GW Bush League - Week 12 (Part 1)

Ladies, Gentlemen and Fellow non-Playoff Teams,

Welcome back to the 12th installment of GW Bush Weekly Entertainment. We’ve made it to the final week of the regular season and the playoff field is pretty much set. I’ll have more to say for end of the year write-ups, but this has been a pretty ridiculous season. For now let’s focus on the Week 12 writeups.

Since it’s the final week, I’m going to treat you all to a three part writeup. The first two parts will be as follows: After Week 10 I posed three questions about each team – “answer me these questions three”. This week I’ll go back and look at the answers to those questions. It’s only been 2 weeks, but I think it’ll be interesting to look at.

The third part will look toward the future. I’ll talk about the playoff field and the Week 13 matchups. I’ll also try to forecast the playoff matchups and handicap the field. I will start on the obituaries next week, so this will be the last generic writeup. I hope you’ve enjoyed these, let’s finish strong.  

“Jakey-Jakey” Big Mistakey: (2-10)

Question 1: Has Guy totally given up on this season and accepted the Gabriel?

ANSWER: Since I wrote this, Guy has gone 0-2.

BUT, he hasn’t given up on his team. To his credit, he’s stayed active and has picked up some players here and there. The results haven’t been great, but the effort has been. He even scored 109 this week which is a decent number (would have beat 3 teams). I appreciate the continued hustle even in a down year.

Question 2: Can Golden Tate finish as a top 5 WR? Personally I think he will be a top 5 WR – him and Stafford are cruising right now. 

ANSWER: I was very wrong on this as Tate has dropped to WR17 since then. He’s had two pretty awful games the last 2 weeks, going for 4.7 and 5.4 points. In those games he’s combined for just 7 catches and 39 yards – poo. Those were two bad matchups though and he was not rated highly. While it’s unlikely he’ll finish as a top 5 WR, I think he’ll end up closer to the top 10 than he currently stands.

Question 3: Is this the worst team we’ve ever seen in the GW Bush League? I looked at the Gabriels from the past three years – Frader, Lamone and Keetz. Frader had about 1,500 points last year, Lamone had 1,350 in 2015 and Keetz had 1,196 in 2014. All of those teams outscored Guy’s current pace (1,136 per above), which proves his team is the worst Gabriel team in the last 4 years (if all things hold).

ANSWER: First let’s look at records. Over the last three Gabriels, the worst record has been 2-11 (Keetz in 2014). If Guy loses in Week 13, he would match that. So not the worst record we’ve seen, but it’s down there. Now let’s look at points scored. Through 12 weeks, Guy has 1,061 which is an average of 88 per. If he keeps that up he’d be on pace for 1,149. This would be the lowest of the last 4 Gabriels and Keetz’ came before the Jeremy Hill rule. I hate to be a dick, but this might be the worst team we’ve ever seen.

JacksON Jacks-OFF: 3-9

Question 1: Is Kev the most unlucky fantasy football player of all time? But seriously, the poor guy. He’s got the most points against in our league which sucks on ice – 1297 total through 10 games. You don’t need to read tea leaves to see that his opponents score 130 every single week! That’s also 125 more points than the 2nd highest team.

ANSWER: YES.

Kev continues to lead the league in points against and still has 120 more than the 2nd most team (Guy). He has over FOUR HUNDRED MORE POINTS THAN KEETZ. That is just unfair. While we all generally have stuff to bitch about (other than Bob D), Kev is officially the unluckiest fantasy player of all time.

Question 2: Is this going to be a career year for Jarvis Landry?

ANSWER: Through 11 games Jarvis Landry has 75 catches for 637 yards (bleh) and 6 TDs. In a 16 game season he’s on pace for 109 catches, 930 yards and 8-9 TDs. So how does that compare to his career numbers? The most receptions he’s had in a year are 110 – he’s on pace for that. The most yards he’s had is 1,157 – he’s on pace to fall short of that. The most TDs he’s ever had are 5 – he’s already beat that. All in all I’d say he’s having a career year mainly because of the TDs. If he gets 2-3 more TDS then his season would look reallllyyyy good.

Question 3: Can Kev win any more games this year? He’s seemingly at rock bottom and has to be pretty down on his team right now.

ANSWER: Yes he can, Kev actually came close to going 2-0 since this recap. He put up 124 in Week 11 but lost, before putting up 157 in Week 12 (victory over Guy). If you flip those scores – 157 in Week 11 and 124 in Week 12 – he would have gone 2-0. Now he goes on to face the 11-1 Keetz. Can Keetz really go 12-1? I don’t really think so, I say Kev gets the win. BOLD CALL OF THE WEEK!!

THE STAR OF LARRY DAVID JOHNSON: 4-8

Question 1: Will Frader repeat as the Gabriel? Unlikely…….Based on that I have to give this to Frader – he will likely not be the Gabriel twice in a row.

ANSWER: The Gabriel has been canceled due to an excess of hustle. Deal with it

Frader has killed it the last two weeks, going 2-0 and scoring nearly 260 points. He’s also been consistently good, scoring 127 and 131 in those two wins. Not only that, he’s beaten two playoff-bound teams in Tieg and Dylan – both are definitely grudge games too. Next on tap he’s got the Commish. While I’m not in the playoffs right now, it looks like Frader will definitively end my season and finish 5-8. A 5-8 season isn’t great, but I’d be somewhat proud if I was Frader. He took a brutal loss early in the season with David Johnson, but he kept fighting and gained some respect. 

Question 2: Will Russel Wilson finish as QB1 this year? He’s currently sitting there with a total of 239 points on the year, which is 26.6 per game. That’s actually the most of ANY player in our league which is pretty crazy.

ANSWER: Two weeks later and Russel Wilson is still the #1 QB in fantasy. He’s 14 points ahead of TB12 and 29 points ahead of Carson Wentz who are #2 and #3. Everyone who drafted Wilson in 2016 and suffered through his bullshit last year – now’s your time to complain. Over the last two weeks Wilson has scored 35 and 26 points which has helped Frader go 2-0 in the same time frame. Overall I think Wilson will finish as the number 1 QB in fantasy when the year is over. The Seahawks can’t run the ball whatsoever and they have some games on the schedule that look to be competitive – ie favorable game scripts.

Question 3: Will David Johnson play again this year?

ANSWER: Unfortunately no, David Johnson will not play again this season. The Cardinals ruled him out about a week ago and he will not return. That just sucks dix and you gotta pour one out for frader.

The number 1 pick in our draft missed all but 1 game of the season and Frader is missing the playoffs. Imagine if he had DJ and Russel Wilson? We’ll never know, but that team coulda been a real contender.

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

Question 1: Is Melvin Gordon any good? I just don’t know if Gordon is actually good, or if it’s just the volume.

ANSWER: Since Week 10, Gordon has scored 32.5 points in two games (18 and 14.5). He’s still RB5, so why are we wasting our time with this question? He’s good.... right? No. Not really. Like I said before – efficiency is a huge issue. In the two games since Week 10, Gordon has rushed 41 times. Guess how many yards he has? 145…… That’s not even 3.6 yards per carry. If you took away the points per carry, he would have scored 22 points – that changes the narrative a TON. He hasn’t been any better in the passing game, catching 3 passes for 23 yards. Overall while Melvin Gordon is putting up good numbers – he’s just not that good at football.

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.

ANSWER: 

No. I have now used 8 different players in that flex spot – add Vernon Davis to the mix. This past week he got me zero points. LOL. I would have lost even if I started the right guy, but holy shit. Never knew it’d be so hard to fill a flex spot. 

Question 3: Is Cam Newton for real? I’ve had a ton of trouble trusting him this season. Maybe it’s his obnoxious attitude, maybe it’s his terrible outfits.

ANSWER: He had a bye and then had a pretty shitty game in Week 12, so this is up in the air. He put up 17.7 points vs. the Jets which isn’t bad, but more than 10 of those points came on rushing numbers. That’s not something you feel great about heading into the last week of the season. I will probably start Cam Newton this week, but I definitely won’t feel good about it.

CALEB’S BUKAkE PARTY: 6-6

Question 1: Is Devonta Freeman sneaky one of the biggest busts in fantasy?

ANSWER: Yes, I would have to say so. After missing the last three games with a concussion (pussy), Freeman has dropped down to RB21. That isn’t horrible when taken out of context, but there is some serious context that needs to be added. First, he was the 7th RB taken and the 12th player overall. If you were drafted as RB7, then I’d say RB21 is a bust. As the 12th player taken overall, he’s probably lower than #100 overall for points. That’s a horrible ROI. Last but not least, the timing has been abysmal. Freeman sucked ass from weeks 6-9 (not nice) before missing Week 10, 11 and 12. That is crunch time in a fantasy season, not the time you want to be missing your best RB. Overall I think he’ll be looked at as the biggest RB bust in fantasy when it’s all said and done. 

 Question 2: Is Tieg even a threat to the title anymore?

ANSWER: At 6-6 it doesn’t look like it. He’s also lost four games in a row. To top it off, he hit rock bottom this week and put up 70 points. He got doubled up by the presumptive champ Keetz which doesn't bode well. So is he a threat?

He’s gonna make the playoffs, so he has that going for him. He’s also due for some luck as he’s been kicked in the nuts a few times over the past month. Despite how bad it’s been, I have to say yes - he’s still a threat. A low level threat, but a threat nonetheless. You can never count Tieg out until he’s officially eliminated. 

Question 3: How good will Derek Carr be?

ANSWER: Not good whatsoever. Over the past two weeks he’s put up 15 points and 19 points. He’s had two pretty tough matchups vs the Patriots and Broncos, but you still expect more. Overall Carr is QB18 and has been a bust thus far. THAT BEING SAID – he has a really favorable schedule coming up – the terrible Giants, the pathetic Chiefs and the horrible Cowboys. Maybe Carr can turn it around right in time for the playoffs. Knowing Tieg he probably will.