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00:00Welcome back to Newswire here on SportsGrid, the fantasy football playoffs roll on.
00:05Let's bring in Joe P. Zappia from Fantasy Sports Today and of course the Fantasy Blackbook
00:09to get his thoughts on what we saw and what we could see coming up.
00:13Joe, great to have you back here on Newswire as a lot of folks out there are very hopeful
00:18that they have a chance to play for the championship if they win this week.
00:22And if they had any of the players that we're going to discuss, I think there was a pretty good shot.
00:26So welcome back. Let's go through it.
00:28Kyle Pitts, I mean, where did this come from? I have no idea.
00:33Travis Etienne, like 50 fantasy points this past week.
00:37Trey McBride had 13 targets, 12 receptions, 134 yards and two touchdowns.
00:44And I should also mention he's not on this list, but I did have Trevor Lawrence
00:48and he carried me in the next round of the fantasy playoffs as well.
00:52But yeah, I mean, those were some super performances this weekend.
00:55Yeah, well, part of the Kyle Pitts explosion comes again from the lack of Drake London, right?
01:00There's not a lot of options to throw the football to in Atlanta right now.
01:03Donald Mooney hasn't been able to step up in that void.
01:06And Drake London's been out for almost a month now, which is something we talked about on this very show.
01:10If you have Drake London and you're trying to fight your way into the playoffs,
01:13you should get rid of Drake London and take something else that you can at least fight with
01:17because you can't take zeros and you can't be waiting for Drake London to come back on a team
01:22that is completely irrelevant.
01:23And so far, he is still yet to come back.
01:25Now, we'll see what happens this week.
01:26But if he does return, I don't know if Kyle Pitts gets banished to the shadow realm necessarily.
01:31I think he's still a viable play this week after that explosion.
01:35We all know Kyle Pitts has this sort of upside.
01:37You saw him yourself in college, big Florida guy, right?
01:40You know what he's capable of in terms of the size and athleticism.
01:43And I don't think really people have given him enough targets or enough workload
01:46to really unlock Kyle Pitts.
01:48Travis Etienne started slow.
01:50So a lot of people are a little mad at him in that first quarter or so.
01:53And then after that, the gloves came off and Travis Etienne had a great day.
01:56So did James Cook.
01:57So did Travion Henderson.
01:58A lot of big running back performances.
01:59This was kind of tough.
02:00We got to find another running back performance there, which was the best of the best.
02:04They were all some stud running back performances in week 15.
02:07And then the other one we're talking about, too, is Trey McBride.
02:10Which, once again, Jacoby Brissett, you know, I think we got to give this guy a lot of credit.
02:14Another QB1 performance.
02:16This time against arguably the best defense in the league, the Houston Texans.
02:21On the road in Houston.
02:23Was it always pretty?
02:23No, but he was able to get those fantasy points.
02:26He was able to get the total for the team up to 20.
02:28And that is tough, considering Houston at home has thrown up a lot of crooked numbers on teams.
02:33So an incredible performance by Brissett, too.
02:35In tough circumstances, you got to keep rolling with him all the way through.
02:38And look, if people dropped him in a lot of leagues, I will tell you, he's only 50% rostered right now on Sleeper.
02:45People dropped him going into that Houston Texans matchup.
02:47If you lost Mahomes and Brissett is out there, you run to pick up Jacoby Brissett this week.
02:52I mean, I don't see it exactly the same.
02:55I kind of feel like he is the garbage time king of fantasy football this season.
02:58I mean, they're down so many immediately.
03:01Whatever you want to call it.
03:02I understand.
03:04I mean, Arizona is horrendous.
03:06I mean, they're almost as bad as the team that we're going to talk about next.
03:09But I guess if you look at it from that perspective, then where are the Raiders garbage time points?
03:14Because they're getting none.
03:15They were shut out 31 to nothing by the Philadelphia Eagles.
03:19It doesn't matter if it's Geno Smith or Kenny Pickett.
03:22They just can't score.
03:23It's over for them.
03:25Joe Burrow had his worst game of the season since coming back, got shut out by the Baltimore Ravens.
03:30And I know Sean McVay said that they're keeping the light on here for Devontae Adams.
03:35But he did suffer a hamstring injury.
03:37And unfortunately, he is on one of my teams here that I'm in the playoffs with.
03:41So I'm probably going to pivot out of that Thursday night, even if they say that he may play.
03:45One of mine as well.
03:47And I'll turn that light out that he's keeping on because it's a Thursday night game.
03:51It'd be shocking if he played.
03:53And I know it's a big one.
03:54I know it's got big playoff implications, division implications, too, against the Seattle Seahawks.
03:58But a Thursday game with a hamstring injury, there's just no way you're going to see Devontae Adams.
04:02That would be shocking.
04:02And if he does play, he's going to be more of a decoy.
04:05He's not going to be a guy who's going to necessarily be what he's been so far for the season for the Rams,
04:11which is leading the league and receiving touchdowns.
04:13He has been absolutely tremendous this season for fantasy teams.
04:16And I feel your pain because I also have him on the team.
04:18And I'm looking for replacements as well.
04:20If you're looking on that waiver wire, kind of barren this time of year.
04:24There's not a lot of things you can really look forward to.
04:25But I think it's going to be probably next to impossible for Devontae Adams to suit up on Thursday night.
04:31The Joe Burrow performance also kind of troubling.
04:33I think also more troubling on the heels of the comments that he made earlier in the week.
04:37Now, this comments about, well, you know, if I'm not having fun, I don't want to play football anymore.
04:41Is he going Andrew Luck on us?
04:43Or is he trying to get out of Cincinnati?
04:45One of those two things.
04:46Or maybe he was just in his feelings after being in another irrelevant injured season, which is also very fair.
04:53But only two things are going to happen now.
04:55He's either going to respond and come back and have a huge game this week.
04:57Or we're going to start to wonder this offseason, is Joe Burrow somewhere else?
05:02And is that placed on another team or just not playing football anymore?
05:07I don't think it's not playing football anymore.
05:09But maybe it's time for a change of scenery for Ohio Joe Burrow.
05:13And last but not least, too, you're talking about those Raiders.
05:15A big fat goose egg.
05:17Where do they go next week?
05:18They play the Houston Texans.
05:19So things are not getting any better.
05:21Houston Texans defense is ferocious.
05:23They've been incredible.
05:24And that offense is picking things up, too.
05:25I have to say, I think the most dangerous team in the AFC right now, the team you do
05:29not want to play in the first round of a playoff, is the Houston Texans.
05:33Because they are starting to get confident.
05:35And that defense has been absolutely incredible.
05:37So you've got Ashen Genty.
05:39You've got Brock Bowers.
05:40Any pieces there with the Raiders?
05:42You can't feel good about going into this week's matchup with those guys.
05:45You've got to be looking for replacements.
05:47Other headlines this week, of course, none bigger than the news on Patrick Mahomes.
05:52Chiefs are out, and he's out for the season.
05:53So Gardner Minshew is going to be running things for the Chiefs.
05:57Phillip Rivers will stay as starting quarterback for the Colts.
06:00I was actually shocked to see him do as well as he did.
06:03I can't imagine that continuing, but I suppose we'll see.
06:06J.J. McCarthy did look a little bit better with the Vikings, although his running mate,
06:12so to speak, Justin Jefferson, still doing nothing for fantasy owners as well.
06:17So I'll let you attack, Joe, any order you want to do these.
06:19Well, let's attack with the old man, because I think that's cool.
06:23You know, it's kind of fun to see Phil Rivers out there, and he kind of looked like, you
06:27know, when someone dresses up for Halloween as a football player, like the uniform doesn't
06:31quite fit right, maybe because they have a little couple pounds on him.
06:34It just, it didn't look right.
06:36But when he was in the pocket and throwing the football, it looked okay at moments, good
06:39enough to have a lead in the fourth quarter.
06:42Unfortunately, that lead evaporated quickly thereafter.
06:44But unfortunately, instead of circumstances, now we get him on Monday night football, which
06:48is kind of fun.
06:49The bad news is the matchup that he's going to have ahead of him, too, against the 49ers,
06:53because that offense certainly is going to put more points on the bar, and I would imagine,
06:56too.
06:56So look, for Philip Rivers, again, I think it's the same thing.
06:59Jonathan Taylor, the volume will be there, but it's going to not be great.
07:02Yes, yet again, it's an easier defensive matchup than what he just had against the Seattle
07:08Seahawks.
07:09Seattle at home, especially, has been outstanding this year.
07:11So Pittman, you could still roll out there, Tyler Warren, I think you begrudgingly still
07:16roll out there, and then Jonathan Taylor, those are the three pieces you could still
07:19go ahead and start.
07:21I don't think Pierce, I don't think Downs, any of those ancillary pieces are really in
07:25play.
07:25I don't think there's enough passing volume to support them.
07:28Patrick Mahomes now being out for the year, interesting spot here for the Chiefs to kind
07:32of reset this offseason and kind of reset the dynasty.
07:35The Patriots were able to do this.
07:36I think what the Chiefs need to do this offseason is really remake the offensive line, get rid
07:42of some of the older talent, make this team a little younger, get this guy an alpha dog
07:46wide receiver.
07:47Remember when Tom Brady got Randy Moss, how that dynasty had a second life?
07:52Let's get him somebody big like that.
07:54Let's get him a big dog wide receiver and see what we can get out of Patrick Mahomes in
07:58his 30s.
07:59And this week, Gardner Mitchell will make them relevant against the Titans.
08:02You could still start Rushy Rice.
08:04You could still start Travis Kelsey this week.
08:07I would still roll them out there.
08:08If there's one guy that can go out there in a tough situation and kind of make everybody
08:12forget about it and go and love football again for a few quarters, it's Gardner Mitchell.
08:16So I think things will be okay there.
08:18Again, the run game has not been there for the Chiefs.
08:20It's been a really difficult situation for him.
08:22And JJ McCarthy last couple of weeks has played well.
08:25So that's positive.
08:26I know a lot of people wondering, Justin Jefferson, what are we doing here?
08:29It's never going to work.
08:30Let's be patient.
08:31There was a touchdown that got called back.
08:32There was another opportunity as well.
08:34So I think we are getting closer to unlocking Justin Jefferson.
08:38I know it's been a struggle.
08:39If you're still alive after last week with Justin Jefferson, that's great.
08:43JJ McCarthy is playing better football.
08:45The matchup against the Giants is a really good one.
08:47So roll them out there.
08:48JJ McCarthy in Superflex against the Giants.
08:51And of course, Justin Jefferson against the Giants as well.
08:54If get one more shot here.
08:56I got to tell you, Craig, I was shocked.
08:57So many questions last week about Justin Jefferson.
09:00Should I play him in this first round of the playoffs?
09:01So clearly a lot of JJ teams actually did make the playoffs this year.
09:06Yeah, no, I can't have that same recommendation.
09:09I cannot start at this point.
09:12Yeah, no, I get it.
09:13But and maybe he'll do well this week, but five weeks in a row.
09:16The Giants, Craigie.
09:17It's the Giants.
09:18Come on.
09:19Hard stuff.
09:20All right, Joe.
09:21Enjoy your playoff run here.
09:23We'll talk again next week.
09:24Thanks again.
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