The Circle of Trust
November 26, 2025
JJ McCarthy, Vikings
Hopefully he hasn’t been in yours. The season started off terrible for JJ in his first career start against Chicago. And then it didn’t! Once he mounted a 4th quarter comeback and got Minnesota off to a 1-0 start. So, okay, 143 yards. Not great, but we’ll take the two touchdowns and the rushing TD on the ground. The high ankle sprain comes up on the injury report after a poor showing in Atlanta and we don’t see him again until week 9 in Detroit. Miraculously, the Vikings win but somehow JJ has regressed every week since. Granted, his passing numbers have never been great. But with so many injuries, he looks like a guy that’s missed a lot of time for development. And now another injury? As of now, Minnesota is a mess and not just JJ McCarthy, but all of their skill players are OUT of the circle of trust. No, we aren’t telling you to bench Justin Jefferson. But, your expectations have hopefully been adjusted by now and you now are praying for a 10 point game. For QB, I hope you held on to whoever you started in his place during the first IR stint.
David Montgomery, Lions
Oh, David, you’ve delivered us so many big moments over the last two years in Detroit. Everyone always says you’ll be phased out, this is the year it’s going to happen. I think the writing was on the wall once the injury occurred for him last season. Detroit got a taste of what Jahmy Gibbs could do with the full time role and loved what they saw, who wouldn’t? Snap percentages were nearly a 50/50 split in 2024 prior to DMo’s injury but that has changed in a big way this season with Gibbs as high as 73% and 74% the last few weeks. Montgomery was a guarantee for a touchdown a week in this Lions offense. Now, he’s not even guaranteed 5 carries. He’s a high end handcuff and that’s about it. Adjust accordingly. He’s OUT of our circle.
DJ Moore, Bears
DJM is so strange. Once you’ve been burned by him a few weeks, you bench him, then he has a two touchdown performance out of the blue. Moore had an ADP of WR22 and currently sits as WR35 in 1 point PPR leagues. Rome Odunze was so hot to start the year but has cooled off considerably since their week 5 bye. We’ve seen Luther Burden grow into a bit of a larger role but he’s not going to be overtaking Rome or Moore anytime soon. I would still trust DJ as a flex but hopefully you have a more reliable guy on your bench that you can kind of wait and see on. Someone like a John Metchie or Jayden Higgins may be a better play depending on matchup. Especially with the Bears next three games being GB, CLE, GB.
Kyle Monangai, Bears
Staying with the Bears, their 7th round draft pick out of Rutgers has looked dang good when they’ve given him the opportunity. D’Andre Swift missed some time and Monangai literally ran with it. Swift struggled mightily against the Steelers front to the tune of 1.9 YPC on 8 attempts while Monangai received the bigger workload with 12 attempts, 4.0 YPC, AND the score. Monangai also played 54% snaps compared to 45% for Swift. It remains to be seen how this will play out as Swift is more than likely still the more talented back.However, the upcoming schedule can get rough with Green Bay and Cleveland ranked top 5 defensively against the pass and just a little bit worse against the run.
Bucs Offense
Did you see how this team looked without Baker? Yikes. Granted, Teddy B was coming off the bench and was thrown right into the Rams beatdown. But the Bucs offense will be a situation to monitor if this passing game is grounded. Whether it’s Baker Mayfield trying to play through injury to his nonthrowing shoulder or Teddy B stepping out of his commercials and onto the field. The schedule is rather favorable for Bucky and the rushing attack with ARI, NO, ATL as the next three. But we could see that change if Baker’s injury gets worse and misses a week or more – Giving opposing defenses the ability to key in on the Bucs run game. The playmakers are too good for us to be OUT on them, but it’s definitely a situation to monitor. No one is benching Bucky or Egbuka. Just putting that out there now. We’ll take our sub 10 point games and like it.
Emanuel Wilson, Packers
Any manager who has been holding onto Wilson was rewarded greatly when Jacobs missed last week due to his knee injury. Wilson has been slowly stealing playing time away from Jacobs for a solid month now and looked productive in his main role with 125 total yards and 2 scores. Additional playing time could have been provided in those earlier weeks due to Jacobs and his calf issue, but I’d imagine he’ll still receive decent run moving forward even if Jacobs is a full go in week 13 on the short Thanksgiving week. Wilson is a great handcuff and a no doubt start should Jacobs remain limited/questionable. Jacobs is currently pushing to play so it’s a situation to monitor right up until game time. We’ll post all actives/inactives as they’re announced on our X account @Theglgrind!
Keith, Author
Keith runs youth flag football leagues by day, and by night he hosts the podcast and writes articles with the confidence of a man who’s been rushing quarterbacks since dial-up. A longtime flag football DE and lifelong Falcons fan, he’s no stranger to heartbreak and enjoys watching the bears get slaughtered each week. Equal parts coach, critic, and chaos, Keith calls it like he sees it… even if it hurts.
The Goal Line Grind 