Week 5 Matchups + Tuesday Night Football, Dr. Mike - Fantasy Football Podcast for 10/9

It's going to be tough for the Raiders in this matchup to keep up. And Sammy Watkins is only someone I want to play if I'm really confident in the other team's offense. So he's out. DeMarcus Robinson seems to have lost the starting job. So we'll see to McColl Hardman. So it's wild that Tyreek Hill who came into the season as, you know, he's a really high variance player. He will boom. He will bust.

But he's been one of the most consistent wide receivers through four games. It's not just through four games, Mike. If you go to our website, we added some player profile advanced stats per player. Hit me. And we added a consistency score, which evaluates basically how many times the player has put up a usable fantasy game over the last 16 games. So this is the four of this year going back to last year. And he is in A. He's doing it 62% of the time, which is one of the higher grades.

Being attached to Patrick Mahomes. Oh, it helps. It helps. A delight. And he's found his way into the end zone this year, even in the non-traditional non-90-yard bombs. Any other thoughts from this game? No, I think this one's pretty straightforward. The Carolina Panthers is a two and two on a winning streak, taking on the Atlanta Falcons. Oh, and four? Sorry, I don't think we even really said his name, but Clyde Edwards Allerism.

Fantastic start. I mentioned this on our serious XM show. We're looking at players we're trying to trade for. Try and trade for Clyde Edwards-Alaher, because I believe this is the week that he finally catches up with some of his low-scoring variance, and you won't be able to trade for him after this weekend. It's probably good advice at this point in the season in general to be targeting high-opportunity situations in general.

If you had done that with Mixing on the, you know, Jason brought up the opportunities last week. It might have benefited you. Anybody that is not, you know, touchdowns are hard to predict. But 20, 30 opportunities. It's good advice. The Raiders are 32nd against fantasy running backs. So like the recipe is there for Edwards to have his real breakout game. Yeah. And they could be, if they are up, could be running a lot in the second half. Carolina 2 and 2, the Falcons 0.4. The Falcons are one and a half point favorites in this game.

It's a 53 and a half point over under. This game is littered with starts of the week on the Carolina side of the ball. This game should be fun. Jason has Mike Davis. Davis has been outstanding. RB 10, RB7, the past two weeks. Could get CMC back next week, but not this week. So Mike Davis is a must start. Teddy Bridgewater is Mike's start of the week. You know, Mike, he laid out the case for Teddy Bridgewater.

and it begins with the fact that Atlanta is 32nd against fantasy quarterbacks. Teddy Bridgewater is still somebody that, and maybe you can talk me down here, he just scares me to start at the quarterback position because the variance is so potentially extreme, right? I feel like you could have that week that Atlanta's been giving up, top five type of performance. I think Bridgewater last week was fourth against Arizona. So you've seen the evidence of that.

But I also worry that they succeed in other ways, and Teddy B gives you that week to 29 overall performance, just because it's not as guaranteed. We haven't seen them in Carolina that long. Your confidence level is very high, though. It is. And it really comes down to touchdowns because even that, so when he was the quarterback 29, week two, he still had 367 passing yards. We highlighted it, I don't know, a couple shows ago or whatever.

Maybe it was this week that he finally threw two touchdowns in a game. Teddy Bridgewater is throwing a ton of yards and it still has a touchdown rate of 2.8%, which is almost 2% under the league average. So I believe that Teddy Bridgewater versus the Falcons is a fantastic game. Mike Davis, Mike Davis can still have a great game because he's a good receiving back, which just benefits Teddy Bridgewater as well. You brought up.

Robbie Anderson, start of the week, but we didn't talk a lot about DJ Moore. There is an opportunity here this week with the matchup with the situation. Do you play DJ Moore this week? And again, it's hoping for a bounce back for him over somebody like Justin Jefferson at Seattle. Yeah, I would. I like both players, but DJ Moore is an excellent...

wide receiver, a special athlete in a perfect matchup. The touchdowns haven't come for him. The targets have been there. I'm still starting DJ Moore this week. I know it's hard to recommend that because whenever someone has disappointed over the beginning of a season, it's really hard to double down. But the reality is DJ Moore has a perfect matchup here to have a great performance.

Well, as does Justin Jefferson against Seattle, as does C.D. Lamb against the Giants. Would you play C.D. Lamb or DJ Moore? I think C.D. Lamb is safer. DJ Moore's upside is higher. Will Fuller against Jacksonville or DJ Moore? I have Will Fuller one spot ahead of DJ Moore. Those guys are really interesting this week of Fuller, Moore, Lamb, Marquise Brown. Like the four of those guys is really tough to sort out.

which one you would actually really want to start. The Atlanta defense has allowed 30 plus points in each game this year. That does help for DJ Moore. What's funny is their offense is kind of thrown us for a loop. They're second and seconds per play. So they're playing fast, but 20 first in points per drive. They are playing inefficiently fast. And they've had some injuries dealing with Julio Jones. Injury, Calvin Ridley, disappearing act last week, whether it was coverage, whether it was injury.

Ridley has, you know, Jason before the week began, said, hey, he could goose this week and still be the number one overall live receiver. I said it as a joke, but he goose. Yeah. And it's still the number one over. He wanted to make sure that your math checked out. And it did. It did. So the Falcons are favored in this game. Gurley has managed to score four times this year. Yeah, you play him. And so he's in your lineup. How about Matt Ryan, though? I mean, it was not a pretty picture last week, but he is favored.

So the most recent update I've seen on Julio Jones, which is not a lot, but it says he will try for practice today. The quote is like, if he feels like he has the strength in his legs today at practice, then he's going to play. If he doesn't, then he's going to sit out. Matt Ryan is so closely tied, his production is so closely tied to Julio Jones. Now I know Calvin Ridley changes the equation this year, but we've seen.

The history of Matt Ryan is when Julio Jones is out, you don't play Matt Ryan. You get out of there. Now, does the recency bias of Calvin Ridley's Goose Egg change that for you, Jason? Are you, Matt Ryan, are you starting him as a QB1 this week? The matchup is great. Or I should say the matchup, it should be. It should be. It's great as in.

It's near 54 point over under and the Falcons are slightly favored. So you're expecting a very competitive game. Yeah, Matt Ryan's been good enough this year to start. He's not a must start. This is just a matter of who else you have available. I'm looking at players that I think, you know, I would start Deshaun Watson and Gardner Minshu in that matchup ahead of Matt Ryan. So those are some pivot options. I see him as like a back end one or a high end two this week.

There should be an opportunity with the implied point total of almost 28 points for Atlanta for somebody to step up if Jones sits. Is it Russell Gage? Is it Kias? Is it Christian Blake? Is it Hayden Hurst? I think it could be Hayden Hurst this week. He's been running routes, been involved, and last week was just kind of a nightmare for them getting down so big to the Packers. I like what I've seen from Hayden Hurst, not.

loving the fantasy output, but I think it's coming. All right. It's prime time. It's prime time for Kirk Cousins. Sunday night football. Oh, no. The Vikings at one and three taking on the Seahawks four and L. Seahawks are seven point favorites. It's a big time, 57 point over under in this game. And I think we're all hoping for that fantasy bonanza with these two defenses. Yes, we are. So watch the NFL give us a good.

20 to 19 game like last night or something. But yeah, I think we have high expectations in this game. Russell Wilson sitting as the quarterback won through the first four games of the season. Kurt Cousins, I believe was Jason's stream of the week at the quarterback position. I didn't know it was prime time. I didn't know. Averaging 25 attempts a game right now. He had one stinker against the Colts. But sometimes that happens and you didn't know.

what the Colts were, right? This happened against San Francisco, I think, was either last year when they made the leap as a defense, and you're like, oh, man, what happened? And now you're kind of like, oh, that's probably what's going to happen against the Colts. The Colts happened. Certainly. So, you know, I do think this should be a good game. There is a chance for rain in this game. So, you know, pay attention to the weather. But both players should be able to play through it, not a...

a massive downpour. Yeah, you have Kurt Cousins. He was already in streaming consideration. If you look just at the matchup, because the quarterback, the Seahawks, 31st against quarterback, 32nd against wide receiver, delightful match for Adam Thieland. But the breakout of Justin Jefferson, rookie wide receivers in their third and fourth games don't just put up 100 yards all the time. Even if you're a top 10 pick at the wide receiver position, this is rare.

territory here for what Justice Jefferson has been able to do. So you can, like, he now has two weapons again. Kirk Couss, it's not just everything has to go to Adam Thielen. And if Adam Thielen is off and their connection isn't there, then Kirk Cousins is going to have a crap game. No, he has somebody else he can go to. So I'm with Jason that I think Kurt Cousins is a mighty fine stream this week.

Yeah, I don't want to overstate my love for Justin Jefferson or his potential, but I will. And this is something that reminds me of the breakout year for Odell, where you see such an explosive player. Look, he went 7 for 175. That's 25 a catch. Last week, 4-4-103. That's 25 a catch again. This is explosive plays, and it does change the ceiling for Kirk Cousins. You're right about that. Feeling, of course, you're playing him. Jefferson is my start of the week.

Dalvin Cook is in your lineup every week. And if it's not, you need to retire. Chris Carson. I think Chris Carson is, I don't think he's getting talked about enough. And it could be that the injuries have happened or just the fact that the national spotlight is on Russell Wilson, the new King's Chef Boyardee, Russell Wilson, just in the breakout. Limited. He's unlimited. And the breakout of D.K. Metcalfe.

Meanwhile, Chris Carson, even with some injuries spackled in here, has been the running back 7, 13, 26 when he got hurt, and then the running back 4. And now he has another matchup that is not scary at all against the Minnesota Vikings defensive front. Pay attention to Chris Carson. Maybe Chris Carson, it feels like this is a trade high moment. But I'm just telling you, the...

The sentiment about Chris Carson does not match the output that he is currently giving you. Which is awesome. That's a lot of output. Carlos Hyde currently limited in practice. Limited. Limited. Very nice. He was limited in practice yesterday. Chris Carson was a full participant in practice. So the health is on Chris Carson's side right now.

Yeah, and, you know, I think part of it, Mike, is because the passing volume went up so much. There were eight games last year that Chris Carson was over 20 rushing attempts in a game. He's not his highest he had a 17 week, then 14 and then 16. So the attempts have been down a little bit. The perception of the team has changed, but he's been so efficient. He's been hyper-efficient. Over 4-carry, 4.6, 5 last week, scored two times last week. I think you're right. I think he might be somebody that.

Look, if the team rotates back towards a rush heavy attack at times, and it could. It gets even better. There's no guarantee that it's just still Russell Wilson chucking the ball 35 times a week. And that consistency grade you brought up earlier on Tyreek Hill. Chris Carson is at an A, 75% of his games are start worthy games. And that doesn't even factor in his top end games. He has been crushing it for a...

for over 16 games now. And he's, to just pile on here, he has been involved in the passing game. He's on a 16 game pace of 64 targets. That's great. That's phenomenal for a player that two years ago was like, man, if he could only get, you know, 30 receptions, he would add a lot. He's proven himself in that capacity. Tyler Lockett, D.K. Metcalfe. Yep. Perfect match. Don't need to talk about them.