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December 6, 2021 41 mins

Marcas Grant and Michael F. Florio are back for a new edition of the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast to recap all the action from Week 13! The hosts start with recent fantasy headlines and cover injuries to Adam Thielen, Kenyan Drake, Logan Thomas, Joe Burrow, Miles Sanders, and Tyrod Taylor. After the news, Marcas and Michael review lessons they learned in Week 13, looking at New York Jets rookie receiver Elijah Moore and the Ravens offense. Then, the hosts review the week’s top performers and biggest disappointments, analyzing Kyler Murray’s return to action as the QB1 of the week and comparing the Bengals wide receivers. Next, the experts help prepare lineups for the fantasy playoffs by naming some players to stash and some players you can cut. Later, Marcas and Michael cover the top waiver wire targets for Week 14, and finally, we wrap up the show previewing the AFC East showdown on Monday night between the Patriots and Bills.

 

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wow, what is up? Welcome to another edition of the
NFL Fantasy Football Show. It's me your man, nam G.
Marcus Grant, still fully vaccinated, still dodging variants like Neo
in the matrix. Good show for you coming up, and

(00:22):
I just think a great show, right, Let's just let's
just go to the moon on this great show for
you coming up today on this Monday, as always, joined
by producer Justin and the specialists, a cast of dozens
that help us get ready for this show, and joined
on screen by my pal Michael f Flora flying the
Bills Colors today. This is a big one for your
guys tonight. This is bigger than I had ever anticipated

(00:42):
it would be. I mean, if they lose, they fall
to seventh. If they win, there in a four way
tie for first. Like it is. It is a massive game,
and it doesn't make it any better that it is
against the team that for the last two decades has
dominated you. And then you think it's finally over and
they're like, not so fast. So I've I've talked a
lot about this, gave this week, talked a lot of

(01:04):
maybe a little bit of trash show. I am. I'm
pumped for this one tonight months well we will, we'll
talk about that a little bit later on. By the way,
this is like the next couple of weeks, there's a
chance for the Bills to really like slay some demons,
right because they've got They've got the Patriots tonight, so
there's you know, Belichick and the Patriots on tap. Next week,
they've got the Bucks, so like as a chance to
take down Tom Brady's there's a whole lot of chance

(01:25):
for for some Bill's redemption the next couple of weeks.
I'm sure you're you know, I'm sure it's just relaxing.
It's not a big deal at all. I'm sure. Yeah,
and then they get the Patriots two weeks after that.
This next month is it's great because the other three
games they have left are very winnable, but those three
games are gonna decide everything, I think, so, uh yeah,
won't won't be a relaxing month, but at least the
Bills are finally playing meaningful football late in the season.

(01:47):
Right until a couple of years ago, this was something
I only dreamed of exactly, So you know, it's it's
it's a step forward. It is progress for the franchise.
We got a lot to do though. On the show today,
we will take you through some key Week thirteen injuries
will help you spruce up your roster for the fantasy playoffs,
and as I mentioned, we will talk about that big
Monday night game between the Bills and the Patriots. But

(02:10):
first let's start, as we always do, with some fantasy headlines.
We'll start in Carolina, where the Panthers on Sunday announced
that they had fired their offensive coordinator, Joe Brady. He
has been replaced by Jeff Nixon, who's just an offensive assistant. Um,
and you said you looked at up for his no

(02:31):
no history of calling plays, but he does have a history,
uh with Matt rules, so that probably applies into it
a little bit. But for fantasy purposes, I mean, this
was a team that started the season hot. It has
all fallen apart. They have switched quarterbacks a couple of times. Um,
right now it feels like the only usable piece is
d J. Moore. Until what does this mean? Do we

(02:53):
have any idea what this change means for DJ Moore?
I I don't envision it being a good change for
d J. Moore and the Carolina Panthers passing game. I
mean after the move, Matt Rules said, like last week,
we wanted to run the ball thirty three to thirty
five times, and we only rushed it twenty three times.
So with with Nixon having a history of working under
Matt Rule, I'm guessing Matt Rule is gonna get what

(03:15):
he wants. So I'm envisioning this Panthers team running a
lot more, which means good things for Cam Newton. I think,
uh Chuba Hubbard as well. But I mean people were
getting excited about a Mere Dula as a pass catcher.
D J. Moore is the wide receiver one there. I
think you still hold onto those guys just until we
see but I think you could get away with potentially
benching them depending on your options. I mean, this is

(03:37):
definitely a fall from where we were at the start
of the year, when so many of us were so
excited about DJ Moore. We thought Robby Anderson could be
a thing. We were obviously hoping and expecting that the
Christian McCaffrey was going to be there all year long.
Uh So they're on a buy this week and you
look at the schedule the rest of the way, So
they got the Falcons right out of the by which

(03:58):
is a pretty good, pretty good matchups. Think they got
the Bills, the Bucks, and the Saints, so it looks
really bleak's trying to start any Panthers the rest of
the way. Uh, this has kind of been a lost
year for them, unfortunately, and I guess for us in
fantasy if you had any any Carolina Panthers on your team,
not not a great year. UM In New York, Daniel

(04:21):
Jones dealing with a neck injury that is likely to
keep him out for multiple weeks. Mike Glennon got the
start on Sunday. The Giants looked pretty awful, not really
a major surprise, but Uh, Sae Kwon Barkley has been
struggling lately. We've got Mike Glennon at quarterback, We've got
a group of pass catchers that have been super inconsistent.

(04:43):
Can we start any Giants at this point? I think
it's Sae Kwon Barkley and that's it. And Sa Kwan
is still even at this point, he's not an RB one,
He's more of an RB two, especially because Mike Glennon
suffered a concussion this past week, so we might be
getting Jake from making his first NFL start next weekend.
That that's a big down grade. The only thing to

(05:05):
hang your hat on with se Kwan is yesterday he
saw a team high nine targets. And I would expect
whether it's Glennon or from next week under center for
the Giants, we're gonna get a lot of dump offs
to Sakwan Barkley. I think that keeps him as an
RB two. But no way am I trusting any of
the receivers or Evan Ingram, especially with no Daniel Jones.
It just it's been bad. I think it's what did

(05:27):
I see? I believe this morning that there hasn't been
a Giant's running back or wide receiver score a touchdown
since before Halloween. I believe it's October was the last time,
uh one of the wide receivers were running back scored
a touchdown for the Giants. Brutal uh and and this
doesn't make it any better. And they they signed Kenny

(05:48):
Golladay to be a touchdown scorer and have been trying
to force the ball to him and and it just
hasn't worked, has not worked at all. Bad news in Minnesota.
Adam Feeland left in the game in the Lass against
Detroit Lions with an ankle injury. It is being called
right now a high ankle sprain. The Vikings next game

(06:08):
is going to be on Thursday nights against the Pittsburgh Steelers,
and it looks very unlikely for Theland to be ready
for that game. So with him out, is it an
easy pivot to kJ Osborne or do you look somewhere else? Maybe? Uh,
it wouldn't be an easy pivot to kJ Osborne. I'm
thinking that you might have a better candidate on your bench.

(06:29):
But if not, I think Osborne is in play at
the very least as a flex option. He had seven
targets this past week. I also think it bodes well
for Tyler Conklin, the tight end there in Minnesota. He
had nine targets. We know that he can be used
in the red zone as well, and I think it's
a little bit easier to trust a tight end here
than a a wide receiver if you're going a little
bit deeper. So I prefer Conklin, But I think Osborne's

(06:52):
in plays a flex option as well. I know that
on Friday's NFL Fantasy Live, Maurice Jones Drew had Tyler
Conklin as a starting ended up having pretty good game.
Seven catches for fifty six yards will certainly take that
out of a tight end that you were probably streaming.
Osborne mentioned seven targets. They have four catches for forty
seven and a touchdown, So, you know, good but not great,

(07:13):
but also feels like it's gonna be hard to sustain
that even without Adam Feeland. Uh, and you know against
the Steelers defense that has its moments. I guess, uh,
they're not playing great football, but you know, they did
get a win. Uh, and they're they're hanging in there.
So so we'll see how that goes. We're probably gonna
see infinite targets to Justin Jefferson's roight. That that I
think is the real answer, Right, So Justin Jefferson just

(07:35):
eats a lot, maybe some Alexander Madison too. I think
that's kind of how this offense shakes out now without Feeland.
A couple other injuries of note, actually a handful of
injuries of note. Joe Burrow injured his finger. It was
looking kind of gnarly, but he says he doesn't plan
to miss any time. He's gonna try to play through it. Uh.
Finger injuries apparently are the hot thing right now for

(07:56):
quarterbacks around the league. The I would try to not
do that, that's just me h. Miles Sanders was having
a really nice day for the Philadelphia Eagles, but then
re injured his ankle ended up leaving in the fourth quarter.
We saw a lot more Boston Scott. We saw a
lot of Kimmy Gainwell on Sunday as well, so monitor
the ankle injury for Sanders. Tyrod Taylor has possible tour

(08:18):
ligaments in his wrist uh, so we'll see what happens there.
It could be a Davis Mills game this week for
the Houston Texans, so that's another thing the monitor. Tyrone
also not did not play well on Sunday, which sort
of attributed to him going to the bench later in
as well. A couple of season ending injuries as well.
Kenyan Drake has a broken ankle. He is done for

(08:40):
the year. We'll talk about that a little bit later
on in the show. And then Logan Thomas suffered a
knee injury against the Raiders. It is believed to be
a torn a c L and mc L, so certainly
his season is over for the Washington football team, so
all some things of note will certainly touch on some
of those today and probably on Wednesday as well as

(09:00):
we get a little bit closer to game time, uh
in the meantime time for issue of an issue. In addition,
how about that the things we learned where we talking
about some of the stuff that we figured out that
after watching games on Sunday, and how we apply it
to our fantasy lives. So what is a new thing
for you, Floria? I learned that Elijah More is a
weekly must art option and he was trending that way,

(09:23):
but then last week he had his worst game since
his really since he broke out, and that was his
first game that he played entirely with Zach Wilson. So
there was concerns like ken Zack Wilson be as good
for Elijah More as Joe Flacco and Josh Johnson and
Mike white Ware, which is crazy to say, But then
we saw him have a twenty point game yesterday and
since Week seven after the Jets by he's been averaging

(09:46):
over eight targets per game, with at least six targets
in every game, giving you nearly eighteen fantasy points per game.
Three times his top twenty and he's done it again
with four different quarterbacks. So and his worst game in
that span is just nine Fantasy points every a game
in double digits. So he brings the a very safe floor.
I would say we've been seeing the upside as well.
I think Elijah More at this point it's just someone

(10:07):
that you leave in your starting lineup and you don't
take them out, especially because it was a tough matchup
against Philly yesterday and it didn't matter. Yeah. I mean,
they keep going back to the fact that they said
a few weeks ago that they didn't want to try
to force the issue with Elijah More. But maybe they aren't.
Maybe it just is happening naturally. That's fine. Maybe they
should just work on trying to get him the ball more, uh,

(10:28):
and get get him more involved in the offense, because
he's one of the few bright spots that they got
right now there in New York. Uh. For me, I
am worried about the Ravens offense. It has not been
great over the last few weeks. Uh. And you know,
in addition to that, Lamar Jackson has been sort of
mediocre at best. I mean his last three games that

(10:49):
he's played, he's had fewer than eight team Fantasy points.
He didn't miss a game in there as well. But
it just has not been very good for this team.
They're struggling to score twenty points right now, and even
when you look at Lamar's rushing totals, they are four.
Lamar Jackson pretty pedestrian. I mean, he's he's giving you
about anywhere between thirty and fifty yards, which, again, if

(11:11):
that was any other quarterback, you'd be excited about that.
When it's Lamar Jackson, you start to wonder what's happening.
And so this is a team that is not doing
a whole lot offensively. We've seen Rashad Bateman kind of
fall out of favor, Davante Freeman still actually giving you
a little bit of production, but beyond that, it has
been been very, very rough. I don't know if anybody

(11:31):
has talked about, you know, dropping Lamar. I know we
get sometimes some some panicky questions, but you know, if
I was talking about draft or dropping him, we at
least have to talk about the fact that he's just
not being productive right now. Yeah, I definitely wouldn't drop Lamar.
I'm disappointed with Mark Andrews as of late, but I'm
still starting him pretty much every week because tight end

(11:52):
Markey's brown. I think it's the other piece of that
past game that you could start to rest. I don't
even want to roster anyone really on this team. It's
and it's wild to say that the most productive Raven
Marcus has been DeVonta Freeman. Like, I did not see
that one coming. No. I mean, look, this is a
season that we we thought was gonna be the j K.
Dobbins Gus Edwards year, and now we have been forced

(12:15):
to kind of go with DeVonta Freeman and Latavious Murray. Uh.
Not what we expected, certainly not what the Ravens expected.
But here we are all right. Time to take a
quick break. But when we return, we're looking at top
performers and biggest disappointments of Week thirteen. Find out which
Bengals wide receiver we are trusting down on the stretch.
That's next on the NFL Fantasy Football Show. Take a

(12:40):
look at some of the top performers for Week thirteen.
Kyler Murray welcome back your QB one with nearly thirty
one Fantasy points. Taysom Hill got your nearly twenty one
fantasy points despite not really playing all that well. But
he's a QUB six. Javontay Williams has the breakout day
we've been waiting for for about three months. Now get
you at twenty nine point eight to make him the

(13:01):
RB one. Josh Jacobs or RB four with twenty four points.
Sony Michelle getting a little extra work because Darrell Henderson
was less than He's your RB seven just under twenty
two points. Justin Jefferson, continue into ball out thirty five
fantasy points thirty five point six to be exactly make
him the wide receiver one. T Higgins your wide receiver four,
twenty eight point eight, Russell Gage, get you twenty two

(13:23):
to be wide receiver eights. George Kittle having a monster
day thirty nine point six fantasy points. He's You're tight
end one, and Dallas got it with a big day
twenty eight and a half. He is your tight end two.
But let's dive into some of these guys, notably T Higgins,
who you saw had the really nice day for the
Cincinnati Bengals. Jamar Chase has been you know less than

(13:45):
you know from the start of the seat, and maybe
it's because he was so great at the start of
the year that now we look at this as like,
what's what's happening with Jamar Chase? But is t Higgins
now the guy that you want to be starting from
this Bengals offense? Yeah, I think so. I mean we
we'd seen it early on when they were both out
there on the field that Tee Higgins was the preferred
option in the red zone. But now it's just looking

(14:07):
like he is the preferred option, like in games they've
both been healthy. Shout out to Mike Clay, I know
he was doing to put this out there first yesterday
on Twitter, like Ti Higgins has more targets, more usage. Uh.
To me, I think Jamaar Chase is still in play.
Like I had a friend of mine who was texting
me over the weekend. He's freaking out about his fantasy team,
and I was like, look, it's not going great for you,

(14:27):
but you still have a player like Jamaar Chase, And
I think you have to start each week because it
only takes one or two catches for this guy to
have a day. But his worst game in his last
five games would be I mean, his best game in
the last five would be his worst game in the
first seven weeks of the season, So he has been
anything but what we were hoping for. As of late,
I think Tee Higgins is the top wide receiver here,

(14:49):
but I still think Jamaar Chase because of his upside,
is in play each week. Just the ceiling for Chase
is so high and that's that's why you put him
in your lineup. But Tee Higgins started and to kind
of take the role that I think a lot of
people anticipated for him at the start of the year.
I mean, uhh Higgins was kind of the known quantity,
and I know we like Chase because he was the
new thing with the plenty of upside, but Higgins kind

(15:12):
of settling into that wide receiver one role right now,
teams are scheming to take Jamaar Chase out and Tyler
Boyd we'll talk about him a little bit later, but
but has been just kind of a non factor for
the most part for the Bengals lately. Kyler Murray he
had had three one lead on those summer reports, but
they're coming back, they are, they're coming back. I mean

(15:32):
it was like he was up three early on and
now it's this thing might go to overtime for him. Uh.
Kyler Murray, who who had a really nice day in
his return in a big win against the Chicago Bears. Uh,
do you do we think he will continue to run
as well as he did yesterday? Had two rushing touchdowns.
Last year we saw him kind of slow down after
a shoulder injury. Is this how it's going to be?

(15:55):
Was this just like a one time thing? How are
we feeling about that? I'm feeling pretty encouraged right now.
He had seasoned highs across the bar, the board and
carries yards and in the rushing touchdowns. And it was
his first game back off of an injury. It wasn't
ideal weather conditions out there. It was a slick field,
so potentially it was just because hey, no one could

(16:15):
catch him on that wet field. But I think if
you have Kyler Murray right now, you have to be
encouraged because he looked healthy. He was running great, the
best we've seen him run all game all year. And
the schedule going forward is pretty favorable. Yeah. No, the
schedule very great. And uh, you know, at this point,
we were long past the part of worrying about matchups

(16:35):
with Kyler Murray right, like, we're gonna get him in
the lineup. We just want we just want to know
if he's gonna run the ball as much as he
has in the past, because that certainly takes him to
another level in terms of what his production can be.
But we have seen him throw the ball effectively. You know,
he's got a lot of pass catchers. But it is
just a matter of, you know, do we get those
extra hidden Konami yards from Kyler Murray. But he's gonna
be great. I have no worries about him. He's gonna

(16:57):
be next year. I'm sure. Again one of the top
three to five quarterbacks off the board in most fantasy leagues.
So all is well there. Uh, Josh Jacobs is your
RB four as of this moment. Heading into Monday Night Football.
Kenyan Drake, as we mentioned, left the game early with
a broken ankle he has done for the years, So uh,
this perverse maybe heavily to Josh Jacobs again, although he

(17:19):
got a weird thing, he was getting more targets. He
was having about a fifteen or sixteen percent target share
over the last month or so, about double what Kenyan
Drake was seeing. So maybe things are already starting to turn. Um.
Are we hirer on Josh Jacobs now with no Kenyan
Drake in this offense? Yeah, for sure. And I've been
a lo guy on Josh Jacobs for basically two years

(17:41):
and now because I'm like he doesn't catch enough passes
and in PPR league, which NFL dot com leagues are,
that's what you need. But that started to change like yesterday. Yeah,
career high nine targets, nine catches, but that career high
previously was seven, which he said two weeks ago. So
he has been seeing more assistant usage in the passing game.
Does he turn it into a lot of yards. No,

(18:03):
But when you get seven free points or nine free
points off of catches alone, you're going to have a
good game. You're likely going to finish as an RB one.
So I think if you have Josh Jacobs right now,
you should be feeling pretty good. He's definitely trending up
in my opinion. I mean, it is the thing that
we have been asking for since he was drafted by
the Raiders is get him involved in the passing game.

(18:24):
We know that he can be productive there. We saw
it when he was in college and for whatever reason,
John Gruden never did it. Now maybe it's starting to
change with the change in play caller. Maybe Greg Olsen
is gonna start to get him more involved in the
passing game. You love to see it because we know
he can be a pretty consistent running back. We just
want him to catch the football because that is again,
it's sort of like Hyler Murray running. It's a chance

(18:45):
for extra production, a chance to go to the next level. Um,
you know, we can go round and round on the
merits of PPR, but as long as that's the world
we live in, it's fine. Somebody who can take advantage
of it. So it seems that the Raiders are starting
to do that with with Jacobs. All right, that was
the good. Now outside for the bad in what we
like to call I'm Salty, where we rant and rape
about the guys who broke our hearts this week. Uh,

(19:08):
this was what we we full disclosure. We have a
little slack channel between myself and in Florida and producer Justin.
We're on Sundays as games are happening, we sort of,
uh talk about what we want to discuss on the show.
This was one you got a little fun with talking
about this one. Uh, it's Boston Scott. Because coming into
the week we were like, Miles Sanders is a little

(19:29):
banged up. Boston Scott's been getting more work. It is
a great match up against the Jets, the best matchup
a running back could have. Boston Scott got a little sick,
but he was like, no, I'm still gonna play. He
played three snaps, He did not have a touch, he
did not score a fantasy point, and then he tried
to have some fun with players with fantasy players, and man,
he does not know how to meme at all. You

(19:50):
see here if you're watching on the video, he he
did the handshake meme and on one side was beating
the flu, on the other was getting cussed out and
my mentions over fantasy, which, by the way, never do that.
Don't be the person sending mean messages to players and stuff.
But then the thing they're agreeing on is the Eagles
winning and and there's no correlation at all between the three.

(20:11):
Boston Scott like, my, man, you're a good football player.
Stick to that. Like like, you shouldn't been trying to
think of your own memes because this is not how
you do it. Yeah, you know they I would think
that the the Eagles have a social media person, maybe
Boston should sit with them and uh, you know, kind
of figure out how the memes work. Because it was
good job, good effort, but but in the end the

(20:34):
results were not We're not great, all right. So I'm
gonna stick in Philadelphia when we talk about disappointment, and
I'm gonna say DeVante Smith because I I thought this
was a bounce back week for DeVante Smith against the Jets,
and this is actually one of his worst games of
the season. Was really a non factor, didn't see much
of the ball, only had a couple of catches, didn't

(20:54):
give you much in the way of yard. You see
that there three and a half Fantasy points this week
from Devonte Smith and what seemed like a great matchup,
but instead it was Dallas Goddard getting all the work
and it was Kidneth Gainwell doing things that you know,
and and Miles Sanders having a big day on the ground.
So DeVante Smith ended up being andy. And maybe we
should have talked about this when Gardner Minshew uh was

(21:17):
getting the start that maybe it just wasn't gonna work
out early on for DeVante Smith. Maybe you get better,
but this one, this one, this one hurts a little
bit that DeVante didn't play well this week. Yeah, a
lot of people were in my mention saying they're cutting him.
Do you think he's droppable after No, I don't think
he's droppable at all. Keep him. It was a bad game.
But yes, yeah, I'm holding up. Yeah, hang on, hang on,

(21:40):
DeVante Smith. It'll be fine. Just ye. You may just
not be able to play him every week, so be it. Hey,
it's the part of the show, right How you should
follow us on TikTok at NFL Fantasy, We are still
dropping TikTok's there, I guess pretty regularly. I should actually
check myself, but there, Yeah, I know we're doing TikTok's there,
trust me, we are. I'm also doing TikTok's too, ad
Marcus Grants, you can follow me there. Uh, maybe I'll

(22:01):
play the ukulele. Maybe I'll put on some sunglasses and dance.
You never really know, so just follow it and find out.
It should be fun, all right. We are getting close
to the playoffs, in fact that we're about to start
Week fourteen, which for a lot of leagues will be
the final regular season week in fantasy football before the
playoffs starts, so much like decorating your home or a

(22:21):
tree for the holidays, We're gonna help you spruce up
your roster with some guys that you may want to
pick up and stash, and some guys that you might
want to say goodbye to at this point because maybe
they're not gonna help you all that much. So let's
start with the guys that we may be picking up
and either playing or stashing for the next couple of weeks.
For you, who's a good name for me? One of
them is Marlon Mack. And I have went out and

(22:42):
added him myself in a few leagues every league that
I have Jonathan Taylor, and I want to have Marlon Mack,
because God forbid anything was to happen to Jonathan Taylor.
It's not gonna be in the heam Hans getting all
the volume behind him. Marlon Mack is going to get
a lot of the groundwork. He'd be running behind that
colts Oline, et cetera. I think right now this is
the time of year where you want to have your

(23:02):
top running backs handcuffs. And in the Waiver Wire article,
Marcus I started it by saying that and made a
whole list of the handcuffs that I would roster right now,
So go out and get your handcuffed before it's too late. Well,
I'll keep that theme going by saying Sony Michelle looks
like a really good pickup and he had the big
game yesterday against the Jaguar, so sort of reminds you
of who he can be. But just as importantly, I mean,

(23:24):
with Darryll Henderson less than a percent. Uh, if you
have Darrell Henderson, Sony Michelle should be a guy you
are targeting to add off the waiver wire. Still available
in uh nearly sev of NFL dot Com League, so
he is widely out there. We know that if it
comes down to what he can be a workhorse. We
saw it in the past in New England. We saw
a little bit of it yesterday. So uh, And like,

(23:45):
who knows, depending on how Sean McVeigh wants to work
this for the next few weeks, Michelle might end up
having some standalone value as well, but he should definitely
be on rosters at this point. Um. On the other side,
guys that maybe it's time to say goodbye too. Who
are who are you letting go? Now? This is a
guy that I was excited about all year, but Rashad Bateman, like,

(24:07):
it just hasn't happened, right, Like, there was that stretch
in the middle of the year where it was looking
like it was gonna happen, but then Lamar and the
Ravens offense has been struggling. He's kind of fallen out
of favor, getting playing a little bit behind, like Sammy
Watkins and Devin DuVernay. Uh. And at this point with
players like this, where you're waiting for the breakout to happen,
you're now gonna want to see it more than one
game before you start him. So at this point, you're

(24:29):
realistically never going to start Rashad Bateman. So all of
those fringe E guys on your roster you could get
rid of because the boys are behind us now for
the most part. So I think you'd rather have your
your handcuff running back or like a defense with a
good matchup in the Fantasy playoffs. Yeah, this this does
kind of hurt a little bit because we did have
expectations for Bateman and he flashed a couple of times.

(24:50):
But as I mentioned, with the Ravens often struggling, it's
it's certainly hard to get excited about that um. Similarly, though,
when you talk about wide receivers that maybe aren't giving
you much, Tyler Boyd uh, And this is one that
I came into the season drafting Boyd in a lot
of spots because I felt like, Uh, he was going
to give you similar production to maybe Tee Higgins or

(25:10):
Jamaar Chase, but at a much nicer draft price. And
that hasn't really been the case. I mean, he's had
a couple of decent games, but nothing's consistent, nothing sustained. Uh,
Chase obviously had the huge start to the season. Higgins
is starting to come on now. So you're gonna sit
there with Tyler Boyd on your roster, probably not starting
him because you just can't trust that he's gonna give

(25:30):
you a good number. If you're going to use that
roster spot, like we said earlier, you better off using
it on a running back, a guy that you know
potentially could step in and get a lot of work
in case a starter goes down. I think how I
would rather use those spots for the next few weeks.
So as much as I was a fan of Tyler
Boyd early in the season. Uh not so much now. Also, randomly,

(25:52):
is this this kind of the beginning of the end
for Tyler Boyd is a fantasy option? It seems that way,
right because Jamaarson T. Higgins are never gonna go away
like there. If anything, they'll probably get more volume next year.
So yeah, Like Tyler Boyd was someone I thought was
really safe to draft this year, but next year I
don't see myself having much interest at all. Yeah, I

(26:13):
think it's it's probably time to move on from Tyler
Boyd at least uh in fantasy football. Alright, sorry for
another break, we come back. We have some Winter Wonderland
waiver wire options for you coming up. That's next on
the NFL Fantasy Football Show, We've got a look at

(26:37):
the top of waiver wire targets heading into Week fourteen.
Is compiled by Michael f. Florio. So please take us
through your list, sir, and full disclosure, this is not
a great list this week. But the top quarterback ad
is still Taysom Hill. I know he didn't play great
last week, but still give you over twenty fantasy points
and get the Jets next week. He could run all
over them if you're going a little bit deeper at

(26:58):
quarterback Trevor Lawrence just because of avorable match up. The
next couple of weeks. Gardner minshew, I know they'reround by,
but they didn't. They said they're not putting a firm
timetable on Jalen Hurts returning. Of the top running backs
are the same guys from last week because most of
them were on by. So don't forget about Don Choll, Hilliard,
Deontay Foreman, Amir Abdula. They're all available in over half
of NFL dot com leagues. And then Marcus, you were

(27:20):
talking up Sony Michelle. I think he definitely needs to
be rostered. Tevin Coleman has been the Jets lead running
back since Michael Carter has gone down, So go out
and pick up Coleman if you need some depth at
running back. Some receivers Van Jefferson, Marcus and I do
not understand this one. Why he is available and over
half the NFL dot Com leagues he shouldn't be. Devantay
Parker came back played pretty well. Russell Gauge. I mean,

(27:43):
I was a low on Russell Gauge, but these last
couple of weeks he has proven me wrong and has
looked like a strong fantasy piece a moan ros st
Brown had the best game of his early career, caught
the game winning touchdown. Josh Reynolds continues to see consistent
volume there for the Lions, and then at tight end
Cole Commet, he just continues to see consistent volume for
the Bears. Generald Everett. I know he had a bad

(28:04):
game yesterday, but he is still the third target there
for Seattle. And then Tyler Conklin with no Adam feeling,
I think he sees more volume as long at dealing
his sidelines. So another tight end you can grab. You
mentioned that mon Russe and Brown. We didn't mention the
fact that the Lions won a game. Congratulations. Uh they're
not gonna go winless this year. Uh, so they had

(28:25):
to look it was the most Lions win ever. They
had a big lead, they coughed it up. They needed
the last second drive and a walk off touchdown to
to win it. But it is a win. So congratulations
to Dan Campbell and the Lions and the people of Detroit.
And you guys deserve better, I mean, coudles two Lions
fans like for being there yesterday, like it's cold, your

(28:48):
team is not good. Like you guys are real fans,
You're real true fans. So congratulations to you as much
as to the team. Uh, let's let's talk about some
of the guys though. On that list, Le's talk about
Gardner Minshow specifically because he came out and look, he
had a good game. Uh. You know, on on some
levels it's yes, it was the Jets, but on the

(29:09):
other other levels, like, hey, look you know what, he
went out and he had a good matchup and he
took advantage of it. I mean right now before Monday
Night football, he is your QB ten. So that obviously
led to a whole lot of stuff on the timeline
about whether or not Gardner Minshew should be the Eagle
starting quarterback going forward. It seems sort of inevitable because

(29:30):
that is what we do on Twitter. Blurg um for us, though,
who would you rather have as the Eagles QB? What
do we want Minshew mania or would we rather go
back to Jalen Hurts? No question about it. For me,
I'd rather Jalen Hurts. Like yesterday in a Slam Dunc matchup,
Minshew did play well and he gave us eighteen and
a half fantasy points, but Jalen Hurts gives us over

(29:52):
twenty basically every week. We know what he could do
with his legs. The people who want Gardner Minshew are
the people who were all Jalen Hurts and saying he
was gonna get benched and he's not an NFL quarterback,
and they're sticking to their priors instead of being like, hey,
Jalen Hurts isn't that bad and he deserves a shot.
I think for me personally, Marcus, I want to see
Minshew go to another team and get another chance, But

(30:15):
I also want to continue to see Jalen Hurts as
a starter. If I have to pick one, it is
easily Jalen Hurts For me same, you know, I I
want Jalen Hurts. I feel like he's still more dynamic.
I feel like he you know, it's gonna get more
guys involved. It was great to see Dallas Goddard have
the big game. We talked about Davonte Smith though being
a disappointment. I think Hurts will sort of get a

(30:36):
lot more of these guys involved. He still has that
rushing upside um. I mean, look, we we have sort
of seen the Gardner Minshew show. And you know, I
know people pointed out that the weapons he had in
Jacksonville maybe weren't as good as what he's working with
in Philadelphia. But we also have kind of seen how
this thing plays out. I think we're still not completely

(30:57):
sold on the Jalen Hurts experience. I don't think we've
seen the final act of that yet, so I would
like to see more. Um, I just don't understand it.
Like literally, I feel like the people in Philadelphia and
the people in Miami hate their respective quarterbacks, so maybe
they should just figure out a swap that will make
everybody happy. I don't know. Uh, it's weird to me,
um say J. P. Ryan another guy we talked about

(31:20):
the Stasian guys. You know you talked about Marlon Mack,
I I talked about Sony Michelle. Uh, the J. P.
Ryan kind of rise to the level of a guy
worth stashing for the next few weeks. I think so
because we've seen when Joe Mixon missed his time, he
is the next running back up. He'll get a good
amount of volume. And those are the backup running backs
that you want to roster if you don't want the
guys like on the Chargers, Like if Austin Neckler goes down,

(31:42):
I cannot stay with any confidence who the next man
up is. But in a lot of teams you can.
That's why on my rosters where I like, I have
Marlon Mack and I have Benny Snell, and I have
Darryl Williams DeVante Booker, because every week, if there's a
big waiver wire pickup, it's usually a running back, the
backup running back on a team that starter got hurt.
You don't want to be in that position in the

(32:03):
fantasy playoffs. In case something happens to your starter, you
already want to backup on your roster. So especially if
you have Joe Mixon, definitely go out and get Tom
p Ryan. I mean, we have seen mixing in the
past deal with injuries and even this year. I mean
nothing that has been really long term or really serious.
But you know, there's just those moments when if something happens,
he rolls an ankle or something and he has to

(32:24):
go sit down for a little while. Uh, if one
of those things, not that we're wishing it, but if
one of those things were to be serious and force
him to miss time. Uh. P Ryan is a really
nice option to slide in there. And and look, it's
nothing new. Every year there's one or two backup running
backs who end up being impact one of the fantasy playoffs.
Alexander Madison looks like he's gonna slide into that role

(32:45):
right now. Uh, they're very well, maybe others before we
crown some fantasy champions this year. All right, So if
we are looking for our top waiver wire target, we
have priority. We still somehow miraculously have a bunch of
fab left to spend. Who are we going after this week?
If he is still out there, it would be Van Jefferson,
who is only rostered in thirties six percent of NFL

(33:06):
dot com leagues that needs to go up dramatically. Like
last week, he played in the snaps and had nine targets.
This week eight targets, second on the team behind only
Cooper Cup. He scored a touchdown. All three of the
Rams receivers scored a touchdown. And what we've seen since
Robert Woods has gotten hurt is that Van Jefferson is like,
is that new number two receiver there? And they are

(33:27):
not taking off any of their three receivers off the field.
They are firmly using three receivers at all times. So
I love Van Jefferson. If he's already rostered, I think
like Taysom Hill becomes one if you need a quarterback,
but mainly it would be your running back handcuffed, Like
I think it is that important to go out and
get them this week. I agree like Van Jefferson is
the guy that I have been a Van Jefferson stand

(33:48):
all year long. It's only gotten stronger as the year
has progressed. Um, you know, I had that moment, you
know when Robert when when they got o Odell Beckham Jr.
I was like, well, okay, so that's maybe the end
of the Van Jefferson train for this year. And then
unfortunately Robert Woods gets hurt, and hey we're back again.
I'm just so surprised that other people haven't caught on,
Like I just figured it would have been universal at

(34:10):
this point. Um Wood's got hurt literally the day you
were like, I think we have to be done with that.
So it was like one afternoon you doubt him, and
that was a you're right. It wasn't even a full
twenty four hours that I was off the train, like, uh,
right back on pretty much immediately. So I would say, look,
if if Van Jefferson is you know, he's for me
my top target. But if he's not there or you

(34:32):
need help elsewhere, Sony Michelle h is the guy that
that I think you should go out and get. I
talked about him a little bit earlier in what he
means potentially for this offense. Even if Darrell Henderson is healthy,
there's still potentially a chance for him to get opportunities. So, uh,
meeting the wing that you probably need running backs, or
at least you want depth that running back Sony Michelle
should be a really nice thought for you when you're
making your waivers in the next day or so. By

(34:54):
the way, we've got more waiver wire talk. We're writing
whatever you want to say. You can go check out
Loreal's column at the nfl dot com slash Waiver Wire. Uh.
He has already admitted that it's kind of a thin
list this week. That makes me worried as I put
together my list of sleepers. I'm not excited about what
that's going to bring this week either, because it's week
fourteen and guys are hurt, and uh, you know, we're

(35:16):
we're kind of hurting at both waiver and sleeper options
this week. Anyway, it's time to preview the Monday night
football contest between the New England Patriots and the Buffalo
bill should be a good one certainly to watch and
has a lot of meaning both uh in the a
f C East in the a f C at large
as well, But let's talk fantasy here. Uh. The Patriots
running back situation has become a mess recently. We we

(35:40):
love Damien Harris, but Mondre Stevenson starting to get involved.
Brandon Bolden sprinkled in, So would you start a Patriots
running back? Look, if if we're talking season long, you
haven't done it, you're probably stuck. But if you're putting together,
say a DFS line up, would you start a Patriots
running back? And if so, who would it be? I
wouldn't want to If I had to start any of them,

(36:00):
I think I would go with Damian Harris if I
was desperate. But what we've seen is is Harris and
Stevenson split drives and then Bolden get used on third
down and Marcus this week, when I did my rankings
were coming into week thirteen, none of them were in
my top twenty five running backs. But they were all
in my top thirty five, so that's how bunched together.
I had all three of the Patriots running backs. I

(36:22):
you know, I would probably not do it myself. I mean,
if I if I did pick one, I'm with you
it's Damien Harris because he's the guy I've been trusting
all year long. But because they are splitting time so equally,
there just doesn't seem to be enough and you really
are counting on one of them scoring a touchdown to
kind of put up a decent number, And on top

(36:42):
of it, it's just not a good matchup against this
Bill's run defense. I don't think I want really any
parts of this running game, at least not tonight. Maybe
another week, but not tonight. Um, which gets us then
to the Bills running game, which has been a headache
pretty much all year long, even more so now that
Matt Breeda seems to be in the mix. So same question,

(37:03):
would you start a Bills running back and if so,
who would it be? I would not. This backfield makes
the Patriots backfield look pretty good for fantasy. Like Matt Breeda,
I know he's had two big games in the last
three weeks, but the one where he didn't score a touchdown,
he had less than five Fantasy points. In last week,
we were hearing reports that he could take over, and
then Devin Singletary had more than twice as many touches

(37:26):
as him. So Singletary, we know Marcus isn't going to
score a lot of touchdowns. So for me, it is tough.
I'm starting Brita in a deeper league where I had
some running backs hurt or on by. But if I
have the choice and I can get away from this backfield,
I'm gonna do it every time. Same. I just I
can't figure this out, you know, like, who knows what
one of these guys may end up being a surprise

(37:47):
healthy scratch today. Uh, you know, otherwise they may just
spread the opportunities around. I'm with you, I have to
start Breeda in a league. I'm not all that thrilled
about it. Um, you know, and the Patriots defense has
been playing well, so they're there's just really no easy
answers here. And you you talk about how confusing this
backfield is. He the Patriots thin like the Browns by comparison.

(38:08):
You know, it's just like, hey, we can this seem
much easier to figure out that what Buffalo is doing. Especially,
it's just Josh Allen could lead them in rushing yards
and touchdowns in any week, which only makes it harder
to figure out that that part too. Yeah. Um, alright,
last one here, we've got the two top touchdowns scoring
tight ends, uh in in the NFL. That's hard enough

(38:31):
to say. Between Dawson Knox and Hunter Henry, they are
separated by point one fantasy points. Just a tenth of
a point separates Dawson Knox and Hunter Henry. So between
the two of them, who you got tonight? I would
go with Dawson Knox only because he he seems a
little bit safer like. Not only do they use him

(38:53):
a lot in the red zone, they use Hunter Henry
a good amount in the red zone as well. But
we've seen Hunter Henry is touchdown or bust. Dawson Knox
will give you at least a couple of catches some yardage,
so I'm gonna go with him. But both are also
tough matchups for the tight ends, so I'll go Knox here.
But it is very close. I would say it's very close.
I mean again, there, they're pretty much equal in fantasy points.

(39:13):
But I'm gonna with Dawson Knox because I do feel
like he has more of a role in the Buffalo
passing game than Hunter Henry does. Henry, as you mentioned, uh,
he almost has to find the end zone to give
you any kind of decent production on a weekly basis.
I still think that Knox, even if he doesn't score,
can get you a handful of catches, puts up some
decent yards and then hopefully you get that bonus of
the touchdown and you're feeling okay. So I'm gonna stick

(39:37):
with Dawson Knox and this one. So um, i'd ask
you your prediction and I see who who I think
is going to win. But I have a feeling I
know who you're gonna say. Yeah, I know it seems
biased from someone wearing a Bill's hoodie, but I'm gonna
go with the Bills, not only because it's in Buffalo,
but it's bad weather, it's a big game. One quarterback
has been in this situation before, one hasn't, so give

(40:00):
the guy who uh who has done this before in
this environment. I mean, this is this is like reminiscent
of of the early nineties, right, Uh, maybe not with
the Patriots so much, but the Bills, and it's it's
bad weather, it's potentially snowing in Western New York, and
a team with playoff aspirations has to come in there
and deal with that crowd and that team. I mean,

(40:20):
this is this is days of like Jim Kelly and
Thurman Thomas and and Andre Reid is kind of what
it feels like. So it should be fun. It should
be fun. I know you're gonna be stressed out. One
thing that has me worried, Marcus, and I don't think
it's gotten enough coverage, is this is the Bills first
game and years without Trey White, so that that is
a big storyline, and the Patriots, I'm sure are going

(40:42):
to try to take advantage of that. They know how
to attack a week spot, so that's definitely something to
to keep in mind. Should be fun, though, I'm sure
we'll probably talk about a little bit on Wednesday meantime.
For us, that is it. We are done. We appreciate
you hanging out with the NFL Fantasy Football Show. You
know the drill tell to you for inst to tell
two friends rate review and remember it shouldn't be called

(41:03):
after dark when it's really after light, be safe, take
care of yourselves, get vaccinated, and we will see you
on Wednesday. Wan Wan, I'm don't. I'm don't.
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Adam Rank

Michael F. Florio

Michael F. Florio

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