Buckle up, fantasy football fans! Frankie and Johnny are back with another episode packed with insights, laughs, and the inside scoop to help you dominate your leagues. As we reflect on our recent playoff successes - and the role of sheer luck - we express our gratitude for the ever-growing Frankly Family and our thriving podcast. It’s our joy to share the thrills and spills of fantasy football with you, and we look forward to continually elevating our podcast.
We’ve got a great lineup for you this time around, starting with a heartfelt shout-out to our loyal listeners and their top comments. In a world where player injuries and returns can make or break your fantasy football dreams, we’ve got the latest on CJ Stroud, Nico Collins, and the potential return of Justin Jefferson. Underperforming quarterbacks and wide receivers are also on the agenda, with a healthy dose of advice on how to handle them in your fantasy leagues. We’ll delve into the latest news on Alexander Mattison's injury, the questionable status of Josh Jacobs and the backup options for the Las Vegas Raiders, and much more.
But we’re not stopping there! We’re breaking down lineup strategies, discussing the state of teams like the Detroit Lions and the Buffalo Bills, and even weighing in on whether you should start Stefan Diggs in a tough matchup against the Dallas Cowboys. Plus, we’ve got an in-depth look at quarterback streamers for the playoffs, a rundown on reliable running back options for week 15, and a discussion on preparing for your playoff matchups. So, grab your favorite beverage, pull up a chair, and join us for a lively and insightful fantasy football discussion. THIS is the path to your championship!
Thanks for Listening! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBPAVRUduAUqHORYenFfo9w
Buckle up, fantasy football fans! Frankie and Johnny are back with another episode packed with insights, laughs, and the inside scoop to help you dominate your leagues. As we reflect on our recent playoff successes - and the role of sheer luck - we express our gratitude for the ever-growing Frankly Family and our thriving podcast. It’s our joy to share the thrills and spills of fantasy football with you, and we look forward to continually elevating our podcast.
We’ve got a great lineup for you this time around, starting with a heartfelt shout-out to our loyal listeners and their top comments. In a world where player injuries and returns can make or break your fantasy football dreams, we’ve got the latest on CJ Stroud, Nico Collins, and the potential return of Justin Jefferson. Underperforming quarterbacks and wide receivers are also on the agenda, with a healthy dose of advice on how to handle them in your fantasy leagues. We’ll delve into the latest news on Alexander Mattison's injury, the questionable status of Josh Jacobs and the backup options for the Las Vegas Raiders, and much more.
But we’re not stopping there! We’re breaking down lineup strategies, discussing the state of teams like the Detroit Lions and the Buffalo Bills, and even weighing in on whether you should start Stefan Diggs in a tough matchup against the Dallas Cowboys. Plus, we’ve got an in-depth look at quarterback streamers for the playoffs, a rundown on reliable running back options for week 15, and a discussion on preparing for your playoff matchups. So, grab your favorite beverage, pull up a chair, and join us for a lively and insightful fantasy football discussion. THIS is the path to your championship!
Thanks for Listening! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBPAVRUduAUqHORYenFfo9w
Yeah, all right, all right, all right, welcome to the show. This is the Frankly Fantasy Football Podcast. We are your hosts, frankie and Johnny. I'm coming to you, live from Chicago and apparently, according to Frankie's look, looks like somebody made the playoffs in a few leagues. Huh, just a few.
Speaker 2:John, just a few. Good sir, you know I felt like. You know the sun never sets on a bad ass right. So you know, put on the shades, don't matter what time of day it is. All I know is that when you're in four leagues, you're in the playoffs, and two of them division leader, and one of them and you bear, and I had did not have for those listening Nick Chubb get her, aaron or Aaron Rodgers get her, remandry Stevenson get her Tank, they'll get her, and it doesn't matter because daddy was there ready, johnny. So yeah, you know what had to have the bride in style this morning a little bit.
Speaker 1:You know what, frank, you should do a podcast. You're pretty good at fantasy football, just occasionally, hey I'm, I'm in the playoffs as well. I snuck in by by the skin of my scrotum Do the do the Tommy DeVito thing right here. You know, yeah, little Tommy DeVito, by the skin of my scrot. I made it in man, but I made it in as high point man. By the way, I almost missed the playoffs as the high point man. Yeah, fun fact, my son Jackson, first time getting in our leagues, second year doing fantasy football at all at all High point man missed the playoffs. I've never seen any. I've done fantasy football for 25 years. I've never seen anybody get the high point man and not make the playoffs. And eight people make the playoffs in a 12 team league, by the way. Very unusual. What's your take on that?
Speaker 2:John, I thought and this is a bold take, I thought Jackson's team was top two in the entire league as well. That is what happens when it's just bad luck sometimes in fantasy football. Sometimes it is just bad luck. You could have an amazing team and it's just shitty luck.
Speaker 2:And this also is interesting too, john, because and this would be really cool we should actually like talk about this you know, coming closer to draft time or even, you know, after the season, we look back the read. What I'm getting at is if you have so many options on your team when it gets closer to the end of the year, sometimes that can hinder you, because maybe you don't know who to start between Mike Evans or Garrett Wilson or, right, multiple others. And when you have too many decisions, rather than maybe trying to offload and trade, package together and trade some of those guys to upgrade, sometimes you make a wrong decision, not saying that was Jackson's case, but just saying it becomes a little bit more difficult as well. But shout out to him man, you got to give flowers, or flowers, or do you're getting a hundred bucks, baby? And guess what? Be back for next year with a vengeance brother.
Speaker 1:Oh, he's going to be, believe me, and actually we're going to change that league and this is the example of why you do this. We I've always wanted to try the median scoring, where the top half of scores get a win, bottom half get a loss and then you get your head to head match up. We've been talking about that, tossing it around for a while. We're going to do it next year actually, and it's going to be that league and be perfect. The perfect case of why we're doing that. The high point man should be in the playoffs. Man, it's just bad luck with your matchups. That's all. Welcome to the show everyone.
Speaker 1:Hey, I want to welcome all of the new subscribers. We have had exponential growth over the past month of the season. Here I want to welcome everybody and welcome. I'm Johnny. This is Frankie. I. I'm the good looking one of the group. Frankie's the nerd of the group who talks football and looks up all the stats and analytics. I'm just the monkey pushing the buttons and yeah, okay, never mind, he's the monkey folks, he's the monkey. Yeah, can't even joke about it. But welcome to the show everybody.
Speaker 1:I want to thank you all so much for subscribing. We're at the point now where we can monetize, which is fantastic. We just appreciate you all so much and you know, all the people that are new to us, that have come to us Just want to give you it. Frankie and I started this podcast three seasons ago and we just sat down it was during COVID and we're like hey man, we talk about this stuff, we look into this shit all the time. It's almost like a part-time job anyway. Why don't we do a podcast? Let's do a podcast. We got together, we made it happen. It's gotten better and better. It's not where I want it to be right now, but it's certainly better than when we started three seasons ago, do you?
Speaker 2:agree, totally agree. Man and I guys I want to echo John's point Like we can like, we do this for fun, right, we're doing this because we'd love to do this, but you guys listening and watching and sending in comments and sending in questions and dialing in it's, it's, it's incredible and and it's it's special to us. I'm just going to be completely honest, because we love you guys. You are absolutely a part of the frankly family and let's continue to grow this. Son of a bitch man, what do you?
Speaker 1:say John, I say let's go. You know, for a while there it felt like we were just screaming into the abyss and talking to no one out in YouTube world. And here we come to find out that we're like in the top 1% of all podcasts out there right now because of the following Thank you so much, everyone. We really appreciate it. Please subscribe to YouTube. Please join us on Instagram as well Really great. Follow Frankly fantasy football and share it. Share it with your friends. Guys, we got a lot of fun changes and a lot of fun enhancements we're doing for next year. Stick with us. I know a lot of people are dropping off because of playoffs and all of that and going to be off season soon. Stick with us because next year we come back in July after the fourth. It's going to be a great time. So I just want to thank you all so much. Speaking of Frank, we want to shout out some people who have commented on last week's episode. So what kind of comments are we looking at? Last week, frank Guys?
Speaker 2:what great questions and comments that you guys are sending all over the place. I want to shout out Chris Wood. He gave an excellent start sit question to us. Chris, if you're listening, if you're watching, man, great job it was. It was totally something. That was a difficult question and it seemed as though it panned out. So really, chris Wood, excellent. Jonathan Moon Guia and I apologize if you, if you're just a first time listener that's a Frank ism. I can't fucking pronounce shit. That's just you got to come on board regular words.
Speaker 1:Frank can't pronounce regular words, so, chris, we're sorry that he can't pronounce your name. There's no way he's going to pronounce anybody's names properly.
Speaker 2:So, so, john, really, really appreciate that and I hope you get your first place in that division because of what frankly fantasy had helped you accomplish. Another huge shout out, john. We're talking to a listener who's been there from the start, aaron Luttle, shout out from Akron Ohio send us over something to where he is in all three playoffs and three of his leagues and said it was because of frankly fantasies. Advice almost made me tear up. That's phenomenal, man. Go fucking win it, go get it done. All right, two others, john.
Speaker 2:I want to shout out Gabriel Carly Jones, my brother. You know, dude, you have been here from the f, from day one episode for YouTube. You have been one of the first commenters and you've not fallen off. Brother, I hope you continue to dominate. You had some excellent questions, by far and large, some of the hardest questions we've ever been asked since we started this podcast, right? So, brother, we're here for you. We're going to continue to be that liaison between you and fantasy football. And one other call out to that is never apologize for taking advantage of us. Johnny takes advantage of me all the time, so take advantage of me as well. It's what we're here for.
Speaker 2:And lastly, jha Griffith, you had a big time running back question and I got a shot at out who's Breeze Hall, austin Neckler, c E H. He came. You said, hey, listen, I'm thinking C H. We ended up telling you hey man, breeze Hall's floor is a little bit shaky Right. C E H is a little bit unproven. I know it's sketchy, go with Austin Neckler and I think you're pretty happy how that panned off. Even though Breeze Hall did really well this week as well, austin Neckler held it down for you. So, guys, again some of the top comments and there were many, many more. We love you guys. Keep them coming and let's bring home a frankly fantasy championship.
Speaker 1:Love it. Let's get to the news, baby.
Speaker 2:The state's adopted your own list of dumb expects. All it's got to do is sit down and bounce.
Speaker 1:News and notes. Ok, frankie, I'm going to go out on a limb and I'm going to say that we're probably going to meet some new quarterbacks this week, just like we do every single week. You promise, I promise, I promise there might be two or three in there that we're going to meet today. Let's get to the news here, guys. First of all, cj Stroud in concussion protocol really brutal game for the Texans man. They're banged up all over the place. Nico Collins has a calf strain as well, very similar to what Joe Burrow had in the off season. Nico Collins is going to miss some time. I wouldn't drop him just yet, but you're going to be without him, most likely through your playoffs. Cj Stroud it's another situation. He's in the concussion protocol. I looked it up Only 22 percent of people have gotten out of concussion protocol that same week to be able to play. However, they're very optimistic. Some guys recently towards the end of the season here, magically have made it out of the concussion protocol. So maybe they're laxing it a little bit or something. But keep an eye on CJ Stroud. He's probably going to miss, but they're trying to get him on the field.
Speaker 1:Justin Jefferson, wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings this was weird. Frankie left the game with an internal chest injury, taken to the hospital. Yeah, could it could be broken ribs. They're trying to get him out on the field. They're saying that there's actually a good chance that he plays this week and if it is ribs there's nothing you can do. They pad you up and everything and you just get out on the field and go. But keep an eye on JJ. He was definitely heavily involved when he was in the game, so it'd be nice to be able to use him monitor his status this week. Josh Dobbs, speaking of Minnesota, he was benched. Frankie I mean, here's a guy that wasn't on a team for a little while Is a backup at the Browns. Goes to Arizona, plays a couple of games, looks good, doesn't really know the playbook all that much either. Then goes to Minnesota, doesn't know the playbook at all, comes out and plays. Now, when he's actually learning the plays and getting into the system, he sucks. What's what's going on with Josh Dobbs? You know John.
Speaker 2:I'm just happy that I don't have to shave my eyebrows. That's what I'm happy about, right, because a couple of episodes for those listening and watching Johnny and I all bet if Josh Dobbs is leading them to the playoffs or if he kept this up, I was literally going to have to potentially shave my eyebrow, right. So thank God. So, secondly, john, it truly is.
Speaker 2:I think this is just a reflection on Josh Dobbs. I think he is a very good backup. I think that's what he is. I think that's just that is. That is the pinnacle of who he is, and I think he's OK with that right. So for me, man, I'm actually a huge fan of Nick Mullins. I think, with him going to be starting, we saw what he could do at the 49ers, even at Cleveland, right, I think that he is actually a better overall quarterback, nick Mullins. So I think this is definitely the right move for the Vikings. But, yeah, it's tough to actually say why this has happened Because, to your point, man, josh Dobbs was electric the first few games and just tailed off. So I think it's just a matter of you know, it's just showing who he actually is and also other teams can now key in on his antics and things like that. It's not just you know something. He's on a new team, kind of from scratch, and yeah, stuff like that All right, let's look at this week.
Speaker 1:Let's look at how we're going to play this and how we're going to plan for this. All right, let's let's assume that Josh Dobbs is not in. It's going to be Nick Mullins at quarterback. Jj is questionable. So if JJ plays, you're clearly playing JJ 100 percent. If JJ does not play, you're clearly playing Jordan Addison. Now, if JJ does play, can Nick Mullins support both JJ and Addison?
Speaker 2:Yes, the answer is yes, and I'm saying that specifically from what we have seen prior to. We were against that with Dobbs. We kept saying, hey, we are not sure if Dobbs can actually support two receivers in addition to his tight end. Right, there was TJ Hawkinson, who is the number one tight end of fantasy football, up until this past week pretty much. And so John, yeah, in regards to Nick Mullins, we saw what he could technically do when he was throwing the ball with the 49ers. He was able to support two or three overall players, including that of the tight end. So, john, for me, man, I think it's possible, I think it's, I don't think it's probable and for his first week to be able to, like, he's going to be lighting up the scoreboard, right. So we have to make sure that we're level setting that expectation, but it is possible. I think it's much more possible that, comparatively speaking, to that of Josh Dobbs.
Speaker 1:All right, Well, the next episode, when we start doing our starts and sits. Let's look at some maybe some, would you rather comparisons with Jordan Addison. If Addison's alone there, are we going to play him? And who do you like better than him? All right, let's meet a new quarterback here, frankie, let's meet a new one. You know we've got Nick Mullins. We kind of know him. We can use acquaintances. You know Davis Mills were acquaintances. We know each other. We've had a few beers. You know this guy never met this fucking guy in my life. All right, justin Herbert broken finger having surgery today he's out for the season. That sucks. This team has been an absolute dumpster fire. Bring in Easton Stick from North Dakota State, is that right, frankie?
Speaker 2:That is correct Drafts it in 2019. One hundred and sixty six overall.
Speaker 1:Woo, god damn it. I hate that. You know that. I hate that. You know that. First of all, tell everybody about Easton Stick, and does it matter at all?
Speaker 2:John, it's so difficult. I mean this dude complete. I mean he literally hasn't played since 2019. I mean, that's a long time. I mean he just hasn't played and so it's really going to be difficult. I mean here's, here's the real shit of it. He has a team around him with the pieces that can play. Let's just put it out it's you have still Keenan Allen. You might have Joshua Palmer coming back in a week or two, right. You also have Everett, you know, getting healthier. You also have Austin Eckler, kelly, and what I'm getting at is you have pieces to be successful to a certain degree. We look at what Tommy DeVito is doing with it, with nothing. I mean, come on now, right. And so when we look at Easton Stick, there's potential here.
Speaker 2:John, I am in no way, shape or form going to be picking up Easton Stick or putting any sort of value in what he's done so far, because that is as risky as it gets. So for me, man, we, I think we need to pause. I think what happens here is it could affect Keenan Allen. For those that have Keenan Allen, right, justin Herbert is in a class of that of. I mean, some people put him in the class of Joe Broderick, some people put him in the class of Joe Burrow, some people put him in the tier below him.
Speaker 2:Either way, the elite is how to describe Justin Herbert that is nowhere in the same universe is that of Easton Stick. So the problem is going to be is Keenan Allen going to now be downgraded in terms of, you know, target Share, being able to catch the ball, yardage, things like that, and does this increase Austin Eckler Right? So for me, man, it's going to. It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out. I believe they're playing on Thursday night, if I remember correctly, and so I think that this is going to be the game that level sets the rest of the year, because this is a divisional game, it's against a good opponent and the Raiders and so, but, but, man, this is going to be tough sledding, I think, for for Keenan Allen owners.
Speaker 1:All right, we'll go into a little more detail here with the Thursday night preview that we'll get to shortly. Okay, alexander Madison, running back from the Minnesota Vikings Potential high ankle sprain is the looking at. I haven't gotten confirmation at the time of this recording could be two to three weeks. He's going to be out a few weeks here. Man, you're probably going to be without him for your fancy playoffs. Insert Ty Chandler. All right, what do we do moving forward here? We talked about already what to do with the receivers, with the quarterback. Now you've got Ty Chandler coming in, based on what they've got coming up in the playoff schedule here, specifically week 15. How do you feel about Ty Chandler?
Speaker 2:John, I actually feel decent about Ty Chandler. I think that the Vegas Raiders on Thursday or, excuse me, oh, it's going to be Cincinnati, excuse me, cincinnati this week. So Cincinnati, john, it's going to be. It's going to be tough sledding, but I think that if he's going to get the lion's share of the load, and with quarterback switch, I don't think they're going to put full emphasis on like unleashing, and quote unquote, unleashing Nick Mullins, if you can say it like that. But what I'm getting at is they're going to need somebody else. So for me, man, I actually am leaning towards firing up Ty Chandler. I think that this could be very interesting. Jake Browning is playing out of his mind right now, so that's really fascinating. Was kind of happening there.
Speaker 2:But from the Minnesota Viking perspective, I think that Ty Chandler, when he's gotten the opportunity, john, he's performed decent. I mean when week 10 against a very good New Orleans team, he had 10.5 points in FPPR, and week 11 against what's turned around to be a damn good defense with the Denver Broncos after they got their ship pushed in week three, they ended up being doing pretty well and he still put up 13 points. As soon as Madison came back, he went down to 1.6, 5.7. And now he gets a lion's share of the load again. So for me, man, when looking at the rest of the schedule, right, it's this coming week at Cincinnati, next week Detroit, the following week is your Super Bowl at Green Bay. All of those I'm not afraid of, and so I actually really like, in deep leagues, ty Chandler.
Speaker 1:So I'm looking at him as probably a low end running back to double digit fantasy points is what you're shooting for at that point yeah, yeah, you're ceiling there, guys is probably going to be 13 to 15.
Speaker 2:Your floor, I would assume, is probably going to be around five to six.
Speaker 1:Yeah, ok, all right, sounds good. Josh Jacobs, questionable for Thursday night football, could miss with a quad slash knee issue. You've got Amir Abdullah and Zemir White. You've got Amir and Zemir backing him up here If he can't go. Are you interested in either of these guys at all?
Speaker 2:You know, john, not really, if I'm being honest with you. Not really, I mean, because one of them are going to pop, not really sure which one. I'm probably leaning more, actually Zemir White, even though he didn't get much of the load when Jacobs went out. So it's just too torn at this point in time with a Thursday night game. I'm not willing to anchor on either of those guys and it's not like this team's been scoring a lot of points.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you saw that dumpster fire last week.
Speaker 2:What was it like? 30 to 25, 30 to 24?
Speaker 1:I believe it was. I believe they had zero. Was that right? Zero to three, that was awful. Hey, get your shit together. Nfl Amazon said you're going. Hey, we paid how many billions for this? Seriously, what? The hell is going on here, man.
Speaker 2:Unbelievable.
Speaker 1:Okay, a couple other guys here Tutu Atwells in concussion protocol. Tyreek Hill with an ankle Huge. They're not saying anything about this Monitor this all week. They're going to be cute about it because we saw how important Tyreek is to this dolphin's offense. He is the dolphin's offense right now, so keep an eye on that. They're going to play games with it. You know that Mike McDaniel is going to do that. Watch him all week. But Tyreek is hurt with an ankle injury. Hopefully he'll play. All right, darren Waller some good news here To practice this week coming off of IR. Darren Waller to practice. He wants to get a little bit of that. Tommy DeVito love. You know he's like hey, give me some of that. All right, all right. Tommy Cutlets Is that one the Cutlets? I like that. So good, so good. So, so good, so good. All right, let's. Uh, let's check out some of these guys that were on ice and that were on fire and, uh, you know, let's. Let's see if Frankie can help us figure out what the hell to do with these misfits.
Speaker 2:Oh Charlie, that's why I'm a misfit toy.
Speaker 1: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? Yeah, let's get to the island of misfit toys here, frankie. What are we going to do with these guys? All right On ice, you got some quarterbacks that just absolutely killed us here. Mad, I mean, I, I've got the Jalen Hertz AJ Brown stack once again this year. I'm hoping it can get me to the Super Bowl, just like it did last year.
Speaker 1:I traded for AJ Brown late in the season. I haven't seen shit out of him since I got him. By the way, yeah, he is. He was breaking Megatron's record, or trying to break Megatron's record of consistent games with 120 plus yards in a game. I get him on my team and he's done nothing. Jalen Hertz killing me, dude. Jalen Hertz with six points this week. What I mean is that just playing against a great team that obviously was very well coached, schemed against him. There's better days ahead, right? Please tell me, frankie. I'm looking at week 15, 16, 17. Tell me, there's better days ahead for Jalen Hertz, man.
Speaker 2:There's better days ahead for Jalen Hertz. For those owning him. Just take a big old sigh of relief. It's coming.
Speaker 2:They went through Usa One more time. They went through the meat grinder. They really did, john. When you look at their last few weeks, from coming out of their bi-week in Week 10, they played Kansas City, they played Buffalo Bills, san Francisco and Dallas all in a row. That is a meat grinder. You have two high-powered offenses, extremely high-powered offenses, actually three with that of Buffalo, dallas and San Fran, and very good defenses with that of Dallas, kansas City and San Fran. So, john, they absolutely went through the meat grinder.
Speaker 2:And what was interesting, I actually think San Fran broke the Eagles a little bit, and what I mean by this is, I think that they figured out the code on how to actually stop Jalen Hertz, and you started hearing rumblings about it, with Nic Bosa talking about it and things like that, and they actually are talking about like, yeah, we figured it out, we know how to stop Philly now. And then Dallas kind of mimicked exactly what San Fran did, and it was brilliant by Dallas. Now, dallas, you got to give flowers where flowers are due. They might be the best team in the NFL as it stands right now, they're definitely the hottest. Dak is right now. I mean you can make the argument if you want for Dak for MVP. That is how good he's playing. He's right up there with Brock Purdy which is crazy to say, your favorite player, john of all time and Tyreek Hill. So for me, man, I actually think that it's just been because of they've been through a meat grinder and I think San Fran kind of broke them a little bit.
Speaker 2:Here is the positive news. Okay, guys, and the reason why we're talking about this Jalen Hertz at six points and in half PPR and fantasy football here's why there is good news in Sunshine on the horizon is that they end up playing at Seattle this coming week. Okay, it's not a grand slam by any means of a matchup. It's also not a meat grinder type of matchup. This is something that can get them back on track. And now, john, they have absolutely everything to fight for. They have not only the division title on the line, the overall NFC number one spot on the line now, with the Dallas Cowboys in that of the 49ers. Everything is on the line for Philadelphia Eagles. And then after this week man, listen to this the New York Giants are going to Philly, yeah, and then you have the Arizona Cardinals going to Philly.
Speaker 2:If you can just get past this week, john, I promise you I would do a bet right now. Jalen Hertz doesn't get under 19 fantasy points in those other two weeks, ok. So that's how. It's a very specific line. Yeah, because I just feel like it's that possible and he's averaging. The reason why I say that is he's averaging 23 points right now. He's the number two quarterback in fantasy football and he's the number two overall score in fantasy football right now. So that's why there's better things on the horizon. I just think they went through. A meat grinder Team is tired, their defense is beaten up, they need a gimme week and I think this is a get right type of path type of week.
Speaker 1:OK, good, I feel better. I feel good Because I was freaking out a little bit. All right, a couple other quarterbacks. Jordan Love we've been high on him man. I mean we had him as a start of the week the past couple of weeks. Here, nine points out of Jordan Love. They got just. Were they just outcoached and outschemed? I mean they just got beat up. They looked John they.
Speaker 2:Jordan Love looked like shit is really what it looked like Like. Yeah, the last few weeks, man, he has been nothing short of incredible, to the, to the level of OK. If we even go back to week 10, it's 21, 20, 32, 27, leading into the Giants game and with playoff hopes on the line, and he just looked out of sync it was. I don't even know if it was a bad game plan, because I actually think Matt LaFleur called a decent game plan. I just actually think this this boiled down to Jordan Love had an off night and that's what it was.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's that's a big, that's a terrible shame, and I mean so Jordan Love now we're not so confident in him after what he just did. Should we feel really good about him at home against Tampa Bay this week? You can throw on Tampa Bay.
Speaker 2:You can throw on Tampa Bay and I think, yes, I'm still going to ride in the flames with that of Jordan Love. I think that Christian Watson can get healthy and he ends up rolling back out there. We saw a lot of good things from AJ, Dillon and Taylor. They're running backs and John one of our starts of the week in Jaden Reed exactly performed how we wanted him to. So for me, man, I think that this is a get right week. Tampa Bay is going to be fighting their nuts off right. They're number one in their division at six and seven to play off. Hopeful Packers are not out of it. They are not out of the playoffs, so they still need to just take this and win. They play Tampa Bay, Carolina, Minnesota and Chicago. All four of those are winnable games. It's going to be reliant upon Jordan Love's play and I'm going to roll with them.
Speaker 1:All right, we got Jared Goff now quarterback for the Detroit Lions. What I'm confused here. Ok, I'm so confused I don't know what to do with with Jared Goff at this point. Terrible week. Six points, I mean 161 yards passing for Jared Goff. Amon Ra was right there with them. Let's just lump those two together, because so Jared Goff goes, so Amon Ra goes. Do we just throw this week away? Was this just a bad week? Same thing, an off week. But yeah, this team seems to be a little vulnerable at this time. They're not quite the juggernaut that they used to be. They're not eating the Velosa Raptor eggs and working the glamour muscles like Coach Campbell is. What are we doing? Moving forward with Jared Goff? We've got Denver at home this week. We've got to like that matchup right.
Speaker 2:So, john, I'm actually a little nervous about this matchup. I'm being completely real, like, like, denver's defense has absolutely stepped up, so and I think I think I'll have to go back and check this that they're on a five game or six game win streak right now. I mean, john, they are right back in the hunt for the playoffs. Man, this Denver team that everybody, everybody rode off after that Miami game. Nobody took them seriously. And now Russell Wilson is doing Russell Wilson shit again. And it's really coming together with Givante getting healthier. You're starting to see Coral and Sutton really take ownership of that first role, of that receiver, one type of role. So, john, I'm actually a little bit nervous, but here's the deal.
Speaker 2:Jared Goff has only had one other game outside of this past week without double digits. I don't see it being this week against Denver. I think it's a get right week. I think that they realize what happened. They cannot drop the next few games, especially with the way that the Vikings have playing. They just won this past week, even though it was three. Nothing, it was uglier than hell. They still won. They got a W in the win column, which means that they're inching ever so closely to that of actually Detroit. So for me, man, I mean, I think that there's a lot more on the line for Detroit than what people actually realize, and I think golf is going to have a bounce back week. So I think we need to temper expectations. I don't see golf going nuclear, I actually see them going right at that. You know easy peasy 17 to 20 mark, you know, for golf this week. And Amon Ross is definitely going to have a bounce back week. It was shocking actually at how bad he looked. You just couldn't get the ball.
Speaker 1:All right, let's talk about. This is a guy I am worried about. This guy, Stefan Diggs. He's had a couple of rough weeks here. Man, Four points out of Stefan Diggs. He's one of those guys that you've got to keep him happy. When he's not happy, he's a problem. He's a headache in the locker room. He's not happy right now. What what's? I mean you have to start Stefan Diggs, right, we can't play this game or we're going to get that cute. But what are you thinking here Moving forward, especially this week, John?
Speaker 2:you have to start him. This is a really, really awful matchup. This is as bad as it probably gets right. I mean, we're talking, they're playing Dallas at home. The good thing that they have is that it's at home. You're probably hoping that it snows at this point. That way, you throw in some extra bullshit towards Dallas, but the good news is is, knowing how aggressive this defense is, they're going to need to throw the ball. And so, john, you always need to fire up Stefan Diggs. But, to your point, there is some vulnerability that's happening within this bill's defense or offense, like we're seeing Gabe Davis with another goose egg. We're starting to see these other players not doing well, and you know what this is going back to.
Speaker 2:What people aren't thinking about, ken Dorsey is no longer the OC. There's a brand new OC over the last few weeks, and what we've seen happen is this has become making James Cook an absolute superstar. Ok, and so what's happened is they're almost, they're absolutely. They're still targeting Stefan Diggs right, so it's not like they're completely going away from him. If I look back, he had 11 targets this week before the buy week against Philly. 11 targets before that week against the Jets. He had eight targets right, dominating target share. It's just. It's been tough sledding, and Josh Allen has been as good as he's been. He's also been a little bit inaccurate right. He's leading the league in an interception. So all of this is kind of coming together as, like, this is kind of why Stefan Diggs isn't doing very well, very well in comparison to what he was doing Right.
Speaker 2:So for me, man, you always have to fire him up. You know, I was actually talking with a few of the guys that were commenting on the YouTube channel, and they were like, yeah, I'm kind of thinking, you know, I might want to sit him. For me, I'm never sitting Stefan Diggs. I'm never sitting him, even if it's the hardest matchup ever.
Speaker 2:I just his upside is way too high. His ceiling is too high. He's one of the only players that can get you 40, 50 points and actually do it. The problem is is making sure, though, if you're going with a player like Stefan Diggs this week I would also go with either you need to shoot for the stars and go another ceiling or go with a super high floor, depending on how your team is constructed, because if Stefan Diggs has the four or five point game right or under 10 points. Now you have the safety net of a super high floor guy. Or if you went really crazy and went ceiling, you're praying for that ceiling guy to overcompensate then for Stefan Diggs. So really think about your strategy this week if you're looking to fire him up against this type of defense.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if you're in an eight or 10 man league, we'll give you some options on the Friday episode, because you may not want to start Stefan Diggs. If you're in an eight or 10 team league, true, and you've got a stockpile of weapons there, you may want to put that one back in the holster for a little bit.
Speaker 2:John, a question on that real quick. Yeah, because this was a question that we had last week. Would you start or a couple weeks back? Would you start Stefan Diggs? If you had to pick one, stefan Diggs, keenan Allen or Amon Ross St Brown or, excuse me, you have to pick two is what it was.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Knowing, this week I'm always throwing Stefan Diggs in that mix with those guys. I mean, yeah, I just am, you know. I mean here's the thing that makes me nervous about him is that, yes, you can say you always throw him out there because he's a superstar. Yeah, I love Mr Diggs and the rest of my people love me playing Dallas, but he scores constantly and he's targeted heavily. I would feel better about it if he's been throwing out 20 point weeks leading up to the Dallas game. He hasn't been. He's been very, very, very quiet. So that makes me nervous. We'll dig into it a little bit, guys. We'll see if we can give you a little more info. Come for the Friday episode here. Okay, let's talk about the Houston offense briefly. Is there anyone? We've got? Pierce was terrible. Stroud was terrible. Noah Brown Goose he was terrible. We've got Nico Collins out. We've got Tank Dell out. Let's pretend Stroud plays. Can you play any of these guys this week After what? They know how they performed last week?
Speaker 2:John? No, the answer is no, and this is heartbreaking for me as a Stroud owner who also had Tank Dell. John, what we have seen is, without Nico Collins, without Tank Dell right, they don't have very many people. Noah Brown cannot hold it down as a receiver one. Okay, and so for me, man, I actually think I am sitting CJ Stroud as well this week, if, assuming he plays right, you've come in off the concussion protocol, no, and so when you start looking at right, who it's? It's at Tennessee. Tennessee just held to a to a damn competitive game. Then you go to Cleveland. Cleveland is defense is nasty, so, no, I'm not starting in there. Then you go back to Tennessee.
Speaker 2:John, bold remark here, I don't know if you can start CJ Stroud moving forward for the rest of your fantasy playoffs. Are you willing to do this against a two very, very, very good defenses? You know, I don't know, with Arden Keyback now with the Tennessee Titans, that defense looks a hell of a lot different. Right, he's really coming on strong. And then you look at Cleveland. Yeah, they've been a little bit banged up, but, man, they're a damn good defense. So for me, man, without the pieces necessary, without Collins and without Tank Dell and with how banged up they are CJ Stroud getting a concussion. We need to really play this week by week, but this week I'm not starting any of them.
Speaker 1:All right, that's the answer I needed to know, man. All right, let's get to some fire here. There's a couple of guys I want to talk about and guys we're talking about guys that are we have questions about. We have guys we're talking about guys who did very well and we're going. Are they going to do it again? Can we play them? Joe Flacco, quarterback for the Cleveland Browns right now. Let's talk about it for a second. Okay, 303 last week with a victory. Okay, the Browns are going to make the playoffs. Joe Flacco is going to play in a playoff game this year. All right, what are we doing this week in particular? Is Joe Flacco, a streaming quarterback candidate, moving forward and through the playoffs?
Speaker 2:Damn right, that boy is.
Speaker 1:I just want to, for those of you listening, frank, he's putting on his sunglasses, he's making gestures. I don't know what any of that means, but I'm sure it's some sexy dance. It looks good. I like it.
Speaker 2:Okay, this is me getting Joey Flacco onto my team. Just, I'm calling it out, manifesting it, putting on my sunglasses, because if sun doesn't set on, a badass and you know who's a badass is Joe Flacco. Okay, and for those listening, joe Flacco thrown over 300 yards and he's 300 years old. That's unbelievable. Okay, and secondly, the lineup that he has the teams that the Cleveland Browns are playing against. You have the Chicago Bears. Yeah, chicago looked really good against Detroit.
Speaker 2:I don't see that replicating again. I think I do. I think that Joe Flacco is going to throw for another 300 yards. No, do I think that he has the ability to still have over 20 fantasy points, especially with the entirety of the quarterback landscape and shambles, pretty much yes. So for me, this is a really interesting opportunity and Mari Cooper is going to be healthy, right, or healthier, right. You have Elijah Moore we're starting to see that in Joe who is becoming an insane fantasy play and an insane fantasy star. So for me, man, yeah, you can absolutely fire up Joe Flacco this week, especially if you're down on quarterbacks you might be looking at Stroud. I'm not firing up Stroud, I'm actually looking to pick up a guy like Flacco. So yeah, john, I think you can.
Speaker 1:Browns are six and one at home. They play the Bears at home this week. Man, pretty crazy. All right, let's look for some other quarterback streamers. All right, we had to introduce ourselves to some new quarterbacks this year, but let's look at some streamers for the playoffs here, especially for this week. Frankie, I'm going to name some guys and I want you to kind of point out, pick out a couple and say you know what I like this guy's match up here, and this is why I'm talking about Jake Browning, quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals, matthew Stafford, quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams, desmond Ritter for the Atlanta Falcons and Will Leviss, rookie quarterback for the Tennessee Titans. Any of these guys tickle your asshole a little bit, give you a little feeling, a little funny feeling, that maybe you could stream one of these guys and get cute if you've got Justin Herbert, for instance, cj Stroud, for instance.
Speaker 2:Yeah, john, there's two. There is two in here and I'm leaning Jake Browning and that of Matthew Stafford. Jake Browning fun fact the last three starts, john, he has had the highest completion percentage and three starts, consecutive starts in NFL history, 79% in NFL history. Okay, this dude and I talked about it earlier on was incredible. At Washington he's broke Pac-12 records constantly. He ends up coming to Cincinnati or wherever the hell he actually came to.
Speaker 2:I don't know if Cincinnati even drafted him, but eventually just became a backup and just sat there. So, for me, now that he's getting the opportunity, john, the team is rallying around him, and so is Burrow. That is a huge, huge part of this. Joe Burrow is another coach to him and so, john, when we start looking at why I'm like this or why I think that Jake Browning, it would be a guy that I would stream, they're playing Minnesota, minnesota. Yeah, their defense has been decent as of late.
Speaker 2:I really like the tandem of what Jake Browning is doing and what Zach Taylor is doing from a running perspective. They're getting Joe Mixon involved. They're bringing in Chase Brown, the backup running back, to do more scat back stuff with. We saw him take one to the house of 54 yards last week, and then you're feeding your top player. You're not over complicating, it would judge a more chase. So, all of this combined, cincinnati's still in the hunt for the playoffs, john, and so I actually think that I would definitely be looking to start Jake Browning if I had the opportunity to this week, and streaming him and ride the wave of what he's been able to do.
Speaker 1:John, the last the next go ahead, stafford. It's all about schedule and it's about the talent he's surrounded by right, definitely.
Speaker 2:John. And that's exactly it with Stafford. I mean, guys, listen, it's playing Washington, new Orleans and the Giants. Okay, I'm taking Stafford in every single one of those matchups and I'm not thinking twice about it, right? You look at what Stafford has done since their biweek. John, 11.7 points in Seattle, tough, tough sledding there, right, but 32 points against Arizona, 30 points against the Browns, 30, almost 30 and 28 against the Baltimore Ravens. Very good defenses, I'm rolling with Stafford brother. So those two guys, Stafford would be my number one, browning would be my number two.
Speaker 1:All right, I like it. A couple of running backs. We had on fire here. Zeke Elliott we talked about that 23 points. I mean Zeke's a guy you feel good about starting Zeke in week 15 this week here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, john. So Zeke, definitely. I mean, what we're starting to see from Zeke is that, I mean, he's the, he's the bell count, right. So when they're playing Kansas City, I know it's a tough, I know it's tough, right, kansas City is a tough matchup, but, yeah, I'm firing him up. I mean, when he got the lion's share, brother, it was, it was beautiful. He ran the ball 22 times, 68 yards, and added seven receptions for 70 yards, okay, and a touchdown. So he is replacing what Remandre Stevens had did from the receiving end and then still being in the lion's share of the load from what he was basically splitting with Remandre. You've got to start moving forward.
Speaker 1:He's really all they got, man. It really is. Yeah, all right. Hey, austin Eckler, he's back, awesome, excellent, he's back. Austin Eckler, thank God, because now it's a total shit storm. We'll talk about it a little bit on the Thursday night football preview, but just wanted to shout out Austin Eckler is back. 18 points out of him. Frankie, there's one guy here that I want to see your thoughts on. I know let's take away our emotions. Okay, we're Browns fans. For those of you who don't know and haven't watched the podcast for very long, we're Browns fans, and I want to talk about Odell Beckham Jr for a second here. Okay, odell Beckham Jr had 18 points this past week. He seems to be very involved. They're throwing quite a bit, man. The running backs are kind of worthless at this point. Lamar is running a lot again and throwing the ball a lot down the field and it's really going to Odell. Is Odell a guy that you're looking at flexing this coming week?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, john, I am actually, and you know they're playing at Jacksonville. We saw what the Browns just did to Jacksonville. Right, joe Flacco threw 311 yards and Lamar is way better than Joe Flacco. And so what we've seen from OBJ over after the bi-week because you have to remember wherever the bi-week was they're adjusting, they're changing things, they're reprogramming their, their offense, and instituting new ideas and schemes Huge, they targeted him 10 times John, the most he's been targeted all year. And so now, coming out of that, yeah, he only caught four, but he had a couple of broken plays for 97 yards and a touchdown man. So for me, yeah, especially if they're playing at Jacksonville, I I definitely think in in heavier leagues, like your larger leagues, like 12 to 16 man, you can flex out OBJ.
Speaker 1:God, I hate that. I agree with him. I hate him, I do I. I hate him. Hate that, I hate him. You know what you got to separate your head and your heart. My heart says fuck you, odell, but my head is like he's a viable play this week actually. You know, you can totally flex him. He's been been getting a lot of targets. All right, man, let's look at the Thursday night football preview. I was just going to say God, I hope it's better than last weeks and I don't know that it's going to be. Man, I really don't.
Speaker 1:We've got a massive battle ahead of us Clash of the Titans here. West Coast battle, los Angeles Chargers at the Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders are favored by three with an over under a 33 and a half. Okay, we've got Easton Stick versus Aiden O'Connell. Who doesn't fucking want to watch that? Give me the popcorn, baby. Wow, Wow, yeah, I know. All right. So we got into the Chargers already. We talked a little bit about what's going on there In my mind. You fire up Kenan Allen because it's Kenan Allen and you just hope that he gets some connection with this with this guy. Easton Stick, stick to Allen, stick to Allen. And Austin Eckler. The schedule's too good, the defense you can run and that's it right. You're not done, quentin Johnston, you're not looking at, you're not doing anything else. Am I right? Totally, don't get cute. Don't get cute, just maybe dicker the kicker.
Speaker 1:Okay, because they're probably only going to score field goals.
Speaker 2:Put on Dickie out there, Get him out there and kick some balls yeah definitely.
Speaker 1:I'm just glad that there's a new story for all of the shows to talk about and every you know, because it seems like they just grab one of these shitty quarterbacks and create a story out of it. And it cracks me up because these stories, guys, they're gone after this season. You're never going to see Tommy DeVito again. You're never going to see some of these guys again. Okay, so for the Chargers, it's Kenan Allen and you're crossing your fingers and it's Austin Eckler, because he's probably going to get a huge dose of the ball. Yeah, all right, let's look at the Raiders man. What are you thinking about, the Raiders?
Speaker 2:It's just as good it's just as good. You're firing up Devonte Adams and maybe maybe Chacoby Myers, maybe, depending on John, that's pretty much it. I mean, if you desperately need a running back, I flip a coin for either or I'm not doing it. I wouldn't even remotely do it. I might put one on my bench just to see what happens. Maybe you catch lightning in a bottle for two weeks, something like that. But, John, it's Devonte Adams and that's it for me, literally.
Speaker 1:Keep an eye. Like we said, keep an eye on Josh Jacobs. He might be able to play, but it's not looking great with the short week on Thursday, so keep an eye on him. I was really hoping it was just going to be Austin Eckler and Josh Jacobs just running the ball every time. Just let's see. Give him four opportunities every four downs and just see if they can score touchdowns that would be awesome.
Speaker 1:That would be so much better than watching these two guys play quarterback. I guarantee it. Predictions on this one. I can't believe it's a three point line. I think they're just like. I don't fucking know. You tell me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, I mean it's like I honestly think it's. Yeah, I mean, this is impossible to predict. I mean I'll probably lean in the hometown team just because you're at home, but it's not even like the Chargers got to travel far. You know what I mean. So there's no travel issue. I mean so, yeah, man, I mean maybe, maybe greater is minus three. Yeah, this is a game I'm not going to bet on, just so you know.
Speaker 1:No, and man, I really all these people that are paying four or five I mean the bottom seats at the stadium, by the way. I looked at 300, 400, 500, that's minimum to get tickets to this game. I believe me. I've been to Vegas a couple of times this year and I'm like I want to go to a game. I will get to one, but it's not going to be fucking Easton stick versus a. No, I'll tell you that right now.
Speaker 1:But All right, guys, don't forget, there's games on Saturday as well. Wanted to shout that out Three games on Saturday this week. Pay attention to all of this, because there's going to be games and goofy times during the holidays. Here, guys, Saturday early, we've got the Vikings at the Bengals and Steelers at the Colts in the afternoon and Broncos at the Lions, so pretty interesting. All of those teams fighting for the playoffs right now should be some good games, man. Thank you so much for joining us everybody. That is our ice and fire episode with our news and notes and meeting new shitty quarterbacks. Frankie, what do we got coming up?
Speaker 2:next episode here on Friday Guys, we got coming up your favorite episode of starting sit. Who are we smashing, passing and who do we hit it and quit it. So, guys, we're going to get you prepared for some awesome starting sit questions. Keep them coming, and we want to get you ready for your playoff matchup. So tune in, john, we're going to be dropping that bad boy on Friday. Get you ready for your weekend ahead.