Fantasy Football Week 4 Lineup Advice: Start/Sit Debates, Waiver Adds & Touchdown Calls (Ep. 2232)
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
58 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Oct 1, 2026
Published
Thu, October 1, 2026
33
Player insights
30
Players mentioned
Topics
Braelon AllenDavid MontgomeryMichael WilsonAaron JonesAlvin KamaraBryce YoungCarnell TateColston LovelandD.J. MooreJ.K. DobbinsJacory Croskey-MerrittJadarian PriceJameson WilliamsJaylen Wright
Player analysis
Player insights
Aaron Jones
PositiveUsage20:10
Jones has seen a significant increase in workload, jumping to ninth in the league with 52 carries, aided by a 21-carry performance.
Insight pageAlvin Kamara
NegativeProjection41:06
Alvin Kamara is struggling with efficiency, averaging 3.5 yards per carry and 5.1 yards per catch since 2025, but he will see an enhanced role this week with Travis Etienne out.
Insight pageBraelon Allen
PositiveUsage11:52
Braylon Allen is a strong start (RB21) with a favorable matchup against a Bears defense ranked 28th in DVOA against the run; he is expected to see 15+ touches while Breece Hall is out.
Insight pagePositiveValue20:51
Consensus rankings and the analysts agree that Braylon Allen is a preferred start over other unappealing running back options in the current landscape.
Insight pageBryce Young
NegativeMatchup48:53
Bryce Young is a preferred start against the Lions, who have allowed the most passing yards in the league, though offensive line injuries (Damian Lewis, Monroe Freeling) are a concern.
Insight pageCarnell Tate
NegativeBust45:42
Carnell Tate is considered an avoid due to poor quarterback play from Cam Ward and lack of target volume, despite some rankings placing him in the top 40.
Insight pageColston Loveland
NegativeRole0:48
Colston Loveland is trending toward a fringe tight end role; he was blocking on nearly 50% of pass snaps last week, which is not the usage expected for a top-three tight end prospect.
Insight pageD.J. Moore
PositiveUsage31:44
Moore is preferred over Jalen Waddell, especially with the potential absence of Christian Gonzalez, and remains a strong rest-of-season play despite shoulder concerns.
Insight pageDavid Montgomery
NegativeUsage19:52
Montgomery has failed to take advantage of favorable matchups, which is a concern for his outlook against a banged-up Dallas defensive backfield.
Insight pageNegativeUsage27:10
David Montgomery is averaging only 2.8 yards per carry and is in a backfield split, but he maintains value through his involvement in the passing game, having recorded seven catches so far.
Insight pageJ.K. Dobbins
NegativeUsage21:52
Dobbins has struggled with efficiency, posting 3.5 yards per carry and a -22.6 rushing yards over expected metric, while also losing snaps to R.J. Harvey.
Insight pageJacory Croskey-Merritt
NegativeUsage21:17
Krosky-Merritt has been ineffective, averaging three yards per carry with no runs over 11 yards on 47 attempts and minimal involvement in the passing game.
Insight pageJadarian Price
NegativeUsage40:14
Jadarian Price is in the doghouse after fumbling in back-to-back games; he played fewer snaps than Emmanuel Wilson and George Helani last week and is one of only two RBs with 20+ touches and zero third-down usage.
Insight pageJameson Williams
PositiveBreakout56:01
Jamison Williams is a prime touchdown candidate against the Panthers, who will be without their best cover man, J.C. Horn.
Insight pageJaylen Wright
NegativeInjury6:50
Jalen Wright is dealing with a stinger and a foot injury, making his status for Week 4 uncertain; he is ranked in the 40s, but there is potential for him to emerge as the better back in the Miami rotation.
Insight pageJeremiyah Love
PositiveSleeper55:09
Jeremiah Love is a touchdown call for this week against a Giants defense that just lost Brian Burns for the season.
Insight pageJordan Addison
PositiveProjection43:30
Jordan Addison is a preferred start over Travion Henderson if Justin Jefferson is ruled out.
Insight pageKalif Raymond
PositiveUsage2:25
Khalif Raymond is seeing consistent usage as the primary option in the intermediate short area of the field when the offensive line breaks down, making him a preferred start over Rome Odunze.
Insight pageKendre Miller
PositiveRole40:29
Kendra Miller is a factor to potentially take the lead in the Saints backfield and push for a 50-50 split with Alvin Kamara.
Insight pageKenyon Sadiq
PositiveRole15:50
Kenyon Sadiq is a borderline TE1 (ranked TE13) who functions more like a wide receiver in the Jets' scheme; he is a viable start against the Bears, especially if Adnai Mitchell remains sidelined.
Insight pageKyler Murray
NegativeProjection49:30
Kyler Murray is not a preferred start as he has not looked sharp and is likely to be without Justin Jefferson.
Insight pageLadd McConkey
NegativeProjection42:36
Ladd McConkey has not gotten it going yet and faces a tough matchup against the Seahawks, who defend the slot well.
Insight pageMark Andrews
NegativeProjection50:34
Mark Andrews is struggling to produce, failing to score a touchdown or reach significant yardage, but he remains on pace for a 74-catch season.
Insight pageMatthew Golden
PositiveUsage29:36
Golden has earned 30 targets through three games and is treated as a primary option by Jordan Love when the pocket collapses, making him a viable mid-low WR2.
Insight pageMichael Wilson
PositiveUsage19:58
Michael Wilson is a high-upside play with a 95.2% route participation rate and a 25.6% target share; he is benefiting from Marvin Harrison Jr.'s struggles and faces a weak Giants secondary.
Insight pagePositiveValue42:44
Michael Wilson is preferred over Ladd McConkey due to a better matchup and consensus ranking advantage.
Insight pageOllie Gordon
NegativeProjection5:16
Ollie Gordon is a risky start against a blitz-heavy Vikings defense that has allowed the sixth-fewest rushing yards to running backs; he is ranked RB35 and is only flex-worthy if Jalen Wright is ruled out.
Insight pageOmarion Hampton
NegativeUsage27:14
O'Marion Hampton has seen 50 carries (11th most among RBs) but has been a disappointment in the passing game with only two catches; he remains a volume-based play despite a tough matchup against Seattle.
Insight pageRome Odunze
NegativeBust2:17
Rome Odunze has struggled with drops, including a touchdown pass that he failed to secure, and is currently being outproduced by Khalif Raymond in both catches and receiving yards.
Insight pageTerry McLaurin
PositiveMatchup21:54
Terry McLaurin is a strong start against the Colts, as the Commanders' passing game remains efficient regardless of whether Jayden Daniels or Marcus Mariota is at quarterback.
Insight pageTony Pollard
NegativeUsage43:59
Tony Pollard is a floor play with high touch volume (18 touches per game over the last two weeks), though he is dealing with an ankle injury.
Insight pageTre Tucker
PositiveValue48:03
Trey Tucker is quietly WR24 in fantasy scoring, averaging 63 yards per game with high efficiency (12.6 yards per target); the return of Brock Bowers should help him by drawing defensive attention.
Insight pageZay Flowers
PositiveUsage52:36
Zay Flowers has been elite in efficiency, leading the league with 9.36 yards per route run, and is WR18 despite essentially playing only one full game.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human. Welcome into the FantasyPros - Fantasy Football Podcast.
0:04I'm Ryan Warmly, joined for our Week 4 Starts & Sits show by Jake Seeley from The Athletic and by Pat Fitzmaurice.
0:11Guys, we are doing our Starts & Sits like I just said.
0:15We're talking some popular waiver ads. Are we starting or sitting them?
0:18And then we'll wrap things up as always with our touchdown calls.
0:22Jake, how are you doing here three weeks into the season?
0:25Jake, how are you doing here three weeks into the season?
0:28Is that a lead-in to what I told you about before the show?
0:32I'm doing very well in the rankings so far, even though I know that they're not out there for the competition.
0:39But generally good, even though as bad as things have been.
0:42I know Fitz and I were joking about before, he's like, he doesn't want to give up Drake May.
0:48Well, the same boat. I don't want to grow up Colston Loveland.
0:51Major miss on that this season. But like, do I still have hope for him?
0:56Yeah, but he's definitely not going to be top three like I had him to start the year.
1:01It's still early enough that you're allowed to hold on to a bit of that hope, right?
1:06We get two months in. We get to the end of October instead of the first day of October.
1:12Then, you know, we might be kind of saying, let's give it a rest by now.
1:16He was blocking an almost 50% of the snaps, pass downs last week.
1:20Like, I know that's not where we're going with this, but it's looking fringe tight at this point.
1:26Yeah. Fitz, how are you doing? Good. Yeah. While we're on the Bears pass catchers.
1:30I think that was one of the things that we have gotten swerved on this year that we thought everything was going
1:37to be maybe consolidated nicely between Luther Byrd and Roma Dunes, A Colston Loveland.
1:41Then maybe all three guys would be able to eat this season.
1:45And we're getting like an annoying number of Khalif Raymond, Zavian Thomas, Sam Rausch, Cole Komet targets.
1:50So really, like none of these guys popped. Khalif Raymond has more catches and receiving yards than any of Odunze, Birden, and Colston Loveland.
1:57That's pretty frustrating. Can I ask you this question?
2:00And I, of course, chime in worm, but I've been saying yes to this one all week long in my comments.
2:06And people are like, would you take Khalif Raymond over Odunze at this point?
2:10And I've been saying yes. It's the usage. It's the he's here's the comparison I made.
2:15Fitz, the lesser version. He's their Parker Washington because he's the option when the offensive line is breaking down.
2:20He's the option. It doesn't matter who the quarterback is.
2:23They're looking for him in the intermediate short area of the field when everything's breaking down.
2:28It's normally burden first, but if it's not burden and that's why I say the lesser version, it's been Raymond.
2:34I mean, it's fair and not to mention when you throw Roma Odunze a ball for a touchdown that an 11 year
2:41old might be able to catch and he can't grasp it.
2:44You don't like the self tip drill? Oh my goodness.
2:47Khalif Raymond just I don't know if you saw Fitz in our guillotine league or the work guillotine league we're in just got picked up finally.
2:55So he's it took three weeks and finally somebody said, you know what, I got to have this guy in an elimination type of league.
3:02So I stared at him a couple of those weeks and could not pull the trigger.
3:07Reminder for everybody that all of our weekly consensus rankings and tiers can be found at fantasypros.com slash rankings.
3:13Let's jump into the popular waiver ads of the week.
3:16And if you guys are considering starting these folks right away, the biggest name, Ollie Gordon, obviously Devon Achan goes down for the season in Miami.
3:23It makes sense that Gordon was a popular pickup.
3:26On the other hand, he is, you know, a non elite running back play for the worst team in football.
3:32And I could see this going very poorly for everybody who sort of emptied their piggy banks to go get Ollie Gordon this week.
3:39For this week, though, going up against Minnesota Fitz, are you interested in starting Gordon?
3:44It's such a tough matchup. The Vikings have allowed the sixth fewest rushing yards to running backs.
3:49Haven't given up a touchdown to a running back in their first three games.
3:53Dolphins are 11 and a half point underdogs. It's just going against with the Dolphins, especially going against this blitz happy Brian Flores defense.
4:00It's going to be what it would look like if I played Madden on the highest difficulty setting.
4:06And I haven't played Madden since my son was in middle school like seven years ago.
4:10It's going to be so ugly. The status of Jalen Wright, I think, is the key.
4:15He's uncertain. Sounds like he has a decent chance of playing.
4:18He's got a stinger and a foot injury that kept him out of week three.
4:23I think Ollie Gordon might be flex worthy if Wright misses this game.
4:27But Gordon is not a very attractive option if Jalen Wright does play.
4:31Yeah, it's not just the defense against a tough matchup.
4:34It's the fact that Brian Flores will want to completely embarrass the Dolphins if he can and has the means to do
4:40it with this defense going up against this offense.
4:43Very scary. He's ranked RB35, Jake. So kind of right in that borderline flex territory possible starter range based on the consensus.
4:50Yeah, so there's something I forget if we talked about on the waiver show.
4:54I don't know if you remind me of Fitz, but talking about the Flores defense of why it's so good in the first half of the season.
5:02It starts to get vulnerable and hit and taken advantage of in the second half of the season.
5:07And I did some research. There's people smarter than myself like Emery Hunt, stuff like that.
5:12But the real truth that I said is it's because offensive lines gelling with each other.
5:17Like even if you have carryover from last year for the five same guys, because it's very rare that you have five carryover again.
5:24It's just knowing when to pick up the blitz, who's got the assignments, who's not missing things.
5:29And once you're able to do that and once you're in each other's minds, the Flores defense still good.
5:35It's just not this dominating. Well, we're in week four.
5:38We're talking about the Dolphins offensive line. We're talking about the Dolphins offense.
5:42So I'm with Fitz in this. I'm very scared of it.
5:45I have him in the 30s. I have him around backups like Blake Corum and Kyle Mononga.
5:50Like that's the range that I have him in.
5:53And that's what I have Jalen Wright in the rankings as well.
5:56I actually am very much higher than everybody else in Jalen Wright because I'm in the 40s because this was somebody that
6:03was thought to be the backup before getting hurt.
6:05And I think there's a chance that he might be the better running back or the most likely outcome I think just
6:12ends up being is this is the bad version of the Steelers backfield when both Steelers running backs are healthy.
6:18Is that it's going to be one or the other.
6:21You're not going to know most weeks. And for the Dolphins, most weeks are not going to be either, unfortunately.
6:27So somebody might be desperate. But you're going to be in the 30s for me.
6:31And it sounds like Fitz is in the same boat.
6:34You and I might have a mind meld on this because I have Ali Gordon right now.
6:40I'm assuming Wright does play. I've got Gordon 34 right behind Mononga and Corum.
6:44And I've got Jalen Wright wide receiver or running back 45.
6:47I'm like barely higher on Wright. So, yeah, we were on the same page.
6:51Yeah. Wright's still down in like the late 50s and consensus, obviously, like kind of some uncertainty there.
6:57You guys are basically in line not only on Gordon with consensus, RB 35, but Mononga and Corum are sandwiching him on either side.
7:04So they're all kind of right in that range together.
7:07Corum's behind him. Mononga is ahead. Another running back that was a very popular pickup this week, Braylon Allen.
7:12This one is, I'm guessing, going to be somebody you're more comfortable with just based on the matchup and a little bit more certainty here with the offense.
7:21He's up at RB 21 in consensus. So ECR says like he's a definite start.
7:25I'm curious if you guys agree. I'll start with you on this one, Jake.
7:29Yeah, I have him one spot actually in front of consensus at 20.
7:33I'm in front of David Montgomery in that split backfield against the Cowboys.
7:37I have him in front of, oof, can't believe we're doing this.
7:41But, Marion Hampton going against the Seahawks. Like, that's where we're at right now.
7:45Mostly because I believe that the volume is going to be there.
7:49I believe that he's going to see 14 plus touches.
7:52I do think Isaiah Davis is going to be a factor.
7:55But just knowing that Braylon Allen is, and this is when I talked about waivers, we go back to that.
8:01And I included it in my article this week.
8:03Like I said, if you need somebody for this week only, or maybe this week and next week, because we don't know
8:10exactly how long Brees Hall is out. But I would take Braylon Allen over both of those running backs.
8:16I would take them over both. A little sneak preview because we're talking about one of them.
8:21But I think everybody's not surprised by this. Both Saints options because we know.
8:25We know that he's going to be. Unless, I've got to say, there is a non-zero chance Braylon Allen comes out five touches for eight yards.
8:33And they're just like, ooh, maybe we get Isaiah Davis sprinkled in more.
8:37I think that's much less likely to happen than the Dolphins running backs to have huge days.
8:42So, again, he's in their range. I would take him over the volume of Judkins.
8:46I know we're filming this before tonight against the Steelers.
8:49So, I really believe the volume is going to be there.
8:52And he's facing the Bears. He had five touches for seven yards against the Packers.
8:57So, why did you say five for eight? That's a possibility.
9:00I know there was something in there from my mind.
9:03Yeah. He did have one catch for eight yards in that game.
9:07So, I guess total touches was more. But in terms of rushing the ball, he was a five for seven in that game.
9:14Fitz, where are you at on Braylon Allen here?
9:16Like I said, RB21 in consensus. Right on consensus.
9:19RB21. And I think the only wild card is how much the Jets play Isaiah Davis.
9:24But through three games, Davis has not played an offensive snap.
9:27Special teams only. And the matchup looks pretty good.
9:30The Bears haven't been quite as bad defensively as people expected them to be.
9:34And they did hold the Eagles to seven points last week.
9:37But this is still not that good a defense.
9:40They're 28th in DVOA against the run, giving up 4.8 yards per carry to running backs.
9:45So, like the matchup. And you've got to figure Braylon Allen has a good chance to get 15-plus touches.
9:50One more waiver ad here at tight end. This time, Kenyon Sadiq sticking with the Jets.
9:55He's ranked right at tight end 12 in ECR.
9:58Ahead of names like Mark Andrews, Dalton Schultz, Colson Loveland, who we just talked about.
10:02And behind names like Fannin, Likely, and Tucker Craft.
10:05Fitz, sticking with you. Kenyon Sadiq, where are you at on him for this week?
10:10Yeah, I mean, he's borderline tight end 1. I've got him at tight end 13 right now.
10:15But I think the people who did make waiver claims on him this week, probably for a reason, they've probably got tight end issues.
10:22And in which case, I think you do start him against a fairly generous Bears defense.
10:27And Ednai Mitchell, dealing with that gnarly finger injury, probably going to miss another game, just based on how ugly it looked.
10:33And I know Kenyon Sadiq has some sort of back issue, I believe they said, limited in practice Wednesday, but it sounds
10:40like he's going to play through it. Jake? Yeah, actually, I'm with this on this.
10:44I'm at 13, but I think they could actually move up.
10:48I'm at 13 with Mitchell in my ranks, to give you an idea, just because I always go with the people are
10:54like, well, where would they rank if they play?
10:57So I put them in and then take them out afterwards.
11:00So I would actually move Sadiq directly in front of him.
11:03So I have Schultz going against the Cowboys, Isaiah Likely, and then Fannin at 10.
11:08I'd probably bump him up to a least likely spot.
11:11I'm not going to be able to move him ahead of Harold Fannin.
11:15Or like Fannin is going to be stuck at 10 after tonight.
11:18So you'd be in that conversation. Like if you told me right now, Edna and I Mitchell, we might get that news this afternoon.
11:25We might get practice reports. I would actually feel better than Sadiq over Fannin, because he's such a matchup problem in how the Jets used him.
11:33This isn't like Loveland where like, okay, inline blocking, or like Kyle Pitts where he doesn't know how to run routes.
11:40Like he's almost a masquerading wide receiver. So like I would say that like I'd put him at 10 if I knew
11:46there was no Edna and I Mitchell. Lots of agreement between you guys on the waiver ads.
11:51Let's get into our plant your flag segment. Fitz, who do you have for us here planting your flag for week four?
11:58I am going to go with Michael Wilson, who is averaging 5.4 yards per target and 1.38 yards per route run.
12:04Those are not very inspiring numbers. But Michael Wilson has run routes on 95.2% of the Cardinals dropbacks.
12:09That's the second highest route participation rate in the league behind only Jamar Chase.
12:14Nice. Wilson also has a 25.6% target share, which ranks 11th among wide receivers, according to Fantasy Points data, and a 42.6%
12:20air yard share, which also ranks 11th among receivers.
12:23Basically, Wilson is getting the same sort of spectacular usage he was getting last year while Marvin Harrison Jr.
12:29was out with an injury. Marvin Harrison Jr. not hurt this year, but he's been so bad, just a zombie running routes
12:35out there, that his target share under 7%. He is just a complete non-factor.
12:39So Wilson's target outlook is great, and he gets to face a Giants defense that, as Jake has pointed out before on
12:46this show, has some pretty serious issues with coverage on the back end.
12:50Yeah, Jake, for you, looking at this matchup, why does he were 22 this week?
12:54Too high, too low, or just right for Michael Wilson?
12:57I have Michael Wilson. It's too high by one spot.
13:00I'm one spot behind. There's a sneak preview for a wide receiver later that I have in front of him that is behind him in consensus.
13:08So there you go. That's what it comes down to.
13:11But I'll just jump in. I'll save you the segue.
13:14Mine is Terry McLaurin, and it's not just coming off last week's game.
13:18I'm looking at the Colts. The Colts have been one of the most successful defenses, two big plays.
13:23And this is, I know that we're waiting on the Jaden Daniel situation, whether or not he might play.
13:29But I would actually feel even a little bit better about Mariota, because the passing game, we talked about this last week.
13:35I don't remember if we did on this show, but the passing game doesn't really take a hit.
13:41If anything, it's slightly up with Mariota, a quarterback versus Jaden Daniels, some bigger plays and everything like that.
13:47But it's almost net even, really. It's just that Jaden Daniels adds so much with his legs to this game and to this team.
13:54So I'm looking at Terry McLaurin even coming off last week's game.
13:57I think that you're going to get another good one going against the Colts, mainly because of this matchup.
14:03I do think that Debo can do some damage to or not.
14:07Yeah, yeah. Debo, right? I'm brain fart here. Yeah.
14:09No, not Debo. Who am I thinking of? I remember Stefan Diggs.
14:13Thank you. I just did a chat on The Athletic.
14:16And I don't know why I got like seven Debo questions.
14:19And then like I couldn't get it out of my brain at the end of it.
14:24It's because somebody did that to me. They're like, well, what about the facing the Colts?
14:29And I'm like, wait, no, the wrong team. Anyway, so you can see that carried over.
14:33So anyway, Stefan Diggs, I think is a fine play as well.
14:37But for the bigger play opportunities, mostly similar to the Cowboys, the Giants and other ones where you can get behind the secondary and get the big play.
14:45That's why I'm going with Terry McLaurin. Fitz, where are you ranking McLaurin?
14:49He's wide receiver 27 in consensus. I think I am right on consensus with McLaurin.
14:54Um, yeah, 27. And I've got Diggs. I might be.
14:57Am I a little high? I've got him 33.
14:59He's 32 in consensus. So you're actually one spot lower.
15:02So, yeah, I have Diggs in the same range, too, is that here's the one.
15:07I'll flip one to Fitz on this one. Would you go neighbors or Terry McLaurin this week?
15:12Oh, I have neighbors ranked higher. I'm holding out hope that Jameis Winston, with a full week of preparation and not playing
15:19in a nor'easter, might look a little bit more like the competent Jameis Winston of recent years.
15:24Neighbors is actually back-to-back with Michael Wilson in the rankings.
15:27Yeah, he's wide receiver 23, one spot behind Wilson.
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16:27All right, we'll get into our start-sit player debates here now.
16:30Running back is where we'll start as usual. David Montgomery versus O'Marion Hampton.
16:34Jake, you mentioned Hampton a little bit earlier. Interestingly, these guys are just behind Braylon Allen in the consensus rankings in that kind of early 20s range.
16:42Late RB2, David Montgomery RB22, O'Marion Hampton RB24 for what it's worth.
16:46So, Jake, I'll start with you. Who do you prefer between these two?
16:50It feels so disrespectful to put Hampton into this conversation, but at the same time, we're talking about a running back that's just coming off.
16:5748% of his team's running backs touches. 48%. Last week alone, I mean, I know we're seeing this split with the Texans,
17:04and the split could get even worse according to the team, but he had 68%.
17:08And I'm not saying, like, I continue to believe that that's going to stay at 68 and not come down to more
17:15like 50, and that Hampton can't have a bounce back game.
17:18But this entire Chargers offense, I think if you watch that game, it felt a little bit like Mike McDaniel trying to figure out his own offense.
17:26Like, all right, things aren't working. Maybe we try a little bit more Mitchell.
17:30The worst part about it was trying a little bit more Mitchell in the red zone.
17:35And so I set all that up to say, I had Montgomery one spot in front of a Marion Hampton, and I can't believe that's where we're at.
17:43Yeah. Montgomery obviously has had the one really good game based on the touchdowns and then has really done nothing outside of that.
17:50Fitz, how are you ranking these two? Yeah, I don't envy the 1-2 or 0-3 fantasy teams that have to make this decision.
17:57But I know Hampton has been the more glaring disappointment so far.
18:01But Montgomery has been kind of a less heralded flop himself.
18:04Had those two touchdowns in week one, but then six carries for 11 yards against the Texans in week two.
18:10Week three, 11 carries for 33 yards against a really bad Colts run defense.
18:14He's averaging 2.8 yards per carry. And weirdly, Montgomery has seven catches so far while Hampton has two.
18:20And we were excited about what Hampton might be able to do against, well, in the Mike McDaniel offense as a pass catcher.
18:27And that just has not come to fruition this year.
18:30So Hampton definitely the tougher matchup against Seattle, but I feel more confident about his role.
18:34He's got 50 carries. I think that's the 11th most among running backs.
18:38And I hate that he only has three targets and two catches, but maybe they get Hampton a little more involved in
18:45the passing game this week against a Seattle defense that does give up some receiving production to running backs.
18:50And Keaton Mitchell was reportedly in a walking boot earlier this week.
18:54Like, that would seem to not bode well for his availability.
18:57And if he's out, then I'm just going to lean into the volume with Montgomery, whereas with Hampton, whereas Montgomery is kind
19:04of in more of a backfield split than we would have thought coming into the season with Woody Marks.
19:10I also think, like, yes, Hampton has the tougher matchup, but the Cowboys, I thought they did a good job on Derrick Henry.
19:16I know he scored two touchdowns in the game in Brazil, but he only averaged, he had 26 carries and only 89 yards on all that work.
19:24And he did get stuffed, you know, a couple of times at the goal line.
19:29And the Cowboys secondary is so banged up that I like, I know the Texans maybe aren't well equipped to take advantage of that.
19:36But you would think any offense going into a matchup with Dallas right now would want to throw a ton, given how banged up the defensive backfield is.
19:45So I feel like just as a straight up matchup, I know people see the Cowboys and think, oh, that's a really easy matchup.
19:52I'm not sure if it's that like prime of a running back matchup right now, especially for somebody who hasn't been taking
19:58advantage of their easier matchups in Montgomery. So that's kind of in the back of my mind when I'm thinking about this too.
20:05I will say this. So for your point, Fitz, he's 11th, 50 carries is 11th.
20:10Aaron Jones already jumped all the way up to ninth was a shocking 52 carries.
20:14Right. It helps when you get 21 in the game or whatever it was.
20:18But the one thing I'll say, like, yeah, the Mitchell thing would, I want to agree, like Mitchell, if out.
20:24But when I said that report yesterday, they said he's not on the injury report, even though he had the boot on.
20:31So that was a weird one. I'm glad you brought that up.
20:34If there is no Mitchell, I would easily I'd probably move up Hampton a few spots.
20:39Like I just I think the biggest thing is what you said at the beginning, Fitz.
20:44I don't want to have to make this decision.
20:47I don't I don't want to be in this boat because this is gross.
20:51Yes, it is. Are you guys agreeing with consensus that you would start Braylon Allen over both of these options?
20:57Yes. OK. Yeah. Like I said, that's how consensus has it.
21:00And you guys agree. Let's go to another running back debate here.
21:04How about the guy that just faced the Seahawks defense, Ja'Cory Krosky Merritt versus J.K.
21:08Dobbins? Who would you guys prefer between Krosky Merritt and Dobbins?
21:11Fitz, I'll start with you on this one. Oh, Worm, you keep throwing these unappealing running back dilemmas at us.
21:17I know the commanders running game has been largely ineffective this year.
21:21Krosky Merritt averaging three yards a carry. None of his 47 carries has gone for more than 11 yards.
21:27Also kind of a zero in the passing game.
21:29He has three catches for five yards. I think the commanders have already ruled out guard Sam Cosme for this game, so
21:36they're not entirely whole on the offensive line. But the Colts' run defense is really bad.
21:41Indy has given up the sixth most rushing yards to running backs, opposing running backs averaging 4.8 yards per carry.
21:47They rank 30th in DVOA against the run. They've given up four touchdown runs to running backs.
21:52On the other end, you've got Dobbins with 3.5 yards per carry.
21:55Has not had a 50-yard rushing day yet. He is minus 22.6 rushing yards over expected.
22:00So he has not been a very efficient runner.
22:03He played four fewer snaps than R.J. Harvey last week.
22:06And Dobbins is even more of a zero in the passing game than Krosky Merritt is.
22:11He had his first catch of the season last week and went for four yards.
22:15And by the way, do you guys remember when the Broncos signed Jalen Waddell and we were all excited about the Denver
22:22offense and how fun it might be? The Denver offense is about as much fun as a dentist's convention.
22:27We're going to get to that one, Fitz. We're going to get to the line.
22:32Yeah, and it has been pointed out to me that Sean Payton's offenses are typically slow starting and then they start to fire up in October.
22:40We'll see. Because right now they are averaging five yards per play.
22:43They are behind the Dolphins and the Jets in yards per play right now.
22:47Do you think that we are at all close to Sean Payton taking over play calling duties again?
22:53Or do you feel like, you know, because they did pull out the win against the Rams, that sort of, you know,
22:59is buying Davis Webb more time despite the offense not being very fun?
23:03Yeah. I mean, it wasn't the offense that beat the Rams.
23:07Sure. It was defense and special teams. So, yeah, I would not be surprised if Sean Payton grabbed the play sheet back at some point.
23:14Well, I'm sorry, Fitz, to be giving you these, like, gross options, but these guys are ranked in the mid-20s in ECR.
23:21Like, people do have to – they're kind of forced to start one of these guys and have to make this decision in some ways, I'm sure.
23:29And for the record, I am taking Ja'Cory Krosky-Merritt here.
23:32I don't know if I actually said that. He is a couple spots higher in consensus for what it's worth.
23:38Again, they're both in that mid-20s range. Jake, who do you prefer between these two?
23:42Yeah. So, this comes down to initially I had him slightly behind, Ja'Cory Krosky-Merritt, but that's going to probably change with Rashad
23:49White now sounding like he's not going to play.
23:51We just got something before we came on that sounds like he's not practicing.
23:56He's going to stay out. And part of the reason they signed Austin Eckler.
24:00So, everything Fitz said is right, but also he had that, what was it, 40-something-yard play called back.
24:05So, he could have had – 48-yard touchdown. Could have finally had the big run for the touchdown against the Seahawks.
24:11And that was early on in the game. That wasn't even like garbage time or anything like that or when they were trying to come back.
24:19So, I see all the – I'm saying that to say I see all the arguments for Krosky-Merritt is that I had
24:26them almost back-to-back, but this will change with the Rashad White thing because I think that J.K.
24:31Dobbins is a fine running back three. I do think there's going to be better.
24:35And I kind of like, eh, at the play call, call me back because – and I'm not saying that Fitz wasn't saying this.
24:42Let's be honest. The offense still is designed and run through Sean Payton.
24:46He's just not calling the plays. Like, so, it's game day not calling the plays.
24:51There's still the sheet of what they plan for the game.
24:54They're in the same room. They're making all the same plans.
24:57It's just he's not the one that – so, what it comes down to, in my opinion, is kind of probably like
25:04the same situation that we saw for the Lions last year with Morton.
25:08Is it – I think it could happen. I think it's going to be several more weeks before if it does happen.
25:14And the fact is what the offensive coordinator calling the plays is the in-game adjustments.
25:19And I think that's been the biggest issue for the Broncos is they're not making the in-game adjustments to change, like, what
25:25they're facing or exploit their coverages or their run game or whatever it might be.
25:30And I think that's where Webb is lacking right now in the experience.
25:34So, I don't know if Payton Cole, like, pulls the trigger.
25:37I'd probably say week eight, nine, it would have to continue to be like this, like the Morton situation for the Lions last year.
25:44Just to tie that in. But so, yes, I am – I wasn't originally, but now I am in agreement with this
25:51Rashad White news and agreement with Fitz. On the Colts run defense matchup quickly, Jake, their first two games were against Eric Henry and Kenneth Walker.
25:59A lot of run defenses are going to struggle against those guys.
26:02And their third game was against David Montgomery. A lot of run defenses are going to look pretty good against him.
26:08So, at least based on what we've seen so far.
26:11So, where do you kind of square the Colts run defense right now?
26:15Do you think it's more like what we saw in those first two weeks?
26:20Or was that more matchup driven and the running backs they're facing?
26:23And maybe they're a little bit better than the stats would say.
26:27So, I have APA for everybody that wants to remember the – back in the day with the WWE.
26:32Damn, the wrestlers. Adjusted points allowed as I have over at The Athletic.
26:36And it adjusts for that. It's like trying to say, okay, well, if you face Derrick Henry 17 games or you face
26:43Oli Gordon for 17 games, guess what? You're probably going to give up more points when you face Derrick Henry for 17 games.
26:50So, all that being said, Washington in this matchup checks out.
26:53It's the 14th best. They're dead middle of the pack for the Colts.
26:57The Colts are in the range of the Jaguars, the Bengals, and the 49ers for tough matchups.
27:02But they're mid-pack. As in, like, they don't really skew either direction because of what you just said.
27:07You went from, of course you're not supposed to play very well against these running backs, to, yeah, that wasn't very much of a tough call.
27:15So, they're kind of mid of the pack right now.
27:18I'm not saying that's stone cold guaranteed, but to give you an example, like the adjusted fantasy points allowed that I have
27:25is 20.2 a game for the Colts. For comparison's sake, the number one, the Packers, Fitz's Packers, 30.8 to kind of give
27:31you an idea of, like, how bad it can get.
27:34Yeah. Well, speaking of the Packers, let's get to our wide receiver debate here, actually.
27:39T. Higgins versus Matthew Golden. Both of these guys are ranked in consensus in sort of that mid-wide receiver two range.
27:45They're a couple of wide receiver twos on their own team.
27:48Fitz, I'll start with you as the Packers fan here.
27:51Do you like Matthew Golden, the head of T.
27:54Higgins, or are you going with the Bengal? I'm going with the Bengal, T.
27:58Higgins. I have more faith in the Bengals' offensive infrastructure, which is kind of a fancy way of saying that the Packers' offensive line is abysmal.
28:06And I just, they are going to get blitzed like crazy this week by Todd Bowles and the Buccaneers, who always blitz a lot to begin with.
28:14And they are going to pick on this weakness that the Packers have.
28:18And, I mean, that could lead to a big day for either Christian Watson or Matthew Golden.
28:23Like, when you blitz that many, not that many people in the back end to tackle pass catchers if they're able to catch the ball.
28:30And Matthew Golden and Christian Watson both blazing fast.
28:33So there's big play potential here for Golden for sure.
28:36But there's also the potential for the offensive line to just get overrun for the Packers' passing game to be completely dysfunctional.
28:43And Matthew Golden have like two catches for 18 yards.
28:46So I'm just going to go with Higgins. I know the Bengals' passing game hasn't fully kicked into gear yet, but we know what it's capable of.
28:54So where do you guys, where do you have them actually ranked, these two?
28:58How wide is the gap between them? Not very wide.
29:01I'm a little behind consensus on Golden. I think I've got him at wide receiver 20, and I've got T.
29:07Higgins at wide receiver 17. Okay. So you're actually behind consensus on both.
29:11Higgins is 15 in consensus, and Golden's 18. So just a couple spots lower for both of those.
29:16Jake, where are you at on this one, Higgins or Golden?
29:19Yeah, I hope this like doubly stabs the knife in the side of Fitz because I'm going with Golden, but also to
29:26pain him to see his Packers wide receiver potentially be the right call here.
29:30I want to needle you, man. The list of wide receivers with more targets than Matthew Golden, big breath.
29:36Alave, JSN, Amaran, St. Brown, Michael Wilson. I'm done.
29:39I didn't need a big breath. That's it. The end.
29:42And that's really what it comes down. He's already got 30 targets through three games, and now he's only caught 50% of them.
29:48Let me make that clear. But the thing is, everything Fitz said is actually why I'm going with Golden is because you
29:55don't have the time to go to Christian Watson as much.
29:58Jordan Love has been treating Matthew Golden like to go back to the Parker Washington and to Kalief Raymond.
30:04Like, he's his go-to if I don't have time.
30:07And again, like, I want to see a higher reception rate, but that's where I really think it comes down to is
30:13Golden is doing everything we thought he could out of Texas is getting his speed up to free himself quickly.
30:19And that's what I like. So I actually think because of the Buccaneers game plan and the issues for the Packers that
30:26you're just going to see potentially 10 targets in this game again.
30:29And that's why I'm going Golden. They are. I'm with him.
30:33Like, there's not a huge gap. I still have T.
30:36Higgins inside my top 20, but I have Golden up at 16.
30:39Where is he rest of season for you, Jake, by the way?
30:43Matthew Golden. I got that question in the chat, too.
30:46I would treat him as a mid-low wide receiver, too.
30:49I think he is now in the conversation of we're having this conversation with T.
30:53Higgins and it's coming from somebody that spent the preseason to be like, T.
30:57Higgins never gets respect, never gets respect, never gets respect.
31:00But the fact that now he's in the conversation, in my opinion, I think he's now in the conversation of Devante Adams
31:07with Nakua because that's going to decrease his target volume.
31:10But Golden's in the conversation of Adams, DJ Moore, T.
31:13Higgins, Michael Wilson. Like, you're talking about top 20-ish wide receiver, and I think he deserves to be in that conversation.
31:19Fitz, does that sound about right to you? I've got him a little lower at wide receiver 25.
31:25I might be clinging to my priors too much here, but I've got him more down with guys like Jalen Waddell, Ladd
31:31McConkie, guys with some better bodies of work throughout their career.
31:35But guys who are not necessarily clicking just yet.
31:37Well, speaking of Jalen Waddell, he is a part of our next debate here.
31:41DJ Moore or Jalen Waddell? Who do you prefer, Jake?
31:44I'll start with you on this one. Waddell or Moore?
31:47I had Moore in front of him, and that's even before hearing about the Christian Gonzalez news that he might be missing this game.
31:55So I'm going with DJ Moore. I don't think he was 100% in that game and still played through it and could have had a bigger day.
32:03I actually thought he was going to get knocked out on that one play.
32:07I'm like, here we go again. DJ Moore is done for another two weeks.
32:11But I'm going to continue to roll with DJ Moore.
32:14And this is something I talked about on my podcast, The Only Speed Run.
32:18And I had Rich Rebar on this week. And I was talking about, and I went back and watched the three games
32:25for the Broncos to say, like, what's going on with Jalen Waddell?
32:28Because we told everybody to keep the faith in week one.
32:32And everybody was rewarded in week two. And then, boom, fell apart in his face again in week three.
32:37And the thing I'm watching with Jalen Waddell, and this is not a slight.
32:41And I know people are going to come for me on this, but make this clear.
32:46Jalen Waddell, the comparison I made was that old Anquan Bolden or current George Pickens or whatever.
32:51And I'm not talking stylistically. I'm just saying they're great one Bs.
32:55They need somebody who's of their level or higher across from them.
32:58Because when they're asked to be the one, as in the defensive attention one, they're just not made for it completely.
33:05And I think that if Waddell was guaranteed the volume, potentially on a different team, then it wouldn't be a factor.
33:11But the Peyton offense doesn't require you to hammer it down the throat of somebody who's getting that attention.
33:17And that's the issue here. You watch the first game, the second game, the third game.
33:21What's the commonality between the first and third game?
33:24The defense is focused a lot on Jalen Waddell.
33:27And I think that's the issue I have. And that's my concern for this week is that if you look at the
33:3349ers, they can wipe them off the map. They could just say goodbye.
33:37You're not relevant for this game. And Bo Nix is going to go to Pat Bryant, to the backfield, to the other
33:44options, because that's what this offense does. So again, it's not a slight on Jalen Waddell.
33:49It's just this is my concern for him this year now going forward is that he's going to be somewhat matchup dependent
33:55if the defense is able to take him away.
33:58Waddell is five spots ahead of Moore in consensus.
34:01Fitz, are you more aligned with consensus or with what Jake is saying here?
34:05Yeah, I mean, a lot of what Jake said made sense, especially the Waddell theory.
34:09And I kind of buy that. And what I've been wondering about the Broncos, getting back to my complaint about them being
34:16boring earlier, if teams are like taking out Waddell, why is Cortland Sutton not killing people?
34:21Why is Pat Bryant not doing more? And Bryant's been OK, but like those guys should be crushing it if teams are trying to take away Waddell.
34:29Bo Nix. So I was just going to say, I think I know what Jake is going to point to here.
34:35Yeah. So for now, I'm going with Waddell, hoping it's the every other week theory on him that, you know, after the
34:42eight catch 138 yard game in week two and then the quiet week three, maybe he's he's due for a big game.
34:48But I would have to reassess this and pivot to DJ Moore.
34:52If Christian Gonzalez doesn't play the Patriots, Jake mentioned this.
34:55Gonzalez has a shoulder injury. Didn't practice Wednesday. Moore is lined up outside on about 70 percent of his snaps.
35:01And you have to figure that he would most likely draw coverage from Gonzalez whenever he lines up outside.
35:06Yeah. DJ Moore getting 10 targets in that game coming in, like with the shoulder questionable injury stuff, I thought was, you know, really just generally encouraging.
35:14And I'm rest of season on DJ Moore fits.
35:17Where is he for you? Because I'm pretty bullish on him going forward.
35:21Yeah. Rest of season. I have DJ Moore. Sorry.
35:24I was not on that page right now. Just looking at it.
35:27Looks like I've got him 20. Yeah, I think that I think that sounds all right.
35:32And by the way, not that you really want to play this game with everybody, but just for fun, fantasy championship week, DJ Moore gets the Dolphins.
35:40So that's a pretty cool one. For thinking way for.
35:43And it's in Miami, too. So they hopefully wouldn't have Buffalo weather there for week 17.
35:48So, yeah, I think that was pretty good. Where are you at, Jake?
35:52Rest of season on DJ Moore. In the same conversation, the name is with I was bringing up with Golden, but I
35:58would take him over all of them if I knew he was 100 percent.
36:03I was very, you said bullish. I had DJ Moore, I think, like wide receiver 16 ish going into the season, like
36:09because I went back to the fact that he was a wide receiver one with Justin Fields and Tyson Badgett.
36:15Like so on the bills, I was very much in on DJ Moore.
36:19Maybe wide receiver eight. Fitz, I want to I want to take a second here before we get to the next segment to talk about Fabletics.
36:27Fitz, what kind of shopper are you? A very lazy shopper worm, which is why I appreciate how easy Fabletics makes it
36:33to buy clothing, because I do not like to spend a lot of time looking at clothing.
36:38Not just easy to buy it, but easy to kind of put together a complete outfit, really, which is something that I
36:45have struggled with and I've had many friends in my life sort of yell at me about not I should be doing
36:52a better job of making these nice outfits and everything.
36:55Fabletics made it really easy. We both put in some orders for clothes recently, and I was really impressed by the whole ordering process.
37:02Frankly, I'm very similar to you. They put the right two people on this show to talk about this.
37:07I am also quite a lazy shopper. I'm really excited about some of the items we got.
37:12It was really cool to me that you can get this really convenient access to active wear golf apparel.
37:18I know is going to be big for you lounge where it's all sorts of across the spectrum.
37:24As somebody who works from home, I love having very comfortable sort of lounge where that at leisure type style that I
37:30can still leave the house with and go run errands.
37:33And I felt like there were just all these different options.
37:36And they also have like really nice, you know, quarter zip sweaters, which I wear all the time when I'm going out
37:43of the house for, you know, nicer events. I just was really impressed with the options they had fits.
37:49Yeah, I was excited to get my first shipment from Fabletics.
37:52But if you think I was excited, my wife was extremely excited because my wardrobe since, oh, about 2020 has mostly been,
37:58you know, Scott Fishbowl t-shirts, t-shirts from 5Ks I ran seven years ago, ratty sweats, shorts that probably should have been thrown away a couple of years ago.
38:07And Fabletics, just incredible active wear, casual wear, golf wear, just super comfortable.
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38:18Like I can actually look decent in some of the more casual wear, the kind of clothes you would walk a dog in.
38:25It kind of checks all the boxes, right? It's comfortable.
38:28It looks good. It feels good. It's easy to order.
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39:00Take a quick style quiz and be sure to select Fantasy Pros when prompted to unlock this offer.
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39:13All right, guys, let's get into our more rapid fire start-sit decisions here.
39:17Another running back one for you. Alvin Kamara versus Jadarian Price.
39:20Jake, who do you prefer between these two? Watch it like here.
39:24Here we go. Sad face. I just don't hold my flag plant.
39:27It just burned, blew up, whatever you want to call it.
39:31It's toast. That did not work for Jadarian Price last week, and it was as bad.
39:35Like, two things. Definitely not 100%. Backfield is a committee, and the commanders run defense.
39:40Give them more respect than I was giving them.
39:42And the Seahawks didn't do what they should do.
39:45So, like, every metric, actually, if you go back and look at it, like, I think there was the Seahawks.
39:51I saw somebody tweet it out on Sunday. Like, it was one of the craziest, like, all these metrics.
39:57Like, a team with, like, four or five of these things happening in a game have never lost.
40:02Like, they should have won the game, like, if you looked on paper, which is why you play on the field.
40:08So, all that being said, yeah, this feels like you did this on purpose right out of the gate.
40:14The Price call was a big whiff by me last week.
40:17Major, major big whiff. And I am going with Kamara.
40:20Like, I think that Kamara over Price is the better call, even though I do think Kendra Miller, Fitz and I talked about it on the waiver show.
40:29I think Kendra Miller's a factor to potentially take the lead and make this potentially a 50-50 split.
40:34That being said, this is a committee backfield that is just this much one step ahead of what is going on with
40:41the Packers committee backfield right now, which means I just don't want a part of it.
40:46They are back-to-back in consensus, Fitz. It's 30 and 31 amongst running backs.
40:49Who do you like better? I have Jadarian Price ranked one spot ahead of Kamara, but I am definitely worried about Price
40:56because it seemed like he got thrown into fumble jail last week.
41:00Fumbled for a second straight game, wound up getting only five carries, played fewer snaps than both Emmanuel Wilson and George Helani.
41:06Kamara, on the other hand, I mean, he's 31, might be completely cooked.
41:10Over 13 games since the start of 2025, Kamara's averaged 3.5 yards per carry and, even more alarming, 5.1 yards per catch,
41:17which is three yards below his career average yards per catch.
41:20But, obviously, Kamara's going to play an enhanced role against the Falcons on Sunday night because Travis Etienne is out.
41:26It's going to be some combination of Kamara and Kendra A.
41:29Miller, who Jake mentioned. But the Falcons have been kind of a nightmare matchup for running backs.
41:34They've given up the fewest rushing yards to running backs, the fewest rushing attempts to running backs.
41:39And Falcons have just been a total pass funnel, but passes against the Falcons aren't going to running backs either.
41:45They've allowed the six fewest receiving yards to RBs.
41:48So, ultimately, I guess I would rather bet on Price getting out of fumble jail.
41:52Maybe Jake can bake Jadarian Price a cake with a file in it.
41:56But it is terrifying knowing that if Price puts the ball on the ground again, he is probably not getting back in the game.
42:04Can I throw you one more stat, Fitz? See if maybe I can get you to come to my side and make
42:10me feel better about not liking Price anymore. There are two running backs, two, in the NFL that have over 20 touches with zero on third down.
42:18Marshawn Lloyd and Jadarian Price. Wow. Wow. Man. Mike McDonald from the Harbaugh coaching tree, both brothers in the Harbaugh coaching tree,
42:25they have been not hesitant about putting players in the doghouse for fumbles in the past.
42:30So, if he's learning from them, that is definitely a concern, Fitz.
42:33Yeah. Let's do a wide receiver one. How about Lad McConkie versus Michael Wilson?
42:37I put this in before you had picked Wilson as your flag plant, Fitz.
42:41So, I'm assuming I know what direction you're going here.
42:44I'll start with you. Yeah, it's Wilson. I mean, Lad's probably going to be starting for the people who have him, but
42:51Seattle's obviously a tough matchup and Lad hasn't really gotten it going yet.
42:55But he is wide receiver 26 for what it's worth.
42:58So, he is behind Wilson in consensus. Jake, where are you at on these two?
43:02I'm in agreement. I have Michael Wilson higher. The secondary is a much better matchup, including the fact that the Seahawks also
43:09do a good job to slot over the middle wide receivers.
43:12So, like, this is just – I have McConkie at 29, and I don't even feel great about it.
43:18Where are you ranking McConkie, Fitz? I'm right on consensus, 26.
43:21Right with consensus. Okay. Let's do some flex start decisions here.
43:24How about Jordan Addison coming off of a nice game with Kyler Murray versus Travion Henderson, Fitz?
43:30Who do you prefer? I'm going to take Addison if Justin Jefferson doesn't play, and I'm kind of assuming that he won't.
43:36But if Jefferson does play, I would probably pivot to Travion.
43:39Is it contingent for you too, Jake, or do you just have a preference here?
43:44I was going to say just – I know it's video, but copy, paste, answer, and move on.
43:49That's exactly what my response was going to be.
43:52Okay. Make it easy. We'll go to the next one here.
43:55How about Stephon Diggs, Jake, who you mentioned earlier, versus Tony Pollard?
43:59Who do you prefer? At this – another injury related here is that we see the Titans doing weird things in signing,
44:05even though that Singleton was talked about being used last week, which makes it seem like maybe Tajay Spears is more banged
44:12up than we think he is, or this would be an issue because it doesn't seem like it's Pollard as of right now with the signing.
44:20But if there is no Spears, I lean slightly to Pollard.
44:23That's the fact that if Spears is out there or we hear that everything looks great for the other options and Singleton
44:30is going to be involved, and now Pollard is still not going to see much more usage, I would actually still go Stephon Diggs.
44:37I think this is a matchup that Mariota can take advantage of even overseas.
44:41But all that being said, Pollard's the floor. He's definitively the floor if there's no Spears too.
44:46What do you think, Fitz? Yeah, I'm torn on this one.
44:49I'm going to lean into the touch volume with Tony Pollard, who's had 31 carries and 5 catches over the last two weeks, so 18 touches a game.
44:58But I think he's banged up too. I forget what his injury is, but yeah, the Titans running back's really bad.
45:04Not as banged up as Spears, who mercifully got me two yards last week in a game where I beat Scott Bogman
45:11by one point and was forced to start TyJay Spears, don't ask.
45:14It's an ankle. Ankle? Yeah, so that's the thing.
45:17I would want a little more information on Pollard before I start him over.
45:21Diggs, who's a pretty appealing play against a Colts defense that really struggles against slot receivers.
45:26So Diggs has been lining up on the slot in nearly two-thirds of his snaps this season.
45:31So it's a nice matchup for him. Again, I think I'm going for the touch volume with Pollard, but this one is really close.
45:38Yeah. Let's go to another flex. How about Carnell Tate versus Kyle Menongai, Fitz?
45:42I would just much rather bat on the Chicago Bears running game than on the Tennessee Titans passing game.
45:48So give me Menongai. Jake? I could not agree more.
45:51I thought I was shocked by this. Apparently I'm 14 behind consensus by having Carnell Tate at wide receiver 51.
45:57How is he inside the top 40? I don't understand this.
46:00If anything, the matchup points to maybe Wandal Robinson being the option, given what you can do against the Ravens.
46:06That's about the only thing, similar to the Eagles.
46:09There is no way on earth watching this team.
46:12Hopefully this is the week where we look stupid maybe, but I don't know how you watch the Titans for the first three weeks.
46:19Because it says, yeah, I want to start Carnell Tate with what Cam Ward had.
46:23The rain and the wind weren't even that much of a factor in the second half of that game.
46:29Carnell Tate had a wide open pass that never came his way or like never even got close to him.
46:35A wide open situation where he didn't even get seen by Cam Ward.
46:39And then he missed the touchdown on top of it.
46:42Like, I mean, Cam Ward looks awful. Carnell Tate is one spot ahead of Denzel Boston, who we talked about last week.
46:48And that surprised me. I want to know Rob is in the front of Carnell Tate in this matchup.
46:54Oh, yeah. Yeah. Wandale is, I think, wide receiver 40.
46:57I would start a healthy Chris Godwin with Jalen Daniels before I start Carnell Tate.
47:01I can't go that far. Pitts can't quite endorse that one.
47:05But Jake is ranking shaming me. I'm looking at the rankings that I do have Tate inside my top 40.
47:11And I'm like, yeah, Jake is right. That's wrong.
47:13One more flex here. Looking further down in the rankings for those in deeper leagues.
47:18Trey Tucker or R.J. Harvey, Jake? R.J. Harvey. Fitz brought it up earlier with the concerns of J.K.
47:23Dobbins. And it's at least a 50-50. And if the 49ers keep clicking, even against the Broncos defense, still one of the most efficient.
47:30And now we're seeing Brock Purdy get MVP conversations.
47:33Deservedly so. And I know on a different team, he probably is not Brock Purdy.
47:38It doesn't matter because he plays for the 49ers.
47:40And this offense continues to click. They're going to have to pass a little bit more.
47:45Fitz brought it up earlier. J.K. Dobbins, not the pass-catching running back.
47:49So I'm going with R.J. Harvey. Mostly because we've done this dance with Trey Tucker for the past two years.
47:55He shows up. We probably still need to wait three more weeks before he does it again.
48:00Fitz? I'm doing the tango with Trey Tucker. Oh, my gosh.
48:03Sorry. He is quietly wide receiver, 24 in fantasy scoring.
48:06Averaging 63 yards a game. He's been really efficient.
48:0912.6 yards per target, 2.52 yards per route run.
48:11And I think the return of Brock Bowers probably helps Trey Tucker because Bowers is always going to be the focal point of defensive attention.
48:19I just I'm standing by my priors and saying that R.J.
48:22Harvey just isn't good. Yeah. But 27, 100 and something and 40 ish.
48:26Like it's basically been one game for Tucker just to push back.
48:30It's it's 27, 119 and 43 are the three yardage shuttles for him.
48:33Fitz, where is Tucker ranked amongst receivers for you?
48:36I know this is a flex question, but he's wide receiver 45 in consensus.
48:40Are you higher? Are you both on that? Definitely higher.
48:43I've got him 37. Oh, OK. Ahead of Carnell Tate.
48:46I have him ahead of Carnell Tate. Yes. OK.
48:49Let's do a quarterback one here. Fitz, Bryce Young or Kyler Murray?
48:53Who would you rather start this week? I'm going with Bryce.
48:56The Lions have given up 979 passing yards, which is more than 100 more than the next worst pass defense, the commanders.
49:02That works up to 326 passing yards per game.
49:05The Lions have given up nine touchdown passes. I do have some concerns, though, about the Panthers offensive line, which was kind
49:12of beaten up a little bit by the Cleveland Browns pass rush last week.
49:16Guard Damian Lewis out with an elbow injury. Rookie right tackle Monroe Freeling has a concussion, probably isn't going to play.
49:22So that is what could maybe short circuit Bryce Young from having a good game.
49:27But man, like I don't really want to bet on Kyler Murray.
49:30And I know, goodness knows, I know how bad the Miami secondary is.
49:34But Kyler has not looked that sharp. He's not in all likelihood going to have Justin Jefferson.
49:39Like, I just don't really want to bet on him right now.
49:43Yeah, Jake, these are two friendly matchups. You know, these quarterbacks are looking at in terms of the defenses they're growing up against.
49:50Bryce Young is ranked two spots higher in ECR.
49:52Who are you ranking higher between Bryce Young and Kyler Murray?
49:56100% contingent that Bryce Young gets through practice 100%.
49:58It just, he went to the tent, what, three times, four times in that game?
50:03And I joked about it. But maybe it was just a stomach bug situation or maybe it was dehydration, whatever.
50:09We don't know what the situation was. But multiple trips to the tent and likely no Jalen Coker.
50:14Like if he practices in full even without Jalen Coker, I agree.
50:18It's Bryce Young. Definitely. Pleased in this matchup. But I just want to make sure that he's 100%.
50:23Like, that's the only reason I would go the other direction on this is that just if he isn't, if he's playing through this game hurt.
50:31One more at tight end. Mark Andrews versus Dalton Schultz.
50:34Jake, I'll start with you here. Who do you rank higher?
50:37Let it go. Let it go. Just bury your Mark Andrews.
50:40Let it go, dude. Let it go. Your Ravens are not good when it comes to Mark Andrews.
50:46He has touched down our boss. I agree. That's it.
50:49I don't even think he has six points in a game yet this year because he hasn't found the end zone.
50:55And maybe it happens against the Titans, which you know what's going to happen.
50:59Not only do I say let it go and I told everybody to drop him last week and again this week.
51:06I'm like, drop him, drop him, drop him, drop him, drop him.
51:09Didn't even do it against the Cowboys. Everybody's going to drop him.
51:13Two touchdowns this week. Let's go. For the record, he does have over six points in half EPR score.
51:18He does not in standard. Does he have over seven?
51:21He does 7.9 because he had six catches against the Saints.
51:25Oh. That, you know, for 49 yards. So 7.9 half PPR fantasy points is his high on the season in that one.
51:31No, I actually agree with you on Andrews, but he's ranked ahead of Schultz.
51:35That's why I wanted to include him. Really? I was surprised that he's still ranked as an almost tight end one.
51:42In consensus, he's tight end 13. Schultz is tight end 14.
51:45See, maybe this is why I'm killing the tight end rankings because I keep ranking Mark Andrews as like 17, 18, 19.
51:52It's all Mark Andrews. I can still get Colston Loveland wrong as long as I'm getting Mark Andrews right.
51:57Fitz, who do you prefer here? Well, I am contributing to this in ECR because I would go with Mark Andrews.
52:04Look, he hasn't scored a touchdown yet. We know that.
52:07Hasn't had a big game yet. But Andrews quietly on a pace for a 74-catch season.
52:11And you want to talk about Trey Tucker getting carried by one big game so far.
52:16Dalton Schultz had that 12-catch, 140-yard game against the Bengals in week two.
52:20And we know the Bengals always get completely smacked around by tight ends.
52:24Schultz has not really done much of anything in his other two games.
52:28And Nico Collins has been out for the Texans.
52:30He is expected back this week. So Schultz is probably just going to fade back into the woodwork.
52:36I was more interested in Andrews when Zay was out.
52:39Now that he's back, even in a somewhat limited capacity, like Lamar just looks to Zay every single time.
52:44Yeah, that 7.9 game was in that game, though, wasn't it?
52:48That's like his ceiling. Zay's usage numbers, like his target share and his – I mean, he's averaging like nine yards per route run or something like that.
52:56We talked about this on the tailgate on Monday.
52:59I sort of tested Debro and Erickson. And like who do you think – you know, where do you think Zay is ranked in yards per route run?
53:07And like, you know, where – what is his actual number?
53:10And they're like, oh, he's got to be at like, you know, four and a half, maybe five, right?
53:16He's been ridiculous. And I was like, it's actually nine.
53:19It's 9.36. He's like doubling second place, which is JSN.
53:22That's 1.35. The crazy thing, when he crushed it in that first game against the Colts, the Ravens were up so big early on.
53:29Like he only played 20-some snaps in that game.
53:32Well, he got hurt in the late second half – like second quarter, excuse me.
53:36So he played one half and then he came back in limited snaps against the Cowboys.
53:41That's the only thing he's played this season and he's got the numbers he does.
53:46To give you an idea, last year, 3.71 Pukunokua for the year.
53:49So like obviously the numbers are going to come down, but just how egregiously and crazy that is.
53:55That's an insane – I didn't realize it was that.
53:58I was terrified of your boys, like putting him out there on that turf.
54:02I mean, I watched that whole game with like this.
54:05Like just please – like I got Zay Flowers in too many leagues for that to happen.
54:10I was equally terrified. To put a bow on Zay Flowers, I know he wasn't the one we were talking about here.
54:17He is wide receiver 18 in scoring on the season.
54:19That's with playing like one – Essentially one game.
54:22One total game added up worth of stats. And he's – watch your 18 through three weeks.
54:27So he's been completely ridiculous. You can take the guesswork out of your start-sit decisions with the Fantasy Pros start-sit assistant.
54:34Instantly see your optimal lineup based on your roster, scoring settings, and advice from more than 100 fantasy experts.
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54:42Get started at fantasypros.com slash start-sit. Guys, we'll wrap up with the touchdown calls contest.
54:46Jake, who's your running back? At least I got this still going for me so far, which now I just jinxed myself.
54:53Because I did get the tight end last week, like Fitz did before me.
54:57Are you three for three? Yeah. Or two for three?
55:00Three for three. So like I said, yeah, bringing up the – We don't need to say how I'm doing.
55:06The jinx is coming. But I am going with Jeremiah Love against the Giants.
55:10I think that if you looked at what the Giants have done so far, week one when they bottled up Javante Williams,
55:17he still got in the end zone. Coram, Kyron ran all over them and just weren't asked to run at the goal line.
55:24And then Tony Pollard just had arguably his best game of the season, 70-something yards, and probably would have scored if Cam
55:30Ward in that offense could have done anything. So I'm not looking at the fact that they only let one rushing touchdown so far.
55:37I'm looking at the fact how bad this defense is, and they just lost Brian Burns for the entire season.
55:43So Jeremiah Love finds the end zone. Now watch Tyler Algier freaking vulture him.
55:48You know I'm going to tweet as soon as that happens, that Algier's vulturing him in this game.
55:53Of course. Fitz, who's your receiver you're picking? After getting my first strike in the touchdown calls last week, I'm going to go with Jamison Williams this week.
56:01Jamo is just so due. Lions-Panthers is going to be high scoring.
56:05It has a Vegas total of 51.5 points. The Panthers defense, not good.
56:09And now it's going to be without its best cover man, J.C.
56:12Horn, just placed on injured reserve. I think Jamison Williams is going to eat this week.
56:17Please don't anyone bench him this week in this game.
56:20I actually also went with the Lions. I went with Sam Laporta for the tight end.
56:25I have not hit one yet this season. And I don't even really think it's like we have to go head-to-head here, Fitz.
56:32I know like Laporta and Jamison Williams, there was a lot of like on-off splits talk this summer.
56:37But against this, you know, current state of the Panthers defense on Sunday Night Football, I think both guys can get in the end zone.
56:45And I'm hoping they do. So I'm going with the Lion as well here.
56:49Jeremiah Love at running back for Jake. Jamison Williams at receiver for Fitz.
56:53Sam Laporta at tight end. For me, if you think you can nail this week's touchdowns, join our free touchdown calls contest on PickSheet.
57:00Pick a running back, receiver, tight end, and bonus flex with the flex being worth double.
57:05Weekly winners get a $25 Fantasy Pros gift card.
57:07And the season champ wins a signed Reggie Wayne jersey.
57:10Play at PickSheet.com slash Fantasy Pros. All right, guys.
57:13We will go ahead and wrap things up there.
57:16Thanks, everybody, for checking out our Week 4 Start, Sit, Show.
57:19For Fitz and Jake, I'm Ryan Warmly. We'll see you again next time.
57:23Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast.
57:26If you love the show, the best free way to support us is by leaving a positive review on Apple Podcasts at FantasyPros.com slash Review or on Spotify.
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