Fantasy Football 2017 - Starts of the Week, Week 13 Matchups, Boom Boom

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Before we jump right into the show, I just want to say thank you to everybody that's supporting this independent podcast over at Jointhefoot.com. You guys are what make this show special, the community that we have over there. We try to pay that back with a bunch of amazing perks, extra shows, live streams, things like that. If you want to get involved, check it out at Jointhefoot.com. This is Hall of Fame of Marshall Falk, and you're listening to the Fantasy Footballers. To the Fantasy Footballers Podcast.

Coming to you from the Playdraft Studios with your host, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Welcome to Week 13. Happy to be here. It's going to be a great show today, Jason Moore. Really pronouncing that double O in there. There's more good stuff on the show today. It's going to be a great show. We got matchups today, and the matchups.

We've got some new defensive data. Right. We are looking at some recency as well as the season-long data, and we're going to break down these matchups. And we're going to do what we always try to do on this show, which is give you information, give you opinions, give you analysis, give you our best interpretation of that data, and then leave it in your hands to make some decisions. Then run and hide. This is the NFL after all. Yeah. You have to do that.

So it's going to be great. We're going to get into Week 13. Got a great quick question. I'm going to start it off right now. Here's the quick question of the day. Should you acquire players and hold players off of the waiver wire simply so that other teams can't and don't start them against you? So I can think of an example right out of the bat that, you know, we talk so much about. Right out of it. Let's get out of that bat. Outside the bat. Yeah, you want to get outside the bat today. You know, think outside the bat.

I'm just happy that I got to put it out on you. It's a different kind of week. We got Jay Grizz in the building. Jason, you're taking the role of Mike. I'm taking your role. That's what. Sweet. So that means Jay Grizz is the host. Let's get outside the bat. All right. And what I was going for there is yesterday we talked a lot about the fact there's probably only three auto start quarterbacks right now. Russell Wilson, Carson Wins. And who do we say? Tom Brady would be the other one. And so.

An example of this situation is, look, this week, you're facing somebody who doesn't have one of those three quarterbacks. Maybe you do, or maybe you have a couple options on the waiver wire. You don't want to face off against Philip Rivers against Cleveland. So you're going to sign Philip Rivers against Cleveland. Throw them on your bench. I'm fine with that. That's called strategy. Yeah, you have to look at your opponents when taking waivers into account, especially.

at this point. I mean, you don't always do this early in the season. But when you're at week 13, the week before the playoffs or the first week in the playoffs and 14 and 15 and 16 and hopefully not 17 because you're not in a stupid league that plays in week 17, just got to get that in there. There's so many people that play in week 17. I know. And look, I love you guys, but I want better for you. I want your leagues to be improved. So, but you have to look at your opponents and see, oh my goodness.

They're going to need to pick up a tight end because their tight end matchup is the worst. You know, at that point, oh, there's a little bear. There's a little bear here. You know, at that point, you've got to steal that tight end away or the defense. Even if you look and you go, man, in week 16, the championship week, there's two great defenses. I prefer this one. Depending on your roster and your bench, you might want to pick both of them up.

to make sure your opponent doesn't get the other one. So I think it's great strategy 100%. Now, I'll add to this quick question. What do you think about the strategy where you're out of the playoffs? Do you make waiver moves to try to pick up the best players to keep them from those championship teams? I know Mike's opinion. When Mike's out of the playoffs, you know, some men just want to watch the world burn. And Mike is all about that life. He's going to pick up every player and keep them away from everybody.

that he can. Yeah, I mean, it's hard to ask somebody in a redraft league that's three and nine to have the same kind of ambition and passion that they would if they were nine and three. That's a tough ask. However, the reason Mike does that is not just because he's the host of a fantasy football podcast. It's because the league is hyper-competitive. So it's brought about by the fact that you have league mates that want to see one another destroyed in this league.

And so when that comes into the equation, when you build a league with solid players, it's one of the reasons why we spend the entire offseason recording shows providing resources like the Foot Clan forums to allow people to find leagues with highly competitive people. It's because that makes the league better. I will say this, the league is better if all the bottom feeders are trying to steal away players. Yes, 100%. But just telling them to do it, it doesn't work that way.

No, you can't blame anyone for not doing it, but you certainly can't. A lot of times people blame those players for doing it. They're like, you're out of the playoffs. What are you doing picking up that tight in? They're playing. Yeah, they're still playing. It's called pride. I want to jump in and ask. I've seen people ask the question about having a rule once the playoffs hit, the teams that are not in the playoffs can't add players off wherever. What do you guys think about that? I've heard that a lot.

I think universally we usually discourage rules that impede action, you know, that say less transactions or things like that. So I would be against it. Obviously, there are rules that impede action that are good like trade deadlines that make sure that the integrity of the league goes on when some teams are out of the playoffs and things like that. I would say the general rule of thumb for all owners is handle your business. Just.

Just manage your team. Be competitive, manage your team. Carry it through to the end. Whatever that means to you. Hopefully you have a league that makes you want to do that. Rankings are up on the website. Week 13, initial rankings up on the site. Those will be, as always, updated throughout the week. And also good. Oh, oh, so very good. Devanta Freeman, Tevin Coleman, those situations, you know, when we get more information, we'll adjust the rankings. We'll keep you in the know. And as always, on Sunday morning.

We have a periscope. Mike will be back in town. He'll actually be doing that periscope on Sunday morning. So he'll be back before Monday. He'll be back doing that on Sunday because, you know, that's what Mike does. And then we have the game day alerts, a lot of weather implications at this time of year. Brooks and the writing staff is all over that, and we'll make sure that you're up to date on the weather situation. And a lot of good stuff going on this week. This is a make-a-break week for a lot of people. In one of my leagues, I'm playing for the buy.

So whether or not I have to play in week 14, I actually tried to do the defensive move you're talking about, add another defense to keep them away from somebody. But in our league, we have a maximum of three defenses that you can roster, and I already have three. So. Dumb rule. All right. You can follow us on Twitter at the FF Ballers, the website, the Fantasy Footballers.com. The community is join thefoot.com. We're also everywhere. We're on YouTube. You can watch this show. You can see Jay Gris in the building.

And it's great. It's a great product on YouTube. Yeah. You know, we get a lot of people that are like, oh, yeah, I was listening to you on podcasts. I had never seen you guys for like a year. I think that's most people. And then I watch it on YouTube and that's the better way to watch. I'm always going to do YouTube. So go do it. And finally, a shout out to everybody that leaves us those reviews on iTunes. We really appreciate that. You're the best. Support the show. Let's get into the news. News and notes from around the league.

All right, the Bucks have confirmed that James Winston is going to start Sunday against the Packers. Doug Martin on the same roster, still in the league's concussion protocol. But James Winston's starting, this has to bode well for Mike Evans. Yeah, it bodes well for, I think, all parties for the entire Tampa Bay offense, especially the guy that I would bump the most is probably Cameron Brate.

Just because he disappeared without Winston. Fitzpatrick was not going to Cameron Bray. It was not going to happen. The only player that I actually think takes a small hit is a player he's yet to find rapport with, and that's Deshaun Jackson. With Deshaun Jackson, when he was in the game with Fitzpatrick, he's had better games. He scored a couple of his touchdowns with Fitzpatrick. It's kind of one of those situations where, you know, you see Jay Cutler. He's going to start this week. All of a sudden, Devonty Parker becomes relevant again.

Whereas he was not relevant at all last week with Stills and Landry taking the bulk of the targets from Matt Moore. Yeah, and as far as the Doug Martin news, he hasn't passed concussion protocol yet, but he's also not practicing at all. And a lot of times you can get clues into the concussion protocol because guys will be able to practice in a limited fashion even before they've cleared the protocol. Right now, that's not happening for Doug Martin. So if I had to guess, I would guess he's not going to clear this week, but it is.

At this point, still an educated guess, a hypothesis, if you will. An educated hypothesis. Staying in the concussion vein, Amari Cooper, very unlikely to play this week. Michael Crabtree already suspended. That does move Seth Roberts and Jared Cook into fantasy relevance this week. I would also argue it moves Marshaun Lynch up a notch or two in the sense that we saw.

He didn't get 20 plus carries last week against Denver when their wide receiver options went down, half to focus more on the run, and obviously would bump down Derek Carr a smidge or two. Did you know who won NFC offensive player of the month, Jason? Offensive player of the month. I am unaware. Case Keenham. Case Keenham won NFC offensive player of the month, and he was rewarded by Mike Zimmer, head coach of the Vikings, saying we're going to go one week at a time with Chase.

Yeah. So for those of you wondering if he's an auto start rest of season, the reason he's not is because of that. Because he might not be the starter. Yeah. I don't blame Mike Zimmer for doing this. I don't expect Case Keenham to get the bench, even in a bad game. Right. A bad game they win, he's not going to get the bench. A bad game that they lose, you're going to start wondering and hearing things. I mean, you're already hearing things about Alex Smith and Pat Mahomes. People in Kansas City, they are.

losing their minds. Yeah, but they're on a huge losing streak right now. Yeah, still six and five, though. So Sterling Shepard says he's back to normal going to play this week. This is good news for Gino Smith and any shot he has at success on the Giants offense. Jordan Reed, surprise, surprise out for tonight's game. So Rule 86 still in play. If he's active, you play him. And if you don't, if he's not. Yeah, my jaw just fell to the floor when I saw that he wasn't. I mean, I was shocked. Jordan Reed out.

Yeah, after the, he's kind of an iron man. No one. No one could see that coming. What's the opposite of an iron man? An iron man? Like a tin man? A noodle man? A noodle man. A noodle man? That's the opposite, right? You've got hot, cold, iron noodle. Iron and noodle are polar opposite. Right. Exact opposite. That's.

That's what I learned in science. Science class. You learn a lot here at the fancy football. That's correct. Yes. Limited practices on Wednesday for Alshan Jeffrey and DeAndre Hopkins. I expect both to play. Hopkins especially. He was limited last week. He's been a little banged up, but he's still the best wide receiver on Earth. On Earth. So not the best wide receiver on Earth. Outside of. Yes. All right. You qualified. That's fine. Okay. All right. There's a bunch of players that had.

No practice on Wednesday. We'll keep you up today. We do in and out on the Friday show and let you know whether we think these guys are going to be active. Is there anybody on that list, Jason, that, you know, Aaron Jones being, getting in a partial practice, I think that's interesting. I think people kind of maybe toss them aside with Jamal Williams and Time Montgomery. But Aaron Jones is not on the IR. Yeah. You know, Josh Reynolds.