Last Place Wisdom: Week One - Let's kick things off!
So Week One is in the books and it lived up to whatever hype we might have given to it. 3 close games that came down to Monday night, with the closest game of all being decided on Sunday night. It was an exciting week for scoreboard watchers, which went along to a number of great games in real life, and so to get right down to business let's kick things off like Antonio Brown...
It should go without saying that I am extremely proud to have Brown on my team after seeing that play. John might have some doubt about Antonio Brown's ability to dominate games, but you don't see Megatron or Julio Jones kicking punters in the face.
So I'm going to try and do weekly write ups this year, but will probably change a few things up. A big part of the time commitment last year involved me trying to come up with obscure Arrested Development jokes to include in the blog. I enjoyed making humour a part of my piece, but I'll probably cut back a bit so I'm able to get these written more quickly. I'm also no longer going to be touching on waiver wire adds for the week. Rosters are so deep this year that most of the players worth adding are those you would call sleepers, and to be honest I don't want to tip my hand on who I might be targeting. As well, I have lots of faith in the rest of the managers to make good decisions without any sort of help.
Week one was a nerve racking one for me. Every time I would get a lead, Shayne would come back with a late Maclin TD or a Josh McCown garbage time play. Having Stafford as my QB allowed me to just survive Megatron going off. Overall, I'm happy with my plan to try and get the best 2 QBs in the league, which worked well for me in Week One. Both of my guys did score rushing TDs in Week One, which won't happen every week, but I got the guys I can trust.
My goal is always to try and build my team on a strong running game, and that is looking shaky after Week One. Lacy and Stacy were disappointments, Jennings looked ok, and Robinson and Miller showed promise but seem to be stuck in RB timeshares. Thankfully, my receivers have picked up the slack and I feel fairly loaded at that position.
Being loaded at WR makes watching this a little bit easier. I know I should stop dwelling on something that I missed out on, but watching this makes it so hard:
I'll just have to be content to see my WRs put up consistent 100 yard, 1 TD games while also managing to kick them in the face.
Mr. Manager of the Week Award
For Week One, lineup decisions have more to do with playing the guys you drafted rather than making tough, go-with-your-gut, calls. With that in mind, the award for this week goes to Dawson for his decision to draft Matt Ryan with his 1st round pick. It's too early to say for sure that this was the right call over drafting Marshawn Lynch when looking at the season as a whole, but for now Dawson is 1-0 thanks to Matty Ice, so he deserves props there.
Injuries
Lots of minor injuries, but no major season ruining injuries to any of the stars. Lacy might miss a week with a concussion, but it doesn't sound too serious. Jeffery, Gerhardt, Martin, Cameron and Tate all got a little banged up and will be worth watching going forward. In any case, there is nothing that should have huge ramifications for the situation in the league, so good news on that front.
Random Thoughts
Lots of running backs who had good weeks didn't end up helping anyone because they were sitting on the bench. Of the top 20 RBs in Week One, Moreno, Ivory, Ingram, Miller, Vereen, Sproles and J. Bell were all left on people's bench. It's going to take a few weeks to determine which guys you can trust this year.
Teams (and their players) I like for the year after 1 week: Pittsburgh, Miami, Atlanta, Tennessee, Minnesota, Detroit.
Teams (and their players) I dislike for the year after 1 week: Kansas City, New England, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, San Diego.
I think Curtis makes the playoffs. I like his roster, and his depth. Moreno and Harvin look gooood, to go with a number of other solid pieces.
Week Two Preview
The Keith-glorious Bastards vs Sideliners - I have to figure out what I'm going to do at RB, but my QBs and WRs are looking solid so I feel like I'm in good shape. Steve looks like he's going with Cooks as his flex this week, which will be interesting to watch to see if Cooks can become a true fantasy star or if he will become part of the unpredictable Saints offense.
oh that's nasty vs The Fear Boners - The two biggest risers in the Power Powell rankings face off this week. Dawson needs to find a better flex than Brian Hartline, and he needs to keep an eye on the status of Toby Gerhardt. It's too bad because Gerhardt has a good matchup against Washington this week. John is in tough with Rivers facing Seattle, but luckily Palmer is facing NYG who showed on Monday that they have trouble covering anybody. He has some tough decisions with Ingram and Smith, who had huge games but might not be able to crack his starting lineup.
What are the Chances vs RW Throws a Sexy Deep Ball - Andrew will be pulling out all the stops to avoid going 0-2. He got burned big by Larry Fitzgerald in Week One, and will need to make a decision on his WR2 and flex slot. Curtis should probably avoid Allen and Matthews going up against Seattle, and Tate might be out, but has depth to replace them with Moreno/Ellington and Wayne/Williams. His big decision will come down to his QB. Locker has a great matchup against Dallas, and I would look at giving him the start.
NINERS vs BISP - Stan lost a close one to Dawson, but doesn't really have a lot of roster decisions to make. TY Hilton is boom or bust, and has a great matchup against Philly. Edelman might be the safer play. Mike is already dealing with injury issues, which will determine his lineup. If I'm Mike, I look at getting a QB other than Eli Manning. His one positive coming out of Week One (besides Gronk not getting injured) was that his RBs did reasonably well. Foster, Spiller and Bell all seem startable, it's just the rest of his team that let him down.
Aaron-PRIMETIME-Clapperton vs NFL Owner - Shayne needs to find another RB he can trust besides Murray. Jackson, Richardson and Ridley don't seem to be that guy, Ivory had a good week one but is not a guy to rely on. The good news for Shayne is that Green Bay is not playing Seattle this week. Aaron is looking to go on a roll to start the season. He too has big holes in his RB position, with no clear answers. I can't decide who I would start out of Martin, Thomas, CJ1K, Vereen or Bush, so good luck on making that call.
It should go without saying that I am extremely proud to have Brown on my team after seeing that play. John might have some doubt about Antonio Brown's ability to dominate games, but you don't see Megatron or Julio Jones kicking punters in the face.
So I'm going to try and do weekly write ups this year, but will probably change a few things up. A big part of the time commitment last year involved me trying to come up with obscure Arrested Development jokes to include in the blog. I enjoyed making humour a part of my piece, but I'll probably cut back a bit so I'm able to get these written more quickly. I'm also no longer going to be touching on waiver wire adds for the week. Rosters are so deep this year that most of the players worth adding are those you would call sleepers, and to be honest I don't want to tip my hand on who I might be targeting. As well, I have lots of faith in the rest of the managers to make good decisions without any sort of help.
Week one was a nerve racking one for me. Every time I would get a lead, Shayne would come back with a late Maclin TD or a Josh McCown garbage time play. Having Stafford as my QB allowed me to just survive Megatron going off. Overall, I'm happy with my plan to try and get the best 2 QBs in the league, which worked well for me in Week One. Both of my guys did score rushing TDs in Week One, which won't happen every week, but I got the guys I can trust.
My goal is always to try and build my team on a strong running game, and that is looking shaky after Week One. Lacy and Stacy were disappointments, Jennings looked ok, and Robinson and Miller showed promise but seem to be stuck in RB timeshares. Thankfully, my receivers have picked up the slack and I feel fairly loaded at that position.
Being loaded at WR makes watching this a little bit easier. I know I should stop dwelling on something that I missed out on, but watching this makes it so hard:
Mr. Manager of the Week Award
For Week One, lineup decisions have more to do with playing the guys you drafted rather than making tough, go-with-your-gut, calls. With that in mind, the award for this week goes to Dawson for his decision to draft Matt Ryan with his 1st round pick. It's too early to say for sure that this was the right call over drafting Marshawn Lynch when looking at the season as a whole, but for now Dawson is 1-0 thanks to Matty Ice, so he deserves props there.
Injuries
Lots of minor injuries, but no major season ruining injuries to any of the stars. Lacy might miss a week with a concussion, but it doesn't sound too serious. Jeffery, Gerhardt, Martin, Cameron and Tate all got a little banged up and will be worth watching going forward. In any case, there is nothing that should have huge ramifications for the situation in the league, so good news on that front.
Random Thoughts
Lots of running backs who had good weeks didn't end up helping anyone because they were sitting on the bench. Of the top 20 RBs in Week One, Moreno, Ivory, Ingram, Miller, Vereen, Sproles and J. Bell were all left on people's bench. It's going to take a few weeks to determine which guys you can trust this year.
Teams (and their players) I like for the year after 1 week: Pittsburgh, Miami, Atlanta, Tennessee, Minnesota, Detroit.
Teams (and their players) I dislike for the year after 1 week: Kansas City, New England, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, San Diego.
I think Curtis makes the playoffs. I like his roster, and his depth. Moreno and Harvin look gooood, to go with a number of other solid pieces.
Week Two Preview
The Keith-glorious Bastards vs Sideliners - I have to figure out what I'm going to do at RB, but my QBs and WRs are looking solid so I feel like I'm in good shape. Steve looks like he's going with Cooks as his flex this week, which will be interesting to watch to see if Cooks can become a true fantasy star or if he will become part of the unpredictable Saints offense.
oh that's nasty vs The Fear Boners - The two biggest risers in the Power Powell rankings face off this week. Dawson needs to find a better flex than Brian Hartline, and he needs to keep an eye on the status of Toby Gerhardt. It's too bad because Gerhardt has a good matchup against Washington this week. John is in tough with Rivers facing Seattle, but luckily Palmer is facing NYG who showed on Monday that they have trouble covering anybody. He has some tough decisions with Ingram and Smith, who had huge games but might not be able to crack his starting lineup.
What are the Chances vs RW Throws a Sexy Deep Ball - Andrew will be pulling out all the stops to avoid going 0-2. He got burned big by Larry Fitzgerald in Week One, and will need to make a decision on his WR2 and flex slot. Curtis should probably avoid Allen and Matthews going up against Seattle, and Tate might be out, but has depth to replace them with Moreno/Ellington and Wayne/Williams. His big decision will come down to his QB. Locker has a great matchup against Dallas, and I would look at giving him the start.
NINERS vs BISP - Stan lost a close one to Dawson, but doesn't really have a lot of roster decisions to make. TY Hilton is boom or bust, and has a great matchup against Philly. Edelman might be the safer play. Mike is already dealing with injury issues, which will determine his lineup. If I'm Mike, I look at getting a QB other than Eli Manning. His one positive coming out of Week One (besides Gronk not getting injured) was that his RBs did reasonably well. Foster, Spiller and Bell all seem startable, it's just the rest of his team that let him down.
Aaron-PRIMETIME-Clapperton vs NFL Owner - Shayne needs to find another RB he can trust besides Murray. Jackson, Richardson and Ridley don't seem to be that guy, Ivory had a good week one but is not a guy to rely on. The good news for Shayne is that Green Bay is not playing Seattle this week. Aaron is looking to go on a roll to start the season. He too has big holes in his RB position, with no clear answers. I can't decide who I would start out of Martin, Thomas, CJ1K, Vereen or Bush, so good luck on making that call.
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