Starts of the Week + Week 6 Breakdown, Dirty Dirty - Fantasy Football Podcast for 10/13

Always a good reminder. Hunter Henry still plays the tight end position. The Cleveland Brown side of the ball, though, Nick Chubb dominating fools this year leads the NFL in Red Zone carries. We kind of highlighted him during our redraft yesterday, but Kareem Hunt tied for third in Red Zone carries. They are truly establishing it the highest of T for the Cleveland Browns. Where is this? a matchup where you still, you have the confidence for Kareem Hunt, who seems to be basically in a half-point scoring format, he gets you either eight points or a lot of points because he got you a touchdown. But his work is extremely consistent, but the Patriots are sixth against fantasy running backs. Yeah, they're six against fantasy running backs. If you adjust for the schedule and look at who they've played, they're even better than that. Their run defense is. Those darn Patriots, man. I know. It's like it doesn't matter. They're always good enough.

So, no, this isn't a Cream Hunt game to me. This is one where I have a couple of teams where I've got the backup running back tannums. You know, I've got like Cream Hunt and Pollard and Dylan, and it's just every week trying to pick which one looks like they have the right matchup. This isn't a Cream Hunt week to me. So in that one, you would go Pollard. Pollard or would you go Dylan over Cream Hunt? In the Battle of the Backups? The Battle of the Backups, I would... probably bench. Man, Dylan's been getting so little work. Yeah, that's, it's, it's worrisome. It lowest workload of the season for AJ Dylan last week. Yeah, I, I'm going to probably go Pollard Hunt Dylan in that. All right. By the way, Remander Stevenson is in. I don't think we need to discuss him. He's going to be fantastic. Umari Cooper 35% target share versus and look, he has, uh, or I'm sorry.

Per Dwayne McFarland, he has a 35% target share versus man coverage this year, and New England uses man coverage 40% of the time. Amari Cooper been very solid. Do you have any hesitation putting him out there? You cannot have hesitation putting him out there. He could have a bad game, but he's so involved. That one spoofed me. Hasn't he been like a top 10 wide receiver three times this year? I mean, we have the... We can find out. Yeah, I mean, you want to find out together? I do. But I want you to find out and then tell me. Wide receiver two, week three against Pitt, wide receiver six this past week. But, I mean, he's, he's been fantastic. The last three weeks, he is, he is averaging over 80 yards a game. So, I mean, he's, yeah, put him in. And David and Joku, he's in. He, he, I'm just.

I'm so frustrated with David and Joku, not the player. I'm sorry, but the Cleveland Browns that he was one of the late round tight ends that we pushed the chips all in. Now, I mean, one was Colquomet. We didn't know that the Chicago Bears were going to refuse to play modern football and they were just going to run the whole time. And then it was like, okay, well, hopefully David and Joku is that guy for us. And then week one, they like didn't use him even though. Everything was there for Jacoby Brissette targets the tight end. They just gave him the bag of money. He's an elite athlete. And it didn't work out week one. It was like, oh, crap. But the good news is David and Joku is here. And David and Joku is in every week's start now to me. He's a top 10 every week start at the tight end position. Do you?

disagree with that or is he in i absolutely agree with you he he's been so involved and he has the athletic profile and the talent to get it done when you get the balls the ball in his hands where he can break tackles uh you know and go for a 30 yard touchdown not many tight ends can do that also i want to retract what i said earlier about my three backup running backs a j dylan would be number one in against the jets i forgot the matchup i went and i looked uh so it would go a j dylan pollard hunt

I have a question, Jason, that could affect our best friend status. Okay. David and Joku or Taysam Hill. No, I'm happy to report we're going to be friends because I would still go David and Joku. I realized that it's very, very similar to what we were talking about with Kyle Pitts. Like the expectation for Taysom Hill is probably going to be. three to five fantasy points, whereas the expectation for David and Joku should be around 10. Now, the upside is obviously, but we just saw it really. The upside for Taysam Hill is a multi-touchdown game, but unlike most of the other kind of crappy tight-end options you have, David and Joku can go out there and put up a two touchdown game. Yeah, last three weeks, nine for 89 with one, five for 73, six for 88. He is a primary focal point of this offense. The New York Jets three and two.

Visiting the Green Bay Packers, three and two. That's right. The New York Jets, three and two. Good for them. Wow, two and O Zach Wilson. Yeah, he's really carrying. You just got to play against those seventh round rookie quarterbacks. Draft game. Yes, yes, I am crapping on Zach Wilson even when he wins because that's what I do. Drafking sports book, the line is Green Bay. They are favored by seven and a half. The over and under is sitting at 45 points. Let's start with Zach Wilson. He's 2 and 0. The offensive line has done a good job. There are, if you want to get really specific on certain metrics, Zach Wilson can, you can spin the story that he has looked good in certain aspects of playing the quarterback. But where is your confidence in?

playing him as like a fantasy quarterback? My confidence in playing him is extraordinarily low. I need to see something better from him before I could put him in my lineup. If I were to, I mean, you know, I'm playing him over a PJ Walker type, of course. But when I look at, you know, if we're talking single quarterback leagues, I would rather play, you know, Carson West tonight or Daniel Jones. I've got a, I've got a. see to believe in Daniel Jones. The Green Bay Packers 6th right now against fantasy quarterbacks. Brees Hall, the takeover has happened. It's done. Brees Hall is that guy for the New York Jets. Michael Carter is still there, stealing touchdowns, Kevin Coleman style. So that may happen, but Brees is the guy in an every week start now. Here's the big discussion for me on the New York Jets. Garrett Wilson, he.

exploded onto the scene as a rookie because we had that, you know, week one, you're like eight targets. Holy crap. Okay, maybe he's in play. And then 14 targets was turned into eight receptions for 102 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver six against the Cleveland Browns, an absolute monster performance. But since Zach Wilson has returned, two catches for 41 yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers who are an atrocious defense. Three receptions for 27 yards against the Miami Dolphins who are an atrocious defense. I know they didn't have to throw a ton to beat the dolphins. They beat the pants off of them 40 to 17, but the game was close-ish around the half, if I'm remembering it correct. What level of confidence do you have for Garrett Wilson to actually be a fantasy starter? I have confidence that if you need a dart throw, if...

You've got bi-week struggles. The talent of Garrett Wilson is fine enough to put in there. Last week, only 56% of snaps. But I attribute that a lot to the fact that towards the end of the game, they weren't really throwing the ball. Nobody in the receiving game did much of anything. Two weeks ago, when you saw a more competitive game against Pittsburgh, two for 41, yuck, gross. But 77% of snaps. Six targets. That was with Zach Wilson. So I'm okay throwing him out there and just hoping that his talent, you know, breaks something open, breaks a play. I'm fine with that. Now, I wouldn't like if you're telling me, okay, other side of this ball, Romeo Dobbs, that's not even a question. It's Dobbs is. It was going to be. Yeah, Dobbs is absolutely in. You look at last week was a Randall Cobb game.

Randall Cobb soaked up all the targets. But if you're looking on the season with Aaron Rogers as a rookie, he's leading the team pretty much across the board in routes and routes and in receiving yards. And as a rookie, you expect him to only get better the opportunity and the difference in quarterback. It's not even a close one to me. Alan Lazard, a touchdown or a hundred yards in all four of his games this year. He has quietly put together a very usable fantasy season. He is in play here against the New York Jets. Like, what's your temperature on Alan Lazard? He's, I love him. He was a my guy. To me, he's confirming my priors of what I thought he could be, which is like, you're like, okay, well, the floor here is you have a very high likelihood of a touchdown because he's a mammoth of a man out there. And Aaron Rogers is an efficient touchdown thrower.

The target share has kind of bounced around a little bit between the wide receivers with Dobbs having the big game, Cobb this past week. But where is Lazard for you? Is he a spot start, a weekly flex, a bi-week fill-in? I think he's a weekly flex. He's someone that is fine to start on a weekly basis. He's got a touchdown in three of four games. I think that's going to continue. I mean, early before this season, if you're just saying who are the top five or six wide receivers. to have a chance of double-digit touchdowns. Lazard was near the top of that list with the superstar fantasy option names just because you've got Aaron Rogers, a lack of other, you know, red zone weapons, and he's got a history of that. So I think he's not like a must start, got to smash him into my lineup guy, but I'm confident and happy to throw him out there. I think the real question is, would you rather start Lazard or Dobbs?

going forward rest of the season. Currently, it's still Lazard for me. It feels like Lazard is the safer option right now. The ceiling is higher with Dobbs as the season goes on. The Bob Tunyon experience continues to be a pump fake that when you think that we're going to be able to get him in there reliably, we saw the snaps increase every week for the first three weeks, and then they have dipped back down to 44% of the snaps. Each of the past two games. You cannot start. I mean, you're hoping for a touchdown. But if you get the touchdown, you probably still don't get 10 points. And that's just impressive. Here's his yardage on the season. 36, 11, 37, 22, 23. This isn't a player that you can start in fantasy. The Jacksonville Jaguars are two and three. They take on the Indianapolis Colts, two, two, and one. Draft King Sports McLean is Indy minus two. The over under is sitting at.

42 points. Yeah. Boo. Uh, that could be because Jacksonville, if we don't know what team is going to show up. I don't know if they know what team is going to show up because I've seen a terrific Jacksonville Jaguar team play a few times this year. And I've seen last year's Jacksonville Jaguar team show up a few times now. Like last week. Yes. So what do you expect? Like how do you think this game flow is going to go for the Jaguars? You know, it really is a good question. I expect a low scoring game in this one. I think that both defenses are better than both of the offenses on the other side of the field. This is a divisional matchup, so you could see a lower scoring, uglier affair. And then that means that you've got kind of your staple plays. Obviously, if Jonathan Taylor plays, you're going to play him. Yes. Right? The place you can beat the Jaguars right now, this defense has been on the ground.

Their passing defense has been pretty darn good when you adjust for schedule even better than what you would expect. So maybe it's not the best week for Alec Pierce this week because you have some, you know, I think you're going to have a good pass rush getting to Matt Ryan. So the downfield targets might be a little bit more difficult. Which is only happening 3.6% of the time. Matt Ryan is not going 20 air yards. It's just, it's not happening. Lowest in the NFL. Yeah, and we brought up, I believe it was yesterday, the fact that Michael Pittman hasn't had the over. Yeah, he's like he has one deep target. Right, exactly. Which honestly sounds kind of counterintuitive, but that means it might be a better game for Pittman in the sense that he needs to get the ball out quicker, get to the possession guy, and Pittman might have, you know, 10 targets and 7, 8 catches.

And he's been really involved in around the goal line. So I would be starting Pitman, obviously starting Jonathan Taylor. I think the question is if Jonathan Taylor doesn't go, what do you do at running back here? I think you go to Dion Jackson. If Johnny Taylor is out, Dion Jackson was RB 25 last week against the Broncos. 13 carries turned into 62 yards plus four receptions. Meanwhile, unfortunately, Naim Hines, I mean, he had that concussion. Right at the beginning of last week. As far as he's still in the protocol is the last thing that I had heard. So I wouldn't expect him to be playing. Again, it just, it was one of those like the tool where it just, it visually looked bad, which I think that's weighing in to the way that the NFL has to make their decisions right now, just the aesthetics of things. So Dion Jackson is in play. Over on the other side.

James Robinson. Oh, man. We were talking. Yes. We were having a discussion in the office of how the beginning of the year, James Robinson, you couldn't believe, one, I couldn't believe he was back on the football field being a starter. They told us all off-season was going to happen. I did not trust them. Number two, he looked pretty good as far as in, like, not every single time he touched the ball, but. Over those first three weeks, he was hitting a big run. He was scoring touchdowns. And we said, well, we've taken the L. The guys, the Achilles injury guys of James Robinson and the Cam Acres had that big game against Arizona. It's the L. They have figured it out and running back can come back. However, he's sucked? He has, yes, that's the nice way of saying it. Running back 58.

Running back 51, the last two weeks. 3.6 a carry, 2.7 a carry. To go along with, you know, in week two when he was 2.8 a carry, but kind of had the touchdown on a down running back week, if he stinks the rest of the year, we will still take an L because he was so good for the first three weeks for fantasy. Yeah, top eight or better for three straight weeks. Now, last week it seemed like a great matchup. It was a great matchup. Houston can't stop the run. It should have been a game that they were. up in, and so you would expect to see more James Robinson on the field. They were not up. They lost the game 6 to 13, couldn't score, and so James Robinson was only on the field 40% of the time. I still believe that he is a matchup type of player. Now, the Jags have kind of had the Colts number, the way that the Texans have had the Jaguars number. So I...

Do think you're going to be kind of paper, scissors situation. Right. Yeah. I do think James Robinson is a fine flex play this week. I know it's hard. It's hard when a player has two back-to-back really bad games to put him in for a third time. And if you've got other good options, by all means bench him. But if you have to start him, I don't think that it is nail in the coffin yet. Speaking of a player who's had two rough weeks. After three weeks of being on fire to start the season, Christian Kirk is last week against the Houston Texans. Despite being on the field for a season high, 96% of the snaps. He saw three targets and turned that into one catch for 11 yards. Woofda. Now he's taken on the Indianapolis Colts who are currently number one against fantasy wide receivers. Are you?

scared of Kirk or did he, as he's still maintaining his weekly, I play him as a wide receiver two? He has moved to the flex category. Oh, demotion. Just a slight demotion. I don't know. When you lose the position name in front of your job, I'm a wide receiver one. I'm a wide receiver two. You've gone to where? I'm a flex player. You're not a wide receiver anymore. Yeah. That's a. That's a pretty big demotion. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, Kirk's going to be pretty embarrassed when he hears this. You know, it's really a matter of who are you starting him over. So let's take a look at some names because I do think that Christian Kirk is one of those guys that. Christian Kirk or Michael Pittman. I would play Michael Pittman. Christian Kirk or Devante Smith against Dallas.

Oh, that one is tough. I'm going to go with Devante Smith. I like it. I like the call there. It's interesting about the first few weeks of fantasy football are so stupid because, I mean, they're great. I'm not saying they're actually stupid. I'm saying it's hard because it locks in what you think about a player. Devante Smith had a goose egg in week one. And since that, He's been great. Like, Devante Smith has been incredible. And yet, week one, the first impression, that's what you think about Devante Smith. Christian Kirk, great three weeks. So this is who he is. So you're just like, a couple bad weeks. That doesn't matter. But DeWante Smith had one bad week. And he's just, he's been fantastic. Yeah. Whatever happens in the first week or the first two weeks skews so much.

heavier than any other time of the year for sure. I mean, and it never goes away. It goes away next season. Yes. Not the whole rest of the season. It's tough. What about, uh, what about my guy Evan Engram? Six for 69. Is he in? Evan Angram or Kyle Pitts? Oh, man. Uh, I, I think this, uh, is gross. The matchup is there. Colts 28th against the tight end position. The Colts are very, do it. Do it. Uh, No, I'm not going to do it because. I wouldn't do it. Evan Ingram, even though the matchup is fantastic, the reality is that Evan Ingram has the same baseline that Kyle Pitts has. He's just as likely to have a crappy game. But the matchup is good. And if you are, you know, if you dealt with an injury or you've got Hawkinson on by week and you're looking for someone that's still on waivers late into the week, Evan Ingram's matchup is fine. And you can pick him up and play him. I think that, you know, he's.

probably going to be north of eight fantasy points in this game. Let's see. On the other, is there anything else we just talking about? Paris Campbell, no. Never. The Colts keep tantalizing us with the upside of the tight end position, but they keep rotating and even when it feels like someone has gotten the edge, they haven't. No, and I'm not going in on Trevor Lawrence until he shows it to me again. The Minnesota Vikings at four and one. Traveling to the Miami Dolphins who are 3 and 2, the Draft King Sportsbook Line, Minnesota, minus 3. The overrunner is sitting at 45 and a half. Jason is excited about Kirk Cousins this week. I am. I think this is a really good matchup. The secondary is a little banged up for the Miami Dolphins. They have not been good so far. They're averaging 32.1 points given up to wide receivers.

This appears to be a really good matchup for a team in the Vikings that are playing very well. That week two, primetime drubbing that the Eagles gave to the Vikings, I think is skewing people a little bit negatively towards their view of the Vikings as a whole. They've been very, they're four and one. And the only team they've lost to is undefeated. So I think the Vikings are good. The dolphins are obviously hurting right now. The fact that Teddy Bridgewater, even if he clears concussion protocol is going to be the backup. Yeah, that's what they said. That's what McDaniel said yesterday. That was so strange. You know, it's hard. I was thinking about it more because when it first came out, I was like, what in the what? Like if he clears concussion protocol, why would you put out the guy we saw last week who was, you know.

There's a reason he was a seventh rounder and he's a rookie. Like put out Teddy Bridgewater who can get the ball to Tyree Kill and Jalen Waddle. But then I started putting myself in the human reality of you just did this with Tua. The doctors came out and said, yeah, he's good to go in. And so you trust the doctors, you put him in and you have that scary situation. And it's tough to be like, okay, the doctors say Teddy's good. What if you put Teddy out there? And he got hurt again. Like what? No. You know what I'm saying? Like the human element of that when I started going, okay, I get it. I get it. For football, it's not the right thing for the human side. Maybe it is. Just err on the side of caution here and hope that your running game that was good last week with Moster, which we'll have to check. Is there anything new on Moser? Can you check on the practice for the dolphins if he's out there? We'll check. Thanks. You know, and Waddle. Find that tweet.

That we knew he was going to miss. That doesn't exist. We don't need to find the tweet. If he's back in practice today, it's fine. It was a day of rest. But, you know, at least this week, if they are going, you know, with Sky, then they get to game plan for it. They get to give him practice and scheme around what he can do with the weapons they have. But I do think that the position that the dolphins are in right now is kind of a reeling position. The position that the Vikings are in is an aggressive upward arrow. So I like the Vikings offense quite a bit. Jason, dolphins running back where he moistered. Okay, there's an update. Was. Hmm? Back at practice. There it is. All right. Hey. So, yeah, he would play if he's active.

Justin Jefferson every week. Adam Thielen is very interesting this week as the Dolphins secondary we covered it is atrocious. Dalvin Cook, he's in every week, but I think there's at least a minor discussion to have on Dalvin Cook. The opportunities have absolutely been there since the shoulder injury. However, they played Detroit, the Saints, and Chicago. Now, I'm not worried about the Miami matchup, but... They have essentially turned to Dalvin Cook, who's seeing low 60% of the snaps since the injury. They've turned him into a grinder. He's just carrying the ball. He's getting two targets each of the last two weeks. That's not the Dalvin Cook you want. Weeks one and two, five targets, six targets. They have really shaped us into a timeshare with Alexander Madison. Do you have long-term concerns? Zero.

Okay. Yeah. I have zero long-term concerns about, I mean, I realize that the passing, you know, you look at the routes run and kind of passing down situations. Madison has been more involved and Davencook has been less involved than what the expectation was and what you saw in the beginning of the year. Whether that's shoulder or whether that's, hey, you know what? I think it's just better for our team to have that happen. I'm not worried at all because one of the things we need to remember is the gap. between relevant studly fantasy running backs and any other running back is so large that if Dalvin Cook gets worse the rest of the season, he's still going to be amazingly valuable for fantasy football. There's nothing we can do about it. So to overreact and be like, oh, he's losing some routes. Maybe I should trade him high. Don't do that. Just keep your studly running back. Plug him in your lineup. Have him run for five a carry. Get two touchdowns and be sad that he missed out on this pass or that pass.

All right. You don't have long-term concern that it's going to be great. We're going to the candy shop for the next couple of weeks. The biweek is in there. But then week nine at Washington, at Buffalo versus Dallas, versus the Patriots. If you're still the grinder, just say, like, I'm with you that you can't, he's still a high-end running back. But where his status is amongst the top-end running backs, I think. It will be interesting to see what that turns into starting with that game of Washington. Baltimore Ravens 3 and 2 at the New York Giants, who are 4 and 1. There's a surprise team every single year. This year, ladies and gentlemen, it is in fact the New York Giants, which hat tip to what the coaching staff has done there because.

I'm not sure that the personnel overall has been revamped in a season, but Joe Judge, not a good coach. That is correct. Jason Garrett, not a good offensive coach because this team is winning. They're at 4 and 1. This should be an interesting matchup. The drafting sportsbook line, Baltimore minus 6. The overrunner is sitting at 45. Lamar Jackson, yes, please. It's been rough the last couple weeks. Is that correlated with Rashad Bateman not being active? It certainly could be, but he's elite. You put him in. At the running back position, though, J.K. Dobbins. Is he back? 9, 17, and 8 opportunities so far. Like I said about Kenyon Drake, he was really involved this past week. The Giants are a good defense. They're winning with their defense. Where are you at with Dobbins?