Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Week 4 Matchups, In-or-Out, & Daily Dose

I would go Rudolph this week. I'd probably go Rudolph, though. At home. I want to throw this out there because Crowell has been essentially, you know, seeming like the bell cow running back. And I think that's, you know, those first two weeks, Duke Johnson got three carries and three carries again. Last week, we need to make sure we're not forgetting about Duke Johnson because last week he got 10 carries.

on the ground caught five receptions you know he didn't get a touchdown but he was still double digits in fantasy so you know pay attention to how that split continues to work out between crow well and duke sure at the wide receiver position we talked at length about prior to me he's a must start this week but people are asking lots of different questions about terrell prior they're asking would you drop um you know certain players for it would you drop four set for prior probably

Would you drop? Dorset? Yeah, definitely. Would you drop? I heard four set. I said four set. Oh, sure. Four set or Dorset? I would drop them both for prior. Four set, probably. But, I mean, whenever you're dropping a running back for a wide receiver, it's got to be team dependent. Okay. All right. So what about the other side of the ball? Love Deshaun Jackson. I love him nearly every week, but I think this is a particularly great matchup. The Brown's ranked 24th and past defense at this current moment.

And so would you start D-Jax over prior? Oh, man. That's, that's tough. I would probably go prior in that particular head-to-head matchup. But Cousins, we have them 1417 in the consensus rankings. So Jason has D-Jax the highest. He has them kind of flip-flop. And the thing about, because, okay, just my public service announcement for Kurt Cousin, week one was terrible, was terrible. And that was everyone got to watch it.

So that's kind of the taste that most fantasy players are left with. Kirk Cousins has been perfectly fine. I would venture even good for fantasy purposes since that week. He's had two strong weeks. He's almost, he's over 300 yards basically every single week. They can't run the ball. He's at home against the Browns. I just, Kurt Cousins, I think, is, he's likely in a...

QB1 moving forward for me. Kirk Cousins is very highly ranked for all of us this week. The question I have about the Redskins offense is where are the touchdowns going to go? Because there are starting to be a lot of mouths to feed here. You've got Jordan Reed. Hey, maybe this is the week where he is that red zone target. It's been, you know who the Red Zone target's been there? It's been Jameson Crowder, which is surprising. That's not true.

Well, I'm saying target-wise statistically. Well, he scored from 75 out or whatever that way. No, no, no. But I'm just saying target inside the red zone. He has been one of the leaders in the NFL. And I don't know that that continues season long. But this week, you know, he does his damage out of the slot. And the slot corner for the Browns is pretty terrible. So does it go Crowder? Does it go Dejects? Does it go Jordan Reed? There are, you know, even Pierre Garsohn.

There's going to be value here, but I think you're taking a little bit of a gamble. I'm starting D-Jex in my league, and it's going to be a boom or bust. The Lions take on the Bears in Chicago. Bears are three-point dogs at home, 46.5 point over under. Look, the Lions defense has allowed 5.5 yards per carry to the running back. Let's talk about Jordan Howard. Yeah, I like Howard a lot. We all have him as a running back one, surprisingly. So grab him.

If he's still available, he's probably not, but he's going to get the volume. We saw him involved in the passing game last week, over 40 yards receiving, didn't even play the whole game. And he's the guy. I mean, Langford, we know he's out. Cadeem Kerry's still banged up. Jordan Howard is the man. And the best thing about Jordan Howard being the man in this situation is that Jordan Howard is very...

proficient at catching the ball. He's a big back, so you don't expect him to, but he did it great in college. He's done it well so far in the NFL. So should they get down? Should they be in the lead? He's pretty much, I feel like game flow proof he's going to be involved. That's why he's a running back one. So it's not so much of like, hey, if he's still on waivers, pick him up, that's probably passed. But if you picked him up, we want to give you the push to start him. Would you start Spencer Ware or Jordan Howard this week? If...

If Jamal Charles is out. What about Char West? And if both those guys are out, then I would go Spencer Ware because I think he's more talented. But in general, right now, as it looks, I've got Jordan Howard a few spots higher. Now, the hotness off the waiver wire last week was obviously Theo Riddick with Amir Abdullah's injury. You also have Dwayne Washington in the mix there. Yeah, I wanted to talk about Washington just real quick. Sure, sure. My opinion, my question to you guys was going to be which guy do you like more this week? And is that completely...

League format dependent. Yes, I'm still going league format dependent. In PPR, it's still Riddick. But I think that Washington against the 31st ranked rushing defense of the Bears, I think he could be a sneaky start. This Lions Bears game, right? This thing is the lump of coal sitting in the cave where you're just like, I don't know if I want this thing. But there is a pristine diamond of fantasy goodness inside here. There's a lot of players that I like this week.

for fans, which is bizarre. And Brian, you know, Brian Hoyer at quarterback is known for disgusting you with your eyeballs, but ending up with 350 yards somehow. Yep. And doing things with that offense. Now, your start of the week was Kevin White. Was Kevin White? I like him. I'm flexing him. A ton of targets last week.

So there is, like you said, there's some fantasy boom opportunities here. The weather's going to be good in Chicago, and both defenses have struggled this year. The only other name I want to bring up, I want to know your rest of season opinion about Marvin Jones, because right now he is the number one wide receiver through three weeks. We know how those things will change quickly at this point in the season. But do you buy into Marvin Jones as a top 10 wide receiver rest of season? I'm close, but I know that the Lions have had a very nice.

uh opening schedule there of uh bad defenses and stafford has been taking advantage of that and marvin jones as well so when when the tough games start coming that's that's what i want to see with marvin jones i'm not willing to call him top 10 yet i agree he's he's top 15 but the truth is is that this season he doesn't have a whole lot of tough games i mean week six he's got l a you know week 10 he's on a buy so i don't think he does good not not as good i mean minnesota

He's got Minnesota twice, right? Yes, Minnesota Week 9 and Week 12. Okay. In division. And then the rest is all matchups I would play him. I see him as like a top 15. All right, let's move. Well, he's got the Packers coming up too, and the Packers have been okay on defense. Yeah, they've been pretty good. They've been okay at running, but they've been stopping the run. But since Sam Shields went out week one, I don't think they've been that good with their passing D. We're going to move on to the Broncos. Sorry, real quick, Zach Miller, love him this week. He's my start.

We're going to move on to the Broncos and the Buccaneers. Now, the Buccaneers offense has a lot of attractive pieces involved. They're on a journey to fantasy glory, but they're heading through the bog that is the Denver defense. And nobody, nobody can walk in mud that deep. They are going to face a defense that is fourth against the pass that has not given up to fantasy-wide receivers.

It's been a difficult, difficult road against the Denver defense. So can Evans overcome this? Is there any chance you would ever take him out of your lineup? Because I feel like the regret would be so great. Evans is unbenchable right now. Look, I'm comparing this game for the Buccaneers. This is, I don't know if Andy will fully.

get on board with this reference, but this is the Princess Bride, and they are going through the fire swamp right now. I've seen the movie. Well, but can you, can you understand the fire swamp reference? I think I can understand it. Right, but it's the fire swamp. You have the rodents of unusual size. You have the lightning sand. There is all sorts of problems going up against the Denver defense. But Mike Evans, I think, has enough that he is unbenchable, like I said. He can still get it done. You're not going to get top five.

performance likely, but... He is completely benchable to me. Oh, no. Now, that doesn't mean I'm benching him. Evans or prior? I would take prior. I'll take Evans. Okay. Evans are fuller. I would take Evans in that situation. Let me clarify what I mean by he is completely benchable to me. Mike Evans, he has a very big history of being a guy that comes up.

with just complete dud games. Last year and the year before, both years he was a great wide receiver two. He produced for fantasy, but he had plenty of games where he just does not show up. And if I'm going to predict...

a game to not show up. It's going to be against the Denver D. Now, I'm still starting him in probably most situations because, like Mike's saying, he's been on fire. He's such a big target. Look, James Winston was annihilated against the Arizona Cardinals, and Mike Evans was fine. He had a great game. He had the touchdown, so it can happen here. But my point is...

If I have Deshawn Jackson and Alan Robinson and, you know, or Demarius Thomas. Sure, in this game, Demarius Thomas. Yeah, I'm starting to Marius Thomas over Mike Evans. So that's what I'm saying. I think there are lineups where you might have guys that I'm willing to start if you've got better options. We also should talk about Demarius and Emmanuel Sanders, who both ate.

to their full last week. I think they have good games again this week myself. You also have C.J. Anderson and Charles Sims. Is there a narrative there you want to discuss? I think it's C.J. Anderson time this week, personally. The Bucks D. has allowed 40 plus yards on six of their 60 receptions, which is nearly last in the league. So there is big play potential for those wide receivers. The stuff we saw from last week. All right. Let's move on to the Rams. The Cardinals. The Cardinals have not.

had a very good season thus far. They're one and two, but they are eight-point favorites at home against the Rams this week in a lower over-under type of game. So let's talk fantasy-wise, even if they're favorite, even if this game's at home, is their upside-capped by this Rams defense? And by they, I mean, the Cardinals. David Johnson, Carson, Palmer, Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd, John Brown. It's possible, but the Cardinals at home have shown that it.

Any given week, a great defense can come in and they can explode. So I'm not going to, I'm not afraid of the Rams defense if I'm, if I have Cardinal players. I like Palmer this week. Look, last week was terrible for Carson Palmer. The two weeks before that, great. I mean, a very strong fantasy performance for him. David Johnson, every single week. Larry Fitzgerald, every single week. The question for me, for the Cardinals' offense becomes, would you start?

a Michael Floyd, would you start John Brown? I don't know where I fall on these guys. I don't know if I'm willing to start them with wide receiver two confidence. You know, when it comes to Michael Floyd, I'm not the fact that he's mispracticed this week and you don't know how things are going. In a lower scoring game, I think he has been very touchdown. You know, he's had his games with over 100 yards, but really where you've got your value out of Michael Floyd is usually his red zone looks and his touchdowns.

John Brown, I would actually rather start John Brown than Michael Floyd in this game. But I think that their offense is capped in the sense that like, you know, if you look at my rankings the last few weeks, I've had Larry Fitzgerald essentially as a wide receiver won. I've got them at, you know, 20 this week because I just don't think that, you know, I agree with Vegas. I don't think this is going to be a high scoring game. I would flex John Brown myself. Now, Tavon Austin on the other side, the only wide receiver worth really talking about. I know Kenny Brits made a few splashes, but last week it was Brian Quick. So I don't think you can count on.

One of those deep guys. Now, Tavon Austin has had 36% of the target share on that team. Very large. That's really high for people that don't know. Maybe that sounds low, but 36% is enormous. Yeah, so you're not going to have a goose egg with Tavon Austin. The problem is you're running up against the Cardinals defense, a sixth against the pass. They're going to have to be creative on offense with a number of different options. To me, Gurley is really the only start in this game. Do you guys disagree? Nope.

Yeah, I completely agree. I don't want to start. Austin has five receptions, five receptions, four receptions. Those are decent numbers. I just don't ever feel good about starting them. Last question for you, Jason, because you snag Carson Palmer off the waiver wire in a league of record yesterday. He's only completed 57% of his passes thus far this season, making him 31st to 35 qualified quarterbacks, according to the remarkable stats there. So, with confidence, are you starting Carson Palmer this week?