Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - Week 15 Matchups, In-or-Out, Playoff Decisions

I'm not giving up on Booker for next year, but C.J. Anderson is sitting on the couch and just cackling. Thomas and Sanders, you're fine with him? Oh, yes. Yes. So on the other side, I mean, you talk about a difficult situation for fantasy owners, right? Very difficult. A lot of people in playoffs right now have shares of tons of Patriots. I mean, Brady and Blunt and Edelman, Malcolm Mitchell. I mean, everything has to just.

You're taking a percentage off the top of all these numbers. Yeah, your upside is slightly limited. I still love. Broncos number one in pasturating. They only give up a pass rating of 68. But then on the complete on the flip side, the Broncos are 29th against the run in terms of yardage. I love Legerat Blunt this week. We saw a, I don't remember what year that was last year, a couple years back.

The Patriots went into Denver, and Denver's run defense was, you couldn't move the ball, a single yard on them. And they didn't. All they did was throw. All they did was throw, and Tom Brady ended up with a decent fantasy game because Bill Belichick doesn't mess around with that. He doesn't say, well, I have to do this. And Bill Belichick says, okay, well, this is what I can get done. So that I love Blunt. I'm okay with Edelman. There's been a, I believe, five.

wide receivers who have actually scored a touchdown on Chris Harris, the slot DB. Edelman's one of those guys. So, you know, it's kind of a, at least I got that going for me. This is some news. Oh, breaking news. Darren Sprouls has been ruled out. Ooh, it's time. You ready for Ryan Matthews? Oh, I was born ready for Ryan Matthews. You and you alone. That's fine.

Make that money, Ryan. The Oakland Raiders travel to San Diego. Say a reminder, Wendell Smallwood's on IR. Yeah. Ryan Matthews. Yeah, he could, he could win some, win some games. I'm actually curious. I'm looking here now real quick. What his ownership percentages? Yeah, I want to see where he's, what his ownership is. I bet it's in the 60s. 72%. A little bit off. A little bit off. All right. Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers.

This game's in San Diego. Weather is not going to be a problem. What are the storylines from this game that you want to talk about? Because obviously Derek Carr disappointed. Cooper and Crabtree disappointed, but you were talking about a tough circumstance playing in Kansas City. I can't help but really like Latavius Murray again in this game because he has been a workhorse in every sense of the word and he's getting into the end zone. This offense is just too potent to prevent him from having those opportunities. That used to be the storyline for Oakland is.

Good running back, but low amount of red zone opportunities. Those days are gone. Right. So what do you see here as the debate for fantasy owners in this game? The storyline to me is Kenneth Farrell. What can we expect with Kenneth Farrow? Gordon expected to miss this week. You have Farrow. You have Hillman. Farrow is all things point to him being the heavier workload.

of the two, but will he get enough and can he get enough done against the Raiders to have fantasy impact? You have to imagine Farrow will be out there in all situations in which Blitz pickup aren't the focus. So it's like Hillman third down guy, maybe. Maybe. So if you're a Melvin Gordon owner, you're almost, and you got Farrow, you were, you were lucky enough to get him.

it's almost a foregone conclusion that you have to plug him in. Yeah, that's true. But let's say you're a different team and you just happen to pick up Farrow and you have usable running backs on your roster. Where is the line that you say, okay, well, this guy who's been starting for me, I'm going to play Farrow over that. Are you going to play him over Doug Martin against Dallas? No. You're going to play him over Kenneth Dixon against Philly? Yes. Crowell against Buffalo? No.

Okay. So there's, there's a few names for you. Antonio Gates. Chasing Records. You're cool with him? Yep. You guys are friends. We're buddies. Tyrol Williams, Dantrell-L-Inman. Who'd you rather start between those two? Man, that's a tough one. I play Inman. I'm going to stay in the six catch flames of Dantrell-A-Mitt. Yeah, the shoulder, the torn labor for Williams is really slow. He gets deep at least once a game. But it's really slowed him down where he was.

I mean, he was looking very strong for fantasy for the playoffs. I think I'm with you. I would play him in. I want the volume. Michael Crabtree is my start of the week. If you go look at the numbers, Amari Cooper had a great game against San Diego last time they played with 138 yards, I think, in a touchdown. For me, I think the circumstances have changed a little bit here. I expect Cooper to get more of Hayward. And as a result, I think Crabtree returns to that 7-8 catch mark.

7-8 and a touchdown. I mean, I really like Michael Crabtree this week, but I really, I'd still start Cooper. It's just I have Crabtree rated a little bit higher based on the matchup. Fair. You know, the Raiders are giving up a lot. I mean, this is their one problem, is that they are having to turn it on on the offensive side of the ball at some point to kind of usurp the other team at the end of the game. So 49 point over-under, can you start Phillip Rivers here? I would.

I would. I know he's been in just an interception machine. Does the lack of Melvin Gordon force him into a heavier passing offense? Not really. I don't think so. All right. Sunday night football game, Buccaneers and Cowboys. This is the, well, this is the game I said, I believe that. Well, let's just go right here. I mean, this makes so much sense. What's that? Oh. Andy's almost upset of the wig.

I have to go with that one. I already bet Jason that Tampa would win this game. Yeah. And the Cowboys are favored by a touchdown. I think I'm with you on the almost upset. I think it's going to be an upset, upset. Yeah. It wouldn't shock me. Would not shock me. Dak Prescott. I don't want to play him.

I do not want to play. Yeah, I mean, because you really buy into the second half Buccaneers defense. It reminds me a lot of how last year Houston started so poorly. Second half, they were a different D. And if you just looked at the overall numbers, you'd say, okay, well, they're 21st against the run on the year. They're 16th against the pass on the year. But now they've moved themselves into the middle of the pack on the overall rankings and played very well of late. This game is a 46.5 point over under. I think it'll probably be lower. Yeah.

You know, you never sit Zeke, so you're playing Zeke. You don't sit Evans, so you're playing Evans. Do you sit Des? No, probably no. No. So. Des is a guy that I just, I would never sit. But are you, what's the, what's the confidence meter at for James Winston? It's not high. I may have them as an upset, but I'm not excited about him going up against this Cowboys defense that, you know. Kirk Cousins said that they're not very good.

The Cowboys? Yeah, on Thanksgiving when he just dismantled their secondary. Oh, he didn't actually say that. Well, he said it with his play. Okay. So they're beatable. They're exploitable. But was that game in Dallas? Yeah, it's Thanksgiving. So it's home for Dallas. That's right. But the question for me now has become, are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers transforming their team? Because they were.

Everything was their defense was not great to start the year. It was all through the past. James Winston was always having to carry the team through the air. I mean, he was having some monster yardage games, monster efficient or fantasy games. But now that the defense has turned on. And Doug Martin is back. They've said, there's nothing wrong with Doug Martin. The poor running is, they're putting it on the offensive line, which I think is fair to put more of it on the line.

But they're still giving Martin that 20 plus carries because they're trying to grind out the games now. I completely agree. Which limits Winston's upside. Winston had 184 yards and no touchdowns against New Orleans last week. One touchdown the week before against San Diego. This has not been, and that directly impacts Mike Evans. I mean, obviously that's corollary. Evans can still have a fine game. Well, at the same time, you don't want to play Winston, which stinks because I was ready. I was ready for James Winston.

this entire playoffs i mean i was waiting for him for weeks but the transformation of this team i don't think can be ignored i agree i agree and and so you have confidence in doug martin to give you enough of volume i have confidence for volume and i know that he can break one off but the the cowboys run defense is pretty good cameron bray you're rolling out there yeah i'll still play him yeah he's in our top ten tight-ins

Monday night football matchup between the Carolina Panthers and the Washington Redskins, the aforementioned Kirk Cousins, who you just plain old love this week. I love him. I love him. 51 point over under. I'd start Newton and Cousins in this game without a lot of fear. But who would you start over the other? I'd start Cousins over Newton. You're darn right. Yeah. I would. I would. Once again, a reminder to everybody why we don't draft quarterbacks early, people.

It's because things change. I mean, my favorite quarterback right now going into next year is actually Andrew Luck. That's fine. That's fine. But he's not the number one or close to it this year. So, I mean, it just varies so much. So don't draft him early. Don't grab Cam Newton in the first, please. For me the sake. Robert Kelly Confidence level. Decent. Decent. Luke Keekley is practicing.

We'll see. Got him in that RB2 range. Yeah, but I'm saying if Lou Keekley is out, he gets a slight bump for sure because Keekly is a downgrade factor against running backs. But the volume will be there. Let's say, so Rob Kelly or Jeremy Hill? Rob Kelly. I would play Rob Kelly as well. Yeah, good question. And they're kind of the same type of guy where they're not really known for their pass catching, although Rob Kelly.

He flashed some skill after reception last week. We laughed because we all yelled. He caught it. Yeah. Okay. Jordan Reed, what's up with Rule 86? You buying in this week? I want to see some updates. I know he practiced yesterday. We haven't gotten really any insight from the beat reporters who, to be fair, really screwed everybody. That was very disappointing of them to say.

He's going to be heavily involved after being the one saying, well, he looks like he's in extreme amounts of pain during practice. So I want to see what his comfort level has been. But for me personally, I have Jordan Reed. I grabbed Vernon Davis as a backup just in case because it's the Monday night football because I'm playing Jordan Reed. Right. And if he's out, you're playing Davis. Yeah. And I don't mind that. I mean, the situation that fantasy owners find themselves in with tight ends.

is, I mean, what's your alternative to playing Jordan Reed? To play somebody that gets you a few points? Yeah. I mean, worst case scenario, Reed lets you down again, which is rare, right? He's never really done that when you've had to roll him out there. Right. Best case scenario, you have a game-winning, tight end, a difference maker at the position. I just don't want to give that away.

because of fear or what happened last week. Even if he lets you down, even if he gets you three points. I mean, Jimmy Graham last night got owners three points. Right. Well, and toss this in here, the Panthers are, at least in our scoring format, dead last giving up points to the tight end. So the matchup is delightful. Last week, I mean, that was the Eagles. The Eagles are one of the tougher opponents for the tight end to score points on. You even saw Jordan Reed played 10 snaps. Vernon Davis still didn't do anything.

So it was, they had completely eliminated the tight end. Well, the Panthers, they just can't stop him. So as the Jordan Reed owner, just telling you, I'm playing him. So if we go down with Jordan Reed, we're going down together. There you go. There you go. Deshaun Jackson is your start of the week at the wide receiver position. You like him in this game. Panthers are 30 against the past in terms of points giving up. Yep. And I like crowd air. Yeah. I mean, they give up almost two.

touchdown passes a game. So, I mean, it's, it's the 51 point over under, which, and this one I agree with. I think that that's right about on. Yeah, I think it could be a shootout for sure. Yeah, Washington's defense is not the best. And they're at, they're at home. So maybe their, their defense plays a little bit better at home. But I like everyone from Washington. Do you want to, do you want to do a couple mailbag questions? Sure. Mail bag. Mail bag. Yeah. No, Jace.

No Jason. No Jason mailback. All right, let's do a couple of voicemail questions here. See if I can pull one up. Hi, this is Scott from Green Bay, Wisconsin. I'm a huge fan of the show. Just a quick question about playoffs. Do you think it's fair to award a point advantage for, say, the way you finish in the regular seasons? So the way we set up our league is the...