Week 7 Matchups + The Rumble Bumble Stumble - Fantasy Football Podcast for 10/23

I'm just commending Andy on going with the word illustrious. Which word is more illustrious? Illustrious? Well, that's a fair game. Or leading the witness. I object. I'm sorry, Al, but at least you got one. Yeah. Yeah, I'm excited. You're certainly the better of the two. Oh, big time. You always got to choose a best friend that's not quite as good as you. Yeah. That's good plan. Sorry, Brooks. Good plan. I see what you're doing over there. I think we both know who that is, right, Brooks? Oh, yeah.

I know my role. All right. Here's good news. Johnny Smith, practice full on Thursday. That's great. He should play. But with the Darrell Henderson news, do you have, have you lost confidence because of Monday night football with Cam Acres, Malcolm Brown, and the variables in the running game? Not yet. Okay. We do have an injury blitz.

podcast coming out later this afternoon or tomorrow. Brooks, are those normally coming out late Friday or early Saturday? Usually getting them out late Friday. Okay, so that's Jointhefoot.com if you want to get in on that. That'll have all the Friday practice reports and some reflections from our injury expert Matthew Betts on what to do with some of these players. James and Crowder didn't practice. Added to the injury report with a groin injury. Look, if James and Crowder misses this game or is limited, Brashad Perriman is an actual player that...

You could think about. It sounds like you're talking about the Jets, Andy. I don't. I've been chastised over and over for talking about the Jets. Do you agree with me? Yeah. Yeah. Brashad Perriman can play. Maybe. As of right now, they're expecting Sam Darnal to be there. This is, you never want to see a player midweek get downgraded and that's what's happened with Crowder. So I think you've got to take that serious and look for other options. Likewise, A.J. Brown for the Titans.

He did not practice Wednesday. He did not practice Thursday. That is. Is that true? I thought he practiced in full on Wednesday. That's the report that I have. And then didn't practice. Yes. I'm sorry. Practice did not. Practice in full but did not practice at all. A full did not participate on Thursday. That's what I'm saying is when you are downgraded in midweek. That's usually a very bad sign. So didn't practice Wednesday or did practice Wednesday didn't practice Thursday. Correct. Downgrade.

We got there. Okay. Robert Tunyan. Yeah, big news. We found out this is how you pronounce his last name. It's Tunian. Not Tonian. It's Tunian. Tons of fun. Like Paul Bunyan. Yes. Oh, Paul Bunyan. Our really only opportunity to potentially defeat Gigantor in a battle. Paul Bunyan, while smaller than Gigantor, could compete with the axe that he has. Well, he has an axe and does he get his big blue ox?

That's too much. Animal warfare? It's too much. It's cheating. That's too much. That's too much. But he is, he was limited in practice. Did not have a great game. This is a new, you know, he's not been in the rotation for fantasy players before. It gives me a little hesitation. Sure. Tyler Higby. Non-participant at Thursday's practice. Higby has been one of the most.

recently added players to waiver wires that I've seen. I've seen him hit waiver wires quite a bit. Yep. But Gerald Everett, I'm bringing this up because Gerald Everett is a great play if Higby was to miss this week. That is a good point. I would feel much better with Everett than I would Tanya this week if that was the situation. Any other injury news you guys want to touch on? Nope. All right. Let's get back into the forecast. Fantasy forecast. All right.

We covered the Lions, Falcons, Browns, Bengals, Steelers, Titans, Panthers, Saints, Bills, Jets, Cowboys, and Washington yesterday. And we've got seven games remaining. A reminder, the Colts, Dolphins, Vikings, and Ravens are on by this week. So let's get into the matchups. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 4 and 2 taking on the Las Vegas Raiders, who are currently 3 and 2. This games in Las Vegas, the Buccaneers are 4-point favorites. It's a 52-point over-under.

I'm not quite sure what to think of Tampa Bay. I think they are a pretty good team. They have had a couple of games where they don't look that way, and then the majority they've looked like they're figuring it out. So let's start at the quarterback position. Tampa Bay has been really good, the defensive side of the football. They're third right now. I don't think Derek Carr is an option in this game. He is not. They're only giving up 14 fantasy points per game to the quarterback position.

On the other side, my taking it to 100 player was Tom Brady this week. The Raiders are 20th against opposing fantasy quarterbacks. And I think they're starting to figure this offense out. We give, you know, Tom Brady maybe we have high expectations for him because he's Tom Brady, right? I mean, he has high expectations for himself. Still earning a new offense, dealing with players coming back from injury, Chris Godwin back last week. So I think that they're going to.

become more consistent on the offensive side of the ball. And I think it could start in this game here. They're favored. It's a good over-under. Do you guys feel confident enough to start Brady this week?

Yeah, he's certainly in the mix as a streamable option. This isn't a scary matchup. You're getting healthier in the wide receiver core. I really like most of the Tampa Bay options. So I'm absolutely fine starting Brady. The one worry that I would have, and the reason he's not an absolute must start, is that the Raiders are very porous on the ground so far this season against the running back position. Ronald Jones has been looking amazing. The defense of the Buccaneers looks...

great. So there is the outcome where, and you need to decide what you believe about this game, but I do think there is a game script where Ronald Jones is phenomenal, has another 100-yard game, has two touchdowns, and they don't really need to air it out that much, but the Raiders have not.

gone quietly into the night. They have beat good teams. They have surprised. They've hit the over in all five of their games this year. So while I see that as an outcome, that isn't what I expect to happen. Okay. Let's look at the running backs. Ronald Jones, you talked about it. He's been great. The Raiders at 31st against running backs. Yes. You're playing him despite four net practicing in full and any worries that you have. You just got to keep.

He was going to be my start of the week, but I felt like everyone would start him. He's on fire, right? Three straight weeks. So just make sure you start. Josh Jacobs, he's been pretty great this year coming off the buy. We do have offensive line concerns. The test coming back, I guess that would be coming back negative. That is a positive for Josh Jacobs. But again, the defensive front for Tampa.

Josh Jacobs' success is obviously connected to the Raiders winning. And the kind of identity of this team is they want to get out to a lead and they want to be able to run the football. They want to be able to slow the game down a little bit. And Jacobs has been very good. But he's got five touchdowns on the year. They've just come in two of the five games he's played.

Yeah, I mean, we said this before last week that Josh Jacobs has his good games in wins. And we didn't expect him to win the last time out against Kansas City Chiefs. They did. He had a great game. I don't expect the Raiders to win this game. I think that the Buccaneers are the better team. But if they win. Well, you just don't bench Josh Jacobs. No, you don't binge anyone with that kind of volume. All right, Henry Ruggs. What do we think about Henry Rugg's possibilities in this game?

55% of his targets have been 20 plus yards down the field. That is the highest rate in the NFL. He is the true one-touch man of the NFL right now based on those numbers. You willing to take a shot, take a chance? I don't like it this particular week. The Buccaneers, they have some strong corners, including the emergence of Carlton Davis.

The bucks are a legit defense. They have fixed things over here. They are seventh currently against fantasy-wide receivers. They can get pressure on the quarterback as well. So this isn't the matchup where I am looking to throw Henry Ruggs into my flex. All right. I don't remember which one of you guys talked about Mike Evans, maybe letting him go, shopping him. Jason, were you the one who brought that up?

A couple days ago. I think I'm on board with you. He's 29th in targets right now. Second in touchdowns. He's tied with Cole Beasley. Travis Fulgum in targets this year. Yeah, he's been propped up by touchdowns. And he's a guy that can do that the whole season. It's not something where it's like because he's had touchdowns, they're going to go away. They're going to regress and you need to get rid of them. We've seen him several seasons with double digit touchdowns. But you need to understand that in those games he doesn't get a touchdown, he's going to be straight up.

garbage. And when you compare the games that he has played with Chris Godwin, I mean, he's capping out at two catches. That's not the, and he's got a big name. So I think you can flip him for something more reliable, more consistent. Are we going to see the 2019 version of Chris Godwin at some point this year? Is this an opportunity for him this week? I mean, his highest fantasy finish on the year is 22 right now.

dealt with the injuries, has played three games, though. And, I mean, it's just disappointing right now for fantasy players. I think that this could be the game he gets on track. He's, you know, he has a game removed now from returning from the injury. Give him a little bit of time there to get more involved. All right. You're always playing Darren Waller. What about Grunkowski in this matchup? It's interesting. The matchup isn't great. Raiders are 10th against fantasy wide receivers right now.

actually tied with the Buccaneers. But he is getting more involved. He had the touchdown last week. He had another end zone target as well where Tom Brady just missed. I can't remember if it was Gronk or Brady, but my memory is Brady just missed him for a second touchdown. So while guys like Scotty Miller are fading into the dust, and Gronkowski is starting to get things going, which it's not.

It's not that shocking that he is doing that now. At the beginning of the year, they weren't asking him to do a lot. He was a dude who had not played football in over a year on a brand new team. And then you lose O.J. Howard. You lost O.J. Howard. Yeah, that's an excellent point. Well, now you have more opportunities for him. So it makes sense that he is starting to get more involved. Over the last four games, his target pace on the year is 94.

That's a great number for a tight end. Yeah, I mean, Gronk is someone that you can start as well as anybody out there off of waivers. Although, would you play him over Everett if Everett was alone? No, no. If Everett was alone, I think he's a smash play. Okay, okay. Yeah, I mean, you saw him jump up to 29% of the targets last week. That's an incredible number. All right, we've got the Chiefs Broncos game to get into. We do. And before that, we want to thank today's sponsor, ladies and gentlemen.

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