Starts of the Week + Week 15 Breakdown, Farewell to Urban Meyer - Fantasy Football Podcast for 12/16

He was the one. He's like, this is my shot. He's the one talking to Connie's like, Toby, can he rash decisions here, my friend. Yeah. Let's take it easy. Antevan Austin, too. Yeah. He couldn't. He couldn't. When he saw Trevor Lawrence on the tambourine, he was like, okay, this is probably for the past. So we'll lead with this. Irma Meyer was relieved of his duties. Didn't even make it through an entire year. Turns out, you can't physically assault your employees and get away with you. Number two.

We're giving him that as well. We talked about it on the green room, but the big story of yesterday afternoon, which was hot on the heels of Urban Meyer and Marvin Jones having to have some words. For clarity, that discussion was weeks ago. Was it? Yeah. He was talking about it recently, but he said it happened a few weeks ago. Okay, well, that came too light yesterday. And then also a report from former Jacksonville kicker, Josh Lambo.

reported that he was stretching and then his head coach came through and gave him a good swift kick in the leg. Because he's the head ball coach. And he declared, I am the head ball coach and I will kick you whenever I want to. And that was the final straw and he has been removed. I am genuinely optimistic about both James Robinson and Marvin Jones Jr. for the remainder of the year. I think that a move like this, the team

It's been reported that this was something that they all welcomed. There's, you know, text messages to their agents with the peace sign and, like, they're ready to move on. And Darrell Bevel is going to take over as the interim head coach, completely different personality when it comes to the way he leads the team. And this is going to be welcome. And, you know, I'm hopeful for those two key pieces on the offense to have an opportunity to be.

relevant for the fantasy playoffs. Yeah, there is a reality here of a group of human beings that have not necessarily been enjoying their work environment. I mean, that is, you know, they're all, they're playing football, but these guys have not been enjoying the process. And having that relief going into work, feeling like you've got new life, I agree with you. And I literally changed my pick from the Houston Texans winning the game.

to the Jacksonville Jaguars because I believe that, you know, we see this a lot. When coaches change, there's a pep in the step. So fantasy-wise, hopefully Marvin Jones can get it going, but I have much more confidence in James Robinson. So we'll talk more during the matchup about that. Some other news, tonight's game, Austin Eckler. The report that we have, again, this is not, you know, the be all end all. So I don't want to over.

emphasize it, but NFL networks Taylor Bishadhi reported Austin Eccler won't get a full workload, experiencing more sorenest than originally expected. The question I have for you two is I am facing Austin Echler. Should I be actually happy about that? You should not be happy that you're facing Austin Echler. I think he's going to have a good game. Mike? I'm very concerned. See, if you're a fantasy player, you can't bench him. Yeah, I don't want.

I am not throwing panic flags in the street. If I have Austin Echlor on my team, I'm playing him. I just, this is a really unfortunate situation that. And I get, like, I personally have PTSD because this is the Chargers again. It's the playoffs again. And it's a completely unrelated situation. But there's, but it's the Chargers. And last year, Keenan Allen declared, don't sit me. And.

I did not sit him and he caught like a pass. Yeah, he basically didn't even play. To start off the fantasy playoffs and it was brutal. This is, I mean, I know that those other running backs on the team are going to see the field. Yeah. And I know that they're missing that first round pick or Sean Slater for this game. So, and I know that the chiefs have been very, very good in the recent history against the run. They're missing pieces as well. So you can't sit him, but I would.

You know, you're going into this game. You were hoping with enthusiasm, I think you go in with trepidation with Echler on your team, and you should be, you know, I don't think you're going to get the very best from him tonight. Yeah, I tend to agree. Cardinals, wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is going to miss the rest of the season. They help to get him back in the playoffs. Come on, man. I don't think they'll get him back in the playoffs. No. He's undergoing surgery. I've thought a lot about the implications fantasy-wise in this situation.

and I've gotten to the place where it might be different than you guys. I don't think you can recommend a single other option over another one. So A.J. Green, Christian Kirk, Rondale Moore, Zachertz, they're all going, and Chase Edmonds, they're all going to bear the, they're going to broadly receive all of the targets that DeAndre Hopkins gets. It wasn't, you know, we've seen Hopkins off the field for,

three games, I think, earlier this year. And it wasn't like you could just lock somebody else in and guarantee yourself huge production. So I don't have confidence that, you know, AJ Green is going to put up 100 yards every week. I don't have confidence that Zacherts is going to necessarily be an upper echel on tight end. And so, you know, I know Jason yesterday, he said he liked Kirk more than AJ Green. Yeah, I think Kirk is his youth, his athleticism. And while.

Well, yes, you're right. Hopkins missed three weeks earlier, and there wasn't anybody that stepped up. Well, those are the exact same three weeks you didn't have Kyler. We have not yet seen Kyler Murray without Hopkins and who steps up. I think someone has to. I do think the offense still continues to score points. Maybe it's AJ Green. I agree with your take that.

I just don't recommend one over another. Yeah. If you want AJ Green, go AJ Green. I would prefer Christian Kirk, but I think both are fine flex options. Yeah, I think it just rises the tide for all of them of you being able to feel more confident in all of the options. DeAndre Hopkins on the season was averaging a 20% target share. So I mean, like.

He was hot and cold in terms of would he see all the targets in one particular game because this offense is spreading the ball out. But now those targets have to be spread out even further. So I think all options like A.J. Green is elevated. Christian Kirk is elevated. I really hope Arizona figures out a way to unlock Rondale more, but I don't feel confident in playing him at least for this week unless you see something drastically change.

I know you said Kyler was out. It kind of illustrates my point in weeks 9, 10, and 11 when Hopkins was out. Kirk was wide receiver 16. Cool. Awesome. You're the guy. Wide receiver 32. All right. You're relevant. Wide receiver 69. Nice. So that's kind of, it's hard because, you know, you don't have a bench that can pick up all these guys. So you have to pick one. Yeah. And then do you, I didn't have the confidence. Like, I'm not picking up AJ Green to play him.

over some of the other options out there. I'm not going to go play him over Devante Smith. I'm not going to play him over James and Crowder. I'm not going to play him over. I'm not going to play him over Gabe Davis. That's just where I got with it. I would, off the top of my head here, I don't know what my rankings say, but my gut reactions, I would play AJ Green over all those guys. Michael Carter designated a return from IR. We'll see what happens. Malcolm Brown as well. Tony Pollard listed as DNP on Wednesday. We had heard a report that he was.

planning on practicing. He didn't. Giovante Williams. Did you guys hear this late yesterday? Yes, I did. Limited on Wednesday due to a knee. It's a new injury but no concern from beat riders. Still something that you want to be paying attention to because he was out touched by Melvin Gordon last week. No practice for DeAndre Swift or T.J. Hawkinson on Wednesday. What now?

Doesn't sound overly optimistic for either to play. What is going on in Detroit? It's back and forth. It's like a pendulum. Come on, man. They just look at the day of the week and say it's the opposite of whatever yesterday was. Yeah, you have to plan to be without them just like you were last week. So you were probably already a little bit prepared and hopefully they can play. Lamar Jackson didn't practice. We'll see what happens. Jalen Hertz, limited. Gardner getting half of the first team reps in case Hertz cannot go.

I can tell you right now that Hertz was originally going to be my start of the week. He's not due to concerns that even if he plays, the recovery from the ankle sprain may limit the mobility and the ceiling. Josh Allen limited on Wednesday with the foot sprain, no concern from the team. And then Terry McLaren and J.D. McKissick both did not practice on Wednesday. We really need to monitor Terry McLaurin heading into the week. Yeah, I would be, I would.

be expecting and prepared to be without him. Yeah, I would as well. And McKissick, to me, was someone that I thought would be a really good pickup if McLaren is out. But if he's still not practicing, he's got to progress through the concussion protocol. I would also add... If McLaren's out, who's the... Are you taking a shot with DeAndre Carter or Curtis Samuel? What are you doing? Yeah, I think... Ricky Seals Jones. Ricky Seals Jones becomes very interesting. I think Sims is on the COVID list.

We should vet that really quick. But Carter would be like, I'm not playing Carter in like a redraft, but in a DFS situation, DeAndre Carter becomes interesting as kind of the last man standing. And the matchup for Ricky Seals Jones is outstanding and he becomes more necessary than one week further removed from the injury. So that's good. I would add. Have you seen these snap counts for Curtis Samuel since the quote unquote return? He's 21%. I would be surprised if he plays this week. He's super hurt.

I mean, he's with the same injury with the groin. So I did not think he would be an option on the field this week. Also confirmed, Cam Sims is on the COVID list from yesterday. Man, they don't have anybody. They don't. To the tune of like, I really like Ricky Seals Jones, but I want them to get a couple of pieces. So the whole defense can't just like play five guys on it. And Kyle Allen went on the COVID list. And Taylor Heineke's hurt, but probably will play. It's not looking great. Yeah.

Elijah Mitchell, concussion knee did not practice on Wednesday running back for the 49ers. If Mitchell sits again, which yesterday in the office, we're kind of speculating here, obviously. But, you know, if he's out on Wednesday because of the concussion, then I don't think he plays this week. And if it's not the concussion, that means the knee is significant enough not to practice a week later. Yeah, I am currently expecting Elijah Mitchell.

to be out. I don't think he plays this week, and Jeff Wilson has a great matchup, but you need to understand that the floor is very low because he's not the third down guy, and he's not even the guarantee for the touchdown. He's not even the two-minute guy. Yeah, so. Use Chekos out there on all third downs and Jim Michael Hastie and Debo around the goal line. I could see him having a great game. I do think he'll touch the ball close to 15 times, but the floor is, is we've seen it. Yeah, it's low. And also,

Monitor Leonard Fornett. He missed. He missed practice due to an ankle? Yes, an ankle injury, and that is new. He has not missed a Wednesday practice this year. He's not been on the injury report, so at least pay attention because Ronald Jones is a good player if something happens. That was today's news and notes brought to you by our friends at Sleeper, grab the app, subscribe to the breaking alerts, channel faster than every other source. And Footland, before we get into the forecast, this podcast is sponsored by Better Help.

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