November 15, 2023 • 34 mins
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It's Fox Sports Radio's Official Fantasy Football Podcast! Dan Beyer and Mike Harmon discuss Josh Dobbs' run of success and examine if he can continue his streak of fantasy relevance. The guys try to make sense of Tony Pollard's lack of production despite big points from the Cowboys. Plus, can you justify starting Calvin Ridley anymore?
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Lad, you want experience during your football season, well, buckle up,
sweet cheeks. We've got all the experience in the world.
This is I want your flex with Dan Bayer and
Mike Harmon. Mike and Dan break down everything you need
to set your lineups, from position rankings.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
To starts and sits.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
The guys help you make those hard decisions. And now
let's get your flex on. Here's Dan Bayer and Mike Harmon.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
All right, Week eleven is here, and man, we'd spent
the last episode kind of talking about the buys.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
He's Mike Carmen.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Ryan Berschinger is our executive producer, and Mike, we had
some uh no disrespect to your Bears, but Bears Panthers
on Thursday night, we had Patriots Colts in Germany. On
Sunday morning, we had Jets Raiders on Sunday night and
Broncos Bills.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
Was crazy, but I don't think it was a huge
marquee matchup.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Now we go into a Week eleven where we've got
Bengals Ravens.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
Okay, the start things out.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
No international game to give us, however, Eagles Chiefs on
Monday Night football and now Denver Minnesota becomes an interesting
Sunday night football game. Quite another difference from week ten
to week eleven in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Yeah, on paper, all the evening games that I complained about,
at least on paper. I mean, we'll see how they
actually play out here, Dan, because especially on short weeks,
when we look at Cincinnati and Baltimore, there's a lot
of red letters next to players' names that might be
in your fantasy lineup that may not be able to
(01:45):
go based on the short turnaround. But we'll keep an
eye on that. But the rest of the slate, I mean,
Bears Lions, all right, I'm entertained just because well, let's
see what kind of craziness. But Pittsburgh Cleveland has some
juice to it. You go down a little bit further
when you look at a Seattle versus the Rams, well,
(02:07):
your your Seahawks. Still, I think everybody's trying to figure
out what they are week to week at this point.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
I'm right there with you, all right.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
I Mean it's like I don't know Gino Pumpkin. I
don't know the Jacksonville Jaguars. They were winning in spite
of Trevor Lawrence. Yeah, six and three is still atop
the division but they've got Tennessee rolling up. Well, Tennessee
can still play some defense, So let's see what happens there.
But to your point, all the Marquee matchups in the
(02:36):
evening and standalone windows, and the Minnesota Denver one, with
Denver beating Buffalo, becomes that much more interesting and valuable
across the league and certainly for fantasy owners.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Yeah, and then the wildcard race in the NFC, Minnesota
is firmly in the playoff picture. They would make the
playoffs if they started today.
Speaker 4 (02:57):
So let's talk a.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Little bit about the Minnesota Vikings because Josh Dobbs has
been a great story just in football in general.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Oh, he's the new Ryan Fitzpatricks, smartest guy in the room.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
But here's the deal is how much fantasy viability do
we have with Josh Dobbs Because the last.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
Two weeks pretty pretty good for mister dobbson Minnesota. Is
it sustainable?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Yeah, I'm looking at him at this point, and you
look at even during his time with the Arizona Cardinals.
When we look at Josh Dobbs and what he was
able to accomplish, because remember, as we talked about on
the podcast, in prior weeks, he was giving you forty
fifty rushing yards a lot of times.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
Yeah, yep.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
So as we get through the first ten weeks of
the season, I mean, you got a guy that's been
putting up numbers and giving you a puncher's chance. If
you're starting with the forty rushing yards each and every week,
I mean you feeling and pretty good there. And so
now going forward, Jefferson's excited and chopping at the bit
(04:06):
to get back. Addison's there, Osbourne will clear and get
back on the field. You're looking at TJ. Hockinson, who
even though he was banged up, he was fantastic in
that win. So he had all that and still trying
to figure out the running game. As we talked about
in the prior episode, maybe ty Chandler actually gets a shot,
(04:27):
or maybe they start auditioning for supplemental players on the street.
But he's a guy for fantasy purposes. I'm pretty excited
about right now. I mean, think about what he's been
able to do while barely learning the offense or his teammates' names.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Like That's they weren't great to the second half against
New Orleans, but it helps when he score twenty four
in the first half to jump out to a twenty
four to three lead, ended up getting that eight point win.
But you mentioned the addition of Justin Jefferson coming back,
like that's enough to increase any quarterback's value. I have
(05:04):
no idea what's going on in that backfield, So those
rushing yards are going to be needed by someone if
it is Dobbs. And here's the other thing, Mike, I
actually wonder if the more he learns the playbook, will
he run less?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Perhaps?
Speaker 4 (05:22):
Yeah, you know, because.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
That offense obviously was not made for a quarterback to
run when Kirk Cousins is your quarterback. But Dobbs now
is like, well, I can't maybe figure out all of
this right away, so if it's not there, I'm going
to take it and run.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
That would be the only drawback.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
That I would say is maybe as he gets accustomed
to the offense, maybe he just runs less. And now
you've got a guy like Justin Jefferson the throw too.
But I am bullish on his usage over the next
couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Well, as you look at it, and we can get
into full schedule watching if you want in a sec
But like I didn't even mention him on the the
waiver Wire. You know that we did last episode because
it seemed like an obvious pickup. Sure, right, if he's
still out there, which is amazing that for a guy
get this Dan in Yahoo leagues and we're talking hundreds
(06:13):
of thousands of leagues right, available in nearly half of them.
Even though right now after this week's games, he is
QB seven.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
Wow, he is.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Second in rushing yardage by quarterbacks only to Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
That's nuts, right, I mean he's got.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Five rushing touchdowns, nearly two thousand passing yards, eleven touchdowns,
five picks. Like his numbers are almost the same. It's
really kind of frightening, almost the same as Lamar Jackson's.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Mars at twenty one seventy seven. Right, So you got
a difference of one hundred and eighty two. He's got
one more touchdown pass same number of interceptions, and he's
got one hundred and thirteen fewer rushing yards and thirty
fewer attempts with the same number of rushing touchdowns.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
Oh how about that?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
So he was victimized by having an Arizona Cardinal's logo
on the side of his helmet for fantasy purposes. I'm
not getting into that. And now he's with Minnesota and
all of a sudden, it's like, well, let's see.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Here and unfortunately at Arizona written across his chest. But
that's more of a uniform comment that is true than
anything else.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Yeah, I like this setup.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
I you know, at Denver week eleven, I actually think
could be a little tricky.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Denver's playing well defensively right now. They're flying around a bit.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Yeah, but then you've got your Bears on Monday Night
Football the week after, and then after that you got
the Raiders and and the Bengals.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Right, they get a bye week in week thirteen. Yeah, Raiders, Bengals,
and then we get into Detroit and Green Bay and
on all that fun stuff down the end of the
road there. But yeah, he's got staying power and it's
kind of fun to see. Right. He's become everybody's darling.
(08:21):
I mean we talked about him a lot when he
was playing with Arizona as a one man band earlier
this year, and think about what he was able to
put up and do, and it goes back to Arizona
didn't have a run game for a while, right, de
Mercado and everybody trying to replace the injured James Connor.
So he went Thanos and said, fine, I'll do it myself.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Sure are you You know, since we're talking about the Cardinals,
Kyler Murray did not look like he had any reservations
with that knee injury.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
No, he did not.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Yeah, the only thing that I worry about is, I
know Trey mc bride's been great for them, but truly
of having a you know, maybe Hollywood Brown can connect.
But I was almost going to say something completely disrespectful
to the Cardinals wide receivers. I was going to say,
(09:16):
a true wide receiver, Well, yeah, you know it's Hollywood
Brown is that? But like, you know, they used Rondell
More in so many different ways and whatnot.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
But Michael Nilson is not. Yeah, it's not consistent yet,
Mark Hollywood Brown's gotten better than what he was as
a member of the Ravens, where it was pretty much
a straight line runner. He's gotten better on the tree,
but it's still not not ideal. It's gotten better. I mean,
he's got eighty one targets on the year, so they're
at least trying to feed him the ball. Yeah, So
(09:49):
you take that from it, but you know, this is
a guy that's now only averaging ten point nineer reception,
which is considerably markedly lower than it was once upon
lot of time again and tribute to what he's needed
to become and really what this team is trying to
figure out, you know, how to spread the ball around
and actually make it make the offense work.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
I'll also say this, what really helped Kyler Murray in
week ten was also the.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
Return of James Connor.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Sure, so now you actually have a threat of a
running game because if he's not there, then you're back
to Kyler running around and that's not what you would want. Granted,
it was against the Falcons Cardinals of the Texans coming
up in week eleven, so Texans can give up some
points even though they kind of kept the Bengals in
(10:40):
check with Cincinnati being shorthanded. But yeah, I I if
I had Kyler Murray on my team, I would be pleased.
But I also then would have to remember that he's
still on the Arizona Cardinals, So that three hundred yard
passing day with three touchdown passes and two touchdown runs
probably not going to happen when without the likes of
(11:01):
like DeAndre Hopkins on your team.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Yeah, let's just just face it. If that happens, that
means the game is completely broken down, which is possible, right,
I mean, look in this year's NFL, I take nothing.
I wouldn't doubt anything if you told me a stat
line for a guy to go. Really, they can't really
get out of control one way or the other. But
you know, for for Murray, you know the run that
(11:24):
everybody has watched nine thousand times when he went turbo
shows me the reticence or any any hesitance, like you said,
Dan Is, I mean, he's ready to go. I really
thought he was going to be in bubble wrap all year,
but as soon as Dobbs got traded, it all changed.
(11:45):
And we'd heard all the reports that he was doing
everything the Cardinals wanted, that he was feeling good, that
he and Gannon have some sort of relationship and whatever,
and that's great. So it's clearly better than what he
had with Dobbs. When Dobbs said that he lied to
his face a boy getting traded, man, you can't show
all your cards.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Man, No, you're exactly right about that.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
And you know what, like I and I know like,
and you you nailed it on this podcast when we
had the mixed messages coming from Arizona and what could
happen in Sure enough, Dobbs did get traded, But even
if it was that day, what are you, you know, like,
what can you do? Honestly too, if I'm Josh Dobbs,
(12:28):
I'm thankful that they did change their mind. I'd rather
be in Minnesota than than an Arizona.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
It's another opportunity for people to buy another jersey of
you and look at all that.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
Talent I get, Like squad.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
It's so, it's so, it's so uh, it's so in
vogue to be like, oh my gosh, the player was
lied to?
Speaker 4 (12:47):
What about player empowerment?
Speaker 3 (12:49):
It's like, Okay, what would you rather do be backing
up Kyler Murray and not playing in Arizona? Were maybe
going to the playoffs and being the starter for the
Minnesota Vikings. So who cares if they went back?
Speaker 2 (13:01):
If you're in a much better spot, you've gone and
now you're your America's darling in the National Football League.
Smith as we were talking about it on the show
on on Fox Sports Radio Monday night, and he's like,
you know, I lamented the fact that Gino Smith became
the guy for Seattle last year, but I mean he's
celebrated Josh Dobbs bouncing around not nearly as long as Gino,
(13:25):
but you know, now he gets a shot to lead
and maybe parlay it into a big contract if he
shows out, because I think we all assume Kirk Cousins
moves on and he's somewhere else next season. So you know,
for for Dobbs, whether it's in Minnesota or somewhere else,
it's a nice audition, which being in Arizona, you don't
(13:46):
have the players you don't have, you know a lot
of the I mean, is James Connor coming back so
fast if it's still Josh Dobbs there, I don't know,
Or do they go into full tank mode?
Speaker 3 (13:58):
I think yeah, they do try. And I know that
sounds ridiculous and you're talking in the NFL. They play hard,
they really do, and it makes it difficult to play
against the results and may not show it. But you know,
we didn't even think about the Giants game in Week two,
and remember it's a team that you know, beat the
Cowboys earlier in the Shore, and so they do play
(14:20):
hard in Arizona.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Well, they were playing really really well and hard and
usually for a half to three quarters and then it
becomes the all right, the other teams have one or
two more players that make a difference. It's just been
one of those years. So, you know, for Kyler Murray,
I just want to see him healthy and see if
they can't go and get him some more help in
(14:42):
that receiving cores for next year because I think, you know,
he's a guy that's pretty damn fun to watch whatever
whenever you think about you know, like the folks take
the shot. I'm not a man of a great height.
I'm built like a fire plug and I have about
one nine thousand of Murray's quicks. And that's me being
(15:03):
generous because it's well, it's my podcast with you, Dan,
So I can, you know, purport myself to have you know,
a pretty good step, which I don't, but you know,
so I root for the guys that are a little
bit more lacking the stature of the six ' five
statue esque guys. So for Kyler Murray to get back
on the field is kind of a big thing.
Speaker 4 (15:26):
You know.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
All we need more stars in a league where we
keep trying to introduce ourselves to new quarterbacks at every turn.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
That is a perfect segue. He's Mike Harmen and I'm
Dan Byer. This is I Want Your Flex. The executive
producer is Ryan Bersching. Eric is coming up next. We're
going to talk about stars, specifically the ones on the
side of a helmet. That's next year and I Want
Your Flex. Yeah, everybody fed. Welcome back to I Want
Your Flex. Thanksgiving game early. At least the Thanksgiving mealed
(15:53):
it for the Dallas Cowboys because everybody fed in Week
ten MIC against the New York Giants, everybody except Tony Pollard.
I am one with shares in one of my leagues
of Tony Pollard. Now, in the rare instance, just on
how things fell, holdovers and whatnot, I actually have doubled
(16:16):
up with Pollard and CD Lamb on the same team.
I'm not a huge fan of doing that running back
and wide receiver, but it has helped with CD Lamb's
recent tear. But now the questions really coming out about
Tony Pollard. Granted in the blowout that they had against
the Giants. Rico Daldel was a name that Bursch put
(16:39):
up in waiver wires on Tuesday's episode. I don't think
that Tony Pollard is in jeopardy of losing his job, Mike.
I actually think if you were to buy stock right
now into Tony Pollard, it's probably as cheap as it's
going to be. I think this past weekend's game against
the Giants is going to be truly, truly a wake
(17:00):
up call, and I expect Tony Pollard's best days this
season to actually be ahead.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Yeah, I think what we look at where his season
has gone yet, you've had only one one hundred yard
rushing game that goes back into that loss against Arizona,
and then from the receiving side of things, where I
think that's where we thought you'd get your added value
with him each and every week. There have been two
games where he's been a prominent contributor in the passing
(17:29):
game with a high of eighty yards. He's yet to
score through the air, and he hasn't seen the end
zone since Week one against the Giants. So yeah, if
the trade deadline in your league is not passed, yeah,
you could probably throw out and float a bucket of
balls or a nice frosty mug of beer at the
(17:52):
local tavern. And throw in a random player from my
bench is kind of where he's at because the frustrations
real with with fantasy owners for Pollard right now. And
you mentioned Rico and that's I mean, come out. He's
an Eco. He's a guy that is interesting. You know,
we talked about him on the show, on the podcast,
(18:13):
they should say a couple of weeks ago because he
started to pop up and have a little bit of
an impact. And how much more he does, I don't know.
He needs to be rostered depending on your league setting.
As we mentioned before, you know, it could be a
running back, could be a wide receiver, so you want
to check that as you're flowing through. But the opportunity
is there. As much as we love the preseason story
(18:34):
of Deuce Vaughan, he ain't the guy Rico is. Is
your number two right now for an offense, then let's
face it. You know, behind Dak Prescott, they've played really well.
Now I've had a couple of games against some also
ran squads and the Giants. I think they're just looking
to play out the string at this point. But you know,
take the advantages where they come.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
When you look at their schedule, which is very important
in fantasy, You've got the Panthers this week, you have
the Commanders on Thanksgiving Day, and then you have the
Seahawks on Thursday Night Football the week after that. That's
a nice three game stretch to have if you're a
Tony Pollard really is like it's there's an opportunity for
(19:19):
you to do some things, whether it be Mike out
of the backfield, catching passes or just getting the football.
If it doesn't happen in these three weeks, it's not
going to happen. And I just think it was so
glaring that he didn't get into the end zone against
the Giants that I think it's going to be rectified.
I think it'll be rectified in week eleven. I expect
(19:41):
him to have a good game.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Everybody plays, everybody wins, or so. You would have thought
those are the worst types of games as a fantasy owner.
Maybe you're out taking care of business, maybe you got
a honey to do list, maybe you know you and
the significant other of the kids, you've got stuff running around,
and you come back seeing, oh wow, they put up
how many points? Like great, wait, he got none of it.
(20:05):
He got none of it. How many quarterbacks have we
seen that with right, that was week nine for the Ravens. Wait,
Lamar only did what and well, likewise here with the
cowb was like, all right, Tony finally had to eat. Yeah,
No he didn't, No, he didn't. DAC did the receivers did?
CD Lambs up here calling himself the best there is.
(20:25):
I mean, he's stealing all of Brett Hart's lines at
this point, going back to where he feels about himself.
But yeah, the schedule does set up nicely. You got
some of the worst teams in defending opposing running backs
coming up, and certainly in a showcase game, he might
pull in Ezekiel Elliott and go jump in a kettle somewhere.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Yeah, and like you know, we've the Commander's offense is good,
they're moving. The Seahawks offense at times has struggle, but
they are coming off of a game against the Commanders
where you know, Gino had over three hundred yards and
Kenneth Walker had some big plays. So you think that
the other offense is also going to play with you
(21:04):
in that part. So that's why I think it works
out well for Tony Park, for Tony Pollard. We had
just talked a little bit about the Arizona Cardinals and
Kayler Murray and their opponent this week is the Houston Texans.
Speaker 4 (21:19):
Is Devin Singletary.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
Now RB one in Houston, even if Damian Pierce comes
back healthy, because it sure looked like that against the
Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Yeah, you always hate the all right, losing a job
potentially because of injury, But right now you got something
special going with CJ. Stroud this offense, and if you
can get any semblance of a consistent running game, which
Pierce had not provided before getting injured, you know this
is one where, all right, you still got part of
the shares, you got to make the most of them.
(21:49):
I think Singletary has to take the lead in that backfield.
The offensive lines getting healthier, you'll get I think you'll
get Nico Collins back, so you got him, Tank Dell
and obviously we talked about Noah Brown in the last podcast,
So I meant at Dalton Schultz, I mean, you've got
a pretty solid offense. Spread things out, and it's an
(22:13):
opportunity for Singletary. He's always kind of shown in small first,
but always finds himself as part of the platoon system
and not necessarily getting the full trust of the coaches.
Got to think that a guy like Dmiko Ryan celebrates
some tough running, some tough yards, and that at least
short term, he still commands the lion's share of the
(22:36):
running game. Pierce is going to have to work himself back,
not only into shape, but to a point where they
can trust him to be a leader in that backfield.
I don't think you just get to keep a job
ten weeks into a season because you were penciled in
as number one before the year. I mean, hell, look
at what happened in Pittsburgh this week. You're talking about
one of the great motivators for Naji Harris, Jalen Warren
(22:57):
got announced as the starter, and all of a sudden,
there's Naji Harris with some of the best running he's
done in a while. So you know, motivation works on
so many levels. But I think Singletary's big day has
to inspire them to give him the rock and give
him the opportunity to be the compliment to Stroud.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Speaking of rocks, I don't think George Pickens was named
was announced as a starter for the Steelers either. This
off the It is a pebble in my shoe for
Mike Tomlin. I don't know if that was verbatim, but
that's it's great. Mike Tomlin said about George Pickens complaints.
He only had three catches against Green Bay. How do
I know that?
Speaker 4 (23:36):
He was on one of my fantasy teams, so it
was tough.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
I also recommended him as a start for someone, and
I'm sure I will hear the hate at some point
because it goes back to you know that man that
we were talking about a little bit before, Noah Brown
seven two. Yeah, hell am I anticipating that's happening again.
(24:00):
I know, near perfect thirteen catches on fourteen targets for
three hundred and twenty five yards and a score in
the last two weeks.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
The one week that he had prior.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
You're like, oh, that's well, that's the one off, right,
But hey, Nico Collins is out again, and what do
you know they need to air it on. I mean,
they dominated that game up until you know, Jamar Chase
had a big play and then Tyler Board had a
big play as well.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Had a big opportunity to make another big play.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
And yeah, yes, fair enough. Help me in a survivor league.
I will say that so.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Okay, well there you go. Yeah, but yeah, Noah Brown,
in the last two weeks is eclipsed his season total
in four of his five years in Dallas, and right
now he is one hundred and sixteen yards shy of
his season high of his career in yardage.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
Tell you it's that Buckeye of Buckeye connection.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Tell you what buck guy? Hey, a Buckeye playing quarterback
at the NFL level? Who knew Dan Bayer? One of
the great narratives of all time?
Speaker 4 (25:11):
Yes, yes, and here we go.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
But for CJ. Stratt, I couldn't be happier. I mean
to watch the guy, especially when he got to do
his great quote of I'm not a test taker, I'm
a football player. I mean, that's about as good as
it gets.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
Yeah, Texans every coming. Yeah, there there's a change there
for sure, you know. And to go back to the
Devin Singletary point, Mike, Yeah, just to you know, Dimiico
Ryans comes in. It's his first year. He has no
commitment from what Damian Piers did a year ago, sure,
you know. And so yeah, so if Devin Singletary is
the guy, Devin Singletary is the guy, and I think
(25:45):
that's the case in Houston.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
But yeah, the other part to it, Dan is, you know,
take it to the league wide and fantasy obviously involved
in all of it. But suddenly the Houston Texas have
an opportunity to go and take that division. Right Jacksonville,
they won five in a row, But did they ever
look dominant in doing it? Not really a lot of
Trevor Etn, some Josh Allen and the guys on the
(26:10):
defense coming up with some big plays, but the pass
game not consistent in any way, shape or form. So
you know, the Texas playing some good football right now,
inspired football, and you got the quarterback who seems unflappable.
That's the thing you gotta love most, right is that
offensive line has been patchwork for a lot of the year,
between injuries and just ineffectiveness trying to get things together.
(26:36):
The run game, as we mentioned with Damian Pierce, wasn't
there yet. This guy's standing tall in the pocket, avoids
a lot of hits, his sack totals are much lower
than you would anticipate, and then you talk about the
touchdown to interception ratio. Man, it's nothing short of amazing
what he's been able to do thus far. I mean,
and everybody's echoed this the last couple of weeks, and
(26:57):
you've seen his MVP odds go from you know, off
the chart to one hundred to one to thirty to one,
just like that, because the opportunity is there to finish
off really tremendous rookie year. So I mean, everybody's cheering
for him, and certainly you sit on Sundays wearing a
Buckeye helmet in the Fox Sports radio studios.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
If only they could add Marvin Rison Junior available for
that fourth quarter against Georgia.
Speaker 4 (27:22):
Oh oh what what could have been?
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Could have been?
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Let's wrap up this episode with a team that actually
just mentioned in the Jacksonville Jaguars, because I don't know
if I have Calvin Ridley, you know, like we sit
here and I laugh at you know how I believed
in Johan Dotson and it's not that bad. I'm trying
to believe in Drake London. Thank goodness he has a
(27:49):
bye because that's keeps me from playing him in one league.
But I don't think it's gotten to that point with
Calvin Ridley, Mike. But it's just so sporadic with these outcomes,
and I know you called Christian Kirk, you know w
R one and Jacksonville a little while ago. I just
I don't know how much I love Calvin Ridley right
(28:09):
now with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
No, it's a tough spot, right, I mean, Kirk's the leader.
Here's the leaders and targets for the Jaguars as we
get through week ten, Kirk said seventy one. Ingram's at
sixty eight. Ridley's at sixty one with a gross efficiency
rating only thirty five catches in those sixty one targets,
(28:32):
Kirk said, forty nine to seventy one. It's more of
a thing on Trevor Lawrence, which we can certainly do
as well. But you look at Ridley overall. Had that
big game against Indy to start things right, eight catches,
one hundred yards, like, yeah, here we go. There's a touchdown,
only one touchdown. Since that was a win over Drake
(28:53):
London in the Atlanta Falcons. I just had to pull
them together because I'm that guy. And then against the
Buffalo Bills he had a seven catch, one hundred and
twenty two yard game. Otherwise you're looking at the targets
have been back and forth, it's kind of like Brett
Saberhagen forgiving me, folks showing my age here of his
(29:14):
mid eighties where he was cy young, then he was
just a guy, then he won a cy young again,
and then he was just a guy. So it was
a matter of all right, I'm in an odd or
an even year, and we're kind of at that with
Calvin Ridley. The last four weeks before you know, they
got after it. Here against San Francisco he got you know,
(29:36):
eight targets thirty yards on four catches, four targets, one
catch for five yards. Now he has been banged up
a little bit, but you know, comes back against Pittsburgh, Okay,
six catches eighty three yards, maybe you're feeling a little
bit better. And then against San Francisco he's he's an observer.
Two catches, twenty yards, just three targets. They're able to
(29:58):
absolutely erase him from game. I'm not seeing enough special
from him to set and forget him as a guy
that I play each and every week. And with bye
weeks coming to an end, he's rosteruble. But right now
he'd be sitting down at the bench. I mean he's
only got three games with more than four catches.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Yeah, it's that to me is what is most concerning
because there does seem to be such the report with
Trevor Lawrence and Christian Kirk and obviously Evan Ingram making
his mark last year, everybody had a bad day against
the Niners, you know, like that's pretty much the way
it is.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
A magic failure.
Speaker 4 (30:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
Yeah, But I will say this, we have a lot
of opening up twenty one day windows. You know, Justin
Jefferson had his open, Devon ah Chan's got his open
for the Miami Dolphins. I'm going to have a twenty
one day window on Tony Pollard and Calvin Ridley.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
Mike.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
I kind of dig that.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
In these next three weeks because the Jacksonville, if you're
gonna beat Tennessee, you're gonna want to do it through
the air. Then you got to shoot out maybe with
the Texans, and then you've got Cincinnati the week after that.
If he isn't there for any of those three, I'd
be extremely disappointed, And then it's just that I'm cutting bait.
(31:23):
But I'm gonna give him the twenty one day window
he and Tony Pollard to do something in these next
three weeks.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
I kind of dig that while we're on Jacksonville, since
I was the dope that picked them to do great
things in the AFC, which is now a cluttered mess.
I think you can pick a name out of a hat.
At this point, the Chiefs go into their own bucket
because well, we know what. They have found a way
to do more with less in the past, and now
they actually have a really really good defense. But looking
(31:50):
at the Jaguars, in terms of the receiving game, Dan
talk about Kirk, Ingram and Ridley, the next leading target
receiver is Travis Etn with thirty nine, and then it
goes down to Zay Jones with eighteen, and he just
got in trouble off the field, yeah, with some DV
(32:13):
issues that have come up. So you're looking at there's
no depth whatsoever on this squad at wide receiver, and
that's a little bit surprising that they didn't go and
try to augment that position. Perhaps a bit more because
Ridley was there. He was a nice bonus when they
(32:33):
traded for him a year ago, But I would have
thought there'd been another addition along the way. Instead, you've
got those four virtually all the targets at this point
for the season.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
It shall be interesting with that AFC South. Who would
have thought that not only are the Texans in it,
the Colts are also in its five and five and
again the Colts one of the four team. Maybe I
should have given Indy some respect in this podcast. All right,
all right, that's.
Speaker 4 (33:05):
Gonna do it. That's it's gonna do it.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
For I want your flex Mike and I and Ryan Burshing,
our executive producer, will be back coming up on Thursday.
We should know more about the injury situations in Cincinnati
and Baltimore's. Those two teams play on Thursday night. Plus
Bursch'll give you his streaming defenses, and I'll give you
a survivor pick, which Mike. By the way, I really
liked your Bears last week. I just didn't have the
(33:29):
guts to do it, so I don't think.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
I don't think it's gonna have had to watch the game, Dan, I.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
Know, I know, but a few select people in my
survivor pool did did ride with the Bears against the Panthers,
and it paid off for them. They're still alive. I
took the chalk of the Cowboys. I figure any time
you can go up against Tommy DeVito. Sorry, we're gonna take.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
The opposing team given seventeen.
Speaker 4 (33:54):
I mean yeah, I had to do it. He had
to do it.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
It was like a free pass or you know, one
of those fast passes to the front of the Yeah,
there you go.
Speaker 4 (34:03):
He is Mike carbon I'm Dan Bier. That's it for.
I want your flex. Mike's gonna go catch your roller coaster. Uh.
Speaker 3 (34:08):
They make me nauseous, so I'm not so We'll talk
to you next time here and I want your flex.
Speaker 4 (34:14):
M
Lad, you want experience during your football season, well, buckle up,
sweet cheeks. We've got all the experience in the world.
This is I want your flex with Dan Bayer and
Mike Harmon. Mike and Dan break down everything you need
to set your lineups, from position rankings.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
To starts and sits.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
The guys help you make those hard decisions. And now
let's get your flex on. Here's Dan Bayer and Mike Harmon.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
All right, Week eleven is here, and man, we'd spent
the last episode kind of talking about the buys.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
He's Mike Carmen.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Ryan Berschinger is our executive producer, and Mike, we had
some uh no disrespect to your Bears, but Bears Panthers
on Thursday night, we had Patriots Colts in Germany. On
Sunday morning, we had Jets Raiders on Sunday night and
Broncos Bills.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
Was crazy, but I don't think it was a huge
marquee matchup.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Now we go into a Week eleven where we've got
Bengals Ravens.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
Okay, the start things out.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
No international game to give us, however, Eagles Chiefs on
Monday Night football and now Denver Minnesota becomes an interesting
Sunday night football game. Quite another difference from week ten
to week eleven in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Yeah, on paper, all the evening games that I complained about,
at least on paper. I mean, we'll see how they
actually play out here, Dan, because especially on short weeks,
when we look at Cincinnati and Baltimore, there's a lot
of red letters next to players' names that might be
in your fantasy lineup that may not be able to
(01:45):
go based on the short turnaround. But we'll keep an
eye on that. But the rest of the slate, I mean,
Bears Lions, all right, I'm entertained just because well, let's
see what kind of craziness. But Pittsburgh Cleveland has some
juice to it. You go down a little bit further
when you look at a Seattle versus the Rams, well,
(02:07):
your your Seahawks. Still, I think everybody's trying to figure
out what they are week to week at this point.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
I'm right there with you, all right.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
I Mean it's like I don't know Gino Pumpkin. I
don't know the Jacksonville Jaguars. They were winning in spite
of Trevor Lawrence. Yeah, six and three is still atop
the division but they've got Tennessee rolling up. Well, Tennessee
can still play some defense, So let's see what happens there.
But to your point, all the Marquee matchups in the
(02:36):
evening and standalone windows, and the Minnesota Denver one, with
Denver beating Buffalo, becomes that much more interesting and valuable
across the league and certainly for fantasy owners.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Yeah, and then the wildcard race in the NFC, Minnesota
is firmly in the playoff picture. They would make the
playoffs if they started today.
Speaker 4 (02:57):
So let's talk a.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Little bit about the Minnesota Vikings because Josh Dobbs has
been a great story just in football in general.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Oh, he's the new Ryan Fitzpatricks, smartest guy in the room.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
But here's the deal is how much fantasy viability do
we have with Josh Dobbs Because the last.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
Two weeks pretty pretty good for mister dobbson Minnesota. Is
it sustainable?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Yeah, I'm looking at him at this point, and you
look at even during his time with the Arizona Cardinals.
When we look at Josh Dobbs and what he was
able to accomplish, because remember, as we talked about on
the podcast, in prior weeks, he was giving you forty
fifty rushing yards a lot of times.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
Yeah, yep.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
So as we get through the first ten weeks of
the season, I mean, you got a guy that's been
putting up numbers and giving you a puncher's chance. If
you're starting with the forty rushing yards each and every week,
I mean you feeling and pretty good there. And so
now going forward, Jefferson's excited and chopping at the bit
(04:06):
to get back. Addison's there, Osbourne will clear and get
back on the field. You're looking at TJ. Hockinson, who
even though he was banged up, he was fantastic in
that win. So he had all that and still trying
to figure out the running game. As we talked about
in the prior episode, maybe ty Chandler actually gets a shot,
(04:27):
or maybe they start auditioning for supplemental players on the street.
But he's a guy for fantasy purposes. I'm pretty excited
about right now. I mean, think about what he's been
able to do while barely learning the offense or his teammates' names.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Like That's they weren't great to the second half against
New Orleans, but it helps when he score twenty four
in the first half to jump out to a twenty
four to three lead, ended up getting that eight point win.
But you mentioned the addition of Justin Jefferson coming back,
like that's enough to increase any quarterback's value. I have
(05:04):
no idea what's going on in that backfield, So those
rushing yards are going to be needed by someone if
it is Dobbs. And here's the other thing, Mike, I
actually wonder if the more he learns the playbook, will
he run less?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Perhaps?
Speaker 4 (05:22):
Yeah, you know, because.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
That offense obviously was not made for a quarterback to
run when Kirk Cousins is your quarterback. But Dobbs now
is like, well, I can't maybe figure out all of
this right away, so if it's not there, I'm going
to take it and run.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
That would be the only drawback.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
That I would say is maybe as he gets accustomed
to the offense, maybe he just runs less. And now
you've got a guy like Justin Jefferson the throw too.
But I am bullish on his usage over the next
couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Well, as you look at it, and we can get
into full schedule watching if you want in a sec
But like I didn't even mention him on the the
waiver Wire. You know that we did last episode because
it seemed like an obvious pickup. Sure, right, if he's
still out there, which is amazing that for a guy
get this Dan in Yahoo leagues and we're talking hundreds
(06:13):
of thousands of leagues right, available in nearly half of them.
Even though right now after this week's games, he is
QB seven.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
Wow, he is.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Second in rushing yardage by quarterbacks only to Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
That's nuts, right, I mean he's got.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Five rushing touchdowns, nearly two thousand passing yards, eleven touchdowns,
five picks. Like his numbers are almost the same. It's
really kind of frightening, almost the same as Lamar Jackson's.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Mars at twenty one seventy seven. Right, So you got
a difference of one hundred and eighty two. He's got
one more touchdown pass same number of interceptions, and he's
got one hundred and thirteen fewer rushing yards and thirty
fewer attempts with the same number of rushing touchdowns.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
Oh how about that?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
So he was victimized by having an Arizona Cardinal's logo
on the side of his helmet for fantasy purposes. I'm
not getting into that. And now he's with Minnesota and
all of a sudden, it's like, well, let's see.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Here and unfortunately at Arizona written across his chest. But
that's more of a uniform comment that is true than
anything else.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Yeah, I like this setup.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
I you know, at Denver week eleven, I actually think
could be a little tricky.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Denver's playing well defensively right now. They're flying around a bit.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Yeah, but then you've got your Bears on Monday Night
Football the week after, and then after that you got
the Raiders and and the Bengals.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Right, they get a bye week in week thirteen. Yeah, Raiders, Bengals,
and then we get into Detroit and Green Bay and
on all that fun stuff down the end of the
road there. But yeah, he's got staying power and it's
kind of fun to see. Right. He's become everybody's darling.
(08:21):
I mean we talked about him a lot when he
was playing with Arizona as a one man band earlier
this year, and think about what he was able to
put up and do, and it goes back to Arizona
didn't have a run game for a while, right, de
Mercado and everybody trying to replace the injured James Connor.
So he went Thanos and said, fine, I'll do it myself.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Sure are you You know, since we're talking about the Cardinals,
Kyler Murray did not look like he had any reservations
with that knee injury.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
No, he did not.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Yeah, the only thing that I worry about is, I
know Trey mc bride's been great for them, but truly
of having a you know, maybe Hollywood Brown can connect.
But I was almost going to say something completely disrespectful
to the Cardinals wide receivers. I was going to say,
(09:16):
a true wide receiver, Well, yeah, you know it's Hollywood
Brown is that? But like, you know, they used Rondell
More in so many different ways and whatnot.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
But Michael Nilson is not. Yeah, it's not consistent yet,
Mark Hollywood Brown's gotten better than what he was as
a member of the Ravens, where it was pretty much
a straight line runner. He's gotten better on the tree,
but it's still not not ideal. It's gotten better. I mean,
he's got eighty one targets on the year, so they're
at least trying to feed him the ball. Yeah, So
(09:49):
you take that from it, but you know, this is
a guy that's now only averaging ten point nineer reception,
which is considerably markedly lower than it was once upon
lot of time again and tribute to what he's needed
to become and really what this team is trying to
figure out, you know, how to spread the ball around
and actually make it make the offense work.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
I'll also say this, what really helped Kyler Murray in
week ten was also the.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
Return of James Connor.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Sure, so now you actually have a threat of a
running game because if he's not there, then you're back
to Kyler running around and that's not what you would want. Granted,
it was against the Falcons Cardinals of the Texans coming
up in week eleven, so Texans can give up some
points even though they kind of kept the Bengals in
(10:40):
check with Cincinnati being shorthanded. But yeah, I I if
I had Kyler Murray on my team, I would be pleased.
But I also then would have to remember that he's
still on the Arizona Cardinals, So that three hundred yard
passing day with three touchdown passes and two touchdown runs
probably not going to happen when without the likes of
(11:01):
like DeAndre Hopkins on your team.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Yeah, let's just just face it. If that happens, that
means the game is completely broken down, which is possible, right,
I mean, look in this year's NFL, I take nothing.
I wouldn't doubt anything if you told me a stat
line for a guy to go. Really, they can't really
get out of control one way or the other. But
you know, for for Murray, you know the run that
(11:24):
everybody has watched nine thousand times when he went turbo
shows me the reticence or any any hesitance, like you said,
Dan Is, I mean, he's ready to go. I really
thought he was going to be in bubble wrap all year,
but as soon as Dobbs got traded, it all changed.
(11:45):
And we'd heard all the reports that he was doing
everything the Cardinals wanted, that he was feeling good, that
he and Gannon have some sort of relationship and whatever,
and that's great. So it's clearly better than what he
had with Dobbs. When Dobbs said that he lied to
his face a boy getting traded, man, you can't show
all your cards.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Man, No, you're exactly right about that.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
And you know what, like I and I know like,
and you you nailed it on this podcast when we
had the mixed messages coming from Arizona and what could
happen in Sure enough, Dobbs did get traded, But even
if it was that day, what are you, you know, like,
what can you do? Honestly too, if I'm Josh Dobbs,
(12:28):
I'm thankful that they did change their mind. I'd rather
be in Minnesota than than an Arizona.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
It's another opportunity for people to buy another jersey of
you and look at all that.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
Talent I get, Like squad.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
It's so, it's so, it's so uh, it's so in
vogue to be like, oh my gosh, the player was
lied to?
Speaker 4 (12:47):
What about player empowerment?
Speaker 3 (12:49):
It's like, Okay, what would you rather do be backing
up Kyler Murray and not playing in Arizona? Were maybe
going to the playoffs and being the starter for the
Minnesota Vikings. So who cares if they went back?
Speaker 2 (13:01):
If you're in a much better spot, you've gone and
now you're your America's darling in the National Football League.
Smith as we were talking about it on the show
on on Fox Sports Radio Monday night, and he's like,
you know, I lamented the fact that Gino Smith became
the guy for Seattle last year, but I mean he's
celebrated Josh Dobbs bouncing around not nearly as long as Gino,
(13:25):
but you know, now he gets a shot to lead
and maybe parlay it into a big contract if he
shows out, because I think we all assume Kirk Cousins
moves on and he's somewhere else next season. So you know,
for for Dobbs, whether it's in Minnesota or somewhere else,
it's a nice audition, which being in Arizona, you don't
(13:46):
have the players you don't have, you know a lot
of the I mean, is James Connor coming back so
fast if it's still Josh Dobbs there, I don't know,
Or do they go into full tank mode?
Speaker 3 (13:58):
I think yeah, they do try. And I know that
sounds ridiculous and you're talking in the NFL. They play hard,
they really do, and it makes it difficult to play
against the results and may not show it. But you know,
we didn't even think about the Giants game in Week two,
and remember it's a team that you know, beat the
Cowboys earlier in the Shore, and so they do play
(14:20):
hard in Arizona.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Well, they were playing really really well and hard and
usually for a half to three quarters and then it
becomes the all right, the other teams have one or
two more players that make a difference. It's just been
one of those years. So, you know, for Kyler Murray,
I just want to see him healthy and see if
they can't go and get him some more help in
(14:42):
that receiving cores for next year because I think, you know,
he's a guy that's pretty damn fun to watch whatever
whenever you think about you know, like the folks take
the shot. I'm not a man of a great height.
I'm built like a fire plug and I have about
one nine thousand of Murray's quicks. And that's me being
(15:03):
generous because it's well, it's my podcast with you, Dan,
So I can, you know, purport myself to have you know,
a pretty good step, which I don't, but you know,
so I root for the guys that are a little
bit more lacking the stature of the six ' five
statue esque guys. So for Kyler Murray to get back
on the field is kind of a big thing.
Speaker 4 (15:26):
You know.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
All we need more stars in a league where we
keep trying to introduce ourselves to new quarterbacks at every turn.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
That is a perfect segue. He's Mike Harmen and I'm
Dan Byer. This is I Want Your Flex. The executive
producer is Ryan Bersching. Eric is coming up next. We're
going to talk about stars, specifically the ones on the
side of a helmet. That's next year and I Want
Your Flex. Yeah, everybody fed. Welcome back to I Want
Your Flex. Thanksgiving game early. At least the Thanksgiving mealed
(15:53):
it for the Dallas Cowboys because everybody fed in Week
ten MIC against the New York Giants, everybody except Tony Pollard.
I am one with shares in one of my leagues
of Tony Pollard. Now, in the rare instance, just on
how things fell, holdovers and whatnot, I actually have doubled
(16:16):
up with Pollard and CD Lamb on the same team.
I'm not a huge fan of doing that running back
and wide receiver, but it has helped with CD Lamb's
recent tear. But now the questions really coming out about
Tony Pollard. Granted in the blowout that they had against
the Giants. Rico Daldel was a name that Bursch put
(16:39):
up in waiver wires on Tuesday's episode. I don't think
that Tony Pollard is in jeopardy of losing his job, Mike.
I actually think if you were to buy stock right
now into Tony Pollard, it's probably as cheap as it's
going to be. I think this past weekend's game against
the Giants is going to be truly, truly a wake
(17:00):
up call, and I expect Tony Pollard's best days this
season to actually be ahead.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Yeah, I think what we look at where his season
has gone yet, you've had only one one hundred yard
rushing game that goes back into that loss against Arizona,
and then from the receiving side of things, where I
think that's where we thought you'd get your added value
with him each and every week. There have been two
games where he's been a prominent contributor in the passing
(17:29):
game with a high of eighty yards. He's yet to
score through the air, and he hasn't seen the end
zone since Week one against the Giants. So yeah, if
the trade deadline in your league is not passed, yeah,
you could probably throw out and float a bucket of
balls or a nice frosty mug of beer at the
(17:52):
local tavern. And throw in a random player from my
bench is kind of where he's at because the frustrations
real with with fantasy owners for Pollard right now. And
you mentioned Rico and that's I mean, come out. He's
an Eco. He's a guy that is interesting. You know,
we talked about him on the show, on the podcast,
(18:13):
they should say a couple of weeks ago because he
started to pop up and have a little bit of
an impact. And how much more he does, I don't know.
He needs to be rostered depending on your league setting.
As we mentioned before, you know, it could be a
running back, could be a wide receiver, so you want
to check that as you're flowing through. But the opportunity
is there. As much as we love the preseason story
(18:34):
of Deuce Vaughan, he ain't the guy Rico is. Is
your number two right now for an offense, then let's
face it. You know, behind Dak Prescott, they've played really well.
Now I've had a couple of games against some also
ran squads and the Giants. I think they're just looking
to play out the string at this point. But you know,
take the advantages where they come.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
When you look at their schedule, which is very important
in fantasy, You've got the Panthers this week, you have
the Commanders on Thanksgiving Day, and then you have the
Seahawks on Thursday Night Football the week after that. That's
a nice three game stretch to have if you're a
Tony Pollard really is like it's there's an opportunity for
(19:19):
you to do some things, whether it be Mike out
of the backfield, catching passes or just getting the football.
If it doesn't happen in these three weeks, it's not
going to happen. And I just think it was so
glaring that he didn't get into the end zone against
the Giants that I think it's going to be rectified.
I think it'll be rectified in week eleven. I expect
(19:41):
him to have a good game.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Everybody plays, everybody wins, or so. You would have thought
those are the worst types of games as a fantasy owner.
Maybe you're out taking care of business, maybe you got
a honey to do list, maybe you know you and
the significant other of the kids, you've got stuff running around,
and you come back seeing, oh wow, they put up
how many points? Like great, wait, he got none of it.
(20:05):
He got none of it. How many quarterbacks have we
seen that with right, that was week nine for the Ravens. Wait,
Lamar only did what and well, likewise here with the
cowb was like, all right, Tony finally had to eat. Yeah,
No he didn't, No, he didn't. DAC did the receivers did?
CD Lambs up here calling himself the best there is.
(20:25):
I mean, he's stealing all of Brett Hart's lines at
this point, going back to where he feels about himself.
But yeah, the schedule does set up nicely. You got
some of the worst teams in defending opposing running backs
coming up, and certainly in a showcase game, he might
pull in Ezekiel Elliott and go jump in a kettle somewhere.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Yeah, and like you know, we've the Commander's offense is good,
they're moving. The Seahawks offense at times has struggle, but
they are coming off of a game against the Commanders
where you know, Gino had over three hundred yards and
Kenneth Walker had some big plays. So you think that
the other offense is also going to play with you
(21:04):
in that part. So that's why I think it works
out well for Tony Park, for Tony Pollard. We had
just talked a little bit about the Arizona Cardinals and
Kayler Murray and their opponent this week is the Houston Texans.
Speaker 4 (21:19):
Is Devin Singletary.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
Now RB one in Houston, even if Damian Pierce comes
back healthy, because it sure looked like that against the
Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Yeah, you always hate the all right, losing a job
potentially because of injury, But right now you got something
special going with CJ. Stroud this offense, and if you
can get any semblance of a consistent running game, which
Pierce had not provided before getting injured, you know this
is one where, all right, you still got part of
the shares, you got to make the most of them.
(21:49):
I think Singletary has to take the lead in that backfield.
The offensive lines getting healthier, you'll get I think you'll
get Nico Collins back, so you got him, Tank Dell
and obviously we talked about Noah Brown in the last podcast,
So I meant at Dalton Schultz, I mean, you've got
a pretty solid offense. Spread things out, and it's an
(22:13):
opportunity for Singletary. He's always kind of shown in small first,
but always finds himself as part of the platoon system
and not necessarily getting the full trust of the coaches.
Got to think that a guy like Dmiko Ryan celebrates
some tough running, some tough yards, and that at least
short term, he still commands the lion's share of the
(22:36):
running game. Pierce is going to have to work himself back,
not only into shape, but to a point where they
can trust him to be a leader in that backfield.
I don't think you just get to keep a job
ten weeks into a season because you were penciled in
as number one before the year. I mean, hell, look
at what happened in Pittsburgh this week. You're talking about
one of the great motivators for Naji Harris, Jalen Warren
(22:57):
got announced as the starter, and all of a sudden,
there's Naji Harris with some of the best running he's
done in a while. So you know, motivation works on
so many levels. But I think Singletary's big day has
to inspire them to give him the rock and give
him the opportunity to be the compliment to Stroud.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Speaking of rocks, I don't think George Pickens was named
was announced as a starter for the Steelers either. This
off the It is a pebble in my shoe for
Mike Tomlin. I don't know if that was verbatim, but
that's it's great. Mike Tomlin said about George Pickens complaints.
He only had three catches against Green Bay. How do
I know that?
Speaker 4 (23:36):
He was on one of my fantasy teams, so it
was tough.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
I also recommended him as a start for someone, and
I'm sure I will hear the hate at some point
because it goes back to you know that man that
we were talking about a little bit before, Noah Brown
seven two. Yeah, hell am I anticipating that's happening again.
(24:00):
I know, near perfect thirteen catches on fourteen targets for
three hundred and twenty five yards and a score in
the last two weeks.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
The one week that he had prior.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
You're like, oh, that's well, that's the one off, right,
But hey, Nico Collins is out again, and what do
you know they need to air it on. I mean,
they dominated that game up until you know, Jamar Chase
had a big play and then Tyler Board had a
big play as well.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Had a big opportunity to make another big play.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
And yeah, yes, fair enough. Help me in a survivor league.
I will say that so.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Okay, well there you go. Yeah, but yeah, Noah Brown,
in the last two weeks is eclipsed his season total
in four of his five years in Dallas, and right
now he is one hundred and sixteen yards shy of
his season high of his career in yardage.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
Tell you it's that Buckeye of Buckeye connection.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
Tell you what buck guy? Hey, a Buckeye playing quarterback
at the NFL level? Who knew Dan Bayer? One of
the great narratives of all time?
Speaker 4 (25:11):
Yes, yes, and here we go.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
But for CJ. Stratt, I couldn't be happier. I mean
to watch the guy, especially when he got to do
his great quote of I'm not a test taker, I'm
a football player. I mean, that's about as good as
it gets.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
Yeah, Texans every coming. Yeah, there there's a change there
for sure, you know. And to go back to the
Devin Singletary point, Mike, Yeah, just to you know, Dimiico
Ryans comes in. It's his first year. He has no
commitment from what Damian Piers did a year ago, sure,
you know. And so yeah, so if Devin Singletary is
the guy, Devin Singletary is the guy, and I think
(25:45):
that's the case in Houston.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
But yeah, the other part to it, Dan is, you know,
take it to the league wide and fantasy obviously involved
in all of it. But suddenly the Houston Texas have
an opportunity to go and take that division. Right Jacksonville,
they won five in a row, But did they ever
look dominant in doing it? Not really a lot of
Trevor Etn, some Josh Allen and the guys on the
(26:10):
defense coming up with some big plays, but the pass
game not consistent in any way, shape or form. So
you know, the Texas playing some good football right now,
inspired football, and you got the quarterback who seems unflappable.
That's the thing you gotta love most, right is that
offensive line has been patchwork for a lot of the year,
between injuries and just ineffectiveness trying to get things together.
(26:36):
The run game, as we mentioned with Damian Pierce, wasn't
there yet. This guy's standing tall in the pocket, avoids
a lot of hits, his sack totals are much lower
than you would anticipate, and then you talk about the
touchdown to interception ratio. Man, it's nothing short of amazing
what he's been able to do thus far. I mean,
and everybody's echoed this the last couple of weeks, and
(26:57):
you've seen his MVP odds go from you know, off
the chart to one hundred to one to thirty to one,
just like that, because the opportunity is there to finish
off really tremendous rookie year. So I mean, everybody's cheering
for him, and certainly you sit on Sundays wearing a
Buckeye helmet in the Fox Sports radio studios.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
If only they could add Marvin Rison Junior available for
that fourth quarter against Georgia.
Speaker 4 (27:22):
Oh oh what what could have been?
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Could have been?
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Let's wrap up this episode with a team that actually
just mentioned in the Jacksonville Jaguars, because I don't know
if I have Calvin Ridley, you know, like we sit
here and I laugh at you know how I believed
in Johan Dotson and it's not that bad. I'm trying
to believe in Drake London. Thank goodness he has a
(27:49):
bye because that's keeps me from playing him in one league.
But I don't think it's gotten to that point with
Calvin Ridley, Mike. But it's just so sporadic with these outcomes,
and I know you called Christian Kirk, you know w
R one and Jacksonville a little while ago. I just
I don't know how much I love Calvin Ridley right
(28:09):
now with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
No, it's a tough spot, right, I mean, Kirk's the leader.
Here's the leaders and targets for the Jaguars as we
get through week ten, Kirk said seventy one. Ingram's at
sixty eight. Ridley's at sixty one with a gross efficiency
rating only thirty five catches in those sixty one targets,
(28:32):
Kirk said, forty nine to seventy one. It's more of
a thing on Trevor Lawrence, which we can certainly do
as well. But you look at Ridley overall. Had that
big game against Indy to start things right, eight catches,
one hundred yards, like, yeah, here we go. There's a touchdown,
only one touchdown. Since that was a win over Drake
(28:53):
London in the Atlanta Falcons. I just had to pull
them together because I'm that guy. And then against the
Buffalo Bills he had a seven catch, one hundred and
twenty two yard game. Otherwise you're looking at the targets
have been back and forth, it's kind of like Brett
Saberhagen forgiving me, folks showing my age here of his
(29:14):
mid eighties where he was cy young, then he was
just a guy, then he won a cy young again,
and then he was just a guy. So it was
a matter of all right, I'm in an odd or
an even year, and we're kind of at that with
Calvin Ridley. The last four weeks before you know, they
got after it. Here against San Francisco he got you know,
(29:36):
eight targets thirty yards on four catches, four targets, one
catch for five yards. Now he has been banged up
a little bit, but you know, comes back against Pittsburgh, Okay,
six catches eighty three yards, maybe you're feeling a little
bit better. And then against San Francisco he's he's an observer.
Two catches, twenty yards, just three targets. They're able to
(29:58):
absolutely erase him from game. I'm not seeing enough special
from him to set and forget him as a guy
that I play each and every week. And with bye
weeks coming to an end, he's rosteruble. But right now
he'd be sitting down at the bench. I mean he's
only got three games with more than four catches.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Yeah, it's that to me is what is most concerning
because there does seem to be such the report with
Trevor Lawrence and Christian Kirk and obviously Evan Ingram making
his mark last year, everybody had a bad day against
the Niners, you know, like that's pretty much the way
it is.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
A magic failure.
Speaker 4 (30:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:42):
Yeah, But I will say this, we have a lot
of opening up twenty one day windows. You know, Justin
Jefferson had his open, Devon ah Chan's got his open
for the Miami Dolphins. I'm going to have a twenty
one day window on Tony Pollard and Calvin Ridley.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
Mike.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
I kind of dig that.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
In these next three weeks because the Jacksonville, if you're
gonna beat Tennessee, you're gonna want to do it through
the air. Then you got to shoot out maybe with
the Texans, and then you've got Cincinnati the week after that.
If he isn't there for any of those three, I'd
be extremely disappointed, And then it's just that I'm cutting bait.
(31:23):
But I'm gonna give him the twenty one day window
he and Tony Pollard to do something in these next
three weeks.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
I kind of dig that while we're on Jacksonville, since
I was the dope that picked them to do great
things in the AFC, which is now a cluttered mess.
I think you can pick a name out of a hat.
At this point, the Chiefs go into their own bucket
because well, we know what. They have found a way
to do more with less in the past, and now
they actually have a really really good defense. But looking
(31:50):
at the Jaguars, in terms of the receiving game, Dan
talk about Kirk, Ingram and Ridley, the next leading target
receiver is Travis Etn with thirty nine, and then it
goes down to Zay Jones with eighteen, and he just
got in trouble off the field, yeah, with some DV
(32:13):
issues that have come up. So you're looking at there's
no depth whatsoever on this squad at wide receiver, and
that's a little bit surprising that they didn't go and
try to augment that position. Perhaps a bit more because
Ridley was there. He was a nice bonus when they
(32:33):
traded for him a year ago, But I would have
thought there'd been another addition along the way. Instead, you've
got those four virtually all the targets at this point
for the season.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
It shall be interesting with that AFC South. Who would
have thought that not only are the Texans in it,
the Colts are also in its five and five and
again the Colts one of the four team. Maybe I
should have given Indy some respect in this podcast. All right,
all right, that's.
Speaker 4 (33:05):
Gonna do it. That's it's gonna do it.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
For I want your flex Mike and I and Ryan Burshing,
our executive producer, will be back coming up on Thursday.
We should know more about the injury situations in Cincinnati
and Baltimore's. Those two teams play on Thursday night. Plus
Bursch'll give you his streaming defenses, and I'll give you
a survivor pick, which Mike. By the way, I really
liked your Bears last week. I just didn't have the
(33:29):
guts to do it, so I don't think.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
I don't think it's gonna have had to watch the game, Dan, I.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
Know, I know, but a few select people in my
survivor pool did did ride with the Bears against the Panthers,
and it paid off for them. They're still alive. I
took the chalk of the Cowboys. I figure any time
you can go up against Tommy DeVito. Sorry, we're gonna take.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
The opposing team given seventeen.
Speaker 4 (33:54):
I mean yeah, I had to do it. He had
to do it.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
It was like a free pass or you know, one
of those fast passes to the front of the Yeah,
there you go.
Speaker 4 (34:03):
He is Mike carbon I'm Dan Bier. That's it for.
I want your flex. Mike's gonna go catch your roller coaster. Uh.
Speaker 3 (34:08):
They make me nauseous, so I'm not so We'll talk
to you next time here and I want your flex.
Speaker 4 (34:14):
M
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