Due to business travel, I will be out of the office Thursday and Friday. Since I have some free time today, I'll try to give my rankings and some advice on which Free Agent each team should target. Also, in defense of the current rule that waiver requests are processed on Wednesday, you can request adding a Free Agent at any time during the weekend. For instance, I put in my request for Free Agents on Sunday night. The system will sort out and process everyone's requests early Wednesday morning, but that doesn't mean you have only Tuesday to enter them in.
Now on to this week's rankings. This week, it was very hard to set the top half of the rankings due to injury issues and last week's performances. With a tighter spread among the top teams, one can say anyone in the Top Five can make a claim to be the best team in the league.
1. Vu
We have a new #1! Vu has not gone below 77 points since week 2. Also has the #1 WR and #1 TE in the land. And who can forget the 49-point Drew Brees explosion this past Sunday? Alas, his stay at the top may be short-lived since this week is a killer Bye-week for Vu. As things stand, Vu can't even put up 1, much less 2 WR to start. As such, expect 2 FA pickups for WRs among this group: Crabtree, Malcom Floyd, Amendola, or Steve Johnson. Going to be tough since he's #9 in waiver priority though.
2. Matt
You lose to a 0-7 team, you don't deserve the #1 ranking. Still, I think this team is playoff-bound since it's among the healthiest team in the Caucasian division (Jinx alert!). Aaron Rodgers won't be having any more 77-yard games, Devonta Freeman hasn't scored less than 11 points since winning the starting job, and Dez Bryant may get Tony Romo back soon. Even this week's loss can be viewed in favorable terms when Aaron Rodgers gives you only 4 points and you still manage to score 86. Matt has been tight-fisted with his free agent spending, and the only worthwhile replacement for his deep roster may be getting another DST instead of the Packers to fill in for the Cards this week: Pats vs. Skins or Bengals vs Browns come to mind.
3. Victor
I'm tempted to place my team lower than #3 to reverse-jinx them, but my journalistic integrity precludes that. This team has won 5 in a row, so you could say it's shaken off the stink of an 0-3 start. Since the team has gone with at least 1 Patriot RB, Victor has been 4-0. On the two weeks where Victor has started both Pats RBs, they've combined for a solid 12.0 average per RB. That's good for #8 and #9 among healthy RBs. Since the Pats face the Redskins this week, look for the combo to continue. Victor's WRs have been boom-or-bust, with his best WR at #25 in points per game. Look for Victor to target a WR from the ones cited in Vu's list above.
4. Hai
One point separated Hai from a #1 ranking in his narrow heartbreaker to Donny. Yes, this team has hit a rough patch losing 3 in a row. But Hai has frickin' Tom Brady and the most exciting rookie RB since Adrian Peterson. Hai is still the favorite in matchups based on his consistent point production (only 1 week below 81 points). The 3 losses were more due to bad matchup luck than poor team performance, and expect some regression to the mean for opposing team points. Hai is the strong favorite according to CBS Sports in this week's matchup versus Victor. As such, no real need to pick up Free Agents. Maybe can set slightly better floor with another DST, but that can be a crapshoot. Also kind of hording the TEs, but whatever.
5. Kevin
Would have been higher if not for the crippling blow of losing Leveon Bell and Keenan Allen this past week. Also, like Vu, has severe bye-week issues this coming week. Palmer is out on bye and Andrew Luck faces a Defense that held Aaron Rodgers to 77 yards. Without Bell and Allen, Kevin may not even be the favorite versus a hapless Tuna team that has lost 4 straight. He needs to pick up a RB at the least among DeAngelo Williams, CJ Anderson, Shane Vereen, or CJ Spiller. Good luck with picking up the first 2, I think they'll be gone by the time it gets to Kevin's turn on the waiver wire. I'm not optimistic about Kevin's prospects, but at least he's not as snake-bitten as the next team:
6. Justin
What has Justin done to make the Fantasy Gods curse him? He's losing like one starter each week to season-ending injuries. Two weeks ago, it was Jaamal Charles, last week was Steve Smith. Justin may be forced to play an all-Panthers lineup at this current rate. With so many players on IR, Justin may have to concede and drop one of them for a scrub replacement given his current lack of depth. Unfortunately, he has the #8 spot in waiver priority and won't have too many choices when it comes to his turn this week. Sneaky upside pickup may be RB Kendall Gaskins from SF, as San Fran's RB injury roster resembles Justin's IR list currently. May also have to pick up subs like ATL RB Tevin Coleman or BUF RB Karlos Williams and hopes the starter gets hurt.
7. Donny
Unfortunately for Donny, beating Hai means he'll probably lose out on the DeAngelo Williams sweepstakes to Tuna. Expect another Tuna offer of DeAngelo Williams for Julio Jones, but this time the offer won't be a joke or troll move. Since week 4, Donny has improved his scoring each week, one of two among the league (the other team is Victor but there isn't much room to improve scoring for that team). Due to being in the #3 waiver wire spot, Donny may be able to rectify his curious decision to ditch CJ Anderson, or he can ride the hot hand to pick up TE Jacob Tamme to fill in a bye week hole.
8. PJ
PJ, this team has disappointed on so many levels. On paper, it's a capable team but the management has not put the players in a position to succeed. Having the 2nd-worst manager rating may not be an issue this week, as several key players for PJ are on bye. Faced with having to fill in Marshawn Lynch, PJ may hope CJ Anderson or DeAngelo fall to him at the #4 Waiver wire spot. Bengals or Pats D may also be a better streaming option than his Dolphins@Buffalo.
9. Lily
Despite a 1-6 record, at the end of the day, this team would still be favored over Tuna at this point of the season. Assuming Coach Lily's really poor management efficiency improves. But when she told me that she picks her WR based on the immediately preceding week's performance, that inside-the-box thinking is more Jim Caldwell and less Bill Belichick. There will be at least 2 more weeks of waiver wire #1 priority for Lily, so she has the pick of the litter. But given the dysfunction so far from management, she probably is setting her DST bye week replacement higher than selecting DeAngelo Williams or CJ Anderson. in the waiver wire.
10. Tuna
An early promising start is now in tatters. QB is a severe issue with Tuna's team, as with failures in the under-rated TE/K/DST categories. Now, you have Matt Forte injured for an unknown period and this team will be boom-and-bust depending on the Pittsburgh QB-WR stack. May have to go 3-WR offense, since his WR is somewhat decent. But too many holes right now. At least the #2 waiver wire will be put to good use. Pretty sure he'll get whoever he wants with that selection.
Now on to this week's rankings. This week, it was very hard to set the top half of the rankings due to injury issues and last week's performances. With a tighter spread among the top teams, one can say anyone in the Top Five can make a claim to be the best team in the league.
1. Vu
We have a new #1! Vu has not gone below 77 points since week 2. Also has the #1 WR and #1 TE in the land. And who can forget the 49-point Drew Brees explosion this past Sunday? Alas, his stay at the top may be short-lived since this week is a killer Bye-week for Vu. As things stand, Vu can't even put up 1, much less 2 WR to start. As such, expect 2 FA pickups for WRs among this group: Crabtree, Malcom Floyd, Amendola, or Steve Johnson. Going to be tough since he's #9 in waiver priority though.
2. Matt
You lose to a 0-7 team, you don't deserve the #1 ranking. Still, I think this team is playoff-bound since it's among the healthiest team in the Caucasian division (Jinx alert!). Aaron Rodgers won't be having any more 77-yard games, Devonta Freeman hasn't scored less than 11 points since winning the starting job, and Dez Bryant may get Tony Romo back soon. Even this week's loss can be viewed in favorable terms when Aaron Rodgers gives you only 4 points and you still manage to score 86. Matt has been tight-fisted with his free agent spending, and the only worthwhile replacement for his deep roster may be getting another DST instead of the Packers to fill in for the Cards this week: Pats vs. Skins or Bengals vs Browns come to mind.
3. Victor
I'm tempted to place my team lower than #3 to reverse-jinx them, but my journalistic integrity precludes that. This team has won 5 in a row, so you could say it's shaken off the stink of an 0-3 start. Since the team has gone with at least 1 Patriot RB, Victor has been 4-0. On the two weeks where Victor has started both Pats RBs, they've combined for a solid 12.0 average per RB. That's good for #8 and #9 among healthy RBs. Since the Pats face the Redskins this week, look for the combo to continue. Victor's WRs have been boom-or-bust, with his best WR at #25 in points per game. Look for Victor to target a WR from the ones cited in Vu's list above.
4. Hai
One point separated Hai from a #1 ranking in his narrow heartbreaker to Donny. Yes, this team has hit a rough patch losing 3 in a row. But Hai has frickin' Tom Brady and the most exciting rookie RB since Adrian Peterson. Hai is still the favorite in matchups based on his consistent point production (only 1 week below 81 points). The 3 losses were more due to bad matchup luck than poor team performance, and expect some regression to the mean for opposing team points. Hai is the strong favorite according to CBS Sports in this week's matchup versus Victor. As such, no real need to pick up Free Agents. Maybe can set slightly better floor with another DST, but that can be a crapshoot. Also kind of hording the TEs, but whatever.
5. Kevin
Would have been higher if not for the crippling blow of losing Leveon Bell and Keenan Allen this past week. Also, like Vu, has severe bye-week issues this coming week. Palmer is out on bye and Andrew Luck faces a Defense that held Aaron Rodgers to 77 yards. Without Bell and Allen, Kevin may not even be the favorite versus a hapless Tuna team that has lost 4 straight. He needs to pick up a RB at the least among DeAngelo Williams, CJ Anderson, Shane Vereen, or CJ Spiller. Good luck with picking up the first 2, I think they'll be gone by the time it gets to Kevin's turn on the waiver wire. I'm not optimistic about Kevin's prospects, but at least he's not as snake-bitten as the next team:
6. Justin
What has Justin done to make the Fantasy Gods curse him? He's losing like one starter each week to season-ending injuries. Two weeks ago, it was Jaamal Charles, last week was Steve Smith. Justin may be forced to play an all-Panthers lineup at this current rate. With so many players on IR, Justin may have to concede and drop one of them for a scrub replacement given his current lack of depth. Unfortunately, he has the #8 spot in waiver priority and won't have too many choices when it comes to his turn this week. Sneaky upside pickup may be RB Kendall Gaskins from SF, as San Fran's RB injury roster resembles Justin's IR list currently. May also have to pick up subs like ATL RB Tevin Coleman or BUF RB Karlos Williams and hopes the starter gets hurt.
7. Donny
Unfortunately for Donny, beating Hai means he'll probably lose out on the DeAngelo Williams sweepstakes to Tuna. Expect another Tuna offer of DeAngelo Williams for Julio Jones, but this time the offer won't be a joke or troll move. Since week 4, Donny has improved his scoring each week, one of two among the league (the other team is Victor but there isn't much room to improve scoring for that team). Due to being in the #3 waiver wire spot, Donny may be able to rectify his curious decision to ditch CJ Anderson, or he can ride the hot hand to pick up TE Jacob Tamme to fill in a bye week hole.
8. PJ
PJ, this team has disappointed on so many levels. On paper, it's a capable team but the management has not put the players in a position to succeed. Having the 2nd-worst manager rating may not be an issue this week, as several key players for PJ are on bye. Faced with having to fill in Marshawn Lynch, PJ may hope CJ Anderson or DeAngelo fall to him at the #4 Waiver wire spot. Bengals or Pats D may also be a better streaming option than his Dolphins@Buffalo.
9. Lily
Despite a 1-6 record, at the end of the day, this team would still be favored over Tuna at this point of the season. Assuming Coach Lily's really poor management efficiency improves. But when she told me that she picks her WR based on the immediately preceding week's performance, that inside-the-box thinking is more Jim Caldwell and less Bill Belichick. There will be at least 2 more weeks of waiver wire #1 priority for Lily, so she has the pick of the litter. But given the dysfunction so far from management, she probably is setting her DST bye week replacement higher than selecting DeAngelo Williams or CJ Anderson. in the waiver wire.
10. Tuna
An early promising start is now in tatters. QB is a severe issue with Tuna's team, as with failures in the under-rated TE/K/DST categories. Now, you have Matt Forte injured for an unknown period and this team will be boom-and-bust depending on the Pittsburgh QB-WR stack. May have to go 3-WR offense, since his WR is somewhat decent. But too many holes right now. At least the #2 waiver wire will be put to good use. Pretty sure he'll get whoever he wants with that selection.
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