What [Else] To Watch For
We’re all aware that we have the best fantasy football league there is. On a daily basis there is plenty to watch. Sarlo’s rapid odds, weekly recaps, and pick ’em spreads; Falcone’s complaints about other people not doing the things he also doesn’t do; Scott reminding everyone to get their coffee after they’ve finished their coffee. There’s always something.
Heading into the final three weeks of our regular season, we’ve got a three way tie in Division by Proxy and three teams within one game and 60 pts of each other in Donald Trump Supporters. And we still have 8 teams vying for 6 playoff spots. It’s gonna be a fun run to the finish.
Speaking of fun, I want to take a look at some player performances to watch down the stretch. We’ve got both draft picks and side bets to be worried about not just silly playoff berths. I’ll recap the bets first and then move on to the picks.
BETS!
1. Steve Smith 1,000 yd — This is one of my favorite bets that has been made. Abaum was sure that Old Man Smith would continue to dominate despite being 63 years old and coming back from a ruptured Achilles. Sarlo, for reasons only he can tell you, thought otherwise. Smith currently has 417 yards on the year and 7 more games to go. It’s not gonna be easy, but it’s certainly not impossible either. Smith would have to average 83.3 ypg the rest of the way. That’s roughly 23 more ypg than he is currently averaging.
WHAT’S ON THE LINE: If Smith can hit the 1k mark, then Sarlo will pay $10 towards Abaum’s entry fee for next year. If Smith falls short, Sarlo gets to negotiate a trade with Troy and Mike has to keep his filthy trade hatin’ nose out of it.
2. Allen Robinson vs Golden Tate — Sarlo moved his attention to the other Abaum, or as he’s so lovingly referred to by Head, Hbaum. Sarlo has the Golden Tate side of this one, while Troy has Allen Robinson. I think both sides of this bet expected their player to have more points at this point. Robinson finds himself as the WR22 (137.9) and Tate is the WR35 (116.7). This is a tough one to call. Over his past 4 games Tate has averaged 21 ppg which is 5 more than Robinson over the same span. Both players have had their bye, so both have 7 games left. If they both keep up their pace over the past 4 weeks, Tate would end up taking the lead. 20 points isn’t a huge lead so neither side can feel too safe.
WHAT’S ON THE LINE: $30. A nice, straight-up bet. Most fantasy points wins.
3. Carson Wentz Games Played — Carson Wentz seemed to have happy feet during the pre-season. Granted it was a small sample size, seeing as how he broke a rib like two snaps into his career. But that small sample size didn’t scare away Scott. He knew Wentz was reckless and was doomed to a career of run related injuries. Brett, the eternal optimist, said “Nay! This is a fluke! Hell, the kid may be faking it just to get a starting gig.” The logic didn’t make sense, but Brett was sure that he’d play over 13.5 games. Scott, less so.
WHAT’S ON THE LINE: A meal. If Wentz makes it over the 13.5 games played mark, Scott owes Brett some food. If Wentz gets hurt before that point, we’ll all hate Scott and Brett will still have to buy him food.
DRAFT PICK IMPLICATIONS
Now on to the more important part. There are a few player performances that will help determine draft picks. I’ll start with the smallest impact and move to the biggest potential impact.
1.Eddie Lacy — Currently the RB51 and on IR, this one is done. Brett fell victim to the “Falcone Condition,” but thankfully Fat Eddie got hurt and he won’t have to give Falcone anything else.
2. Jason “I Ain’t Dead Yet” Witten — Hallahan traded a fourth rounder to Brett for Witten. If Witten ends up a top-12 TE then than fourth becomes a third. Witten currently sits at TE7. But is only 17 points ahead of the TE13. It’s very likely that Brett is getting a third instead of a fourth, but there’s still a chance!
3. Blake “Garbage Time” Bortles — This is a big one. In what has become two lopsided trades, Hallahan sent a pile of poop to Head for Blake Bortles and what would become David Johnson. Bortles was immediately flipped for two second round picks. One of those picks became Jay Ajayi. The other is the focus of this paragraph. If Bortles finishes a top-12 QB this year that second round pick becomes a first round pick. Bortles is currently sitting right at #12. There are 4 QB behind him within 20 points (Cousins, Taylor, Dalton, Newton). QB 6–12 are separated by less than 20 points, with one of them (Rivers) with a bye week still to come. Looking further up the rankings, Mariota (currently 36 pts ahead of Bortles) and Ryan (80 points) also have bye weeks still to come. The hardest part for Bortles may be keeping his job. But there looks like a pretty solid chance that Mealey is out of his first round pick this year. Hopefully, he keeps leaving players out of his lineup so Hallahan gets a better pick.
