The Rams Are Optimistic About Puka Nacua, And My Lineup Won Custody For The Weekend

Degenerates, it is Sunday morning outside Tulsa, and my loyalty and my lineup are in a custody dispute. The hearing concerns Puka Nacua, the best receiver on the Rams' sideline, who is questionable with a calf injury for today's game against my Raiders. The bourbon is mixed with the nearest cola. Court is in session.

Early this morning, Adam Schefter reported that the Rams are optimistic Nacua will play. Nacua was feeling better Saturday, and one source said, "as long as there aren’t any setbacks, we feel good about him being available to play."

Folks, this is a delicate position for a man who has worn silver and black since grade school. If Nacua is active, I am starting him against my own team. The ceiling is the point, and years of Raiders football have prepared me for exactly this kind of Sunday.

How A Thursday Calf Became A Sunday Question

On Thursday, Nacua left practice early with a calf injury, per Schefter, and Sarah Barshop reported he would be listed as limited. Friday morning, Rapoport said Nacua "suffered what is believed to be a minor calf injury."

That afternoon, McVay said Nacua would not practice and would be listed as questionable, per Barshop. The Rams' official account listed him questionable for Week 7 that evening.

McVay said Nacua took part in the majority of Thursday's practice and that there was not one play when the injury occurred, per Barshop. In McVay's words, Nacua "felt it where he wasn't able to have some of the power and full explosion." McVay said Nacua will test it pregame.

Then Sunday morning. On NFL GameDay Kickoff, Rapoport and Mike Garafolo reported that the Rams are confident Nacua will play.

My Raiders have their own Sunday morning question. Fowler reports RB Mike Washington Jr. (foot/back) is a game-time decision against the Rams, and the team needs to see how he feels today. I want both men on the field. I would just like the one in my lineup to have the bigger day.

Exhibits For The Lineup

Your Honor, my lineup has filed its brief. Exhibit A is the Sunday reporting: optimism in Schefter's report and confidence from Rapoport and Garafolo. Exhibit B is the word minor, which Rapoport used Friday morning before the practice news turned.

Exhibit C is Davante Adams. Last Monday, McVay said Adams (hamstring) is out 6-10 weeks, per Garafolo, and the Rams placed him on IR the next day. With Adams out, I believe this passing game runs through Nacua. I will argue it in any courtroom in Oklahoma.

Questionable is the league's word for maybe, and plenty of people spent this morning asking whether a maybe is safe to start. I sold used trucks long enough to respect one. A customer who said maybe stayed on my board until he drove off in somebody else's pickup. Nacua stays in my lineup the same way.

Raiders football taught me to expect the other team's best receiver to have a big day. Fantasy football taught me to start him.

The Evidence My Loyalty Wants Read Aloud

My loyalty gets its own exhibits. I will read them myself. Nacua left practice early Thursday, sat out Friday's practice and is still questionable. A receiver's job runs on power and explosion, and McVay said the calf took some of both. Even Schefter's source attached a condition: no setbacks. And the last word belongs to a pregame test.

Gordy, I respect a dashboard light. That light is why I will watch the pregame test McVay described and keep a fallback ready. But the people who own this truck say it runs, and they have seen the engine.

So here is my call, on the record. Puka Nacua will play Sunday against the Raiders and finish with at least 80 receiving yards. Yes, that means rooting against my own defense for one game. I have done harder things for a lineup, though I cannot remember any of them.

The call stands on those three exhibits. The 80 is my own number, and I will answer for it here either way.

What I Am Doing About It

1. If Nacua is active, he starts for me. The Sunday reporting leans his way, and with Adams on IR he is the ceiling I want in my lineup.
2. I am watching the pregame test McVay described. I want the final word before my lineup locks.
3. I have a fallback ready, and Nacua stays in until the news says otherwise. Benching him early would hand my decision to a Friday tag.
4. In leagues that allow late swaps, I use them. If the final word goes against him, the fallback goes in.
5. In dynasty, I change nothing. A questionable tag earns a lineup decision from me and nothing more.

I am a Raiders fan, folks. I once threw a remote control because Kansas City beat the Raiders. Today I may have to cheer a catch against my own team, so the remote is in a drawer and the bourbon is within reach.