2017 Week 2

Week 2 Power Rankings

League,

Welcome to the second installment of the Da Station League Power Rankings.

This past week consisted of a bunch of close games; all but one matchup was decided under 10 points.  With 2 weeks under our belts, I think that we all are starting to feel out our teams and can start to make knowledgeable adjustments.  Good news for everyone, only our top and bottom spot teams are not 1-1.  Making these rankings  tough considering all the parity between us all. With that said, let’s get on with it.

1. (0) The Redeem Team (2-0). David’s team kept on rolling this week with a league high 120.6 points.  That’s back to back 120 point weeks and it looks as if Dave is well on his way to season domination.  Todd Gurley and Montgomery are producing way more than most of us would have predicted, and Emmanuel Sanders is emerging as Trevor Semen’s favorite target.  All of this is happening while Antonio Brown had a pedestrian 6.2 and Mariota, a 13.  We have yet to see Dave’s entire team firing on all cylinders and if they all stay healthy we have the makings of a true juggernaut in our league.  The one problem I see with Dave’s team is depth: Mixon, Hilton, Charles, and especially Perkins all have unclear futures.  Chances are Dave will drop some games come the bye weeks but look for him to lead standings heading late into the year.

2. (+3) Irrational Savages (1-1).  Father Sack had a similar outcome as Dave in that his number 1 pick was pedestrian, but he had help across the board from other areas.  Gronk was Gronk and put up 17.6. Davonte Adams capitalized BIG on an average Rodgers performance, with 15.9.  The one thing I will say about my father’s team is that I like is that Tampa Bay Defense.  They put up 18 and from the looks of it on Sunday may be poised to put up more solid games against MIN, NYG, and ARI, in 3 of the next four weeks.  Once Le’Veon starts being Le’Veon and when Amari starts to get going this year, my dad may be one of the tougher teams to stop.  This all is predicated on Gronk staying healthy, which we all know is difficult.  Watch and see if “Sack from Hyundai” can get some high scoring wins  in the upcoming weeks.

3. (-1) Trump Wins (1-1).  Even though Big Dave lost this past week, I still think his team looks good.  Alshon and Wentz are starting to click which means Jeffery may be on his way back to the top of the league in WR Fantasy leaders.  The one key piece in Big Dave’s demotion this week is the fact that he beat himself.  He has an empty bench spot that could have been used to pick up a more productive defense (DET, ATL, BUF, all of which were available and could have won his matchup for him) or another RB or WR to use in place of either AJ Green and McCaffery who have been struggling.  Most evidently, Jason Witten is an absolute fantasy stud this season with back to back TD weeks.  I’m sure it was crushing to for Big Dave to lose to Joe after there were so many options left laying on the table for him to win. We’ll see next week in the battle of the fathers game, and  if he can straighten it out.

4. (+2) The 1999 NFC Championship Team (1-1).  Justin exudes consistency in this league.  Had it not been for Stafford not having to do much in the Monday night game we could very well have another 2-0 team.  Crabtree is starting to emerge as the red zone receiver for the Raiders, pulling in 3 TD’s, and Hyde shined in a boring game that only had 1 one touchdown scored total.  Justin also picked up Javorius “Buck” Allen last week who had 16.1 on his bench.  19 touches, Woodhead out, with West questionable next week, Buck has the makings of few more huge fantasy outputs in the near future.  The reasoning for Justin’s fourth spot though comes from the lack of production from Cooks and Shady.  Cooks, who was supposed to have a monster year, had a game that he could explode in, and just didn’t.  Also, Shady has yet to see the end zone yet and didn’t look like the old Shady that we’ve come to expect.  I don’t what that means for both of these guys going forward.  They definitely have a chance to turn in gear but watch out Justin, because they also have just as good of a chance to be total busts.

5. (-1) The Real James White (1-1).  Mike’s team was one this past week that had its heart broken.  Losing by just 0.1 at the hands of Eric’s team all because of a Monday Night game field goal.  That being said, Delanie solid, Fournette solid, and the Matt Ryan/Julio combo solid.  Also Mike’s bench all had guys around the 10 point mark.  He has the depth and he has formidable starters.  He just couldn’t get the W.  Like I said before, its any one’s game this season and Mike’s squad has just a good enough chance to make a playoff run this year than anyone else.  I do however have a beef with Mr. DeStefano.  Two weeks now there has been little from him in the chat, accompanied by an absence on game day.  Not only that, I’ve been waiting to show him the PowerPoint since its first viewing.  I made a Chris Jericho reference on it for Mike and soon enough he’ll be the first name on my list if this doesn’t get resolved soon.

6. (+2) The GOAT Team (1-1).  Joe’s team, like Mike Evans, took the first week off.  But that’s okay because they rebounded back with a good win over Big Dave.  3rd highest points this week. CJ Anderson absolutely killed it and led the league in points for a RB.  Evans, Hopkins, Rodgers were all themselves and put up respectable numbers.  We all know from watching this season, TD’s are scarce, and Joe had just enough to edge out the victory.  Looking ahead however, Demarco Murray is not looking good and may be injured.  And Jimmy graham, the same way.  Joe’s bench consisting of Blount, Decker, Brate and The Dogman Jordan Matthews are less that ideal.  #6 is the perfect spot for Joe this week.  Good team, but with some holes to fills.

7. (0) Team Buddy (1-1).  I got some push back from Eric this past weekend for slipping him in this 7th spot.  However I stand by my decision even if he was able to squeak a game by Mike.  Of course Kareem did his thing and had 22.9, turning out to be the pick of the year, but everyone else didn’t really do much.  Hogan had a good game but I doubt that it’ll happen often. Keenan Allen had 10 and seems to be Eric’s only other deserving starter other than Hunt.  What is really hurting Eric is the absence of OBJ.  To make matters worse Jordan Howard looks to have a nagging injury too and star TE Greg Olson has been put on IR.  Riddled with injuries in only week 2 and with hardly a bench, Eric’s team has a long road ahead of them.

8. (-5) Seal Team Ricks (1-1).  I was so high on Danny this year.  His team looked good last week and had all the pieces, but that was short lived.  Dan’s first pick, Jordy Nelson went down with an injury early in the game and got him a nice goose egg.  The Seattle Seahawks offensive line looked atrocious.  Russel Wilson and Doug Baldwin, key guys for Seal Team Ricks, will almost never produce with that line in the trenches.  And with Sam Bradford out, Adam Thielen and Dalvin Cook become exponentially less efficient.  Some will say however, I’m overreacting to these minor problems but I SAY.... that there is something else going on with Captain Daniel Patrick Joseph O’Moran IV’s team.  There is only one other explanation, Danny is cursed.  Just like Captain Barbosa was unable to feel the wind on his face or the salt of the sea, Old Danny Boy can’t enjoy the fervors of fantasy success.  He must break the curse this year or shall forever be locked away in Davy Jones’s Locker.

9. (0) Trimarcos From Tropoja (1-1). I could have very well inserted myself higher on this list after getting my first win over the league’s antagonist Nick DiGrazio.  But from the looks of the teams I’ve mentioned before, my team has a whole lot more to be desired.  My QB situation is bad.  Very bad.  Both Cousins and Winston underachieved this week, getting almost 8ish less than projected.  Terrell Pryor Sr. is simply trash up to this point.  My RB2 situation is all over the place and Michael Thomas is not looking like the second round draft pick I expected.  I will say nothing was sweeter than seeing Devonta put up 22 points for me on Sunday Night.  But 82.7 points in a win is not something I’ll be able to do often.

10. (0) Brady and The Champ (0-2). Last but certainly not least, Nick’s team.  Our only winless team thus far had another tough week.  One would think that 30.8 points from your QB would be enough to amount to 100 points, or at the very least 80.  It was not.  Down the board from there, mediocre output after mediocre output scrounged Nick another 39 points. Zeke having his worst game of his career with 2.2 points (9 carries for 8 yards) was the one that hurt the most. Especially after spending such a high draft pick for him.  Mike Wallace shouldn’t even be on a team, let alone a FLEX start (0.8, 0.7 in first two weeks). And Nick should’ve know Diggs’s production would suffer without Bradford.  The one shining light I see for Nick is the fact Landry is getting an unbelievable amount of touches from Culter, and Marshawn Lynch appears to not have missed a step.  Still early in the year; our reigning champion can still come back.  Look out for even more trade offers as Nick continues to ship Zeke out and fill in the gaping holes in his abysmal starting lineup.