So this week, Chris Braithwaite, GM of the Dyna Hards, has taken on the baton of The Replacements, and a bang up job he’s done too. Except for not having scored David’s efforts from week 7. Of course, you could lay that all on Neil Hawke of the DynaForOne Firebirds who failed to produce anything for week 8. But hey, Chris is here now, so let’s blame him eh? Anyway… on with Chris’ Replacements…
Player
Projection
QB Mike Glennon
14.560
HB Donald Brown
3.925
HB Roy Helu
6.000
WR Stevie Johnson
4.200
WR Jarius Wright
4.200
WR Jacoby Jones
3.375
WR Philly Brown
3.200
TE Chase Ford
3.425
TE Jacob Tamme
1.400
K Cairo Santos
7.400
P Brad Wing
0
DT Ian Williams
0.500
DE Ray McDonald
1
DE Jason Hatcher
1
LB Perry Riley
2.5
LB Bruce Irvin
1.5
LB Jabaal Sheard
0.5
LB Vincent Rey
2
CB Adam Jones
5.575
CB Sean Smith
3.550
S Dashon Goldson
2
S Husain Abdullah
4.025
Total
75.835
QB
The options are Mike Glennon or no one. Hey Lovie, now I know how you feel. Honestly, what I’d give for Kyle Orton or something.
RB
Donald Brown has a chance to be sneaky effective as the steady veteran hand behind Branden Oliver, so he could grab a bit of yardage on receptions and as a change of pace (that change being down to “no pace”.)
Roy Helu has been good for about 40 to 50 yards a game combined for most of the season, and there’s always a chance for a TD I guess, so he’s option 2. The Vikings D is mediocre against the run and terrible defending passes to RBs, so he might be able to break a couple of mediocre plays.
I’d normally play 3 RBs, but honestly there are absolutely no other options.
WR
Alas, pickings are still fairly slim at WR. Stevie Johnson is a must play. Washington has been pretty dreadful against the pass most weeks, so Jarius Wright is a potentially good play, so he can slot in. Football Outsiders reckons that Pittsburgh have been pretty dreadful against #3 WRs, so Jacoby Jones might be able to take advantage there. Maybe it’ll be another shootout. And for my number 4, I fancy a girl called Philly, so I’m taking Philly Brown of the Panthers. Look, that can’t be any worse logic than any of the other picks.
TE
The pickings at RB are so ridiculously slim I have to drop down to TEs and hope for some short TDs. Let’s go back to the “Washington sucks” well (it is a deep well) and grab Chase Ford of the Vikings as my #1 guy, despite his injury. He looks like the only chap with a chance at being actually useful, so the other guy is gonna have to be a hope for a 1 catch, 1 yard, 1 TD line. That is Jacob Tamme’s career, so yep, that’s happening.
K
Cairo Santos. Look, he’s Brazilian, his name is a capital city and he’s playing the Jets at home. Lets not overthink this.
P
Where MFL doesn’t even bother to make projections. My rule has always been “pick the guy with the worst offence against the best defence”, hence Dyna Hard’s roster having the punters for the Jags and Raiders. Which takes my two best options away here. The best option seems to be to hope that the Steelers used up most of their aerial attack last week, with the only person capable of doing anything in the air being P Brad Wing. Yep, a pun will work.
DT
The Rams OL managed to lose Scott Wells, Rodger Saffold and Jake Long to injury, moving Greg Robinson to LT. So its now weaker at 4 positions, and gave up a tonne of sacks last week anyway. Williams should be able to get a tackle for loss or two at a minimum.
DE
The logic above also holds for Ray McDonald of the 49ers. The Vikings OL isn’t great shakes either, and Jason Hatcher isn’t a bad bet to grab a sack.
LB
A theme is likely to emerge on this defence: some teams suck, lets hope they suck towards specific players. The Vikings aren’t very good, so Perry Riley isn’t a bad start. Bruce Irvin grabbed a couple of sacks against the Panthers last week on consecutive plays, and he gets to play against the Raiders this week. He should be able to grab one. The Bucs aren’t great, and Jabaal Sheard is due a sack or two, so maybe this is his week. And Vinny Rey is good for a big play every few weeks and gets to play the Jags, so a Bortles pick or fumble or whatever seems to be decent odds.
CB
1: Highlight “Bortles pick or fumble or whatever seems to be decent odds.” 2: CTRL+C. 3: CTRL+V. 4: Type Adam Jones. It’s extremely tempting to double down and pick one of Terence Newman or Leon Hall, but for the sake of variety lets remember that the Jets are playing and Sean Smith exists. He might have a decent chance at a pick if the Jets have a QB who can throw it close enough to him.
S
I have heard of Dashon Goldson and the Brian Hoyer train is slowly falling off the tracks, so he might have a chance to do something or other quite decent. Beyond that, safety options are very limited. And just in case Vick’s passes don’t get close enough to Sean Smith, lets give Husain Abdullah the chance to grab one or two.
After my second resounding Manboob victory of the season, Geoffrey has seen fit to leave me the replacements. So let’s start by “thanking” him with a review of how he did do and could have done:
Proj
Actual
FA Rank
Best
Best Points
QB
Stanton
4.28
0
7=
Mike Glennon, TB
18.56
RB
Rodgers
5.15
0.9
18
Fozzy Whittaker, CAR
11.6
RB
Ogbannaya
3.5
0
28=
Roy Helu, WAS
6.6
RB
Robinson
2.825
3.6
7
WR
Johnson, S
2.9
5.3
15
Andre Holmes, OAK
24.1
WR
Wright
3.9
3.8
18
Robert Woods, BUF
15.8
WR
Ginn Jr
2.2
2.375
25
Brandon Lloyd, SFO
14
WR
LaFell
4.6
21.7
2*
Chris Hogan, BUF
13.2
TE
Carlson
4.4
1.4
14
James Casey, PHI
8.6
TE
Lance Kendricks, STL
8.2
PK
Cantazaro
6.4
10.45
1*
Mike Nugent, CIN
9.7
PN
Ryan
0
5.675
10
Steve Weatherford, NYG
12.425
DE
Ngata
2
1.25
25=
Vinny Curry, PHI
15
DE
Gholston
1
4.5
10
George Johnson, DET
13.75
DT
Guion
0.5
3
13=
Evander Hood, JAC
13
LB
Robinson
2.5
5
20*
Tahir Whitehead, DET
26.95
LB
Sheard
0
1
54=
Dan Skuta, SFO
23.5
LB
Durant
1.5
4
26=
Justin Tuggle, HOU
16.05
LB
Graham
1
19
3*
Alex Okafor, ARI
16
S
Ishmael
4
3
14=
Rashad Johnson, ARI
38.8
S
Jefferson
5.65
1
26=
Dontae Johnson, SFO
20
CB
Cox
0
6.25
12*
Blidi Wreh-Wilson, TEN
22.65
CB
Arrington
1.5
1.25
43*
Buster Skrine, CLE
19.5
59.805
104.45
367.985
Much like Bill Belichick Mangboob is a coach / GM, and much like Bill he spends a lot of time being grumpy in hoodies. This is not where the similarity ends, as both Bill and Manboob show a knack for coaching the shit out of his players, getting far more than the traditional 110% out of his players with an impressive 175% improvement. Unfortunately, also like Bill, Manboob is a terrible GM specialising in identifying players who have an awful lot of shit to be coached out, and the 104 he scored, while impressive against the predictions, was a long way short of the near 370 possible.
Overall Manboob finds himself coaching the Replacements to their second lowest score, and didn’t manage to beat a single proper team, leaving Pete’s week one effort still the best the Replacements have managed, and the only time the replacements have beaten a DynaBowl franchise.
Proj
Actual
CtSOoT* Score
Teams beaten
Week 1
Pete Conaghan
89.385
150.74
1.69
3
Week 2
Move along nothing to see here
Week 3
Ben Hendy
89.795
126.64
1.41
0
Week 4
James Goodson
52.4
97
1.85
0
Week 5
Iran Kulkowski
79.2
144.535
1.82
0
Week 6
Geoffrey Manboob
59.805
104.45
1.75
0
Week 7
David Slater
72.025
Anyway, enough trashing Manboob (power-ranked 10th out of 10 right now), it’s time to introduce Week 7’s replacements.*Coaching the Shit Out of Them
Ladies and gentlemen (well, just gentlemen) please could we have a tepid and disinterested round of applause for your offence!
This really comes down to a choice between 4 potential starters – Orton, Fitzpatrick, Genome Smith and Whitehurst.
Half man, half beard… ALL BEARD
Fitz may look like he’s eating a squirrel through his helmet grill, but he’s likely to be a liability against a Pittsburgh defence who have held opposing QBs to very low scores (joint 4th best in fantasy against QBs), and sadly doesn’t score any points for his squirrel-munching antics.
Orton is up against an even more effective Minnesota defence – 4th best in fantasy against QBs despite facing Matts Ryan and Stafford, Tom Fucking Brady, Adam Rodgers and Brees in 5 of their 6 weeks.
Genome, is facing the Patriots – better than both Pittsburgh and Minnesota in terms of destroying a QB’s fantasy totals – and he is a truly fucking terrible QB.
Seen here in court, yesterday
This leaves Whitehurst, who is playing Washington’s incredibly forgiving defence, a defence so bad it made King Cunt Nick Foles looks good. Also Charlie has magnificent hair. The only real risk is that Jake Locker is fit enough to play Sunday, but even if he is, it’s likely Whitehurst gets 2 quarters and he could still outscore the others in that time.
Starting Running Backs –
Roy Helu (Was): Ranked 1st – Projected 5.6pts
Jonathan Stewart (Car): Ranked 2nd – Projected 5.5pts
To say the running back options are thin would be an understatement. They’re anorexic, a graveyard of terrible selections.
Helu, who sees regular change of pace work in the Washington backfield is a steady option, and with a TD could put up a decent score.
The chaos in Carolina’s backfield means that the fit again Stewart (last week’s running back of the week in Carolina, Fozzy Whittaker, is questionable as is the week before’s Darrin Reaves) is likely to start and see the majority of carries when Cam doesn’t decide to do it all himself.
Robert Woods (Buf): Ranked 6th – Projected 4.525pts
Holmes is a no-brainer, and I’d be surprised if he were available for next week’s Replacement Level as he’s put up 13.4 and 24.1 points in the two games either side of the Raiders bye week with Carr starting to find his feet. Oakland has a good matchup this week, with Arizona having the most generous passing defence involved in this weekend’s games (31st in points to wide-receivers).
Lloyd has shown flashes of his old self, and knows Denver well, having been the NFL’s leading receiver in his time as a Bronco. A deep threat might prove necessary against a Denver defence which has been one of the best against opposing receivers.
Cotchery has been consistently average for Carolina so far, but with Benjamin suffering a mild concussion should see a greater workload this weekend. The Packers pass defence has been pretty good; holding opposing wideouts to less than the fantasy average, however this is as much a product of playing some average offences as anything else, and Miami lit them up for 156 receiving yards and 2 tds last week. Carolina is far from a dominant passing defence, but Green Bay has regularly demonstrated their difficulties handling a talented mobile QB and Cotchery could be the beneficiary.
Woods has emerged as a decent target for Orton and has seen a lot more looks in the passing game in recent weeks, unfortunately for the Bills, they’ve played a run of excellent defences over that period and that continues this week against the Vikes. 10 to 12 targets is a realistic number for Woods, and if he catches 7, he could find himself on the end of an 80 yard day, which would be good enough for my 4th choice.
Ah, Jermaine Gresham… Sabotaging fantasy teams with his promise and and lack of production for about 5 years now. With the Bengals struggling for bodies who can catch passes Gresham had his best week of the year – in fact a better week than the whole year put together. Another 60+ yard outing beckons against Indy who’ve been generous to TEs so far this year.
With Jimmy Graham out, Watson is the usual number 2 tight end and should see a nice little uptick in his production. As a Jimmy Graham owner, I can testify first hand to how Drew Brees appears to have forgotten his Tight End exists so far this year, but at a thin position Watson has upside. Also, fuck you Drew Brees.
A veritable treasure trove of riches at Kicker compared with the other offensive positions. Gould would be a fine choice, but Sturgis should get lots of opportunities to kick against a fairly poor Chicago defence, and has only missed once this year – from 48 yards.
Starting Punter –
Steve Weatherford (NYG): Ranked N/A – Projected 0pts
Not projecting points for punters is a major oversight by MFL. Weatherford is the second best punter so far amongst free agents, and he was the best in the league last year. His leg may be sore after last weekend, but he, unlike the rest of the Giants’ offence, could at least reflect on a job well done against Philly.
On to the defence… As a general rule, projected scores for defensive players are a joke. We’re dealing with big play scoring, and the league doesn’t seem to project big play scores, as such the projections are essentially useless as a guide here.
Starting Defensive Ends –
Haloti Ngata (Oak): Ranked 1st – Projected 2pts
George Johnson (Det): Ranked joint 38th – Projected 0pts
Ngata is a steady presence, with the potential for a big game, and his ability to make plays on passing downs matches up well against their pass happy offence.
Johnson is in good form, with 2.5 sacks and four tackles for a loss in his last two games. Dallas abused New Orleans’ offense, and Detroit bring a much better defensive unit to the game. Johnson can ride his hot-streak to make Drew Brees life slightly more miserable. Also, fuck you Drew Brees.
Starting Defensive Tackle –
Sammy Lee Hill (Ten): Ranked joint 25th – Projected 0pts
Tennessee have a good defence, tough, but not that special – that’s why their players litter the DynaBowl free agency pool. They also have the Washington Redskins in town, so expect to see a lot of them on my team this week.
These are mostly match-up based. Tennessee and Washington, Baltimore and Atlanta (who are terrible on the road) and Cleveland and Jacksonville should provide plenty of opportunities for these guys to make plays. Indy play the Bengals, who’ve shown one of the better lines in the early stages of the season, but this is a trend thing. The Bengals line seems to be getting worse, and the Indy defence seems to be finding its feet. Walden has three sacks on the year and five tackles for a loss, I like him to have a good game.
Starting Safeties –
Michael Griffin (Ten): Ranked 2nd – Projected 5pts
Roman Harper (Car): Ranked 9th – Projected 3pts
Griffin is actually projected worse than his Tennessee safety colleague (15 points!), but has consistently out-performed him this year so far. Backing Kirk Cousins to throw stupid interceptions is basically playing with house money.
I was tempted to double down on Tennessee, but while Harper might be old, but he’s still pretty good in the passing game. The scoring we use doesn’t worry about players getting lit up, or defences who can’t stop their opponents – Green Bay figure to see a fair amount of the ball against Carolina, and Rodgers will make plays all day long, meaning at worst Harper should provide a reasonable return in tackles, defended passes and the like, with the potential for a big play along the way.
Jones plays in a good Cincy secondary who should get the chance to make plays against pass-happy Andy Luck, who rarely lets a game pass without one interception at least. Jones was also used as a returner last week, and that little point bump can only help.
Blidi Wreh-Wilson possesses an excellent name. He had a huge game against the Jags, and while it’s highly unlikely he’ll repeat that, Tennessee are playing the Redskins, and it could be jackpot time for anyone in that secondary. I’m also loathe to pick two players from the same club at corner or safety, else Newman would have been a good play here.
And so, without further ado, your full week 7 replacements (and the projected best replacements teams)
Proj
Rank among FA
Best
Best Points
QB
Charlie Whitehurst, TEN
9
4
Kyle Orton, BUF
12.06
RB
Roy Helu, WAS
5.6
1
Roy Helu, WAS
5.6
RB
Jonathan Stewart, CAR
5.5
2
Jonathan Stewart, CAR
5.5
WR
Andre Holmes, OAK
5.4
3
Andrew Hawkins, CLE
6.2
WR
Brandon Lloyd, SFO
2.2
27
Jarius Wright, MIN
6.1
WR
Jerricho Cotchery, CAR
5.3
4
Andre Holmes, OAK
5.4
WR
Robert Woods, BUF
4.525
6
Jerricho Cotchery, CAR
5.3
TE
Jermaine Gresham, CIN
4.5
2
Lance Kendricks, STL
9
TE
Ben Watson, NOS
1.9
13
Jermaine Gresham, CIN
4.5
PK
Caleb Sturgis, MIA
6.4
4=
Robbie Gould, CHI
7.4
PN
Steve Weatherford, NYG
0
N/A
N/A
0
DE
Haloti Ngata, BAL
2
1
Haloti Ngata, BAL
2
DE
George Johson, DET
0
38=
Osi Umenyiora, ATL
1
DT
Ian Williams, SFO
0.5
7=
Damon Harrison, NYJ
1
DT
Sammie Lee Hill, TEN
0
25=
Vince Wilfork, NEP
1
LB
Kamerion Wimbley, TEN
1
31=
Jacquian Williams, NYG
3
LB
Pernell McPhee, BAL
0
63=
Jon Beason, NYG
2.5
LB
Eric Walden, IND
1
31=
Philip Wheeler, MIA
2.5
LB
Jabaal Sheard, CLE
0
63=
Tahir Whitehead, DET
2.5
S
Michael Griffin, TEN
5
2
George Wilson, TEN
15
S
Roman Harper, CAR
3
9
Michael Griffin, TEN
5
CB
Adam Jones, CIN
5.2
1
Adam Jones, CIN
5.2
CB
Blidi Wreh-Wilson, TEN
4
2=
Terence Newman, CIN
4
72.025
111.76
I’d nominate manboob, for nominating me, but that seems like a vicious circle, and he’s already had his chance and blown it. So for next week I’d like to nominate manager of the Firebeards, Neil to see if he can’t beat his actual team’s score for the week.
Geoffrey Manboob is a good man. And thorough. Well, not that thorough but he is busy, and I won’t have you holding that against him.
He missed a couple of things in his replacement level post this week and I am here to update those. Firstly, his own projected score, which is as follows:
PK
Cantanzaro
Ari
6.4
PN
Ryan
Seattle
0
QB
Stanton
Ari
4.28
RB
Rodgers
Atl
5.15
Ogbannaya
Car
3.5
Robinson
Jac
2.825
WR
Johnson
SF
2.9
Wright
Min
3.9
Ginn Jnr
Ari
2.2
LaFell
NEP
4.6
TE
Carlson
Ari
4.4
DE
Ngata
Bal
2
Gholston
TBB
1
DT
Guion
GBP
0.5
LB
Robinson
Was
2.5
Sheard
Cle
0
Durant
Dal
1.5
Graham
Phi
1
S
Ishmael
Atl
4
Jefferson
Ari
5.65
CB
Cox
SF
0
Arrington
NEP
1.5
Total
59.805
Second of all, there’s the scoring of Iran’s team from week 5. Ian was projected a total of 79.2 points. According to his post. I do not know if this is true. But let’s see how his team actually wound up doing…
PK
Bullock
Hou
4
PN
Schmidt
Buf
10.125
QB
Fitzpatrick
Hou
4.46
RB
Helu
Was
5.8
Smith
Atl
14.5
WR
Austin
Cle
5.4
Cotchery
Car
4.6
Sanu
Cin
13
Wright
Min
2.7
TE
Gresham
Cin
1.5
Harbor
Jac
2.2
DE
Ayers
NYG
1
Thornton
Phi
12.5
DT
Hankins
NYG
16.5
LB
Bostic
Chi
1.5
Davis
NYJ
2.75
Hawthorne
NOS
2.25
Robinson
Was
3
S
Adams
Ind
12.5
Moore
Den
0.5
CB
Allen
Pit
19.5
Jackson
Hou
4.25
Total
144.535
So there we go. He came out over 65 points better off. Well done Iran.
Brought to you by the one and only Geoffrey Manboob…
Many thanks to Iran for nominating me to complete this week’s replacement team after I beat him again. This is always a tricky prospect given the size of everyone’s rosters and with injuries and bye weeks in full effect, but given how bad I always seem to do, I’m not holding out much hope for my selected 22 “Expendables”.
General Thought Process
The players that are available are generally high risk/reward players. Fringe stars who could score you 15 points in one week but only score 1.5 for the remainder of the season. In fact, most rookie gambles have already been stashed away. Due to this, I’ve tried to avoid being influenced by total player scores for the season or the MFL predictions weekly predictions. Instead I’ve tried to pick players who have good match-ups as well as some level of consistency over all their starts. I have probably picked a lot of the higher scoring free agents but I’ve tried not to be overly persuaded by this statistic.
The Team – Skill Positions
Obviously the most important part of any fantasy side is the skill positions, so I’ll pick these first:
PK – Chandler Cantanzaro (Ari)
Cantanzaro is Arizona’s rookie kicker who has had a great start to his NFL career. He’s been steady through his first 4 starts and should continue this against Washington this week
PN – Jon Ryan (Sea)
Difficult to know how much the Seahawks will need to punt against the Cowboys, but what impressed me in week 5 was the quality of Seattle’s punt coverage. Ryan had excellent distance and hang-time on his kicks, forcing the opposition to start deep within their territory. The Cowboys’ defense has been a surprise this year, so Ryan may see plenty of action.
Offense
QB – Drew Stanton (Ari)
Stanton has done well stepping into Carson Palmer’s shoes, but struggled last Sunday when the Broncos gave him a bit of a battering. Week 6 sees a good matchup for Arizona at home against Washington and their soft secondary. The Cardinals have some great receiving targets, so they should be able to move the ball downfield effectively through the air as Washington are one of the most generous defenses for fantasy QBs
RB – Jaquizz Rodgers (Atl)
Running backs by committee in Atlanta and one that seems to be growing. Rodgers provides the speed option out of the backfield, so he could be at the races if he makes it to the second level (see his TD touchdown against the Giants). It’s difficult to know how much action he’ll see, but with the threat of injury always hanging over Steven Jackson, he could quickly become the feature back. Also his pace against Chicago’s linebackers could make a difference.
Chris Ogbonnaya (Car)
Someone has to run the ball in Carolina and as the last man standing, that someone appears to be Ogbannaya. While Riverboat Ron will be hopeful that Jonathan Stewart can take some snaps on Sunday, it would appear the Ogbonnaya will continue to shoulder the majority of the load. Carolina face the Bengals this week who were taken apart on the ground by Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen in Week 5.
Denard Robinson (Jac)
Wildcard selection because the pickings at RB are very slim. I’m a believer of sticking to my philosophy, which is selecting 3 running backs and 4 wide receivers. Robinson continues to improve and has looked lively when carrying the ball this year. While he won’t see the majority of snaps, hopefully he can exploit some third down situations for big yardage. Plus he was the cover star of NCAA Football 2014
WR – Stevie Johnson (SF)
Odd selection seeing as I just sacked him from the Dynasty of Sadness, but he’s too good not to select here. Yes, he’s hamstrung by Kaep’s inability to play QB, but he appears to have won the 3rd receiver position in San Francisco and they’ve facing one of the worst pass offenses in the league. He should make a handful of catches and maybe even bag a touchdown.
Jarius Wright (Min)
This all rests on my love of Teddy B. In Bridgeater’s only start, Wright was used effectively in the screen game. While Detroit are a much sterner test than the porous Atlanta defense, I’d expect Norv Turner to run a similar game plan, allowing Teddy to complete plenty of short passes to keep the chains moving. While it’s too early to properly judge, Wright had some decent chemistry with Bridgeater.
Ted Ginn Jr (Ari)
As per Drew Stanton, I expect Arizona to more the ball well through the air. Ginn has the added advantage of being the 3rd receiver, therefore “covered” by the largely ineffective EJ Biggers or injured Tracy Porter. While that is appealing, what tips Ginn over the edge for selection is the fact he’s a top return man against one of the most shambolic special teams in the history of football. I wouldn’t rule out a touchdown for him.
Brandon LaFell (NE)
So, I’m low on Brady, the Patriots seem to be a run first team and they deploy 2 TE sets. Why have I gone for LaFell. Well, he’s the only receiver who can catch a ball. He’s the deep threat that allows the things above to work. I’ve been fairly bullish on LaFell all season and against a tough but limited defense in Buffalo, i think he could do well (if Tim can throw this week).
TE – John Carlson (Ari)
Any receiver playing in the seam against Washington will score touchdowns. John Carlson is in prime position to go all Larry Donnell this week. If Housler decides to take the Donnell role, Carlson could easily replicate Giants backup TE Daniel Fells with a touchdown.
Defence
DE – Haloti Ngata (Bal)
Baltimore’s very own Mr Interception this season. He’s had two big games and he’s a disruptive presence at the line against a poor Tampa Bay side that can’t run the ball well. Mike Glennon should see a fair amount of him.
William Gholston (TB)
Gholston has been steady through his first 4 games (after missing week 1), but that is partly what I’m looking for. I like the matchup this week against a stretch-zone running side like Balitmore. Getting pressure at the edge should lead to tackles and some pressure on Flacco, who struggled against an average Colts defense last week.
DT – Letroy Guion (GB)
Letroy Guion had a break out performance last week in a key position for the Packers defense. While he’s not done much before the blowout win over the Vikings last week, I like the matchup against Miami, who rush a lot between the tackles and have poor pass protection for Ryan Tannehill.
LB – Keenan Robinson (Was)
He’s quick, athletic and apparently good in coverage, which is why Perry Riley has been picking up the seem receivers. Robinson should be active against Arizona who will look to use the speed and ellusiveness of Andre Ellington as a receiver. Robinson has the size to challenge for passes to TEs or even a Larry Fitzgerald.
Jabaal Sheard (Cle)
Another pick based on steady performance. Sheard has been consistent and this week sees the Browns up against the Steelers who are enjoying a strong start to the season by LeVeon Bell. This selection was for a player who I expect to busy with tackles on a pretty tough Browns defense.
Justin Durant (Dal)
He’s might be the last man standing in Dallas who can play linebacker, but he’s had a good start to the season in a defense that has surprised many of us. He’s only played 3 of the 5 Dallas games this year, but he has plenty of tackles and a few forced fumbles. In week 6, Dallas face Seattle who will be looking to get their ground game going early on.
Brandon Graham (Phi)
Very consistent through the first 5 weeks as Graham seems to be resurrecting his career under Chip Kelly. It will be a tough assignment playing outside linebacker against the Giants, but there should be plenty of opportunities for his to rush and pressure Eli. With the Giants still running the ball, he should be busy with tackles too.
S – Kemal Ishmael (Atl)
Playing safety against Jay Cutler is normally a good sign for an interception. While Atlanta don’t have the best secondary, Ishmael is good enough to catch a Cutler pick.
Tony Jefferson (Ari)
Jefferson has been pretty impressive at safety this season. This week he faces Washington and the erratic decision making of Kirk Cousins. Cousins has more ups and downs than a yo-yo. After a good performance against Seattle, he’s due to regress. The strong Cardinals run defense should force him to air it out two. Jefferson could be set for a big game.
CB – Perrish Cox (SF)
3 Interceptions already for Cox and this week he gets to line up against whichever body that St Louis can agree to play quaterback. Cox could be the best opportunity for The Replacements posting a decent score this week.
Kyle Arrington (NE)
Are you sold on Kyle Orton as the guy that will save Buffalo’s offense? No, neither am I. While Orton isn’t as bad as EJ Manuel, I can see him making some bad throws this week. What Orton is good enough to know is don’t throw to Revis, which should be great for Arrington.
Well, that ended up taking a lot longer than I expected. I might as well finish off with my suggestion for next week’s GM. While ideally I would like Mark to show us how the Roster Doctor really does it, he’s far too busy eating bananas to even remember to draft or pick up waivers in the Chatterbowl. Therefore, I’d like to nominate “Mr Fantasy Football” himself, D-Slatz, to GM the Replacements in week 7.
Welcome to the weekly summary of the top fantasy players in Week 4 of the Dynabowl:
Rank
Player
Week 4 Pts
Total Pts
Trending
Comments
1
Andrew Luck (IND, QB)
29.62
107.50
No Change
Luck shows no signs of slowing down with another monster week 4 performance. 393 yards and 4 touchdowns made him the first player to top 100 total points this season
2
Matt Ryan (ATL, QB)
20.12
85.22
Up 1
While the Falcons were disappointing in their defeat to the Vikings, Ryan maintained his fantasy relevance with 298 yards and 3 TD passes. Two interceptions marred another strong performance
3
DeMarco Murray (DAL, RB)
27.50
84.20
Up 7
155 all-purpose yards and 2 rushing TDs helped the Cowboys steamroller the Saints in the Sunday night game
4
Philip Rivers (SDC, QB)
27.08
83.8
Up 5
Rivers continues his efficient start to the season. He was nearly flawless putting up 377 passing yards and throwing for 3 TDs as the Chargers beat a poor Jaguars side
5
Antonio Brown (PIT, WR)
25.78
78.18
Up 7
Brown became the top Receiver in the league with 131 yards and 2TDs as the Steelers snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. 17 passing yards of a trick play would be a particular highlight for Brown owners
6
Aaron Rodgers (GBP, QB)
28.88
77.56
Up 13
Rodgers’ performances have been as stuttery as the Packers 2-2 start. Against the Bears he had a good day with 400+ passing yards and 4 TD throws.
7
Jay Cutler, (CHI, QB)
17.14
77.04
Down 1
Cutler continues to put up consistent fantasy scores. But as the Bears failed to match Packers in their Sunday shootout, Culter’s weakness for throwing interceptions reared its ugly head again. He now has 4 on the season.
8
Matthew Stafford (DET, QB)
26.52
75.64
Up 9
After two quiet games, Stafford got back on track with nearly 300 passing yards and a couple of passing TDs, all without a very limited Calvin Johnson. A rushing TD helped boost Stafford’s week 4 score
9
Kyle Fuller (CHI, CB) *
1.25
74.00
Down 7
After 2 monster weeks, Fuller came crashing back to earth recording only 2 tackles and an assist as the Bears defence was picked apart by Aaron Rodgers.
After a shakey start with new offensive co-ordinator Ben McAdoo, Eli Manning finally seems to be clicking in the Giants new West Coast offense. Through pre-season and the opening game, Manning looked lost in the new system and completely out of synch with his receivers. However, a steadily improving pass completion percentage reflects that the new system is starting to settle in. Thursday night’s performance against the Redskins certainly showed that to the whole league.
Manning finished the away trip with not only 300 yards and 4 touchdowns, but he completed an impressive 28 of 39 pass attempts (71.8%). He showed a full range of throws by mixing up short screens with precision passes down the sidelines that allowed only Giants receivers to make the catches. He has gradually built up a strong rapport with TE Larry Donnell, who had only made 3 receptions since joining the Giants as an Undrafted Free Agent in 2012. Manning was able to exploit Donnell’s size for three touchdowns including one that exposed Washington’s poor “Redzone” cover-2 defensive scheme.
While Manning was aided by Washington propensity to turn the ball over in good field position, he led an efficient Giants offense to punish those mistakes. The “icing on the cake” for his week 4 performance, was Manning’s 1 yard rushing TD. With good coverage, Manning spotted room to pick up the score much to the delight of those fantasy owners who started him.
