Starts of the Week + Boom Boom Conclusion, The Oppersnap - Fantasy Football Podcast for 1/6

Get that 100% standard protection with head and shoulder scalp shield technology available at walmart.com. News and notes from around the league. All right. Joe Burrow says he does not expect to play in Sunday's regular season finale against the Browns. Yeah, here it is. The Bengals are accepting their standings and they're going to be resting some people. At least Joe Burrow.

Yeah, I mean, we mentioned this yesterday. Once the news came out about Joe Mixon missing this game on the COVID list, if you're down Joe Mixon and Burrow is dealing with an issue, it would be in the best interest of the team to shut it down. And if you're shutting down Joe Burrow and you don't have Joe Mixon, do you really want to give an opportunity for Jamar Chase or T. Higgins to get injured? No, I do not. So, I mean, I assume they'll be active.

They'll be active players. And they very well might get the first snap. But I have a real hard time playing Jamar Chase in this championship week. And that is the most brutal decision of the week so far. I really hope they come out and say that they're just going to bench him because it would give you the freedom as a fantasy manager to go, right. Okay, I'm going to put in this other middle tier option over Joe Burrow because if it's a middle tier option, pinching Jamar Chase has not worked ever.

So, man, hopefully more news to come out, but be afraid of the, and even if he's not benched, he obviously has a backup quarterback. Yes, so stay tuned in for that one. Kirk Cousins was activated from the COVID list. He will start. Also, starting will be Justin Fields for the season finale for the Chicago Bears. This is great news for KJ Osborne and Darnell Mooney. Did that Justin Fields part? Justin Fields for.

Darnel Mooney and the Kirk Cousins part for KJ Osborne. Oh, I see. I see where you're going. Could this be the budget magician's final trick? That is TBD. What do you put the odds? Like right now. Of Matt Nagy being back? Sub 50%. I'll put it at, let's go 35%. Yeah, I mean, I, you know, a couple weeks ago, it was like.

Right. And now it feels like it's, yeah, 35, 40%. There's a chance he's back, but we'll find out. But I still put it on the doubtful side of things. But Justin Fields, if you are, Justin Fields, look, should be put on your bench. Like if you didn't get Tassum Hill or Trey Lance as options to start and always have a backup quarterback option, this.

this week because of COVID, Justin Fields projects as a higher level streamer because the Minnesota Vikings defense stinks. Yeah, the matchup is great. And remember that the last two times we saw Justin Fields, one of which was against the Minnesota Vikings, both games he was the quarterback 10. So he's been relevant for fantasy, and I agree with you. He should be on your bench. Steelers have placed Deontay Johnson on the reserve COVID-19 list. That's going to be real tough with the timing.

Yeah, I mean, we're already at Thursday now. So when I see people popping up this late, I'm going to assume that they will be out. Yeah, so that's brutal for this week. That's brutal for the Steelers who need to win. Chase Edmonds was a non-participant at Wednesday's practice. James Connor was limited. They've both been, both of the Arizona Cardinals, running backs have been banged up. Just monitor the news there. Do you...

Do you bench, do you stash Eno Benjamin? Like, would you? I don't think I do. No? No. One of these guys will probably be active. I believe so. Braxton Berrios featured on this week's smoke or fire. He was, he's dealing with a quad contusion. Yeah. It did not practice. It's Wednesday, but you got to pay attention to it. Yeah, for sure. A lot of people, I'm sure, picked them up with the idea that he would be started. If he is even limited on Thursday.

I am less likely to play him. Buccaneers running back. Kishon Vaughn, Jason. Yes! Practicing in full. I had not seen this. That is great news. He has a true opportunity. I have not seen the results of the MRI for Ronald Jones, but what I know is that most of the... If you see them, do you know how to diagnose those results? I have not read the analysis of results of his MRI.

But what I do know is that almost always, when a guy gets an MRI, they miss a week. Like, even if it comes back and they're good. It's like, they went and got an MRI, not because they were like, well, maybe. It's a preventative. Like, they're dealing with an issue. And Kishon Vaughn, who should have been the next man up and had the opportunity last week, hurt his ribs. So this is, oh, man. This is interesting not only for this week, but if this is a huge opportunity for Kishon Vaughn to establish.

his position for the running back core for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Leonard Fournett, Ronald Jones are both free agents. Now, I would project personally that Leonard Fournett will come back to the team. I can't imagine he tests free agency and someone throws a huge bag of money at him. So he'll get a fair offer, I think, from the Buccaneers and he'll come back and be the starter. But it could be Leonard Fournette and Kishon Vaughn. Or in a wild wacky world of dynasty football,

maybe they both leave and maybe that third round draft capital that Bruce Ariens and company spent on Kishon Vaughn turns out like it it wouldn't be the craziest thing in the world for a third round player to wait a couple years to wait to have a wait on the bench and then become part of the team in their third year

But you know it would be even better? Because this is a tough matchup this week. Kishon Bonds against Carolina Panthers. Yes. So if he comes out and stinks and they don't have the money for Rojo or Leonard Fournette, come on, Breece Hall, baby. Oh, yeah. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we've started the dipping the toes into the rookie pool. And Jason has the 101. He was able to snag. I traded for it. Yes, that's where I was going to go. I was going to say that you, uh,

You stole the 101 or what turned into the 101 in a trade. This was two years ago. I traded for a first. Thank you, Todd Gurley. And it turned into the 101, which so far I'm liking my Breece's pieces over here. So he has the 101. So he has already been speculating on the top running back option for this year's rookies. And he is already madly in love with the running back from Iowa State, Breece Hall. TBD. We'll see what Jason does.

Moving forward. Antonio Gibson for Washington, he was activated from the COVID list, limited participant. Let's see if he plays. And then the update of COVID, Kevin Coleman, David Johnson, Jared Cook were all activated. And here is a bit of interesting news. We have some reports coming out that Calvin Ridley and the Falcons appear to be on the path to separation. Again, we don't.

This is all early rumor mill stuff because we haven't heard anything from Calvin Ridley. But this is, and honestly, we don't know 100% why he needed to remove himself from the team. But this is an opportunity here for Calvin Ridley. If like you're looking at Dynasty, do you take the shot of trying to.

trade for him right now before the rumor mill he really starts to heat up because once that furnace is going for a player of the caliber of Calvin Ridley then I it would it will be far more difficult to actually trade for them yeah I mean it's just it's always a matter of price um I'm not giving up a first rounder for Calvin Ridley even though he's obviously established you're still that concerned yeah he is worth a first rounder if you know he's playing football he's worth than more than

Yeah, I mean, he's worth a high end first. He's only 27 years old. He's shown that he can dominate. But, you know, if I'm a decent team and I can throw out a second round option for him, I would kick the tires. I doubt you're going to get him, but maybe. Yeah, you're not going to get him for two. So you're saying you wouldn't trade the first for him? I would not currently trade the first because I think that there is a non-zero chance that he never plays football again. Sure. And I like my players to play football. Yeah, it helps your.

It helps your fantasy team. It does. And when my team is helped and they are great and I am a champion, I will commemorate my awesome season. Thank you, Jared Paterson. Yes. Thank you, Kishon Vaughn and Sony Michelle and Rashad Penny, the four running backs we rode. That's our four horsemen. Yes, our four horsemen who were in our starting lineup for the championship game and we won. Thank you to those guys to commemorate what you did on the field.

We will be going, and we have already gone to Fantasychamps.com. Fantasychamps.com has all the trophies that you need. The championship belts, the swag, the championship rings, the display cases, everything you need to commemorate your awesome season. Congratulations, you did it. Make sure you get it at Fantasychamps.com. I'm going to throw out two codes here. Because you can use the code ballers. Sure. And you get 10% off your order. But right now they also have a deal where if you get any trophy or any championship belt,

You can add one of their $59 rings to your cart and use the promo code free ring and you will get that $60 NFL stunner or the bling ring for absolutely free. And those are genuinely my favorite thing on their size. The rings are awesome. You can't use both codes. That's not how. That's true. You cannot use both. You've got to either or this situation. Yes. But yeah, do that. Go to fantasychamps.com. The only place to get your.

commemorative sports memorabilia championship gear. Fantasy forecast. All righty, let's kick this off. There are some games on Saturday, ladies and gentlemen, so pay attention to that. The Kansas City Chiefs at 11 and 5 will be taking on the Denver Broncos 7 and 9. They will be trying to play a little bit of a spoiler. The DK Sportsbook line has Kansas City favored by 10 and a half points. The over under sitting at 45.

That gives Casey a healthy, implied team total of nearly 28 points. Are there any real big question marks from this matchup? Not really. This is a straightforward situation. I would assume that Jerry, Judy, and Tim Patrick would be back off the COVID list since they missed last week. They are not yet. I would not go dip my toes in the Noah fan.

River that was so successful last week. He dominated last week. He did in five career games against Kansas City. He averages three for 38. It should still be Drew Lock at quarterback. So I'm not going. But that was going to be a point I brought up. How many games have we seen Drew Locke now this season? Because it's been at least three. If my memory serves, Kyle, can you vet that for me? But in the past three weeks, no offense has been a top 12, twide, twide,

12, a tight end, two of those three games, including the overall number one this past week. And when we, Noel fan caught off to a pretty hot start last year with Drew Locke. I'm just saying there might be something there of the Drewlock connection. Quick update, guys, those two receivers did get activated yesterday. Okay, there you go. They're back.

So you're but still no. No, especially with Jerry Judy and Tim Patrick back. And also the chiefs have been very good against tight end. You know, the past six weeks, they're top five against the position. So I'm not playing no offense with Jerry Judy back. I'm not playing Cortland Sutton. I'm not playing Tim Patrick. So on the Broncos side of the ball, it's, you know, Giovante Williams and Melvin Gordon.

they've been very disappointing the last two weeks. Yeah. I am still willing to roll with them based on their own talent and the fact that they're not, you know, they're not going to be bad every week. It's difficult to imagine that if you've been writing those guys, though, two weeks in a row that you won and you're still in your championship because it was bad timing for them. So I would imagine that it's the other side of the ball where Tyreeke Hill managers might not be in the championship either because...

He's had three of four bad weeks during the worst time of the year to have bad performances. But you're starting, Kelsey, you're starting Hill. I think the real question is just how high are you on Daryl Williams? If he's the guy, he's been great. Are you starting him over Dalvin Cook? Oh, man. Why go right to the- The kill shot? Yeah, right, the knockout punch. Dalvin Cook is very difficult to gauge at this point.

I would say the news that they're starting Kirk Cousins gives me more optimism that they'll just play a regular game because they could easily shut down Kirk. So I think that Dalvo Cooke will play and play his regular snaps. So I would play him over Darrell Williams. But Williams without Clyde, he's right back in the running back one. The low-end running back one discussion for me.