Fantasy Football Advice
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12 min
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Jul 2, 2026
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Thu, July 2, 2026
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Episode Transcript
0:00What's going on, guys? It's Nick here
0:01back with another video. Congrats to
0:03everyone who's made it to their
0:04championship. Can't leave you guys
0:05hanging on championship weekend, but I'm
0:08also not working all day on Christmas.
0:10So, uh, we're going to go over three
0:11Christmas Day games today, and then
0:12probably Friday afternoon, I'll post a
0:14video going over the rest of the games.
0:16So, first up, 100 p.m. Eastern. We're
0:18going to have Cowboys at Commanders 50
0:21and a half point total. Cowboys are
0:23sevenpoint road favorites. for the
0:25Cowboys. Uh they have been eliminated
0:27from the playoffs, but they've said they
0:29want to finish the season strong. They
0:30said they want to avoid a losing record,
0:32and they really want to finish five- one
0:34in the division. So, I think at a bare
0:37minimum, they're going to open the game
0:39uh like they normally would, playing all
0:41their starters, trying to win, and that
0:44any sort of benching, any sort of like
0:45moving to backup players will more so
0:47happen in the fourth quarter and more so
0:50happen if the game gets out of hand. And
0:52realistically, look at the two teams. If
0:54the game gets out of hand, it's going to
0:55be in their favor. They're up by a lot
0:57of points. And if that happens, it's
0:59pretty likely that some of their best
1:01players scored a touchdown, had a lot of
1:03yards. So, I'm honestly not too
1:05concerned about their players. You could
1:07argue it caps upside because if you're
1:09benched in the fourth quarter, that's
1:10not great. Uh, and there's always risk,
1:12right, with these eliminated teams that
1:14even if they say they're going to play
1:15these guys more, that they just rotate
1:17other players in a little bit more. They
1:19did also mention I think it's another
1:21thing to kind of think about in these um
1:23things or uh Christmas Day games is on
1:27the short week the younger players don't
1:30have as much time. So when they want to
1:32integrate some of these younger players
1:33in if they have a full week to prepare
1:36it's a lot easier to do that instead of
1:37just chucking younger players into the
1:39starting lineup and then them
1:41underperforming because they don't have
1:42much time to prepare. So, I think on the
1:44Christmas Day games, it's a little bit
1:45less likely. You have some of these
1:47younger players mixing in more, but can
1:49still happen. Um, makes things a little
1:52bit tricky, but for the most part, um, I
1:54think Dak is a great play as a
1:56quarterback, like seven to nine. Um, I
2:00think you're playing both the wide
2:01receivers. I think the matchup is just
2:02really good. They both have great
2:04involvement. Again, like I said last
2:06week, they want to close the season
2:07strong with Pickkins. Um, CD Lamb didn't
2:10make the Pro Bowl. I'm sure he's going
2:11to be frustrated about that. So, I think
2:13you're playing the wide receivers. I
2:14think you're playing Dak if you've been
2:15using him. The toughest call is with
2:16Javant Williams cuz he's like actively
2:18injured. He's fighting through an
2:20injury. Seems like he's going to play.
2:22Their comments suggest his workload's
2:24going to be normal. Um, I could see if
2:26he's a fringe option, you saying, okay,
2:28combination of injury, of straight up
2:32not playing as well recently, of being
2:34eliminated, all could say, okay, I'll
2:36hold off. I'll put someone else into
2:38that starting spot. But if he's like
2:40clearly Javvant Williams here, clearly
2:42your best running back play at that spot
2:44and you're like, I'd have to play some
2:45scrub in his place, the matchup is
2:47great. He's pretty likely to score a
2:49touchdown, so I'm still totally fine
2:51playing him. And then Ferguson, bench
2:53him. You need extreme volume, and I
2:55don't think he's going to extreme volume
2:56this week. For the Commanders, I would
2:58probably bench everyone. And I know
3:00Dallas defense is a joke, especially
3:03their pass defense, but you're going to
3:05have either Josh Johnson or Jeff
3:07Driscoll likely getting the start. Um,
3:10there's just also no incentive for
3:12Washington to push McLuren, push Debo. I
3:16just think that situation is so much
3:18different than it is for like George
3:20Pickkins. George Pickkins, they really
3:22want to just get him going, avoid all
3:24these conversations in the offseason. No
3:26one's having a conversation the off
3:27seasonason about like Debo Samuel and
3:30Terry McLuren. So, I don't think that's
3:31really a problem. They're also not
3:33trying to develop Josh Johnson or Jeff
3:36Driscoll. Uh their record is also
3:38terrible. So, they're not trying to go
3:39over 500. Like, they're just it's a
3:40different situation. Um I don't think
3:42there's anyone you can trust. If you had
3:45to play Chris Rodriguez as a very low
3:47end running back, too. If you had to
3:49play Terry McLuren as a wide receiver
3:53three, I suppose that's fine. I would
3:55very much prefer not to 4:30 game. Uh
3:58that's going to be Lions at Vikings.
4:01Lower than you would expect for this
4:02game. 43 and a half point total. Lions 7
4:05and 12 point road favorites for the
4:07Lions. Uh they're down to a 2% chance of
4:10making the playoffs, but my guess is
4:13they're still going to go all out,
4:14right? That is still a 2% chance. I
4:16don't think it's in Dan Campbell's DNA
4:18to say, "Oh, you know, that's not much
4:20of a possibility. Let's rest our guys."
4:22So, I think even if they had a 1% a.1%
4:25chance, they're going out there and
4:26they're playing as hard as they can. Uh,
4:28definitely watch the status on Ammon,
4:30though. Like, if he were to sit, if he
4:32were to be limited, it would be injury
4:34related. He hurt his knee at the end of
4:35last game. It's a short week and so just
4:37a little bit more difficult for him to
4:38go out there. Um, assuming that he does
4:41play, start him. Anytime Almond Russ is
4:44in the starting lineup for the Detroit
4:46Lions, he's in your starting lineup in
4:47fantasy. So, start him. uh start Jameson
4:50Williams, start Jamir Gibbs. Again, I
4:52think they're going to go all out in
4:53this game. And then Monty, only my
4:55running back 38 right now. He's
4:57definitely taking more of a back seat. I
4:59highly doubt you made the championship
5:02using him, so don't start this week.
5:04Toughest call is definitely Jared Goff.
5:07I would definitely bench him if Almanra
5:09is out. if he only has J Mo, um Isaac
5:12Tesla, like if these are the only guys
5:14he has, a little bit more difficult for
5:16him to hit the ceiling because you do
5:17still have a very very good uh Vikings
5:20defense on the other side on the road.
5:22It's just it's a tough spot. Um if St.
5:24Brown plays right now, Goff is my
5:26quarterback 16. And like I say a lot of
5:29the time, high variance there, right?
5:31This team can score touchdowns. Uh this
5:33team can have a great day to where he
5:35has 300 passing yards, four touchdowns.
5:38And you're like, how could I have been
5:39shared golf? This team can also score
5:41all their touchdowns on the ground,
5:43right? They can score four touchdowns,
5:44but it's two to Monty, two to Gibbs.
5:46Goff has 200 passing, no touchdowns, and
5:48you're like, why did I play Jared Goff
5:49in this spot? So, high variance there.
5:51It means that if I'm a big-time favorite
5:53and I had two quarterbacks, maybe Jared
5:55Goff isn't the one I want to go towards
5:57because I'd want someone with a higher
5:58floor. If I'm a big-time underdog in the
6:01championship, Goff is someone I'd want
6:03to start because he could have the
6:04possibility of having 300 yards for
6:07touchdowns. But again, if Amanrod does
6:09not play, I probably would not want
6:11Jerry Goff. The Vikings side, McCarthy's
6:14out, he's got like the hairline fracture
6:16in his hand. Um, I would assume Jordan
6:19Mason's also going to be out. They've
6:20basically said they're going to take it
6:21up to kickoff, try and get him able to
6:23play. there's really no incentive for
6:25him to go out there like really banged
6:27up uh and and try to play. Like I don't
6:29know. I just I just don't think he's
6:30going to be playing. Um obviously that's
6:32very good for Aaron Jones. Um does make
6:35you worry a little bit, right? You've
6:37got Max Brosmer starting. You've got uh
6:41if Mason is also out, what is the
6:43incentive here for the Minnesota Vikings
6:46to force feed Aaron Jones 20 to 23
6:50touches? Right. It made a little bit of
6:52sense last week because the injury
6:54happened in game and sometimes we see
6:56teams react like that. It's like, okay,
6:57we thought we had a game plan, starter
7:00goes down or like, you know, they're
7:01kind of like both starters. Um, one of
7:03the starting running backs goes down.
7:05Uh, they still have McCarthy playing
7:07last week, so they want to develop him.
7:08Made sense that they would give a lot of
7:10touches to Aaron Jones, but given that
7:12they can prepare this week and if he's
7:14inactive, elevate another running back,
7:17it makes sense that they would have
7:18other options to give touches to. um
7:20they know Max Brosmer is not the
7:22quarterback of the future of this team
7:24and so they don't need to develop him
7:27with Aaron Jones. So I would just say
7:29proceed with caution with Vikings
7:31players. Um also given the fact that
7:33like the offense will just be worse even
7:35if you knew that Aaron Jones was going
7:36to get 17 18 touches. It is with Max
7:40Bromer at quarterback. And so uh right
7:43now I have Aaron Jones as a running back
7:4424 Justin Jefferson as the wide receiver
7:4720. I think both of those two can
7:49absolutely be in your starting lineup.
7:51Uh again, assuming that Mason is out, if
7:54Mason plays, you're not starting either
7:55one of these running backs. Um I think
7:57it's totally fine doing that. If it is
7:59close between like Jefferson, someone
8:01else, Eron Jones, someone else, there is
8:03just a lot of downside risk on the
8:04Vikings this week. And so I would be
8:06totally fine also benching them. As a
8:09tiebreaker, I would probably bench both
8:11of them. It feels wild to say that you
8:13could bench Justin Jefferson in the
8:15fantasy championship. I will also say
8:17unlikely. You made it to the fantasy
8:19championship because of Justin
8:20Jefferson. He's been he himself has not
8:23been horrible. The situation around him,
8:26the uh efficiency has been down because
8:27of the targets. Uh but the fantasy
8:30production has been really really bad.
8:32And so it's unlikely he got you here.
8:35And if he wasn't one to get you here and
8:37now we have Brazmer starting, I don't
8:39know, maybe don't all of a sudden start
8:41him this week. Uh but again, both can be
8:43played as like low-end twos at their
8:45position.
8:46Then finally, uh, 8:15 game is going to
8:48be Broncos at Chiefs. Very low, 36 and a
8:52half point total, but I don't think the
8:53lowest total in the week. And then
8:55Broncos are 13 and 12 point road
8:58favorites. For the Broncos, uh, they get
9:00the number one seed in the buy if they
9:02win out. So obviously they're going to
9:03be going as hard as they can. Um, while
9:05the Chiefs, you know, they're at their
9:06third gen quarterback. Like this game,
9:08it's not going to be close, right? The
9:10Chiefs are going to get very little
9:11going on offense and Denver knows that.
9:13So, Denver is going to play
9:14conservatively. Uh they're not going to
9:16take big risks. Um they're probably
9:18going to score a lot, but not have as
9:21much volume as you would expect because
9:24they're just they don't have to, right?
9:26They don't have to like keep driving up
9:27and down the field. Um think about like
9:29the 49ers on uh that was the Monday
9:32night game, right? They were awesome on
9:34offense, but you also had the Indie
9:36side, what we thought wasn't going to do
9:38anything or thought wasn't going to be
9:40as good as they were. They kept scoring
9:42touchdowns. And so it forces the 49ers
9:44to keep scoring and scoring and scoring.
9:45That's not really going to be the case
9:46this week. It would be very surprising
9:48if Kansas City went out there and scored
9:5127 points and forced Denver to score
9:53into the 30s. And so you're probably
9:54going to get a second half where
9:56Denver's up. They run the ball. They
9:58play slow. They mix in other players and
10:01they just know that Kansas City's not
10:03going to keep up. It does still result
10:05in a situation where you're probably
10:06going to see three touchdowns, maybe
10:08going to see four touchdowns on Denver.
10:10And so you like their guys, right?
10:11Harvey's a must start. Sutton's a must
10:13start. Phonenix is a really solid
10:15option. Um kind of in the same range as
10:16Dak, but I would say in that quarterback
10:18like 8 to 11 range. Um but I just don't
10:20think you need to go beyond those guys.
10:22Uh Troy Franklin, I don't think Pat
10:24Ryan's going to be playing this week.
10:25And so Troy Franklin viable again as
10:28like a maybe a mid to lowend wide
10:31receiver three. Right now he's my wide
10:32receiver 39. Just kind of in that
10:33general range of not an awful play.
10:36Could score a touchdown. If he doesn't
10:37score a touchdown though, um, you know,
10:39not gonna be that good of a play because
10:41we're not expecting heavy passing volume
10:44in the second half of this game. So, I
10:46would stick to the studs on Denver. Um,
10:48I would definitely, again, I definitely
10:49play Harvey because the game script just
10:51sets up so well there. I really think it
10:53comes down to what you have for Bon
10:54Knicks. And then Sutton is another
10:55player where like if they're going to
10:56score three, four touchdowns, Sutton
10:57probably has one. So, I would play him
10:59as well. Then for the Chiefs, uh, bench
11:01everyone. I think it's Chris um, Olokun
11:05or something like that. I don't even
11:06know how you pronounce it. That's their
11:08third string quarterback. Obviously,
11:10that's not a situation we want to invest
11:12in. Uh the running back situation is
11:13going to be a big rotation. Uh they're
11:15also playing against the Broncos, one of
11:17the best defenses in the NFL. Uh this is
11:19not a situation we want to be starting
11:21players in fantasy. So, uh everyone have
11:23a good Christmas day. Uh definitely
11:25enjoy the games. Um I'll be back on
11:27again probably Friday afternoon. We'll
11:29see exactly when it is to go over the
11:31other 13 games. Talk about everyone will
11:33be starting and sitting in those
11:35matchups. That'll do it for this one
11:36though and thank you all for watching.
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