Fantasy Football Podcast 2015 - Week 14 Matchups, Daily Dose, Mailbag

Almost assuredly not going to play. Is that what you're hearing as well? I can't imagine a situation. Because the whole protocol situation. Where he plays. This would hurt Drew Brees as well. Willie Sneed is... It would help Benjamin Watson? It would help Coleman, I think. Coleman caught a good pass last week. I mean, the balls have to go somewhere. For his family league, they'll play him. Good. Alan Hearns, in or out. I think he'll be in, but he was downgraded.

on Thursday's practice to limited, so you need to monitor it. You never like seeing guys downgraded, but if there's somebody who I would trust, it would be on Hurons. Travis Benjamin, in or out. He says, he says that he is going to play. He says, I guarantee I'm playing. He was a limited part to spend on Thursday, so I'm going to take him in his word and say he plays. Interout Cecil Shorts? I think he'll play. Kendall Wright. I think he'll play. Play injured? Yeah. Willie Sneed.

He better play. Yeah, they pretty much have to have them. And then Rob Grankowski at the tight-in position. I don't think he plays. Zach Miller. He played last week. He now is alone with that Martell's Bennett. Yeah, he played last week through the, his, I think it's a rib injury. He's a sneaky, I think. Charles Clay? He'll play. Vernon Davis. He is questionable to me. So he had the concussion. Yes, correct. So we don't know about him quite yet. So that's anybody else we need to mention? I think that's all the big guys. The big guys. So before we get to.

A massive round of the fantasy forecast. I hope your batteries are charged and you are prepared. Buckle up. Because we're getting into it. We want to thank our sponsor of the day. PokerStars.net. Look, we all like playing a game of poker. It is fantastic fun. And at PokerStars.net, it is easy to get started. Just go. You sign up with your email address and you can play for free.

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And it's easy to play while you're traveling. You can play on your computer, your iPhone, your iPad, or your Android device. You can set up a club for you and your friends, your Fantasy League. Awesome guys are out of the playoffs. What should you do? Get together to play a couple hands of poker. It's a good time. And all you got to do is go to PokerStars.net. That's it. Good time. Easy. Fantasy forecast. All right, let's break these down. We've also got our DFS segment coming up.

And we got some mailbag. We want to answer questions from the listener. So it'll be jam-packed. It might be a little long. I think you'll be all right, right? Everyone's going to be okay. Whoa, whoa, whoa. No, don't bring that word up again. Hey, there is a Megalodon show coming up. We haven't even announced that yet. Well, I'm announcing it right now. I'm breaking the news. He's always doing this. He's the blurter. He is the blurter, the fantasy blurter. On Christmas week.

We are going to have a Megalodon show, the Wednesday before. The Christmas Eve is our Christmas present to you all. So if you lose and you're out of the playoffs this week, which I doubt you do because you listen to this show, but more and more, you're going to be playing other people that listen to the show. It's going to happen to Mike, so it can happen to you. It's not looking good for Mike. You know, if that's your situation, make sure you keep listening. It's actually really valuable. One of the things that I've noticed over the years is that players who,

lose early. Let's say you didn't make the playoffs. You stop paying attention. And that hurts you so much for the following year to be able to know the late season trends that make such an impact on the following year on the draft season. So hopefully we're entertaining enough where you can keep listening, whether you're in it or out of it. We still get a lot of questions. Actually, questions coming in from people who are out of it. Kudos to you. You are already playing strong for next year. One of the things that really surprised us and shows you,

about fantasy owners that know what they're doing is that when we when we first started this podcast in the very beginning we started in the offseason and the incredible demand for the offseason content because there really isn't an off season we don't even like saying that we say it's preseason for 2016 because there's so much news there's always free agency and the draft and and you know

trades and things that take place. And then all of the changes just with players and things like that and strategy changes and depth. So there's so many reasons to listen. And so that's why we record all year round. We don't just do that for fun because people check out. We do that because people want it. And so that's why we're doing it. And so it's a good reminder. Lions go to St. Louis. Take on the Rams. And I like the Lions.

Defense, a lot. That's the headliner for me is streamed the Lions defense. Yes, I think the Lions are a top streaming defense this week. Have we heard any news if it's Nick Foles or Keenham? Have you guys heard anything? As far as I know, it's still Nick Foles. Yeah, I think it's still Nick Foles until we get a clearance for Mr. Keenum. And as far as I know...

It doesn't matter if it's Nick Foles or Kings Kingdom. Nick Foles will start at quarterback for the range. There you go. 15 hours ago. So the Lions are a great streaming option. Stafford, I think he's an okay play here. The over-under is only 40 and a half points. I mean, that's lower. That's on the lower end for sure. But Stafford with the offensive changes they've made has been playing better, at least in terms of putting up fantasy stats.

The guy that I want to talk about, Amir Abdullah, not just because he was my, I was passionate about this man coming into fantasy drafts and has since gone the way of the dodo bird. Yes. However, St. Louis is giving up over four yards of carry the last three weeks. Abdullah is coming off, his best game of the year on the ground. He's had double-digit carries the last three weeks.

Things are trending in the right direction to finish the season for Amir. I agree with you. Because the team's playing well. It was so disappointing for their momentum to have what happened at the end of the Packers game because they had just been playing so well. They really, they won that game. I guess that's not true. But not in the win-loss column. But this should be a good game for them. Stafford's a good start. Foles was 15 for 35.

For 146 yards, last game. That's a nightmare season for Foles. That somehow he got an extension in the middle of it. No, no, because he got the, in classic Jeff Fisher nature, he got the extension before he even saw him play. I'll tell you what, this game is a Jeff Fisher on call type of game. So, yeah. I think they go to the lions and they lose. Well, they're at home. Or they have the lions come to town and they lose.

I'm just saying it's not looking good for the future. I agree. He'll get fired, too, if they show up in Detroit and the Lions are in St. Louis. All of our fans came and you weren't here. Oh, yeah. There's no one at the stadium. I want to really know this, though, because a lot of people that I've been telling to stream the Lions, who do you stream them over? Like, the Lions seem so safe to me. They seem like one of the safest defenses in, like, if you're a favorite, okay, would you rather play the Lions than the Chiefs?

No. Because the lions are facing a Rams offense. They can't score at all. And the Chiefs are facing San Diego team that, okay, they've struggled a little bit, but it still scares me to go up against a breeze or rivers or a big quarterback like that. I see exactly what you're saying. If you're in a league that has, you know, incredible negative performances from defenses from time to time, then yes, I would agree with you. But even when you are favored, you still need to.

put up points. You don't know what's going to happen. I like Kansas City more this week, so I would play them. But I think the point you're bringing up is great. You're not going to have the St. Louis Rams put up 35 on you and crush you. Yeah, I don't think it's possible. I really don't. So the Saints go to Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers. This is a very, very high-scoring projected game over 50 points in Vegas right now. And the Buccaneers are playing well.

The Saints, we talked about Brandon Cooks. Maybe that adjusts the line a little bit now that he's in concussion protocol and injured. But Mark Ingram's out. We need to know what to do with our running backs for the New Orleans Saints. Because a lot of people picked up High Tower today. A lot of people picked up C.J. Spiller today. Yeah, it's, we honestly don't know. There's been no real clarification. The biggest clarification we've gotten from the Saints was Peyton saying,

All three guys are going to play, including the rookie. So good luck. Good luck if you're going to just throw a guy out there like Hightower for your fantasy playoffs. I understand. So let's talk worst case scenario. You have no better option. Would you go with Hightower or Spiller? I would rather go with Hightower because if they're using him in that Ingram role, that means he's going to get the ball.

early. He's going to have the first opportunity. He's probably going to touch the ball the most. He's going to be more utilized in the goal line situation. Those type of things, I think, are where you're going to see High Tower used. You saw when he was signed and picked up, he came in and had 11 carries early on. Well, he's 12 for 48 on the year for four yards of carry. Yeah, so I don't know how everything is going to pan out. Now, if you're in a PPR league, that shifts it a little bit.

Especially with Brandon Cook's being gone, they might need to use CJ Spiller as a pass catcher a little bit more. That's obviously new information from yesterday. So if I'm in a PPR, I would probably lean Spiller. If I'm in a half point PPR or regular, I would lean Hightower. High Tower is just an incredible story because he hasn't played a game.

I mean, he went a gap in his career from 2011 to 2015. Wow. And basically, he didn't play in 2011. So it was basically 2010 to 2015. It's very fresh. I mean, people hear that name. Wait, do I remember him? Yeah, he was on the Super Bowl team for the Cardinals in 2008. Yeah, so if you can pass block as a running back, you can get a job. That is the big knock on C.J. Spiller. That's why when the news broke, and I was an Ingram owner, I went to Twitter and said,

The guy that I'm picking up is High Tower. But the question is, who would you start High Tower? No one. Oh, I was saying this is worst case scenario. Would you start High Tower or Jeremy Langford? Langford. Langford. Langford. I would take High Tower or Jeremy Langford. Langford. I would take High Tower or Melvin, Langford. Gordon. I would go High Tower. So apparently I'm higher on High Tower on all three of those. Yep.

So you must have some insight. Isaiah Crowell or Hightower. Crowell's got a great matchup this week. Well, Crowell, he's been getting carries. He's just not been productive. It's a, I don't know. I have no idea what the saints are going to do. So in general, don't.

play Hightower, hold him. See what happens for a week. That's the strategy here if you can. I mean, if you can't, if you're completely screwed, if you had no depth, then maybe you have to roll them out there and just take a chance. But the Buccaneers are seventh against the run. They don't give up a ton of yards on the ground. Austin-Savarian Jenkins is a good start in this game as the Saints are terrible against the tight end and most.

other metrics for defense in general, which makes Evans and Vincent Jackson good starts. Would you agree with me? Absolutely. So Vincent Jackson is somebody that is a tougher decision for people. So would you start Vincent Jackson or Deshawn Jackson this week? I would start Deshawn Jackson. The matchup is great for Winston and the matchup is great for Evans and for Vincent Jackson. But one of the problems that you've got here...

is what we're forgetting. They were all healthy, you know, once before. And there's not enough passes to normally go around to have all three have a productive day. And it was a little bit more of a guessing game. So for me, I'm, you know, any one of these guys can have a big monster game. But do you see any world where they all do? Just because it's New Orleans? Yes. I see it as a possibility. But it's the possibility that any of them can, which is the...

It's the same thing we saw last night. What I said, start your Cardinals. Now, it was unfortunate. It didn't work out for the Fitzgerald owners, but John Brown, David Johnson, Michael Floyd owners are very happy. How many games has James Winston thrown for 300 yards? Zero. Zero. In the whole year. Yeah. It's why you got. Okay. All right. But it's touchdowns through the air is what the Saints are given up. Worst defense. A Saints defense that has given it up a lot of touchdowns, I would not hesitate to start one of those guys.