Welcome back, everybody, to the Football Guys Daily Update. You give us 10 minutes. We'll give you

everything you need to know to make you the most informed fantasy football player in your league.

I'm Mike Dempsey along with Football Guys own Bob Harris. We're not stopping. It's week 18.

Some people play through week 18. So let's hit the ground running here. Bob, with some news you can

use beginning with Saturday's matchup between the Buccaneers

and the Carolina Panthers. Baker Mayfield limited in practice, Bob. We'll see how this plays out

throughout the course of the week. But these two teams played just a couple of weeks ago.

How much do you look at that result to try to figure out what's going to happen this time around?

You know, I do like to look at it and see if especially if it's that recent, see what's going on. I mean, like Baker Mayfield didn't have a great game, but I've been a little dial back on him maybe more so than others for a little while. And the numbers bear me out. From weeks one through four, Baker was what, quarterback four, he's averaging 20 points a game. But since week five, he's been quarterback 14 on the season, but that doesn't tell the full story. His 15.1 point per game average during that span ranks 21st. I think we're playing Mayfield we haven't seen for a while if we expect him to hit the high end of his range of outcomes. Bryce Young had a good game against Tampa Bay. And he should have. It's a great matchup, but I don't know that I consider him a trustworthy play coming off a 54 yard passing week, right? Just seems hard. Same with all the whiteouts here. I'm playing Ted Rowan McMillan and Mike Evans. Maybe we should be playing Jalen McMillan too. He's coming off a big game. But the running game is a different story for both

teams, and the Buccaneers going with a three-man rotation, kind of muddies the waters, but still playing Irving and still handling the Panthers backfield, as I have been.

Well, the Panthers backfield right now missing Rico Dowdle at practice, although Dave Canal has said it shouldn't hurt his availability.

But Bobby, hasn't Rico had more than 59 rushing yards in a game since week nine? The Bucks held with nine carries for 29 yards in week 16. Should we just be looking for other options this week? I mean, I think if you have them, yes. I mean, I think we should. So, you know, since week 12, let's go back that far. Dowdell is running 34. He's averaging 10 points a game in that span in the five games in that span. Chuba Hubbard running back 41 in that span. I'm not seeing a ton of upside here, right? Especially against the Buccaneers who are fairly tough against the run. So there's something to be said, though, for rolling with players on teams with something on the line. The Panthers and Bucks are on that list. football guy, Jeff Bell, posted this week his team-by-team motivation article.

You should go on the line. The Panthers and Bucks are on that list. Football guy, Jeff Bell, posted this week his team by team motivation article. You should go to the website and check that out. It has everything you need to know about where the team stand there. And he'll be adding his article on player incentives today, I believe. So look for that too. All right. Let's move on. New England Patriots taking on Miami and in order to assure themselves of the number two seed in the East

and a possibility of having the number one seat. They've got to win this week. And they do it in

the wake of a report about Stefan Diggs coming out where he's facing criminal charges due to

an incident with a personal chef that allegedly took place on December 2nd. He's been charged with felony,

strangulation, or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery charges. Diggs denies the

accusation, Bob, but is this going to impact his availability or effectiveness the rest of the

year? Denies the allegations and has made financial offers to resolve the dispute with the alleged victim.

Apparently there was a dispute over money there as well.

So it seems like unlikely, although there is one outcome, like it seems like the Patriots are fine.

They acknowledge in a statement that he has expressed his innocence and they seem to be backing that.

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