Fantasy Football - Playoff Primer + Trade Targets & League Winners - Podcast for 11/12

Did we give up more than that or did we give up, you know, less than that? And that's basically what we're doing. So all the data that we're looking at here is adjusted for the schedule so we know how do they fare against the average at each position? Well, you guys want to start at the quarterback position for 2025? Mm-hmm. Best quarterback schedules to put into your memory banks here to consider before the trade deadline. or not consider based on, you know, your guys' thoughts on some of these names. But right now, the best schedules on paper look like J.J. McCarthy to Otung of Iloa, who had the impressive week this past week. Big plays to Jalen Wattle. Lamar Jackson, at least the first two weeks look really good Cincinnati, New England. And then Daniel Jones, I think that's a fun discussion. We could have the commanders if they get Jaden back, which they might, if they could stay in contention.

are also one of the better schedules out there. So, I mean, I would be hyper nervous about J.J. McCarthy. I can't imagine I am putting my... I'm going to leave the door open that he impresses me from weeks 11 through 14. Yeah. And if that happens, then maybe that swing the door open a little bit. Like Lamar is, that's just a... Wow, that's swell. If I have Lamar Jackson, I look ahead that the schedule is great. This is more for... You don't have a total and complete solution at the quarterback position. You might want to, you know, piece it together where J.J. McCarthy, if you get some, you know, confidence in what's going on, or just saying week one of the playoffs, he plays the Dallas Cowboys. And then J.J. McCarthy is, I mean, he's on a lot of waiver wires out there if you're talking single quarterback. And then.

Okay, well, I play McCarthy one week, and then the next week, hey, look, it's Tua against Cincinnati. So it's about piecemealing together these three weeks for the best possible quarterback play with the best possible matchup that you can find. So we're just trying to lay those out. Like the Cincinnati in the semifinals for Tua, that's great. And then Daniel Jones in the championship week, he plays against Jacksonville. They're giving up. almost five points above expectation to the quarterback position. You know what I like about Daniel Jones' schedule is the matchups while they're great on paper from a like fancy points given up to the quarterback. They are teams that could challenge and beat Indianapolis. Like I want these, I don't want there to be a possibility just because a team gives up points to the quarterback that Jonathan Taylor wins the game in the first quarter and he doesn't throw the football. When you're in Seattle, I expect that thing to go the distance.

playing San Francisco with the division on the line at the end of the season, I expect that to go the distance. So those are encouraging to me. Yeah, so listening to Mike, there's two different approaches, right? Find the quarterback that you're going to ride through the playoffs. Daniel Jones would be my favorite because when you're looking at the playoff schedule, you pretty much ignore it with the studs. If you're great, you're great, whatever. But you're looking for people in the Daniel Jones tier where you can have really good performances, but, you know, it kind of matters the schedule. So that's one way to do it.

The other way to do it is to get J.J. McCarthy, Justin Herbert, and Marcus Marriota or Daniels, and just play against Dallas every week. Sure. Just target Dallas every single week. That's it. Yeah, you would be in good shape then. I mean, Dallas, that's the commanders at the end of the season. That's Herbert in week 16. Yeah. So, you know, those are the highlight names. I think the Daniel Jones discussion is the most interesting one. You know, you can win a championship with Dan and Jones. Yeah, I think we have, we have not seen the Cowboys since they made their trade, right? That's true. We don't know the new defense. So I don't, I don't think that's going to solve everything. Yeah, you're talking about Quinnon? Yes. Yeah, yeah, but a player of that magnitude can change some things up. So that's a nice thing is Quinnon is a run stuffer. And so great. Right. We're talking. Throw more on Dallas. The one quarterback to highlight.

that has a rough schedule that has been somebody carrying your team and been very good. We should flag it, though, because he's been a letdown in seasons past, certainly. It's Patrick Mahomes. I mean, they have to play the Chargers, who are the fourth best against quarterbacks, giving up three and a half points less than the average. They play at Tennessee, who can be defeated very easily without the passing game. And then they play, this is the most. difficult one. They play Denver. That could be a real... I mean, we just watched Denver and the Raiders battle to a 10-7 fart fest. Yeah, that division... Fart Fest hitman. When you're in division with good defenses, which obviously Denver has one of the best in the league, you could end up with a very, very disappointed. Like if I had... If I had Mahomes, I have no doubt that you could ride him to the championship in that last week. Yeah, you're not going to...

Try and move away from the homes. But I feel like in championship week, I might. If I got there with him, I still might look to if there's another better option. That game scares me pretty bad. Well, let's turn the page. Let's talk about running backs. There have been a lot of names, a lot of streaming type of situations that have worked out recently. Players like Taj Spears, you know, players looking, you look to Tyler Biday. Menangai has been in a lot of lineups, demarcato, right? There's a lot of the middling tier. Again, you play your studs. You're not intimidated by playoff schedules for, let me give you an example. We'll start with the worst on this one. Worst schedule is probably Gibbs. You're not benching Gibbs. It's worth, no. Oh, Breaking News. Please don't be bathroom related. Marvin Harrison Jr. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

just had surgery for appendicitis and is out this week. Yeah, so that usually you can be back within. Right. You can be back soon. It's much better than. Dang. But I mean, out of the blue. When it happens, it happens. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Crazy. No one's safe from the appendix. No. Anytime. That was a surprise. I guess people who have already had it are safe. Yeah, those people are perfectly safe. We will never have to worry about Marvin Harrison Jr. missing another game. for appendicitis once you'd have to put an appendix back in and then you'd have to take it back out um circling back gibbs worse schedule james cook bad schedule uh those two those are players you're playing it's worth knowing that you're going to have to play two road games for james cook in new england in cleveland and there have been games where cook has disappeared those are not going to be easy ones but again they're in the upper echeline you're not worried about them it's those middle guys that are interesting the best running back schedule right now

You know, it's kind of a couple of committee situations. The commanders have a great schedule towards the fantasy playoffs. The Patriots do, right? And that could be a full committee at that point in time. And the Cardinals have a good 16 and 17 as well. Trey Benson is. He's hiding. I don't remember where we discussed him, but he is a sneaky go trade for right now. Man, while he's still hurt. It's not a guarantee, of course, because he had the meniscus repair. You don't know exactly when he's going to come back. You don't know for sure that it'll be full strength, but this is just a, it's another scratcher that you can grab that semis against Atlanta championship against the Cincinnati Bengals. And I think once Benson is back, he will dominate the opportunities for Arizona.

Yeah, have we heard anything new about Benson that we can... No, I'll try and... Maybe Kyle, if you want to dig up any new intel, but I haven't heard anything. Yeah, I haven't either. The fact that we're local and we haven't heard anything on... Oh, here we go. Two minutes ago, we got a... Real recent. Theo Mackey, Cardinals beat writer for Arizona Central. No update from Gannon on Trey Benson or Bam Knight. Okay, so we... So the update from two minutes ago is no update. Yeah. Perfect. Well, pay attention to Benson, though, because that's a few weeks away. Devon A. Chan, good schedule. The Aaron Jones, Jordan Mason. This is one to flag because it's Dallas, New York. Aaron Jones seems to be getting the most snaps. And, you know, he's just not on the radar, I think, as maybe a league winning type of start. Yeah, and I don't know that he will be league winning, but certainly be valuable. He was very good this last week. When I'm looking at the schedule.

and how it softens up for certain positions. You talk about those middling guys, but also rookies. You know, last year, Jalen McMillan had the breakup. But it was also against a really soft schedule, which I think benefits rookies. And there's two different rookie running backs that I think Trayvion Henderson had his breakout this week. Hopefully he retains more work going forward. But his playoff schedule is so nice. And Quinchon Judkins. I think all three weeks of the playoffs are great for him. Those two guys, to me, are exciting to get primed for the playoffs. Yeah, that makes sense. There are a number of backs where that can make the difference. Make sure you are ensuring the great ones, too. I mean, we talked about this yesterday. Get yourself some Brian Robinson, Jr. and those guys. And tank. Also worth noting from a bad schedule standpoint, the Bears are.

They have a really, really rough first two weeks of the fantasy playoffs. The Bears and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yeah. Where Jalen Warren, which we had a nice puff piece about Jalen Warren. Some people are getting more excited about the touches. But Jalen Warren semis on the road against Detroit. Finals on the road against Cleveland. Those are brutal. That's not great. And I love this because. You currently have Jalen Warren in our League of Record. You're going to have the buy week. So that first week in the, you might. I presume you'll have a buy week. And if you do, you get a great schedule that you don't need. And then once you're back in the playoffs, Mike, tough, tough schedule. I love that. You love that about Warren. You're just going to get them to make a trade. We'll take a break. We'll talk wide outs. Lowe's knows. Sundays are for football. So.

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Certainly. And so you have... Not always. You have J.J. and Addison. You have Waddle with Tua. I mean... Waddle could be a league winner. He does feel that way for sure. And then, you know, the 49ers also have a really juicy schedule. Not that we expect to know which wide receivers are going to play that week. We've had Kendrick Bourne has been relevant on this team this year. We've had Ricky Pierce all start the year hot. We had Juan Jennings have a nice week. We have Brandon Ayuk who, my goodness. I saw videos of him running around the field. six weeks ago and he looked great. So this one feels a little bit more interpersonal than it does injury recovery at this point. But he could be back. I mean, Pearsall's injury is one where he's already come back from and wants him and hurt. So you need to keep the Jennings, IUC stuff on the radar or Bourne or other players. Debo and Terry, that correlates with the Mariotta and Jaden Daniels situation.

And then the Eagles, who I just watched AJ Brown on a live stream. I saw. He's like, if you have me in fantasy, just drop me. That's what he said. That's how he's feeling contributing to this team. He is frustrated. He is not happy. And I love that with my wide receivers. I want them to be displeased. Displeased when they're not getting enough stats. It's fair. And they're seven and two and just won another game. Zay Flowers, nice schedule for the first two weeks as well for the Ravens. Amman Ra, you're playing them no matter what, but guess what? Jameson Williams, who's been really hot right now. Great schedule to start the fantasy playoffs. He feels like Waddle Light on a league winning potential where this offense is cooking. We had Jared Gough, the number one quarterback last year in the fantasy playoffs. Jameson Williams can be on your radar and probably could be picked up, if you believe, at the deadline, much cheaper than a lot of these other players. So if you had to go trade for someone,

right now based on the playoff schedule that you think is acquireable at a decent price like who who would you target to me to me it is waddle i that j brown a j brown is the if we're talking you know everything baked into one the risk the reward the cost a j brown is where i would go maybe terry it like will it work for a j brown i mean we had a stretch run where the Eagles were actually throwing and doing some fun, cool things. That's the thing is you've at least seen it a little bit this year in a snapshot. If that timed up and came back for your fantasy playoffs, it would be incredible. I think it will. And I think you have to just, context is key, right? Like this was a player who had number 23 and number three finish, then got the hamstring injured. Then comes back and plays Green Bay, and this was a defensive battle through and through on the road.

It just didn't happen. I mean, they went, they went fourth down. They went fourth down bomb to AJ Brown. You know, that play happens. You're on a three-game run and you're not probably talking on Twitch about how unhappy you are. And they have a good schedule. So that's the top of my list. Okay. I feel like, you know, you'd love to say Zay Flowers, but to me, Zayflowers has shown us through three years that if you stare at him too intently. He will disappoint you. And we haven't had a ceiling games are just not showing up. I was going to say he is a fine play during the playoffs. He's not the league winner. He's not going to go out there and put up 30 points. Conversely, are you worried about any of these guys because of schedules? We talked about Mahomes. So Rashi Rice has a tough schedule. You have Marvin Harrison. That one is probably one of the most difficult because I, Marvin scares me.

I don't know that he is good enough yet in his career to just be one of those guys where it's like, hey, you dominate the tough opponents. You really overcome the hard matchups. The fact that week one, week two, week two is at Houston on the road and then the Atlanta Falcons, obviously we don't. Atlanta sometimes shows up, sometimes doesn't. But that's, he's like that perfect tier where he's a really important player to your team that is. not always going to get it done. And it looks to me like it's going to line up where he's not going to get it done in the playoffs. What about Abuka, who has a tougher schedule, Atlanta, Carolina, Miami? Bucca's a stud. Yeah, I mean, you don't like the schedule, but I wouldn't, like I'm not doing the tradeaway abuka for someone with a better schedule. Yeah. Agreed. Well, let's look at the tight-in position. This can be one of the most important things you do is make a decision on your, if you're not in the upper echelon tier.

nothing makes a bigger impact than these matchups for tight ends. I mean, Chigacanquil last year, winning championships, Nojoku the year before, winning championships. The dolphins have a great schedule. We don't know if Darren Waller's going to be back, but it's weren't if it's not Waller. You still have Waller on your team, Jason? Oh, yeah. Come on, baby. Get healthy, Darren. I need a walrus in the playoffs. That schedule that we love. I mean, obviously, we like it for. the passing game to a Waddle Waller, hopefully. And if it's not Waller, then Greg Dulcich, you know, could be a streaming candidate through the playoffs. The Mark Andrews situation for the Ravens. It's very good the first two weeks of the playoffs, Cincinnati, New England. A little pat on the butt here for Tyler Warren. Great schedule. You're always going to be playing him. Sam Leporta, great schedule. Worth noting, Leporta can make a huge impact. That one jumps out to me as the, maybe the biggest.

One here because you don't know if Waller's back. Andrews would make me nervous even in a good matchup. Could get it done. But LaPorta, that one jumps out to me. Yeah, he tends to show up in good matchups. And so, you know, we were coming off a, what, three of the previous four weeks. He was number four. This past week, still five for 53. You can't complain about that. Just didn't get into the end zone. Starting to look like a little bit more of a consistent play. Wait, so we had a good game from LaPorta and Jameson Williams. Yep. And.

Oh, Monroe? Thank you, Dan Campbell. Yeah. Dan Campbell just, his press conference was amazing because he's just such a no-nonsense guy and he also just doesn't play into the drama. He's just like, look, guys, we needed a change. It's not like it's not collaborative. We just needed to do something different. It worked this week. That's what he said. 44 points. It's like just, you know, good. That's called coaching. Coaches change stuff. Bad coaches. Just let Drew Petson keep calling place. How about this? You worried about any of these names that have the worst tight-in schedules? Brock Bowers. No. He's got one of the worst. Travis Kelsey. Yeah, a little bit. A little bit. Those are the real big ones. And not that every single game is the same, just talking for the Chiefs. They do play, they play Denver this week. Right now I'm not. Yeah, no, you get a little preview of that. Yeah, they're on the road against Denver.

you'll get at least a snap, you know, just a quick picture of what does it look like? That's right. And have some confidence if Kelsey goes out and has, you know, six for 50. Okay. I'll be all right with that. Yep. And then... Or you could just be terrified if Kelsey goes out there and does nothing this week. Yeah, those ones are, you know, jumping off the page. If you're, if you ride like Gadsden and... Dr. Schultz and Goddard into the playoffs know that they have tough schedules, so don't maybe don't bank on them, maybe have an option to go somewhere else. I feel like maybe Greg Dulcich isn't being talked enough about it. I haven't heard anything on Darren Waller, which isn't necessarily bad, but obviously it would be great to hear like, oh, he's healthy, he's running, he's ready to, you know, come off the IR.

And since you're not hearing that, the route participation has been going up and up for... Yeah, the snaps and everything. It looks a lot like Waller. I mean, not the same exact production, of course, but they're working him in. And then over the next couple weeks, he could be a focal part of the offense. Focal point. Part, point, whatever. I said the wrong word. I thought I might have heard something. Yeah. My brain said point. but i said part i heard some was it mac if he i heard somebody said litmus test oh no somebody said it like jason good somebody in media my mind virus is working yeah somebody in media got suckered is test everyone once you do things like that and you talk all of a sudden i know that there's people out there that every time they're going to say litmus they're going to wait is it no which one yeah suckers gotcha

Another big position that is maybe the most crucial to make sure you're set up for, it is the defensive starts for the playoffs. Who's got the best defensive schedules right now? I think the Texans are one that I would target because you want the combination of a good defense with good matchups, right? Like the Saints have maybe the best schedule out there. Are you really going to? bank on the Saints defense? No, no. The Texans, they've been going back and forth on waivers I've seen in leagues. They're acquireable. But Arizona at home, the Raiders at home, those are great matchups to start your playoffs. Buccaneers have been a team I've added in my playoff-bound leagues. The Buccaneers, they get to play at home against Atlanta. Love that. They get a play at Carolina. Love that even more.

Then at Miami, but the Buccaneers defense, we know what it is. They can have big performances. They're interesting. The Chiefs are interesting. The Steelers have been, so here's, so the Steelers go Miami, which is a pretty good matchup for fantasy points scored on defense. Then Detroit in the second week of the playoffs, you're obviously not going to want to start them then. And then the worst, you know, the best matchup for defense special teams is the Cleveland Browns, who they have in championship week. If you ride the Steelers, they will kick you out of the playoffs. It will not work. But if you find yourself in the championship, please pick them up because I do think that they'll be one of those league winners. There are a couple of defenses you're probably going to ride into the playoffs, maybe three of them that have tough playoff schedules to be aware of. That would be the Broncos who have to start their playoffs against Green Bay.

then Jacksonville. Those are not good matchups. And then Kansas City. And the Packers, they have to play Denver, Chicago, Baltimore. That seems nerve-wracking because we love the Packers defense. We love the pressure they put on the quarterback. But if you tell me you got to go into Denver and play at Mile High, then you got to play Chicago in their building. And then you play Baltimore in the championship week. That makes me a little nervous. Same with the Vikings tougher schedule, Chargers tougher schedule. All four of those teams. Chargers. Even the Seahawks who have been really good. They got to play Indianapolis and the Rams. I don't like that. No, the Chargers, Seahawks, those are, you can't go into your playoffs with them. You just, you cannot start those tier defenses against those opponents. Well, that's, uh, that's it for the playoff primer. Let's talk some mailbag. Mailbag. Mailbag. Presented by NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV.

All right, into the mailbag we go. I just heard some clinking cups. He's got multiple mugs. Why do you have so many cups? I just, I had a coffee and a water. He's a little dehydrated. Yeah, I got a, got a hydrate man. He's a little dehydrated. I was half expecting him to pour the full bottle of Pepto into one of those. Pour that as a coffee creamer. I just go straight from the bottle. Oh, do you? Oh, yeah. In a moment like that? Yeah, just swig. Did you say on this show you were seriously considering making another one of those steaks?

Yeah, yeah. It was so good. Was it worth it? Oh, yeah. No, no. It was not worth what I went through eating the eight-hour leftover steak. But yeah, I mean, I'm going to make it again. It was great. Just be careful. Yeah, leave the bacteria out. Yeah, that's the real. I'm going to use the fridge. How long was the microwave journey? Like 40 seconds. Oh. It was just a warm up. And I think that was. Is there a certain amount that you could do that 20 seconds? Like would it have. Is there an amount of like... Yeah, if you microwave that thing for 10 minutes, there's no chance. Is it all get nuked? Well, it's temperature. Yeah. Like it has to get to... Isn't there like a bacteria, though, like on rice where like you can't twice reheat white rice because that's a tough thing to say. White rice. You can't reheat white rice twice. White rice twice. Because you'll die.

I've heard. Yeah, you'll die. No. I mean, Al's looking at me like I'm crazy. I promise you if you look at something. I promise you'll die. You'll validate me. Reheated rice. Look up what I'm talking about. And I'm alive. I think I've no way heard that as like an old wives. It's not an old wives tale. There's a bacteria that that that is there and you can't get rid of it. And if you reheat it twice, I'm telling you you could die. Yes. No. I'm going to the whole entire internet's coming for all y'all. after this show goes live. I think there is some hyperbole happening here where maybe there's bacteria that can survive a white rice reheat twice, but it's not going to, you don't die. It's called reheated rice syndrome. And it is a severe, I mean, people have died many times. And it is a very serious thing. So be careful with your reheated rice is what I'm saying. I'm trying to save lives. Trying to save some life. It is called.