Week 9 Fantasy Football RANKINGS & Tiers: QB, RB, WR, & TE + Starts & Sits (11/5 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Hey, I'm Tony DeCoppo, anchor of the CBS Evening News. On my new daily podcast, Great Question with Tony DeCoppo, we go deeper on the one big question you haven't heard answered, or maybe haven't even heard asked. Follow and listen wherever you get your podcasts. It's week nine and it's already crazy before the first game has even kicked off. We have so many different quarterbacks that are going to play this week. You've got two teams on a bye. You've got a lot of injuries that we're dealing with, and you need to get your lineups right. Welcome to Fantasy Football Today. I'm Jamie Eisenberg. That's Dave Richard. That's Heath Cummings. And we have a lot to get to with a lot of moving parts and a lot of potential just crazy lineups that you're going to see for this week. So hopefully we'll get those rankings right for you. So let's start right where we always do with the running backs, and it's going to be a little bit tough here because of the couple stars that are missing. Tony Pollard, I never thought I would say he's a star, but he's going to be on a bye this week. And you have Jalen Warren also not playing with the Steelers and the Titans out for Week 9. And then we get to the rankings. And, guys, it's going to be a little bit crazy when we talk about some of these players here because we have some moving scenarios here of who's going to play for the Colts and is Christian McCaffrey going to play for the 49ers. So right now, Wednesday, coming off the bye week, yesterday was Wednesday, coming off the bye week, Christian McCaffrey did not practice, still dealing with that hamstring strain. Jonathan Taylor is expected to play. Unbelievable matchup against the Dallas Cowboys. How do we feel about both these running backs? Dave, I'll give you McCaffrey. I think McCaffrey, if he's out there, you're going to start him. But I think the fact that there's no Mike Evans, no Debo Samuel, opens the door for him to have north of 25 PPR points. We don't know for sure, but the fact that the general manager is saying that he doesn't think that Evans and Debo are going to play tells me that Christian McCaffrey, if he does play, could end up just being the top player in fantasy for Week 9. Now, if he doesn't play, what do we think about Kalon Black? A lot. I like him a lot. Would be a No. 2 fantasy running back. Would be the lead rusher for San Francisco. I don't think he'd get all the work. I think he'd split a little bit with Jordan James and maybe somebody else that we'd have to do a little bit of digging on to make sure. But he's been the guy behind CMC all year long. Coming out of the bye week, not a terrible matchup for them. I think whoever the lead back is for San Francisco should be in lineups. That's easy to say if it's McCaffrey. And Kalon Black, 75% rostered on CBS Sports. Check other platforms as well. Could be a little bit less in terms of a roster percentage. Would be a must-start running back if McCaffrey doesn't play. What do we think about Taylor? Because we got the latest report from the NFL Network that it seems as if he's going to be on the roster Sunday. Sunday against Dallas, which is a dream matchup. I think it's pretty much the same thing that Dave said about McCaffrey. The floor's not as high. But if Jonathan Taylor just plays Jonathan Taylor's snaps against this Dallas defense, he might be the highest scoring player in fantasy this week. And maybe, it seems like there's a little sentimentality going on there both from Taylor's side and the Colts' side. The thing that makes the most sense is he's not on the team anymore, but he kind of still wants to be. He loves this city. Maybe it's one big going-away party for Jonathan Taylor. Against a very, very good matchup. I think it's the same story with McCaffrey. If he's active for the Colts, you start him. Yep, 36 PPR points for Tyler Algier against this Dallas defense last week. Could be a great situation for Taylor if he plays his full allotment of snaps. All right, let's show you the rank list, 13 through 24. And again, this is where the questions come into play. And we have some questions regarding tonight's game, because Basial Tootin is questionable dealing with that foot/ankle injury. We'll talk about that in a second. Then you also see Derrick Henry on this list and Cam Scadaboo on this list. Henry in tonight's game. Just questions because of the quarterback scenario. No Lamar Jackson, no Tyler Huntley. This is going to be Joe Fagnano starting again. They aren't going to have Jacoby Brissett for tonight's game. They did trade for him, at least we're hoping they're going to trade for him once that deal is completed. And then Scadaboo missing practice also coming off the bye week. So, Heath, when you look at Basial Tootin, the Jaguar situation, Tootin in, must start, Tootin out. What do we think about Chris Rodriguez? So, yeah, Tootin in, must start. If Tootin's out, I wouldn't like him as much as I like Basial Tootin. But with all of these other things going on at the running back, I've just been looking for ways to move Derrick Henry down because I hate this matchup and I hate this offense tonight. And so I think if Chris Rodriguez is playing without Basial Tootin, I'm probably going to rank him ahead of Derrick Henry. So probably right around RB18. So just stay there. What's the Derrick Henry concerns? The efficiency hasn't been good for most of the season. He has three consecutive games with 60 yards from scrimmage or fewer. And Jacksonville has arguably the best run defense in the NFL. I mean, that's bad enough. And then the fact that if they do go pass heavy and throw the ball to the running back a lot, which Fagnano showed that he would do last week, it's not usually Derrick Henry. It's Justice Hill. Justice Hill might outscore Derrick Henry in this game. It's just that I can't rank it that way. Of course. Because hopefully the Ravens can keep it somewhat competitive. Yeah, you want to see, for Henry, you know, a pass interference at the one. He gets his usual touchdown. You want to see him break off a long run like he does against Jacksonville. Seemingly every time in his career he's from the Jacksonville area. So I'm sure this game matters to him. Dave, let's look at the Giants situation. And Cam Scadabue, missing practice. We'll hopefully get a practice report for you before the end of the show. But in regards to Scadabue and then Devin Singletary, because we know Tyron Tracy is on IR, how do you feel about the Giants' backfield? I want to start somebody from this backfield against Philadelphia. Their run defense has taken a turn for the worse. They've given up at least 14 PPR points to a single running back in each of their past three games. They've ranked bottom five in defensive rush EPA, bottom 10 in yards after contact per rush. They're not playing well. Their offense isn't putting them in positions for them to do well either. They're on the field a lot, and that just wears them down. And I think the Giants will try and lean into that, especially coming off of a bye. Their offensive line is in pretty good shape. Even if Scadabue plays, I kind of like Devin Singletary as a sleeper, but if Scadabue ends up not playing, Devin Singletary is a number two fantasy running back because he should have a lot of work against Philadelphia. Yep, Singletary's played four games so far this season in tandem with somebody else, and he's been double digits in PPR two times of the four. So great opportunity for him. If Scadabue is out. All right, let's talk about the rankings 25 through 36, and we have a backfield that is continuing to change. Last week we got Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price back for Seattle. Noah Manuel-Wilson only played on special teams, and now we get a better matchup for them this week, taking on the Arizona Cardinals. Heath, you have Charbonnet as a sit, so give me the breakdown of the Seahawks' backfield. Is it just you don't like Charbonnet or you don't like both of them? I don't like both of them. I don't think we have a great reason to guess which one of them is going to get much work. They're both going to be involved, I just think that this is just a little too messy. We need one of these guys to turn into even a 60/40 split over a couple of weeks, and then maybe we can view them as a low-end RB, too. But the other thing is that Seattle's run blocking hasn't been good all season long. And so I think Price is the guy that can kind of get past that a little bit, but Charbonnet is going to get his snaps as well. They're both flexes. I do prefer Charbonnet to Price, but not with any conviction. This is a repeat of what we've seen with Ken Walker and Zach Charbonnet, but just a much worse version of what we had with Ken Walker and Charbonnet. I do hope for Charbonnet's sake, shake the rust off last week, get a little bit more involved. His history against Arizona, as you could probably guess, is unbelievable. He's averaging 26 PPR points per game in his last three against the Cardinals, had one monster game against them, but at least 12 PPR points or more in each of his last three beatings. So hopefully he does take advantage of this defense and starts to perform at a high level. All right, let's take a look at the rankings, 37 through 48. No real talking points for us as we start to get into the starts and sits here, but I just want to show you some of the defense. I'm going to show you some of the tail-end guys here. Heath mentioned one in Justice Hill who could be a desperation play. Keep an eye on Austin Eckler also because there is no Jeremy McNichols, so he's going to be the number two guy there for sure with Rashad White and could be catching passes. He did catch a two-point conversion last week as well. And for what it's worth, Sean Payton did say that J.K. Dobbins will still get some more opportunities as well. You'll see Kalon Black and Devon Singletary skyrocket up the rankings if in fact they are starting because of injury replacements. All right, let's talk about some starts and sits. Ashton Gentee, Dave, you've got Blake Corham. For me, it's Jonah Coleman, the start of the week. Everybody's worried about Ashton Gentee. You're still pretty confident. Who wouldn't want to start the guy who got two carries last week? Like, that's awesome. No, I think that he will probably see a handful more rush attempts than he did last week. It's not like Mike Washington, like, played very well in that game. In a win. It was a win. Yeah, that's why he had 25 carries. The big thing, though, is you said it, in a win, they're 10-point underdogs. San Francisco is not a team that you can run well on, and that was before they got Buckner back. And San Francisco has been one of the worst teams in terms of pass catching allowed to running backs. The worst. So the game script favors throws. Gentee's been good in the passing game. San Francisco's been bad against running backs catching the ball. He's easily ahead of Mike Washington. And in full PPR, I'd rather start him than Derrick Henry Knight. There have been three running backs this season that have gotten at least 12.9 PPR points against the 49ers with just their receiving totals alone. Wow. So don't even worry about the rushing numbers. Just with their pass catching prowess, they've done that against San Francisco. Hopefully that continues for Gentee. Blake Coram's not even the starter here, but you like him as a starter. No, and it took one drive for him to get double digits in PPR points last week. One drive he did it on. He's been the more explosive running back in L.A. And I'm not saying that we should start him expecting him to take over this backfield. It's Kyron Williams' show. And if the Rams somehow are playing from behind or in a nip-and-tuck game against the Commanders, then that could be bad for Blake Coram. But if it's a blowout, I expect Blake Coram to get a ton of work. And this Commanders run defense, earlier in the year they were great. They've taken on some injuries. Some starters have left up front. Deron Payne's one of them. Javon Kinlaw's another. And I think that makes things easier for the Rams offense who have leaned into their run game over the last three weeks. I think you could see Blake Coram as a low-end number two fantasy running back. I'd rather start Gentee in full PPR, but I do think that there's some appeal for Coram. Four times this season we've seen both Rams running backs, Kyron Williams and Blake Coram, score at least 10.2 PPR points. Three of the last four games they've done that. So both guys getting the job done. Hopefully that continues. I will just say, without those injured players last week, Washington's run defense was still very good. It's been good all year, and they were good last week as well. It was against Philadelphia. It was against Philly. And combine Mitchell and Saquon. It's Saquon, but it's not the same. the same saquon combined for over 20 fantasy points yeah i think that would be the very low side of things if the rams had 20 combined ppr fans and you also have staffer dealing with arm soreness so they may lean on their run game a little bit more they have been for three weeks uh start of the week this week is jonah coleman hopefully we get another strong performance like we saw last week from a workload perspective 66 of the snaps last week carolina number two in most fantasy points allowed to opposing running backs four running backs in a row 15 ppr points or more it should be the jonah coleman show top 15 running back love the setup for him let's talk about some running backs that we're trying to sit this week he's already gave you zach charbonnet dave you got an interesting one here in breeze hall and you know why should we start the guy who only had 36 ppr points last week i'm going to sit tyler lg but let's talk about breeze hall breeze hall's figures to be back you're gonna have to double check that on sunday or at least by friday to see if he's on the injury report for the jets but he's been limited in practice for several weeks now i know the name is exciting and we've seen this jets run game look good the reason why it's looked good is because braylon allen has been like top five top ten in all sorts of rushing games and he's been in the running game for a long time and he's been efficiency metrics i don't see the jets who are desperate for a win getting away from braylon allen so at minimum i would expect a 60 40 split between allen and breeze hall i think allen's better at the goal line allen worked on third downs when breeze hall was healthy earlier this year i think he's the running back to start out of this backfield and kansas city's defense you can speak to this if you want to i don't think they've been as good as they were in previous years or even then earlier this year and i think the jets are going to be able to hang around this game that's good for braylon allen it makes me nervous to feel good about breeze hall yeah i think the run defense is still pretty good it last week was a bad week for the defense but they were missing several members of the secondary including the most important one delane if delane's back i think this defense is still pretty good i'm not sure if he's expected back this could actually end up being a low-key high scoring shootout you like tyler algier we had this conversation on our podcast today i'm just a little bit concerned i expect zonovan knight to play if he doesn't play that'll change some things but last week algier took advantage of one of the worst defenses in football now he's got to go against seattle who's just going to be so angry after what happened to him uh on monday night against chicago so i think it's going to be a tough game for the cardinals offense in general i do like the fact you brought this up gardner makes you going to dump the ball off to him a little bit more so for the work in the past games there did have five catches but i think he's just a flex at best i would try to sit him if you can some sleepers for us to target this week we've kind of touched on these guys a little bit you like jk dobbins in tandem with jonah coleman yeah and i still love jonah coleman like i agree with him as the start of the week but i think we're probably still going to see 10 or 12 carries for jk dobbins and i think he's still pretty good in a hey there's a giant hole there just run through it that's what happens against the carolina defense there are giant holes there just run through it i wouldn't be surprised to see dobbins and jonah coleman both get into the end zone in this game and you like devin singletary we touched on this before with the opportunity maybe minimum of flex of scataboo plays play in tandem obviously if scataboo is out devin excuse me dylan sampson has been 10 ppr points more each of the last two weeks and it's a fun situation with the saints who are number one in most fantasy points allowed to opposing running backs there could be an opportunity here for both quinshawn judkins and samson to do well what we've seen from tandem backfields here so this is something that's important um we've seen three backfield duos in the season have uh where is it just want to get right 11.4 ppr points or more so you've seen this opportunity for both these guys to potentially do well samson's going to catch passes judkins going to do everything else it could be great for this browns attack here i think what we're going to see is just a bad run defense again for for the saints i don't think things change for them coming off the bike all right we're going to take a break when we come back and get into some live receiver rankings for you i'm going to tell you about a lot of injuries that we're dealing with and hopefully some of the questionable quarterback play will help these wide receivers that's next on fft one of america's top true crime podcasts 48 hours is back with a new season join us every monday for a new episode and tuesdays for a deep dive into that episode with post-mortem he said quote if they're gonna die i'm gonna see them die plus hear episodes from the 48 hours archive wednesdays and thursdays follow and listen to 48 hours wherever you go get your podcasts and subscribe to 48 hours plus on apple podcast or add free listening welcome back to fantasy football today we're talking wide receiver rankings here we're going to give you some hopefully injury updates tell you about some players that are going to be off on a buy and tell you the players that we like and some players that we want to avoid so let's show you the teams that are missing this week or the players that are missing this week with the two teams on a buy no pittsburgh no tennessee so no dk mccaff no jeremy bernard no car no tape no wanda robinson you still want to roster most of the players that are missing this week so these guys with the hope that they continue to play well coming off of their buy mccaff and bernard bad game in week eight tate was injured wanda robinson however was fantastic we'll see what these receiving cores look like though because the steelers could get a little bit healthier if michael pitman does play in week 10 all right i'll show you the rankings 1 through 12 we got some talking points here as usual justin jefferson comes in at number 12 now we are waiting to find out who's going to be the starting quarterback for minnesota but it seems as if it's trending toward carson wentz for me that's an upgrade i don't know how you guys feel what are we thinking about justin jefferson with kyler murray without kyler murray taking on a buffalo defense that has been for the most part very forgiving to opposing wide receivers i remember how carson wentz played last year with justin jefferson the numbers were pretty good it wasn't typical justin jefferson elite tier numbers it was a step below that yeah and i'll take that right now from justin jefferson given the struggles that he's had so this is how he's ranked if kyler murray plays he's moving up if carson wentz plays i i kind of have a hard time with moving him too far because that is like 12 is kind of the top of the wide receiver two tier and so do i move him ahead of the packers guys i probably won't i move him ahead of drake london probably not not the bingles definitely not chris olave so i think 12 is probably where he stays but i will feel a little better about both the floor and the ceiling if wentz is playing and look there hockinson's playing very well he's going to be involved jordan addison's going to get his chances and i'm sure kevin o'connell's going to try and run the ball to keep josh allen off the field so you don't usually get a lot of shootouts with the vikings because their defense is so good so don't really expect that even with the buffalo offense coming in to minnesota let's show you the rank list 13 through 24 and some questions as usual come up when you get to this list and two guys playing in tonight's game very much under discussion so we got parker washington coming off a very disappointing game and a disappointing stretch he's been bad in three of his last four games and zay flowers was awful last week so i'll save zay for you heath dave talk about parker washington is this going to be a bounce back game against baltimore i think of the chances bounce back but it really does come down to how well the jacksville jaguars can run the football so if basial tootin ends up not playing in the game it's going to be a bounce back game this game is ruled inactive and it's going to be chris rodriguez then the door's open for him to go out there and get an uptick in targets and that doesn't guarantee anything we're three weeks removed from parker washington having an 11 target game and still not being great for fantasy but this ravens defense is probably going to be put in some tough spots because i don't think their offense is going to be able to hold up their end of the bargain i think if tootin's in i don't really love parker washington more of a number two wide receiver if tootin's out then i'm going to uptick him in my rankings and think that he's more of like a top 15 fantasy wide receiver in full people pr heath the three of us had as many catches as a flowers last week he had more targets five how many did you have we had zero five zero give us the ball coach what happens yeah i know um i i so i think that there is it will be better than it was last week and you see we've all got them ranked right around wide receiver 24 i mean the good news here is that they've at least had a couple of days to prepare finano and be like hey what do you like that involves number four how can we get the ball to him that you feel comfortable with so i think they'll have a couple things schemed up for him the other good thing is jacksonville has given up a ton two wide receivers this season i believe they are bottom six or top six depending on how you want to say it and fantasy points allowed two wide receivers and then the last thing that's good is the game script and the reason we don't like derrick henry very much jacksonville is awesome against the run that should lead to more pass attempts and jacksonville is a 10 point favorite that should lead to more pass attempts joe fagnano was a quick game passer for seven years in college at maine and then at yukon he's nose to get that ball out quick and it's going to go to zay flowers and declan doyle deserves a lot of credit for how he schemed up this ravens offense this year i would expect there to be a lot of targets for zay flowers in this game i hope so i hope so it just was ugly last week and you know you're you're on your third street quarterback for a reason jacoby persett's hopefully going to be on the team starting next week and we get that volume that we love from joe coby persett and and maybe we'll you know turn flowers into the top 10 receiver that he's capable of being i'm just a concern you know jacksonville is going to be jacksonville's travis hunter's playing great he's probably going to see a little bit of time on zay flowers also and that could be a problem and the other thing is like we we took mike evans out of our rankings we're not sure about some of these other guys like it's a it's another pretty mediocre week at the wide receiver position it's hard to rank a guy that can take a throw from the line of scrimmage and go 70 yards at any time too much lower than this all right let's show you the rank list 25 through 36 and give you some talking points here of some wide receivers that certainly qualify as borderline starters but clearly going to be more of the number three variety here so let's show you adenai mitchell and omar cooper and there's some moving parts here with the jets receivers because garrett wilson's in the concussion protocol still hoping to play we're going to keep an eye on it throughout the week but if he's out dave how are we going to view the jets why well i guess just give me both scenarios give me wilson in and what we see from mitchell and cooper because cooper two games or excuse me prior to last week the two games were awesome 23 ppr points in back-to-back games then adenai mitchell comes out with this huge monster performance last week against the raiders so how are we viewing all three of these guys wilson in and then wilson out so we're going to show you some moving parts here with the jets receivers so we've already talked about mansour delane and how big of a piece he is for this kansas city defense i'm not expecting him to play and legeria sneed their slot cornerback is on injured reserve so that's their two best cornerbacks their two best cover guys off the field and i think that opens things up especially when you consider the pass rusher kansas city hasn't been what it's used to being i think that opens things up for the entire passing game garrett wilson would be my favorite of the three if he plays he'd be that short and intermediate target just like he was last week and then adenai mitchell who has a target per route rate of 25 75.7%. That is huge when Gino Smith's there. Look, I think that he's somebody that you could use as a flex. I don't think Adonai Mitchell's role will change if Garrett Wilson is out, maybe sees one or two more targets. I think Omar Cooper takes a big step forward as that short and intermediate target for Geno Smith in the event that Garrett Wilson doesn't pass through the concussion protocol. So if you have Omar Cooper, you're probably bummed about zero fantasy points last week. Do not give up on him. I think he could end up being a decent flex. All right, just keep an eye on Wilson's status, and we'll update that for you on CBSSports.com and obviously on our podcast leading up to Sunday. Let's show you the rank list, 37 through 48, and some quarterback changes that we're still dealing with. One in particular is in Cleveland, where Deshaun Watson is in the concussion protocol, so it's looking like it's going to be Shador Sanders. So Heath, looking at how Sanders played last year, not with Concepcion or Denzel Boston, what are those two guys going to do with a different quarterback? That's the real unknown. The thing that I feel better about or more certain about is Harold Fannin, because we know that Shador Sanders has that great connection. And even when they were throwing to their tight ends a lot last year, that percentage went up when Sanders was playing quarterback. But like you said, he didn't have Concepcion, he didn't have Denzel Boston. I don't view this as a significant drop-off for anyone in this offense. Sanders was about 10% worse than Watson has been this year on a per-attempt basis, but that was with Jerry Judy and Isaiah Bond as his top two wide receivers. So I think he'll be better than he was last year, close to as good as Watson was. I would prefer Concepcion to Boston, but they're both low-end borderline wide receiver threes. Get back to that six-target range last week. We saw that for Concepcion under that number, but the previous stretch of games when he's been healthy, it's been six targets or more. So that's a big boost to his production when he's getting that involvement. Clearly, that helps a lot of wide receivers. Let's talk about some starts and sits here. So Dave, you got an interesting one here in DJ Moore, because the Vikings are awesome, but Moore has been great with Josh Allen. I'm surprised that he's being only started in 49% of CBS Sports Leagues, and that's as of Thursday afternoon. His projections are very low. I get it. He's taking on Minnesota, but he's got Josh Allen to go. With that, he's his quarterback, and in three games when he's played at least a 40% route run, i.e. he's played the whole game, he's had at least 12.7 PPR points, and he's been over 20 PPR fancy points. That game came against Houston. We thought Houston at the time was a great pass defense. Minnesota's going to have their hands full with Josh Allen. That's easy to say. It's Josh Allen, obvious stud quarterback. He looks for DJ Moore a ton. I have no problem starting DJ Moore as a number two receiver. All right, here we go. We got a fun debate. We got a Jalen Coker start and sit. You like Jalen Coker. You don't. Let's talk about him. What I look for when you're facing the Broncos or you're facing the Patriots is what wide receiver lines up in the slot the most. It's a pretty big gap in Carolina in terms of Jalen Coker and Tedaro McMillan. 47% of his snaps, Coker has lined up in the slot. I expect Tedaro McMillan to get the Pat Sertan treatment, and if that happens, I think we get more Jalen Coker targets than we did last week. Coker's been awesome when he's just gotten five, even six targets in a game. He's very good. Denver's still really good against wide receivers, but they aren't the you-can't-start-anybody defense that they have been in the past. I see your defense, and I raise you a bad Carolina offensive line and a Denver pass rush that's going to make things really, really hard on Bryce Young. We saw it last week with Bryce Young going up against Green Bay's pass rush, and that wasn't necessarily a dominant unit, but they looked like it because this Panthers offensive line was so bad. That's the first thing I look for when I study wide receivers, and the target per route run rate. You just heard me talk about it for Adonai Mitchell. It was 25.7. When Bryce Young is pressured, Jalen Coker's target per route run rate is a gross 12%. That's bad. He's not going to get a ton of targets, and he hasn't been great the last couple weeks. I'm worried about Tedaro McMillan in this game for the same reason Heath is, but really, I'm worried about everybody in the Carolina offense other than Chuba Hubbard. I would use Coker with flex expectations, not a top 24 receiver. Yeah, I kind of feel the same way, but your theory does make sense that hopefully Bryce Young goes, back to featuring Jalen Coker a little bit more because he was having a great start to the season, but the offensive line's been absolutely atrocious, and so Denver, I'm sure, is going to make things uncomfortable for Bryce Young. For me, I'm going to stay in that same game. I like Jalen Waddell this week. Six targets or more in each of the last three weeks, and the thing that I like the most is the Carolina Panthers in their last four games, seven wide receivers, 12.7 PPR points or more. Hopefully, that's a number that Jalen Waddell can get to. We got to it last week. You're hearing from Sean Payton. You're hearing from Bo Nix that the rapport is getting better. I just hope that it continues, and we see that on the field. So, not a slam dunk, a low-end number two receiver, but I do think this could be one of his better games. Some sit-wide receivers, Dave already gave you Jalen Coker. Heath, you got a good one in Ladd-McConkie because he was great last week, unless you watched the game. Unless you watched the game. He had, you know, maybe you could even say he was unlucky because he could have scored on that Hail Mary that was responsible for more than half of his yards. No, this offense just remains a complete disaster. I really expected that once Ladd-McConkie got healthy, I called him a buy low a month ago, that once he got healthy, he would be awesome. We've not seen that at all. I do not think this is going to be a good offensive game for Justin Herbert or for the Chargers offense, said all Chargers. Yeah, it's worked out if you've done that the majority of the season. The Texans, when you look at it, when you're going to see on the player pages, opponent rank, they are third, 30th, but they're third in terms of most fantasy points allowed. It doesn't matter. This is just not a good offense right now for the Chargers. Michael Wilson was amazing last week against the Cowboys, 11, eight catches, 111 yards and a touchdown, 15 targets. He may get 15 targets again. But this is a much different opponent taking on Seattle. Number one in most, a fewest fantasy points allowed to opposing wide receivers. And he already played them in week one, had seven targets in that game. He had two catches for 18 yards. It's going to be a tough game for Michael Wilson. So starter in three receiver league, just because of the volume, but somebody you might want to avoid in two receiver leagues as well. Let's talk about some sleepers. Dave already gave you one in Omar Cooper. Heath. We're back. Consistent. We're back. Malik Washington. Listen, everybody, everybody loves Malik Willis this week. Everybody loves Caleb Douglas this week. I still think Malik Washington is probably going to lead this team in targets. I still think he's probably going to lead the team in receptions. He's probably going to score about 11 PPR fantasy points unless he scores a touchdown, which he finally did last week. Then he can get you 15 like he did last week. Great number three receiver. And it's against Detroit and Detroit's defense is a little beat up right now. They had been playing great for a while. So I think that there's some good opportunities for him. Still out there in about half of CBS sports. Nobody ever wants to roster him. That's why I can always call him a sleeper. I think it's, you know, he's one of these guys like Khalil Shakir, you know, uh, Efton Chisholm this week, you know, for example, like you just kind of get the floor. The ceiling is just never there for these guys. Unless like you, like you showed he, he, or said he's, he scored last week, you know, so hopefully that's the case. I think Caleb Douglas could go off, but, um, I think we've watched in five or 50 just kind of penciled in. He's right there. Um, a Kyle lemon, eight targets or more eats at the last two weeks. I know Sharon, our producer is going to like that because, uh, go birds. I think we'll see another opportunity for him to be in that range because we're not expecting Devante Smith or Duntavy and Wicks, uh, and the quarterback change. Look, Joe Milton is going to give them, I think, a better chance to move the ball down the field and hopefully help McKay lemon get a little bit better production, but 11 PPR points or more each of the last two weeks. I think he can do that once again, taking on this Giants defense. All right, we're gonna take a break. We're gonna come back. We have a lot of quarterback changes to discuss. You got a new quarterback in Arizona, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Seattle, potentially Cleveland, potentially Minnesota. We'll talk about that next on FFT. Welcome back to fantasy football today. I feel bad for some of you managers that are in super flex and two quarterback leagues because some of the guys that you might have to start, they're not going to be in the quarterback league. So I'm going to talk this week. I bet you never thought you'd be using them when it came to week nine. So let's show you the quarterbacks that are on a buy first. You're down Aaron Rodgers, you're down Cam Ward. So, you know, a couple of borderline starters. Cam Ward had his best game of the season last time we saw him against Cincinnati in week eight. Hopefully he continues to play that way coming off the buy in week 10. And Rodgers has kind of been a borderline starter in one quarterback league, certainly a starter in super flex and two quarterback leagues. Now let's show you the new starters for week nine. Here are the quarterbacks that you're going to be seeing under center. Four of them are guaranteed. You got a new quarterback, you got a new quarterback, you got a new quarterback in Arizona, Gardner Minshew. Joe Fagnano is going to start tonight for Baltimore. Joe Milton is going to start for the Eagles and Drew Locke is going to start for Seattle. We might going to have, we might have Shadur Sanders starting for Deshaun Watson's dealing with concussion. And you might have Carson Wentz starting Monday night for the Vikings because Kyler Murray is dealing with a hamstring injury. So I'm going to ask you guys this. If you have the, the open slate, much fab as you need, you need a starter for a super flex or two quarterback league, which is the guy you're going to get first? Drew Locke. That's easy. Going up against Arizona. Easy. The easiest matchup has the best receiver in the NFL. As long as it's a one week hole that I need to fill, then Drew Locke would be the guy I would like to have. If I am in like a, I just need a quarterback for the next month. I'd rather add Gardner Minshew. I'm surprised that you say that. Yeah, of course. And I think it's amazing that we showed that graphic and like, we don't even mention anymore that the Giants are on their third quarterback of the season. That wasn't even a guy that was on their team at the beginning of the year. At least we knew that going into the week that McCarthy was going to start. I am curious to see how Milton does because you know, when he gets, Smith back and Wicks back, that could be, you know, still. Those guys would benefit from his style of passing. A hundred percent. And then look, Carson Wentz, he had one great game when he started for, or came in for Kyler Murray because it was week one when Murray got hurt. He was terrible in week two against Chicago, but that was in bad weather. So I think between Drew Locke and Carson Wentz, you could have some longstanding potential here for some guys. So just keep that in mind if he's still making waiver moves in super flex and two quarterback leagues. All right, let's start with the rankings here. Show you the rank list one through 12. And Dave, you have this guy as a start in CJ. Stroud. He's a little bit more tepid on Stroud. I know at least this morning was a borderline starter for you. I'm very nervous about CJ Stroud because of what these charge, what the chargers have done to opposing quarterbacks has been amazing. And I know their offense has been absolutely abysmal. I just don't know if CJ Stroud is safe. What they've done is taken the ball out of the quarterback's hands. Quarterbacks are averaging 28 attempts per game against the chargers this year. And a lot of the time it's because teams have been able to run on the chargers. I don't think the Texans can run on anybody. They really do not have a good run game whatsoever. We're talking about CJ Stroud, who's averaging north of 35 attempts per game, I think that that's where Houston's going to live now. Coming off the bye, look for him to get some good numbers. And he's already given us good numbers. Four straight weeks with at least 20 fantasy points. I don't know if he's a great ceiling play, but it's top 12 quarterbacks. Go. He's in there for me. I think he'll come through. I think the key is going to be two touchdown passes, because the other part of the reason why teams don't throw as much is they generally start about half of their drives in Chargers territory after Justin Herbert interceptions. And so you don't have that much yardage. So I don't think you're getting a good yardage day from C.J. Stroud. It's all about, can he get the second touchdown? And the other part of this has been is that they've been chasing points a lot, is why Stroud has been good. I don't think they're doing that this week because of how bad the Chargers are. This is the quarterbacks. Three quarterbacks that have done awful. They've been awful. Oh, I know this. Josh Allen, 17 and a half points. Patrick Mahomes, 10 and a half points. Matthew Stafford, 10.3 points. How did their running backs do in those games? But it's just the whole thing. I'm with you. The Texans haven't been able to run the ball. Yeah. That being said, some of these teams have gotten their run games going against the Texans, against the Chargers, because their run defense has been so bad. So I just think C.J. Stroud, I'm with you with the confidence. I hope he's going to play well. I just think that, like, I'd start Malik Wills over him. I'd start Tyler Schuck over him. I think those guys just have more volume and better matchups to trust this week than C.J. Stroud. All right. Let's talk about the rank list, 13 through 24. And a guy who's been playing amazing this week, he's a sit for you, Heath, is Caleb Williams. And I know most people look at it and say, he's been awesome. But his fantasy production is not. Yeah. He came back from the hamstring injury and just stopped running. There's no rushing production happening from a fantasy football perspective. The problem is, when the Bears get inside the 20, all they do is run. They lead the NFL with a 63% rush rate inside the 20. And so the passing touchdowns haven't been there for Caleb either. And then the thing that a lot of people probably, if they haven't been paying attention, because who wants to watch Tampa Bay play football the way they're playing offensively, their defense has been awesome. They are. They are top five against the run and the pass so far this season. This is a tough matchup. And I agree. Caleb's playing exactly like I want him to play. He's making Colston Loveland good again. He's making Luther Burden good again. It's not the best thing for his fantasy. And the other part of it, similar to the Chargers, Joe Burrow against the Bucs, 16.2 fantasy points. Jordan Love, 17.1. Dak Prescott, 14.6. They just do a great job against quarterbacks. And they'll probably do a good job against Caleb Williams as well. Let's talk about some other starts and sits, Heath. You've got Tyler Shuck as a starter this week. He has not been great lately in the last month, but great matchup against Cleveland. Yeah, and the main thing for me is I think Cleveland's pass defense has been a lot better than their run defense, but it's the exact opposite on the New Orleans side. They cannot run the football at all. They're awful at it. And so Tyler Shuck gets to throw 39 passes per game. If he's going to be throwing 35-plus passes with Chris Olave and Devon Bailey on the field, I don't think we get Jordan Tyson this week, then I think he can eke his way into the top 12. Yep, and maybe he starts to run a little bit more dealing with things. You know, a little more comfortable with the hand injury, left hand injury. Right, got a week off on that. Yep, and we saw it against the Giants, you know, which was his best game in the last month when he had over 30 fantasy points in that game. Patrick Mahomes has been very up and down for all of us. A lot of down performances for fantasy managers. When Rashi Rice is on the field, 26 fantasy points or more. Even the 10 seconds he played against the Raiders when he first hurt his hamstring. And then the last three quarterbacks against the Jets, 26 fantasy points or more. Patrick Mahomes has top five upside in this game. Some sits that we're looking at here, Heath already gave you Caleb Williams. Dave, Matthew Stafford has been a very good fantasy quarterback, but you'd like to avoid him this week. I would, but it's not because of what you think. The last three games he's had some good outings for fantasy, like 23 fantasy points. That's good enough to be a decent fantasy QB. I worry about whether or not that's his ceiling, and I think it is at this point, which means his floor is well below 20 fantasy points. And really it all changed for him starting in week six against Arizona. Devontae Adams got hurt, and the Cardinals started blitzing him like crazy. And so as a result, teams have compromised. Copied that on defense against the Rams. Devontae Adams hasn't been there for Matthew Stafford, and he's had to get the ball out quick. It's short, it's underneath, and he's not attempting nearly as many passes as he was earlier this year. You mentioned the arm soreness earlier in the show. That's something that I think is also affecting Matthew Stafford. Plus, they've been able to run the ball, and I think they're going to be able to run the ball against Washington. So he's a borderline start for me, just not a top 12 guy. I would start him ahead of Caleb Williams. Yep, and it seems like he's going to play. Just something you want to keep an eye on there with the arm situation, just keeping an eye on the practice support. It's there for the Rams. Bryce Young, easy guy to sit at this point. He's just been struggling so far. Last two games, after a great start, he's been 12-point PPR fantasy points or less each of the last two games against Tampa Bay, Green Bay. Very good defenses. Broncos, obviously, very good defense. I'd love to see Bryce Young get back to doing what he did earlier this year. Just very difficult to trust. So only a starter in Superflex and two quarterback leagues. All right, we're going to take a break. We come back and get into tight ends, and we have your questions coming up. Keep sending them to us on social media using the hashtag AskFFT. That'll be at the end of the show. But we have tight ends next here on Fantasy Football. We're talking tight end rankings here on the show. I'm going to give you a couple of guys that are missing this week because of a bye. No Pittsburgh, no Tennessee means no Pat Friermuth, no Darnell Washington, and no Gunnar Helm. The latter two coming off big games last week. So Washington's actually scored a touchdown each of his last two games, gets Cincinnati. Very good matchup. And then you've got Gunnar Helm very much involved against Cincinnati. We know that that Bengals defense bad against tight ends, but Gunnar Helm in deeper leagues might be somebody you want to consider. Maybe somebody we'll talk about on the Waiver Wire show come next Tuesday. Let's show you the rank list 1 through 12. And, hey, guess what? We're talking Colston Loveland and Kyle Pitts. We haven't talked about those guys in a while. We talk about them every week. Colston Loveland, though, has been very good. Heath, you said it. The last three weeks for Caleb Williams, he's not running, but he is throwing to Colston Loveland once again. And then Kyle Pitts was absolutely atrocious last week against Tampa Bay in the rain. Will he be better against Cincinnati? So, Heath, I'll give you Colston Loveland. Yeah, I think you are starting him. And so that's the good news. Whether he is going to have the upside to be the top three option we were hoping he was going to be at the beginning of the season, especially in this matchup that I think will be kind of low-scoring and slow-played against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I'm not sure. But still a top-12 tight end and someone you should start. Kyle Pitts, is this a good Pitts week or a bad Pitts week? The one thing about the Bengals is they've been bad against tight ends. They've yet to give up a touchdown to the position. I know, but I just saw Gunnar Helm get almost 15 PPR points against them. And the way that they use Kyle Pitts in Atlanta, short area target, red zone target, that's good enough for me. And I think this is going to be a high-scoring game. I'm throwing out last week for Atlanta. I think that just playing in the rain against Tampa, they're going to be fine. It's a dome stadium, I believe. So I think they're going to be totally okay. But I think it's going to be a high-scoring game. I think Kyle Pitts is going to get some good usage there. And I think Michael Penix is a lot better than what Tampa Bay made him look like. On top of that, Tampa Bay's pass rush was all over Michael Penix, even without blitzing that much in the game. Cincinnati's is more middle of the pack, I think, and Penix will be able to manage it better. Hopefully he does, and hopefully Pitts gets going once again. I'll show you the rank list, 13 through 24, and Travis Kelsey's dealing with a little bit of an ankle injury. He is expected to play. Heath, when you look at Kelsey and what he's given you so far this season, it's been very mediocre production, which is probably why he's coming in 14th in our consensus rankings. Do we like or not really like Travis Kelsey? We just started him by default. I think some people will start him by default. I think he's the kind of guy that if you don't have two tight ends, and your team, or you don't have the roster space to start two tight ends, kind of like Kyle Pitts, you probably just leave him in your starting lineup and hope. But Kelsey's not healthy right now. He rolled his ankle a couple of weeks ago. He's come out of the game the past couple of weeks for snaps. He said he's not going to take any time off, but he's also probably not going to be as effective as he is at his best. He kind of feels like their break glass in emergency player. Like when Mahomes gets in trouble, when the game's in trouble, we're going to go to Kelsey a lot. He's got Rashi Rice healthy right now. He's got Kenneth Walker. They're nine and a half point favorites. I don't think this is a Kelsey game. All right. So hopefully he finds the end zone against the Jets, and that's kind of been missing for his game for the last several weeks. Let's show you some starts and sits. Dave already told you why he likes Kyle Pitts. So just a little peek behind the scenes. I set up the notes for everybody. They put in their names. I'm just going to put Malik Washington and Brent Strange, wide receiver, sleeper, and tight end start for you. So Brent Strange once again. Yeah, and I think like last week was obviously a disaster. He only got two targets. Somehow. Turned two targets into 7.5 PPR points, and he's been doing that type of efficiency all season long. He's averaging over nine yards per target this season. He's clearly, in my opinion, the second best target for Trevor Lawrence in this offense. I think we've had a lot of struggle this year not overreacting to one great game from a tight end because that's what tight ends do is bounce all over the place. I don't want to overreact to one bad game. He had at least seven targets in three straight games before that starting string. I can't help but think that if Basial Tootin is out on Thursday and Chris Rodriguez is the lead running back and he's just not as effective as Basial Tootin, you know, a little bit slower than Basial Tootin, that they use play action and that's where Brent and Strange can get some catches against Baltimore. And that means he's going to have to do that against somebody like Kyle Hamilton. That's a tough matchup for him. But I think the targets will have to be there if the Jaguars struggle to run the football. Very good starting option. Who knows where the ceiling lies. Heath obviously is hoping that he has one of those games that we saw prior to last week. I think we're all hoping to see more volume concentrated to Parker Washington and Brent and Strange. For me, Harold Fannin has been great the last two weeks. I was very wrong on him coming into the season. I thought he was going to be awful. And he has not been with Deshaun Watson. Now you go back to Shador Sanders who's going to start. At least that's the assumption. Last year, these two guys were great. So Sanders leaning on Fannin. I think that happens once again. It's a very good matchup against the Saints. So Fannin, top 10 tight end once again. Some sits for us. Heath already gave you Travis Kelsey. Dave, you're sitting Dallas Goddard now. Is that because of the quarterback change? Because of the matchup? Or just his lack of production? It's because of the quarterback change. face it. Joe Milton is a total wild card as a quarterback. The only time he's had meaningful snaps in the NFL, it's been week 18, meaningless games where he's just put in as the backup, the third stringer. Let's see what the kid can do. 29 pass attempts in the one full game that he played in a week 18 matchup. He completed five passes to his tight ends. His eyes are further downfield. He's not looking short and that's where Dallas Goddard runs his routes. All right. So we'll see. It is a wild card, you know, so Goddard could be great. He could also be terrible. And, you know, you just have to understand that that's what happens when you're talking about backup quarterbacks. But maybe as Goddard actually said, talking to the media yesterday, you know, they need a spark and this could be the spark that they need. Hopefully it helps everything across the board. Dalton Kincaid has been a good spark for fantasy managers lately, but I think this is going to be a tough matchup for him taking on this Vikings defense. Number one in fewest fantasy points allowed to opposing tight ends. No tight end this season has been double digits in PPR against him. That includes Tucker Kraft, Colson Loveland, Sam Laporta. Kincaid's been great the last two weeks. To your theory, when DJ Moore on the field, Dalton Kincaid plays better. It's going to be one of those games where it does not come to fruition and Kincaid struggle. All right. We're going to take a break. When we come back and answer all of your questions, send them to us again on social media and hashtag ask FFT, and we will help you with your fantasy dilemmas for week nine. Mavs fans, November basketball is heating up in Dallas and there's nothing like experiencing the excitement live at American Airlines Center. Get ready for high flying dunks, incredible plays and the electric atmosphere that only Mavericks basketball can deliver. Bring your family. Grab your friends and be part of the action as the Mavs take on the NBA's best. Don't just watch the highlights. Be there when they happen. Get your November game tickets now at Mavs.com slash tickets. Let's go Mavs. A couple of news items before we get to your questions. It looks like Emeka Abuka has a chance to return for week nine, which will be fun for Baker Mayfield. Maybe they actually throw the ball this week with Abuka back on the field, but he would be, at least a borderline number two wide receiver in the majority of leagues. And then John Lynch said on a radio station, the general manager for the 49ers, that it does not appear like Mike Evans and Debo Samuel will play in week nine. Just something to keep an eye on there for the 49ers and Brock Purdy, as Dave alluded to earlier. If Christian McCaffrey plays, it would be great for him and obviously great for George Kill. All right, pick three in full PPR. Justin wants to know, Zay Flowers, Garrett Wilson, A.J. Brown, Brees Hall, Romo Dunzey. Heath, the question for you. We have no idea. So I think you have to start. Zay Flowers tonight. Yes, because there's a very good chance we don't have Wilson or A.J. Brown. And the decision is made for you. If Wilson or Brown play, I would start them over both of Brees and Dunzey. Dunzey has been playing better the last two games, 10 and a half PPR points or more each of the last two. Yep. And Brees Hall is a little bit of a wild card right now. We just don't know how the Jets are going to use their running backs. Next question. All right, Dave, full PPR spot. Zach Charbonnet, Omar Cooper Jr., Keenan Allen or Devontae Smith, if he's good to play. Oh, if Devontae Smith plays, I'd be excited to start him. With Joe Milton at QB, just imagine those downfield routes. But if he's out and he didn't practice on Wednesday, so I would expect him to be out. Keenan Allen would be my favorite pick going up against Dallas, figuring that Indianapolis is going to have to put the ball in the air quite a bit. Yep. And he's played well in three of his last five games, just had seven catches last week in the blowout loss against Jacksonville. Next question. All right. Quick, ready to trade. Dave, I'll give it to you. I'm assuming it's Christian Watson. Yeah, I was going to say not Deshaun Watson. So there's a blockbuster then. DeAndre Swift and Jamison Williams. You get Ken Walker, Emmitt Johnson and Zay Flowers. I get wanting Kenneth Walker III on your fantasy team. Zay Flowers' value definitely takes a hit without Lamar Jackson there. It's too much to give to get Walker, Flowers and then the handcuff Emmitt Johnson. I'd rather have Christian Watson, DeAndre Swift and Jamo. There's definitely safer. That's the safer side. But you're getting the Chiefs backfield and then hopefully Flowers will benefit with Brissette. So not a horrible trade, but I would agree. Keep what you have. All right. Next question. Which side do you prefer? B. John Robbins and Derrick Henry and Michael Wilson or McCaffrey, Tootin and Christian Watson in a half-point PPR league? I will take the McCaffrey, Tootin and Watson side. I think McCaffrey, B. John and Henry versus McCaffrey and Tootin. I slightly prefer the running backs and then I like Christian Watson a lot more than Michael Wilson. I would agree. Next question. Last one for the day. I'll let you both answer this one. I have a trade request. One of my league managers is offering me Jonathan Taylor for Drake May. Should I take it or ask for more? If it's a one QB league, you should have already taken it. If it's a two QB league, it's a lot tougher, but I think Taylor's worth getting. And then hopefully you can find somebody off the waiver or make another trade to get a second QB. Oh, yeah. I think it totally depends on what your quarterback situation is. One QB, you take it and figure quarterback out. Two QB, I'd have to have two other QBs to make that deal. You get Drew Locke. You get maybe Gardner Minshew. You get Joe Milton. There are some ways just to sort of put some Band-Aids on it. But yes, hopefully Jonathan Taylor, if he gets traded, ends up in a good spot. All right. Thanks for watching. We appreciate it. Make sure you check out our Fantasy Football Today podcast, wherever podcasts are available. Sunday morning, we'll get you covered with everything you need leading into the Bengals and Falcons game in Spain. And then we'll have you covered all throughout the day. But obviously, we have you covered all throughout the week. The Fantasy Football Today podcast, you can also find us on YouTube. For Heath Cummings, Dave Richard, and our wonderful production staff, I'm Jamie Eisenberg. Thanks for watching Fantasy Football Today. Sunday, the NFL on CBS is back in action with some of the league's hottest quarterbacks. The early window features Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs hosting the Jets. And Bryce Young leading Carolina against Bo Nix and the division-leading Broncos. Or later, some will see Justin Herbert and the Chargers against C.J. Stroud and the Texans. Fires it into wide open! J.B. and the guys kick things off at noon Eastern with the NFL Today. See you Sunday with the NFL on CBS and streaming on Paramount+. We'll see you then. you