Starts of the Week + Week 14 Breakdown, Dynasty Upgrades - Fantasy Football Podcast for 12/8

It's hard not to be in his camp again this week. Oh, yeah. Garrett Wilson is pretty much an absolute must-start rest of season unless something happens to Mike White. Yeah, and he is so explosive that you can have the 200-yard type of games from Garrett Wilson. He was a fingertip from being well over 200 last week. And you can also have the games where... half, three quarters of the game look bad and you're pretty disappointed. You started Garrett Wilson, but you can still have hope in that fourth quarter because one play he can make a week. And he's done it pretty much every single game that he has played with, not just with Garrett Wilson, just without Zach Wilson. Every game that Garrett Wilson played with himself. Okay. That's what I was hearing. I got very confused. Which he's been good in all the games he's played with himself. That's, well, that's not true because sometimes he's played with himself and Zach Wilson.

Whenever Zach Wilson has started, Garrett Wilson has not been very good. How do you look at that situation for Dynasty? I think it's worth a brief detour because what you said is absolutely true. Joe Flacco, Garrett Wilson was amazing. Mike White, Garrett Wilson was amazing. The reality is Garrett Wilson is amazing. That's the underlying statement that is 100% true. But the future of this Jets team, I can't imagine it doesn't involve some Zach Wilson. I think it could. I think it has to be Mike White. If they make the playoffs, and right now, it appears that their trajectory is towards that. They're in right now. I expect them to lose this week, so maybe they fall out. But they've got a couple winnable matchups the rest of the way. I currently project they're in the playoffs. If they go to the playoffs with Mike White, I think you have to trade Zach Wilson in the offseason. I think I find that hard to believe.

That means what do you think Mike is worthy of a long-term deal with the Jets? I do. I, you know, I talked to Mike a while ago. He reminds me of Kirk Cousins. Kirk Cousins was the quarterback drafted in what, the fourth round when they, I think it was fourth round, where they drafted Robert Griffin the third and he was their star, their future, but it just turned out that they got a really good draft pick later. They saw him at practice. They go, man, this guy's good. And when Robert Griffin got injured, they just. Didn't go away from him. So playing Minnesota in Chicago, he was the quarterback six and seven the past two years or two weeks. But this is an on the road divisional game against the Buffalo defense that, you know, looked better last week than we had seen. Is this a situation where you are not chasing a Mike White stream? Correct. Yeah. It's full cowardice hedge, but it's like I wouldn't play Mike White this week.

I'm just watching. Despite playing Garrett Wilson. But fully expecting that Mike White will have a perfectly fine game. And then I'm using this more of a barometer check of Mike White get some success in this game. I think that will be huge for not only him, but the coaching staff's belief that we are moving forward with Mike White. And then the matchups the next couple weeks. are pretty juicy for him. So it was just, it would give me the confidence for next week. We talked a lot about Devon Singletary James Cook in the mailbag on yesterday's show. So I don't want to spend forever here. We got a lot of matchups to get through. But just give me the name. Of who will be better? Yeah, I mean, a lot of people with Singletary probably have Cook. You have to make a decision this week. If it's my team, I am leaning the Cook side this week. I would start Cook over Singletary.

Yeah, I think they are both playable, and if I had to choose one, I go James Cook. And then I think we're moving away from Dawson Knox and Tyler Conklin in streaming contention. Correct. The Cleveland Browns are five and seven. They take on the Cincinnati Bengals who are eight and four. The Draft King Sportsbook line, Cincinnati minus six. The overrunners 47 points. A rematch from week eight divisional game. Cleveland won 32 to 13. In fact, Joe Burrow is 0 and 4 against the Brown's lifetime. I think he rectifies that this week. This game is payback for the utter humiliation of that Halloween night game where the Bengals were just completely undressed by the Browns. This game is at home in Cincinnati.

The Bengals have been playing very well. Their passing game is working. We don't know for sure whether or not Joe Mixen will be active, but he certainly projects to be active. Practiced in full on Wednesday. So I'm all in on the Bengals. I really love the options. There's not really a bangle that I don't want to start. What are you doing with P-Rind? P-Rine to me is a low-end flex. Joe Mixon is active. I think he'll still be involved. I don't think that Joe Mixon is going to come in and see 75% of the carry's first week back from concussion. I am probably in the minority based on our conversations earlier, but I am also not playing Tyler Boyd. He's been far too, he's had far too low of a floor for me to feel comfortable with Tyler Boyd. They will likely be without Hayden Hearst, so Mitchell Wilcox will get the start at tight-in. Not really an option you could look at. Only had one catch last week.

Hayden Hurst is the reason that I'm okay looking Boyd's direction. Yeah, same. Last week against the Chiefs, Boyd was 4 for 60, which that on the surface is terrible, but you add in a egregious touchdown drop that Tyler Boyd makes that catch 99 out of 100 times. We just happen to see the one time that he drops that ball, you add in. Those yards in a touchdown, Tyler Boyd had... Six for 75 and a touchdown. Would have had a great game. So I'm still willing to go back to Boyd. Deshawn Watson completed 55% of his passes last week. We need a bad version of 55. Yeah, I just gave it to you. Third worst and expected points per play in week 13. I think we expected there to be rust after 700 days of not playing football.

but facing a pretty formidable Bengals defense on the road. I'm not sure the rust falls off this week, which puts, you know, anybody but Amari Cooper in the passing game in extremely risky territory. Yeah, yeah. Donovan People's Jones has been a very solid play this year, but I'm not looking his direction until we know that Voldemort has knocked the rust off. So the Amari Cooper, he had enough targets. I'll throw him in the lineup. He's been great this season, even though this is a road game with the quarterback change. He's not, to me, an absolute must start, but he's probably better than your other options on the bench. Obviously, Chubb is in, and Cream Hunt, to me, is out. Yeah, Kreme Hunt has just not been. I mean, last week you did see 12 opportunities, which is his first double-digit attempts since week eight, but the game was, you know, it was well in hand.

And it's not going to be that way this week. Yeah, he would be on the bench. Is Deshaun Watson completely out in terms of a streaming candidate for you? Yeah, he is out. I get it that he hasn't played in forever and he's going to be rusty. But to look that bad against the Houston Texans with all the knowledge that we have of how terrible that defense is, I mean, it would be shocking to me if Voldemort. looks anything good in this matchup. Yeah, I would start Tyler Huntley over, over Baltimore personally. The Texans, you just talked about them, they're 1, 10, and 1, and they take on the Dallas Cowboys, who are 9 and 3? This game's in Dallas. The Draft King Sportsbook line is Dallas minus 17. It just keeps going up. The over under is 44. That gives Dallas 31 points, the Texans 14. The line's literally moving right now. It keeps...

Oh, man. Is it always running? It's like just keeps going up like hour over hour. Yeah, it's going to get to 20. Well, right now we have Brandon Cooks and Nico Collins not practicing. That's probably why it's moving. I'm going to give you, I'm going to give you a start from Houston. I'm going to give you a, I was holding my breath like because when he started saying this, I was like, oh my goodness, no. I'm going to give you a desperation start at tight end right now. and is Jordan Akins of the Houston Texans. He's actually had a couple of top 10 performances in the past four weeks. Last week, six targets. Like I said, Nico Collins and Brandon Cooks are not practicing. Brandon Cooks did not play last week. You still have to play four quarters. They run them out in a lot of these little shallow, worthless PPR type of routes. So in a full PPR, I would not be surprised if Jordan Aikins has five catches in this game. Just throwing that out there for you. Sure.

Damien Pierce. Do we get some Philip Dorset action? I mean, no. You get him running routes. That's what I mean. Oh, that's his action, just running the routes. Yeah, it's just it's fun. You're like, hey, Philip Dorset. What is the money line on Dallas? Oh, last I saw. Is it negative 800 or something? No, last I saw was minus 1,500. 1,500. It's now at minus 1,800. Oh, man. And, and Franklin, if you don't know what that means. That means if you want to bet that the Cowboys win this game and you want to win just, I don't know, $100, you would have to bet $1,800. Don't do it. To see $100 back. You might be worth it. No, those bets are never worth it. But, you know, the problem with meeting expectations here is simply Dallas kind of meandering into this game without taking anything seriously. I don't think they have to.

I think that the way that the offensive line is playing, the way the running backs are playing, and the defense, they should have just not practiced, just rest up. Well, the defense is unbelievably great in terms of starting them this week. You don't expect a lot from the passing game. C.D. Lamb, Michael Gallup, like, and Lamb's always in your lineup. Dak, you can play him, but we said this yesterday, like. they've given up like 21 points as a peak number for quarterbacks this year, Houston. Not because they don't, they're a great defense, but because the nature of the game, the defense could score or you get short fields, right? You turn the ball over on the 40 and it's like one for seven for DAC on the drive and a running back runs it in. It's just not been an equation that works for quarterbacks this year.

So just bear that in mind. Not that you would bench DAC, but I would play Cousins. I would play golf. I'd play Trevor Lawrence. I'd play a number of quarterbacks ahead of deck just because of what we talked about on Ride or Die yesterday. They're so bad that they're good. And then Dalton Schultz, you're going to play him as your tight end. I saw some people saying, hey, you don't have Hunter Henry ranked really high. I'm trying to decide between Schultz and Hunter Henry. I mean, that's. That's Schultz. That's Schultz by a lot. I mean, he's your guy. Yeah, I would play Schultz, but I mean, I do like Henry. That is an area where the Texas defense has given up fantasy points at least. Yep. They are 27th in the league against tight ends. Moving on, I mean, unless play Zeke, play Pollard, play Lamb, sit Gallup, play DAC if you need a safe number, play another quarterback if you need a big number. So well said. Minnesota's 10 and 2. They go to Detroit.

This is it. They take on the lines who are five and seven. This is the favorite. This is the game. And should be. Draft King Sportsbook line, Detroit minus two, the overrunners 52. You know, Minnesota has been a by the skin of their teeth type of team this year, including last year. One Braxton Berrios catching. The game is different. Yet again, they are winning all of their one score games this year because they're 9 and 0 in them. Nine and O in one score games. That's ridiculous. Where Detroit's three and five. You talk about flipping the division. Minnesota loses three of those games. Detroit wins another one or two. And this game, they're like tied in the division. So this was a game Minnesota barely won, 28 to 24 in week three where Justin Jefferson went three for 14 on six targets. Oh, yeah. That was bad. But Detroit.

They've been on a roll. Mike's start of the week is Jared Goff. Yep. Which we'll get to later on in this show, but it's a spoiler alert. Jared Goff has been spoken of already in the streaming section of the show, and he's got 17 touchdown passes in seven games at home. Yeah, he's been great. I think you can fire up Kirk Cousins on the other side. You're not going to get quite the same ceiling out of Kirk Cousins. I don't think that you can get out of Jared Goff. But if it was... Kirk Cousins or Dak, I would rather take the chance of a shootout potential game where Kirk has to throw it, has a good matchup, and might have his first explosive game, I would play Cousins over deck. And then you have Dalvin Cook and DeAndre Swift. No questions about Cook, but the Lions Run defense has been the second best over the last six weeks. Cook is so involved in the passing game, too, that...

You know, I wouldn't be terrified of this with a high over, under 52 points. But DeAndre Swift, 51% of snaps last week, 20 opportunities. Has the time come, Mike? I see your face. It says, let it be the time. Let it be the time for Swift. The face is definitely let it be the time. But the face is, it's Wednesday, but it's a different animal because this is DeAndre Swift. But Swift was back to a limited practice on Wednesday. The fact that last week, it was the first time since week one that he had been completely off of the injury report. And that translated into the most we've seen Swift basically since week one. We have to hope that this is simply management because he got so much work this past weekend.

And he will be a full practice on Thursday. I don't think that we'll see if we can track down that information. I don't think we just looked. It's not out yet. Yeah, we can't get it just yet. If he has a full practice on Thursday. By all accounts, it should be DeAndre Swift time. Like he's, he's back into his role, which this is his role. Like I'm not, and we should not be expecting, oh, DeAndre Swift, get him up to that 65% of the snaps. That's not going to happen. His body is made of. of like chewed bubblegum. Like it just breaks down. But when he's out there, he can be very, very effective. So give us 50% of the snaps. Give us 15 to 20 opportunities. And you should get fantasy goodness. Jason, let's talk about the secondary receiving options in a game with a big over under that we're expecting to be a fantasy bonanza. Jefferson is a lock. Amonara St. Brown is a lock. He's been electric. I saw a tweet. Ian Hartitz came out and said,

You know, last 17 games, the numbers, 167 targets, 127 receptions, 1,500 yards, 12 touchdowns. Yeah. Amun Ra is a PPR monster. But when you look at Adam Thielen, since the emergence of T.J. Hawkinson, the arrival, and you look at DJ Chark, Jameson Williams getting snaps now. Are there players who are willing to take some dart throws in this one in terms of secondary options? Yeah, DJ Chark, I think, is a really good option. I agree. Matchup. across the field is perfect for him. The game environment with an over under that's 52 points is perfect. The, you know, the fact that the Vikings are better against the run than they are against the pass. I mean, obviously, Alman Raw and Justin Jefferson should explode. They could be the number one and number two wide receiver on the week. But to me, when I look at the secondary options, it's DJ Chark and T.J. Hawkinson. T.J. Hawkinson.

I wanted to be my start of the week, but I felt like it was like, who is not going to start TJ? I know he had a bad week last week, but this is revenge game. He's going home to Detroit, where he's played his whole career, and they love him there, and he loves playing there, and they can't guard tight in. So TJ Hawkins should be an awesome play this week. Anybody else from this matchup you want to mention, Jamal Williams, is he still in your lineup? I mean... You know he's getting a touchdown. It seems like it cannot be stopped. It is inevitable. But the, I mean, the emergence of Swift definitely lowers the probability, but it's still at a point where I would bet Jamal Williams is going to score a touchdown. Or more. Yeah. They have a real knack at getting dragged down on the one-yard line. They're great if you notice. Yes. Like every game you watch it and you, because you say that right when they get tackled, you go, Jamal.

Yep. You know what's happening. And he's excellent at it, but it's like it is, he is. It's a little bit like Connor last year. He is succeeding because of the circumstances he is given. Like he's not the one who's carrying the offense, but between the 20s down to the other side of the field, 35 rushing yards, 66, 64, 59. Like those are very pedestrian numbers, but the fact that the pass catchers, they are. They love the one yard line to go down there, and Jamal Williams is so good. I'm going to stay in that fire. Philadelphia is 11 and 1. They traveled in New York to take on the Giants who are 7, 4 and 1. The Draft King Sportsbook line here, Philly minus 6 and a half. The overender's 45 and a half. This one is really, really interesting to me. Oh, yeah, yeah, it is. This could be a playoff clinching win for Philadelphia, not that anyone's expecting them to.

not make the playoffs, but they could clinch it this week. The Giants are the sixth seed, and they have a bit of a gauntlet down the stretch to try to get into the playoffs. The one area where the Giants are still stifling fantasy production is the quarterback position. They are giving up 15.2 fantasy points per game. Jalen Hertz is always in your lineup. Do you have any tempered expectations, or do you believe he will be able to do what he does? I don't really have any tempered expectations. In this game, I mean, it's not as great as if you were playing the Minnesota Vikings, but Jalen Hertz has done it in pretty much all kinds of different matchups. So I expect them to go out there, score 25 fantasy points, and have a good game. Now, whether it comes through the passing game or the running game is going to be determined based on whatever game plan that they come up with and that the Giants come up with. The Giants have not...

been great recently against wide receivers, tight ends. I think I see you've got a start you like in this game this week, and I like him quite a bit. And Devontas Smith, he's just been on fire since Dallas Goddard's been gone. His targets per game are elite. Are you staying in the flames with Darius Slate? I mean, it's really hard to do that. You see Isaiah Hodgins emerging. You see Richie James in the short area. Top 24 and five of eight games. Yeah, and it comes down to the big play. And my concern is will he be able to pull off the 40-50-yard jump ball that he's been pulling off in this matchup against the Eagles? And I guess I lean a little bit on that. I'm hesitating. I mean, you look at his long catches, 55 yards last week, 44, 54, two weeks before that.

That's his kind of recipe for success, and I'm nervous. Slayton or the spot starter, Zay Jones. Zay Jones. Okay. Slayton or DJ Chark, very similar archetype, different matchup. I guess this week I will go with DJ Chark. I'm a pretty big supporter of Darius Slate. I just don't like the matchup. I will mention if you're looking deeper on the Philadelphia side. I don't know what the most recent practice report is, but I think there's a pretty good chance Quez Watkins is missing this ball game. So when you look beyond the top two receiving options, whether the running backs benefit from a few more targets, whether you see Zach Pascal, whether you see Jack Stoll get involved, there's a chance that the number three wide receiver is not there, not that Quez was doing a lot, but just worth a mention. Miles Sanders, how do you feel about him at this point in the season? You know, he is basically like,

what's the game plan for the Eagles? The Eagles will come in and they'll say, we're going to run all over this team or we're going to throw all over this team. I think they could do either in this matchup, so I'm not super confident, but I do know that the Giants have given up a huge number of yards per carry. Running backs, while fantasy-wise, they haven't given up a ton of fantasy points. They don't have a stifling run defense. So I think Miles Sanders is in play as a good option this week. I'd be happy to throw them in my lineup.

Anybody else from this matchup, is Daniel Jones kind of out with the Philadelphia situation? Yeah, it's, he's, Dak is above Daniel Jones in your mind. Oh, man. Uh, that matchup is so terrifying. I think I'd go, I think I'd go Daniel Jones over Dak and try and get some points. The last name I want to mention, just to keep an eye on him. Rookie tight-end Daniel Bellinger is back for the Giants. I'm kind of interested. After the nasty eye gouge that he got, but you're not expecting Bellinger to become elite immediately. But right back into his role, five receptions, especially if you're in a PPR league, he was seeing volume before the eye injury, came right back into volume. So he's an interesting player to.

to monitor this week and see if that continues. Well, and Wondale was there, even when he was contributing before. And so I think you have more opportunity for Bellinger, the pass rush. I don't mind that, Mike. All right. All right. The Baltimore Ravens are eight and four. They travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers who are five and seven. The drafting sports book line here, Baltimore minus two and a half. The over under is 37 points. I think this is going to be a gross game. It really is. It's going to be a defensive-minded. You saw last week. It took the final drive of the game for Baltimore to move the ball at all against Denver. This is not the Denver defense, but this is the Steelers at home. This is a team that shuts the rundown. And you have Tyler Huntley at quarterback with fewer weapons than he's had in the past. And the Ravens have had in the past. And I think the big question to me, let me start here.

Mark Andrews, I've seen him ranked as low as like five or six on the week. Is that outlandish? Like is Mark Andrews? Should he just stay where he belongs at number two behind Kelsey? Yes. I think I've got him number three this week. That is not anti Mark Andrews at all. That is pro Hawkinson. But Mark Andrews, we saw him last year with Huntley. Huntley looks to Mark Andrews way more than Lamar Jackson did. Mark Andrews should have an absolutely awesome day. I am not worried at all about his production. I'm more curious where the second read goes. Is Isaiah likely still involved with Huntley on the field? Is Demarcus Robinson continue just being that first wide receiver target? I'm not really playing any of those.

secondary options past mark andrews but i'll have my be interested well i'm going to have my eyes on it because huntley's going to play i believe three games and so next week isaiah likely uh and demarkis robinson could be players that you throw in your lineup fine good enough reason for me sweet what about the running backs Just watch. Not interested. I mean, it went back. Can you Drake led the team in snaps this past week? Gus Edwards was the Gus bust on Monday Punday for a reason. It's a hop fart. And yes, it is. Because that could just, I could waft right back over to Gus Edwards as the primary running back. So I'm not going to mess around with it. I don't really want it to play anybody in this matchup.

but you're going to be stuck playing a few. You're playing the tight ends. Yeah. Well, and, you know, you got six teams on by. Like, I have to play George Pickens in this. Oh, I'm sorry. Because there's a lot of players that are on by week. So, you know, George Pickens was complaining. Yeah, I mean. Profusely about opportunities, which, you know, he didn't get opportunities last week. We're going to squeaky wheel? I just think that he's going to be out there for every snap. That's, you know, that's all I'm going to say. Yeah, and he is very talented. If he has been squeaky wheel screaming at the quarterback to get the ball more, look, they're human beings. He might just throw him the ball a couple more times. So George Pickens isn't a player I want to play, but I would play him over Deontay Johnson just because his targets have the higher upside. Are you playing chark over both guys? I would play chark over either one, yes. Okay. I'm trying to think of any other decisions you might be making with.

free agent pickups. Are you playing juju over both guys? Ooh. Oh, man. The line is down to 36.5 since we've been talking. Yeah, I think I would play juju. When did the lines? It's like we're on the stock watch. We've got the ticker now. Yeah. That's what I do back here. Yeah. Sell. Sell this game. But I'm playing the Muth. Yeah, I was going to say Friar Mew is a good play. Andrews is a great play. Everyone else is kind of bad. Noggy, I'm sure is going to be in most people's lineup. Starts of the week. Starts of the week for week 14, looking at some interesting names. Jason, why don't you kick it off? I'm going to kick it off with Gino Smith against Carolina. There's all this talk this week about what is the running back situation? Who is it going to be?