Starts of the Week + Week 17 Breakdown, Title Time - Fantasy Football Podcast for 12/30

It is possible. That's a scary, scary play in championship week, hoping for a boatload of garbage time touches. Yes, hopefully you do not have to play. Deontah Foreman or Kishon Vaughn. Deontah Foreman is going up against the Miami Dolphins number one ranked Rundee. I would go Foreman as well. All right. I'm trying to make a quick case there. Michael Carter? I mean, in terms of volume, yeah.

He's a low-end running back to. Michael Carter. Michael Carter. Deontza-Forman. I'll take me. Like Michael Carter. Keishon Von Michael Carter. Michael Carter. Michael Carter. He had the quietest 100-yard rushing game ever. Ever. Last week was 16 carries and 118 yards. And like, Jacksonville's run defense is not terrible. Michael Carter handled it. So I'm still playing him. But.

While Jacksonville might not be terrible, they're 20th against the run. They aren't the, you know, the Bucks who are one of the absolute best. And until Zach Wilson starts throwing the ball more to Michael Carter, it's hard to bank on fantasy points on the ground against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Philadelphia Eagles at 8 and 7 take on the 6 and 9 Washington football team. The Drafking Sportsbook line Eagles minus 3 and a half on the road. The overrunners 44 and a half.

I guess that line is a little bit surprising with how badly Washington played last week. Washington was one of the teams that was completely ravaged by COVID. They were missing, I want to say like 20 player. It was, they did not have their team. They did not have their heart. There was also dealing with personal issues. Yes, yes.

An off-the-field tragedy. An off-the-field tragedy that the coach was talking about, like, look, these are real people. Some things are more important than football, and it was tough. So I do think last week's complete non-show from the Washington football team will not. I discount, like I don't think they're that bad. I do think they're bad, but I don't think they're what we saw last week. You have an Eagles team that is.

In the hunt. Sure. You have injuries at the running back position. Miles Sanders is not going to be in there. Kenneth Gainwell is still limited with the ankle. Jordan Howard didn't practice. Boston Scott's the last healthy man standing. And I think he's pretty good. I mean, he's not your prototypical superstar back, but when he's been given the opportunity, he has come through before. And this matchup is pretty good against Washington.

When you look at the confidence level for somebody like Antonio Gibson, who you saw come off the field and Jared Patterson had the second half of the game after the blowout, and Washington is really, you know, they're essentially eliminated from playoff contention. Yeah, like technically no, but they need a whole bunch of things to go right. And if you look back two weeks ago, you go, Antonio Gibson, running back nine against the Philadelphia Eagles. Heck yeah, fire him up.

But you got to remember how he got there. It was 15 carries that turned into 26 rushing yards. He happened to get a rushing touchdown. That was fantastic. And he caught six passes. If you're going to feed Antonio Gibson that level of receiving work, then absolutely he's still a top 15 play. I'm just not sure that that level of receptions will be going to him.

The Eagles run defense over the last six weeks have really been shutting people down. So would you play Boston Scott without Jordan Howard over Antonio Gibson? Oh my gosh. Boston Scott has. Yeah. Yes. Is that a whisper? No, I didn't say nothing. Yeah, I mean, if there's no Jordan Howard, man. I don't think I could. I don't think I have the stones. Philadelphia.

is establishing it. Like they have turned into a run-centric team. That's why I'm afraid of Devante Smith. Sure. I understand that. If you have control of this game, Devante Smith just put up three, five points against Washington two weeks ago when all of the same, you know, and they were home at that point, and all the same matchup stuff was there where Washington gives a ton of points. Yes. It absolutely could be terrible for Devante Smith.

But I'm willing to play him because the variance if he hits this week is a really big performance. And we're going to go ahead and put Terry McClure on an ice now, right? With wide receiver 42 or worst in five straight games? Yeah, you have to. If you're still in the championship and then you have already been doing that. And then Dallas Goddard, what's the confidence level right now for him? He's still a play. Yeah, I'm pretty confident in Dallas Goddard. I'd be happy to have him, you know, all things.

equal. I would rather play a Dawson Knox over Goddard, but I'm happy to have them. Okay. All right. Shall we do starts? Let's go. Starts of the week. Well, I will... I'll start at off. This is coming out of that matchup, but I'll go with Jalen Hertz as my start of the week at the quarterback position. I like something on the line for this Philadelphia Eagles team, and everything goes through what Jalen Hertz does, and he's really come out, and I'd say he's made me...

eat my words to some degree in terms of the criticism. He's evolved as a quarterback. He's gotten better. I think he could be their future, and that would really open up a lot for a team that has a lot of draft picks. So I think this matchup in particular with what Washington has done over the last six weeks, he's so safe with such a ceiling for Jaylen Hertz. Yeah, I agree. He's very safe with the legs, and he could rush in touchdowns. And if...

Devon Smith does come to fruition, which I would be a little bit more scared of. He would be great. That's actually part of why Boston Scott's a little scary is just the goal line opportunities that Jaylen Hertz has every week. Yeah. At quarterback, I'm going with the guy who sucked last week and is going to be awesome this week. It's Matthew Stafford in Baltimore. Baltimore is completely depleted. Their secondary is...

vanished. They're gone. They have all gone home to injury. I think they lost another secondary piece this last week against Joe Burrow when they gave up 50 fantasy points. You know, Cup, O'Dall Beckham, Van Jefferson, Matthew Stafford. I don't think Baltimore has the personnel to stop that offense. And Matthew Stafford, after his three interception game, is going to want to prove that.

That's not the norm. The norm is three touchdown game, and I think he'll get it. And my start of the week, it's freaking Trey Lance. Let's go. Ladies and gentlemen, Championship Week, you knew I was going to do it. And I'm coming through for it. That is right. As Andy gazes into the camera, it is Trey Lance time. Houston Texans, you can look back and say, oh, they've actually performed pretty well against quarterbacks. Hey, I said that a couple of days ago. Tua, Tana Hill.

Zach Wilson, Carson Wins, Trevor Lawrence. Those are the quarterbacks. Justin Herbert. But Justin Herbert was still a top 10 guy. Yes. Disappointing for what you were hoping for Justin Herbert. Still a top 10 guys. Let's go, Trey Lance. Let's go. Thank you. You know who else was a top 10 guy? Russell Wilson, who looks like a bomb out there, but he was still a top 10 option against this. Are you in on this, Jason?

I am not as hot, but I definitely think Trey Lance is someone that you can start this week. The legs and the ability, and I think that they will scheme him to run the ball 15 plus times. 16 carries in his only start, that was against Arizona, and he has a fully healthy allotment of weapons. Like, if Debo Samuel, I.U. can kiddle. The way that this offense can run, Trey Lans has to throw the ball three yards through the air.

He doesn't necessarily have to do a lot. He doesn't have to be a pinpoint accurate quarterback with a 40 air yard pass. His team could do the work for him. His legs will do the work for your fantasy team. I like that Houston can score on anybody. And yeah, especially San Francisco, their defense has.

been something you could target with other fantasy players. I think that's what you're going to need is Houston to score because my biggest worry here, like I think he could finish as the quarterback one on the week, so I'm fine to take the chance and start him. But my biggest worry is because you can beat them on the ground easily, which is nice for Trey Lance, who's a mobile rushing quarterback. If Debo Samuel and Jeff Wilson just annihilate them on the ground, you could end up with a pretty low... I know we say like the floor is high with mobile quarterbacks, but the game script could...

take that floor and make it a little bit lower. So I think it's a little scary, but he could dominate. Quarterback 20 against Arizona, I believe. Yes. In his one start. So there is that possibility. Ronald Jones is my running back start of the week. If I had to bet my life on a touchdown from any running back this week, it's Ronald Jones against the New York football jets who are just, they call them the most generous rushing defense ever. It is the season. Yeah. And yeah, they're in the spirit. Very kind.

So he's a must start. Like a lot of these guys are, we're saying, hey, put this one in if you're having a question. There is no team that Ronald Jones, if you have Ronald Jones on your roster, get them into your flex if you've got the two best quarter running backs imaginable. You have to. You have to do it. You have to. At running back, I'm starting Rashad Penny this week versus Detroit. Alex Collins was still a limited participant in practice. Rashop Penny's been a top 10 running back two of the last three weeks.

Detroit is the 30th ranked run defense and fantasy points given up to running backs. He's always been good when he's been given the chance. His issue has been injury. Remember, he was drafted to be great. First round pick. This is my guy. And here's an example of when he's been given the opportunity, how good he is. I think I shared this on Green Room. He shared it on yesterday's show. Oh, perfect. So when he gets 12 or more carries, he's basically had.

16, 18, 26, 26, and 20 fantasy points. He's must start to me. He's in the same category as Rojo. Alice Collins' availability means nothing to me. And also, we have a little bit of breaking news. I will not hit the button. Will not hit the button. Adrian Peterson placed on the IR. Oh, that was yesterday. Now you've got to start. That's old news. That's old news. That's breaking news to me. You know, it's always funny. Probably because I've stopped paying attention to it.

to what Adrian Peterson's doing. I saw some behind the scenes video on the sideline in Seattle, and it was like, it's funny to think about these, like, Adrian Peterson is like one of the best runners of all time. Yes. And, you should see people in how they treat them on the sideline. It's like, they're afraid, they're afraid to talk to him. Like he is.

It's like, oh, man, I've got to talk to AD. I've never even got to introduce myself to AD. And this will happen when you saw like Naim Hines with Tavon Austin. And Tavon Austin has this, you know, like legendary collegiate career too. He's like, oh, my gosh, I've got to talk to Tavon. Like, I've never got a chance to talk to him before. So they go into these teams with the way. I understand it more for Peterson than. Yeah, for sure, for sure.

I think that was more of a individual player's favorite player. I get it. But Mike, who's your running back start of the week? I'm going a little deeper here to a player. I think that could have a sneaky monster game. We're going with A.J. Dillon of the Green Bay Packers. We've talked about the temperature of this game. Kickoff is expected to be in the single digits. And just a lot of things can go his way. The game script against the Minnesota Vikings, Aaron Rogers.

can easily have three first half touchdowns against this secondary, and then they're trying to run out the clock, and they have, the Green Bay Packers have shown when they're running out the clock, they're willing to go to the big man and let him just punish these defenders in the freezing cold. We need the yet. Thank you. Yeah, he can't be the Yeti. He's a stand-in, though. Yeah. When they film the movie, they need somebody to come stand-in for him. Yeah, like the... Stone double?

Yeah, that's where I was trying to find. The stunt double for the Yeti for your championship week could be A.J. Dillon. You try to tackle a giant block of ice. That's what he's going to be in this game. Just like, whoops. Impossible. That's fair. A little bit more breaking news. James Connor returned to practice Thursday. Oh, so he's not a game time. As Jason bumps his fist. He still might be a game time decision. We don't know if it's limited, but he did come back. On a Thursday, that is certainly more.

positive for what do you guys have james connor no we're playing against chase edmunds yeah that's a that was a selfish fistball yes of course it is a very selfish of championship week all right so you going with a jay the block of ice all right i'm going to go with this week's t higgins because they're playing the same team and that is odale beckham junior to uh attached to matthew stafford there the baltimore matchup we just saw what the secondary option did last week