Transcription
Let's talk about running backs. You should start or sit in week 15, the first week of the fantasy football playoffs for a lot of us. No more by-weeks. So, most of you outside of some injuries will have your full roster. And we're going to go through every single matchup. Okay? So, 16 matchups in total. 32 teams are in play and we're going to break it down game by game. And there are time codes if you want to jump to a specific one. Check out the description.
All right, let's jump into the first matchup. Thursday Night Football. We got the Falcons at the Bucs. 44 and a half point overunder. This game is actually crucial for the Tampa Bay Bucs because they lost last week to the Saints to stay in that division race. They need to win this game. Uh the Bijan Robinson game last week. I understand why it was a disappointment. Don't forget we are one week removed from a 30-point game with Kirk Cousins under center. So, you're going to continue to put him into your lineups. Bucs are the 12th best matchup for your fantasy running backs. You you start Bijan each and every week even though there could be some disappointments. That's any running back in the league. And Bucky Irving, how about our guy Bucky Irving scoring 15 or more fantasy points in every game since he's come back from that injury. Uh he has been getting consistent opportunities on the ground through the air. Has some receiving touchdowns as well. Had a goal-line touchdown that was taken back as well in recent weeks. Now he gets to play the Falcons, which are the fourth best matchup for your fantasy running backs. So, start both Bucky and Bijan with some confidence. This is a great matchup for Bucky Irving. He could be a league winner. We talked about it in a video this week. He has great matchups across the board. Starting off Thursday Night Football against the Falcons.
All right, that brings us to the start of the Sunday slate of games where we have the Browns at the uh Chicago Bears. Now, Quinn Judkins, full transparency, has been a little disappointing in recent weeks. He has not been heavily involved through the year. He had one catch last week that ended up going for about 60 yards and that was those six points. I only had nine total. I mean, so that was a huge portion of his total fantasy points. The Browns are not an effective run game at this very moment. Chicago Bears are middle of the pack matchup. So, look, you can start Quinn Judkins. If you're in a position where you have better options, maybe you look at that way, but he's my RB20, so I view him as a low-end RB2 this week simply because of the amount of volume that he will get. Uh, however, if the Browns are down in this game, you might have a bad Judkins game, so be aware of that. It's a low overunder, by the way, 39 and a half points. That's the second lowest overunder of the entire week. The Bears are also favored by seven and a half points. So, that all doesn't really work in favor of Quinn Judkins, but again, he is a volume play at this point on a lower level offense.
Now, with the Bears, DeAndre Swift and Khalil Herbert are both getting consistent opportunities. I mean, has really turned into, you know, kind of what we're seeing in Carolina, this two-headed backfield that both guys are going to get plenty of opportunities each and every week. That's how I feel about these guys. DeAndre Swift, Khalil Herbert, they are favorites in this matchup. However, the Browns are a terrible matchup themselves, right? They're a bottom third matchup for your running backs. It's very difficult for a running back to be effective against this defense. Obviously, last week we saw Tony Pollard do his thing. That's more of a rarity than a consistent outcome, but they're fine. Uh, you know, high-end RB3 flex options if you're in desperate need this week. Hopefully, they're up in the game and then they get to kind of establish a run like they did against the Eagles.
Okay, that now brings us to the third matchup of the week. We got the Ravens at the Bengals. Highest uh second highest overunder of the week, by the way, 51 and a half points. The Ravens are favored, but it's only by two and a half points, so it's a very close spread. We are expecting a very close game. And the good news is this matchup in particular is very simple. You start Derrick Henry. Okay, Derrick Henry gets to play the Cincinnati Bengals. The best matchup in fantasy football for your running backs. Their defense is absolutely atrocious. It's the reason they're not winning games even though they're scoring over 30 points because you can run the ball against them and you can absolutely beat their will into submission. Expect Derrick Henry to do that here on Sunday. You've also got Chase Brown who is a clear must-start. Two guys who are top eight in my rankings. Chase Brown second half of the year has been a league winner, a my guy. We've been really concerned about what Samaje Perine might be coming back, but still we're seeing Chase Brown get over 66% of the snaps. Uh, you know, 15, 16, 17, 18 opportunities each and every game. He's a threat on the air and the ground with Joe Burrow back. He is back to his ways of being a consistent running back in your lineups.
Okay, that brings us to the fourth matchup of the week, which is the Cardinals at the Texans. There's not a running back in this matchup to be honest guys that I'm absolutely thrilled to start. It's not a high overunder. 42 and a half points, you know, so you're not, you know, really excited about that. Here's what I will say. If I was going to start any running back in this matchup, it would be Devin Singletary. Obviously, we know that Nick Chubb dealt with an injury last week. I'm not 100% sure if he plays or not, so it might be Dameon Pierce in his place, but either way, this team has committed to giving Devin Singletary the volume. Difficult part is every time Devin Singletary touches the ball, there's a defender straight in his face. All right, it was awesome to see them use him more as a pass catcher against the Kansas City Chiefs. I'm hoping that that trend continues. Here's what's in favor for Devin Singletary. Volume. Okay, he's on a better team. Cardinals are a middle of the pack matchup. That is definitely in favor for him. The Texans are favored by nine and a half points. Those are four things that could end up being the reason why Devin Singletary is a safe play this week. Right. So, I would expect anywhere from, let's say, 9 to 15 fantasy points in this game. He's my RB26, a high-end RB3 flex option. But, of course, uh, if you're starting Devin Singletary, you're probably not a favorite to win your championship, are you?
On the opposite side of things, let's just quickly talk about the Cardinals running back room. It's a really difficult situation to navigate at this point. James Conner and Michael Carter are both are both getting opportunities. However, keep in mind, Keaontay Ingram could be active in this game. If Ingram is active, it makes everything even more confusing. James Conner has been the most consistent fantasy floor and upside. He's been the most consistent touchdown scorer. So, if I'm going to play any of these guys, it's probably James Conner. Now, the reason we are not playing Trey Benson is because I don't expect him to play. There's a legitimate shot that he is ruled out this week, which means he will be ruled out for the rest of the year. There's a legitimate legitimate chance because that 21-day practice window opened and if you don't activate a player before that practice window, then they are not available to come back the entire year. So Trey Benson if he is activated, he would kind of take place of James Conner as my preferred starter. I just believe he would be the early uh first and second down guy, the goal-line opportunity player in this backfield. But honestly, it's not a good matchup against the Texans. So I don't care who's the starter. You you should have low expectations. They should not be locked into your lineup. Uh, the Texans are a terrible matchup. They're not favorites. They're probably not going to be able to establish the run anyway. They're probably going to have to throw to Jacobe Myers. Every reason in the rule book to tell you not to start a Cardinal running back this week. I don't care what their name is.
All right, let's go ahead and jump to the Jets at the Jags. Okay, this is a matchup that is a lot more easy to digest in my humble opinion. 41 and a half point overunder. So, uh, not the highest overunder for sure. Vegas doesn't anticipate a lot of points in this one. However, the Jags are 11 and a half point favorites in this game. It's a spread heavily in favor of Jacksonville. It's in Jacksonville as well. So, that is obviously a great sign for Travis Etienne. He would be my RB15 on the week. The Jets are a top 10 matchup for your fantasy running back since they've lost lost Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner. Obviously, their defense has taken a little bit of a downturn as well. And we're seeing Travis Etienne each and every week. There are Toutin fans out there saying, "Oh, is this the week that Tank Bigsby takes over?" And each and every week, Travis Etienne the week after that says, "No, I'm still the guy here. Let's stop with that nonsense." Okay, Travis Etienne is the guy moving forward. Last week, it doesn't help that Tank Bigsby fumbled the ball twice, by the way. So, I expect Etienne to get a healthy dose of work. He's a safe play, safe floor on a team that's projected to win by double-digit points. With Breece Hall, he's coming off a disappointing game. There's no doubt about it. But he is used on the ground and in the air. There's no other running back. So, it's very much a volume play. Not all that different to Devin Singletary. However, the benefit for Breece Hall is that he has a better offensive line, oddly enough, and he is a very talented player, whereas Devin Singletary is more of a, you know, the best option on the Texans, let's say it that way, right? Okay. So, you can start Breece Hall, you can start Etienne, you can start those guys with some confidence.
All right, let's jump to our next matchup, which is the Chargers at the Chiefs. Now, let's get through the, you know, uh, 43 and a half point overunder. Okay, just so you know, Chiefs are favored by four and a half points. They're at home. They cannot win the division. It's pretty much impossible that they make the playoffs at this point. Let's talk about the Kansas City backfield. I don't personally think that with any of you guys with your playoff lives on the line should be starting a Kansas City Chiefs running back. Okay, between Isiah Pacheco, between Jerick McKinnon, they are starting to really split those opportunities down the middle. You're gonna have to hope one of them gets into the end zone or they're all gonna bust. I don't even feel like that's an opinion. I just feel confident that that is a fact. Of course, you know, anything can happen, right? I mean, let's watch the sweet cream McKinnon has a 30 bomb, right? I mean, that that's possible. But the reality is these guys are touchdown and bust. I don't trust any of them. Pacheco is getting more opportunities, you know, as he's coming back into the fold. Uh Jerick McKinnon is a short yardage guy, so if you're going to start one of them, that's who I prefer. But with your life on the line, there's got to be a better option, guys. There just has to be.
And then as far as Austin Ekeler and Joshua Kelley, firstly, this is a terrible matchup. Okay, it's not a good matchup. It's the second worst matchup for your running backs in fantasy football this year. The Chiefs are really good at stopping the run. Now, Kelley was highly involved on Monday Night Football. In fact, he had more touches than Ekeler. He had more snaps. However, that shouldn't be a surprise as Ekeler is coming back from a very serious injury. I would not be shocked that this is the week where Austin Ekeler gets full participant uh participation in during practices and then that role kind of shifts where Ekeler ends up getting more like the 60-40 split rather than what we saw in Monday Night Football. That is what I'm projecting. But still, regardless, I'm not confident starting any of these names. Most of Kelley's points last week came from a 50-60 yard reception. So, I don't think that's replicable. Austin Ekeler, a lot of his points came from a receiving touchdown. This is a tough matchup. If you're going to start one of them, I'm starting Ekeler. I think he's a more talented player, first round pick. I think I project into this week he gets more of the lion's share as they work him back into the rotation. It's not a good offensive line. It's a terrible defense to go up against. So, I would suggest most of you to look at other options unless they are your best options. And again, I have ranked every running back in this video, so you'll know exactly where I stand.
All right, before we jump into the next matchup, just want to let you guys know we will be live today answering your fantasy football questions. So, if you want any questions, start, sit, or whatever, what whatever the case may be, make sure you check out the link in the pin comment on the vlog site to ask us questions here at Fantasy Land.
Okay, let's jump into the Bills at the Patriots next. This is the third highest overunder of the week at 49 and a half points. The Bills are favored by one and a half points. It's a very close spread, so Vegas anticipates a very close game. I'm excited for this. Honestly, this should be a very good matchup. James Cook coming off a disappointment. Don't let that get you down. Remember, the totality of his year so far has been very impressive. He's my RB11 this week. Start him with confidence even though it's a terrible matchup. All right. It's very difficult to run against the Patriots. There's no doubt about it. But when you have someone named Josh Allen, you have that dual-threat ability, that typically cancels out the matchups. You got to start James Cook in my opinion. It's a terrible matchup. I get it. He's coming off a bad game. But this is the guy that got you into the playoffs. All right, keep it simple, stupid. Say that to ourselves all the time. KISS: start James Cook.
On the opposite side, it is a great matchup for Rhamondre Stevenson. And look, I totally understand where you guys are coming from. There's going to be plenty of people who are commenting, "You're an idiot. Stevenson's going to be heavily involved. There's no way you can put Rhamondre Stevenson as a must-start." I understand if you're saying that. Here's the deal. It's a great matchup. Fifth best matchup for your fantasy running backs. Rhamondre Stevenson and Ezekiel Elliott are going to split opportunities. I agree with you. However, what is 15 touches for Rhamondre Stevenson worth versus what 15 touches for Ezekiel Elliott is worth? In my opinion, if you're telling me Rhamondre Stevenson is going to get 15 touches, which is what we've seen since Stevenson's gotten back, those 15 touches catapult him into being a top 15 option for me in my rankings this week. Because on any single touch, any single touch, Rhamondre Stevenson can house it for a touchdown. Okay, he is an absolute lethal threat. He's not the same as a Bijan Robinson or Jahmyr Gibbs, but he is one step below those guys in the sense of any touch can be a touchdown. Any touch can be 12-plus fantasy points. Okay, so he is a must-start for me. Love the matchup. They are favorites. Um, it's at home. Excuse me. They're not favorites, but it's at home, which is definitely good. And honestly, if you are in a Hail Mary situation, you can't start Ezekiel Elliott. There are worse players out there to put into your lineup. He's going to get opportunities along with Rhamondre Stevenson. It's just he is not the type of guy that on any single touch can win you your week. He needs volume. Rhamondre is not exactly the guy that needs volume. That's why I have so much more confidence in him. Of course, as we know, and sometimes I feel like it's silly I even have to say this, but as we know, there's a reason football isn't played on paper, but I'm telling you guys based off of all the data, analytics, research, everything on paper that we have, I like Rhamondre Stevenson this week. Of course, the players do have to go out there and perform.
Okay, let's jump to the next matchup. We've got the Commanders at the Giants. And this is a gross one when you look at running backs, honestly. Here, here's the deal. 47 and a half point overunder. So, it's it's a nice overunder, honestly. You got two teams that are top three in fantasy points allowed per game when you adjust for schedule. I mean, the Commanders and the Giants, technically, this is great matchups for both of these running back rooms. Here's the hard part, okay, with the Commanders, they're typically down in games. Their defense is not good. They're not able to even be competitive typically, which means they're not able to run the ball effectively. If it's not Jayden Daniels out there this week, if it's Sam Howell, I don't think it really matters who it is. They're probably going to be down in this game needing to throw the ball, which means that Chris Rodriguez might not be that reliable. I mean, go look at Rodriguez's game logs in the last couple weeks and how they've used him. He's been such an effective early-down runner, averaging over five yards per carry in so many games, but the difficult part is they're constantly down in these games and they cannot establish the run. All right, it's like you need a touchdown or it completely ruins your week. So, with everybody with your lives on the line this week, I just don't think you can start Chris Rodriguez.
Now, Tyrone Tracy Jr. in this matchup is the running back that I have ranked the highest. However, we're not 100% sure if he plays at this point because of that hip injury he suffered before their by-week. All reports say that he should play. So, if you're going to play anybody in this matchup, it's probably Tyrone Tracy Jr. for me. He's been the most reliable, the biggest dual threat. Uh now, uh Devin Singletary is a fine play if you're in like a 16, 18, 20-man league, but outside of that, I think you're probably best off to avoid this situation. And I'll be honest with you guys, one of these names is going to have a fantastic day. All right, whichever one of these teams gets up early and is able to establish the run, one of these running backs is going to ball out. There's no doubt about it. I mean, there's a reason these defenses are terrible against running backs, but I cannot predict it. It's too unpredictable, which is why I would say the vast majority of you are better off looking at alternative options.
Okay, let's jump to the Raiders at the uh Eagles, excuse me. Uh, in this matchup, I think things are a lot easier to digest. Zamir White, I know he's been a disappointment as of late. Um, obviously the injury to Jimmy Garoppolo hasn't helped either, but he is a dual-threat guy. He's used on the ground and in the air. You saw the Chargers on Monday Night Football able to establish the run game. Their offensive line is nothing to write home about. So hopefully the Raiders can follow that same script. Eagles are not as difficult to run on as they are to pass on. So that's why I have a little bit of hope for Zamir White. He's my RB18. He's labeled a must-start. I will say uh that's that's really on the edge there of a must-start versus a spot start. So of course look at the rankings for every player and decide, you know, how you would set your lineups based off of my rankings if that's what you'd like to do. Saquon Barkley should have a great game. He's one of my favorite players, one of my starts of the week. There's no doubt about it. The Raiders are the seventh best matchup for your running backs. It's a low overunder, but I'm expecting Saquon to have another great game this week as he starts to bounce back uh towards the end of the year.
Okay, guys, before we jump into the afternoon slate of games, we're going to get there. I just got to let you guys know uh here's the deal. I went to Matt from Fast Draft and I asked the guys at Fast Draft. I said, "Can you guys please give us a playoff tournament weeks 15, 16, and 17? Give me a tournament that I can play with my community in." And they completely followed through on that. By the way, we now have the Rabbit tournament, which is a tournament where you can draft a full team for weeks 15 to 17. And then whoever scores the most points in that span ends up winning a big cash prize. I'm going hard in drafting for the next couple of days. In fact, here was the first team that I drafted before I went and did this video. You can see we got Daniels in round 10. Uh but I love that wide receiver room, man. Bryce, Garrett, Higgins, Evans, Terry, uh, KD, and Lazard. I'm obsessed with what that team could potentially do. It is best ball, so obviously it's like overall scoring. If you guys want to play, have some fun against me in this tournament. Check out the pin comment. Match your deposit up to 50 bucks, by the way, if you sign up using my promo code LAND. Let's have some fun, man. Maybe you didn't get that many teams into the fantasy playoffs this year. Well, I got you. Let's have some fun with Fast Draft.
All right, next matchup we're going to jump into here is the Packers at the Broncos. Again, start of the afternoon slate of games. When I look at this matchup, 41 and a half point overunder. Two pretty good defenses. Definitely not matchups that I would say you're going to go out there and target. The Packers have fallen off a little bit against the run, that's for sure. Javonte Williams has completely turned into the dominant guy for the Denver Broncos. All right. Every time. Uh, he's getting more and more opportunities every week. Excuse me. They're giving him more opportunities through the air on the ground. He is the dominant guy in this backfield now. That's great. He's my RB16. Uh, back-to-back weeks where he has won you the week pretty much. Now, the Packers are a difficult matchup, but they've been much more vulnerable on the ground recently uh rather than the early season status. Now, with Josh Jacobs, obviously, as long as he's playing, he's in your lineup. He's another one of those lineup locks. Obviously, it's a difficult matchup in week one. The Broncos are one of the uh bottom six matchups for your fantasy running backs this year, but you just can't sit sit Josh Jacobs behind that offensive line in that offense. So, two clear must-starts in this game. Guys that you should have confidence um kind of helping you get to that next round.
All right, let's jump into the Lions at the Rams and another matchup that we should be very excited about for fantasy football purposes. The highest overunder of the week, 53 and a half points. Vegas is anticipating a lot of fantasy points in this matchup. The Rams are favored by five and a half points. Obviously, that is a benefit to names like Kyren Williams, Royce Freeman. Here's the deal. In the last couple of games, the Rams have been up. They've been really dominant. I mean, last week against the Cardinals, there wasn't a single moment where I think any of us thought that the Cardinals were going to win that game. Let's be so for real for a second, right? And that's really benefited Royce Freeman, right? Royce Freeman has been really good in these last couple of weeks. Obviously, there's been a little bit more of an early rotation as well. They're starting to really think about the playoffs and how they can save Kyren Williams. However, in this game in particular, I just believe Kyren Williams is going to be more necessary than he has been in recent weeks. So, I don't think Royce Freeman is going to get as many of those opportunities that you guys are wanting to see. I am going to label Kyren Williams a must-start, but again, he is on that edge. He's an RB17 for me. So, he's not locked and loaded in the top 10 or anything this week, but I think you got to play him.
On the opposite side, of course, you're going to start Jahmyr Gibbs. There's no doubt about it. This man can have five rushing yards and still finish as the RB1. That's how dominant he is through the air as a receiver. So, you got to start him, man. He is basically Christian McCaffrey, young Christian McCaffrey, he's turning into an absolute god. Uh, now look, with Royce Freeman and David Montgomery, you'll notice my RB33 and my RB34. Here's the deal with these guys. How I view it in this game, it's not good matchups. All right, both the Rams and the Lions are terrible defenses to go up against for your fantasy running backs. I view these guys as touchdown or bust. I really do. So, if David Montgomery gets a touchdown, great. You had a you had a decent day in fantasy, you had a safe floor. If Royce Freeman gets a touchdown, great. You had a a decent floor this week. But for most of you guys with your lives on the line, I just don't suggest starting these guys in difficult matchups where it could be a close game where they're maybe not able to use their RB2s as much as they'd like to.
All right, let's jump into the next matchup here. The Panthers at the Saints. Now, it has been a little bit of a pendulum for this Carolina Panthers backfield. It's a little bit difficult to predict from one week to the next. Now, here's the good news. All right, despite it being the second lowest overunder of the week at 39 and a half points, the Panthers are favored by two and a half points and weather should not play a part because it is in New Orleans in a dome. Okay, Chuba Hubbard, Miles Sanders, these guys are both getting enough volume to start each and every week in my opinion. No, they're not must-starts, but they're right there on the edge with the Gentes that we've talked about in the past. Uh I I think you can start these guys with relative confidence. This offense, excuse me, in Carolina is completely built around the run game. If they have it their way, Bryce will throw the ball 20 times and they will have 40 rushing attempts. That is the way that this offense is functioning at this point uh in Carolina. So, I prefer Chuba Hubbard, but it's RB1 versus RB22. Him and Miles Sanders. They're both startable names. I don't think the projections for Sleeper are very fair for Miles Sanders because they don't reflect what has changed for Miles Sanders in the last couple of weeks, but Miles Sanders has looked great. He's finally healthy. Both of them will be important to the offense. Both are startable names, flexible RB2s, low-end RB2s. With Diontae Johnson, I just don't like starting Diontae Johnson in the playoffs. Okay, he got a touchdown last week. That was great. He looked fine. I just don't trust Diontae Johnson. I'm sorry. With my playoff life's on the line, it's not really a matchup that I want to go out there and chase. They're not facing the Commanders or the Bengals or, you know, uh, the Giants. If it was a top-tier matchup, I would have more confidence in Diontae Johnson. But I just with my playoff on the line, surely you have a better option. If not, he's my RB31. So, you can see where your options rank in the rest of the video.
Okay, let's jump to the 13th matchup here where we've got the Colts at the Seahawks. Jonathan Taylor owners, he has carried you to the playoffs and I'm a little bit worried about this offense now. Okay. My concern about the Colts offense coming into the year was do they have a quarterback, you know, a guy that can really be that field general to run the offense. And I'm just not sure what the answer is to that as of right now. Of course, we're hearing reports that Philip Rivers might come in and be the quarterback for them. Honestly, if you own any Indianapolis Colt, I'm saying this from the bottom of my heart, you better be praying that Philip Rivers, the old man, Grandpa Philip Rivers himself, you better hope that he comes out of retirement and signs for this team. I think he probably will. He's got a great opportunity to go out there and play for an organization that he's played for before. That is going to be great news because he's not a mobile quarterback. All right. He's going to be better than whatever they have else on the roster and he's going to dump the ball off to Jonathan Taylor as many times as he possibly can. So, it's not a, you know, a matchup that you necessarily chase for either side here. Middle of the pack against running backs. I am going to start Jonathan Taylor just because he is one of the best talents in the entire league and hopefully uh they're going to be able to adjust without Geno Smith this week.
On the opposite side, Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet. I'm not going to say it's blue balls, but it's like every week there's no consistency in this backfield. Yes, we want to give Kenneth Walker opportunities, but we're not going to let Charbonnet go away. So, Kenneth Walker is not going to get 25-plus touches anytime soon unless Charbonnet gets injured. It's not a matchup that I really want to chase, but Kenneth Walker is my RB24 this week. A very, very, very, very, very low-end RB2 flex desperation play. That's the way you view him. He is one of those guys that any touch he can take to the house. Zach Charbonnet is not that player. He needs volume. He needs goal-line opportunities. So start Taylor here. Everybody else, I'd prefer for you to look for another option unless it's truly your best name in your lineups.
Okay, let's jump to the next name here. The Titans at the 49ers. Now, I know Tony Pollard is coming off a great game, but that is like the only game you can look at this entire year and be proud of if you're a Tony Pollard owner. With your lives on the line, again, I just I would not be suggesting starting a Titans running back. What you saw last week, sure, it could be the start of something great for the Tennessee Titans. Maybe Derrick Henry's going to hit his stride and the run game has figured everything out, or maybe they just faced a terrible uh Cleveland Browns uh team. Now, the Browns defense is actually pretty good. So, that was surprising to see Tony Pollard do that. But again, you got to decide with everything on the line, what names are you willing to trust? What offenses are are you willing to trust based off everything you've seen this year? And for me, based off everything I've seen this year, I prefer to not have a Tony Pollard or Tyjae Spears in my lineup unless I absolutely need to. So, they are ranked as my RB37 and 41. Not even RB3s for me. uh the definition of a Hail Mary at this point. But I will say the matchup is not terrible. Now, this is tied for the largest spread of the week in favor of the 49ers. So, that also really doesn't benefit, you know, these Titans. Yeah, you could run the ball last week, you know, because you were facing a bad defense and the Cleveland Browns. You might not be able to do that this week against CMC, Brock Purdy, George Kittle, and the 49ers. Okay? So, you're probably not going to be able to establish a run as much as you'd want to this week in particular. Obviously, Christian McCaffrey is going straight into your lineups. If you have him, you expect to win the whole damn thing this year. He's been an absolute superstar. Everything you could have hoped, dreamed, or imagined.
All right, let's jump to Sunday Night Football. We've got the Vikings at the Cowboys. Should be a really good matchup. Honestly, I'm excited for this one. 47 and a half point overunder. The Cowboys at home are favored by almost a touchdown by six and a half points. So, we do expect big things from the Cowboys offense this week. CeeDee Lamb, locked and loaded must-start player. We've said this many times this year, but when you have an elite offense and then you attack that elite offense, you attach it with a workhorse receiver in CeeDee Lamb, a guy that's going to get your third downs as well as your goal opportunities. You're going to feed him the rock on early downs. That is when we get a must-start player and that player is CeeDee Lamb. Big expectations in a game that you expect the Cowboys to win at home.
On the opposite side there, Aaron Jones. If you're going to start a Vikings running back, would be the name that I prefer. Now, you're going to see on your screen, it's going to say points allowed sixth and that's going to be green, right? So, you're seeing the Cowboys and technically when you look at these season-long numbers, the Cowboys look like a good matchup for your running back. But, I'm here to tell you that that is probably fooling you a little bit because since this team brought in Quinnen Williams from the Jets, their run defense has been a nightmare. as in it's been really tough to go up against. In the past three or four weeks, excuse me, they are bottom five in rushing yards allowed per game. So, the reason Aaron Jones is not labeled a must-start is because I don't actually think this is that good of a matchup anyway. They're not favorites in this game. They're going to Dallas. Dallas's rush defense has really started to pick it up in recent weeks. But the reason I think he's startable, my RB23, a flexible RB2, low-end RB2, right, is because he's used on the ground and in the air. Um, so that is why you can put him in your lineups. And he's another one of those names where, you know, if he hits a seam, you know, he he can get a touchdown for you. He's one of those names as well.
Okay, we're going to jump into Monday Night Football. All I ask from you guys here is to just hit the like button and subscribe if you found any value in today's video. Uh, show some love to the channel. Uh, but let's jump into Monday Night Football. We've got uh the Dolphins at the Steelers. 42 and a half point overunder. The Steelers are favored by three and a half points. They are currently in the lead of their division, so they need to win every single game. Raheem Mostert, uh, I am ranking him as if he is starting. Okay, I can't confirm that at this time, but I am ranking him as if he will be starting this week. He goes up against the Steelers. It's not a good matchup, but that doesn't matter. You start Raheem Mostert. It doesn't matter who he plays. Raheem Mostert can play the Chiefs, the Texans, you know, and the Chiefs again in the playoffs. And I would tell you to start him every single week because the man can take 99 yards to the house on any touch. He's their number one threat on the ground. He's probably their number one threat through the air at times. He's a dual-threat guy, a freak of nature. You start him every week and you start him with confidence.
Now, in the event that we don't have Raheem Mostert out there, I am going to label Jaylen Wright a risky start, my RB32. So, he would be a low-end RB3. Okay, this is a Hail Mary option at best. Look, because it's Monday Night Football, if you own Raheem Mostert, you might as well pick up Jaylen Wright because you want to have that flexibility in case you need to break glass, you know, with Jaylen Wright. He did get most of the opportunities last week. He scored the touchdown. He looked fine. Uh, but Jaylen Wright, I will worry about far more than Raheem Mostert in a matchup like this because he is not some transcendent talent like Raheem Mostert is.
Now, we're going to talk about the Steelers here to end the video. Jaylen Warren is a spot start for me. He's my RB19. He's the last running back in my list this week that I would kind of be on the edge of a must-start versus a spot start. The reason he's not a must-start for me is simply because the Dolphins defense has been much better in the last four or five weeks against the run defense in particular. Uh, they've been hard to run on. That's just the truth. Not only do you have to take that into mind, you also have to consider the fact that this team is really splitting opportunities between Warren and Najee Harris. I'm at the point now where I feel like if one of these guys gets gets a touchdown, you'd be happy with him. But if they don't get a touchdown, they might end up being the reason you lose your week. So, be really cautious playing these guys. I'm going to start Jaylen Warren because he's been the RB1 for this team for the majority of the year. He's been very good. He's been very effective for fantasy. He's had a safe floor. Uh, and this team is in a must-win scenario. So, I'm hoping that because they're favored at home, Jaylen Warren will have more opportunities than in previous weeks. But guys, I appreciate you watching the video. Do me a favor, hit the like button, show some love, subscribe if you like the content, and I'll see you guys in the next video. I'm going to be bringing out the wide receivers here very soon. So, make sure you are uh subscribed and go check that out. Let's go get a win here in week one of the fantasy football uh playoffs. Love, guys. Draft with me every night this week on the Fast Draft app where there are thousands of dollars to be won weekly. Getting started is easy. Download the Fast Draft app. Use the promo code LAND at signup to get your deposit match up to $50. That's up to 10 free entries on us. And when you finish your first DFS contest, I'll send you my weekly rankings completely free. Check out the link in the pin comment to start drafting today.