Starts of the Week + Frightful Weather, Tilt Time - Fantasy Football Podcast for 12/22

you know, it's ironic because you have a handful of guys that are in the same tier, the same caliber of tight end that are all dealing with this. We just talked about Cole Commet. You have Evan Ingram, David and Joku, like a lot of these players who are in that questionable streaming category that all have bad weather. So when you're looking at, well, what's the tiebreaker? Usually Josh Allen is a good one, but it's hard to have confidence in receiving options in a game like this. Yeah. Yeah. Devin Singletary, James Cook, running backs for the bills. I like both of them in this game. The eight point, you know, that's a big gap. The weather, the chance of this game is put away early. I think Devon Singletary and James Cook will both get opportunities. I have, you know, what if you're choosing Rahim Mostert this week or either of these?

running backs for the bills. Sure. We need another update on Rahim Moster as he was not seen in, I think that was the latest report we had, that he was not seen in the open portion of practice. That doesn't rule him out by any stretch for the weekend. He could just be getting a rest day. But James Cook, man, after the, we had, you know, that two-week stretch where he had 11, or I'm sorry, 13 opportunities against Cleveland. Seven against Detroit, up to 20 against the Patriots. And it's gone down since then, you know, the five against the Jets, eight against Miami. That's total opportunities. Four and five carries. I have, I struggle with the, with the trajectory of James Cook in the importance of you can't get this wrong.

I don't think I'm putting James Cook in unless I'm really desperate. Yeah, Singletary, if you look at his carries per game, you had that down game with eight, but outside of that, 13 this last week, 13, the week before the 8, 14, 18, 13, you know, he's pretty consistent with getting enough work to have a baseline. That being said, if he doesn't get touchdowns, his upside is limited. You would expect that they're going to run a little bit more. So I think he's in flex consideration. Singletary is, I would play Singletary over Cook, even though Cook is. the more explosive athlete. And to go back to the question about Rahim Mostert, I looked up the official injury report. He was listed for Wednesday, did not participate with a Veterans Day of Rest, non-injury relief. Perfect. And reminder of the practice reports this week are pretty wacky because you have all the Saturday games, but Mostert is a Sunday game. So his Wednesday report was a true Wednesday report.

So much to deal with. All over the place. Are you officially benching Gabe Davis based on the weather report recent history? Yeah. I'm full bench Gabe Davis. David Montgomery's back into your lineup. Yes. And then Justin Fields has been the quarterback one since week six. So if he's active, you play him. Oh, man. You just need him to run all over the place. Yeah. Try to keep this game competitive so that Josh Allen has to do more than take a few knees. New Orleans is five and nine. They take on the Cleveland Browns, who are six and eight. The Drafking Sportsbook line, Cleveland minus two and a half. The over-under is 32 and a half. Oh, man. Gross. Chris Olavis, hasn't practiced in a couple days. You can't play Chris Oliva in this game. I don't think. I know you've counted on him and you would hope that you can, but they are so banged up. Chris Oliva with the hamstring. Jarvis Landry is banged up. Andy Dalton is Andy Dalton. I mean, Alvin Camara.

you can play. Taysam Hill, you know, if you've got to run the football, he's probably going to have seven to eight opportunities on the ground. I agree. A couple pass attempts or pretend pass attempts. And then if you are looking for tight end, touchdown only upside, Juan Johnson is there. Yes, it's very sketchy. Over on the other side, Nick Chubb, should he play? He's in your lineup. But for Kareem Hunt, who I believe the number is he averages, you know, 18 to 19. touches or so in games where he has started for Nick Chubb. Where does Kareem Hunt slot in should Nick Chub miss the game? To me, he slots in as a running back two, probably a lower end running back two. I would play him ahead of Travis E.T.N because the matchup is a little bit better. We won't know that. Well, sure. I mean, that's impossible. So like Najee Harris against the Raiders or the Kareem Hunt.

I think I would stick with Najee. We've seen Cream Hunt let us down a time or two. And with this new Voldemort-led Brown's team that hasn't scored any touchdowns, I mean, they've scored what? People's Jones got one last week. They've got a couple of touchdowns in three weeks. With this kind of weather, I have a hard time really relying on him. But he is, he is certainly a startable asset if we know Chubb has ruled out. I doubt he's ruled out, but obviously back-to-back did not participate means it's a real possibility. Well, and there is the middle ground. There's the Nick Chubb is active, but they give more workload to Kareem Hunt. So you could have a split backfield situation there, which would be a little bit frustrating when you consider the defensive matchup and the weather.

You're benching the wide receivers for Cleveland, both of them, Cooper and Donovan People's Jones. Personally, if I can, I can bench him, I'm going to. The Saints, it's not a great matchup for tight ends on the season 5th in adjusted points. You're trying to get out of this game if you can. Yes. Houston's 112 and 1. They take on the Tennessee Titans who are 7 and 7. The Draft King Sportsbook line here is Tennessee minus 3. I'm very tempted. Yeah, look, with Malik Willis is the starter. Andy's almost upset of the week. It honestly pains me because this is not the, the resume for the Titans is they handle their business. That's the Mike Rable recipe. But we've seen two very strong performances from Houston. They've kind of, I would say like piecemeal this offense together despite having no weapons, figuring out how to get the ball down the field. You know, you lose Nico Collins.

You lose Damien Pierce, you lose Brandon Cooks, and then you compete with Kansas City, and you compete with Dallas. It's weird. And then Malik Willis is just, he's just not it right now. No. And so you have to vastly limit the game plan. Like, I mean, look at the line. Tennessee minus three at home. That tells you a lot as well. Overrunner is just 35 and a half. I think it'll be competitive. Neither team is projected for 20 points. And that doesn't mean I want to play a Texan. It just means that I think this game will be close. And it's more simple for fantasy than we believe. I mean, Malik Willis, they threw the ball 35% of the time in his two starts. The wide receivers had a combined. Is this true, Kyle? Yeah, I double-checked it. This is the most shocking number I've ever seen. In two starts, the wide receivers for the Tennessee Titans combined for 1.6 total fantasy points.

It was just Robert Woods. That's it. He's the only one that caught. So like a catch? A catch for Robert Woods in two games? It was two, but not good. So, I mean, you can't have confidence in anybody but Derek Henry on the tight on the Titan side. The implied team total for the Tennessee Titans is 19 points, which means the implied, uh, point, NFL point total for Derek Henry is about 19 points. Right. Yeah. Hopefully three touchdowns missed. Last four games versus Houston, 211 and 3, 212 and 3, 250 and 2, 219 and 2. I mean, that's insane. Your worst game against Houston was 219 and 2. Yeah, get it together. That's your worst game. Yeah, 219 rushing yards and two touchdowns. That's all you got, Henry. We want more. I want 303. Yeah, I think it's reasonable to ask at this point. He settled into kind of stagnation.

Yeah. How rude. It is funny. In this game, I think genuinely, for semi-championship week, you're starting Derek Henry, and that's it from both teams. Now, that's not to say that there aren't diamonds in the rough to be found. Jordan Aikins and a DFS dart throw type of, you know, someone is going to throw the ball on Tennessee. But for normal playoff home leagues, your main fantasy leagues, I don't think you're playing a single asset outside of Derek Henry. Yeah, Brandon Cooks did practice in full. He is expected to make a return. Chris Moore, I think, will be out there as well. What's been interesting is Chris Moore's production has come in the slot, except for when Nico Collins and Brandon Cooks were out. So he may move back into the slot Brandon Cooks on the outside. Not a lot of confidence. The running back matchup is terrible in the running back committee for the Houston Texans. It's very messy. Yeah, you can't start anybody. Including Royce Freeman now. That says it all. Yeah, I don't think there's.

I don't think there's a safe volume bet for the Texans. We did get breaking news that Nick Chubb and Miles Garrett are back at practice today. That's big. Yeah. So Nick Chubb should have an opportunity to get out there. The Seattle Seahawks at 7 and 7 now taking on the 11 and 3 Kansas City Chiefs, Peach Cobbler, Andy Reed, head to head. Kansas City minus 10 is the Draft King Sportsbook line. The overrunners, 49 points. Kansas City first and pass rate over expectation, fourth highest pass rate when leading. They've determined now that their best running game is to also use the passing game and just let Jerich McKinnon take short dump-offs and run wild. I like both running backs for Kansas City this week. Sure. And we will talk about them later.

McKinnon, two straight weeks at number one. Seattle's 31st on the season against opposing running backs. 32nd over the last six weeks, upping the ante, trying to take the top spot for the best matchup against running backs. And this is the coldest game of the week, not necessarily the coldest feels like because it's not as windy, but this is going to be in the single digits. This is an exceptionally cold. game, that will mean that the tackling of running backs will be a little bit more difficult. I think that's part of why we like Walker, Pacheco, and McKinnon. Now, Seattle, you talked about Gino Smith, that situation. The implied point total here is the same as the Titans game. So they're at 19.5 implied points. Gino Smith has an opportunity, but it's D.K. Metcalfi has to lean on, and I am a little nervous about this.

You know, the Chief's matchup by nature, they score a lot so they give you an opportunity to kind of accumulate, I would say. And so that's a very big possibility. But I guess I'm nervous with the fact that you don't have Tyler Lockett, who is such a third down go-to receiver. Goodwin's banged up. Kenneth Walker's missing practice. And, you know, it's been a while since we've seen the elite performances from him. I think I might stand opposed to your guys' perspective on the Seattle side in this game where I just think the weapons being an arrowhead, the cold weather, I'm not optimistic anymore. For Gino. Yeah, I'm not as optimistic for Gino and the offense. Like, I think Metcalf is a must start. Like, he's guaranteed 10 to 15 targets in this game trying to keep up. And that might be enough, right, to make Gino.

you know, solid. But I guess I'm just nervous of the downside that I didn't see before the loss of Lockett and Goodwin potentially. Yeah, I totally see that point of view. Just a quick reminder here. Russell Wilson, quarterback three on the week. Russell Wilson, quarterback three. In not a full game against the Kansas City Chiefs, he completed 23 passes, 250 yards, three touchdowns. This team is not only beatable, but it's so necessary that I will still continue. Gino Smith leads the NFL in completion rate. He's playing fantastic. Would be far more confident should. Pro bowler, Gino Smith, is what you meant to say. Oh, there you go. I'd be far more confident should Tyler Lockett be out there.

We still need more status on Marquis Goodwin, who, if you recall, Marquis Goodwin back when D.K. Metcalf had to leave the game. Goodwin was the one who stepped up, had himself a fine time. Good enough. Good enough in this matchup against the Chiefs. Good enough win. So nice. Nice. So I still have in this, in the craziness of this week, of scrambling to trying to find a quarterback. I still have the confidence in Gino. At the end of the games, regardless of whether the Kansas City Chief's defense plays better or looks good or has some pass rush this game, I'm looking at their game logs, schedule adjusted for their opponent. There's been one game all year that they have actually been effective and caused a bad game for their quarterback.

That quarterback was Malik Willis, the backup quarterback for the Tennessee Titans. Houston scored seven more fantasy points than their usual output against them. Obviously, Russell Wilson did. You just talked about that. So I'm genuinely struggling because this freezing temperature game without the weapons, Annie, I find myself more and more where you're saying you were, where you go. DK McHoff probably isn't enough by himself. You know, Tyler Lockett's, you know, 1110 touchdown season pace. You delete that out. I need Goodwin to step up. It's ironic because my opponent this week picked up Goodwin to play. But I'm more upset of losing Goodwin because I want to have a quarterback. It's tough. I mean, I hear the numbers. But if you're short-handed at wide receiver, what is the, where does Pete Carroll go?

What does he always do? He retracts into that running game. Sure. And what do you do against the Chiefs to beat him? Take the ball out of their hand. So you're going to try to run the football. It's going to be a tall task. It's going to be a fun game to see the outcome of Patrick Mahomes. You play him. We already talked about the running backs. Juju and no one else at the wide receiver room for the Chiefs? Correct. Travis Kelsey. Yep. You're in on Kelsey this week? Not only will I start Travis Kelsey. It's a great matchup. And I think he'll be.

Top 10 for sure. Start of the week. Yeah, I would make him start. He's going to be the year. Yeah, start of the year this week. He will absolutely dominate the Seahawks. I was genuinely disappointed with 10 for 105 last week from Travis. I think that's the standard that he has put. Oh, so snooty. I know. I mean, if you have an interest in in this game. A hundred yards. Travis. Going good for fantasy. You need Seattle's offense to do the job. So I like hearing that you have confidence in that. The Giants rate 5 and 1. They take on the Minnesota Vikings who are 11 and 3. The drafting sports book line here, Minnesota, minus 4 and a half, the over under is 48. We already have one of the best quotes of the year. I don't know if you guys caught this one yesterday. No. Wink Martindale, the Giants defensive coordinator, he was being asked against going against Kevin O'Connell's Vikings. He said, quote,

It's unfair. I'm the blue collar guy going against Harry Styles. Oh, yes. I like it. I like it. Kevin O'Connell's the new hotness. This guy's name's wink. So we're where we need to be. Is it? Okay. That plays really well on podcasts. No, it's, it's not. It's a strange thing to like, you go like, what nickname could I go with? Well, I know. I'll go with that game show guy. Wink? Yeah, Wink Martindale was a game show host. Really? Yes. That exact name? Yes. What is, what is Wink Martindale's true first name, Kyle? The game show host? No, no, no, no. Because that's Winston, but I'll get to the coach. Wait, you don't know the NFL coach, but you know the real name for Wink Martindale and he didn't get the one he wanted. I'm sure. Correct, correct. I'm sure that's what that is. But no, do some.

What was that? What is that? Was that supposed to be a game show sound? That's wink. Did you? Oh, that's a wink? That's a wink. Oh, is that from the spitballers whenever we? Let's hear it. Let's hear it again. Yeah, we pulled that thing off a napster. Okay. Yeah, let's leave the guns out of it. Jason triggered him, man. It's not me. Okay. This has gone off the reels. Kurt Cousins, 404 last week. Greatest comeback in history. Dalvin Cook, he looked great. on the ground last week. It's amazing how the- John Martindale. And he went to wink. Yeah. He's like, hey, that game show guy, he's got something going on. I'm that guy. I'm guessing maybe when he was younger, somebody chose that. Dalvin Cook, I want to mention this. If you notice what happened last week when the game was in peril.

You couldn't find Alexander Madison. They had him escorted to another adjacent stadium. I mean, there were no snaps to be had. When push came to shove, it was all Dalvin Cook. So you like to see that. You like to see his performance in the screen game. I still think they have not gone to that enough. And that is why Dalvin has not been a weekend and week out guarantee. But maybe they will after they see that success. This is a good matchup now. We've gone from bad matchup giants in the beginning of the year to... completely bona fide great matchup for all opposing offenses. Yeah, they allow the highest yards per carry of any team in the league. Dalvin Cook will have chunk play after chunk play after chunk play. He was, I mean, if you've got him in the playoffs, you're sitting pretty. Justin Jefferson, yes, sir. Are we chasing the KG Osborne? I feel like there are people out there that want to do this. Look, they were down 33 to nothing last week.

They had to throw the ball an insane amount, 460 plus passing yards for Dalvin Cook just to try to get back in, or for Kirk Cousers, just to try to get back in this game. I am not personally chasing the KJ Osborne breakout in the fantasy playoffs. If you want to pick them up and maybe hope that there's been a change, okay, but last week was a, like a legitimate, I mean, it was the biggest comeback in NFL history. It's an outlier game. Previously. On the entirety of the season, KJ Osborne has surpassed 50 receiving yards one time. And that was back in week three. Yeah, just one of those. I'm not chasing. Yeah, I agree. Darius Slayton on the other side at the wide receiver in the wide receiver room. Tough week last week against a very good Washington defense. But Richie James, Isaiah Hodgins, those are more possession receivers. Darius Slayton is your electricity, is your lightning bolt.

Do we see a big game from Darius Slayton against the 32nd rank Vikings defense? Well, are you talking about like when you adjust for schedule on the course of the year? Or are you talking about like over the last six weeks? I'm guessing they're dead last in both. They are dead last in both. So how do you, how might one muster the courage against the Andrew Luck Monster to bench a player like, I don't know, Zay Jones and roll out Darius Slayton this week? Is that the kind of. Okay. We go live. It's me and Zay Jones. I can barely see you through the rain and the wind. Bitch me. I'm blowing away. Is that the kind of convincing that you needed, Kyle? You already got there with this. Oh, I bench Zay early in the week. I'm all Team Slayton. Gosh, dang it. I need to do that, don't I? Okay. Okay. So, since the bye week... Other than sounds, how can you convince me? Well, this is Darius Slayton. So since the bye week...

Houston, you know, plus matchup for offenses and wide receivers. We had wide receiver 11 because he hit the big play. Next week against Detroit, plus matchup, wide receiver 22. Dallas, tough, 49, Washington, not great, wide receiver 24. Philly, tough, 59, Washington, 57. Since the by week when he's had a plus matchup, He has come through for fantasy purposes. And that's what he feels like to me, someone who can take advantage of the worst perimeter defense in the NFL. You just have to have the big play with him. Yeah, it takes one play. He has been seeing volume, you know, in that time. Seven targets even last week. In that time period, I was quoting since the by week, he is averaging six targets a game, which you guys sound like me a few weeks ago. This is where I was with Darius Slayton before.

a couple of bad games as I was constantly in his corner. You were hoping that he was matchup proof, but he's not. Yeah, and you also have a situation where Minnesota is going to score at home. So you look at this and you can't, they can't ride, take one Barkley. So, you know, Darius Slate and playoff hero, could we be there? Mike thinks so. I mean, possible because next week is the Coles. Daniel Jones, solid streamer this week because of the matchup, the over under's 48 points. We're not getting a lot of that this week. Nope. Thank you, Dome. Oh, thank you, Dome. I was just looking this up. Right now, it is negative eight degrees in Minneapolis with a winter storm warning. Oh, man. Irrelevant. Irrelevant. As long as they can get there. There is a roof. Thank you. Yeah, this could be one of the better games of the week. So Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson.

Hawkinson. Hawkinson is great. Yeah, with all the... Ready to Rockinson? Well, I don't know that he's a great player. No, no, no, no. He's a great play. Yes, should have the targets and has the weather. Are you hawking around the Christmas tree? Oh, possible. Possible. I can see it. That's all I got for you. Cincinnati, 10 and 4, New England, 7 and 7. Draft King Sportsbook line. Cincinnati minus 3. The overrunners 41 and a half. We're back. We're back. Get that low over under. Yeah. Get that cold weather game. Cincinnati, six straight wins, getting healthier, playing well, battling back, getting it done. New England. Lateral, lateral, lateral. What do you do here, guys? I mean, you're starting your Cincinnati Bengals. You are. You may not love the Patriots matchup, but Jamar Chase T. Higgins are in. Joe Mixen, play him with one eye.

closed two eyes closed yeah last two games 16 and 17 opportunities yet on the year 30% of his fantasy production came in one game joe burrow you could do better than the new england matchup but you're you have joe burrow for a reason it's really ironic joe mixon's baseline is pretty good you know i can't see him getting fewer than seven fantasy points he just touches the ball too much But if he doesn't get in the end zone, his ceiling seems like it's like 12 points. And I'm sitting here comparing him to someone in my head like Devin Singletary. We look at Joe Mixing as a superstar. And Devin Singletary is like a bench guy that maybe you can flex in. But they seem like they've got similar outputs this week, especially when you're factoring in the Patriots defense and, you know, what they've done to running backs on this season.

Yeah, it's the opportunities that I'm going to lean on there. I don't disagree with the potential outputs at all. I worry that you could get what you got two weeks ago with James Cook or three weeks ago where suddenly he pops in and Singletary pops out just because of matchups. I don't know. I think Mixing's got to be in your lineup. Yeah, I mean, I'm trying to look at options, players that you might have. And what we're talking about. You know, that would be an interesting conversation. So there's, there's three players that popped out to me and they are, I don't know, spoiler, whatever. You're on the episode. But it's our three starts of the week. Like I would start all three of our starts of the week over Joe Mixon, which is you're going to have to wait. A couple more minutes to find out who they are. That's that for a protease. Perfect. Remandre, play him. 172 yards last week.

The Bengals on the year 22nd against running backs, even though they've been better of late. You play Ramandre. We have a limited practice for Damian Harris. We thought we were getting him back last week, so I would not be surprised if he's ruled out again. Mac Jones, don't think about it. Whiteouts, don't think about it. Hunter Henry, only if you're desperate. I've got my start of the week, which I'm not telling you yet, I'd play over Hunter Henry, which is a deep cut. The way I'm playing... We're telling you nothing on this show, by the way I'm playing Hunter Henry is if my fantasy tight end is in one of the wind games. Dawson Knox or Hunter Henry? Oh, wow. That's Knox for me. I would definitely go Knox. I think I would land on Knox. Injoku or Hunter Henry. I'd go to Hunter Henry. Okay, because that's the big weather game. Detroit 7 and 7.

Carolina is five and nine. The Driving Sportsbook line, Detroit, minus three. Over under is 43 and a half. I mean, let's go lions. Yeah, this is the new America's team. I feel like everyone is rooting for the lions. Guns Mahoney. They are so fun to watch. They are so likable to a person. I mean, if you don't like the lions. then you must be a divisional? No, you have DeAndre Swift on your fantasy football team. Because I want to love the lions. I want like the redemption story of Jared Goff just shipped out of town, playing great, could play. I mean, what was the record? It was like one and six and now they turned it around where they can make the playoffs. I can't remember the exact numbers. You're seven and seven right now and they have their destiny. But they opened up the season just buried. And.