Fantasy State of the Union: Week 6
With Week 6 in the books, it’s time to see how everyone in the Big Baller Brand League sponsored by Yobagoya fared.
COB vs. Tuna
Well, after calling a victory over Tuna at the end of the article last week, I predictably lost. That’s what I get for talking myself up beforehand. My team looked a lot like how Derek’s has in the past few weeks: 2 guys absolutely kill it and everyone else kind of sucks. For the 2nd week in a row, Melvin Gordon got fed like a workhorse and it paid dividends for the Chargers. The Chargers were 4–2 when giving Gordon 20+ carries last year and 1–6 when they didn’t. This year, they’re 2–0 when they have and 0–4 when they didn’t. He’s also become a receving monster with 15 catches for 125 yards and 3 TDs in the last 2 weeks. I like what this expanded workload could mean going forward.
The other guy who really stepped up for me this week was Larry Fitzgerald, who had 8 catches for 130 yards and 1 TD in the first half. Maybe father time gave him a pass for his supposed swan song season. Hopefully this continues.
Outside of that, I barely got anything. Drew Brees had less than 200 yards for the first time since 2013 despite the fact that the Saints put up 55 points (largely thanks to 193 rushing yards and 3 defensive TDs). That’s a fluke, and so is Mike Thomas’ 3 catch-11 yard dud. Mike Gillislee got put in the doghouse after a late 1st-half fumble, Duke Johnson got some decent yardage on carries but did nothing as far as receiving, Randall Cobb fell victim to an unfortunate injury to Aaron Rodgers, and TY Hilton followed his trend of following up huge weeks with ultra-duds. Looks like I may have to settle for trying to win every other week.
Once again, I also shelved a decent number of points (33.1) on my bench. The only one I would’ve realistically played was LeGarrette Blount over Mike Gillislee, so I can’t use that as an excuse.
On the other hand, Tuna’s team looked pretty solid this week, paced by double digit performances by everyone except Chris Hogan, Jared Cook, and Tarik Cohen (who threw for a TD pass this week?). The only guy who actually had a standout performance wasn’t actually an individual, rather the Texans’ D, who put up 23 against Kevin Hogan and a ridiculously turnover prone Browns offense. But, in the end, he didn’t need any huge performances thanks to the consistency of the majority of his roster across the board. The only concerns here for Tuna have to be Davante Adams, who now has Brett Hundley (3 picks against the Vikings) as his QB, Emmanuel Sanders, who is “week to week” after suffering a bad ankle injury, and Matt Ryan, who didn’t break 250 yards and has throw for 6 TDs and 6 INTs this season and hasn’t thrown a single TD to Julio Jones. Maybe the loss of Kyle Shanahan hurt the Falcons’ offense as much as I originally thought.
Now to the weekly side story: the Jags defense. This week they faced off against Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, and the fearsome (so far) and efficient (for now) Rams offense. They let up 27 points, though 7 of those were on the opening kickoff. While it’s the Jag’s “D/ST” in fantasy, I’m really only concerned with the Defense here, so that one gets a pass. Outside of that, they let up 116 yards to Gurley which wasn’t that bad considering they’re supposed to be the worst run defense in the league, and only 249 yards overall. Only Robert Woods (70 yards) and Cooper Kupp (35 yards) had more than 12 yards receiving. That secondary is real. The front 7 racked up 3 sacks and 7 tackles for loss, while the secondary forced a fumble and nearly had 2 picks. That’s another win for the new Jags D in my book.
Next Week: COB vs. Griff, Tuna vs. Shriver
Shriver vs. Jackson
Well, the “Rise of Wendell’s Smallwood” has officially gone flaccid. Well, last week it was flaccid and now it’s shrinking like a popped balloon. Jackson’s team had one of the more brutal weeks of anyone in the league. To start, he had LeSean McCoy and Andy Dalton, 2 of his 3 top scorers, on bye. Then, the everyone else outside of the Ravens D literally took a shit on the field. To put this week in perspective, only Jackson’s kicker and defense topped 10 points. I actually don’t think I’ve seen that happen before in this league, and yet Derek’s team still managed to score less than this in week 1 (73.3 points, never forget). Unfortunately, it’s not gonna get much better for Jackson this year. On the bright side, at least Wendell Smallwood looks like he’s going to play next week…?
Shriver’s squad looked slightly above average but didn’t have to break a sweat this week to come away with the W. Cam Newton mustered 20+ points despite throwing 3 picks for the 2nd time this year, Jordan Howard looked like the guy who was runner up to Zeke for the rushing title (167 yards rushing on 36 carries), and DeMaryius Thomas looked like he did back in the Peyton Manning days with 10 catches for 133 yards. Going forward, Shriver will have to wonder about his skill position depth with Sammy Watkins racking up only 2 catches for 28 yards in the last 3 games, Gronk sapping Danny Amendola’s catches, Devin Funchess taking a seat behind Kelvin Benjamin and Christian McCaffrey, and Jameis Winston’s possible injury affecting DeSean Jackson’s numbers. All of that on top of the fact that he only has 3 RBs on his roster (Alfred Morris is the 3rd, and may not play if the Judge on Zeke’s appeal decides to take an extended vacation). Should be interesting going forward for Shreeves.
Next Week: Shriver vs. Tuna, Jackson vs. Ben
Plummer vs. Ben
Plummer, are you serious dude? You let this guy beat you this week.
Again, you let THIS GUY beat you.
One more time for emphasis. YOU LET THIS GUY BEAT YOU THIS WEEK.
Not even Ben could believe it happened.
Here’s how I see this loss: there’s always a situation where a group of people are all in on a joke except for the target of the joke. Inside of that group there’s always one person who blows the joke. That was Plummer this week. Plummer’s team blew the joke. Ben’s team was the joke. And Plummer blew it. These are the kinds of losses that earned Plummer the Sacko last season. C’mon man.
Well, now that we’re done with that, let’s look at how this debacle unfolded. This actually wasn’t so much about Plummer’s team not showing up as it was about Ben’s team actually putting together a really solid week. Outside of Ameer Abdullah, Tyreek Hill, Allen Hurns, and Jamison Crowder’s sub 6 point performances, Ben’s squad strung together a pretty great week, led by Le’Veon Bell’s 32 carry, 179 yard, 1 TD performance. He really needed to put up numbers like that after calling for the Steelers to return to their smash mouth, run first roots. On top of that, he got solid performances out Carson Palmer, Jarvis Landry, the Giants D (???), Graham Gano, and Zach Ertz (the number 1 TE in fantasy — Go Birds?). Can Ben continue to put up numbers like this week in and week out? I’m beginning to think it’s possible with the way Bell and Ertz are playing. Maybe Ben can crawl his way out of the cellar afterall? I hope not.
Plummer’s squad, like I said before, actually didn’t do that badly this week, especially considering Zeke and Joe Mixon were on bye. He got solid games out of Kareem Hunt, Samaje Perine, Mike Evans, Michael Crabtree (newly acquired in exhange for Phillip Rivers), Evan Engram, Marvin Jones, and Austin Sefarian-Jenkins. Speaking of ASJ, what the hell was that fumble for a touchback? It clearly looked like he regained posession before hitting the pylon. That had to have been the most confusing replay decision I’ve ever seen (outside of the Touchception). The nail in the coffin for Plummer was his QB play. Derek Carr has continued to struggle like crazy and Brian Hoyer got benched in favor of CJ Betheard. Going forward, Plummer got good news that Zeke will be able to play for the next week or two, but he has to be concerned about Kareem Hunt’s shrinking production (especially the lack of TDs since Week 3), his QBs, and whether Zeke will be suspended for the end of the season or not. If I’m Plummer, I’d be a little regretful of swapping Rivers for Crabtree. I don’t think Goff, Hoyer, or Carr will be able to put up the numbers he’s looking for.
Next Week: Ben vs. Jackson, Plummer vs. Colin
Aaron vs. Colin
So, about trashing Aaron’s team for the first few weeks…I might have been wrong. Carson Wentz has been fantastic the past few weeks, Christian McCaffrey may only have 15 rushing yards in his last 2 weeks but has out up double digits both weeks, Doug Martin has taken back the starting role in Tampa, and the combination of DeShaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins has become one of the best connections in the league. Some of his other guys (Travis Kelce, Keenan Allen, Cooper Kupp) didn’t follow through, but they were floated by a Rams D/ST that racked up 5 sacks, 1 INT, and a kick return TD on the opening kickoff. This is a team that looks like it can continue to at least stay in playoff contention until David Johnson returns, at which point this team could be pretty scary. Don’t let Aaron know that I said that, though. He already barely fits in the room next to his own ego.
Colin’s team turned in a dud this week with AJ Green on bye. Jeremy Maclin dropped a goose egg and only Phillip Rivers, Trevor Siemian, Jay Ajayi, and Leonard Fournette put up double digits. Fournette has undoubtably been the bright spot on this team, scoring a TD and putting up double digit points in every game, including 2 games in a row with 75+ yard TD runs. He did, though, injure his ankle late, conjuring up memories (nightmares) of his final season at LSU. Going forward, Colin really needs his team to get healthy. Every week, there’s immense speculation about whether Luck will be back the next week or if he’ll be back at all. Can Stefon Diggs come back and take back his role as the #1 guy or has Adam Thielen taken that on for good? Colin had better hope both of them return to their expected roles if he’s going to avoid weeks like this in the future.
Next week: Colin vs. Plummer, Aaron vs. Derek
Thomas vs. Griff
Not that this had any bearing on the outcome of this one, but I called it earlier this week when I said that Griff dropping ASJ for a defense (that he ended up dropping anyway) after calling ASJ a Top 10 tight end was a bad call. I may be 2–4 and managing a worse performing team but I got that one right! Told you so. There we go, it’s done, I said it. Wow do I feel better about myself now.
What did affect the outcome of this game, and likely the rest of Griff’s season, was Aaron Rodgers going down with a broken collarbone. Not only does that mean Griff lost his #1 QB, but it also means Jordy Nelson’s value takes a huge hit. Sure, Jordy is still one of the best WRs in the league, but his production was largely due to a nearly telepathic relationship with A-Rod. There wasn’t much to like about Griff’s showing this week, but the bright spots going forward have to be Alvin Kamara’s increased workload, Jerick McKinnon’s continued success in the Vikings’ offense, and Kelvin Benjamin’s rekindled relationship with Cam Newton. Unless Griff makes some big moves, though, the loss of Rodgers could spell the end of his playoff hopes. A very scary Sunday indeed for Griff.
In stark contrast to Griff, Thomas’ team could do no wrong this week...other than the goose egg from Andre Ellington and Terrelle Pryor’s continued disappointing season. Outside of that, Thomas’s team popped off. Kirk Cousins and Josh McCown (???) went for 20+, Antonio Brown went for 10 catches, 155 yards, and 1 TD, Gronk snagged 2 TDs of his own, Chris Thompson benefitted from yet another long catch and run, and Adam Thielen cemented himself as #1 receiver in Minnesota. Now, I don’t see McCown continuing to put up numbers like that but I do think Thomas’s squad is one of the teams to beat.
The only bummer for Thomas this week was that the Gators lost to the Aggies 19–17. Poetic justice. Why, you might ask? Because Thomas stole Gig ’em from Texas A&M. This was them letting Thomas know they aren’t going to stand for his catch phrase thievery. Will A&M pursue a legal case against Thomas in the same way they went after the Seahawks for using “the 12th man”? Going on the record saying that won’t happen, but crazier things have happened…?
Next Week: Thomas vs. Costas, Griff vs. COB
Costas vs. Derek
Costas hopped back on the wagon this week, thanks in large part to a lot of healthy food choices, including a trip to one of the worst restaurants on Earth, True Food Kitchen, which Costas described as “feeling like he just ate dirt.” Well, buddy, maybe you should start eating dirt more often. Actually, craving dirt/clay is normal in pregnant women with an iron deficiency (#randomCOBfacts #checkitout). Maybe Costas is not only in it for the long haul in fantasy but also pregnant? That would be wild.
Regardless of my new pregnancy theory, the dirt-centric diet really did wonders for Costas’ fantasy squad, racking up nearly 150 points. Other than the goose egg from Coby Fleener, Costas’ squad went big boy this week, even without Doug Baldwin, Jimmy Graham, and the Seahawks D. Todd Gurley put up great numbers without a TD, Carlos Hyde ran for next to nothing but had 2 TDs, Julio Jones returned to double digits, Golden Tate put up nearly 20 points, Matt Stafford racked up nearly 15 points despite throwing 3 picks, Mark Ingram ran for 114 yards and 2 TDs, and Ben Roethlisberger but up 12 points, but more importantly, didn’t throw 5 picks. Interesting fact, this week saw the most 0 point outputs of any week I’ve ever played in fantasy (discounting weeks where people elected to or forgot to swap out players on bye). Overall, Costas’ team looks good again and will need a lot of weeks like this going forward if he’s going to keep pace with Aaron and Thomas’ squads.
On the other side of the ball was Derek’s team. Good thing he went back to Austin City Limits again this weekend to keep his mind off of his team. He actually did.
Derek got some decent points out of Tom Brady, Blake Bortles, Nelson Agholor, Will Fuller, and Cameron Brate. At the same time, though, he got a combined 2.9 points from CJ Anderson, Willie Snead, and J-Stew. That’s a gut shot considering he sat AP, who racked up 25+ points in the best performance he’s had since the 2015 season. Granted, there was no way Derek could’ve seen that coming so I wouldn’t have expected him to start AP anyway. Going forward, Derek will be starting AP, but should be wary that 25 points are the exception, not the rule. He also should worry about CJ Anderson and Jonathon Stewart. Devontae Booker really ate into CJ’s time as the receiving back. Will that continue? It wouldn’t be the first time it happened (see: mid-season 2016). As far as J-Stew goes, McCaffrey is clearly the guy. Stewart has a much bigger volume as far as carries are concerned, but McCaffrey is getting all the redzone touches when Cam Newton isn’t keeping it himself. Not a good sign for a touchdown-dependent power back. If things keep going badly, one has to wonder which festivals Derek is looking at in the upcoming weeks.
Next Week: Costas vs. Thomas, Derek vs. Aaron
Let’s take a look at the standings. Once again, Costas and Tuna find themselves atop the standings with Aaron and Thomas on the rise and Griff appearing to be poised to drop for the foreseeable future. At the other end of the spectrum, I inched closer to the bottom of the standings and am now just 1 game clear of Jackson, Ben, and Derek. The annoying thing here is that I’m still the 2nd highest scoring team, though I’ve had the most points scored against. I really need more consistency and less boom-or-bust outputs and other people to stop bringing their A-game against me.
That’s all for this week. Tune in next week to see if my team follows it’s recent trend of scoring 170+ every other week (when I’m not scoring 120 or less), if Ben can get another win, if the return of Wendell Smallwood can save Jackson, and if Derek goes to another festival. Until next time, football fans.
