Fantasy Football 2017 - Starts of the Week, Week 7 Matchups, Bad Luck

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers travel to Buffalo to take on the bills. There's no line in this game yet because we don't know if Winston or Fitzpatrick are starting. Let's take a look at the other players and whether you guys, you know, downgrade them if it's Fitzpatrick, if it's Winston. You know, Doug Martin, he's locked and loaded. LaShawn McCoy, he's locked and loaded. The running backs, you don't have to question that situation. Mike Evans, you're starting him. Absolutely. Yeah.

But we've talked a little bit about Nick O'Leary, the tight end for Buffalo. We've talked about Cameron Brate. Are those guys both must start plays this week? Week seven, Nick O'Leary, Mr. What is he? Mr. Very necessary. Very necessary. Well, because when you replace Mr. Necessary Charles Clay, you've got to upgrade it. Because if you lose a necessary piece, now you're scrambling.

You're in trouble. You need something is very necessary. If O'Leary goes down, is it Mr. Accidentally? Is that the next guy that comes in? It's Mr. Very, very necessary. That makes sense. Quite contrary. Cameron Brayson, he's a weekly tight end one start. Nick O'Leary, I'm okay streaming it because the bucks, their past defense has just been. I mean, they're beat up at the, their defense is beat up, you know, missing players.

but not performing. So I'll take advantage of that. If I'm scrambling for a tight end, I've said the word scrambling many times that I've noticed. If I am. Do you have some eggs this morning? I was wondering. No, maybe that's why. I didn't have the eggs. I need the bro. Scramby. Extra scramby. Nicolary is an absolutely fine tight end play because I expect him to get five for.

30 to 50 yards. Yeah, I mean, we've seen Tyrod Taylor always utilize that position with Charles Clay out. We joke that he's Mr. Necessary because there aren't good weapons there. Zay Jones has disappointed on every possible level so far, and Jordan Matthews is out. Now, I did want to bring up Jordan Matthews as a guy that I think you should look to pick up on your waivers if you are in need of a wide receiver. He might start this week.

That's too early to be determined. But I'm speaking more for the following weeks. If Charles Clay is out, I think Jordan Matthews, who looked good in his very limited time. Right. Got the touchdown and went out with the thumb. Yeah. I think he's an absolutely worthy waiver wire pickup who's available on probably the majority of rosters right now.

How do you feel about Deshaun Jackson as a possible start? I think he's had double digits in three of his four weeks. But you have a quarterback situation that's rough. The Bill's defense. They only give up 14.8 points per game. They've only allowed two touchdown passes on the year, their past defense. Do you start Deshaun Jackson? Are you willing to flex him? I don't think I am. Really? The Buffalo Bill's defense has been legitimately good.

With the quarterback situation, not knowing who the quarterback is against a really good matchup, Deshaun Jackson's always been one of those guys where you've got to play the right matchup game. And, you know, you're either going to play with that fire and say, I'm rolling them every week. I'll take the booms with the bus or you try to guess right. So far with Deshaun Jackson this year, we've done a pretty good job of guessing right.

You know, the last two weeks, we said he was a good start and he was. He wasn't a great start last. Oh, I guess he had the touchdown. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, I look at this. I look at this game and I go, I don't know who the quarterback is. And I know the defense that they're facing has been great. Deshaun Jackson could be great any game of the year regardless. But probability says this isn't this isn't the game I want to take that gamble on. Quick question. Richard Matthews against Cleveland or Deshaun Jackson this week.

Richard Matthews. I think I would go. That one's easy for me. I think I would go D. Jackson. We haven't gotten there, but I have legit Richard Matthews concerns this week with Jason McCordy expected to shadow him. Jason McCordy nearly shut down to Andre Hopkins last week. He can handle Richard Matthews. All right. The Panthers travel to Chicago to take on the Bears. Bears are three point underdogs at home in this game, 41 point over under. And.

What do we expect from Christian McCaffrey? Last week he was filled up with targets. I mean, just a whole bowlful. Hey, guys, I'm running a little low. Fill them up. Fill me up with targets. And he scored a couple of times in the last couple of weeks. So Christian McAfee, what's the confidence level for a guy that really isn't? I mean, the carries aren't there. He's like James White on steroids.

Yeah, I think the confidence is absolutely fine to plug him in and start him as your RB2. Most people are disappointed that, you know, his ceiling really hasn't been there. He's gotten enough total touches to be more valuable than he has been. And so I think you're disappointed, but he is involved enough where you can rely on, you know, with James White, I think you're going to see far more games where you end the game with five points.

You know what I mean? Whereas I think with Christian McCaffrey, his baseline is pretty high. I feel like his utilization in the passing game is far more consistent right now than even James White. I agree with that. That's why I would start him well ahead of James White. Here's an interesting question, because we talked about Joe Mixon on the show yesterday. His touches have been consistent lately. Christian McCaffrey, neither of them have broken a big play. Who would you rather have rest of season between the two players?

in a half point league. And this is the story of the year. It's still Joe Mixen because you're chasing the, you're really chasing the dragon here. You may never catch him. But the possibilities of Mixon actually becoming a superstar for fantasy purposes, I think is still greater than Christian McCaffrey. Do you agree with that, Jay?

I do agree with, I definitely agree that him becoming a fantasy superstar is higher odds than Christian McCaffrey because he'll have more of the, to be a superstar, you have to have both. You can't just be a pass catching guy. You could be a good fantasy asset as just a past catching guy, but I think Mixon has the opportunity to be both. That being said, if you, if you're just needing a plug and play RB2,

I think Christian McCaffrey's floor is higher. Really? Yeah, because his involvement in the passing game, I mean, if you look at, you know, he's had more targets than Devante Adams, more targets than Alshon Jeffrey. Exactly. You've got a, here's his reception counts on the year, 549, 4, 510. I mean, Christian McCaffrey is so involved in the passing game, and those targets are usually much more valuable than a rushing attempt that his, his floor is.

is very high. But I don't think his ceiling is what Joe Mixens is. Cam Newton, you starting him in this game against the Bears? Yes. Are you starting any pass catchers in Chicago? Zach Miller in a pinch. I mean, you know, low end one, maybe a high end tight end two. He hasn't had the target or the volume that you want. He has scored a touchdown. He's got trickery. I like, I would start Ed Dixon over Zach Miller.

I would as well. Okay. Okay. Devin Funches, we're going to talk about him in a little bit. You've got to monitor Kelvin Benjamin's situation, obviously. If Calvin were to miss this game, you could even have a further uptick for both McCaffrey and Ed Dixon. Certainly. Let's talk Titans and Browns because they're the next one that is written down here that I have to talk about. The Titans go to Cleveland to take on the Browns. Brown six point home underdogs in this one, 46.5 point over under.

Marcus Mario da got it done without the ability to really get outside the pocket, extend plays. But he got it done in the pocket. So, you know, last week we saw a big play from Tewan Taylor. We still don't have Corey Davis back. Eric Decker had his best game of the year. Mike, are we talking about Eric Decker later? Yes, we certainly are talking about Eric Decker later. Simply because of I like the matchup. I think Marcus Mario is going to score great fantasy points. He's a must start.

this weekend against the Cleveland Browns. But here are DeAndre Hopkins, 12 targets, 12 targets, four targets against the Cleveland Browns. I know one of them turned into a touchdown. He's DeAndre Hopkins. That's fine. You play him every week. But Richard Matthews is likely to see that matchup that Hopkins just had. So I'm just saying that the Decker Love is really a pivot away in a game where I expect.

the Titans to handle the Browns. Yeah, the Marcus Marriota looked pretty good last week, even though he was immobile and stuck in that pocket. I think coming up against the Browns who have, or as Carson Palmer calls it normal. Right. Yes. Coming up against the Browns, Browns have been surprisingly good against the run. Not great, but they've been middle of the pack, which for the Browns is fantastic. And.

But when you look at how many fantasy points they're giving up to the quarterback position, it's through the roof. So it's got to go somewhere. I think some of it is if DeMarco Murray plays, I like DeMarco Murray because of the fact that he's a pass catcher as well. Also, Delaney Walker. I love Delaney Walker this week. He'd be my start of the week if he wasn't an auto start. Right. But he's going to be great.

trying to catch a knuckleball on every play because his fingers, he was just out of range on every single play, in-zone target, sideline targets. It seemed like he was targeted a ton. The results weren't there, and he was trying so hard to jump a little higher, but it didn't happen. Deschon Kaiser's back in the, what is that, the cockpit of the plane going down in Cleveland? I heard a stat from Adam Schaefter.

It was the Cleveland Browns have had 20 quarterbacks in the last 43 games. Oh, man. That's unbelievable. That's incredible because my brain wanted to hear years. And then you, and I was like, oh, okay. But you're going with the games. That's what I'm talking about. I mean, they're flip flopping, but at this point versus the Titans who are beatable. Are you willing to stream to Sean Kaiser?

He's had a couple of really successful fantasy games. Only in a two-quarterback league. I wouldn't take the gamble in a single quarterback league. There's just too many options I would feel safer. This week is pretty gross. The floor for Deschon Kaiser is a basement level. It's the sub-basement. Yeah, it's the negative to get pulled. Cody Kessler comes in. The journey to the center of the earth.

What about the running back situation? For the Browns? For the Browns. It's Joe Johnson and no one else right now. I mean, Crow, you can. I would be willing to start Crow. If you're the Abdullah owner, I mean, sure. You're willing to start him? I am willing to start him. I realize he's disappointed everybody. But if he was drafted in the 11th round, people would be saying, you got to pay attention. He's getting double digit carries. You know, last week, 12 for 58. And the Tennessee Titans run defense is.

Nothing special. So I'm not saying you should start him. Hey, you want five points? Start Isaiah Cruel. I think he'll get nearer to 10 points. Near to seven. Near, near 10 points this week. Five to seven. Poor of Isaiah Crowell. High praise. Get it done. Crowell. Before we move on to the Saints and Packers, want to thank today's sponsor, pristine auction. The.

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