Ben Wasley joins host Bobby LaMarco to discuss the new fantasy football slot vs. wide PPG-allowed analysis on Razzball.com.
Tune in to hear which defenses allowed the most fantasy points to the slot vs. out wide and how it will impact Week 16.
Top Out Wide Matchups (3:00)
• Giants WRs vs. Eagles
• Rashee Rice and Justin Watson vs. Raiders
• Garrett Wilson and Allen Lazard vs. Commanders
• Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis vs. Chargers
• Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison vs. Lions
• D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett vs. Titans
Notable Slot Matchups (26:20)
• Adam Thielen vs. the Packers
Notable Out-Wide Downgrades (33:45)
• Michael Pittman vs. Falcons
• Marquise Brown vs. Bears
• Terry McLaurin vs. Jets
• Josh Palmer vs. Bills
Check out the slot vs. wide PPG Data tool on Razzball.com
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Don’t forget to join us live this Saturday for our Razzball Saturday Live Start Sit Show every week on the Razzball Fantasy YouTube channel.
#fantasyfootball #NFL #FantasyFootballadvice
That’s right folks it’s week 16 it’s the fantasy football semifinals and today we’re going to break down the top slot and out wide matchups that can help you win the semifinals and take you to the championship folks all this and more starting right now on the RAS ball fantasy YouTube [Applause] channel and to help us guide us through this journey that we call the first wide metric it’s Ben wle go f fantasy first down no oh on Twitter what’s going on Ben what is happening it’s seminal season it’s nearly Christmas season over here of course I’ve got my Batman
Wearing a Santa hat shirt on we got everything going on we’ve had some crazy Thursday night football going on how how did it affect you Bobby yeah I we were talking pre show about this it was kind of uh every League I didn’t get to fully enjoy unfortunately with great SU success I
Had a lot of teams in the semis unfortunately comes with baggage because I was facing puka in one league but I had him in another I was facing against the only guy I didn’t have was cooper cooper cup and so I was okay with him being a landmine last night but one guy
I had a ton of exposure to was Alvin chra and it just that for him to have his worst game of the year fantasy pointwise it was just like I’m over there just like mumbling to myself like you got to be freaking kidding me because I had this weird feeling like
The game just the Rams how they’ve been kind of against these running backs lately I was like but you can’t sit camarra the worst is like you can’t sit your studs but boy when they flop you feel like you feel like crud but what about you man how how’ you how’ your
Games go how’ your teams do last night yeah look it’s the same thing it’s that kind of thing like when you’re in over 20 leagues all of a sudden you get to the semis and you’re like which of these leagues do I really care about most like
Do I care about the one where I’m playing against friends do I care about the one where I’m going to make the most money like what actually matters to me and it’s usually looking at who my opponent is and thinking oh how much do I really want to beat this
Guy oh it’s yeah I I gotta tell you if there’s a couple home leagues I’m in where I haven’t won ever like there’s a home League I’ve been in for like 15 years and I have this is the round I lose in probably 85% of the time I don’t
Know it’s like the money’s right there that go up losing the second round doesn’t matter if I’m the six seed the one seed it doesn’t matter so I’ve already and I have CRA in that league so I’m already like here we go again one game in I’m already on tilt
And of course because of the holidays you got things going on with family and stuff like I can’t even watch all the games like I usually do this week so there’s gonna be games where I’ll be like oh God I wonder how the bills are doing right now and some of the guys
We’re gonna talk about today let’s get into it Ben then I have questions about I’m gonna have to ask you a question about some guys like AKA Josh Palmer to see how we feel about him let’s get into some of these top wide receiver matchups
For week to see what do you got for us today yeah look we got a heap going on we got some pretty ones we got some ugly ones the ugly ones being the Giants versus the Eagles e but we also got Chiefs against the Raiders Jets against the commanders bills against the
Chargers we got the Vikings against the Lions and the Seahawks against the Titans all of their wide receivers have good out wide matchups so let’s get into them we’ll start with the Giants against the Eagles and it’s been hard to find anyone to start for the Giants it’s
Totally unclear who the starting top Giants receiver is Darius slayden’s playing every down but he only has one top 30 finish all season W Del Robinson’s their top option but he’s a slot guy not an out Wide guy and this is an out wide matchup the Eagles are the
Second best out wide matchup they’re only the test 10th best slot matchup and then there’s Jaylen Hyde who seems to have bigger Boom games but he’s only playing 70% of snaps and he’s getting three targets each of the last two weeks who can we trust here Bobby are you
Starting any any of these guys probably not uh unfortunately as much as a Giants fan I would love to say it’s just the problem is there is no consistency there’s no like I can’t sit here and tell you I looked at the numbers and like if you look at the Eagles yes they
Are they lean out wide they also lean air yards they seventh in air yards allowed this season and only 12th in yards after the catch but when you’re look thinking about it okay air yards is probably that’s Darius Slayton and Jaylen High it kind of goes along with
The fact that they allow a lot of points out wide but if you’re looking at like man vers Zone slayton’s better this season against man Eagles lean man that means that Darius Slayton right no but if you look at lineup percentages the guys who have beaten up on the Eagles DK
Meaf Michael Gallop Gabe Davis type players they line up on the side of Jaylen hayatt so I’m like this isn’t going to be a redraft question I think it’s more of like if you’re in a dart throw league and you want to play like a
A deeper guy in like DFS maybe you go with Darius Slayton or Jaylen hayatt but in redraft purposes maybe PPR Ben what’s your thoughts about wand Del in PPR formats I just can’t trust him at all in this matchup I just don’t think it works
He’s got such a low ceiling I I just can’t imagine a situation where if you’re in the semifinals you’re probably not struggling for guys like W Robinson I guess it’s possible but even if you are he’s just not a guy I want to touch I think probably the only guy I’m
Actually really interested here is Darren Waller you can feel like with Darren Waller a little bit healthier he could come in and get more involved now he is coping more of the slot matchup but realistically start every one against the Eagles has generally been the Mantra and I I feel like Darren
Wall’s the only guy that you’d really consider starting here um given he’s basically going to be the number one receiver darus sled’s interesting I do think there’s upside there but I can’t imagine a situation where you’d start himc because of that comment you made are you worried about the Eagles defense in this
Matchup um to start for like the D yeah not really no I I I I don’t think so I I feel like they mostly get by by making big plays and because they’re making a lot of big plays they’re getting you a lot of points it’s just they’re also
Conceding a lot of fantasy points to their opponent it works really well in both directions all right yeah let’s move on let’s talk about the Chiefs now the Chiefs has been all over the place they’re taking on the Raiders and the Raiders hasn’t typically typically been a good wide receiver
Matchup season long they’re only the 21st best wide receiver matchup but we only look at the last six weeks because that’s what’s happening now and real ially even though they’re 30th against the slot they’re the third best out wide matchup so you want to Target out wide receivers against the Raiders the
Problem is who’s the chief’s best wide receiver well it’s their slot guy it’s Rashi rice he’s the only viable option and they’re really TI tricky against the slot if you look at the notable matchups recently the guys booming against them are guys like Tyreek Hill Garrett Wilson
Josh Palmer things like that they’re all out wide guys but rased rice last time he played against him what three or four weeks ago had eight receptions for 107 yards and a touchdown no other wide receiver with the Chiefs had over three receptions so while it’s not typically a
Good slot matchup rasid rice made it work last week are we starting rice is there another receiver we should be considering here Bobby yeah re rice is the start of the week uh probably for me this week he’s a mustart wide receiver too probably even a wide receiver one
And and just a bring up the point you just brought up I don’t know it had something maybe to do with Sky Moore’s injury but Rasheed rice has moved out wide he’s actually led the team in out wide routes over the last two games so it’s a relatively new thing but he’s now
The number one he’s now running the most routes on the team for wide receivers and now he’s playing a lot more on the outside about 60% of his snaps have been out wide over the last two games so right there check check the other thing about the Raiders they’re 29th in air
Yards but they’re fourth in yards after the catch allowed that’s check because guess who’s number two yards after the catch per reception this season you it Rasheed rice um the other thing too is they’re a heavy Zone team the Raiders and Rasheed rice is just dominant according to PFF against zone so check
Check check you every check he checks every box on top of that you just brought up 817 and won the last time they played wheels up there’s gonna I’m gonna probably have a hard time finding 12 guys I’d rather start ahead at rashed Rice yeah agre he’s probably top 12 for
Me last week was the first game he played over 90% snaps the snap counts for the Chiefs have been all over the place all season earlier in the season it was all Sky Moore and mvs and now those guys and Richie James have combined for just 40% of snaps last game
It was more Justin Watson playing about 60% of snaps cadarius Tony playing 40% of snaps M Hardman probably returns this week so it’s a total mess outside Rashi rice rice is the guy you have to start now speaking of teams that only have one reliable wide receiver it’s the Jets
Against the commanders so the Jets sorry the commanders have been been the second best matchup season long and in the last six games they’ve been the fourth fourth best out wide matchup and the best slot matchup you can attack the commanders through the air any way that you want
They’re averaging 36.3 points per game against them in fantasy the last few weeks Cooper cup went over 100 yards with a touchdown Tyreek Hill went 150 yards and two touchdowns CI lamb had a touchdown Darius slayen had a touchdown DK Mecha and Tyler Locker both got over
90 yards so we’re talking a team that every opponent has been able to attack over the last few weeks now it’s a little bit trickier because we’re talking about the Jets and we’re only talking about Garrett Wilson he’s really their only viable option he’s got six
Top 20 finishes in their last nine games do we have to start Garrett Wilson or is this a guy we can get away from Bobby I you know it’s tough because he hasn’t played a ton over the last few seasons like last year he had one spot
St against ironically the Jets and that Jets defense is legit so he had he didn’t have a big time game maybe like 170 yards then he looked two years prior you’re looking at you know uh his time with the New Orleans Saints he played he started four games he was over 200 and
14 yards and three of the four which is pretty good but you know the matchup tells you Garrett Wilson should be a wide receiver three right I mean he’s not he’s he’s gotta I just don’t love the idea of starting Garrett Wilson because of the Trevor Simeon thing and because but the
Commanders have been so bad that like if he could do like it’s just been Tim Bole and and Zack Wilson and like he still figures out a way to give you enough targets to make a solid PPR fantasy day so I I think he’s fine I
Think this is a perfect guy to bring to the S uh the Sunday live show we’re doing on Sunday for an hour by the way just quick update we’re doing only an hour this Sunday it’s Christmas Eve folks get over we’re going to give you an hour because we love you Garrett
Wilson’s an interesting name I think he’s going to be a wide receiver three if you look at the metrics ad do yards after the catch I mean he’s 56 and AD do and the commanders all have the second most air yards so I mean okay great but
That’s not really his role he’s not like this Big Time air yards guy he doesn’t dominate after the catch this season he’s been big because the offense hasn’t been good the quarterback play hasn’t been good so I think he’s fine I think he’s a wide receiver three but I don’t
Think he’s going to be this huge wide one against this really juicy matchup I I actually feel a little bit better about him he he’s a solid wide receiver too for me the reason being his consistency those six top 20 finishes in his last nine games he’s getting it done
Regularly with worst quarterbacks I actually think that Trevis Trevor Simeon may be the best quarterback that they’ve had this season for wide receivers he does air it out a lot more we saw those five games that he started against the Saints two years ago he averaged 216 yards and he was averaging two
Touchdowns and half an intercept he was getting it done now he did struggle with the Bears last year against the Jets but it was against the Jets we know that’s a tough matchup he has played a third of a game against the Falcons and twoth thirds of a game against the Dolphins
This season and he only total 176 yards with no touchdowns and two intercepts so that’s a bit concerning but this is a significantly better matchup and so because I kind of like simeon’s upside there I do like the idea of starting Garrett Wilson having said that don’t
Start Alan Lazard he’s not going to be involved he may be the started last week we have no idea he started this week and don’t start Xavier Gibson he’s only playing 60% snaps can’t trust him it’s only Garrett Wilson and it’s probably only this week but I would I would be
Considering starting him as a wide receiver too I think we’re doing uh the Injustice of not like kind of diving a little bit into that New Orleans Saints time because like if you look at the guys he was playing with Michael Thomas was out his number one receiver was
Tquan Smith tquan Smith was his number one receiver in targets and re ceptions and yards and now he’s got Garrett Wilson and and so Tron Smith in the four games he was starting in that sample he averaged just under 50 yards a game so you know like I said I think he gets
There at PPR um but Garrett Wilson is is three times the player trayquan Smith is so you got to feel pretty good about the matchup so maybe you’re right Ben maybe he is a rock solid top 24 option yeah I I think definitely Sunday is when you’re
Going to want to ask those start stick questions for sure there you go speaking speaking of Sunday bills against the charges um we’ve seen the charges are getting blown up especially given they did it against the Raiders so you got to feel like the bills are going to win
This game easily the question is how are they going to win it well the charges are the third best wide receiver matchup season long in the last few weeks they’ve been sixth against wide and 20th against slot mainly because teams have just needed to run on them they haven’t
Really needed to throw that much they’ve also had some matchups where there’s not the greatest wide receivers we still saw Devonte Adam go for over 100 yards and get a touchdown last week we saw cand suon get his touchdown we saw Devonte Parker go for 64 yards Z flow’s got a
Touchdown Romeo Do’s got a touchdown so we’re not seeing them play against the best wide receiver um opponents and teams are still managing to get it done so you’d have to feel like the bills are going to win this game easily the question is do they do it through the
Air is there enough volume for Stefan Diggs is he a must start this week he has struggled of late Bobby what do you think yeah Diggs is in no matter what you got to just roll with the fact that the other problem with this situation is
Like the if you watched that game last week okay if you watch the Raiders Chargers game last week and on the flip side the Polar Opposites the bills didn’t even throw they I think Josh Allen like 94 yards passing in that game they ran the ball 100 times that’s
Insane then on the flip side of that the Raiders beat them 63 to like 22 okay it doesn’t get much worse from a passing game standpoint for an offense like you would think at that moment you’re like well Devonte Adams doesn’t they don’t need him well devvon got devvon Adams
And Jobe Myers got theirs Diggs is in but the question for me it comes Gabe Davis like it when you’re looking at Gabe Davis it’s really feast or famine like Boomer bus and and people always say oh what was that actually mean it means Gabe Davis like Gabe Davis is z zero
Points or 20 and so when you’re looking at the games where he’s gone off Philadelphia Tampa Bay over the last x amount of weeks those are out wide matchups those are really good out wide matchups and that’s where you beat the Chargers out wide and I just like
They’re fourth in air yards they’re first in yards after the catch allowed Gabe Davis is eighth in ADOT so he’s this high now they’re going to be out of Buffalo they’re not in the bad weather they’re gonna be in a dome in La it’s like I want to trust Gabe Davis as like
Hey if you played puka NOA on Thursday night and you need a flex that’s gonna boom too you might need to go to Gabe Davis so asking for a friend Ben do you recommend Gabe Davis this week if digs is an auto St I feel like this is a
Really tricky situation man we just don’t know what the bills are going to do it was ridiculous last week Stefan Diggs ran 16 routes last week and he was out there on every passing route they just weren’t throwing the ball and there’s no reason to believe they would
Need to throw the ball this week the charges are a top 10 run matchup as well you can really easily run on the charges they’ve got three viable running backs they’re using I feel feel like if they get up early they may just choose to run
For the rest of the game for that reason I just can’t trust Gabe Davis he’s got no receptions in four of his last six games now I admit they were tough matchups in the last four six games they’ played against the Broncos Jets Chiefs and cowboys and against the
Cowboys as we said they hardly threw the ball as well Davis himself ran 15 routes in that game so we can’t really blame Davis for that they are tough matchups and he does struggle in tough matchups this is a really easy matchup it’s just a question of how they’re going to use
Him so me Stefon Diggs is someone that you have to start even though you don’t feel good about it Gabe Davis I’m not starting I just I can’t trust him because we don’t know what’s going to happen dwson Knox being back help hurts as well you have to feel like khil
Shakir is going to be the main one that um is hurt by KNX being back but they may drop Gabe Davis’s snaps a little bit as well simply to get knock out there more and get the blocking going so they can keep that run game going and make
Sure that they’re staying healthy going into um the postseason maybe the best bet is just put a dollar in DFS throw Gabe Davis in there and then feel good about having Gabe Davis some value there if he goes off he like all right cool like it with
Some money but don’t risk it in your redraft fantasy football exactly I can’t imagine if you made it to the semi-finals the odds of you feeling good about starting Gabe Davis and needing him is pretty low but if you find yourself a long way behind he is someone
That has the potential to get you 20 25 PPR points if everything goes right for him so if you need him for that reason that’s viable as well now where things are getting really interesting is is for the Vikings against the Lions the Lions season long of the eighth best wide
Receiver matchup they’re averaging 30 PPR points against them each game and they are 16th against out wide recently and sixth against the slots they’re a better slot matchup but they have played against Some solid slot receivers recently as well notable performances recently cand sudden went 5 to 71 DJ Mo
Played him twice in both games he scored a touchdown he combined for 13 receptions and 165 yards so he went off against them Chris alve went over 100 yards Christian Watson went 5 to 94 with a touchdown so they have allowed big plays the question is given there’s no
Clear slot receiver for the Vikings they all travel there who benefits from this matchup is this a good match up for Jefferson and Addison can we start Addison at all obviously have to start Justin Jefferson but what are you doing with Addison this week yeah uh well Jerry Jacobs is out to
One of the top outside quarterbacks for the Lions so that’s going to help this matchup the other thing too is it’s a dome game so like the road golf home and listen we just did a breakdown on Ras ball.com we actually reviewed home vers away splits for quarterbacks for fantasy
Points uh by Derek wrote that lineup Builder go check it out it’s a very interesting article because it highlights you know how good guys are on the road versus home now GF of course any like that Chicago game was a disaster but like he’s been okay otherwise on the road this season
And he’s in a dome so it shouldn’t be a major issue in a game where they got a win the Vikings got a win and Nick Mullins has provided some oomph to that passing attack more consistency as a more of a Kirk Cousins light type player so that’s good for them Addison looked
Good with him too so I I think this is a good example of like the match Up’s good the offense of the other side is good they’re missing a key piece and I do think you could start Jordan N I think Justin Jefferson of course is the play
Even though so far Addison has looked better with Nick Mullins after one game of course tongue and cheek it’s been one game so if you look at the how you beat the Lions it’s air yards they’re fifth in air yards allowed this season but 25th in yards after the catch neither
Guy is relatively great in ad do uh Jefferson’s 44th Addison’s 52nd among about 103 qualified receivers so they’re both about average but at the same time if you’re a wide receiver if a team allows air yards they both get enough a DOT to take advantage of this matchup so
I’m okay with both guys I think Addison’s more of a like you got to bring him to the Sunday show type player you got to see like okay who are you starting Addison over but I think Addison is an option this week as well what’s your thoughts yeah I think
Addison’s going to entirely depend on who else you have available he is that midrange wide receiver three guy you could be starting him but it depends on the situation I think the biggest thing here is Nick Mullins Nick Mullins has 18 career starts he’s played for the 49ers
And the Browns as well as the Vikings and across that time he’s averaged 200 170 yards a game on average so he really airs it out a lot so we should expect a lot of yards and that’s fantastic for Jefferson and Addison now he does throw
A lot of intercepts which is why he hasn’t had more starts than 18 over the over the last five or so years but he also can find the end zone as well so there’s plenty of upside here for Jefferson at Addison Jefferson is an absolute must up there’s no situation
Where you’re sitting J Jefferson Addison the concern for me five straight single digit half PP games in a row until last week where he blew up against the Bengals that means that was the M thing a oneoff or was that more of a matchup thing we just don’t know the answer to
That and when you’re in the semi-finals that’s hard to trust so I certainly wouldn’t be pushing to get Addison into my lineup but he someone that you may need to start so definitely bring that one on Sunday now speaking of interesting matchups to talk about on Sundays the Seahawks against the Titans
We saw DK Meda has been good recently but Tyler lockett’s been a little bit all over the place place the Titans season long of the seventh best wide receiver matchup they’re seventh out wide recently 16th against the slot but we know we’re talking about the main out
Wide guys in Mecha and lock it’s a little bit tough to um to trust Jackson Smith njigba even though he was my streamer of the week last week and he did pay off because of that late touchdown notable performances against the Titans Noah Brown blew up last week
82 yards in a touchdown tyreq missed half the game but W went off Pitman went for over 100 yards in a touch down even Jonathan Mingo managed 60 yards Ridley went for 100 yards and two touchdowns lately the top wide receivers have been blowing up against the Titans but the
Question is can we trust Tyler Lockett I think meta for most people is a start but is Tyler Lockett someone you would trust in your fantasy semi-final well if you look at the numbers first of number one the Titans defense is absolutely decimated I mean decimated by injuries like if you look
At their I’m trying to pull up their six score this week because I was when I’m going through this stuff I kind of look at the injuries too and they’re both safeties are down Shawn Murphy bunting is down they just saw Christian Folton is now on IR like four of their top six
Secondary players this season are not going to be in this game so okay that right there should tell you one thing there offensive line and secondaries are the hard they need the most communication right so you need continuity for those sides those two position groups need continuity more
Than anybody because they they have to work with each other on the back end especially in zone you have to figure out okay you guys are taking this deep you guys are going to cover this area this time and blah blah blah and on top of that the Titans are sixth in air
Yards allowed this season and that’s DK meaf and Tyler Lockett they are air yards guy beaf 13th in ADOT uh 20th in yards after the catch which is good both ways but Tyler Lockett 46 in ADOT 84th in yards after the catch per reception so yes I think yes you could start BAS
Bas on all the injuries based on how you beat the Titans anyway I actually think the Seahawks are I know there could be a let down because they just beat the Eagles but I think the push back on that it was without Gino Smith like Gino Smith now
Has to show the team I’m still the best quarterback so I do like the fact that Gino was out Drew lock beat the Eagles now Gino comes back in he can’t have a let down game so I think that call it a hunch I’m right Jason Myers by the way
K1 kicker of the week if you get Myers put him in your lineups I absolutely love him as well yeah I actually like Jason Myers as well I think he was my kick of streamer this week but um but yeah look I I’m inclined to agree it’s
Really tricky with the with the Titans at the moment they do have Roger mccre ra he was out for a little while he’s a very good nickel corner but they’re missing basically everyone else that their their um free safety at the moment is Kavon Wallace who they only just got
Off waivers from Arizona so they really are struggling to get heal and I’m not even sure if he’s playing this week so they really are struggling to get healthy they’re going to be having basically rookie rookie undrafted Corners starting for them out wide which means that they’re going to be attacks
Through the air often during this game the question is who’s it go through well DK meta only has one game with over six receptions All Season he’s getting by on touchdowns and big plays but you’d have to feel like there’s going to be big plays in this game Tyler Lockett I you’d
Feel like you’d be disappointed but he is averaging over seven targets a game he’s just had no big games no 100 yard games and he’s only got four touchdowns he’s had at least eight touchdowns each of the last five years and if you take that touchdown production and put it
Onto his current receiving production he ends up being a top 20 wide receiver he hasn’t actually been too bad he’s just not getting touchdowns and that’s the real issue he’s also getting less y um yards per game Sorry yards per reception in every previous season except one is’s
Averaged 12.3 or more yards per reception this season is averaging 10.8 eight so while touchdown regression is possible he clearly has taken a step back this season I’m still starting him he’s a highend wide receiver three for me I’d start him over guys like Jordan
Addison I feel like this is a good game for him and I even think you can start Jackson Smith to jigar he does have less upside but he is someone that in this matchup could get involved because there could be a lot of yards through the air
Like it now where this gets interesting is the slot matchups and we are talking Adam who was a fantasy darling early in the season he faces the Packers who have been a tricky wide receiver matchup earlier in the season they are the 19th toughest wide receiver matchup however
They’re very good against the slot while they’re 23rd versus out wide recently their fourth best match up against the slot in the last six weeks now it does help that they’ve played a lot of good slot receivers in that time Chris Godwin who spent some time in the slot went 10
For 155 last week wal Robinson went 6 for 79 rash rice had a good game against them Amon Ross and brown what did what he does against them Kenan Allen went for over 100 yards in a touchdown so they have cops some good slot receivers
And it’s hard to tell if this is a good slot matchup or if they’ve just played against very good slot receivers recently Adam th’s been struggling he’s had 13 total receptions in the last four weeks he’s had no weeks before below five receptions before that since week one so something’s clearly changed can
We trust Adam thilen in such an important matchup I think what’s changed a little bit is that they’ve kind of well first off Frank Riot has gone and they’ve changed the coaching staff the other thing I think that’s changed a little bit is Jonathan Mingo they’ve
Tried to make him a little more involved like I think they’re like all right thanks Adam we appreciate you doing your thing but now we need to figure out what we have at the this young number two receiver that we have so I think Mingo is taking on more of a prominent role
And the other problem with Adam thielen it was all volume based like he he doesn’t if you look at his numbers he’s 86 in ADOT out of 103 qualified receivers and 69th in yards after the catch so he’s not doing either relatively well it was more like hey
You’re G to get you know five six seven catches every single week and get you around 50 something yards and PPR format he’s getting you double digits High floor however when the targets start going down because they’re starting to share a little more with Jonathan Mingo that’s where I think the problem starts
With him now the flip side of this whole thing is like the matchups for slot wise for th haven’t been necessarily good over the last few weeks either so I think that’s where it flips a little bit for me historically he’s actually been pretty good against the Packers he beat
Up on J Alexander a few years ago too as the primary guy with the Vikings so I actually think he’s going to be okay this week and I think if you’re in a PPR this is a PPR only thing I think if you’re in half or standard it’s not even
Worth the upside but if you’re in full PPR I think he offers you a safe enough floor that if he ends up find The End Zone great but I think he’ll be good in PPR formats yeah I think the biggest thing that’s changed for me is that they’re
Running the ball so much now earlier in the season Adam thelan was running 40 45 routes a game last week he ran 20s something routes during the game and that’s just not enough to get him the volume that he needs they’ve got chuba hubard running the ball over 20 times a
Game and they’re getting miles Sanders involved and they’re playing against the Packers who are a top 10 running back um matchup I feel like we might find that they just run the ball a heap this game and because of that the volume won’t be there for theland that’s enough for me
To say I don’t really want to start theland this week if I’ve got the choice now in PPR you might not have the choice he’s still a low-end wide receiver three for me I just feel like there’s better options available given the matchup given what they’ve been doing recently
Given the fact that they probably will be able to run the ball this week before we jump into the downgrades let’s get to some questions here let’s do it uh yeah so we have first from Bryce uh about Amari kooper against the Texans this week on the road what’s your
Thoughts here do you trust Amari Cooper in your lineups no but i’ still stting Amari Cooper’s one of those guys that you just you can’t trust it’s nothing to do with Amari Cooper himself it’s just the way this offense works there are going to be games where they just run
The ball order where they just throw everything to David and joku with Joe FL flacko as quarterback though you can feel a lot better about Cooper we saw he had a massive game last week he did it on very few receptions he went over 100 yards and four receptions and anytime
That sort of thing’s happening you’re always going to get a lot of variance in your numbers but it also a whole lot of upside so Cooper’s not a safe play but he’s a good play for me would you start Cooper Bobby uh he’s one of those guys where
Last week his matchup was not good and honestly for for almost the entire game I was watching he had like six P half PPR points or something I’m like oh that was a good call and nope on the sideline catches it you’re just like the only
Thing I will say is that the Browns are traveling they’ve been a little bit their defense has actually been pretty bad on the road this season for whatever reason uh but there are playing Case Keenum like I would be a little more excited to start Amari Cooper if the
Texans had CJ strad in company because it’d be more scoring volume this could be a little bit score uh higher like a lower scor game but I’m not fading Amari Cooper I think the better question Bryce is who do you have to replace him this
Week so you know um yeah I think if you want Bryce if you don’t have the guys right now come to our Sunday live show at 9:00 a.m. PSD 12:00 Eastern we’re going to be on for about an hour this week come ask come bring your starts s question because maybe there’ll be
Better options than Cooper like Tyler locky I would feel a little more confident starting this week over Amari Cooper what your thoughts Ben I think if it’s PPR might start someone like Locker for example I think Cooper’s a really good play in half PPR as too much s says
His touchdown last week was really fluky and I think we need to keep that in mind he does have just really high variants and it depends on your situation you might also be in a situation where you have a big lead and if you have a big
Lead you don’t really need a high variance player you need a really safe player so it depends on your situation it depends on what happened in Thursday Night Football and how that’s going to affect what you’re going to do going forward so it really is scenario base with someone like Cooper yeah what’s
Your thoughts about this one Cooper or Ridley I’d go Cooper I mean they’re both the same type of player they’re both that high variance player but I I’ve ranked them like pretty much back to back in half PPR i’ go Cooper I think Ridley’s a little bit more interesting
In PPR because he does have those games where he gets a lot of receptions but gosh he’s hard to trust it’s just he has so many down weeks and um the the matchup against Tampa Bay it’s a pretty good out wide matchup but it’s not the
Kind of one where you’d really want to trust him so I’d probably lean Cooper for the upside but if you want someone safe this is that sort of scenario if you’re looking for safety Ridley’s probably the slightly safer option but I don’t know for me they’re very close to
Each other what about you yeah no Z Jones no C uh Christian Kirk like and he’s playing the third the team that allows the Third most air yards this season like really like Calvin Ridley if you no I’m going Calvin Ridley just on principle if you can’t get it done in a
Top three air yards match up that’s what you do out wide against a team Charlton Davis in out of the lineup Jamal Dean has been in out of the lineup their safeties have been banged up like if you can’t get it done in this matchup with
No Z Jones and no Christian Kirk what are you even doing here folks so I’m going on principal Calvin Ridley and it is PPI and I think in PPI yeah you have to go Ridley and PP are in that match up all right we one more yeah what are
We thinking about Josh pal let’s get into the downgrades this is perfect tra Jamie it’s like you’re part of the show buddy we got to get you on at least once this year before we close out but this is perfect because Ben we got some downgrades to talk about and this man
Might be popping up so let’s get into it yeah we got the Colts against the Falcons Falcons have been tough All Season we saw what they did to Mark Evans and Maris brownley got one reception each everyone except Chris alav for some reason is struggled against the Falcons um they just have a
Really good defense at the moment the Cardinals against the Bears the Bears have actually been one of the better matchup for wide receivers season long but out wide they’ve been brutal recently they’re the best slot matchup and the worst out wide matchup so it’ll be interesting to see what happens there
But with Maris Brown out that’s pretty much irrelevant fantasy commanders against the Jets we know that the commanders are a b a great defensive matchup now they face the Jets can you start Terry McLaren after he blew up last week and the Char against the bills which talked about Joshua Palmer is
Palmer someone that you can start Bobby what jumps out for you there yeah you know what the Palmer thing I’m interested on your thought I’ve been kind of wishy-washy on him because we’ll get into that in a second but Michael Pitman first off the one thing that
Worries me about Pitman is that like the Falcons the one thing they do better than any defense is yards after the catch right so they’re 29th and yards after the catch allowed this season that’s a problem because pitman’s ADOT is 84th among 103 qualified receivers and 30th and yards after the catch per
Reception so that’s where he does his damage so I think when you’re looking at the type of matchup that he has this week he’s probably a PPR guy like I could see him getting the thing with Pitman he might get eight receptions for 64 yards so I think in half PPR in
Standard leagues I might be okay with pivoting from Pitman in this matchup but in full PPR I think you got to start him he just gets too much volume he catches too many passes and I think he’ll he’ll get there in full PPR formats McLaren’s the one guy I’m actually on 100% out
Maris brown maybe I would have been but he’s not playing so Terry mclen against the Jets you’re looking at the Jets matchup they’re 32 in air yards this season so they’re the most dominant air yards defense Terry mclen is 33rd in a DOT 66 in yards after the catch they are
Not only are they tough on the perimeter but they don’t allow air yards in general anyway and that’s where Terry mclen does his damage so I’m fading Terry mclen out of this group now Josh Palmer I’m just kind of tilting I’m wishy-washy I I might need your help on
This because I’m looking at the numbers and I’m like H he’s really good like metric-wise Josh Palmer this season a lot of that’s to do with Justin Herbert 22 and a DOT 15th in yards after the catcher reception it’s pretty good at both areas now I know the bills are red
Hot you know they just embarrassed the Cowboys but they do allow one guy it was Rasheed rice and it was I know CD lamb had a rushing touchdown but he did have seven receptions in his game I know last week Easton stick was not great that
Game was a disaster but now you have 10 days now they’re back home 10 days after that game I expect stick to play he didn’t look bad against Denver and he also by the way threw for three touchdowns against the Raiders I know it garbage time but it’s still
Relevant I’m really curious to hear what you guys say about Josh pmer talk to me Ben what’s your thoughts about Josh bmer I don’t trust him it’s it’s pretty simple he that gay Davis style boom bus kind of player he’s gonna have big plays and realistically the chance of him
Having big plays against the bills is pretty low it’s Poss but I don’t think you want to be starting someone who needs a big play to come off unless you need to really chase a game if you need big points from a guy Joshua Palmer could put up a massive
Score but realistically he’s struggled for most of this season when he’s been healthy he’s just he’s just not consistent enough the funny thing is Quinton Johnston actually has double digit PPR points the last three weeks he’s been the better player outcome wise but realistically Palmer just hasn’t
Been there he hasn’t been healthy now that he’s getting healthy at least he’s a chance I can’t stop Palmer I I don’t trust Palmer at all he’s someone that I’m avoiding um I I I just I don’t like this matchup I don’t like the situation I don’t actually trust Easton stick to
Play against a team that cares so I unfortunately my my one League I had to set it forget it I had had to touch my lineup all year and now Kean Allen’s out right so I had Josh Palmer in there as a handcuff kind of but the other guy I
Have is Gabe Davis so I have Gabe Davis or Josh palver as my two options now because my other guy is Nico Collins because like do I trust Nico with Case Keenum with a bum c you know straight against the the BR the Browns so in that scenario Nico
Collins Noah Brown I could have either one Palmer or Gabe Davis what do you think about those three that that scenario I I would have to go nicoo Collins at least you feel like there’s a little bit of a Flor there now to be fair ni collums in that exact bills
Matchup had like one reception for 13 yards actually it was against the Jets had one reception for 13 yards so he does have a low floor but he has at least a more accessible ceiling than someone like Palmer or Davis where you really are hoping for boom BS now having
Said that even that League you’re like 20 points behind already it’s a different situation you go for the Davis or Palmer you go for that upside though niiko Collins has a lot of upside usually as well I don’t feel like he has that with Keenan I know D yeah it’s like
It’s it’s like one of those things where I’m like uh it’s like I was set up all year that the Keenan Allen not being available now and then I also had ran J Stevenson so I that was my other backup option he’s out and I’m like now it’s
Like you’re getting into the depths of things like in reality I was actually thinking of starting Isaiah likely because of the fact that he’s been almost the de facto one over the last few weeks and he’s probably the safest one out of everybody but then I’m starting double tight ends I don’t know
If I want to do that oh it’s uh it’s funny it’s that like when we talk about these matchups we talked about the Cardinals against the Bears and we said you can’t start anyone in the Cardinals against the Bears it’s a terrible out wide matchup but it’s a great slot
Matchup you know who that’s grate for Trey McBride like Trey McBride is someone I would start ahead of pretty much every wide receiver it’s a fantastic matchup for him realistically there are a lot of people out there who are probably going to want to start say Trey McBride and Evan Ingram or Trey
McBride and David and jeru because they both have great matchups they’re both in great situations they’re essentially the number one option on their teams with everyone else injured I feel like you’re probably going to be wanting to lean putting a tight end in your Flex if you’re considering starting someone like
A gab Davis or even Terry McLaren I know Terry McLaren had his best ever game last week but the week before he had no receptions you just can’t trust him and even though Jalen WD seems to go off every time he plays against the Jets Teran McLaren isn’t jayen W he’s a
Totally different sort of player so I would rather sit Terry McLaren and start someone like a top tight end because there’s a good chance you got two of them these guys were drafted late it’s very easy to have picked up two of these tight ends and this for well I would
Trust me Trey McBride if he was an option i”d be great but like likely seem is my my tight end too in these leagues so it’s like the 49ers have sprung a leak you just brought up Trey McBride he played well TJ Hawkins it a few months like about six weeks ago had
A big game when they face a good tight end for some reason they allow those points the other thing too is like I personally think the 49ers are going to do their thing at home against the Ravens so that that probably could mean some checkdowns to Isaiah likely so yeah
I I I don’t I’m not enjoying this if ni was a 100% healthy I probably would just go all in on Nico but the fact that he’s dealing with Case Keenum and an injury it’s like but yes at least if you start Nico and He Flops you could be like well
You know I I went with my studs yeah col so I hear you on that any other thoughts before we get to your streamers and sashes I have one thought for you question for you actually I just traded for Michael Pitman in a dentisty league I
Traded away Tyreek Hill and I traded for Michael Pitman and a 2024 first now obviously everyone in the league wait you just traded away Tyreek Hill that’s crazy but to me like I’m out of the playoffs now the guy traded him two is still in the playoffs we trade
All the way way to the end of the season in this league for some reason to me I was like well that’s a pretty solid win I’m getting the younger player I’m getting a guy who’s going to be good for a long time it’s a PPR league and I’m
Getting a first and everyone’s like you just gave up the best player in fantasy what are you doing what do you think yeah so we it really comes down to the Garner mry versus Anthony Richardson stuff like we only saw two games this season where Anthony Richard essentially
Played the full game so I’m just looking up the stats now because I’m curious Richardson looked better than I thought he would as a passer which is great and Pitman was he was okay nine catches in those two games 112 yards a touchdown so that’s that’s a good building block but the other
Thing yeah I guess yeah you’re right you could probably move on too but I I just can’t imagine the Colts allow him to walk they they need that they need an alpha number one Josh Johns nice player but and Alex Pierce is good too but they all fit to their roles perfectly Alex
Pierce is your perimeter outside guy you have a really good yards eicit slot guy and then you have a guy who could be a Target hog as your wide receiver one so and and the other so I I actually don’t mind it I think because the other thing
With Tyreek Hill he basically made it seem like this might be his last year maybe even next year at the latest so you might get two more years out of Tyreek um he’s not the type of guy from what I’ve heard that wants to play until
He’s 35 36 so yeah I think longterm are you out of the playoffs I’m assuming oh yeah yeah I got knocked out I got knocked out I I I got in feeling really good and and I just got blasted last week yeah yeah why not but you also got
The first round pick too associated with that right so you got Pitman and a first in next year’s draft not like you got 2026 first round or two so it’s okay I think if you’re if you’re out of it this year you might as well roll the dice
What if Tyreek kill gets to 2,000 yards and he retires yeah exactly I I I feel like I feel like especially in Dynasty you want to be selling off right before a player falls off and I feel like this is around the time you want to be starting guys like sorry selling guys
Like Tyre Hill like Devonte Adams um Cooper cupet it’s probably even a little bit too late for him guys like that I think this is where we need to start thinking about selling those guys and also your top running backs running backs will fall off that in value just
All of a sudden without without you expecting it so you want to sell your running backs and your wide receivers while they’re still on the edge of looking good we don’t talk a lot of Dynasty because it’s the middle of the season but like I honestly think every
Dynasty owner should treat it like redraft in the sense of like you should be on top of your lineups if you’re out of the playoffs you should be hunting the people in the playoffs be like hey man it looks like you kind of could use a second Flex let’s talk like you should
Be proactive in your roster management mid-season because people are more likely to give you premium picks and players when they know like for example if they have a an injured star I don’t know like a good name here but off the time I can’t think of anybody but you
Have an injured player who’s no longer playing right now and they’re just sitting in their IR you be like hey can I take your IR player I’ll give you here’s a good play player right now you can win with you win that trade the next
Two to three years at least but that guy gets a better player right now so I think you should always be hunting in Dynasty especially like be proactive in Dynasty especially if you get like Ben here this late in the year guys want to win right now they see they saw Tyreek
Hill he’s like I’ll give you Jesus Christ for Tyreek Hill let’s go so I mean you might you you didn’t get Jesus Christ worth but you got pretty close bet it was pretty good I like it so that’s a good way to think about Dynasty like always be Pro active and and make
Sure you’re trying to you know not take advantage but if people are in it right now and you can trade with them go for it give them some assets definitely take advantage of other people’s opportunities there you go all right let’s get into some streamers and slashes Ben let’s talk streamers I look
Last week was actually my best streamer week I think 10 out of my 16 streamers last week boomed it was a great week for for streamers so we’re hoping to do it again this week favorite QB streamer of the week bacer Mayfield He’s the top 10 quarterback for me this week really love
Baker Mayfield there’s a lot of bad quarterback matchups and there’s a lot of people struggling with quarterbacks so I’d go Baker Mayfield all day um running back wise Devon single Terry is a great matchup you haven’t been starting in most weeks but I like him Gus Edwards is someone who’s a little
Bit interesting but there’s not really good running back opportunities wide receiver wise I’m going T Higgins and Noah brown but my favorite of all the things is Matt gay the kicker Matt gay is my number one kicker this week no one else seems to like it but I feel really
Good about Matt gay this week I I Jason Myers is my guy this week but I think I have Matt gay in my top six so I’m in I like it Jon is my other guy I do have Jason Myers there as well I’ve got two Kicker streamers Jason
Myers and Mt G love both of them this week A lot of people are trying to still trying to start guys like um Tyler bass and people like that Jake Elliot these guys haven’t had a top 12 week in the last 10 weeks why are you still starting
Them you should be streaming kickers don’t go based on name recognition with kickers go based on who has the best matchup honestly the biggest I think the biggest hole right now in Fantasy is the kicker position if your league starts kickers by the way I personally like kickers I like starting playing with
Kickers position diversity is always good more options is better but my biggest biggest grip is if your league starts kickers then you need to care about kickers like you could get 15 to 20 points from the kicker if you’re watching this stuff we’ve been doing this all year long you know Jason Myers
Had some big games earlier this year for us and it helped me win weeks so yes Matt gay Jason Myers join us on Sunday we’ll have a full list there too that’s where you really came here folks you you came for the slot vers wide points per
Game allowed you stay for the kickers that’s all we got today folks thanks for joining us once again on the RAS ball fantasy football podcast I want to thank my co-host Ben wsy go follow him at Fantasy first down no on Twitter go follow him everywhere this guy’s on Tik
Tok I I’m sure he’s everywhere folks go follow him everywhere go Che go check him out as well on Ras ball.com and go check out all our great articles as well we will be back on Sunday for one hour this week’s at 9:00 am PST 12 o’clock
Eastern to answer all your start S questions so make sure you join us once again thank you for joining I’m Bobby Marco we’re out of here folks Merry [Applause] Christmas last
