{Current Mood: Frizzy}
Hi Ho Good People!
Ok so I lied. I’m doing another Fantasy 2012 Notebook Entry. I’ve had a busy past few days and an even busier week ahead so I haven’t really had a chance to sit and write about anything else. And if I’m going to keep these matchup previews and game recaps as weekly features, I’m going to give them priority.
That being said, it’s time to preview and predict my Week 2 matchups while letting errebody know who I wound up getting off waivers in my various leagues.
Citizens of the Pond Unite and listen to all the awesome things I have to say!
MONTOYA’S LEAGUE 2012 (The Dayman) (1-0) (1st place in Division 2) (1st place overall)
The Dayman - Week 2 Roster:
QB - Matt Ryan
QB - Jake Locker
RB - LeSean McCoy
RB - CJ Spiller
WR - Reggie Wayne
WR - Victor Cruz
TE - Coby Fleener
K - Greg Zuerlein
DEF - Rams
RB/WR Flex - RB Jamaal Charles
WR/TE Flex - WR Mike Wallace
RB/WR/TE Flex - RB Donald Brown
Bench - QB Tim Tebow
Bench - RB Michael Bush
Bench - RB Jacquizz Rodgers
Bench - WR Titus Young
Bench - WR Lance Moore
Bench - TE Kyle Rudolph
Bench - TE Martellus Bennett
Bench - TE Dennis Pitta
-In a league where you can potentially start three TE’s, it’s always good to have a little depth. So I dropped Leonard Hankerson and put in a claim on Martellus Bennett just in case the Giants deciding to utilize him in the passing game more often becomes a regular thing.
-And I also decided that there was no reason to stash Rueben Randle on my roster while a potential sleeper TE like Dennis Pitta was sitting out there so I made the switch. It may not pan out and I may not ever start three TE’s but Randle was dead weight to me and I’d rather take a chance on Pitta in case he winds up being a breakout player. Yes, 20% of my roster is now devoted to the TE position but it’s a 20-man roster & I can always drop either Pitta or Bennett next week if a better WR or RB option comes along.
-And now for the roster of my opponent. His team name is "Super Bowl Bound" and I pray he leaves his lineup as it was when I last checked it out.
Super Bowl Bound - Week 2 Roster:
QB - Carson Palmer (Round 10)
QB - Josh Freeman (Round 9)
RB - Frank Gore (Round 4)
RB - Stevan Ridley (Round 7)
WR - Julio Jones (Round 1 - 10th overall pick)
WR - Greg Jennings (Round 2) (Gotta love when someone leaves an inactive player in their lineup)
TE - Dustin Keller (Round 11) (Gotta love when someone leaves a player who was already ruled out of his upcoming game in his lineup)
K - Dan Bailey (Round 12)
DEF - Eagles (Round 5)
RB/WR Flex - WR DeSean Jackson (Round 3)
WR/TE Flex - WR Antonio Brown (Round 6)
RB/WR/TE Flex - RB Mark Ingram (Round 8)
Bench - RB Rashad Jennings (Round 13)
Bench - RB Ronnie Brown (Round 16)
Bench - RB Ronnie Hillman (Round 17)
Bench - WR Austin Collie (Round 14)
Bench - WR Kendall Wright (Round 15)
Bench - WR Alshon Jeffery (Round 18)
Bench - WR Jerome Simpson (Round 19)
Bench - K Matt Bryant (Round 20)
-Analysis: I'll make this one short and sweet. There's no reason I should lose to a team that left Greg Jennings in their starting lineup with other options on the bench and whose only rostered TE isn't playing this week. I will probably cry if I lose this one which, knowing me, will probably happen.
-Prediction: The Dayman - 148.00, Super Bowl Bound - 114.80
BALLBUSTERS 2012 (The Sizzlers) (1-0) (First place in "The Death Division") (2nd place overall)
The Sizzlers – Week 2 Roster:
QB – Peyton Manning
RB – Ray Rice
RB – CJ Spiller
WR – Hakeem Nicks
WR – Miles Austin
Flex - TE Coby Fleener
K – Robbie Gould
DEF – Giants
Bench – QB Jake Locker
Bench – RB Ryan Mathews
Bench – RB Donald Brown
Bench – WR Austin Collie
Bench – WR Dexter McCluster
Bench – TE Coby Fleener
Bench – TE Kyle Rudolph
Bench – TE Greg Olsen
-We dropped Steve Smith (STL) for Dexter McCluster. Ending Week 1 in second place and being 11th on the waiver priority list, it’s fairly obvious that I had no shot at guys like Alfred Morris, Kevin Ogletree, or Stephen Hill, all of whom I put in claims for. I’m very happy with McCluster as a consolation prize. KC has shown that they’re going to make him a focal point of their offense and he will be uber effective as a PPR slot receiver in my opinion. Of course, if a more intriguing waiver option pops up next week, Dexter’s prob gonna be the one on the chopping block but you never know with these sort of things.
-I also got rid of the perennially awful Ronnie Brown in favor of Coby Fleener. My rules on TE’s are that I never draft more than one, never keep more than two on my roster in leagues where you can only start one, & will not be opposed to rostering three of them in leagues where you can start two. You can start two TE’s in this league and I was shocked that no one picked up Fleener after a solid Week 1 performance that showed that Andrew Luck will be looking his way a lot this season. At the very worst, I have TE trade bait on my roster with Olsen, Rudolph, & Fleener.
-If we had to choose our rival team in this league, it would definitely be the team we’re playing this week. If you’ve read the Manifesto and last week’s Week 1 Results entry, you’ll know all about THE LAWYER MAN!
Mean and Angry Men – Week 2 Roster:
QB – Jay Cutler (Round 8)
RB – Arian Foster (Round 1) (Keeper) (Since this is the second consecutive year he’s protecting Foster, he had to give up his first round pick to do so. He had the 9th overall pick)
RB – Jamaal Charles (Round 2)
WR – Percy Harvin (Round 3)
WR – Vincent Jackson (Round 5)
Flex - WR Dwayne Bowe (Round 4)
K – Lawrence Tynes (Round 16)
DEF – Lions (Round 14)
Bench – QB Andrew Luck (Round 9)
Bench – RB Beanie Wells (Round 11)
Bench – RB Jonathan Stewart (Round 7)
Bench – RB Mike Goodson (Round 12)
Bench – WR Mario Manningham (Round 13)
Bench – WR Kendall Wright (Round 10)
Bench – WR David Nelson (Round 15)
Bench – TE Fred Davis (Round 6)
-Analysis: Unfortunately for us, Robbie Gould only got us 4 points on Thursday night. Fortunately, the Lawyer Man only got 7 points from Jay Cutler which is a huge deal for us (I personally would’ve played Luck over Cutler). In fact, it could be what decides this game. If we can get nice games out of Peyton, Rice, and Spiller, we could pull away with this one. I'm also hoping our free agent acquisition of Coby Fleener pays off. The wild card here has to be that both of our starting WRs are dealing with injuries. If they're good to go, we could do some damage this week and maybe even finally get our first weekly high score ever. In the end I’m predicting that we send the Lawyer Man, who predicted himself to win the division and didn’t even pick us to make the playoffs, to a nice 0-2 start and take control of the Death Division.
-Prediction: The Sizzlers – 86, Mean and Angry Men – 83
CONVICKS 2012 (This Guy) (1-0) (5th place overall)
This Guy – Week 2 Roster:
QB – Michael Vick
RB – CJ Spiller
RB – Doug Martin
WR – Julio Jones
WR – Jeremy Maclin
WR – Marques Colston
TE – Jacob Tamme
K – Dan Bailey
DEF – Bills
Bench – QB Jake Locker
Bench – RB Ryan Mathews
Bench – RB Donald Brown
Bench – RB Mark Ingram
Bench – WR Greg Jennings
Bench – WR Alshon Jeffery
Bench – TE Kyle Rudolph
-After Yahoo decided, once again, to screw with my life and give everybody the wrong waiver picks, as well as completely ignoring the last place team’s claim and skipping over him, I had to play fixer, find out who had claims in on who and in what order of priority, and fix the situation. The only thing that changed for me is that I didn’t wind up getting Alfred Morris (I had last priority of all the teams that put claims in and was shocked as shit to see that he made it to me). I still got the other guys I was targeting in Alshon Jeffery and Nate Burleson. Gone are the Craptastic Ronnie Brown, who sucks, and the mediocre Greg Little who still can’t catch and looks like he’s going to suck as long as Brandon Weeden is starting at QB. I also decided that since no one picked up Jacob Tamme, I could sacrifice Nate Burleson to pick him up again and start against Atlanta on Monday night. Dan Bailey is also now kicking for my team.
-After a crappy Week 1 showing that saw me get the second lowest score for the week, I need to have a rebound game against my opponent for this week: The Toms River Farmer Teds, who just defeated the defending league champion “Turner’s Money Exchange” in Week 1 en route to 1st place in the standings. Also known as “The Cleveland Steamers” in the CCAFFL, Uncle Vin wasn't able to attend the draft last year so we gave him, an avid Giants fan, Tony Romo in Round 2. He was the highest rated QB I had left on my sheet at the time so it was fair. We also gave him Jimmy Graham in Round 7 and, with the final pick in the draft, the guy he wound up using his 16th rounder to protect: Darren Sproles.
The Farmer Teds – Week 2 Roster:
QB – Drew Brees (Round 1 - 5th pick overall)
RB – Darren Sproles (Round 16) (Keeper)
RB – Frank Gore (Round 4)
WR – Wes Welker (Round 2)
WR – Brandon Marshall (Round 3)
WR – Reggie Wayne (Round 5)
TE – Jermichael Finley (Round 6)
K – Matt Prater (Round 15)
DEF – Patriots (He drafted Brandon LaFell in Round 12 and dropped him for the Pats defense)
Bench – QB Joe Flacco (Round 11)
Bench – RB Peyton Hillis (Round 7)
Bench – RB Cedric Benson (Round 10)
Bench – RB Kendall Hunter (Round 14) (HANDCUFF!)
Bench – WR Anquan Boldin (Round 8)
Bench – WR Michael Crabtree (Round 9)
Bench – WR Lance Moore (Round 13) (I just realized I passed up Lance Moore in the draft for Greg Little… this may officially be the first dumb move, in hindsight, of the 2012 drafting season for me)
-Analysis: Looking at this team, you can understand why it’s currently in first place. Everyone on this roster had a big Week 1 game. But can it happen again? Yahoo predicts me to lose by 15 but that was before Brandon Marshall and Jermichael Finley put up stinkers for the Teds on Thursday night and fell approximately 23 points short of their combined projected point totals (which I never put much stock into but it’s worth noting). Cedric Benson on the bench with 15.60 also hurts but you really can’t bench Sproles or Gore. I’m currently losing 9.00 to 0.00 but I haven’t played anyone yet and he’s already down his top WR and TE. I still think his players can put up numbers but as long as my players don’t shit the bed, the Thursday night stinkers could be the difference here. Vick better not suck again this week and if Maclin doesn’t play, I’m screwed because I’ll have no one left to plug in and will have to pick up a random plug-and-play rental. I’m trying to avoid this. In the end, I’m picking This Guy to have a rebound performance and The Teds to get knocked back down to Earth a bit.
-Prediction: This Guy – 130.90, The Farmer Teds – 125.40
KIRBY’S ALL STARS 2012 (Powdered Toast Man) (1-0) (2nd place overall) (1st in the “Kel” Division)
Powdered Toast Man – Week 2 Roster:
QB – Matthew Stafford
RB – CJ Spiller
RB – Donald Brown
WR – Calvin Johnson
WR – Hakeem Nicks
WR – Demaryius Thomas
TE – Kyle Rudolph
Flex – RB Kevin Smith
K – Dan Bailey
DEF – Bills
Bench – QB Tony Romo
Bench – RB Ryan Mathews
Bench – WR Robert Meachem
Bench – WR Kevin Ogletree
Bench – WR James Jones
Bench – TE Jermaine Gresham
-I thought more people, especially the Dallas fans in this league, would be all over Kevin Ogletree. I guess not. I wound up dropping Kendall Wright for Ogletree just in case he turns out to be Laurent Robinson 2.0. I understand his opportunities will be limited but Miles Austin may not be 100% and Dez Bryant may get arrested again tomorrow. There’s some potential here. I also, once again, disposed of the Craptacular Ronald Brown in favor of James Jones just in case Greg Jennings misses some time because of this groin injury of his. Randall Cobb was already owned and any time you have Aaron Rodgers throwing to you, you have the potential to put up points. It also helps that Jones is the only known fantasy football TD Vulture at the WR position. I could do worse for a 6th WR and it beats having to look at Ronnie Brown’s name on my roster anymore. Dan Bailey was also added at kicker.
-This week’s opponent: The man commonly referred to as Andrew “Yep, I just drafted ANOTHER WR” Lamberti and the Texas Rangers (meant to be a Walker Texas Ranger reference but instead it sounds like a baseball reference). Andrew is a former league champion and is that guy in every league who has a good draft, sets his lineups until Halloween, and then just forgets that he's in a league until the playoffs because he always makes the damn playoffs. I've knocked him out of the playoffs the last two years while he beat me in the first round en route to a 2009 championship. He also drafted Jimmy Graham in Round 15 last year so that was obviously his keeper.
The Texas Rangers – Week 2 Roster:
QB – Tom Brady (Round 1 - 5th pick overall)
RB – Darren Sproles (Round 3)
RB – Stevan Ridley (Round 6)
WR – Roddy White (Round 2)
WR – Miles Austin (Round 5)
WR – Anquan Boldin (Round 7)
TE – Jimmy Graham (Round 15) (Keeper)
Flex – Vernon Davis (Round 4) (Before the draft started, a rule change was made that allowed us to be able to play a TE at the flex position. Andrew started the unecessary TE run with this pick since he already had Jimmy Graham protected)
K – Shayne Graham (Round 16)
DEF – Seahawks (Round 11)
Bench – QB Russel Wilson (Round 13)
Bench – RB Michael Bush (Round 9)
Bench – RB Daniel Thomas (Round 10)
Bench – WR Lance Moore (Round 8)
Bench – WR Randall Cobb (Round 12)
Bench – WR Braylon Edwards (Round 14)
-Analysis: This one is going to be interesting. I think Andrew's team is pretty stacked. He also has the option to play two of the best TE's available at the same time. Roddy and Sproles are due for bounce back performances, but I think the difference here is going to be the fact that I (hopefully) should get better performances this week out of Stafford, Calvin, and Nicks than I did last week. And as long as the rest of my team either meets or exceeds expectations (and doesn't shit the bed), I should be OK.
-Prediction: Powdered Toast Man – 146.10, The Texas Rangers - 138.60
CCAFFL 2012 (The Houston Oilers) (1-0) (2nd in the "AFC") (3rd place overall – 107 points)
The Houston Oilers - Week 2 Roster:
QB – Matthew Stafford
RB – CJ Spiller
RB – Kevin Smith
WR – Julio Jones
WR – Kenny Britt
WR – Andre Roberts
TE – Jacob Tamme
K – Greg Zuerlein
DEF – Bills
Bench – QB Peyton Manning
Bench – RB Trent Richardson
Bench – RB Jacquizz Rodgers
Bench – RB Shane Vereen
Bench – WR Greg Jennings
Bench – WR Alshon Jeffery
Bench – WR Austin Collie
-Bad news: My waiver priority was 12th out of 14 teams. Good news: I still got the guy who was at the top of my list. Alfred Morris was picked up before Week 1 by the ever-so-sly #1 Fantasy. So I put a claim in on Alshon Jeffery and, by the grace of God, he fell to me (I still haven’t decided whether his one catch for seven yards puts him on the chopping block yet. Depends on what happens with this weekend’s games I guess. Thank God I didn’t plug him in for Greg Jennings). Leonard Hankerson was the sacrificial lamb because when Pierre Garcon left the game against the Saints with an injury it was Aldrick Robinson, not Hanky, who entered the starting lineup. That speaks volumes to me. Buffalo's defense cleared waivers so I grabbed them. And since Austin Collie is a concussed bum and probably won't play again this week, I dropped Steve Smith (STL) to pick up a one-week-rental play in Andre Roberts (Arizona should be playing from behind). Also picked up a new kicker in Greg Zuerlein (or, as the Rams call him, “Young GZ”). I think the Rams will win this weekend (upset special pick) and that Young GZ will have to kick a few field goals like he did against the Lions.
-My head-to head-opponents this week are the defending league champions: The Dirty Dogs. These are the kings of the unnecessary reach, drafting players with awesome names, and making the picks that everyone laughs at initially but cries about when they wind up being the sleeper of the year. Biggest example there: they drafted Randy Moss in Round 3 in 2007. 23 TDs later, we all cried a little after initially laughing at the pick. How a team as shallow as this one managed to get the most total points in 2011 is a mystery of life that I will never solve (although my terrible Week 17 lineup choices played a big part in their winning the trophy). Their roster was Aaron Rodgers, Jimmy Graham, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, & that’s basically it. The team that once gave up a 7th round pick to protect a kicker (seriously) made a great call this year in electing to keep Jimmy Graham in Round 7.
The Dirty Dogs – Week 2 Roster:
QB – Ben Roethlisberger (Round 1 - 14th overall) (Um... What? Again, we laugh now but Big Ben will probably throw for 490 TDs this year as a result of the classic Mumbo reach. I probably should've drafted every Steeler player at this point)
RB – Jamaal Charles (Round 2)
RB – Shonn Greene (Round 5)
WR – Pierre Garcon (Round 4)
WR – Antonio Brown (Round 3) (Last time I chose to not protect a good WR with a late round pick was with Brandon Marshall in 2007. He was taken in the 3rd round that year and had a monster season. Hoping this doesn't happen to me again here)
WR – Brandon Stokley (These guys actually drafted T.O. in Round 10 and just recently dropped him for Stokley. Why you’re drafting T.O, I don’t know. But they won the league and I didn’t so there’s that)
TE – Jimmy Graham (Round 7) (Keeper)
K – Mason Crosby (Round 9)
DEF – Eagles (Round 6) (Sigh. The league champs take a defense in round 6)
Bench – QB Nick Foles (Round 12) (At first I didn't get this pick. But they always make a draft pick like this that no one understands until it inexplicably winds up paying off. Foles could put up monster numbers in the games Vick inevitably winds up missing due to injury this year. Could this be a sleeper pick for potential 2013 keeper?)
Bench – QB Blaine Gabbert (They actually drafted Ryan Tannehill in Round 16 and just recently dropped him for Gabbert)
Bench – RB Evan Royster (Round 11)
Bench – RB Danny Woodhead (Round 15)
Bench – WR Nate Washington (Round 8)
Bench – WR Brandon Gibson (They drafted Dustin Keller in Round 13 but dropped him for Gibson)
Bench – DEF Chiefs (Round 14)
-Analysis: Of course, Mason Crosby puts up 16 freakin points for the DD’s on Thursday night against the Bears. I can’t win.
-Anywayz, last week I predicted myself to lose my head-to-head matchup in this league. I won’t be doing so this week. I’m sticking with Stafford and Silent Bob and hoping to God that they can put up a decent amount of points against San Fran. I’m benching Richardson for Smith because I’m banking on Smith catching more than a few passes to help get him going. Losing Greg Jennings and (likely) Austin Collie sucks but Kenny Britt coming back, even if only for 15-25 snaps, is a nice bonus and I pray Andre Roberts gets me more than one point as a one week rental play (Kiss of Death: he's now getting me two points). And the DD's better hope that Pierre Garcon and/or Nate Washington play or else they’re screwed at WR. I just feel that my lineup and my team are stronger than theirs. It definitely was last year but, unfortunately, the final standings didn’t reflect that. This can qualify as a revenge game and one that can either keep me in the Top 3 of the standings if I put up enough points, or knock me into obscurity with a 15-week uphill climb ahead.
-Prediction: The Houston Oilers – 96, The Dirty Dogs - 89
-And that does it for Ray's Week 2 Preview. Here's to hoping that me picking myself to win all my matchups this week doesn't jinx me.
Deuces,
-Ray-
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