What we are talking about:
Brock Osweiler
It's his time to shine
Michael Crabtree
The most reliable WR in Oakland?
Jeremy Maclin
Where are the fantasy points!?
I had retired after Paul Heyman retweeted this last week. I mean, this has to be a career walk off, right? When the best talker in the history of the WWE and the founder of ECW approves of something you did, well, it's not getting much better than that.
But apparently, that's not enough to keep food on the table for the wife and child, so here I am for at least another week.
Some of the big news of the week involved the Beast in Quarterback Brrrrrrock Osweiler and the Broncos. Coach Gary Kubiak was quick to say on Monday Osweiler would be the starter this week. Probably to keep his players from getting too bummed about the prospect of Peyton Manning's return to the team. The news got worse for Peyton (but better for the Broncos) when the team announced on Tuesday that the veteran quarterback was going to need a couple of more weeks.
Or in other words, the team was going to count on Osweiler to take them into the playoffs.
Honestly, this is a very delicate situation for the Broncos. You have one of the best regular-season quarterbacks of all-time. A guy who has intimated that he would like to play next season, much in the same way that I have intimated that I would like to be the next James Bond. The only problem is, neither are going to (expletive) happen.
The Broncos were put into a difficult decision here. Well, sort of. The team obviously wants to win games (I would imagine) and Peyton's presence this year kind of hindered that. I mean even the most ardent Peyton fan had to watch Osweiler on the field on Sunday and be all, "Yep, he's our only hope." It's weird to watch a guy who can actually put some juice on the ball consistently. And he is the reason the Broncos won on Sunday. Make no mistake, if the ol' Noodle Arm had been the Broncos quarterback on Sunday, the Bears would be 6-5 right now and in the playoff hunt.
Seriously, Manning's career arch is now in that stage similar to a classic rock band that thinks it can still sell out arenas but the state fair seems more appropriate. Brock Osweiler headlined Soldier Field on Sunday. Peyton was like the opening act for the Everly Brothers at the Sandwich Fair. (Yes, I know.)
So Brock is the starter now and for the foreseeable future. Fantasy wise, he's a QB2 for me right now. I had him in the top 10 last week, but can't quite put him up there this week. New England has been somewhat tough against quarterbacks this season. So it's not a great matchup. But Osweiler has proven to be poised in his limited action this season. The only thing is that quarterbacks in their first start against Bill Belichick are 24-68.
And a quick aside; will Peyton root for the Broncos this week? Think about it. There is absolutely no chance Manning will ever start for the Broncos (barring injury) if Osweiler beats the Patriots. How would you be able to sell that to your fan base? Even your own players? Hell, even Manning himself? An Osweiler win means he's the quarterback of the future and the future starts right now. He has to be, right?
Oh man, things are going to be pretty interesting this week in Denver.
And without further ado ...
Call Jameis Winston Breckin Meyer because he's been great on road trips. All right, that was terrible. But Winston has 10 touchdowns and only one pick in five roadies.
Marcus Mariota has been really good as a rookie this year. It's always disconcerting to go with a rookie, but I really like the matchup against the Raiders.
The Saints have allowed the most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season, so that makes Brian Hoyer one of your best streaming options.
Josh McCown is a nice little streaming option as well. He really smoked the Ravens earlier this season. The Browns players probably like this better, too.
Image At least we have the "Gotham" fall finale to watch on Monday night. Along with "RAW" as well. But the TV event I'm looking forward to is DC's "Legends of Tomorrow" which will premiere in January. This looks bananas.
Image Speaking of "RAW," it's not going to be easy to cram this in to one paragraph. Love the New Day. Kofi Kingston is on another level. "You don't need to translate, we speak Spanish." That is an amazing ad-lib. But it's so good. The whole New Day segment was amazing. And Heath Slater! Heath Slater is back! Get Curtis Axel back and now we are talking. Shoot, half of your roster is on the IR. This is an outrage!
T.J. Yeldon has averaged close to 100 scrimmage yards in his last three home games. The Chargers have allowed the most fantasy points to running backs this year.
I'm very comfortable with Thomas Rawls the rest of the season now that Lynch will be out. He straight up crushed the 49ers on Sunday. He'd do that to a good team, too.
Doug Martin has the third-most touches in the NFL this year. I'm not really concerned with Chuck Sims being there. Martin gets his chances. How about a touchdown?
Spencer Ware will probably have a role with the Chiefs going forward. He's a great start if he's the solo back, though.
I just want Bilal Powell to take over as the No. 1 back for the Jets this year. The matchup against the Dolphins is great this week.
Does the "start everybody against the Saints" filter down to Alfred Blue? Yes, it certainly does.
Chris Johnson has another favorable matchup this week. He split snaps with Dre Ellington, but he got all of the real work.
ImageHoly smokes, Ben Simmons is pretty incredible. He's a Vine machine. Him and Derrick Jones Jr. of UNLV are going to be awesome to watch this year. Thanksgiving is like the best time for college hoops. I might say this is the best sports week of the year with all of the preseason tournaments.
Michael Crabtree has three receiving touchdowns in his last three road games. He leads the team with an average of 10 targets per game.
The Chargers have been brutal against the run, but OK against the pass because nobody has a need. But this game could be high-scoring enough to get Allen Robinson some looks.
I should know better than to go with Michael Crabtree after the debacle in Detroit, but I would give him a go as the most-targeted Raiders receiver.
Dwayne "The Rock" Harris has been a pretty good sidekick to Odell Beckham Jr. this year. He's got a great matchup this week.
The Seahawks defense has been torched the past two weeks. So I'd be confident with Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant.
Devin Funchess has scored at least 12 fantasy points in two of his last four games, with a touchdown in those two.
Mike Evans has 60 targets in the last five weeks, to go along with 551 receiving yards and an average of just over 13 fantasy PPG.
I'm going with Sammy Watkins. The Chiefs D has been tough lately, but the Bills seem poised to get him the ball.
Steve Johnson is the top receiving option for the Chargers. The Jags have allowed at least two touchdown receptions in four of their last five.
Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald are probably your best stack options in daily leagues. The 49ers have allowed the fifth-most points to receivers.
Image Congratulations to the Golden State Warriors for their 16th consecutive win to start the season. That's amazing. Turns out Jerry West is a pretty great executive. And while I've now started to hate the Warriors, I have to give credit to this fan who taunted the Lakers on Tuesday night. Well done.
Delanie Walker is a great start against the Raiders. But Oakland has now just allowed the third-most fantasy points to tight ends. But only because Eric Ebron dropped a touchdown in the end zone last week.
Image The Carolina Panthers put out a charming video of a bunch of their players lip-synching Adele's "Hello." This team is a lot of fun. I hope they celebrated their win over the Cowboys with some Turkey and a little dab of gravy! And for the record, I wrote this on Wednesday afternoon between the Wednesday "NFL Fantasy LIVE" show, a pre-tape segment for the Friday show, "The Weekender" and "Madden NFL Live." I've instructed The Franchise to leave this blurb in. I'll either look like a confident genius. Or you Cowboys fans can once again spam me on Twitter with your "See, Rank hates us" shtick. Because that never gets old.
Andy Dalton was good against the Cardinals. But he's flip-flopped good games with poor games. So I shy away with this matchup against St. Louis.
Same thing with Ryan Tannehill. I can't believe I drafted him on a few teams. Some of you might stream QBs, but I'd avoid Tanny against the Jets.
Tyrod Taylor has been a great value at QB this year. But he's battled injuries and he's got a tough matchup against the Chiefs this week.
I'd bench Ben Roethlisberger for Brian Hoyer (who I like) this week. This is a great matchup for Hoyer against the Saints, but he's still at the end of the QB1 conversation.
I'd take Ben over Philip Rivers, Derek Carr and Marcus Mariota among others.
Image I love the "You Had One Job" segment on College GameDay. Clearly the best pregame show ever. And this goes out to Johnny Manziel. Dude. You had one job on the bye week. Don't get caught partying on video. And you know how you do that? Stay inside. Or at least go some place where nobody will recognize you. Which would probably be my aunt's house. She doesn't like football. But seriously. Party in your buddy's garage and play video games. Why do you do this to yourself? I'm a huge fan of Johnny on and off the field. But you have to make better choices.
Oh man, it's so maddening to see Jeremy Hill score a couple of touchdowns from my bench. Even worse when he scores four points in my starting roster.
Latavius Murray hasn't played well in recent weeks. He's been one of those guys I didn't like in the beginning, wore me down with his good play, but now I'm all, "I knew this guy was going to struggle!"
Frank Gore is a huge concern. Ahmad Bradshaw isn't going away, I'm afraid. I don't necessarily like this matchup against the Bucs, either.
I liked Ronnie Hillman earlier this week, but I've slid him over to the dislike side of the ledger. Am I crazy for liking C.J. Anderson a little more?
Image The RAW roster looks somewhat sad with all of the injuries. Actually, the only one I care about is Cesaro. I don't want anybody to be the WWE Champion right now. Actually, I do. It's Brock Lesnar. But damn, I spent most of Monday night fast forwarding through the whole thing.
Image The E should really think about getting rid of the three-hour show. I know it never could when you consider the advertising revenue that flows because of that show. But at least give some people more important things to do. Use jobbers more. I wouldn't mind King Barrett winning some matches on Monday night. At least give me hope that he's going to win a PPV matchup at some point. The whole thing is depressing.
Jeremy Maclin has reached double-digit fantasy points just once in his last nine games. He's had fewer than 90 receiving yards in five consecutive games.
I have a deep team where I've been afforded the chance to keep A.J. Green on the bench. If you question him this week, I suggest you do the same.
Stefon Diggs is my guy. One of the leading members of Danger Zone University. But he's got a tough matchup this week. I'd play Green over Diggs this week.
I still can't bring myself to bench Jordan Matthews. I also can't make myself start him, either. I will keep him on my bench. But he's really tested my patience.
All that being said, I don't blame you if you've kicked Matthews to the waiver wire. I have weird sentimental issues that I really need to get over at some point.
The Chargers defense has been good against the pass (why not, if you can run so much on them), so I might sit Allen Hurns if you have a lot of depth.
I'd start Hurns over Emmanuel Sanders, Diggs, Donte Moncrief and DeSean Jackson.
I'm still looking for the right answer for the Patriots receiver position. One name to watch this week is Keshawn Martin. I'll keep saying it until it becomes a thing.
Image I really hate the end of college basketball games. I'm not sure I have the answer to make it better. Maybe allow teams to decline a foul with a five-second runoff? But something must be done. The person who came up with the strategy to foul at the end of games unleashed a scourge on the sports landscape. That's not something you should be proud of and you've made the game much worse. You are probably the same guy who invented the possession arrow.
Image I'm sorry, I saw this on Twitter. But somebody made the suggestion to make the NFL catch rule similar to the college hoops possession arrow. Teams just rotate the close calls. Honestly, that's probably better than the system we have now.
The Ravens have been pretty good against tight ends this year, so Gary Barnidge is a somewhat risky play. If you follow trends, that is. If you follow the notion that you start your good players, then yes, you play him.
I hope Kyle Rudolph enjoyed his one week of fantasy notoriety. But he's back to the bench for most of you.
Image Why is stuffing relegated to just Thanksgiving? It seems like the world has really missed out on this great side dish. Make sure you load up on all of the discounted stuffing at your grocery store after Thanksgiving and start to sprinkle it in to your regular meals. It really is the best. There is no reason stuffing has to disappear.
Image Public Service Announcement: We are all eating the same thing this holiday season. No need to share your photos on Instagram. We all know what turkey looks like.
Image Here's another PSA for you: If you show up to work sick the day before a four-day holiday, you are not a hero. There are actually plenty of four-letter words to describe this. Hero, though, is not one of them.
For the record, you can submit your fantasy questions to NFL Fantasy Live or me on Twitter. But realize, NFL Fantasy Live has 300K followers. Me? Just 14. See, the odds are better I will answer your question, so hit me up both via Twitter or via Facebook (if you're RG3). And if you follow me on Sundays, I'll quote "The Wolf" from "Pulp Fiction" and then it's game on! Although, it's tough to catch me on Facebook. Twitter is your go-to." Plus seriously people, I'm not taking your tweets after Midnight. I'm into the #HashtagWars via @Midnight. I've started to mute people who ask me questions at that time.
