Okay, let’s take a walk back and checkout those completely wrong preseason rankings and ask the one question that matters for each team moving forward?
MY PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
- TRUCK NUTZ (GRIFF)
I thought stud All-Robio players like Newton, Peterson, Johnson and Beckham would crush all of our souls. Right now, only David Johnson is living up to the hype. - WHITE PRIVELEDGE (BOB)
Of the eight players who started for Bob in week one, only Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Miller remain as starters. He’s basically revamped his entire roster and still managed to go 5-2. Impressed, I am. - THE HYPE IS REAL (RICH B)
Just a week ago, Burrier was out of the playoffs and was last in the league in points, as stars like Wilson and Hopkins struggled, as Murray was hurt and Marvin Jones returned to earth. Yet, looking ahead, if either Wilson or Hopkins can get their shit together, Burrier is suddenly a dangerous team thanks to Jay Ajayi. - QUARTER POUNDERS (COLBY)
He’s bounced from unlucky (twice breaking 1,500 and losing) to just plain bad (twice failing to hit 1,000) and the only player who has lived up to the preseason hype has been Mike Evans. - BROWN ‘N SERVIN IT (ERIC)
As Thomas Rawls and Jeremy Langford go, so does this team. Sadly for Eric, those two didn’t go very far, both getting knocked out with injuries, which helps explain Eric’s underwhelming 2-5 record. - FONDLING IS MY FORTE (ROB M)
I pegged Rob for sixth and right now he’s fifth in scoring. Yet, he’s two bad lineup changes away from being 7-0. - THE DICK-TATERS (RICH C)
It’s simple. When I can throw around words like, “greatest backfield ever,” good things are usually going to come your way. - (CARLOS) HYDE THE SALAMI (ROBIO)
Started off hot, but my squad has hit a reality check the last three weeks. I have a favorable schedule down the stretch, but will my receivers ever show up? - CONNER OF BARTH (MATT)
The running game was my concern coming into the season and they proved to be even worse than I predicted. Ameer Abdullah couldn’t stay on the field, Ryan Mathews is average at best, Chris Ivory blows and Arian Foster retired. - TWO (DON)
Who would have guessed it would be a Dallas Cowboy who would save Don’s fantasy career? This team still has holes, but Elliot helps to make those holes seem unimportant. - NO RESPECT (JEFF)
The surprise of the year, as Jeff is sitting pretty at 6-1. He’s got the top quarterback (Brees) an elite back when healthy (McCoy) and one of the better handcuffs paying off (Gordon). - MOLLIPOP (MOLLY)
Right now she’s starting only one player who starts in 80% of CBS’s leagues. That would be T.Y. Hilton. Compare that to someone like Calderon, who has seven (would have eight if Reed is healthy).
QUESTION FOR EACH TEAM
THE DICK-TATERS (RICH C)
CAN CALDERON BE STOPPED?
Maybe not? How’s that for an answer? This past week he finally addressed his QB problem, sending Booker off to land Matt Ryan. Obviously I have some concerns for the Falcons QB, because he has had plenty of great starts to seasons, only to have them fizzle out later, but he’s still a huge upgrade over Bortles.
What I like about this team is the depth. Lose Le’Veon Bell? DeAngelo Williams is waiting on the pine. No more DeMarco Murray? No sweat, Frank Gore can fill-in. Can he do what Murray does? No, but he can make the pain of losing him not feel as bad.
Rich has three solid wide receivers in Green, Benjamin and Baldwin. Jordan Reed will always miss time (he already has), but Hunter Henry is a solid replacement.
Let’s just say, no injury is going to derail Rich’s season.
NO RESPECT (JEFF)
IS IT ALL ABOUT TO COME CRUMBLING DOWN?
Jeff is 6-1 and it’s not a fluke. He’s second in the league in scoring and he’s hit at least 1,495 points five times in seven games. Yet, are there concerns lurking in the distance? Let’s start up top.
Drew Brees is the league’s top quarterback and a monster at home, but he’ll face two of the best pass defenses in his next two home games and like I said before, Brees will be on the road twice when Jeff is in the post-season.
How about those running backs? They’ve been the silver standard (only behind Calderon’s duo), but Jeff should have concerns. LeSean McCoy has a hamstring injury. That’s the kind of injury that can linger. Secondly, take away Melvin Gordon’s eight touchdowns, he hasn’t been very good (averaging only 3.3 yards per carry).
Lastly. those receivers. With Will Fuller starting to look like a rookie, Jeff has real problems at the wideout spots. Willie Snead can’t be trusted. He’s clearly fallen behind Cooks and Thompson as Brees’s favorite target. Sure he’ll occasionally have a nine-catch game, but he hasn’t hit 100 yards since week one. In Washington, DeSean Jackson has slowly disappeared from the Redskin passing game. He also hasn’t seen a 100-yard game since week one. In fact, he has just 130 yards receiving in his last four contests.
FONDLING IS MY FORTE (ROB M)
CAN MASTERSON WIN SOMETHING BESIDES ‘BEST TEAM NAME’?
Rob is 5-2. He probably should be 7-0, but the season really comes down to two people, Matt Forte and Dez Bryant. First, the latter needs to stay on the field and at the very least be a solid WR2. At this point, unless Tony Romo gets his job back, I don’t see Bryant earning WR1 numbers. The Cowboys are running team and Prescott has not shown the desire to force balls. He’s not a gunslinger, instead happy to find his second or third receiver.
Next, will the real Matt Forte please stand up. It appears when he’s fed the ball, he’ll produce. In his three great games, where he has scored 310, 398 and 398, he touched the ball an incredible 93 times (oddly, only once in those three games did he even average 4.0 yards per carry). However, in the four games he’s struggled, he simply doesn’t get the ball. He only had 57 touches in those four contests. So good Forte gets 31 touches her game, bad Forte only gets 14.3.
TWO (DON)
CAN DON FIND A CONSISTENT THREAT AT RB2?
Don’s got a great player in Elliot. He’s got a great quarterback with Luck. Hell, he has two with Stafford. His wide receivers probably won’t hit a lot of home runs, but they’re not going to loss a lot of games either. The tight end has looked a lot better and his kicker is the best. It’s the RB2 spot that always is the X-factor.
So far this season, Matt Jones has filled the role every week, except in week two (Danny Woodhead). There have been two awesome performances when Matt Jones scored 336 and 330 in weeks four and six. The rest of the time, the RB2 spot has delivered only 78.4 points per game, breaking 100 only once. The dude needs a RB.
The problem is, word on the street is that Jones might be losing his job soon. Meanwhile, James White is there and he’s been consistent the last month, but what happens to him when Dion Lewis returns in a couple weeks? Don could always go three-wide with either Golden Tate (who is improving) or Jordan Matthews.
If Mr. Vozzola can fill this hole each week, there is no reason why his winning ways won’t continue.
WHITE PRIVELEDGE (BOB)
CAN BOB REALLY COUNT ON CHRISTINE MICHAEL?
A few weeks back, we saw one of the biggest two-player trades in league history. Bob got the league’s top receiver, Julio Jones, from Neatock. In return, he gave up Todd Gurley. Now prior to the trade, Gurley was really struggling, but he has played better since and was still a solid fourth round keeper next year.
Yet, Bob felt comfortable with that decision because of Christine Michael. During the draft, Bob reached for a pair of handcuffs, including Michael and Derrick “Don’t call me Travis” Henry and the former paid off when Thomas Rawls went down with another injury. Now we’ve heard a ton of great things about the Seahawks back before the season started and now, but has he really been that good?
The fact is, through six games, four completely without Rawls, Michael only has one game where he’s rushed for over 70 yards. Rawls had over 80 yards in five of his six starts last year. If (and that’s a big if) he comes back and is truly healthy, has Michaels really done enough to hold onto that starting spot?
(CARLOS) HYDE THE SALEMI (JEFF)
WILL JAMAAL CHARLES RUIN MY SEASON?
I’ve already talked about how great Spencer Ware has been for me. The Chiefs back has dominated, on pace to produce over 2,000 total yards. I need him. I need him to be as good as he’s been. Yet, he wasn’t meant to be my star. That was Charles, who I took with the second overall pick.
For the first three weeks, the Chiefs kept Charles off the field and over the last three weeks, they’ve barely let him onto it. He has just 12 carries for 40 yards and a score. He’s questionable, has been all season and recently had an MRI done on both knees.
I would love for the team to just shut him down and allow me to ride Ware to the post-season. My biggest fear is that Charles continues to get more touches and they end up splitting all the carries, which would make both of them pretty useless to me.
THE HYPE IS REAL (RICH B)
IS JAY AJAYI THE NEXT LARRY JOHNSON?
Go back to 2005. Griff Coomer is a good team, doing okay things. Yet suddenly, the Chiefs put in Larry Johnson for an injured Priest Holmes and just like that, Griff is your league champion.
Jay Ajayi has been Miami’s starter for two games. He has rushed for 418 yards. He has 1,062 fantasy points in those contests. He’s clearly going to get the ball and based on the Dolphins remaining schedule, there will be few opponents would will be able to stop them. In fact, over the next eight games after his bye (five regular season and three playoffs), Ajayi will only face two defenses that are among the top-14 against the run. Can you say must-start?
TRUCK NUTS (GRIFF)
CAN ANYONE BESIDES DAVID JOHNSON MAKE SOME NOISE?
I’m willing to bet prior to the season starting, at no time did Griff say to himself, “man, I can’t wait to start Alex Smith, Jonathan Stewart, Donte Moncrief, Michael Thomas and Martellus Bennett!”
Yet, that’s where we are at. Peterson is gone, Beckham is on a bye, there is no better option at TE, Crowell has a tough matchup and Cam is being bench at home because of the matchup.
Sure Michael Thomas will have his games, Jonathan Stewart is consistent enough and maybe Moncrief will live up to the preseason hype, but it is hard to see Griff getting too far in life riding David Johnson as he scores 40% of his points each week.
BROWN ‘N SERVIN IT (ERIC)
CAN ERIC FIND GREATNESS?
Eric isn’t a bad team. He’s never scored less than 1,000, which says something. Yet, he’s only broken 1,400 once (when he hit 1,792 against Bob in week five). The simple fact is, he lacks great players. Antonio Brown is the only one who fits the bill and even he’s not doing what he’s done the past few years.
His quarterback. He’s 8th. His running backs? The best one based on stats is Gio Bernard and he’s just 24th. At wide receiver, there’s Brown (third-team All-Robio) and Larry Fitzgerald, who is 10th, although he’s only had one 200-point game in his last five. Coby Fleener is just the 10th best TE, his kicker is the 10th best kicker and you’ll never guess it, but the Chiefs defense is the 10th best defense.
Of course, with the schedule Eric has down the stretch, he doesn’t have to be that great. His final six opponents are a combined 17-25 and ten of those 17 wins are from two teams (Don, Rob M). He faces 2-5 Molly, 1-6 Colby, 2-5 Griff in the next three weeks and then ends the season with 2-5 Matt.
MOLLIPOP (MOLLY)
SHOULD SHE THROW IN THE TOWEL?
Actually, the better question is, can she? Molly’s team was suspect already. Sure she pulled out a couple wins and put up some impressive numbers, but it always had the feel of an overachiever. Now Big Ben is out and Eddie Lacy is gone. She has four running backs on her roster; all split time and they’ve combined for only two 200-point games this season.
Why not start playing for next year? She’s got pieces that are tradable. What she doesn’t have is any good pieces to build upon next year (except Derrick Carr). Yet, can she even pull something like that off. To perform dump trades you have to actually be able to trade and Molly hasn’t traded a player since 2004.
CONNER OF BARTH (MATT)
WILL MATT WIN ANOTHER GAME THIS YEAR?
I’m not going to lie. I should have much more faith in Matt? The man has two championships, one that proved to be one of the greatest teams of all time. He has a solid track record drafting later and finding keepers. He’s not afraid to pull the trigger on a trade. Christ, he came up just one point shy of becoming the third person with three championships. Yet…here we are.
This 2016 is not his year. All his running back picks flopped. His one trade has made him worse. He’s missed out a variety of free agent pick ups that could have made a difference. He’s got $93 in waiver money. By the time he finds someone worth spending it on, it’s going to be all over.
But the question was, will he win another game this year. The answer is…yes. He’ll probably win one more, but beyond that, I don’t see it. Matt’s next five opponents are all playoff teams. His two victories this season came against two teams that are a combined 3-11. He’s o-4 against teams currently in the post-season and he lost to Molly.
QUARTER POUNDERS (COLBY)
CAN COLBY PULL OFF THE GREATEST TURNAROUND IN FANTASY HISTORY?
No 0-6 team has ever made the playoffs, yet after upsetting Griff in week seven, Colby at least got the ball rolling in that right direction. Right now the Pounders got three things going for them.
A) There’s a great divide between the good teams and the bad teams. The top-five squads in 2016 have accounted for 62% of the wins this year. This means we have a lot of bad teams. As of this writing, there are four 2-5 teams (as well as 1-6 Colby), which means there is a current playoff team with just two wins (Griff). So officially, Colby is just one game back of a playoff spot. What this means is, there is a good chance we’ll have our second ever 5-8 playoff team.
B) Points. A few weeks ago, Colby was in the middle of the pack when it comes to points, but he’s fallen off lately and is now last, although the gap isn’t the kind of gap he can’t overcome. Both Molly and Matt are trending down, so he shouldn’t sweat them. The issue will probably be Eric and Griff. Colby trails Eric by 562 points. That’s doable. The problem is Griff, who leads Colby by 805 points.
C) Schedule. I wouldn’t say Colby has the easiest schedule, but it’s manageable. He’s facing 6-1 Jeff this week, but he’s actually the favorite by a solid margin. Then he faces 2-5 Eric next. In weeks nine and ten, he faces two Rob’s, both winning teams, but we’ve struggled lately, going 1-6 over the last three weeks. In week 12, there’s fading Molly. Without a doubt, he’ll need to win four of those five. That would put him at 5-7. However, in week thirteen he’ll take on Calderon. Hey, if you want to be in the playoffs, you’re going to have to upset a playoff team.