Starts of the Week + Week 8 Breakdown, Middle School Memories

Flex play? What are we looking at? I think Larry is a wide receiver three. He's a consistent target. We still don't have much more information on Christian Kirk. I think that plays a role. It's interesting because Christian Kirk and you think of like, okay, New Orleans giving up a lot to the slot. And so that's Larry. But that's not Larry. That's Larry and Christian Kirk. They're running four wides a lot. There are two slot guys. They've done it not as much recently, though.

I think they've done it not as much recently because Cliff Kingsbury actually is one of those offensive minds that tailors his offense to the people he has on the field. Okay. And I think that's because they don't have that second slot guy. If Krisha Kirk were to come back, I think you'll see a lot more for wide receiver, which would be a huge boon for Kyler Murray. I mean, they want to utilize those slot guys, and that is the biggest weakness of the Saints defense. So I think Larry is better than a flex, but probably a wide receiver three.

Chargers, two and five, bears three and three. Gross. I label this matchup as gross. Okay, I see that. We got a 40.5 point over under. The bears are favored by four. Here's why it's gross. Because Philip Rivers, you plan him against the bears? No. Mitch Trubisky, you plan him against the Chargers? Hopefully not. Please no. No, no. Like, no. Don't, no. Not unless you're tanking.

Which don't do that. David Montgomery, only an idiot would run the ball five times in a game or so we've heard. Also, look out. Matt Nagy's calling the shots this Sunday. He's calling plays. This is actually good news for David Montgomery. I mean, we hope. I think it is. When he comes out and says only an idiot would, you know.

not run the ball more. And then he is basically saying, I'm taking over play calling duties because he wasn't the one calling the plays. He's going to run the ball more. So was he staring at his OC when he said this? Right. Yeah, he's like, I'm not an idiot. Frank. I don't remember the OC's name. But yeah, the question in the press crad actually came from the OC. Are you going to run the ball more? He's like, of course, only an idiot wouldn't run the ball more. So the thing is here is that

That's where you beat the Chargers. We've seen it throughout the course of this year. We've seen it through the, you know, last season. They're not built to stop the run very well. Right now they're 22nd in fantasy points given up to the running back position. So if Nagy takes over and they give the ball to David Montgomery, he's not a must bench guy to me, even though he's, you know, in that. Four touches for 19 yards. Exactly. I think a lot of people are going to say he.

Yeah, see, Jay's on my side. All right. I think a lot of people are going to say you cannot start David Montgomery this week. I don't believe that. I think you can. Not that you, not like I'm super excited and benching Todd Gurley, but like, you know, if he's on your roster and you need him to be in your flex, I'm not petrified of that. Am I crazy for that? No, I tend to agree with you. It's just go, it's narrative, but going through how angry he was.

saying literally, I'm not an idiot. And if you go back to the time with the Kansas City Chiefs when Matt Nagy was an OC there, Kareem Hunt was dominating. And then the team lost its way. It lost its running game. And they really started to struggle for about three or four games. I can't recall.

And that's when the play calling duties got handed over to Matt Nagy. And that's when Kareem Hunt started getting 20 plus carries a game and had a string and became a fantasy league winner in the playoffs. Yeah, 100%. And it's not just narrative. It's not just that. I mean, that is narrative. And that makes sense. But it is also the matchup. I mean, the Chargers on the course of the season, only two weeks, have they not been a...

giving up a top 12 in weekly scoring to the running back position. One of those weeks was the Miami Dolphins. So they were able to somehow, some way, find a way to stop that Miami Dolphins offense. Outside of that, last three weeks, they've been in that top 12. Even, you know, last week it seemed like it wasn't the best, but Derek Henry had himself a really good game even though you lost that bet.

Yeah, I did. So you heard it here, David Montgomery, Jason Moore's start of the week. I'm fine with that. He's, you know, sometimes I make these starts of the week that are not like must starts, but their confidence plays. I would, I would be willing to do that. Tariq Cohen, you are only playing him in desperate times if you're in a PPR league. Otherwise, you move on. The other side of the ball at the running back position, this is another place where things just get gross.

Melvin Gordon. Austin Echler, my goodness, the charges are 27th in rush success rate. Melvin Gordon has been objectively bad in three games, 36 carries for only 81 yards. Nine receptions, only 34 yards. He has a touchdown and two fumbles. Austin Echler, meanwhile, he's having a heck of a season. He's the running back three. He is.

playing out of his mind, especially when he's being utilized as a wide receiver. But it's the Bears. Well, yeah, it is the Bears. I'm saying head coach Anthony Lynn, like they're, they're all in on Melvin Gordon. And it's hard to see a path where they really look at Melvin Gordon and say, you know what? I think our team's better if we just use Austin Eckler. So Melvin Gordon's still going to be forced into these situations. The matchup stinks yet again.

I'm playing Melvin Gordon this week, but I'm doing so as a low-end running back too. I would much rather play Austin Echler for his five or more receptions. Yeah, I mean, you're not excited about the matchup. You know, Echler had just such a monster week last week, but I don't think that's indicative of what's going to happen week in and week out. This is not a good matchup, even though the last few weeks that have been beaten on the ground.

So if you had to start one of those two, I would play Echler. Yeah, I agree. Keenan Allen. It was awesome. Those first three weeks, do you remember that? That was great. Yeah, I remember the last month as well. It's been terrible. And now you get the bears who have not given up much to the wide receiver position. Sixth against the position under 24 points a game. Keenan Allen.

Still a 24% target share. He leads the league in air yards. I think he would padded those stats, those first three weeks. This Chargers team has been incredibly different since the addition of Melvin Gordon. I can't imagine that all these offensive woes are directly linked to Melvin Gordon, but they might be. But you're still playing Keenan Allen. Are you interested in Mike Williams?

No. I'm not. Since the return of Hunter Henry, I'm not interested in Mike Williams. Mike Williams has been pretty good, but this isn't the matchup. I want to play with that. I want the number one. I'll start Keenan Allen. I think Keenan Allen is, you know, look, I know it feels bad. The matchup's bad. He's been bad for three weeks, but he's still, I mean, you just said it, right? He's still 24% market share.

That's a good number. He's going to get his. If you're in any kind of half point, full point PPR, Keenan Allen's going to be a good play. And he does this. He has stretches. We talked about this over the last several years where he has usually like three or four bad games in a row. And then he just gets right back on the horse, becomes Philip Rivers' favorite target again and keeps on a going. So that's what I expect to happen. What will be interesting to see, though, is can that happen?

with the return of Hunter Henry, who's dominating in his two games, nine targets, eight targets, and coming through with 100 yards the first week, 97 yards the next week. Hunter Henry's playing fantastic. You need to get him the ball. And there's situations where we have seen Keenan Allen have his hot cold stretches, I mean, especially last year. No Hunter Henry. That factors into Keenan Allen what he will be moving forward.

for me is just how involved Hunter Henry has been. I expect Keenan Allen to have a bounce back, but the bounce back, I can't see it being anywhere close to those first three weeks. Yeah, I mean, you know, you would expect him to be hopefully a top 24 wide receiver this week. All right. And then Alan Robinson, I am afraid of Casey Hayward, DB for the Chargers, but I'm.

I'm still playing Alan Robinson with confidence because Mitch Trubisky has eyes for Alan Robinson and no one else on this team. Yeah, Hayward is allowing the fourth fewest fantasy points per game to left wide receivers. But Alan Robinson nearly 10 targets per game. He will be hyper targeted. If things fall apart for the Bears, Alan Robinson will be hyper targeted. I'm still playing it. I'm not benching Robinson. Yeah, it's really hard to bench, but it, you know.

With Mitchell Trebisky throwing the ball on Hayward over him, this is kind of a recipe for interceptions. Yes, interceptions will happen. But then you've got to keep throwing the ball. Yes. Jets, one in five, Jaguars, three and four. We have a 41.5 point over under the Jaguars are favored by nearly a touchdown. Sam Darnold, I ain't afraid of no ghosts. Are you going to play him? Sam Darnold is definitely afraid of ghosts. All right.

I've learned, yeah. It's a middle of the pack matchup. That's why I ask the Jaguars are right in the middle, 15th against fantasy quarterbacks. That's kind of where they are all over the map. The Jaguars are not a terrifyingly bad situation for offenses and for fantasy offenses. So Sam Darnold, but coming off in that game, do you have any type of confidence in him playing against the Jags? I don't have a lot of confidence in him playing against the Jags.

You know, it's not the worst matchup. I will say this. If Herndon suits up, and he has been practicing now, he's finally back at, you know, got in his first practice of the year. If he plays this week, I think that there is more hope for Donald. Donald's schedule really, really, I mean, we've been talking about it for a while, really opens up after this week. I do actually like the Jets in general in this game, so it's not like I need to.

Pivot away. If you're in a two-quarterback league, I think Sam Donald is fine. You know, you had another linebacker this week for the Jaguars who's been playing a lot of snaps every single game. He just had surgery, so he's gone. I think this is a surprisingly good matchup for Lev Bell, and I think it's a good get-right game for him. If you've got Hernan and Robbie Anderson, the Jets offense...

is going to bounce back. I mean, two weeks ago against Dallas. It was like, oh, man, this is a real, you know, Dallas was a, at that point was seen as this great team, and they were awesome. The Jets looked great. Then you go to, you know, you go to home and have Tom Brady and Bill Belichick come and lay you over your lap and give you a spanking. It doesn't feel good. When you're looking at a team through the binoculars of the Patriots, everyone looks terrible.

It makes teams look terrible and it makes it, like you look at the Jets and say, what? No, never. Never again will I play a team that put up that performance on Monday night, but you have to move on. The matchup is okay. Gardner Minshu 48 rushing yards this past week, Minshu Mania, 10 touchdowns to two interceptions on the season. I think he is in play for a streamable guy. I don't think he's my favorite.

streamer of the week, but he is interesting. Leonard Fournett is going to feast. He's averaging 26 opportunities per game. He should have more touchdowns. He is a positive regression candidate in that category. The Jets are 27th against fantasy running backs. Leonard Fornett, full confidence. Let's get to the more interesting stuff. DJ Chark. Do, do, do, do. DJ Chark, Jason, is this, are we having another Chark week?

Yeah, I think we are having another Chark week. Right now, the Jets secondary, they are 31st. They're the 31st best team against wide receivers. 18th best. Oh, I'm looking at first. That was last year. Yes. But the matchup against Trumane Johnson is one of the biggest cornerback mismatches this week. Chark has been great. Yeah, I mean, he's, I mean, right now Chark is a top 10.

I think he's wide receiver five. Something like that. On the season. So, yeah, I don't, I don't imagine you can bench chart at all. I completely agree. Dedy Westbrook, Dedy, my sweetie, not practicing today. Hopefully he will still play. He had a nice week last week. Robbie Anderson, one for 10. That's that Patriots lens that I'm talking about. What you need to look at is eight, eight targets.