The Fantasy Footballers Podcast Recap – Week 9

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Welcome to another week over at The Fantasy Footballers!  This week, I will be filling in for Julia Papworth, who is getting married on November 5th!  Don’t forget to tweet at her (@JuliaPapworth) to congratulate her!  Also – Julia does an awesome, thorough job with these articles.  I’m doing my best, but I’m a little rougher around the edges…apologies in advance – but don’t worry, Julia will be back for Week 11.

The week starts off with the guys dressed up for Halloween.  It’s worth watching on YouTube if you’re normally a podcast listener.  Andy, Mike, and Jason discuss which spooky studs and dastardly duds are for real!

 

Notable studs at the QB position include Tua (29.3 pts), Jalen Hurts – again (28.4), Justin Fields (26), and Dak Prescott (25.40).  QB duds include Malik Willis – who only attempted 10 passes, leading to six completions for 55 yards and an interception.  Yikes.  Trevor Lawrence had a down game at 6.8 pts vs. a solid Denver defense.  As for RBs, Alvin Kamara came in on top with a whopping 38.3 points and three touchdowns (his first TD of the season).  Tony Pollard exploded with 33 points on 15 touches in Zeke’s absence.  D’Onta Foreman had a great week with 26 rushes for 31.8 fantasy points.  As far as duds, Jonathan Taylor left the game early (ankle) and hurt your fantasy team – TBD if he plays in Week 9.  Josh Jacobs came down to earth with 6.4 fantasy points.  A.J. Brown led all wide receivers with 156 yards and three TDs, good for 36.6 pts.  DeAndre Hopkins is back in a big way and put up a huge week with 27.9 pts.  DJ Moore had his second big week in a row for 24.5 pts and will be on fire if he keeps it up in Week 9.  On the other hand, Gabriel Davis, DeVonta Smith, and Chris Olave struggled and all put up disappointing weeks.  Tyler Conklin paced all tight ends with 22.9 pts.  Isaiah Likely had a huge week (16.7 pts) and could be a stud Monday night if Andrews is absent.  Kyle Pitts (16.5 pts) finally had a good game – which might have been on your bench.

On Tuesday, Andy, Mike, and Jason talk about trades made before the deadline and waivers.  The guys talked about stashing rookies like Treylon Burks, Jahan Dotson, and Alec Pierce.  Jason’s favorite add is Joshua Palmer due to Mike William’s absence (expected to be 4+ weeks).  DeAndre Carter is a fine play as well – he’s another wide receiver on the Chargers.  Khalil Herbert is another interesting name and would be a top-5 or so back if Monty ever goes down in Chicago.  Herbert is in flex consideration even in a shared backfield.  Isiah Pacheco has the same amount of upside (actually probably more). He was touted as the lead back in Week 8 but did not receive a notable workload.  Still worth a stash.  If Gus Edwards is out, Drake is a fine play – which is sketchy because it’s the Monday night game.  Greg Dulcich has been a top-12 tight end in each of the three games he’s played.  He’s a great add – even if we typically don’t trust rookie tight ends.  Production is production after all.  Isaiah Likely is another good add – especially if Andrews is out on Monday.  Jason mentioned Robert Tonyan and Evan Engram as other tight ends to pick up if you’re in need.  The guys also mention the Bengals, Vikings, and Patriots as good defenses to stream this week.  Also, Kyren Williams (RB, Rams) is a player to keep an eye on.  He was brought up to the active roster and was productive in college.  This is purely a dart-throw type of stash – especially because the Rams’ offensive line has been bad and the backfield has been crowded – but keep an eye on him!

Notes from the recent NFL trades:

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  • Kadarius Toney (Giants -> Chiefs): He’s worth a stash because of his upside.  His arrow is pointing up a little more in dynasty than redraft, as Juju and Hardman are in contract years, so Toney could become a bigger piece of the offense in the future.
  • TJ Hockenson (Lions -> Vikings): Neutral for TJ, good for Amon-Ra St. Brown, good for Kirk Cousins.
  • Nyheim Hines (Colts -> Bills): Neutral for Hines, hurts Singletary, hurts James Cook.
  • Chase Edmonds (Dolphins -> Broncos): You can drop Edmonds at this point.  This only hurts Gordon and Boone.
  • Jeff Wilson (49ers -> Dolphins): He’s a slightly better compliment to Mostert than Edmonds.  Wilson knows the system and coach, so he may become a flex player eventually.  This hurts Mostert a bit.
  • Chase Claypool (Steelers -> Bears): Good for Justin Fields, TBD for Claypool, and good for Steelers pass catchers.
  • Calvin Ridley, suspended (Falcons -> Jaguars): This doesn’t impact 2022 but is probably a good thing for his dynasty value with a young Trevor Lawrence.

Caleb Leach recaps Andy, Mike, and Jason’s Starts of the Week in an article every week.  I’ll throw the list of starts of the week below, but check out Caleb’s article for more details on each player!

To close out the week, the guys give general advice and warn fantasy managers not to blindly trust what your app is telling you about the defenses that your players are going up against.  Andy, Mike, and Jason also discuss how every fantasy platform shows a color for the defense that each fantasy player is going up against – this represents how the defense has performed against that fantasy position so far this season.  However, this includes data from the whole season, so the guys advise looking at the full story and how defenses have been performing lately.  For example, the Jets were terrible to start the season and now their defense has been pretty solid.  Don’t always trust the color of the matchup!  Green isn’t always good and red isn’t always bad!

When it comes to waivers, one of the best tools out there is the streamfinder – which is available for all footclan members.  I use it myself all the time!  It helps you look at upcoming matchups and strength of schedule for players on your squad.  This gives you an edge compared to your league mates that are just looking at the color of the defense in their fantasy app.

Misc notes:

  • Michael Thomas was placed on IR.  You have to go back to 2019 to see prime MT.  Andy mentions his ceiling as a fantasy player is capped now.  Olave is the future.  MT might be a Jarvis Landry type of player to flex in the future in fantasy, but we should move on from thinking of MT as elite.
  • Austin Ekeler crept onto the injury report Thursday (abdomen).  He tends to be someone who plays through injuries, but something to keep an eye on.
  • Joshua Palmer (WR, Chargers) is practicing but the Chargers said they’re not guaranteeing he starts this week (WHAT??!?!!).  If active, remember that he’s Jason’s start of the week.  If inactive, just forget that he’s Jason’s start of the week.
  • Garrett Wilson should be a good play this week with Corey Davis ruled out.
  • D’Andre Swift isn’t 100% and said he isn’t sure if he’ll be fully healthy this year.  This is a situation to monitor and it’s 50/50 that he plays this week.  It’s looking like you should be thinking of Swift as a top-24 RB when he returns rather than top-12 based on the usage and announcements that we’ve seen this season.
  • Jonathan Taylor appears to be doubtful for Week 9.  Fire up Deon Jackson.
  • The guys are hesitant to play TJ Hockenson this week because of the trade (i.e. play Tonyan or Engram over Hockenson), but you may not have the luxury to sit him.
  • Andy gives confidence that Isaiah Likely is a fine tight-end play even if Mark Andrews plays (i.e. Andy likes Likely over Hockenson).
  • Demarcus Robinson (WR, Ravens) can be thought of as an emergency start due to the lack of healthy receiving options in Baltimore.

Fantasy Faceoff (DFS)

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