November 3, 2021 • 43 mins
Marcas Grant and Michael F. Florio are back for a new edition of the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast to preview every game on the Week 9 schedule! First, we have TONS of headlines to react to: Aaron Rodgers and Saquon Barkley have tested positive for COVID, Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas will miss the rest of the season with a lingering ankle issue, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski told his team in a meeting that Odell Beckham Jr. is not currently a part of their team, and we had no major trades before the deadline to impact our fantasy landscape. Next, the hosts try to answer 3 Big Question for Week 9, covering Ryan Tannehill’s outlook going forward without Derrick Henry and concerns about Patrick Mahomes. After that, the experts preview every Thursday and Sunday matchup on the Week 9 calendar. Finally, the hosts wrap up the show with their favorite sleeper picks for Week 9.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wow, what is up? Welcome to another edition of the
NFL Fantasy Football Show to me and your man, MG
Marcus Grants. Still vaccinated and dodging variants like NEO in
the matrix, and somehow this morning that feels a little
(00:22):
bit more valid. We got a big, busy, busy show
for you today, Producer Justin and the specialist alongside Michael f. Florio. Here.
You may have noticed we are at home. Normally we
are in studio for the Wednesday show. Uh. Florio, you
are a little bit under the weather. We've confirmed though,
it is not COVID nineteen, so hopefully you are doing
okay this morning. Yeah, I'm doing all right luckily. I mean,
(00:45):
giving all the COVID that's in the news right now,
I'm pretty happy that that it is not that. And uh,
I hope to be, you know, back on set with
you guys very soon. All right, well, we look forward
to that. I got plenty to get into. We're gonna
ask should we worry about Patrick Mahomes. We'll give you
some week nine sleeps and we will get into, of course,
every game on the Thursday and Sunday slate in the NFL.
(01:06):
But first let's dive into some fantasy headlines, because boy,
there are a whole lot of them. We woke up
to plenty of news this morning. The first one, the
big one, Uh, Aaron Rodgers has tested positive for COVID nineteen.
Will not play in Week nine against the Chiefs. He
is not vaccinated. Now, if you go back through his
previous statements, he had said earlier that he is immunized.
(01:30):
Those were the words he used, never said the words vaccinated.
A story is sort of still unfolding, but that he
is not considered vaccinated by the league. So he is
already out for this week's game against Kansas City. Hopefully
he is okay. We certainly hope the best for him,
that he's able to get back on the field sometime soon.
But in the short term, looking at the Packers and
(01:51):
what it means for fantasy, Uh, do you have any
confidence now with Jordan's love under center of starting anybody
besides say, Davonte Adams and Aaron Jones. Uh, there's one
other player of the three that I would start. I
would start a J. Dillon as well, and I think
that's kind of it. I have Davante Adams still as
a wide receiver one just because he is so talented,
(02:13):
but he himself is, you know, dealing with the with
some injuries there. Aaron Jones, I think it's just going
to continue to get a ton of volume as a
pass catcher and a runner. So he's a top five
back for me still. And then Dylan. We saw last
week when the Packers were shorthanded at receiver, they got
Dylan more involved. He's been utilized more as of like
getting double digit touches, and I believe it's four of
(02:34):
his last five games. So I have him as like
a high end RB three or flex option. I like him.
I think outside of those three though, you kind of
get away. I have Jordan Love at QB eighteen right now,
which I put on Twitter. Feels a little low due
to the matchup, but I I there's a lot of
unknown there with Jordan's Love, and there's a lot of
other quarterbacks that have good matchups that I just feel
(02:55):
better about starting. And I think that unknown is why
I'm so hesitant to start anybody except Jones, Uh and
Adams and I guess maybe a j Dillon because of
what you said. It's always weird because when you get
backup quarterbacks they have different receivers that they are comfortable with.
It's the guys that they're used to working with in practice.
The problem is we're not really sure who that is
going to entail. You know that which of the other
(03:17):
wide receivers does he feel comfortable throwing the football too?
We know that when things break down the Packer offense,
usually you find Davante Adams and good things tend to happen.
So um, you know that, I think is where most
people feel comfortable starting. It's also sort of frustrating because
somebody pointed out, I think this was the second time
we were supposed to get Rogers versus Mahomes. We didn't
get it the first time because Mahomes had a knee
(03:39):
injury and ended up missing the game and it was
Matt Moore. Now we're not going to get it because
Aaron Rodgers has COVID nineteen uh and he's not going
to play. So hopefully, hopefully one day we get that matchup,
but apparently it's not gonna happen in Week nine. We'll
get it next year when Rodgers is with the Broncos. Yeah, exactly,
that's exactly. But we'll get it twice and then we'll
get twice a year when it when that happened. Uh
More COVID ninth news, se Kwon Barkley has tested positive
(04:02):
for COVID nineteen. Now he reportedly is vaccinated, which means
he just needs a pair of negative tests twenty four
hours apart to be available for this week's game against
the Las Vegas Raiders. So we'll certainly monitor that because
that's gonna be another big story for both the Giants
and for fantasy football. But in the meantime, actually also
mean we were hoping that Sa Kuan would be back. Obviously,
(04:24):
he was nursing an injury, and we were hoping he
would be back and available this week. But it looks like,
at least for now, DeVante Booker may still be on
tap for Big Blue. Uh. If it is Booker, do
you have any confidence starting him, say as a flex
or as a third second, you know, second running back,
whatever whatever against the Raiders. Yeah, I would. I have
him ranked in the RB two range. I think that
(04:46):
he is someone that you can start. It's not the
toughest matchup against the Raiders. Plus we know that all
the running back volume is going to go to him.
If Sa Kwan is out. Last week, he had fifteen
carries but six targets caught five of them for sixty
five yards. And the Giants are even more banged up
at a receiver than they were last week. Sterling Shepherd
is supposed to expected to be out for a while.
(05:07):
We still don't know when we're gonna see Kenny Golladay again,
so I'm expecting a lot of past game volume to
go Bookers way again. I think you start him as
a top twenty running back this week. Yeah, I agree
with that. You know, the Raiders have been just so
so defensively this season, so I think I think you
can kind of plug him in there, especially in a
week where there are a few running backs that are
(05:27):
on by. We'll talk about that in just a bit.
So Booker still has a little bit of value as
long as he's the guy. But again, we'll keep an
eye on it. If se Kwan is able to play,
then certainly he's going to be in your starting lineup.
Uh not in your starting lineup at any point this
year is gonna be Michael Thomas, the Saints receiver we
had sort of been waiting on see when he was
(05:48):
going to come back. He has had a setback with
his ankle injury, and he is now reportedly going to
miss the rest of the season. This comes on the
heels of Jamis Winston suffering a serious knee injury that's
going to keep him out for the rest of the year.
So for Thomas now Floria, obviously, in season long leagues,
if you were holding on to him, uh, you were
(06:10):
definitely dropping him. I'm one of those people who was
sort of waiting for him to come back. So at
this point, you know you could put him back on
the waiver wire. But if you got him in Dynasty,
what are we doing because it's been a while since
we've seen him, and who knows if he's going to
even be in New Orleans next year. Yeah. I think
obviously in season when you're dropping him, I actually had
some claims in to get him. Luckily, in the leagues
(06:31):
that he was available, they won't run Wednesday night, So
get rid of any of those claims if you had
some in on Michael Thomas. I think in Dynasty, if
you are a team that is competitive this year, going
for a chance at a championship, you trade him. I
think if you're a rebuilding team, he is a good
trade target to go after. Uh, we know the talent
that he has, you could buy him. I think now
(06:51):
his value is at an all time low, so I
would be trying to acquire him there. If you are
a team though that's struggling and you have Michael Thomas
hony Row, I think you just sit tight because you
don't want to sell him at an all time though.
You're not going for it this year, So I think
he is a type of player that you want on
a rebuilding roster, and on a contending roster, you want
to sell him for pieces that can help you right now.
(07:13):
I would agree with that. I think if you are,
you know, maybe if you are you know, already sort
of stacked too, if you're at the top of your
league and you're sort of you're just kind of hanging
out and you're looking to kind of acquire and add depth,
maybe that's not a bad way to go. If you
know you've got spots that you can just sort of
hold on to. Maybe he's a guy you sort of add.
But if you're sort of in the middle there and
trying to make a move it it's probably best to
(07:34):
move on. See if you can acquire some other assets there.
Uh and and get the most out of Michael Thomas.
Definitely a frustrating year. Only played seven games last year. Uh.
We just you know, hopefully he gets healthy and he
gets back on the field. He's a lot of fun
to watch when he's there. But but this year just
has been uh, sort of a lost season for him. UM.
(07:54):
A serious and tragic story out of Las Vegas. Henry
Ruggs was in a serious, very serious car accident, including
a fatality. One person died in the accident. Henry Ruggs
himself has been charged with d uy well over the
legal limit was speeding in Las Vegas. Up we've over
a hundred and fifty miles an hour just before the
(08:15):
accident occurred. Also reportedly had a loaded handgun in the car.
Has since been released by the Raiders and is looking
at some real serious jail time. So football very much
not going to be a part of his future. We certainly,
uh send our condolences out to the families of the
person who died. Um. And there's nothing to be said
(08:38):
fantasy wise here other than Henry Ruggs did a a
dumb and awful thing. Um and he will certainly be
punished for it. He will pay the the price for it.
And I always say at the end of this show, right,
be safe, take care of yourselves, get vaccinated. All of
those things certainly very much applied to all the news
that we have had in this show. Um, and that's
(09:00):
kind of all I have to say about that right now. Um.
The trade deadline came and went in the NFL on
Tuesday and Florida. There really wasn't much to report, like
nothing nothing happened. Uh. You know the the only uh
with the the biggest news of the trade deadline before
the deadline was von Miller maybe coming to the or not.
(09:20):
Maybe he is coming to the rams um. But nothing
really happened. So we talked about some wide receivers that
maybe you could hold onto or drop depending on what happened.
Allan Robinson is still a bear. Does that mean it's
time to drop him? Yeah? I think so. It pains me,
but I have in the leagues that I was holding
on to Allen Robinson. I I had a bunch of
claims in to drop him. My waivers in those leagues
(09:43):
run on Wednesday night, so I will see who I
end up dropping him for. But unless all of my
claims are unsuccessful. I'm I'm going to be dropping Allen
Robinson off of my rosters and Marcus. As much as
the NFL dominates the sports calendar and it and it's
just better than others sports at everything, the one thing
they're not better than other sports at is the trade deadline.
(10:05):
That is very true. The NFL trade that line generally
is a dud. While you know, baseball, basketball, it's really exciting, Uh,
the NFL generally, not not much happens here. I was
talking to somebody who's in a sixteen team league. If
that's your situation, you're probably holding on to Allen Robinson,
But for most of the rest of us, you put
him back on the waiver wire. I mean, he's somewhere
(10:26):
in the fifties I think as among wide receivers um
and it just doesn't look like it's getting better anytime soon.
You see it right there on the screen, fewer than
ten Fantasy points in seven of eight games that lone
game he has over ten was with Andy Dalton, so
in one it's it's been brutal with justin Fields. It's
been absolutely bleak there with Fields. The other wide receiver
(10:48):
of note de Sean Jackson was waived by the Rams.
The two sides sort of decided it wasn't working, so
they are gonna part company. Any idea if you would
you pick him up, if he lands in the right situation,
if he lands on a spot where he's gonna get
consistent weekly volume, I would be interested in picking up
to Sean Jackson. I still think he's got something left
(11:09):
in the tank as a burner, like he can still
stretch the field. The issue is the Rams just didn't
need him. They have so much depth at wide receiver.
Van Jefferson was out playing him. But I still think
in the right situation, just to Seawan Jackson might have
a little bit more left to offer. I think so too.
I mean, he's always gonna be boom er bust. He
is sort of the quintessential better and best ball guy.
(11:30):
But uh, he gets in the right situation and he
can get some targets. I think he's worth a look
off your waiver wire at some point. Uh, it is
Week nine and there are more buys or four teams
on a by this week it is the Lions, the Seahawks,
the Buccaneers, and the Washington football team. So I look
at some of the notable players on a buying quarterback,
(11:50):
it's pretty much just Tom Brady. He's the only notable
quarterback there. You're running backs DeAndre Swift and Leonard four Nets.
Wide receivers you've dk Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin.
I mean, I guess you could throw Antonio Brown in there,
but you know he's he's hurt. I guess you can
throw Antonio Gibson on there as well, though he has
not been super special for much of the season. Tory
(12:13):
McLaurin also one of your wide receivers, and then your
tight ends t J Hawkinson and Rob Gronkowski. So just
a note, make sure that those guys are not in
your lineup when the week begins. All right, big beefy
start to the show here, but we are going to
hit a break. We'll come back well as some of
the big questions four week nine, including are we nervous
(12:36):
about Patrick Mahomes right now? Stay tuned for that on
the NFL Fantasy Football Show. Well, as always, we have
three big questions heading into the week, so let's just
dive into them. Let's start with the Tennessee Titans. They
got the unfortunate news earlier in the week that Derrick
Henry is gone for possibly the rest of the regular season,
(12:59):
at least an ex stended period of time. We know
that for sure. Um. I know Mike Rabel says he
wants the offense to remain kind of the same. I
have my doubts about that. So I'm looking at Ryan
Tannehill with no Derrick Henry and imagining they're gonna have
to throw the football more, does Derek. Does Ryan Tannehill
get an upgrade in your rankings or your your expectations
(13:20):
based on what this offense could be? Yeah? He does. Uh,
I think that he. They're obviously naturally gonna have to
throw more. Right, Like, you're not gonna be able to
sustain an offense running the ball as much as they
did with Adrian Peterson and Jeremy McNichols, like you did
with Derrick Henry. But I think the upgrade starts, but
not this week. This is just a tough matchup against
(13:41):
the Rams defense that now has Von Miller with Ramsey
and Aaron Donald there. Uh. It's Adrian Peterson's first game
signed fresh off the street. Jeremy McNichols is in a
larger role. Julio Jones has been in and out of
the lineup all game all years, so we don't know
if he is fully healthy, if he's even gonna play
this week. So and my opinion, I think long term
(14:01):
we have to elevate Ryan Tannehill. But I think for
this week it's still another week. I would be trying
to get away from him. Yeah, I think this week
is not really a great week. I don't I wouldn't
want to be the first team to test this new
Rams defense, you know, with with Von Miller on it um.
But I do think in the long term I expect
more out of out of Ryan Tannehill. And I was
(14:22):
one of the people who had elevated expectations for him
coming into the season. Uh, it hasn't quite worked out
that way, but I do think there's gonna be more opportunity.
I also think it will help if Julio Jones can
get healthy and stay on the field and add one
more target. You know, It's it's not as scary when
you're talking about throwing to Nick Westbrook at keneh As
as your other option in the passing game. But I
(14:43):
do think there's gonna be more coming for him, at
least I certainly hope so. Other quarterback news, it has
not been particularly great for Patrick Mahomes of late. The
start of the season looked fine. He looked like the
guy we we were making the first quarterback off the board.
Last couple of weeks not so much. I'm not gonna
say it's full on time to panic, but it is
at least time to be a little bit concerned about
(15:04):
my homes. Yeah, I think just a little bit, Like
not to the point where I'm taking him out of
my fantasy lineups. I continue to start him each week.
But initially I was like, man, things haven't been going
right for the Chiefs. There's a lot of bad bounces
going their way, a lot of interceptions coming off the
hands of receivers. But Mahomes also hasn't looked great. Like
(15:24):
that Monday night game against the Giants was the first
time watching the Homes where I was like, man, he
is just off, Like he is missing his receivers even
on the catches and like completions he was getting they were,
they were just not where the ball should be. They
were behind the receiver a lot. It felt like every
throw was either near the line of scrimmage or like
forty yards down the field. Uh. And I know he
(15:45):
was saying before that game, like I need to take
a profit. I have to stop trying to get the
long touchdown on every single play and you know, take
the ten yards that the defense is giving me. But
he didn't do that, Like he continued to just get
his eyes stuck down fields. So not worried in the
sense where I'm dropping him or even sitting him, But
I am worried in the sense like, hey, am I
(16:07):
getting the top three quarterback that I that I paid
up to get in my draft up that I'm not
so sure about the rest of the season. And you
talk about Mahomes looking downfield and always sort of looking
for the big shot of the home run play. I
also feel like part of it is it feels like
he only really has confidence in Travis Kelsey and Tyreek Hill,
(16:27):
and every week it's it's sort of become a running
joke at this point, like what other patri or Chiefs
pass catchers are you interested in besides Hill and Kelsey?
You know, we keep throwing out Nicole Hardman or DeMarcus
Robinson or Byron Pringle or whatever. But none of those
guys end up making an impact. And I don't know
if it's that they aren't consistently getting open if they're
(16:48):
not you know, if if the Chiefs aren't really integrating
him into the game plan, or if it's that Mahomes
doesn't trust them. But as teams start to key in
more on slowing Downhill and Kelsey, it does limit what
Mahomes can do. When I think we have seen that
frustration from him. Uh, it definitely hasn't helped that he's
turned the ball over so much this year, interceptions in
seven straight games. I still believe. I believe in him,
(17:10):
I believe in the Chiefs offense. I believe in Andy
Reid and Eric b enemy Um. But yeah, this is
definitely not what people were anticipating when they were spending
probably a third or fourth round pick on on Patrick
Mahomes this year in their drafts. Uh, last one here
and look, full disclosure, we have we have shuffled this
rundown around so many times because of all the news
(17:32):
that was hitting just before we sat down to record this.
So originally this question was gonna be what should we
do about Michael Thomas. We know what's happening with Michael Thomas,
so now we have some clarity on that. Now the
question is what do we do about Odell Beckham Jr.
Because it seems like his time in Cleveland is very
very short. As we sit here and record this show.
(17:53):
He is still a Brown, but there are tweets circulating
that the head coach Kevin Stefanski, that the g M
Andrew Berry are talking to Odell agent Discovery are trying
to figure out the next steps. If you don't understand why,
it's because Odell Beckham Senior posted an eleven minute video
on Instagram showing all the times that his son was
wide open and that Baker Mayfield failed to connect with him.
(18:17):
Things are bad right now in Cleveland, Florio. So with
all that being said and all this uncertainty surrounding O
b J. What do we do. I I have dropped
Odell Beckham in the leagues that I had him in.
In one league markets, I dropped him for thirty six
year old Adrian Peterson, something that I never would have
thought I would say. But it's become that bad for
(18:40):
Odell Beckham Jr. Like he deserves part of the blame
as well. Um, but I do think a lot of
it also goes to Baker and the Browns. Like Baker
has missed Beckham a lot, like on deep shots this year,
Baker just hasn't lived up to expectations himself. And I
also don't get why the Browns don't design more plays
to Odell Beckham, especially early on in games where you
(19:03):
know you come out with like a script on your
first two drives, Like why don't you have more design
pass plays just to get the ball in his hand
and see what he could do. I'd still think he
is a really talented receiver. For seasonal leagues, I'm dropping him.
But in Dynasty Marcus, I would be interested in getting
him on my roster because, just like Michael Thomas, I
feel like his values at an all time low. And
(19:24):
if he plays with a better quarterback and a better
offense next year, I think there could be some resurgence
there for Odell. Here's the thing. If O'Dell gets released,
and right now it's it's just speculation, but if he's
to get released, someone is going to pick him up. Um,
you know it may it may be a week or two,
but somebody's going You don't have a guy that talented
(19:44):
and he just stays out there on the street for
very long uh, and that is going to boost his
value again, just a new opportunity. So it's it's sort
of like the Michael Thomas situation. Right. If you can
afford to sort of weight uh and hope that he
blossoms back into the the Odell that we saw with
the Giants, then he's worth taking a shot on. If
you need immediate help, then he's probably not for you.
(20:05):
But Uh, this has been a wild ride in Cleveland. Um,
this is year three and it just has not panned out.
It has been pretty awful and it looks like it's
going to end very badly for both sides here. So
we'll definitely keep an eye on that. It has been
a busy, busy Wednesday so far and we're not even
halfway through it. All Right, let's turn our attention to
(20:29):
our game previews. Let's start with what I consider to
be the most interesting game on the schedule. It's the
Sunday night game. Uh, Titans at the Rams. Where are
you going for this one? Yeah? I already said earlier
I would try to get away from Ryan's Hannehill this week.
You notice start a J Brown and all your Rams
every week. So I was with limited options here. I
(20:49):
think you should avoid the Tennessee Titans running backs if possible.
I understand you might be desperate and if you got
one of them off the waiver wire, maybe you need
to replace Henry or you have a bunch of running
backs on buy or something like that. But if it's
if you're able to get away from this backfield, then
you have two other useful options. I would because we
don't know how much of a workload Adrian Peterson is
(21:10):
going to get. We don't know if they're gonna him
and McNichols are gonna split ground usage. I anticipate a
p getting the goal on work but is it's something
where we see a lot of McNichols in between the twenties,
We're not sure. So until we have clarity on this backfield,
and it's a tough matchup against the Rams d Lin
that just added von Miller, So I would be staying
away from this, Marcus, if at all possible. Now I'm
(21:32):
with you. Everything about this says beware. I mean you're
talking about a situation where we have no clarity on
how the workload is going to be split in a
terrible matchup. Uh, and especially in a game where the
Titans could be chasing a little bit too. If that
Rams passing game continues to click the way it has. Uh,
this just seems this just seems like a bad, bad situation. Uh.
(21:53):
Next game on the doc then you see Rams allowing
the fewest rush yards per game since Week five. So
that just seems bad. It seems bad for Tennessee. Uh.
Next up the Broncos at the Cowboys. And I want
to say, I think you want to be aware of
the Broncos running back. So here we are another running
back situation that maybe, uh isn't particularly great. This one's
(22:14):
a little bit different. We we sort of know how
this works out. Between Melvin Gordon and Javonte Williams. They're
splitting opportunities pretty equally, and they've both been, you know,
pretty good. If you could combine them into one running back,
it would be great. Uh. They've been two okay running
backs on their own. But the Cowboy run defense has
been pretty good all year long. And UH, your credit
(22:35):
Dan Quinn for sort of turning that unit around. Last
year we were picking on the Cowboys at will. This year,
we haven't really been able to do that, and this
feels like another situation where neither of these guys uh
is going to be particularly great. And I feel like
this is a situation to Mike where uh, you know,
if the Cowboys start scoring points like they can if
that is healthy and throwing the football. This is another
(22:57):
one where the game script might not favor Denver's running backs.
And with Denver having Sutton, Judy Fan and Tim Patrick,
now maybe they don't have the need to dump off
as many passes to the running back. This was a
situation markets where I was hoping Melvin Gordon got traded
to like Tennessee, because that would have been perfect for fantasy.
But of course that didn't happen. No, of course that
(23:17):
it never works out the way we would like it
to work out. So there we go. So we got
plenty more game previews coming up. We will take a
break though, and we'll get back to some of those
game previews after the break on the NFL Fantasy Football Show.
Those are the part of the show where I remind
you to follow us on TikTok at NFL Fantasy. We
(23:40):
got plenty of stuff going on to be sure to
check that out. You can also follow me on TikTok
at Marcus Grant and uh I think I think this
week they actually pulled one of my TikTok videos to
show so you can see some of the lunacy that happens. Yeah, yeah,
this is what it looks like. It's me dancing with
weird neon strobe lights and um there's music too. Uh
(24:03):
so you can come check that out. That's that's just
part of the insanity on on the talk, So come
join us. Is that what the kids call it now
the talk? I have no idea, that's what I call it.
I might trying to make myself sound cool. I have
no idea if that did at all what they call it?
No clue. All right, back to our game previews. Patriots
at the Panthers. Patriots coming off a really nice win
(24:23):
over the Chargers last week. What are we doing about
that matchup? I say start? The Carolina Panthers running back
like Christian McCaffrey was designated to return off the i
R today. That opens up his twenty one day window
that he can return if he is activated in time
for Sunday. Obviously, he is a must start, but if not,
(24:43):
I think you just continue to start Chuba Hubbard. He
has been getting a lot of volume. Last week he
had twenty five touches. I don't he only turned it
into fourteen Fantasy points, but he consistently is getting over
fifteen touches. In his last five games, he has fifteen
or more touches. I know has been a little bit
up and down, but his floor has been nine Fantasy
points and his ceiling has been over eighteen. So I
(25:05):
think that the usage and what he's been giving you,
Marcus makes him an RB two that you just you
kind of leave in your lineup. I will give you
the same warning I've been giving for weeks. Now. I
know Christian McCaffrey is off. I r he's back at practice.
Um hold on a Chuba Hubbard, though, just because I
feel like we've been here before and we get our
optimism up and then McCaffrey doesn't play or has a setback.
(25:28):
So I would just say, you know, don't give up
on Chuba Hubbard yet. But both those guys, whoever is
the lead is a pretty good start against New England
this week. Brown's at Bengals. All the Odell Beckham uh
madness aside. Right now, it's an interesting game, and I
will say it makes Joe Burrow a must start. And
(25:48):
he might be heading towards that anyway, just on his
own merit, but especially this week, he's definitely a must start.
This is a Brown's defense that has really had problems,
especially in the back porson of the defense. We still
like their pass rush. We know Myles Garrett is an
absolute monster upfront, but if the Bengals can sort of
take care of him or slow him down, that should
give Burrow plenty of time. Last week we saw him
(26:11):
spread the ball around see Higgins, Tyler Boyd, Jamar Chase
still had a touchdown even if it wasn't a long one.
Um and so I think at this point Joe Burrow
probably deserves being every week starter. But for whatever reason,
if you're not starting him on a rag uh, this
is a week to make sure that he's in your lineup. Alright,
Vikings at Ravens, which one are you going? Which way
are you going? In this one? I'm going with flex
(26:33):
Rashad Bateman here. Wide receiver is pretty brutal this week.
I know typically we say that about the running back position,
but given all the teams on buys, we're losing a
lot of receivers here, and there's just been you know,
under performances and players who haven't really lived up to expectations.
The Vikings give up the seventh most Fantasy points on
the year two receivers plus. Bateman showed that he was
(26:56):
a consistent part of the offense in the two games
he played before the by getting six targets in each,
and he showed that he doesn't need a ton of
volume to put up fantasy numbers and uh when he
had three catches for eighty yards in his second game back. Now,
coming off of the bye, with already having two games
in this offense, I think that he'll be a little
bit more comfortable. Maybe we see him used a little
(27:16):
bit more. This could be a game too that I
think is a little bit higher scoring on this slate
this week. So I I think Bateman is a solid
flex option this week. I I would not be afraid
to start him definitely. Like I love the way the
Ravens have pretty much integrated him from the moment he
stepped on the field into their passing game. Bills at Jaguars,
which you know on paper does not feel like a
(27:37):
fair fight. Uh, and so that's why I'm saying the
Bill's defense is a must start in this situation. Uh.
It was appalling to see how bad the Jaguars were
coming off a by Uh, they had the week to prepare.
They go up to Seattle and they get crushed by
Gino Smith and the Seahawks. Meanwhile, the Bill's defense, and
I don't think we've talked about this at all this year,
(28:00):
they are the number one defense in fantasy. Uh they're
still out there though in a handful of leagues. Uh,
you know, not me any but if they're If they're
out there, go get them and start them this week.
If you have them, make sure they are in your lineup.
You see that the Jaguars with fewer than twenty four
points in every game this season. The Bills have given
up just eleven offensive touchdowns this year. Everything is set
(28:21):
up for Buffalo to sort of smash in this one.
I expect I expect the Bills to win big, and
it's especially in the second half. I chanted them to
really come after the quarterback a little bit. It's gonna
be exciting for you, Floria. Yeah, I know they have
more takeaways than they've allowed touchdowns to quarterbacks this year.
So uh, not great for Trevor Lawrence. Not great for
Trevor alright, Chargers and Eagles, This one could be kind
(28:45):
of fun. I think, I believe, I hope. What are
you looking at here? It pains me to say, but
I think you gotta sit DeVonta Smith this week. I
mean Smith last week against the Lines gave us just
two and a half points. And I know game script
matters there, but he said, let's five fantasy points are
fewer in two of his last three games. He hasn't
really shown us much of a ceiling. I thought volume
(29:06):
alone was keeping him as like a wide receiver three
or flex option. But this is not the week to
get him in your lineup. The Chargers have allowed the
fewest fantasy points to wide receivers, and if you're that
charge of secondary, you know, basically you gotta take away
Smith and Dallas got it and and where are the
Eagles gonna go with the balls? So I expect a
lot of defensive attention on Smith. I think Smith himself
(29:29):
is still a very good player at the NFL level.
I'm not worried about him long term, but him this year,
in this offense and in this matchup this week, I
think you get away from him. This sounds like we're
back on the Jalen Hurts twenty points per game train.
If they're taking away his top pass catchers, then he's
gonna run the football and maybe he gets back to
scoring twenty points, which would be nice after a week
(29:50):
he scored eleven in a game where the Eagles had
forty four. Anyway, Uh, if you want more starts and since,
be sure to check out the start of a Sidham
show every Thursday, four pm Eastern. You know where to
find at the NFL Fantasy App, the NFL App, nfl
dot com on YouTube. Are there still money guns? Oh,
there's always money guns. Every Tursday, we we shoot fake
(30:11):
hash with our faces on him all over the studio there.
It is so come for the information, to stay for
the money guns. It's a good time for everybody. All right,
let's move on to the Colts and the Jets, but
let's talk specifically about Jonathan Taylor. But first, actually let's
just kind of give you an update. We're mentioning that
news has been flying fast and furious pretty much all
day long, and the latest with Odell Beckham Jr. We
(30:35):
talked about his kind of butting heads are the the
the tumult in the Browns organization, and the reports are
that Kevin Stefanski, the head coach, told the team in
a team meeting that Odell is not part of the
team right now and basically wanted to say that he
will not be a part of this team for the
rest of the year. So I don't know if that
(30:58):
means he's going to be released. They will probably tell
us that as soon as we're done recording this show.
We're putting it up there for you to consume. But
as of now, Odell Beckham Jr. Is not playing football
for the Browns. Whether he is going to be free
to play for somebody else at the moment at least,
that is an unknown. All right. Uh, I don't know,
(31:18):
so I think I feel like we've talked that out
at least to the extent that we get him off
your rosters. Get him off your roster right now, you know,
we'll see. All right, Let's go to the best of
the pack here. Let's start with Jonathan Taylor, he of
the Indianapolis Colts, and he who is a favorite of
our own Michael f Florio. It's been pretty good for him,
(31:39):
especially recently when the Colts seemed to rediscover him. Let's
just spend this forward though, right in a year where
Christian McCaffrey has been hurt, Say Kwon Barkley has been hurt,
Alvin Cook has been hurt and inconsistent, Derrick Henry is
now gone for the rest of the year. Is Jonathan
Taylor in the conversation to be the number one overall
pick in two I think so. I especially think so
(32:00):
because of one how he's been playing as of late.
I cannot wait for him to run for like two
hundred yards against the Jets on Thursday night. But I
think the bigger thing too is Nahem Haines role has
been shrinking to the point where he's almost droppable in
fantasy football because john that Taylor is getting more utilized
in the past and game, And it makes sense when
you were running back who can take a catch and
(32:22):
bring it eight yards like Jonathan Taylor? Can you want
to get that guy the ball in space as much
as you can. So I definitely think he is in
consideration for the one oh one next year. I think
also some other like Austin Ekeler. I think Nagy Harris
will join Dalvin Cook like CMC and Derrick Henry in
that conversation. I think next year is gonna be one
(32:42):
of those years, Marcus, where there's no consensus number one.
You're gonna kind of have to choose who you think
is the best option there. And I think Jonathan Taylor,
though very much so, deserves to be in that conversation
right now. I think I'm sort of torn between him
and Derrick Henry just sort of looking at this Henry
thing is maybe just kind of an unfortunate circumstance, and
then he'll be back to being tractor sedo again next year.
(33:04):
But Jonathan Taylor still young, good offensive line of chance
to really be a workhorse because there's no one that
is really threatening him for opportunities. He is sort of
what we saw out of you, say, say Quan a
couple of years ago, or Dalvin Cook, any of those guys.
So I right now, as I sit here in early November,
I do think he is. He's in that conversation. So
(33:26):
I will just say, if if Eckler and Taylor finished
as the top two running backs this year, Marcus, I'm
gonna be unbearable on Twitter for a couple. Take that
as a warning everybody. Uh, next up, let's pivot to
the Falcons and the Saints, and let's focus in on
Alvin Kamara. Now he's been just fine, but some of
them has had to do with the quarterback situation there.
(33:47):
Now there's no Jamis, Taysom Hill is eligible to come
back and play again. Uh should we root for Taysom Hiller?
Should we root for Trevor Simeon to take over as
the quarterback? I think you should be rooting for Trevor
Simeon if you have Alvin Kamara, or what you really
should be rooting for is that the Saints called Philip
Rivers because he said he would pick up that call,
and we know he loves to dump it off to
(34:08):
the running backs. But if Taysom Hill is a starter,
and that's what I expect, Marcus, I don't love it
at all for Alvin Kmara. He did have the one
game last year with ten targets from Hill, but besides that,
it was less than five I believe in each game.
Plus Taysom Hill had more carries near the goal line
in those four games than Alvin Kamara did. He scored
four rushing touchdowns. He had forty rushing yards in every game.
(34:32):
He is going to run the ball, especially in the
red zone. And when he's running the ball, that means
he's not like when he's feeling pressure, he's not looking
to just get it out of his hand to the
running back. So I think they'll still be design pass
plays for Alvin Kamara, but not nearly as many receptions.
And I think you start have to start worrying about
the goal line work now that if Hill is the starter,
and the fact that they have mark Ingram on board
(34:53):
as well. It's that goal line stuff that really scares
me about Taysom Hill taking over his quarterback. You mentioned
mark Ingram. He's gonna get some looks. We know Hill
will take it and run it himself. I think the
target share will actually stay about the same just because, look,
we know that there's no Michael Thomas coming back at
this point, and you know the rest of the past
catchers have been fine, um, but I don't imagine that
(35:14):
you know they're suddenly gonna lean heavily on Marquis Callaway
or you know, Deonte Harris or Trey Kwon Smith, So
maybe maybe that keeps uh Camara getting some targets. That
was the thing he didn't really get. But I do
worry that the touchdown number maybe what comes down for
Camara if Taysom Hill ends up being the starter. So ah,
this is not where we wanted to be getting into
(35:36):
Week nine. Back to our game previews the Texans at
the Dolphins, because the schedule makers said so. But I
will say, to a tongue of Violoa feels like a
sleeper this week. Maybe it's a little bit of the
chip on his shoulder after having a couple of weeks
of hearing about how Deshaun Watson was gonna come and
take his job away from him. Maybe it's just the
(35:56):
fact that it's the Texans defense and they're not particularly
very good. But to what has been he's been pretty
good the last couple of weeks, been fairly consistent, and
so I think this is an opportunity, especially if you're
in a two quarterback league. But maybe if you need
help at the QB position, I don't know, maybe you
lost Aaron Rodgers for this week, for instance, or you
have Tom Brady who's on to buy Uh, then I
think too what could be a nice play, a nice
(36:18):
way to fill in your your quarterback spot in Week nine.
Completely agree. Yeah, Packers at the Chiefs, we already know
one big name is not going to be there. Uh
where What what should folks do when you're looking at
this matchup? I I kind of spoke about it earlier
in the show, but I think a J. Dillon is
a strong flex option, and I liked a J. Dillon
as a flex option before the Aaron Rodgers news came out.
(36:41):
I think now with Jordan's love there, they're the Packers
are gonna just I think try to run the ball
a good amount, keep the ball out of Patrick Mahomes hands. Uh.
And I also think they're gonna see a lot of short,
little dump offs to the running backs. We saw Aaron
Jones get double digit targets last week, and when they
were using him so much as a receiver markets it
led to uh A J. Dylon having a lot of
(37:02):
work on the ground. They were using bolding them on
the field at the same times with Jones split out
wide at times, Dylan was getting work near the goal
line as well, as you see on on that play
right there. So I'm pretty excited for Dylan. I have
him ranked as my RB twenty five this week. I've
just been more and more interested in having a J
Dylan at least on a roster and maybe as a
flex option, just because he's starting to get more opportunity here.
(37:24):
So I think this could keep rolling. Even though the
Giants didn't do a ton against the Chiefs, I still
want to pick on that defense, so that could be
a really good spot to get Dylan in. Alright, last
couple of game previews as we wrap up the show
here Raiders at the Giants, I'll tell you to be
aware of Darius Tony and it was it was sort
(37:44):
of head scratching that the Giants didn't get him all
that involved. There was a lot of confusion as to
whether he was hurt or not, but whatever, they didn't
get the football in his hands. Even if they do
this week, the Raiders have been pretty good against wide
receivers and this is not I just don't feel comfortable
with the Science offense right now, especially in the passing game.
They've had so many injuries, so many guys out of
(38:05):
the lineup. Uh fewer than eight fantasy points in back
to back games for Tony and just inconsistent usage, maybe
you have to start him. I don't know what your
wide receiver situation looks like, but I'm not super excited
about Tony in this week's matchup. That's all I got
um Cardinals and the forty Niners, which could be a
pretty good game on paper. That the Cardinals trying to
(38:26):
bounce back after their first loss. What are we doing here?
I think you start Elijah Mitchell, and I know he
was available on a lot of waivers. You know, the
last couple of weeks. He shouldn't be. You have to
get this guy off of the waiver wire and get
him right into your starting lineup if you can. I mean,
he's had eighteen touches, over a hundred rushing yards and
a touchdown in each of his last two games. That's
(38:47):
over sixteen Fantasy points. In both he has eighteen or
more touches and four of the five games he's played
this year, he is the unquestioned RB one there. I
know he doesn't catch any passes and that limits his
upside of it, but I'm not sure it matters when
you're rushing for a hundred yards every week. And I
know the Cardinals on paper are a tough matchup against
running backs, but they allow over almost ninety rushing yards
(39:10):
per game to the position. They just limit the catches
and stuff, which you don't have to worry about with Mitchell.
So I'm trusting Kyle Shanahan and his run system here.
I think Mitchell has earned RB two status that you
could start each week. Yeah. No, He's been fantastic, especially
in a year where they have kind of shuffled guys
around and we picked the wrong forty Niners rookie running back.
You know, everybody who's on Trey Sermon should have been
(39:31):
Elijah Mitchell. There it is time for m v P Picks,
presented by Visa, a network giving small businesses tools to grow.
We will leave you with a couple of sleepers each
Florio start us off. I think DeVante Parker is a sleeper,
and coming into this week, he was available in over
eighty percent of NFL dot com weeks. That is way
(39:52):
too many. Against the Bills last week he saw Levin targets,
called eight of them for eighty five yards, and that
is against the team that allowed the fewest fantasy on
two receivers. He has at least seven targets in every game.
But Marcus, what I like is he has nine or
more and three of his last four games he's top
sixteen fantasy points in two. I think the volume makes
him a weekly flex option, but the volume again makes
(40:15):
him his upside even higher than that, especially in a
good matchup like this week against the Texans. I'm gonna
go tay Some Hill. And for some of the reasons
we talked about earlier, the things that make us nervous
about Alvin Kamara are the reasons we sort of like
Taysom Hill as a potential sleeper this week, especially against
the Atlanta Falcons. The ability to throw the football, but
more importantly his ability to run. Uh and his propensity
(40:37):
to run near the goal line and give you that
touchdown upside. Look, if he is healthy and ready to go,
he's gonna be the starter. And like he's the guy
who's been Sean Payton's pet project for the last couple
of years. He was the guy who was very much
in the running to be the starter during preseason. Uh So,
I think if he's good to go, he is starting
against the Falcons this week, and he's got some sleeper potential.
(40:58):
I'm not just saying that because I drafted him late
in a few places and might be forced to put
him in a lineup. UH. Next sleeper for you, Jamal Agnew,
And I know there's some people who are like, who
is this guy? He is the new slot receiver for
the Jacksonville Jaguars. He saw a team high twelve targets
last week, but he's been seeing consistent volume, getting at
(41:18):
least six targets in three straight games. He topped double
digit fantasy points in each, sitting anywhere between ten and
sixteen fantasy points in the last three so ever. Since
DJ Chuck Jr's injury, this guy's been manning the slot
and getting good amount of volume going his way. I
don't think he has the highest ceiling markets, but I
think if you need like a flex option, maybe you're
(41:39):
going a little bit deeper at receiver this week. I
think Agnew is someone that should be interesting to you,
and he definitely should be rostered right now. Jamal Age
was turning into the guy I wanted La Visca Chenault
to be and it it hurts my heart. My last
one is Van Jefferson because I don't understand why we
wouldn't want more parts of the Rams passing game right there,
the number two ranked passing game in the NFL. We
(42:00):
know Cooper Cup has been amazing, Robert Woods is starting
to pick things up, but Van Jefferson has been very good.
And he's a guy who can get you some decent
production on just a few targets because he's a guy
they like to use to stretch the field. And now
that there's no Deshaun Jackson, there more of these opportunities
are going to go Jefferson's way. I think, especially this
week against that Titan secondary, it's a really nice play.
(42:20):
But I'm still kind of trying to wrap my head
around the fact that Jefferson is available in about nineties
seven percent of NFL dot Com leagues. I don't understand it.
Go pick him up, and especially this week, I think
you put him in your lineup as a flex option.
All right. If you want more sleepers, you can check
out my weekly column at NFL dot Com Slash Sleepers.
Got those names and a few more on there for
(42:40):
you also should check us out on Sundays for NFL
Fantasy Game Day. We get that going at nine am
Pacific twelve noon Eastern time. It's myself this week would
be me Floria and Adam Rank uh kind of getting
you up to date on inactives, key injuries, uh and
maybe some sleepers, the last minute waiver wire pickups, all
the good stuff you know where to check out out
all the apps, NFL dot com and YouTube as well.
(43:04):
All right for us, that is it's we are done.
We appreciate you hanging out with the NFL Fantasy Football Show.
You know the drill. Tell two friends to tell two
friends rate review and remember can you buy an entire
chest set in a pawn shop? Be safe, take care
of yourselves. Get vaccinated, please, please please, We'll see you
next week. Enjoy week nine. Please be good everybody. I
(43:39):
don't go. I'm don't go.
Wow, what is up? Welcome to another edition of the
NFL Fantasy Football Show to me and your man, MG
Marcus Grants. Still vaccinated and dodging variants like NEO in
the matrix, and somehow this morning that feels a little
(00:22):
bit more valid. We got a big, busy, busy show
for you today, Producer Justin and the specialist alongside Michael f. Florio. Here.
You may have noticed we are at home. Normally we
are in studio for the Wednesday show. Uh. Florio, you
are a little bit under the weather. We've confirmed though,
it is not COVID nineteen, so hopefully you are doing
okay this morning. Yeah, I'm doing all right luckily. I mean,
(00:45):
giving all the COVID that's in the news right now,
I'm pretty happy that that it is not that. And uh,
I hope to be, you know, back on set with
you guys very soon. All right, well, we look forward
to that. I got plenty to get into. We're gonna
ask should we worry about Patrick Mahomes. We'll give you
some week nine sleeps and we will get into, of course,
every game on the Thursday and Sunday slate in the NFL.
(01:06):
But first let's dive into some fantasy headlines, because boy,
there are a whole lot of them. We woke up
to plenty of news this morning. The first one, the
big one, Uh, Aaron Rodgers has tested positive for COVID nineteen.
Will not play in Week nine against the Chiefs. He
is not vaccinated. Now, if you go back through his
previous statements, he had said earlier that he is immunized.
(01:30):
Those were the words he used, never said the words vaccinated.
A story is sort of still unfolding, but that he
is not considered vaccinated by the league. So he is
already out for this week's game against Kansas City. Hopefully
he is okay. We certainly hope the best for him,
that he's able to get back on the field sometime soon.
But in the short term, looking at the Packers and
(01:51):
what it means for fantasy, Uh, do you have any
confidence now with Jordan's love under center of starting anybody
besides say, Davonte Adams and Aaron Jones. Uh, there's one
other player of the three that I would start. I
would start a J. Dillon as well, and I think
that's kind of it. I have Davante Adams still as
a wide receiver one just because he is so talented,
(02:13):
but he himself is, you know, dealing with the with
some injuries there. Aaron Jones, I think it's just going
to continue to get a ton of volume as a
pass catcher and a runner. So he's a top five
back for me still. And then Dylan. We saw last
week when the Packers were shorthanded at receiver, they got
Dylan more involved. He's been utilized more as of like
getting double digit touches, and I believe it's four of
(02:34):
his last five games. So I have him as like
a high end RB three or flex option. I like him.
I think outside of those three though, you kind of
get away. I have Jordan Love at QB eighteen right now,
which I put on Twitter. Feels a little low due
to the matchup, but I I there's a lot of
unknown there with Jordan's Love, and there's a lot of
other quarterbacks that have good matchups that I just feel
(02:55):
better about starting. And I think that unknown is why
I'm so hesitant to start anybody except Jones, Uh and
Adams and I guess maybe a j Dillon because of
what you said. It's always weird because when you get
backup quarterbacks they have different receivers that they are comfortable with.
It's the guys that they're used to working with in practice.
The problem is we're not really sure who that is
going to entail. You know that which of the other
(03:17):
wide receivers does he feel comfortable throwing the football too?
We know that when things break down the Packer offense,
usually you find Davante Adams and good things tend to happen.
So um, you know that, I think is where most
people feel comfortable starting. It's also sort of frustrating because
somebody pointed out, I think this was the second time
we were supposed to get Rogers versus Mahomes. We didn't
get it the first time because Mahomes had a knee
(03:39):
injury and ended up missing the game and it was
Matt Moore. Now we're not going to get it because
Aaron Rodgers has COVID nineteen uh and he's not going
to play. So hopefully, hopefully one day we get that matchup,
but apparently it's not gonna happen in Week nine. We'll
get it next year when Rodgers is with the Broncos. Yeah, exactly,
that's exactly. But we'll get it twice and then we'll
get twice a year when it when that happened. Uh
More COVID ninth news, se Kwon Barkley has tested positive
(04:02):
for COVID nineteen. Now he reportedly is vaccinated, which means
he just needs a pair of negative tests twenty four
hours apart to be available for this week's game against
the Las Vegas Raiders. So we'll certainly monitor that because
that's gonna be another big story for both the Giants
and for fantasy football. But in the meantime, actually also
mean we were hoping that Sa Kuan would be back. Obviously,
(04:24):
he was nursing an injury, and we were hoping he
would be back and available this week. But it looks like,
at least for now, DeVante Booker may still be on
tap for Big Blue. Uh. If it is Booker, do
you have any confidence starting him, say as a flex
or as a third second, you know, second running back,
whatever whatever against the Raiders. Yeah, I would. I have
him ranked in the RB two range. I think that
(04:46):
he is someone that you can start. It's not the
toughest matchup against the Raiders. Plus we know that all
the running back volume is going to go to him.
If Sa Kwan is out. Last week, he had fifteen
carries but six targets caught five of them for sixty
five yards. And the Giants are even more banged up
at a receiver than they were last week. Sterling Shepherd
is supposed to expected to be out for a while.
(05:07):
We still don't know when we're gonna see Kenny Golladay again,
so I'm expecting a lot of past game volume to
go Bookers way again. I think you start him as
a top twenty running back this week. Yeah, I agree
with that. You know, the Raiders have been just so
so defensively this season, so I think I think you
can kind of plug him in there, especially in a
week where there are a few running backs that are
(05:27):
on by. We'll talk about that in just a bit.
So Booker still has a little bit of value as
long as he's the guy. But again, we'll keep an
eye on it. If se Kwan is able to play,
then certainly he's going to be in your starting lineup.
Uh not in your starting lineup at any point this
year is gonna be Michael Thomas, the Saints receiver we
had sort of been waiting on see when he was
(05:48):
going to come back. He has had a setback with
his ankle injury, and he is now reportedly going to
miss the rest of the season. This comes on the
heels of Jamis Winston suffering a serious knee injury that's
going to keep him out for the rest of the year.
So for Thomas now Floria, obviously, in season long leagues,
if you were holding on to him, uh, you were
(06:10):
definitely dropping him. I'm one of those people who was
sort of waiting for him to come back. So at
this point, you know you could put him back on
the waiver wire. But if you got him in Dynasty,
what are we doing because it's been a while since
we've seen him, and who knows if he's going to
even be in New Orleans next year. Yeah. I think
obviously in season when you're dropping him, I actually had
some claims in to get him. Luckily, in the leagues
(06:31):
that he was available, they won't run Wednesday night, So
get rid of any of those claims if you had
some in on Michael Thomas. I think in Dynasty, if
you are a team that is competitive this year, going
for a chance at a championship, you trade him. I
think if you're a rebuilding team, he is a good
trade target to go after. Uh, we know the talent
that he has, you could buy him. I think now
(06:51):
his value is at an all time low, so I
would be trying to acquire him there. If you are
a team though that's struggling and you have Michael Thomas
hony Row, I think you just sit tight because you
don't want to sell him at an all time though.
You're not going for it this year, So I think
he is a type of player that you want on
a rebuilding roster, and on a contending roster, you want
to sell him for pieces that can help you right now.
(07:13):
I would agree with that. I think if you are,
you know, maybe if you are you know, already sort
of stacked too, if you're at the top of your
league and you're sort of you're just kind of hanging
out and you're looking to kind of acquire and add depth,
maybe that's not a bad way to go. If you
know you've got spots that you can just sort of
hold on to. Maybe he's a guy you sort of add.
But if you're sort of in the middle there and
trying to make a move it it's probably best to
(07:34):
move on. See if you can acquire some other assets there.
Uh and and get the most out of Michael Thomas.
Definitely a frustrating year. Only played seven games last year. Uh.
We just you know, hopefully he gets healthy and he
gets back on the field. He's a lot of fun
to watch when he's there. But but this year just
has been uh, sort of a lost season for him. UM.
(07:54):
A serious and tragic story out of Las Vegas. Henry
Ruggs was in a serious, very serious car accident, including
a fatality. One person died in the accident. Henry Ruggs
himself has been charged with d uy well over the
legal limit was speeding in Las Vegas. Up we've over
a hundred and fifty miles an hour just before the
(08:15):
accident occurred. Also reportedly had a loaded handgun in the car.
Has since been released by the Raiders and is looking
at some real serious jail time. So football very much
not going to be a part of his future. We certainly,
uh send our condolences out to the families of the
person who died. Um. And there's nothing to be said
(08:38):
fantasy wise here other than Henry Ruggs did a a
dumb and awful thing. Um and he will certainly be
punished for it. He will pay the the price for it.
And I always say at the end of this show, right,
be safe, take care of yourselves, get vaccinated. All of
those things certainly very much applied to all the news
that we have had in this show. Um, and that's
(09:00):
kind of all I have to say about that right now. Um.
The trade deadline came and went in the NFL on
Tuesday and Florida. There really wasn't much to report, like
nothing nothing happened. Uh. You know the the only uh
with the the biggest news of the trade deadline before
the deadline was von Miller maybe coming to the or not.
(09:20):
Maybe he is coming to the rams um. But nothing
really happened. So we talked about some wide receivers that
maybe you could hold onto or drop depending on what happened.
Allan Robinson is still a bear. Does that mean it's
time to drop him? Yeah? I think so. It pains me,
but I have in the leagues that I was holding
on to Allen Robinson. I I had a bunch of
claims in to drop him. My waivers in those leagues
(09:43):
run on Wednesday night, so I will see who I
end up dropping him for. But unless all of my
claims are unsuccessful. I'm I'm going to be dropping Allen
Robinson off of my rosters and Marcus. As much as
the NFL dominates the sports calendar and it and it's
just better than others sports at everything, the one thing
they're not better than other sports at is the trade deadline.
(10:05):
That is very true. The NFL trade that line generally
is a dud. While you know, baseball, basketball, it's really exciting, Uh,
the NFL generally, not not much happens here. I was
talking to somebody who's in a sixteen team league. If
that's your situation, you're probably holding on to Allen Robinson,
But for most of the rest of us, you put
him back on the waiver wire. I mean, he's somewhere
(10:26):
in the fifties I think as among wide receivers um
and it just doesn't look like it's getting better anytime soon.
You see it right there on the screen, fewer than
ten Fantasy points in seven of eight games that lone
game he has over ten was with Andy Dalton, so
in one it's it's been brutal with justin Fields. It's
been absolutely bleak there with Fields. The other wide receiver
(10:48):
of note de Sean Jackson was waived by the Rams.
The two sides sort of decided it wasn't working, so
they are gonna part company. Any idea if you would
you pick him up, if he lands in the right situation,
if he lands on a spot where he's gonna get
consistent weekly volume, I would be interested in picking up
to Sean Jackson. I still think he's got something left
(11:09):
in the tank as a burner, like he can still
stretch the field. The issue is the Rams just didn't
need him. They have so much depth at wide receiver.
Van Jefferson was out playing him. But I still think
in the right situation, just to Seawan Jackson might have
a little bit more left to offer. I think so too.
I mean, he's always gonna be boom er bust. He
is sort of the quintessential better and best ball guy.
(11:30):
But uh, he gets in the right situation and he
can get some targets. I think he's worth a look
off your waiver wire at some point. Uh, it is
Week nine and there are more buys or four teams
on a by this week it is the Lions, the Seahawks,
the Buccaneers, and the Washington football team. So I look
at some of the notable players on a buying quarterback,
(11:50):
it's pretty much just Tom Brady. He's the only notable
quarterback there. You're running backs DeAndre Swift and Leonard four Nets.
Wide receivers you've dk Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin.
I mean, I guess you could throw Antonio Brown in there,
but you know he's he's hurt. I guess you can
throw Antonio Gibson on there as well, though he has
not been super special for much of the season. Tory
(12:13):
McLaurin also one of your wide receivers, and then your
tight ends t J Hawkinson and Rob Gronkowski. So just
a note, make sure that those guys are not in
your lineup when the week begins. All right, big beefy
start to the show here, but we are going to
hit a break. We'll come back well as some of
the big questions four week nine, including are we nervous
(12:36):
about Patrick Mahomes right now? Stay tuned for that on
the NFL Fantasy Football Show. Well, as always, we have
three big questions heading into the week, so let's just
dive into them. Let's start with the Tennessee Titans. They
got the unfortunate news earlier in the week that Derrick
Henry is gone for possibly the rest of the regular season,
(12:59):
at least an ex stended period of time. We know
that for sure. Um. I know Mike Rabel says he
wants the offense to remain kind of the same. I
have my doubts about that. So I'm looking at Ryan
Tannehill with no Derrick Henry and imagining they're gonna have
to throw the football more, does Derek. Does Ryan Tannehill
get an upgrade in your rankings or your your expectations
(13:20):
based on what this offense could be? Yeah? He does. Uh,
I think that he. They're obviously naturally gonna have to
throw more. Right, Like, you're not gonna be able to
sustain an offense running the ball as much as they
did with Adrian Peterson and Jeremy McNichols, like you did
with Derrick Henry. But I think the upgrade starts, but
not this week. This is just a tough matchup against
(13:41):
the Rams defense that now has Von Miller with Ramsey
and Aaron Donald there. Uh. It's Adrian Peterson's first game
signed fresh off the street. Jeremy McNichols is in a
larger role. Julio Jones has been in and out of
the lineup all game all years, so we don't know
if he is fully healthy, if he's even gonna play
this week. So and my opinion, I think long term
(14:01):
we have to elevate Ryan Tannehill. But I think for
this week it's still another week. I would be trying
to get away from him. Yeah, I think this week
is not really a great week. I don't I wouldn't
want to be the first team to test this new
Rams defense, you know, with with Von Miller on it um.
But I do think in the long term I expect
more out of out of Ryan Tannehill. And I was
(14:22):
one of the people who had elevated expectations for him
coming into the season. Uh, it hasn't quite worked out
that way, but I do think there's gonna be more opportunity.
I also think it will help if Julio Jones can
get healthy and stay on the field and add one
more target. You know, It's it's not as scary when
you're talking about throwing to Nick Westbrook at keneh As
as your other option in the passing game. But I
(14:43):
do think there's gonna be more coming for him, at
least I certainly hope so. Other quarterback news, it has
not been particularly great for Patrick Mahomes of late. The
start of the season looked fine. He looked like the
guy we we were making the first quarterback off the board.
Last couple of weeks not so much. I'm not gonna
say it's full on time to panic, but it is
at least time to be a little bit concerned about
(15:04):
my homes. Yeah, I think just a little bit, Like
not to the point where I'm taking him out of
my fantasy lineups. I continue to start him each week.
But initially I was like, man, things haven't been going
right for the Chiefs. There's a lot of bad bounces
going their way, a lot of interceptions coming off the
hands of receivers. But Mahomes also hasn't looked great. Like
(15:24):
that Monday night game against the Giants was the first
time watching the Homes where I was like, man, he
is just off, Like he is missing his receivers even
on the catches and like completions he was getting they were,
they were just not where the ball should be. They
were behind the receiver a lot. It felt like every
throw was either near the line of scrimmage or like
forty yards down the field. Uh. And I know he
(15:45):
was saying before that game, like I need to take
a profit. I have to stop trying to get the
long touchdown on every single play and you know, take
the ten yards that the defense is giving me. But
he didn't do that, Like he continued to just get
his eyes stuck down fields. So not worried in the
sense where I'm dropping him or even sitting him, But
I am worried in the sense like, hey, am I
(16:07):
getting the top three quarterback that I that I paid
up to get in my draft up that I'm not
so sure about the rest of the season. And you
talk about Mahomes looking downfield and always sort of looking
for the big shot of the home run play. I
also feel like part of it is it feels like
he only really has confidence in Travis Kelsey and Tyreek Hill,
(16:27):
and every week it's it's sort of become a running
joke at this point, like what other patri or Chiefs
pass catchers are you interested in besides Hill and Kelsey?
You know, we keep throwing out Nicole Hardman or DeMarcus
Robinson or Byron Pringle or whatever. But none of those
guys end up making an impact. And I don't know
if it's that they aren't consistently getting open if they're
(16:48):
not you know, if if the Chiefs aren't really integrating
him into the game plan, or if it's that Mahomes
doesn't trust them. But as teams start to key in
more on slowing Downhill and Kelsey, it does limit what
Mahomes can do. When I think we have seen that
frustration from him. Uh, it definitely hasn't helped that he's
turned the ball over so much this year, interceptions in
seven straight games. I still believe. I believe in him,
(17:10):
I believe in the Chiefs offense. I believe in Andy
Reid and Eric b enemy Um. But yeah, this is
definitely not what people were anticipating when they were spending
probably a third or fourth round pick on on Patrick
Mahomes this year in their drafts. Uh, last one here
and look, full disclosure, we have we have shuffled this
rundown around so many times because of all the news
(17:32):
that was hitting just before we sat down to record this.
So originally this question was gonna be what should we
do about Michael Thomas. We know what's happening with Michael Thomas,
so now we have some clarity on that. Now the
question is what do we do about Odell Beckham Jr.
Because it seems like his time in Cleveland is very
very short. As we sit here and record this show.
(17:53):
He is still a Brown, but there are tweets circulating
that the head coach Kevin Stefanski, that the g M
Andrew Berry are talking to Odell agent Discovery are trying
to figure out the next steps. If you don't understand why,
it's because Odell Beckham Senior posted an eleven minute video
on Instagram showing all the times that his son was
wide open and that Baker Mayfield failed to connect with him.
(18:17):
Things are bad right now in Cleveland, Florio. So with
all that being said and all this uncertainty surrounding O
b J. What do we do. I I have dropped
Odell Beckham in the leagues that I had him in.
In one league markets, I dropped him for thirty six
year old Adrian Peterson, something that I never would have
thought I would say. But it's become that bad for
(18:40):
Odell Beckham Jr. Like he deserves part of the blame
as well. Um, but I do think a lot of
it also goes to Baker and the Browns. Like Baker
has missed Beckham a lot, like on deep shots this year,
Baker just hasn't lived up to expectations himself. And I
also don't get why the Browns don't design more plays
to Odell Beckham, especially early on in games where you
(19:03):
know you come out with like a script on your
first two drives, Like why don't you have more design
pass plays just to get the ball in his hand
and see what he could do. I'd still think he
is a really talented receiver. For seasonal leagues, I'm dropping him.
But in Dynasty Marcus, I would be interested in getting
him on my roster because, just like Michael Thomas, I
feel like his values at an all time low. And
(19:24):
if he plays with a better quarterback and a better
offense next year, I think there could be some resurgence
there for Odell. Here's the thing. If O'Dell gets released,
and right now it's it's just speculation, but if he's
to get released, someone is going to pick him up. Um,
you know it may it may be a week or two,
but somebody's going You don't have a guy that talented
(19:44):
and he just stays out there on the street for
very long uh, and that is going to boost his
value again, just a new opportunity. So it's it's sort
of like the Michael Thomas situation. Right. If you can
afford to sort of weight uh and hope that he
blossoms back into the the Odell that we saw with
the Giants, then he's worth taking a shot on. If
you need immediate help, then he's probably not for you.
(20:05):
But Uh, this has been a wild ride in Cleveland. Um,
this is year three and it just has not panned out.
It has been pretty awful and it looks like it's
going to end very badly for both sides here. So
we'll definitely keep an eye on that. It has been
a busy, busy Wednesday so far and we're not even
halfway through it. All Right, let's turn our attention to
(20:29):
our game previews. Let's start with what I consider to
be the most interesting game on the schedule. It's the
Sunday night game. Uh, Titans at the Rams. Where are
you going for this one? Yeah? I already said earlier
I would try to get away from Ryan's Hannehill this week.
You notice start a J Brown and all your Rams
every week. So I was with limited options here. I
(20:49):
think you should avoid the Tennessee Titans running backs if possible.
I understand you might be desperate and if you got
one of them off the waiver wire, maybe you need
to replace Henry or you have a bunch of running
backs on buy or something like that. But if it's
if you're able to get away from this backfield, then
you have two other useful options. I would because we
don't know how much of a workload Adrian Peterson is
(21:10):
going to get. We don't know if they're gonna him
and McNichols are gonna split ground usage. I anticipate a
p getting the goal on work but is it's something
where we see a lot of McNichols in between the twenties,
We're not sure. So until we have clarity on this backfield,
and it's a tough matchup against the Rams d Lin
that just added von Miller, So I would be staying
away from this, Marcus, if at all possible. Now I'm
(21:32):
with you. Everything about this says beware. I mean you're
talking about a situation where we have no clarity on
how the workload is going to be split in a
terrible matchup. Uh, and especially in a game where the
Titans could be chasing a little bit too. If that
Rams passing game continues to click the way it has. Uh,
this just seems this just seems like a bad, bad situation. Uh.
(21:53):
Next game on the doc then you see Rams allowing
the fewest rush yards per game since Week five. So
that just seems bad. It seems bad for Tennessee. Uh.
Next up the Broncos at the Cowboys. And I want
to say, I think you want to be aware of
the Broncos running back. So here we are another running
back situation that maybe, uh isn't particularly great. This one's
(22:14):
a little bit different. We we sort of know how
this works out. Between Melvin Gordon and Javonte Williams. They're
splitting opportunities pretty equally, and they've both been, you know,
pretty good. If you could combine them into one running back,
it would be great. Uh. They've been two okay running
backs on their own. But the Cowboy run defense has
been pretty good all year long. And UH, your credit
(22:35):
Dan Quinn for sort of turning that unit around. Last
year we were picking on the Cowboys at will. This year,
we haven't really been able to do that, and this
feels like another situation where neither of these guys uh
is going to be particularly great. And I feel like
this is a situation to Mike where uh, you know,
if the Cowboys start scoring points like they can if
that is healthy and throwing the football. This is another
(22:57):
one where the game script might not favor Denver's running backs.
And with Denver having Sutton, Judy Fan and Tim Patrick,
now maybe they don't have the need to dump off
as many passes to the running back. This was a
situation markets where I was hoping Melvin Gordon got traded
to like Tennessee, because that would have been perfect for fantasy.
But of course that didn't happen. No, of course that
(23:17):
it never works out the way we would like it
to work out. So there we go. So we got
plenty more game previews coming up. We will take a
break though, and we'll get back to some of those
game previews after the break on the NFL Fantasy Football Show.
Those are the part of the show where I remind
you to follow us on TikTok at NFL Fantasy. We
(23:40):
got plenty of stuff going on to be sure to
check that out. You can also follow me on TikTok
at Marcus Grant and uh I think I think this
week they actually pulled one of my TikTok videos to
show so you can see some of the lunacy that happens. Yeah, yeah,
this is what it looks like. It's me dancing with
weird neon strobe lights and um there's music too. Uh
(24:03):
so you can come check that out. That's that's just
part of the insanity on on the talk, So come
join us. Is that what the kids call it now
the talk? I have no idea, that's what I call it.
I might trying to make myself sound cool. I have
no idea if that did at all what they call it?
No clue. All right, back to our game previews. Patriots
at the Panthers. Patriots coming off a really nice win
(24:23):
over the Chargers last week. What are we doing about
that matchup? I say start? The Carolina Panthers running back
like Christian McCaffrey was designated to return off the i
R today. That opens up his twenty one day window
that he can return if he is activated in time
for Sunday. Obviously, he is a must start, but if not,
(24:43):
I think you just continue to start Chuba Hubbard. He
has been getting a lot of volume. Last week he
had twenty five touches. I don't he only turned it
into fourteen Fantasy points, but he consistently is getting over
fifteen touches. In his last five games, he has fifteen
or more touches. I know has been a little bit
up and down, but his floor has been nine Fantasy
points and his ceiling has been over eighteen. So I
(25:05):
think that the usage and what he's been giving you,
Marcus makes him an RB two that you just you
kind of leave in your lineup. I will give you
the same warning I've been giving for weeks. Now. I
know Christian McCaffrey is off. I r he's back at practice.
Um hold on a Chuba Hubbard, though, just because I
feel like we've been here before and we get our
optimism up and then McCaffrey doesn't play or has a setback.
(25:28):
So I would just say, you know, don't give up
on Chuba Hubbard yet. But both those guys, whoever is
the lead is a pretty good start against New England
this week. Brown's at Bengals. All the Odell Beckham uh
madness aside. Right now, it's an interesting game, and I
will say it makes Joe Burrow a must start. And
(25:48):
he might be heading towards that anyway, just on his
own merit, but especially this week, he's definitely a must start.
This is a Brown's defense that has really had problems,
especially in the back porson of the defense. We still
like their pass rush. We know Myles Garrett is an
absolute monster upfront, but if the Bengals can sort of
take care of him or slow him down, that should
give Burrow plenty of time. Last week we saw him
(26:11):
spread the ball around see Higgins, Tyler Boyd, Jamar Chase
still had a touchdown even if it wasn't a long one.
Um and so I think at this point Joe Burrow
probably deserves being every week starter. But for whatever reason,
if you're not starting him on a rag uh, this
is a week to make sure that he's in your lineup. Alright,
Vikings at Ravens, which one are you going? Which way
are you going? In this one? I'm going with flex
(26:33):
Rashad Bateman here. Wide receiver is pretty brutal this week.
I know typically we say that about the running back position,
but given all the teams on buys, we're losing a
lot of receivers here, and there's just been you know,
under performances and players who haven't really lived up to expectations.
The Vikings give up the seventh most Fantasy points on
the year two receivers plus. Bateman showed that he was
(26:56):
a consistent part of the offense in the two games
he played before the by getting six targets in each,
and he showed that he doesn't need a ton of
volume to put up fantasy numbers and uh when he
had three catches for eighty yards in his second game back. Now,
coming off of the bye, with already having two games
in this offense, I think that he'll be a little
bit more comfortable. Maybe we see him used a little
(27:16):
bit more. This could be a game too that I
think is a little bit higher scoring on this slate
this week. So I I think Bateman is a solid
flex option this week. I I would not be afraid
to start him definitely. Like I love the way the
Ravens have pretty much integrated him from the moment he
stepped on the field into their passing game. Bills at Jaguars,
which you know on paper does not feel like a
(27:37):
fair fight. Uh, and so that's why I'm saying the
Bill's defense is a must start in this situation. Uh.
It was appalling to see how bad the Jaguars were
coming off a by Uh, they had the week to prepare.
They go up to Seattle and they get crushed by
Gino Smith and the Seahawks. Meanwhile, the Bill's defense, and
I don't think we've talked about this at all this year,
(28:00):
they are the number one defense in fantasy. Uh they're
still out there though in a handful of leagues. Uh,
you know, not me any but if they're If they're
out there, go get them and start them this week.
If you have them, make sure they are in your lineup.
You see that the Jaguars with fewer than twenty four
points in every game this season. The Bills have given
up just eleven offensive touchdowns this year. Everything is set
(28:21):
up for Buffalo to sort of smash in this one.
I expect I expect the Bills to win big, and
it's especially in the second half. I chanted them to
really come after the quarterback a little bit. It's gonna
be exciting for you, Floria. Yeah, I know they have
more takeaways than they've allowed touchdowns to quarterbacks this year.
So uh, not great for Trevor Lawrence. Not great for
Trevor alright, Chargers and Eagles, This one could be kind
(28:45):
of fun. I think, I believe, I hope. What are
you looking at here? It pains me to say, but
I think you gotta sit DeVonta Smith this week. I
mean Smith last week against the Lines gave us just
two and a half points. And I know game script
matters there, but he said, let's five fantasy points are
fewer in two of his last three games. He hasn't
really shown us much of a ceiling. I thought volume
(29:06):
alone was keeping him as like a wide receiver three
or flex option. But this is not the week to
get him in your lineup. The Chargers have allowed the
fewest fantasy points to wide receivers, and if you're that
charge of secondary, you know, basically you gotta take away
Smith and Dallas got it and and where are the
Eagles gonna go with the balls? So I expect a
lot of defensive attention on Smith. I think Smith himself
(29:29):
is still a very good player at the NFL level.
I'm not worried about him long term, but him this year,
in this offense and in this matchup this week, I
think you get away from him. This sounds like we're
back on the Jalen Hurts twenty points per game train.
If they're taking away his top pass catchers, then he's
gonna run the football and maybe he gets back to
scoring twenty points, which would be nice after a week
(29:50):
he scored eleven in a game where the Eagles had
forty four. Anyway, Uh, if you want more starts and since,
be sure to check out the start of a Sidham
show every Thursday, four pm Eastern. You know where to
find at the NFL Fantasy App, the NFL App, nfl
dot com on YouTube. Are there still money guns? Oh,
there's always money guns. Every Tursday, we we shoot fake
(30:11):
hash with our faces on him all over the studio there.
It is so come for the information, to stay for
the money guns. It's a good time for everybody. All right,
let's move on to the Colts and the Jets, but
let's talk specifically about Jonathan Taylor. But first, actually let's
just kind of give you an update. We're mentioning that
news has been flying fast and furious pretty much all
day long, and the latest with Odell Beckham Jr. We
(30:35):
talked about his kind of butting heads are the the
the tumult in the Browns organization, and the reports are
that Kevin Stefanski, the head coach, told the team in
a team meeting that Odell is not part of the
team right now and basically wanted to say that he
will not be a part of this team for the
rest of the year. So I don't know if that
(30:58):
means he's going to be released. They will probably tell
us that as soon as we're done recording this show.
We're putting it up there for you to consume. But
as of now, Odell Beckham Jr. Is not playing football
for the Browns. Whether he is going to be free
to play for somebody else at the moment at least,
that is an unknown. All right. Uh, I don't know,
(31:18):
so I think I feel like we've talked that out
at least to the extent that we get him off
your rosters. Get him off your roster right now, you know,
we'll see. All right, Let's go to the best of
the pack here. Let's start with Jonathan Taylor, he of
the Indianapolis Colts, and he who is a favorite of
our own Michael f Florio. It's been pretty good for him,
(31:39):
especially recently when the Colts seemed to rediscover him. Let's
just spend this forward though, right in a year where
Christian McCaffrey has been hurt, Say Kwon Barkley has been hurt,
Alvin Cook has been hurt and inconsistent, Derrick Henry is
now gone for the rest of the year. Is Jonathan
Taylor in the conversation to be the number one overall
pick in two I think so. I especially think so
(32:00):
because of one how he's been playing as of late.
I cannot wait for him to run for like two
hundred yards against the Jets on Thursday night. But I
think the bigger thing too is Nahem Haines role has
been shrinking to the point where he's almost droppable in
fantasy football because john that Taylor is getting more utilized
in the past and game, And it makes sense when
you were running back who can take a catch and
(32:22):
bring it eight yards like Jonathan Taylor? Can you want
to get that guy the ball in space as much
as you can. So I definitely think he is in
consideration for the one oh one next year. I think
also some other like Austin Ekeler. I think Nagy Harris
will join Dalvin Cook like CMC and Derrick Henry in
that conversation. I think next year is gonna be one
(32:42):
of those years, Marcus, where there's no consensus number one.
You're gonna kind of have to choose who you think
is the best option there. And I think Jonathan Taylor,
though very much so, deserves to be in that conversation
right now. I think I'm sort of torn between him
and Derrick Henry just sort of looking at this Henry
thing is maybe just kind of an unfortunate circumstance, and
then he'll be back to being tractor sedo again next year.
(33:04):
But Jonathan Taylor still young, good offensive line of chance
to really be a workhorse because there's no one that
is really threatening him for opportunities. He is sort of
what we saw out of you, say, say Quan a
couple of years ago, or Dalvin Cook, any of those guys.
So I right now, as I sit here in early November,
I do think he is. He's in that conversation. So
(33:26):
I will just say, if if Eckler and Taylor finished
as the top two running backs this year, Marcus, I'm
gonna be unbearable on Twitter for a couple. Take that
as a warning everybody. Uh, next up, let's pivot to
the Falcons and the Saints, and let's focus in on
Alvin Kamara. Now he's been just fine, but some of
them has had to do with the quarterback situation there.
(33:47):
Now there's no Jamis, Taysom Hill is eligible to come
back and play again. Uh should we root for Taysom Hiller?
Should we root for Trevor Simeon to take over as
the quarterback? I think you should be rooting for Trevor
Simeon if you have Alvin Kamara, or what you really
should be rooting for is that the Saints called Philip
Rivers because he said he would pick up that call,
and we know he loves to dump it off to
(34:08):
the running backs. But if Taysom Hill is a starter,
and that's what I expect, Marcus, I don't love it
at all for Alvin Kmara. He did have the one
game last year with ten targets from Hill, but besides that,
it was less than five I believe in each game.
Plus Taysom Hill had more carries near the goal line
in those four games than Alvin Kamara did. He scored
four rushing touchdowns. He had forty rushing yards in every game.
(34:32):
He is going to run the ball, especially in the
red zone. And when he's running the ball, that means
he's not like when he's feeling pressure, he's not looking
to just get it out of his hand to the
running back. So I think they'll still be design pass
plays for Alvin Kamara, but not nearly as many receptions.
And I think you start have to start worrying about
the goal line work now that if Hill is the starter,
and the fact that they have mark Ingram on board
(34:53):
as well. It's that goal line stuff that really scares
me about Taysom Hill taking over his quarterback. You mentioned
mark Ingram. He's gonna get some looks. We know Hill
will take it and run it himself. I think the
target share will actually stay about the same just because, look,
we know that there's no Michael Thomas coming back at
this point, and you know the rest of the past
catchers have been fine, um, but I don't imagine that
(35:14):
you know they're suddenly gonna lean heavily on Marquis Callaway
or you know, Deonte Harris or Trey Kwon Smith, So
maybe maybe that keeps uh Camara getting some targets. That
was the thing he didn't really get. But I do
worry that the touchdown number maybe what comes down for
Camara if Taysom Hill ends up being the starter. So ah,
this is not where we wanted to be getting into
(35:36):
Week nine. Back to our game previews the Texans at
the Dolphins, because the schedule makers said so. But I
will say, to a tongue of Violoa feels like a
sleeper this week. Maybe it's a little bit of the
chip on his shoulder after having a couple of weeks
of hearing about how Deshaun Watson was gonna come and
take his job away from him. Maybe it's just the
(35:56):
fact that it's the Texans defense and they're not particularly
very good. But to what has been he's been pretty
good the last couple of weeks, been fairly consistent, and
so I think this is an opportunity, especially if you're
in a two quarterback league. But maybe if you need
help at the QB position, I don't know, maybe you
lost Aaron Rodgers for this week, for instance, or you
have Tom Brady who's on to buy Uh, then I
think too what could be a nice play, a nice
(36:18):
way to fill in your your quarterback spot in Week nine.
Completely agree. Yeah, Packers at the Chiefs, we already know
one big name is not going to be there. Uh
where What what should folks do when you're looking at
this matchup? I I kind of spoke about it earlier
in the show, but I think a J. Dillon is
a strong flex option, and I liked a J. Dillon
as a flex option before the Aaron Rodgers news came out.
(36:41):
I think now with Jordan's love there, they're the Packers
are gonna just I think try to run the ball
a good amount, keep the ball out of Patrick Mahomes hands. Uh.
And I also think they're gonna see a lot of short,
little dump offs to the running backs. We saw Aaron
Jones get double digit targets last week, and when they
were using him so much as a receiver markets it
led to uh A J. Dylon having a lot of
(37:02):
work on the ground. They were using bolding them on
the field at the same times with Jones split out
wide at times, Dylan was getting work near the goal
line as well, as you see on on that play
right there. So I'm pretty excited for Dylan. I have
him ranked as my RB twenty five this week. I've
just been more and more interested in having a J
Dylan at least on a roster and maybe as a
flex option, just because he's starting to get more opportunity here.
(37:24):
So I think this could keep rolling. Even though the
Giants didn't do a ton against the Chiefs, I still
want to pick on that defense, so that could be
a really good spot to get Dylan in. Alright, last
couple of game previews as we wrap up the show
here Raiders at the Giants, I'll tell you to be
aware of Darius Tony and it was it was sort
(37:44):
of head scratching that the Giants didn't get him all
that involved. There was a lot of confusion as to
whether he was hurt or not, but whatever, they didn't
get the football in his hands. Even if they do
this week, the Raiders have been pretty good against wide
receivers and this is not I just don't feel comfortable
with the Science offense right now, especially in the passing game.
They've had so many injuries, so many guys out of
(38:05):
the lineup. Uh fewer than eight fantasy points in back
to back games for Tony and just inconsistent usage, maybe
you have to start him. I don't know what your
wide receiver situation looks like, but I'm not super excited
about Tony in this week's matchup. That's all I got
um Cardinals and the forty Niners, which could be a
pretty good game on paper. That the Cardinals trying to
(38:26):
bounce back after their first loss. What are we doing here?
I think you start Elijah Mitchell, and I know he
was available on a lot of waivers. You know, the
last couple of weeks. He shouldn't be. You have to
get this guy off of the waiver wire and get
him right into your starting lineup if you can. I mean,
he's had eighteen touches, over a hundred rushing yards and
a touchdown in each of his last two games. That's
(38:47):
over sixteen Fantasy points. In both he has eighteen or
more touches and four of the five games he's played
this year, he is the unquestioned RB one there. I
know he doesn't catch any passes and that limits his
upside of it, but I'm not sure it matters when
you're rushing for a hundred yards every week. And I
know the Cardinals on paper are a tough matchup against
running backs, but they allow over almost ninety rushing yards
(39:10):
per game to the position. They just limit the catches
and stuff, which you don't have to worry about with Mitchell.
So I'm trusting Kyle Shanahan and his run system here.
I think Mitchell has earned RB two status that you
could start each week. Yeah. No, He's been fantastic, especially
in a year where they have kind of shuffled guys
around and we picked the wrong forty Niners rookie running back.
You know, everybody who's on Trey Sermon should have been
(39:31):
Elijah Mitchell. There it is time for m v P Picks,
presented by Visa, a network giving small businesses tools to grow.
We will leave you with a couple of sleepers each
Florio start us off. I think DeVante Parker is a sleeper,
and coming into this week, he was available in over
eighty percent of NFL dot com weeks. That is way
(39:52):
too many. Against the Bills last week he saw Levin targets,
called eight of them for eighty five yards, and that
is against the team that allowed the fewest fantasy on
two receivers. He has at least seven targets in every game.
But Marcus, what I like is he has nine or
more and three of his last four games he's top
sixteen fantasy points in two. I think the volume makes
him a weekly flex option, but the volume again makes
(40:15):
him his upside even higher than that, especially in a
good matchup like this week against the Texans. I'm gonna
go tay Some Hill. And for some of the reasons
we talked about earlier, the things that make us nervous
about Alvin Kamara are the reasons we sort of like
Taysom Hill as a potential sleeper this week, especially against
the Atlanta Falcons. The ability to throw the football, but
more importantly his ability to run. Uh and his propensity
(40:37):
to run near the goal line and give you that
touchdown upside. Look, if he is healthy and ready to go,
he's gonna be the starter. And like he's the guy
who's been Sean Payton's pet project for the last couple
of years. He was the guy who was very much
in the running to be the starter during preseason. Uh So,
I think if he's good to go, he is starting
against the Falcons this week, and he's got some sleeper potential.
(40:58):
I'm not just saying that because I drafted him late
in a few places and might be forced to put
him in a lineup. UH. Next sleeper for you, Jamal Agnew,
And I know there's some people who are like, who
is this guy? He is the new slot receiver for
the Jacksonville Jaguars. He saw a team high twelve targets
last week, but he's been seeing consistent volume, getting at
(41:18):
least six targets in three straight games. He topped double
digit fantasy points in each, sitting anywhere between ten and
sixteen fantasy points in the last three so ever. Since
DJ Chuck Jr's injury, this guy's been manning the slot
and getting good amount of volume going his way. I
don't think he has the highest ceiling markets, but I
think if you need like a flex option, maybe you're
(41:39):
going a little bit deeper at receiver this week. I
think Agnew is someone that should be interesting to you,
and he definitely should be rostered right now. Jamal Age
was turning into the guy I wanted La Visca Chenault
to be and it it hurts my heart. My last
one is Van Jefferson because I don't understand why we
wouldn't want more parts of the Rams passing game right there,
the number two ranked passing game in the NFL. We
(42:00):
know Cooper Cup has been amazing, Robert Woods is starting
to pick things up, but Van Jefferson has been very good.
And he's a guy who can get you some decent
production on just a few targets because he's a guy
they like to use to stretch the field. And now
that there's no Deshaun Jackson, there more of these opportunities
are going to go Jefferson's way. I think, especially this
week against that Titan secondary, it's a really nice play.
(42:20):
But I'm still kind of trying to wrap my head
around the fact that Jefferson is available in about nineties
seven percent of NFL dot Com leagues. I don't understand it.
Go pick him up, and especially this week, I think
you put him in your lineup as a flex option.
All right. If you want more sleepers, you can check
out my weekly column at NFL dot Com Slash Sleepers.
Got those names and a few more on there for
(42:40):
you also should check us out on Sundays for NFL
Fantasy Game Day. We get that going at nine am
Pacific twelve noon Eastern time. It's myself this week would
be me Floria and Adam Rank uh kind of getting
you up to date on inactives, key injuries, uh and
maybe some sleepers, the last minute waiver wire pickups, all
the good stuff you know where to check out out
all the apps, NFL dot com and YouTube as well.
(43:04):
All right for us, that is it's we are done.
We appreciate you hanging out with the NFL Fantasy Football Show.
You know the drill. Tell two friends to tell two
friends rate review and remember can you buy an entire
chest set in a pawn shop? Be safe, take care
of yourselves. Get vaccinated, please, please please, We'll see you
next week. Enjoy week nine. Please be good everybody. I
(43:39):
don't go. I'm don't go.
Hosts And Creators
Marcas Grant
Adam Rank
Michael F. Florio
Kimmi Chex
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