Starts of the Week + Week 13 Breakdown, Mike's Gripes! - Fantasy Football Podcast for 11/30

Bijon does appear to be a very good play this week. Last week, Alger had 10 carries for 64 yards as they put that one away. Most of that was at the end, right? Yeah, and I just don't know if Atlanta can win this game or if anybody can win this game. I'm predicting a 10-10 tie. I think it's going to be a close game. I'm going to say... Like, who do you have? Just money-line it. Just tell me who's going to win. Atlanta. See, I think the Jets will win the game. Oh, come on. Mike. I will still take the Falcons to win. Tim Boyle, of course. That's why. Yeah, I mean, it's fair. Breece Hall was limited to it due to a hamstring. Oh, I had not seen that. That was on Wednesday. Wait. Is it time, Jay? Do we get?

Israel, Abanacana? Yeah. Do we get some snaps? Is he? I mean, Dalvin would be the primary guy, but maybe. Oh, Bannacana don't want none. If Breesaw is limited throughout the week, you know, there it is. We'll never use that drop again. I think like the Atlanta run defense is really good. And Breesall, like he's been awful. On the ground, he's been atrocious. He's, he's, he's, And I'm not like he's much better than this if he had any help. But the last handful of weeks, I mean, 23 yards, 25 yards, 20, he's got three consecutive weeks where he doesn't break 30 yards rushing. And four of five that he doesn't break 30 yards rushing. And I mean, it's to say it's been atrocious, like that he's been atrocious on the ground is not. That's nice. Yeah, that's really kind. I mean, it's funny for a player that you're kind of always seeing as, well, he's locked in your lineup.

because of the big playability. Did you see this quote from Robert Sala? Tell me. He said Breast Hall is a special talent. Oh, yeah, I did see this, yes. But there's the grimy yards that a back has to understand that he needs to get. Ooh. Yeah, that happened recently. And like when you do the whole conversation, it doesn't seem as bad, but it still was, it was not a great look for, for Coach Sal. In my opinion, to. be dunking on anyone. Well, to me, it's interesting that it wasn't like, we've got to help, Brees. Like, that wasn't the message. It's like, we've got to block. We've got to put him in a position to succeed. It was more like, no, Brees is making some mistakes and not doing what he needs to be doing. Because Brees Hall is trying to score on every play because he knows that if I don't score, we won't. Yeah, I mean, but that can mess up a running backs. Yes, it can. Jalen Warren, I'd play over Brees Hall.

I'll start it there. I would definitely play Janlon Warren against Arizona over Brees. And Nogie? And Noggi. And, and, and, and Moss. My Moss for sure. Moss is, my rankings have it. Would you play? And probably. Did you say Noggy? Yeah. Yeah, I would play both. I was looking through the list. The thing about Brise to bring up. Ryan Robinson against Miami? You should. Yeah, you should. Giovante? That's probably my line because I think Brees, like let's remind people like Brice has been relevant because he catches the football. Like those rushing numbers are bad, but he's had a number eight and a number 13 finish because in those games he had, you know, here's his targets. Like his season long target pace over the last five weeks where he struggled on the ground is 105 targets for 85 receptions. Yeah, right. So, no, I would not play Javante just because I don't know what's going on with Javante.

I just don't have confidence with the three-headed backfield and the pass catching. And he's had some drops. Like, that's my line. All right. Well, what about same archetype then? Zach Charbonnet against the Dallas Cowboys tonight. It's a guy pretty much all alone. Breeze. Catch passes. I'll play the Reese. All right. And we didn't. Although the hamstring. What if you don't know and then you have to make the decision? He was limited on Wednesday. This wasn't a DNA. Yeah. He didn't. sit out practice. So I'm not too worried. Yeah, I play brista. Not mentioned in the news part, uh, because there's, I've known that there's a bunch to talk about, but Aaron Rogers, 21 day window was opened. I don't know if anyone was on social media because there was nothing else talked about than everyone giving their Aaron Rogers take. Did you see the practice? It's weird, man. Like there's video of him. Yeah. Yeah. Take it snaps. Drop him back. Slinging the ball. It's like, okay. He's.

He's practicing. He's playing. Andy, how's your watch on? Are you still adamant that he does not make it to the field this year? I thought there was an interesting article that came out by Charles Robinson. Agreed. That mentioned the fact that one of his motivations to get back out on the field could be to save the job of his head coach and his general manager, which, look, I actually buy that. I buy the fact that if they had a couple of games that was like what you thought the Jets would be, even if it doesn't get him to the playoffs.

If you had two games like that, to me it validates the general manager and the head coach as like, oh, this was clearly. And hack it too. Yeah, this was clearly just the injury. But I also heard him on McAfee say, like, look, my health comes first. I got to get cleared by everybody. Then he said, are we in it? Is there something to gain? Like, is there a reason to be out there? Are we fighting for a playoff spot? Right now, you know, they're four and seven. Yeah, they're not fighting for a playoff spot. So I guess I'm still about 80% that he doesn't get on the field. But if he can stay healthy through whatever this practice process is, obviously he'll be really ready to go for next year. This is not old school Achilles for the quarterback. It's an interesting and important conversation for fantasy because Garrett Wilson could win people championships. You know, you don't think about. If somehow Rogers. Yeah. Like if Rogers ends up back for the fantasy playoffs, all of a sudden, Garrett Wilson becomes.

a star again. Yeah, like Garrett Wilson has the, to use the analogy, he's like gotten used to living on a cup of rice a day and still kind of like can do some stuff with that. And if you gave him a meal, what happens? He'll be full, he'll be energized, strong muscles. He'd be like Popeye and a spinach. It was so tough because in our keeper league, like I really wanted Garrett Wilson to hold through. Like I knew he wasn't going to help me a lot this year. Yeah. but I wanted to hold him through as a keeper. But I didn't want to pay the price of the keeper. But like I wanted to target him because next year we're going to talk a lot about him. Yeah, we'll be right back where we were, which that's what the thing I'm looking forward to, if possible, would be Rogers just, yeah, giving us that glimpse of what we were hoping for this year. And I think that would go a long way. And he plays terrible. That is a big option. Or it gets.

Yeah, Garrett Wilson, though, this week with Tim Boyle against these Falcons. He's a highly targeted player that you can put in as like a wide receiver three. That's how I see. And hope that he gets double-digit fantasy points, but he doesn't have a ceiling with Tim Boyle. Tyler Conklin is a emergency pivot option to me. He had five targets with Boyle last week, so I'll just throw that out into the universe. Anybody else from this game? Kyle Pitts hit Waver Wire in the listener league. Like he's just sitting at the top of the top of the listener league because he is useless. That's a 14 team. 14 team double flex league. Where everybody and I mean everybody's gone. Yeah. Except for Kyle Pitts. Go grab them. Play them. You can do it.

Kyle Pitts is current pace, 57 for 681 and 1. Dude. His pace over the last six weeks is about, I mean, no touchdowns. That's the problem. He doesn't. Disaster. The truth is he doesn't look himself. He hasn't once this year ever since that injury. Disaster. Yeah. There's nothing you've seen like a flash that looks special where you're going. It's entirely and only the quarterback's fault. It seems like a combination of bad quarterback play. He doesn't look himself. And the scheme, they just don't give him anything easy. Now, he's still like, what, like 16 years old, 17 years old? Yep, 23, I believe, younger than Dalton Kincaid. Yeah, so there's lots of future opportunity for him if he can get healthy. Yeah, all the Atlanta beat writers, Kyle, you're on the line here, just talking about a nagging injury for Kyle Pitts. Sure. We talked about Pitts's dynasty future on the dynasty show. So if you want to hear that go.

Download our dynasty pod. It was a good talk. It was, it was helpful. I, you know, we'll leave it for the pot. The Arizona Cardinals are 2 and 10. They go to Pittsburgh, where it will probably rain. And the Steelers are 7 and 4. They are 5.5 point home favorites, according to the Draft King's Sportsbook. The overrunners 41, but that gives the Steelers 23 and a half points. The Cardinals 18. This is the first time the Steelers have been favored by more than three points since week 10 of 2021. Cardinals would do that. Last week, the Steelers' offense decided to join the 21st century. They gained 400 yards for the first time all year. The defense held Cincinnati and Joe Mixon and Jake Browning to, you know, in an app 25 rushing yards. It was strange, though, because it was almost like the Steelers.

would move the ball with ease, and then they would get close to scoring, and they would freak out. We don't know what we're supposed to do here. Because they haven't been in that. Yeah. They don't know what the Red Zone feels like. No, they do not. So hopefully we get that corrected because they were. They didn't score a lot of points despite the 400 yards. What, they 16? Yeah. I mean, they were, they dominated offensively. They dominated that game and still didn't win by a ton. So that. Let's turn that around to Pittsburgh. We love Naji. We love J. Lamarine this week. Would you play both of those guys over Zach Charbonnet, who plays this evening? Yes. Would you play them, would you play James Connor on the other side over Sharpenet? No. I know nothing ever came out. At least I didn't see anything come out about James Connor. I watched him after the game on the field. High five and everybody, smile on his face. Something weird happened.

Like he didn't find his way back out to the field from the locker room. He made the wrong turn and never got back to the- He never got back to the field. They could not find him. It was infuriating. It made no sense. I mean, I don't, apparently it was not an injury, but something weird happened. He should play this week. The game should be close. Yeah. He should be this. He's playing his former team. This is always an opportunity players want. Do I have any confidence? I do not. Yeah, my confidence is not high. I would still play him over Charbonnet. He's great around the goal line. Should the Cardinals find themselves there? We know that. So you've got, I think, a higher touchdown opportunity. The Steelers are not quite as good a defense as the Cowboys.

The question that I have, though, because I think most people kind of know, you know, whether they need to start James Connor or not. But Kyler is a big question here. The Steelers have not given up a lot, even when you adjust for schedule to the quarterback position. Now, they've played an incredible amount of backup quarterbacks as well, so that could factor in. But Watt looks dominant right now as a pass rusher. And Kyler looks a little bit off. He's got, you know, he's got the rust or still figuring out this new system where, you know, he's completing 59, 60% of his passes. That's not how he's been in his career. So, you know, would you, would you start the Herber or the Russell Wilson or Kyler? He, I think people that with Kyler have a question. I'd start both. I'd start both those.

Over Kyler? Over Kyler. It's tough because Kyler has looked bad. The Cardinals are not scoring, and yet he's coming through for fantasy. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, if you want to start him over Russ, I don't blame you there. I think that one's a toss-up. But it's nerve-wracking to go into Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is a good team. And Kyler looked so bad last week that it just, I don't feel like the momentum is there that makes me want to start him. And yet over 20 fantasy points. I know, I know. I believe this is the highest percentage chance of rain on the week at 60% chance of rain. Kenny Pick has never had 20 fantasy points this entire year. Kenny Pickett has been single digits in five of his 11 games. I believe on a points per game basis, he was below Zach Wilson and like players that, you know, just we mock nonstop, but we haven't had the opportunity because the Steelers win games.

Yeah, and even last week when they had all that offense, he was 11.6 fancy points. So not a great option. Deontay Johnson, George Pickens. I mean, both of them are very nerve-wracking starts on a weekly basis. They are, and I think you've seen, you know, more and more that you can run on the Cardinals so easily. You can get leads on the Cardinals that the wide receiving options aren't always the best. And you had Pat Fryermuth in this new system first time with the... offensive coordinator change going away from Matt Canada used in the slot running routes in the middle of the field where they should have been throwing the ball forever. He had an insane 47.8% target per route run. So when he was running a route, that was where Kenny Pickett was looking. So I do agree that Deontay and George Pickens, they're nerve-wracking. Hollywood Brown.

Six for 88 last week on 12 targets. I do think that he's in play this week. I'm fine. I would play Hollywood over Deontay and Pickens. I would as well. We've talked about, or Kyle's talked about a lot, that Hollywood is a, he beats man coverage a lot. And right now, Pittsburgh is running the sixth highest rate of man in the league. So the matchup. Seems like it'll work. Twelve targets last week. We know there's talent there, so I don't mind start in Hollywood. Here's a stat for Tray McBride, who we know is dealing with the groin injury. But over the last month, he's received more first-read targets in the Arizona offense than Kelsey has received in the Kansas City office. Oh, let's go. However, all that excitement has not necessarily translated into Monster Performance's the last couple of weeks. Not yet. Five for 43, seven-for-60. Seven-for-60 is pretty darn good for a tight end.

Oh, I agree. I agree. It's just, you know, he's been in the end zone once this year. Cardinals have looked bad on offense. A little nerve wracking with the groin injury. Like, if you have him. Assuming that he practices this week and looks like he's full go, I'm going to start him over all of the middling options we've discussed. Nojoku. I think I would go nojoku there. His targets have been so high. All right, moving on. The Miami Dolphins are eight and three. They take on the four and eight Washington commanders. The Draft King Sportsbook line Miami minus nine and a half. The overrunner is 49 and a half. That's a lot of points. Miami is number one in yards per play. They have been a machine. Tyree Kill is unstoppable. I mean, except for it did not practice Wednesday, but you know.

Yeah, he's been doing stuff like that all year. So far, not panicked. If we hear anything else, let us know. He got shook during the game. This past week? Yeah, like pretty much right away. Oh, right, because you would, yeah. Yeah, and I mean, they mummified that ankle multiple times. He kept playing. When the injury happened, it was a, uh-oh. A week before it was the hand. I mean, he's been banged up, but. Waddle and Tyreek are must starts this week. Oh, I mean, Tyreek has just been so good. It's almost unquestionable. Like his fantasy finishes on the week. He's finished as the wide receiver one twice, the wide receiver two twice, the wide receiver three twice, the wide receiver four. He's the fantasy MVP. Yeah, he's the best, he's the best fantasy. Yes. I think he's even been more valuable than Christian McCaffrey. It's between those two guys, but.

And this matchup is literally the best matchup for wide receivers in the league. So, yeah, both those guys, Waddle Hill, no question. And Tua, it's a must start for Tua. And the running backs, Moster is going to be out there. Devon A-chan, do you have a read yet on whether you'll have him back out on the field? I do not have a read yet. Obviously, they didn't put him on IR. I think there's a chance he could play this week. it's going to be another, you know, steel underpants moment where last time he came back off of this injury, I was fine putting him right in my lineup. And I paid the price for that. And so you go, well, you fool me once. You know, maybe you want to wait and see. Everyone's going to have to decide for their own. You cannot predict a re-injury. Obviously, we know that that can happen. And that's a good reason to bench him, especially if you've got another option.

For me personally, where I have him, when A. Chan is active, I'm going to put him back in my lineup. What's the fool me twice thing? Shame on, shame on. Shame on me. So that's, I will take. Willing to risk it. Willing to risk it. If he's out, Jeff Wilson could be a flex worthy consideration considering the Dolphins whoop teams that they're supposed to whip most often. And it's easy to do that to Washington. I'm terrified. I'm playing against Tua. I hope the running backs go crazy. That's what you hope for. Sam Howl. He will be throwing the ball a ton in an effort to come back. You think they're going to let him throw the ball a lot considering the last couple games? He's only throwing the ball 42, 52, 45, 44, 44, 45, 44 times. Oh, my gosh. That's insane. And he's running. 782 a tent pace in the last six weeks. Oh, man.

insane. And this game, this game, he'll crack 50. I have, I have tremendous, it is an area of disagreement for the week. I have tremendous confidence in Curtis Samuel this week. I think Curtis Samuel is the one of the wide receivers that I'm not worried about the target share being distributed elsewhere. Well, I am in agreement with you. So I don't know who's disagreeing. Well, it was Jason. I think Jason's in agreement with Jason. I am not in complete disagreement with myself. I, I, I, The way that I view it is absolutely Curtis Samuel could have 10 plus targets. But we just, we see these little disappearing acts where all of a sudden Jehan Dodson has 12 targets one week and then zero the next. Or, you know, Terry McLaren's the first, or Logan Thomas is just super involved and that he's not involved. There's going to be enough passes here where I don't think you have to be scared to play Curtis Samuel because if he throws the ball 50 times, you know, and he only gets.

20% of the targets. You're double-digit targets. It's crazy. Yeah, and they're going to get their butts kicked. I mean, Brian Robinson? You've got to hope that he catches passes, which he has not caught a lot of passes since Curtis Samuel and Antonio Gibson got back. Was that two weeks? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Because he was, he was. Gibson played 46% of snaps last week. Well, and you expect that kind of, you know, if Gibson is more the pass catcher, you, I mean, the. Before the game is played out, the expectation here is that Miami's going to hop out to an early lead, keep the lead, grow the lead, and Washington will be in past catching mode. So it scares me a little bit more to play Brian Robinson. Anything else from this game you guys want to discuss? No. Welcome to Starts of the Week, presented by Purina Pro Plan.

Well, Mike, go ahead. Yeah, I'll kick it off because it's from that game we just talked about. And it is Tua where it has been, and the reason I'm putting him in as a start of the week is just make sure you have the confidence because it's been a tough stretch here for managers who have started Tua each and every week. But this is where he will succeed. They beat up on bad teams. Washington is dead last in passing yards allowed, passing touchdowns. Schedule adjusted points to the quarterback. I mean, this is a game that Miami should score. Like, they should hit their team applied total of 30 points. And a lot of that will come through to a. My start of the week, this week is Brock Purdy going to Philadelphia. He leads the NFL in yards per attempt. And the matchup against Philly for San Fran. I mean, they're going to have to throw the ball so much. Hope he's got big hands. Opponents because of the rain. Yeah, sure.

opponents are throwing 68% of the time against Philadelphia. For context, that is the highest rate in NFL history through 12 weeks, and it actually came down. It came down. It was at 70%. It came down with Josh Allen's 51 passing attempts last week through 11 games. Philly is on pace to allow 4,300 passing yards and 35 passing touchdowns. That's where you beat them. For more context. That is exactly the same numbers as what Josh Allen had as the quarterback won last season. So Brock Purdy is in a perfect matchup against Philly. I'm going to go with Russell Wilson against Houston. Unlimited. Russ is back to old Russ in some very important ways. The leads all quarterbacks and touchdown rate. That was something that literally was his.

his habit in Seattle during the good years. He's got the lowest interception rate in the NFL, and this is not last year's Houston. They are bleeding points to the quarterback. They rank 29th in schedule adjusted against quarterbacks. They're on a roll. They won five straight. I like Russ this week. I think he gets a couple touchdowns. I'm going to say, you feel good, or do you talk to my blacksmith? No, I feel good. I don't need any, I don't think it's an underpants situation. All right. But thank you. Thank you for the offer. You're welcome. I got him on speed dial. Yeah, no, I believe it. As we said, I think Andy and I said this on Monday or something we were calling dibs on start of the week for Steelers running backs. I got Najee last week. I got Jalen Warren. Last week without. All your arguments apply them to my guy too and we'll leave it there. Well, so Najee was 15 for 99 and one and one of the most angry, strong runs of the season.

moving the whole pile, getting out of the pile. He looks just, he looks like Najee could be back. We're definitely not there, but we're crossing our fingers that we are going to get to that point. And on top of that, Arizona's allowed 16 rushing touchdowns and 12 games, 140 rushing yards per game. Just look at, look at Kyron and Royce, who also had a fine game for the opportunities he was given. Andy. Yeah, I got Jalen Warren, and you've got Najee Harris, and it's for all the same reasons, and both of them will be great, and Warren was the better one for a couple weeks, and Najee took the cake last week, and if you have them, play them. Yeah, I agree. My running back start of the week, Zach Moss. My guy. I said it at the beginning of the season, and I'll say it again. Zach Moss is a league winner. Oh, man. I've always been a known Moss supporter.

Like a Moss truther always. I've never wavered on my love for Zach Moss. So why waiver now? I won't. Last time we saw Zach Boss, as I call him against the Titans, was week five. Boston. You don't like that one? No. I talked about it earlier, 165 yards, two touchdowns. He was the running back two on the week. And Shane Stuyken already literally came out and suggested that Zach Moss is going to get an overwhelming majority. of the carries as he did earlier in the season. The work will be there. I know Tennessee is usually good against the run, but Zach Moss is involved in the passing game. He is a centerpiece of this offense, and he's just one of, if not the best running back of all time. All right. Unlike Jason, I will not pretend that I have liked this guy all year. So you have to know that I am feeling it this week. It's Adam Thielen. You're feeling it? I'm feeling good.

He gets to play the- It's not even, you can't even tell what he's saying anymore. I think he said he's feeling good. Yeah. I said I'm feeling good, buddy, whatever. Close enough. He gets to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This is a bold take after last week. Yes, and that is, that's why I'm going with the start of the week of Adam Thielen. Last week was so unbelievably bad. Huge turns. How bad was it? Well, the coach lost his job afterwards. With the turnaround, I expect that they will get back to Adam Thielen. And then the matchup. The bucks ranked 27th and expected points per pass attempt. 29th and schedule adjusted points to wide receiver. I am taking the three target one reception game and I'm throwing it in the garbage because he was averaging over 10 targets a game. All right. Jason, go ahead. I'm pairing with my quarterback start of the week. I want Brandon Ayuk against Philadelphia. The matchup is perfect. I just talked about that.

The Eagles rank 31st and scheduled just a fantasy points to wide receivers. Just do all the same stats again. Yeah. Here are the wide receivers averaging 85 receiving yards and 40% of their team's air yards. Tyreek Hill, AJ Brown, Jamar Chase, and Brandon Ayyuk. He's like, he's an elite player. Obviously the Niners don't always need him, but this match. That's the crazy thing is he's got those numbers, but they don't always need him. It's like they opt into him on certain weeks. And this is a week I think they're going to opt into him. In fact, part of the reason I think that is what we saw. A couple weeks ago, they played Tampa Bay. And Tampa Bay is very similar to Philly. They're great at stopping the run. You really have to throw on them. And so what did they do? They threw on them. And Brandon and you had an awesome game.