Week 9 Fantasy Football QB & TE Rankings: Trevor Lawrence, Mahomes, Fannin & More (Ep. 2318)
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
27 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Nov 5, 2026
Published
Thu, November 5, 2026
32
Player insights
18
Players mentioned
Topics
Trevor LawrenceJordan LovePatrick MahomesCaleb WilliamsDak PrescottJared GoffJayden DanielsBrock PurdyC.J. StroudDrake MayeGreg DulcichJoe BurrowJosh AllenKenneth Walker III
Player analysis
Player insights
Brock Purdy
C.J. Stroud
NegativeProjection10:47
CJ Stroud comes in at 16 this week as a streamer option with a decent matchup.
Insight pageCaleb Williams
NegativeMatchup3:18
Pat Fitzmaurice ranks Caleb Williams lower than Jordan Love in Week 9 because he believes the Tampa Bay defense is 'wildly underrated,' making the matchup less favorable than Love's situation.
Insight pageDak Prescott
NegativeProjection1:27
Ranked QB6 on the consensus board for Week 9 vs. Indianapolis, but Andrew Erickson has him ranked QB9 due to concerns about the Cowboys offense underperforming this season. Erickson notes Dak is 19th in yards per attempt, has been a top-six QB only twice this year, and is QB14 in points per game; the offense hasn't created splashy downfield plays and has underperformed in games where dominance was expected. Chris Welsh views Dak as part of a second tier of QBs (alongside Goff, Love, Daniels, Williams) that he struggled to sort, potentially even a tier of his own below the clear-cut top tier.
Insight pageNegativeProjection3:03
Pat Fitzmaurice places Dak Prescott in the second tier of quarterbacks alongside Jared Goff, Jordan Love, Jaden Daniels, and Caleb Williams; he ranks Dak ahead of Jordan Love but notes it was a difficult tier to sort.
Insight pageDrake Maye
Greg Dulcich
PositiveMatchup35:55
Pat Fitzmaurice identifies Greg Dulcich as his anytime touchdown bet for Week 9 against the Lions, a matchup he emphasizes as ideal for tight end scoring. Dulcich is ranked TE15 in the Week 9 rankings and slides into the cutoff tier.
Insight pageJared Goff
NegativeMatchup3:06
Pat Fitzmaurice ranks Jared Goff below Dak Prescott in Week 9, citing weather concerns; Goff is described as 'the longtime indoor cat who's going to be playing outside' in Miami, where torrential rain and unpredictable Florida weather could impact performance.
Insight pageJayden Daniels
NegativeProjection3:03
Pat Fitzmaurice places Jaden Daniels in the second tier of quarterbacks alongside Dak Prescott, Jared Goff, Jordan Love, and Caleb Williams.
Insight pageJoe Burrow
Jordan Love
NegativeProjection3:06
Pat Fitzmaurice ranks Jordan Love in the second tier of quarterbacks but notes it is a close call versus Caleb Williams; he places Love below Dak Prescott due to weather concerns in Miami.
Insight pagePositiveProjection9:00
Pat Fitzmaurice ranks Jordan Love at 8 this week, placing him well above the consensus ECR of 12, signaling confidence in his Week 9 performance.
Insight pagePositiveProjection9:03
Jordan Love is ranked QB12 by ECR but Pat Fitzmaurice has him at QB8 this week, significantly higher than consensus; Erickson is slightly lower than Fitzmaurice's ranking, indicating Fitzmaurice is notably bullish on Love's Week 9 matchup.
Insight pageJosh Allen
Kenneth Walker III
NegativeMatchup10:03
The Jets defense has lost Andre Sweat, their stud nose tackle, and shifted to a run-heavy approach; the Chiefs are expected to follow suit and use Kenneth Walker as the engine of their run game against the Jets this week, which may limit passing volume.
Insight pageKirk Cousins
PositiveProjection11:03
Kirk Cousins comes in at 17 in consensus but both analysts rank him higher—Erickson at 15 and Fitzmaurice at 14, nearly pushing him into QB1 territory. Fitzmaurice, historically a Cousins detractor, notes he's been averaging 265.5 passing yards and 2.4 TD passes per game this season; the Raiders' inability to run the ball forces them to pass, and playing from behind against the 49ers should generate additional passing volume, making Cousins an attractive streamer despite the poor matchup.
Insight pageMalik Willis
NegativeProjection10:40
Malik Willis comes in at 13 this week as a popular streamer option, going against Detroit.
Insight pageMatthew Stafford
Parker Washington
NegativeRole5:00
Erickson expresses frustration about Parker Washington's role or usage in the Jaguars offense, stating 'I'm massively annoyed of what the hell's going on with Parker Washington,' though the specific issue is not detailed in the excerpt.
Insight pagePatrick Mahomes
NegativeProjection8:12
Mahomes is ranked QB9 by ECR but Pat Fitzmaurice has him at QB12, pushing him outside QB1 territory; in non-overtime Chiefs victories this season, Mahomes averages only 27.8 pass attempts; against the Jets this week as a big home favorite, Fitzmaurice expects limited passing volume with the Chiefs relying on Kenneth Walker to do heavy lifting in the run game, similar to other blowout scenarios this season.
Insight pagePositiveProjection9:09
Mahomes has been a top-12 fantasy quarterback in all five games he's played with Rice back in the lineup, posting finishes of QB9, QB4, QB20, QB13, and QB5; the source notes he remains a start over popular streamers despite slight downward movement due to the Jets' expected emphasis on Kenneth Walker in the run game.
Insight pageTrevor Lawrence
PositiveProjection4:00
Pat Fitzmaurice ranks Trevor Lawrence as QB7 but notes both he and Erickson rank him significantly higher, placing him a full tier above Dak Prescott. Over his last four games, Lawrence has averaged 318.8 passing yards per game and 9.2 yards per attempt, with 10 touchdown passes; he still has rushing upside despite limited rushing value this season.
Insight pagePositiveMatchup4:30
Pat Fitzmaurice likes Trevor Lawrence's Week 9 matchup against the Ravens, who have allowed the 12th most fantasy points to quarterbacks; he references the Ravens getting 'absolutely smoked by Joe Burrow a couple of weeks ago in the second half' as evidence of vulnerability.
Insight pagePositiveProjection5:00
Erickson ranks Trevor Lawrence at QB4 in Week 9, placing him a tier above Dak Prescott and indicating strong conviction. He notes the Jaguars are a 'powerhouse' when Basial Tootin's is going, and highlights Lawrence's efficiency: last week he completed 10 of 14 passes for 210 yards and 3 touchdowns with a 153.3 passer rating.
Insight pagePositiveMatchup6:00
Pat Fitzmaurice notes that Liam Cohen owns Jesse Minner's defenses, and this matchup has been seen twice over the last two seasons; this is cited as a key angle supporting Trevor Lawrence's Week 9 outlook, with reference to discussion on the tailgate show.
Insight pagePositiveMatchup6:00
Lawrence faces the Chargers defense (led by Jesse Minter), which has allowed Liam Cohen offenses to score 35+ points in two consecutive matchups without punting once; in 2023 Jaguars beat Chargers 35-6 with Lawrence throwing 153 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT on 200+ rushing yards; in 2024 Buccaneers beat Chargers 40-17 with Baker Mayfield throwing 4 TDs and 288 yards; Pat Fitzmaurice ranks Lawrence as a top-five QB play this week based on the process of targeting offenses that score 35+ points against this defense, noting Lawrence has played like a top-five MVP quarterback all season and the matchup advantage outweighs concerns about touchdown distribution to running backs.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human. Guarno. What's up friends and welcome into the Week 9 Quarterback in Tight End Ranks episode.
0:07I'm Chris Welsh with Pat Fitzmaurice and Andrew Erickson.
0:09We're here to go through the top 12 quarterbacks, the top 12 tight ends, and then a little bit deeper on some of the plays.
0:17What does ECR look like? Where do these guys have them rank?
0:20Some of the bigger questions you guys might have at both positions.
0:24We got you guys covered. If you guys want to hang out and check out and follow along, go to fantasypros.com slash NFL slash rankings.
0:31You can see what it looks like. You can, you know, change tiers and tight ends with like full PPR standard.
0:37You can look at Dynasty. We're not talking about all of those here.
0:41We're using half PPR. But if you want to kind of peruse through those, you can do that or you can just
0:47follow along and see how they all change. Gentlemen, we're not going to waste any time.
0:52We're going to jump right into this because we got two positions to talk about.
0:56And let's talk about quarterback coming in at the number one spot on the big board this week.
1:01Joe Burrow going up against Atlanta, followed by Josh Allen.
1:04Brock Purdy off of the bye comes in at number three.
1:07Drake May, Jared Goff, and Dak Prescott. That is your top six.
1:11The bottom half, Trevor Lawrence at seven. Caleb Williams at eight.
1:14Patrick Mahomes, Jaden Daniels, Matthew Stafford, and Jordan Love.
1:17So again, you know, probably not any major questions.
1:19Nobody I think that's wild that kind of jumps into it.
1:23There's obviously gonna be some streaming conversations, but let's talk about Dak Prescott for a second.
1:27He comes in at QB six. We do have a big difference here.
1:31Fitzy, you've got him at six, but Erickson, you pushed him down to nine.
1:35So talk to us what pushed Dak Prescott down for you.
1:38Cowboys offense has been kind of overrated this season.
1:41And I don't think I'm presenting any like earth shattering news.
1:44If you look at Dak this season, he is 19th in yards per attempt.
1:48He's been a top six quarterback only twice this year.
1:51And he's actually QB 14 in points per game.
1:54So they're not creating as many splashy downfield plays.
1:56And they've obviously been a big disappointment in terms of just not showing up in games that they should absolutely dominate in.
2:03And that's the exact same case here, right? Playing on the road against the Indianapolis Colts expecting, okay, Dak Prescott and the
2:09boys should just totally steamroll this Colts team that is trading with all its players.
2:14And yeah, I think that's the expectation for Dak to be top 10 quarterback.
2:18But yeah, I think that's why I'm just a little, a little bit lower than ECR.
2:22Fitzy, you got him right at ECR. It's trying to find, you know, it's really interesting.
2:27I feel like there's these like buckets of guys that just belong to each other.
2:31And I'm looking at Dak and I'm like, I just don't know any of the guys.
2:36We're going to talk. Actually, the other guy was going to ask is our next quarterback in the list.
2:41I don't even know if I could ask, like, you know, would you like Caleb over Dak?
2:46I feel like he just might be a slight little different tier than those players.
2:51Like to me, I'm looking at Dak and I'm like, oh, he's the bottom tier of the purdys in the maze.
2:57Like those guys are no doubts. And I just, I think he might even be a little tier of his own.
3:03What do you think about starting Dak this week?
3:06I did have a hard time with that tier of, um, it's kind of like the second tier of quarterbacks, Dak Prescott,
3:12Jared Goff, Jordan Love, Jaden Daniels, Caleb Williams. Um, I kind of struggled with how to sort those guys and, you know,
3:18I've got him ahead of Jared Love. Who's the, uh, the longtime indoor cat who's going to be playing outside and in
3:25Miami and, you know, could get torrential rain in Miami.
3:28Florida is always unpredictable with weather. Um, Jordan Love.
3:30I obviously like a lot at close call there.
3:33Him versus Caleb is a close call. Although I really think the Tampa Bay defense is wildly underrated.
3:38So that's why I've got Caleb a little lower.
3:41I just, I do like the matchup against the Colts who have given up 7.9 yards per pass attempt this season and
3:47of the fifth worst opponent passer rating in the league.
3:50Now the guy I was going to ask, but he's an ex player.
3:54So I don't want to monopolize myself was Trevor Lawrence.
3:57He comes in at QB seven, but both of you guys are quite a bit higher.
4:01And the, the, the question is already answered in your rank.
4:05So if it's, we can just start with you.
4:07I was going to say Dak or Trevor, but you've got T law one spot above Dak.
4:12Do you think, cause you didn't mention him. Maybe you were just strategically not mentioning him, but is T law guy that
4:19is in like the tier above Dak or is he maybe more of the upper tier before Dak.
4:24Tier above. Okay. I think he's a full tier above, um, over his last four games, Trevor Lawrence has averaged 318.8 passing
4:30yards a game and 9.2 passing yards per attempt.
4:33He is hot and he's thrown 10 touchdown passes over his last four.
4:37Um, hasn't added much rushing value yet this season, but Trevor Lawrence still does have that arrow in his quiver.
4:42And I kind of liked the matchup to the Ravens have allowed the 12th most fantasy points to quarterbacks.
4:48And we saw them get absolutely smoked by Joe Burrow a couple of weeks ago in the second half.
4:54So yeah, I liked Trevor Lawrence a lot this week.
4:56Erickson, what about you? I think, I think you're even one spot higher.
5:00Yeah. You got him at four this week. So you got kind of an all in not that again, that there's like
5:07major big questions about Trevor Lawrence though. I'm massively annoyed of what the hell's going on with Parker Washington, but these, this
5:13team is just like, you know, powerhouse. And when Basial Tootin's going, that's what happens, but you got them at four.
5:19So clearly like a tier above as well. Last week, he only completed 10 passes and he threw for 210 yards and three touchdowns.
5:26And somehow that's not a perfect quarterback rating again.
5:29Who made this passer rating thing where it was 153.3, not 158.3.
5:32I guess if he had gone 11 for 14 instead of 10 for 14, he would have had the perfect passer rating.
5:39My angle. Is there anything by the way, I didn't mean to interrupt you, but is there anything more frustrating from like
5:45an OCD brain of like having the perfect rating?
5:48Like fractionally like 150, like, no, like I need a hundred.
5:51Just do that. Like, give me 150. Like don't why, why does that number exist?
5:55Yeah. Sorry. I don't have, if someone knows the answer to that, please let us know in the comments.
6:01But my big angle here with Trevor Lawrence is Liam Cohen owns Jesse Minner's defenses.
6:05We've seen this matchup twice over the last two seasons, not whichever or not with just the Jaguars.
6:10But this is something that we talked about on the tailgate with myself, D bro and worm.
6:15And this is why the, um, the Tennessee Titans didn't want them to bring in Jesse Minter as their head coach because
6:22he was going to face Liam Cohen twice a year.
6:25And based on the results of the last two matchups, Titans fans had, did not want that to happen.
6:30They were like, please, no, we don't want Jesse Minter's defense anywhere near Liam Cohen's offense.
6:35Cause if you look at these numbers, it's, it's crazy.
6:38So Jags last season played the chargers where that that's the last two seasons where Jesse Minter was defense coordinator in that game.
6:44They won 35 to six. Trevor Lawrence only threw for 153 yards on a touchdown and had one pick, but they didn't punt one time in that game.
6:53They ran the ball for over the average over 200 rushing yards in that game.
6:57Again, with the Buccaneers in 2024, when Liam Cohen was the offensive coordinator for Tampa Bay, Baker Mayfield threw four touchdowns, 288 yards, zero punts.
7:04They won 40 to 17. So in two full games, Liam Cohen against Jesse Minter, he has punted a grand total of zero times.
7:11So it's always possible that Trevor Lawrence doesn't get touchdowns, right?
7:14They go to the running backs. But if we're looking at an offense, it's going to score 35 points on a defense that's starting a third string quarterback.
7:22That's a process I want to chase. And if it's, well, they blew them out.
7:27They scored too many points. They took Trevor Lawrence out of the fourth quarter again.
7:31And that's why he was a bust. So be it.
7:34I'll live with that. But the process says just if this team could score 40 points on a defense, then you want
7:41to start the quarterback in that game as a top five option.
7:44So that's why I think Trevor Lawrence makes a ton of sense as a top five play.
7:49He's played like a top five MVP quarterback all year long, which has not been the case for someone like Dak Prescott,
7:55who he might look on paper and think, oh, maybe this is a better matchup.
8:00I don't think it matters. I want to play the quarterback who's playing better.
8:04And I think the matchup is actually really great for him just based on the success we've seen with Liam Cohen against Midger's defense.
8:11Top tier quarterbacks we're kind of talking about. On the back half of this, we've got a quarterback that you guys are
8:17agreed to lower on and then a quarterback that you guys are both higher on.
8:22Patrick Mahomes is one that you guys are lower on.
8:24He comes in at QB nine going up against the Jets from a matchup grade.
8:29That looks like that's a positive, but you guys have both got him lower than ECR.
8:33Erickson at 10, but fits you got him at 12.
8:36You've almost pushed him outside of a QB one.
8:39So reservations Fitzy with Patrick Mahomes this week. Just that in the Chiefs for non-overtime victories this season, Mahomes is averaging 27.8
8:45pass attempts and the Chiefs are big home favorites against the Jets this week.
8:49I just don't know if there's going to be a lot of passing volume for him.
8:54I think this could be one of the games and we've seen other games like this this season where they just do
9:01have Kenneth Walker do a lot of the heavy lifting.
9:03And one of the quarterbacks you've already alluded to it, but just since we didn't like write it down here, Jordan Love comes in at 12.
9:11You clearly have Jordan Love above. What do you have Love at this week?
9:15Like six? Yeah, I've got Love at eight this week.
9:18Yeah. So you've got him really high up there.
9:21Erickson, you're like slightly lower, but do you have it kind of coincides with I think you're higher on rice than Fitzy was in the wide receiver episode.
9:29So you're also like Mahomes a little bit. Do you have you share like similar reservations maybe with Patrick Mahomes, but you
9:35didn't really move him down where he would start bumping up against some of the maybe popular streamers or anything?
9:41Yeah, I think that he's still a start over the streamers because he would just look at the games that he's played with rice back in the lineup.
9:49QB nine, QB four, QB 20, QB 13 and QB five.
9:52So basically been a top 12 fantasy quarterback in all that one game that he's played when he's had his number one wide receiver.
9:59The last two weeks, the Chiefs have actually thrown them all a lot more.
10:03Now that's been because defenses have been trying to take away Kenneth Walker.
10:07What does the Jets do or what are the Jets doing this matchup?
10:11I think I do agree with fits where this seems like a spot where they get back to Ken Walker as the engine of the run game.
10:19We saw the Raiders try to do that last week with Mike Washington.
10:23Obviously, that was not nearly as successful, but the fact that the Jets lost to Andre Sweat their stud nose tackle and
10:29then shifted to a really run heavy approach. I think that the Chiefs might follow suit.
10:34So that's why I just won one spot lower than ECR.
10:37So of the grouping of the popular streamers, you're going to have like Malik Willis, who comes in at 13 this week going against Detroit.
10:44Sam Darnold, the five star matchup against the Cardinals.
10:47That's going to be one probably CJ Stroud. Even he comes in at like 16.
10:51That's a decent one. There's not a ton of like actually really great ones, especially when you push down.
10:57But Kirk Cousins seems to maybe be one of those where he comes in at 17 and you both have him higher.
11:03Erickson's at 15. Fitz, he's at 14. Fitz, you're the highest one on Kirk Cousins.
11:07So he's almost pushing a QB one here. So where does he rank amongst the like excited streamers for you for the week?
11:14I don't know about excited. I mean, we don't.
11:17He's certainly not a matchup based streamer because like playing the 49ers in San Francisco, not an ideal matchup.
11:22But I've been there have not been many bigger Kirk Cousins detractors than me.
11:26Maybe I just needed him to play for Clint Kubiak for the entirety of his career.
11:31And then I'd have a Clint cousin or a Kirk Cousins jersey in my closet.
11:35This dude just keeps putting up numbers. He is averaging 265.5 passing yards and 2.4 TD passes a game this season.
11:41And part of it is that the Raiders just can't run the ball.
11:45And we've seen that. So they're going to have to pass on the 49ers.
11:49And I expect cousins to put up pretty good passing numbers again this week.
11:53Yeah, if they're playing from behind, it's a pseudo beneficial thing.
11:57Erickson kind of same thing. You're higher than ECR on Kirk Cousins.
12:00Where does he rank for you among the like, hey, this is a streamer that I'm trying to get into lineups this week.
12:07If you have like a bad quarterback matchup. I don't like him as much as I liked him last week when he
12:13was taking on the New York Jets. But to Fitz's point, Cousins has been balling out this year.
12:18And he's the reason why I'm probably not going to win any of my Fernando Mendoza Rookie of the Year tickets.
12:24Because he's not going to play enough games to qualify for the award.
12:28Although I do think offensive rookie of the year is kind of an interesting market.
12:33Because I think it's still pretty wide open. Because no rookie has really established himself as like, this is the guy that's been breaking out.
12:40So, that being said, Cousins second in passing touchdowns this year.
12:43Third in passing yards. Seventh in EPA per drop back.
12:46I just think they're going to have to throw, right?
12:49They're not going to be able to run the football against this haunted 49ers defense.
12:53And if they're going to have any chance, it's going to be with Kirk Cousins dropping back and throw.
12:59All right. We're going to jump into tight ends here and the tight end ranks here in a second.
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14:39All right, tight ends. Let's talk about the tight end ranks here.
14:43The top 12 at number one, we've got Brock Bowers as your top spot.
14:47George Kittle comes back at number two. Trey McBride, Sam LaPorter, Colson Loveland, and Isaiah Likely.
14:51That is your top six. Bottom half, Harold Fannin, Tucker Craft, Tyler Warren, TJ Hawkinson, Travis Kelsey, and Dallas Goddard.
14:57That is the top 12 tight ends this week.
15:00There was a lot of skepticism around Harold Fannin, especially the past few weeks.
15:04And I think it ended until last week. I don't think he was a tight end one.
15:09He jumps right back into it with the top seven spot.
15:12This is a space where I think you guys are both in agreement.
15:16You're slightly above ECR, but I think the main thing is here.
15:19You guys look like you're back on Harold Fannin.
15:22So Erickson, why don't you kick us off about Harold Fannin?
15:25So Harold Fannin last week coming off a monster game, 10 of 12 targets for 154 yards.
15:30So far on the year, he ranks fourth among all tight ends in receiving yards this season.
15:35And that's because he's been doing a lot of yards after the catch.
15:39He's averaging 6.1 air yards per target, which is actually below average for tight ends.
15:43So Fannin's doing a lot on his own. And I think against a matchup with the New Orleans Saints, it's a really good spot for him.
15:51The Saints have allowed a 63% success rate against tight ends this year.
15:54So a lot of success targeting tight ends against the New Orleans defense.
15:58Six best matchup terms of fancy points allowed when it comes to tight ends facing New Orleans.
16:03And there's a chance that Shader Sanders starts in this game.
16:06Deshaun Watson has entered the concussion protocol after taking a big hit last week.
16:10And I know Fitz pointed this out on the show many times where, hey, once we get Shader Sanders in there, like
16:17you're going to see a boost for Harold Fannin.
16:19And that's exactly what the splits look like from last year.
16:23If you actually look at the with or without you tool on fantasy pros, you plug in Harold Fannin, you plug in
16:29Shader Sanders and all you do is see green.
16:32He averages almost three fantasy points per game more with Shader Sanders under center.
16:36So I think this is a great spot for him to be another elite play among tight ends in week nine.
16:42Also, it's one of those teams where like they're just clearly better when they're getting the ball to Fannin at volume.
16:48And like this, there's almost a it feels like there's a correlation like that.
16:52There are struggles when Fannin is not involved and they just are more efficient really with everything, being able to run the
16:58ball, being able to get the ball to guys like Denzel Boston or Casey Concepcion when Fannin is involved.
17:04So interesting spot there. Fitzy, you guys have the same rank.
17:07Like I said, you're higher than ECR, but it just seems like the perception starting to change.
17:12What do you got on Fannin? He was so good in that game last week.
17:16Like he was just getting open very easily and then doing damage after the catch.
17:21And Harold Fannin is just really good at football.
17:23And the 10 catch 154 yard game came on the heels of a six catch 91 yard game against the Titans the week before.
17:30And I know he's had some duds this season.
17:33He had a couple of duds before that 91 yard game against the Titans.
17:37And so a lot of people had him on their bench for that.
17:41Maybe some people still had him on their bench for that game against the Steelers.
17:45I think you should just play Fannin every week.
17:48And yeah, if it is Shadur, I'm actually excited about that because Shadur loves Harold Fannin.
17:53And the Saints have a lot of the sixth most fantasy points to tight ends.
17:57So get Fannin in your lineup this week. TJ Hawkinson comes in at 10.
18:01This is another one of those where you guys are kind of in the general space.
18:06But I think what's interesting is he's above a Travis Kelsey.
18:09He's above a Dallas Goddard and he is next to Tyler Warren.
18:12So he's sandwiched between Kelsey and Warren. Tyler Murray has had his struggles with getting the ball to Justin Jefferson, but maybe
18:19that's just not the case with Hawkinson. You guys are 10 and 11.
18:23So just right at ECR Fitzy. What's your take on TJ Hawkinson?
18:26Do you really do you really wholeheartedly believe that he is a trustworthy tight end one?
18:31I think this year and in the circumstances he is, and we just had a fun little conversation about passer rating as a stat.
18:38Here's an interesting passer rating stat. This season Vikings quarterbacks have a collective passer rating of 90.6.
18:43Their passer rating on throws to TJ Hawkinson this year, 126.9.
18:46Like Hawkinson is one of the few things that is working in this Minnesota passing game better than throws to Justin Jefferson for whatever reason.
18:53So I think you can play Hawkinson if you need to like he's not a slam dunk must start, but I've got
18:59him inside tight end one territory in the rankings.
19:02How gross, how gross that it's not Jefferson and it's only Hawkinson.
19:06Uh, Erickson, what do you think about TJ Hawkinson in the same statement?
19:09Like you believe wholeheartedly, this is just a tight end one.
19:13I think as long as Kyle Murray's under center, I feel confident with TJ Hawkinson because that is Murray's security blanket, right?
19:19That's who he's looking to go to consistently. It's been like that for the last couple of weeks and it's a good matchup to bills.
19:26Most fifth most yards, a lot of tight ends, fourth most targets.
19:30They haven't given a lot of touchdowns to tight ends and with his Vikings offense, you can't necessarily expect a lot of touchdown production.
19:37Again, this isn't a lines matchup like last week where again Hawkinson was my anytime touchdown bet.
19:42He was Seth Wilcox anytime touchdown bet because you just trust the flow chart tight ends against the lines always score touchdowns.
19:48So he may not score two weeks in a row or three weeks in a row.
19:53Excuse me. But I think that he's going to at least produce.
19:56So yeah, top 10 tight end final one. Uh, how about five straight weeks of scoring touchdowns?
20:01Cause that's Mike Kosicki. That's all he, he is the Chris Carter of tight ends.
20:06All he does is catch touchdowns, but he's tied in 15 this week.
20:09I think you guys a little bit split. Fitzy, you put bumped him up slightly above ECR.
20:14Erickson, slightly lower. Eric, uh, Fitzy, give us the positive take on Kosicki.
20:18Can he make it six straight weeks? You guys remember that touchdown streak that Nick Westbrook Akine had two years ago when
20:24he had like eight touchdowns in eight weeks. And didn't he have like, like, like 400 yards.
20:29Like he would have just been like wide receiver 75.
20:32If he didn't have the touchdown, he would catch two passes every week.
20:36And one of them would be for a touchdown.
20:39That was fun. Every week. I just struggled with where to rank that guy.
20:43And I would always fade him. And then he would always score a touchdown the following week.
20:48And it was just so frustrating. Well, the difference between, uh, that touchdown heater that Nick Westbrook Akine was on and Mike,
20:54the one Mike Kosicki is on right now. Uh, Westbrook Akine's quarterback was Will Levis.
20:58And Mike Kosicki's quarterback is a red hot Joe Burrow, who is just on absolute fire.
21:03So I'm actually willing to lean into the touchdown thing, even though it seems very fragile and Kosicki's contributions with receptions and
21:10yardage have been pretty intermittent this season. He's only had 40 or more receiving yards twice in seven games.
21:15And he's had three games with fewer than 10 receiving yards.
21:18So yeah, if you don't get a touchdown, you might be disappointed, but man, like Joe Burrow is looking for him in
21:25the red zone and Joe Burrow is hot as can be right now.
21:28Erickson, you seem to be a little bit different.
21:31You're lower than ECR and Kosicki. So no touchdown for you.
21:34So it's about the guys in his general range that I just prefer a little bit more.
21:39So Eli Raritan example, I have him head Kosicki because if Hunter Henry doesn't play in their compromise at other receiver positions, I want Raritan in my line.
21:47Cause he would have the role. He's already flashed a lot of upside this season and I'm not going to be denied Greg Dulcich against the lions.
21:55This is his week. Oh yeah. It's a line.
21:58Of course. Dude, who do you think my anytime touchdown that's going to be this week?
22:02Erickson, when you were talking earlier, I went to scroll.
22:05I'm like, who's playing the lions again. I was trying to like, I couldn't remember.
22:10I was like, that's the time it's going to be on that show.
22:14Greg Dulcich. Greg Dulcich week. So he's going to be my 15th ranked tight end.
22:18So he just slides right into the, uh, the cutoff for the rankings with Dulcich at tight end 15.
22:23I will say in Gusecki's defense outside of the touchdowns last week, he actually saw one of the best usage weeks in
22:30terms of just playing in the Bengals offense. His snapshot was 68%.
22:33That was up from the previous week at 38%.
22:36He ran around on 75% of the drop backs, which was a season high.
22:40And I actually went back and looked at the last couple of years of Mike Gusecki in terms of, has he ever
22:46hit this high of a route participation? Cause he's always been like a limited part-time player, even in games when T Higgins
22:53has missed or Jamar Chase has missed, they never get his routes near 80%.
22:57But over the last couple of seasons, this is one of the highest rates.
23:01So if this usage does carry over and Gusecki is now the de facto number three receiver on the Cincinnati Bengals in
23:07a shootout game, potentially against the high power Atlanta Falcons offense that we know can put up points again.
23:13International games can kind of get weird and kind of get wonky, but you know, Mike Gusecki is trying to hit the
23:19gritty in Spain for those Madrid fans. So I think I can get around Gusecki as a streaming tight end.
23:25It does depend on how something else shakes out in terms of some of the other injuries.
23:30But if you pick them up off waivers and that's the guy you want to roll with, I think that it makes a lot of sense.
23:38Yeah. And I think he lives in that world of like the, the streaming range, like Brent Strange is in there.
23:44Dulcet is 17 this week. Those are like all pretty good, like tight end streaming options.
23:48If people are looking for him, you can go to fantasypros.com slash NFL slash rankings.
23:53If you want to see all the names and all the names we didn't talk about, well, more than 12 tight ends, you can see the entire list.
24:01Same thing with quarterbacks and all the positions in all the rank episodes we've done this week.
24:06You can follow along, find it there, and also make sure you download the fantasy pros app because it's not just about
24:12rankings, but you can sync your leagues and you can get personalized advice to some of the stuff we're talking about.
24:18We're giving you some of the ranks. Well, guess what?
24:21Here is what the system is loving for your specific league and your specific matchup.
24:26So make sure you download the fantasy pros app and get yourself set the best possible way you can, not just for
24:32week nine, but the very important playoff run that is right around the corner.
24:36And we'll be covering a lot of that here on fantasy pros to get you set that's going to do it for the ranks for week nine.
24:44Make sure you're locked in on the fantasy pros YouTube channel as well for any of the live streams that we've got
24:50going on in a lot, a lot of different ways that we're going to be able to get you set up for the week.
24:57But for Andrew Erickson and Pat Fitzmaurice, I'm Chris Welsh.
25:00Thank you guys for hanging out with us and we'll talk to you next time right here on fantasy pros.
25:06Thanks for listening to the fantasy pros fantasy football podcast.
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