Frankly Fantasy Football
The Fantasy Football Podcast. Frankie & Johnny bring you the info you need to win your fantasy football leagues with their in-depth news and hard hitting player analysis. The guys hope to put a smile on your face as well.
Frankly Fantasy Football
Fantasy Playoffs - Week 16 Starts & Sits - News & Notes - TNF Preview - Hit it & Quit it
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Tired of second-guessing your fantasy football lineup as playoffs approach? Learn how to dominate your league with our latest episode of Frankly Fantasy Football. We kick off by celebrating Frankie's semi-final triumphs and Johnny's pivot to daily fantasy sports strategies. With a nod to our fantastic social media community, we dive into the latest fantasy news. From Deontae Johnson's sudden absence to Nick Chubb's injury setback, we break down the implications for your squad. We also keep you updated on Josh Allen's good news and David Montgomery's unfortunate season-ending surgery.
As the NFL weekend looms, we're here to ensure you're armed with the best fantasy advice out there. We navigate the murky waters of Patrick Mahomes' playtime worries and suggest savvy alternatives like Aaron Rodgers or Bo Nix to keep your roster robust. From insights on Alvin Kamara's flex potential to Jonnu Smith's DFS allure, we've got your back with strategic pointers. We also explore key injuries and their ripple effects, emphasizing the need for flexibility and continual updates to secure your playoff position.
Lastly, our playoff strategy session unpacks recent player performances and the impacts of injuries. What does the Jameis Winston benching mean for Jerry Jeudy and Elijah Moore? Who should you trust with Nick Chubb sidelined? We highlight Jerome Ford's growing relevance and the backup plans needed for Joe Mixon's shaky status. Our start/sit advice covers crucial matchups, from Tee Higgins facing the Browns to George Pickens' potential versus the Ravens. Cautioning against risky starts, we weigh in on whether Aaron Rodgers can outshine the Rams and why some running backs might not be your safest bet. Tune in to make the smartest calls for your fantasy team.
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Welcome to the semi-final episode of Frankly Fantasy Football, getting you guys ready for your playoff run. Guys, we're here to talk about our hit-its and quit-its. We're going to give you guys some insight on some of the top news available, as well as giving you an overview of the Thursday night game. Don't forget, like, share, subscribe across all social media platforms. We love you guys.
Speaker 2:All right, all right, all right, welcome to the show. This is the Frankly Fantasy Football Podcast. We are your hosts, Frankie and Johnny. Frankie, how you doing, brother, you make it to the next level, did you make it?
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, johnny, boy, I am definitely making it to a league. So, guys, I know I gave a little recap heading into week 15. Guys, I was able to overcome in two weeks. I'm moving on to the semifinals and the other two leagues. Man, I just got my shit pushed. So, hey, 50%, I'll take it. John, I'll take it. Semis, baby.
Speaker 2:Well, that's great, because I am living vicariously through you. Right now, man, I have no hopes. All I'm doing is going online, draftkings and doing DF lineups and bets. Man, that's all I got anymore. My watch has ended, unfortunately, but you know what? I'm still in it here to get you guys involved and get you to the championship game. We got one more week left until your Super Bowl. Let's do this, guys. Let's go Today. We've got a great episode. Thank you so much for joining us. This is it, guys. I know those of you watching and our views went way up last week. We were expecting everything to go down. Everything went way up. Thank you so much for watching and for listening. We're going to get you ready to get it to your Super Bowl this week. Guys, all right, this week we've got Week 16. Starts and sits are hit-its and quit quit, it's like we like to call it. We're going to bring that to you. We've also got a Thursday night football preview, but first and foremost, we're going to get to the news the season 2000 yards.
Speaker 1:You just don't expect Absolutely must Flip out News and notes.
Speaker 2:All right, before we get to the news here, guys, I just want to say thank you so much for all of your support, whether it's watching on YouTube, listening on Spotify, apple and Google, and, more importantly, thank you so much for your engagement and everything on social media, guys. Tiktok and Instagram have gone shit and we appreciate it so much. We appreciate it so much. Please don't forget to follow us, like, subscribe, share everything on TikTok, instagram, at Frankly Fantasy Football, also on X and Facebook as well, and on the YouTube channel at Frankly Fantasy Football. Send us your comments, guys. Send us your start sick questions. Your hit it and quit it questions. Also, send us who is your fantasy MVP, who is the guy on your team that you just it carried you.
Speaker 2:You're going to buy the jersey after this year because you loved him so much. Is it Jameer Gibbs? Is it Saquon Barkley? Is it Josh Allen? Yeah, could it be Lamar Jackson? Yeah, all right, I'm telling you right now. My son, jackson, has Lamar dominated last week, obviously with like 49 points, something like that. If he makes it to the Super Bowl, I'm buying that little sumbitch a jersey man. He's going to get a Lamar Jackson jersey with his name on the back and says Jackson, it's beautiful, it's beautiful, please make it happen. I hope he gets there. All right, let's get to the news here, man. All right, real quick, not fantasy relevant, but Deontay Johnson, frankie, why is he in the news every week? And the guy isn't even on the field? He has been excused from all activities with the team, excused Like thank you for coming, kindly leave, and that's it man, that's it.
Speaker 1:So, weird, so weird.
Speaker 2:So weird. Josh Allen, quarterback for the Bills. He got x-rays on his shoulder. Everything came back clean. Everything should be fine. No reason to freak out at this point, so it should be good to go. Xavier Leguette, wide receiver rookie wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers, left the game with a groin injury. He's considered week to week. He's doubtful for week 16. He's not going to play. Guys, if you need to drop him to make room for a backup defense or something else in your playoffs, you absolutely can do that. Nick Chubb bring out the bell. Wow, man, hell's bells. Nick Chubb, running back for the Browns, broke his foot and will miss the rest of the season. Interesting though, frankie, you know if you're looking at Dynasty and things like that, he is a free agent next year, but a lot of the reports I've seen are saying he wants to be in Cleveland. Do you think this?
Speaker 1:is a possibility for next year Could be. Depends on cheap. He's willing to go and that's going to be. It's going to come down to the money side Because it's going to be. It's going to come down to the money side because the reality I mean he's approaching 30 years old has had an insane amount of serious injuries at this point through college, now NFL right, and so yeah, I mean he absolutely could be a Brown next year. It's going to depend on the price. So we'll definitely have to see. But to your point, dynasty guys, check out Jerome Ford Could be interesting.
Speaker 2:We will talk about him a little bit later here. Teaser alert man. Spoiler alert, all right, and to bring out the bell again, this one hurts way worse, way worse. David Montgomery Monty, having season-ending knee surgery, you will be without knuckles for the rest of your playoffs, man, this is a rough blow here, john, did you?
Speaker 1:see first off two things. Crazy as hell. The bet before the season started was will David Montgomery go over 775.5 rushing yards on the season? Guys, right at when he got hurt. He will now end the season on 775 rushing yards. You lose that bet by .5 rushing yards. How sick.
Speaker 2:Oh, I'm bringing the bell out for that one too. I'm bringing the bell out for that one Insane beats of all time, john.
Speaker 1:I mean just outrageous. And then, secondly, guys, I don't know, it almost brought a tear to my eye. It was the post after he announced that he will be out for season. It was Sonic literally a picture of Sonic holding knuckles and basically saying Jameer Gibbs carried the team from the running back perspective. I have goosebumps everywhere, man. I was just like that. Those two guys, man, are so damn great together. And I just had to call that out because, shout out, david Montgomery, that was an awesome post there.
Speaker 2:So pretty cool. That's awesome man. Yeah, yes, the reign of Sonic and Knuckles has ended, for this season at least. Alec Pierce, wide receiver for the Colts, indianapolis Colts. In concussion protocol. Patrick Mahomes All right, let's talk about this. This is going to have implications here for your Super Bowls and playoffs. Patrick Mahomes has a high ankle sprain. It's mild. We're going to know more this week. He's getting tests and some specialists to look at it here. Frankie, give me some insight. What are you doing as a Patrick Mahomes owner, which I know you are? What are you doing? This?
Speaker 1:week, man Guys, you have to make adjustments necessary. You have to be targeting the waiver wire Right now. It doesn't make sense, john. I mean it just doesn't make sense. Think about this the Chiefs have to be one of those teams that play three games in 10 or 11 days. It does not make sense, knowing you have already locked up your division. You're already in the playoffs, you're really already a top three seed. Now you're just worried about the bye, things like that being the numbers. John, I am sitting, I am absolutely sitting.
Speaker 1:Patrick Mahomes this week and potentially even Christmas Day, depending on how things shake out with Buffalo. Right, if Buffalo wins, then okay, then it may make sense for Patrick Mahomes to play on Christmas Day, but for this week, man guys, I would go under the assumption that he might not play. And if that's the case, then at least you're backed. And what I mean by that is go on the waiver wire, get Aaron Rodgers Great matchup this week. Go on the waiver wire and check out Bo Nix. Go on the waiver wire and check out some of these other guys that still might be available as a just in case, because you would be punching yourself if it came down to the day. Somebody already picked him up just to screw you um on that sunday. And now you're down patrick mohomes, and you can't get one of those guys. So make adjustments necessary and look at it more as a surprise if he does play john russell wilson as the ravens could be an option for you.
Speaker 2:Um, we're looking at mason rudolph at the colts. Very good, be an option for you, right. Right it's, it's scary as shit in your semifinals, I know, but if you're missing Patrick Mahomes you may not have many options out there. But yeah, scour the waiver wire, guys. You have to assume they also play this Saturday and then they play on Christmas Day as well, which is Wednesday. So very short weeks. I agree with you. I can see Carson Wentz rolling out there this week. Man, all right, let's move on here.
Speaker 2:Sincere McCormick, running back for the Raiders, left the game with an ankle injury. I haven't seen much status on him yet. Pay attention to that. During the week. Jalen Waddell, wide receiver for the Dolphins this is somebody you've been starting this week Left the game with a knee injury. He avoided a serious injury, but it is day-to-day right now. Doesn't sound great for him to be playing this week, so keep an eye on that. If he's hobbled anyway, I'm looking for other options this week, guys, it's not like he's been lighting the damn scoreboard up anyway. Too risky to take a chance on a guy who might end up playing the first quarter and leaving the rest of the game so keep an eye on that.
Speaker 1:Quick call out on that, guys. Dfs, put our mindset in DFS for a second. Look at Janu Smith. Look to see what you can get him at he's been playing awesome.
Speaker 1:If you can get him under that 5K mark or right around that 5K mark, plug him into your tight end, knowing he's the number two option behind Tyreek Hill in a pass first offense right now with Tua guys. This could be really awesome. So DFS mindset obviously in regular fantasy, janu Smith's off the board. He's already starting. You're starting him nine times out of 10. Dfs look at Janu Smith.
Speaker 2:Janu Smith, by the way, is the tight end four, with six touchdowns on the year right now. So, yeah, great option, great option, man, all right, let's talk a little bit about the saints here, because this is uh. This is where you have to get into a little pre-planning and thought. When it comes to fantasy football, frankie alvin kamara left the game with a groin injury, did not return, questionable. Right now. We may not know until sunday what's actually going to happen with alvin kamara. They play on monday night football versus the packers. We we got to plan ahead here, man, all right. So here's what you're going to have to do. If you've got Kamara and you have to start him, or you think you have to start him he's your best RB1, rb2 option You're going to have to put him in your flex this week, guys. Put him in your flex so you have that option. Plan ahead. He may not play. Derek Carr, also likely out for the rest of the season, likely not to play. So you've got Noah Lave. They're going to sit him out because he's eligible to come back, but I don't think they're going to play him. Derek Carr's gone.
Speaker 2:Kamara, why would you risk Kamara? They just extended him. Why would you risk him? I think it's unlikely for him to play. Just extended him. Why would you risk him? I think it's unlikely for him to play. Make plans now. If you don't have somebody to replace him on Sunday, put him in your flex and pick up some other guys. If you don't have Kendra Miller, that's who will start in Alvin Kamara's place Then look to somebody like a Dontavian Wicks or a Romeo Dubs or somebody like that. Have a plan. Do not screw yourself on Monday night, guys.
Speaker 2:All right, let's move on here. Tommy DeVito, danny DeVito in Concussion Protocol. Hey, watch your head there, tommy. All right. Wanda L Robinson, also in Concussion Protocol.
Speaker 2:This team's brutal this week. I mean, there's not a lot of people you're starting here. Thank God that we got to see Malik neighbors come back, and you know, squeaky wheel syndrome is what that was Exactly, and you know, thank God we had that. Uh, tyrone Tracy and uh neighbors. It's only people you can even consider, especially right now in your playoffs. All right, this one, gino Smith, quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, left the game with a knee injury, did not return.
Speaker 2:We don't have a lot of detail right now. Doesn't look good. Doesn't look good for this week, though Absolutely not. Keep an eye on that. Maybe we'll get an update. If we don't have anything by Friday, I'm sure Friday's with Frankie. Frankie will give you the top five things you need to know going into the weekend. Frankie, you got to let us know what's happening with Gino man. Frankie, you gotta let us know what's happening with gino man, because that affects everything, man. That affects dk, that affects jsn. We still don't have status on kenneth walker either, so we're gonna have to pay attention to the seattle offense before you throw these guys out for your playoffs. Guys, all right. Zach ertz in concussion protocol as well. Jaleel mclachlan, part of that three-headed running back monster in Denver, questionable with a quad injury. We'll talk a little bit about that backfield here in the Thursday night preview. Marquise Hollywood Brown set to return. We're going to see Marquise Hollywood Brown out there. Frankie, is this even somebody you can consider, with potentially, carson Wentz throwing him the ball Hell?
Speaker 1:no, absolutely not. You do not do that in your semifinal and you might not even do it for your final. You're playing keep away at this point, unless he goes off. And then you're like, hey, maybe I do look to start him due to injuries for the Super Bowl. If you make it, but not this week. Zero percent chance I'm firing him up this week, agreed.
Speaker 2:Aiden O'Connell, quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders, is questionable to play this week. Will Disley we're going to get into Thursday night here pretty soon. Will Disley, tight end for the Chargers, did not practice this week. Did not practice on Monday. So far. He's questionable for Thursday night football Watch. That Doesn't sound good. Another Thursday night football did not practice was Quinton Johnston, wide receiver for the Chargers, didn't practice on Monday. Is questionable for Thursday. Doesn't look good for that either. Tyler Higbee, tight end for the Rams, expected to return in week 16. Braylon Allen running back back up to Brees Hall, questionable with a back injury. Pay attention to that.
Speaker 2:Will Levis this is interesting. Here I had a wonderful parlay. I love doing five, 10, $20 parlays. That are just bananas but they pay out. You know $800, $1,000, something like that All six. I had a six leg parlay. Five of them hit. All I needed was Will Levis. Will Levis needed 200 yards passing. That is not that difficult. It was a great matchup. Son of a bitch got badged. Man Can't even believe it. Can't even believe it. This is me off Mason Rudolph, who always in my mind is the guy who got smacked in the face by Miles Garrett with his own helmet. Oh he's, yeah, just bitch slapped by your own helmet man. Mason Rudolph actually played pretty well. Okay, now breaking news right before we recorded this on Tuesday here it sounds like they're going to start Mason Rudolph and continue to bench Will Levis here. What does this do for you, for the options here on the Tennessee Titans who were playing at the Indianapolis Colts indoors Guys you need to be seriously considering firing up Calvin Ridley for your semifinal.
Speaker 1:What we saw when Mason Rudolph was under center, it truly lifted everything that Calvin Ridley brought to the table, from a reception, from a target, from a yardage perspective. Everything increased over the course of those starts. So, guys, this is something, especially with a matchup and in a divisional matchup, to where these two teams don't really like each other, there's could actually be a fairly higher scoring game than what people are expecting, because you know Anthony Richardson and you know Jonathan Taylor as long as he's not dropping the ball at the goal line, tend to score fairly often. So for me, guys, that's really positive. And then you layer on Mason Rudolph, who could probably be in a game plan or game script to where he's going to need to throw the ball. I love riddles this week. So, yeah, it could change a lot of the dynamic. It's gonna be interesting, all right the browns have benched.
Speaker 2:Jamis winston. Jesus winston is being benched, okay, um, they're gonna start dorian thompson, robinson, dtr qb. Break it down a little bit, frankie. What does this do for the offense? Who, if anyone, can you start with? Dtr quarterback guys?
Speaker 1:this decimates the receivers and everybody. In my opinion, what we saw from Judy was strictly due to the sheer volume of what Jameis Winston provided. And, guys, we know that Jameis Winston effect he's going to throw for 300 yards, he's going to throw for three touchdowns, he's going to throw for five picks right, that's just what he does. And so it gives fantasy viability to a lot of people and a lot of players. And so when we talked about Elijah Moore doing well, when we talked about Jerry Judy being a top five guy last week, john, I think all of this comes to a screeching halt. Now, again, jerry Judy can certainly still have five receptions for 50 yards Cool, is that what you're banking on for a semi? That's not what I'm banking on for a semi.
Speaker 1:So, guys, you need to be prepared for DTR, for a lot of checkdowns and things of that nature. So, to answer your question very directly, john, I'm actually sitting all of the receivers because Cedric Tillman is coming back, which is already going to impede on Judy. We have Elijah Moore and Joku's already banged up, so you're not. I mean, if you got him at tight end, maybe he's the best option if he does play, because DTR will need to really check it down to the middle of the field. But the one guy, the one guy that I would seriously consider about, starting now Chubb is out, offense is kind of in shambles, but it's Jerome Ford man, and that is the guy that I think you can hang your hat on, which I think we might be hitting on here in a bit. But outside of that, john, I think you don't have many options.
Speaker 2:You got to steal my thunder man. I'm sorry, just kidding.
Speaker 1:Put it back. Put it back.
Speaker 2:Put my thunder back. Thank you, you're welcome, all right. Last piece of news here Joe Mixon. This, this is something we're going to have to pay attention to. It could be a lot of nothing, but it might not be. And you can't take chances in your playoffs here, guys. Joe Mixon had a hip drop tackle ankle injury. Out of that, coach D'Amico Ryan says he's fine, but you're going to have to watch this, guys. They could rest him for the playoffs. They've already locked in for the playoffs. Joe Mixon is an extremely, if not the most important piece on this offense right now. I think they could sit him. What do you feel about this? You're a Joe Mixon owner.
Speaker 1:What are you going to do? I'm freaking out, I'll be real guys. I'm real nervous. But here's the thing Throughout the year I always made sure in that particular league to have a really good backup. So here's the question, john. I had Joe Mixon starting right now. Do I replace him with Rico Dowdle? Rico Dowdle is playing a very interesting game with that of. I believe they're playing Tampa Bay, and so there's a lot. Is that correct, john? Can you?
Speaker 2:check on that. They are playing Tampa Bay At home against Tampa Bay, and so I want to ask you man, what would you do, knowing you have Joe Mixonon?
Speaker 1:do you replace him in star rico? Dowdle?
Speaker 2:well, here's the good news we're gonna know on saturday, sure, so we don't have to freak it. This isn't a an alvin kamara situation, to where we're freaking out and you've got them playing on monday and you're not gonna know, and your other backups are already gonna have played. The good news is we're gonna know saturday, if he's playing, so you can make adjustments. Then that's the nice thing. But don't wait until Saturday to figure out what the hell you're going to do. Use the waiver wire now, look and see what's out there and plan. Holding on to all of these guys, like you've done all year, means nothing. Now, guys, you've got two games to worry about this week and next week. Plan next week, right week, right now. Your defense. If you're streaming tight end, if you're streaming quarterbacks, kickers, whatever I don't give a fuck about kickers, but oh, you don't like brandon aubrey, come on no, I don't care at all, man, I don't care, uh.
Speaker 2:but yeah, make those plans. You don't need all these these random guys on your bench in depth for later in the year. Worry about this week and next, and that's it. Have somebody ready to go this week in case Mixon can't go, but luckily you'll know before you need to. So that's good news. All right, frankie, let's get to the Thursday night football preview. We got a Thursday game this week, man. We've got the nine and five Denver Broncos playing at the 8-6 Los Angeles Chargers, both of these teams sitting in that wildcard spot, both battling for the playoffs here, and, man, they're going to play their asses off here. What do we got going on? What are we doing here, john?
Speaker 1:this is crazy. This is going to be an incredible Thursday night game to tee off guys, the holiday games. Really, this is the start. This is going to be an incredible Thursday night game to tee off guys, the holiday games. Really, this is the start. This is fun. So let's look at the line real quick. The line is Chargers minus three. The over-under is 42 and a half Guys.
Speaker 1:I don't know about you, but I've seen a lot of Chargers play okay and with Quinton Johnson potentially being out again, we're recording this on Tuesday, so he's not practicing on Monday. Things could certainly change by the time we get to Thursday could just be a rest day for him, but with certain things happening, man, I don't know that. Plus three, denver looks kind of sexy Just tossing that out, just a little bit of planting a seed, but now let's actually break it down, man. So we got Denver themselves. So for me there's really two people. There's really two people on your fantasy teams that you could look to start. For me it's Bo Nix and for me it's Corden Sutton, and that seems to be it.
Speaker 1:The reason that there's nobody else, sean, is you can't trust any of the running backs at this point in time. We look at what Javante Williams did. He had six carries last week, 15 yards, targeted three times, caught two passes for eight yards Terrible. Let's look at what Audrick Estime did Five carries, 13 yards, one target, one catch, five receiving yards. Well, mclaughlin had to have been better right Poop Seven carries, 21 yards, three targets, three receptions, 13 yards. What I'm getting at is this is a three-headed monster and even with McLaughlin potentially being banged up, this also isn't a great situation to be rolling these guys out against a good Chargers defense. So even though you know that three head might go down to two guys, you got to look elsewhere. So for me, looking at Denver man, it's two guys it's Bo Nix and it's Cortland Sutton.
Speaker 2:Now real quick. I mean two three-headed monster. I don't know if I'd call it a monster. Yeah, good point, they're the Broncos man, A three-headed pony.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like a three-headed, you kind of have to be mean and tough and put up some numbers to be a monster, right yeah?
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, yeah, that's good. Maybe like a three. Yeah, I like the pony play off the Bronco, I like that, that's good. Maybe three headed ass like a mule or something like that Okay.
Speaker 2:There we go Right. Three headed donkey, three headed donkey. I like that there.
Speaker 1:I like it. Okay, cool, let's go to the chargers. So the chargers here. Man, you're starting a few, you're, you're really starting. As crazy as it sounds, I'm rolling out one guy. So really, from these two teams, I'm rolling out three total people, which is crazy when you think about how good this game is also going to be. It's very rare that that happens, but for me it's starting McConkie. Mcconkie has been dominant the last few weeks, guys. Last week alone he had seven targets, five receptions, 58 yards, a touchdown. He has truly Ben Herbert's guy Now in a super, super deep league.
Speaker 1:Okay, if Quinton Johnston does play, you might entertain him as one of your guys. If you're in a double flex, 14-man league, if you're in a 12-man double flex league or a 12-man three-receiver one-flex league, something along those lines, there is value in Quentin Johnston. Again, the issue is, as I was talking about the Chargers defense being good guys. The Broncos defense against the pass is top five. They are so good, like really good. So either way you look at this, it's very interesting. Both offenses are offset by how good the defenses are. So for me, man, that's only why I'm focusing on three guys as my true starts, with that being Bo Nix Corlin Sutton, and then of Laddie Makaki.
Speaker 2:All right, beautiful man, I love it. And don't forget, we have two Saturday games as well. Saturday, 1 o'clock, eastern Texans at Chiefs and then Saturday at 4.30 Eastern, we've got Steelers at Ravens. God, I love that matchup. What a great game on a Saturday afternoon, man.
Speaker 1:Awesome game.
Speaker 2:Let's go, let's go. All right, frankie. Let's get to our hitters and quitters. Baby, I want you to hit it, hit it and quit it. All right, frankie. What are we, baby? I want you to hit it, Hit it, quit it. All right, frankie. What are we doing with our first hitter of the week? Hey, no messing around this week, man, you can't take any chances here. This is playoffs. What are we doing, baby?
Speaker 1:Well, the first thing I'm doing, getting ready for the playoffs, is I'm heading over to our partnership with BetStamp and signupexpertcom. Guys, we'll be right back region, each with unique offerings. So if you're ready to hit on some of these guys, maybe pepper in a prop bet or get you a little bonus bet on the side for those Saturday games. Check it out, signupexpertcom backslash. Frankly, we got you covered. With that being said, john, my first hit it is actually going to be Mr T Higgins himself. Okay, and people are like, yeah, it's kind of been edgy one Frankie, kind of why are you throwing a little cream puff out there? Well, the interesting thing is, for those 12-man leagues, tee Higgins is actually somebody people have been asking me about. Here's why I'm starting him this week.
Speaker 1:The last four weeks I'm focusing on the last four-week window, three of the four he's had over 17 points in full PPR. He's had no less than five targets in any of those last four games and he's had five plus receptions in three out of those last four games, as well as over 60 yards. What I'm getting at is the dude has been dominant of late and it coincides exactly with how the Bengals' offense has been. They've had to put up 30, 40 points to even be in a game, guys, because their defense is so bad. So when you're looking at them playing Cleveland, our Brownies yes, it's hard to say start against them. They have been very, very bad against opposing wide receivers to the tune of they're giving up the third most fantasy points to opposing receivers. So for me, guys, with Cleveland being really bad, especially against receiver twos giving up the third most fantasy points, bengals are in a must win situation. They're praying. They're praying that the Baltimore Ravens lose at this point against the Steelers this week. Guys, I'm firing up T Higgins against that of Cleveland.
Speaker 2:All right, oh man. Well, you know what, frankie, I'm going to stay in the same game, man. All right, we spoiled this a little bit earlier, but now it's time to talk about it. I'm going to hit Jerome. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm going to hit Jerome Ford running back for the Cleveland Browns at the Cincinnati Bengals this week. Listen, we talked about it. Chubb is out.
Speaker 2:When Jerome Ford has had to come in recently especially, he's been very reliable, had a big game last week, had a big 65-yard run, looks good. I mean, it's the most explosive I've seen him in quite a while, you know. I mean we were worried about him early in the year, saying man, he just doesn't look right. He came out like a bat out of hell last week. So that's a great sign. He's got a high floor. He's got a little bit of a low ceiling here, especially with DTR at quarterback, but I think he's a running back to this week without doubt, with running back one upside man.
Speaker 2:Let's talk about why. Since his defense in the past three weeks, this is a team you can run on. Man. Pollard and Spears totaled for 50 rushing yards, two touchdowns, 87 receiving yards and a touchdown. Rico Dowdle had 131 rushing yards against his Cincinnati defense Najee Harris the week before that had 75 rushing yards and a touchdown and 54 receiving yards. That is the key here. One thing Jerome Ford is better than Nick Chubb at it's the receiving aspect. Dtr coming in. I think it is going to be a little more difficult than we thought with the passing game, but I think you're going to see a lot of dump-offs, you're going to see a lot of screens to try to back the rush off of DTR here and you've got a running quarterback, so somebody is going to kind of be spying him a little bit. I think that's going to open up Jerome Ford for just volume and opportunity. He is the only Cleveland Brown you can start this week, but I think you can do it with confidence in your RB2 spot and enjoy. Win this game, boys.
Speaker 1:Go Brownies. Sorry, had to throw that one in there too. John, my hint number two baby, and this is only if he plays Reading. Listen up, here it comes, george Pickens at the Baltimore Ravens and guys, here is why this is a slam dunk play Number one. We have seen what the offense looks like without a receiving threat. Russell Wilson looks like shit. Right, they can't. They're struggling on getting the running game fully ramped up and going and there's really nobody else outside of Friar Muth that's doing anything from a receiving perspective outside of the running backs. So for me, man, george Pickens absolutely has solidified his value to that offense alone since he's been out.
Speaker 1:The other key item Baltimore's defense is very, very, very bad against the pass. If Tim Boyle, if Tim Boyle and Malik Nabors can cut up the Baltimore defense, what do you think Russ and Pickens is going to do in a rivalry game? That there's a shit ton on the line for, including the division, right? So if he plays and that tenacity comes, I love Pickens. Here's the other thing Last four games before Pickens went out, he never had less than six targets how about that? And he didn't have less than 48 yards. Again, talking the last four games before he went out. Oh, and also he had two touchdowns. Guys, he's been dominant as of late, and again against a really bad secondary in a divisional matchup to where they desperately need Pickens back. If he plays, you're firing him up.
Speaker 2:Last time they played Baltimore not that long ago, week 11, he had 12 targets and was eight for 89. I like those odds. I like the chances there. All right, my second edit this week, guys, this is listen, if you had, you know, some quarterback issues here. You had Patrick Mahomes. We talked about it, maybe even on your waiver wire.
Speaker 2:If you're in more shallow leagues, I am starting Aaron Rodgers, karen Rodgers, quarterback for the New York Jets versus the Los Angeles Rams. Most of this is really because of the Rams. Here, guys, the Rams defense is 28th against quarterbacks right now. They give up the second most points over the past four games. They give out the most most points over the past two games. They're slowly giving quarterbacks more and more fantasy points. You gotta love it. There's going to be a lot of points scored in this game. I think. I think there's going to be a lot of gunslinging here.
Speaker 2:Past couple of weeks have been really good for Aaron Rodgers. I mean, I haven't been a fan all year, but I'm looking at trends and looking what's happening here. Something's kind of coming together. Maybe it's no pressure anymore, maybe that's the key. But he threw for 339 yards in week 14 against Miami. He threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns last week versus Jacksonville.
Speaker 2:The one thing I really liked and I freaked out when I saw it on TV Frankie. I watched him look over to Devontae Adams and he did a hand signal or something like that, something they used to do back in the day and sure as shit Devontae knew exactly what he was talking about smoked the guy, hot route, hit him and it was right down the sideline and it was goddamn beautiful. I think it's just needed to take some time. Garrett Wilson's already been a stud. They had chemistry. He's still rolling. But what he did with Devontae last week, man, you cannot ignore that and you can't double Devontae because you've got Garrett Wilson running around the field. So I do think this leads to a very, very solid, good game for Aaron Rodgers. I know it sounds scary, guys, but if you're missing Patrick Mahomes, maybe you lost Derek Carr. You're struggling with some of these quarterback issues. Start, aaron Rodgers, I think you're going to be happy.
Speaker 1:Oh, I love it, john. Just to go off that Devontae Adams 198 yards, two touchdowns. Did it not look like vintage Aaron Rodgers to Devontae? I mean to your point it was beautiful. I mean, if you're a football lover, you loved and correct me if I'm wrong wasn't that Devontae's 100th touchdown catch? Isn't that correct? I believe his last touchdown.
Speaker 2:I think that's what they were saying. Yeah, so that was really cool man to see. He should have had three did you see the? Touchdown where he reached out. Almost he stopped and like squared up against two guys and he was about 10 yards from the reds or from the end zone and he just tried to get in there, man. But yeah, he almost said three that game crazy man, love it.
Speaker 1:Aaron rogers could be a little sneaky. Hit it there, dude. My number three is going to be somebody that you need to fire up specifically in eight-10 man leagues and in 12 and 14, you're already like, hey, I got him locked and loaded. It's Mike Evans. Guys, mike Evans has been banged up this year. Okay, he's missed some weeks, he's missed some games. We've seen him kind of be lulled and then we'll see a nice peak and then he'll go down to a valley. This is the game that you want, mike Evans, for your semifinal in those shallower leagues. It's at Dallas. Okay, must start Anytime that you're playing Dallas.
Speaker 1:Trevion Diggs just went out for a season. They are beaten and battered. It doesn't even look right. Baker Mayfield is on a tear with Mike Evans and you can't tell me, with three games left, john, that it's in Baker's mind, it's in Buccaneers fans' minds and it's in Mike Evans' mind that he's looking to get to 1,000 yards. Guys, he needs three weeks to get 251 yards and I think he's going to get it, and that's to continue that 1,000-yard streak. And correct me if I'm wrong it's either going to be tying Jerry Rice's record or it's going to be over Jerry Rice's record. But either way, we're right there and that's why this is important. In addition, they have a lot to play for man. They haven't locked up the division yet. So when we're talking about the Houston Texans and there's some worry there because they already locked it up they're cozy, they're warm, they can chill out a little bit. That's not the Buccaneers right now. We got the Falcons breathing down their neck. They're one game behind. I mean, this is going to come down to a photo finish.
Speaker 1:And when you look at what Dallas has given up, especially you know, when you think of Tyreek Hill, you know and you know some of the other guys that have played against that of Dallas. Dude, it's been pretty incredible. Here's the other thing when I talk about guys that I would actually start Mike Evans over and I just mentioned one I'm starting him over Tyreek Hill. It's crazy. I know Jalen Watt was banged up. I'm starting Mike Evans over him. I'm starting Mike Evans over DK Metcalf. I'm starting Mike Evans over that of Zay Flowers. I'm starting Mike Evans over that of George Pickens. Guys, there's a lot of guys out there that I just named, and even more that because of the matchup, because of some intangible situations like the record chasing and, because of them, still being in the playoff hunt. This is freaking. Big Dallas is also giving up the ninth most points to fantasy receivers. Start, start, big Mike, baby.
Speaker 2:And enjoy, I love it and we've seen it every single year. Mike Evans is the ultimate fantasy football, you know winner for you.
Speaker 1:Playoff winner.
Speaker 2:League winner. Yeah, he does this every—I just knocked my—look at that, Wow you got excited too, I did.
Speaker 2:I'm not even in the playoffs and I'm pumped up.
Speaker 2:Damn it, let's go. We've seen it every year. Mike Evans scores multiple touchdowns at the end of every season, even if he's done not much up until then. He had two last week, guys, this could be a two or three banger for him again. Man, we see it every year. Hey, I'm staying in the flames here. Man, I'm staying with the Buccaneers, all right, this one's going to be a little crazy. I don't like doing the chalk. We all know that we talk about it. This is a sneaky one, guys. Okay, this is for the deeper leagues. Maybe you're in, you know, 14-team leagues with multiple flexors and some crazy shit going on. This is a sneaky guy here, and he might even be on your waiver wire. I think he's less than 50% owned in most leagues.
Speaker 2:Jalen McMillan, rookie wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers A guy's like Groundhog Day. Okay, he's like a groundhog on February 2nd. Last two weeks here, he's got to pop his head up and goes. I think I'm going to fucking score some touchdowns. And guess what he did? Man, here's what we got going on.
Speaker 2:He was targeted 13 times over the past two weeks from Baker Mayfield. Three touchdowns in that span. In two games, nine catches for 134 yards in those two games. Listen, the guy's been targeted. Baker Mayfield's been playing out of his damn mind. He's driven. Right now Baker can smell the playoffs man. He hasn't won a division ever, I don't think in his life. So you know he's pumped up and ready to go for this. But he's developed a lot of nice chemistry with this rookie man. Really interesting here. Bucs are leading the NFC South. Like Frankie talked about playing for the playoffs, dallas who they're playing is playing for nothing and they're real, real banged up. Just like Frankie was talking about, it's a 48 and a half point over under. You know Baker's going to throw multiple touchdowns here. Man and I think Jalen McMillan remember the name, jalen McMillan rookie receiver for the Bucs Start him, you can flex him and I think he's going to help you out this week. Guys, do it.
Speaker 1:John, somebody needed to step in for Chris Godwin, and I think you nailed it, baby, that's right, All right.
Speaker 2:Frankie, who are we quitting this week?
Speaker 1:Who do you not want to take a chance on in your playoffs to get you the Super Bowl? This one's a little tough, this one, I'm a little puckered, little puckered, but I think it's legit and I'll tell you why I'm sitting. I'm quitting Brian Robinson Jr. Guys, versus that of Philly, you might be thinking well, austin Eckler isn't back. Why are you doing that? Well, the backup's fine, I haven't done super good and the team's looking really solid. Not against Philly, guys.
Speaker 1:This is a brutal matchup for any top-tier running back in the league. Philly is dominating up front. Here's just an example they played the Steelers recently, very recently, last week, held Najee to six carries and 14 yards. One target, one reception for seven yards. Jalen Warren had to have done better, right, because he's been balling. No. Four carries, 12 yards rushing, two targets, one reception, three yards. Guys, if you go back and look at most of the games that Philly has played against, that running back has done very poorly. They even pseudo-stopped that of Derrick Henry, and I stack rank Derrick Henry much higher than I stack rank Bryan Robinson. So, yes, his incredible 80s, ben Guys, you might need to start him in a 14 or 12 man league. I'm just. You know, I understand that. But if you can afford to sit him maybe you like Rico Dowdle, maybe you have some of these other guys that you can plug in that gives you a bit more cushion just because of the matchup. I'm looking at that. So for me, man, I'm sitting Bryan Robinson Jr this week.
Speaker 2:I think you got to count on a touchdown in order for Bryan Robinson to have value, which he does do quite often. They do run the ball all of the time within the 10 zone there, but that's a real tough gamble to make here to get you to the playoffs. So I agree with you, man, I'm with you. All right, my first sit of the week it's going to be Ramondre Stevenson running back for the New England Patriots at the Buffalo Bills. Buffalo has been just playing lights out, man. I mean, they really, really have been playing impressive Ramondre Stevenson. He's the running back 24 right now. He hasn't seen the end zone since week nine. This team doesn't get in the red zone very often, so it's really going to hurt your chances there.
Speaker 2:You cannot count or bet on a touchdown from Ramondre here. He hasn't had double digits in the past five games. Double digits in the past five games. This is not a two-game sample size here. This is five games. Double digits in the past five games. This is not a two-game sample size here. This is five games. He's getting the volume, but it's going to have to come from the air and that's just not something I want to plan on right now. The Buffalo D extremely difficult and their offense is on fire. I mean, superman, josh Allen is just going to boat race this team. This is not going to be a game, ramondre. Very likely to be game scripted out. You can't take that chance this week. Guys, sit him.
Speaker 1:John Ramondre has been one of those guys, in my opinion, that has been miserable to own all year and I'm going to lump him in with another guy, not to the same degree, but it's been pretty miserable. Brees Hall. There's been a couple guys that have just been absolutely brutal because of what you said. They're getting the volume. It's not that they're not getting the volume, but they're not doing anything with it based on their expectation. And Ramondre is kind of the you know, the guy you think of when that comes up. So, dude, I love the quitted, especially inside of Buffalo man.
Speaker 2:And certainly not consistently. I mean, you know Brees Hall right now he's the running back 16 and a half PPR, but you haven't felt like that all season with his production. It's been up and down. He's had a good game and then a couple of bad games, and really the same thing with Ramondre. Ramondre's barely a running back too. He's a running back 24 right now, but it's just been okay. You know, like it's not been. He hasn't had your big games or you know this, and that it's just kind of been hovering around, maybe eight, 10 points, something like that, and then maybe a 22 point game here and there every five, six games or so. You can't do that, though. You can't plan on that. If you need the floor and you're a favorite, then you just want a guy on there to get you 10 points. Fine, start Ramond Drake. If you're the underdog, if you're looking to make a big splash here and try to dominate, you can't have Ramond Drake in there. It's very unlikely for him to dominate this week.
Speaker 1:John, my second quiddit is going to be Isaiah Pacheco versus Houston Guys. I know Isaiah Pacheco is starting to get the rock more. I know that with Patrick Mahomes being out, that they're going to have to or not being out. I want to be crystal clear Trending towards being injured, let me put it like that An injury of some sort which could position him to be out? If that's the case, it puts usually running backs in a precarious position. Maybe it's very good, maybe it's not very good. From a running back side of things, it really pans out right. But for me, man, I am not willing to risk it and here's why we talked about them playing Houston. Houston is the fifth worst defense for fantasy. Running backs, not super great, meaning they are the toughest, fifth toughest to play against. Kareem Hunt is also still in the mix. That is not going away, john.
Speaker 1:I thought that Kareem Hunt was going to be more of the role of what we saw in Cleveland. We saw Nick Chubb dominating really the in-between the tackles, the first two downs and then Kareem Hunt would come in for a third down. Kareem Hunt would come in for a goal line. What we're seeing is it's not necessarily that's the case and Kareem is still getting the rock on sometimes, that second and first down. So for me, man, when you look at what has been going on, we had 13 rushes, 32 yards rushing versus the Browns. That is Isaiah Pacheco. Since he's been back he's not had over eight fantasy points in half.
Speaker 1:Ppr Guys. That's a problem. That is a problem. That is not a guy that is an RB1. That is a problem. That is not a guy that is an RB1. That is not a guy that I would even remotely consider against the fifth toughest team, against running backs, to roll out there. And if you layer on that of Patrick Mahomes again, you could think of well, they're going to have to rely on the run game more. I think about it as well. Guess what? There's going to be a stacked box. So it could be opposite of what you think. So for me, man, I'm not willing to risk it and I'm sitting Isaiah Pacheco this week.
Speaker 2:The other thing that worries me is I think they're going to be managing reps for a lot of their players, to be perfectly honest, including Kelsey. Including Kelsey. I think you're going to see a lot more Noel Gray out there. I think you're going to see a lot more Kareem Hunt. They've got what? Three games in 11 days. They've got what? Three games in 11 days. Yeah, you know that's. They're going to manage the reps here. And Pacheco, who has been hurt and has, you know, come back the past few games, he's not going to get 20 carries in this game, guys, because they have Carson Wentz starting. You're going to see a lot of Kareem Hunt in there. So I agree with you, man, I'm with you. As much as I love P, it's going to be a potential volume issue with him this week. Yep, all right. My last quiddit this week is going to be Tank Dell.
Speaker 2:Frank, the Tank Dell at wide receiver for the Houston Texans at the Kansas City Chiefs in that same game. Tank Dell, all right. He was a rookie sensation. Guy just took the fucking roof off the place last year. Man, amazing. Hasn't been like that this year, guys. He hasn't done a whole lot. He's barely been startable in most games. He hasn't been a wide receiver two meaning a top 24 receiver or better since week nine and he's only been a wide receiver two twice this year. Man Very different from last year. The past two games for Tank Dell. Six targets. He's had three catches and 49 yards in the past two games. Under 40 yards receiving in five of his last eight games.
Speaker 2:Kansas City's too good of a defense guys to play a boomer bus player. This is your playoffs. This is not an opportunity for you to throw a guy out and say I hope he does well this week. I hope he bucks his eight-game trend recently. Don't do it, guys. It's not going to happen. It's too risky, too risky for the bisky baby. Yep, that's it, all right. All right, that is the episode for the week. Thank you, frankie, for your insights and your advice. Totally appreciate that. Thank you for joining us everybody. I hope we gave you a few tidbits here and there. Hope he gave you something that's going to help you win or help lean you one way or the other if you're trying to figure out who to start and sit. And I hope we made you laugh just a little bit. We're not trying to do that, we're just goddamn idiots. So it's just how we Frankie, what do we have coming up next week? Brother, it's Super Bowl week, man, super Bowl week guys.
Speaker 1:So for this week, fridays with Frankie, you know what's happening and I'm definitely going to be keying in on some of that Seattle issues going on, maybe a little bit of Kamara and again a few other items. That is going to be important for you to know for your semifinals. John, next week, super Bowl week you mentioned it, what we're going to do and, john, what do you think, man, we're going to do matchup by matchup. So we're going to actually break down each particular game and tell you who would we rather prefer to start in those particular matchups. Again, because, guys, we're narrowing it down. This is it. We have one final push to get you into that championship game, to guarantee, at least in all my leagues, to guarantee you some cash. You want to win, you want to make it happen, you want Christmas to come early. Well, get your shit together and let's have a good semifinal baby.
Speaker 2:And, guys, after the Super Bowls, tune in with us. Please stay with us. We've got a couple of episodes coming up that are going to be great for you to watch at the end of the year here. They're also going to be great for you to watch in the offseason, in the summertime, when you're gearing up, getting ready for your drafts. Here, guys, we're going to review where everyone landed all of the positions, talk about the top 25, talk about the top 30 or so of each position and where they landed. We're going to talk about some busts. We're going to talk about some rookie sensations, maybe some guys that really climbed up the charts for us and came into the top 25. We're also going to do an episode, like we do every year. The last one of the year is our Rookie Review Review. Every year, the beginning of the year, we do a Rookie Review. Talk about these guys. We're going to look back now after the whole season, and we're going to talk about where they ended up. Were we right on some of these guys? What happened with them? What are they going to be looking like leading into next year's season? So stay tuned for that. We're excited.
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