Overview
What a week to close out the first half of the 2020 season! David got his first win by smartly picking up Everett off waivers on Saturday to not only block Justin who had Higbee nursing a hand injury, but also to give him a viable TE starter this week. Those 12.8 points from Everett in a game where Higbee was a game-time scratch made all the difference. But that wasn't the only move David made this week.
Trades were flying. I don't know whether David gets more sympathy trades from the League or Paul gets more sympathy sex from his wife. So far this year, David has completed 13 trades! This week, he pulled off one heck of a 3 team parlay with Gary, Linda, and Tracy to acquire Gaskins, Theilen, and Tonyan for Drake, Andrews, and Higgins. All three had to come through to make it work. Too bad Drake got injured this week for Gary. I'll get to Gary's woes later in his matchup debrief.
While David had the quantity of trades, I had the trade which blew up the League discussion board. When I left for our family fall hike just before the games started, Jordan hadn't accepted the deal. When I returned he had accepted and there were 30+ messages posted. Tracy was confused if you could start a player who you traded that week. The answer is "yes" if they haven't finished playing that week prior to the trade processing. There was an open question in a prior season, but I believe the NFL site won't process a trade prior to Sunday or Monday games if one of the players in the trade has already completed their game and is in your starting lineup. So I think the NFL site prevents the kind of "double dip" scenario where you could potentially have played a player on TNF, trade them after the TNF game and then receive an additional player you could play on Sunday or Monday after the trade processed on Saturday or Sunday. Or trade a player who performed poorly on TNF for another player to swap them out prior to Sunday or Monday games. Hopefully, everything is cleared up now.
Now, others (like my brother) are wondering what the hell was I thinking trading Adams and Kittle! As he texted me, "why fix what isn't broken". Well, my brother hasn't won anything in the League, so his opinion doesn't mean much (at least not in fantasy football). He can't even get out of the Broads division. But fair enough, I will explain my thinking as a two time League Champion to help educate the rest of you losers. This will be a longer debrief.
Last year, I was 6-0 and cruising with points. I got complacent. The result was a mediocre second half when my team faded. I barely made the playoffs and was quickly defeated in the first round. This year, my record is ok, but my points absolutely suck! As you know, I view points as a better indicator of your team's strength than record. I've been so lucky with the schedule, but things are about to get tougher. This year, I vowed to not get complacent. Coming out of the draft, everyone knew I was in trouble with my RB group. Even my brother commented on it during the draft after I picked Adams and then all the RBs were taken by the time I got to my 4th round pick. In hindsight, I probably would have picked Aaron Jones instead of Adams if I had a redo.
I tried to trade for Dalvin Cook, but Paul didn't want Adams. Trust me, I didn't want to help the team I think is the best in the League this year, so far. Jordan just had the players to make a trade somewhat even, although I agree the value favors Jordan by a bit. Not much, but a bit, IMO.
Some of you viewed this trade as trading my 1st and 2nd round picks. Actually it was my 1st and 3rd round picks. Regardless, that is the wrong way to evaluate a trade. You shouldn't evaluate based on where they were drafted. Rather, you evaluate based on their current and projected future value rest of season and next, since we are a keeper league. You also have to factor in your roster configuration.
For me, I was hurting at RB. Prior to the trade, my only volume back was Freeman. Let's face it, Freeman is last year's Le'veon Bell. He gets volume, but not much fantasy production unless he falls into the end zone. Behind him, I love Edmunds and think he is better than Drake, but prior to Drake getting injured on Sunday Drake was still getting the bulk of the carries. Edmunds was in the same role as James White. You have to hope he gets 4 to 5 receptions with a TD upside. That's it. Finally, my last RB was (as Linda posted) Jamaal "fat ass...elephant ass" Williams. Linda has a long memory on all the times I gave her crap for drafting Jamaal. I was lucky this week that Aaron Jones was held out against a juicy matchup against Houston. Once Aaron Jones returns, I would be left with another 3rd down RB situation like Edmunds and White. Not ideal.
I've been a little concerned about Kittle. Jimmy Garbage just doesn't focus on him, preferring to spread the ball around. Shanny seems determined to establish the run no matter who is in the backfield. This has lead to Kittle getting less targets than I think you expect for an elite difference making TE. This isn't to say Kittle couldn't finish strong, but to date, his only blow up game was with Mullens at QB when Deebo was still getting reacclimated. Now Deebo did get dinged up, so if Deebo is out again it would be advantageous for Kittle. However, you can't predict injuries. Athletically, Fant measures up very closely with Kittle. Fant's ankle just needs to fully heal up which I am hoping happens and he improves in the weeks ahead. His schedule looks good, too, as Fant will face teams giving up the top-12 most points to TE in 5 of the remaining weeks.
Finally, I get Fuller who is averaging almost 19 points/game. The Texans offense has looked a lot better since the Billy Bob firing. Question is can Fuller stay healthy. Well, it's not like Adams hasn't been hurt, too. The big question is how many 40+ point games will Adams have this year. Historically, he has two. He has had two this year, both of which I have enjoyed. I figured he would have a big game this week. It helped that Roby got hurt. WRs are volatile and it's all about target share. Fulgham has been getting double digit targets, so being able to grab him back off waivers made me feel better about my WR depth. We know TB12 loves slot and God Chriswin is the slot man. We will see what the Brown signing does, but I think it hurts Evans more than Godwin. Woods is always solid, if not great. I just feel I had the depth at WR to upgrade at RB. I was hoping Deebo would also be an option, but he pulled a hammy this week so will miss more time.
Bottom line, if we were to draft today based on the available players, where would you draft Aaron Jones? Where would you draft Adams? I could make the argument that Aaron Jones would be drafted before Adams. RBs are a premium and now I have a top 5 RB which I think improves my odds of making the Championship playoff and winning my third BBB Championship. Tracy said this is the kind of move he would make which means after saying all of this, I've doomed my team this year. FML
Linda and I survived in Week 7 Survivor. I had a scare with the Saints. Linda had the sure win with the Bills vs Jets, although it was closer than I thought it would be.
Matchups
Dark Lord Commissioner (187.50) vs Underestim8ed (172.60)
And boom goes the fantasy points in this matchup. Talk about playing to your competition. I really needed this high score to pull me out of the bottom four Crapper spots. I could have busted the 200 barrier if I hadn't been stupid playing Freeman against a tough Philly run D. I went with volume. Then Freeman got hurt, so I didn't get the short TD which went to Gallman. It was this injury and RB performance that triggered me to make the big trade as Jordan has been trying to trade with me all year. How was I suppose to know Drake would get hurt to elevate Edmunds to RB1 territory. If I had known that, I probably wouldn't have made the trade. However, I still don't hate it.
Even in a loss, Linda reasserted her dominance in the Broads division reclaiming the top spot. It's tough to take a loss when Lockett goes for 57 points. I would love to know the odds of a team losing this week with Lockett in their lineup. Linda had the points on her bench to beat me. Not sure why she went Tannehill against the Steeler Defense when she had Ballin' Burrow against Cleveland. Sucks for her. Great for me.
Rolling Dunder (139.04) vs Check Out My Lightsaber (141.82)
I tried to jinx Paul, but even my powers couldn't get a win for Krug. David has competition now for the King of the Crapper competition. At least Krug's team can score points, unlike David's. Paul was texting me Monday evening panicking over who to start in his flex; Graham or Henderson. I fell asleep before half time, so not sure how it played out in real-time. It looks like Paul was sweating it out most of the 4th quarter after the Bears defensive TD. Too bad he won. It would have been epic if he lost by one playing Graham after I told him that's who I'd play, since if the Bears D had a good game it probably means Henderson has a bad game. Graham gave him a better chance at hedging against that. So close to the jinx working, again.
Krug will continue to suffer until MT returns. What a disaster most of the 1st round picks have been this year.
Roodiculous (95.48) vs Its On Like Donkey Kong (130.86)
The slide continues for Gary. After a promising 3-1 start, he now slides to 3-4. Cee Dee Silence of the Lamb is no where to be seen with the dumpster fire in Dallas. The court is out on Judge Jeudy. Worse, Gary lost Drake for at least a few weeks with a torn ligament. I don't think Drake is going to win that job once Edmunds has his chance to shine. It's a repeat of last year when David Johnson got hurt. At least Le'Veon already signed, so I don't have to worry about the Cardinals bringing in another RB. I've gone from having 0 RBs to now having 2 very good options at least for the next few weeks barring injuries.
Tracy is just cruising with his 6th straight win. He is making it tough on me to catch him. All his eggs seem to be in the Houston offense. We will see if Houston can continue the hot streak. Looks like he did lose Carson for a bit with a foot sprain. How long? TBD
EW Black (115.36) vs Hays Blaze (131.26)
Steve got snookered by Shanny deciding he needed to rest McKinnon this week. Not that he would have won anyway if he started Davis in his flex. At least Steve won't have to keep making the wrong lineup decision with Beckham every week. ODB is officially Old and Busted with a season ending ACL tear. Kelce was a let down with his lack luster performance. The KC offense just didn't need to do much against the Donkos. On the bright side, TB12 is looking elite and now he gets his fanboy Brown in Week 9. Bucs are locked and loaded if Brown can keep his head.
The biggest poser in the League this year gets another win. With Dallas imploding and starting a 3rd string 7th round rookie QB, can Cooper keep it up? With Brown coming to town, will Evans be effective rest of the season? This team is hanging on by a thread even when Chubb returns. Fortunate for Travis there isn't much competition in the Bros division this year.
Just Beat Gary (137.60) vs Mother Tucker (144.76)
Upset of the week. Maybe I need to take Dana for more hikes on Sundays. It sure helped her mood. At least until she started listening to her Steelers on Titans radio. What really helps her mood is not being in the bottom 4 in points now. Gio filled in nicely for Mixon this week, but Dana now has the headache of figuring out which TB RB to start each week. Cam the Scam returned. She was wise to bench him for Bridgewater. The key to victory, though, was her picking up Jared Cook when news came out the MT was IA and Sanders was put on Covid. The Saints don't have an WRs right now. But the star of the show was Dionte Johnson. Unfortunately, Conner gave him his injury bug. Dionte can't seem to play in a game without getting dinged up.
It's a small setback for Jordan on a day when Mahomes got to take the day off. After the big trade with me, Jordan is primed to dominate the Broads division the rest of the way. My plan is to make the playoffs and hope for the best if we meet up again. My other hope is that Robinson runs into the rookie wall in a couple weeks.
King of the Crapper (110.70) vs The Jedi Master (90.12)
How the mighty have fallen. Last year's Champion has fallen on hard times. This week he earns the Poopsie Award for low score. CMC is getting close to a return, but word is it will be more of a split backfield when he does. I'm not counting Justin out just yet. Wentz is showing some signs of life just in time because the Minshew Magic is pretty much gone. I thought Jacobs was suppose to be more involved in the passing game this year? The Raiders get their butts kicked by Tampa and he has 3 catches for a measly 14 yards. SMH
The big news is David finally got the monkey off his back and won his first game in 2020. We will see if all his trades pay off. He was like Oprah on crack. Here's you a trade, and you a trade, and you a trade. When your team stinks, you have to find fun any way you can. Bell actually looked pretty good in is Chiefs debut. We will see if he can get enough touches to make him fantasy relevant.
Comments