GW Bush League - Week 10 (Part 2) — Protector Of The League

Bud Light n the Dilly Dilly’s: (6-4)

Question 1: Does Dylan have the best WR group in our league? We talked about how Lamone may have the worst, so let’s talk about how Dylan may have the best. Despite the fact Julio is having a down year, he’s still a threat to go off any given week. But what’s a “down year” for Julio? Does 49 catches for 700 yards in 9 games seem bad? Overall he’s on pace for 87 catches and nearly 1,300 yards – not too shabby. Really it’s just the TDs, but those should come (he’s due). Now for #2 – DeAndre Hopkins. We all know the deal – he gets a ton of targets and is matchup proof. He’s currently WR1 so we don’t need to go further here. Next up is Devin Funchess – the Devin Funchess who just went off for 23.7 points. After that we have Devante Adams – the Packers #1 WR who just went off for 17.5. From #1 to #4 I think Dyl has the best WRs.

Question 2: How many touchdowns will Jordan Howard end up with? He’s got 4 on the year, which seems kinda bad (on pace for about 8). The real problem is that he hasn’t scored since Week 4, which seems really bad. The production is there, but the Bears offense is so bad with Trubisky. It’s hard to see Howard ending up with more than 7 or 8 touchdowns when the season is over.

Question 3: Is Evan Engram the rookie of the year? For non-RBs I think he is. The rookie from Ole Miss is currently TE4 and has 40 catches for 442 yards and 5 TDs. He’s projected to finish with more than 70 catches, 700 yards and 9 TDs when it’s all said and done. Those are insane stats for any TE, nevermind a rookie. With Deshaun Watson out of the running, I think Engram will be the rookie of the year when we finish the season – again, excluding RBs.

WHAT IF HE SHOT ME IN THE FACE? (6-4)

Question 1: Is Melvin Gordon a good football player? That sounds like a ridiculous question because he’s currently RB5, but I don’t think it’s that ridiculous. He’s recorded 147 carries on the year for just 550 yards – that’s not even 3.8 yards per carry. He’s also only averaging 7 yards per catch, which is really low. He’s wildly inefficient and if you took out the high TD total (8 so far), he’d be pretty brutal. To make matters worse, Austin Ekeler seems to be outperforming him. I just don’t know if Gordon is actually good, or if it’s just the volume.

Question 2: Will I ever figure out my flex spot? In 10 games I’ve used 7 different players in that spot. SEVEN!!! Dalvin Cook, Tarik Cohen, Devante Parker, Robert Kelley, Chris Ivory and Aaron Jones just to name a few. Actually that’s all of them. I just can’t seem to figure it out and it’s killing me. This week I’ll be using my 8th different flex guy unless I decide to start Devante Parker. Fuckin whackamole over here.

Question 3: Is Cam Newton for real? I’ve had a ton of trouble trusting him this season and I just can't get comfortable with him as my QB1. Maybe it’s his obnoxious attitude, maybe it’s his terrible outfits. More likely it’s because he’s had 5 games with 15 or fewer points and has thrown 11 picks already this year (on pace for 18). I’ve been able to trust him lately (60 points combined last two games), but is he really going to help me get to the playoffs? We'll find out after his week 11 bye.

CALEB’S BUKAkE PARTY: 6-4

Question 1: Is Devonta Freeman sneaky one of the biggest busts in fantasy? He was the 12th player and 7th RB taken in the draft, but is currently RB15. Based on that, he’s kinda been a bust. But is he the biggest bust? Let’s see. While he scored 13 or more points in each of his first four games, he has failed to score 13 in any game since then. While he scored a TD in each of his first four games, he has failed to score a single TD since then. Think about that – since week 4, he hasn’t scored more than 13 points in a game and has been held without a TD – all for the 2nd pick in the 2nd round of our draft. Now he’s dealing with a concussion and will miss Week 11 – likely more time after that too. Slowly but surely Freeman is shaping up to be one of the biggest busts in fantasy this year.

Question 2: Is Tieg even a threat to the title anymore? Over the last month or two, Tieg has taken some serious L’s. He’s lost Devonta Freeman as we saw above. He also lost Jordy Nelson to the Aaron Rodgers injury. That sounds severe, but I’ve never seen a WR lose so much value when losing a QB. DeAndre Hopkins is fine without Deshaun Watson and Diggs/Thielen have been fine without Bradford, yet Jordy has been un-startable. Speaking of Deshaun Watson, Tieg lost him as well. Last but not least – Zeke. Tieg will be without his RB1 until Week 15, which is the semi-finals of our league. If Tieg doesn’t make it to the semis, he won’t be able to use Zeke again. It’ll be interesting to see how this goes.

Question 3: How good will Derek Carr be? As Keetz pointed out last week, I did Tieg a huge favor in that trade. Aaron Jones is a scrub and is out for the year, while Tieg has Carr as his QB1. FML. Obviously things took a crazy turn after that trade (Jones/Deshaun Watson got hurt), but it still sucks. Lesson learned – don’t trade with Tieg.

MIXONS HERE HYDE UR GURLEY: 9-1

Question 1: Does anyone aside from Keetz have a chance to win the title this year? Based on his 9-1 record, it'll be hard to identify any teams. It will be hard, but.....

The first option is Robby D – you can never count out any team that has Leveon. He’s also in second place and has the next best record at 7-3 so it's a natural fit. Robby D has made it to 2 consecutive championship games, so maybe he’s due. The other team that has a chance is Dylan. His RBs, WRs and TEs are stacked and he’s got Stafford at QB. Overall I think those are the only two teams who could challenge Keetz.

Question 2: Can Mike Evans turn it around? I’ll just come out and say it – he’s been disappointing this year (there’s an “I’ll just come out and say it” joke in here somewhere). The 7th overall pick is currently WR23 and averages just 10 points per game. Evans had 27 touchdowns in his first three years, but has just 4 so far this year. He’s also on pace for a career low in yards and catches. Last but not least, Jameis Winston is out for the foreseeable future. The deck is stacked against him, but maybe talent will prevail.

Question 3: Speaking of WR busts, let’s gripe about Keenan Allen. His first four games were great as he scored 12, 16.5, 8.6 and 18.3 points to get things started. In those four games he caught 24 passes for 330 yards and a TD. He was finally healthy and the Chargers offense looked pretty good. Sadly he’s been dog-shit since then. From Week 5 on he’s put up 8.7, 7, 5.6, 8.1, BYE and 7.6 points. He hasn’t scored a TD since week 1 and hasn’t had a game with over 100 yards since Week 4. All in all he’s WR29 behind guys like Tedd Ginn, Will Fuller, JuJu Smith Schuster and Chris Hogan. Yuck.

INTERVIEW: LeveonStuffed Kens TacoBell: 7-3

1. In a sentence or two, tell me how you feel about your team…..

Feel pretty good about the squad. Been an up and down season scoring points but there’s good chemistry and we seem to get timely production out of the inconsistent guys.

2. Now describe your team in 4 words or less.

Great personnel decision making

3. What do you think about Robert Woods? Are you buying into this 2 game surge? He’s actually WR12 now after scoring a combined 56 points the last two weeks.

I’m big on Woody. He’s had a steady season and was averaging close to 5 receptions before I picked him up off waivers. Only difference in last couple weeks is he’s been finding the end zone. The Rams offense is legit and I expect him to be a big part of it going forward.

4. Your team has the fewest points against with about 97 per game. For comparison Kev has nearly 130 against per game. What do you attribute that to?

I don’t want to say fantasy is about luck because I’ve made some big start sit calls and also had a couple waiver pick ups and value picks in the draft. However... 50% of your fantasy success is based on matchups and completely out of your hands.

(Editor’s Note: Totally agree, fantasy is probably somewhere in the range of 50-60% luck. I’d say 50% luck, 30% draft skill and 20% waivers/roster management. I actually run a league at work where we get 1 win or loss for our H2H matchup and 1 win or loss based on points scored. You could go 2-0, 1-1, or 0-2 in any given week. It definitely helps remove some of the “matchup luck” so maybe I’ll bring it to this league as well. Something to consider for next year.)

5. You finished in second place the last two seasons and as far as I’m concerned, you’re definitely a dark horse to win it all this year. Think you can get over the hump?

I said it since day one of the return of my expulsion levied by the Commish back in 2012-2013 - I’m here for the long haul and will make my presence known. Not a ton of parity in the league this year which doesn’t surprise me with all the injuries. My team is hit or miss. I’ve scored 70 pts and then 175pts. Player production can change in the blink of an eye so just trying to build depth. I’ve made a couple trade offers but both were rejected. If my matchups continue to work for me I think i can pull off the title.

(Editor’s Note: Mea culpa for the one year hiatus. At the time I didn’t know how long this league would last or that everyone would move away and we’d need to do online drafts anyways. Mea maxima culpa. Glad we could get it back on track. There is really no parity in this league though – very troublesome.)

6. If not you, then who do you think will win the league when it’s all said and done? Are you buying into the Keetz Hype-Train?

The record doesn’t show much for it but I think Ken has a legitimate shot. Problem is he has to make the playoffs first. RBs are stacked now with Fournette back and WR core is solid. Tried to make a trade with him this week but as usual both parties involved were unrealistic with the value of their players.

(Editor’s Note: Endowment Effect – read up on it, it’s pretty interesting.)

7. Are you in any other leagues? If so, how are those going for you?

I’m one other league, don’t like to spread myself too thin. Tied for first at 7-3 but dropped my last two games. Injuries and suspensions are catching up to me.

8. Who do you think is the next league member to get engaged?

Lamone - key is to lock it up before you fuck it up

(Editor’s Note: That’s 3 votes for Guy, 3 votes for Kev, 2 votes for Keetz, 2 vote for Lamone and 1 vote for Ken. (Cumulative results))

9. Congratulations on baby number two, big news there. How’s everything going on that front? Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?

Thanks buddy. It’s a boy. Couldn’t be more pumped for it. Jmo has a friend for life and I’m one away from a Sunday morning foursome that Jen can never give me shit about.

10. Adding on to the above – are you afraid of having a girl? Personally the thought terrifies me, but does that go away when your wife gets pregnant? (Re: you don’t care as long as the baby is healthy)

Yeah, being the only father in the league it’s important to share my view on the whole reproduction thing. My take on the boy-girl thing is pretty simple. If you lead off with a boy, he will beat down any other kid who mistreats a future daughter. Permission granted. So was I beyond thrilled my first was a boy? Hell yes. Was I just as excited number two was a boy? Yes, but I was a lot more mentally prepared in case it was a girl. Don’t get me wrong, health is key and always takes priority and plus by the time you all start having kids you’ll probably be able to preselect the gender. In that case I would go with boy, boy, girl (must be in that order).

11. Any final thoughts you would like to share with the league? The floor is yours…

Thanks to the Commish for the dedication and consistent entertainment via protector of the league. Love it and still don’t understand how you manage to turn around those write ups so quick every week. Must be billable labor. League for life so any quitters will be shot.

(Editor’s Note: An extra 3 hours at the office per week usually does the trick. And who am I kidding, some of this time is while I’m supposed to be working.)