Starts of the Week + Week 5 Breakdown, Winkies & Twinkies

most likely owned, the only one I could think of. Maybe Eric Ebron's on the waiver wire. And then Tyler Eifford is certainly on the waiver wire. Other than that, though, you're stuck. You're playing him. I would play Ebron over Walker. So, um, Stefan Diggs just came out there, quote, on reports he wants to be traded. Quote, there's truth to all rumors. I won't be speaking on that.

Oh, my goodness. You just spoke on it. You're Debbie. That's great. I'm not saying I want to be traded, but I'm not saying I don't want to be traded. And I won't talk about it. Yeah, that's not good, man. Look, a wide receiver doesn't want to go to NASCAR because that's not what he does. He wants to play wide receiver. And right now, he's on a team that does not allow him to play wide receiver because they only run the ball. I just want to know what is happening behind.

closed doors because it's not normal to have two wide receivers show public disdain for what's happening. It just seems like there might be a disconnect between Kirk Cousins the person and Adam Thielan the person and Stefan Diggs the person. This is a 13 and 3 team with Case Keenham. Pro Bowl case Keenum. Yeah. And sometimes, I mean, I think that's Case Keenom's.

one spot that he fit in the right way and they believed in him. And I don't know what's happening, but that $90 million puts you in a really, really impossible position. Right. As a franchise. So he did return to practice today, though. So there's truth are all rumors, Mike. I've been told. I don't think that's true either. I don't think all rumors are true. That's a good point, Andy. They definitely are not. Yeah. But when.

Someone's asking you about a rumor you may have started. Yeah. Then you know. Falcons, one and three, take on the Texans two and two. This game, the Texans are a five point home favorite. It's a 49 point over under. The game looks a little brighter than the one we just talked about. You got Matt Ryan v. Deshaun Watson. In the home games for Deshaun Watson this year, he has zero passing touchdowns total. But Atlanta has allowed a top.

three top 10 quarterback performances in a row. It has not been pretty for Atlanta this year. And they're down Keanu Neal, their superstar safety. Yeah, this is bad. What's wild about defenses is you have situations like this where you lose just one key piece and then the house of cards crumbles. And this is your by low window on DeAndre Hopkins is about to slam shut.

This is, it's the trifecta, right? We had Mike Evans a few weeks ago. Then you, it was Devante Adams. Now it's going to be DeAndre Hopkins. This is the get right game. All the stars are aligned. So if you're trying to buy him, you better do it now. I tried to, I tried to buy him, tried to give some Tyreek Hill and, you know, as. Oh, you got rejected, huh? Of course. Of course you did. Yes, it's called sample size. We have sample size on these players. They're really, really good. So four weeks does not a career define.

DeAndre Hopkins, Will Fuller, love them. This is a get right game for me. I would be taking the Texans and the points, no almost upset. I think Houston gets right in this one, sends Falcons to a dangerous one and four haze. And that's not good for players like Devante Freeman. Right. Not good for Calvin Ridley. We've seen this team basically make the decision that we're going to be giving Muhammad Sunu more targets, snaps.

than fantasy owners want. And Austin Hooper has been piled on in terms of targets. That leaves very little for Calvin Ridley. I'm not excited about Calvin Ridley. I don't think he's a bounce-back candidate this year. Mohamed Sunu averaging six plus targets a game. Austin Hooper leading all tight ends and routes run. Are we to the point where we really should be giving most of the wide receiver three type of love? I mean, week one, five for 57. Week two was an absolute turd.

But then six for 75, nine for 91. That's three of four weeks over 50 yards. Look, if you look at, if you look at Calvin Ridley and Mohamed Sanu, they've basically just taken turns being the guy. Week one and week two, it was Calvin Ridley. Calvin Ridley was the wide receiver 25 and the wider receiver 8, while Mohammed Sanu was 52 and 78. And then the last two weeks, it just flipped, you know, where Calvin Ridley's 109 and 60 and Mohammed Sadu's 36 and 14.

Calvin Ridley is the more talented player. Calvin Ridley's the more invested in player. I think Calvin Ridley is going to bounce back and he's going to have a good rest of season. Yeah, I don't. I don't think so. I think you can trust him. I think I'd rather go out and play some players that are in a better situation where I just don't know if I trust what this office is doing week to week. Even Julio Jones had a rough week last week.

Maybe we'll end up with some Calvin Ridley related rest of season bets. Not that I would bet on Mohammed Sanoo. I'm not crowning Mohammed Sanoo. I've seen enough of him over the course of multiple years. We've had that conversation 13 times. Muhammad Sanoo will run off two games in a row and everyone's like, oh, is it time for Mohammed Sanoo? Fair. Who it is time for right now is Austin Hooper. It is. Yeah, tied in two on the season. He's a must start. Kenny Stills unlikely to play. Austin Hooper is the tight in two? That is correct. What?

All right. I am vetting and confirming. I'm calling that impossible. No, it is. Look. What? I think that what you're looking for is factual, Mike. Week one, he was the tight end six, then the tide of 15. The last two weeks, he was the tight end two and the tight end of one. Yes. I refuse to believe. Austin Hooper showed the signs last year, taking a step up this year.

At the end of the day with this offensive line, Matt Ryan is not finding Calvin Ridley deep down the field. He's finding Austin Hooper in the shallows. All right. I refuse to believe. We'll talk about Wolf Fuller later. At the running back position, I don't want to leave without talking about the incredible Carlos Hyde. You can't start him, can you? I certainly don't want to start him. And that's what's important. Can you? Yes. Talk about scary starts.

Yeah, he would qualify. I mean, look, he's at home in a matchup favored to win. He's had a couple of big weeks. But, you know, that week two where he got 20 rushing carries, that appears to be the outlier. Yeah. 10, 10, 12 in his other three games. I'm staying clear of Carlos Hyde. Case you're curious, Duke Johnson's snap count is up to 65% last week. He's also at 6.3, a carry on the year, which is what he does. I think the train is going to be.

towards Duke Johnson because Carlos Hyde, we've seen this. It could be. Carlos Hyde, when he comes into a team situation, he just must be an incredibly charming person because he shows up and there's always better guys behind him.

But somehow he gets to be the guy. He brings the Starbucks. Yeah. Day one shows up with it. He's got the donuts. He's like, hey, what's up, everybody? Give him the back massage. This Carlos Hyde is a fine, outstanding man. What up, coach? Are you feeling today, man? Unfortunately. You get me no scarries, coach? It takes about three weeks to figure out what the truth is, whether it's in Jacksonville, whether it's in Cleveland. That's what I mean. It's very strange. Yeah, don't trust Carlos Hyde. Ravens, Steelers. Ravens are two and two. Steelers, one and three, this game.

has the Ravens as three and a half point road favorites. Man, you know what? Oh, really? Do it? No, I'm not doing. Oh, you were disappointed. I thought about it. I did think about it. I'm on board. I was pretty impressed with Pittsburgh last week. I'm on board. Andy's almost upset of the week. This is based on trends right now. Pittsburgh, their defenses look much improved over the course of the past two weeks.

They seem like they are focused. They found some things that worked on offense and shut down Cincinnati. And the Ravens go in the opposite direction, especially on defense. Lamar Jackson hasn't been elite by way of the passing game, although he has certainly been for fantasy. Stupid Willie Sneat garbage time touchdown. Yeah, I just think, you know, these games already extremely competitive in division. I think it's going to be tight. I think the Steelers can probably hold on in this one. I would.

It's a 44.5 point over under. I'd take the under in this one. I can see that. I mean, the way the Steelers' defense has been playing, the Steelers are, I mean, they're just a well-run organization. They're well-coached, and they know they're not the same team they were. And they've kind of quickly changed their identity very quickly to be a team that is, I mean, you saw that last week, 16 passes to the running back trying to dink and dunk their way, keep...

You know, the game's slower. You know, it's basically like trying to run the ball more. And, yeah, I think the Steelers pull this one off as well. Now, that being said, I'm taking the under in this one. It tells me that there's not a lot of players I'm excited about. I don't know if I'm chasing Deontay Johnson's two touchdowns. Vance McDonald's questionable may or may not play. James Connor questionable. Didn't practice on Wednesday.

I'm willing to flex Jalen Samuels with the potential for him to be a great start with James Connor missing the game. Outside of Jalen Samuels and probably an obligatory Juju Smith-Schuster has to stay in my lineup decision. I'm not excited about other Steelers. Do you guys agree on that? Do you have a different take? I don't. I don't. I don't. I don't. Samuels, Connor, and Juju Smith-Schuster. That's it. It's gotten so bad. You can't even pronounce his name. Oh, look. He's another, I know.

You guys might disagree on this one, but he's another guy that I would go out and I would try to buy low. He's... Oh, you're talking about juju? Yeah. I still believe the talent will overcome. I feel like... I feel like yesterday you were not that person. Uh, the reality is... Did you look at the star chart? The more, yes, I looked up at the stars and I saw... Oh, here comes Jupiter. The star had been born. Here comes Mars. Look, he is very talented.

And, you know, they're not, even though I say, okay, they changed our identity, they passed a ball 16 times of running back last week. That was just a really good game plan. They're not going to be able to just do that same thing week in and week out. And that was against the team where they didn't need to do much to get the win against the Bengals last night on Monday night. Yeah, but if you can't do that week in and week out, that does not mean that you can do something else well. And that's the problem. Just because some team decides to stop that or stop some of that.

That doesn't turn Mason Rudolph into Ben Rothersberger overnight because they make him drive the ball down field. We saw some of that against San Francisco, and it was ugly. So maybe that maturation happens, but I don't know how you can buy. I mean, what are you buying him with? You trading Tyler Lockett away to get juju? No, I think Tyler Lockett is two. Are you trading Tyler Boyd to get juju? If I could do that, I definitely would. Would you trade Sammy Watkins to get juju? I would trade Sammy Watkins to get juju. I would rather not.

Think about it. Okay. I don't think I want to think about Juju very much this year. Well, you're lost applesauce. Nonsense, booby pants. Your lost applesau. This is exciting for me because I thought that me and you were done debating Juju and there wouldn't be more water bets to that end. And now I know that there will be. Yeah. All right. The Raven side of the ball. You're starting Lamar. You're starting Ingram. Angram's the RB5 on the season, but it has been kind of a.

up-down, up-down situation. But the Steelers, they can be beat on the ground. I think Ingram gets enough done in this game. Marquis-Brown, averaging eight and a half targets per game. He's still a by-low for me. Put it on record. I like Marquis-Brown more than Ju-ju-ju. So. For this game or for rest of the season? Oh, you can put that one on the bird. Wow. Waterbed. I think I like Brad. Thanks, Mike. Come on, Mike. You can do it. I don't have to be in on that one. You do have to.

No. All right. I tried. You're trying to. I'm not your meat shield. I wanted a friend. You're not a meat shield. I already took the bet. I just wanted a friend. I'm just, I'm, but I'm with you. You wanted a Thelma. I, I am with you on Marky's Breed. There's too many targets and Markey's Brent is too electric for this downtrend to continue. Brooks reminds me that we should occasionally make a water bet explanation or, or.

Explain what we're talking about. If you go to wheel of water.com, does that work, Brooks? Yeah, if you verify that. You can get the app on the app store. We do these water bets week in and week out where it's a frivolous, quick way to put something on the line. We film the payout. You spin the wheel. There are a bunch of humiliating ways to have a cup of water poured on you. And correction, do not go to wheel of water.com. Just download the app. Are you saying because of the photograph of the three of us on there? Because it does work.

But you don't want to see that picture. If you want to see Mike with a man bun and me about 50 pounds ago, go to wheel of water.com. Wheel of water.com. I feel fine about the photo. Yeah, you look pretty much the same. All right, Mark Andrews, you're putting him back out there. He's got a 23% target share. You have to play him. Yeah. Because he's a tight end, but I'm expecting the Steelers to compete in this one. Patriots 4 and 0, Redskins own 4. They have chosen to play this game.