Your Trophy To Raise

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Time now for Fantasy Football Weekly from iHeartRadio, your weekly
source for the nation's best fantasy speculation and advice.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
What Up and welcome inside Fantasy Football Weekly, presented by iHeartRadio.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
It is the week seventeen edition.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
That's right, it is championship week and the majority of
your fantasy football leagues and we're happy to help you
get to this point and we're going to be very
happy to help you hoist that championship trophy. I'm Corey
parlseron the Fantasy Executives, joined by my team for Rod Sidiki,
John Legez and holding it down for Brian Johnson. Is

(00:40):
my man Matt Lamarca coming up on the program today.
We are going to get you all the information, player analysis,
whatever it takes to help make you a fantasy football
champion in twenty twenty five. Already have a couple of
games in the books. Got some action coming up on
Saturday as well. Start with you, John, what's going on?

Speaker 1 (01:01):
My man?

Speaker 3 (01:02):
Getting over the holiday hangover from not just the frosty beverages,
but a bit of food. You know how we roll
in brook Lean. But yeah, we're doing pretty good. You know,
maybe not so good if you started Jumior Gibbs, but
just city Cookie crumbles. Man. Fantasy football really vary. You know,
we're gonna get into it and how to kind of
attack that stuff game by game, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
For ros what with you, my man, Glad? I got
your name right right off the top this time.

Speaker 4 (01:26):
I appreciate it. You know what, though, my kids had
a kick out of it. I told them, you know
how you pronounced my name last week, and that's all
they're calling me man Foreze Sudiki. They can't stop. So,
you know what, it was good for something. I appreciate it.

Speaker 5 (01:38):
Man.

Speaker 4 (01:39):
You know, I'm just hoping that Sunday's games are a
little bit better than Thursday's games, to be honest with you, man,
that's what I'm hoping for, hoping for some better scoring.

Speaker 5 (01:46):
You know.

Speaker 4 (01:47):
The guys, all your studs that you're starting this week
trying to think it too, cute with it. Hopefully all
these studs can come through this week.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
Shout out to the Sidiki. Young is Matt Lamarca holding
it down for Brian Johnson. What's good for you?

Speaker 1 (01:58):
Brother?

Speaker 6 (01:59):
It's going on, guys, happy to be here and the
best present that I unwrapped this year on Christmas was
not having any players from Christmas in my fantasy line.

Speaker 5 (02:10):
Yes it was.

Speaker 7 (02:11):
It was a true Christmas miracle. All those games stunk somehow.

Speaker 6 (02:21):
I think he got your fifteen points in fantasy football
even though he plays basketball.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
All right, let's get ready to hop into the action.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
Let's start with our Saturday contest two playoff teams in
the AFC, as the Houston Texans traveled to Los Angeles
to take on the Charges for Roz my Man. Let's
start you off with the Houston Texans side of the football.

Speaker 5 (02:44):
You know, CJ.

Speaker 4 (02:45):
Stroud definitely disappointed last week against the Raiders. It was
a good matchup, but he threw for season low one
and eighty seven passing yards only one touchdown. And now
he gets the Chargers. They are a lot of the
third fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks this year, and given
the fact that Stroud has finished as a top eighteen
quarterback only once in his last five games, I would

(03:06):
rather find another option to trust in the Fantasy Championship.
I'm gonna give a Stroud one star this week. I
get it like he could be a streamer for you,
but yeah, I'm looking for other options. Woody Marx looking
like he's good to go.

Speaker 5 (03:18):
He's on track.

Speaker 4 (03:19):
He getting a couple full practices this week, so I
would forget about Jawar Johnson. I'm sorry, Juward Jordan at
this point. You know, Mars himself hasn't been super reliable,
constantly getting banged up leaving the field. It's just tough
to trust him in such a big spot, especially with
this matchup. The Chargers are not giving up a lot
of fantasy points to running backs, second fewest fantasy points

(03:40):
to the position over the last four weeks, only twelve
point two fantasy points per game for the for all
running backs per week, so that's absolutely brutal. They only
allowing three point four yards per carry the running backs
to over the last four weeks. It's the second lowest
as well, only a thirty nine point five game total
on this game. So I'm staying away if I can.
But you know, I get it. Running backs don't grow

(04:02):
on trees. So I'm still gonna give Marks two stars
because of the likelihood that, you know, the Texas defense
keeps them in the game. Marx and rack ups some
value if he can actually stay on the field. Let's
talk about Nico Collins real quick. He's the only Texas
wide receiver we can really trust right now. You know,
Jayden and Higgins kind of fallen off a little bit
over the last couple of games, so it's really all Nico.
The matchup is not ideal, but you're obviously starting him

(04:25):
as a wide receiver one. Over the last four weeks,
the Chargers have given up the twelfth most Fantasy points
to that left side, in particular where Nico runs most
of his perimeter routes from there.

Speaker 5 (04:35):
So there's some hope for him.

Speaker 4 (04:36):
There three out of four stars for Nico from me
and then Dalton Schultz. Listen, if you haven't figured it
out by now, Charges they have a pretty good defense,
and defending the tight end is no exception. They allow
the fourth fewest fantasy points to the position. It is
worth noting that Travis Kelce went seven for seventy against
them two weeks ago, Dallas Goddard went eight for seventy
eight against them three weeks ago, and four weeks ago

(04:58):
Black Powers went four fors sixty three and two against them,
So maybe you know, and if I keep going back, Actually,
Tyler Warren also had a solid game four for sixty
nine and a touchdown even further back. So I think
Schultz is definitely startable, but just temper expectations a little bit.
I'll give him two stars. Very solid streamer this week.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
All right, John, let me ask you though, This thing
with c. J. Stroud is interesting to me. You know,
his rookie year, he came out and he looked like
the future or the quarterback position. Then you got the
sophomore slump. You figured he would bounce back from that.
But yeah, number three, this guy really is a better
player for the Texans than he is for your fantasy roster.

Speaker 4 (05:35):
It's really interesting, man, because you know, Nick Keley, coming
from the Sean McVay system, you would think that he
would really dial some stuff in, put in more play action,
put in some more movement before the snap, pre snap
motion is really what it's all about. We just haven't
seen a lot of that this year, and that's really
you know, the types of things that can help these
quarterbacks out. So you know, hopefully going into the next

(05:56):
season with Kelly, they can install more of that and
hopefully we can get a you know, a better season.

Speaker 5 (06:01):
See just Stroud moving forward.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
Interesting stuff right there, John, my man, what's going on?
First time we get to hear your esteemed analysis today.

Speaker 1 (06:12):
And you get the break down the Los Angeles Chargers.

Speaker 3 (06:15):
Yeah, let me put a quick bow on the Texans,
really quick, just looking forward for Stroud. They're one of
the teams are really gonna be keeping an eye on
the draft. If they boast of the offensive line, I
think they've shown they're a bit sensitive to that. Right
as the line has gone or not gone, so do
the Texans offense. So I think we might be able
to rediscover that rookie campaign and more of a prolific

(06:37):
approach if they can give Stroud the time for those
deeper routes to develop. To the Chargers, man Hampton. Hard
not to love Hampton. You have to start him now.
I was gonna go three, but since our guy Lamark
is in the chair, he loves to give out stars.
He could do the Santa thing, I'm gonna do the
Grinch thing today. I'll plan. I'm better as a heel anyway,
So I'm gonna go with the strong two for Hampton.
You know, if you look at the touch share since

(06:58):
he came back, it looks very but we have seen
a very discernible gain for Hampton. You know, last three
fifty percent of the touches, then fifty two, then sixty
five with four of the five goal to go attempts.
And we saw what Jenti did to Houston also, so
less than they you shouldn't be terrified of just the defense.
So you're starting Hampton no matter what. The red flag

(07:19):
is that we haven't gotten a top fifteen finish in
the backfield since he returned, and only five total targets
for the backfield and then the matchup, but that's because
of Videll, who has the Q tag. You have to
keep an eye on that. If he's out, Hampton's a
must start, absolute four star kind of hit. But if not,
Vidal's got thirteen touches in two of the last three
and even though they're empty calories without targets are high

(07:41):
value stuff. It's enough to really make it annoying and
get that extra star. The wide receiver room, I'm gonna
introduce a term for us today because again it's really
all about context and how we're gonna apply it. So
I'm going to address the entire wide receiver room at once.
Lad McConkey, Quentin Johnson, and Keenan Allen they're all potentially
viable fantasy pieces. So I have him as one star wideouts,

(08:01):
but two star flex plays, meaning you just can't have
him in that second or third wide receiver spot. But
a guy like Lad mccacky's perfectly fine in the flex.
I'm just worried about the ceiling. Again. Here's your stat
for the charges wide receiver room. There's not a single
eight target game on the team since Week nine, and
they don't have a single top ten finish in that span,

(08:23):
right seal those work over the tight ends. Gatsdon just
a single star. His route rate is starting to get
capped at about sixty five to seventy percent over the
last four and now he got out targeted and out caught,
if that's a word by Will Disley. Start to wrap
up with Herbert, it's hard. I wouldn't even look to
start them. I'd rather stream somebody. I'd rather play Tyler Shuck.
We'll talk about him later. Not a single QB has

(08:46):
hit two hundred and sixty passing yards all year. And
to that staunch defense, you know, shout out Will Anderson
and Daniel Hunter. Every single week. They're number one in
fantasy points allowed to the position. A quarterback. They're number
one in yards, number one in EPA, number one in snaps,
were splay play. Houston is still tough regardless, you know,
if the Raiders showed at heartbeat last week.

Speaker 2 (09:05):
Yeah, it's gonna be tough for those fantasy assets going
up such against such a tough defense, especially with the
way that offensive line has looked because of injuries this year.
Let's get to our next matchup, which is a interconference
game between you know what would appear to be with
the schedules, make it measure making. A schedule makers made

(09:26):
the schedule. Excuse me, got tongue tied on that one.
Baltimore Ravens traveled to lambeau Field take on to the
Green Bay Packers. Matt Lamarca break us down on the
Baltimore Ravens, their quarterback situation going into this game, and
is there anything that we really can look to them
for for you know, some fantasy success in this all

(09:47):
important week.

Speaker 3 (09:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (09:49):
Well, first I want to say I appreciate John shouting
me out as the face to his heel, because unfortunately
I went a little more pessimistic leaning this week. So
I guess I'm going full on heel turn live here
on Fantasy Football Weekly, So that starts with Snoopuntley at quarterback.

Speaker 7 (10:08):
I'm assuming it's going to be Snoop.

Speaker 6 (10:10):
I don't know if we've gotten the official word on
Lamar being ruled out yet, but it seems though he's
trending towards being unavailable. We've seen Snoop do a decent
facsimile of Lamar in the past, but he is a
clear step down. In his one start with the Ravens
this year, he had sixteen point seven PPR points. That's okay,

(10:32):
It's not exactly what you're looking for at the quarterback position,
but it's not going to kill you either. He had
an eighteen percent designed rush rate in that contest, so
I gave him one star. I could potentially be talked
into using him as like a QB two in a
super flex league, but I think that's really what he
has best suited for at this point. Derrick Henry is

(10:56):
right on the edge of being a low three star
or a high two star type of play. But again,
he'll turn lamarka. I'm going two stars on Henry. We
know that he has his deficiencies in the receiving game.
He's gonna give you very very little there. He's made
up for it with his work as a runner in
recent weeks, but it's been more efficiency base than volume based.

(11:20):
Right He's had fifty eight percent of the team's rushing
attempts in back to back game, so that is far
from a belcow type of workload. He was notoriously off
the field down the stretch for the Ravens last week
in a must win game. They're getting Keaton Mitchell more involved.
So I still think Henry is a clear starter, but

(11:41):
I have him more as like a mid range RB
two than a low end RB one or even a
high end RB two, and Henry's the only viable starter
in that backfield for the time being. Zay Flowers is
another two star play for me. He again has four
star utilization. You know, if you look over his past
three games, thirty eight percent target share, fifty percent air

(12:05):
yard share, and he's had at least fifteen point eight
PPR points in all three of those games, two top
ten finishes at the position. So he's a player who
stock is clearly trending upwards. But now you take Lamar
out of the mix and you have to ding him.

Speaker 7 (12:21):
Just a little bit.

Speaker 6 (12:22):
The positive note is that he did have a forty
three percent target share in his loan game with Huntley
this season fourteen point one PPR points. But he's been
a high floor, low ceiling type of receiver for most
of the year. I think we see something similar versus
the Packers. Probably, you know low end are a wide
receiver two type of range, and then at tight end,

(12:45):
Mark Andrews Isaiah Likely. I gave both guys one star. Unfortunately,
it's sad to see what has happened to Mark Andrews.
He was at one point one of the best receiving
tight ends in football, and he has maintained a decent
workload in recent weeks. It just hasn't resulted in any
fantasy production. Single digit PPR points in five straight games.

(13:05):
Him and Likely are just cannibalizing each other's workloads at
this point. I don't think either one is particularly viable
against the Packers.

Speaker 2 (13:17):
All right, for oz, what do we have on the
Packers side of the football.

Speaker 4 (13:23):
Okay, so you know there's no worth of whether Jordan
Love will be the guy this week. He's still making
his way through the concussion protocol. He is progressing through,
though he hasn't been cleared just yet, so it is
very possible that Malik Willis is the guy this week.
I wouldn't play Willis in fantasy if he's a guy,
but I would play Jordan Love if he goes. The
Ravens are giving up the seventh most passing yards, and

(13:43):
there are two things that play in his favor. The
Ravens tendency to play a lot of single high safety coverage,
which Love plays better against compared too high, and the
Ravens tendency to play more man coverage than most teams,
and Love is also better against man coverage as well.
And because the Packers have a chance at the two
two seed, I think these guys do have something to
play for.

Speaker 5 (14:03):
You know.

Speaker 4 (14:03):
It's better than potentially being the seventh seen, which is
likely the case if they lose this game. So I'm
gonna give Love three stars this week if he goes.
And then the running back situation, Josh Jacobs actually off
the injury reports, so we don't have to go into
the week into the weekend guessing with him for like
the first week in how long now, right, that's great news,
So I wouldn't think twice when it comes to Jacobs

(14:25):
just fire him up as at RB one. The Ravens
have been better defending running backs lately, but this is
Josh Jacobs. He's got it done in tough matchups this year.
I'm not gonna overthink, and I'll give him three stars
if he goes. And then the wide receivers. I mentioned
that single high safety coverage that Jordan Love plays better against,
and that a lot of the reason for that is
because Christian Watson. He just absolutely goes crazy against single high.

(14:49):
Not only have the Ravens given up the fifth most
fantasy points to perimeter wide receivers over the last four weeks,
that's the third highest, they also play the third highest
rate of single high safety coverage plays right into Watson's strengths.
You compare Watson's twenty six percent target right against single
high versus his twenty percent against too high, and his
two point five yards per route run versus his two

(15:11):
point one yards per rout run against too high. So
even if Love doesn't go, I think it's a slight
downgrade to Watson, you know, with Malik Willis behind center,
But I'm still taking my chances with Watson either way,
So I'm give him three stars. If if Jordan Love
plays two stars otherwise and cam Roo Dubbs come through
this week like he did last week, is really tough

(15:33):
to trust man, honestly, like I'm gonna give him a
reluctant two stars even though he was able to do
his thing last week. And as far as the tight
end position goes, you can't really go there. Luke Muskave
is leading that pack right now, but not fantasy relevant
at the moment, all.

Speaker 2 (15:47):
Right, with fantasy relevant at the moment, and if you're
checking us out in Week seventeen, that means you're Fantasy
relevant as well. We are just getting started right here.
Fantasy Football Weekly Championship Week. Addition, you'll got plenty more
go getting to the Sunday slate, including our Sunday Night
Football Showdown, Fantasy Football Weekly presenting by iHeartRadio, Backup and

(16:37):
at Him Week seventeen, Fantasy Football Weekly Corey Boston, and
Fantasy Executive Rock and Rolling with the team. Let's get
ready for the rest of the Sunday slate, getting ready
to break down these matchups in Week seventeen, and we
go to Buffalo for which should be a very interesting
interconference battle.

Speaker 1 (16:54):
Could be a possible Super.

Speaker 2 (16:56):
Bowl preview as a Philadelphia Eagles travel to Buffalo to
take on the Bills. John my Man, what's up with
the Philadelphia Eagles in this game?

Speaker 3 (17:04):
Well, right off the bat, this was one of the
games I really stuck out tough because when I heard
Philly's at Buffalo, I was thinking, potential shootout. Doesn't seem
to be the case. Philly ten wins only have a
twenty one point team total and the game total is
only forty three and a half, so we're expecting some weather.
But it doesn't even seem definite. So it's worth keeping

(17:26):
iron right, you have to keep an eye on the
weather whatever it's affecting these game totals. But I don't
know if a messa. We've seen it far as the
Eagles go. They're so talented, they're always gonna make somebody
mad because if they could do it in so many ways,
right if Hurts is running it in, then it's not
going to Barkley. But he's got to get a strong
three stars. Right now, he's really closing out very strong.
At least twenty touches in three straight. He's been the

(17:46):
overall RB eight since Week fourteen. We could get Lean
Johnson back. He hasn't practiced, but they have been targeting
this weekend. I don't know if it's maybe a seasonal
reference here, but I wrote you have to steal from
Peter to pay Pole because that's what happens if you're
gonna run a lot that you're gonna lose in the
passing game. Right, You got Devanta Smith AJ Brown. Can
you really bench these guys? Devanta's the wide receiver eighteen,

(18:08):
AJB the wide receiver nine. I don't think you could
bench him. I got two stars of both of them,
and I think you just have to go with it.
The matchup is what it is. AJ's got ten targets
of more and five of the last six. Devanta has
eight targets of more and four of the last five,
and I don't think you could pass that opportunity. And
it probably extends to Goddard at least strong two stars.
Can't sit him overall tight end six regards what you

(18:30):
think of the matchup. He two top five finishes in
the last three weeks, and he's even earning a couple
of slot targets a game. He has nine red zone
touchdown so he's involved in a layup stuff and some
high value stuff. You gotta roll him out there. It
goes for her, so kind of the broken record overall
QB four. It doesn't really feel like it, but that's
what you get because he could run it. Four top
ten finishes in the last five weeks, nearly thirty rushing

(18:50):
yards a game. He's eight rushing TDS. Can't get over
that stuff. I think the answer here is probably the
Buffalo defense. Maybe that's what the market is waiting for.
They've been a bit of a run funnel the last
two months. They're lasted rush EPA bottom three in yards
per contact, yards after contact explosive rush rate. Joey Bosa
full practice should return. They're already without ed alv DT,

(19:11):
Daequon Jones is out DT, Jordan Phillip is out, and
Jordan Poyer is out. I'm a little bit surprised that
the twenty one team total. I'm starting my Eagles if
you can't tell, and I'm kind of over the team total.
I think they get us there, but the market at
least would be telling us to maybe not expect thirty
points plus. But we know Buffalo can get you to
throw shootouts.

Speaker 2 (19:29):
Let me ask you the dudes that took Saquon Barkley
early in the first round, are they playing this weekend?

Speaker 3 (19:35):
I mean you could be. Remember, if you make the
right picks in the right ads, I think you can
overcome any one pick. I really do believe that. I
know this season. You know they say it's a marathon,
it feels like it goes as fast as a sprint.
But no, Corey, I think you can make up for
any one pick. But if you miss on your second pick,
you gotta be pretty darn good the rest of the way.

Speaker 1 (19:54):
Matt Lamarka to Buffalo Bills, what have we got?

Speaker 6 (19:57):
Yeah, well, well, certainly if you needed Saquon the past
few weeks, he's gotten the job done for you. So
any teams that were on the bubble I think have
completely forgiven Saquon Barkley. And as for the potential touchdown
or the potential Super.

Speaker 7 (20:11):
Bowl preview that I don't know.

Speaker 6 (20:13):
Man, the Bills. The path is as clear for the
Bills as it's been in years. So it's a big
year for them, and it's a big year for their quarterback.
Josh Allen, who I am giving four stars in this matchup.
There's really not much to say about Josh Allen. He
can go for fifty points every time he takes the field.
Is this a ideal matchup for him? No, the Eagles

(20:37):
are expected to get Jalen carter back in this contest,
but there's just no world where you're not riding with
Josh Allen if you have him. James Cook kind of
the same thing, but I did only give him three stars.
With carter back, I think that this isn't a great matchup,
but he is the Bill's best skill position player. The
thing with Cook is he is a bit feast or

(20:58):
famine right. He can be the RB one overall or
he can finish outside the top twenty. I think he's
a bit more volatile than you know the true stud
running backs in fantasy. So I did ding him one
star for that, but he is still a clear starter.
Wide receiver Khalil Shakir is kind of the only game
in town at the position. I think you can use

(21:19):
him as a wide receiver three or a flex. I
gave him two stars. He's not seeing as many routes
as he did early in the year, which is concerning
the route participation is down to just sixty one percent
last week, but he did grab a twenty eight percent
target share in that contest thirty six percent targets per
route run, so he's still getting involved even if he

(21:42):
isn't on the field quite as much. Not a huge ceiling,
but a decent floor, so I think he is still usable.
And then tight end is going to be a wait
and see kind of approach. Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox
both not practicing to start the week. Both guys look
like they might be heading towards questionable designations. If they're
both out, Jackson Hawes becomes the next guy up at

(22:04):
tight end. I would not be looking to stream him
against the Eagles. King Kid and Knox also kind of
look like one star guys if they are both in
the lineup, But if one plays and the other doesn't,
you could potentially talk yourself into a streaming option. King
Kaid is the best player of the bunch, so if
Knox is out and he is going to be on

(22:25):
the field more and earn a few more routes, I
could see him certainly being a starting option versus the Eagles.

Speaker 1 (22:32):
And good stuff right there.

Speaker 2 (22:33):
Let's get on to our next match up, another big
time showdown. Seattle Seahawks travel to Carolina take on the Panthers.
The Panthers have been very good this season at home,
and Seattle's just been very good this season for Roz
break down the Seahawks for us.

Speaker 4 (22:48):
You know, Sam Darnold, you know, kind of up and
down all year, but in terms of you know, per
play efficiency, like he's up there with the top quarterbacks
this year. Whether it's single high, too high, man covered
zone coverage, it doesn't even matter.

Speaker 5 (22:59):
He's been ballin.

Speaker 4 (23:01):
And now you know, in terms of whether to start
him or not, you know, if you really need someone maybe,
you know in a deeper league, obviously in a two
quarterback league, definitely, you know, as a QB two. You know,
Carolina hasn't been super giving to the quarterback position. You know,
over the last six seven weeks, the Panthers have held
Matthew Stafford to only thirteen Fantasy points, Brock Purty to
ten fantasy points, Jordan Love to ten Fantasy points. So

(23:24):
not the ideal streaming candidate this week. So I'm gonna
give Donald two stars, you know, because, like I said,
just so efficient against any type of coverage and given
all the single high coverage Carolina plays and the amount
of zone they play as well, that's kind of more
up Sam's alley. So I wouldn't be surprised if he
can give you a solid game, but you know, obviously
prefer him as a solid start as a QB two
in those types of leagues. Kenneth Walker man, you know,

(23:47):
of course, and so many of us can trust them,
and you know he was on a lot of benches
last week. He ends up going off, you know, twenty
five fantasy points, but nothing about his role actually changed. Name,
same snapshare as the week before, under fifty percent, very
similar rush attempt share, very similar participation. And you know,
you could get seduced by the matchup here. And you

(24:08):
know he's a talented back, so he can take one
to the house at any point. But he hasn't had
a goal line carry since Week twelve, so you're really
depending on the big play here. The matchup is good though.
Right Carolina is allowing five point two yards per carry
over the last four games. That's fourth highest in that span,
the eighth most Fantasy points per game, giving up to
you know this year to running backs.

Speaker 5 (24:28):
The trust right here is the biggest factor for me.

Speaker 4 (24:30):
Right, So I feel like I'd be setting myself up
for disappointment if I did start him. Only two stars
for Kenneth Walker this week from me, and then JSN
Man four stars easily absolute stud You know, Panthers have
actually given up the seventh most Fantasy points per game
over the last four weeks. Not that you even needed
that piece of information. When it comes to JSN right,

(24:51):
you're starting him.

Speaker 5 (24:51):
No matter what.

Speaker 4 (24:52):
Rashid Shahee didn't catch a pass last week against the Rams,
but he did return one for a touchdown, so he
gave me something at least. But his rap participation actually
fell from eighty two percent in week fifteen to sixty
two percent last week. Not sure what that was about.
But if that's the case, you're dealing with the part
time wide receiver here, I'm not sure I can trust
that in Fantasy Championship week. So one star for Shaheed.

(25:15):
He could definitely catch one over the top, you know,
given this as a primarily single high defense, but I
don't want to trust it this week. And aj Barner
in streaming consideration after catching four for forty nine and
a touchdown last week. Not the best matchup in the world,
but I'd give him two stars, you know, for him
to be in consideration as a streamer. Panthers argument the
love with most receiving yards to the position, So a

(25:36):
little glimmer of hope there for aj Barner.

Speaker 2 (25:41):
All right, John, what do we have on the Carolina
Panthers side of the football?

Speaker 1 (25:46):
Is they look to really wrap up the division? How
about that?

Speaker 3 (25:50):
Yeah? I would have never believed that coming in. They
did the same thing last season. Maybe Bryce s Young
is like a second half player, or you know, Canalis
is a second half I don't know. I think he
gotta start Dowdle. I mean, the Panthers have just an
eighteen point teen total. That's a huge red flag, but
I think you gotta start him. Sixty five percent of
the running back touches and fourteen percent of the team

(26:12):
target share since the week fourteen, by that's the utilization
that gets you started in fantasy. Hubbard is gonna continue
to be a thorn in the side, though he's had
fewer than ten touches in two straight and only getting
one target per game. This sounds very similar to the
Chargers right where it's just a little bit more than
we'd like to give off from our RB one, and

(26:33):
then when you combine it with a tough matchup, it
kind of reduces the ceiling for everybody, makes the whole
thing really unpalatable. I think he start Dowdle. I would
not start Hubbard at all. Seattle hasn't allowed a single
running back to go over ninety two yards. They're actually
number one in Fantasy points allowed to the position wide receivers.
I think you have to start Tet anytime the Panthers
are in underdog. He's the overall wide receiver fourteen. He's

(26:56):
had at least eight targets nine times. We love that
twenty three percent target are route. Just shy of two
yards are route. All those kind of big time wide
receiver one boxes. Those are a year to date numbers.
Cocker is starting to pop up Jalen Coker from the slot.
I got one star. He's like a flex desperation play again,
they're gonna be playing from behind. He'said at least four
targets in six straight. Seattle plays a lot of too

(27:17):
high stuff, though you do get a lot of five dB.
Their slot corner is good and if the matchup might
disallow that, but again, if you're desperate, you might get
a bit of a floor. That's been the way to
get to Seattle. They've given up seven catches for over
seventy yards a game to the slot tight end zero
star forget it. Sanders, Trembull, and Evans are all kind
of self emmilating their QB. Bryshaw And we mentioned for

(27:39):
me it's a one star. I wouldn't start him talk
about all or none. He has three top five overall
finishes and nine of them outside of the top twenty.
To me, that's not going to get it done. It's
matchup dependent for me. And you know, I love my
front seven Cory, so whenever I have three elite players,
to me, that kind of resonates Ernest Jones, DeMarcus Lawrence,
and Leonard Williams. And I'm always shouting, Mike big Man.

(28:00):
I think they're gonna create a lot of problems for
the Panthers. I don't think they're gonna be able to
get it on Alex Seattle there on Sunday.

Speaker 2 (28:06):
Excuse me, interesting, I'm on the opposite side of that
one right there. I like Carolina to get it done
and get the upset victory, but that's neither here nor there.
All right, all right, still got plenty of action, plenty
of games to get into, plenty of fantasy analysis to
break down, including matchup between the Bears and forty nine
Ers and the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Indianapolis Coast. We

(28:29):
rock and roll through Fantasy Football Weekly, getting it gun

(29:00):
and now first our Fantasy Football Weekly, Let's get right
back into the action. Big time Sunday night football matchup
Chicago Bears at San Francisco forty nine is also could
be a potential playoff preview. Matt, you have the honors,
mister Lamarka of getting us started with the Chicago Bears

(29:22):
siut of the football.

Speaker 6 (29:24):
Yeah, and this looks like one of the best games
of the week for fantasy purposes. John kind of alluded
to it earlier. This time of the year, weather becomes
a real concern. As someone who lives on Long Island
and is expecting eight inches of snow overnight, you don't
have to worry about that in California, particularly in the

(29:44):
Bay Area. This game should be high scoring, no real
weather concerns. Fifty two point five point total. It makes
this a game to target for sure. That makes Caleb
Williams a two star play. For me, he could be
even considered a three star quarterback. I think he's right
around QB ten or so in my personal rankings forty nine.
Ers defense is gettable they're twenty third, and pass defense EPA.

(30:07):
They're allowing the ninth most fantasy points per game to
the position. Williams hasn't really shown off his ceiling of late,
but I think he is a clear starter this week.
Both Chicago running backs to me, DeAndre Swift and Kyle
mcnungary are also going to be two star plays. The
Bears have become increasingly more run heavy down the stretch,

(30:28):
which is why we haven't seen as big of a
ceiling from Caleb Williams. Swift is the guy who is
getting most of the work. He's at fifty eight percent
of the team's carries over the past two weeks. Maung
Guy has been at thirty eight percent, but Manung Guy's
making up for it by being a little bit more
involved as a pass catcher and getting the majority of

(30:50):
the goal line touches. He has one hundred percent of
the inside the five carries over their past two games.
So I viewed both guys pretty evenly. I think they
are both you know en RB twos or high end
type of flex plays, but I think both guys have
some appeal in this matchup at wide receiver. The Bears
are pretty banged up. Roma Dunese officially just ruled out

(31:13):
he is not going to be able to go, but
the good news is that Luther Burden will be back.
So Luther Burden missed last week. In his two games
before sitting out, he had a twenty one percent target
share in week fourteen twenty seven percent mark in Week fifteen.
I think when you add in all the things I

(31:33):
mentioned about this being a good game environment, Luther Burden
is a usable player. He's a two star play and
DJ Moore has ascended to three star territory. For me,
he is back to being a dependable fantasy asset, something
we saw for him for many years in the past.
Roughly twenty two PPR points and back to back games.

(31:54):
The underlying utilization numbers aren't ideal, but he does have
at least forty two percent of the team's air yards
in back to back games, so I'm willing to uh
to go with more here. As a solid wide receiver too,
He's a three star option for me. I'm also giving
Colston Loveland two stars a tight end. He has ascended
to the number one tight end spot in Chicago eighty

(32:18):
two percent route participation last week. He's got an eighteen
percent target share over his past five games. It hasn't
led to a ton of huge fantasy performances, but the
role I think is there. He is a low end,
you know, tight end one for fantasy purposes. I think
you can definitely use him this week.

Speaker 2 (32:37):
All right for raz San Francisco forty nine is I mean,
I feel like the fantasy assets on the forty nine
is a pretty you know, cutting stone. No real surprises here,
but you may have something for me in week seventeen.

Speaker 1 (32:49):
What do you got?

Speaker 4 (32:50):
Yeah, And you know it's really all about some guys
kind of in and out of the lineup. With's some
injuries too, so we'll kind of get into that. But
brock Perdy, he's getting back into this rhythm, man like
after coming out of his buy in Week fourteen. Finishes
the QB three and then the QB one. He threw
almost six hundred yards and eight touchdowns over the last
two games, and he's going to be looking to add

(33:12):
to that touchdown total. This week against the Chicago defense
tied for the third most passing touchdowns given up. So
I'm gonna call Party four star playing this week. I
think he's going to be He's actually going to go off,
Like Matt was saying, this is a high scoring game, potential,
good weather has all, you know, everything you need for
Party to get it done. And then Christian McCaffrey of
course four stars as well. Not much as say here.

(33:35):
The Bears have been way better defending running backs lately,
but it really doesn't matter as.

Speaker 5 (33:40):
You can start in Christian McCaffrey either way.

Speaker 4 (33:42):
And the wide receiver position, you know, might be where
it gets tricky, but not all that tricky. You know,
seven touchdowns over the last seven games for Juwan Jennings.
He'll be looking to make it eight against Chicago. Against
the Chicago defense tied for giving up the second most
touchdowns to wide receivers this year. They've allowed a six
most fantasy points to wide receivers and the eighth most

(34:03):
over the last four weeks, and Jennings, you know, he'll
likely stay away from Jalen Johnson's side. He runs closest
seventy percent of his routes either you know from the
left perimeter or the slot, so not too worried about that.
Ricky pearsall plays like we could see an effect on
Jennings target share because Pearson was kind of the guy
that party was looking for the entire game, you know,

(34:26):
before he got you know, banned up late in the game.
But still, you know, Jennings is on a role. He's
still probably going to be the guy that he looks for,
you know, in the red zone. So given him three stars,
and you know, with Pierstall, if he plays, I'm giving
him two stars in this matchup. But obviously with some
you know, some potential to get red that that those
injuries reaggravated again. So a little bit risky there when

(34:48):
it comes to the tight end position. George Kittle is
a game time decision. So just remember that they play
on Sunday night. So if you have him, you know,
just grab Jake Tod just just in case, throw him
on you bench, you know, in case Kittle can't go,
so you have an easy replacement right there. Chicago's giving
up the eighth most receptions per game the tight ends
this year, you know, pretty much a neutral matchup otherwise

(35:10):
across the board, Kittle will be a four star player
play if he goes, hopefully not reaggravating that ankle injury.
I'm knocking on wood as we speak, and then Tom
just would get two stars as a solid streaming option
if Kittle can't go.

Speaker 2 (35:22):
Next matchup that we have on the Sunday slate, the
breakdown is the game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the
Indianapolis Colts. When it comes to Indianapolis Coats, it was
all good just a week ago, but uh, Indiana Jones
and the team fell off very quickly. Jacksonville though, looking
real strong john going into the postseason. But can they

(35:44):
help because any of their fantasy assets help you win
a championship this weekend.

Speaker 3 (35:48):
And what a difference month can make. Legendary fall off
of the Colts. It just happened sometimes injuries at the
wrong time, at the wrong places. So I was going
to say at the right time, in the right place,
but just the opposite, can just you know, cripple here
from the top down, it's been like that. Let's go
with Jacksonville though eleven wins, twenty eight point team total
on a fast track. So similar to what Matt was

(36:10):
saying before, I think it's important to identify to isolate
the potentially high scoring games. Forty and a half point
total is where you want to be. Starts with ATN.
Got to give him a strong three stars. This is
kind of funny. He's the RB six overall since their
Week nine by despite a three point seven yard per

(36:30):
carry and one point six yard per out. You're like,
what is this guy doing? And it just goes to
show you if you get the high value touches, that'll
do it. No baseial tooton is gonna help. He'said at
least four targets and two straight, so he's getting either
further incorporated into the pass game, he's getting all the
goal to go stuff. So it's wheels up for ATN
wide receiver roommate. Adding Jacoby Myers was such a boost

(36:51):
for the Liam Cohen offense finding a piece that can
go over the middle. Adam not in Brian Thomas's head,
but it appears to be what's going on in the tape.
He just whether he's afraid or he got hurt, he
stopped challenging over the middle, and Marius is no problem
going over the middle. Lawrence likes to go there. Cohen
likes to draw it up. Jacoby Mayers strong three stars.

(37:13):
He's the overall wide receiver thirteen. Since week eleven, twenty
three percent target p route just under two yards were out.
Again those wide receiver one numbers. Then to Parker Washington. Now,
I think this is more of a matchup base play.
We saw him just spike, but I think the way
that Indianapolis plays stylistically, you know, you get a lot
of man stuff and those source. Gardner is probably returning

(37:35):
he did practice for the first time. Tavarius Ward is out.
Also the other side, Chris Lammon's the starting quarterback, is
gonna be out, so I think they're gonna struggle with that.
And park has been really great against man. Twenty seven
percent target pro route almost three and a half yards
were out run against man coverage. That leads BTJ. He's
really deep shot dependent, I wrote, because again versus man,

(37:56):
they will go to him when they see man on
man one off coverage. He is a twenty three to
a dot, so it's all or nothing with him. Then
Britton Strange in the tight end position. I think it's
two stars, but I'm kind of reticent. Six targets two
of the last three. He's three top ten finishes in
the last five. But it feels like the flour games
or a zero, so I guess it could be there.
If you're chasing the totals. Rivers, someone's probably made the

(38:19):
old man Rivers joke. It's bad. He looks old, he
looks fat, but he got it done one time out
of two. Remember that floor in the first game. You
could see it again. Indid last six giving up the
most plays in the league, second most yards per game.
That's trusts out other four hundred. I think there are
a lot of trouble. The Forest Buckner is gonna be
out again. He hurt his neck and again I mention
all the injuries in the secondary should be wheels up.

(38:41):
Jacksonville could get over thirty. They're probably a good pop
for the high scoring team this weekend.

Speaker 1 (38:47):
All right, Matt, Indianapolis coach, What do we got?

Speaker 3 (38:49):
Brother?

Speaker 6 (38:50):
I mean, John needs to put some more respect on
Philip Rivers' names. Personally, I think he looks great for
a literal grand five.

Speaker 3 (38:58):
I called him fat. It takes one to no one.

Speaker 6 (39:01):
I mean, he's forty four years old. He's got ten kids,
I think, and grandchildren. The fact that he is even
able to get out on the field after coming straight
off the couch and has hair. He's got my respect.
That said, I want nothing to do with him for
fantasy purposes. He's a one star play. He did as

(39:22):
John said. He had sixteen point one fantasy points last week.
He was QB seventeen for fantasy purposes, But no chance
I am trusting him against a competent Jaguars defense. Jonathan
Taylor if you had asked me the last time I
was on the show, he would have been a clear
four star play. But the production just really has not

(39:44):
been there for him. And all season we have kind
of talked about how Jonathan Taylor is a throwback at
running back.

Speaker 7 (39:52):
He does not catch a ton.

Speaker 6 (39:53):
Of passes out of the backfield, but he is live
to go off for something like two hundred plus rushing
yards touchdowns every single game. Turns out, it's a lot
harder to do that when you have a forty four
year old quarterback that defenses don't respect. So you look, now,
five straight games he's finished outside the top twelve at

(40:13):
the position. I don't really view him as an RB
one at this point. It's kind of crazy to say
I think he is more of a high end RB
two or you know, a low end RB one, but
he's not a slam dunk at this point.

Speaker 7 (40:26):
So three stars for.

Speaker 6 (40:27):
Him and all of the Rivers pass catchers are just
impossible to trust right now.

Speaker 7 (40:33):
Josh Downs has.

Speaker 6 (40:34):
The best target share of the receiving cor twenty two
percent in the two Rivers games. Pittman's at seventeen percent,
Alec Pierce eight percent. So Pierce popped off for the
two touchdown game last week. That's a complete mirage. I
would not trust that at all. He's a one star play.
I think if I had to start any of these guys,
it would probably be Josh Downs. He's got double digit

(40:57):
PPR points in both games with Rivers, but all of
the receivers are one star guys and Tyler Warren. I
will give him a second start just out of respect
for his talent and what he has done earlier this season.
He's also got a twenty three percent target share in
the two games with Rivers, but again, I would not
feel like he is a must start, similarly to how

(41:18):
I would have you know just a month ago. So
the only guy on the on the Colts that you
really have to play is Jonathan Taylor, and honestly, you
can't even feel all that great about it.

Speaker 3 (41:28):
Excuse me one second, my man, everyone I mentioned rivers,
I had my notes flipped originally, Obviously, t law you
gotta start him. He's like the start this week. He's
a top two quarterback each of the last two weeks.
But my bad, everyone, of Like, when I first started,
I had covered Indianapolis well, and I came to a
lot of the same conclusion that you did, that you
have to start Taylor for volume. Maybe I just wanted
to squeeze in an old man, fat man joke, but yeah,

(41:49):
you have to start Trevor Lawrence. Right, Obviously I didn't
want to let that one slide by. He's been carrying
it and he's running in the red zone and all
the great stuff that we love, plus the hair.

Speaker 1 (41:57):
Come on, Sunshine, all right?

Speaker 3 (42:01):
Right, oh, come on? Has there ever been a better
like fac simile? Ever? There's never been one?

Speaker 2 (42:06):
Yo, I mean listen, Sunshine could play Trevor Lawrence in
the Trevor Lawrence movie All vice versa. Here's the interesting
thing though about the Colts quarterback situation. They have a
quarterback in Anthony registering that they took very high in
the draft and he can't get on the field over

(42:27):
Phil Rivers, who is, like Matt said, a literal granddad.

Speaker 1 (42:32):
That's wild right there. I believe.

Speaker 3 (42:36):
Yeah, I like to believe that the orbital bone was
a really bad break and they're afraid of a refracture
if his head were to hit the floor, because if
he was healthy and he were not going with him,
that's a tremendous that's a tremendous red flag.

Speaker 6 (42:49):
It'll be interesting to see because there's a chance that
the Colts, depending on what happens on Saturday in that
Chargers game, there's a chance the Colts are eliminated from
playoff content before they play on Sunday, So it will
be interesting to see if maybe they then choose to
go with a Riley Leonard. I'm not sure if he is,
if that's something that they're really considering, But once they're eliminated,

(43:13):
I do think that the Philip Rivers experience probably comes to.

Speaker 2 (43:17):
God, yeah, I'm pretty sure. But Phil Rivers pushing this
Hall of Fame clockback. Shout out to him, because most
people would just sit on the couch and go ahead
and do that.

Speaker 1 (43:26):
One hour in the books, Another hour to goo.

Speaker 2 (43:28):
Week seventeen Fantasy Football Weekly Championship Edition.

Speaker 1 (43:59):
All right, welcome back our number two Fantasy Football Weekly.

Speaker 2 (44:02):
Corey Parson, the Fantasy executive, along with Faraz Sadiki, John Legaza,
and Matt Lamarca holding it down for Brian Johnson, want
to thank everybody for rocking with us.

Speaker 1 (44:12):
If you are listening now, it's a good time to good.

Speaker 2 (44:15):
It's probably a good sign that you are in the
Fantasy Football Championship. Congratulations to you for making it this fall,
and we want to get you even further. We want
to get you that crown. Also if you're playing If
you're in one of those leagues, but your championship is
in week eighteen, well we'll be here for you too.
You probably shouldn't play in that league any longer. But
that is neither here nor there. Let's get back to

(44:38):
the analysis. We go to our game on Monday Night Football.
This is the game that will determine who your fantasy
champion will be, and it is the Los Angeles Rams
traveling to Atlanta to take on the Falcons. Faras the
Rams or the assignment that you drew for this contest.

Speaker 4 (44:57):
Yes, and just before I get to that, you just
want to mention that Jordan Love has been ruled out,
so it's going to be Malik Willis at quarterback. So
downgrade the offense a bit, not by a whole lot,
you know, still starting Josh Jacobs, still kind of reluctantly
started Christian Watson, but I think it's a good matchup
for him, So I think that's how I would play that.
But back to the Rams. You know, even without DeVante

(45:20):
Adams Man, Matthew Stafford just slinging it. You know, he
and Sean McVay were in their bag against Seattle. You know,
Stafford threw for four hundred and fifty seven yards and
three touchdowns. So I would keep riding that momentum. The
Falcons have allowed the twelfth most Fantasy points to quarterbacks
over the last four weeks.

Speaker 5 (45:38):
Stafford's a four star play this week.

Speaker 4 (45:41):
And then at the running back position, Karen Williams still
the play in the Rams backfield, but Blake korm is
going to continue to be involved, and these two are
going to continue to rotate. Over the last four weeks,
they've split inside the five attempts exactly down the middle
fifty to fifty.

Speaker 5 (45:55):
Korm has been a top twenty four back for four
straight weeks.

Speaker 4 (45:58):
Karen finished as a top ten back twice, but outside
the top twenty twice as well. But the matchup's pretty solid.
The Falcons are giving up over four and a half
yards per carry this season to running backs as well
as over the last four weeks as well. So this
room here for both backs and the Rams are the
second highest implied team total this week. So I'm gonna
give both of these guys three stars and then you

(46:20):
have Puka four star. Play anyway you slice it. No,
Devonte Adams last week thirty five percent target share overall
wide receiver one finish, he was the top two wide
receiver each of the last three weeks. He's gonna try
to make this one four straight. And then at the
tight end position, good Leck trying to decide, you know,
which Rams tight end to play. Kolby Parkinson couldn't come

(46:40):
through for us last week. The market was on him.
But you know, both he and Terence Fergus who ended
up catching the touchdown last week, they ran the same
number of routes seventy one percent rap participation for each
of them. Parkinson saw one more target for Ferguson's the
one who got into the end zone. If I had
to bet on one, I might lean towards Parkinson still,
you know, given to deduction that we've seen from him

(47:01):
earlier in the year, especially in the red zone. But Ferguson,
he was one of my favorite tight end prospects in
this past draft. You know, he's just so athletic. I
wouldn't be surprised if he does his thing with an
extra opportunity. But because of the tough matchup, I'm gonna
give each of them only one star. Atlanta's allowing the
second fewest fantasy points per game to the position, the
fewest touchdowns per game, the third fewest yards of the position,

(47:21):
and even if the Rams played mostly thirteen personnel again
like they did last week without DeVante, it's tough to
say who's going to actually get the target. So I'm
gonna try to stay away if possible.

Speaker 2 (47:31):
All right, John, When you look at the Atlanta Falcons,
another disappointing season, but they do have some fantasy assets
that could help you this week.

Speaker 3 (47:40):
Yeah, it's funny now, all of a sudden, Kirk Cousins
actually looks okay that whole situation was kind of crazy.
Maybe we'll talk about it in the offseason, right to
pay him the big money and then bring in the
rookie Evach go South. The old man doesn't look great now,
maybe he does if they can have a controversy going forward.
Who knows Atlanta has a twenty one point team total.
I'm not sure how they get there. That Rams defense

(48:00):
can be tough. Maybe it'll be some garbage time back door.
But Bijon, of course you're starting him no matter wa
four stars. Of course, he's the overall RB one since
week thirteen, five yards per carry and more than two
yards around one, which is just a fantastic mix. He
also has eight top five finishes year to date. He's
all that wide receiver room. Thisten's pretty easy. Zero stars.

(48:22):
He how's this for us stat There's that a single
top forty finish from a Falcon wide receiver with Kirk
Cousins top forty, top forty. Because it's all going to
Kyle Pitts. The prophecy has been fulfilled. Gentlemen, Hopefully you're
one of the people that were, you know, never wrong,
just early on. Mister Kyle Pitts ninety five percent route

(48:42):
participation over the last month. That's crazy. Very few people
get there. Wide receivers included twenty six percent targeted are
out almost two and a half yards for out run.
That battery between Pitts and Cousins looks reliable, it looks sustainable,
and I'm rolling with that again, though, the Cousins and
the much lower floor one star, I wouldn't start them

(49:03):
eighty six passer eighting six and a half YPA with
zero rushing upside, and then of course I'd be remiss
to not represent my big men in the front seven
for the Rams Nate Landman Byron Young Jared Verse. That
trio is awesome. Now, they're a really good defense. Like
I mentioned, they do become a pass funnel because they're
always ahead and the other side has to throw. So

(49:24):
maybe we get a lot of those layups to Jon,
layups to Pitts, and those guys could carry you even
if they get destroyed, because then you get a lot
of sixty b too high stuff. It's all very preventative.
McVeigh again very good at ceiling the deal once he's ahead.
So Atlanta maybe gets enough done from behind, but I
wouldn't get cute. You start the major pieces of the

(49:44):
trunk and then move on.

Speaker 5 (49:47):
All right.

Speaker 2 (49:47):
Our next matchup on the schedule for Sunday, Battle of
Florida teams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Miami Dolphins.

Speaker 1 (49:54):
Big one for the Buccaneers, Matt, what do you got?

Speaker 6 (49:57):
Yeah, Tampa Bay still controls their own destiny, right, they
win their final two and they're in. But I don't
know how they can have any confidence in themselves. We
can have any confidence in them.

Speaker 7 (50:08):
It has been.

Speaker 6 (50:09):
Really, really ugly over the past month or so, and
that starts with Baker Mayfield twenty four sorry, twelve point
four fantasy points per game over his past five outings
six touchdowns to five interceptions. He just I don't know
if he's hurt or what, but he does not look
like the same player that we really have come to

(50:30):
know and rely on as the quarterback of the Buffan
the Buccaneers.

Speaker 7 (50:36):
Still, the matchup's very good. This week.

Speaker 6 (50:38):
Dolphins have allowed the eighth most fantasy points per game
to opposing quarterbacks. This game is also being played in Florida,
as you mentioned, Corey, so it's got some of the
best weather of the week. The Bucks have the seventh
highest implied team total. Like it would be easy to
just say you can't trust the Bucks right now, but
I still think Baker Mayfield is a starting fantasy quarterback.

(50:59):
He's somewhere round QB twelve for me right now. I
have to give him two stars. Same goes for Bucky Irving.
He's a two star play. I would like to give
him more, and his utilization has been okay since he's
returned to the lineup, but he has just not been
very efficient three point seven yards per carry since coming back.
He's also not getting the same look in the in

(51:20):
the passing game that he got pre injury. Eight targets
over his past four outings, including zero last week. He
was averaging nearly five per game before getting hurt, so
he's not looked like the same player. It's hard to
view him as anything other than a, you know, sort
of a just a mid range RB two at this point.
The receiving corp we've got some injury stuff that we

(51:43):
might need to monitor. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin were
DMPs on Thursday.

Speaker 7 (51:49):
I do think Evans is clear to go.

Speaker 6 (51:51):
He's going to be a three star play for me,
and he has been money since coming back, thirty six
percent target share since returning to the lineup, at least
forty six percent of the air yards in back to
back games. If there is anyone that you can start
with some degree of confidence for Tampa Bay right now,
it's gonna be Mike Evans. I think Chris Godwin is

(52:11):
then the next man up. He would be a two
star play as long as he's good to go. His
routes have been trending upwards eighty seven percent last week,
ninety five percent the week prior, and he has been
earning targets at a much more consistent pace than e
Mecha Agbuka, who unfortunately we have to drop him down
to a one star play. You know, he started the

(52:32):
year so hot, but he has just fallen off a cliff,
hit the rookie wall, whatever metaphor you want to use.
Fifty percent route participation last week, just an eight percent
target share. He is not in the fantasy discussion at
the At the moment, Jalen McMillan also a one star play,
and then same goes for Kadot and one star. He's
simply just not relevant when this receiving corps is close

(52:56):
to full strength.

Speaker 1 (52:58):
Matt, What do you do with Buca in drafts next year?

Speaker 6 (53:03):
Yeah, I mean, it'll be interesting to see what happens
with the Tampa Bay wide receiver corps this offseason. I
do still view him as a very high end prospect.
I would be looking to take him. You know, it's
again it's gonna be price dependent. But as long as
he is reasonably priced, I think he's a player to

(53:24):
buy on. I would be targeting him in Dynasty League too,
if you can still make trades there. I think he's
still a player who's very much on the way up,
even though he hasn't had the same opportunities down the
stretch that he did beginning of the year.

Speaker 1 (53:37):
All right, for Roz, what have we got with the
Miami Dolphins in this matchup?

Speaker 4 (53:40):
All right, let's talk Miami real quick. This one's easy
in terms of Quinn yours. You can't start Quinn years
in the Fantasy Championship, Okay, So zero stars for him,
four stars for Devon Chan though as consistent as they come.
Neutral matcher for him. That's an easy one too, So
I'm not gonna overthink that one. And Jalen Waddle, you
know he did alright, in a tough matchup last week,

(54:02):
you know, with yours in nine targets, five catches for
seventy two yards, not bad at all. And now against Tampa,
they're vulnerable everywhere left perimeter, right perimeter, in the slot,
and you know, he plays mostly on the outside, and
they've given up the six most fantasy points two perimeter
wide receivers over the last eight weeks. So I think
Waddle is a very solid wide receiver to start this week.

(54:22):
I'm gonna give him three stars. And then you have
Darren Waller, who couldn't really come through last week despite
a really good matchup against Cincinnati. But he gets another
good matchup against Tampa. Now, you know, we have to
consider the fact that they gave up a ton to
Kyle Bittz just a few weeks ago, right, so when
you're looking at the fantasy points allowed, that takes up
a big percentage of it. But you know, Waller can

(54:45):
get it done in this one if he gets the targets.
You know, seventeen percent target share last week not too bad.
I'm gonna give him two stars just because I think
he's somewhat streamable. You know, I'm closer to one start
to be honest with you, but I think you know,
if you're in dire straits, I think he is an option.

Speaker 2 (55:02):
All right, Let's get to our next matchup on the slate.
Oh boy, this is a tough one right here. The
Arizona Cardinals travel to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals. John,
you have to break down the Arizona Cardinals for fantasy purposes,
which may be a little bit better than for real
NFL purposes.

Speaker 3 (55:21):
I know most fantasy gamers the second day heard Arizona Cardinals.
If McBride brought you to the Promised Land, he probably
let you down. And there's so many like eye rolls
and size that just happened. But you know, we got
to push forward. Arizona three win team, These other twenty
two and a half point team total, what you gotta
like because they're facing the hapless Bengals. The running back

(55:41):
room is getting a lot of attention because it's one
of the few positions that might actually be available to
help you. I don't think I go there, Michael Carter.
I have him as one of those one star running
back two star flex like I could see starting in
the flex if you really needed because he should get touches.
That's what I wrote, low quality touches and targets. But
there is a red flag because the lone goal to

(56:02):
go attempt Week sixteen went to Corey Kiner. And now
with Amari de Marcada back there, a three way running
back committee with no explosive playmaking abilities is not gonna
be great. But again, I do think Carter is worth something.
If you're desperate again with the great matchup the wide receivers,
let's run it back. One star wide receiver, two star

(56:24):
flex for both Harrison and Wilson. If you're telling me
you don't have a better replacement at flex, I get it.
It's a decent spot. The team total is there, the
weather's supposed to be okay, but they seem to be
canceling each other out right now. But the flip side
of that is, how do you not project them both
for at least five or six targets? Another problem for Arizona,

(56:47):
they're gonna be missing tackle Paris Johnson. Again, we've seen
the ugly underbelly of this Cardinals offense. The floor is
very low, but it wraps up with McBride four stars
by the dep everybody he's the number one tight end.
He's had eight targets in ten straight. I mean, it's crazy,
twenty six percent. Talk of aroute more than two yards around. Again,
all those parameters are trying to check. That's with Brissett,

(57:09):
who I'd give two stars too. Again, we've seen the upside,
we've seen the downside. It basically comes down to volume.
You should get it. Cincinnati's clicking on all cylinders. Arizona
can't stop anybody. Arizona has shown the willingness to drop
back one hundred times a game went the behind. I
think you're gonna get it. Cincinnati d just atrocious. That's
what you kind of want to start. These guys. They're

(57:30):
a run funnel and a pass funnel. They're in everything.
They're a fantasy funnel. They've allowed the most fantasy points
to running back. They're bottom five year to date and
yards per carry, yards after contact, and explosive rushes. They're
also bottom five against the pass last month and a
half in yards perception, yards after the Cats, perception, deep shots,
and sack rate. Not only is Trey Hendrickson on the
IR two more defensive ends, Joseph Asai and bj Wilson

(57:53):
both having practice on our tracking to be out. I mean,
this could be the game you want to be attached to,
right So if cincinnat just is running crazy, maybe Arizona
pushes it and everybody gets home, you'd be kicking yourself
to leave a guy like Michael Wilson bench for a
bad replacement. So a lot of questions, Mark speaking, see
if you get there.

Speaker 5 (58:11):
Guys.

Speaker 2 (58:12):
All right, still got plenty of show left to come.
I'm going to get Matt Lamartha to break down the
Cincinnati Bengals when we come back on the other side.

Speaker 1 (58:21):
Plus still got the rest of the.

Speaker 2 (58:22):
Slate to look at, including Pittsburgh and Cleveland, the Jets
and Pats, and so on and so forth. Week seventeen
edition Fantasy Football Weekly right here on iHeartRadio.

Speaker 1 (59:04):
Fantasy Football Weekly. Thanks everybody for rocking with us.

Speaker 2 (59:07):
Congratulations to everybody in Week seventeen, the Championship round. When
we last left, we were setting up my main man,
Matt Lamarca, who's holding it down for Brian Johnson the
day to break down the once again disappointing Cincinnati Bengals.
I have a feeling that Zach Taylor is not going
to escape this year's Black Monday.

Speaker 6 (59:27):
Probably not, but disappointing is a it's a matter of perspective, Corey,
And while they are disappointing in real life, this is
this is the team for fantasy this week. They've got
the top implied team total on the slate at more
than thirty points. This matchup looks like it's going to
be just a great game environment. So Joe Burrow, there

(59:50):
was some concerns heading into last week. You know, he
was he was downtrodden, He was in his emos emo phase,
talk about you know, whether or not he was going
to retire maybe or be traded. Many bounce back and
he put together just an excellent performance against the Dolphins.
You have to start him this week against the Cardinals.

(01:00:11):
He is a four star play for me, and I
think he's probably a top three option at the position.
Chase Brown, he to me is a three star running back.
He would have been on the Naughty list for fantasy
players through the first seven or eight weeks of the season.
He has been awesome down the stretch. Here are his

(01:00:31):
fantasy finishes since Week eight. RB five, RB six, RB twelve,
RB thirteen, RB nine, RB six, RB thirteen RB one.
The guy is just getting the job done. He's got
a good ceiling and a good floor in a great matchup.
He is another slam dunk option wide receiver. More stars

(01:00:51):
to go around Jamar Chase. He is a four star guy,
set it and forget it. No problems there. T Higgins
three stars for me. His production is a little bit
more up and down. In his two games with Burrow,
he had one where he had a ten percent target
chair and then one where he had a thirty one
percent target chair. So he is not quite as consistent

(01:01:13):
as Jamar Chases. But we know the ceiling that he
brings to the table. He is a solid wide receiver
to this week. Give me three stars. And the only
sort of down news with the Bengals is they don't
have a tight end that we can use in this matchup.
I've got Mike Gasicki as a one star play when
this team is at full strength. He is really not
much of a factor in the offense, so you know,

(01:01:35):
load up on the other positions, but feel free to
skip tight end on your Bengals Bingo card this week.

Speaker 1 (01:01:45):
No tight end on the Bengals Bengo card.

Speaker 2 (01:01:48):
Easy for me to say all right, let's get back
to full game action and the Pittsburgh Steelers and the
Cleveland Browns Old school AFC North late season showdown plenty
on Stak, plenty of astek. Excuse me for Roz for
the Pittsburgh Steelers. I don't really know how much fantasy
love you can get out of him.

Speaker 4 (01:02:07):
No, yeah, it's just, you know, not a whole lot.
But there is one position group that you can. Let's
start with Anon Rodgers. Though not super interested in Rodgers
this week in Cleveland, the Browns are giving up the
second fewest pass attempts, the second fewest passing yards, not
to mention no DK Metcalf, So I'll pass on Aaron Rodgers.

Speaker 5 (01:02:24):
One star for him.

Speaker 4 (01:02:27):
But the Steels backfield, though, you kind of have to
start them regardless of the matchup at this point, especially
Kenneth Gainwell. I mentioned last week. You know what he
was doing and how he was producing, and he's now
up to five RB one finishes over his last six games,
and the matchup isn't even that bad. The Browns are
allowing four point eight yards per carry to the running
backs over the last four games. That's ninth most during

(01:02:49):
that span. They're also allowing the third most Fantasy points
per game to the position over the last four weeks
as well. So you know, this offense depends on these
running backs so much, and they have to depend on
them even more without DK Metcalf. So a strong three
stars for each of these guys, especially Gainwell. And I mentioned,
you know, no DK Metcalf obviously, but I think this

(01:03:11):
theme was also lean more on their three tight ends.
But good luck depending, you know, deciding on which one
to start if you're going to do that, right, So
I'd imagine that Pat Friedmouth and Darneld Washington the primary
beneficiaries here, leaning more towards fried Mouth because he's running
slightly more routes, he's getting targeted in the end zone
a little bit more. But only one star for each

(01:03:33):
of them, just because it's really tough to decide which
one to go with. Really, you might, you know, have
you know a third tight end you know come into
play here, obviously, because Arthur smith Shenanigans you know, can
come into play pretty easily here. So I can't trust
those guys at all. So I'm gonna give one stars
to the tight end position.

Speaker 2 (01:03:54):
All right, what do we have on the other side
of the football is very quick enough of the Pittsburgh Steelers,
and rightfully so.

Speaker 1 (01:04:03):
But Cleveland I guess we can get past.

Speaker 2 (01:04:04):
I mean, but John, I guess we can get past
the Cleveland Browns even quicker.

Speaker 3 (01:04:08):
Yeah, Farad's definitely moving faster than the Steelers offense. For sure,
Brown's not much better. I want to stress the weather also,
if that's been the talk around both of these cities,
and they're saying could be really really bad. Lots of rain,
which I think is actually worse than snow, and lots
of wind. They're saying maybe fifteen to twenty mile an
hour gusts that could be up even higher than that.

(01:04:28):
I'm not the biggest like weather hunk, but when you
hear fifteen to twenty mile an hour wins, that's when
the ball can start the wabble kicks affected, even maybe
deep balls being affected. Just worth keeping an eye on
because Cleveland has a sixteen point team total. Woof all
right running backs in the backfield. No quinch on Judkins.
That injury was nasty. I hope he gets well soon.
Jerome Ford also on the IR but Dylan Sampson is back,

(01:04:50):
so I think he gets the two star label. I
wrote pp r heist because the running stuff hasn't been great.
Pittsburgh's also good upfront, but they'll drop the ball off
to him, and if you're getting a point for catch,
that could do something. Remember he had twelve carries and
eight catches Week one with the last time Judkins was
out that was with old man Flacco. But still he's
had five catches or more three different times this year.

(01:05:12):
Wide receiver room very easy. You know, I love these
stats man zero stars zero Cleveland wide receivers have a
twenty point Fantasy game this year. They've put up zero
the entire season. Just incredible. If you needed one dark
horse flex, let's say you were, you know, facing Bill Krosky,
merrit or somebody kind of buried you. Maybe Isaiah Bond.

(01:05:33):
He's been the deep shot guy. Pittsburgh does like to
play a lot of man and we've seen Schador take
those deep challenges. Just under two yards per route run
and a nearly thirty a dot, yes, nearly thirty average
depth of target with Shador against man Pittsburgh they do
a lot of four dbs, So if you get that
one up, the help might not be there. Maybe Bond

(01:05:55):
gets you a deep one. I loved Fanning. I had
him as a three star play. However, he's popping up
all over the news today a groin injury. They're debating
whether or not he's going to play. He's saying he's
going to. I don't always believe players maybe take him
down to two stars. I think you have to play
him though he's been the overall tight end one or
two in two of the last three weeks. He's averaging

(01:06:16):
more than ten targets a game in that span, so
I volume is everything. He's the guy in that offense Shador.
He can't start on him one star. He has more
picks than touchdowns, negative point two to four ePaper dropback,
which is not in any good and a sub seventy
passer rating. Pittsburgh looks like they're gonna return TJ. Watt.
They're also gonna return herbig in the middle, they're gettable.
But when that front seven is there and playing well

(01:06:38):
with say Are, they can get pressures without the blitz,
which has been a problem for Sanders, high Smith, Hayward
and Queen, you know, kind of game wrecking up the middle.
So I don't think you're gonna get much from Cleveland.
I would start Sampson in a flex spot. Other than that,
if you told me no Browns ever this weekend, no problem.

Speaker 2 (01:06:56):
Wow, that's interesting stuff right there. Our next game, New
England Patriots, New York Jets. Drake May certified MVP candidate
in his second season. Good for him, big ten around
for the Patriots this year. But Matt is anybody we

(01:07:18):
can really depend on in Championship.

Speaker 7 (01:07:19):
Week for sure? And as a.

Speaker 6 (01:07:24):
I don't know closet Jet fan or you know, depressed
Jet fan, I don't really wear my fandom on my
sleeve with the Jets anymore. But it's just not fair
that they get to go from Tom Brady to Drake
May this fast.

Speaker 7 (01:07:37):
I'm sorry.

Speaker 6 (01:07:38):
The Jets have toiled in QB obscurity for what fifty years,
and the Patriots might be able to run it back
with back to back Hall of famers and like a
five year span. It's just not fair. So that's all
I'm gonna say about that. But Drake May, he is
a clear four star quarterback for fantasy purposes. Arguably the
QB won this week. He is giving us plenty of sealing,

(01:08:02):
plenty of floor. He is a top twelve finisher just
about every week this season. There's no reason not to
trust him against the Jets. The bigger question is the
rest of the roster, because we've got some injury stuff
to worry about here. Trevion Henderson is in the concussion
protocol for the time being, but he is listed as questionable.

(01:08:22):
They're at least leaving the door open for the fact
that he could suit up versus the Jets on Sunday.
We'll see if that actually happens. I think the most
appealing situation for fantasy purposes would be that he does
not play, because it makes Romandra Street Stevenson much more appealing.
He would become a three star option at the position.
If Henderson isn't out the Jets, they are not a

(01:08:45):
good defense, especially after trading away Quinn Williams and Sauce Gardner.
The Patriots have a top two or top three implied
team total this week. Stevenson, even with Henderson around, has
still sort of been the guy getting most of the
high value touches in their backfield. But if Henderson is out,

(01:09:06):
the volume would be cranked up. So yeah, he would
be a three star play there. If Henderson plays, I
think that he and Stevenson are both two star options.
They're just not enough standalone volume to feel great about
either of them, but certainly a good enough spot, good
enough game situation. As huge favorites against the Jets in

(01:09:29):
the wide receiver corps, they're even more banged up than
they are at running back. Mac Collins is out, Kayshawn
Booty is out, to Mario Douglas questionable. That leaves Stefan
Diggs and Kyle Williams really as the only two truly
healthy bodies. I would not trust Kyle Wilson Williams at all,

(01:09:52):
even if he is going to be on the field
for the majority of the snaps. We just haven't seen
enough of him to feel comfortable using him in a
fantasy championship. But Stefan Diggs, I think you can probably
hang three stars on this week. He has been pretty volatile.
He's not in every down player, and the targets share
can really fluctuate from week to week. But the gows

(01:10:16):
is he's at least coming off of a strong showing
in Week sixteen, he finished with over twenty two PPR points.

Speaker 7 (01:10:22):
He was wide receiver seven. He's got some incentive stuff
in his contract too down the stretch.

Speaker 6 (01:10:28):
I'm not sure how much the Patriots are really thinking
about that, but I know that the people out there
love incentives. So you know, if you're somebody who thinks
that they're going to be focused on getting their guy
paid in the final two weeks, the Diggs does check
those boxes. And then finally Hunter Henry, I would give
him two stars. He's not the sexiest tight end option,

(01:10:52):
but he's pretty reliable. And again, with all the injuries
in the Patriots receiving corps, he could end up being
a beneficiary this week. I think he's like a borderline
top ten option at the position.

Speaker 1 (01:11:05):
Yeah, good stuff and life.

Speaker 2 (01:11:07):
Definitely a nice bounce back, and he stacking those potential
Hall of Fame quarterbacks back to back even though we're
still very young in Drake May's career. Like you said,
the rich just keep getting rich and Matt Faz and
New York Jets, on the other hand, the poor just
keep getting poor.

Speaker 4 (01:11:22):
Yeah, And I just want to kind of, you know,
double down on that Digs on the dig stuff because
you know, Kai Shan Boody, you know, with him out,
you know, weeks ten and eleven, Uh, Diggs became a
full time player, you know, high roight participation, thirty percent
target share over that period, including one top ten finish,
you know, for me, like Diggs's you know, a smash play,
even though he's been so boom bust you know, over

(01:11:44):
the course of the season with Booty out. Uh. And
then also obviously you know MATC Collins banged up too,
so there's gonna be plenty of opportunity there.

Speaker 5 (01:11:52):
But I had to.

Speaker 4 (01:11:53):
Get something in on the Patriots, Matt, because I got
I got the Jets here, right, like, I got to
do something. I'm also a closet Jets fan at this point,
you know, and I totally agree, Like this is just
not fair. Life is not fair at all. You know,
I made a decision when I had my kids not
to make the Jets fans, and I think I made
the right choice.

Speaker 7 (01:12:12):
That's a smart decision being a good father.

Speaker 4 (01:12:17):
That's the best decision I made as a dad, you know,
just overall, but that this was going to be easy.
You know, don't start anyone on the Jets in your
fantasy championship, you know, not always to start your Jets.
Brady Cook, zero stars. Let's go to Breeze Hall though,
like he's getting some work taken away right now. You
know from Isaiah Davis. He is getting all the rushing

(01:12:37):
work though, But Davis is on the field a lot
on pass and downs. I guess the good news is
that Breece is on the field in two minute situations.
He's a flex play at best right now, more of
an RB three than an RB two. I don't you know,
I don't even feel comfortable with him in my top
twenty four. He can definitely break a long one because
he's obviously that talented. But you know, with my fantasy

(01:12:58):
hopes and dreams on theline this week, it's to trust
a running back who hasn't cracked the top thirty six
finish over his last three weeks. So two stars for
Brest Hall. Ady Mitchell clearly the top wide receiver for
the Jets twenty seven percent or higher target share in
four of his last five games. But I don't really
love the matchup. I don't really trust the quarterback. I
think Mitchell is a low ceiling type of play this week,

(01:13:20):
they just have the lowest team implied total on the week.
The Patriots have been pretty tough against wide receivers lately,
so I'm gonna give Mitchell two stars reluctantly because you
know he can still get it done with that type
of target share. Somewhat flexworthy there, Okay, and that's really
gonna be it for Mason Taylor not playing in this game,
so I don't want to even touch the tight ends
on the jets behind him.

Speaker 1 (01:13:43):
Yep. Not really too much going on right there, but
it's still a lot left to go on in the program.
As we have our final of World Championship.

Speaker 2 (01:13:57):
Can we find you some hitting gyms to put you
over with the top. We'll let you know when we
return on Fantasy Football Weekly. Finald segment of the week

(01:14:40):
seventeen edition of Fantasy Football Weekly. Want to thank everybody
for rock and rolling with us throughout the course of
the entire season and especially as we move into the
all new version of Fantasy Football Weekly.

Speaker 1 (01:14:51):
I'm your host, Corey Parson, the Fantasy Executive.

Speaker 2 (01:14:53):
It's been on this journey for the past couple hours
now with my man John Legeza, Matt Lamarca, and for Sidiki,
got that.

Speaker 1 (01:15:02):
Right this time.

Speaker 2 (01:15:02):
Don't have anything for the kids to laugh about the
Sidiki household.

Speaker 1 (01:15:08):
Before we get into our last two contests.

Speaker 2 (01:15:10):
I want to take a look back at the season
as we started this journey way back June July August,
whenever you had your draft and began your journey into
this season. And I want to go back, and I'm
gonna start with you, John, When you look at some
of the reasons why people may not be playing in
Championship Week, it's because you could have had a player

(01:15:30):
that was drafted way too high or didn't live up
to expectations.

Speaker 1 (01:15:34):
Who was your biggest bust to the fantasy season.

Speaker 3 (01:15:38):
Yeah, like many other people that had back end draft picks,
you're tracking Brian Thomas that was a killer or generally
that type of production, with that type of prospect, pedigree
and track record for college production. And then we soared,
you know, elevate into superstar level status for fantasy purposes.

(01:15:59):
Then adding what we think of as an explosive offensive
mastermind felt like the perfect breakout scenario. And you know
that one was the old Falhorn the wa wamp because
it didn't go right. A lot of the other ones
are in our injuries. You know, I love Lamar Jackson.
I still think he's working. Yeah, that's that's the one.
Lamar Jackson. Are you're gonna beat yourself off for liking

(01:16:21):
Lamar Jackson. He's like the best football player on the planet.
It just didn't really happen. He didn't get healthy, it
never worked. So I go with BTJ, man that was
a real killer.

Speaker 1 (01:16:30):
Well you got Matt, Matt where you got for your
biggest bust of the year.

Speaker 6 (01:16:34):
Yeah, I'm going similar thought process for John, but at
least with BTJ, he had a couple of weeks where
he was injured, so you could confidently get him on
your bench at least.

Speaker 4 (01:16:42):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (01:16:42):
For me, it's it's Justin Jefferson. And it's sad to
say because I still think Justin Jefferson is one of
the best wide receivers on the planet. But we finally
found a few quarterbacks who cannot succeed in Kevin O'Connell's system.

Speaker 3 (01:16:56):
Where's Nick Mullens when you need him?

Speaker 6 (01:16:58):
Matt, seriously, we need we need somebody out there other
than JJ McCarthy and Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer. So
you know, hopefully with another offseason, maybe McCarthy takes a
step forward. But Jefferson clearly proved that he was not
quarterback proof this season.

Speaker 2 (01:17:17):
And that was the thing that we always thought about Jefferson.
Even with McCarthy coming in, and I'm a big j
McCarthy guy. Coming into the season, you kind of felt
like Jetta's was quarterback proof and that was not the
case this year. Still think he's a first round wide
receiver coming up next year. So even even if JJ
McCarthy is still the guy, what have we got for

(01:17:37):
Ross's biggest fantasy?

Speaker 4 (01:17:39):
But well, you know, initially it was Chase Brown. Early on,
I was basically drafting Chase Brown. My whole draft was
basically built around third round Chase Brown, Right, That's basically
what it was. And I was telling everybody Chase Brown
and Chase Brown the third round, no matter what. But
unfortunately that did not work out, you know, early on. Now,

(01:18:00):
thank god, like my whole fantasy career was on the
line of this one. He ended up, you know, kind
of picking it together, you know, once Joe Flacco came
through and once he kind of saved the day. And
now Joe Burrow's back and he's still doing this thing now.
Samajip Ryan, you know, still taking a lot of work away.
But it hasn't really affected Chase Brown a whole lot.
So thank god, you know, everyone kind of left me,

(01:18:21):
you know, off the hook at this point, so I'm
happy about that. But it wasn't looking pretty early to
start early in the season.

Speaker 2 (01:18:27):
All right, let's get back to our final two contests
that will determine Week number seventeen in fantasy. It is
the New Orleans Saints traveling Tennessee to take on the Titans.
I mean, really, as the great Stewart Scott once said,
because the schedule says, so, John, what's up with the
New Orleans side of the football.

Speaker 3 (01:18:48):
They're actually pretty exciting for a five win team. They've
won three in a row, and though they're not obviously
not going anywhere this season, I almost count him with
the teams that are playing for something, because in a
way I believe they are. This is a new regime
going on, new quarterback, new you know, young running backs
with a lave the kind of foundational piece, and I
think the front organ, the front office desperately wants to

(01:19:11):
find out if they need to make a move for quarterback,
if Tyler Shuck, who's looked pretty good at points, is
an answer. Remember, it's very hard to find that filler
you could take a first round pick and get zero
out of it. Right, you can have a fourteen win
team and end up out of the playoffs like the Vikings.
So they may say, hey, this kid's pretty good. Maybe
we're gonna move our draft back and look to fortify

(01:19:31):
around him. So Saints pretty exciting. They're strapped with a
twenty one point team total against the Titans. So you
know what, mister grinch, My heart is growing three sizes
this day because of actually bullish on one team. A
pair A posted a market. Granted it's not gonna be
in the backfield. One star for estimated Hull because Taysom Hill.
This is a miracle what this guy's doing. He's soaking

(01:19:52):
up all the good stuff. That's what I wrote. Even
if the volume is not great, everything that Taysom Hill
touches is high value. He might throw a touch he
might catch a touchdown, but when the chips are down,
Taysom Hill is the guy. So let's circle to the
tight ends fast. He's a two star dark horse play.
I don't know if it's gonna continue the utilization we saw,
but he does get the high value mix that I mentioned.

(01:20:13):
The thing is, it never seems to be sticky right.
Hill has this big breakout game and then the next
week everyone chases it. It doesn't happen. So I think
he's a good play if you're way behind, because I
don't think he has a good floor. But Hill has
a ceiling because he could score two three touchdowns in
three different ways. He's on the shortest list of people
that can do that. Over to the other tight end,
Juan Johnson, probably a four stars start. He's the overall

(01:20:36):
tight end ten. He has four top four different top
five finishes excuse me, twenty six percent target pro route
and two yards per out run with Tyler Schuck, he's
a big piece of that offense. Same four stars for
a LAVE. He's the overall wide receiver six. He's thirty
in the NFL in targets overall, twenty five percent target perrout,
two yards per out run. Again, always looking to check

(01:20:56):
those boxes for efficiency. That's with Tyler Shuck. Overall he's
over one hundred and fourteen a yards per game. So
they're rolling with the LAVE. He was one of the
smash picks this year. I'm gonna slap the three stars
on Shuck and he's the guy I'm looking to if
you have doubts about your quarterback. Don't get too cute people,
but if you have doubts, this is the guy I want.

(01:21:18):
He's my Rookie of the Year pick right now, and
we got two weeks ago. He's the QB ten and
EPA per attempt going back to week ten. I think
that was his second start. I'd like to give one
start to kind of get warm. He's also getting more
than four takeoffs per game. Right that you're scrambles plus
design rushes good, four than twenty rush yards per game.
In the Tennessee defense is terrible. Their pass photo with
Simmons in, he's the only good player, so you look

(01:21:39):
to avoid him. Now, starting quarterback Marcus Harris is out.
They get a lot of pressure, but you could beat
them over the top. They're the worst at yards perception,
yards after the kets per reception the last four weeks.
They've allowed multiple passing touchdowns in three of the last four.
So I want to roll with my Saints. I think
this is the oasis again. If you feel are you

(01:22:00):
making a coin flip, head me to Neworlean to get
it done against the Music City Titans.

Speaker 1 (01:22:05):
Those Music City Titans Matt cam Wood.

Speaker 2 (01:22:09):
You know whatever, interesting, still a lot to be work
to be done in Tennessee. Is anything we should be
looking for this week in week seventeen.

Speaker 6 (01:22:16):
Yeah, it's all a matter of perspective, right, Like Tyler,
Schuck comes in and he's he's given the Saints some life,
and I agree with John I think that he has
at least earned the opportunity to start games for the
Saints next year. Cam Ward, I believe in his talent,
he is not getting nearly the same opportunities to shine

(01:22:38):
that Chuck is with the Saints. And one brief note,
Chris Olave was limited at practice on Friday and did
officially pop up with a questionable designation. I would still
say it's more likely than not that he plays, and
you're certainly starting him if he's playing, But just something
to keep an eye on there. The only guy for
the Titans that's really worth considering at this point is

(01:22:59):
Tony Polla. I'm gonna give him two stars. He's had
a seventy percent rush rushing attempt share basically since Week eleven.
Another guy with some incentive stuff in his contract, and
he has played a little bit better here down the stretch.
So he's really the only person that I would consider
starting in this matchup, and I don't even think that
that's a strong start. He's more as as John would

(01:23:23):
have said, he's a one star RB two, two star
flex type of guy. So that's really it for the Titans.
We can finish that up, you know, pretty quickly.

Speaker 2 (01:23:33):
Yep, that's unfortunate for Tennessee Titans, but we will see
what it looks like for cam Wood and the Music
City team moving forward. This next one final game of
the slate and final game that we're going to discuss.
The New York Giants and the Las Vegas Raiders just

(01:23:53):
organizationally defunct both teams, I mean both teams.

Speaker 1 (01:23:58):
This is really.

Speaker 2 (01:23:59):
A battle for number one pick in the draft. Just
a lot going on poorly with wolf organizations. But we
got to break it down because they could be some
hitting gems in this contest right here.

Speaker 1 (01:24:11):
Faraz, you drew the short stick, so you have the
New York Giants.

Speaker 5 (01:24:15):
It seems like a theme.

Speaker 4 (01:24:16):
I don't know if you guys are catching that, but
it seems like a theme of this episode. But we
got the tank bowl here between the Giants and the Raiders.
The fight for the number one overall pick. But man,
it's really tough to decide what to do with Jackson
Dart after last week's debacle. He probably didn't help many
make it to the championship game. But in case you

(01:24:38):
made it through, you somehow sneath that you had Pooka
Or maybe he didn't start Jackson Dart because you knew
it was gonna be a tough matchup. His left tackle
Andrew Thomas won't be playing, but also no Max Crosby
this week either. The Raiders shut him down for the
rest of the year. He hates it. He apparently stormed
out of the building that those are the reports, but

(01:25:00):
that to Dart. You know, he was the overall QB
two in Fantasy points per game, only behind Josh Allen
since he's been the starter coming into last week. So
you know, do we just overweight last week's game and
have a short memory, you know, to the point where
you're looking for another option. I don't think we should.
You know, I'm gonna give Dart three stars this week.

(01:25:20):
He's got it done in some really tough matchups this year.
He has that rushing ability even if they, you know,
bring it down in terms of the design rushes. Because
of the concussions and that sort of thing. I think
he's still gonna get it done, you know, on those scrambles.
If there's any defense I'm willing to give a quarterback
a mulligan for, it's the Viking. So I'm back in
on Dart this week. This backfield now, Tyrone Tracy lead

(01:25:43):
dog in the Giants backfield right now. Singletary is still
getting mixed in a little bit, particularly at the goal line,
but Tracy is the guy. He's still averaged four point
four yards per carry last week, despite you know, the
tough outing overall for that for that offense, eighteen touches
in that tough matchup, eighteen touches the week before, three
top fifteen finishes over the last five weeks. So I'd

(01:26:04):
call them a low end RB two this week in
this matchup. Volume based play, but the Raiders are tied
for the most rushing touchdowns giving up to running backs.
They're giving up the set ninth most Fantasy points to
running backs this year, the eighth most over the last
eight weeks. You know, eighteen plus touches against that defense.
I think I have to give Tracy three stars this week.

(01:26:25):
It's kind of one of those things where you're just like, man,
do I really want to start Tracy this week? I
think I would Wando Robinson. You know, if you throw
out last week's game, you know, you look at his targets,
averaging ten point five targets per game. In the six
games coming into last week, the Raiders are giving up
the six most receptions per game, the tenth most Fantasy
points per game, the fifth most receiving touchdowns per game.

(01:26:47):
You know, neutral matchup out of the slot, No Max Crosby.
I think Wanda's a solid PPR wide receiver. Three you know,
three stars in PPR. I would say maybe two stars otherwise.
You know, But like, like I said, it's really tough
to get a gauge on what this matchup is going
to look like with two teams just desperately needing that
first round pick, the first overall pick, right, so it's

(01:27:08):
tough to kind of hang your hat, you know, with
one of these guys. But yeah, I don't think I
can trust Theo Johnson. You know, this week, first off,
the Raiders have given you know, have actually been pretty
good defending tight ends, but Johnson hasn't had more than
three catches since week seven and just once since week five,
so not ideal. I'll pass one star for THEO Johnson.

Speaker 1 (01:27:27):
All right, John, go ahead and bring us home with
the Las Vegas Raiders.

Speaker 3 (01:27:30):
Yeah, this one's easy enough for Raiders do it for
twenty point team total. So you have to give him
a little bit of attention. I think you know genty
has been He's been a volume based play all season.
Of course, the second I was ready to give up
on him, he like did a two handed three sixty
tomahawk dunk in my face. But such as life and
again it's a game of opportunities, and he gets them
against the world's worst defense, especially the Ryn defense. Giants

(01:27:54):
are worst or second to worst in EPA success rate,
yards for carry, yards before and after contact with rush,
explosive rush rates, and rushing touchdowns. So I think you
have to start genty because the ceiling is going to
be there, and Colt Miller might actually play. He got
in a couple of limited practices the wide receiver room.
I would ignore them outright. Trey Tucker is probably a
desperation play as a de facto number one option versus

(01:28:17):
bad defense. Brock Bauers is out. I think you start Meyer.
He ran sixteen to twenty six routes last week and
he was a tight end six without Brown earlier in
the year. I don't think the volume of the running
is there for Gino and the Giants. St is tanking,
so you're really you won't really want to avoid the Raiders.
But again, when opportunity calls, Myers and genty could definitely

(01:28:37):
get his home this weekend.

Speaker 2 (01:28:39):
All right, thanks a lot, good stuff everybody, not only
today but throughout the course of the season.

Speaker 1 (01:28:45):
Good luck to each and every last single one on you.

Speaker 2 (01:28:47):
In week seventeen you have Fantasy Footbaul Championship round. Can't
forget to give a shout out to my man Brian Johnson,
but John Legeza and Matt Lamark, Coreys and Fantasy executive
good luck.

Speaker 1 (01:29:01):
We are out.

Speaker 4 (01:29:20):
M

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