Mercifully, Week 5 of football has reached an end. It would be one thing if the Monday Night game was a meaningless Broncos vs Panthers game, but Chiefs vs Saints mattered. Half of the league played a Kansas City citizen or a New Orleanian, so butts were in seats until the bitter end last night. Anyways, on to the write-up!
Highest Scorer: Skid Marks (173.62 points)
It was only a matter of time until Skid Marks got a little tan from their moment under the sun. Brian crafted this high-octane roster with the acumen of a true Fantasy veteran. Yes, he did spend up on THE premiere QB right now. He also threw plenty of cash toward a hot young rookie in Brian Thomas Jr. Those are, perhaps, obvious picks. However, he played the hot hand with Swift and the sizzling offense of the Packers, and he exploited a ripe matchup against the Raiders for a very respectable Denver D performance. All in all, this assembly plays like a well-conducted orchestra with balance, power, and consistency. Touchdowns also help. Brian’s roster accounted for 10 touchdowns thrown, ran, received, or special team’d. Despite the different strategies people can use in this league, ‘winning’ is always the end goal. (You can’t tank, after all). This was Skid Marks’ goal surely, but I don’t think he expected to put up just this many points. The Marks stand proudly atop the Jelly-Filled Division with a 70-point lead on newcomer Shotgun Bob, but they will have to maintain pace as the league is very top-heavy five weeks into the season.
Biggest Blowout: Gamecocks vs jacksons team (97.06 points)
I’m glad I finally get to talk about these two teams. Last year, Gamecocks had one of the most visible disaster weeks I’ve seen: an empty roster (resulting in a fine) against a pitiful team which led to a missed playoff spot for the fledging Gamecocks. Back to the present, jacksons team is new to the Big League format this year! After years of being peer pressured to join, Mr. Nemec relented. However, to say his freshman season has been rough would be to say that Hurricane Katrina was a weird weather day – an understatement. After Jackson’s Week 1 win (a 9-point margin btw), Jackson is on a four-week losing streak and is 39th in total points. When Jackson was reminded to field a roster this week, it was too little too late. In an inexplicable series of decisions, Jackson decided to roster all backups and no Chiefs. This blindfolded highway navigation transformed Ben’s victory waltz into a cha-cha slide. Despite his best efforts, two of Jackson’s Cowboys put up respectable numbers for a normal lineup, accounting for ~70% of Jackson’s total points. Ben and the ‘Cocks on the other hand, frankly did really well. 133.66 points is super solid for any given week. Listen, Ben knows ball and he’s only 10 teams away from a playoff berth. If some more lucky breaks can go his way, he might not need an absent substitute teacher lineup like jacksons team to accrue dubs.
Closest Call: Who’s Nailin’ Jalen? vs. H-O-T-T-O-DEEBO (4.26 points)
After what felt like an unprecedented streak of microscopic margins of victory, we finally have a semi-normal Closest Call. I’ll say this first – I think the wrong team won here. Who’s Nailin’ Jalen edged DEEBO by four points behind an army of cardboard cutouts and hollow points. On paper, Travis Kelce single-handedly anchored this team. However, ‘on paper’ does not a fantasy roster make. Flacco was the fifth-best fantasy quarterback this week, and Slayton was the 7th best wideout. (All courtesy of our handy-dandy Player Performances tab). A double-down on Colts with Trey “Preach, Brother” Sermon gave Jake some breathing room. Meanwhile David and Jake neutralized on a pitiful Ford performance and an uplifting Denver play. David had to have already popped the champagne by the start of Sunday night, though. Fields is still to play, Kraft was a massive hit, and Fairbairn was a much-needed 16-point boost. However, Mother Nature had different plans, and Fields only completed four passes by halftime of SNF. The Steelers’ starter didn’t bomb this fantasy day, but you really hoped for more fireworks than the pedestrian 15.94 performance from the former Bear. It all came down to Monday Night – would Kelce continue his re-ascent? Or would he flounder against the could-be Saints? Since Rice’s departure, Kelce has seen a near 30% target share and there’s no reason to doubt its continuity. Mr. Travis Swift hauled nine balls for 70 yards, but that’s enough to put the finishing touches on David and seal the win for Jake.
Best Find: Tucker Kraft (24.8 points)
Call it an overreaction, but there was no choice but Mr. Cheese himself for this award this week. Even though seven teams played Tucker Kraft he was a mystical salve in these lineups against his replacement value. While Tight End scoring was overall up this week, no one played Bowers, Likely, or Pitts (who were #2, #4, & #6 on the week). You’re looking at a big 15-point swing if you had played Mark Andrews over Kraft (20-swing if you rostered Hunter Henry like me). Of the seven teams that rostered Kraft, six won – an impressive feat. The 7th who lost? Oh, just the loser in the Closest Call who I wrote about above. I was not lucky enough to watch this game so I can’t speak to Kraft’s vibe or juice. He did have 9 targets last week, and this week’s longest reception was 66 yards. These are great indicators of future performance! However, these past two weeks, the Packers have played big-time catch-up, needing to claw themselves out of deficits. Is Kraft merely the fire extinguisher you grab once the flame has spread? Or is he a safety blanket that will be relied on weekly? I guess we’ll find out soon!
Biggest Bust: Dontayvion Wicks (4 points)
Staying with the Packers, I need to talk about Don Wick. Last week’s mega performance of 13 catches, 78 yards, and two scores vaulted Wicks into must-play relevance. So, me and eight of my closest friends did so. His targets shrank from 13 to 7 and his yards dwindled from 78 to 20. Just a wreck. Only one team who played Wicks won (four instances were neutralized and the rest were losses). The Packers’ approach to their enigmatic offense is truly mystifying for Fantasy purposes. Who is their #1? Who has the most talent? Who is Love’s favorite? Who will the defense target? It’s all a hazy morass for me. And seemingly the team too. This week, they disciplined Romeo Doubs, and still, Wicks couldn’t capitalize. Nonetheless, this offense is worth throwing a dart every week, just for the chance of getting on the board. Between Wicks, Watson, Reed, Doubs, and apparently Kraft & Musgrave too, there are very viable, if not reliable, secondary wide receivers to roster. I just wish you luck in choosing the right one.
That’s all for now. Have a great week.
