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EPISODE 19: WEEK 15 RECAP & FANTASY PLAYOFFS
40 Plays1 year ago
We recap week 15 of the NFL season and provide some insight to help teams in their final Fantasy playoff push!!
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Transcript
Introduction & Holiday Excitement
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to the Nonstop Fantasy Weekly Dynasty podcast. We are here with your hosts, Dave Reed, Ray Wilkinson, and Joey Gallip.
00:00:27
Speaker
Welcome in to the NSFW dynasty podcast. We are back. I'm your host Dave Reed joined by my co-host Ryan Wilkerson and Joey Gallo Mission boys last week. Hey, how you doing? Doing good excited for the holidays. We're in fantasy football playoff season now as well. So exciting time all around Yeah, it's the season and it was a
00:00:56
Speaker
Sad to miss last week, but I think we got a lot to dig into this week.
Playoff Standings & Stress-Free Holidays
00:01:01
Speaker
At least at least one of the three of us is still alive in the NSFW playoffs. So which one I forgot.
00:01:13
Speaker
That's right The good news is I get to enjoy the holidays now without having to worry about winning or losing but It was a rough week
00:01:29
Speaker
Yeah, I don't feel great about my prospects going on this weekend. And it's great that Christmas weekend, and there's football Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, which is Christmas Eve. Oh, and again, Monday on Christmas Day. So it's just going to wreck my entire holiday. So it's going to be fun. I'm very excited. It could make it that much better, though.
00:01:49
Speaker
I don't think it's going to, but I really hope so. I hope I'm
Fantasy Matchups & Monday Night Impact
00:01:53
Speaker
surprised. Well, the thing it's crazy in our matchup is I'll be done on Sunday and more than half a Schluter's team who I'm playing in the playoffs will not have played yet. So it's going to be a grueling Christmas day. Yeah. Schluter likes doing the Monday night comeback. He has a lot of Monday night players every week. Yeah.
00:02:13
Speaker
and I don't, I never come back on Monday night, so whatever. It's fun, it's gonna be great, it's fantasy playoffs, Merry Christmas, happy belated Hanukkah, but you know what, no matter what, it's gonna be fun. Got a lot of action going on, but as Joe mentioned, a lot, a lot to dig into, and we did miss last week, I apologize for that, hand up, got busy with work, but well, digging back in and first, wanna jump into some injuries that occurred this past week in the medical ward, so let's jump right in.
Key Player Injuries Affecting Fantasy Playoffs
00:02:43
Speaker
So this didn't happen in the game but pregame and this left a lot of team scrambling. Tyreke Hill was a late scratch with his ankle that he incurred the week before leaving a lot of managers scrambling and he missed practice again actually today on Wednesday.
00:02:58
Speaker
you hope he gets back in the practice gets at least a limited practice hopefully a full practice and later this week but something to monitor you know he's trying to get to 2,000 yards on the season but that definitely is a player that carried a lot of teams this year so we'll see what goes on there. Chris Olave was also elite scratch last week with an ankle but
00:03:20
Speaker
He is going to play on Thursday night, thank God, because I need him. Jamar Chase injured his shoulder and is likely to miss potentially multiple weeks. We'll see how that goes, but he's definitely going to miss this week. Marquis Brown aggravated his heel injury that he incurred the week before. Week 16 is currently up in the air, but honestly, you probably shouldn't have been starting him anyway, but yep, something to keep a note.
00:03:46
Speaker
Keaton Mitchell had a nasty ACL tear. Hopefully you didn't see the video like I accidentally did on Twitter. Thank you for auto playing videos on that platform. Zach Moss left with a shoulder injury and currently it's waiting to see what his status for week 16 is going to be. Trey Sermon actually came in. Yeah, that's the name. The blast from the past. We never thought we'd hear from him again.
00:04:09
Speaker
but she played pretty well in his absence. Will Levis, his injury looked like it was going to cost him a season, but it sounds like it was only a sprained ankle and it's still TBD if he's going to play this week. Zach Wilson, who after saying he wasn't sure if he was going to play,
00:04:24
Speaker
ended up getting a head injury and leaving the game. And it sounds like Simeon is going to be the starter for week 16. And Trevor Lawrence is currently in the concussion protocol because of course he gets hurt at the end of every game. And his week 16 is currently in depth. So we'll see what goes on there.
00:04:42
Speaker
Other things of note, not all injury related, but Mr. Trubitsky is benched and Mason Rudolph will be the starter for the Steelers on Christmas. Isaiah Pacheco is going to be back in week 16 after missing two weeks and Aaron Rodgers officially will not be coming back this year. So what are your guys thoughts on some of those injuries?
Injury Impacts & Quarterback Changes
00:05:02
Speaker
I mean the two big ones obviously Tyree Kill and Chris Olave, you know like you said they were late scratches so you kind of had to scramble to throw someone in there if you were counting on them. But those are two big names the first week of fantasy playoffs to be missing. Jamar Chase has had kind of an up and down year and the rest of them you probably weren't really starting or you weren't at least relying on as much as
00:05:25
Speaker
the other two. So hopefully, Hill and Olave are back this week for teams that need them. And then, yeah, I mean, no surprise, Aaron Rodgers will not be coming back this year. I don't know why you would ever come back. The Jets just look like a disaster scoring zero here last week. The Hill situation was weird to me, too, because the game, the previous week where he got hurt, he was out, and then he was back, and then he was out again.
00:05:54
Speaker
And you kind of thought, all right, well, if he was able to return at some capacity, that initial game where the injury took place, he probably would be OK to get out there this week, last week. But then he wasn't, and now he's missing practice again. So it's just weird vibes around that one. The Keaton Mitchell one is disappointing because he did look explosive, and he was kind of getting
00:06:20
Speaker
a little bit of a hold on that backfield. The last couple games, he had been out there first on the field and was getting a lot of the carries between the 20s and was looking pretty good with them. So it's unfortunate, but it probably creates a little bit of opportunity for Gus Bus to resume his role of default RB and maybe fall into the end zone a couple more times.
00:06:50
Speaker
I'm grateful for Steelers fans that they don't have to watch any more of Mitch Trubisky because it's never a good experience and he hasn't looked great. I think what we've seen from Mason Rudolph in the past has been a little more functional and probably means better things for the pass catchers, the offensive skill players for
00:07:17
Speaker
Pittsburgh, George Pickens and Deontay Johnson. I think personally, probably a little upside with a little more upside with Rudolph relative to Trubisky.
Team Struggles & Coaching Changes
00:07:29
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I did pick up Rudolph in a couple of these and I may have to start them because I've been decimated by injuries. One of those being Herbert on the Chargers and talk about the Chargers. They got
00:07:41
Speaker
pummeled on Thursday night football, the Raiders dropped 63 on them. And immediately, Brandon Staley lost his job as head coach, which I think we were all waiting for. But honestly, what you guys feel on the Chargers offensive players going forward, we'll get to Eckler a little bit later. But obviously, Keenan Allen missed, and he's getting older. Quentin Johnson is not the answer. Mike Williams just come back from injury.
00:08:10
Speaker
So like, what are your kind of prospects in, on Herbert who is like generally viewed as a top six, seven dynasty quarterback? I still think he's probably up there, but I, I do think it's concerning. I think the, you know, change at head coach is a welcome thing that everyone's kind of been waiting for. So hopefully that'll help turn things around next year. But like you said, a lot of his weapons are either older or very injury prone.
00:08:37
Speaker
And, you know, you, you really look ahead a year or two, you don't really know who's going to be there. Like it's Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Austin Eckler all going to be there. If not who is going to be there. So I think it's concerning, but if you look at the rest of the quarterbacks in the league, I think he's still definitely top 10 definitely wouldn't put him in the top five, but somewhere in that like six to 10 range, probably for me. Yeah, I would agree. I think.
00:09:03
Speaker
The outlook really comes heavily down to where they land from a head coaching perspective. Yeah, I'm not sure what the contract situation for Keaton Allen is like, how many more years he has left. I know that, you know, Quentin Johnson, Johnson hasn't been as productive as they had hoped for a first round wide receiver, but I'm not exactly ready to write him off yet. I mean, he did catch a touchdown last week. He has looked all right.
00:09:33
Speaker
the last couple weeks still not great but maybe a chance that he becomes something serviceable. I'm confident in Justin Herbert as a fantasy quarterback, as a decent fantasy quarterback, as long as there's a competent coach and OC in place there.
Game Outcomes & Quarterback Benching
00:09:59
Speaker
It doesn't seem like
00:10:02
Speaker
Kellen Moore is going anywhere. It was just Brandon Staley and, right, Staley was fired and the GM as well. Yep. I mean, when you give up, I think Staley was a defensive head coach and when you give up 63, really not doing your job there where the offense is okay. They're just dealing with a lot of injuries. Yeah. The offense hasn't been great.
00:10:29
Speaker
Well, it was okay. Yeah, it wasn't great. It definitely was a disappointment. It was underwhelming, even relative to what it was last year. Yeah, it's a weird situation. I think for now, for the next couple of weeks, I personally would not be chasing some of the points that were put up towards the end of last week's game in garbage time.
00:10:58
Speaker
against a Raiders defense that's not really very good and also was not really very motivated to play much defense up by, you know, however many, what were they up, nine touchdowns at that point? So a bunch of those guys caught up towards the end and Easton Stick actually ended up with a somewhat respectable fantasy day, some of the wide receivers. But he was horrible.
00:11:25
Speaker
Yeah, did not let the fantasy score make you think he was good. He was not good. Yeah, it's like Joe said, it was all garbage time points. One of our teammates dropped him mid-game. He was that bad.
00:11:41
Speaker
But tell about another quarterback who I did not show up this week. My boy, Sam Howell. I did. I mean, I gotta be unbiased here. Not great. Don't like to see him get benched and percent immediately.
00:11:56
Speaker
I think score more fantasy points than how it did and less time and then thrown to the corn so that one I definitely heard and they have brutal match ups going the rest of my so I'm not excited about starting how will because now you have this fear that he could get benched any moment
00:12:12
Speaker
so definitely makes you concerned he's got the justice week so word about that. Couple other upsets that we had though were a panthers beat the falcons which i think everyone who hates author smith is rejoicing about and the seahawks came in and beat the eagles
Quarterback Struggles & Fantasy Strategy
00:12:29
Speaker
the hand the eagles a third straight loss and drew lock becoming a hero but.
00:12:35
Speaker
I wanted to see if you guys had any thoughts on how those upsets came about, if there's any players in note from there. I mean, it was cool for me, personally, to see, I mean, it hurt Ryan, obviously. But JSN started to get some primetime looks, is a rookie that we've been hoping would break out. But any notable things from those upsets and or howl benching?
00:12:56
Speaker
Yeah, I mean the Seahawks and the Eagles, you know, like you said, JSN heard us in fantasy, but the Seahawks have actually been looking pretty good the last couple of weeks. And you've been mentioning it for a while that Eagles haven't been looking as good as everyone expected them to. So now three straight losses.
00:13:14
Speaker
Uh, you know, little concerning what's going on there. Um, I still think they're a pretty good team and not someone you want to see in the, in the playoffs, but, um, you know, Jalen hurts also was supposedly pretty sick going into the game. So, uh, we'll see how they finished the season, but I don't know if I would call that as much of an upset as it probably would have been at the beginning of the season.
00:13:38
Speaker
Um, and then how early, I mean, unfortunate for you, Dave. Um, you don't, don't want to see him benched, uh, and then have to start him the next week in the fans. I got Minshew. I got Minshew. I'm starting. Yeah. It'd be tough to start him for sure. Um, you said Brissett came in and McLaurin actually did great once Brissett came in. So who knows what they end up doing there. I have Brissett too. I just like need them to commit to one. I can't have them both playing a half a game.
00:14:09
Speaker
Yeah, you don't want to be starting a half game. It's almost like Sam Howell has been good enough where Brissette hasn't really gotten the opportunity that I think going into the season, we kind of thought there was going to be a tag team approach. But how has been competent enough where Brissette hasn't really gotten the opportunity. But Brissette's actually pretty good. You know, like he looked good when he came in last week.
00:14:36
Speaker
And he's been pretty good for fantasy and decent for NFL, for real football in the past. I think they should give him a shot, quite frankly. I mean, at this point, the team's not playing for much. So, you know, I know it would be easier for you if they would just come out and say that, but... Pick one. Pick one. Just come out and said this week that they were starting for set. You said you had Minshu in there. Who does Indy play?
00:15:05
Speaker
I think that's right. That's right in Atlanta. I'm going. No matter what. Maybe any other team. I think I would ride it for set because he's pretty good for fantasy.
00:15:25
Speaker
But I think they get the 49ers the following week. So there's like, I don't think I'm starting the commander's quarterback the rest of the season. Um, but moving on to another quarterback, I want to say one more thing. Uh, I know I've said this many times and I just want to reiterate it for probably like the seventh or eighth time, but, uh, I had like an, I had like an eight leg parlay. I was at a wedding on Sunday.
00:15:51
Speaker
And all the people who were at this wedding had this had a big parlay together. And the only leg of the parlay that lost was the Falcons money line against the Panthers because Desmond Ritter stinks.
00:16:11
Speaker
And for some reason in torrential rain with the lead in chip shop field goal range against an absolutely atrocious team who can't score a touchdown if their entire season depended on it, just decided to do his normal, like every game he throws a pick directly into the chest of the DB. And in this instance, he did it with four minutes to go in the fourth quarter and naturally
00:16:41
Speaker
Carolina was able to get the ball to field ball range and that was it. I landed in touch the ball again and they became the second loss for the Carolina Panthers or at the hands of Carolina Panthers. And we're going to bench this week. It's going to be Heineke this upcoming week. It was that bad.
00:17:04
Speaker
As soon as I saw it, I was like, obviously, he's getting benched. You can't play this guy again. Interception machine directly to like, they're not even they don't even have it's just every week.
Player Analysis & Season Prospects
00:17:16
Speaker
It's directly into the chest of a DB. I'm like, I might do like a montage of it and put it we can put it up on our podcast, TikTok. And it'll just be Desmond Ritter throwing picks in the red zone, right into a DB.
00:17:32
Speaker
beautiful passes to that TV. That was the intended target. Yeah. Got a fire, Arthur Smith. But one last note before we jump in is, uh, kind of want to get your, uh, temperature check, Joe, cause.
00:17:47
Speaker
I haven't been overly impressed. I don't think he's thrown more than one touchdown in a game yet. He's had some rushing touchdowns. But as someone who drafted him early and has been waiting for him to come around, because he's played at an MVP level in the past, what is your current view of him so far? So I haven't been blown away. But at the same time, I'm not concerned.
00:18:16
Speaker
First and foremost, I mean, he's struggling in terms of having real explosive weapons to throw the ball to on the outside, right? Like we kind of talked about this weird Hollywood Brown heel situation going on that's been going on for the last like three weeks. Michael Wilson just came back last week, played a decent amount of snaps, played almost the whole game, but he ended up with three targets and no catches.
00:18:44
Speaker
That's the first time they've ever been out there together. It's not like they've had a lot of extensive time. Trey McBride is looking great, and he's basically the primary target in the offense. He had very good numbers in his favorable matchups. So Atlanta, Houston, and the Rams, QB 13, 6, and 9. And then the last two weeks at Pittsburgh and home against San Francisco, those are just
00:19:14
Speaker
Not great from a matchup perspective and he has been running which I like And the next three weeks at Chicago at Philadelphia home for Seattle Those are all pretty pretty pretty good matchup. So I think if he finishes the year strong And he probably will I mean we'll see right, but I'm not concerned about him going into next year I think the team's gonna still be rolling with him
00:19:44
Speaker
From a fantasy standpoint, I don't think the run is going anywhere. So I don't know if he's winning a Super Bowl, but I think he'll be all right for fantasy. Yeah, and he is averaging 17 points per game in the five games he's played. So it's not like it's been terrible as that 220 point game. So I agree with Joe. I think they probably stick with him next year. So fantasy wise, you know, still relevant, but real life, maybe not doing as well as you hoped.
00:20:13
Speaker
Yeah, I mean it is encouraging to see the running. That was the one thing you weren't sure like how that would.
00:20:18
Speaker
Uh, how confident he be in that coming off the injury. But I think the biggest is he has no weapons outside of Trey McBride. Uh, but there's a, uh, a rookie that they are currently lined up to potentially draft in Marvin Harrison Jr. That could quickly change it around next year. So this is the time of year where you start trying to make your bets before these things happen. So in the off season, if you believe they'll, they'll make that drop pick and it could, uh, increase the value. Could be, could be a target. And if you are concerned.
Emerging Fantasy Performers & Playoff Potential
00:20:46
Speaker
maybe ship them off but this is the time of the season we start thinking about that like what is the next year's outlook gonna be but before next season there's still the playoffs this year so we kind of want to give you some players that work kind of eye that we think it help
00:21:03
Speaker
help you get to a championship or a title based on, you know, some type of players that have blown up in the past, but some of these are like, some are studs that we know have gone into like God mode. Like in the past I've had, this is like Jamal Charles who just blew off. This is like, that was a throwback, but I want to give some players starting off that we have kind of been studs the whole year, but we think are really going to go into God mode going to the final weeks of the season. So,
00:21:30
Speaker
Joe, how do you kick it off? Because this guy already started it off in the first week of the playoffs. Yeah. So for me, my guy here is going to be James Cook. And it's been a couple of weeks now. He's well into on-fire range. So the Bills fired their offensive coordinator after their week 10 loss at Denver. And since then, Cook has posted fantasy totals of 18, 13,
00:22:00
Speaker
23 and 35 points over the last couple over the last four weeks and More meaningful than that. He's getting a ton of work on the ground. So carries I think up until the change in offensive coordinator cook had one game on the season with or two games on the season with 15 or more carries he said 15 or more carries in three of the last four weeks and
00:22:29
Speaker
25 carries last week, almost 200 yards. He's been the RB2 the last two weeks and he's up to the RB5 on the season. And what's even more impressive about what he's doing is that he's doing it in the face of getting vultured on the goal line. He got vultured by Latavius Murray last week and he got vultured by Josh Allen twice, I think.
00:22:55
Speaker
last week and another once or twice the week before. And another, I think Josh Allen's actually scored rushing touchdowns in like four out of the last five games and double digits in a few. So it's a situation where he's getting a lot of volume. He's doing a lot with it. He's involved in the passing game, seven targets, four targets, seven targets, five targets, three targets the last four weeks. And if they needed to throw the ball more last week, they weren't dominating. He likely would have had
00:23:24
Speaker
more involvement in the passing game last week. The thing you have to worry about with Cook is the touchdown variants, but the touchdown variants could swing his way too. And if he ends up with a game where he gets a goal line carry or two, or ends up getting the touchdowns inside the five that have been going to Josh Allen and Motavius Murray,
00:23:52
Speaker
I mean, honestly, I don't know if there's anybody or very few at the running back position who you feel more comfortable about rolling out there right now with the situation the Bills are in and how well he's been performing.
00:24:06
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, he's looked great. And if you can have a piece of that, Bill's offense, it's always a good thing. It's interesting because he's been doing so well. I feel like it's almost been affecting the other superstars on the Bill's offense. Diggs, almost inversely of Cook, started out the season on fire in the last couple of weeks, has kind of dropped to where you're almost a little concerned starting him now.
00:24:32
Speaker
Um, and Josh Allen, even, you know, like you said, he's still vulturing some rushing touchdowns, so he's still getting his fantasy points, but he hasn't been putting up those like 30, 40 weeks as consistently as he was at the beginning of the year either. So yeah, I mean, last week he only completed seven passes for 94 yards because James Cook was so affected. I think the quote that Josh Allen had was something of the nature of like,
00:24:57
Speaker
I feel like the kid who got an A on the class project and did none of the work, because he didn't have to do anything. James Goode just dominated the entire game. Yeah, and it seems to be working. So you would assume they're just going to keep feeding him. So I think Joe is right. He could definitely be a huge fantasy asset these next couple of weeks. For sure. Right. You've got to.
00:25:19
Speaker
It's good to see, no, I was going to say, it's good to see that some of these teams, like, like you see them run a couple of times and they're kind of gashing and then they just go away from it. Right. So it's good to see that they're recognizing they have an advantage here and they're continuing to, to, uh, stick with it. Yeah. Thank God. They got rid of Singletary cause that you would see the slashing by James Cook. Oh, let's go back to Singletary. Um, but right. You got another running back who.
00:25:49
Speaker
This is again one of Joe's boys that came in and has like had an unbelievable season, but why don't you jump in?
00:25:56
Speaker
Yeah, I went with Kyron Williams, kind of for the same reason as James Cook, right? He had 27 carries last week. True bell cow, which is pretty rare nowadays. He's getting those goal line touches. You know, Stafford's not going to run it in and you finished with 152 yards in a touchdown while adding five catches only for three yards, but still getting the targets and the Rams offense is firing on all cylinders, so.
00:26:23
Speaker
He's been looking really good. I think he's going to put up pretty huge numbers these next couple of weeks. They faced the Saints and the Giants in the next two games. The Saints aren't terrible against the run. They ranked 16th. But the Giants ranked 26th against the run. And since returning in week 12, Kyron Williams has 35, 18, 13, and 22 fantasy points.
00:26:49
Speaker
He's got a huge role and should continue to put up some big numbers. And I think he's going to help a lot of teams win a championship. And it's not really new. He's been doing it all season, but I definitely think it continues through the fantasy playoffs.
00:27:02
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I'm officially a believer, which is crazy. I was like, Joe knows. I was like the complete opposite. I was like making jokes about it. I thought he was trash. I actually tried to acquire him in a different dynasty league of men, because I'm like, I think they're sticking with this guy now. And he's been the focal point of the offense.
00:27:22
Speaker
I, if you have him like that, he's definitely going to be someone who's on a lot of roster championship teams. I think because you've got him for so cheap and he's been so he's literally like a top three running back and he got it from nothing. Yeah. I think he's an RB number six on the year, but he also missed time. Yeah. You missed what one, two, two games. So yeah, he's been huge for you. But props to you, Jeff. Yeah.
00:27:51
Speaker
I mean, it worked out. It's nice to get him every once in a while. But the thing about Byron Williams is he's involved in the passing game, he's involved between the 20s, and he gets all the goal line carries. It's one of those situations where like, there could be a lot more running backs like him. And it's just like, Sean McVay is kind of a dream to fantasy players in that he generally just rolls with one running back and
00:28:17
Speaker
He gets the majority of the work. He gets passing down work. He gets the goal line work. So that was kind of my logic in going after Kyron, which is, you know, I had my concerns about Cam Acres with the injury and like on the off chance that it's it Kyron Williams happened to hit then like this could be in the cards just given McVay's history. So it's pretty nice. It's it's good to see for him and unfortunately the the
00:28:46
Speaker
the dynasty league where I own him, where I made the savvy move to acquire him before the season started. Travis Kelce kind of let me down and I'm, and I've been eliminated, but hopefully he'll keep going next year. Yeah. I mean, I, I think you will. And honestly, the biggest thing for me, Juan, but he actually looks like fast on the field now. Like he never to me looked fast. He was always like a plotter and now he's like,
00:29:12
Speaker
I don't know, he's just beating defenders. So I think the Rams are going to be invested in him going forward. But kind of another player who going into the season, wasn't highly thought of and wasn't like in redraft, he definitely wasn't a highly drafted player and rookie drafts was maybe a second round rookie pick, but has been like a revelation who I also now think the team is going to be committed to.
00:29:37
Speaker
is Rashad White. And like, if you don't own Rashad White, you may not realize how good he's been this year. He's the RB four in the year. And since week seven, he's been an absolute rock for your team. His fantasy finishes over that time. Since week seven is the RB 16, 11, one, 12, 14, 18, 10, six, and then six this last week.
00:29:59
Speaker
And they've definitely been committed to him and he's becoming more efficient as the season has gone on He's got 20 plus rush attempts the last three weeks averaging over 4.2 yards per carry in each of those games and to go wrong He's also getting a nice receiving baseline, which has always been his calling card coming out of college He's already has 50 receptions on the year this so far
00:30:22
Speaker
And he closes out the air with Jacksonville this week in New Orleans the next weeks neither of these that I'm that concerned about for him and New Orleans obviously is a solid day, but I'm not concerned especially because he's so involved in both the running and passing game as we mentioned like if you're Involved in both you're gonna get fantasy points. So I think going forward starting Rashad white like you can do with full confidence know you're gonna get at worse like a back in RB 1 performers, but
00:30:50
Speaker
What are you guys views of that? And what are you aware of? How good white has been this year? Well, I have him. So, uh, I've definitely been aware of how good he's been.
Quarterback Performance & Fantasy Value
00:30:59
Speaker
Um, but you know what I think's interesting? We all went with running backs and all kind of went with, you know, a true three down. Belkow running back, which is becoming rare in the NFL, but these teams that these running backs are on are all doing well. So it's interesting that.
00:31:19
Speaker
teams have kind of gone away from a true three down running back because the teams that have stuck with it seem to be doing pretty well. Also, none of these players going into draft season were highly drafted. Even preseason coming into the season in the dynasty, you could have got them for much, much cheaper. At most, maybe a second round pick, you probably could have got these guys. Yeah, which goes to show
00:31:47
Speaker
You know, when drafting, if you can target someone that could fall into a three down role, it's really, really valuable. Yeah. I think when they, when, when you kind of use that like phrase, whether for redraft or dynasty, right? Like league winner. Um, it generally, it generally speaks to a player who is performing like a top 10 guy, uh, without the top 10 draft capital, right? All these guys.
00:32:15
Speaker
in redraft. I mean, who the hell even knows where you were drafting Kyron Williams and Chad White and Gene Preston. Mid-round at best. So yeah, I mean, it kind of makes you reminisce a little bit about the old days where there were a lot of running backs who had this kind of dominant role and
00:32:38
Speaker
Now it's like they're few and far between. And if you happen to have one of those guys, and if you didn't have to spend an early draft pick on him, I mean, obviously we could have all said, pushing McCaffrey for this one, because if you have him, he's probably taking me. He's cheat code. He's better than most quarterbacks in a super flex. But if it happens to happen, it's producing. Yeah, it's, it's, it's a huge event.
00:33:02
Speaker
Speaking of quarterbacks, I know there's a couple other ones before we move on. Just a couple other players who we know or may have already been producing at the quarterback position that will probably carry a lot of teams to a title as well. One guy I want to call is Brock Purdy, who is currently your NFL favorite to win the NFL MVP. I think it's like minus $200 right now. He's just been a stud if you like.
00:33:27
Speaker
which is another crazy story. We're talking about like late traffic. This was the last overall pick in the NFL draft. And he might win the MVP in his second year, which is just out of control. But he's perfect fit for that offense. He's got weapons everywhere. He's been a top six quarterback, five of the last six weeks. Absolutely crazy. And I think he might be the most owned player on teams this year who win a title because you got him for cheap, maybe off waivers. And he's been a stud.
00:33:55
Speaker
This week he gets the ravens a little tough, but next week if you get to the finals he's playing the commanders. They're going to light up the commanders. I don't think there's any doubt there, but I know Ry, you have one other quarterback you want to throw out there. Yeah, so I was also going to mention Dak Prescott. He did just put up a massive dud in week 15. He only had six fantasy points and no touchdowns.
00:34:18
Speaker
If you have him, you might not be continuing to the next round, but if you are lucky enough to survive or have a buy, I do think he still holds a lot of value the next couple of weeks since his buy in week seven. If you exclude last week, he's been averaging 33 points per game over seven weeks. So that's really, really good value. And we've talked about quite a few high end QBs going down like Burrow and Herber and
00:34:47
Speaker
Some others not performing like we're used to Mahomes is only averaging like 19 points a game. So, Dak may turn out to be one of the best quarterbacks for the next two weeks if he can get back to what he was doing before week 15. Yeah.
Unexpected Playoff Impacts & Player Potential
00:35:04
Speaker
And one other pleasure is to keep an eye on, and these are studs again that you've had on your team is Jonathan Taylor. He's hurt, but the Zach Moss also got hurt and the Colts are actually in the playoff hunt right now. I think there was seven seed and the Colts actually never put Jonathan Taylor on IR, which means they thought that he could get back.
00:35:23
Speaker
earlier than four weeks potentially and he's already missed three weeks of games so he's in a realistic window to potentially get back this week and he's got some solid matchups against Atlanta this week and the Raiders next week so not giving the full award for potentially going fantasy god mode but there is potential that he comes back and goes beast mode these final two weeks and is the player that you hoped he was when you drafted him. Yeah I have a lot of regrets about not owning Brock Purdy in
00:35:54
Speaker
And this league, I liked him a lot and I feel like we had a lot of Trey Lance banter and I was kind of just like, yeah, but you know, Purdy's going to be the starter. He's getting all the hype. And I didn't put my money where my mouth was then. And then I reached out to Schluter kind of like week two or three, like, hey, is Purdy available? And he kind of responded something like, what the hell is going on with Purdy? You're like the fifth person to reach out to me about Purdy this week. And I think he, I think he wised up and decided to just
00:36:22
Speaker
Hang on. He was kind of available at one point. I was, I was debating it as well. I was like, yeah, maybe, maybe I'll kick back in. And now I have to play him. So great. The tables have turned on you, Dave. Not great, but, uh, moving on to the next section. So those are studs. Those are players that you like, you expected to be doing well, but they're the ones that we think are really going to be a rock for a team. But.
00:36:46
Speaker
A lot of teams win for the players that come out of nowhere. They're your bench players that really just get hot at the end of the season. Jared McKinnon last year just came out of nowhere and just started going bonkers. And these are the players that really put you over the edge. So I want to give a couple of calls there. So, Ry, your guy actually already blew up this past week, but I think is a great call because he's someone that people are getting excited about.
00:37:11
Speaker
Yeah, and in my defense, I did have this guy queued up before he put up his 23 per point. I'll attest to that. But yeah, I went with Ty Chandler. This is a guy you likely hadn't started all year until maybe last week.
00:37:29
Speaker
He was averaging like three points a game. His two best weeks were 10 points and 13 points and outside of those weeks he had done pretty much nothing. However, with Madison missing last week, the door opened and he had 23 carries for 132 yards and a touchdown.
00:37:47
Speaker
which is basically what Madison owners have been hoping for all year. He also seems to be taking over the lead role, even with Madison coming back. The Vikings head coach said he is absolutely a guy that is going to see a featured, featured role in our offense. And he's been performing better than Madison when he's had the chance anyways. So he faces the Lions and the Packers over the next two weeks. Packers are pretty bad against the runs.
00:38:16
Speaker
I think he continues to stay hot and will be a huge asset in the fantasy playoffs. Yeah. And he looks, he looks good. So good. He's so like, maybe it's because Madison looks so on not explosive that looks so good. But like, it's, he just like, why was this guy not playing earlier in the year? He's just so much better than Madison. Yeah, I think it's just that like everyone thought this was going to be Madison, but it turns out it's Chandler and
00:38:47
Speaker
Uh, he's literally hitting at the exact perfect time, you know, week one of the fantasy playoffs, he goes off for 23 points and now should be featured hopefully the next two weeks as well. Um, you know, maybe it's a little concerning Madison comes back and they give him some carries, but I don't know after that performance, if you're the Vikings, I think you got a feed channel or the ball. Yeah, I don't, I think they've been looking for excuse to not get Madison in the ball. So they finally have it.
00:39:13
Speaker
But another guy who actually blew up this past week, but I also had queued up. He did have a good week the other week, but the guy who I think is going to be carrying a lot of teams to the titles is David Njoku. Because after what has been somewhat of a disappointing career so far, because you've seen flashes from Njoku before, but they have never been sustained. But it's because it's always been a small spurt. Seems like he's finally putting it together because the Browns finally have an elite quarterback.
00:39:41
Speaker
in Flacco. He loves it. That's right. Flacco is the QB of the, like Cleveland Browns future right there. He has finished as the tight end to the last two weeks and he had targets last week of 14 and the week before of eight. And he's always been again, a red zone target because he's like athletic free.
00:40:03
Speaker
And it did work again in his favor those past two weeks. He had one touchdown this past week and two the week before. But he's also now a primary read in the offense with that type of target count. Again, always an athletic freak, but you combine that with those target counts. And a team that cannot run the ball, so they're going to be throwing the ball a ton. And I think Flacco has thrown at least 44 pass attempts each of the past three weeks. Plus, he's got a solid schedule for tight ends with Houston and New York Jets and championship weeks.
00:40:33
Speaker
And Joe was going to potentially finish the year as the tight end one or very worse, a high end option there. And it's crazy. Cause I know I wasn't really a believer for a while and Joe and I have owned them another league and we kind of just were out on him. He's, he's going to carry a lot of teams out there who would see what happens going beyond this year. But right now when you're trying to win a title and joke is definitely going to help you.
00:40:57
Speaker
Yeah, and like you said, it's always been red zone for him, but they're hitting him downfield. Like some of these touchdowns that he's scoring the last couple of weeks since Blocko took over have been downfield touchdowns, like 20, 25, 30 plus yards. So it's pretty awesome. It's good to see. And he's definitely got the skills in his bag. It's just not the way they were using him in the offense previously. Guy's also really tough. I don't remember. He burned his face off a couple months ago and didn't miss a game. This guy's insane.
00:41:27
Speaker
Joe, why don't you tell us who you got?
Tight End Success & Dynasty Assets
00:41:31
Speaker
Yeah, so for me, it was funny. As I was kind of thinking about this, I'm like, we probably could have named this award after James Connor as well. And he doesn't come out of nowhere, per se. He comes out of nowhere in the respect that he's drafted with decently high capital and then kind of disappears for some point of the season.
00:41:54
Speaker
He underwhelms, he gets hurt, he misses five to seven weeks, and then he comes back and that's kind of where he emerges out of nowhere to win new fantasy championships. And it's not surprising that this year it's kind of the same script where after nine weeks of kind of uselessness, Connor's heating up again at just the right time. So last year Connor started slow, missed time, and underwhelmed.
00:42:23
Speaker
and then returned late in the season and ripped off RB finishes of five, 14, four, four, 12, five, 15 for weeks 10 through 17 and was an integral part of a lot of fantasy champions. And if you fast forward to this year, the last two weeks Connor has put up 23 and 17 points respectively, good for RB five and 11 finishes after, like I said, missing, I think he missed
00:42:53
Speaker
six weeks in the middle of the season, six or seven weeks. Had an okay start to the season, but then was hurt. And Arizona's passing offense, like I mentioned earlier, is having some issues. Obviously they're banged up. Their number one target is tight end at this point by far. But they had Chicago and Philadelphia the next two weeks. And Philadelphia is on paper a good rush defense.
00:43:23
Speaker
Uh, but they just had quite a bit of trouble with Ken Walker last week. Uh, he, he really, really, uh, um, sliced them up on Monday night. And, um, you know, I, I don't, I wouldn't be surprised to see, I mean, obviously Chicago is pretty terrible against the run, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Connor put up good numbers against both of these two defenses to, to finish up the season.
00:43:47
Speaker
So I think it's going to be a very similar script for James Connor season this year as it was last year. Well, she wouldn't because I think I'm playing him. No, I agree. He's been looking great the past few weeks and.
00:44:03
Speaker
Yeah, it's crazy that certain running backs just get stronger as it sees it go on, or healthy for an encounters case, because he's missing out. But I do want to call out a couple other players, and I want to jump in on one, because you kind of alluded to him. It's Trey McBride, which we haven't given, I don't think, too much love to. And I think we really need to start doing it, because he's making the case to be a top three tight end in Dynasty. And if you said he was the top tight end in Dynasty,
00:44:33
Speaker
I wouldn't, I wouldn't say that's a crazy statement. I'm not saying I believe that, but I think there is grounds to believe that. Cause he has been an absolute stud this past week. He's the only reliable pass catching option for the Cardinals. Again, like nine targets a game. And if you watch him, he's making like big boy catches. These aren't like just like little dink and dunks. Like he is like jumping up over defenders and he does have a pretty juicy schedule close of the year.
00:45:01
Speaker
He's going to be someone as well, who's going to carry a lot of teams, uh, to a title at the end of the year. But guy came out of nowhere. He looked like he might've been a disappointed after his rookie year, but he's looking like a potential stud at the tight end position. Yeah. And the tight end landscape in general has just changed so much this season. I'm looking at the top tight ends from week 15 and it's Laporta, Nujoku, Henry, and McBride. If you said that those were going to be the top four tight ends at the beginning of the season, you'd be crazy. So.
00:45:30
Speaker
Uh, I know we're going to talk about some of the top tight ends, uh, later in the podcast, but it's, it's interesting to see. And, uh, you know, I think both tight ends you've mentioned, Dave, definitely are going to help some teams win. For sure. Any other players, uh, jumping out at you guys that you think are going to come out of nowhere and help some teams get to a title?
00:45:49
Speaker
You know, we named it the Jarek McKinnon award. So I feel like we have to mention Jarek McKinnon himself. Uh, he literally scored 16 fantasy points in week 15 and 11 and week 14. Obviously that was just because Pacheco was out. Um, but hey, if Pacheco was injured and McKinnon keeps finding some playing time, that's a guy who you definitely weren't starting before week 14. And all of a sudden here he is fantasy relevant again in the playoffs.
00:46:18
Speaker
Yeah, and I would throw Gus Edwards out there.
Injury Opportunities & Streaming Options
00:46:21
Speaker
I think he was, like I mentioned earlier in the pod, Keaton Mitchell was getting a little more of the between the 20s opportunities. He was the first guy on the field the last couple of games, but obviously now he's done for the year and Baltimore wants to be a run first offense and Gus will continue to get opportunities as the lead back there. So I think
00:46:46
Speaker
Maybe not totally, totally out of nowhere, but he's had another one of those seasons, Gus, that's kind of been up and down. He was very, very good for a while. And then when Keaton emerged, he kind of started to fade a bit. But I think he's going to come back on strong to finish out these last couple of weeks.
00:47:08
Speaker
Yeah, I really wish you would stop picking Schluter's team players, but alas, but I got a couple of deeper cuts for the listeners here. Noah Brown is someone who like was probably just lucky in your bench and made a cutout for waivers, but he's flashed a couple of times this year when he was lead wide receiver. And this past week he did it again. He went eight, had 11 targets.
00:47:31
Speaker
and went eight for 82 in a touchdown. And that was with Keenum at quarterback. And it does sound like Keenum's going to be the quarterback again this week against the Browns. But Nico Collins is still a little banged up. He may be back. But I think Noah Brown is still a good start this week. But if you get to championship game and Stroud is back in week 17, which he sounds like he should be, you get to play the tight end secondary. And I think Noah Brown is going to blow up in week 17. So that's someone who, if you have on your bench, I'd be very excited about.
00:48:01
Speaker
a lot of spots, but he's been a very good streaming quarterback too. And he's put up some solid weeks. Obviously this past week was a big blow week for him, but he's had a lot of games where he's been like a back and QB one high on QB two. And with all the injuries at quarterback, I think
00:48:17
Speaker
This is a good pivot. If you, if you have that ability and he has a pretty decent schedule, he's got Atlanta who is not the worst defense, but they're, they're not the most elite either. So I think he still be okay. And they got the Raiders in week 17. So as long as he gets Michael Pittman back, I think they'll be okay. Especially also if he gets Jonathan Taylor back and he does some dump offs and see a JT take it to the house and a super deep gut. Hunter Henry, obviously we talked about the tight end landscape emerging, but.
00:48:44
Speaker
some people are still fishing for a good tight end. And Hunter Henry has had a great connection with Zappy in the red zone lately. He had two touchdowns, two weeks, I think it was, yeah, two weeks ago and then one last week. But this past week he actually got nine targets and went seven for 66. So he seems to be a reliable target for Zappy.
00:49:05
Speaker
The one thing I will caution, he did get banged up. So we'll see if he's playing this week or not. But he does have some decent matches for the tie-down position against Denver and Buffalo to close up the year. So if you're really just swimming in the muck here for the tie-down, I think Hunter Henry could potentially actually have a big blow-up week for you. I mean, there's no one else there for Patriots. So Hunter Henry is, you know,
00:49:32
Speaker
getting nine targets because who else are you going to throw the ball to? But yeah, I mean, he had 20. He had 20 fantasy points in week 15. So definitely on the radar. Yeah, both he and Trey McBride on my roster, in addition to Dallas Godare. So in the office, Godare. If anybody's in need of a tight end, the shop will be open.
00:50:00
Speaker
and if anybody wants to reach out. That's right. I likely won't be looking to hang on to all three of them.
00:50:08
Speaker
Who knows, I've started a lot of time ends this year. But moving to the final section is the All-Rookie Super Bowl Award, or the R-A-R-S-B, or Amun-Ra Sane Brown Award, because in Amun-Ra's rookie year, he blew up the back half of the year. This does happen a lot. Rookies put together the back half of the season, and they can carry to a title. So who are some rookies that we think are gonna help carry some players to the title? So Joe, why don't you jump in first?
00:50:39
Speaker
Yeah, so I'll take the easy road here and I'll go with Jameer Gibbs. I think it would be a shame to not mention him for recognition in the category where we talk about rookie awards where the last couple of weeks he's really looked like probably the most explosive and dynamic rookie of them all. Gibbs has looked stellar and he's getting into the end zone. He's getting more opportunities on the ground.
00:51:08
Speaker
And another thing that I've noticed is Detroit's defense has gotten significantly worse as the season has gone on and as a result.
Rookie Performances & Fantasy Concerns
00:51:19
Speaker
Gibbs has found, I don't know if there's exactly correlation, but when they're in competitive and negative game script, I feel like Gibbs is on the field a little bit more and they use him in the passing game a little bit more. We talked about,
00:51:35
Speaker
the last couple of weeks, how maybe the safest bet in all of football is the Jameer Gibbs
00:51:45
Speaker
over 13, 14, 15, 16, whatever his longest, longest rush prop is. I think we've hit it. How many weeks in a row have you hit it, Dave? Eight weeks. And it only wasn't longer because I think it was hurt the week, like nine weeks ago. I was looking back to it because like betting it, it's a money printing machine. I bet it without a doubt, like I don't care. The NFL say that's the first thing I throw down.
00:52:09
Speaker
Yeah. And like you said, right? Like the last couple of weeks with Montgomery fully healthy, he's still putting up big numbers. He's still getting into the end zone significant. He's getting into the end zone on the ground. He's getting into the end zone in the air. Um, and I really, I mean, he doesn't have the best match ups the rest of the way, um, at Minnesota and at Dallas are both relatively difficult, but you know, Detroit's in the middle of a,
00:52:38
Speaker
playoff race right now and the defense hasn't been very good especially against the pass so I think that he's gonna continue to have I mean hopefully the rushing opportunities are stay where they are and I mean it would be nice I would love to see them bump up just a hair but it shouldn't really matter as long as he's breaking huge explosive runs with the with the opportunities that he gets so
00:53:08
Speaker
Jameer Gibbs hopefully keeps it going and it's just been awesome to watch.
00:53:16
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I'm glad you called him out too, because he does have tougher matchups. And a lot of people, when they're looking at their playoffs, who's going to blow up, they look at the matchups. But also, you've got to look at just like certain players are just like, doesn't matter what their matchups are. And Gibbs is that type of player. Like, I don't care who his opponent is. He's going to get his and be great. So that's a good endorsement to be like, don't shy away from Gibbs. He'll carry you to a title. Especially against Minnesota. Dallas will see that.
00:53:45
Speaker
Yeah. Although James Cook just beat up Dallas. Okay. If James Cook can slash the Dallas, I think Gibbs probably can as well. Yeah. What about you, Ry?
00:54:00
Speaker
Yeah, so I went similar to Joe, a pretty easy pick. We've talked about him a lot lately, but I went with Rishi Rice. He's exploded over the last four weeks, so it isn't really a surprise pick, but I think he's the rookie that can lead you to a championship. Over the last four weeks, he's averaging 10 targets and eight catches and about 15 fantasy points per game.
00:54:24
Speaker
And he's finished as the wide receiver 3, 26, 12, and 10. And now he's facing the Raiders and the Bengals and the fantasy playoffs. None of those teams really strike fear in you.
00:54:37
Speaker
I think he's going to keep it going. Plus he has the added bonus of having a pissed off Mahomes throwing him the ball. Mahomes, you know, you got to assume is not going to throw to Tony anymore after what's been going on with him. So Rice might even get a few extra targets over the next few weeks. And he's turning into a stud at the perfect time. I know we talked about Schluter trading for him back when that trade happened. He wasn't really the focal point of the trade, but I think if we, if we went back to that one now,
00:55:05
Speaker
You know, Rice might be the most valuable asset in it. Yeah, I really wish you guys stop picking Schluter's team in this segment. You're coming to hear. Yeah, you know. He just took me out. Going the right direction for Rice, where the KC defense hasn't been as good. They needed to score a little more points. Pacheco went out. Kelsey looks slow. Canarius Tony is a walking mistake.
00:55:35
Speaker
everything points to him being the guy that mohomes needs to use and they're building a growing rapport as the season goes on. So it's awesome. Yeah, I'm scared. Yeah, I'm going to move on. I don't think these guys are so interesting, but who knows? He probably owns all these guys. But I'm going double dipping with a pair of rookie Green Bay wide receivers, Jaden Reed and Dontavian Wicks. So first,
00:56:04
Speaker
Gonna say Reed, we've already kind of discussed him earlier this year, but he's kind of turning to like a Deebo light the way that he's used in Green Bay. He's kind of, he's just a baller and with Christian Watson going out with his injury with this hamstring, his targets have been on the rise this past month. He's been getting targets of eight, five, 10 and eight this past week.
00:56:24
Speaker
But he's also getting looks in the run game and has actually taken in a couple of rushing touchdowns. So he's proving to be very highly effective in both the passing and rush game. So if you have him, I'd be very excited. I think he's only going to grow his uses there. But on the other hand, you got Wix, who was a later draft pick. He was, I think, in the fifth round of the NFL draft.
00:56:46
Speaker
But the Packers seem to love this guy and his usage continues to grow over this past month. He's seen a snap percentage grow each week over the last four weeks with this past week being at 78% of snaps. He's also getting more targets with six and seven in the past two weeks. And this last week he actually finished with six for 97. And he's the perfect compliment to read, which is kind of why I grouped them together because he's a deep ball field stretcher
00:57:13
Speaker
type of wide receiver. His yards per target has been above 10 all year. He does have a lower floor, but with his target chair rising and the increased usage, his floor is increasing as well. He has the potential to blow up any given week because he could take a long, long shot to the house.
00:57:34
Speaker
That and the Packers actually get the Panthers this week, which is a great matchup. And the Packers are in the playoff hunt as well. So you always want your players and fantasy playoffs to be on teams that are in the NFL playoff hunt as well, because they're going to be trying a lot harder to win all their games. And they're not going to be resting at all. So getting any of these rookie wide receivers on Green Bay, I'd be pretty excited about.
00:57:58
Speaker
Yeah, I think both of those guys have looked good. And maybe it comes down a little bit to Christian Watson. He's missed the last two weeks. So those targets have probably gone to these guys. But if Watson continues to miss more time, these are definitely guys you could probably throw on your lineup. If Watson comes back, he'll probably get hurt again. Also true.
00:58:22
Speaker
And like you said, I mean, Reed is getting looks in the run game and doing good things with them. So he'll continue to get those looks, I think, even with or without Christian Watson out there. I agree. And one other rookie we got to say, but it's almost too obvious. But Sam LaPorta, he already helped teams last week. He had three touchdowns dominated. He might be the tight end one in dynasty already. He's just doing things that you never
00:58:50
Speaker
I've seen a rookie tight end do and he's so young. Um, and he's, uh, him and Gibbs are like focal point. Obviously I'm around like that offense. Like you having pieces of that are great. And he's a key piece of that. So couldn't leave the section without at least giving the Porter shout out. Yeah. Cause with that being said, we, the logic that we talked about, it's where the more, uh, Detroit's defense regresses, the more of their offensive weapons aren't just going to be got to keep throwing.
00:59:17
Speaker
especially when they're in the dome at home, not on the road outdoors. It's a great, it's a great fantasy situation. Absolutely. But on the flip, there are some players that I want to get your guys thoughts on that you, what are your feelings? Cause I feel like you got to approach them with caution and these are players that have been studs, highly drafted. They're key pieces of your team, but, uh,
00:59:44
Speaker
whether it be situation to match ups or how they've been producing lately, what, how do you feel about them? And some of the names just want to run off and you can jump in on whichever ones you guys want to talk about. But Bajon Robinson, Saquon Barkley, Breece Hall, Travis Etienne, Patrick Mahones, Derek Henry, and Eckler, I'm sure we'll get into as well. But these are guys that were staples of your lineup for most of the year that at least for me, I'm starting to have some concerns about starting in the fantasy playoffs. We want to get your thoughts on.
01:00:14
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, you're definitely concerned about all those guys. I don't know if you're necessarily concerned about my homes. You're concerned. He's not going to have a 30 point week, but in terms of the running backs, Eckler, I'm pretty sure he's done as a runner. Spiller had more rushing attempts in week 15 and Kelly also got five. So his value now is really as a pass catcher. He had four catches on six targets, but only 29 yards last week.
01:00:42
Speaker
So he definitely is a real risky star. He hasn't looked great. And we talked about it earlier. The Chargers offense has just looked horrendous in general, did just fire their coach. So maybe that pumps up the team and something changes here. And Eckler has a good week, but you're definitely not super pumped about what he's been doing over the last couple of weeks. And then John,
01:01:07
Speaker
He always looks great, but like you said, it's his usage. He only had eight touches. So there's not much you can do with that usually. And it'll be interesting to see if they start using him more. Yeah, maybe they will. It's kind of been very inconsistent with him the whole season. So kind of just got to, if you managed to survive last week,
01:01:34
Speaker
with Bijon and we've still got him. I don't think you can bench him. So I think you just got to hope that Arthur Smith realizes that, you know, he barely touched the ball and they lost the game to the worst team in the league. So maybe he should, um, the one that you mentioned, uh, I would say that I'm maybe the least concerned with just because of the matchup, I think would be Bruce Hall.
01:02:02
Speaker
going up against Washington, Washington can't stop a nosebleed at this point. And I think that, you know, I think that game is in New York. So I just think if anybody on the Jets is going to do anything against, like, I mean, I, I don't think Washington's going to come in and, and, and pitch a shutout in that one. And Zach Wilson has looked functional and when he passes the ball, you know, Freese has been pretty involved in the past game.
01:02:32
Speaker
I mean, their offensive line is a legitimate catastrophe. But I think if he can be involved in the past game and against Washington, it might not even matter. So he's one where, at least next week, I would feel reasonably confident putting him out there. And I'm also saying that looking to hit him with the strong reverse jinx because I'm facing him in another league semifinal.
01:02:57
Speaker
I completely agree with Eckler, have him in a dynasty, and honestly, at this point, if he can sign in a place for some minimal amount that might stoke some kind of excitement for next year and I can trade him for any value, then that would be, I think, a gift. He's unfortunately looking pretty cooked.
01:03:25
Speaker
Um, the one other player I'll mention is Travis Kelsey, who it's unfortunate to say, but, um, he really has not been getting it done this year, not merely in, in the way that you needed him to, or that you in both redraft or dynasty, you kind of need somebody like Kelsey with the draft capital that you spent to get it done. And he has not been terrible. Uh, he's still like, you know, last couple of weeks.
01:03:53
Speaker
you know, tied in three, six, seven, eight, last week, 24. But the numbers, you know, it's good for, you know, 12, like basically, he's basically averaging between 10 and 12 points a week, which is fine. But it's not what, you know, it's not what you need from, from Kelsey, given the draft capital that you spent, or the advantage that you need to have, or you need him to give you in order to, to win. So unfortunately,
01:04:22
Speaker
Uh, I don't, I mean, the, like you mentioned, they have the benefit of a good schedule, Vegas and Cincinnati in the next two weeks. So, um, maybe, uh, maybe he'll, he'll put in a good performance in the playoffs one, one time for old time's sake, but he does look a hair of a step slower. And frankly, uh, I don't say this in jest.
01:04:52
Speaker
Um, this season, unlike any other season with, with Kelsey, he's had a lot of things going on outside of football. And I don't necessarily, you can say all you want that it doesn't affect, it doesn't affect your preparation. It doesn't affect your performance, but you know, like when you're experiencing what he is right now, like kind of being really, really, really skyrocketed into even more kind of.
01:05:21
Speaker
fame and stardom than he even originally had and also like, you know, dating one of like the most like eligible female artists in the world. It's just I just I wouldn't be even a little surprised if all of that wasn't having
01:05:43
Speaker
at least a marginally negative effect on his output this year. But it also could just be that he's 34 years old and losing his staff, and there's no other players besides maybe Rishi Rice and that offense that's even worse, the defense. Looking at, but yeah, I mean, Travis, hopefully you get it done, but at least I can thank you for dragging Team Kropa down
01:06:12
Speaker
improving my draft, first round draft pick in this league, marginally going into next year. So thank you for that. Yeah. I think those are all good calls and I, I agree. I'm not worried about Breece Hall this week, but it is weird because Breece Hall, like.
01:06:28
Speaker
You expect him just every game to rip off a long run. That was kind of what he did his rookie year. And when he first seemed like he was fully healthy this year, that's what he did. And you haven't seen that at all this year. He hasn't been ripping off long runs at any point. The offensive line is a mess, and that's probably a big factor in it. But I do think he'll finally get a long run against the commanders. But it's just been weird to not see that explosive miss out of Hall at all this year.
01:06:56
Speaker
Etienne, I just want to call out because if he doesn't get a touchdown, he kind of stinks. That's really just what it comes down to. He's not an efficient player. Even when he gets a touchdown, it's not always a leap. But early in the season, he was getting all the touchdowns for Jacksonville. And that's kind of shifted where he gets them a little bit more sporadically. And he's kind of hurt you over the past six or seven weeks.
01:07:18
Speaker
And then finally, Derek Henry, the Cliff might be here against the Texans, who he usually smashes. I think I saw that he was averaging like 30 fantasy points per game against the Texans in his career, which is like crazy.
01:07:35
Speaker
This past week, he had 20 touches. Five of them were receptions. He had 13 yards. I don't think that's possible. I don't understand how that's possible. And the Texans are not an elite difference. They've improved, certainly, but they're not an elite difference. So the Cliff for Henry might be there. He still has a decent schedule, but I'd be getting a little bit worried if I had him on my roster moving forward. But with that said, the season
01:08:04
Speaker
regular season ended and we have to crown our winners for the high and low scores on here.
Season Highlights & Playoff Predictions
01:08:10
Speaker
So first gonna give the high score winner and it was the Wilkerson Bros who was scanning there for a little bit but thought they were just gonna be the low score winner but in week 12 they came up big. Just coming up short of 200 points, they finished the week with 199.46 for the high score of the year.
01:08:30
Speaker
but the low score, which was shocking how low this got. Two people actually, as I mentioned, beat the low score that week, but this one, I don't know if this will ever be beat in the history of this league, the Clarksauce team, they scored 33.8 points. There were, I think, five or six players that week who scored more than that alone, and they had 10 players go, just to remind everyone what our format is.
01:08:58
Speaker
Yep. They will be funding the consolation bracket, uh, grand prize. Um, thank you, Clark sauce for funding that with your charitable contributions. Yeah. How do you feel about right about winning? Yeah, it feels good. Uh, it's, it's not the score that we thought we were going to be winning. I was pretty sure we were going to be winning the low score, but, uh, yeah, you know, it, it, uh, covers up the pain, a little bit of getting knocked out of the playoffs. We at least, uh, aren't leaving empty handed. So it's always good thing.
01:09:29
Speaker
Yeah, and he put up a 141 this week to eliminate me from the toilet bowl contention. So if he happens to win another two, then maybe it'll be left pocket, right pocket for that. That's right. So you still got a chance.
01:09:45
Speaker
Finding to keep that but let's jump into some of these playoff matchups and you know what sister talked about the consolation bracket Let's let's do that one first because we have two matchups left in there to get to the title and let's I want to see who you guys think are gonna win and then After that who you think is gonna win the title. So the first matchup we got Cohen and Katz vs. Canals who you got in that matchup
01:10:08
Speaker
I'm actually going to go with Kanellos there. His team's been pretty hot lately. He's got Ty Chandler, who we talked about. He's got Pukanuka. We've talked about the Rams firing on all cylinders there. And he has Dak Prescott, who I do think has a huge rebound game this week. Not for nothing, though. Team Adam does have Laporta. And Justin Jefferson's back. So I think it's close, but I think Kanellos takes it.
01:10:38
Speaker
Yeah, I do think it'll be a close one as well. It's unfortunate for team Adam that CJ strats missing again this week It's also a shame for team Canelo's that Devin Singletary who's actually low-key been dominating has a tough matchup versus Cleveland I think I would lean team Canelo's in that matchup as well, but it's gonna be a close one. These are very very equally matched and
01:11:07
Speaker
Uh, you know, there's some obstacles for each one. So it should be, it should be a tight matchup. Yeah, I agree. I'm going with can now as well. And, uh, one of the things that'll be interesting to see is, uh, what Gabe Davis does for the Cohen cats team. Cause if they put up a goose, they're out. But if he puts up the random boat week, you know, maybe he sneaks squeaks one out here. Um, and the other matchup is Scott versus Clark sauce, who we just discussed to knock down Joey.
01:11:37
Speaker
Yeah, I'm going to go Scott there. I think looking to avenge a tough end to the regular season projected to win this one by over 20 points. And he has the X factor in Christian McCaffrey on his team. So I would go Scott.
01:11:55
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I gotta agree there. He can't pick Clark sauce right now. They do have James Cook, who we talked about, but it's interesting neither one of them has a quarterback in the super flex, but I think Scott takes this one home for sure and has McCaffrey, who should lead him to an easy victory.
01:12:16
Speaker
Yeah, I'm also going with Scott there. I mean, McCaffrey, with all the quarterbacks there, is the highest projected points total. So guys, cheat code. You don't even need a second quarterback when you have McCaffrey. So I'm going with Scott. So we all have the same predicted title for the consolidation bracket. Who you got between Kanellis and Scott? Do you think it's going to take it all? I think it's going to be Scott. Yeah. Yeah, it's going to be Scott. And Christian. I'm going with Kanellis.
01:12:46
Speaker
I think the deck, I think he's got a lot more depth and a lot more chances of upside. I think it will be tight though, so it'll be a fun one to watch. But who cares, the consolation bracket's real. Real playoffs is what we want to hear about, right?
01:13:01
Speaker
No, you probably don't because I'm the one in it. Let's go. Um, anyway, uh, yeah, I had a body because I would've got pumped it out real quick. If I did not have a body, uh, my team was horrendous last week, but so about the first match up of, uh, Mike Kaffer and Mike Williams against the Resinski bro. So you guys got in that matchup. This is a tough one. I feel like they've been back and forth all year division rivals.
01:13:29
Speaker
I honestly think I'm going to go with Dan's team, but super, super close. I really, I wouldn't be surprised if either one wins this week. I think it's going to be a real close matchup. I like both of their teams, but I'm going to give it to Dan's team. Yeah, I like Dan's team as well. I think that the difference makers, T Higgins, who is
01:13:59
Speaker
Balling out right now with Jamar Chase banged up even even before Jamar Chase got banged up T Higgins has kind of been balling out and For he most are who is also falling out and Has is good for I think I think he's his odds to score two touchdowns the last couple weeks has been a
01:14:22
Speaker
like a two or three to one, like it's barely any, you're not really getting much. It's like the expectation is that most are scoring two touchdowns. So yeah, I would lean Dan's team there as well. I'm actually personally in Caffer and Williams and the reason is
01:14:40
Speaker
I think there's a lot more risk and things that can go wrong on the dance team. Like Dolph can have a big dud. We expect Ekler to have a dud. Sudden, he needs to get a touchdown. Devonta Smith, if it's not his game, could be a lower point score. And Pollard has
01:14:57
Speaker
kind of disappointed and Tua against the Dallas D. I don't love where the rest on actually Kaffir and Mike Williams team. I think they just have a higher floor across the board. Obviously the upside is on the dance team, but I think they sneak it out because I think there's going to be more flops on the Rosinski bros team than I think is currently protected. So I'm not with the upset if you will there. But moving forward,
01:15:23
Speaker
to the real matchup, myself versus Schluter. I think I have a feeling how most people are gonna vote on this one, but what do you guys think?
01:15:33
Speaker
Yeah, I am going to go with Schluter here. Honestly, even before the playoffs, but even before the playoffs, I didn't want to play him. I really like his team. I think honestly, David team's a little banged up. You got Lawrence, who's a little injured. You know, you're starting to menshu because howls.
01:15:54
Speaker
probably getting benched. Olave missed last week. But, you know, Schluter has a lot of the guys we talked about. Like you said, he's got James Connerd. He has Gus Edwards. He has Rashid Rice. He has Brock Purdy. So, I'm not gonna pick Schluter in this matchup, but when we get to it, I'm picking Schluter to take home the championship title this year. Oh, wow. Okay, all right. What about you, Jeff? Yeah, so, I would lean Schluter in this one. I think that
01:16:22
Speaker
The reason for me, personally, is not so much in the one through five spots. Lawrence Montgomery, H.N. Lamb, Olave is a very, very strong one through five. And you could even include Hopkins in there. It's the Hopkins, Elliott, Givante, Minshew tier that I think
01:16:44
Speaker
When you kind of look across the board at, uh, you know, the likes of JSN and flowers and Rishi rice and Brock party, these are guys who have been a little bit more consistent. Zeke was not great last week, although Denver is susceptible to the run. So I, I, I actually could see him putting up pretty good numbers. Um, I'm pretty high on Staphon digs this week, just based on the fact that the chargers have
01:17:09
Speaker
and abysmal passing defense. And I think this is also a situation where Buffalo is looking to get him back involved. I think they realize that they need him for the rest of the season and the playoffs. And the running game has been working, and I think they're going to stick with it. But I also think they're going to make a concerted effort to get Diggs a little bit more involved this week. And I talked about Connor and Edwards earlier.
01:17:36
Speaker
Tough matchup for Baltimore and Schluter does have Lamar Edwards flowers all against San Francisco So it's it's definitely not in by any means gonna be in my opinion a runaway I think you have a pretty decent shot, but I would give Schluter the slight edge. I
01:17:59
Speaker
And who would you say would, before I jump in, who would you think would get the title then between your Schluter and the Rosinski's? I'm going to go with, I think I'm going to go with the Rosinski's. I think top to bottom, their roster has, has been, appears to me the most, the deepest, if you will. I think the Dolphins have a pretty good matchup in championship league.
01:18:27
Speaker
Uh, no, they don't at Baltimore. So that's, that actually is a pretty unfortunate for the Rosinski's. Um, Gibbs Higgins, the Joker, we talked about moster, Devonta Smith. Uh, I just think I probably have the most confidence in those guys to continue to produce. And I'm going to go over. Well, you're all wrong. I'll win in both match-ups. I'm winning this title. Get out of here, taking Schluter down and I'm taking the title.
01:18:54
Speaker
You gotta leave it, baby. I got a shot. I got a shot. I think all four teams really do have a shot. I'm giving it to Schluter, but I wouldn't be surprised if anyone won it.
01:19:07
Speaker
I just, he's got six players on Monday. Unbelievable. That is going to be death by a million cuts. Your Christmas is going to be something. Look in my prime rib and check my phone. Oh, damn it. Someone got a long touch. That prime rib may be burnt. Yeah, I'm going to forget about this. Guys, screw it. Christmas is over. Get it in my house. But with that, any final thoughts, guys?
01:19:37
Speaker
Now, good luck to everyone in the fantasy playoffs and happy holidays as well. Yeah, let's hope you have your full roster. It'd be good to see you out there with Lawrence out there with A-chan getting full snaps and yeah. I know. I don't know if I've had a full roster all year, but it's okay. And yeah, Merry Christmas to all Schluter.
01:19:59
Speaker
other things outside of fantasy to worry about. And I hope that that becomes your focus because hopefully I take you out. But with that, thank you guys for listening. It's been a pleasure talking to you and good luck in your matchups except for Schluter.
01:20:34
Speaker
to another episode of the NSFW Dynasty podcast. Tune in next time.