There have been a lot of injuries early this season. Perhaps that has to do with the lockout, but it appears most of the notable ones are somewhat freakish accidents. Also, the passing game rules now. What the first two weeks have also revealed is that so many teams have fantasy-viable QBs. A top 10 QB averages almost 21 points a game. If you randomly pick from any team in the top 20 passing, you can expect almost 17 points. Reputations mean jack, I see Jason Campbell having 2 good fantasy games averaging 17.5 points while Phil Rivers is only averaging 12.5 and Big Ben a paltry 6.5. Normally, you expect the top twenty RBs to average more than the top twenty WRs. However, that is not the case. A top 20 WR would give you 11.95 points while a RB would only give you 11.63 points. However, WRs are still slightly more volatile in performance according to the stats.
With that in mind, here are these week’s rankings
1. Andrew – The Vic Guru bro-mance continues. That trade for McCoy makes him have the top RB and top QB. No one seems to be able to stop the Patriots passing game.Titanic early season clash with Kevin for Caucasian supremacy. I think both teams will go over 80 points. By the way, I was only off by like 11 yards on Tom Brady’s yardage last week. If only I had the same predictive powers for my QBs.
2. Kevin – I admit I have been wrong discounting Kevin’s team because of Peyton Manning’s absence. He almost got at least 10 points from everyone but the TE. Kevin earned the Manager of the Week award with his call to bench Chris Johnson and start Jahvid Best. He would have lost to Bill by 1 point if he didn’t have the cojones to pull off that maneuver.
3. Tuna - Tuna’s team is looking incredibly versatile. He can go 3-WR with Britt, Jennings, and Maclin. Tuna usually manages to pick a stud WR in the mid-rounds every year. Forte is a consistent back, and Gonzalez has still quite a bit of gas left in the tank despite popular opinion before the season.
4. Hai – Despite the prolific fantasy points from WRs so far, Hai’s team is the only other one of the two teams who can safely play a 3-WR offense based on stats so far. His Detroit D is also in the running for most inspired draft pick this season. However, his Cowboys all have injury issues and Steven Jackson may still be out for another few weeks.
5. Bill – Somewhat the mirror version of Tuna’s team on the Caucasian side. He also has an all-pro QB, can employ somewhat 3 WRs (but not as good as Tuna’s), and has 1 reliable RB in Rice. What hurts Bill is that he’s in the tougher Caucasian division, so wins are tougher to come by than compared to Tuna.
6. PJ – Normally, having 2 of the top 5 RBs means playoffs. Matt Ryan looks to throw the ball more this season as well. But there is a major structural weakness with his current roster. PJ now has depth issues at the WR spot. Only one WR gave him positive points last week, and unfortunately, he can’t start 3 RBs.
7. Donny – Got an upgrade at QB with Cam Newton, but paid a pretty steep price in giving up McCoy. If I had to pick, I’d select Andrew as the winner of that trade. Yeah, you probably are thinking that was due to my man-love with Andrew. However, this was a subtraction by subtraction for Donny. Like I said above, there are a lot of decent QBs available in the free agent pool. Had Donny started Blount last week instead of trying to predict which Charger would get the TDs, he would have beaten Tuna. This trade seemed a bit unnecessary, or at least premature to invest for the future given that his current roster was playoff-capable this season.
8. Lily – Arian Foster so far has had the injury bug, and Lily is still in search of a defensive identity. To Lily’s credit, she has good depth and nailed two bullseye calls in starting Devery Henderson and Fred Jackson last week. Plus, Antonio Gates doesn’t have to play the Patriots again in the regular season.
9. Katy – Live by Mike Vick, die by Mike Vick. Lack of depth in the RB slots coupled with inconsistent WRs means Team Katy will have a hard time overcoming high-performing teams like Tuna’s this coming week.
10. Victor – Two weeks in a row as the bottom-scoring team, now ranks #10 in passing, rushing, and defense. Two weeks in a row a starter gets put on injured reserve. Two weeks in a row Big Ben has been a disappointment. Two weeks in a row of bad fantasy defense. KC and Seattle aren’t the only teams gunning for Andrew Luck next year.
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