MEGALODON Episode - Week 12 Matchups, Turkey Day Awards & TONS More! - Fantasy Football Podcast for 11/23

Dolphins? I like it. Yeah, it's the Dolphins offense. Yeah. It's a normal thing. Normal people say that. Oh, everyone loves the dolphins. They have run, Miami's run 608 plays this year. 26% of them have gone for 10 or more yards. Wow. They are just electric. And Houston, they rank 31st in that category in terms of giving up 10 plus yard plays. This is one of those matchups you don't. Don't dig in too deep and try to find a reason not to play these guys or not to expect big things. Big plays will happen. They're at home. Just start them. Why is Mike Gisicki on this bell curve right now? Whereas like he was not used. Then you're like, oh, whoa, look at Mike Giske. Is it Jeff Wilson? He's running routes, targets for route run. They're like, oh, and we're done. Is it Jeff Wilson because Chase Edmonds was not usable? That could be. They do correlate a little bit. I don't know. It's an interesting theory.

On the other side, it is a, it's a little nerve-wracking. Yeah. Obviously, Damien Pierce is in. He had a very bad game last week, but that is... People are out on him. What? Not this week, I'm saying. I mean, just talking like in general, I've seen so much negativity about Damien Pierce. That's when you go... Surprising. Like, I get it. Wanting to release him, wanting to trade him. Stuff like that. When you go 10 for 8. 10 attempts, eight rushing yards, and then you catch two passes for nine yards. It gets people spooked. And he hasn't scored in five weeks because this offense is really, really struggling. I think it's just a buildup of that. Still out there for the same amount of snaps last week, you know, you got to play Damien Pierce. I agree.

Yeah, they weren't able to run the ball much. I mean, they were down early the Texans were. There was the early pick six that General Mills threw in the game. And then next thing you know, Damien Pierce needs to have the game be a little bit closer. So you could have a situation in this game that's similar. I expect the dolphins to just be not punting ever. Maybe. So maybe this is more of a game where you can throw Brandon Cooks out there. Yeah, and Brandon Cooks and Nico Collins are both going to get targets. They're both going to be lower quality targets. And they're both dart throws, I think, this week in terms of hoping you get production. I'm curious where the Dolphins defense evolves. I mean, the past six weeks, they've been a lot better. They've been eighth against the run, 15th against the pass. They're going to get some pass rush on to Davis Mills. So it should be a very interesting game. But beyond that, I don't think there are other startable.

players worth discussing. Correct. Because it would be disgusting. Agreed. If we did. Quick break back with the Bears game. Well, well, well, this game got a little more interesting to talk about the Chicago Bears are three and eight. New York Jets are six and four. The games in New York and the draft King Sportsbook line have the Jets as five-point favorites. The over-under is 40. I don't know, Al, maybe dig into the line there, see if it's changed on Draft Kings. We'll do. Since the Mike White News. Yeah, but I say the fact that the line is even where we are, that seems to be, at least Vegas is pretty confident that that Justin Fields is going to play. Minus 5.40 and a half is the current line. Okay. So you were saying you think that means that Justin Fields is going to be out there. If the sports books weren't sure.

that didn't feel confident that Justin Fields was out there. They wouldn't even have a line. They would just be holding until they have more news. Wow, this is quite the tweet here. Mike White getting the start. We know that now. But where does this come? This tweet comes in from Regulators podcast says if Gino Smith took his next 150 snaps and threw the ball into the stance, he would have a higher pass rating than Zach Wilson. And we're talking about Gino Smith. Cannot confirm if this is. Real, but that's funny. And we do have more breaking news. This one needs to get mentioned because it's too big of a player. Breaking news. It's the least being reported right now that Joe Burrow expects Jamar Chase to play against the Titans. What? Wow. What? That is very unfortunate for fantasy football players because that is a decision I don't want to make.

And in the matchup, so good that it's not one where you... That's what I mean. If he was playing against Dallas, right? You're like, ah, just sit them for a week. Like, Jamar Chase could play 15% of the snaps. If you have... Coming in from Kelsey Conway, who is a beat reporter for the Cincinnati. They're going to... He's going to be eased in. There's no way he plays a full allotment of snaps. It's just... And he's valuable as a distraction. Oh, that is brutal. Let me tell you some players that if I had them, I would be willing to bench...

Jamar Chase four. Very important. Let's hear it. So my start of the week, Garrett Wilson, he is a player that I would rather play Garrett Wilson than Jamar Chase coming off of this current injury. You might have Keenan Allen, Michael Pittman, your start of the week. I would play anybody kind of that level above. What about Tyler Boyd? Oh, golly. I would play Tyler Boyd above Jamar Chase. I have fears. Maybe this is Mike Williams based, but when you have a timeline that a player beats in a shocking fashion, right? I don't think this week is shocking. This was the week where they just got off of crutches. It was like news yesterday or the day. I think Monday was news. He's off crutches. It's like, now you're going to play in the NFL.

That part is the shocking part, but I'm saying the, I think the original timeline had this as a possibility. We were expecting next week. What do you, how about Darius Slayton? The original. Yeah, it's been four weeks. It's been four weeks, but they had the buy week in there. Yeah. Can we punt this to what is the vibe after practice for two or three more weeks or two or three more days? Because right now, we're recording on a Wednesday. Yeah. It's an initial report. I think you need to track it and see what the real activity level is, expecting him to play, maybe more context. I look forward to Sunday live. Yeah, if he practices. Every question is Jamar Chase. If he practices in full this week and they're saying he looks good, I'll adjust my opinion. Because it has been a month. And originally when they decided to not put him on IR, it was because they hoped he healed faster than normal. The timeline should have been on IR.

That being said, IR is four games, not four weeks. And so they had their biweek in there. So this is a full four weeks, even though it is quicker than had they put them on IR. So let's get back to this Jets Bears matchup. Mike White is going to bring a little bit of hope. He's going to bring hope to Michael Carter to Garrett Wilson. And then if you look at other wide receivers, Corey Davis could be back, probably won't be back. Denzel Mims is playing a lot more snaps than Elijah Moore. So I would be more, I think that would be where I'd look if I had to do a desperate other Garrett-Welson starter. I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't want to play Denzel Mims or Elijah Moore or anybody else. We're talking, yeah, next level desperate Brooks. That's right. But Tyler Conklin, does he get reborn in the Mike White? Very possible. It's not, it's not the best matchup where.

Conklin's a streaming candidate last six weeks, Bears fifth against tight ends. Probably not do it. Like Foster Moreau, I'd stream him over Conklin this week. The Jets games have hit the under five straight times. The defense is playing very well. In the last six weeks, seventh against quarterbacks, ninth against running backs, third against wide receivers. I think it makes it pretty simple on the bear's side of things. If Fields plays, you play him. He's a cheat code. Mm-hmm. David Montgomery is going to get 80 plus percent of snaps, and so you have to force him into your lineup. It's not a great matchup. No, he's not going to do great things, but enough opportunities where he should be, you know, double-digit fantasy points, you hope. And do I get credit for any touchdown guarantees if Claypole scores one on the year? Sure. Yeah, absolutely. We'll let that roll over. What are you doing with Mooney this week? It's a tough, tough matchup. The Jets are number one in the league against wide receivers. I'm trying to bench him. Okay. And also.

When it comes to Justin. Tyler Boyd or Darnell Mooney. Boyd. Okay. Yeah, Boyd. When it comes to Justin Fields, if he's playing, obviously, you know, you can stay in the flames. Like last week we talked about basically, you know, it was like Mahomes and Fields, like as the next best option. You just do it no matter what. I see Fields this week a little bit scarier, but because of the combination of the injury and the matchup. where, you know, if you were a team that had, you know, Tua, and you picked up Justice Field, because a lot of the Justice Fields managers, they've got another good quarterback. They just happen to pick them up off of waivers. There are other options I would start over Fields in this specific match. Not Brady, though, would you? I'd still be playing Fields, at least myself. I'll play Fields above Brady. That's really close for me. I still want, like, Brady is not.

putting up any impressive games yet. And I'm just, we've been waiting for it. And we've been saying the same thing, but like 19, 13, 11, 17, 15, 16. That is his last. The exact same way that we were talking about how Devin Singletary was due touchdowns. Chris Godwin was due touchdowns. All these players, the regression, because the. Other metrics outside of touchdowns were all good. That is Brady. We didn't get into the quarterbacks, but he would have been the number one of like, well, the touchdowns are going to come. He's on pace for 4,700 yards, not throwing interceptions. Yeah, 2.8% touchdown rate. Yeah, like that's not Brady's career. And that's not what he's doing right now, you know, between the 20s. It just feels like the bomb. The timer keeps resetting to 3, 2, 1. And then 3, 2, 1, every week we've been saying it. And I'm just, I'm just sad.

Yeah, it's been frustrating. We all want it to happen. So, Colomet? I mean, yeah, sure. That is the one area of the just defense schedule adjusted giving up over 10 points a game to tight ends. I mean, there's probably a lot of other names I'd go to. Injoku or Commet? Because I think I'd still stay in the flames of Comed. I'd go with Cole Commet. I would as well. Over the Injoku injury. The Atlanta Falcons are 5 and 6, Mike. And they take on the Washington commanders who are 6 and 5, Mike. The draft king's sports book line is Washington minus 4.5. The overrunners 42. Both teams are in the mix for the wild card. Yes, that's true. The Falcons are better than the Cardinals. I just want to put it out there for preseason expectations. That's where we're at, Cardinal fans. Good work, Atlanta.

They did win last week. This is going to be an interesting one to break down because the Washington defense is ascending in a big way. Third against running backs the last six weeks. Eighth against whiteouts. First against tight ends. Now they are adding Chase Young to the mix. Marcus Mariotta, watching him try to run the football, he makes the right read. He's simply not athletic enough to make it work very often. There's going to be sacks in this game. Mariotta is averaging 18.4 catchable passes per game. That's dead last in the NFL. That's from Scott Barrett. You know, Drake London, the only hope for Drake London is the consolidation of targets with Kyle Pitts leaving. The truth is you're probably just going to see more Demer Bird. You're probably just going to see a distribution to other places, but I think you could take a dart throw with it. Yeah, I mean, the hope in this game is,

that the Falcons offense can do something. Because, you know, Mike, your start of the week, Terry McLaurin, I love Tara McLaurin. I love the matchup against the Falcons. Part of the reason that the Falcons have been such a good matchup to play against for the passing game is because they've been surprisingly scoring a lot. So I worry in this game with the way that the Manders defense has been stepping up and the loss of Kyle Pitts, I worry about whether or not the Falcons will be able to score enough points to keep the commanders. passing the ball. I have no worries about Antonio Gibson. I think he's a very good start this week. Brian Robinson, we've kind of made him that barometer of the last good starting running back out there, kind of flex option. But can you start many people over on the Falcon side? Well, the hard part is I'm trying to look at these difficult matchups that they face. And they haven't faced a ton of like top tier.

defenses this year. They did beat San Francisco with 28 points back in week six, 15 points against Tampa's defense, 26 against New Orleans. I'm trying to find that path. I had the same thought, Jason, when he mentioned Terry McLaurin, and I was comforted by the other numbers he mentioned, which is just how many fantasy points to the wide receiver over the course of the year Washington had been giving up. But it is a little nerve-wracking because Atlanta does have to get into the end zone. Otherwise, they're going to play Brian Robinson. And Antonio Gibson, and you'll see one of those 49 snap games for those running backs. Yeah, I mean, you know that Tara McLaurin's going to have his shot, and the Falcons' defense can't stop him. So if they pass at all and it might just be in the first half, I still am very hopeful for both Heineke and McLaren, but it's going to take the Falcons surprising us, which shouldn't be a surprise because they surprise us all season long with.

their ability to score and keep running the ball. Will Patterson be a bigger part of the offense now without Kyle Pitts as well? Like his target totals this year have been non-existent, only four over the past three weeks. I think he has to be, you know, the last three games, he's been sub-50% snaps coming back from that injury. Patterson or Mostert? I would go Mostert there. I'd go Mostert. Okay. I was asking for a friend in my dynasty. It's close. A friend of mine. But like even at the beginning of the year when he was dominating, Cordill Patterson, the snapshares were not like astronomically higher. Like 49% this past week.

But it was only 12 opportunities. In his big games, it was 61% of the snap, 65. They were giving him the ball more. And he's so good. We can't take that away from Cardinal Patterson. Last week, you look at the fantasy finish and you might be a little bit disappointed. But he had a 104 yard. Was it a kick or a kick off? It was a kick return to take the record. Yeah, I mean, it was, he's great. So you can start Cordero Patterson. They need him badly. A little update for you. Maybe not that little. Corey Davis will be back. He has been close to getting back the last two weeks. And he is a full practice participant and will be back in the fold. They want to set up Mr. White for a great game. Yeah, I mean, this is, he's a primary target in that offense. And he's definitely going to rise above.

your Mims or Elijah Moore category of target. So Antonio Gibson, quietly the RB 18 on the year. This seems like a matchup you can play him. Brian Robinson. Is he touchdown or bust? I think he's a flex option this week. Talked about Terry McLaurin. What about Curtis Samuel? Not until Carson Wentz comes back. And then Johan Dawson has not been a part of the offense, really. Only two receptions since the injury. Don't need to talk about him. What about Logan Thomas? Last week, Logan Thomas kind of got involved in the PPR universe. What did he finish with last week? Five for 65. Yeah, I mean, first big, I guess he did that one time in week forward. I would need to see it at least one more time before I would stream him. Okay. The Broncos are three and seven. They take on the Carolina Panthers at three and eight. Oh, man. We did.

attempt to petition this game not to be televised. Yeah. I don't think we've won. The drafting sportsbook line, Denver minus two, over under is 36. I mean, this is just like Vegas is looking at this game and saying, whose defense is going to win it? And they're choosing the Broncos defense to win it. This is a hide your kids, hide your wife, 35 point over under. I mean, there's only been three games with a total this low since 2012. Sam Darnold v. Russell Wilson, Deontay Forman v. Latavius Murray, DJ Moore v. Cortland Sutton. I mean, these are mirrors. This is, um, this game is such a low over under that the Panthers are projected for 17 points and the Broncos are projected for 19 points. And I cannot figure out a way where either team gets to those numbers. I don't know if I can figure that out too. I mean, I guess I could see Denver getting there. Pick six. Yeah, or just, you know,

Panthers defense, maybe the running game, maybe Latavius and company. But my expectations for the fantasy output in this game are non-existent. You know, Cortland Sutton, I don't want to play him. He has, he is, you know, he is still a playable asset. Five for 80 last week. Yeah, five for 80 last week, 11 targets the week before. I, I, I. He is not what we hoped because Russell Wilson is not what we hoped. He is not a great world-beaten. First double-digit game for Cortland Sutton last week since week four. Yeah. So that's your risk. Yeah, for sure. But we're talking about like you could start Darius Slayton. I would still stick with Portland Sutton over Darius Slate. I think I'm willing to water bet that one. Okay. Let's go. I think I'm willing to do it.

Waterbed. I actually just made the decision to put Dary Slayton in above Zay Jones this week. Dary Slaten is a high yardage upside touchdown potential type of player. Sutton has had no ceiling this year. So that's why I lean that direction. But from a PPR perspective, I think you're going to get more total receptions from Sutton. DJ more, DJ less. Don't do it. I would... Be trying to find a way to not play him. Not against this defense. Against this defense, I don't want to play a single. Oh, let's do it. Let's bench the Panthers. Yeah, I don't want to play Foreman. DJ Moore, Terse Marshall, Darnold. Let's just move. Let's move on. If you were counting on Foreman, hopefully you got one of these waiver guys from this week because I would be playing them all over. A few other Sutton questions from the website. Josh Palmer or Cortland Sutton. I'm going to go Palmer there. Palmer? Yeah, I'm going to stick with that.

Christian Watson or Coralyn Sutton? That one's close. I'm going to play Watson. Watson has a ceiling. Rashad White in the flex or Coralyn Sutton in the flex. Oh, I'll leave that to Mike. It's probably Sutton. I'll play Rashad White. I mean, touchdown upside goes to Sutton on that one. The Panthers defense. No, Coral and Sutton doesn't, he doesn't score. Compared to Rashad White. No, I don't think so. I feel like the Buccaneers can score 30, and I don't know how the Broncos score 20. Sutton has one touchdown on the year. What does Rashad White have? I think Rashad White's going to catch some passes. I like Rashad White. He's definitely got at least one touchdown. He has one, yeah. Yeah, but I mean, he's working into the fold. Sure. Greg D. Let it be. I would rather not. I mean, we got hot and bothered with his first few games, but this is still a rookie tight end, and you can't rely on them. You never have had one in the history of fantasy that was just a weekly reliable asset. Greg D.

Or the island, Jason. I'll take the island against Seattle. That's Foster Moreau. Baltimore, seven and three taking on the three and seven Jacksonville Jaguars, drafting sportsbook line. Baltimore, minus three and a half, over under is 43 and a half. The Ravens games. This has been the story. They've hit the under in six of seven. Ironically, that is the amount of games that Lamar Jackson has been at 20 or fewer fantasy points in his last seven. It's been. really difficult because I think a player like Lamar Jackson is so secure in your lineup as an auto start that he hurts you maybe more than any other player in fantasy. It's possible because you know what he's capable of and he showed you in the first three weeks of the year and then he's locked in and he's averaging 21 fantasy points since week four. He's not finished higher than the QB9. Most leagues are 10 or 12 team leagues and the Ravens defense is number one in total yards per game fifth and

points per game allowed, it makes for a very interesting situation. They don't have explosive players right now outside of Mark Andrews, and they haven't needed them because they win games anyways. They win against Carolina running the football, redoption, boring stuff that makes Mike yell at the TV. They're willing to drop the passes, and it still doesn't matter. If they drop a couple fewer passes. That would make you feel better? Yeah. He's my start of the week. Because the opportunity is there. I do think that Lamar Jackson can have a bounce back, a monster game, which means Mark Andrews is, I mean, he's always a great start. But like DeMarcus Robinson, who over the last month has a 30% target per route run, he is interesting as a kind of a dart throw player. Slayton or DeMarcus? Probably Slayton. Just.

a little bit more necessary to the offense. Because Robinson could disappear, but two of the previous three weeks, or three games, I should say, nine targets in one of them, eight targets in one of them. So he does look like he's taking over that wide receiver one spot. I think the team wanted it to be Devin Duvonne. He just is not being that dude. Well, he's such a different archetype. You know, he's small and fast and Robinson's bigger. I agree with you on the potential start there. Mark Andrews, you're going to play him. What do you do at the running back room in Baltimore? You stay away. Yes, you cast it aside. You stay away because there's too much uncertainty. It's not me saying that there won't be someone who's good. It is me saying that I don't know, you don't know, and they don't know the plan. It's too early in the week to know about Gus Edwards. Kenyon Drake, he's.

randomly good some weeks and awful. The rest, Justice Hill was worked in. So you just have to stay away from this running back room. If you throw one in, all you're doing is just praying for luck. And that's not how you're going to win most of your fantasy football games. Travis E.TN, you have to start him. The matchup's not great. It doesn't matter. You play. But you play him. Christian Kirk, he's had a resurgence of late. He scored seven touchdowns this year. Mentioned him in Never Not Working. I think you've got to play him as well. This is not necessarily the game that I want to roll out the spot starter. Yeah, Zay Jones. You can always play him. You can always play him. He's good for $5.50, right? Do you got a spot that needs a start? Zay Jones. Well, let's do it. Mike, Zay Jones or People's Jones. Which one? Oh. Jones. Jones, Jones decision or Marvin Jones or Julio Jones. I will go People's Jones. Yeah, PeeB Jones. Jerry Jones? No. No. Never. Sit him. Never, Jerry.

Okay. The Chargers are 5 and 5 taking on the 4 and 7 Arizona Cardinals. The Draft King Sportsbook line, Chargers minus 4.5, the overrunners 47 and a half. Here's a statement I'm going to throw out there into the fantasy football world that I want you to remember. Play every player you have against the Cardinals the rest of the year. The Arizona Cardinals are about to impart or sorry, they're about to begin a nice five-game run of giving up. and it's going to be everyone on the defense other than Buda Baker and J.J. Watt will give up for the rest of the season. It's going to be a bloodbath. Austin Eccles should probably be the running back one this week. Herbert could be the quarterback one this week. Canaan and Josh Palmer should be played. I'm not sure that Mike Williams doesn't score three times from the bench. The Cardinals are awful. And they're very bad.

They do look like a defense that is quit. They at least quit at the end of last game. Maybe they'll come back at home and give it more effort. I was shocked. They suck at home. I was shocked to see this line. The chargers are only favored by four and a half points. I will be taking the chargers, please. Yeah, I agree. The Cardinal season is over. They needed to win that game against San Francisco. Instead, they got blown out. It was a little sad. I will say this. Supposed to be a home game for the Cardinals got booed. Everyone there was a 49er fan. It seemed a little unfair. Yeah, it was the right thing. Smart fans. They did get the message. It is a good matchup for James Connor. James Connor has been getting the work and, you know, felt little touchdown dependent. I don't think it is this week. He'll keep trying as well. Absolutely. He's one of the keep trying guys. The, the chargers are.

hashtag bad against the run. So Connor is fine. Hopkins is auto in. And then there's a bunch of injuries elsewhere in the wide receiver core that at this point in the week, I don't think we can recommend anybody. No, I think there's a really good chance that Hollywood Brown, Rondale Moore, and Greg Dorch don't play in this game. And then you have Hopkins, A.J. Green, Robbie Anderson, and Trey McBride. Without knowing who the quarterback is going to be. just as good a chance that Kyler sits with the buy week next week for the Arizona Cardinals. The only thing I'll say is with the injuries, if one of them goes and the other don't, you kind of have some clarity, right? Like if Hollywood starts and you don't have more or Dorch, you could probably take your shot with Hollywood Brown getting, you know, eight to ten targets. They're not going to bring them back out there unless he can do that. And then, and Tray McBride, you're just waiting. I think that if you are a, if you're a team that is in tight-end purgatory,