Starts of the Week + Week 9 Breakdown, Time for Launch! - Fantasy Football Podcast for 11/4

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All right, we've got, we had the Thursday night preview on yesterday's show. Let's jump into the week nine matchups. Let's begin with Cleveland, four and four, taking on the five and three Cincinnati Bengals. This is a fun one. Cleveland has a chance to, you know, match the record of the Bengals if they knock them off in Cincinnati here. Draft King Sportsbook line, Bengals minus two and a half over under is 46.5. Mike, you said it's a fun one. Is that the divisional rivalry that you're talking about?

I mean, look at this division. The Ravens and the Bengals have five wins. The Steelers and the Browns are at four wins apiece. This division is crazy competitive. Yeah, it's about time some other division got into the mess that the NFC West has had for years. But you're right. You know, Baker, five and one against the Bengals in his career, at least when he's played them in the past, he's been very good. But, you know, this is not the same team. He's not going to have Kareem Hunt in the back field, although I think Deernis is a very...

interesting play just based on the opportunities he'll be given. And I do have confidence in Landry. I know you said you're not excited and I think that's fair. But, you know, there is a, we talked about when Gruden left, how there is kind of an exhale and the team, the offense, it functioned differently. Kenyon Drake suddenly was valuable and useful and the team was distributing the ball to the wide receivers at least a little bit more. There is kind of an exhale, I think, without OBJ on the field.

I mean, that's the best way to put it. It's not that Beckham doesn't have talent anymore. It's that he disrupts the equilibrium of an offense. And Baker does better without him. And he's going to need to, he's going to need to throw the football in this game. He's not going to get away with just handing the ball off to Nick Chubb the entirety of the game. So Landry, dart throw of Donovan People's Jones, I think.

There's going to be somebody in this game. I think that surprises on the Cleveland side, whether it's de Ernest or Landry or Donovan People's Jones. Yeah, I think in the passing game, you're right. Someone will surprise. I don't want to spend my week or my redraft rosters trying to predict who it's going to be. Maybe take a shot in your DFS lineups where you can get a good value because I think Baker comes through here in this matchup. It's a very important game.

for their playoff hopes here. And the freedom of being without Beckham has shown in the past that Baker steps up in that situation. On the other side of the ball, you have the Bengals who have just shown that they're a very good offense. And in this matchup against Cleveland, Cleveland's very good at the run defense. Their secondary has not been that great. It's been getting worse as the season has gone along. So I love Joe Burrow in this matchup. Jamar Chase is a rookie.

So nobody told him that wide receivers are inconsistent. He's like, oh, I just get to do great every game. And we're like, yeah, yeah. Don't just keep going to. Don't question it. He has not had a game outside of wide receiver three territory. That's his bad games. So obviously you're going to keep playing him. But T. Higgins, T. Higgins, I think, has been kind of an unsung hero. You know, he got injured in the beginning of the year, has still not had any massive performances, you know, the last two weeks.

Wide receiver 30, wide receiver 26. That's a good startable asset. Four for 97 last week. Yeah, exactly. It's a fine game, but he has not, you know, blown the doors off of any fantasy managers to demand attention. But 15 targets two weeks ago. The doors are still on. All the doors are still. So I'm telling you, crack that door open so that when he burst through.

It doesn't break. It just opens. And you're ready for T. Higgins to have a good game. You're protecting, like, the hinges and the frame. The frame is the main problem here. I don't want to have to reframe my house. So crack that door open for T. Higgins. I think he has a good game this week. What are we doing? He's just tumbling down a hill of, look, Jamar Chase and Joe Burrow may be the closest thing we get to the Calvin Johnson, Matthew Stafford Connection, like in terms of multi-year, go-to.

receiver, the relationship there. I mean, Chase scored last week. He was also targeted in the end zone on other drives. He is just a go-to receiver. And Higgins just, he's a really good player. And he's a big guy. And we have him at 21 this week ahead of Landry in this game. And he's a good play. And you're right. It's going to be a fun one to watch. Is there anything else from this matchup you want to focus on for fantasy purposes? Start Nick Chubb if he's on your team. Yeah. Yeah. And we'll talk. I don't want to leave that out.

We'll talk about Dearness later. Okay. The Denver Broncos at 4 and 4 take on the 6 and 1 Dallas Cowboys. That gives the Cowboys an implied point total of 29 in this one. And the DK Sportsbook line is Cowboys minus 9 over under 49 and a half. You know, this is going to, it comes down to DAC, right? If DAC is healthy, this game is going to go according to plan. It sounds like he is.

It sounds like Dak is healthy. It stays healthy, I guess. I mean, when you have a calf injury, at least in the back of my mind, some concern about, you know, you haven't seen it back out on the field since that play missed a week. Yeah, well, you had the, yes, reaggravation is definitely, it could happen. But you've had, you know, multiple weeks now for Dak to rest. They were able to sneak one out with Cooper Rush getting a victory against the Minnesota Vikings. So you didn't risk re-injuring Dak there.

And at least the reports we have, like DAC is going to play this week. So I have more confidence in these, you know, Amari Cooper. CD Lamb is with the ankle injury popping up yesterday, we don't have further news on it just yet. We don't have today's practice report. So this could be a situation where you're happy that you have Amari Cooper to start. And then I don't know if Gallup is going to play.

And like, let's, let's, so let's lay out a couple different scenarios here. Lamb is out, Gallup is out. Cedric. Cedric Wilson. Cedric, the entertainer. Does he jump into?

That dart throw, like, not even dart throw. Does he jump into a flex conversation where in your redraft league, you're like, yeah, I'll pick him up off the waiver wire and throw him in. Not for me. He, you know, maybe in a DFS where you're getting the value of the, of the salary because he's such a, you know, a non-utilized player. But to me, it's Dalton Schultz. It's a guy who I've been.

saying is about to fall off because the expectation of Michael Gallup coming back to the team and assuming that Cooper and Lamb are there. But Blake Jarwin didn't practice. So if Jarwin is, yeah, exactly. If Jarwin's not playing and Lamb is banged up and we're not sure about Gallup, I think Dalton Schultz is a fine play this week. I don't love the entirety of the passing game here against the Broncos, though, because I do expect, look, the Cowboys are just a better team.

They are better than the Denver Broncos. I expect them if DAC is playing to win this game, you know, there's a nine point spread, and eventually they're going to be running the ball. I think that they could get the lead.

by running the ball. The passing defense for the Broncos is great. So I'm not going to play around with Cedric Wilson and secondary options. Mari Cooper, I think, is a great play here. I'm playing C.D. Lamb if he's active and Dalton Schultz should be good. But I don't have high expectations for a barn burner in the passing game from the Cowboys. I completely agree with everything you just said. That's exactly how I see the game going. Dallas is a very balanced offense.

Denver is a very slow offense. And so when you combine those things, you would need, you need Denver to do something in this game in order to really push DAC and these receivers. Now, Teddy and company, you know, Jerry Judy is back. There's volatility now with a wide receiver room. That is, you know, a predictability standpoint is going to be more difficult.

Like the Tim Patrick in the Waver Wire pickups thing is probably over every single week here. And you still have a 50-50 split with Melvin Gordon and Giovanni. I mean, Gordon caught a touchdown pass last week. You know, if you want to look at a DFS dart throw, I think Albert. Aguebenon. Aguebanon is an option. Yeah, Albert O. I definitely, because right now, Noah Fant is likely to miss the game on the COVID list.

It was incredibly disappointing last week for Teddy Bridgewater against Washington. Like that team is, their defense is bad. And Teddy Bridgewater, even with the return of Jerry Judy, was only able to put up just over 200 passing yards and one passing touchdown. So do we, it's another, it is another strong matchup. So do you have the confidence in Cortland Sutton and Jerry Judy to?

play them as wide receiver twos or is it or are they downgraded one of these guys will be very very good um and i neither of them was good last week no i agree i agree but i think that they're going to have to throw the ball travon digs has just been unbelievable for the for the cowboys um you know you saw him uh do some work against justin jefferson last week he's great the question is it is he going to be on courtland sutton more

Or Jerry Judy, I would imagine he's more on Sutton. So I think Jerry Judy is a fine play, another week back from the ankle. He was on the field for 72% of snaps last week, but it is certainly not a guarantee. It's nothing I would stamp with a seal of approval of you have to start this guy. I think you can start Jerry Judy. I could see an outcome where he has a really good game. Unless Diggs switches over to Judy and then Sutton should be okay. Because I do think one of those two guys will be good and one of those two guys won't. Jerry Judy or Hunter Renfro.

I would go Hunter Renfro without Henry Ruggs in a good matchup against the Giants. I think the baseline is more assured with Renfro. The Houston Texans at 1 in 7 getting tie rod back, take on the 1 in 7 Miami Dolphins. The Draft King Sportsbook line, Dolphins minus 6.5. The over under is 46.5. We could see this game become more fantasy interesting.

than it seems with two one and seven teams taking each other on. I brought up Tua as a stream this week. He is a very strong play in this game. The Texans defense, they are consistent in giving up fantasy points. Lee bad? Consistently bad. So, you know, quarterbacks have smashed against them. Running backs have been great. Tight ends. It's like an auto play.

So, you know, Mike Gisicki is a lock in this game. He's going to be somebody that even though Jason is right with the addition over time of Parker coming back. And, you know, Jalen Waddle growing up as a rookie and even Will Fuller returning, right now you are staying in the flames with Mike Gisciki, especially against Houston. Certainly. And then, you know, Miles Gaskin, yeah, I'm going to flex him this week. I'm going to put him in there. You've got four teams on bye.

He gets 15 opportunities per game, and I'm going to take 15 against Houston. Do you guys agree with that? I do agree with that. They're averaging 24 and a half fantasy points given up to the running back position every week, and you know that a large portion of that's going to go to Miles Gaskin. So I think this is the week where Gaskin can have 15 fantasy points, and that's a wonderful start for a guy like Miles Gaskin. And he's got his own squid game going on with red light green light, and we are currently on a week.