Week 15: Feel The Hurts

How many? How many teams do you have alive? Still? Three? That's good? I have three alive, that's good. Yeah. I've got a guillotine, a regular and a and a twentyman redraft. That's good. How about you, Scott? I also got three? Uh? Is your fish Bowl team alive? Oh? Man? Mine died last week. Mine died in August. It's been over for a long time. On fourt inly for me and that one.

We've got lots to get to. Over the course of the show, We're gonna break down every game fantasy style like we always do, letter grades on each of the notable players. You will hear three tough questions which we will answer and you can play along. We'll give you nine players upon whom you can take a chance. And honestly, you're still there are still players you can get off the waiver wire, even with a playoff roster that can

be better than your guys. The single biggest mistake you can break make right now is just blindly assuming the guys that got into the playoffs and Allen best guys, and Allen, I had Tyrand Johnson in three leagues on Thursday, and then I dropped him right before the game about right they ended up playing. I wasn't gonna waste a spot on a player that was going to play. Go look at that man the Raiders secondary? Who was that bad Dolphins for Week sixteen? You have no kidding. Let's

let's let's start with our Saturday games. There are two Saturday games. We've got a mid afternoon game and an early evening game. Let's begin with the Buffalo Bills taking on the Denver Broncos. And for me, this is a this is a green light start for Josh Allen. All three of Denver's starting cornerbacks are out for this game. I think this is a great opportunity for Josh Allen.

So the guy who's got multiple touchdowns and or three hundred yards and all but one game this year is a green lights breaking right, thanks, I do have an A grade on him. Uh. The weird thing is Denver's only allowed to passing touchdowns since Week nine, but they allowed three rushing and the competition was not Josh Allen, Uh not even close. In fact, um Allen I mentioned, had multiple touchdowns and or three plus yards in almost every game. But every game that he's attempted at least

twenty five passes, he has done it. And that's a fairly low bar against the team that has allowed that in basically every single game. I have an A grade on Allen. Digs is basically unbenchable at this point. I don't think I need to spend a lot of time on him. I have an A grade there. With John Brown out, Gabriel Davis has scored every game John Brown has been out. He just has no wide receivers top

seventy yards against the Broncos since Week nine. But with Davis's ability to score and Beasley having ten plus targets in three the last four, three of those with John Brown out, I gave them both C grades. I think Beasley gets a lot of targets I think Davis might score again. I like him more than you do. I've got high rank I got I've got B grades on both guys. Alright, I'm more optimistic. Well, I do have Moss and Singletary on the bench. I'm sorry charged they

flipped again last week. I Moss is getting more snaps, but the touches that they're not just not coming. Uh. Singletary and more touches. Moss had more touches in the Steelers game, and then Singletary had more touches last week, and neither of them are barely averaging over three yards per carry right now. It's really frustrated. The running back you want on this team is Josh Allen. Is really what it is. So I have them on the bench. Over to the Broncos side. I do have a C

grade on Drew Lock. The Bills have allowed multiple passing touchdowns in four the last five, plus yards in three the last five, and that's not really a recent trend. They've allowed six games over three hundred passing yards this year. They have allowed multiple touchdowns in games nine times, nine times. Lock has been in consistent. He's been hot lately, so I'm giving him a C. Grade here high lately is maybe an even and under. He just seven game of

his career last week. Yea, seven touchdowns the last two weeks, and he's he's getting but you know, matchups, this is a Bill's matchup. It's a little different. Uh. I do have C grades on most of his receivers as well, though Handler gets deep. He's got two big deep plays each game. Drew Lock has kind of a d g F attitude. He'll flow it up to him. Yeah, so, uh, with the chance that Handler gets a big play, Tim Patrick, he's scoring. He's he's got six touchdowns in the last

seven games. He has three in the last two games, and they've thrown it to him in the end zone three times in the last two games. He's just getting those plays. But he can also go off for a hundred. He's done that twice in the last six games. So their range of outcomes really is a four for forty floor based on the last few weeks, with much more upside. So I have SEA grades on both of them. No, Fan also a C grade because nearly every tight end against the Bills to hit seven targets had a really

good day. We're talking sixty plus yards a bunch of catches, some touchdowns, and uh Fant has done that a bunch of times this year. I think that he's in for a SEA grade. Their Bills allowing the fifth most points to tight ends on the running backs. Gordon, I'm given a C grade and I got Lindsay on the bench. Yeah, it's been a bad for Lindsay, my guy, and I

just said, really disappointing. Yeah. Really recently the Chargers for in IROs and Steelers barely did anything against the Bills, but Ekeler had a good day through the air, so did several others. Gordon has been catching about three balls a game, uh Denver and uh Gordon's also probably in like for sixteen in line for sixteen plus touches, which he's done a bunch of times recently. Almost every game he's had a full game this year. So he's gonna get that that really nice volume. CE I like to

give out the volume. See, you're not tricking anybody with the volume. CE Carolina takes on Green Bay, Matt and the way you beat the Packers is on the ground and to a to a certain degree, through the air for running backs. So Christian McCaffrey wait, oh, not again another But it's an awfully good looking one on paper. And I didn't think Mike Davis would have a good week last week against Denver and they're tough run defense because Denver is a good run defense, and his numbers

were just trending the wrong way. But I was totally off on that one. Sult fire him up this week against the pack with a B grade. Basically every team but the Lions and Eagles have had a running back just put up awesome numbers against the Packers this here. Um moving on to the passing game Teddy Bridgewater, I'm only going to give him a C grade here. In his last fourteen starts, Teddy Bridgewater has two yard games and has topped two touchdown passes never He's thrown over

forty passing attempts only three times this year. He doesn't have enough volume to elevate his game past the C grade in my opinion, and the Packers have knocked out each of the last two quarterbacks they faced, either with poor play or injury. Prior to that, Sad trombon Sky did rack up some nice garbage time numbers, and Philip Rivers actually did pick apart this secondary, but I don't see it for Bridgewater. D J. Moore is back from COVID, but he just gets to see because Teddy still hasn't

really focused on more this year. He's averaging only four catches per game and will probably draw more gight Ear Alexander coverage than Robbie Anderson, who I'm also giving a C. Curtis Samuel he gets a see. I actually prefer benching them all, but the prospect of garbage time points is there. With the Packs past defense, there's no real angle unless your name is Richie James. He's the only player to beat the Packers for more than a hundred yards on

the season. They're tough against the slot, and they're tough against the outside. Over to the Packers side, Aaron Jones, Aaron Rodgers, and Davante Adams all are getting A grades, and we don't really even need to talk about that. The Panthers aren't good enough to stop them. Uh, the two guys in the Packers we do need to talk about Jamal Williams. I am giving a C grade to the Panthers run defense made you believe Ronald Jones was good and in games where that are in hand, Jamal

Williams gets double digit touches. He did it last week against Detroit. He did it two weeks ago against Chicago. Green Bay is an eight and a half point favorite at home, so this is a great possibility of plenty a garbage time in the second half. Finally, Robert Tony in strong B grade here. He's been. He's been very effective for most of the second half of the season. How about this efficiency? Tonyan has five targets in four straight games, five receptions in three of those four games.

Pretty good, and a touchdown in each of those four games. That's bankable right there. So Tongyan gets a B. The Panthers have allowed a touchdown to a tight end three times in the last four games, and two of those games where they didn't allow a tight end score, they allowed exactly sixty eight yards to opposing tight end. So I think tongans in a in a nice little spot here. And if he's available in your league for some dumb reason, no chance, probably not, But yeah, he's startable. He's my

number four ranked tight ends. Wow, I got that kind of right, Yeah, you absolutely did. Yeah, well, as as will be proven on Saturday. Don't forget to set your set, all your lineups, double check everything Saturday morning before those games go off. And if you're listening to this after Saturday, you'll already know whether or not we're right about Robert Tonyan. Don't listen to it after Saturday. Some stations air it after SATURDH I get you after Saturday's tell us how

Robert Togyan did at explosive output. So if we did really bad, there might be people turning it off right right now, these guys know nothing. I have the luxury of not having Saturday game. Oh, I see how this worked out. Funny Seahawks taking on the Washington football team. Let's begin with Chris Carson. Washington started the season as a daunting run defense, but since there Week eight by even mediocre teams have had good rushing games against Washington.

The Giants, the Lions, the forty niners backs have averaged one hundred sixty two total yards and almost one and a half touchdowns per game against Washington. Chris Carson his top five yards per carrying scored in every game since

his return from injury. He hasn't seen a ton of touches, which is concerning, but I think he's now sitting on what should be a closer game, and I think more touches they had working in Carlos hide before before because he wasn't fully healthy, they had a blowout win against the Jets. I think now that this game means a lot. I think Chris Carson and we'll be closer. Chris Carson will get a ball, and the Seahawks lost their division lee it, so they need to start winning again. That's right.

No dorking around Carlos Hi, thank you very much. Now let's go to the passing game, which is way more fascinating and really tricky for fantasy owners. Russell Wilson only a B grade here. First, just erase last week's Jets game from your memory because they do not count. In the five games prior to playing the league's worst team, Wilson average just two d thirty one yards and one

touchdown per game, two thirty one and one. That is downright Glennonian watching Watchington's defense has been great since Week six, their past defense in particular, allowing almost exactly those numbers two hundred fifteen yards and one point three touchdowns per game. That's it. Russell Wilson is not an automatic start. On your team. He is my quarterback ranked I believe eleven right now for this week, you may have better options as that guy that you don't normally start. And you

know this. You should know this because you've been starting. Russell Wilson hasn't always paid off. Let's go to DK Metcalf. I'm still giving him an A grade in spite of everything I just said because he's DK Metcalf and the football team has been exposed a bit recently, allowing a one yard receiver or multiple receiver touchdowns in three straight.

Metcalf lines up on the left the most often. That puts him up against Kendall Fuller, who is usually a very good cornerback, although he has had some inconsistent games of late. Then Tyler Lockett slumping down to a C grade. Mostly he's been a boomer bust receiver and he doesn't

When he does not score, he busts. And this is a bad matchup for a touchdown dependent player because working out of the slot, he lines up against Jimmy Morland, who is not allowed to touch down and is giving up just forty yards in his coverage since Week two. So Tyler lockets C grade and honestly, it might be a charitable C grade at that. Let's go to the Washington side where Dwayne Haskins you're starting quarterback, and that pretty much tells you where this is going to add.

The only starting players with A only players are starting grade Logan Thomas and J. D. Mckissic. Let's just touch on them briefly. For Logan Thomas, over the last three weeks, he's roughly tight end six depending on your scoring system. He's been very effective in those games. In the last three weeks, He's caught eighteen of nineteen passes that have been thrown his way while averaging six catches for fifty four yards. He's scored twice in three games, so he's

he comes in on a good role here. Logan Thomas will face a Seattle secondary that's been hit hard by opposing tight ends for much of the second half of the season. C grade. J D. Mckissic also a C grade. I don't I don't think he's gonna run for very much and the Seahawks have been a good run defense all year long. But Seahawks are bottom seven and allowing receptions and receiving yards two running back, so I think mckissic gets back to something close to the double digit

targets that he does periodically enjoy. What about Terry McLaurin, You might be asked, McLaren, he's on the bench. Oh no, yeah, right soon. For two straight weeks, McClaren had two catches in less than twenty five yards. Dwayne Haskins is under helm. It's not a death sentence to have Dwayne Haskins, and he's throughout his careers put up decent enough box scores with Dwayne Haskins. But Seattle's past defense has gotten to be downright good. They're not the worst past defense anymore. No,

they're one of the best. Right now. Seattle hasn't allowed a receiver to reach fifty yards in three games and hasn't allowed to receiver to score in five games. They're arguably the best past defense over the last three weeks, a total one eight for the Seattle defense. And that's why they we'll want to That's why I think they will be able to shut down Terry McLaurin. You want to keep him on the bench. I'm not even gonna discuss Peyton Barber. We can agree here in the fantasy playoffs.

Peyton Barber has business being anywhere near your roster. When we come back, Nine players upon whom you can take a chance segment week. I'll take a chance on me. Guys would not normally start a lot of these guys on the waiver wire right now, but have very good matchups or other circumstances that make them playable. Find out who they are when we return to Fantasy Football Weekly. Welcome back Fantasy Football Weekly. You guys have good news.

We may have a replacement. Take a chance of the song. Oh yeah, yeah, I'm working on it. Some original material from a band that's interested in uh in helping us out with a better version of David which is anything other than this a better version not wait, I know it will be. It'll be a happy day debut in.

I'm hoping next week for our final final show of the year full for our final full show of the year, the two hour edition the full podcast podcast st all year long Fantasy Football Weekly, but the over the air two hour version comes to an end next week, so make sure you subscribe to Fantasy Football Weekly wherever you listen to podcasts. Absolutely true, take a chance on me. Nine players you would not normally start. We'll beginning at the quarterback position, Scott, I am going with Jared Goff.

He gets those Jets who are the second worst against quarterback's third most yards UH and touchdowns allowed to two quarterbacks over the last six weeks. This is what the Jets have allowed to opposing quarterbacks on average, three yards and three point four touchdowns. That is, those are can't mess this up. No, no, no, as he can be, he cannot mess this up. All right, you take a

chance at me. Quarterback Matt Baker Mayfield. He's thrown for over three hundred thirty yards and two straight games, multiple touchdown passes in three straight. The Giants a pretty tough past defense all year long, anchored by the great play by corner James Bradberry. But he's gone. He's on the COVID list and he won't play this week. That opens the field for Baker. I like it. Yes, three straight weeks. I'm using Sad Trombones. You gotta stop calling him sad

trombon Ski at this point. You know what, you might be right, happy trombone Ski. He's worked out for me. In all of his starts so far, he's thrown multiple touchdowns in four of his five full games. The key to trombone Ski's renewed success is having the good sense to throw to Alan Robinson constantly. Since returning to the starting job, He's targeting Robinson eleven times per game, creating

nine yards and one touchdown per game. Justin Robinson and Robinson's got positive matchups all over the field against the Vikings tissue thin secondary. Let's go to the running back position, Scott, I am going with Jeff Wilson, despite the fact that he mostered his off the injury report and he's he's supposedly ready to go. He's he's been dealing with an ankle injury, and I do think it's going to be somewhat of a split. Wilson has seven red red zone

touches in just the last two weeks. All the other running backs for the Foreign Niers combined have three. Uh He's had nine plus touches in five of his eight healthy games, including four straight. Um and The Ravens had two running backs do great against the forty Niners. The Vikings had two running backs sorry against the Cowboys. The Ravens and the Vikings both had two running backs do great against so I think that there's room for Wilson.

I agree with you. I think it's a savvy move. Uh, Matt, let's go with you and take a chance of me running back. I've got Damien Harris who's down to fifty ownership in ESPN leagues. And that's because since the return of Sony Michelle, Harris is down to the heavy end of a sixty time share. Uh. That still probably works in this case because they play the Dolphins this week. And what did the Patriots do the first time they

played the Dolphins. It's absolutely bonkers. They ran the ball twenty six times with their running backs, they ran the ball fifteen times with their quarterback, and they added another six receptions by their backs. They're gonna run a single wing or a wishbone here and just run it over and over. And a few weeks ago, the Dolphins faced the Broncos, who were not passing well at that time. They had Melvin Gordon and Philip Lindsay in the backfield.

Each of them carried the ball fifteen times. Each of them went over eight yards on the ground. I think that's the blueprint for the Patriots here. Might take a chance on me running back. Is Lynn Bowden up the Miami Dolphins might be a wide receiver in some weeks, but depend on his eligibility pretty much every every online scoring, every online system. Lynn Boden's treated like a running back, and really he does take a few snaps in the backfield,

but mostly he's a wide out. Some combination of the following Dolphins are gonna miss this game, Miles Gaskin, Savon Akhmed, DeVante Parker, Mike Kaseki, and Jakim Grant. I don't know which ones are gonna be in around and they're all game time, he said, I don't know for sure, but some combination they're gonna be out, and that's gonna give

space for our hybrid utility runner receiver Lynn Voden. Like last week when he let the Dolphins in targets, receptions, and yards, he was on the field more than any Dolphins skill player other than two a last week. New England's a good defense, but not the impenetrable defense we have seen in recent years. Charge He also played quarterback and he threw a past last week. Are you going to call the quarterback touchdown from we have a controversy.

Not only that I am I am not only calling a quarterback passing a passing touch on to himself also as wide receiver. In fact, I think we're gonna I'm gonna go one step further. I think he is going to execute a halfback option from quarterback him to running back him throwing the ball to receiver him all all, Lynn Boden, how about didn't Nelson do that on the Simpsons one time? Probably? I think he should do a

double fleet flicker. He should get two hands it to a fluff flee flicker to it to flip it back to him and then he throws it downfield Mr. Perfect style. Yeah. Absolutely, let's go to the wide receiver position. Scott, your take a chance for me receiver. I'm going with Jared Cook, which feels a little gross. There's three different players in

this game I could definitely take a chance on. But this is a team that just allowed a hundred and ten yards and two scores to the Gisecky shaheen smythe group. That's a weird uh the firm, isn't it? I think? So? They allowed four for fifty seven to Fan, they allowed ten for hundred forty two Gronk and Braid eighty eight and one to Waller. Wouldn't even scoring that one over the last four They're just getting demolished by tight ends.

With Michael Thomas out, I think Jared Cook might see some work, all right, And your receiver matt Richard Higgins of the Browns. Did I mention that James Bradberry is out? Yes, you did. Higgins has nine and ten targets in the last two weeks, six receptions in both nine games. He has scored a touchdown in each of those games. He's putting up the numbers we wanted Odell Beckham to put up in Cleveland, and he's doing it right now. The Eagles secondary is a disaster. Safety Rodney McLoud towards a

c l last week. Cornerback Davante Maddox is going to miss this game of the knee injury, and Darius slays in the concussion protocol. So you're all that together. Christian Kirk he remains a instrumental part of the Cardinals offense, averaging a nine snapshare over the last month. He's kind of a low volume guy. He's usually like three catches four catches, so you gotta pick your spots. But against

that banged up secondary. This feels like one for Christian Kirk, and Christian Kirk's been very predictable this year in the wide open like this, he's been really good. I think you're right. Detroy takes on Tennessee Scott and I just got this feeling. This is like the big DeAndre Swift, you know, big, the big blowout game coming right here. I want to believe it's all going to come together.

The heavy usage, he should be fully health SPA. This feels like the spot, especially if Stafford doesn't go Staffords the tough s B I don't think. I don't think he's going uh. In fact, I'm not sure he ever plays another game as a Lion. But that's a whole other conversation. Here's the thing. I had Swift as a B grade with Daniel because I'm worried about that offense keeping it moving, and an A grade with Stafford, and which I think that's fair. Yeah, Titans are seventh worst

against running backs. Swift returned and he was supposed to be limited, and he kind of was because he didn't get a lot of touches, but he did a lot with them. He also has five targets, got five targets, which I love to see, you know, I love to see that kind of workload. Given the matchup, the fifteen plus touch range, forty five balls, I I put a B grade on him with Daniel in because it's a

good matchup against the seventh worst ranked the Titans. There Chase Daniel, I'm actually gonna put a C grade on I'm actually gonna give him C grade. But in in practicality, who's going to start him in a game like it has to be a super flex you just lost Tasting

Hill or something. Who you were starting? Maybe? Uh, Titans fifth worst against quarterbacks, second worst against wide receivers, so that passing game might be able to get some work going, and they're likely to fall behind, so they're gonna have to pass to catch up. I have Marvin Jones with a C grade. Kenny Golladay out again. I'm not even sure he plays for the team anymore at this point. Franchise tag might muck up the works up. We'll see. Yeah, Uh, I like a lot Jones Jones a lot more if

Stafford goes but under Chase Daniel. The matchup Systu to Juicy Tennessee Ranks twenty six against the pass. Uh, he's gonna get a good match up against Kenny Vicarlo and Jones is averaging nine point six targets per game over the last five which is a lot of volume. That

is a lot of ammudolive on the bench. But Hackinson I got a B grade too, because in a year of terrible tight ends, like every year, no matter how much we try to pretend to ourselves that it won't be Uh, he's been consistent every day in week at least fifty yards and or a touchdown in all but one game, even with Daniel Ann I'm I'm gonna give I'm gonna give him the B grade. On the other side, Uh, Derrick Henry should have been my take a chance on

me player. Obviously for Derrick Henry, obvious A for a J. Brown who has only one dot all year. I over analyzed it that week, gave him like a C grade or something, but he's only got one dot all year. A grade for a J. Brown. Ryan Tannehill B grade. We called the get right game for Tannehill a couple of weeks ago against Cleveland, he had multiple scores Again

last week. The lines have allowed multiple scores UH to nine quarterbacks two forty plus to all but one, and they've had three touchdowns per game two quarterbacks over the last three I think it's another good spot for Tannehill be grade there, Corey Davis. He's been a little more hit and missed recently. But this is a Lions team that is fourth worst against wide receivers in the last five weeks alone. They've allowed over twelve hundred yards to

wide receivers five weeks the next closest team. So that's unreal separation there. Uh So that's two d one yards per game to wide receivers. I think he's gonna have some room to work. Can we get tann Hill to an A then I love his receiver. I got him as an A. I do too. I wonder if Derrick I wonder if Derrick Henry gets two hundred plus yards. Maybe they're saving him for the playoffs. Now they're gonna chuck it. I'm I'm keeping Tanning b because I think

they might run too much. They might get up too much and run too much. New England takes on Miami. Matt and you already said you like Damien Harriss as you take a chance on me running back. Is there any part of the rest of the team that you like? Is there any part of the rest of the game that we haven't already talked about? So Newton, I'm giving him a C grade. These two teams did square in week one. Like I mentioned, the Pats didn't even try

to pass the ball. Uh. Newton ran fifteen times, had seventy five rushing yards and two scores in that game. Considering cam is averaging nine passing yards per game over his last three games. High school quarterback, but he's averaging ten rushing attempts per game. That sounds like a high school quarterback. Um, that's why I'm giving him a C. Because the Pats just might run the wishbone the whole time. I don't think I'm gonna go with Jacoby Myers and

any of the receivers with nine yards per game. And it sounds like Julian Edelman looks like he might return in this one, but you're not picking him up at this point. To ah, I got him on the bench

this week. The Pats just held Kyler, air Bear and Goff to an average of one seventy two passing yards over the last three weeks, with only one score between the three of them, and two looked all right last week against Kansas City, but he's just not generating enough with his feet to overcome this really bad passing matchup,

especially when you consider the injuries at wide receiver. Church mentioned Davante Parker with a hamstring, Jachem Grant with a hamstring, bolt trending the wrong way, so is Mike Sticky with a shoulder injury. I fear all three will miss time, so incerta Lynn Bowden as you take a chance on

me wide receiver slash running back. And then Myles Gaskin is still on the COVID list and they're talking like he might not go again this week, which is why DeAndre Washington started last week and looked like a dumpster fire. So we might see Patrick Laird more this week. Speaking of dumpster fires, he's looking brutal too. That's yeah, that's it. That's not really He's just looked like Patrick Lair. He's been. He's been very Patrick Laird, hasn't he. Yeah, it certainly

has looked that way. When we come back, Chicago takes on Minnesota. The Vikings passing attack missed a great opportunity last week to roll up big numbers. How about this week? Can you trust Kirk Cousins, Justin Jefferson and Adam Feeling in a matchup against the Bears. Will tell you when we come back to Fantasy Football Weekly. Welcome back to Fantasy Football Weekly. Final segment of our number one Fantasy Football Weekly. Paul Geargie and Scott Fish and Matt Harrison

with you. Chicago takes on Minnesota. Let's start on the Chicago side. Mitch true Biscy was my take a chance on me quarterback, and I do like him in this spot. So why are you sad? It's just he just likes that one. I just like he does it. It's like seconds long it is, and you want to waste time on the show. I do like to waste time on the show. It just a little soothing background trombone solo behind this epic matchup with Allen Robinson getting an A grade.

As I mentioned earlier, averaging nine one yards over the past three games with Travisky under center. That bears another positive going up against division rival Minnesota for allowing one two yards per game to receivers over the last four games. That is the eighth most over the last four Robinson has traditionally struggled against the Vikings, though, averaging just fifty

eight scoreless yards in four games. But I still think he's got good matchups and especially two of the three spots, so he lines up all across the I'll have a fun stat here, YEA, give it to me. The Vikings have allowed forty eight class plays of over twenty yards. Allen Robinson has not eighteen on his on his own. For a guy who's been catching balls from Nick Foles for half the season, that's a lot of deep plays for Allen Robinson. Also, Darnell Mooney gets a C grade here.

He scored last week and I frequently mentioned him as a dark throw. I mentioned it last week. We did get a touchdown out of that. Wait a minute, same thing here. Vikings are down to undrafted Journey and Chris Jones at cornerback who most often see Mooney, who runs from the right side of the field the most often. That's Jones side of the field. So I like Darnel

Mooney with a C grade cole Commit tight end. He spiked to a new high with an eighty five percent snap share last week, and the Vikings are without star linebacker Eric Kendricks once again without Kendricks the past two weeks, Rob Gronkowski scored in the week before that, the anonymous Jaguars tight ends combined for ten catches and eighty five yards. I like Cole Commit in this game. And then David

Montgomery A grade for him. Over the last three games, Montgomery has averaged one hundred thirty six total yards and one point three touchdowns per game. And over the Minnesota's last four games, the Dallas Carolina, Jacksonville, and Tampa Backs, and these are not exactly rushing powerhouses. In Dallas, Carolina, Jacksonville and Tampa have averaged one hundred thirty total yards

and a touchdown per game. And again, the loss of tackling machine Eric Kendricks makes this a particularly good matchup for David Montgomery. Let's go to the Viking side, where Dalvin Cook is an obvious A and we're not going to spend extra time on that, but let's talk about the passing game that is down last week. Kirk cousins

Um is a B grade here. The Chicago Past defense was slumping until last week when it went largely unchallengable win against an injury depleted team and put Prior to that, the Bears have allowed multiple passing touchdowns in six straight games Cousins through and two in his Week ten matchup with Chicago, it looks like the Bears are going to

be without two starting cornerbacks in this game. UM we believe that it's going to be buster screen out and Jalen Johnson shaping up like a game time decision, So that should that should tilt the scales towards Jefferson and Feeling here. Chicago is allowed one hundred yard receiver or multiple receiver scores and four of the past five UM the again, only the Texans and their depleted receivers did

not make that happen. Jefferson will mostly square off with rookie Jalen Johnson if he can go, and if he can't go, then I like Jalen. I like Justin Jefferson even more this week. And if he doesn't go, if Jalen Johnson does not go, elevate Justin Jefferson to an A grade. Feeling will draw the tougher coverage against Kyle Fuller, who's allowing just thirty five yards in his coverage. Thus the b grade on Adam Feeling last Viking to mention IRV Smith. Cayle Rudolph has been ruled out, so Irv

Smith becomes viable in those situations. The Bears have been incredibly vulnerable to tight ends, Chicago allowing the third most receptions, seventh most yards, eighth most touchdowns. Too tight ends. Let's go to our next matchup San Francisco taking on Dallas for San Francisco where he Morris It Morris, He's a coach. He most dirt is expected to be available for this game. He already told us you like Jeff Wilson. What about Raheemo Sterret I do I I have a B grade

on Raheem Mostret. I do think he'll probably get the most work of them. The Cowboys sixth worst against running backs. I mentioned that before, and they have allowed multiple runners to have good games. Uh most are if he does get the most touches, I'm gonna give him the b and Wilson the sea. Uh. In the passing game, I

got Mullins on the bench. He looked really bad last week and Shanahan toyed with the idea of moving on from him, but early in the week decided, Okay, I'm gonna stick with Mullins, But that concerns me that he might be on a short leash. That's that's a fair concern. Although I thought Mullins looked very good the week before Buffalo. Yeah. Um, the Cowboys have also held the last three quarterbacks they played to two seventeen or fewer yards and just four

passing touchdowns combined. That's a shocking improvement for Dallas. Yeah. Brandon Ayouk, however, I have an a grade on the last two games that he played with Nick Mullins, with Kurt with Deebo Samuel out twenty four targets, seventeen catches, nearly two hundred yards and a score that's you know, last week plus the week three, the game three weeks before that. So Mullins tends to get tunnel vision for him apparently in that situation. So I have an a

grade on Ayouk. I think he might be targeted at Ton against the Dallas team that's allowed twenty two wide receiver touchdowns on their way to be in the second worst of the position. When we when fantasy, when you know those of us in the fantasy community, well what's listening when we still when we go back and look at the rookie receivers from this year. I think Justin Jefferson might be one. I might be two, and it

might there's still time to even flip flop. You might end up being the best fantasy receiver out of this draft class. And it's in the rookie season. Yeah, And imagine if Lam had Prescott and had a quarterback like Higgans didn't lose his I mean, so many really good ones, so many good ones. You might be the best of them, is the point I'm trying to make. I don't think we're done on Reagor yet either. Uh. I have have

born In James on the bench. Uh. In that Week ten game with I with I you can and Samuel out, they had three and four catches each of them, and in the week in last week with that same scenario each had three catches about five to forty yards for each of them. I think that's probably what you're looking at. Again, here, the matchups a little easier, so it's it's a risk. I guess you could, but I have him on the bench.

Jordan Reid also on the bench. He's splitting time with Dwelly way too much, and Dallas hasn't allowed a tight end over thirty yards since week seven. Yeah, so another big improvement for Dallas. Yea, when Layton vander ash is healthy, they locked down the tight ends pretty well. Over on the Dallas side, I have Dalton on the bench. To a lot of bench players here over the last six to seven games. Here's what quarterbacks have done against the

four nine ers. Wilson, Rodgers and Josh Allen torched them for four touchdowns each and average over three yards. Are really good quarterback the other the other the other five in that span under two hundred yards and no scores each. Dalton the Newton golf Alex Smith types that that's where Dalton fits. Dalton fits in that group, so I have him on the bench. I will put give Cooper a see though, since Dalton took over, Cooper has eighty plus yards and or a score in all four. He has

at least four grabs in each of them. That's seaworthy. He's getting enough volume piece like a boat. Yeah. The other guys seaworthy, well, Kenny float traditionally Cooper's or woodworkers, and they're four very buoyant, very buoyant, right, you know, they work with like curved wood and then you know the wood floats and those people probably many of them went from Cooper's to shipbuilders. Yes, that was in all those games with the non stud quarterbacks, the second and

third wide receivers did absolutely nothing. So lamb and gallop around the bench. Sheltz is on the bench because the fortnight is allowed the fewest yards and fused receptions. Tonight end not to the running game. Ezekiel Elliott. I almost do it like my bowls loosen talking about Ezekiel now since your question a few weeks ago, that's what that smell is. Forty Lamar Jackson was in here before me forty seventh best against running backs, second fused rushing touchdowns.

But over the last six weeks they've given up a six touchdowns over the last six weeks, so they're starting to give it up. The lead back is topped eighty yards in four straight and that's likely to be Elliott. So I have the C grade on Elliott. I know he's got an injury. I still think he's gonna get the workload. If we find out more before game time, maybe bench both him and Pollard because I don't trust

to split. Agreed. Tampa Bay takes on the Atlanta Falcons Matt And for the Bucks, no Ronald Jones in this one, and the Falcons are missing some key parts of their secondary as well. Yeah, I feel like this is shaping up like a Tom Brady passing game. Yeah, I'm I'm giving him a b here um. The Bucks will also be missing left tackle Donovan Smith, but Chart you did mention that Darkeys Dinard and Ricardo Allen are gone for

the Falcons secondary. But Atlanta has not allowed a quarterback to top two fifty yards in a month and over the last five weeks. The Falcons are sixth in league and passing yards allowed, and Brady is thrown from multiple scores and seven of the last eight, but the yardage total have been wildly inconsistent, including last week. As far as his receivers. The last Tampa Bay wide receiver to top one underd yards can you guess who it was? Scotty Miller in Week seven. It's been a long time,

That's wild. But Atlanta's biggest week spot seems to be the slot, where Keenan, Allen, Hunter, renfro and Michael Thomas twice have led their team's wide receiver groups and fantasy points during a date with Atlanta in the last month. That bode's wealth for Chris Godwin, who all given a grade to. Mike Evans gets the b as the guy who's getting the targets closer to the red zone. And I think I'm benching Antonio Brown. He hasn't scored yet

and he looks like just a guy since returning. You know, at the time Antonio Brown was signed, if you you know, if you were the guy that acquired Antonio Brown on that news, you could have traded him for almost anybody at any other absolutely, and to this point he has not scored. You should have trade on this is just like the stock market. Trade on news and hype. And look at Levy on Bell same thing. Trade on news and hype another guy you probably could have traded on

news a few times this year. Gronk, who I'm giving a C grade to. Atlanta's really cleaned up their tight end issues since dan Quinn left, only allowing two in the eight games since he departed. Uh Gronk had two targets last week but cashed one in for a score. He's startable. But there's about fifteen guys I like better. Roe Joe's on the COVID list four net. Looks like he's going to be the lead dog this week, even though he was a healthy scratch last week. Atlanta hasn't

allowed a one yard rusher all year. They did just allow Austin Ekeler to record nine catches last week, something we haven't seen against the Falcons in many moons, many moons. I can't believe I missed a nine times there. Geez, what am I doing? Slipping in my old age? Let's go to another guy who's in his old age. That's Julio Jones who's been ruled out of this one, and another guy who's gaining an age, Calvin Ridley. It's a birthday game for Calvin Ridley this weekend he's gaining literally

gaining an age. Weekend Sunday is his birthday. He gets the birthday a that's at the Ardvarks. No, it would be I can't give a fonsi away, but you know, um, when Jones is dinged up or doesn't play, Ridley gets a hundred yards or scores. It's as simple as that. It's happened four times this year together. It's always one or the other. He's had a hundred in three of them, and he's scored in the other one, so fo he's

four or four. Tampa held the Vikings receivers in check last week, but we're only a game removed from Tyreek Hill almost hitting three hundred yards and both Rams wide receivers top two hundred yards three games ago. Finally, uh from the from the passing game, Matt Ryan's getting a C grade here. Ryan's hit the three hundred yard mark only three times this year and zero times in his last six. But he's startable because Goff and Mahomes each roasted this defense in the last three games, both going

over three seventy yards with multiple scores. And you don't have a Falcon's running back on your roster if you're still in the playoffs, they're on the bench. Jets take on the Rams, Scott and for the Jets, I don't think there's anybody that we're talking about here again against a maybe the best defense in the NFL. No, we're not, but I gotta say you're throwing major shade at Russell Gauge man. I love Russell Gauge. I love Russell Gauge and with Zekias on I R and Juliu Jones out,

He's gonna get some work. We went back to the Falcons matchup. How'd that happened? I'm giving a C grade to Russell. I like it alright, New York Jets. I am starting No. One the Rams of the top team against quarterback's, fifth best against running backs, the best against wide receivers, their middle of the pack against tight ends. But do you want to start Christma? So I'm giving a B grade to Sam Donald. I would rather start

Russell Gauge over Sam Donald. Alright, Jared goff over On the Rams side, the Jets are second worst against quarterbacks. I already mentioned him as might take a chance on me player, so I obviously like him. I like his wide receivers in this one cup third most receptions and fifth most yards allowed to watch receivers. The Jets are Seattle just had three different receivers score on this team.

All had lower yardage. But given guys like Beasley and Keenan Allen, even Myers, Parker, Hopkins, Patrick, a bunch of players have just crushed the Jets and several slot guys. I have a B on Cup and I have a B on Woods, I would expect similar to the Bucks game where the top two guys both went over a hundred. That's that's what I'm explained. Woods is an A grade. To my mind, I think I don't. I don't think you're wrong. These are like this is like the B plus A minus range. I think is what it is.

So I'm fine with your A. I'll let you convince me and do an A there. Uh, Tyler Hagbe, I'm giving a C grade to the Jets are terrible against tight ends. Uh. It's tough to start a guy like Higbee, but the Jets have allowed the third most touchdowns to tight ends, third most yards. Cam Akers, It's finally time, baby. I'm giving him an A grade. Two straight with twenty two plus touches uh fifty plus snaps last week. Only two backs have tory plus touches against these Jets, but

they both went over a hundred fifteen yards. One had a hundred sixty six yards. Gentser on defense is pretty good, though they're way easier to beat through the air. The path of least resistance is through the Still think he gets twenty plus touches in the game they're running out the clock on very that that scenario is very likely when we come back. Plenty more to get to, including three tough questions play along see if you can go three and oh on Fantasy Football Weekly. Welcome back Fantasy

Football Weekly. I am Paul Charchy and my co hosts are Matt Harrison and Scott Fish. You can follow us on Twitter at Paul Charchy and you'll have to figure out how to spell it at Scott Fish twenty four. At Scott Fish, you act like I didn't know that I'm a if you mind at explosive output. Very nicely, said Lamar Jackson's burner account. Yes it's me Lamar Jackson. I'm not Mario's Jackson, the Italian Lamar Jackson, Luigi Jackson, Lamar D Jackson. Three tough questions. This is where you

try to play along. I'll pepper my co host, with three tough questions. See if you come to the same conclusions that they do. To question, what's the single best way to handle ties in a playoff game? Scott, I think it's just highest seed advantage advances. I I usually like to in my personal leagues push both teams through to the next round and then have a three way

and have the top winner go. But when you have to break ties if you're at least if you're going to the hundredth stessmal point, it's gonna be super rare. And I give a little credence to to you know, what they've done in the sular season, how they got there. That's that's just a small home field. Home field, your home. Yeah, I know that. There's the you know, pick a pick a starter, you're starting running back, a wide receiver, pick a non start running the lots of ways. I just

think I see give them that home field advantage. Okay, Matt, what is the best way to handle ties in a playoff game? I'm gonna get this right because you've done this for years with me. Um what Scott said? Answer? Okay, fine, here's the most important thing, commissioners, and you can do this right now. Have a rule established, anything in place.

Anything is good. So if you do not have a playoff tiebreaker written down edged in stone, find something anything that you can that you can get a coin flip that even even that bad it's a bad one, but if it's one of those Fantasy Football weekly coins, then it's a much better answer. Would have your fastest child run videotape. It Here's what it can't be about head

to head in the regular season. That is not your tie breaker here, because hey, it has nothing to do with what happened to this current week and be it could be that when these teams played had to had one team was at full strength, the other team had three guys on by or whatever, So don't use that. It also can't be about backups. I hear this all the time. I hate the well we go to our backups.

You know, you're watering down one of the key elements of skill for fantasy managers, which is deciding bench start players. I want, I want the outcome to be decided by starters. On to that point, you could just fill your bench with quarterbacks, yes, which I've done and been in the past when I've had these, when I've been in leagues that have that, I'll just drop everybody I've got, pick up nothing but quarterbacks, and even if they're bad quarterbacks,

I'll get a bunch of points from them. And well it's a free point, so why not, right, Um, I use total yards among start yards in total total total mark yards amongst starters are never gonna there's never gonna be a tie that way. Totally yards among starters. Tough question number two. In the playoffs particularly, should fantasy managers take their opponent's roster into consideration when setting their own line up? Matt Oh, I was gonna say what Scott said,

what Scott is about? What Scott is about to say. I hope he's about to say, Uh, there is some gamesmanship to him to this. Uh. If you know your opponent, for instance, has a guy like DeAndre Hopkins and you play Kyler Murray, that mitigates a little bit of what Hopkins can do on the high end. But I only really consider it in that kind of scenario where I'm playing against a stud wide receiver and I have his

quarterback in a good matchup as well. So if that wide receiver goes off in all likelihoods, so does my quarterback and I erase his big moment in the sun Scott. In the playoffs in particular, should fantasy managers take their opponent's roster into consideration when setting their own line up? Nah? I don't, I barely. That's not what Scott said about

its about its line up. I think the only only position I would is that is a tiebreak, Like if I have two players that are similar and I think that there's an advantage to glean versus my opponent's UH lineup for that, maybe, but not. I don't really care about my I'm trying to get as many points as i can, and I'm starting the players that I think

are going to score the most points. Yes, you should take your opponents of roster in consideration because you need to know am I a favorite or am I an underdog, especially if I'm a big favorite or a big underdog, because that's what sets the risk profile of your roster. As an underdog, you need to play more high risk, high reward players. I'm I'm more willing to couple, for example, as one example, I'm more willing to couple wide receivers

and quarterbacks together if I need to have. If I'm an underdog, I need to have something big hit for me to succeed, or high or other players that are touchdown dependent that Now I'm a lot more interested Cam Newton, who I hate in most regards. This is a scenario if I'm an underdog and I need him to run two touchdowns in this is a scenario where I'm starting Cam Newton. It's all about the risk profile. You need to know if you're a favorite or an underdog, if

it's relatively even. Now I'm where Scott was standing a minute ago. Now I'm just playing for the most points. But if I'm a favorite or an underdog, I do change it. What if I'm a favorite, Well, now I can manage situations like well, you just describe if one of if my opponent has got a great wide receiver and I'm the favorite, I absolutely want to be able to start that quarterback if I can, because I do

want to mitigate points. Then However, if I'm a big underdog and Matt's got a great receiver, I have to go to a different direction and hope that receiver does not sure. So correct answer is yes. Tough question number three, James Robinson is going to finish the season as a top ten back for or and maybe a top five back next year. Will you draft James Robinson in rounds one or two, three or four or later than round four? Scott probably still in the three to four range. Uh,

much much like for Net last year. But uh, I think James Robinson has less injury risk and he's younger. He's not gonna be off the team, So but probably on the higher end of that three to four range. Uh. This year, there's there's just been so many injuries up top, I don't want to risk it as much. But more than that, he might have a different quarterback, he might

have a different coaching staff. UM. I can see it going up if he gets a guy like Brady Joe Brady or b Enemy or something and gets a better quarterback that can run that offense better. Um, But for right now, where we're sitting right now, I think I have him in the three to four range. All right, Matt, are you going to take James Robinson next year in rounds one or two, three or four or later than

round four? Well, the answer is Scott's not going to get him, because you're not going to get James Robinson and rounds three year four where I know I'm getting there, charged, geez, get your pants back. I also didn't get for Net last year because I was I would have drafted him

in the fourth third. I was able to obtain a couple of mocks and some a DPS already way too early a DPS right next Um, right now, he's going anywhere between ten and fifteen in mocks right now, so that puts him in that weird end of round one beginning of round two turn where people often take two

running backs and it often fails miserably. So at the end of that round, you're going to be choosing between Robinson and guys like Travis Kelsey, DK metcalf A, j Brown, Patrick Mahomes if you're into that, and more established runners like Aaron Jones, Josh Jacobs or Zeke So those are the guys that you're going to be choosing. Weird with James Robinson, So you're a what are you doing? You're gonna have to take between round one and two, So I guess I'm not getting him. But that's so risky,

Like he has nobody behind him. What if they draft a good running back to share with him? What if the offense is different with Can I go nope? Thanks? Do it? Do it all right? Matt Scott, close your eyes, close your eyes if you're driving, Do not close your eyes, keep them open. I want you to picture highlight moments from James Robinson. I got a couple, but I would guess I don't think I've seen a Jaguars game. He has hurtled people at least twice one twenty yard reception

on like his first game, he hurdled someone. Here's why I'm skeptical. Is he a good runner? It's James Robinson, a good runner. He's good. He's a good he's a good runner. He's a good I don't see enough athleticism from him to suggest he's going to make a year to leap and he's not going to get of the workload next year. There's no chance he's going to do that. The Jaguars simply couldn't find other ways to score or move the ball this year. Almost by default, it has

to get better next season. It just feels like he caught lighting in a bottle this year. I'm not I'm just not buying it because I don't think he's a special back. And at the end of the first round I want special backs to me is ADP right now? This early ADP is absurd. I want special players at that stage For me, he hits. He fits the profile for the kind of guys I totally avoid doing the

He's the exact guys I don't take. And if they somehow linger into round five, now we're talking now that that's where I want my James Robinson's I think to Scott to the point you were starting to make, there's gonna be other players there that are gonna start eating into his into his work that load next year, I am round four or later on, James Robinson. Let's get back to our matchups, including Houston taking on the Indianapolis Colts.

We'll be in with David Johnson, who faces an elite run defense and this is a very icy start for him. Just a C grade. Non Derrick Henry running backs haven't gone over eighty eight rushing yards this season against Indie. Not only that, they haven't gone over one hundred yards in Indianapolis last fifty eight games. There's a lot of non Derrick Henry runners out there, a lot of I am a non Derrick Henry runner. Yes, Johnson is a uber, low ceiling plotting runner who gets bailed out with a

touchdown every now and again. He did against India a couple of weeks ago, which saved him from an otherwise horrible game. And that's the only reason you would start. Johnson is the hope for a touchdown here. Let's go to the passing game, where Deshaun Watson is a B grade. He played well. Against Indianapolis two weeks ago, he rolled

up three one scoreless yards. Cold secondary maybe missing its best cornerback Xavier Rhodes, who left last week's game, and they've struggled lately, allowing over three hundred passing yards and three of the past four Colts have allowed quarterback rushing touchdowns in three straight games and four the past five games. So I think that adding the rushing opportunities here, and I think Deshaun Watson's actually a safe play. Still don't

love the receiver set. Still don't know for sure that Brandon Cooks is gonna go, but we think he's gonna play. I've got Cooks and Kiki Cutie with b grades Cook's log just sixty five scoreless yards against this team two weeks ago when they met, and receivers just don't score against the cold secondary. They've surrendered only eleven touchdowns to white outs all year. That is fourth fewest. The good news is though, they've allowed a ninety eight yard receiver

in four straight games, so maybe that'll be him. Cutie mostly runs from the slot, where he's got a daunting matchup with Kenny Moore, who is the current defensive player of the week on that part of it is yet awesome interception that Kenny Moore at last week. That thing was blonkers. Uh so just to see grade on key k QT. Then Chad Hansen, who I did players, I did not expect to be talking about it at any point in this season. This is what happens in hey

crazy story. He was out of football for three years, comes back, he had nine NFL catches, and then he gets forced into action two weeks ago. He posts back to back solid games. But I think Brandon Cooks comes back and that's the end of it for Chad Hanson. Let's go to the Indianapolis side, beginning with Philip Rivers surging of late. He played these same Texans two games ago, put up a very good game two it at eighty

five yards and two scores, and sandwich. Between the two Texans games, Houston got lit up by Sad trombone Ski for three touchdowns without suspended cornerback Bradley Roby. You can

bank on a bad game from the Texas Texans secondary. Meanwhile, Rivers enters the game red hot, as they mentioned, multiple touchdowns in four straight and over two five passing yards and four of the past five games, Philip rivers a B grade, A grade to one of his receivers, t Y Hilton, who has spoiled us with ninety two yards per game over the last three games, a complete one

eighty degrees change from his horrible first nine games. He has now crossed the stripe four times in those last three games, which is more than he had had in his previous eighteen games combined. Houston surrendered one yard scoring efforts to a receiver and back to back games including Hilton, and I feel like this is a great opportunity. He's gonna light up, primarily against cornerback Keyon krosson a career backup.

Also among receivers Michael Pittman with a C grade. I don't love his low volume, but this matchup is tantalizing. He has a healthy five catches in this game two weeks ago, and in recent weeks, Houston has yielded good fantasy games to second tier receivers like Darnell Mooney and Mohammed Sanu and Demere Bird. If those guys can do it, Michael Pittman's in play here as well. Houston's allowed the second most touchdowns to wide receivers I like Pittman with

a coin flips chance for a touchdown. Here all the tight ends cannibalize each other. They're all on the bench. Let's talk about Jonathan Taylor, who has finally turned into the bell cow back we wanted him to be, averaging nineteen carries over his past three games. He rocked the Texans for a buck thirty five. Two weeks ago, Texans allowed the most fantasy points to running backs, and Taylor is and a grade. Let's feel awfully good about his prospects.

I feel about nine Heinz nime Heinz. Wait is this nime Heinz? I've got a bench grade on him? But he does have He does get the ball enough and in a PPR format, he does catch enough that I think he is serviceable in this game. He's a kind of an extra take a chance on me guy in my opinion. With that matchup, you know what you're right. Let's give him a solid Sea Grede in this one. Um, when we come back the Philadelphia Eagles at the Arizona Cardinals,

what to do about Jalen Hurts? Are we chasing last week's rushing production? Find out when we come back to Fantasy Football Weekly. Welcome back Fantasy Football Weekly. Scott Fish and Matt Harrison with you. Matt. What can people find it Shock Fantasy dot Com? Oh, lots of stuff we're doing the podcast, still doing a lot of mail bag

stuff to help set some lineups. And also we got the new trade value chart out and we're gonna have uh, the Super Bowl prop bat game is going to be exclusive to Shock Fantasy this year, so we'll be selling that there. Uh. Philadelphia Eagles are selling hope that they've turned around their franchise with a new quarterback. Jalen Hurts. Eighteen carries last week, over one hundred rushing yards. Now he goes up against Arizona. I think I've gotten more

questions about Jalen Hurts than any other player this week. Yeah, hundred and six rushing yards last week, but only one sixty seven in the passing game. He only dropped back to pass thirty times in that game, and the Eagles ran the ball thirty six times. That doesn't bode well for a quarterback normally. Um, so I'm only giving him a C grade here. I'm not looking heavily into the

passing option. I think that's just gravy. So what about the running the Cardinals his opponent had a stretch of five games in a row where they allowed thirty five or more rushing yards to every quarterback they faced, and that stretch just ended two weeks ago. So he's going to get about sixty yards on the ground. I'd say maybe two yards through the air for Lucky, but the eight ball won't tell me anymore. So he's only a C grade, Miles Sanders. I'm giving a b uh the ball.

The eight ball will tell me that the Cards have allowed six rushing touchdowns in the last four weeks. Did that fit on the little the little eight ball thing? Mean? That's that's a lot of data to fit on that little triangle. I gotta custom magic eight ball. It's really thank you, yes, um, Miles Sanders benefited greatly from having a mobile quarterback with eighteen touches and thirty six yards

and two wars last week he was back. The only other Eagles that I think that you can consider starting are Dallas Goddard and Zach Ertz, who I'm both giving really low level C grades. Two Hurts is generating very low depth of target on his throws, which brings into play the tight ends. I think Goddard is a little bit better in this matchup. He's seen eight targets from Hurts in his game and a half as opposed to Arts,

who's only seen five. The Eagles ran two tight ends sets copiously last week against the Saints, meaning both of them will be on the field or more of the snaps, you know, and that this brings up start, energy, brings up They're missing their two best offensive line Lane Johnson and Jason Peters are out and that's the problem. I think that they're going to be stuck in blocking a lot of the time too. So either way, the Cards have been very solid against tight ends this year as

opposed to last year. They only allowed three touchdowns on the season and no tight end his top to fifty three yards all year. On the other side, Kyler Murray, I'm giving him an a aid. Do you know which team has allowed the most quarterback rushing yards this season? Well, it might be the Philadelphia Eagles, it sure is. After three weeks of struggling through an injury and exactly five carries in each game, Kyler seemed spry and with it

and ready last week had thirteen carries again. I like his chances of outdueling Hurts in the run game, and his pass game is better and more refined than Hurts is uh. DeAndre Hopkins getting an A grade two. The Eagles have just been torched by big number one wide receivers DK and DeVante each had huge days in just the last three weeks. Christian Kirk was you to take a chance on me wide receiver chart. I'm even gonna throw a little love at Brian's boy, Dan Arnold. I

know how about this. He's become fantasy relevant if you need a home run hitter of a tight end and you're banking only on touchdowns for this. Dan Arnold has scored four times in his last four games, and Philly has allowed eight tight end touchdowns on the year, so you're gonna need Arnold to get to But if you need a home run dan Arnold C grade. Finally, Kenyan Drake, he gets a B. Drake has control of the backfield again, even more since Chase Edmonds dinged up his ankle last

week and might not go this week. The Eagles have been a bottom ten run defense over the last month, so the matchup is kind of ripe here for Kenyan Drake and his twenty touches. Jacksonville takes on Baltimore. We begin with James Robinson, who has proven himself to be matchup proof. The last four Fantasy relevant backs the Ravens have faced have average five yards per carry. There we go Robinson's average nearly five grabs per game in minshow's

last five starts. He's gonna chip in some air production as well. I don't see an explosive game coming, but a good game for James Robinson with a B grade every other Jaguars on the bench the entire passing game. Baltimore isn't impenetrable against the past, but third tier passers almost always struggle against them, and the receivers in particular dead here. Baltimore is allowed the second fewest touchdowns to whiteouts.

DJ Chark's got a bad matchup with Jimmy Smith. The Ravens get ding by tight ends a little, but nobody's playing Tyler Eiffort in the semifinals. Let's go over to the Baltimore side, where things are a lot more interesting. Um and one of the really big storylines to watch Lamar Jackson. Maybe without both starting wide receivers because they're on the COVID list. Offsetting that the Jaguars will be down all three starting cornerbacks and possibly two depth corners

as well. They might be missing five cornerbacks in this game. This is probably the NFL's worst secondary the Jaguars now opposite that, the Ravens through the fewest passes for the second fewest yards, so this thing could go a lot of different directions through the air. The only thing that can take Lamar Jackson down in this game is meta musil very welcome. Jackson usually provides very little through the air, as you already know. Um Still, there's an opportunity here

for him to do some real damage. And wouldn't that be handy if he had both the rare this year explosive game on the ground owned and through the air and in his pants? Sorry, Mark Lamar, I apologize. Mostly you're in it for Jackson's running the top fifty rushing yards in sixth straight games, which gives him a safe floor in a massive upside. If Marks Brown is able

to go, then he's a B grade here. He's finds himself in the midst of an improbable three games scoring streak, which he never does and this matchups about as positive one as he'll see all year long for the reasons already discussed, And and if Brown and boy Can are both out, you could even dart throw to Devin DuVernay or Dez Bryant in this matchup. It's that positive both of those guys, and in daily formats they're kind of compelling. If Boykin and Brown are out, let's talk about the

running backs. No, wait, one more receiver to get to Mark Andrews. The tight end A grade for Mark Andrews. Jaguars are allowing the most yards per reception to tight ends, which is great news for Andrews, who came to life with chunk plays last week. Jackson will also allowing ten touchdowns to tight ends, that second most. Now, Andrews hasn't been the scoring machine he was last season, but he still sees twenty percent of his team's targets in the

red zone. That's the ninth highest clip among all players in the league. So tight end potential is there for Mark Andrews. A grade for him. Now, let's get to the running backs and J. K. Dobbins, who is now seeing double digit carries in five of the last six games and I think that he will continue to get a lot of work, especially with the Ravens likely getting out to a big lead here, and if the Ravens whiteouts missed this game, all the more work for j K. Dobbins.

He has scored in three straight games. He faces a bad Jacksonville defense that's allowed the fourth most fantasy points and second most touchdowns to running backs. Now where it gets a little bit sticky, is Lamar Jackson runs in a bunch of touchdowns and Gus Edwards gets the red zone carries, So Dabbin still has some downside in an otherwise favorable matchup. Let's talk about Gus Edwards. You don't like Gus got two red zone carries and scored on both.

Jake has seven in the last two weeks, so Jak does get it too. I like Gus Edwards here for the red zone carries and the fact that he's a finisher in the end zone. Jaguars all all the seventh most rushing touchdowns and touchdowns in four straight games to running backs in tight end in touchdown heavy leagues. He is a viable dart throw with a C grade in that game. UM, let's work in one more matchup, Kansas

City taking on the New Orleans Saints. Scott for Kansas City, this is one of the toughest matchups and maybe the toughest matchup of their season. You can't bench any of the studs, but Mahomes, Kelsey, Hill, You're not mentioned, but they all have mortal play potentially in them this week. Yeah, Mahomes, Like when Mahomes throws for three and two, we don't even beat and eye, that's his mortal play. At this point, I I I still have a grades on all of them.

It's it's it's it's the rest of the staff that I think, is uh really tough for really to gonna be a really tough matchup. Watkins and Hardman, both of them on the bench. There's been room for a third receiver, and of course Hill and Kelsey the first two to have a good game against the Saints. That happened in the Saints, in the Bears game, the Panthers game, the Falcons game. What are those teams haven't coming no tight ends, They don't really have tight ends doing anything, alright, So

this one has Kelsey at tight end. So the third receivers and I don't have anything for the third receiver in this one. Nothing for Watkins or Hardman. Onto the running game. Clyde Edwards E Lair Levan Bell tweeted he was confused this week. I'm not sure if that was because Clyde had twenty one touches or if he had finally listened to his own rap album and just wasn't wasn't sure what was going on there, what he was

thinking when he made that thing. The Saints has actually held down some held down Sanders last week a lot better than his stat line shows. Due to that eighty two yard touchdown. The rest of his carriers went thirteen for thirty three. I hate doing that. I hate doing that, but I do that because c H isn't the kind of back to break those eight yard runs. He's not the type of back to have those and and several running backs recently have been that way against the Saints.

No running back his top fifty rushing yards against them since Week eight. Yeah, and that's that's where c H gets it. Only one back had more than thirty receiving yards I give. I want to give him a BE, but I think I'm only going to give him a C. I think he'll get the fifteen plus touches, but the low yardage from all the running backs recently except for Sanders, and mostly due to that big run I'm giving I'm giving Clyde a C. I think it's a strong seed, but I'm giving him a C. On the other side,

Drew Brees is back, but Michael Thomas is out. Casey has allowed multiple touchdowns in five straight. Breese had multiple touchdowns in all but one of his fall games. Uh and in that one he had three and twelve and a score. This is before the injury, though, He's gonna be playing maybe with some sore NOAs maybe with maybe with a vest on those ribs. They say he's fully healthy. Yeah, Now many of those games are also without practically all

of them without Michael Thomas as well. He's you know, so he's fully acclimated to game plans without Michael Thomas's just put Taysom Hilla in a wide receiver now and they might they you know, there's the opportunity to do that. I think you have to build in with Drew Brees, the threat that he gets knocked out of this game. Now he's gonna be He's gonna be loaded with pain killer, right,

but this is a very good Chiefs defensive line. And you know, it's one thing to be able to practice pain free, it's another one to have, you know, a gigantic, three enter pound lineman spear you in the ribs. You know there are only a few places you can hit a quarterback. The ribs is one of them. This is I think you have to build in the prospect that Drew Brees ends up not finishing the game. Yeah that's uh,

I guess so, I I don't. I don't think he's gonna leave the game, but I I guess you can maybe should I drop him from a B two SC? Is that way you're saying, just based on see, I would okay, alright, alright, sounds good. It's your call, but that's what I would do. I gave Smith and Sanders

both CE grades. In the last three games without Michael Thomas, uh, Emmanuel Sanders had fifty plus yards and or a touchdown, which is sea level and tre Kwon Smith was starting to break out with Drew Brees before he went down. He had a couple eight yard games, couple score games, and Drew Brees had talked about this is gonna be a breakout season for and then he got hurt. You're so nautical today, Scott. You just said sea level. This is great. Jared Cook was might take a chance on

me player. I think tight ends have been crushing them for four weeks. Here's where I love it. I love Alvin. That that's true. Yes, yes, very aquatic over here. I actually don't have Gilts. Why didn't you name one of your kids gil Nobody names that kids kill anymore. That's right. It was a thing in the like sixties. I think Gilbert the Gilbert is not that's not a winner. It's not popular. Alvin Kamar came back into the receiving game last week with seven receptions. Uh, it was something he

was missing when Taysom Hill was out. He gets when Drew Brees is in, and with Michael Thomas out, he's only going to see more work. I have an a grade on Alvin Kamorrow. Murray went back to the bench. That's it. Yeah, that's right. I think you're right about that. Yeah. When we come back final set of matchups, including the

Cleveland Browns and the New York Giants. We already talked a little bit earlier about some elements of the passing game for the Browns, but trick the giants improved defense make for a tricky matchup even for guys like Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. Will tell you what kind of grades they get when we come back to Fantasy Football Weekly. Final segment of Fantasy Football Weekly, Paul Charchs got Fish and Matt Harrison with you. Thank you for joining us.

If you're listening over the air, you should know that Fantasy Football Weekly is also a podcast. So if you've missed any part of this show, it's a two hour long show, then we encourage you to go to the podcast Fantasy Football Weekly. It's available on the I Heart podcasting platform and really all really every podcasting platform, whatever your favorite is, you're gonna be able to find Fantasy Football Weekly. We encourage you to tune in. Matt, the

Cleveland Browns take on the New York Giants. You've already talked a bit about the passing game earlier in the show, and I take a chance on me segment. I know there's some guys who like here let's talk. Let's start with the runners, because I think this is a more interesting matchup. Nick Chubb is obviously awesome. I know you're gonna start him, but this is not a trivial matchup. Yeah,

I'm still giving Ubin a grade in this one. The Giants have given up good but not great fantasy days to every team they faced in the last five weeks except for the Bengals, who don't actually have a running back right now. Since returning from injury, Chubb has had either yards or a touchdown in every game, and he's scored in four of those five. So I think Chub is an obvious A. He's fresh and healthy right now. Really like him. Kareem Hunt. I'm even given a B

two in this one. Hunts touched totals concerned me a little bit, but he did score twice last week on only twelve touches. That's not enough touches for me to feel really comfortable going more than a B. But the good thing is the Giants are bottom four in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns allowed to the running back position.

That plays into Kareem Hunt's favor. Yes, Baker Mayfield was might take a chance on the quarterback, and Richard Higgins was might take a chance on me wide receiver Jarvis Landry.

I'm gonna give a B grade two as well. This was the Landry we expected at the beginning of the year, the Landry we've seen in the last three weeks, averaging ten targets per game, averaging seven receptions per game over the last three The Giants have given up a handful of really good games to slot receivers this season, and

Landry really is Baker's guy. Right now, Let's go to the Giants side, where it's very notable that among the COVID nineteen cancelations for the Giants this week, Jason Garrett tested positive for COVID. Yes, so he will be calling plays for the Giants this week. But do you know who will Yes, I do last year's head coach of the Cleveland Browns, Freddie Kitchens. It's a revenge game for

Freddie Kitchens. So it's time to fire up all those Giants, right well, revenge game for Cult McCoy is, yes, former Brown Cult McCoy, who may get the start in this one, or injured Daniel Jones, who's nursing an ankle and a hamstring injury and has been limited in practice all week. Jones was just hobbling and kind of warm garbage last week against the Cards, and the Giants got blown out of that game and they lost their NFC East lead.

The Browns have been pretty good against quarterbacks, and they did get top corner Denzel Ward back this week, so you're not going to start a Giant's quarterback in your fantasy semifinals. The two guys that you might be interested in starting on the Giants. Number one is Evan Engram, who I'm giving a B grade to. Ingram actually had his best game of the season with Colt McCoy under center, so we're kind of cheering for Colt McCoy to get

this nod here. The Browns are bottom six in receptions, yards and touchdowns allowed to the tight end position, so Evan Ingram's kind of a sneaky play here. And then Wayne Gallman, I'm giving him a C grade in this one. He's averaging about eighteen touches per game since solidifying the job. But Cleveland has been good against the run until they face the Ravens last week. Allowing five running back touchdowns

over the last three weeks. That's not good, but they only allowed seven in the prior ten games, so I'm only gonna give Wayne Gallman to see, but he's probably their best chance at keeping it close. Yes, I do worry a little bit there. Giants might fall behind by a lot and they might have to abandon ship on the running game altogether. I worry about that a bit. All right, Let's go to our final matchup, Steelers taking on the Cincinnati Bengals. We begin with the moribund running

game of the Steelers. James James Conner likely doesn't play with his quad injury, and even if he does, he's been brutal. Get this, Over the last three weeks, the Steelers are averaging forty five rushing yards per game as a team. You know hard it is to do that for three weeks. I think one of those games he had UN's unbelievable. Roethlisberger should start chipping in. Huh, he might. He might have to. Steelers on the season ranked thirty

feet in rushing yards per game. It's been a disaster here. Benny Snell horrible. Anthony McFarland has been equally bad, and he gets less used. There's no plays here among the Ler's runners, and they are all on the bench. Let's go to the passing game, where Ben Roethlisberger gets a B grade. But let's talk about his game a bit, because it's it's changed a lot. He has turned into

a dink and dunk passer. Only Alex Smith throws shorter passes than Ben Roethlisberger at three point eight yards per completion. Three point eight yards is like me to Matt right now is about to have a hundred catch nine yards seasons, and yet somehow his receivers have dropped twenty seven passes. How do you do that from three point eight yards away? Can you fall forward for three point eight yards? Yes,

you can't. A matter of fact, maneu Bull Now Roethlisberger eviscerated the Bengals for three hundred thirty three yards and four touchdowns in the Week ten meeting. That wasn't that long ago. The Bigel's past defense looks improved since then, but they've faced Daniel Jones to a Tonga Via looa Alex Smith and Andy Dalton, and those are not great passers. And I'm not convinced the Cincinnati secondary is really any better than the version Ben took apart five games ago.

So again, it be great on Ben. Let talk about his receivers. Chase Claypool's yardage has declined in each of four games, and he has currently is currently in the middle of the three game scoreless streak. Where he was

really very helpful was the touchdowns earlier. Fortunately, outside cornerback Lashawn Simms offers Claypool a get right matchup, as he's allowing scores, has allowed scores and back to back games, and yields a massive eight percent catch rate in his coverage and a passer rating of one hundred thirty eight. That's approaching perfection. Let's go Claypool. I love Chase Claypool in this matchup. Not a grade, but I like him to be grade. I also have a B grade in

Juju Smith Schuster, particularly in PPR leagues. Juju has garnered nine targets per game in his last five while notching three scores in that span. He put together a nine catch, seventy seven yard one touchdown game against Cincinnati four weeks ago, and should farewell against Mackenzie Alexander in the slot. He's giving up a sev catch rate in his coverage. Here's the trickiest Steeler by a mile. What are you doing

about Deonte Johnson? You may recall last week one of our three tough questions was, can you trust Deonte Johnson knowing he could get benched if he drops a pass? What happened last week? He got benched after he dropped a pass. So he did come back in. He did come back in later in the game. Now, I can't promise you that Johnson starts this game over James Washington, or that he finishes this game over James Washington. Washington has tallied seven drops. Sorry, Johnson has tallied seven drops

in his last three games. He's averaging just fifty two yards per game over those last three games. That compares, that's half of the hundred one yards he was averaging the three games prior to drop Fest. He smoked Cincinnati for a hundred sixteen yards in a score in Week ten. I think he is as as big a high risk, high reward player as anybody in this week, outside of maybe Russell Wilson, who I think is a super high

risk high reward player as well. Would you guys start Deonte Johnson in a typically sized league in a semifinal game, Yep, I still think I would. I still think I would. You just like him that much? Yeah, I think it really depends on who else I got on my team, but it's you know, it's close, like I mean it like a Russell Gauge type guy. I'm just kidding. Well, no, what if it's not a Russell Gauge type guy. And sometimes it's not a Russell Gauge type guy. Yeah, that's

that's the thing. I just I'm I'm believing that I probably don't have a better option than Deonta Johnsonside is high. Let's talk Eric Ebron for just a minute. He only managed thirty eight scoreless yards when these teams met again and keep affereneing the previous game Week ten. But the Bengals are horrible against tight ends. They've allowed the sixth most receptions, the most yards, and the eighth most touchdowns to the position. Eric Ebron clocks in with a B grade.

I like him this week, uh, and I consider him to be startable. And you know, if you don't trust Deante Johnson and you've been looking around and all those all those extra passes have to go somewhere, potential uptick for Ebron is pretty good. Uh. Marcus Mariota looks like he's gonna be a starter for a while, maybe the rest of the season. Potentially probably for the rest of the all Right, I want to let's talk it. Let's talk this through for a minute. And by the way,

I thought he looked really, really good. I was very impressed with with the version of him that I saw. Um, would you pick him up in a redraft league? Would you pick him up Scott in a dynasty or Empire format? We're already thinking about next year. It's got to be super flex if I am, because he's the type of guy that is going to hit the market after this year. Well, he's under contract most by the way, an astounding ten million dollars next year. Really bad. Yeah, man, for some reason,

I was backup quarterback. So yeah. So then then he's not the kind of guy that sets a market and gets gets a job. So yeah, I don't, I don't. I don't know that. Well you should, you should everything. Then he gets a matchup with TA next week and it could be a matchup of running quarterbacks all over the field and Hawaiian quarter Hawaiian quarter. You got Oregon versus Oregon on Thursday night, and next week you got I. That is impressive. Um, I think if you're in a

if you're in a two quarterback league. You reflex two quarterback league. Mariota next week is Is is a potential starter. But that Miami secondary has been awesome. You don't have. Miami defense is pretty dann good. It is pretty darn good. It's one of the under underrated stories of this season. I think charge let me ask you a question, and uh, Mariota famously came into the league in the same draft

as Jamis Winston. Which of those two players from a dynasty perspective, people maybe trying to pick up a few guys here and there, which of those two guys has a better chance of starting in the NFL next season? Winston because he's not under contract and he's going to hit the free agent market and be able to, you know, try to secure a job that he was not able to get his past off season. So I think he's

got a clearer path now. If Mary, if Mariota goes bonkers down the stretch here, maybe you know, who knows, maybe the issue maybe maybe just trying to trade him. Maybe, Uh. Run quarterbacks with more than five carries against the Dolphins, Cam Newton sudenty five yards and two scores, Kyler Murray a hundred and six yards in the score, a little preview of next like, well, let's see what Cam does

against the Dolphins again this week. That might give us the perfect preview for what Mariota can do next week. I want to look ahead to next year with a couple of quick questions for you guys. Keenan Allen has obviously been resurgent under air bear. We have an air bear enough, we thay that's why. So Keenan Allen resurgent under air bear next year? What round do you believe Keenan Allen will go? And by the way, Eric the Enemy is gonna be the head coach because Eric can

pick his spots, you know he can. He can go wherever he wants. He will go to the team with the awesome young quarterback because you've been crazy not to. That is how coaches keep jobs and have longevity is they hook their wagon to a great young corn. What you also don't do that also played for the Chargers. That's a great point, But you also don't want to go into the same division as Patrick Mahomes where you might never a division titles. A fair point that that

part would be tricky. I don't know. He probably watches the air Bear on TV and he's like, man, I can do some things out there. I know. So where where does Keenan Allen fit in? He was the guy, he was criminal, he was I was just like a sixth round pick. In August. We're like, fine, you know it's a fourth round. I'll just take Keenan Allen now second round. Yeah, I think I think he's a tail end of the second round, early third round kind of a guy. He was leading the NFL in targets and

receptions for quite a while under air Bear. Yeah, I think he's definitely a second round guy. Well, people remember too much the end of his season, especially if he kind of slides out of the season injured. Yeah, people tend to do that when we get to a draft time in July in August. So that's why it's second round. It should be first, second corner probably probably probably should um one last one last topic for you guys before we've got a spare moment next year for the Chiefs.

As we we mentioned the Chiefs, Sammy Watkins and not on our contract, and I believe he's gonna be gone, you know, I think they've had enough of his four catches and thirty yards a game that's he doesn't move the kne is. Next year finally the Meek Cole Hardman year where he finally, you know, stays on the field, he gets of the snaps like Watkins does, and he

actually does something. You're three. I don't know that there's enough room for that third receiver to do behind Travis, but yeah, he's probably gonna get a little more, a little bit more. But I think what they should do is sign Watkins to a one week contracts just a week one, a week one contract. There's a lot of really interesting wide receivers who are hitting the free agent

market next year. I would not be surprised of Kansas Cities in play for a guy like Chris Godwin, uh Fishes guy, Kenny Golladay, Smith Schuster, really really interesting guys who Patrick Mahomes could help light up the league. Teams might players might take a discount to play with Patrick Mahomes and we you know, go play for a winner. We would understand that. Thank you for listening to the semifinals version of Fantasy Football Weekly. Will be here Championship

Week next week. Talk to then Bye bye. Fantasy Football Weekly is a production of I Heart Radio for more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.