WEEK 12 - PART 2
HOW’S HOOTERS? KiTTLES? (6-6):
Giving Thanks: I hate to beat a dead horse, but Lamone should be thankful that Tieg traded him Michael Thomas. The Saints WR is the #1 receiver in our scoring and #19 among all players. He’s #1 among all players who aren’t QBs or RBs. He put up another 23 points last week and now has 23 points or more in 4 straight games. He’s yet to score fewer than 13 points in any game this season.
Handicap: 9-2
Lamone gets 9-2 odds and a 18.18% chance to win the league. That’s a +500 line and would pay out $500 on a $100 bet. Regardless of what I think of the Michael Thomas trade, Lamone has an awesome team. He has the best top-4 WR group in the league with Thomas, Godwin, Julian and Odell Beckham. His WRs are so good that Odell is on his bench. He also has George Kittle and Drew Brees who are top 5 QB/TEs. His RBs are a little weak, but have gotten the job done recently.
Return of The Mack (7-5):
Giving Thanks: Frader should give thanks to Ezekiel Elliott for his holdout. If not for the holdout, Zeke would have been long gone when Frader picked at #6 overall. Robby D would have taken him at #4 and Frader might have ended up with David Johnson or Leveon Bell as his RB1. Rather than ending up with the #29 (Johnson), or #12 (Bell) RB, he ended up with the #5 RB in Zeke. You could argue he would have taken Michael Thomas instead, but coulda shoulda woulda. Frader will enjoy watching Zeke on Turkey Day this year.
Handicap: 7-2
Frader has 7-2 odds with a 22.22% chance of taking the throne. That’s a +350 line and would pay out $350 on a $100 bet. While the Marlon Mack injury hurts, he still has Zeke and Phillip Lindsay who are above average at RB. Tyler Lockett and DJ Moore are studs at WR and he has the best TE in football with Travis Kelce. It’s been a rough last few years for Frader, but I think he’s got a good shot.
Daddy’s Little Gurl (8-4):
Giving Thanks: Ken should give thanks to Aaron Jones on Thursday. The 16th RB taken in our draft is RB6 on the year and is 2nd in the entire NFL with 14 TDs in 11 games. He fell to the end of the 3rd round in our draft due to concerns over his health and early season schedule, but he proved the doubters wrong and has had a monster season. His production has dipped recently (6.4 points last week), but he’s still a top 8 RB.
Handicap: 9-2
I give Ken 9-2 odds or an 18.18% chance of winning the league. That’s a +450 line and would pay out $450 on a $100 bet. He’s got a really good core group of players with Dak, Gurley, Jones, Tyreek and Thielen along with two solid tight ends. When he gets one of those big touchdown weeks from Gurley or Jones, or a 40 point week from Dak, he’s really hard to beat. Injuries are the only concern here as Tyreek, Thielen and Evan Engram are all banged up right now. Still, I think they’ll be ready in time for the playoffs and Ken will be a big threat.
Butt Kicker Dot Com (8-4):
Giving Thanks: Keetz should be thankful for Mark Ingram. Ingram was the 22nd RB taken on Draft Day and went with the 5th pick of the 5th round. He’s currently RB8 in our scoring with nearly 1,000 total yards and 12 total TDs in 11 games. He plays on the best offense in football and is coming off a 30 point outburst against the Rams and Aaron Donald. Keetz went with the zero-RB strategy in our draft and Ingram is a big reason why its worked out so well.
Handicap: 16-5
I’ll give Keetz 16-5 odds with a 23.81% chance of winning it all. That’s a +320 line and would pay out $320 on a $100 bet. For those of you keeping track, that’s the highest chance to win the league of any team. He’s got the best WR duo in the league with Julio/Hopkins and the #2 scoring QB in Russel Wilson. While he doesn’t have the top-line RB that most playoff teams have, the combo of Josh Jacobs, Mark Ingram, Ronald Jones and Devonta Freeman are getting the job done. His TE Mark Andrews is the #3 TE and his kicker is #1 (Butker). He’s also in line for a bye if the season ended today. As of now, Keetz is the odds-on favorite for the GWBL title.
The Permian Panthers (10-2):
Giving Thanks: I am thankful for all of you (awwww). You all know I love this league and we’re currently coming up on the 10th year of its existence. (Next year is year #10.) Year in and year out it’s the most competitive league I’m in and is of course the league I enjoy the most. We have 10 owners who know their shit and (aside from Guy not setting his lineup very often) who really care about fantasy football. It’s been a pleasure to do battle with you men for another season and despite the early season shitshow, I hope we can keep it going next year. (PS: Also thankful for Lamar Jackson because he is a freak. Can’t wait til he scores 10 points in my 2nd round playoff loss.)
Handicap: 0-0
There is a zero percent chance I win the league this year. Everyone else who is playoff eligible has a non-zero chance of winning the league, but not me. We saw it last year - I just can’t have nice things in this league. I had the best team, scored the most points and had the emotional aspect of things on my side. I built the best team this league has ever seen – I would have to score 250 points in Week 13 to beat the total my team had last year. None of it mattered, I still lost in the finals to DBD proving once and for all that I’ll never win. Oh well, at least we know.
