Week 15 Studs & Duds + Mid-Show Surprises, Monday Punday - Fantasy Football Podcast for 12/19

Go Jacksonville. Boy, I'd love to see a couple of cats in the playoffs. Sure. Jacksonville, Detroit. All right, Joe Burrow, how did he end up here after that first half? I don't know. It was called the gift of short fields. It was the dream. Like if you had Joe Burrow, you were watching that first half, it was a disaster. And the second half that came out and turned the ball over four consecutive times. Shortfields turned into touchdowns. Only threw for 200 yards. He couldn't have thrown for more. He threw for all of the yards. They didn't give him many yards to be able to acquire. He tried to go backwards on that one sack. Yes, he did. To pick up some extra yards. Smart, Joe. Justin Fields. Who, baby. 14 for 21, just 152 yards. Must have been a horrible game, right? Yeah, of course. Almost 100 rushing yards because he's Justin Fields.

And then that's not correct with, oh, we had two passing touchdowns. Yeah, I thought that was listed as interceptions. Nope. Dak got it done. Jason started the week. Yeah, big game. Two, 56 and three. Philly next week. That's going to be. Dun, dun, dun. Such a amazing game. I mean, just the actual, everything on the line, and I really need the Cowboys to win. Really good defenses. I'm so scared of the Eagles. Like, it. Is anybody else worried? I know what you're getting into here, which is we were talking about it this weekend, just the idea that, you know, certain teams, if they've clinched their spot and they're not battling for something, there's risk to workloads for key players. Even in week 17. Like obviously in week 18, that's why we don't play fantasy championships in week 18 because there are always a handful of your best players and the best teams that are sitting waiting for the playoffs because everything's clenched. I'm worried that the Eagles are so dominant this year.

And have the one loss. So it's not like they're going for history or anything that week 17 is going to come around. I'm in my championship and they play a half. I would be less concerned about the quarterback in week 17 than I would workloads for running backs. So my concern is that like the 49ers, if they don't have anything to gain, is that a situation you're giving Christian McCaffrey, 20 plus carries? No. That's concerning. But I don't think you're going to lose Jalen Hertz unless they're dominating the very game they're in, which would be because of Jalen Hertz. So there's your encouragement. Okay. Thank you. And then Derek Carr, I guess, ends up in the studs this week. What's the line of the Philadelphia Dallas game? It's Dallas minus two, which is kind of shocking. Dallas is at home. I mean, I get it. Yeah. You find it. You thought Philly'd be a favorite? I mean, I thought it'd be a pick-um. Yeah. Dallas is coming off of.

Two losses in a row, right? They are, no, they beat Houston. Yeah, we just felt like they lost. Oh, that's right. They did win at the very end against the Texans. Are you ready for some running back studs? Yeah. This is two straight running back one finishes in a row. Jerich McCaffrey, or sorry, McKinnon, eight targets, eight for 70 in a touchdown, 10 for 52 in a touchdown. He was buoyed a little bit, snap count wise, by the Isaiah Pacheco fumble. for loss. Right. But McKinnon has had so much space to work with. And if you lost to Jerry McKinnon, it doesn't feel great. Yeah, it's so funny because, you know, the Houston, Texas, we've talked about it a lot about the fact that, you know, the passing game doesn't work because you don't need to. And then they just, they were up. Like, they're in this game. It's so funny that the Texans have the last two weeks against great teams just, they've come to play. Yeah, McKinnon did it again in it.

That was us all day in the office yesterday. Oh, really? Yeah, every target was McKinnon again in. Okay, now it makes more sense. It's like when you have these, just you have your own little, you know, clips and catchphrases that you could throw out. Yeah. It makes the game a lot more fun. Like if Dalvin Cook catches like a kind of like a screen and then it goes down the field against you and you're like, man, he's cooking. Yeah, yeah, that's what I said. Right into the end. I think you might have used a different four, like a word than cook.

Yeah, it sounded pretty similar. I mean, Dalvin Cook was having a really tough luck game. Yes. Four goal to go from inside the five possessions where the Vikings did score. Yeah, Dalvin should have had a record, like a record setting, an Alvin Camara Christmas Day. Miracle. That is honestly what Dalvin Cook should have done. And he played great the whole game. It wasn't like it wasn't, you know, oh, he didn't get the touchdowns. He was ripping off runs left, left, right and center, getting him down to the goal line. And then still had a couple opportunities where he was given the ball and the chance of score just didn't happen to get in. Still ended up with an incredible game because of that last long receiving touchdown. That was amazing. Derek Henry.

21 for 104 and 1. Four targets, including a big one down the sideline. It was such a weird, it was such a weird game for Derek Henry where, I mean, dominant for fantasy purposes, still ends up with 21 carries. But watching the game of why in the world is Ryan Tannenhill throwing the ball so much with a busted ankle? It would, it was shocking to me, seeing like, This felt like a game that Derek Henry should have carried the ball at least 25 to 30 times. The last two weeks, obviously McKinnon counts as that running back, but Houston's given up 36 and 39 fantasy points, gets Derek Henry next week, and they're at home in Tennessee. And Henry's last forever games against the Houston Texans are comic. I mean, if you look at the box scores, yeah, it's like 200 yards rushing basically.

every single week. You better hope that Houston doesn't compete again and make Ryan Tannhill throw the ball too much. My hope is that Ryan Tannahill is the quarterback to throw the ball. Ooh, that'd be huge. You know, this is an ankle issue that kept him out for multiple weeks. And yes, he came back in the game and played, but we've talked about this. That happens sometimes where not able to go. Did you hear what he said about his ankle too in the pain scale? He said it was the maximum that you're allowed on the pain scale. Wow. Oh, man. So if it's Malik Willis, you would be, you'd be really hurting your chances that you want them to get down the field. Exactly. No, you need the offense to be good to have touchdowns. And while you hope like, oh, well, the entirety of the offense could be Derek Henry, just give him the ball 35 times and whatever. I mean, that would. He should be all right. Yeah, he will be all right. But I want massive big giant things. Of course. I mean, he's the Yetty. You expect.

Nothing less. It's his time. Hey, how's Ramandre Stevenson's ankle doing? I guess it's okay. 19 for 172. You're talking about, you know, not starter, Remandre Stevenson? Yeah, well, finisher. Yeah. 19 for 172 and a touchdown. Damien Harris, if you saw it, I'm sure you did. Mike was talking about it on Sunday live. Out again with the thigh injury, not ready to come back. Next week, Romandre gets Cincinnati, then Miami. to finish the year. He's lined up. I mean, Damien Harris, if he returns, is not going to eat in more than I think Kevin Harris and these other guys did. Do you guys disagree? I mean, Romandre showed what he could do. He's pretty locked in for the year. Probably shouldn't have lateraled it to Jacoby Myers. Oh, man. That, that, that play is an all-timer. It's just the stupidest. If you didn't see it, this call.

This game was headed to overtime. Oh, man. The Patriots had done what so many teams had done before, which is allow the Raiders to collapse from a large lead. And then Jacobi Myers throws a touchdown pass to the other team. He was going for Mack Jones. Oh, my God. Why would you even throw the ball to the Mac Jones? I don't know. Mac Jones can't break tackles, can't throw the ball. There's a long ways down the field to do that, too. He said after the game, and he, you know, a lot of credit to Jacoby Myers took full accountability. He said that in the huddle, they said, just run the ball and go down. So this was all improvised by the players. So Ramandre's fault, I got you. Yeah, I mean, and Jacoby said, he started it, said, quote, I saw Mac Jones and thought he was open. And then Chandler Jones.

Sent Mac Jones to the nether. I thought I was locked in on that almost upset. Oh, yeah. And then the Keel and Cole, the Keel and Cole foot looked out of bounds. Now, see, I'm not. That would have ended the game. The Keel and Cole call, I mean, we don't, the refs over the course this weekend, they got some things wrong. The Keel and Cole catch. It's tough because the best shot of it was at an angle. The overhead. But it's coming from an angle where you experienced this all the time in life where like your angle of viewing distorts where an object actually is. So I agree. From that view, it looked like it. But from other ones, it looked like it was in. Did you hear what they said after the game about that? The actual NFL officiating team came and said that it was.

inconclusive and therefore if it had been called not a touchdown it would have stayed not a touchdown they said there was just not enough evidence to change the call on the field which is the right way to do it like that is the rule if you feel like it's not clear and obvious then it's got to go with the call it's just funny when you have reviews it's obviously like the reviews are relevant because if you can't, it's the call that's made on the field. It's a live call that ends up winning when it's non-conclusive, right? Yeah. So it was a close one, and it was a great catch. I'm not taking anything away from Derek Carr and Keel and Cole. It was just, I'm staring at it. Yeah. And I still am shocked. It's just, it's one of those things of like how, if, if this is part of your procedure is when a call is challenged, you go check out all the cameras. How is this the best?

camera angle that you have. Buy more cameras, NFL. They were asked if they had a down the line shot on that play, and they did not, which to your point is what? Yeah, how are they not? Like, we don't, it should don't rely just on the television cameras. Have a couple cameras throughout the stadium that are just there for review. Yeah, I mean, just, you're not going to break the bank. Put them in all the pylons going both directions. Maybe we can like buy some cameras for them. These don't have to be broadcast cameras. They just have like... Do we have the catch child available to us? Oh. I mean, this would have helped this situation. I think he would have called it a catch. Yeah. Al, you're sending us pictures of this, the shots that you have. Make the call. Be the catch child today. He's out. All right. Well, it is crazy because like you said, a couple more cameras. Like, it's reasonable to say that this costs New England the playoffs. If he was really out and we don't know. Yeah.

But can't afford more cameras. No, we can't do that. Other studs this week worth mentioning David Montgomery, Tyler Algier. Yeah, baby. 17 for 139 against New Orleans. Very impressive. Baltimore next week in Baltimore, not that excited about that. Nope. David Montgomery has Mr. Mr. Buffalo. Yeah. So, yeah. And one of his touchdowns was also. you know, a little bit of a gift because it looked like Fields had scored on that drive on an incredible. Oh, my goodness. One of the best replays, that is not an actual highlight. But on the live call, it looked like it was a touchdown. And he, I don't know how many tackles he broke on that run. A lot of. We were, we were talking yesterday about how Justin Fields takes one stride.

And that's where Kyla would have three strides. Yeah, that's fair. Like he doesn't ever look like he's going as fast as he's going because he takes these long steps and then he's faster than everybody. Latavius Murray. Yeah, baby. 24 for 1.30 and 1. I hope you jumped in the dumpster with me. Mike's start of the week. Very nice, Mike. You're the guy that recommended Latavius Murray. Hey. I hope it won some weeks. Yeah, I've seen some Latavius Murray Zay Jones teams that had a good time this weekend. James Connor still got into the end zone. Rahim Mostert had a big day without scoring. 17 for 136. Almost got down the sideline for a 70 plus yard run. Naji Harris scored again and has really... He's looked so much better. Yeah, he's come on in the second half of the year. It tends to lend itself to the...

Was injured narrative a little bit. Sure. And I think, I mean, it's basically a lost fantasy season here for Najee to come through on his draft capital. But at least we can have some hope going into next year. Because if he had finished, if the second half was the same as the first half, you would, Najee would be a dead zone running back. You'd have no idea what to do with him. But he has looked, in my opinion, he has looked faster. He has looked more decisive. I mean, his touchdown run with just a vintage Najee Harris stiff arm of get off me. I'm scoring this touchdown. I'm hopeful, hopeful for the future. He's looked much better, no question. And it's on a team that still has not a lot of passing threats. So things could improve for him. What if he catches passes again someday? Sure. Let's talk about the spot start himself, which thank goodness I called him that. Eight targets, six for 109, three touchdowns. Oh, baby. Zay.

Jones. He has three out of four top ten finishes over the last month. Plays the Jets next week. Are you riding? Oh, man. Are you playing the spot start next week? I can't even think about it right now. Okay, we'll talk about it later. Playing against the Jets is so difficult. It is, and it's in New York. Like, did, and I know golf missed, but I mean, it's... part of the defense getting you, getting you shook so you don't hit on your opportunities. Did, like, no one from the, from the Lions had an actual, like, impactful fantasy game. Like, Swift was fine. Like, where did Amun Ra end up? Amman Ra was okay. He was okay, right? Yeah, he was 11.7 fantasy point seven for 76, no touchdown. Yeah, like, it's okay. So at.

But that's the guy who is a star. Aman Razzie. Is it bona fide star? Is the guaranteed number one target of this offense? That's what you're hoping for from Zay next week. Seven for 76. Yeah. So that'll be a fun decision. Yeah. And golf, I mean, to talk back to, you know, Trevor Lawrence, golf this last week, you had a bad game. And that includes basically a giant broken 60 yard or something. Yeah. I didn't see that Zay touchdown. The Zay touchdown? Yeah, the long one. No, no, we're talking about the Jared Goff. Oh, got you. Jared Goff's fantasy finish of where he is includes one huge broken play. That's the old, that's saved Jared Goff from being a complete disaster. Yeah, that including that massive, basically bomb touchdown, even though it was a screen. Yeah. He finished with 14 fantasy points, including that play. And they won. Yeah, they did. Go lions. K. K. J. Osborne.

Had a game, 10 for 1, 57 and 1. Justin Jefferson is great. As is A.J. Brown and Devante Smith, as are A.J. Brown and Devante Smith had 8 of them. Incredible performances by both. Dallas Goddard's coming. He's coming for your targets, Devante. Don't you put that evil on us. I mean, they have two number one receivers. That's what it comes down to. They're both number ones. Chris Godwin, eight targets, eight for 83 in a touchdown. Yeah. Mike, Mike Evans. Oh, no. Ten targets, five for 83. When you were doing your touchdown guarantee, which is, I mean, it's mystical in nature, I felt like you didn't concede, you didn't have a.

conversation with your spirits before you felt backed into the corner of having to support Mike Evans there's a lot of there's a lot of spirits which like it around right now like Christmas spirit is sure so I might have gotten that a little bit you guys crossed yeah wires crossed I understand 10 targets is nice 83 yards is nice wasn't all in the first half yeah it wasn't a horrific game but still still the best fantasy day in weeks Double digits for Mike Evans. No touchdown. Yeah. I mean, the funny thing is if you had gotten in, I mean, a year, over the last five years, if you had to put money, dollars down, sure, on any wide receiver in football to potentially score a touchdown during a given week, Mike Evans is at the tippy top of the list. Sure. Of all the players. 14 touchdowns last year, 13 touchdowns the year prior. Three so far this season. He plays.

Arizona next week. Okay. He's scoring next week. I mean, it has to be, right? Probably. Right, Jason. Are we getting it? We need it. Yes, we are, baby. Are you willing to make it a touchdown guarantee? Yeah, absolutely. It is a touchdown guarantee against Arizona. Of that, I am sure. Noah Brown scored twice, C.D. Lamb, big game. Jalen Waddle. One big play. Yeah, it was nice, though. He looked good. like his speed on a couple of these plays. Tyree Kill 9 for 69 and a touchdown. No matter how long the game goes with Tyree Kill not being relevant, he always ends up relevant. And then Jamar Chase, T. Higgins and Tyler Boyd all scored touchdowns after turnovers. Yep. Michael Pittman, PPR special, 10 for 60. Deontay Johnson, 10 for 98. Yeah. He was being force-fed targets to the demise of the Muth. George Kittle?

Led the way at the tight-in position. Dawson Knox, huge game. How dare you skip the name before Dawson Knox? Juan Johnson. Put some respect on Joanne Johnson's name. All he does, he wants to talk about guys who get touchdowns. He looks good. He looks over a thousand times better than Troutman ever did. Hey, trust the process. Dawson Knox, though. Interesting. Against Chicago. He looks really good right now. He. Six for 98 and 1. You can't, not every tighting can do that, right? The athleticism to go six for nine years and a touchdown. Saw him played in our league of record this week. I mean, I think you're, I think you just go back to it. I think you're fine playing him next week against Chicago. Yeah. I mean, with three of the past five games, he's been at least a top six tight end, but the ones where he was not, he finished with a grand total of two point seven fantasy points combined in those two games. Who would you rather play between Dawson Knox and Joanne Johnson? Dawson Knox. Yeah.

That seemed pretty easy. I mean, Juan Johnson's been... Look, I love Juan Johnson, and I legit think that he is a... In the world of tight ends, we're like, I just, please give me a touchdown. Yeah. He's in your higher probability players. His touchdown was awesome, too. But which one? Which one of his two? The one that was... Where he stretched like Superman? Yeah, that was called not a touchdown on the field. But it's like, it... Give me Josh Allen. Sure, yeah. That's the tiebreaker. That's a pretty good tiebreaker. I thought you just meant you'd take Josh Allen over Juan Johnson, like straight up. Yeah, for sure. That's what he meant. Mm-hmm. And good advice once again. So say we all. Travis Kelsey was 10 for 105 and I was kind of bummed by the performance. Understandable. Darren Waller back into the end zone. Yep. He'll be a, well, he'll be in lineups next week. Evan Engram. Schmevin. 10 targets, 8 for 62. I didn't even realize this line. That's why I didn't know which section. That's Evan Ingram for you. Yeah.

You know, you're watching a lot of games. I was with my family this week and we're watching Red Zone. I didn't have all the screens up. So I wasn't glued in onto how many receptions Evan Ingram had. And when you said we're going to talk about him later, I had absolutely no idea which section he was in. He stuck in 10 fantasy points, which in the fantasy position is. Oh, yeah. Gourmet. All right. That was the suds of the week presented by Madewell. Don't wait to upgrade your denim game. Go to Madewell. dot com today and get $20 off your next pair of jeans use the code butballers 20 he's mevin man you know you know who we didn't talk about in the studs who was a stud John Dotson oh man I tried to talk you into him oh I was with you yeah like he is he is so good he's that he's talent the uh his his touchdown just leaving the defender just in a in in smoke

His go up and I'll take that. Yes, and the 60-yard catch, which looked like an impossibility when the ball was in the air. And Johan Dotson, not only did he catch it, it was, it was easy. Like he one hand just brought it in. There was no bobbling. It was just, that's my ball. All right, let's ruin the moment then. Terry McLaurna or Johan Dotson next year. Oh, Tara McClure. Who's the quarterback? It's going to be Taylor Heineke. Yeah. Is it? I think so. I mean, it would be natural to have, like, Johan Dotson. Heineke, He is going to continue to ascend and mature. There is a world where, you know, I know that Elijah Moore didn't have quite the run that Terry McLaurant did. But from an athletic standpoint, there's a world where Jahan Dotson is the Garrett Wilson of that equation. Sure. And to say Heineke, He tied the game. Like that.

Yeah, that was some BS. That was the most BS. Have you heard? I watched it. Have you heard Tara McLaurin after the game, his comments on what happened? When the ref told him that he was good? Yes. And he gave a thumbs up to the right? Yeah, there was a play where if you didn't see it, they're going down to try to tie the game. They needed a touchdown of two-point conversions, them being the Washington Manders. And they get down to somewhere around like the five-yard line or so. And they have a play, and they score a touchdown. Incredible. The game is going to go tied and, or, you know, they're going to go for two. And then there's a flag on the play. And the flag is for an irrelevant. Terry McLaurin is not lined up on the, on the ball. He's lined up just a little too far away. Legal formation. And then if you watch the play, he points to the ref. And the ref tells him to move up. He moves up.

points to the ref and basically gets it all good. Yeah. It's he said afterwards. He said a thumbs up to the ref. Yeah. He said, he, he said, this is where I lined up literally all game. And I, I asked the ref. He told me to move up. I asked him again. He said I was good. And then he got a flag on it. Like insanity. Yeah. And then I followed up by a really bad PI call. And again, you know, these games don't come down to just one call. You know, there's missed calls on both sides throughout the game. But egregious end to that game. I know that.

The Washington fans were very upset. And, yeah, they need those refs from the World Cup final. Those guys were awesome. Excellent. But I don't know if they know. I guess they know football. Football. All right. Let's move on. Poop in his big boy pants. If you needed somebody to go up from the crowd and read your eulogy for your fantasy team. Justin Herbert just took the paper from your hands, and he decided, I will read it for you. I got this. Oh, man. They were a good team, he said. The matchup was perfect, and Justin Herbert did not throw a touchdown and was devastating. Multiple interceptions. Devastating for fantasy purposes. But he didn't have his weapons. But he had his weapons. But he did have his weapons. Yeah. Tennessee was the, I believe, 31st.

32nd in terms of past funnel, terrible giving up yardage. Mike Williams, we're not going to use them today. I mean, this is a, it's a rough, this is a rough, rough year for Justin Herbert. Yeah, this Justin Herbert performance sums up the year, right? Yes. Yeah, his, his, like, obviously Jonathan Taylor probably was the most destructive for week one of fantasy. But that's not his fault. This one is like, Herbert let you down in an unbelievable way. Eight fantasy points at the quarterback position from Justin Herbert, who I was going back and forth. Like, who do I like more? Jalen Hurts or Justin Herbert as the quarterback won this week. I was singularly knocked out by Justin Herbert this week. I'm sure many were. As my quarterback. So I am with you, Footclan. If you leaned on him, this was a case of everything looking great on paper and not ending up that way. And they were at home too.

I mean, he threw for 300 yards and they scored, but it was rushing touchdowns. Yeah, they won. Yeah, I mean, that's the thing is like this is a separation a little bit from fantasy to reality. Echler got in for the touchdown. Yeah, and did Joshua Kelly get a touchdown as well? I mean, he did obviously interception is bad, but he wasn't terrible. It's just for fantasy, he was terrible. He was okay. I mean, yes, he ended up with 300 yards, but on the... What an interception, by the way, at the end of the half. Sure. That was awesome. Yeah, the Titans. Yeah, where they caught it out of bounds and threw it in. The old tip drill. But, like, I mean, he picked up, you know, at least 60 passing yards on that, on the final drive to just the playing against the prevent, trying to go down and kick the field goal. So he just... To win the game. It was, it was not a good game. I agree. In my opinion, by Justin Herbert. And...