Week 18 Matchups + Maximum Shame, Big Money Bonus - Fantasy Football Podcast for 1/6

To the fantasy footballers podcast with your host, Andy Holloway, Jason Moore, and Mike Wright. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the podcast. Tiz the Fantasy Footballers Podcast, if you are nasty. Oh, and this is the week. If there's ever a week to get nasty, this is the one. It is Friday, January 6th. Welcome in. It's me, Mike. It's my best friend, Jason. Howdy-ho. Cardboard bear extraordinaire, Jay Gris. He's over there roaring up a storm. On today's episode, we will break down the rest of the matchups. We have the fantasy face off. Someone on this show is about to get shamed in a way that they won't forget. In a way that they may remember. Who knows? Well said. What a word smith.

Um, I feel like, so it's been a long time since I've, uh, that's true. And I am the shame. I'm, I'm, I'm happy that it's only happened. Uh, I think this will be number three this season, something like that. Yeah. Um, but I feel like that is backfired because it. It perhaps. There's a, there's a combination here of like, um, stored up, pent up, um, you know, well, punishment. Right. Combined with like the, the. You know, the week that we're in, the weirdness of, it's just like, you know what it'll be really fun this week? To really give it to them. I believe 50% or so of the shames I have received have been at your hands by like point something. Yeah, be better. So that's been a frustrating thing. Maybe I handled it on.

Today's show, maybe I didn't. Now, here's the cool thing about today's show. Obviously, Jay Gris sitting in and Andy is not here. But we do have a draft king segment today, which means we have another chance, Mike. I'm looking at you, Deucer's Alley. We are taking on Kyle the Borgogan at the end of the show. And I'm just curious. Owl. Are you going to stand with your man? You know I am. Oh, what a mistake you have made. And Brooks, I know you won't. So, oh, no. Oh, no. There it is. Welcome into the show, everybody. This is our final Friday show of the year. It's been quite the season. Next week we go into the two show a week format. That means the shows will be on Tuesday and Thursday. We do not go away.

We have the Footy Award nominations. We have just gone through the process of who is worthy of a nomination, who is not. You know, we're talking, you know, the best of their position, the waiver wire pickup of the year, the poopiest pants, and of course, the prestigious awards that are given to us, which are those are the best awards. Those are the best awards, the nickname of the year, the show moment of the year. We really should have, like, host of the year. Oh, man. Yes, we should. We host of the host of the year, deucer of the year, and just see what the people do and whose feelings can get hurt the most. Yeah, that's not, it's really much more shame than joy in that scenario. All right. It is Friday. Put Clan Friday.

Each and every Friday of the season, it is Foot Clan Friday. We give away a $100 gift card brought to you by our friends at Fantasychamps.com. A perfect, perfect timing for supporter on Patreon, Laura Crother. You have $100 to Fantasy Champs, Mike. I know you were on there. I hope I got your name right. You were on their website. I was. I was designing up some things. Champ, champ, champ. Related things. They have, they have some cool stuff up there, including a ring that you can customize and put your own face on it if you want to. I mean, why would you not? Why would you not? I mean, we already have a couple with our faces on the ring, but we need more. And a big shout out actually.

to Kyle the Borgogan who allowed us to champ champ champ because he laid down you did well I mean Mike Evans and Devante Adams kind of took things into their own hands right but we did beat you in the championship um I just want to throw that in there how do you how are you feeling Kyle uh I feel indifferent Knowing that I didn't get to play Alan Diggs. Hey, that is a good piece of news, which we will get into. But anyways, Fantasy Champs, thank you so much, Laura, for supporting us $100 gift card on the way for you. Also at Fantasychamps.com, you can use the code free ring. If you purchase a trophy or a belt right now to celebrate your league, you can add a $59 championship ring and get it for you for free with the code free ring and the Foot Clan title.

T-shirt is available. The swag, I should say. The swag, not just the shirt, some other stuff as well. Shopballers.com. Let's get into the news. News and notes from around the league. Moments before we started recording the show, we got the update from the Buffalo Bills. Demar and Hamlin face-timed into the team meeting. Had the message, love you boys. I mean, just sensational stuff. That means that the breathing tube was able to come out. He is breathing on his own. I mean, it's just awesome. It is a fantastic, fantastic thing to wake up to, I mean, because on the West Coast, of course, as we are still early over here. But, you know, still the well wishes are being sent to DeMar on his recovery, which I'm sure he has a lengthy one in front of him. But the fact that he is to this stage after what we saw on Monday, miraculous. Yeah, absolutely amazing. It's really nice to have.

clarity of the situation that is that is positive, knowing that this is not the outcome it could have been. And it's just, it's wonderful. And now we also have clarity on the actual situation of that game. The NFL's officially declared the Bills, Bengals, week 17 game, a no contest. It will not be restarted, replayed. That game does not go into the record books. And so for fantasy football purposes, I know like in our leagues, that was a time to firmly establish who the winner is, which was me. It was. That was great. The League of Record champion. Jason brought it down for his second time. Congratulations to you. Thank you, Mike. For all those out there. I mean, yes. Yesterday was some really good news on DeMarre. The situation was clarified. So like if, if you've.

won your championship. I think now is the time. Go ahead, celebrate, enjoy it. There are some leagues out there where they're still trying to figure out what was going on. As I've more and more thought through things I shared with the guys, I thought an interesting idea here for games where they're just razor tight if you wanted to go in and take a player's season average and then run it through the filter of the adjusted schedule points like their defense. So Joe Burrow versus the bills, how do the bills do against the quarterback? Well, generally they take away, I think it was 2.3 points from a quarterback's average. Just another possible idea because, again, it's a very, very, very difficult situation, but get together as your league and handle it like grownups. Right. Yeah, and that is the main takeaway here. So you're basically in favor of using their projection because that's what a projection.

also is. I mean, you could do it a number of different ways, but it's basically taking the players average and looking at the matchup and making a projection. I am, I find that as time has gone on, I am more and more in favor because of the weird situation of all the type matchups being co-champions. I don't think that takes anything away from either part. Perfectly fair with that, or perfectly fine with that idea as well. Eagles, and along with the no contest, we do have an update that. So teams who are involved in that. Should that make some seating feel kind of like unfair? What's going on here? We have the possibility of a coin toss. The NFL loves their coin toss, man. And if you, like, if you, this is the first time you've ever heard of a coin toss. It happens in the NFL draft. There are, teams are tied and they're like, how do we handle this? Like men, I know. Does anybody have a quarter? We will let luck decide.

The NFL rolls with that. So the Bengals are NFC North, AFC North champions. If Baltimore defeats Cincinnati on Sunday, and if those two clubs are scheduled to play in the wildcard game against each other, the site for the game will be determined by coin toss. And we do have a potential neutral site for the AFC championship. That is being discussed by the NFL. All of these specific decisions still need to be technically voted through by the NFL. That'll happen later today. It has to be a super majority, but I cannot imagine that this will not be voted through. So I take this as exactly what will be happening. Yeah, I think the neutral site is kind of a, as good of a compromise as we can get.

given the circumstances that we are in. Eagles coach, Nick Seariani, he's told reporters Jalen Hertz is trending in the right direction to play. Good news. The commanders, Brian Robinson, did not practice again on Thursday. Antonio Gibson, my former champion, whatever he is. He has a special place in my heart, but he was placed on the IR. And guess who's back? One of the original nasty boys, Jared Patterson, has been elevated from the practice squad. I'm not saying I'm just, no, I'm not actually. Yeah, we're not saying I play Jared Patterson, but shout out to, you know, we won a championship with Jared Patterson. Yeah. Being a nasty boy last year. The 49ers, Christian McCaffrey did not practice on Thursday. Kyle Shanahan has said he expects Elijah Mitchell to be active. So there it is. Oh, brother. I thought about just.

trying to smash Elijah Mitchell into my draft king's lineup because Elijah Mitchell, should he be the guy and Christian McCaffrey's not active in their 100-point favorite matchup against the Cardinals will be an absolutely great play. But having to lock that in today, I mean, this is, if you're playing DFS this weekend, this is a weekend where news right up until the last minute of what team's motivations are, what it actually looks like who's warming up, you know. For instance, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, there's a lot of questions of like, oh, the coach is saying he's going to start? Is he not? Well, let me ask you this. Will Kyle Trask suit up? Will he be dressed to play? Because he's not usually. If he is, we have our answer. Yeah. On the Seattle News front, Ken Walker did not practice Wednesday and Thursday with the ankle and an illness. He's kind of not been practicing lately and still been a stud. Tyler Lockett did not practice Wednesday and Thursday.

Also a stud who usually gets on the field. Josh Jacobs is questionable for Saturday. Are you ready for the matchups, Jason? Let's go. Fantasy forecast. Chiefs Raiders, Titans, Jags, Bucks, Falcons, Patriots, Bills, Vikings, Bears, Ravens, Bengals, Texans, Colts, all on yesterday's show. Let's get through these matchups, Jay. The New York Jets are seven or nine. They are taking on the Miami Dolphins, who are eight and eight. Draft King's sportsbook line is Miami minus two and a half. The over under, a delightful 38.5. Sweet. On the Jets side, we did get news that Mike White will be out. So that means, of course, Zach Wilson will not be starting for the New York Jets, and it will be Joe Flacko. So if you're rolling with the Jets pass catchers, the fact that it is not Zach Wilson, I think you can have some confidence in those guys. Week two, Garrett Wilson, that like breakout that felt.

Kind of out of nowhere with what we were thinking about the Jets quarterback situation. Garrett Wilson's had some success here with Joe Flacco, so he is still in play. Tyler Conklin, still in play for me, 25 targets over the last month. On the other side, Tua is doubtful. Teddy Bridgewater is questionable with the finger. It could be Skyler Thompson getting the starts. They added... Great friend of the DFS podcast, Mike Glennon. He is back, ladies and gentlemen. Kyle. I mean, how many victory laps did you take when you got this news? I got mentioned a lot, but you can't play him on draft Kings, unfortunately, at all. Wait, what? Yeah, he's not, he's not in the player pool. Devastation. Draft Kings. Everyone was really wanting to play. Draft Kings. We work together. Play the draft. They get Mike Lennon in there. I mean, they said he's too tall.

That was their final rule. They said, this guy's neck freaks me out. Can't put them in. Can't put them in. That's not my word. Right. Of course. We would never, we would never. Rahim Moster, Jeff Wilson, Jason. What is the Ouija board say about the Miami backfield this week? Rahim Mostert. A couple weeks ago was in a smash situation. Jeff Wilson came back, took the lunch money, and Rahim Moster was devastating. So of course, we avoided him in championship week. And of course, he caught a bazillion passes and was a super stud for fantasy on benches everywhere. Are you playing either of these guys? I think either one are the same thing, which is a low end flex option. Jeff Wilson had more snaps last week, 65%, even though Moester got all the checkdowns and ended up with the better fantasy day. The matchup is not great. The over under is 38. That rhymes. So I'm not really into either player in a significant way. I would rather, you know, I mean, you got to get.

down in the weeds. If I had to play one of these guys, I actually lean Jeff Wilson. Is that because of the snaps? It's because of the snaps. And I think that the fantasy value in this game will come from a goal line opportunity off of a Joe Flacco fumble. or interception. And so, you know, who's the goal line back? I mean, that's even up for debate. So they're both about the exact same. Miami needs to win and New England needs to lose to get into the playoffs for the Dolphins, I should say. So they are motivated. They are going to play. Tyreek, Jalen, terrible matchup. It doesn't matter. You're going to play them. The Carolina Panthers are six and ten taking on the New Orleans Saints who are seven and nine. The draft king's sportsbook line, New Orleans minus three and a half, the over under, a little bit better.

We got a 42. Okay. We got a 42 over here. Andy Dalton, my steel underpants start of the week due to Carolina being terrible against the past. Like I said yesterday, 30th and 30th versus quarterback the last two weeks and schedule adjusted. Rashid Shaheed is in play for me. How about the rest of the Saints, Jay? What are you doing with Oliva and Alvin Camero? Yeah, I mean. To me, Olave obviously, you know, sensational rookie season. 18 yards away from the 1K. Yeah, last week played 61% of the snaps. I would play him over Shaheed personally. I think that you've got a bomb touchdown coming to one of these two players. I'm going to take the more talented of the two, even though Shaheed has obviously been on a role. You don't want the snaps. Well, I think Chris Olave, I mean, he's getting back.

from his injury, the fact that he was, you know, up to 61% this last week. I would expect that, you know, he plays this final game and is, you know, in the 70% range has some downfield targets. And again, he's, even though Shaheed has shown, you know, some great speed and that he's, he's got a future. He's not as talented as a lave. What are he doing with Taysam? I mean, we got four straight weeks now of him being top 12. I think he had 14 carries last week. He did. Let me ask you a question, genuinely. Would you like to start a running back getting good volume in your tight-in position? I certainly would. Didn't start Tayson Hill because that's what's happening. On the other side of the ball, we have Sam Darnold, who has been quite respectable, but he's up against a pretty decent Saints defense.

especially fantasy, fantasy purposes, 10th against the quarterback. That's what the Saints are right now for the season. How are you handling these guys? Because DJ Moore stepped into the fire, was reborn for fantasy purposes, a top 13, Jason, top 13 fantasy wide receiver in four of five games with Darnold. Yeah, I mean, he, he's been, really good the last month or so. And I think you can certainly put him in your lineup. We knew the talent would be there. And I said this about halfway through the season when DJ Moore was atrocious, was, had destroyed everybody's fantasy hopes and dreams and was the wide receiver blah blah blah blah. Wide receiver. Yeah, exactly. I said that we know.

he will have a strong end of the season because at the end of the year, we'll have to question it again. It's every year. It's like, oh, DJ Moore. He's back in the top 20. Exactly. You knew he'd somehow get back there. So yeah, I mean, now that you feel like you could trust him, he will let you down. But are you playing it? Probably. I will be let down by DJ Moore because I will put him in my line. Deontza Foreman Chuba Hubbard, who's starting? Uh, Foreman, Foreman still has, I mean, we've talked about it, right? Like, it's rare for a running back to have this kind of archetype that we're used to seeing in wide receivers. Like, I love starting Gabe Davis. Gabe Davis isn't always good, but when he's good, he's great. That's kind of what you get in Deont, Foreman. So, you know, if I'm, if I'm looking at, um, you know, trying to decide who might get the carries or the touchdown opportunities with, um, Boster and Wilson.

Or I've got the upside of Deont de Foreman running for 162 yards and having one of his hot games. I think I lean that way. My start of the week, Zach Moss or Deontza Foreman. Deontiformin. That's nonsense. Jared Patterson. Jared Patterson over Zach Moss? Yeah. Oh, I've actually got... You are a man filled with rage. It's not rage. It's disgust. And I think there's a subtle difference, but an important one. And I would also, I would also start your former champion over Zach Moss. Who's on the IR? Yes. That's my, that's how I do. Fancy football. It is a guaranteed zero. Right. And I will have respect. J.K. Dobbins, weak leg or Zach Moss? The slow leg. Yeah, I'll take, I will take half of Zach Moss over all of Zach Moss, yes. The Cleveland Browns.

are seven and nine. The Pittsburgh Steelers are eight and eight. What a show we have for you today. The draft team, baby. The draft king sports book line pit minus two and a half. The overrunners at 40 and a half. The Steelers, they are grasping. Stay strong little roots. That's what they're saying to their playoff hopes. If they win and Cleveland, uh, or if they beat Cleveland and Miami loses and the Patriots lose. there is a chance. Yeah. Which both of those things could happen. It is all three of these things, I should say. It is not the most outlandish idea for those. You know, it's not like you need the Houston Texans to beat the Buffalo Bills in this scenario. This is three games that could happen. I think New England losing is probably the least likely of them. But I'll certainly be rooting for Tomlin to have another season.

at or above 500, which is just incredible because he's dealt with injuries and a rookie quarterback and, you know, some pretty poor play. Nicholas Chubb dominant season. I mean, look at this stateline, 290 for 1,450 yards, 12 touchdowns on the season, and yet has been quite disappointing since... Voldemort, aka Deshawn Watson, has taken over the starting quarterback position. How many games has Watson started? Kyle? Since week 13, so five. Since week 13. Here are Nick Chubbs' fantasy finishes basically with this offense that he is now playing in. Running back 32, running back 29, running back 32, running back 23, running back 17. So he's a... I also want you to read, so that first...

Finish, you said. What team was that against? Well, that was against the Houston Texans who are supposed to be the easiest matchup for running backs. It sucks. I mean, I get you, you play him. The matchup is terrible. You know that Nick Chubb is not likely to be a weak winner for you, but tons of volume, touchdown opportunity. Amari Cooper, wide receiver 9 of the season. I mean, he is in play. Donovan People's Jones. The breakout kind of fell apart once Deshawn Watson started to be the starting quarterback, David and Joku. Not really. I mean, we've had a couple of touchdowns thrown his way by Watson. We also had a game, I think he had 114 yards on 12 targets. Sure, but I'm saying like he had, he was trending to be a very consistent player like week four, 71 yards, 50, 74, 71, 81, 99, 69, 61.

And then the consistency is absolutely vanished. Yes, he has a couple touchdowns in that time with Watson. But he was on a trajectory where it was like, we can get excited. Like People's Jones is finally here. And I don't think we are there. One reception in each of the last two weeks. And this is, you know, a game, a matchup against the Steelers who are playing for their season. The last six weeks, they're number one in fantasy points given up to wide receivers. So you got a Mari Cooper on the road. who you still probably started a Mario Cooper and Nick Chubber are very similar. Sure. I expect pretty lousy games from both of them, but they're very talented. They're very involved in their offense, and they should be started. You just don't think.

big games are on the way. You going back to Injoku or Najoku? Yeah, I like David Najoku this week. If you beat the Steelers, it's usually against tight end. Obviously, he busted. Three straight weeks? Well, you had one of those was the bad weather game. I mean, there are, there are some reasons. And, you know, show me a tight in that doesn't have three straight weeks of bad performance sometime on the season. Evan Ingram would never. And I will show you Travis Kelsey. He's the. Fair enough. Najee Harris, since week 11, he's the running back six. He is absolutely in. Are you the mute? Like if you're fine with Najoku, you're fine with the mute. Are you playing the, any of the past catchers though? Pickens or Deontay? Deonti Johnson, who by the way, I mean, these numbers, unbelievable, 137 targets, 84 receptions, 844 yards, zero touchdowns.

137 targets and no touchdowns. That's because his quarterback will finish this season on probably a 17 game pace of about 10 of them. It's very difficult to score touchdowns. Are you playing? Full PPR, I think he's a flex option, but otherwise, you know, you probably have better options. It's funny. Who's, you know, the better option? Like Deontza Johnson or. Greg Dorch. Right. That's like a similar comp. You got a guy who's going to get 10 targets, not down the field, probably not scored touchdown. But you don't, you don't ever want to think of Deontay Johnson in, you know, that vein. In Dorchland? In Dorchland. It's not a place that former superstar wide receivers want to be. No. All right. Quick break. We'll be right back. Welcome back. The Los Angeles Chargers are 10 and 6 taking on the mighty, mighty Denver Broncos at 4 and 12.

They are mighty because they are in fact favored. The drafting sportsbook line, Denver is minus two and a half. The over under is sitting at 40, and that is because the game is wholly dependent on the outcome of Baltimore, Cincinnati. If Baltimore loses, the charges will be locked into the five seed, meaning that the chargers could just come out and say, we're going to rest our starters. Clearly, the sportsbook line is saying that they are afraid of that. Are you afraid of that? Oh, yeah. I mean, Staley is... I was talking to the people. Oh, yeah. Let's listen. I hear no fear. Jason, what you... Oh, you... I heard nothing. I don't think that that was fear to me unless I'm misinterpreting it. But I have fear. And let me explain why they might need to have it. Staley, when he's talked his coach speak as coaches speak, they... He's specifically talked about the difference in the matchup.

He's talked about the difference in the seating having a big impact because of who you're going to play. So that's why he's playing. He's not playing because, you know, he wants to stay greased up, you know, keep the wheel moving and put the pedal to the metal. He wants the right matchup. If he has the right matchup, I think you're going to rest your starter. So you should be afraid. You should have pivot options. Be prepared. If you've got Chargers players, and if the game goes the right way, if Baltimore wins the game, and I mean that going the right way for the Chargers needing to play, then I love the options here for the Chargers. Yeah, I completely agree. And you better have options to move away. But there could be a situation where your guys or your from Chargers are still in play. The Denver Broncos side, Russ, he did it, Jason.