Welcome to the Fantasy Football Game Plan. It's week five. We're gonna do a quick review of DraftKings week four, and then jump right into the week five rundown for the main slate. Hit subscribe. Drop a comment with your favorite plays for week. Five, help us out. Let us know what you like. 'cause I don't really like much of anything. This week. We're down to 10 games on the slate. This week we have our first set of bye weeks. Those go to the Falcons, the Bears, the Packers, and the Steelers. They're all getting a week off. And we also have an early one in London with the Vikings staying overseas and playing the Cleveland Browns. How'd you do last week?

Last week was a. Actually one of my better weeks so far. I think we had a couple good calls, especially on like Ashton Genty and a couple of the rookies on like finally predicting. I kinda wanna lean into that more. I feel like that's kind of been. My strength, and definitely our strength of having these conversations about players that we like that just haven't had the right opportunities or right situation to have that breakout game. I'm excited to get into this slate. I am happy that we don't have that London game on this one because that is another ugly game, with especially Carson wins versus Dylan Gabriel enjoy British that live event. So

I don't know with, with the way you know the injuries are going this season, that might be like a star matchup.

Yeah, once we get to week 10, we'll see

Yeah, see who we still have. I'm glad that we don't have to discuss the 49 ERs with both Piol and Jennings going out this week, but we do have some teams that have tons of injuries. There were some injuries that we didn't see coming, I think this week, that were kind of a surprise today, here on Wednesday. So still looking back on, on last week, I, we will look at the top 25 players and. Looking at this grid, the thing that stands out is, Hey, pukas constantly there.

Yeah, puka is that clear number one wide receiver. And I don't really think anything's gonna change. I think you're gonna see him and Devante continue. The tar targets are so consolidated there that. Um, you know, we don't have him on this late, but every single time there hasn't been a lot of pay up options and he seems to be the standout of it's always worth it.

He definitely is. And yeah, looking at this, I mean, the next one that stands out a little bit is, Christian McCaffrey. He's usually in the top 20 or usually hanging out at 20, but he costs a lot and he needs to deliver a little bit more than that. The other ones that are standing out are the ones that, since week one have been. Constantly improving. And Kenneth Gain, uh,, justice Hill is a big one, so they're constantly moving up. Woody Marks is also standing out on this list, but this is a great list, but, we're losing. Eight of the 25 7 are on bi-week, and then Bucky Irving is injured, and then we lose eight more because they're in games that are off the main slate, which just leaves us nine of this top 25 to pick from, pick from. And we're gonna talk a lot about some of those players like I, Ashton Genti, George Pickens, Dak Prescott, Marian Hampton, bow Next. Justice Hill, justice Justin Fields, Woody Marks, and Aman Ross, St. Brown. Those are the, uh, the nine that are left from this 25.

Yeah. I think

Um,

takeaways from looking at this was those players. That stepped into a bigger role due to injury. And how did they actually respond? So we saw great games out of Omar, Marion Hampton, his second in a row. Um, that backfield is completely his. He saw almost 90% of snaps. And then George Pickens actually showed up as that main target. Uh, he's

he did.

was always kind of hit or miss in Pittsburgh. So it was really good to see that it, it worked.

It was good to see him stand out and to step into that bigger role. Now we get to evaluate. Can he do it two weeks in a row and is he worth paying for it? Shall we jump into this week's games?

Let's get in.

Alright, first up, we've got Detroit at Cincinnati. Detroit's favored by 10 and a half. Over under is 49 and a half. Cincinnati's gotta contribute some points to that 49 and a half, don't they? Or is this just all Detroit?

Yeah, I think that 10 and a half point spread is low. I'm, it feels like it's gonna be 49 points for Detroit and then about half a point expected for Cincinnati if they can kick their fuel goal. But it's just looked bad with Browning so far, and that offensive line is not gonna fix itself anytime soon. So really, I'm only on Detroit. Do you have any interest in the Cincinnati side here?

I don't, I know they're going home, so I expect them to play better at home than he has on the road. Getting his first two starts on the road was kind of rough, and when he got tossed in with the Joe Burrow injury, it was at home and he played very well at home. In a different circumstance, but against Detroit. I, I just don't like it. I think they're trying to figure out how this is going to work with Browning in there, and right now it isn't working, so I am just kind of out on that Cincinnati side. Then we have the, the Lion's side, Jared Goff. He's not gonna have to pass a lot to win this game, but I feel like this is the game. Detroit likes everyone to eat in their offense. They, they want everybody to have a touchdown. So those players that haven't had their touchdowns, who haven't had that opportunity, Jamis Williams, sorry.

Jameson.

Jameson Williams, he, he's like on my list this week. You know, I think they're gonna want to get the ball to those players that they haven't fed the Fed the touchdowns to

Yeah,

an easier game script for them.

I completely agree. I want pieces of this lines attack, but I think getting the discount players, you know, um, Allman Ross Brown and Gibbs are almost eight K each. Gibbs is 7,700 and. St. Brown is 7,900, so you have to pay up, but they do like spreading it around. They've talked up Williams a lot in this off season. He hasn't really had that breakout game, so I can see him getting involved. Also, Montgomery only had 12 yards, last game, so I think that's gonna change here, especially if they're up big against Cincinnati.

Yeah, you have to love both of these running backs, Gibbs or Montgomery. I like to go to Montgomery because he's a discount, but I think I ended up using Gibbs in my lineup just because he's Gibbs and we all know that Jamar Gibbs is going to get the ball and he should be able to run all over the Bengals. Defense

Yep.

a. I feel bad for the Bengals. You know Jamar Chase, Kenny, is there any way he can Have a good day here.

I don't think here, but I think brighter days are ahead. You know, these have been some of the best secondary units in the entire NFL these past three weeks. They've had to go against the Vikings, the, um, Denver, and then this week they get the lions. So I think there are brighter days ahead. I just don't like 'em in this matchup. I think it's gonna be kind of a beat down. I would take the lines minus 10 and a half.

Well, I guess DraftKings is right there with you, thinking that there are brighter days for the Bengals players because. They did not discount these Bengal players even after an awful two weeks. So Jamar Chase didn't drop. Chase Brown didn't drop. You're not getting any discount here, which is probably why we're both just going, yeah, you know, one of the reasons I'm not gonna buy into it, just no one got a price drop. I still don't understand how, why Jameson Williams did a thousand dollars price drop for Jameson Williams. That makes no sense.

yeah, he hasn't been too productive, but I mean, he's that big play explosive receiver really just takes a couple plays for him to have a great day.

Yeah, I think this might be as weak, so I, I do like using him in lineups. Well, let's move on to the Raiders at Indianapolis. I think we were both trying to just avoid this game. I, I, I actually think it goes well for, for the Colts, but Colts are favored by seven at home, by and over, under is 48 points. This smells like a Jonathan Taylor game to me.

I got a little worried when you said you actually believe in the cults in this matchup 'cause I'm like, I feel like it's been a while since we both think. The Colts are gonna kind of roll in this matchup and they, it does line up well for them. Um, so that kind of worries me a little

I.

but I mean, everything on paper says the, the Colts offense should have a good day.

Uh, definitely. Um, I don't like this game to stack. I don't see it hitting 48 points. Do you?

I think it could. It's really just gonna come down to whether or not Vegas can keep pace We've already seen, I mean, as evident by that two, two outwell, a DR touchdown, the Colts defense is gonna take chances and they're gonna have a couple shots. It's just whether or not those actually connect and Vegas can make this a competitive matchup, I don't think they're gonna have really any success on the ground. I think it's gonna have to come from an explosive play in the passing game.

Yeah, let's talk about Gino Smith a little bit. He keeps throwing interceptions. He threw three last week. I do like the Colts defense in this matchup and paying up for them at 3,300 at home. I just. Don't see Gino Smith hanging in this game. This isn't the Colts on the road in LA with Matthew Stafford at quarterback. You know, going over top, this is Gino Smith throwing interceptions in Indianapolis.

I think you're hoping for a little bit of that Jamis Winston Old Buccaneers formula of like, maybe the colts get a couple short fields and we get some, easy touchdowns. They're behind. They're trying to look for these plays, but I don't think that's gonna work very well. I kind of do like the cults. The one thing I wanna point out just for the Colts offense and how it's gonna be attacked, attacking this Raiders defense is the Raiders are one of the most prominent. Zone coverage teams, like, I mean, everyone plays zone, but the Raiders are basically like leading the league or like one of the top teams, as far as like cover three rates. And that has kind of been the perfect formula for that. Steichen Jones Mind Mill and especially like Michael Pittman and Tyler Warren in there, that's kind of been his answers for this zone attack. But it's really able to. Those plays where stacking can scheme it up and make it easy for Jones. So I think he's gonna be very successful, on his plays, especially if this game is for at least a half.

So does that mean that you have interest in Daniel Jones, or are you out on both these quarterbacks?

I am fine stacking up Jones probably with that Pitman Warren Stack. And a couple of my lineups, it's more of just, do I even want a Raiders? Ash had three touchdowns. We finally saw that breakout. you think he could do it? Any way that he could pay off a 6,700 price tag while they moved him up A lot.

Yeah, they moved him up a lot and you know, he, he had really been struggling going into last week and then even the first quarter of that game, I think I was texting you that I was gonna lose my mind if they, if he didn't have a good day and he was having not such a good day in that first quarter. And then he kind of broke out and, and had some good runs. I think he takes a step back this week against the Colts Defense and this isn't his week. I look for the Colts to go up kind of early and maybe it is that Daniel Jones and Michael Pittman Combination, or Warren as well. I just don't know that they have to do a whole lot to win this game to give us the points that we need in a tournament stack.

Yeah. The person I've been using on the bring back has not been genti. It's actually been Dante Thornton still just taking shots with him. He's getting some targets. He's getting those deep targets. They're just not converting. It kind of reminds me of Marvin Mims. A couple years ago where you're like, I'm watching him on the field, he's getting open, they're taking shots to him. It's just not working yet. And you're hoping that he can get two of those plays, and have himself a good day. So that's the only way. I think this is basically like a tournament only game, that the Raiders don't show up, how we're kind of thinking that it's just gonna be some average performances spread out across the Colts and none of them are gonna be, need to have pieces.

Yeah. You know, if you're on the over game for this and you think this is the game, there are lots of great pieces to stack here on, especially the Col side. I just don't feel it on the Vegas side. Okay, next up we've got the Washington Commanders at the Los Angeles Chargers. Chargers are favored by three, over under is 48. It looks like we are getting Jaden Daniels back this week.

Oh.

How do you feel about Jayden? Dan? Do you like Jayden Daniels or Justin Herbert in this matchup?

I really don't. I do like pieces in this game, but Daniel's just worries me of being back from the injury and especially a knee injury for a mobile quarterback. A lot of Daniel's upside comes from his scrambling ability, not just being an in the pocket passer. So I think it kind of caps him and he's not really getting a discount. I mean, he's still seven K, so he is one of the more expensive

Yeah.

at quarterback, uh, here and then Herbert. all about the tackles. You know, they're gonna be lining up their third and fourth uh, with Joe Alt Down. And, I mean, Slater's gone for the year too. So soon as ALT went down, that Giants defensive line was living in the backfield. So I'm kind of worried, about the Charger's passing attack. I just, I'm curious how they try to negate those offensive line weaknesses. Washington isn't the best pass rush. They're about league average, but I think they might lean more into that running game and just continue to feed Hampton more to protect Herbert 'cause they know they're gonna need him later in the year.

And they should be able to run Hampton. So I do like parts of the Chargers. Offense. I do like Marian Hampton since that is his backfield, and we did see that the re, that the commanders gave up 29 points to Bijan Robinson in week four. They also gave up, you know, 24 points to Drake London last week as well. So I, I'm not eliminating the Chargers wide receivers, but I guess I'm more interested in, uh, Marian Hampton.

Yeah, I, I agree.

And this just feels like a very defensive game. How do we get to 48 points in this? I am these point?

wondering.

Yeah. These point to totals are confusing to me. Of the three games that we've talked about here, at least this one, I feel like it's a little bit more. Even the first two were kind of blowouts. And this one, I'm not really sure where it's going, but there are enough injuries that I have doubts.

Yeah, it feels almost like one of those players with um.. The one that, that keeps coming to my mind, I keep thinking about where it's like it's due. He is gonna have some good games, lad McConkey, because it's just like, it feels impossible that he's gonna be bad all year. And we've seen the commanders give up some huge performances. They're very man heavy. They, which kind of allows, like when you see McConkey one-on-one against, especially if they're shifting coverages towards Johnson or Kenan Allen, and he's on that second cornerback or even third cornerback, we know that McConkey iss talented enough to win those matchups, and he's gonna have some breakout games throughout the season.

Well, if you believe in him, DraftKings discounted him a thousand dollars. This week he's down to 5,500. Maybe he's a good fill in. He did get six targets last week, but

he

Quentin,

with one of those, he had some

yeah.

drops. So, um, with that and how long can the offensive line hold up in coverage? He's like, really a tournament only, uh, like a long shot, but he'd

So are you still, are you still surprised when you look at these charts, you know, every week and you are like, Quentin Johnston? Yes. I thought you would be getting 13 targets in games.

He is for real. He is. And I don't know, like if you. If we just knew, if we didn't have the past two years of Quinn Johnson tape

Yeah.

said, he was a rookie, this would be like a top three player in the league that people would think of and like, it would be incredible. But, uh, just because we have two years of evidence that this doesn't make any sense, I mean, we have to believe it. He has been looking like a completely different player and. think you can still play him. I mean, his price continues to climb, but 5,700 for his production is too cheap.

Very true. All right, let's move it on. We've got the Dallas Cowboys at the New York Jets, Dallas surprising us with scoring 40 points in the matchup against Green Bay last week, and then the Jets are still looking for a win. Dallas is favored by two and a half, and the over unders 47 and a half. What do you think in this game?

This is probably my favorite game on the slate. And it's basically just the Dallas defense and how much they're giving up. So they're giving up, they gave up 40 points to Green Bay. They gave up 37 to the Giants. They gave up 31, the week before or, the week in between week three. I forget who did they play? They played. Oh yeah, the Bears and Caleb Williams annihilated them. With that defense and how consolidated the Jets are for fantasy, I think it's really great. I'm interested in like all three options for the Jets.

All three options. So let's talk quarterbacks. Justin Fields, you're in on Justin Fields. Any interest in Dak Prescott? Both of these quarterbacks were two of the higher scoring for last week with Dak Prescott getting almost 34 points and Justin Fields at 28 points. Which side, or do you like both sides.

I am gonna go with fields just for that rushing baseline. I feel like, I feel like it's a lot more, consistent and I mean, Dak had a rushing touchdown and then three passing touchdowns on top of that. But that's not gonna happen every game. We know that. I think the. for Justin Fields, that's seven carries, especially with no Braylin Allen anymore. That might even bump that up. So I like Justin Fields at a slight discount compared to DAK two.

Okay. So the game script here, let's talk about this one a little bit because if it's Justin Fields, they're down, somehow the Cowboys got up. Maybe it's their defense will. Whatever. They're down at home and they're passing and Justin Fields is running. Are you matching him with Garrett Wilson?

Yes, absolutely. I mean, we do think that Justin Fields has a rushing baseline, but the main weakness of this Cowboys attack has been the amount of yards they're giving up through the air. And Green Bay kind of did it in the aggregate, but Wilson, Garrett Wilson is like the only target for the Jets, and I just kind of want pieces of. That attack that I think is gonna be very productive. And yeah. Garrett Wilson's target share for the Jets right now is 36.5%, which is insane. So if I told you, you know, the Jets score 33 points, which would be, it would be a lot, but I mean, not uncommon against this cowboys defense, how do they have a bad day?

I don't know. the only way they have a bad day is that suddenly Dallas doesn't, can't score points again that we see Dallas show up and just turn in a dud and have nothing for them. But I mean, the jets just lost to Miami and Miami looked pretty good. I do. Pickens in this. I mean, we saw what Ty Hill was doing to the Jets defense before he dislocated his knee. He was having a great night and so I kind of liked George Pickens to be in the mix here. And the only way I. Feel that we, we get that high enough scoring game outta Justin Fields and Garrett Wilson is if it's kind of matched on the Cowboys side. So a lot of times we do look for those one-sided games and you're stacking the quarterback and the. The wide receiver and running it back with the, the running back. But in this case, I feel like both sides are, have gotta just keep scoring for this to be the game that I want lots of pieces in. I think that can happen, in this game, but for that reason then I don't really care which quarterback I lean towards Justin Fields because he costs less and he does come with more of a running upside. I do like that. I like Garrett Wilson. I like Brie Hall and I like George Pickens, and I like Devonte Williams in all of this. I don't like the defenses of either of these. This is one of those games that it's like, yeah, just toss 'em all in and see if this is the game or not of the week. How about you? I.

that you feel like spoiled for choice, and I think that'll kind of limit the amount of roster percentage because there's so many options. the one option I wanna bring up is, Ferguson, because he is been such a critical part of that passing attack for the Cowboys, especially with CD Gone. His targets on the year 6, 12, 14, and seven. He's heavily involved in this passing attack. And it's kind of been a weakness. I mean, it's, we're still early in the season, but. The Jets have allowed, I think, three touchdowns so far, two tight ends on the year. They allowed Darren Waller to have a great game, on Monday night and couple of the Steelers tight ends as well when they play them. I like Ferguson, especially because they are searching for those other options. It can't just be only Pickens. I think Pickens can have a great day, but for it to be a blow up game, he's gonna have to be involved.

Yeah. That's the question. Can this be the blowup game or not? The juts haven't been giving up big numbers. They, the most that they gave up was, James Cook in week two, but. It feels like the perfect storm that they could have a big blowup game in New York.

I think the way to get different and kind of the general strategy for this game, if you think this is gonna be the game, fully lean into it, you

Yeah.

five pieces from this

Like,

because the rest of the slate is not. Tempting and I think people get worried about having so much on one game, but you gotta just commit. And I'm fine having the three pieces on the jets and then even like a Ferguson Pickens double bring back.

Yeah, I don't mind it at all. I'll probably give that a go and see how it, how it pans out. 'cause it might happen.

Mm-hmm.

you never know in a tournament. Alright, let's move on to Miami at Carolina. Miami is favored by one, and the over under is 44 and a half. I don't know why Miami's favored, but in Carolina that feels a little bit wrong to me. I feel like the Panthers play much better at home, but I've got that, you know, really small sample because they've only played one game at home and they shut out the Falcons. They look great. So they must play better at home than they do on the road. The Panthers haven't been good. Most, the most fantasy points they've allowed were was to Drake May last week, and that was only 23. They really forced the other teams to spread the ball around, or the other teams choose to spread the ball around because they're beating up on the Panthers. I'm not really sure which one that is.

I think you gotta.

I go ahead.

think they can kind of plan the attack against the Panthers and then kind of give the points how they want to. But Miami's kind limited to options, especially with Tyreek Hill now, gone for the season.

Yeah, I think, we'll, let's get the quarterbacks out of the way. I think we're out on all of these quarterbacks. We saw a little bit of Andy Dalton last week too, but I, you know, to a Bryce Young, Andy Dalton, I don't care.

Yeah.

I'm, I don't want any part of any of those quarterbacks.

Nothing here.

All right. Let's move on to the flex side of this game. Are you using any pieces from this game?

The one name that kind of stands out, and I like a couple pieces, especially with, Tyree Hill's injury not being really accounted for, and the price, you know, these prices were released before the Monday night games. They knew the injuries,

Yes.

They're not really accounting for that. I think you get a couple discounts on Miami. Darren Waller somehow looks relevant again. And then, Jalen Waddle and Devon a Chan. I kinda lean a chan. Just, it seems like they're going more reverting back to what they were at the end of last year. Of those short targets, eight chan tied in, keep the chains moving, but nothing really explosive to waddle. And then for the Panthers, the name I wanna bring up and talk about is McMillan.

Yeah, we gotta talk about McMillan. He's definitely a favorite, but I wanna go back to eight Chan really quick. Last week he. Didn't have a big game. He hasn't had a big game so far this year. You know, he's having good games and if he's on your, you know, redraft fantasy league, he's doing his job, but he's not getting it done at his seven, seven, $8,000 price tag. He's 7,300 this week. He, and he didn't get a discount 'cause he played on Monday night, but he still. The back there, they're starting to share it just a little tiny bit, but not really. And you could tell on Monday night that they really wanted him involved and the Jets really weren't letting that happen. They were forcing him to pass more. I'm not sure that Carolina's gonna make them pass more. So I do like Devon h Chan. Uh,, He is one of those players that I'm just waiting for him to have his big game. But I think you're on that with Tmac as well.

Yeah, I really like McMillan in this spot. He's been such a crucial part of the Panthers tech. They really don't have other. Answers right now, in the wider state ring game. This team needs those pieces to get healthy. Jalen Coker to come back from ir. I think even like David Moore, we might see rookie Jimmy Horn finally playing some serious snaps in this game. But I like. Nick Millon, he has 35 targets on the year, and a lot of those just have not converted to actual productive measurements, but he's looked good. Like when I watch the games and tune in, he always has a couple plays that it's like, wow, okay. He looks like the real deal. He just hasn't had the numbers to back it up. And the stats yet, and I think it comes against this Miami defense that Garrett Wilson was doing whatever he wanted against. They just didn't target him too much.

I agree. I, I do like tmac. So why isn't like this your big game? Like we were talking, we were all over the last game, Dallas and the New York Jets, which seems about the same kind of matchup as this one. But are there just too many injuries here for this to be a giant blow up game?

Yeah, I think there's too many injuries. Both of these teams kind of keep a slower pace too. Both play callers seem to feel a need to protect their quarterback and like try to keep, a consistent rushing attack. They are not gonna let this quarterback just do whatever they want, and have the keys to the car and have a blow up spot here. So I think with both sides doing that, we'll probably get a competitive game throughout. We'll probably have a neutral game script and we won't really have those opportunities where, you know, a team needs to come back so they're passing heavy. And just a spot here.

Yeah, I can see that. One other thing I wanted to kind of discuss is UBA Hubbard in the past, he's been like the sole, you know, it was his backfield. He, it was. He was the Carolina running back, but this year it seems like we are seeing a lot more Rico Doll and they're sharing it.

Yeah, and I don't think Uba, Hubbard was efficient enough that if they're starting to eat into his workload, that was kind of the best thing about Hubbard for

Yeah.

he was getting the ball every time.

Yep. So he's been out of the, the lineups for me. All right. Let's move on to Tampa Bay. At Seattle. Two, three, and one teams. Seattle is favored by three and a half, over under his 44 and a half. I'm surprised this game isn't higher. I think this is a game that we don't quite agree, agree with. I know we've got Mike Evans out. Looks like we are going to lose Bucky Irving as well this week since he was on crutches today. And a boot. But I still like Baker Mayfield. Baker Mayfield on the road as an underdog. He loves it. He just like thrives in those conditions and. I don't know. I can't get past using Baker Mayfield this week. Maybe I just love the bucks.

Godwin did make his return, so he does have that help and like every week he'll probably get a little bit better. But missing Bucky Irving is gonna be a huge loss. Like no Bucky and no Mike Evans. I think that's just a crucial part of the offense and against a really talented Seattle defense. Having limited weapons is gonna go a long way. I think it's gonna be kind of, uh. Game dragged down in the mud, and they, both teams are gonna try to run the ball but not really be that effective. And I can see a lower scoring game here. I kinda lean towards the under. It's just, do we have some options with the limited attacks? I mean, BUCA and JSN are basically the only receivers left for the, the two teams.

Exactly, and I, I lean towards Baker, but on the quarterbacks I can go either way. Sam Donald's fine in this matchup as well. I think he'll have his day with, the Buccaneers defense. But I see both of these teams kind of having their way with the others defense and just going on a pass happy attack. So I like Mayfield Buca, JSN. I even like Sterling Shepherd to get more involved and he is at 3,900 this week, so I don't mind popping him into the lineup as well on running backs for the bucks if Bucky Irving is out. I don't think we saw his injury really coming. I didn't, I was really surprised when I got the news today that it looked like he wasn't playing and DraftKings apparently didn't get the memo either 'cause they dropped Rashad White $200 this week. Do you have any interest? 47. Is he 4,700? He's not 47. Yeah. 4,700 for Rashad White or in Sean Tucker or Josh Williams at four. They're both at 4K.

I really like Rashad Waer. I mean, I just think he's the more trusted back and given the turnaround. You know, maybe if this was like a long-term injury and like they were coming off a buy, we'd see more of the other running backs come into play. But, this is a veteran. This is a person that was a starter for this organization for a couple years, and I think he's gonna get a lot of the trust. Right away for 4,700, for someone that's heavily involved in the passing attack and gonna see a majority of the carries, that is just way too cheap. Regardless of how good Seattle's defense is, just that workload alone I think will pay off that price tag.

I think so too. I did think it was interesting. I was watching Baker Mayfield's press conference this afternoon and he's just pushing up Josh Williams.

Hmm.

I, I am quite interested to see how much Josh Williams plays a factor in the backfield. He was talking about him even more than Sean Tucker,

Really,

is very interesting.

Sean Tucker has been the one in the past that I think has looked the best. I think he's looked more explosive than Rashad White. But, and he's had limited times where he gets like eight carries and he does great work with him, and that's all the team will give him. And you're like, why won't you give 'em more of an opportunity? But see.

How about, Kenneth Walker or Zach Charnay? Any interest?

I don't think here, Tampa Bay's just been too good against the run to really consider a split backfield and

Yeah.

getting a discount. I mean, 6,300 at a starting running back price for a split backfield,

Yeah, I don't see it either. All right. Let's move on to Denver at Philadelphia. Favored is Philadelphia by three and a half and over under is 43 and a half. I'm interested here. Two good teams that are gonna have to play aggressively just like they both did last week and we saw Jalen Hurt Score 19.4 points and Bow Next, almost hit 30. Bow next at 5,700 is very interesting in this matchup. What do you think?

I'm on the other side. I think both of these defenses are gonna have a lot of control in this game. And I feel like the offenses are gonna be tasked more of, don't make the critical mistake to have us lose this game as long as our defense is making plays. Like If we see Philly come out to a huge lead, then. I like it, but I just don't, I see this being a competitive game, a slower game, and especially a philadelphia's not pushed to do anything on offense by the Broncos. Then they're fine with this just being like a 17, 10 game.

The Broncos just let Jonathan Taylor go for 32 points. Could Saquon finally have his day?

Yeah, we've been waiting for him. I mean, I don't know about you, but sequin just hasn't had.

Mm-hmm.

second move in the, once he gets to the second level, I felt like every single time last year he was making that person miss and he was getting another five, 10 yards and then having those breakaway runs. And so far it's more of he's getting what's blocked for him he is making, he's breaking a tackle here and there. But it hasn't looked exactly the same. I don't think this is his spot here, it's gotta come one of these days, doesn't it?

It does. And after watching the Broncos against Jonathan Taylor last week and watching Taylor break loose on two big plays, it could be swans if it doesn't happen for at least. I mean, his longest run last week was 10 yards. He's gotta do better than that. Especially after watching. Jonathan Taylor, do it against this defense.

Yeah.

this, but in overall, this just isn't the game that I am taking lots of parts. We did finally see Marvin Mims show up last week, and get 20 points. Mims and Troy Franklin. They're cheap. 30 804,000. So I have in my lineups been paying for Jonathan Taylor and, Jamir Gibbs. And the way I save is going to this game with Mims or, Troy Franklin, and using those cheap, wide receivers to, to kind of save some money elsewhere so I can spend up.

I really like Franklin here. I think you are getting a discount for, he's been very consistent, the number two target, right there with sudden, you know, sudden has gotten more of the production. But it's been very promising just how Franklin's being used in this offense. Mims kind of got a couple explosive plays and that made him have the huge today, but I think. Franklin is the more consistent one and he is gonna have more consistent value, especially at a 4K price tag.

There are a lot of players on the Broncos that are cheap. RJ Harvey, it's obvious that Sean Peyton is trusting him more. He got 14 carries last week, so he is setting, you know, Sean Peyton records, I guess. Uh, but he's still at 4,500. They didn't bump him up and at 4,500 and he had almost 20 points last week. He would've paid for himself easily. If he can see that again this week, then you know.

Yeah.

as, in the passing game as well.

That'll be interesting. But the kind of caveat to how good he was last year or last week was it was against the Bengals. They were a big, he looked really good in his touches, but most of those touches came after Dobbins had already done most of his work on the ground. a lot of the production that he had was when the game was already in hand. And I don't really like him in this spot against Philly. The only way would be if, if they get down dramatically and he's that pass catching back kind of outlive for Nicks.

Yeah. All right.

What do we do with him? He's still six K. He still got nine targets, but he had seven yards. So can we go back to him?

I. I don't feel like I can trust him. I'm not sure what is wrong with this past game here, but I don't think I can go in on him.

Yeah, it feels like a couple years ago where the offense just isn't working, it's just not kinda looking good.

Yeah,

new play caller, so I don't know if that's part of the issue. But

getting it done, but.

they're, they're doing just enough, so

it feels like Kansas City last year doing just enough to win games. All right, let's move on to Tennessee at Arizona. Arizona is favored by eight. Over under is 41 and a half. Not only did, the Cardinals lose Connor, but now they've lost Troy Benson as well.

Yeah,

Okay.

of came outta nowhere, that suddenly he's on IR and

Yeah, he had surgery.

wow. Yeah, it is kind of a bummer 'cause I was excited for him in this spot against Tennessee. Everyone's been able to. Run all over Tennessee. And now we're gonna have to try to figure out who's the next man up and are they worth it?

I picked him up in waivers last night and found out he had surgery this afternoon. Not good. So let's talk a little bit about it. We've got Kyler Murray and Cam Ward.

Yep.

in Kyler Murray? Do you think Kyler Murray will have to run more with the lack of a running back?

I am a little interested in Kyla Murray because he. chooses like random games to show up for. He had a couple interceptions that kind of prevent him from having a great game last Thursday. But those interceptions weren't necessarily his fault. One of them he had a lot of the blame on, but the other one, Harrison gave the defender. I think he's looked all right. And I think Tennessee could make him look very good, by comparison. So especially at home, I think he is kind of due for that good game. I mean, Kyle Murray at 5,900 just seems like a discount. Especially he is running a little bit more this year than he was his previous year.

Yeah, he does. The question will be, does he need to run against the Titans or not, and how much will he need to do? But maybe Cam Ward will have an average day at least, and not a bad day. I don't know. It, it's the titans on the road. Yeah.

Yeah.

pick the cardinals as my survivor pick. But with all the injuries, I'm a little bit concerned about doing that. But I haven't.

locked up as my survivor pick, but

All right. There you go.

it might just go Tennessee's schedule at this point.

The Titans gave up 35 points to Jonathan Taylor and 27 points to Woody Marks and back toback weeks. We now have the backup running backs for the Arizona Cardinals. So we've got, Amari d Mercado, and then, who is after that, Michael Carter. So they're bringing them both in.

Mm-hmm.

I am kind of more interested in Michael Carter. There was one game in 2023 where De Mecado had 20 carries, and he came in as a backup and he had that one game and he got hurt and he missed the next three weeks. I feel like they have to play it safe and maybe share the workload across these two running backs because they haven't been. Playing that much. The workload hasn't been there, so you can't just, throw them in and go, you're gonna play the whole game and expect them not to get hurt. And then Dean Mercado is also heavily involved on their special team, so he's already on the field for that part. That's part of the reason why, why Michael Carter, even though he is fourth on the depth chart. It has been inactive because he doesn't play on special teams. So I'm kind of wondering how much more of Michael Carter we see, especially if this game ends up being more of a blowout for the Cardinals.

No, I think that's a good read because De Marcado is more of that pass catching back. He has nine receptions on the year compared to 17 Carries. That role and those running backs that play that role. Typically never get asked to shoulder the full workload when the running back ahead of them goes down. They typically continue their role and we see another player fill in. So I think Michael Carter at 4K is kind of the direction I want to go in a really positive game script, at home against Tennessee. So I like that value. I don't know how much the field's gonna play him because he had one rush for one yard, last week, and he has no stats. So I think he's a good place to get different if everyone wants to go on de Marcado and you're seeing those high roster percentages, trying to get that back up, running back, Michael Carter is a great pivot who might get just a majority of that work.

Yeah, I like the play and I like saving so I can pay someplace else

Yeah. We saw

That's

games last year when James Connor went down. Or yeah,

mm-hmm.

at the end of the year. Carter was the lead back and got 15 and 21 touches in the final two games of the season,

He can definitely play that role and I think he steps into it a little bit more. 'cause I don't think we've all known exactly how much Imari de Mecado has already been playing on that special team's role. And he's been in on those past catching, pass, catching downs too. Some, any Titans players that you can buy into.

No, I think the only one you have to even think about is AO Manor. He's been the top receiver, but I'm not. Do you like a bounce back spot for Harrison McBride?

Yeah. Maybe Trey McBride a little bit more than Marvin Harrison. Harrison had a good week last week. We saw him finally step up and make a couple catches that he needed to, and he finally got a touchdown. We haven't seen Trey McBride the. Problem is he's expensive and it's probably just not where I'm choosing to spend up on the slate. I don't know that he'll have a big enough day to pay for 5,800.

Yeah, I agree. And that's why I'm off of McBride. I, I think I'm kind of interested in Harrison more of just the. of like personal level where he needed some success at the end, the second half of last week,

Yeah.

to carry that over and build some momentum. Now you got the Titans. So if you need like a cupcake matchup to boost your, your top wide receiver, maybe you feed him a couple red zone

This is true. I do like that. You know, If you view this more, as you get a little bit of practice, he gets to gain some confidence. Then Marvin Harrison, Jr. Definitely could, be worth 20 points. I don't really see him being worth the 30 or 40 that I'm necessarily looking for out of my wide receiver, but he is only 5,400,

'em. Yeah, in very small tournaments. Probably not like the Milli maker or anything.

Yeah. Definitely. Okay, next up, we've got the New York Giants at, the New Orleans Saints. The Saints are favored. They've not won a game and they are favored at home by two, over under is 41. I If either these teams could get out of their own way and keep the ball moving, then this could be a fun game, but I'm not really buying into it. I did love watching Jackson Dart last week. He rushed 10 times.

Yeah.

But he got banged up doing it. So hopefully he is gonna be okay doing going this week. And we lost Malik neighbors. Well, did we already lose him? Was he already? No, he did play last week.

week. He, uh, tore a

all my injuries are blurring. There seemed to be more each day.

the saints looked kind of feisty against the bills. They made it more of a game than people thought, and they kind of hung in there until for, for a good amount.

Yeah, they definitely did. They had to have that bounce back after looking so bad the week before that against Seattle.

Mm-hmm.

they did look fairly good against, the bills. Do you have any interest in Jackson Dart or Spencer Rattler?

It feels like kind of trying to force it to have any interest. I think Dart, he was rushing a lot, but then he gets banged up in week one and this is your quarterback for the season. Like don't wanna put Russell Wilson back out there. I think they'll trust him a little bit more, but now you don't have neighbors.

Yeah.

maybe a lot of short passes to Dale try to keep that going. Or probably what is, is a lot of cams Cabo.

Probably, I also don't like that DraftKings bumped him up $800. Jackson Dart moved $800 up to 5,300, so that's getting a little bit too pricey for, what he's doing right now and trying to figure things out. And Spencer Rattler. Just Spencer Rattler.

Yeah.

There's not a lot I like here. Let's go to the wide receivers, running backs and tight end. So Kendra Miller and Alvin Kamara are seeming to be in a bit of a share of that backfield, much to my surprise. And Kendra Miller is still healthy. Does that end this week

Hopefully

or?

Kendra Miller looked good and I was very surprised and impressed by how, how good he looked. And Kamara's getting up there in age. I kind of like taken a shot on Kamara to, you know, this is, be their one game, they're favorite in all year. In the one game, they might actually be playing with a lead in all year. Alvin Kamar is not gonna have too many shots. We know he is still talented. We know he is gonna be a crucial part of the offense. It did kind of worry me that Miller was so involved, but, I think Kamar is a good tournament play this week at a $5,900 price.

I'm not there. I'm just kind of out on all these players. You know, I'm looking at all their scores from last week. Nobody's super impressive. Nobody's really super cheap. It just feels like a game of a lot of mistakes.

Yeah, I don't think it's gonna make, make it down on a lot of TVs this week. but I am kind of excited about our next game.

All right, let's get to it. We've got Houston at Baltimore. Houston's favored by two in Baltimore.

Yeah.

Over under is 40 and a half. This over under seems low where a lot of our other ones seem high for teams that. Uh, well, Baltimore's definitely not stopping anyone. They have no defense

They really don't. And they lost three additional starters,

on defense.

week on defense. So they lost, Marlon Humphrey, Rohan Smith, and then their all pro DT tackle, I'm blanking on his name, but they lost all three of those.

Yeah, that's crazy. So I remember you say, telling us last week that CJ Stroud hadn't been over 20 points for over a year. And then I saw his projections this week, and he's projected at 22 points. Is is it finally CJ Stroud's week.

He get, he did get close last week. He got to 18.4. So maybe he is trending the right direction. That offense at least looked, viable, but it was against the Titans. Do we think the Ravens defense is worse than the Titans because that, that would be his 20 point.

They do seem to be worse than I think. The thing about the Ravens is. Everyone at least perceives they need to score a lot of points to beat the Ravens so they don't let up. Where I think everyone feels a little bit sorry for the Titans and they, they let up, they take their foot off the gas, but you can't when Lamar Jackson's in there. That's the problem in this game is we are probably looking at no Lamar Jackson in this game, but we're getting Cooper Rush who has delivered games before.

He has and he is, he is looked pretty good as filling in as a backup role. The one thing I do wanna point out is 'cause I kind of have two ways that this game goes. I kind of think, like Houston to win this game. They're the favorite now, but I think just Lamar Jackson has been keeping that team afloat and that defense is so bad that it shouldn't really be competitive. But if Houston's defense shows up and doesn't. Ask a lot for that offense. They're a $2,200 price tag. They're like one of the cheapest defenses on this entire slate. So they feel like such a good value against a backup quarterback with a talented secondary.

Yeah, I, I think we should be all over the Houston's defense. And when we look at what Baltimore's allowed. They've allowed Josh Allen to have 41 points. David Montgomery, 32, Keon Coleman 28, Patrick Mahomes, 27, Jamir Gibbs 26. You know, it goes on. These are some of the top performing, performing players each week that are playing this defense that just took another setback. So if we go in on CJ Stroud at 5,200. You know, if he, if he hits projections, he is almost four times already. Is there any way that CJ Stroud does it without Nico Collins?

NI don't see a way that would be possible. I also don't think he could do it without Christian Kirk having a good game either. Maybe if one of the rookies take a step up. But, I think a lot of people are gonna want to go to Woody Marks here against the Ravens defense after his great performance last week. But if I like Houston here. I want to go away from Marx and lean into that Stroud Kirk, Nico Collin stack, because the only way that Stroud gives you a weak winning performance as a pocket passer is if his two wide receivers go off. It's not if Woody Marx is involved at all. So

Exactly.

go in that stack or the woody marks and like maybe the defense.

I do like that stack and I feel like, just like we talked about, in the Cardinals, that they need to get their players some confidence

Mm-hmm.

that needs to happen here. I think we forget how young CJ Stroud is, and he had his great first year, and then last year wasn't so good and this year hasn't started off so good. And they really need to get some confidence for him, and this defense seems like the place to do it.

I agree because the, the main thing that we've been talking about all year and all off season for the Texans is they're not gonna be able to do anything against a team with a good pass rush. But Ravens have no pass rush right now, and it just got worse. So I think he is gonna have time in the pocket to deliver it to these downfield wide receivers.

Anybody on the Raven side that you're looking at?

I do wanna have some discussion on. What do we do with Derrick Derrick Henry? I mean, a backup quarterback says that we should see a lot of Derrick Henry. But if Baltimore gets down, he's been one of the most game script dependent running backs. You know, he does great in wins. And

Yep.

of gets removed off the field for Justice Hill whenever they're trailing.

And I like Justice Hill. I see them trailing in this game and I like more Justice Hill than I do. Derrick Henry, especially with a backup quarterback

I, I agree. I

and their, their wide receivers have been non-existent, so yeah, you could bring it back with, with Justice Hill for sure.

Z Flowers was targeted a lot. Once Cooper Rush came in, just those short targets, but not against his text and secondary,

Yeah.

tag. Okay.

Well, let's move on to lineups. I don't have a lot that I truly love this week. And what I do love you don't like, 'cause I went with Baker on the road just 'cause he likes that underdog role. And then I could pay up for Jamir Gibbs and Jonathan Taylor and I, any lineup where I have Omeka Buka and Jackson Smith Najiba, I'm going to be rooting for it. So I kind of like that.

Yeah, fair enough. Think that'll be a fun game to watch. I leaned into the Cowboys game and then the Colts stack, in one of my lineups, I went full jets and had Fields, breeze Hall, Garrett Wilson, and then Jake Ferguson on the bring back. And then. I like Kamara, having a good game and McMillan finally having that breakout performance we've been expecting. Then I paid up for a couple Lions. I'm always just gonna be scattering those lions around these lineups. With Nar, Sain Brown and David Montgomery and this one and the Sea Os defense. The other one I took a col stack of Jones Pittman and Tyler Warren. And then Dante Thornton finally showing out and having just that one breakout play. Hoping for that two, two out. Well repeat basically. And then I like having the Woody marks and Texans defense if the defense just takes control. And then my couple lines, of course, are Jamir Gibbs and Almond All St. Brown with the savings in that lineup.

Excellent. Yeah. I'm gonna have to go back and look at that Baltimore, game a little bit more now that we've talked about it. I, I think I might have to do a lineup there and see what, what I can do.

Yeah, I think I'm definitely gonna need some tournament lineups with the, the Texan,

Yeah.

stack.

And that defense definitely. So that's all for our week five main slate. Hope you enjoyed the show. Hit subscribe. Leave us a comment on your favorite stacks and let us know what you think and which plays you like and don't miss that early game in London again this Sunday.