Hey everybody, It's Monday, December second, twenty twenty four. Welcome to the NFL Fantasy Football Show. It's me your man, MG Marcus Grant, joined by Michael f Florio and LaQuan Jones. We're still eating Thanksgiving leftovers hopefully.
Oh you're not.
No. Yesterday it was the.
Last day, Marcus. I still a little bit of hands left. I'm mixing in with my eggs.
It's great.
Anyway, we got some big takeaways from week thirteen.
Still one game left to go.
We got the Browns at the Broncos on Monday Night Football, but they a full slate ahead of that we can dive into. Plus we'll have some waiver wire picks as well, and we got to do our weekly John new Smith update because that's a thing now that we have to.
Do on this show. But sucks, you know what I mean. You know, it depends on your perspective, That's all I'm gonna say.
Anyway, Let's get started, as we always do, with some fantasy headlines, and one really frustrating and unfortunate one to begin with. Christian McCaffrey, who we waited for weeks to finally come back. We had to see him for a few games, and now it looks like it is over. On Sunday Night football against the Buffalo Bills, McCaffrey left early with a knee injury that is as being called possibly season ending. So I guess the first thing, Florio, the easy thing is, I mean, next man up? Obviously
you know Jordan Mason is the easy call. How much interest do you have though in Isaac Garrindo going forward?
I definitely want him on my roster because a number of reasons. One, this is the last week of buye, so do your bench spots become a little bit more where you could roll it, like take upside shots rather than needing players for like bye week replacements or stuff like that. But also, Jordan Mason, for as great as he was, did hit a bit of a wall down the stretches with his tenure as a starter. And then Isaac Grendo has the juice man and he's capable of
putting out some really big plays. So while I think Mason will be the lead guy and we'll get the most of the opportunities, I could see Grendo either one carving out his own standalone role or maybe two if Mason continues to struggle a little bit like he did prior to CMC coming back. Maybe we see him start to it look more like a split or something like that. So definitely someone I want on my rosters right now.
I also think, uh lakwan, this is sort of the lesson of this part of the season, starting to go out and get your handcuffs, get those guys that you know, if something happens to the guy ahead of them. You know, it's important to have these guys because you just never know, suddenly somebody walks into a big, big workload, right.
Yeah, definitely, and I think, you know, Floria hit a nail on the head, you know, Isaac Grendo definitely pops up on my radar as a guy that I want, you know, just to have a high end handcuff as well, because Jordan he definitely did hit a wall. He definitely hit the point where we're starting to see him kind of break down and he suffered some injuries, and Isaac Garndo plug and play into that system. Of course, he
was able to show up and show out. So I definitely want, you know, one of these guys on my rosters going up, you know, into the playoffs, because at the end of the day that waiver wire the streets is going to be looking nasty once, you know, people start hitting this week for the wire.
Absolutely, we're gonna dive into waiver wire a little bit later, but it is going to be a tough week because, in case you have not heard, it's by mcgetton Part two.
Yay, good luck.
There are six teams out to buy, including a lot of really good offenses with some really good players that are not going to be available to you.
We got to think of a tagline like by mcgett into like what would the movie line.
Be, Electric Boogaloo, Like, I don't know.
Yeah, we'll work out that by strike back or something like that.
Yeah, it's gotta be we'll work shop that and we'll try to get it for for Wednesday show or something. I don't know, real quick for you guys. You know, obviously you know McCaffrey. We don't know how long exactly he's going to be out, certainly the end of this season. We'll see how long it potentially stretches in the next season. I know there was concern about drafting him at the top of drafts this year.
You're way too early.
Adp Florie on Christian McCaffrey for twenty twenty five.
Depending on when he is back, I think he will go somewhere. If he's back for the start of the season next year, I think he's a second round pick. If he is not, I think he'll go somewhere in the third or fourth round. I think his days of being the one to one are long over. I think his days of potentially being a first round pick are over because this is another injury. There's still the Achilles injuries.
It's also funny to me that in his career CMC has two seasons where if you did not have him, you probably didn't win a championship, and then two seasons where if you took him first overall, your season was long over from the moment that you took him.
Yeah.
I fall into that latter category where I drafted him and you know, I'm both those teams are going anywhere because I miss McCaffrey for so much of the season.
Yeah, it's been it's been frustrating.
Speaking of major injuries, Taysom Hill suffered a torn acl plus additional damnage. Ad Is for our own Ian Rappaport and he is done for the rest of the season.
I mean, Lakwan, look, I get it.
He has sort of been a thorn in our side for Fantasy, But the last couple of weeks we knew we could count on him, right, I mean, there was no.
Chris o'lave is gone, Rashie Shaheed is gone.
Aside from Alvin Kamara, Taysom Hill is kind of the only other thing in this offense. So now without Taysom Hill, anybody we can count on besides Alvin Kamara in New Orleans, I'm.
Gonna have to go with MVS. I mean, Marquis ald S Scantling. I mean, it sounds nasty, but he's making the big place. He's plugging play into that role, you know, for Rashis Shaheed to stretch the field, but you might see him be utilized more as a all around wide receiver and immediate maybe short targets as well. But Derek Carr is gonna have to figure it out with the rest of the company. I mean, honestly, I think this
is more work on album Kamara's workloads. So you know, Fantasy managers that have Alan Kamara going into the playoffs, I know they're happy about that, you know, being that you know he'll get most of the touches on the goal line, et cetera, et cetera, and receiving work, so more most likely MBS. He becomes more interesting as did
weeks go on. I mean, honestly, the touchdown that he had last week, I mean yesterday, I mean honestly, it's frustrating as a ranstring to see, but I kind of expected me, you know, like it's one of those things that you know it's coming and then it happens. Is like, all right, we got one out of our way. Let's just get this dub and get the game over with. But NBS for the next couple of weeks define interesting.
I heard the annoyance in your voice that when you started that answer, just this big sigh, and you're like, I guess it's the DS, because I mean I feel like that's kind of the only way to respond to that, right, I mean, we we sort of know who Marquez Valdez Scantling is.
I know the point has been made on social media.
It's funny that a guy who has played his career with Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes and somehow it's Derek Carr that unlike I can't figure it out. It doesn't make any sense.
Look, he gets to make the big plays next week as well, and got the Giants and they allowed a ton of big plays downfield in that secondary.
So go get him. MVS is a start for me and start sitting.
Oh man, you know what, I haven't even gone through my whole He might end up being a sleeper too as well. Who knows. We'll see how this go.
The three of us company men, look at our shirts and yes it is MVS and yeah it is all right.
Let's take a look at some of the week's top scorers.
These are the top scorers heading into Monday night football. Josh Allen had himself a day. He had two passing touchdowns, one to himself. Uh so he had the receiving touchdown. He had a rushing touchdown as well.
MVP. Oh look, he's very much.
I think he might have take you might have taken the lead for the m v P after what we saw last night. Certainly you know very much in that conversation for sure. Twenty eight point four fantasy points. Bucky Irving, huge day. I think a lot of us sort of expected that he had twenty seven and a half points a rushing touchdown three or one hundred and fifty two yards.
On the ground as well.
Terry McLaurin had himself a nice day, a lot of it coming in the first half. Eight for seventy three and a pair of touchdowns there, that's twenty seven points. Brock Bowers continuing to eat regardless who the quarterback is in Las Vegas. Ten for buck forty and a touchdown thirty points four brock Bowers, three different kickers Chris Boswell, Chris Ryland, and the Chase McLoughlin sixteen fantasy points there, and the Chargers defense a sack, four interceptions and a
touchdown thirteen points allowed. They scored nineteen fantasy points. The Chargers beating the Falcons despite gaining fewer yards and not having an offensive touchdown, but through the generosity of Kirk Cousins able to get a win.
Apparently Falconing is greater than chargering.
So those are the guys who had some big weeks for you individually, though, your fantasy hero for the week.
Was Kwan Joe Mixon.
I mean, look, he literally fits the criteria of a fantasy hero like he put his cape on because like it was bad in the first half, Like he had three fantasy points. It's like your favorite TV show, anime or whatever where the hero the protagonist is getting beat up, getting destroyed. There's no return of like any site. And then in the second half Joe Mixon put up eighteen fantasy points and cleaned up nice. And that is the hero way, like you come and save the day when
things are just terrible and bad. Because I was pulling my hair out, I'm like, yo, this is the layup matchup.
What are you doing?
Joe?
Like, can we get it going?
And then cleaning up with a whopping twenty one fantasy points another RB one week for Joe Mixon.
What an amazing season he's having right now.
Guys, absolutely, and I think a lot of us looked at that score, especially in the second half, You're like, what exactly is happening?
Like what are the Texans doing?
And then finally, as you mentioned, Joe Mixon sort of took control over that one.
Stroup certainly didn't. No, that's a that's a different conversation.
He remains a hero because after this bye he comes back against Miami the Chiefs in Baltimore. There are top ten rushing defenses, so the playoffs might look nasty for Joe Mixon.
They had not a good schedule rest of the way for Joe Mixon for sure, Floria, you're playing your fantasy hero rather.
The most underrated top four wide receiver season that I can remember, Like Terry McLaurin is not getting nearly enough credit for how well he is playing right now. The only wide receivers with more fantasy points this season Jamar Chase, Amanra Saint Brown, Justin Jefferson. All three of those were top five picks in fantasy football. Meanwhile, Terry McLaurin was going outside the top five rounds in a lot of drafts,
and you were getting similar type production. He has tied a career high with nine touchdowns, set a new career high. I mean, not only is that a career high for him, it is the most touchdowns at Commanders receiver has had since Santa the Moss in two thousand and five. He played eighty games without Jaden Daniels in his career, had two multi touchdown games in thirteen with Jayden Daniels. He's done so three times already. Like he won me a
couple of matchups hy Man Jaden that stack. But yeah, Terry McLaurin, I think we need to give this guy some more flowers because I feel like his season is just going completely under the radar.
I mean it kind of is because Jadeen Daniels has sort of stolen all the headlines, but he's very much having a good season. I was joking yesterday that Cliff Kingsbury is gonna use that first half and send it as his application to be the head coach of the Chicago Bears, because I mean, the first half was great. Second half, yeah, first half of.
The great Darnolf strong fall off.
Yeah, it's wild.
My fantasy hero for the week was Russell Wilson Look four hundred and fourteen yards, three passing touchdowns, twenty six nearly twenty seven fantasy points for Russ, and part of it was because he finally took advantage of a positive matchup. We had been promoting him as a guy to start for the last couple of weeks.
Let us down against Baltimore was just six points there.
We thought maybe at Cleveland he could give you something decent, but you know, the whole blizzard thing happened and he just got fewer than fourteen points, but really came out against Cincinnati and one the Bengals defense sort of showed everybody that they are as bad as we've been saying they are, but took advantage of that in a big, big way. And you shout out to Russell Wilson because everybody was sort of down on him. Everybody was wondering
whether or not he was officially washed. People were upset at Mike Tomlin for making the change from justin fields, and all Russ has done is gone out there and win football games. And I know it hasn't always been great on the fantasy side of things, but he's been very effective. He has helped this offense for sure. We know George Pickens has been very productive of Calvin Austin, even Pat Fryarmuth jumping in, So that has been really
great to see. All Right, let's go over like kind of like a thirty thousand foot view of this thing. On our biggest takeaways from Week thirteen, laquand start us off man.
My biggest takeaways is that Bryce Schoung looks so good man, it's like to the point where he's not getting enough love on the fantasy streets of the timelines, because we're looking at Bryce Young in a situation where you have Jalen Koker who was injured, we have Jatavian Sanders going out with injury, and it's like he's doing all these amazing things sitting in the pocket, cool, calm and collect it and going out there and making the big plays
for this Panthers offense. He's looked amazing since he became the starter, and honestly, we mentioned CJ. Strout earlier in the show. He's actually averaging more Fantasy points for a game then c J Strout coming back as the starter,
So I don't know why he's on the wire. He might be a little bit more usable in your starting lineups than c J. Strout, which is crazy that he's doing this with this exact offense that he started off in the season with where we were just down on Bryce Young, but he's not getting enough credit of his decision making running out of the pocket. These highlights are amazing. Guys like Bryce Young is that dude and he needs to be picked off of the waivers. I honestly think now I'm.
Down with it.
I'm gonna pat myself on the back here because he was in the sleeper's column this week, had been playing well. The numbers hadn't translated, but he was playing some good defenses, had a great matchup, totally took advantage of it. Floria, you learned something about another quarterback in the NFC South. This one maybe not so good.
Yeah.
Bryce Young should have won that game two different times yesterday, by the way the Panthers defense didn't. Yeah, Kirk Cousins is absolutely toast. And he gets a revenge game next week against the Minnesota Vikings. That should be a lot of fun. I am zero person excited for it because I watched Kirk Cousins play football these last few games.
Zero touchdowns in his last three game, six interceptions, four interceptions yesterday, and I promise you, if you watch the game or go back and watch the tape, it is so much worse than you were probably envisioning. His pocket movement is awful. He has no velocity whatsoever on any of his throw. This interception right here is a beneable offense. I think I was watching that play and I was speechless. I was like, what is he doing? It's because he
has no mobility. He can't plant and throw. The velocity is gone. I think it is time for the move to happen there because he's dragging down Drake London and Darnell Mooney and everything. And I know they gave him a lot of money, but if you if you took the contract aside and just watched him play, him and Aaron Rodgers are the handshake. They tore their achilles and their careers done. They're not the same players anymore. They just simply or not.
I mean, the Michael Pennox conversation is very real about whether or not he should get.
A starting opportunity here, especially with the Falcons.
Still you know, with a shot of the playoffs, shot it winning the division, but right now Kirk Cousins not helping it. I was sort of piggyback on that and just say at this point, it's just time for us to admit it. Kle Pits is mid. He's just mid, and that's okay, right, Like that is fine. I had to I had to pack up my cape yesterday, put it away. It's just time to admit that this is not the guy that we thought was gonna be the generational guy. He played forty of the snaps after the game.
You have coaches talking about, you know, we gotta figure out how to.
Get him involved.
Raheem Morris is like, you know, we're gonna we're gonna figure some things out. We got to get him more involved whatever. I'm like, it's the year four. We got to figure out how to get him involved. At this point, We've gone through a coaching change, quarterback change, scheme changes.
It just hasn't happened. At this point. It's just time for us.
To admit that that right now, he's he's just a guy and and that's okay. And as long as we start to kind of think about him that way, maybe there's a chance he has an Evan Ingram type you know, glow up a little bit later in his career.
But for now, Golpus just is right.
I mean, we're in a situation where Drake London and Darnel Mooney you're getting more opportunities. You know, you know, at some point we all got to just sort of, you know, let go of the rope. And I think it's time now to officially let go of the rope with Kyle Pitts.
Yeah there, Yeah, if he's got that dog in him, yeah, it doesn't seem that way. I blame John new I'm blaming John if you.
Want to get in to that.
After the break timers get to the waiver wiring stuff as well. Stick around for a little bit more of the NFL Fantasy Football Show. Let's take a look at this week's waiver wire options. Floria who Shia we've been checking for in Week fourteen.
These quarterbacks might sound like you're gonna be questioning me, but there's six teams on buy a lot of big name quarterbacks. So Aiden O'Connell has a good matchup against the Bucks. Will Levis has a good match up against the Jags. Cooper Rush has a good match up against the Bengals. All in play as streaming options, Jalen Warren needs to be picked up right now. So does Chris Rodriguez Junior. Since here McCormick is getting more and more
of the attention there from the Raiders coaches. Blake Krum played season high, and at least I think he did yesterday. Zach Sharbonnay Tyler L's year, Yeah, Antonio Gibson all what we were talking about earlier in the show. The time of the year where you want your handcuff running backs on your roster, and then some pass catchers Jerry Judy. I've seen enough with him out even playing on Monday nights so far MVS needs to be picked up right now.
All Nick Westbrupuakina does is catch touchdowns. Literally almost half his catches or touchdowns. Adam feeling his back and looking like himself again as the top target there. Parker Washington had a lot of volume yesterday, and then some tight ends Pat Fryermuth, who called a touchdown hunter. Henry's on buy, but the volume is too good if you need a tight end. Deil Johnson as a streaming option, Noah Gray
as a potential streaming option. And then this is like a deeper league add But Austin Hooper low key getting highly involved in the Patriots passing attack.
I know it's funny because I keep trying to put Austin Hooper in the sleepers column.
I just don't have the guts to do it.
But then he goes out and he catches a touchdown or something, so I'm like, you know, maybe maybe I find that the courage at some point in the next few weeks to kind of do that. But I want to ask you about Chris Rodriguez because Austin Eckler is on injured reserve after he had a concussion. It's going to be out for at least the next four weeks.
I know, we thought Jeremy McNichols was going to get some run, and look he did get on the field, But it looks like maybe Chris Rodriguez is his next man up in that backfield behind Brian Robinson.
Yeah, maybe I do want to see it happening again because Jeremy McNichols is also a talented back in that backfield. But honestly, just credit to this commander's rushing offense. Honestly, I mean, look, you get a guy like Chris rod you guys off the practice squad and get him in there, and he shows up and shows out because he looked really,
really good with his opportunities. So hopefully they keep him in there in the rotation, you know, with Brian Robinson and honestly, this Titans defense, it looked like, you know, they weren't the defense that we known in love against the run. You know, they're usually tough against the run.
They're one of those defenses that like to put their you know, ears back and get and clogged in the middle of the field, but they were just getting ran all over with Chris Rodriguez, so he's definitely worth a pickup.
Yeah, you know, I think a lot of us were kind of thinking a pivot to Jeremy McNichols.
Maybe that's not done yet.
The tough part about that is the commander's running by this week, so we gonna have to wait a couple weeks to sort of see exactly how this is gonna shake out.
Hold your breath.
That's kind of you know, white knut through the playoff to figure out this this Washington backfield.
Speaking of white knuckling things, it's time for a John new Smith update. No, we do like a sounder.
Or some kind of graphic like like I don't know, plays in the Miami Vice theme or something like that. Anyway, Week thirteen, John who continues his ridiculous run, his run of twenty point games over the last four weeks. You know how many tight ends have more Fantasy points than John new Smith?
None? None at all. John new Smith is the tight end one.
Over the last four weeks, he has twenty plus point twenty one plus points in three straight games. This past week ten catches for one hundred and thirteen yards on Thanksgiving Night against the Green Bay Packers.
At the moment, he is.
Currently the tight end five overall, he has one hundred and forty six point seven points, twelve point three points ahead of Mark Andrews, sixteen point six points ahead of Zach Ertz. The bad news for you, Lakwan, both those other guys are on a bye this week, So John new as a real chit put some distance between himself and the rest of the tight ends in the field. Have you started looking at the strawberry blonde platinum blonde, started thinking of what kind of colors you want?
I still have faith. I still have faith that we could pull this out. Kid on and let me down this week, Like I don't know what that was. He had a chance and it just did not deliver it.
I'm just like, you.
Guys really want this to have And then the people in the comments are like DM to me, like yo, you should do this. Look like they sent me Dennis Robin and then they sent me Shelton Benjamin the wrestler.
Back in the day. That was me. That was me, Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was you. That was you.
Markets you started this wave of this chaos, Like people keep photoshopping me of like different hair colors of blonde, light blonde, dark blonde, dirty blonde, Like I'm not doing this, Like John new is not going to be.
Top five, Like I'm reverting what I said in August.
I like the Cisco. The Cisco look seem seemed like it might work for you a little bit.
No, We're not doing Cisco. No that, and I know it looked terrible on me. No, I like to think that at night, like when you lay down or whatever, like a bottle of hair dye talks to you, like the green Goblin masks Spider Man movie. You want to call in your name.
Man. Side note to all of this.
At the height of the Thong song's popularity, my mother just unsolicited looked at me one day and said, you know, Cisco looks like he smells bad and that has nothing to do with anything. I just felt like I should just bring that up. That's all there, You go away. We will be keeping an eye on John new Smith as we creep closer to the end of the season, but I'm not gonna lie that looking good for you.
Man, Are we caving it at the end of week seventeen, because that's the end of the fantasy season.
Yeah, we'll give, we'll give. We'll give him to week eighteen. We'll get through Week eight I just give him, give him one last chance. You know, we'll try to make it fair.
I swear to this pod.
That's why he keeps showing up like this, Like he keeps like blowing up, like these are numbers he's never done before.
What are we doing? Also, he's only two points behind Travis Kelsey, Like, he could easily get higher than tight end five.
If he gets into the four slot.
It might be a rap for you, man, It might be a rap if he gets them before.
Man, for sure.
All right, now, let's talk about one of our favorite moments from the past week. And I remember a couple of years ago Geo Smith had that season. He said, you know they wrote me off. I didn't ride back. Well, he is, he is very much. He is like Arius Stark, right, he's got the names. He's like Steve Buscemi in Billy Madison. He has the names of people, and he's got the Jets at the top of his list. He posted the photo the meme after he beat the Jets the meme.
You know it, the I went to one of my biggest haters funerals just to make sure that he was dead. That is the photo that Geno Smith put up after the win. I didn't know he had this much hate in his heart, but it is hilarious.
Man, the amount of hate that Gino's has had, you know before his comeback was just that deep, Like he had all this bottle that we're seeing Geno Gino basically get his lick back, like he's basically go out there like all right, Jets, you're off. And this was the most fire response that anybody could have had of all time. Like Geno Hall of Famer right there in the memes, you are a fellow hater, Floria. I mean you have to endorse this sort of thing.
I was gonna say as a fellow Jet hater. Nothing not only this post, but like the fact that Geno Smith and Sam Darnold are having success elsewhere and like potentially going to the playoffs and both beat the Jets heads ahead on the year that they were picked by many to be a Super Bowl team is hilarious to me. Now, all we need is for Zach Wilson to get the spot start and to beat that, and we're.
O that would be epic.
Man, there would be a meltdown amongst Jets Nation if somehow Zach Wilson got to win with the Jets. By the way, at this point in last season, the Jets were four and eight.
This year they are three and nine. Just putting that out there, that's all I'm gonna say. Don't worry.
Aaron Rodgers says, it's not all his fault.
I mean, you know, at some point he's probably want to announce that. He's like, I don't know, going to the Department of Government Efficiency or something like that for reasons. Anyway, that's a good point for us to take a pause for now before the black HELI talk copters come for me.
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