Push to the Playoffs - Last Week of the Regular Season - Week 14 News & Injuries - Starts & Sits for Week 14 - TNF Preview

What could be the impact of significant quarterback injuries on your fantasy football season? As we gear up for the final week of the regular season, Frankie and Johnny navigate through the field of potential game-changers. From Trevor Lawrence's possible playoff absence to Christian Kirk's temporary break, we cover all the bases. Not to forget, we've got some heartfelt thanks to share with our listeners for joining us on this journey of incredible podcast growth.

Imagine the ripple effect of Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback Kenny Pickett's injury on the league. How would Tampa Bay Buccaneers' wide receiver Mike Evans' remarkable achievement change the game? We discuss these and more in our latest news and updates segment. Plus, don't miss out on our analysis of Breece Hall and Justin Herbert's present scenario or our advice on your team's strategy. 

Got a critical fantasy football decision to make? We've got you. As the New England Patriots face off against the Pittsburgh Steelers, we highlight the ones to watch and provide insights on who to start and who to sit. We'll also answer your burning start/sit questions, while analyzing potential game-changers like running backs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren. So buckle up for an engaging conversation brimming with insightful updates and advice to help you ace your fantasy football season.

Thanks for Listening! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBPAVRUduAUqHORYenFfo9w

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:21

Alright, alright, alright, welcome to the show. This is the Franklin Fantasy football podcast. We are your hosts, frankie and Johnny. Frankie, welcome to the final week of the regular season in fantasy. You still in, brother, you in the playoffs. What's going on?

Speaker 2: 0:41

Oh, baby, as right now, technically speaking, I'm still in all four leagues, John, which is impressive to even say. However, there's one week, actually two leagues, that I'm fighting. It's a win, I'm in if I lose them out this week. So how about you, man? How are you looking?

Speaker 1: 1:01

I am winning in or losing out everywhere it's. I've never been in this situation, man. But you know, listen, first of all, we've got a disadvantage on fantasy because we're telling everybody what we're going to do, what our strategies are, and I've seen. Then you go straight to the waiver wire, you go straight to the line.

Speaker 1: 1:19

You see everybody making the moves and advice that we have in our leagues and I'm like shit man, that's a disadvantage for me, but I got to tell you this has been one of the weirdest fantasy football seasons I've ever had in my life. The injuries to the quarterbacks. It's one thing. If you're running back it's hurt. Okay, your running back gets hurt. It doesn't necessarily affect the entire team around them. These quarterback injuries have affected every player on the offense. Man, it's really been difficult. I mean rankings for next year, I don't know. Hey, guess what guys? Strategy for next year. I'm drafting two quarterbacks in a small quarterback league and I'm having a solid backup everywhere. I think the days of that are over. I think you need to have that now, man. It's insane.

Speaker 2: 2:00

John, and you know, what's interesting too is with even the rules in place now, even compared to the era of Tom Brady, go back even more so to Terry Bradshaw, montana, etc. The rules now even protect the quarterback even more. And it was funny because I was listening to what Tom Brady said and he said these rules are actually creating more problems for quarterbacks and players because now they're not being able to protect themselves the way they used to, knowing it hits coming or knowing that something else is happening. Comparatively, now they just assume that the ref is going to throw the flag and it's going to be a blown ball of dead. So it's really fascinating to your point to see things changing in the NFL, which is now bleeding into a draft strategy change for shit. We're now drafting two quarterbacks in a single quarterback league.

Speaker 1: 2:48

The other things are. It's the salary cap issues as well, chances of the salary cap over the past couple of years. You can't have a good quarterback sitting on your bench that you're paying. You just can't do it. You have to sacrifice for other pieces. But I think teams hopefully teams will adjust and GMs will adjust a little bit. Just seeing what has happened this year, I mean it's just destroyed teams. You lose Joe Burrow, destroy. You lose to Sean Watson, destroy. You lose Aaron Rodgers, whole shit, destroy Trevor Lawrence. We haven't even seen what's going to happen with that and we'll get into that real soon here.

Speaker 1: 3:20

Thank you so much, everybody for listening. I want to thank our watchers, our listeners, our audience. I don't think we appreciate you enough. Live on the podcast. I want to do that. The growth that we've had has been exponential this year and I'm so thankful, especially these last couple of weeks.

Speaker 1: 3:38

I know everybody's trying to get into their playoffs and we can see. Trust me, I look at the analytics every week. I know you guys are watching in this week because you want to know what the fuck you're supposed to do this week. We're going to get you back this week. All right, today, guys, we're going to talk. We're going to do a little Thursday night football preview. We're going to do a little ice and fire island of misfit toys. We're going to see some guys that did really shitty and what do we do with them for this week and through the playoffs, guys that were on fire. Frankie's going to let us know. Are they going to stay on the flames? Are they going to stay on fire? We'll find out, man. But first, as always, we're going to get to a little news baby. Okay, it was a bloodbath week. Man, this is not what everybody wants to hear.

Speaker 1: 4:28

Going into the last week when your life is on the line, your fantasy life is on the line this week, all right, first of all, we all saw Trevor Lawrence really bad injury when he went down and got back up and fell down. Did that not look exactly like Aaron Rodgers? First thing I thought was oh no, that's Achilles. Holy shit, he avoided serious injury. And then they show him walking off into the tunnel like a 90. It looked like Biden walking down the tunnel and I'm like would you get this guy a card? Yeah, franchise, he's the face of your franchise. Get him a card. What the fuck At home. They were at home, at home, yeah, exactly. Oh, my god, that was weird.

Speaker 1: 5:10

The good news is Trevor Lawrence he does avoid a serious injury. It looked so bad. It is a high ankle sprain. Though he's going to miss some time, it's likely you won't have him at all with a high ankle sprain through the playoffs. It's possible. We'll see what reports. It's still very early. We'll see what the reports are. Maybe he comes back for your championship if you're still in at that point. But to make plans to be without Trevor Lawrence, christian Kirk also left the game core muscled. He's going to miss a few weeks. Again, it's early, but they're saying it's going to be weeks that he misses. Frankie talked to me about the Jacksonville Jaguars moving forward now. I mean you're looking at week 14. Guys that have Calvin Ridley, guys that have Travis Etienne, guys that have Evan Ingram how is this affecting now with Bethard or Beat Hard is what I like to call him how is it going to affect them, man?

Speaker 2: 6:05

John, I actually think this is going to help Travis Etienne. I think that there's going to be quite a few more check downs. I think that this could open up the run game a bit more for him to actually come out and be more of a pure runner. For me, for those people that have held on to Travis Etienne, I like it. A guy that also others are not talking about but talking about, and I think that this could also bode well, is that of Durnis Johnson. John, we've seen Durnis come in and be very serviceable with Travis Etienne, with him being a little bit banged up here and there. Now I could see them knowing that the pressure is going to be on Etienne, knowing that the pressure could be on Calvin Ridley and Evan Ingram, like you mentioned. I can see them absolutely going more towards a Baltimore style of play, a little bit right when there's Gus Edwards, where there's Keaton Mitchell, where there's Justice Hill, right, things like that, where now, yes, you're going to get a heavy dosing of Travis Etienne, but, yes, you also might be getting hit as well with Durnis Johnson. For me, man, I think that this could be very interesting for those that have held on to Durnis or maybe it is Tank Spigsby. It seems like it is more Durnis at this point in time, but that could be really interesting down the stretch to get them to really stay competitive.

Speaker 2: 7:17

Why Trevor Lawrence is out, john, with Christian Kirk, obviously he's set him to the side. Now we're looking at Zay Jones, calvin Ridley, etc. And Agnew we could definitely see the emergence of Agnew once more, knowing that Kirk could be out. So for me, man, I think this is going to significantly hurt these other guys. Right, trevor Lawrence was phenomenal at being able to spread the ball around. He was targeting Calvin Ridley quite a bit, even though he had a really shit game. This past week we saw him target him more often than not. And then we saw, right, zay Jones do what Zay Jones does.

Speaker 2: 7:54

So the other person then is Evan Ingram. What does Evan Ingram look like? For me, man, I go back to watching Bethard, or Beat Hard in San Francisco. San Francisco with George Kittle, and that of CJ Bethard was awesome and fun fact. They played with each other at Iowa, those two guys. So now bringing Bethard over here, knowing that they have a dynamic Evan Ingram very similar, not as good as Kittle, but very similar in the way they run routes and things like that. John, this could actually benefit Ingram. So for me, man, I'm way more nervous on the receivers, I'm a little bit bullish on ETN and I'm kind of a lot a bit bullish actually on Evan Ingram as a nice safety blanket. So it's going to be really interesting how this shakes out. But I'm curious to know what you think in regards to Ingram and ETN specifically.

Speaker 1: 8:48

I think Zay Jones and Calvin Ridley. Unfortunately, I think they're dart throws. At this point you have to hope for a big play. I can't confidently put those guys out there. Calvin Ridley, with Trevor Lawrence, was already boom bust at that point. What I do think I'm with you on Travis ETN. I think it slows him down. I think he's going to have less scoring opportunities, but I still think he's going to be extremely involved. A lot of check downs, I think through the passing game he might be excellent.

Speaker 1: 9:15

I think the one guy it's Evan Ingram man. I'm looking at it right now watching the game. He targeted Evan Ingram constantly. This isn't a guy who's going to take a ton of deep shots. He's going to take that big target five yards down the field and try to get some yak after the play there. Evan Ingram just to let you know, he is the tight end. Three this week he was nine targets, nine catches, 82 yards and a touchdown. You get that out of a tight end that you may even be able to stream at this point. Check your waiver wires. So if Evan Ingram is sitting out there, pay everything you've got, get him. This is a guy who could really help you through the playoffs at the tight end position. Love it, man.

Speaker 1: 9:54

Okay, moving on here, ramon Dre Stevenson this hurt us both, man, this hurt us both. Ramon Dre Stevenson out quote weeks with a high ankle sprain. You're not going to see him in your fantasy playoffs. Here, guys, ramon Dre is going to be done. Really unfortunate, let's talk. He was really the only player you could play on the Patriots. Fun fact about the Patriots this week the Patriots covered the spread, frankie getting shut out. Have you ever heard of that in your life? No, I mean, they covered the spread. It was six. They covered the spread and got shut out. That's absurd, absolutely absurd. We'll get into. We'll skip to the Remandre news and talk about New England here, because we're going to talk about them on the Thursday night preview. So we'll get back to that here.

Speaker 1: 10:41

Pukinakua has a shoulder spray. Man, that guy has been a beast. I mean, is he playing like a warrior on the field or what man? He's incredible, incredible, like not good, incredible he is, and it's pretty clear that Cooper Cup is kind of in decoy mode right now. He's not healthy. He's not healthy. Pukka seems to be the first look that he really does, definitely, but he got a shoulder spray. Mcveigh does expect him to play Sunday versus the Ravens, so it doesn't sound like it's going to limit him at all. Is a tough matchup, but if you've got Pukinakua, you're definitely playing him. Man, he's had such an unbelievable season.

Speaker 1: 11:18

Derek Henry Weird news. Derek Henry is not in the concussion protocol, despite earlier reports. How many people freaked out, freaking out on their waivers, picking up Tajie Spears or other guys are going. I've been sitting on Tajie Spears, it's perfect. Yeah, sorry, guys, it's not happening. Derek Henry, just kidding, just kidding. Jk, he's fine. Yeah, derek Henry is going to be out on the field and man, he's a smash play this week and the next few weeks. He really is.

Speaker 1: 11:49

Kenny Pickett, pittsburgh Steelers, just dealing with some shit here. Man, kenny Pickett, he's out this week for Thursday Night Football. We'll talk about that. Drabisky is going to be starting, but Kenny Pickett had ankle scurvy. He's scheduled for ankle surgery, not going to be on IR as of now, but Kenny Pickett's done for the fantasy playoffs. That's just going to be over. Also, on Thursday Night Football we'll talk about that. Wow Banger of a matchup on Thursday Night Football this week, guys. Yeah, my God, all right, let's move on here. Mike Evans what a fantastic. You don't hear tons about Mike Evans. He's just kind of a silent warrior out there. Totally Mike Evans. What a milestone Achieved this past week. A thousand yards in every single season. He's played 10 years straight. Just super impressive man.

Speaker 2: 12:42

Jon, he could end up passing Jerry Rice Jerry Rice's record of 11 straight thousand yard seasons when that happened. There's a few key records that Jerry Rice holds receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, receiving yards especially. Nobody thinks that that's going to be able to be broken. It's one of those records. This was also one of those records that people never thought would even be remotely touched 10 seasons straight of a thousand yards or more. What Mike Evans has done, jon, it honestly might be even more impressive than Jerry Rice. The reason why I say that is because Jerry Rice had two Hall of Famer quarterbacks throwing him the ball. You go to Mike Evans. He said shit stains throwing him the ball. I looked at a thing, jon. It was Josh McCown, james Winston, baker Mayfield, kyle Trask right.

Speaker 1: 13:38

Fitz Magic, right Fitz Patrick, yeah, mike.

Speaker 2: 13:42

Lenin from NC State. Yes, yeah, just so. Flowers are due when something like this happens. And Mike Evans, fucking amazing work man, unbelievable.

Speaker 1: 13:54

I was trying to find a list of all of the quarterbacks Mike Evans has played with. Just a few of them like that you just named came up, but my God, he's done it with everyone. I mean, he really has. It's impressive man. That's off to you, that's off to you. Guys who might have them on your fantasy team. No kidding, I mean I think we're going to talk about just those guys that we talked about, with that solid floor, that solid foundation. Mike Evans is the epitome of that guy Totally is Derek Carr, quarterback for the New Orleans Saints and concussion protocol.

Speaker 1: 14:22

Again, he's going to miss guys. This is the second one in a month that he's had, so that it's not good. It's very likely James Winston will be starting this week. Does that? What does that do for you with the saints? They've got a really nice schedule coming up here for the playoffs. Do you think that hurts? A la va in any way? A la va and Kamara really basically the only guys you're going to be playing. Maybe throw in a little taste on hill here and there, but what do you think that's going to do with those guys?

Speaker 2: 14:49

John, I think it's going to actually help a la va. I really believe that and the reason being is because a la va, where he thrives, is his ability to run routes from the deep route perspective and we know, james, he's going to throw it up and give you a shot. So, with Michael Thomas out, john, with Rashid Shahid banged up to hell right, I could see a la va being absolutely the focal point and James giving him opportunity. So for me, man, I think this is huge for a la va owners and for Kamara. This is interesting because there's a part of me that kind of believes that it would hinder him a bit. Derek Carr is known to check it down quite a bit and that's where Alba Kamara has thrived.

Speaker 2: 15:31

But after last game, I think I'm okay, john. I think Alvin Kamara is still going to be Alvin Kamara, because James is also looking at him, because there's no other option in the receiving game. So I really think and again to the point of, he had eight targets last game alone. So, john, I think that this could. I don't think things are really going to change that much, if I'm being completely honest with you. If anything, I think that this is going to give them the ability to stretch the field a bit more, because James is going to air it out Now. Whether it's a pick or whether it's a completion, that's a different discussion, but if we're talking about giving your players an opportunity to succeed, especially from a fantasy perspective, dude a la va could be a grand slam play this week.

Speaker 1: 16:15

Love it. Great schedule moving forward too for the Saints players. You've got Carolina this week, then for your playoffs you've got the Giants, the Rams and Tampa Bay. Really nice schedule for those guys. Yeah, definitely. In fact, I think against that week 15 episode that we're going to do here first week of the playoffs. We might do a little, would you rather, with James Winston and some of these shit staying quarterbacks that I decided against. So we'll take a look at that here in the future. Guys, stay tuned.

Speaker 1: 16:41

Okay, amari Cooper, also in the concussion protocol. Keep an eye on him. It's early. Tank Dell man. This one sucks. Tank Dell fractures his leg. He is out for the season. It's a great rookie storyline this year and really looking forward to him next year, man. But as far as impact, what we're looking at here we've talked about this before I mean CJ shroud is a lock right now is starting for quarterback. Obviously Nico Collins man. I mean he's just been unbelievable 191 yards and touched on last week. I mean Nico Collins at this point is a must start. Who's going to be the second guy? Is this the week for Noah Brown?

Speaker 2: 17:21

Sure is, noah Brown now is a must start in fantasy football. How?

Speaker 1: 17:26

fucking nuts is that? Can you say that again? That's all week 14. Will these words ever be uttered? You know, noah Brown.

Speaker 2: 17:35

Noah Brown is a must start until further notice, john, without Tank Dell it is 100% the Nico Collins and Dalton Schultz show. Schultz has been banged up. And then what we saw when Tank Dell got hurt? Dude Noah Brown was being targeted, crazy man and trying to make some serious catches along the sideline. I mean almost toe tapped and an impossible catch, and it was brilliant. And so for me, yeah, dude, jump on board. Come on in, baby, the water's fine. Get you a little bit of Noah Brown and enjoy the ride.

Speaker 1: 18:13

Without Tank Dell or Nico Collins, when it was just two of them healthy, which that's where it's going to be this coming week Noah Brown had 21 points and 26 points in fantasy. I mean he was the wide receiver two and the wide receiver seven those two weeks. That was three weeks ago. So yeah, I'm with you on that, man. I mean you're looking at the Jets this week.

Speaker 1: 18:34

It is a difficult matchup but somebody's going to catch the ball. They're going to be throwing the ball. Yeah, it's very difficult to run on these guys as well, but you've also got in your playoffs. They've got Cleveland as well in the playoffs. That's going to be difficult, but they play Tennessee twice in the playoffs First week of the playoffs and then your Super Bowl is Tennessee. You can play Noah Brown, you can play Nico Collins, you can play CJ Stroud Fantastic man, love it, OK.

Speaker 1: 19:02

Brian Robinson running back for the Washington commanders left the game of the hamstring injury. They're on a bye week this week, so that's good. He's gives them some extra time to heal. Keep an eye on him. We'll talk about him coming into the first week of the playoffs here. Jonathan Taylor running back for the Colts. He had thumb surgery. He's going to miss three to five weeks, which means you're not having Jonathan Taylor. Yeah, it's just absolutely sickening what a roller coaster ride that guy was to have on your team this year, you know. So let's talk about that. Zach Moss Rough week for Zach Moss this past week. Is he a lock moving forward? Yeah, is he a guy that you feel great about? Are we going to be talking about him on the starts and sits this week. What's going?

Speaker 2: 19:44

on John. Yeah, I think he's a start. I wouldn't say he's a lock. I would say, yes, you're firing him up if you have him, especially if you had, like Rashad White or Erickson not Rashad White, but you have James Connor and a few others that are on by, like I believe it's Brian Robinson or Antonio Gibson, right, things like that, knowing that they're on by. Yes, man, you're firing him up.

Speaker 2: 20:05

And here's what's interesting, john, yeah, he had a shitty week right. He ran the ball 19 times for 51 yards, right, and then he had two catches for six yards. But the problem was was the game script didn't adhere very well for him. And so, john, when we look ahead, they have the bangles right now, and we just saw like ETN had a really nice showing against the bangles. You can run on him. Pittsburgh you can absolutely run on it at this point in time, you can run on him like a James Connor did Exactly.

Speaker 2: 20:36

And then Atlanta, which is interesting Atlanta is actually a little bit tougher than what people think, but I still think it's a solid matchup. And then in your Super Bowl, in your Super Bowl, the Vegas Raiders. John, these next three out of the four weeks, I would say absolutely you can start Zach Moss. The only week that I'm like a little bit teetering on is that of the Falcons, especially being at the Falcons. So, man, if Colts are on the precipice of getting into the playoffs, gardner Minchu cannot carry the load alone. Zak Moss when he had the complete backfield to himself, he was dominant for majority of the year, the number five overall, running back in half PPR. So for me, man, I am absolutely firing up Zak Moss. I'm not saying he's a lock every week, but I'm saying he's good enough to be a top 12 running back from here on out every week. In my personal opinion, All right.

Speaker 1: 21:29

Last bit of news here Christian Watson, wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers, left the game with a hamstring injury. He had a hold of a game too. They're finally getting him involved. Not sure he's had a hamstring injury. I don't know if it's the same one. It's a little early, but he's had some issues with the hamstring. He could be out quite a while, so keep an eye on that. You may not be able to use Christian Watson here. All right, frankie, let's get to our island of misfit toys and tell me what the fuck we're going to do.

Speaker 2: 21:54

Oh.

Speaker 1: 21:55

Charlie. That's why I'm a misfit toy. My name is all wrong. No child wants to play with a Charlie in the box, so I had to come here. Where's here? All right, let's find out what we're going to do with these Charlie's in the box here, frank, the first guy I want to talk about is Breeze Hall.

Speaker 1: 22:26

This has been one of the most frustrating players. It's a guy that I thought was going to lead me to a Super Bowl this year. I've got him. I had him and Bijan, and they both were under 10 points this past week. Breeze Hall 13 rushes for 16 yards. I mean, is that that's not Breeze Hall? What the hell is that man? Four points for Breeze Hall. This Jets team is really rough. I mean, garrett Wilson was coming into the season looking like he could be just an absolute breakout into the top five of receivers. Breeze Hall same thing, obviously, with the loss of Aaron Rodgers, like we talked about at the top of the show just destroyed everyone's value. What are we doing with Breeze Hall moving forward? I mean, you're starting him, but what do we expect moving forward If you're in a short league? You're in a 10-team league and you've got a stable of running backs and Breeze Hall's one of them, looking at the schedule moving forward. What do you do with them, man John?

Speaker 2: 23:19

this is one of those situations that's extremely difficult to diagnose because there's so many moving pieces. Man, the offensive line is dog shit. Right now they're trying to go back from a quarterback perspective back to Zach Wilson, but it's not 100% going to happen. There's reports that Zach Wilson doesn't want to. There's reports that Robert Salah doesn't want to. They're not really willing to give up Tim Boyle yet, which is crazy because it hasn't been good at all For me.

Speaker 2: 23:46

Man, all of this factors into Breeze Hall's play. He had 19 touches last week and he had seven total fantasy points and half PPR. In. Looking ahead, they play Houston at Miami, washington and at Cleveland for your Super Bowl. First and foremost, if you make it to the Super Bowl in an eight to 10-man league with Breeze Hall, you are not playing him in your Super Bowl. There's no freaking way that you're willing to put your Super Bowl season on Breeze Hall's shoulders playing at Cleveland in a game that could literally mean life and death for the Cleveland Browns and potentially the Jets if they end up going on a little bit of a run here. So, john, breaking it down Houston could be interesting, though Houston is not a team that's sitting here. That's an absolutely stout defense. They're good, but they're not by any means the Browns, the Baltimore Ravens, the 49ers, that kind of thing. So I think you can fire up Breeze Hall this week.

Speaker 2: 24:46

Where it starts getting difficult is when it's at Miami, because what happens here is it could absolutely be a game script nightmare. Because, yeah, breeze Hall was getting targeted right, john. I mean, you mentioned it. He ended up having eight targets. That's great, but they're going to need so much more than that Now, with Jalen Ramsay back healthy, bradley Chubbs looking incredible for the defensive side and for the Dolphins, et cetera. So that's a game that's going to be tough guys at the first week of the playoffs here, but then you have a dream matchup in Washington.

Speaker 2: 25:16

That is a must-start Breeze Hall, no matter what. If you don't start them, then when are you going to start them? So, john, this is really difficult to diagnose, because the question that you asked me was what do we do with him for the rest of the year? Guys, this is a guy that's going to be hot and cold a start one week and not a start the next. You have to be active and strategic when placing or starting guys like Breeze Hall. There might be better options. Maybe you have James Cook as well. I'm firing up James Cook over that at Breeze Hall a couple weeks right, so it's not as easy as, yeah, I'm going to just set him, forget it, or no, I'm benching him. He's going to be in and out of the lineup in the next four weeks.

Speaker 1: 25:54

And everyone. Please, we've got you back, okay. We're going to be looking at these playoff matches Totally. We're going to be looking at these guys that you have on your teams and what you should do with them. So pay attention and tune in for the playoffs guys. All right, another guy, justin Herbert man. What in the hell? Let's just throw Justin Herbert and Austin Eckler out there together. Justin Herbert with eight points, austin Eckler 14 for 18, two for nine, receiving three points out of him. What's going on with this Chargers team man?

Speaker 2: 26:23

John, I think this really goes. I think that this is a nightmare situation for the Chargers across the board. Right, like Justin Herbert should not be this bad. Like I'm looking at his stats, he's the number six overall quarterback in fantasy and you're just like, wow, that's incredible. The problem is, john, is that the quarterback play has been so shit across the NFL from a fantasy perspective and kind of from an NFL perspective, that that's skewed. Number six isn't that great. When you're seeing CJ Stroud at number five or number seven, depending on your league, or you know, you go back to Kirk Cousins and he was number eight and put up double number. Is that Justin Herbert? This is strictly because there are 10 rookie quarterbacks playing and that's skewing everything. And so when you look at Herbert, man and Eckler, red flags need to be going off every week because there's. It's not right, man, when Kellen Moore left right and and and it's just it's causing all sorts of problems.

Speaker 2: 27:26

Man, I really think I'm really close to saying you might need to look in a different direction. Coming down, coming down the pipe, because here's the deal they play at New England, right, and then, and then it's or, excuse me, they play against Denver this coming week, who, by the way, their defense has been showing up recently. Yeah, okay, you go at Vegas. I'm definitely firing up Herbert, I'm definitely firing up Eckler. Of course, vegas, buffalo, buffalo has been one to where one week their defense looks amazing, the next week they are getting their shit pushed and having 40 points put up against them. So I'm probably starting them again, and then you have at Denver.

Speaker 2: 28:04

So, john, the question that we need to be actually asking is do we see Justin Herbert and Austin Eckler thriving against Denver, or do we actually see them not, and that's the big question. They're playing them twice in the next four weeks and the rest of you know Vegas is a good matchup in Buffalo's at toss up, you know. So for me, man, yeah, I think, I think you probably should still look to start Herbert. It's been tough sledding, stay in the flames with him a bit. But Eckler, I'm probably saying the same thing. Knowing the injury landscape, it's just crazy right now with the injuries for running back. So, yeah, but John, it's not a good start. They're not exciting good starts right now. It's been pretty tough.

Speaker 1: 28:44

In my mind it would be let's start them at home against Denver. See what happens here. Because Eckler, I feel like he's going to come out at the end of the season and say that he was hurt all year, that he had something happening that wasn't disclosed. He's not right and it doesn't make sense, and he specifically has a beautiful schedule for the playoffs. But see what he does with Denver. Here You're going to fire Eckler and Justin Herbert up Vegas. It's that Buffalo week that you're going to have to see. If it continues the way it has against these two defenses, you're going to have to make other plans against Buffalo. That's the way I'm looking at it. Yep, Okay, let's keep going here. Adam Thielen four points. I told you not to start him anyway. Terry McClaren Okay. Social media Instagram Terry McClaren posts yeah, I was doing a lot of cardio out there. I think Terry McClaren listens to the podcast, because I literally said that about Terry.

Speaker 2: 29:41

McClaren, you verbatim said that.

Speaker 1: 29:42

I verbatim said that that hey man, I'm not starting John Dodson or Terry McClaren this week. They all they've been doing is cardio over the past two weeks. He literally came out and said that he posted a goose egg zero catches. And I just thought that shout out to Terry McClaren, ohio State boy. I hope I hope to God you listen to the podcast, terry. You know what. We're going to tag your ass on this. We're rooting for you. We want to start you. I know it's not your fault. You're incredible. I wish you were on a different team, terry, because you'd be so good man. I miss you, terry. I miss you. Scary Terry. All right, devin single Terry four points this sucks. This one hurts, and it's the Damien Pierce. We talked about this last week. Is it going to affect Devin single Terry with Damien Pierce in there? The answer is obviously yes. It's going to be really hard to start either of these two guys. What do you think? Moving forward here with Devin single Terry, yeah.

Speaker 2: 30:33

John, I agree, I don't think you can. I mean, look again we talked about it from CJ Stroud and the receiver perspective what their calendar, what their schedule looks like, moving forward for the running backs, it's brutal. It's brutal. I mean we're talking at the Jets. That is not a good matchup. Tennessee, you know, yeah, it could be a decent matchup, might not be, cleveland, not super great, and then you go back at Tennessee again from a rush perspective. So, john, for me, man, I don't think you can start either of these guys unless one of them get hurt, and that's the reality. They're splitting themselves out of the ability to make a difference in your fantasy team.

Speaker 1: 31:11

Yeah, there's just not enough volume. I mean he once, once Damian Pierce, came back, he was 46 percent of snaps. Yeah, that's just, that's not going to be enough. He's not that guy that can take that small load with eight carries. He had nine touches total in the game. Nine touches. That's not a Devin single. Terry play for you it's not going to be enough. He needs like 15 to 17 touches really to be to be considered fantasy relevant. Calvin Ridley we talked about him. Five points there. Deandre Swift Interesting I know he left in the game, but it was. It was late in the game and monitor his status. It should be OK. I didn't include it in the news because it seems like it's going to be fine. He was six for 13. They got both raced and just game scripted out. Is that what we're talking about here?

Speaker 2: 31:55

But, john what was interesting was usually they still pepper him with a little bit of passes out of the backfield, john, he was taking completely out of play. And so, looking ahead, man, they have Dallas at Dallas, at Seattle, and then they have the Giants in Arizona. So, thinking about your teams, this week is going to suck, next week is going to be tough, but then, if you can make it to the semis and the championship, deandre Swift could be absolutely dominant, and it's almost. You should be thanking the 49ers for beating the shit out of Philly. You know why? Because now, for weeks 17 and 16, John, they have something to play for.

Speaker 2: 32:38

Right now they're not running away with the NFC, which reverts back to fantasy. Now they're not going to take out their starters. Now they're going to push to have that number one seed in the NFC. So everybody who is a Philly fan from a fantasy perspective should actually be thanking the 49ers for beating the shit out of them, because now it gives you the ability to leverage them when it matters most in the semis and the finals. So hold tight on Deandre Swift. This week's going to be brutal. Next week might be a little bit better. Stemis, championship, smash plays.

Speaker 1: 33:09

Smash plays, oh yeah, all of your Eagles for those games. The way it's set up, you're absolutely right. They're going, they're playing for something and that's a good thing. Late in the season here, all right, let's talk about some of these guys that were on fire. Frankie, and let's talk to some of these guys are a little confusing and they have some rough schedules coming up and you know, yeah, they did great this week, but do you continue to start them? Do you stay in the flames? Talk to me about a couple of these guys.

Speaker 1: 33:33

I know you've been watching Jordan Love a lot this year. I know you've got him in one of your leagues, love him, so you definitely watch him pretty closely here. Jordan Love great game. I mean he's got the past three games. He's he hasn't thrown any picks. I mean he's playing really good football. It seems to be a little streaky because he went through a few games you know kind of midseason like that and then took a turn and then now he's kind of back to where we were hoping for him 32 points out of Jordan Love. What are we doing moving forward? How do you feel about him?

Speaker 2: 34:00

John love him moving forward. I am a huge Jordan Love fan. The way and the reason being is because it's the velocity on the ball that he has now and he's scattering it around, even with Christian Watson, hurt the emergence of Reed. You have Dobbs, you have a Tucker, yes, wicks coming in play and also AJ Dylan is looks good, good enough to help him. And so John, looking at his schedule man we're looking at at Giants Done must win for Packers. This is a smash play. Then you, they have Tampa Bay. The reason why love is Tampa Bay's defense is good, very underrated.

Speaker 2: 34:38

The reason why I love this for him. Tampa Bay, all warm down there with your fucking palm trees, drinking margaritas on the beach. Guess where you're going? You're going to the frozen tundra up in Lambo, right, and it's a completely different feel up there. So I love Jordan Love that week. And then John, it's at Carolina and at Minnesota. Dude, his schedule, wow, his schedule is unbelievable. John, he may or may not be in our starts and sit this week. So, guys, for me, and if you have Jordan Love on the waiver, if you see an opportunity, your trade deadline is not over yet make a play for Jordan Love. Everything is pointing that way right. The schedule, the his progression, john. He has also had in his last four games against Pittsburgh, 21 points at the Chargers, 20 points at Detroit. On Thanksgiving he had 32 points and then Kansas City. These are decent defenses that he is carving up. So for me, man, this is a smash play. Get him where you can and fucking sit back and watch Jordan Love sneak them into the playoffs.

Speaker 1: 35:49

And he should be getting Aaron Jones back soon. Yes, this week, but it could be next week, and that's going to help as well in the passing game and the running game. Love it, man, all right, matthew Stafford against the Cleveland Browns. I mean, we don't start quarterbacks against the Cleveland Browns now. 32 points, now, yes, garrett will, or Garrett Miles. Garrett was was definitely banged up, not much of a factor in the game.

Speaker 1: 36:13

Contributed to it, no, denzel Ward, but still you know you got to give credit recruiter to do totally. Stafford still doing it. Man, 32 points with a, an injured Cooper cup. Really puking a coup was. Who was the main guy on offense? He threw some to Kyron Williams as well. What are we doing moving forward? I know the schedules nice for Matthew Stafford, but there are a few spots in there that might be difficult. What are you thinking?

Speaker 2: 36:37

John, yeah, you hit it. This is the week that's going to be difficult. They're at Baltimore in a must win week for Baltimore and kind of for the Rams, and so Baltimore, where they shine, man, it has been in the defensive end against the past. So this is a week that I'm going to level set expectation on Matthew Stafford. Yes, he's had 29 points against Cleveland, 30 points against Arizona. I'm actually seeing more like what he played against that of Seattle, right, that 1112 to 15 point range. That's where I think he's going to be in this week. So I don't, I would level set expectation. But, john, to your point, man, it's Washington after that, then it's New Orleans who's banged up and then it's the Giants in the Super Bowl. So, dude, yes, this is a fucking and phenomenal schedule after this week.

Speaker 2: 37:22

So for me I'm looking elsewhere. I'm, I actually have Matthew Stafford and I have Jordan Love on one team. I am actually going with Jordan Love over that of Matthew Stafford this week, and same thing with Russell Wilson. Meaning I have Russell Wilson in a week or there in a league as well as Matthew Stafford, and for me I'm writing Russell Wilson this week. This is just not a great matchup and I'm not willing to put my fantasy implications in the hand of Matt Stafford, knowing Puka's banged up, cooper's banged up and then right now you're playing against a top two defense against the pass. So after this week, fire him up. This week, temper expectations.

Speaker 1: 38:01

All right, we already talked about Nico Collins. He's a must start at this point. Fire him up. Yeah, yeah, rishi Rice, you got to love him right now as well. I mean, you're running with with Rishi Rice anywhere you go. Yeah, yeah, absolutely, man, what are we doing with the Steelers here? Let's talk about actually let's get into the Thursday night preview. Okay, I want to talk some Steelers. I want to talk some Patriots. These are two teams with everything that's gone on, it's difficult. I'm not sure what to do here. All right, thursday night football preview. Guys, we've got the New England Patriots traveling to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Steelers are favored by six. Get a load of this over under here, frankie. The over under is 30 points, 30 points. Have you seen an over under that low before?

Speaker 2: 38:52

Not in the NFL, Certainly. I saw it again in the NCAA with Iowa. I mean that was ridiculous 29,. But certainly not in the NFL 30.

Speaker 1: 39:01

Okay, so let's look at fantasy. We've got Bailey Zappi versus Mitch Trubisky on Amazon. Fucking pride, it's so ugly. Oh, it's so ugly, man. I mean, I don't want to go to these games. You know, I love going to away games. I love going to football games. I don't want to see these quarterbacks play football. I don't know, I don't man. All right, we'll table that for after the season and we can bitch about everything that happened. Let's talk about New England. Is there anyone at all that you can play in New England this week?

Speaker 2: 39:35

John. Yes, in my opinion, there's actually roughly two people and I'm saying roughly because it's a stretch on both. The first one is Zeke, with with now with that of Ramon Dre, officially out, zeke is definitely the guy. This is when. This is why you held on to Zeke for so long, right? So if you have him, I would be starting him this week. Um, michael hasty could also be interesting. We have no idea what he's going to look like, how this is going to unfold, but we do know that Bella check is always loved a rotation within the running back situation. So we saw what hasty could do at 49ers and with the Jags previously. Definitely a dynamic player. Change of pace to Zeke could be interesting. Not willing to start him because I have other options, however, could be crazy. Yeah, crazy. Interesting start if you decide to John.

Speaker 2: 40:29

The other guy in addition to that of Zeke is Parker. Actually, in the reason is Devon say Parker as long as he's healthy, john, because he was limited, you know, day to day. But the thing with Parker man is that he ended up having four receptions for 63 yards, with Bailey's appy thrown in the ball. What that doesn't include or account for is the target share with that, with Bailey's appy, he had nine targets. That is more than every other week come that that he's played this year or so far. And, what's crazy, john, that's actually more than his week 12, his week eight, his week seven and his week six, almost combined and targets.

Speaker 2: 41:11

And so for me, what this is saying is Bailey's appy, with nine targets going to this cat, if he's healthy I am actually willing to fire him up in a super deep leak. I'm talking 16 man, 14 man. Maybe you have a double flex. Maybe you have Marquis Brown, james Connor that you're firing up in your flexes that aren't available, or Terry McLauren, curtis, Samuel, right, that kind of thing. Now you need a plug and play. All these injuries are happening. Devonte Parker, if playing could be interesting man so, but those would be truly the only two that I am willing to kind of plant my flag in.

Speaker 1: 41:48

I think you could stream the New England defense this week. Mitch Trubisky, yes, very well known for throwing picks, and I think if New England scores, it might be the defense this week. I really do. Let's talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers man, because there's a lot of guys out there that have a lot of Steelers. They haven't put up a ton of offense, but some of these guys have shown some promise, have flashed a bit. We're talking George Pickens. We're talking Deontay Johnson, pat Fryermuth those have all been very good starts, but Kenny Pickett is not going to be playing. We got Mitch Trubisky. You've also got the two running backs there. I mean, they had a smash matchup last week and they all really failed. George Pickens had 10 points. Again, he's got to get that big play to get there, but they all really failed us this past week. Man, what do we do this week? Thursday night at home against New England? John?

Speaker 2: 42:42

smash play for one guy and that's Pat Fryermuth. Right now he is borderline, untouchable. Set it and forget it. He is grinding out there, man. I mean, he is the guy in this offense at this point in time, john. And so, yeah, start up Fryermuth for 100%. You could make an argument for Deontay Johnson, and I say that because when we're looking at what he's done with Mitchell Trubisky, right, he ended up having eight targets two weeks ago. Again, that was on and off with Kenny Pickett got hurt, trubisky came in, etc. Trubisky fully. Last week he had five targets, he had 33 yards and he had a touchdown. So what I'm saying is is you could, if you need to, potentially look to start up that at Deontay Johnson. It is not a smash play, it is more of a hope and a prayer, more like hopefully I can get double digits out of this guy. But I like Deontay Johnson, especially knowing that the Patriots are more than likely going to try to shut down this running game. Because that is what that is.

Speaker 2: 43:45

What is going to keep this offense running or moving forward is it's going to be relying on Najee and Jaylen Warren and, yeah, both kind of had shit weeks and fantasy in terms of fantasy production. But when you actually, john, when you think about what Warren did, he actually performed extremely well and was very efficient over this past week. I mean, he ran the ball nine times for 59 yards. That's pretty damn solid. It just wasn't good enough in fantasy, right, because there's no touchdown, there wasn't any receptions out of the backfield, nothing like that. So we had six points.

Speaker 2: 44:17

But you, you have a touchdown there, double digits completely different feel. And his I mean really his yards per carry were crazy. So for me, man, it's you. You absolutely are going to fire up Najee or Jaylen Warren. If Najee's banged up a little bit, by the way, so if his knee truly ends up not being full, go walking into this game. Jaylen Warren could be a freaking smash type of play, right. But if it's Najee and Warren again here, unfortunately, if I'm in that boat and I have and I have one of them, I'm probably firing them both up at that point in time. So I'm looking to fire up Najee, I'm probably looking to fire up Jaylen Warren as well, and then I'm definitely firing up that a Pat Friar Muth and maybe that a Deontay Johnson.

Speaker 1: 45:00

Okay, frank, I've got a start sit question for you here, since this game is on Thursday and we're not going to be able to talk about it on the Friday episode. Yeah, asking for a friend, frank. Let's look at a couple you know. Start sits here for Jaylen Warren comparing. You've got Jaylen Warren at home against New England or Jerome Ford at home against Jacksonville.

Speaker 2: 45:22

Oh God, that is so hard. Wow, that is so hard. Wow, that is a really, really good question. John, I am probably leaning Jerome Ford. I'm proud that's so hard, I don't know, actually.

Speaker 1: 45:37

A volume play at that point.

Speaker 2: 45:39

It's a volume play for Ford. It's a volume play for Ford for sure. With Trevor Lawrence banged up this, their offense could look to end up being in serious deep shit, which means that if the Browns end up scoring early, getting ahead, maybe it's 10 to 3, 10 to 0, right, something like that. Now it's the Jerome Ford cream hunt show. That is why I'm leaning Jerome Ford. However, when we look at what Jerome Ford did against the Rams, right, he rushed for 19 yards on nine carries. That ain't good. That's less than two yards a carry, but he ended up having a touchdown and caught all three of his targets for 33 yards. So he was getting more work from the receiving end and was absolutely abysmal from the running perspective.

Speaker 2: 46:24

So John Jags have a good D right, but we look at what Joe Mixon did to the Jags and I think Joe Mixon is definitely a better running back, in my opinion, than that of Jerome Ford. However, jerome Ford is a little bit more explosive than Mixon, so that is why I'm leaning a little bit more towards Ford. Because of the way Mixon was able to cut them up. I think that it could be more of a game script positive notion for that of Ford, knowing that Trevor Lawrence is out and our defense has been very good for Cleveland, comparatively to that of Jaylen Warren, who's definitely going to be splitting time with Najee and is playing in a kind of a decent defense, knowing that they're going to be stacking the box against Mitchell Trabisky, but that could change. Good, that could change. Though, if Najee can't go, that could change. If Najee can't go, warren needs to be started.

Speaker 1: 47:15

Absolutely. Yeah, you give him the full volume on a Thursday night game with a backup quarterback? Yep, absolutely Love that. Thank you. I'll make sure to let my friend know. Frank, that's going to be good Anytime he's going to be here. She, they're going to be very happy about that. So, okay, perfect, are they? Are they subscribers and listeners? I'm just curious they are, and you know what? Let me tell you something about this person. He's gorgeous. I heard a voice like an angel, like a mixture of Fergie and Jesus. I'll let him know that you said that. So perfect. Thank you so much, everybody, for listening.

Speaker 1: 47:46

That's our show for today. Tune in this episode we've got coming out Friday morning. This is going to be money. We don't care how long it is, we're just going to keep going and give everybody as much information as we possibly can to get you in your damn playoffs. All you got to do is get there, guys. You get there. Anything can happen. We all know that. So let's go. Let's have a great week, man. Thank you for joining us.

Speaker 1: 48:11

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Speaker 1: 48:39

Really, thank you so much for helping us grow that YouTube channel. It's just, it's been fantastic. We just started it. What was it? Last year? We did a little bit with it. Yeah, this year was really the full year where we did two episodes a week on YouTube. Man, it's exploded. So thank you, guys, so much. Please subscribe to that. Please hit the notification bell. Get us in the algorithm. You know you got to break into that algorithm to get to get sexy there on YouTube. Thank you so much, guys. Frankie, parting words for us, brother, your information today was goddamn great.

Speaker 2: 49:10

We appreciate it, love you and I love all of you guys listening and tuning in to Johnny's point. Guys, continue to be involved within the frankly fantasy football community. Guys, we're all family here Right, smash that bell. Continue to subscribe, guys. We have seen crazy numbers recently and this is exciting for all of us, so let's keep the pedal down. We're here to win you your fantasy football league and some money with it. You want a nice little bonus at the end of for Christmas and shit like that, and guess what? Keep tuning in, because we're going to deliver for you. Love you guys. Thank you again.

Speaker 1: 49:45

May the fantasy gods smile upon you. Bye.