Fantasy Football Podcast 2015 - Week 16 Christmas Episode Part 2, Fantasy Forecast, Playoff Mailbag

They got to make the playoffs first. But if they do, the pedigree, the offense, I would be, I'd be frightened to face them in a divisional matchup. Yes, I completely agree with that. They're going to come on the road and they're going to land in your building and you're going to go, man, how did we draw this team? So you're going to be. Why aren't we playing Washington? I mean, it's a different division. So again, yeah. Why are we playing the Texans? Against all of these, you know.

matchups, you're going to play every single stealer on the offensive side of the ball. You're going to play Big Ben. You're probably not going to play Wheaton, but you're going, you know, Martavis Bryant, Antonio Brown, Big Ben, and DeAngelo Williams. They're going to be starting on virtually every roster out there. Yes. So what do you do with Buck Allen? Nothing. You don't play Buck Allen? You don't touch him with a 10-foot pole. Really? No.

I have a little bit more confidence in Buck Allen than you do. Based on what Harbaugh said. What about based on the stat line last week? Well, he got pulled. And the game before? The game before was a terrible matchup where we said sit, Buck Allen. He still had some catches. Is there a framework of bet that I can do with Buck Allen? Because I just don't like him at all. First of all, who's going to be winning this game? I think it's...

It's pretty clear Pittsburgh Steelers. Yeah, I mean, Buck Allen is going to have to make hay in the passing game. He doesn't have Schaub to do it anymore. It's going to be Claussen or Mallet. They're going to stuff the run and make those guys throw, just like they've done against Buck Allen the last few weeks. I don't like him. You can't make me like him. I don't like him on a plane. I don't like him in a train. So here's my point. I don't like him in a tunnel. Here's my point on that is that Buck Allen is going to, he is their main pass catching back.

and he's excellent at that, and they're going to be down. And the Pittsburgh Steelers are a good defense against the ground game, but I think they can be beat there. They're not one of those teams that...

terrify me for a player like Buck Allen. I think that what Harbaugh did last week in benching him because he fumbled and then saying, no, we're not going to keep benching Buck Allen. That was to send a message. I think he's going to put him back out there. That's the only worry I have is that you've got a big risk in another fumble and a pull. However, I believe Buck Allen has a decent game. I mean, I would say Buck Allen is in a PPR setting or three or a low two.

I would say he's a low too, but that's going to be starting on a lot of rosters. And I'm not afraid of him the way that you are. I'm not guaranteed you've got to sit, Buck Allen. I think you can have a fine game. All right. Now, the only guy will start because the Steelers can be thrown on. They're the 31st ranked past defense. Oh, yeah. Is Kamar Aiken.

They're surprisingly good. He just kind of keeps doing it and when the quarterback, whoever it shall be named, fades back in the pocket, and he looks Kamar Aiken's way and he throws the ball and hopes, and Kamar Aiken's been coming down with him. Kamar Aiken gets open. Yeah. That's what he does. Yeah, I mean, he's been their guy, so I'm okay playing him. That's it. That's all I'm okay with. How do you feel about Heath Miller this week? I am...

I thought about trying to stretch him into a start, and I just can't do it. He was almost my set of the week. I thought he would have been my set of the week. I would rather have Austin Sfarion Jenkins than Heath Miller. The worry in this game is we saw an equation that amounted to a conservative offensive approach when they played Cincinnati and Andy Dalton went out. Big Ben had no touchdowns in that game, and they didn't need it.

So the question is, does your guy, whether it's Martavis, Brian, D. Will, Brown, does he get it early in this game? And then do they kind of change the game plan a little bit? I don't know if they want to beat the Ravens by 74 points. I think they do. The one thing that gives me more confidence in is D. Will. Because if D. Will ends up getting the early scores, then he's going to be used often. If he doesn't get the early scores, then he's going to be used often. That's a good.

I'll take often and often. Now that Steelers defense, I like them very much. I know they're on the road, but I like the Steelers defense this week. All right, the Jacksonville Jaguars go on the road to New Orleans to take on the Saints. Saints are favored. Obviously, it depends upon the Breeze situation. We're going to presume Breeze right now. I think he'll play. I think that's a good presumption. Everybody wants to know, do I start Blake Bortles over Blank? And that's almost everybody. I've heard Tom Brady.

I've heard Cam Newton. Nope. I've heard Carson Palmer. Possibly. So you would do that? It would be... Possibly. It would be in the consideration of which guy would I start between Carson and Blake Bortle's, but I would still probably start Carson. Okay. There's about five guys I would start over Blake Bortles. Here's a guy I would start Blake Bortles over this week in my fantasy championship. Oh. That's tough. Oh, I know what's coming.

It's Aaron Rogers. No. Yes. I would start Blake Bortle's in a great matchup. He's been a great fantasy option this year. You're not pulling from the, you know, from the waiver wire where you're saying, hey, he's got a good matchup and that's the only reason. You got to ride the wheel. You got to ride that stink. It just felt like the right time. And you've got Aaron Rogers, you know, who hasn't been that great lately going to Arizona playing the Cardinals defense. So I would.

I would absolutely play Blake Bortals over him. I have that ranked accordingly. I would also play Bortals over Aaron Rogers in a crazy world. So we've talked a lot about the offense for New Orleans with our love of Brandon Cooks this week. Ben Watson has been very reliable. I don't have any reason to dislike him this week. It's kind of an even keel type of tight in that'll get you some catches. Got a touchdown last week. They lean on him. What do we think about Tim Hightower? I like him a lot.

Yeah, I like him too. The spiller, I believe, had kind of his highest snap percentage of the year. But Hightower appears to be the guy who's going to get the... He looks fast. He looks pretty quick. Well, he hasn't had to play a game in four years. He's been storing it up. Just like me fatten.

I like High Tower a lot. I think he gives you everything you need. He gives you upside. He scored and it got called back last game. He gives you volume. He gives you pass catching and half point full point PPR. I love High Tower. Honestly, give me High Tower over Gore. Give me High Tower over Lamar Miller. Assuming that Drew Breeze plays, this is a situation of I'm starting essentially everybody from this game because I think it's a 52 over under.

Oh, my goodness. That's crazy. The question is going to come in, and I think we have to answer this because we don't have more shows this week. We have to... If Breeze is gone? If Breeze is gone, where do we value Sneed or Cooks or Hightower? Because you're still going to play Alan Robinson. Shobox. Shobox. I would... Even Cooks? I'd still be willing to start Cooks. I would still play him. There's... I can't... There's not many options. Cooks has been...

Great. And I know a lot of that is Drew Breeze, but can you... Okay, so Drew Breeze is out. Would you play Cooks or Deshawn Jackson? That one I'd probably go D-Jax. Yeah. Cooks or Michael Floyd? Floyd. Lloyd. Is this if Breeze is out? Yeah. These are easy ones so far. Okay. Cooks or T.Y. Hilton. Cooks. They're identical.

I try to start somebody else. That's not the name of the game. I know, I know. Give me Cooks. Last one. I'm the one who normally says that, too. Last one, you've got, you've got Breeze out, and you've got Brandon Cooks or Jordan Matthews. I play Jordan Matthews. I mean, I'll take a chance on the upside of how he's been playing. He's been playing good. All right, we've got to move on. We're getting closer to the two-hour mark.

I think we're going to crush that. Well, we need to do our best to stay around that area just for the sake of getting the show up at any time today. Yeah. So the Rams and Seahawks, divisional matchup in Seattle. Mike, what do we do with, what do we do with Ty Gurley? Oh, man. That is the, that's the big question from this game. It is. Oh, he.

He's one of those guys. He's like Lamar Miller. If I have him, I'm probably starting. Lamar Miller or Todd Gurley? That's a great question. My eyes are... I'm going to play Todd Gurley. My eyes are squinting. Yep. And I don't like it. That's not how the game's played, Mike. Well, I'm still thinking. I would go Lamar Miller. Lamar Miller in a better matchup. Okay. All right. I would go Ty Gurley myself. He's been better with Keenham.

That often has just came off a good game, divisional game. Yes, the Seahawks is going to win the game. I have a theory about Case Keenum. It is that he will, uh, the true Case Keenum will show up in this game against the Seahawks. He will be exposed and it's going to be really, really bad for Case Keenum. Yeah, you got to like the Seahawks defense. I like Tyler Lockett. I like Doug Baldwin. I like curse. I like all three guys. Man, the Seahawks defense against the running backs looking at what they've done.

Total. And this isn't just to their starting running back, but to the whole team, 69 yards, 30 yards, 35 yards, 29 yards, 37 yards. They are the number one ranked rush defense. That's tough for me. And here's the thing with these are our new Seahawks. These aren't a grinded out. Maybe a running back can put up volume against us. This is a Seahawk team that is airing it out.

They are blowing teams out. They are removing the running game from the equation. Not only are they a ridiculously good run defense, you don't have an opportunity to establish the run when you go down by two scores in five minutes. You have to throw the ball. So I just, it's tough. Give me Lamar Miller. Yeah, there we go. I really like Tyler Lockett again as a flex guy. Baldwin is in your lineup. Yes. For goodness sakes, he's in your lineup.

He might not be in the Pro Bowl, but he's in your lineup. Yeah, he's the number one wide receiver, second half of the year, yeah. And then what do you guys think of curse? I loved a curse. Dead jokes. No, I'm not going to do it. I mean, it's sure, if you want to stretch it out. He's been killing it the last two weeks. Killing it. What are his numbers? Last week, seven of eight.

targets 110 yards against the Browns. The week before, I think his target numbers were at nine and he had six or seven catches, seven for 74 against the Ravens. He has been involved and I still think this is a bit of a coin flip on which guy catches the touchdowns. Yeah, that's very fair. Those are two really bad past defenses, but I guess the Rams aren't.

That much further away. 21st in the league right now. I don't expect this. The one thing I will say is that last week. I still ranked in Baldwin, Lockett Cursed. Last week against the Browns, I expected there to be a ton of points that Seattle was putting up. I don't think that this is going to be as high scoring a game. Vegas has it at 40.

as the total over under in the game, and that's very low. So I don't see three wide receivers are. Yeah, exactly. I don't see three wide receivers are getting involved. Lock it I'm okay with, but I'm not going to go curse. It's a 40 point over under, but the Seahawks are favored by almost 14 points. So the implied team total for the Seahawks is still a lot of points. All right, we have to move on. The Green Bay Packers take on the Arizona Cardinals.

This is a game that matters for both teams. The Cardinals have a chance to clinch the bye week, which is crucial. They just lost Tyron Matthews, so there's a funk in Arizona right now. Yeah. And I know it doesn't have a lot of fantasy relevance, but it might, for the sake of Rogers in the passing game a little bit. McCarthy, back at the helm of the play calling, talked about that at length with Richard Rogers. But what does that mean for a guy like James Jones who had a good week? Randall Cobb, even Devante Adams was involved. Sorry.

Well, this is a... You guys have so much to say. Thank you. I thought Jason was jumping in. I thought you were. I just... This game is so important from a playoff standpoint. You have... It was terrifying. Sorry. The only team that could take over the Cardinals by week is the Packers. And it only happens if the Packers win this game. So it's very, very important from a Cardinal's standpoint. I think you see...