Starts of the Week + Week 10 Breakdown, Loose Moose - Fantasy Football Podcast for 11/7

Hi, this is Troy Polomalu, and you're listening to the Fantasy Footballers Podcast. To the Fantasy Footballers Podcast with your host, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Welcome in. It's football time. For reals. It's not Wednesday. Welcome in, one and all. It's Thursday. And boy, oh boy. It's football time. It is football time. Very excited about tonight's game. Even more excited now that I know that the Ravens are wearing their purple rising helmets tonight. I have not seen that. All I see is the, uh, that.

The chitter chatters about the Houston Texans wearing their. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Which is in fuego. It is very, very nice. So wait, the Ravens are wearing something cool? Purple Rise helmet, purple, yeah. It's a purple helmet. It's a big hat. Is it? Ooh. Okay. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Are they Matt? Yeah, they're Matt. Woo! Let's go. So it's a battle of the jerseys this weekend. Oh, that's Texans are going to win that. Sorry. They have the gloss. The Texans whole red uniform is incredible. Yeah. Well, hey, the drip is back. Let's get after it. Well, it does make us buy more things. I mean, it just does. The NBA figured this out. Wait, is that why they do it? What? I mean, the NBA has these city jerseys every year. And I buy them every year. You buy them every year. I mean.

Welcome, man. We have a great show for you. We want to get you ready for week 10, get you prepped for your fantasy football matchups. I received a text from my son this morning who is managing a team in jeopardy of, well, whatever the last place punishment is. Oh, no. But he sent me a, he said, here is the state of my bench right now. And it's just like questionable, questionable, alave is doubtful. Yeah, that's, come on. Likely is out, juju questionable, ETN questionable. So he's in the same boat of many of us where we're trying to navigate. Who do you even hold on to when they're injured? I have a roster where the entire bench is just by players. Yeah, by weak players. It's ridiculous. That makes it easy start sit decisions though. That part is good. You know, it's like, I'm not going to mess this one up this week. But should I get any bumps in the road here heading into the weekend?

It will be chaos. So we've got matchups on today's show. We've got two big pieces of news to discuss in my opinion. I think there are two really big pieces of news. One of them had to do with the Carolina Panthers. One of them has to do with Kendry Miller. And so we'll talk about those. Three big pieces. Yeah, the Kendra Miller stuff is. That's good stuff. And yeah, you're right. Three. And so we'll get into that. A reminder, the ultimate dashboard available now, along with bonus episodes of the show, and a ton of premium perks and resources like the strength of schedule tool, the consistency charts, the streamfinder tool, all of that available at join the foot.com. And all of that now available on the mobile app as well, the fantasy footballer's mobile app on iOS. And I think I believe it. I think updated.

Oh, this morning? I think so. I think on Android. On Android, yes. So go see if there's an update. If you were on Android and grab it and use that spot start tool this week. I've seen a lot of people using the spot start tool that they just don't really think enough about their defense. And so sometimes it's like they go to the spot start and they're like, oh, looks like there's a better matchup to play this week for my defense. And then they report back. It's like, oh, I won the week because. Because it won't always work, but at least it's another set of eyeballs on your specific roster and your specific leagues. And now on mobile. That's a very infomercial finish to what you said. All right. Into the news. News and notes from around the league. Presented by USAA Insurance. Do you want the rant or the reports first? Let's report and then rant. Report then rant? Yeah. If we're reporting.

We'll start with the fact that, I mean, we just talked about it yesterday. But the Carolina Panthers like Chuba Hubbard so much that moments after our discussion about his wonderful season. And being an unrestricted free agent. They signed him to a four-year, $33.2 million contract with $15 million guaranteed the day after, not even 24 hours after, they activated early. What, second round? Second round draft pick Jonathan Brooks. The first running back taken in this year's draft. They spent high draft capital. And keep in mind, their second round pick is a very high second round pick for the Panthers. This was an important piece to their franchise, Jonathan Brooks. They hope. They're the only ones that have seen it. And then they give a big bag of money to Chuba. Who has been good? And so I think our rants will be really.

on two sides here because I think Mike and I are on the not big GM side. Okay. And if he over here is big GM. I don't even, I'm Big Chuba. First, good for you, Chuba. Get paid. 100%. We love that. If you're a running back, get that's money. But the building of a team that doesn't have a franchise quarterback. Maybe. Well. Okay. You're back on Bryce Young? I'm not on Bryce Young. Okay. We don't have to speak in extremes. I just said maybe. Okay. So the jury is still out currently. If you were the GM, if you were the GM right now. And you end up with a top pick. I think in a vacuum, I like the move. I think if you want to contextualize it with how many holes they have to fill. And that, that is.

Literally everything. I don't think you cannot contextualize it. This isn't in a vacuum. This is a very specific team that did this. There's no Hoover in sight. Take the vacuum out then. I will be the contrary. Okay. Chuba Hubbard is an outstanding running back. Yes. Who deserves this contract with a team. Yes. Your aspirations for Jonathan Brooks would be to achieve a level of efficiency similar to what Chuba Hubbard has performed. for your terrible team that can't pass. Chuba's done so much in two years without a threat of a pass. So I think Chuba independently, great running back. You hope Jonathan Brooks can become that. Brooks also coming off a serious injury. Also, and I know the comparison, you didn't like it as much, Jason. I'm still going to make it. The best team in football invested the most money in draft capital on David Montgomery and Jemir Gibbs. The best, the highest paid contracts in football at running back.

CMC Taylor Barkley, Jacobs, Henry Mixon, playoff teams. We've also watched how horrible it has been for teams that have decided to punt the running back position. We also have- Cowboys. Cowboys, Raiders, Bengals, to an extent, the list goes on. There are more teams in that. We can't say, with one breath, help your future rookie quarterback or Bryce Young. Either one. You can pick either one. You got to get him something to help him. And then bemoan, a general manager and a team willing to spend that money, in my opinion. So you need two backs in this league because if one goes down and you're running out junk behind him, now this is a full nut kick to every Jonathan Brooks dynasty manager in the universe. It's a wide foot. It's a wide foot. We've talked about it. It may be going up inside you. The foot is doing things. But the reality is,

is you wanted Jonathan Brooks to have the opportunity to be Joe Mixing or Sequin Barclay or Echlor in his prime, the guy. And that's gone. Yeah, well, and that is the issue I see from a team building standpoint is, and I will credit them or at least give them the benefit of the doubt in that maybe they being the only ones right now who have seen Jonathan Brooks practicing and seeing what he's doing. Maybe they're disappointed. Maybe they're going, man, We expected him to really be a sensation here at practice, and he's not. We're worried. Let's make sure we've got Chuba in the future. I don't know. But when they drafted Jonathan Brooks as the first running back off the board, this was to be there. You know, we talked about the Rashad White role that Dave Canales had just had, whereas you've got this bell cow back, this great pass catching back that's a centerpiece of your offense who doesn't come off the field much. We hoped that they had that. And if they did.

to then spend that much money when they have so many holes on the roster and have a double investment. I know the Lions did it to success, but the Lions are doing it behind an incredible offensive line with a great team. They were already above 500. They were nine and eight when they let Jamal Williams go and in that off season, you know, did them, those moves. So. I see it as wildly different. This is a franchise that has so many needs to dump a four-year extension on an unrestricted free agent, middling Jaguar. You're competing against yourself here on the contract. He's not set in the, you know, if Chuba goes out to the open market, is he getting this money from another franchise? Yeah. You think he is? Oh, yeah. I do. I mean, then. I don't think they're competing against themselves. I think that it was, I honestly think they may have got him a little bit cheaper.

than what his fair market contract would be. And this is like, like Chuba saying, no, I'm not going to, he could risk it and go out there and see if the market end up being wrong or take a guaranteed $15 million. So good for you, Chuba. Here we thought we were just reporting and not ranting. Silly us. Well, no, we said we report then rant. Oh, in the same news story. 100%. Got it. Well, listen, there's another report. Well, actually, there's two more reports. I'm going to rant on all of them. You give me the report. Well, Dak and Trevor Lawrence are the two that I want to bring up. Two quarterbacks throwing the football to CD Lamb, Brian Thomas Jr. They look like they could be on the shelf. Dak Prescott. The technical term, partial evulsion of the hamstring, the non-technical term, ripped off the bone. I do love meat off the bone. Well.

But just not in this situation. Less delicious. I don't know how you like muscle. What do you think the meat is you're eating, Mike? Is it pure muscle? Yeah. All right. You're eating muscle. I mean, it's more fat, but you don't like the fatty parts. That's the flavor. That's flavor town. Dak, we're not eating Dax hamstring, first of all. Second of all, he may require surgery. So Cedie Lam said he's going to be out there on Sunday, but he's going to be out there with a different quarterback. Likely Cooper Rush. with a pinch of Trey Lance. I mean, I don't know what clown show play calling is going to happen. But Cooper Rush, two quarterback leagues, pick them up. Would you rather pick up Mack Jones or Cooper Rush in two quarterback leagues? Because we haven't got to the Trevor Lawrence. Well, let's just share that real quick. Trevor Lawrence, left shoulder, weighing options. There was a report from, I believe, Jay Gruden saying that it's going to be surgery for Lawrence.

So Mac Jones or Cooper Rush, which would I rather have? I think Mac Jones is a better quarterback. I don't know. But I think the game plan for the Jacksonville Jaguars is going to revolve around the running game because they can do it with Biggs being ATN. Whereas in Dallas, they can't and they'll have to throw and their defense has struggled. I tend to lean Cooper Rush. Oh, I'm more on the Mac Jones side. I realize you've got CEDY and that's awesome. That might be enough to take Cooper Rush over the top. But you do have weapons and Evan Ingram and Brian Thomas Jr. and Travis E.T. and out of the backfield. Mac Jones, you know, he was a top 15 draft pick. He's been a starter in the league. Yeah, he was. It was incorrect. His rookie year, Mac Jones looked absolutely fantastic.

For a rookie, I mean, he didn't look bad. And the offense sputtered and sucked. And he certainly, I'm not sitting here banging the drum that Mack Jones is a great quarterback, but he showed enough where as a competent backup who can come in and run an NFL offense, there are sometimes where these backup quarterbacks come in. And I think this could be the situation with Cooper Rush, where they come in and it is, the offense is over. You know, we saw that in Miami where it's like the offense didn't work without two. It just flat didn't work. You couldn't do anything. And I don't see that for Mack Jones. Mac Jones is going to struggle. He might be, you know, on the Kenny Pickett starter level, but he can he can still get the ball to Brian Thomas Jr. a little bit more. And I would expect him to score more points than than Cooper Rush personally. Cooper Rush is five and one in starts. Yep.

He also only threw three. He threw three total picks. It was all in one game and didn't throw any interceptions in their other three victories. One, 20 to 17, 2316. That was a much better. It was two years ago. It was a much better Dallas Cowboys team. So we'll see. I mean, right now, Jason says he'd add Mac Jones. I'd add I'd add Cooper Rush, but I'd add them both. And we're losing what we came to expect from these offenses. That's the fundamental truth. I will say if my dream comes true, CD's fine. Alavi is going to take time off before returning to the field. Yeah. And the big news that I wanted to just make a pure rant is that the news is reporting now. I mean, we're getting sources close to the situation telling us that essentially Dennis Allen put Kendry Miller on the injured reserve.

out of spite. I mean, out of spite. They were jokes. He that were not, they weren't jokes though. They weren't, the best jokes are based in truth. Comedy is based in truth. And the thing is, and the whole, the whole old rant against Dennis Allen was like, you suck as far as like taking care of your players, build them up. You were frustrated at a player getting injured. And you let that like internalize and make you into a mad person instead of. instead of being a like a rise above it head coach and yeah so so what is yeah i mean basically he had a hamstring injury miller does the team acknowledged this was a minor injury and out of pure unadulterated spite he put him on the i on the ir because he couldn't rely on him it's funny when he went on the i r

We thought as a collective, we were like, oh, man, Dennis Allen's going to be so pissed that Kendra Miller is on the IR again. And little did we know, he was celebrating. He was like, get rid of that. I'll bet he's going in timeout, Kendra. Yeah, he, here's what he did. I saw some footage inside his office. He made the call, said put him on IR. He got up. He walked over. He had assigned football hanging on his wall. He picked that football up. He spiked it. He was so thrilled with his transaction. And then the team removed Dennis Allen from the premises and said, you are no longer the head coach. Well, what else do we have newswise? We have Gus Edwards coming back from injured reserve. You have Will Levis was limited. He's going to practice a bit more for the Titans. So we could be back to Will Levis for the starter as the Titans. And we are getting a report that Baker Mayfield is not practicing today.

However, we are told he will be fine. So if you see Baker's not there, that's the report we have. Yeah, a long Monday night game with 40 plus passes makes sense to take a day. Nico Collins? Oh, man. So I heard. So he's passed all the tests for his hamstring. Jason is as close to flying to freaking Houston as a man has ever been. Yeah, I'm going to talk. He wants a pair of binoculars. I want to just have a conversation with the people around there and know what's going on and really encourage him to get an eco back out on the field. My understanding, no setbacks. He has his full speed and mobility there. Pass the tests. I heard the, and more information on the test. He was running at over 20 miles an hour, which is, I mean, that's full speed. That's, you know, the, the, the, the.

the tweets that go out, oh, so it's so hit, you know, 20 miles an hour or whatever. Yeah, but did he practice? No, he's not practicing and they don't know if he's going to play this week. What are you like, come on, don't play it safe. No risk it, no biscuit. I need, I need Nico now. Tell that to Mike Evans. Does it help? Yeah, really. But that was different. He was literally hobbling on the sideline with a hamstring problem and then it was like, I'm going to go back out for one more play and then another until. You think Nico wouldn't do that?

I'm not saying he wouldn't do it. My point is right now he's fine. He's had the weeks off. Maybe. He passed all the tests, Mike. I don't know how bad these tests are, but he's passed whatever test they came up with. Do you, are you excited that it's a Sunday night matchup? I am not excited that it's a Sunday night matchup. I really, really need. I just made a huge trade for him. And in so doing, got rid of other startable players. You were trying to get rid of the injury uncertainty that is Pooka Naku. Yes. And instead I picked up the, I mean, here's what I picked up. I picked up the fully healthy and ready to dominate Nico. I'm just tilting in preparation. I can't put those Houston Texans, man. You're going to watch that game. No good. Just taking a fully healthy player and say we're not going to play him. Right. No practice. That's unbelievable. And we don't need that guy. Look at our. Yeah, we're. Our passing game is dominating. Because we got these cool helmets.

Oh, I want to see Nico in that uniform. He'll be so good. You better hope he stays healthy if he plays. That was today's news and notes presented by USAA Insurance. Learn more at USAA.com. Insurance will take a break. We'll come back with our starts of the week. Before we get into the start of the week, I'm not sure if we missed the news, but regarding tonight's matchup, Isaiah likely is out. And T. Higgins is listed as doubtful. I can't imagine replace. What a, what a free agent year for T. Higgins. He is, he's not doing the Chuba path. Yeah, but the thing is, is he's a wide receiver, not a running back. So when he hits the free agent market, if he literally doesn't play another game this entire year, he will get a super big bag of money. Maybe. I'll put a dollar on it right now. Uh, okay, okay. But so if he doesn't play a game for the rest of the year. Right. Well, that's not a very good bet.

So, yeah, I mean, T is necessary for this team to make the playoffs, I think. Yeah, their offense is not as good without them. Sticky is a play tonight. Agreed. So, and I think a play over most tight-ins other than the top four or five. Let's jump in. Starts of the week. All right, starts of the week for week 10. I'm going to start with my quarterback, a player that I tried to pick up off of. the waiver wire to play this week over. As did I? Kyler Murray. And instead, my opponent picked him up and we'll be playing them against me. It's Brock Purdy. The 49ers are coming off the buy. They got a 28 point implied total. They're on the road in Tampa who gives up a ton of points. And look, there is a variable there for Brock Purdy. Oh, yes, there is. And you think I'm going to say Christian McCavry? Yeah.

Chris McAry helps. I'm talking about rushing touchdowns. Yeah, I mean, that's true. Mason was scoring rushing touchdowns. To me, it is actually the health and wellness of Debo, Samuel, and Juan Jennings, who both did not practice on Wednesday, even though they've been off the by. I think they're going to play football. But if you go out there and it's Kittle and Pearsall and dot, dot, dot, that would be the only concern. But if those guys are back out there, I just don't see a path where Purdy isn't 202 in this game, which is the streaming standard. And the upside is even greater with the ability to throw the football to Christian McCaffrey. I think we're all really anticipating that debut. But, you know, Tampa has shown an ability, even against Kansas City, to put up enough points to make the game more competitive. And I think the 49ers are a step down from where they were in the...

kind of dominating everybody tier last year. So I think it will be more competitive. Yeah, I love the matchup. That's why I want to Brock on my team. If he doesn't have his weapons, another good option. My start of the week was my stream of the week. It's Kirk Cousins against New Orleans in New Orleans. The Falcons have a 25 point team applied total. That's good. Since week five, you know, you had Kirk Cousins coming off the Achilles, but he's been on an absolute heater. He's. 72% completion percentage is on pace since that time for 5,000 yards of 44 touchdowns. I mean, any quarterback, 4,500 passing yards and 35 touchdowns. That's going to be basically a top six fantasy quarterback. He's been blowing that out of the water. And over the last month, the Saints schedule adjusted. They're 25th in allowing fantasy points to quarterbacks. So eat it, Dennis. Dennis Allen, you can watch your former team.

get cooked by Kirk Cousins. And just like my Brock Purdy, Debo, John Jennings situation, do you retract your confidence if Drake London is not available? Yeah, it certainly makes it more difficult where I might look at other options. But the expectation that I have seen so far this week is their day to day and should be good to go this weekend. Mine's pretty clear cut. It's Sam Darnold for the minute of the Minnesota Vikings against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He's been top 10 four times. He's really only had one dud, and that was against the New York Jets. So that happens. He leads the NFL in passing touchdowns inside the 10. That is fabulous. And just it's the matchup. We've been talking about it all year. However, just to remind you, the Jags defense, 32nd and schedule adjusted points to the quarterback, 32nd and expected points added per play, 32nd and yards per play, 31st, an explosive pass rate.

This is a very good situation for the Vikings. There are 32 teams in there. Yeah, yes. And they are last in nearly every metric. All right. Let's turn over to DeAndre Swift at running back. I'm going to take him against New England. You know, last week, that offense really, really struggled. The Shane Waldron experience, the Waldron Express derailing at the moment. What? But Swift is averaging 19 opportunities per game. He's been the. Running back six since week four. The Patriots are 31st and schedule adjusted fantasy points allowed to running backs. This is going to be a game you can win on the ground, protect your quarterback, and so I'm going to go DeAndre Sweat. I'm going with James Connor at home against the Jets. Yes, I think he's a good start. You ignore the fact that last week two other Cardinal running backs scored touchdowns. James Connor was.

Awesome in that game. He went over 100 yards against the Bears. He's the engine of this offense. He's seen 40% of the team's total rush attempts plus targets over the last three weeks. That is a phenomenal number. And on the road this year, the Jets have allowed the six most fantasy points to running backs. Jordan Mason was the running back three. Tony Pollard was a running back two. He had five receptions. The Minnesota running backs combined for 18 fantasy points on a touchdown. Ramandre Stevenson had two touchdowns was the RB7. Joe Mixin last week was over 100 yards was the running back 11. At home, they're favored by a point. James Connor is the engine. He should be a great start. Should be started. I'm going Tyrone Tracy in the international game against the Carolina Panthers. He's averaging 18 opportunities a game.

over the last five with three top ten performances in that span. He's a good player. The Giants, they found themselves a player later in the draft. So congratulations to them. And the matchup. And later in life. He's an elder statesman for a rookie. Carolina, dead last and schedule adjusted points to running backs. It's going to be great for Tracy. I'm going to go with the other side of. Jason's start of the week, Kirk Cousins. I'm going Darnel Mooney against New Orleans. He is the wide receiver 12 on this season. He is a player that I think a lot of, you know, a lot of decisions have to be made on a weekly basis because you didn't draft him to be a starter. Now he's turned into that. Drake London's banged up. We've talked about the Saints. They struggle against wide receivers, 26th, and fantasy points given up. And guess what? No more Marshawn Lattimore. Let's get Darnel Mooney out there.

and he's my start of the week. And oh my gosh. What do you got? Nothing. What? No. What? Oh, you just didn't see mine. Yeah. I told him as I was walking out the building yesterday. So, Jason, you don't have to. You don't have to do it. That's right. I don't. But I get to. Quadruple down. Hey, look, when I made him, I started the week last time, he was fine. Caught a touchdown. Last week, he's coming off of 126 yards. Nine targets. He had a great game. He's playing good football. He's, the first month of the season was terrible, but my start of the week, Tank Dell, has, he's been good, guys. The fact that you guys are like, you don't have to do this is a reason why I think it needs to be done, because maybe people are still thinking he hasn't been playing good football. He has. Double-digit fantasy points at three of the last four weeks. Now, Nico, I expect back.