Playoff Push + Hungry For More, Strategic or Evil? - Fantasy Football Podcast for 11/29

We have quite the show for you today. We are getting into all of your questions. Look at at players. We're hungry for more and breaking down Thursday night football. You don't want to miss a minute. Make sure you subscribe so that we are with you through the playoffs and get you that championship. Enjoy. To the Fantasy Footballers podcast with your host, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Welcome in. Wednesday episode of the fantasy footballers Jason Moore, Mike the fantasy hitman Wright, and I am Andy Holloway. We welcome you in. Busy day. It should be a lot of good conversations. We're talking NFL news today. We're going to preview the Thursday night game, answer some questions. We have Hungry for more on the show. Apologies to everybody out there. If this show's getting out a few minutes.

Two minutes late. Yeah. I mean, really, I'm just glancing in Ducer's Alley direction. I don't know who is responsible, but we were ready. We do. We get here on time. Yeah. I mean, I think. We're professional. I've been here for two hours. We are prepared. We're ready to go. And we can't record because. Somebody. Somebody. Somebody. Inducer's alley. Broke something. Broke something. I don't know. I mean, I've, uh, I guess we'll move forward. We'll try. We don't have a choice. Yeah. If you even are hearing this, if they were able to record this episode and publish it, we don't even know at this point. No trust. No, we don't know if anybody's here. Oh, yeah, hit that button. That felt good. Um, we love, we love you guys. Yeah.

I noticed they didn't toss the camera back there at all during that period of time. Now you're making us boom shakalaka ourselves. Yeah. You can't even find the drop yourself. Hit that one. That's right. Yeah. You just dumped on yourself. We're making us boom shakalaka ourselves because we're incapable of finding the button. Oh, man. Also, don't like wholesale quit you guys because we don't know how to do anything here anymore. Oh, my goodness. Yes, welcome in one and all. Thank you for joining us. A heads up. When you get done with this delicious episode, we have a new Dynasty podcast episode. Those come out weekly. This one was Matthew Betts, Kyle Borgannononi, Jason Moore, and you were talking dynasty differences? Yeah, we brought up a lot of players that...

have either risen up, you know, what would be the startup rankings or fallen a lot, just different perspectives and kind of some, some like, is it prescriptive? Is there a lesson to learn? It was a lot of really good conversation. Well, I see Austin Eckler's name was brought up on the show. Do you want to tease any of the thoughts on awesome? Excellent. I would say the main thought that I had was the equivalent of trying to hold your breath forever. Yeah. That's how, that's how Austin Echler feels to me is like. And then no exhale, just expiration. Okay. So check that out. He's still trying. He's, how long could he go? About 15 more seconds. I think he's running out. His watch is yelling at it. Yeah, this is good podcast. Something is wrong. Yeah. Are you breathing? Um,

Shout out to everybody that is throwing it. He's still going. We're going to get a really big exhale. We're going to get like 50% of the company soon. Shout out to everybody on Twitter sharing their Spotify wrapped. Yeah. Yeah. Those are always fun to see. They are. Especially those of you that I see that are in like the hospital. There he is. There he is. What are we doing? That was the dynasty show. Yeah. It's just silent. Yeah. It's a real good episode. Yeah, but no, it's cool to see everybody's sharing their listenership of the podcast. And we actually, they gave us a, what would that be, a publishers wrapped. So they gave us some data, including like the most popular episode of the year. Do you guys, well, Jason already knows, Mike. Did you see this? I did. Okay. Which is, so much for guessing. It's not a shock. Yeah, that would be the My Guys episode. Yeah, people want to know.

That was the top episode of the year. 205 episodes published 12,569 minutes. I think they did the math wrong. Yeah, it would be 12,000 hours. Mike's math. No, it's 205,000 hours. And we're always curious if people, because most people don't share our show. It's a really good business model we have. We create something that feels like secret knowledge for you to win your league. But there was a most shared episode from mid-August. Did the, Al Borland, did you see any of this information? I did not. Yeah, top 10 tips and tricks to win your league. So some people shared some of our episodes with others. Thank you. That was very nice of them. And we've tried all sorts of angles to get you to share our show. Yeah. And the one we go with most often is like, challenge yourself. Like, I dare you to share this show. The one I'm going to go with now is pretty pleased.

Oh, you're going to go to begging? Yeah. Okay. Pretty please is not a beg. Just kindness. Yeah. Pretty please. That's a bet. No, pretty please is not begging. He went right to pretty please. If you say please, that's asking. If you say pretty please. No, no, no. If you say please, pretty please begging. Yeah, but he went right to it. So that was still. That was still the initial ask. Okay. All right. Fair enough. Not begging. Thank you. So pretty please. Well, now we're begging. What are you doing? It's Wednesday, man. It's hump day. It's Wednesday. I'm sorry, everybody. Let's move on. Welcome to Hungry for More, presented by Uber Eads. All right, who are you picking for the Hungry for More segment this week? Somebody, we've had some nibbles.

Maybe some flashes in recent weeks, and you want to see this solidified, Mike. You are hungry for more. I will jump in. It is the note from Kyle. Michael Keaton Mitchell, starting running back of the Baltimore Ravens. Things have just, they have continued to escalate. Week 12, 9 for 64. We also saw two targets, 46% of the snaps. You know, since he's really gotten back from his injury, week 9. The snaps have gone up every single week. I'm probably correlated. Gus Edwards' snaps have gone down every single week in that time as well. Gus Edwards will probably still, he'll get a bunch of touchdown before the end of the year. But Keaton Mitchell has serious juice, and that is the archetype of running back. Like, that's why I was so excited for the potential of J.K. Dobbins. Because when J.K. Dobbins is healthy, I mean, that's a juicy boy.

I mean, he has real top speed, real shifty, and that's who Keaton Mitchell is. And if he continues to climb and snaps and opportunities for the Ravens, he can do some, he could do some real damage over the fancy playoffs. I feel like we're in a Jillio McLaughlin situation with Keaton Mitchell, except there's no Giovante Williams to return. You know what I mean? Like, I think if McLaughlin had just been given that role and Williams never came back, we would be. You know, he would have been one of those players that was very key to your season, especially with how Denver's playing. So Keith Mitchell, you're hungry for more, Jason? For me, it's a guy who has been heating up and I want it to be solidified. Breakout sensation, week one, Calvin Ridley, who then disappeared for months, and now the last two weeks is back. They found him. They found him. They are utilizing him in a much better way. Obviously, Zay Jones has been back.

There's correlation between, you know, Zay being on the field and Calvin Ridley being better, but that's not causation. It's just a funny little anecdote that basically, I think it's really just. I mean, the routes he's running are different. They are different, but ironically, a lot of the touchdowns that Calvin Ridley has had have been while Zade Jones isn't even on the field. Oh, just to like a sideline like, go, I think that's what it is. I think it's more about like the cheerleader who is with a helmet on in Zay Jones is really helping Calvin Ridley. But he's got a great matchup this week against Cincinnati on Monday night football. And they are starting to use him the way that he should be used around the red zone. He's turned his three red zone targets into three touchdowns. He had two total red zone targets over the previous eight weeks before this stretch where he's.

been really great and he even dropped a touchdown. I'm going to say so was his drop a outside the red zone? Yeah, the drop was a bomb. This is courageous of you too to pick Calvin Ridley here because he's on the cusp of on fire and you're squaring off against him this week. Did you real? You remember that? No, yeah. Look, I have had to struggle with my own matchup and. advice on the show and I have I am just going to say what I believe is good and right for the foot clan and I'll complain whoever he wants against me yeah he'll be playing Calvin Ridley I'll tell you that right now if that was a way to like imbue that that was a choice for him is that what that was like yeah if he wants to go with him he can no he's got he's got some he's got some tight-in decisions to make as well okay

I don't think Calvin's one of those decisions. Are you really on the edge with Calvin? I will not be starting Calvin Ridley at tight end. Okay, all right. Good. Look, I'm going to go with, you know, one of the more difficult players this season to evaluate. We've had a ton of rookie wide receivers making contributions. And this guy has not had the opportunity that he deserves. But last week we saw maybe the tantalizing potential of Rashi Rice. wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs, 10 targets last week, you know, led the Kansas City wide receivers and routes run for the first time this year. That was the first double-digit target game. Went eight for 107 and a touchdown. And, you know, you get the ball in his hands enough and you get a big play. He is, you know, he's not, you know, Debo Samuel in every way. But that part of his game is very similar in that.

You know, you give Debo enough chances you get a long play. You give Rashi enough chances. You get a long play. The no Cadarious Tony and Hardman situation, really consolidated opportunities. You saw Justin Watson with only one catch because, come on, that's enough. Sure. And, you know, I like what I saw. So I'm very encouraged just with the opportunity he has. The offense has been struggling. So there's some, you know, narrative street reasons why Rashi Rice should be getting more work. Like, hey. It works when you get him the ball. So hopefully that's what we see. He's my rising or my hungry for more. And I'm excited. So by the way, I mean, the deucers would like to remind us they did fix the problem that they made. Oh, that's true. That's true. They would like credit for that. Like they were the ones that remedied the issue. There's, I mean. Like a firefighter that starts the fire. Right. And then comes and rescues the people in the house. Thank you for putting out.

Your fire. Yes. That was hungry for more. Presented by Uber Eats. Get almost almost anything delivered with Uber Eats in O-Line? Oh. Cartnavo, OJ. Yes. Order now on the app. Product availability may vary by region. See the app for details. News and notes from around the league. Presented by USAA Insurance. Not, I mean. not to spend our whole show talking about the Dusers, but I didn't realize the bald gradient we have in Ducer's Alley. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like I'll take off your hat for a second because I'm sure you want to do that. So that's a full head. And then Brooksie, you're in your Christmas best, but. Yeah. You know, the gradient. Yeah, he's not taking that off. All right. This was the big news yesterday, but let's follow up. Let's talk about it. Jonathan Taylor. Now, is this official? Official?

The report is that he will undergo thumb surgery and is expected to miss at least two or three weeks. That report was shared and as the source was documented that it was Jim Ursay. So it should be a reliable source. Well, I mean, I had somebody message me. And this is, I'm sorry to throw this person under the bus a little bit. But it's always interesting when someone asks you for your opinion in fantasy on a trade. You share your opinion. and then they argue with you about your opinion. Like maybe, because we all have like a bias with the trade when we're asking for help. And they were like, somebody offered me Jonathan Taylor right now for Devon A Chan. And, you know, he's talking about the fact Jonathan Taylor could be back in time to be helpful. And I'm like, and I'm like, there's no way in the world I would be doing that. Like I'm not trading A Chan away for Jonathan Taylor.

Is that the same view you would have in that situation? I just don't know if Taylor hits IR. I don't know if the recovery takes longer. We're in the nitty-gritty of the season. Yeah. So it's a thumb injury. The report that we got is he's expected to miss two to three weeks, but they're also not ruling out IR at this point. But, I mean, we're in week 13. Right. So let's just say that he puts, he gets on IR. So he misses 13, 14, 15, 16. That means. The first game you could have him back would be championship weekend if he comes directly back. And then I would be willing to start him that week right off of IR. But to illustrate. You got to get there. If he ends up on IR, which today we do not know, and honestly, they probably won't announce that until close to Sunday where they'll have to make that decision so that that first game can go towards his IR stint.

or whether, you know, if they don't put them on IR by Sunday, then that's a good indication that they don't believe he'll miss four games. And they're, because they're in the playoff hunt right now. Like the Colts are six and five. Right. And so they are in the thick of it. But let's, I mean. Let's play it out. Here we go. Here's the schedule. Tennessee this week. They should win that game. Oh, man. They should win that game. I mean, it's on the road. It'll be close in Cincinnati the week after. They win a bull, but I think we'd give them one-on-one on this. Yeah, let's go one-on-one. So that puts them at 7-and-6. Pittsburgh, at home. They're at home. They're at home. Yeah. Okay, I'm going to say they win that game. I'll take the Steelers. Okay, so 7-and-7-ish. I'm on Mike's side, so we'll go 7-7. At Atlanta, winnable, Los Vegas, winnable, Houston. All of these games are. That's why they haven't I-Red him just yet. They're like, well, we could.

We don't know what we are. But the point being, he's gone for at least two weeks. Let's. And I'm going, I'll guess three. And then at that point, it's if, if the Colts lose some games here, do they bring Jonathan Taylor back for a week? It wouldn't make sense. And I mean, his contract's locked up. So it's, it's not that they couldn't do that. It's about. Well, when you're out, let's see if anyone else on this roster needs to be around next year. So there are just so many variables with Taylor actually coming back. Let's try something on for size. Jason, how does this sound? Okay. Zach Moss fantasy MVP. That sounds likely. It's not my favorite phrase to utter, but I will say that. PEDMBP.

I will say that the funny Devon A-chan versus Zach Moss debate we've had this year. It's really gone. It's been swinging back and forth in unexpected fashions. That's funny. Zach Moss, in the three games he played without Jonathan Taylor this year, 90% of the running back carries, 90% of the touches had an 8% target share, forced a bunch of mistackles. He was dominating for fantasy teams. The schedule we just read is not. a scary one, and the fact he's involved in the passing game so often also helps mitigate the bad run defense matchups. Hopefully you spent whatever fab you have on Zach Moss. I mean, I think it was worth it. We got that news yesterday on the Waiver Show. Vikings have officially activated Justin Jefferson from IR. You will play in week 14 after the team's by. Okay. Right back into your line. Yep. Could have a new quarterback, though. Kevin O'Connell mentioned that.

and who will it be? I don't know, but the quick point I wanted to make for everyone with Justin Jefferson, be happy that your elite wide receiver is coming back. He probably will not be the savior for your team. Yeah, I mean, if Jamar Chase had been out a few weeks and was coming back to Jake Browning, it's the same situation. Exactly. The Giants have mentioned, Brian Davel said we'll see if whether... Darren Waller will return. Which is exactly what I tell my kids who ask for something and I know the answer is no. Right. We'll see. I just don't want you to grumble. Yeah. I'm not dealing with this. I don't have time to argue now. Right. Let's argue later. Yeah. When you figure it out. Yeah. We'll see is just a credit card swipe of we'll deal with this later. It really is. It really is. I don't have time to explain all the reasons why the answer is no. So we will see.

We will see a big no coming in the future. It would be so hard to have any confidence in the wall or universe. But pay attention, I guess. Can you pick it dealing with ankle soreness? Could have limited practice. He's had a few injuries where he always ends up playing. So I'm not too worried about that. Has Arizona? He's actually a streaming quarterback candidate this week. Hasn't thrown an interception in like 220 passes or something, which is a new record for the. Steelers. Well, his accuracy problems also translate to the defenders. The Buccaneers are optimistic that Baker Mayfield will be able to suit up against the Panthers. He played through the ankle injury during the previous game. Obviously, he could swell up. He's so tough. He really is a tough guy. He is a very, very tough guy. Both Pickett and Mayfield will just be playing on slightly hurt ankles. Now is today's news and notes presented by USAA Insurance. Learn more at USAA.com slash.

insurance, and we'll take a quick break, come back with the TNF preview and some mailbag. All right, let's get ready for another island game in the world of the NFL, and all signs point to this one being interesting. Thursday Night Breakdown. The Seattle Seahawks at 6 and 5 take on the 8 and 3 Dallas Cowboys, the Draft Kings Forest Book Line, Dallas minus 9. They're at home. The over-under is 47. I've reached the point in my fantasy season personally as the DAC and CD-LAM manager where I weekly approach the team and ask those guys to come close and then I hop on their backs. And I say, carry me to victory, especially during this by-pocalypse of sorts. You're expecting more of the same from this Dallas offense against the Seattle Seahawks in this one? Yep.

I think they're going to wipe the floor with Seattle. To be honest, Gino is still hurting. We just saw the offense completely inept at home against a great San Francisco 49ers defense. Now they're traveling on the road and playing a great Dallas Cowboys defense. And, you know, when the Cowboys have faced teams that are reeling aren't great, they have smooshed them. So. There's a nine point line in this game and feel like I'm on the... You're going to take it. I think I'm going to take the line. Since week eight, Dallas has scored 43, 23, 43, and 45 points. Seattle. McCarthy's got to be so pissed. It's just too much to handle. You know, you, what did you say when we found out you were a little bit of an Arthur Smith sympathizer earlier this week? Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

I said I think he's more Loki than just supervillain. Not pure evil. Yeah, not pure evil. It's got some redeeming qualities. Are you that way with McCarthy? I am. I am. Look, Mike McCarthy is. You're, you're getting fooled with Dak on your team. Maybe. But I got those blue colored glasses on right now. What's to be fooled about? They're eight and three scoring a billion points a game. I mean, he's, you have to. I mean, you don't have to because we get to say whatever we want into the microphone. But when a coach has the kind of shade that Mike McCarthy has had thrown upon him, the departure of Kellan Moore, how's that working, Los Angeles, and then Mike McCarthy takes over, and then you see him open the offense up, you see him getting the ball into the hands of his best player frequently. I mean, C.D. Lamb is pure alpha right now. Other than Tyree Kill, he's like, from a metric standpoint, the best receiver in football.

What is he not doing that we would want him to do? Like at this point, buy me a t-shirt. I want Mike McCarthy fan club started. Don't go that far. I went a little crazy. But yes, given the credit that he wasn't just stingy, grumpy man of a completely broken offense that was. It doesn't feel old. It wasn't doing anything. And then he said, or I don't know who made the, you know, all of these decisions. But. Mike McCarthy is head coach, so we will credit him with them changing it, saying, okay, let's go. Let's air it out like we've been doing in the past years. And it's been very fun. Like, they're a fun team to watch. Like, it's a Dallas because of the whole, the Americas team, I think you get a lot of pushback of like, well, they're not, they're not my team. And then people hate on the Dallas Cowboys, but dude, I love the Cowboys right now. So I guess I,

I guess I am with you. That I will give McCarthy some credit for being willing to change halfway through the year. You want some equity in the fan club? No, no. Dak Prescott over eight weeks, number one quarterback over the last eight weeks, Josh Allen, number two, Dak, Prescott. But in points per game, he's number one. I mean, he's number one over Jalen Hertz, then Allen, then Stroud, then Murray. I believe he is PFF's highest graded passer. at the moment. I mean, that eight-week span he has completed 70% of his passes. He's thrown two interceptions and 18 touchdowns. And again, I will give him credit because we were quick to jump on deck in the interception problems from last year, people questioning whether he had, you know, long-term viability as the quarterback. And that's an insane run. And I know the matchups have been good. Everybody's going to quickly say, like, they don't play a lot of winning teams. They lost the Philly, but.

That's a great run. Yeah, I mean, you can't criticize them for beating bad teams. They didn't make the schedule. It is fair to point out that they have played almost exclusively bad teams. They are not just winning. They're crushing them. Right, right. They've looked good and their loss to Philly was close. Yeah, 2328. They will have a stretch coming up here where we'll find out what they're really made of when they play after this week. They've got Philly, Buffalo. dolphins and the lions. So they got a month of like real juggernaut matchups. It still will be fine for fantasy, but I think we'll find out the true Mike McCarthy, Dallas Cowboys barometer. How are they? So starts it decisions in this game. Let's stick with the Cowboys side. Jake Ferguson, whatever the opposite of a heater is, that's where he is right now. Two bad performances outside the top 20 at tight end. Brandon Cooks is another start sit decision for people. He's been.

A top 24 receiver in four of six weeks? I don't think that's a tough decision. That's a start. Yeah. Brandon Cooks has been putting up big enough performances with DAC being on fire that Cook should be in your lineup. The real question for Ferguson is, are you looking to? Who's your other options? Right. I mean. I've got Ferguson in two different leagues, and there's basically no one on waivers. You're chasing Higby's touchdowns or something like that. Now, if David Njoku was out there, even if it's not Dorian? Yeah, I still think he is the short yardage safety valve for whoever's quarterback. He was sitting seven, eight, nine targets already for a long stretch. He's actually been.

David Najoku is on a 12, or I'm sorry, a six-week stretch of top 12 performances that tied in, 9, 8, 6, 9, 15, 9. And Omari Cooper's banged up. Yeah, that's a fair point. I'm still good with Ferguson. I get his production has not been there, but. Has this snap count's been the same? That's something to double check. I'm only asking that because of the Shoon Man's touchdown, which happens here and there. It's been a little lower. So Jake Ferguson. But they've been blowing people out. 72% the last two weeks. I see, I'm still good with it because you have a quarterback who's putting up just Madden levels of numbers right now. They just haven't gone to Ferguson recently. But if your quarterback's going to put all that up and you've shown you have a connection, I'm going to go. I still have Ferguson in. Yeah, he's not been the kind of, he's not the kind of tight end. It gives you big yardage numbers.

if he doesn't like if he doesn't have a touchdown you're probably bummed out but he's one of the higher probability to score a touchdown he's still running the routes so okay so you're staying with him jason yeah yeah i am i don't but you're not like super confident uh based on that tone of voice correct i i'm i'm begrudgingly putting him the mute there and i would definitely play the muth over ferguson right now and tason hill with their limitations right now on offense? Yeah, I mean, honestly, I think I would play Juan Johnson over Ferguson right now. I would roster both if that player was available. I'd pick them up a plan. Fourth straight game that Dallas has been favored by 9 plus. On the other side, you know, Metcalf had a good game two weeks ago and then a disappointment last week. Like, you know, same amount of targets, but the week before scored 94 yards last week, last week only 32 yards.