have trouble trying

(03:29):
to get out of the pocket and getting up field
because the Packers defense, they've been bringing it all season long.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
You mentioned super flex leagues, and I think this is
an interesting time of year right Florida, because you've got
matchups like this that are necessarily aren't good ones.

Speaker 4 (03:44):
I feel like we get.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Into these super flex mentality where we have to start
a quarterback and maybe this is a week where maybe
you've got another wide receiver or running back on your bench.

Speaker 4 (03:53):
It could be a better option.

Speaker 6 (03:54):
Yeah, it would always depend on what that other option is.
But yeah, like Halob, his floor we talked about is
like nine to eleven points or something like that, nine
to twelve in that range. The ceiling we've seen is
twenty five plus. But the Packers are, like you said,
tough matchup. Uh, they've been much better against the pass
in the run the last month, and then it's gonna

(04:15):
be cold. He's strug Like when your head coach says
we're winning in spite of the passing game, that is
a problem. Uh one for you guys real quick. Like,
I have a lead where my other quarterback besides Caleb
is pretty obviously on by. Would you play like Tyrod
Taylor over Caleb this week?

Speaker 1 (04:32):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (04:32):
I might. I might.

Speaker 7 (04:34):
I like that.

Speaker 3 (04:35):
I like even the where we can iron now. I
like Chris o' lobby this week over Caleb Williams. Like
those eleven points twelve points to the floor, and we
talk about I like Chris o' lobby. I mean the
og of the satchels.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
He's free of the satchel now he's just in lineups
and stuff.

Speaker 7 (04:49):
No longer there he's free. So does that mean Caleb's
in the satchel.

Speaker 3 (04:55):
I mean Caleb, he's peaking in, he's seeing there's room
in there. But I think he's good. I think you
there be two expectations is what I have on this game.
Gay Hopefully he can go out there and surprise them.

Speaker 2 (05:04):
Folks, I gotta ask you because you're wearing You're wearing
you're that kid's shirt, right, which is.

Speaker 7 (05:07):
In honor of Jade and Daniels.

Speaker 2 (05:10):
If he does start, we're not sure what his situation
is as we're doing this show.

Speaker 4 (05:14):
Would you throw him in a lineup against the Vikings?

Speaker 3 (05:18):
So I'm wearing the shirt because I do want to
see the return of Jaden Daniels. But the thing is
I'm rooting for her more so in real life football
rather than where my fantasy expectations are kind of low,
like I we talked about this on yesterday show, Like
my expectations are around that sixteen fancy points or less.
Like I'm not looking for QB one Jayden Dames this week,
and I don't think I can risk that, especially if

(05:40):
I'm one of those teams that are fighting to get
into the playoffs or this game. If I lose it,
then I'm out of the playoffs, Like, this is a
very important week that I don't think we try to
get cute with quarterbacks that are dealing with injuries. That's
why Lamar is sitting, That's why Justin Herbert is sitting.

Speaker 6 (05:53):
Good job, Florio, I will say I agree with because,
like you guys know, I love Jayden and I'm rooting
for him, but I think he's gonna run a lot
less because if you're the commanders, why are you going
to ask him to run? Coming off of this he
has yet to throw two hundred and forty yards in
a game this year. Like the running is what makes
him so special for fantasy.

Speaker 4 (06:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:12):
So, and again, let this be a reminder, it's a
super flex league. It's not a two quarterback league. You
can put another player in there if you think that
player has a better outcome, outlook than the quarterback that
you're trying to start. Let's move over to running backs,
cause it's an interesting week for running backs, both on
the good and bad side.

Speaker 4 (06:29):
So who are you starting? Who are you sitting?

Speaker 6 (06:31):
Look, I'm wearing a Bills Queen's hoodie right now, but
I'm not stupid like you play running backs against the
bills like that's one hundred percent of thing Chase Brown
must play. I think what Shawn Jenkins is a must
play this week. Game script should be on his side.
He's the safest bet, or one of the safest bets
of RB twos, the least for volume, and this wildcat
usage hear the goal line really helps elevate him.

Speaker 7 (06:53):
RJ.

Speaker 6 (06:53):
Harvey, I think is also a really strong play this
week in a game where game script should be on
his side.

Speaker 7 (06:59):
And then with them a nung guy. Originally I was like,
are do these guys do? I make them sits?

Speaker 6 (07:04):
But the Packers have really struggled against the run since
week nine, so I think that keeps those guys in play,
and for Swift if they're trailing, he could get targets
since look, Woody Marx has taken over that backfield, but
it has not translated to success for fantasy. They're not
throwing him a bunch of passes and the Chiefs are
a tough run defense. But I think you said the

(07:24):
Chiefs running backs as well. With Pacheco back, he's not
seeing enough work to start, but he is eating into
Cream Hunt's workload a little bit.

Speaker 7 (07:32):
We don't know if drey Benson is coming back this
week or ever.

Speaker 6 (07:34):
But I don't care which Cardinals running back it is.
It's the Rams defense. Shout out to you guys, LQ.
And then same thing with Tony Poller, like he doesn't
see in a volume now with Spears there, but even
so they're playing the Browns like, just get away.

Speaker 2 (07:47):
Free tay Jay Spears. I mean maybe not this week,
but just in general, free tai Ja Spears, lakwan, you
know over in this corner of the stage, it's fight
on forever. And I love what he marks, but there's
zero chance. There's zero chance starting he was waiting, you said,
like lost, so you can't do that. Now there's no
chance of starting winning marks this week? Though?

Speaker 3 (08:08):
Is there no Like is there something wrong with his hands?
Like why is he not catching the ball?

Speaker 2 (08:13):
They're not throwing him the ball? Just three targets in
his last three games, Like that's the problem. Like when
we look at his college career, this is a guy
that was getting plenty of targets, fifty three receptions per
season at Mississippi State the three years he was there,
and the last year he was at USC he had
forty seven catches for over fourteen hundred yards, Like I'm
looking at this like there's something wrong. Why are we

(08:34):
not utilizing like that? And when we look at the
last four games and efficiency, it's getting less than three
and a half yards per carry. But then when we
look over at Nick Chubb with twenty three carries, this
guy's over five yards per carry. And I'm telling you now,
I don't think that what he Mark's usage is really
stable right now, like heading into the Fantasy playoffs, I
can't trust him at all because look at the last

(08:54):
couple of weeks where the matchups he's had I've talked
about when he went against Baltimore, that was the matchup
for him to catch a bunch of passes we didn't
get that didn't do much against the Bill, So it's like,
what do we do with what he march moving forward?
So he's a sit for rest of the season. For me,
it just feels some of it is on Marks, right,
he hasn't been super efficient. He's averaging less than three
and a half yards per carry over the last few weeks.

(09:17):
But some of it is just the usage right that
Nick Chubb's still getting about a quarter of the snaps,
about a quarter of the carries. It just feels like
a bad situation in a Florio mentioned is just not
a good matchup for running backs going against the Kansas
City Chiefs and this one, Bloy you did mention DeAndre
Swift and kyleman Ungai as starts this week. No worry

(09:37):
about the Packers run defense.

Speaker 6 (09:39):
So I originally I really was, But then when I
started digging into the numbers a little bit, what I
do when I'm doing this this late in the year
is I look at the season totals, but then I
also look at the last five weeks, so that every
team in that span has at least four games. I
think that's a little bit of a sample size to
be like, this is how they've been trending recently and

(10:00):
in that span, fifth most rushing yards, five touchdowns in
that five week span, and they're allowing the fifth most
yards before contact. And I'm expecting the Bears to try
to run the ball as much as they can in
these cold weather games. So I think manung Guy is
more of a flex option. But because if the Bears
are trailing, we know Swift will get targets as well.

(10:21):
I do think that keeps him in as an RB two.
All right, so look and they have run the ball
really well. We said this before, since their bye week,
they've run the ball really well.

Speaker 7 (10:28):
Do we have a name?

Speaker 3 (10:29):
Do we have a name yet?

Speaker 2 (10:30):
Like? No, because we you know, like it can't be
Sonic and Knuckles. That's already taken. I mean like Smashing
da Smash and Dash was the Titans with you know,
I can't do that.

Speaker 7 (10:40):
How about how about this?

Speaker 3 (10:41):
How about the swift punishment because we look at Manungay
as the hammer, swift is so swift agile due to
tackles swift punishment.

Speaker 2 (10:49):
Yes, no, I think it's I think we're I think
I think we can refine it. But I think we're
onto something. I think I think it's a good start, right.
I think we can put our heads together and it
kind of I look at them as a wrestling team.
Let's change it Uplet's get away from Sonic and Knuckles.
Let's make them a tag team. Let's talk some WWE man.

Speaker 4 (11:04):
I think we're on the something.

Speaker 6 (11:05):
Honestly, there's a there's a big storyline there with like
Ben Johnson going heel and then like creating his own
faction to come back.

Speaker 3 (11:12):
Like yeah, I like, oh, the visionary.

Speaker 7 (11:15):
Wow, look where we're going with that.

Speaker 2 (11:18):
Okay, Taking a look at the Sunday night game between
the Texans and the Chiefs, and the first to score
odds long to Rashi Rice at least the best odds due,
followed by Kareem Hunt. Then we got Woody Marks, Nico Collins,
and then Travis Kelce rounding out the top five.

Speaker 5 (11:36):
Here.

Speaker 4 (11:37):
As you look at this list, Florio.

Speaker 2 (11:39):
Anybody you'd like to choose from this list or would
you like to maybe go off menu?

Speaker 6 (11:43):
No, I'm gonna stay off very much so on menu,
I'm gonna go with the Lois odds there and give
me Rashi Rice. Because he could do it through the air,
he do through the ground. They generate touches for him,
especially in the red zone. He is a top three
fantasy water receiver. I've seen people make in the case
of he is the wide receiver one. Not sure if
I'm there yet, but he's top three for sure.

Speaker 2 (12:03):
I think in terms of the way the Chiefs use him,
I think that argument stands. I mean, we're just looking
at straight up talent and ability.

Speaker 6 (12:09):
Yeah, I still I mean, jay Is Sen is still
doing his things.

Speaker 4 (12:12):
He's still doing his thing still, Puka.

Speaker 2 (12:14):
Anybody you had to say Pooka because we don't need
to better put him in there. I said, we don't
need a better was there was there somebody there that
you like? Kind of that group, We all just said
what he marks is a set, So I guess we're
not going what he marks there.

Speaker 4 (12:24):
Lookuan, I like.

Speaker 3 (12:25):
Nico Collins in there. I like Nico Collins being an
option to find a touchdown and put us some big points.
I think this is the secondary that you can challenge.
We know you can't run the ball in the Chiefs,
but you can definitely go out there and challenge that secondary.
So we're hoping for a Nico Collins, you know, strong game,
and maybe c J. Stroud bounces back as well.

Speaker 2 (12:42):
Maybe I just look a little more into that game. Obviously,
Patrick Mahomes having a rebound fantasy season after the last
couple of years sort of being underwhelming. We know how
good that Houston defense is, though, LQ, can you trust
Mahomes in fantasy this week?

Speaker 3 (12:57):
I think you can because we got to look at
Mahomes from the real life lens. Now, this is a
quarterback that is probably the best quarterback that the Texans
have faced in the last couple of weeks, and that
does include Josh Allen Florio. His turnovers have been nasty,
making the Texans look good. But I would say this,
I think Mahomes is a little bit more savvy in
the pocket than Josh Allen. Josh Allen likes to play
the hero. That's why he got sack eight times. I

(13:19):
think Mahomes is going to use his legs and lie
extending plays getting out of the pocket. So we're going
to get that nice little upward ceiling with the foot
rushing upside with Mahomes as well, and then we know
it's this guy makes magic Man against the difficult, difficult defenses.
This is a tenth seed team right now trying to
fright their way into the playoffs. So yeah, load up Mahomes.

Speaker 2 (13:37):
Which is a wild thing to say, right because every
year that Patrick Mahomes has been a starter, they've at
least gone to the AFC Championship Game. So the fact
that they are fighting for their playoff lives sort of
uncharted territory. I mean, look, I know if there's a
large section there's a large section of America that's not
prying any tiers for the Kansas City Chiefs just the weird.

Speaker 4 (13:56):
Spot to be in Slayer.

Speaker 2 (13:58):
I look at this game and I think either there's
going be like few points scored or all of the
points scored.

Speaker 4 (14:03):
Like which way are you leaning on that?

Speaker 6 (14:05):
I actually kind of think it's gonna be somewhere in
between there. But if I had to pick, I think
it's gonna be lower. I do think Mahomes is gonna
use his legs a lot. He leads all quarterbacks and
explosive runs this year, so that that's kind of and
the Texans weakness has been running quarterbacks, so that's kind
of why I do like him there. But yeah, outside
of Nico Collins, Rice and Mahomes, I don't think there's

(14:27):
another must start in this game. You probably have to
start Kelsey because of tight end, but like he's not
a must start.

Speaker 2 (14:33):
Yeah, I guess the good news for the Chiefs is
that it is Patrick Mahomes is no longer leading the
team in rushing.

Speaker 4 (14:39):
It's been that way for a few weeks now. It's
been a way for a few weeks now. But you know,
I think if you're the chief you feel slightly better.

Speaker 2 (14:45):
You'd feel better though, if you know your leading rusher
had more than three hundred and fifty three yards heading
into week fourteen. When we come back, we will dive
into the Monday Night football game we've played right.

Speaker 7 (14:56):
Next door so Fi Stadium.

Speaker 2 (14:58):
Can we trust Justin Herbert the other He's got a
bionic left hand. We'll talk about that and more on
the NFL Fantasy Football show.

Speaker 3 (15:08):
Monday Night Football.

Speaker 2 (15:11):
Coming up this week. It is the Eagles and the Chargers.
He played right over there, right over there at the
Sofi Stadium's gonna say right on the other side of
the wall, but that's not completely accurate because that would
be annoying for everybody involved.

Speaker 3 (15:24):
I thought there was a forty winers joke in there.
I thought you were trying it. But it's okay, we're
ten days clean.

Speaker 2 (15:29):
I thought, God, why would I even bring up the
forty nine ers they're gonna buy this week?

Speaker 3 (15:34):
I thought you were gonna misname Sofi Stadium. It's fine,
I thought you were gonna.

Speaker 2 (15:38):
I mean, somebody is really sensitive about their stadium being
named after a financial services company. That sounds a little
bit like a couch.

Speaker 6 (15:44):
Who wait, wait, wait, question for you guys. Who stars
in the so Far commercials. Oh, who does? It's not
Matthew Staff, It's the.

Speaker 7 (15:54):
Reigning defending MVP.

Speaker 3 (15:57):
He's too busy. Come on, he's in the ball in
time chamber getting his back ready. Anyway, Monday eight to
fifteen pm Eastern.

Speaker 7 (16:04):
You can see it on.

Speaker 4 (16:05):
ESPN, ABC and ABC.

Speaker 7 (16:07):
The port is.

Speaker 2 (16:09):
It has not been a great year for Saquon Barkley
and I think we all kind of talked about this
before the season, right, We expected to come down after
the huge year last year. But he has not scored
a touchdown Florio since Week eight? Wild Wild Wow. Do
we think he finds the m zone this week against
the Chargers?

Speaker 7 (16:25):
I do.

Speaker 6 (16:25):
I'm not sure if it's gonna be a goal on
one because a friend of the show, Ian Hard, It's
put out some statsus today. Saquon has been bad near
the goal line this year, like negative rushing yards bad.
But the Chargers have allowed explosive runs at one of
the highest rate in the NFL. They for as good
as their defense is against the pass, they are a

(16:48):
unit that you can run on for sure. So I
think Saquon breaks one in this game. And if you
have Saquon, I think this is just a start they
get the Raiders, the Commanders, the Bills in the Fantasy playoffs.
I know he has not lived up to expectations. It
has been disappointing all of that. The next four weeks
he has a chance to just completely erase that and
lead a lot of you to championships. And that schedule

(17:09):
could not be any better.

Speaker 2 (17:10):
But so wild because last year we were all upset
like they're doing the toush pushing or taking touchdowns away
from Saquon.

Speaker 4 (17:15):
Maybe they knew maybe much.

Speaker 2 (17:18):
This year they're not even doing it as they're not
tousch pushing as much this year when they have lately,
it's not working out quite as well.

Speaker 4 (17:23):
As it used to.

Speaker 2 (17:24):
Like, all right, l Q, what do you expect from
Saquon Barkley against the Chargers. Do you think Saquon finds
the painted area this week?

Speaker 3 (17:34):
No, he's been terrible in short artist situation. I don't
see it happening. I do think honestly, Like if he
sneaks in, it will probably be like a fake tush push.
I'm gonna call it now, it'd be a fake Toush
push and then Saquon rolls out of the side because
of the fumbles that Jalen Hurst has had in these
touch pushes. They're going to try to switch it up.

Speaker 2 (17:52):
See, I don't think I think if he scores, I
don't think it's a short yardage touchdown. I think it's like,
you know, a broken tackle here there, Maybe I missed
assignment and he runs well.

Speaker 3 (18:00):
The Chargers have a high mistackle rate, so I can
see that. I could see that he can.

Speaker 2 (18:05):
Break one from like thirty yards out or something like that.
Like I could see that happening for Saquon this week.

Speaker 4 (18:10):
So we'll see.

Speaker 2 (18:11):
On the other side, we saw the starts and sins
that Florida was sort of out on Justin Herbert. He
did have successful surgery. Again, I'm waiting for the first
time eight teamer players like, yeah, no, they screwed that
up and now I only have three fingers. Would you
Lakwan risk starting Justin Herbert against the Eagles on Monday Night?

Speaker 3 (18:30):
No, just look at his last two games. He had
eighty one passing yards before the buy one hundred and
fifty one after the Buyo injury. Now Monday night football,
Absolutely not. I think you look at other options. I
honestly think the last couple of weeks you are already
kind of planning ahead because Justin Herbert has had some
scary floors, Like you know the floors that I'm talking about, Marcus.
We're talking about cockroaches, crack tiles, and pizza from three

(18:51):
months ago over there in the corner on the floor
type Justin Herbert. These last couple of weeks, it's not
looking good moving forward into the fantasy playoffs. So again,
there's options out there, like a Bryce Shong. There's options
out there like a William Trevor mid Lawrence. You can
have different quarterbacks to step in for Justin Herbert right now,
who is banged up. Why even try to get cute
in one of the most important weeks of fantasy.

Speaker 2 (19:12):
William Trevor mid lawns Like you went deep on that one.
You've used all of the names.

Speaker 4 (19:17):
That's his name. It's his name, man, pretty sure his
mama don't call him mid. That's just you.

Speaker 6 (19:23):
Gotta get pro football reference to put for me to
put Mid up there, that would be great.

Speaker 2 (19:29):
So Donna get back into these starts and sins, which,
of course, as I always mentioned, you can find on
the interwebsite NFL dot com slash starts. It listen to
some wide receivers starts and sets, and uh, I appreciate
you going against the grain of what the general fantasy
community is.

Speaker 4 (19:45):
Talking about with your starts at wide receiver.

Speaker 6 (19:47):
Yes, it was something I thought along and hard about
this week. But I know a lot of people are
getting off the Justin Jefferson train, and I understand why.

Speaker 7 (19:54):
But I think a squeaky Wheel game is coming.

Speaker 6 (19:57):
I think they're going to look to get him involved
early and off and it is a fantastic matchup against
the Commanders. I think this is a game where they're
gonna thrown the ball ten fifteen times something like that.
Christian Watson, to me, is a very strong start this week.
He's been their top go to guy since the Tucker
Craft injury. He can win downfield, he could win out wide,
and the Bears struggle against each of those and.

Speaker 7 (20:18):
Then a mecha Abuka.

Speaker 6 (20:20):
I think a lot of the struggles are on Baker,
not on him. But the Saints have allowed seventy three
percent of the out wide passes in the last month
to be completed. If they're allowing a high completion percentage,
that is a good thing for a mecha Buka because
he's getting open. They've just been struggling to connect on it.
And then I think the six dk metcalf he's averaging
six targets per game since week eight. There's one deep

(20:43):
catch in that period, like one touchdown. It's just all
gone bad for DK Roma Dunesday's falloff needs to be
talked about more because it has been pretty dramatic. DJ Moore,
I think is just a straight sit at this point.
Brian Thomas Junior returned last week. If you didn't watch
that game, you probably wouldn't have known that he really
didn't do a whole lot. And then Xavier Worthy like

(21:05):
he's read a floor play and now he's getting the
toughest matchup or one of the toughest matchups to throw
the deep ball against.

Speaker 2 (21:11):
One quick note to Robodunes did not practice on Thursday,
So that's something to just kind of pay attention to
as we get a little bit closer to Sunday.

Speaker 4 (21:20):
All right, mkwan justin Jefferson ready, fight.

Speaker 7 (21:26):
Listen.

Speaker 3 (21:27):
I cannot trust this man, and I understand on paper
this matchup looks incredible, right. A squeaky wheel game, a
force fed game, situational targets, whatever you want to call it, right.
I just don't trust the quarterback play right now to
even elevate Justin Jefferson to be in flex conversations, Like
we went into it on yesterday's episode right where we

(21:47):
were talking about Devon Valley having more Fantasy points than
Justin Jefferson in the last four games. They were looking
at guys like Ty Johnson, a third string running back
for the Buffalo Bills, having more Fantasy points than Justin Jefferson.
There's nothing that is getting anywhere near of Justin Jefferson
in my flex option as he started this week, even

(22:08):
with the matchup. I just cannot trust it, cannot do
it this week. I'm going with other options.

Speaker 2 (22:13):
What I really am kind of rooting for in this
one is for Justin Jefferson to score like thirteen points,
right where, like then nobody's right.

Speaker 4 (22:25):
All people are like you started, like, all people are
like sitting.

Speaker 2 (22:29):
I was like, it's better than thoughts, Like if he
scores like thirteen fourteen points and like he just lands
kind of in the middle of like good and bad,
then like then what do we do.

Speaker 3 (22:37):
The fantasy streets win he gets, he gets the Cowboys
next week, he's going to be a start for me again.

Speaker 4 (22:44):
Hmm, Like he just is all right, I get that.

Speaker 7 (22:48):
Real quick. Look.

Speaker 2 (22:49):
I want to ask you about Brian Thomas Junior because
he was the guy that I drafted really high this year.
He was a late first early second round pick. I
had my concern and so because of his draft price,
I didn't draft him in many, if any spots at all.

Speaker 7 (23:06):
Was last year a fluke or have things?

Speaker 2 (23:08):
Just? Is it Liam Cohen's offense? He doesn't fit in
like what happened to be.

Speaker 3 (23:12):
TJ William, Trevor mid Lawrence. I mean when he saw
his relevance with Mac Jones. Yeah, but he wasn't this
terrible with Trevor Lawrence last year. He was this bag
with Trevor Lawrence last year. I feel like the hospital
balls will you know, be a little bit of a
motivation of why the disconnect And I think Brian Thomas
Junior next year, we just need to look at the

(23:33):
dynamic of how that back end of this season finishes
out Right, Jacoby Myers, is he the staple as the
wide receiver one right? Parker Washington is talented when given opportunities,
how much involved you're gonna have him in the offense.
And then there's Brian Thomas Junior. Right we have not
seen good production from him all season long, So I
don't even think he's relevant to be even compared as

(23:54):
a flex option or wide receiver two at that point,
because at the end of the day, we're dealing with
a guy that is not great in this system, not
great in this offense, not great with his quarterback right now.
So there's nothing that you know, I feel safe with
Brian Thomas Junior and starting linements for.

Speaker 2 (24:09):
The rest of the season. Yeah, it's gonna be interesting
next year where he gets drafted. He's gonna fall significantly
from where he was this year. But also you're gonna
have have his Hunter back at some point.

Speaker 3 (24:22):
Not to mention Brenton Strange, Brenton Strange, these last two
weeks come on like he's he has a role and
it's important, and I feel like him having that role
kind of puts another wedge in Brian Thomas Junior's upside.
Like we've seen William really, I would say, thrive off
of the tight end position and a wide receiver operating

(24:43):
out of that slot. Right now, Brian Thomas Jr. He's
he's just kind of the outside guy looking.

Speaker 2 (24:48):
In can't get over William just he's just calling him
William casually, like like you guys with a third grade
together or something like that. Anyway, Britain Strange, which is
a perfect way to segue to the tight end starts
and sits and I see spoiler alert.

Speaker 4 (25:06):
You've got Britain Strangers to start this week.

Speaker 6 (25:08):
Yeah, Breton Strange has been really like, look, he's not
gonna give you like twenty plus points, but he's been
sitting around thirteen since he's returned, and he scored nine
point nine or more in all but two games that
he's played this season. Kyle Pitts I said it on
yesterday's show, but if Drake London sits, I think Kyle
Pitts is a top five tight end play this week
because he's been the number one target from Kirk Cousins

(25:28):
and the Seahawks have struggled mightily all year and as
of late against tight ends, and they'll probably be in
ketchup mode. Dalton Kincaid Dalton first eight, as I saw
him called on Twitter, dealing with a lot of injuries.
But if he plays, he's a must start against the Bengals.
If he doesn't play, Dawson Knox becomes a streaming option
because the Bengals, you pick a category, targets, catch his yards, touchdowns,

(25:50):
fantasy points. They've allowed the most of the tight ends and
then Darren Waller just miss a touchdown last week. The
Jets have loud the third most touchdowns that got lit
up by Kyle Pitts last week, and then the six
Dallas Gott It is just a name right now, like
he's not getting a lot of volume. He hasn't scored
it to if he doesn't get to touchdown, the floor
is less than five points. Aronde Gatson, I'm not sure
he's healthy. Since he left Week ten, he has not

(26:12):
scored five fantasy points in a game, and last week
his snaps decreased to the lowest they've been in months,
which is concerning to me. Colson Lovelin, the Packers have
been better against tight ends as of late, and more
than anything, it's just the Bears have so many options.
Like last week, Cole Kamet had more production than Colson
Lovelin and then David and Joku. He is absolutely a

(26:34):
forgotten man. He has two targets are fewer in each
of the last three games.

Speaker 4 (26:38):
Yeah, it's been rough for David and Joke.

Speaker 2 (26:40):
I mean, look, I get it, the Browns passing game
is not really exciting, but David and Joku has just
fanished all together. You mentioned the Bengals too, and how
bad they are against tight ends. Just looking it up.
No defense has given up more yards after the catch
to the tight end position than the Bengals.

Speaker 6 (26:58):
So another category they have the most.

Speaker 3 (27:00):
It's everything like Tray McBride championship. Trade McBride championships sound
so sweet and I'm hoping I get there with them.

Speaker 4 (27:08):
Just let him, just let him run.

Speaker 2 (27:10):
So Darren Waller, and I'll say this because you guys
actually gave Darren Waller more credit than I did earlier
on I was just like, boh, but you know he
came in, he scored some touchdowns. You guys were on
that first Lakwan. At this point, I know he's not
getting a ton of volume, but he's getting the important
targets and that's I think what we care about the most.

Speaker 3 (27:31):
Exactly three catches, forty seven yards, Like bro, He's had
an end zone target in every single game that he
has played this season, and right, like, I know, we're
looking at Darren Waller of the old the guy that
has had injury history, but he's been effective when utilized.
We talk about that two of touchdown that he missed
in the end zone. It was just because it was
overthrown and he stepped out of balance. If him getting

(27:52):
these looks every single game, he's in versus the Jets,
who are tied third in the most red zone touchdowns
to the tight end position. This is where he is
most lethal and what's most important. In this B role.
We're seeing him being utilized vertically downfield, so you're getting
the touchdown upside and the yards upside this week where Hey,
I might download the tape. I might download the mixtape

(28:13):
Choose Myself, that's the name of it, two songs. I
might just support the group. If he goes out there
and balls.

Speaker 4 (28:18):
Out, I would just break it.

Speaker 2 (28:20):
You don't if you can find it for free ninety
nine like I wouldn't spend I wouldn't spend legal tender
on it.

Speaker 3 (28:30):
Come on, MG, if he brings home tight end one
performance this week, you gotta download it, bro, you gotta
bump it in the studio.

Speaker 4 (28:38):
Come out.

Speaker 7 (28:39):
Let's let me.

Speaker 2 (28:39):
Back off and like I'm let me not tell another
grown man how to spend his hard earned money, right,
is just he's just putting that out.

Speaker 7 (28:45):
There's a suggestion.

Speaker 3 (28:46):
If he's going to be supporting fantasy points from my rosters,
I'm gonna support the music.

Speaker 4 (28:51):
Put it like that? All right, all right, good enough?

Speaker 2 (28:54):
You mentioned Coaston Loveland Florio as I said this week,
what do we do with the tight end position in
Chicago at this point? I mean we just out all
together now or what.

Speaker 6 (29:05):
I That's my approach, Like, I won't act like I
have Colson Lovelin on a bunch of teams because I
wasn't like heavily targeting him this season, but I had
I've had him on a couple of teams where I've
dropped him and then like repicked him up as the
year has gone on. But I've kind of gotten to
the point of the season where like I had one
team where I had him and it was Ferguson, And

(29:26):
for a while I was starting Ferguson, and then you know,
Ferguson kind of declined a little bit and then he
started to ascend. And I've just decided, like I'm playing
Ferguson every single week because I think trying to chase
it and figure it out leads to headaches and missed
opportunities and stuff like that. But yeah, because Cole Komet
hasn't gone away, they're they're you mixing in Luther Burden.
There's the key is there's more and dunsday and they

(29:47):
run like the Bears. One they're just not an efficient
passing attack, and two they have so many options that
I for me, at least, I think he's still in
play as a streamer in the right matchup. But that's
kind of it.

Speaker 2 (30:00):
Yeah, you know, it looked like things were starting to
kind of build for him, but he's kind of taking
a step back recently, so we will see how that
works out.

Speaker 3 (30:08):
Could we do a status check on Ronde Gaston's dad,
Like has he been starting him? Oh, that's what's my
question on this decline. We need a status update because bro,
it's it's been dark for him and that's it's been
hard to be benching him because it's like, come on, bro,
he was bawling. Please tell me he didn't go out
there and start his son. We need a status update.

Speaker 2 (30:28):
Ronde Senior might be starting Ronde the second and that's
the problem. Then that's why you're not getting any Fantasy points.
We will, We'll have to We'll have to inquire about
that time for a break, but when we come back,
we'll play Fantasy either or with your toughest start, set decisions,
give you some hot takes for the week and have
a chat with cam Wolf time for a little bit

(30:49):
of Fantasy either or put together some matchups.

Speaker 7 (30:52):
These are guys we've.

Speaker 2 (30:52):
Talked about actually earlier in the week, but you know,
we did some Fantasy trust falls and some of these
names appeared there. But I kind of wanted to, you know,
make the second of a real life situation, like it's
one thing to be like, I don't think I'm gonna start,
you know whatever, Trevor Lawrence this week, But if you
make it either or, then you kind of have to make.

Speaker 4 (31:09):
Some decisions about this.

Speaker 2 (31:10):
So Flora, I'll let you go first, and Lakwan you
can follow up after that. Trevor Lawrence against the Colts
this week or Sam Donald against the Falcons.

Speaker 4 (31:18):
Who'd you rather?

Speaker 6 (31:19):
I'm gonna go with Trevor Lawrence there because I think
that could be a more competitive game. The Colts, I
know their secondary has been really elite as or putting
up really good numbers as of late, but that was
after they got Sauce Gardner, and we don't know if
he's going to be out there this week. Remember early
in the year Presauce, the Colts were allowing a lot
of passing game production, and then on top of that,
that's what we said, Yes, like Sam Darnald has these

(31:40):
dud games where he plays fine, but they just don't
need him to put up numbers. So that is my
concern this week in Atlanta.

Speaker 2 (31:47):
All right, Lakwan William William, Trevor Or, Samuel Richard, give me,
sir William.

Speaker 3 (31:53):
I think Sam Darnald, man.

Speaker 7 (31:54):
His lows are bad. Man.

Speaker 3 (31:56):
Those are week losing lows that we're seeing from Sam
Donald right there. And obviously when you have like a
Kenneth Walker or Jason as explosive and put you in
striking distance, the yards upside are not going to be there,
and that's been the issue for Sam Darnold.

Speaker 2 (32:10):
All right, So Trevor Lawrence wins that one. I probably
make it a full clean sweep here because I think,
you know, if anything seems like a game where the
Seahawks kind of run the ball a lot too against Atlanta,
So I think I think Trevor Lawrence wins.

Speaker 4 (32:23):
All right's go over the running backs.

Speaker 2 (32:24):
I'll start with you on this one, Lakwan DeAndre Swift
at Green Bay.

Speaker 7 (32:29):
We know Florio has him as a start.

Speaker 2 (32:31):
Versus Brice Hall against Miami and what's been a pretty
bad run defense there.

Speaker 3 (32:37):
I'll probably lean Swift and it's close for me. But
the problem is with Breecee Hall. There's not much consistent
pass catching opportunities for him.

Speaker 5 (32:45):
Right.

Speaker 3 (32:45):
We haven't seen bres Hall get Pepper with so many targets,
and we talked about that earlier in the week, and
I feel like now with Swift being the head hontro
of that backfield and they're finding rhythm that they can't
lean on the passing game. We're seeing screens, We're seeing
opportunities for Swift and common Nung Guy, both being fantashy relevant.
But who is eating first on that plate is DeAndre Swift?

Speaker 4 (33:05):
All Right? Which one of these, DWO do you like more?

Speaker 6 (33:07):
I'm actually gonna go in the opposite direction. I'm gonna
go with brace Hall here. I like them as much
as I was saying the Packers have struggled against the run.
As of late, the Dolphins have been one of the
best matchups for running backs all year, and more than anything,
Breese Hall has his backfield to himself.

Speaker 7 (33:21):
Like when the Bears get on.

Speaker 6 (33:22):
The two yard line, we have to worry is it
gonna be Swift or Manungay And lately it's been more
Manongai near the goal line. So what we know when
bres Hall gets that when the Jets get down there,
it's gonna go. If it's not Tyrod steeling it, it's
going to Breeze Hall. So I think I actually I've
been listing names because they don't want me to write
more than four. But I've been listing like other starts,
and Breese is in there. The only reason I didn't

(33:44):
write him up is because I was like, which one
do I think fantasy manager's gonna more questions about?

Speaker 4 (33:49):
And that for me was the Bears backfield.

Speaker 2 (33:51):
Yeah, I think I go Breese Hall too, And I
think Lakwan to answer your concern, I think this is
a week you see him get maybe a few more targets.
I think you get some easier short throws for Tyrod Taylor.
I think you just want to try to get him
out in space a little bit, because part of what
the Dolphins do well is they do pressure the quarterback.
So a good way to sort of back that off
is to just pay a couple quick throws to.

Speaker 3 (34:12):
The running It's a lot of hope that comes with
being you know, with the Jets, there's a lot of
hope that they can win five games. There's a lot
of hope they can get in striking distance. That's just
my issue.

Speaker 7 (34:21):
It's a lot of hope.

Speaker 3 (34:23):
I just feel like I'm gonna go with the more
agenda driven game where they're going to run the living
heck out of that ball.

Speaker 4 (34:29):
Hope is not a plan, but sometimes maybe it is.

Speaker 1 (34:32):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (34:33):
Another running back question Florio quin Shawn Judkins against the
Titans or Traves etn against the Colts.

Speaker 4 (34:38):
Quinn Shard Judkins.

Speaker 6 (34:39):
For me, he is such a safe bet for volume,
Like since Week three when he really started to take over.
Three games with less than eighteen touches and one of
them is sixteen, Like, he is just such a safe bet.
The only time that things can really go wrong for
him is when the Browns are getting blown out. I
don't see that happening this week against the Titans, and
then they're what they just showed. The Wildcat that they

(35:01):
are using him in near the goal line is tremendous
for his fantasy value. Last week he had three targets.
I'm hoping that that's something he could start to build
on a little bit more pass game usage. But yeah,
I think Judkins finishes as a top ten running back
this week.

Speaker 4 (35:14):
All right, which one of these two do you like?

Speaker 1 (35:17):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (35:17):
I like Junkins as well. I'm with Floria as a
top ten running back this week. I don't expect him
to get blown out. I expect, you know, Junkins to
be handling business. It's Travis Etn. I'm a little worried
about last week. We saw him the hit that low
last week. We've seen the last couple of weeks We've
actually seen too and get involved as well in short yardage,
goal line areas, and with Jacoby Myers and now Brian
Thomas juet Are Breton Streams, there's a lot of different

(35:39):
dynamics of what this offense can offer where Travis Etn
doesn't have to hold down the four all by hisself now,
So I think the higher ceiling goes with Jenkins. If
I'm in the quick buyd with these two all.

Speaker 2 (35:49):
I will make that a clean sweep, because it feels
like every time we start to buy into Travis Etn
he disappears, and then when we give up on him,
he starts.

Speaker 4 (35:55):
Getting a whole bunch of carries again. So I can't
figure it out.

Speaker 2 (35:58):
Laquoi Khalis against the Bengals, Marvin Harrison Junior against the Rams.

Speaker 3 (36:04):
Give me Marvi if he's good to go. Okay, I
gotta go with mar because of Jacoby Brissett, man, And
this ain't look I see how you look at me, Florial.

Speaker 7 (36:11):
This ain't a.

Speaker 3 (36:12):
Little night turn. I'm not trying to get you to cry.
And I'm picking mar because I just think there's more opportunities.
I was just looking. That's crazy. I know you're going
to get your lick back, but listen, I'm going Marv honestly,
because everything we've seen from Jacoby Brissett makes me feel
comfortable about a Cardinals wide receiver. And we've seen opportunities
last week with this Rams defense of finding opportunities downfield

(36:34):
with that Tetro McMillan, you know, touchdown over Emmanuel Forbes.
So I do think they're going to keep on chucking
it downfield and with that high volume, high upside. If
Marve's good to go, he's in my starting lineups.

Speaker 4 (36:44):
All right, which one do you like?

Speaker 7 (36:45):
I'm not crashing out? I agree.

Speaker 6 (36:47):
I think it's Marvin Harrison here because of Jacoby Brissett,
he's amazing. They're probably going to be trailing in this game.
Like look, he might not have a lot of points
at halftime.

Speaker 7 (36:57):
Just look at the end of the game.

Speaker 6 (36:58):
That's when the Cardinals do their best wor when they're
in ketchup mode in the second half. On top of that,
I said yesterday, I think like James Cooke, Ty Johnson,
Ray Davis are going to be heavily utilized in this game.
The Bengals are so bad against the run and tight
ends that they're actually one of the harder matchups for
wide receivers on the year. They've allowed these six fewest
fantasy points two wide receivers because all of the eating

(37:21):
is going to the other positions that they just simply
cannot guard.

Speaker 2 (37:24):
All right, yeah, I think I go Marvin Harrison. I
just think the air yards are a big thing there
and the catchup mode that they'll probably be in the
second half. I think those sort of lean a little
bit more towards toward Harrison. Shakiro usually has to get
a lot of targets or break a couple of long
runs to put up a good fantasy number.

Speaker 4 (37:41):
It could happen against Cincinnati, but.

Speaker 2 (37:43):
I'd rather take the guy who you know will pick
up yards in chunks, presumably, and that's Marvin Harrison.

Speaker 1 (37:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (37:49):
Last one, Florio, Darren Waller.

Speaker 4 (37:51):
Against the Jets are held fan and against the Titans.

Speaker 7 (37:54):
My guy, Darren Waller.

Speaker 6 (37:55):
He uh, look, the Jets' third most touchdowns, a lot
of tight ends this season. They've struggled against the position
all year. And Harold Fanning, I do think he's in play,
like he's one of my deeper starts that I list
on in the column, But.

Speaker 7 (38:09):
I just don't.

Speaker 6 (38:10):
I one, I trust Tyrod more than I trust Shador.
I like the matchup a little bit more for Darren Waller.
The Titans haven't given up a lot of production to
tight ends, So I'm gonna go with the with the
big fella.

Speaker 2 (38:21):
There, all right, you go on, mister mixtape, you go on,
Harold Fannin Lakwan, I'm going.

Speaker 3 (38:25):
Mister mixtape, Darren Waller. I think Harrow Fann and he
gives you a safe floor. But we're looking for high
ceilings in a big week this week. So give me
Darren Waller with the opportunity to score and obviously put
up six and I download his mixtape.

Speaker 4 (38:36):
All right, I'll take uh.

Speaker 2 (38:37):
I'll take Waller as well, just because I think the
Dolphins can score more points than the Browns can, simple
as that they're gonna get more touchdown opportunities. So that's
the reason I would go with Darren Waller. Those are
either ors. Get your taste buzz ready getting spicy with
our takes for week fourteen, Lakwan who are getting spicy.

Speaker 3 (38:56):
With surprisingly enough, Tyler Schuck. I'm a Spencer Ratler guy,
but Tyler Shuck this week has opportunity of putting up
a twenty five burger like a big game against this
Bucks defense, just based on how trash their red zone
defense is, so scoring opportunities. And when we look at
the Bucks defense the last four games, they have allowed
the most yards per attempt at eight point four yards.

(39:18):
We're looking at a defense that have allowed two hundred
and plus two hundred and seventy plus passing yards each
of the last four games to the quarterbacks when we
were looking at guys like Drake May, Josh Allen, Jacoby
Brissett offensive Player to Year candidates there and Matthew Stafford
mister MVP. So I look at this as an opportunity
where he could sit right in between and put up
a twenty five burger where these guys have found success

(39:41):
as of the last four games against the Bucks.

Speaker 2 (39:43):
I put him into a couple of lineups this week.
So this makes me feel good. Florida, what is your bullpendiction?

Speaker 6 (39:48):
I talked him up on Fantasy Live a little bit yesterday,
so I'm on board with that. Nice Alq's not gonna
like this one, but I think, justin Jefferson, it's wild
that he hasn't done this already this year. First game
with one hundred yards and a touchdown this season. Why
because the Commanders like they are the I would argue
they might be the e least passing defense. I think

(40:08):
they're the worst in the league. Speed kills them. They
can't tackle, like, there's a lot wrong with that Commander's
defense right now.

Speaker 7 (40:16):
They can't get after the quarterback.

Speaker 6 (40:17):
I think it's going to be friendlier confines for the Vikings,
and I think again, they're gonna throw the ball his
way a bunch.

Speaker 7 (40:24):
He is look at this like he can do. All
you gotta do is play. He can win after the catch,
he could win deafiely.

Speaker 6 (40:30):
Just give him opportunities against his defense and he's going
to have his best game of the season.

Speaker 2 (40:34):
Has not had a touchdown since Week nine, has not
had one hundred yards since Week five. So we'll see
if he can crack both of those this week. So
James Cook James Cook two hundred scrimmage yards this week
against the Cincinnati Bengals. I know the Bengals played better
against the Ravens on Thanksgiving Night. I'm not convinced that
they are fixed yet. I need to see it again.

(40:56):
They've still been terrible against the run. And I said
this on Fantasy I'll say it again here. Joe Brady
in Western New York is slightly less popular than Lake
Effect Snow. So I think I think they're gonna try
and get away from, you know, running a lot of mesh.

Speaker 4 (41:12):
I mean, they're still gonna run.

Speaker 2 (41:13):
It because that' apparently all Joe Brady knows how to do.
But a lot of it's going to be trying to
get the ball to James Cook, letting.

Speaker 4 (41:18):
Him do his thing.

Speaker 2 (41:19):
I think he's gonna get over twenty carries. I think
he's gonna get a few targets as well, and I
think he puts up two hundred scrimmag yards and yeah,
we'll throw a touchdown in there too.

Speaker 4 (41:26):
For a good measure.

Speaker 6 (41:27):
You know what, My favorite Joe Brady thing is, what's
that two weeks ago when they played the Texans and
they lost, Bills fans will like, he ran the same
play over and over again, and then they legitimately ran
the same play twenty nine times against the Steelers, and
Bill's fans are like, he ran the same play and
they can't stop.

Speaker 7 (41:41):
So all of that matters is wins and loss. All
that matters is wins and losses.

Speaker 4 (41:46):
Time to say goodbye to Lakwan.

Speaker 2 (41:48):
Glad to be joined it now by our friend and
NFL Network reporter Cam Wolfa, who hangs out with us
every week to give us his insight on things going
on around the league.

Speaker 4 (41:57):
And Cam, you drew, You drew the long straw, You
got the good one.

Speaker 2 (42:00):
This week You're going up to Buffalo for Bengals and Bills,
which on paper one of the marquee games of the week.
So I mean one, you've been some cold places lately.
Are you ready for Western New York in December?

Speaker 1 (42:14):
Yeah?

Speaker 7 (42:14):
Are you ever really ready?

Speaker 5 (42:16):
No? I don't really have much of a choice. It's
gonna be cold.

Speaker 8 (42:21):
It is gonna be fun, though, because I can't wait
to see these quarterbacks sling the ball around.

Speaker 5 (42:24):
But it's annual joke I have.

Speaker 8 (42:26):
They love to see the South Florida guys see if
I can get frozen and the coldest places I can be.

Speaker 5 (42:31):
So I will be bundled up, I will have layers
on and we'll see if I survive.

Speaker 6 (42:37):
When you joined us on game day preview on Sunday
from Cleveland, it looked like tears were frozen on your face.

Speaker 7 (42:43):
They were.

Speaker 8 (42:43):
They were literally coming down. The wind was blowing pretty bad.
It was not an emotional story. I was talking about
opportunities to be the starter beyond twenty twenty five. But
they're just coming and I have to decide as you're
on air, do you wipe and draw more attention, you
just let them flow and act like they're not there.

Speaker 5 (43:02):
And I chose the latter. But people will of course
you still notice it's tears.

Speaker 4 (43:06):
It's a no win situation that deal.

Speaker 2 (43:11):
But do you want to ask you about the Bengals,
because we saw Joe Burrow come back on Thanksgiving.

Speaker 4 (43:15):
He looked really good.

Speaker 2 (43:16):
He helped them get a win over the Baltimore Ravens.
They were doing some good things with Joe Flacco. But
this offense feels different. How much different is it really
with Joe Burrow versus Joe Flacco.

Speaker 8 (43:27):
It's so different, It's so different. Marcus I actually talked
to Chase Brown, their running back, about this yesterday, and
he said it starts with just his control and knowledge
of everything. Joe Burrow, he said, the way we have
an ability to get to every single check in our offense,
every single protection, every single hot route we can potentially do.
He said, no offense to Joe Flacco, but he'd only
been here three weeks. He said, Joe called some stuff

(43:48):
this past week that we hadn't done in two years,
and we all got back and flow of it right,
And he said, there's so much control, there's so much
calmness that we just want to go out there and
play to the next level.

Speaker 5 (43:59):
And we saw that from them.

Speaker 8 (44:00):
You know the offense had already started to show some
signs of life with Flacco Chase Brown's been running the
ball well, but when Burrow was around him, I think
the impact on everyone else was so clear. The defense
all of a sudden, which has been to see most
of the year, look pretty solid. You know, Jamar Chase
looked like he was having fun playing ball again, and
so I think that'll continue. They're playing with the level

(44:22):
of looseness, of freeness of what else do we have
to lose? And I know people in that locker room
were talking about the win out.

Speaker 5 (44:29):
Possibility of what if?

Speaker 8 (44:31):
What if we were in the rest of our games
and we're nine in eight and we're getting a chance
to potentially get back in this division.

Speaker 1 (44:37):
Hunt.

Speaker 6 (44:38):
Yeah, they're going to have to do to win out,
and that means they have to win this weekend in
Buffalo can But on the other side, look, we know
the Bills could run with the best of them, but
what do they have to do to get more consistency
in the passing game?

Speaker 5 (44:52):
Those pass catchers have to step up.

Speaker 8 (44:54):
Like we talked about the Bengals offense, The Bengals have
Jamar Chase and t Higgins who it sounds like we'll
play today that they can throw this week, that they
can throw to every down. Who is the Bills guy,
Who is the guy besides James Cook that you know
every single week you're going to get contribution from. There's
not that consistency. And so Khalil Shakira is good for
what he is, but they need one of those high

(45:15):
drafted guys, Dalton Kincaid or Kean Coleman to step up
at some point. And there's no cavalry coming. You know,
they brought in Brandon Cooks. It'll be a nice piece,
but I don't anticipate him saving the offense. Sounds like
Josh Palmer's still dealing with some injury injury issues and
they won't have him this week, and so those guys
Keon Coleman and Dalton Kkaid have to get it done.

(45:36):
And it sounds like Kaid's going to play this week.
He's trending towards that way, and it sounds like after
Coleman had a really couple of rough weeks with showing
up late, he's bounced back at least from a responsibility perspective,
and they haven't given up on him. And so you know,
I know Bill's fans don't love the idea of betting
on those two guys, but I think the dreams of
that passing attack coming alive relies on those two.

Speaker 4 (45:59):
Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 2 (46:00):
You know, obviously you mentioned they were high draft picks.
At some point you need to get some production out
of them if you're going to really make a run
at a Super Bowl. Let's kind of go out to
the big thirty thousand foot for to you. I know
this is a week to week conversation, but let's just
talk about it again this week. Right now, who do
you think is the front runner for the MVP Award
in the NFL.

Speaker 8 (46:18):
It's Drake May to me. And look, I think it's
a two man race. I know, early on the running
backs we're in it. I think a lot of those
kind of fell off. I think Matthew Stafford and Drake
May to me or one and two, you can pick either.
Or you know, Matthew Stafford's got the touchdown to interception
ratio thirty two to four. But the way Drake May
has such control, such an impact on this offense is

(46:39):
incredible to see. I mean, we forget the Patriots were
one of the worst five teams of football last year,
and now they're number one seed in the AFC. Drake
May's leading the NFL and passing yards and completion percentage
and quarterback rating. He's making the type of smart, efficient
plays that we just don't see from a second year quarterback.
And he's doing it without an elite, elite number one receiver.

(47:01):
Stefan Diggs has been good. He's not early career Stefan Diggs,
and so everyone is eating and I think Drake May
is the main reason the Patriots are going to be
the biggest surprise of the twenty twenty five season as
far as a turnaround. So if I had to vote,
and with Verdon today, I would vote for Drake Man.

Speaker 2 (47:19):
If the Browns record was reversed, if they were nine
and three instead of three.

Speaker 7 (47:22):
And now we'll be talking about Miles Garrett.

Speaker 8 (47:24):
Of course, he's doing something nobody has done since I've
been alive as a defensive player, Like it's incredible. I
was there for this game this past week, and after
the forty nine ers beat them by twenty points, there
are seven players lined up trying to talk to Miles
Garrett tell them how incredible it was to play against them.

Speaker 5 (47:41):
You never see that from losing teams. I think it's
a respect factor.

Speaker 8 (47:45):
Trent Williams called him the best to ever play pass
rusher in the NFL, and I think he's going to
get that record, and if he does, it'll certainly give
him Defensive Player of the Year. But you know what,
do they call them baseball Some down ballot MVP votes
wouldn't surprise me as well.

Speaker 6 (48:00):
Kim, Look, you're your guy who likes to hit the
gym and stuff. Did you get any tips from Miles
Garrett because he is the closest thing to an Avenger.

Speaker 8 (48:06):
Oh no, we're in different gyms the same we don't
have the same rack. You know, his his weight with
my way. We would laugh at my weight. You know,
I stand next to him on the sidelines and it
reminds me that I'm just you know, I'm not working out.
I'm just moving moving things around, working out. So yeah,

(48:28):
it's great to humble get humbled anytime you see Miles Garrett.

Speaker 6 (48:32):
I mean, his traps are the size of my body,
like it is in insane crazy. Uh, Cam, can you
explain what has happened to Lamar in the second half?
And you being a fantasy guy yourself, if you had Lamar,
would you play him this week against the Steelers?

Speaker 8 (48:48):
Yeah, I would not. I'm concerned because you know it's
clearly not one hundred percent. I think that's the first thing,
the first answer to your question. But Lamar is such
a private guy that I think he's going to kind
of hide whatever he's dealing with if he feels like.

Speaker 5 (49:05):
He's good enough to go.

Speaker 8 (49:07):
And the issue is, I'm curious how much they've adjusted
their play calling or they need to based on his limitations,
because it seems like the offense is still functioning with
a lot of the run pass options and Lamar is
just not making the decision to run as often and
that's what made them so difficult to find. And so
now teams can load up in the box for Derek
a little bit more. He hasn't been as efficient as

(49:28):
a passer, and I don't know if we ever get
a fully healthy Lamar Jackson the rest of the season,
So that part is concerning. Can you adjust the offense
to a little bit more of a limited Lamar? And me,
as a fantasy owner, I wouldn't want to bet my
fantasy life in the playoffs on trying to find it out.
So if I've got another starting option that I would

(49:50):
feel comfortable with, and that's probably the hard part. But
if I had a Jackson Dart, if I had a
guy that I felt like, hey, I can get good
twenty five point from, I'd probably been to Lamar for Yeah.

Speaker 2 (50:02):
I mean, it's frustrating because you spent the high draft
pick on Lamar.

Speaker 7 (50:06):
You kind of are hoping for.

Speaker 4 (50:08):
Him to produce.

Speaker 2 (50:08):
But at some point you kind of got to go
where the numbers are leading you, and right now they're
sort of leading you away from from Lamar Jackson. Enjoy
the game. That should be a lot of fun. We
always enjoy talking to Cam. Be sure to check him
out both on social media and across the network as well.

Speaker 4 (50:22):
And for us, that is it. We are done.

Speaker 2 (50:25):
We appreciate you hanging out with the NFL Fantasy Football Show.

Speaker 7 (50:28):
You know the drill.

Speaker 2 (50:28):
Tell two friends to tell two friends rate review and
remember if at first you don't succeed, by not if
second place gets anything, be safe, take care of yourselves.

Speaker 4 (50:36):
Enjoy Week fourteen. I will talk to you again on Monday.

Speaker 2 (50:39):
Wow took at at bat to tek a alcot