Speaker 1: Wow, Hey everybody, It's Thursday, December twenty eighth, twenty twenty three.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the NFL Fantasy Football Show. It's me your Man, MG,
Speaker 1: Marcus Grant joined by Michael F. Florio. We got a
Speaker 1: great episode for you today. We are previewing the second
Speaker 1: half of the Week seventeen slate of games. Be sure
Speaker 1: to check out our Wednesday episode to hear the first half,
Speaker 1: also giving you our fantasy heroes for Championship Week. But
Speaker 1: let's get started with some hot takes. Time to get
Speaker 1: spicy with some hot takes for Week seventeen.
Speaker 2: Start us off, Mike, just remember when schedule came out
Speaker 2: in May, like and everyone gets excited for it. And
Speaker 2: you saw what that Chiefs Bengals Week seventeen game, and
Speaker 2: we're like, that is gonna be the game that decides
Speaker 2: all the fantasy championships. Joe Burrow's gone, The Chiefs are
Speaker 2: not the Chiefs this year. I don't care. Just like
Speaker 2: we drew up back in May, this game is going
Speaker 2: to determine championships. I think Patrick Mahomes is going to
Speaker 2: have a vintage Patrick Mahomes game.
Speaker 1: In this one.
Speaker 2: The Bengals have been torched through the pass as of late,
Speaker 2: they allowed three hundred and two to Nick Mullins. They
Speaker 2: allowed over twenty fantasy points to Mason Rudolph last week.
Speaker 2: And then on the other side, like t Higgins is
Speaker 2: going to win people some championships. I think Clyde Edwards
Speaker 2: are Laire could get in on the fun. So I
Speaker 2: think this is even though it's two teams that haven't
Speaker 2: quite lived up to the high, high expectations we put
Speaker 2: on them, I think they're gonna come through.
Speaker 1: Just find this. Yeah, I do like Cees this week too.
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna be a surprise smash spot for
Speaker 1: a lot of people. For me, I think the teams
Speaker 1: that are gonna win you championships the forty nine Ers
Speaker 1: and the Rams, both of them playing pretty good. Look,
Speaker 1: I know the Niners got blown out last week, but overall,
Speaker 1: they've been playing great football all year long. The Rams
Speaker 1: have been speaking of Franks red hot, they have been
Speaker 1: red hot offensively for the last several weeks, and they
Speaker 1: have sort of been in playoff mode for a while.
Speaker 1: They get the Giants, they get a Giants defense that
Speaker 1: has not been good all year long, and so I
Speaker 1: think whether it's Matthew Stafford, Cooper Cup, Puka Nakua, Kyron Williams,
Speaker 1: DeMarcus Robinson has big sleeper vibes this week you are
Speaker 1: playing those guys, and of course with the forty nine ers,
Speaker 1: we know you're starting everybody, Perty, Samuel CMC, I, you Kittle.
Speaker 1: All these guys are in play very much this week
Speaker 1: against the Washington Commanders. So if you've got Niners or
Speaker 1: Rams on your team, put them in your lineup. I'm
Speaker 1: not guaranteeing that you will win a Fantasy championship, but
Speaker 1: you're gonna be in a very good spot to win
Speaker 1: a title this year. All Right. We still have a
Speaker 1: handful of more games to get to, including Patriots at
Speaker 1: the Bills. Let's not talk about the Patriots. Let's talk
Speaker 1: about the Bills. Is it time to set Stefan Diggs.
Speaker 1: He's been pretty bad the last six weeks.
Speaker 2: I have him as a sit this week in stardom Sittam,
Speaker 2: which I know some of you are gonna be like,
Speaker 2: this is the week Digs get right, and I will say, hey,
Speaker 2: easily could be. He is still Stefon Diggs. He is
Speaker 2: still awesome. He has a history of success against the Patriots,
Speaker 2: but since week ten nine Fantasy points per game. I
Speaker 2: know there was an underthrow last week on a long
Speaker 2: play that could have been a tough down. But this
Speaker 2: is a third straight year now where the month of
Speaker 2: December is going to statistically be the worst month of
Speaker 2: Stefan Diggs season. It is very concerning because December is
Speaker 2: when fantasy games matter most. Not a must sit, you're
Speaker 2: not sitting him for like Rashid Shaheed or someone like that.
Speaker 2: But if you have another option, like the Fantasy Live team,
Speaker 2: if I made it to the finals, I was sitting
Speaker 2: him for Amari Cooper this week. So it depends on
Speaker 2: what your options are. But if you have another one,
Speaker 2: I think you can get away from this.
Speaker 1: So you're saying you learned your lesson after last week
Speaker 1: sitting a Mari Cooper for Stefan Diggs.
Speaker 2: See if I did, If I made that sat last week,
Speaker 2: I'd be in the championship right now.
Speaker 1: Oh man, you talk about just regrets. Yeah, I get
Speaker 1: it right, Like everything that you've seen over the last
Speaker 1: six weeks says to sit Stefan Diggs, I just I
Speaker 1: know I'd be scared because at some point he's gonna
Speaker 1: go off. Though, Stephan Diggs games are gonna happen again.
Speaker 1: And the thing about is the Bills. They're just doing
Speaker 1: whatever they need to do to win. And maybe that
Speaker 1: doesn't involve just feeding Digs targets, but at some point,
Speaker 1: if they're going to want to get in the playoffs
Speaker 1: and advanced in the playoffs, they're going to need Stefan Diggs. Yeah,
Speaker 1: tonight plays.
Speaker 2: The only concern with that I have is against the Patriots,
Speaker 2: who have been playing much better. I'm gonna give them
Speaker 2: their credit. I don't know if this is a game
Speaker 2: where they'll have to feed them.
Speaker 1: Very true, based on the Patriots, they may not have
Speaker 1: to score a lot of points, so they may not
Speaker 1: need a lot of Stefan Diggs. It's gonna be a
Speaker 1: tough decision for a lot of folks across fantasy. This
Speaker 1: week Dolphins Ravens, which could be one of the games
Speaker 1: of the week, certainly on paper it is. Are you
Speaker 1: worried about any of the Dolphins after seeing what the
Speaker 1: Ravens did to a forty nine ers offense that has
Speaker 1: a lot of similar principles to Miami? You worried about
Speaker 1: any of the Dolphins players this week? Petrified?
Speaker 2: I have Tua as a sit obviously if you made it,
Speaker 2: if you survived last week with Tyreek Hill and all
Speaker 2: the in my leagues to Tyrek Kill team got eliminated
Speaker 2: last week, I think you still start Tyreek Hill. I
Speaker 2: think we have to find out who the lead running
Speaker 2: back is and you could start them because most of
Speaker 2: it is banged up. Tyreek Hill is in one hundred percent.
Speaker 2: Jalen Waddle is going to be out. Look, a lot
Speaker 2: of you Ravens fans have been tweeting me about something
Speaker 2: the other guys said that wasn't me. But I'm saying
Speaker 2: this right here. Dolphins fans feel free to clip it
Speaker 2: if they proves me wrong. I think the Ravens are
Speaker 2: going to come out and punch the Dolphins in the
Speaker 2: mouth this week.
Speaker 1: Michael f Florio is not the Michael Florio that runs
Speaker 1: Pro Football Talk. We'll hope that after all these years,
Speaker 1: some of you would have figured it out, but apparently
Speaker 1: not when that guy on the other three letter network
Speaker 1: says some bad things don't come to this guy because
Speaker 1: it wasn't him. By the way, you mentioned the Dolphins,
Speaker 1: I mean Cam Wolf are on cam Wolf tweeting earlier
Speaker 1: on Wednesday, Tyreek Hill Jalen Waddle, where he moster devon
Speaker 1: a chan among the Dolphins who did not practice on Wednesday.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of it is precautionary because some
Speaker 1: of these guys are banged up, but just something to
Speaker 1: sort of pay attention to as you get ready for
Speaker 1: that game. I would stay away from Tua everybody else
Speaker 1: I think I put in the lineup just because it
Speaker 1: could work out well, but too a guy that I
Speaker 1: think you can sort of get away from at this point.
Speaker 1: Raiders at Colts. Davante Adams had a big game game
Speaker 1: a couple weeks ago, I had a not great game
Speaker 1: last week. Do we stick with him this week against Indy?
Speaker 2: I have him in a league, and I'm really nervous
Speaker 2: because the Colts are really bad against the run, but
Speaker 2: they've been good against the pass. So my fear is
Speaker 2: like this is going to become a game like last
Speaker 2: week where they're like.
Speaker 1: Eight in O'Connell.
Speaker 2: You're not throwing the ball at all. We're just going
Speaker 2: to keep especially if Josh Jacobs's back, so I'm probably
Speaker 2: gonna have to start him, But it really does depend
Speaker 2: on options.
Speaker 1: Yeah, look I again, sort of like with Stefan Diggs, right.
Speaker 1: I can't completely get away from Devonte Adams just because
Speaker 1: he's always there's always a chance he goes off for
Speaker 1: one of those big games. The ceiling this year has
Speaker 1: been lower than it has been in past years, but
Speaker 1: there's still a chance that he can put up wide
Speaker 1: receiver one numbers any given week, especially if Aidan O'Connell
Speaker 1: decides to complete a pass after the first quarter of
Speaker 1: this week, something that didn't happen last week. So I
Speaker 1: would still roll with him, but just understand that there's
Speaker 1: a lot more risk with Davonte Adams. You know that already.
Speaker 1: It's Week seventeen. Rams at the Giants. We sort of
Speaker 1: touched on this a litle litle bit when we talked
Speaker 1: about Tyrod Taylor taking over as the starter. Can we
Speaker 1: trust Darren Waller against the Rams this week?
Speaker 2: I think so because in the two Tyrod Taylor started
Speaker 2: two games this year, and it was Darren Waller's best
Speaker 2: fantasy game and his fourth best fantasy game of the
Speaker 2: year twenty three points and over nine fantasy points. And
Speaker 2: the Rams are top five and yards touchdowns fantasy points
Speaker 2: allowed to tight ends, and they're gonna put up plenty
Speaker 2: of points against this Giants offense, so I think we'll
Speaker 2: see them throwing a lot in catch up mode. Look,
Speaker 2: I'm not telling you to start him over like Sam
Speaker 2: Laporter or Trey McBride or anything like that, but if
Speaker 2: you're going any deeper like I'd play him over Dalton
Speaker 2: kin Kid or Dallas Goddard or one of those other
Speaker 2: struggling tight ends.
Speaker 1: Yeah. No, I would definitely play Darren Waller for some
Speaker 1: of those other guys because I think the ceiling is
Speaker 1: higher for him, the floor is probably a little bit higher,
Speaker 1: and you've got a quarterback you can kind of trust
Speaker 1: at least a little bit in Tyrod Taylor. So I
Speaker 1: would give Waller a shot there. Cardinals at the Eagles
Speaker 1: a fun bird matchup there. Kyler Murray's starting to play
Speaker 1: a little bit better. Do you trust any of his
Speaker 1: receivers enough to play them?
Speaker 2: Though it doesn't look like Marki's Brown is gonna suit up.
Speaker 2: If he does, he's very boom or bus. Greg Dortsch
Speaker 2: is the one that I'm kind of putting as my
Speaker 2: top streamer there. He's been just getting safe volume as
Speaker 2: of late, and every once in a while he breaks
Speaker 2: out a random big play and I'm always like that
Speaker 2: helps no one, And then I remember that Lawan Jones
Speaker 2: is the biggest Greg dor I'm like, okay, that helps
Speaker 2: help keep it. Besides that no one else.
Speaker 1: Uh yeah. Part of me has been trying to squint
Speaker 1: really hard and make a make a play for Rondelle Moore.
Speaker 1: But I think again, this is another DFS kind of
Speaker 1: play and not a Championship week play, just because it
Speaker 1: doesn't necessarily need He didn't need a ton of targets
Speaker 1: necessarily to make a big player put up a big number.
Speaker 1: But it's a lot of low percentage throws that he's
Speaker 1: generally getting from Kyler. But on the flip side, when
Speaker 1: it comes to giving up explosive pass plays, the Eagles
Speaker 1: give up a lot of them, so there's a possibility
Speaker 1: for that, but it's just too risky for your championship
Speaker 1: lineup there. Steelers at the Seahawk, Mason Rudolph getting the
Speaker 1: start for Pittsburgh this week at quarterback. Can we trust
Speaker 1: any of the Steelers with this championship on the line.
Speaker 2: I know a lot of people are gonna ask about
Speaker 2: George Pickens. You said yes at four plays. I think
Speaker 2: it's like of his production on four plays, Yeah, like
Speaker 2: you need one of those big plays to have any
Speaker 2: nice day out of George Pickens. So he's more of
Speaker 2: the play like if you're an underdog or you're going
Speaker 2: very deep and you are a little bit deeper and
Speaker 2: you want an upside shot. I do think the running
Speaker 2: backs are in play this week. Since Week nine, Seahawks
Speaker 2: have allowed the most rushing yards of running backs, second
Speaker 2: most touchdowns weekly. We're seeing running backs go off against them.
Speaker 2: So if you've had nausea or Warren on your bench,
Speaker 2: you need a flex or something like that. I do
Speaker 2: think they're in play.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Pickens is just so. I mean, I know you've
Speaker 1: talked about it with some other guys. Right, if you
Speaker 1: are an underdog in your matchup and you need to
Speaker 1: swing for the fences, George Pickens is probably your guy.
Speaker 1: Deontay Johnson is sort of the tiny house guy, right
Speaker 1: the floor and the ceiling are very close to each other.
Speaker 1: The problem is you're still looking at you know points,
Speaker 1: maybe I best at it. You probably need a touchdown
Speaker 1: to get that, and you probably need to touchdown to
Speaker 1: get that. So I again, if you've rolled with him
Speaker 1: and that's what you gotta do, then that's what you
Speaker 1: gotta do. But I think if you can kind of
Speaker 1: get away from him, I would probably do that. I
Speaker 1: don't know. Maybe there's a Niji Harrison there somewhere, just
Speaker 1: because the Seahawks run defense is bad. But even that
Speaker 1: is concerning for me, Dan to take a quick break.
Speaker 1: But we'll be right back. Chargers at the Broncos. We
Speaker 1: know that the Broncos making a change at quarterback. We
Speaker 1: talked about their offense already. On the other side, do
Speaker 1: we trust Austin Eckler for the Chargers this week?
Speaker 2: I think so. First game with a new head coach.
Speaker 2: Last week, sixty six percent of the snaps, fifteen carries,
Speaker 2: four targets went to Austin Eckler. At the game, Nicolett
Speaker 2: joked and was like, the Bills should probably try to
Speaker 2: cover Alstin Eckler because he's.
Speaker 1: Getting the ball every play.
Speaker 2: And then the Broncos second most fantasy points per game,
Speaker 2: most rushing yards, They struggled against pass catching backs. They've
Speaker 2: allowed eighteen touchdowns the running back position this year. I
Speaker 2: think Austin Eckler, Look, it's not the year we wanted,
Speaker 2: but he could still win you a title.
Speaker 1: That's the thing is that Okay, we've had to readjust
Speaker 1: our expectations for Austin Eckler, but the usage is still
Speaker 1: pretty good, the opportunities are still pretty good. He's getting
Speaker 1: the ball a lot, So even if the production isn't
Speaker 1: exactly what we want, the volume is still certainly there.
Speaker 1: So I would definitely roll with Austin Eckler. Hey, look,
Speaker 1: I mean you saw it in person. Easton Stick look
Speaker 1: decent last week against Buffalo, So maybe he just needed
Speaker 1: a week of reps or a little more, a little
Speaker 1: bit more time to get comfortable. And we'll see what
Speaker 1: that means for this week against the Broncos Bengals at
Speaker 1: the Chiefs. I know you said earlier you think this
Speaker 1: is going to be a game that will help a
Speaker 1: lot of people win fantasy championships. A lot of that
Speaker 1: does not happen unless Patrick Mahomes looks something closer to
Speaker 1: what we're used to seeing. Will we get the real
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes this week? Yeah?
Speaker 2: I think so. Like I said, my hot take this
Speaker 2: week is my Bowl prediction. I should say, is Patrick
Speaker 2: Mahomes puts up twenty I'm gonna say I think I
Speaker 2: said thirty, but twenty five. He hasn't scored since like
Speaker 2: Week seven or something like that. The Bengals fifth most
Speaker 2: passing yards this season, most since Week twelve. Again, they
Speaker 2: allowed twenty fantasy points to Rudolph. They allowed a big
Speaker 2: week to Nick Mullins. Before that, it was Trevor Lawrence.
Speaker 2: Like teams are just lighting them up through the air
Speaker 2: as of late. I think this is a get right
Speaker 2: spot for Mahomes and the Chiefs.
Speaker 1: Yeah. For all the things about Nick Mullins, I mean
Speaker 1: he had a handful of interceptions turnovers last week, he
Speaker 1: also threw for over four hundred yards, So yeah, that's
Speaker 1: worth sort of keeping in mind when you talk about
Speaker 1: Nick Mullins, at least when he was going against the Bengals.
Speaker 1: So I do believe we're gonna see something closer to
Speaker 1: a It won't be I think one of those, you know,
Speaker 1: three hundred and fifty yard, four touchdown performances, because I
Speaker 1: just don't know that this Chief's offense is capable of
Speaker 1: that right now. But I do think we see you know,
Speaker 1: him get twenty plus points, which is it's been a while,
Speaker 1: it feels like since we've seen a twenty point game
Speaker 1: from Patrick Mahomes. So I think this is a week,
Speaker 1: he gets a little bit closer to that he's been.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't think he'sn't been a top fifteen
Speaker 1: quarterback over the last month or so, so I think
Speaker 1: you can count on him being a QB one's Cincinnati. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's been bleak for Mahomes for sure. Sunday Night football
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers at the Minnesota Vikings. Funny side note,
Speaker 1: I think he saw jay R Alexander suspended for one
Speaker 1: game because he basically crashed the coin toss against the Panthers.
Speaker 2: I keep hearing people say he nearly messed it up
Speaker 2: for them, but no one is.
Speaker 1: Saying how how right. I'm like, I don't understand how
Speaker 1: he messed it up, but he suspended for a game
Speaker 1: because he showed up at the coin toss when he
Speaker 1: wasn't supposed to be there. And the fact that I
Speaker 1: haven't messed up saying the word coin toss is pretty
Speaker 1: amazing Anyway. On the other side, we don't know who
Speaker 1: the Vikings quarterback is going to be. Kevin O'Connell's saying
Speaker 1: that all three guys deserve some consideration. That's Josh Dobbs,
Speaker 1: Nick Mullens, Jaren Hall, Jordan Addison has sort of banged up.
Speaker 1: T J. Hawkinson has gone for the year. Can we
Speaker 1: trust kJ Osborne in this situation?
Speaker 2: It would like if it's Nick Mullins, I think he
Speaker 2: is potentially in play because we've seen Mullens have some
Speaker 2: chemistry with these receivers. I mean it wouldn't be the
Speaker 2: first time though that we're like, all right, Like when
Speaker 2: Justin Jefferson went out, it was like, this is kJ
Speaker 2: Osborne's time to step up, and he was a huge
Speaker 2: flop for most of that stretch. But good matchup. With
Speaker 2: no Alexander out there, Hackinson and Addison are out. So
Speaker 2: if it's Nick Mullins, I think he is in play.
Speaker 2: In deeper leagues, if it is like Hall or Dobbs,
Speaker 2: I think you get away.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I would do it with Mullins. I might actually
Speaker 1: do it with Dobbs. I don't know if I would
Speaker 1: do it with Jaren Hall. I just don't know. But
Speaker 1: the fact that there may not be a Jordan Addison,
Speaker 1: of course Justin Jefferson's going to get his They're gonna
Speaker 1: have to throw the football, and the Packer defense has
Speaker 1: been pretty forgiving. Bryce Young had a three hundred yard
Speaker 1: passing game against the Packers, so that tells you a
Speaker 1: little bit about what that defense looks like. So I
Speaker 1: think you can trust kJ Osborne in this one. If
Speaker 1: you want to get really, really weird. Brandon Powell got
Speaker 1: a lot more snaps last week after Jordan Addison got hurt,
Speaker 1: so there's a chance for him to maybe score a touchdown.
Speaker 1: But I think you would definitely need him to score
Speaker 1: a touchdown to put up a decent number there. So,
Speaker 1: but that is the way the week ends. No Monday
Speaker 1: Night football this week. That game's going to be played
Speaker 1: on Saturday between the Lions and the Cowboys. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: it's time to see who will deliver. Presented by Uber
Speaker 1: Eats talking about the guys who are going to cape
Speaker 1: up and lead us to victory. Who is it for
Speaker 1: you in Championship Week?
Speaker 2: Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys, who are playing at home.
Speaker 2: I know he since the fantasy playoffs has started, hasn't
Speaker 2: been the same. The last three weeks have not been
Speaker 2: the usual Dak production, but in his last five home
Speaker 2: games twenty eight point nine Fantasy points per game. The
Speaker 2: Lions are in the top five and yards. Since Week twelve,
Speaker 2: they allowed over four hundred. Like you were saying to
Speaker 2: Nick Mullens, I think that they're gonna put up plenty
Speaker 2: of points against this Cowboys defense as well. So I
Speaker 2: said it at the start of the show. I think
Speaker 2: this is a score fest. And if you made it
Speaker 2: this far with Dak, if you survived his bad opening
Speaker 2: round in the playoffs, hopefully run by or something like that,
Speaker 2: he can win you a championship this week.
Speaker 1: I think Dak's very much in play. I also think
Speaker 1: Matthew Stafford is going to be your fantasy hero, which
Speaker 1: I guess I'm just answering my question about who I'm
Speaker 1: starting in my championship game this week. Great matchup against
Speaker 1: the Giants. Stafford has been lights out for the last
Speaker 1: four or five weeks. He's got a ton of weapons
Speaker 1: and got three really legit pass catchers. Right now, Kyron
Speaker 1: Williams opening things up because he's running the ball so effectively.
Speaker 1: So I think Matthew Stafford's going to have a very
Speaker 1: huge game and a big situation not only for your
Speaker 1: fantasy team, but for the Rams too as they get
Speaker 1: closer to locking up a playoff spot in the NFC.
Speaker 1: That was who will deliver presented by Uber Eats, where
Speaker 1: you can get almost almost anything, the official on demand
Speaker 1: delivery partner of the NFL. Order. Now, so there it
Speaker 1: is our quick look at Week seventeen, getting you ready
Speaker 1: for your championship opportunities. Best of luck to all of
Speaker 1: you out there. We certainly wish you well, unless you're
Speaker 1: playing me or him, then I'll bet out of here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: didn't get out of here, So there you go. That
Speaker 1: is it. We are done. We appreciate you hanging out
Speaker 1: with the NFL Fantasy Football Show. You know the drill.
Speaker 1: Tell two friends to tell two friends rate review and
Speaker 1: remember you and you're better, perfect for each other, but
Speaker 1: you're alarm clocks trying to break you up. Be safe,
Speaker 1: take care of yourselves, enjoy Championship week. Best of luck.
Speaker 1: We'll talk to you again real soon