Season 4 - Week 3

Wow, that escalated quickly.  After last season of being a rather boring repeat of the year before, this one is off to a bang.  Through 3 weeks, the only playoff team from last year still in the top half is South.   The year of the underdog has continued with 3 of the 4 underdogs winning again this week.  It’s still early to declare anyone out but a few teams had better kick it into gear if they really want to contend this year.  Byes are starting this week and suspended players are starting to reemerge, so depth and decision making will be tested even further.

 Hot Take Trade Analysis – Mitch gets Marcus Mariota, Abel gets Sam Bradford and LaGarrette Blount – Abel gives up way too early on a high potential QB asset in order to get another MN player on his roster.  The throw-in RB can easily punch his way into the end zone in a potent offense but is also not beyond punching his way into suspensions.  A win now move for Abel and another solid rebuilding move for Mitch who looks to contend by the time Trump is done with his first term.

A mighty fine deal for the both of us my good sir!

 And now on with the Power Rankings…

1.       Off Suit 10s – As pathetic as his wins have been, Kyle remains undefeated at 3-0.  The perennial underdog did it again by barely breaking triple digits.  Luckily he was going against the only other team he could’ve beaten in Riley.  Every other team would’ve smoked his sorry ass.  Most likely his team is more of a fraud than a Wells Fargo savings account but for now, the Ponzi scheme is still going strong.  He gets a Rodgers-less Finken this weekend but is once again a heavy underdog.  Let’s see if he can split those sixes one more time. 

And then poof, Lehman will be gone from the #1 spot.

 

2.       Ah It’s Early – In reality, Seth really should be at the top spot of this list but we’ll let Kyle have his day in the sun since it probably won’t last much longer.  Seth took down the powerhouse a week after getting nosed out by Riley while scoring almost 180.  Stafford could be the garbage-time king of fantasy this year and David Johnson, Jordy and Melvin Gordon have been tearing it up.  If AIE’s team can stay healthy, then it’s here to stay.  The next stop on the worst-to-first train is Abel, who can’t possibly optimize his roster three weeks in a row…can he?
 

Seth does what few can, rips victory away from South.

3.       Fuck It Three – Garrett took a step back this past week as his QBs and Flex starters were held mostly in check.  Big Ben, Hopkins and Matthews put up Mitch-esque scores and Kelvin could’ve been swapped out for Hellen Keller with no impact.  Giving up Diggs has hurt FIT’s depth a bit, but Hopkins and Benjamin are due for a bounce-back games against soft Ds this week.  Getting Bell back will help, especially with Doug Martin hurt but he’ll need all his Steelers to score more than Seth at a Lansink family reunion to remain competitive. 
 

No reason, this is just hilarious and seems appropriate for South.

4.       I’m Out – Maybe-Competent-Abel has put together a 2^nd straight solid outing and was almost flawless in his decision making again.  This time it wasn’t his QBs that propelled him but flex players with Starvin-Marvin Jones and Murray going crazy.  With only one bench player scoring above 8 points (and that was only 11), the lack of depth is sure to catch up to him sooner rather than later.  Unfortunately, the waiver wire has not been part of his management strategy and his lack of experience with it could hinder future progress at building said depth. 

Somehow Abel keeps making it happen.

 

5.       Rollin 4 Deep – Finken got off the slide after losing 2 in row by putting up high points and taking the defending champ down.  As usual, he managed to leave his highest point-scorers on the bench for the 3^rd straight week even though his starters showed up for this matchup.  Maybe this team can flourish now that he isn’t compelled to start AP every week since he was scoring fewer points than Abel has left on his driving record.  He’d better hope Lehman’s luck runs out this week or else the uphill battle to the playoffs will be more difficult than convincing Chris that made a terrible play in pitch.
 

Finken keeps failing to make the right picks.

6.       If We’re Using Logic – HOFer Doug Baldwin did what he could but he can only carry Lazer so far.  Chris made some awful decisions in playing Gronk instead of Bennett, DeAngelo instead of 3 other RBs that would’ve fared better, the Miami D instead of his own beloved Chiefs, and Cobb who’s still partying like it’s 2015.  But it would’ve taken a major effort to overcome Finken this week.  Eli has completely shit the bed the past 2 weeks and ODBag might be the 3^rd best WR on that team now.  With a chance to get right against Mitch, IWUL will rebound this week counting on a healthy Gronk.  But going for a 3peat at 1-2 is less ideal than having to call Patrick to make a 6^th for cards. 

All of these Fitzpatrick picks could've been Lazers.

 

7.       Smells Low – Riley fell back to Earth this week after dropping a heartbreaker to Lehman by 4 points after just squeaking by Seth last week.  This drop may be a bit preemptive but Riley’s up against South next week and is currently almost a 25 point dog.  It’s kind of good news/bad news for Riley.  He does get some hardware this week, the bad news is that it’s the Cesaer Bad Manager of the Week award.  He could’ve subbed in either of his QBs or a number of RBs that would’ve given him the win over Kyle.  It’s a good thing that in future careers, the only thing he’ll be managing is some kind of insect and a ham-beast or two from Tinder. 

Riley's bad management may knock him back even further.

 

8.       Play It Backwards – Let’s check in on Mitch’s season so far…(also applies to auction league)