THE UNOFFICIALFOOTBALLERSFAN ARCHIVE↗Transcript links use the exact YouTube video’s clock. Machine transcripts can contain errors.
The show celebrates ranking fourth among U.S. Spotify sports podcasts and fifth globally, blames the higher-ranked Kelces on Taylor Swift, and asks Deucer's Alley to find celebrity dates. At the close, the six Footballers and producers concede that the two Kelces would annihilate them unless hundreds of thousands of FootClan members provide a tush push—while the Swifties remain on the other side.
Brooksie wears a December Christmas cap, budget Taylor is acknowledged, Judge Giamatti looks good, and Al is cast as the lump of coal amid the producer row's black-clothing contrast. Nearby, a fully decorated host still waits for Christmas spirit to make his heart grow three sizes.
The recurring Hungry for More intro cues Mike first. Later the desk says Mike may simply love tight ends; Mike lists Troutman, Jarwin, McBride, and Engram and explains that finding a functional diamond in the rough at the position is a challenge he enjoys.
Andy calls the current Al Borland game a throwaway because it does not affect either manager's position. Josh still wants Andy to lose so he enters the next round without confidence, but Andy says they sit on opposite bracket sides and could produce a Papa Josh the Betrayer-versus-Andy championship.
Kyle's game notes identify Steelers punter Presley Harvin III as the heaviest punter ever drafted at 255 pounds and track 250.2 punting yards per game. The desk adds Bryce Baringer's 79-yard long, inside-the-20 mark, and protected-looking eyes, reframing the low-total game as Baringer versus Harvin.
The first Mailbag cue is immediately rejected as bad because it ends too quickly and lacks the expected flourish. A second, fuller 'Mailbag' receives the answering 'Bagel bag' and is accepted as much better.
After conceding that the Swifties would help the Kelces win, the show closes by previewing Friday's Fantasy Faceoff and explicitly naming the Hitman Wheel of Shame.
Andy, Jason, and Mike open by celebrating the show's U.S. Spotify sports-podcast rank, blaming the higher-ranked Kelces on Taylor Swift, and asking why Deucer's Alley cannot generate a comparable celebrity date; Brooks is assigned Michelle Pfeiffer. The close updates the boast to fourth in America and fifth globally, then imagines the six Footballers and Deucers losing a fight with the two Kelces unless hundreds of thousands of FootClan members provide a tush-push against the Swifties. Deucer's Alley is visually festive: Brooksie wears a December Christmas cap, the Judge looks good, and Al is called the lump of coal amid the row's dark-clothing contrast; one host's fully decorated house still cannot make his heart grow three sizes. Hungry for More receives its dedicated intro, and the desk explicitly diagnoses Mike as a lover of tight ends—Troutman, Jarwin, McBride, and Engram—because he enjoys finding a functional diamond in the rough. League of Record supplies direct playoff foreshadowing. Andy dismisses the current Al Borland matchup as a throwaway, reports that Josh wants him to lose confidence, and says he and Papa Josh the Betrayer occupy opposite bracket sides and could meet for the championship. For the low-total Thursday game, Kyle's notes ignore the obvious players and spotlight the punters: 255-pound Presley Harvin III, 250.2 punting yards per game, and Bryce Baringer's 79-yard punt and inside-the-20 total. A weak Mailbag cue is stopped for lacking flourish, then repaired as 'Mailbag. Bagel bag.' At the close, Friday promises Fantasy Faceoff and the Hitman Wheel of Shame.
So he gets to play Buffalo, the Patriots, the Raiders in Cincinnati. That's the remainder of his fantasy schedule. He has not been the Patrick Mahomes that you drafted. He has not been the Patrick Mahomes of his entire career. It's points per game we're at, I'm showing in a 4.18 and a half points per game. That's not even close. to what you're hoping for with Mahomes. But it's what are your options? If somehow your other option, like realistically, you could have, you know, could have Brock Purdy. Is there a chance that on, you're looking at weak matchups? Okay, so week 15. Yeah, give it to me. Week 15, you've got Brock Purdy plays the Cardinals. Ha, easy. Easy start of Brock Purdy. Yeah, over, over Patrick Mahomes playing the Patriots.
Not even a second thought. Yeah. But I think Brock Purdy. Is that week 15? That's the first week of the fantasy playoffs. Better hope you have to buy Mahomes manager. Brock Purdy is very easy. Let's make it more difficult. The literal best matchup for quarterbacks is right now the Philadelphia Eagles because they score a lot of points and their secondary is trash. That's what we just saw Brock Purdy do. Week 15. You've got Patrick Mahomes against the Patriots or. The matchup that the Eagles have is a playing at home, Gino Smith. Mahomes. I'll go Mahomes. Gino Smith. Wow. I couldn't do it. I could not bench Patrick Mahomes for Gino. Gino's been to, maybe Gino comes out and has like another game this week. And we're like, oh, okay. You know, we're more confident. But it's been such a brutal year for Gino. Yeah, some of his games he ends up with the amount of points Mahomes has. And that's, that's disappointing. Yeah. You would.
Man, you could have the stones to play Gino? The stones are in New England and New England's number one against quarterbacks. I get it. So, you know, Mahomes is not necessarily taking advantage of good matchups right now. Yeah. Didn't he just play, you know, and he just played Philly? Yeah. So the matchup where you said that the number one quarterback matchup is Philly. He's 15th. He had 177 passing yards. Yeah, I mean, I know he, and maybe, maybe I'm crazy. Maybe it's stupid. And yes, the pain of getting that wrong would be tremendously worse with Mahomes on your bench if he threw for 424 and 4 something that Gino can't do. But, you know, he's going to play Buffalo the week before. If it's another dud and Gino has another good game this week, that's when I would pull the trick. Put rice on the field.
They gave him the ball more. He's not talking about the player. He's saying like throw rice on the field. Just really. Get the birds down there? Yeah, get the birds all over the field. I know they're giving the ball more, but he's still not a full-time player. I have a, I mean, Rashi Rice can't solve this problem. Solved, no, but I think he can help. He is there Zayflowers. That's his part of the offense. And that hasn't been enough for Lamar either. He's not like a Jefferson Tank Dell. No, no. Like he's not a downfield threat. Like he is being used like rookie year Michael Pittman or like this year Zayflowers. And it's not enough in the yardage department for Patrick Mahomes. Like it just isn't. I do think that it would help the offense and it would help get part of this Patrick Mahomes not having the huge fantasy success that we're used to.
Also is Travis Kelsey is not having the fantasy success that we are used to Kelsey having. He's not bad. He's not centerpiece. He is not. Yeah, he's not lock it in. Travis Kelsey is the number one tight end that you can play this week. That's a worthy thing to mention. It's a wild world that we are here. Over the last eight weeks, Travis Kelsey has two touchdowns. That's strange. Do you have the points per game? Do you have those guys ranked? Or you're just looking at Kelsey. Yeah. I mean, he's still performing. Yeah, he's not bad. But he's not winning a week. He is not Zeus right now. Well, I mean, look, last year he had how many touchdowns? 12 and he's got five so far this year? Yeah. Wow. Actually, that's wild. Last year, Travis Kelsey didn't score a touchdown in the final six weeks of the season. He was not a helpful fantasy championship guy last year. Right now, Travis Kelsey is not even the tight end one.
On the season. Is it a Hawk? It is Hawkinson. In terms of total points? In terms of total points, but they, yeah, I guess points per game. How high is Leporta in points per game? I'm curious. In points per game, Leporta looks like he is like three. Third. Yeah. Would you rather have, I guess you'd rather have Kelsey still and just hope that it works out? Yeah, you would. I would rather have Kelsey over any other tight end, obviously, but it's not the dominant performances that he had last year. Yeah, he's still number one in points per game than Hawkinson, Leporta, Andrews, and Kiddle. Crazy. Also, maybe like the writings on the wall. It does feel that way. It feels that way. It feels like Kelsey's time. If they were to win a championship this year, I feel like he could just walk. Yeah, go on tour with his girlfriend. Yeah. Take his number one podcast.
Yeah, get out of here. Get out of our way. Get out of our way. All right, another voicemail. A follow-up here so you can make it quick. Hey, ballers. It's playoff Eve. Would you start Mahomes with his recent struggles against Buffalo this week or Justin Fields against Detroit? Keeping in mind that Justin Fields coming out of that injury earlier this season, had himself a decent game at Detroit at home. Four-point quarterback scoring. Thanks, guys. Love show. All right, four points scoring. Four points going. I thought I had an easy Mahomes. Patrick Mahomes versus Justin Fields. I have them back to back in my rankings, but I do have Patrick Mahomes one spot ahead. I would rather rely on Mahomes in a game against Buffalo that. That's where I'm going. Yeah. You know, you hope Josh Allen can do what a lot of teams have not done against the Chiefs, which has put up a bunch of points and make Patrick Mahomes have to.
do the same because you know he can do the same if push comes to shove. The Bears since Fields returned, he's finished. Fields has been the quarterback eight and the quarterback 24. So the risk is too high for me on Justin Fields. I like Justin Fields this week in general. I would love to start Justin Fields, but I love Mahomes matchup this week as well. We are in the time of year, though. We are starting to look at the weather. because we're still ways off, but there are quite a handful of games that are projected for rain, and Detroit at Chicago is one of them. Yeah, there's going to be over under two fumbles from Justin Fields in the rain. I guess that would be one and a half. Yeah, one and a half will take the over. Yeah, there you go. All right, another question. Fellas, need the win to get in. Alexander Madison or Cortland's on. Love the show.
Alexander Madison versus the Las Vegas Raiders. Matchup is great. His utilization has been poor. Cortland Sutton versus the Los Angeles Chargers. He has just been great. Cortland Sutton's just been great. I don't know how you... I have finally made the transition. I was setting my lineups this week, and I finally made the mental transition to just viewing Cortland Sutton as a really good option. So I'm going to say Cortland Sutton here. He's... He has been a reliable target. He's the number one most important read in this offense. He gets a touchdown every week. This last week he had seven targets. Only caught two of them. But one was a touchdown because he's in his contract. Has to have a touchdown almost every week. Three games this year without a touchdown. That's it. That's amazing. The Chargers are a fantastic matchup for wide receivers. They rank 30th in fantasy points given up on a weekly basis to wide receivers. So I lean Sutton here.
I lean Cortland Sutton as well. The part of the Madison problem, there's many problems right now, is the utilization, you know, they're splitting more time with Ty Chandler. We're talking problems for fantasy. And like who's, we're supposed to get a press conference today. I believe. But the point is, we're having a press conference today to say who the quarterback is for the Minnesota Vikings. They don't know because Josh Dobbs has unfortunately turned into a pumpkin. And they don't, even if they go to a different option, there's no good options right now. So the Minnesota offense is falling apart. And it's going to be a situation like Breece Hall where, sure, let's decide. We want to rely on Alexander Madison to get us there. Eventually, you're not going to be able to run because they will sell out and say, okay, go ahead, Josh Dobbs. You beat us.
There's no way. We don't disagree here. There's no way we're not playing Sutton. Right. Madison's been a single-digit scorer six of seven weeks. That's been the opposite for Sutton. And what if he catches two touchdowns? I know that's not in his contract, but what if it happened? What if it happened? All right. David writes in, my playoffs start this week. Should I start Dalton, Kincaid or Cole Come at this week? Ooh. Kincaid takes Kansas City on, commit against Detroit in that potentially rainy game. Yeah, I like Commet quite a bit, but I think Kincaid has just been so involved in targets. You look, since he came back from his injury in week six, he is, I mean, he's on pace over the last six games for 127 targets. The over under and the Buffalo Kansas City game is good. The weather hopefully is not as rainy. So I will go Kincaid.
I'll go Concade as well. Big question. What do you do? This is coming from a number of listeners. What do you do with the Dallas defense? Do you drop them to free up a bench spot? I was going to bring them up when we were talking about how good Miami is, you know, when you have to readjust what you think of fantasy defenses because the Cowboys, when they play an inferior opponent, they dominate. They are great. When they play a capable offense, it's nothing good for fantasy. So, but they're, I mean, they're a strong defense. Can you? Did you read the schedule? Oh, there. No, please give it to you. It's as bad as it gets, right? For the defense. For the defense. They're playing. Philly? Yeah. No, thank you. I don't want to start them against Philly. At Buffalo at Miami. No, thank you. No, thank you. And then Detroit. No, thank you.
And that's a week that isn't even – or is that the – No, that's a championship week. Yeah, I mean, this is one of the reasons why when they hit the waiver wire, like we had one manager go out and they spent like 40 fab on them. And then the next highest bid was like a dollar because I think some people saw this schedule at the end of the year and said, I don't need them now and I'm not going to need them later. So they're capable enough of a defensive score on any play. I mean, bland has five of them. So that can always happen.
But you run a tremendous, they were negative two last week. Yeah, it's not a locked in guarantee. No, I would absolutely drop the Cowboys. And not only are you not going to play them, there's better streaming options every single week over the matchups that are coming up. But they're a landmine. Yeah. People will pick up the Dallas Cowboys because they're such a great defense and they will play them. And you're right, Andy, any of these weeks, you could get a defensive touchdown. But you're. going to, I mean, their defense is not going to be holding those four upcoming opponents to 10 or 15 points. Those are going to be shootout games back and forth fairs. Colin writes in from Twitter. What are your expectations for Justin Jefferson? Is he a league winner with the current quarterback situation or a, you know, a future bringer of disappointment? I would look towards Jabbar Chase and Garrett Wilson and these other, I mean,
Jamar Chase is probably a more fair comp because he's already established himself as like one of the absolute best. Garrett Wilson has the potential, but we've never seen him be a full out and out star. Justin Jefferson is the best wide receiver in the league. So he's going to be just fine. He'll get his 10 targets, but he obviously is not going to be the league winner that Justin Jefferson is with Kirk Cousins. That's just... They're not going to be able to throw for 350 yards on the regular. And Hawkinson's got to get some. Addison's got to get some. Like having all, let's put it this way. I don't, maybe Jefferson's the only one that makes people happy. But I don't, my point is all three of them can't. I think Addison is the one who's going to take the big hit. He should. Hawkinson, you know, his role, I feel like, is a little bit more impervious.
You know, the times that you're looking for the tight end, you know, he's going to keep looking there. But the first read in the offense has been Addison, and that's going to be shifting to Justin Jefferson. And you, the thing for Chase is remembering how the production has come. So we've had the three weeks here, you know, with a, the Burrell got hurt in the Baltimore game. Am I remembering that right? Yeah, but so earlier on, he ended up two for 12. He did have a touchdown, so. It wasn't the worst thing that ever happened. The next week he catches two-tip passes that turned into the bulk of his production. And then this week against Jacksonville, great game, hyper-targeted. But most of his production came on that 76-yard touchdown, which was a defensive blunder. Jamar Chase made it happen because he's a talented wide receiver. But in the range of probability where...
If that play, just he gets tackled right there, you're not ecstatic with Jamar Chase. You don't have a kind of a false sense of confidence moving into the next week. So I think that's where Jefferson is. He is such a good player that it's hard to find another option on your roster that would be a better play. But you've got to understand what the realistic outcome for Jefferson is with whoever the quarterback is. And is there a chance he's limited? I don't think so. He's had such a long, long time off. Yeah, he's had a ton of time off. He has been practicing for the entirety of his window plus an extra buy week. So he's got, he's got, you know, a month since he's been active and healthy and practicing. They wanted to take it slow with him. Care about his health. I don't think he'll be limited at all.
A reminder to drop it like it's hot this week as well. People are going to pick up the one week, two week players. Maybe they pick up the Dallas defense and drop an actually better defense for the playoffs as possible, too, just because Dallas has that lore and the history. If you'd like to help the show out, we would appreciate it. Head over to Apple Podcasts. Drop us a five-star review. Leave us a review over there. It's quick and easy and free in a way that you can help support us. Leave us a review over on Spotify, wherever you listen.
We'd appreciate that. And if you want to watch the show, you can go to YouTube, YouTube.com slash the fantasy footballers, subscribe, click that bell. Going to be with you the rest of the season. And then also all the time after that as well. Forever. But huge shout out to everybody out there listening to the show that have made it part of their lives. We appreciate you, the fact that we could, you know, we saw the global charts. So like of all sports podcasts around the globe, including, you know, all countries, we're the fifth largest sports podcast over the last. calendar year i thought i was four well we're fourth in america there's oh we're fifth in the world oh come on world come on that means there's one international no international more one international show beats us out something from the uk i wonder if those men in blazers uh it's not it's not it's a good show uh but but thank you for listening we appreciate and with your help we can take down the kelse's yeah maybe that should be the thing
Maybe we just, I mean, not physically in a fight, but like, oh, we cannot take down the. No, I think even if the three, three, three two, I think we could take. We could add the deucers to that. We get the whole. No, no, we get the foot clint too because this is more of like a tush push situation where we, we couldn't do it on their own, but with everyone behind us. Okay. Cross the goal. I think with hundreds of thousands of people. Yes. Then we're pushing our tush against against the two of them. We have a chance. We do. The six of us.
Oh, they have the Swifties on their side, though. The six of us in a fight against those two Kelsey's, we would get annihilated. Yes. That is it for today. Tomorrow starts of the week. Matchup previews. Friday, we got the fantasy face off, the hitman wheel of shame, and a whole lot more. Yep. Catch you then. Goodbye. Thank you for listening to another episode of the fantasy footballers podcast. Join our fantasy football community on join thefoot.com. And follow us on Twitter. at the FF Ballers.