2017 Week 5

Week 5 Power Rankings 

League,

Welcome to another edition of Power Rankings.  There has only been one constant thus far in fantasy football, and that is there are no constants.  Almost everyone in the league has shown a tenacity to either score over 100 or under 70.  So each week becomes difficult to rank with such fluctuation.  However, this past week really displayed our true colors and I think the rankings are as accurate as ever.  Let’s the league’s undeniable #1.

1. (+1) The Redeem Team (4-1).  Dave’s team did it again this week, and extended his stranglehold on the points for category.  He now leads all teams with 553.7 points (110.8/game).  That is 66 points higher than the next total (97.4/game) by Eric.  He didn’t have a particularly tough matchup this past week, but he got it done and without his two star backs.  Gurley only had 3 points, Montgomery didn’t play.  It was a collaborative effort from every position that got Dave is fourth win. Guys that Dave believed would eventually show up, did; guys like Kyle Rudolph and Joe Mixon.  He may have taken a back seat to Eric last week, but he still is the most consistent fantasy team in the league.  And for that he is this week’s #1.

2. (-1) Team Buddy (3-2). Eric took a big hit this this past week, mostly because of injuries,  but he still had a decent game and still would’ve beaten 5 other teams had he played them this week.  He is currently second in scoring and second in his division.  He is going to have to drop his start player Odell Beckham but I don’t think this is as big of a deal Eric or anyone else in the league might think.  Odell was already playing on an 0-5 Eli Manning led team.  He ankle was tweaked and it was only a matter of time that an injury like this was going to happen.  I know that he scored this past week, but from a season long outlook, it didn’t look promising.  He still had to play Washington with Josh Norman twice, KC, SEA, DEN, and ARI.  Without the motivation of a winning season and injury, he probably wasn’t going to be the star WR he has been in the past.  Eric can now cut his losses and allow Lax Bro, Keenan Allen and dare I say Devin Funchess (“foon-chess”) to lead his team week in and week out.

3. (+4) The GOAT Team (3-2).  Climbing in the ranks two weeks in a row, Joe is on a mission to regain glory this year.  Early in the season, his players were doing terrible.  He lacked in almost every position.  That has all turned around of late.  His RB situation is better than most and he has three legitimate starters in Gore, Anderson and Blount.  If Murray can get it going than he’ll have the luxury of being able to play three RB’s week in and week out.  His TE’s Brate and Graham also show promise going forward.  Brate is, in my opinion, a guy you could start every week.  The one issue with the GOAT Team, is his WR’s and lack of depth.  His starters are great.  Mike Evan and Hopkins are both number one WR’s but if any of them miss time going forward, Joe has no backup plan whatsoever.   I’ll give credit where credit is due,  Joe’s team is trending up more than every other team in the league.

4. (+2) The Real James White (3-2).  In a division that shows no promise, Mike’s team is clearly the best.  He has a good point differential, 5th in points for, 2nd in points against.  And the most important thing, luck.  Stefon Diggs could have singlehandedly put Mike in the 2-3 hole but he only mustered up 0.4.  On the flip side, Leonard Fournette scored a 90 yard touchdown this past week at the end of the game.  15 points in one play.  What did Mike win by?  12.7.  We all know when you have luck like that on your side, it is hard to be stopped.  Mike had some key guys on bye last week, got the win anyway and looks to be the lead candidate to take that division. 

5. (+4) Certified G (2-3). Big week for Big Dave. And even though I moved Big Dave up the rankings, I think his 126.4 week this past week was definitely an anomaly.  For the last two weeks he scored 68 and 75.  Inconsistent outputs like these scare me.  I definitely think Big Dave will not be this year’s sacko, but it is hard to make a case for him to make a playoff run either.  Deshaun Watson put up 35.5 and 5 TD’s this week. Definitely something that is not going to happen more than once. Melvin Gordon, AJ, and even McCaffery had good games.  But still, I will need to Big Dave to beat someone other than Eric before I can rank him in the top 4 again.

6. (-3) The 1999 NFC Championship Team (2-3).  The bottom of the league sure is dismal.  None of the next 5 five teams could score over 80 this past week.  Let’s start with Justin’s team.  65.2. Horrendous. Hyde really killed Justin with only 1.8 points.  Bilal Powell too, with only 3.3.  Both these guys, I praised last week, just flat out forgot to show up.  However Justin is 6th, not for his starters, but for his bench.  His bench exploded with 98.4 points.  If given the opportunity to make the best lineups for Justin and Dave he would’ve only lost by about 3 instead of losing by 25.  So let’s just chalk this game up to bad decision making.  It is sad because I thought this game would’ve been really close.  Next week Justin plays Nick who could prove tough for Justin.  Hopefully he can pull it together without McCoy and Dez, and avoid that dreaded 2-4 hole.

7. (-2) Trimarcos From Tropoja (3-2).  I am well aware that I could currently be sitting last on this list.  I had a winnable game in my gasp and let it slip.  But it proves that I have no serious answer at my flex and RB2 position.  Early in the week I banked on Latavius Murray to break out.  A move that came back to bite me in the ass.  All I needed was 9 from the assumed starter but instead McKinnon, who looked on the decline in weeks before, put up over 20 still on the wire.  I bet on the wrong guy, overspent my budget to spite Dan, and he wound up beating me.  Good thing for me is that my star players Devonta Freeman and Michael Thomas have gotten their BYE weeks out of the way.  Duke Johnson is proving to be the lead guy in CLE, and barring missing time from the concussion protocol, Travis Kelce is still an automatic starter week in and week out.  I have a winning record despite my low scoring games so I still have a chance especially in the Maniac Division.

8. (0) Seal Team Rick (3-2).  Because of my mishaps, Dan also sits atop the division at 3-2.  But I rank him slightly below me because of two reasons.  One, the injury to Charles Clay.  A guy who Dan’s team could count on for 10+ points a week is now going to be out for multiple weeks. And two, absolutely no starting RB1 option.  Jay Ajayi is ranked 43 so far in RB’s and the Dolphins offense looks like they won’t be improving anytime soon.  The heir to the yogurt fortune, Dak Prescott is definitely a stud; but he may be the only safe start Dan has week to week.  Dan plays a real good squad in Team Buddy next week and I don’t expect him to win.  Look for Dan to sail his ship into the middle of the pack at 3-3.

9. (-5) Irrational Savages (2-3).  This position in the rankings is based upon the decisions to one, start Roethlisberger, two bench Davante Adams, and three start another negative scoring defense.  Yes, hindsight is 20/20 but these three decisions cost my father 44.7 points (he wouldve won by 3).  And that is based upon starting the Bucs D/ST.  That said, there were some high points for my dad.  ASL and Wayne Gallman combined for 17.1. Solid for two free agent pickup starts.  The jury is still out on father sack.  He has Gronk, Le’Veon, Doug Martin. I like all those players, but his decision making needs to be questioned.  And I’m also using this 9th spot as an “I told you so.”  I must have told my dad 5 times Sunday to bench the Mariota-less Rishard Williams and start Adams.  He did not and lost big.

10. (0) Brady and The Champ (0-5).  Nick must get one win for him to get out of this 10th spot.  100 points per game against is tough. The highest in the league.  But at some point Nick needs to take responsibility for the constant losing.  His players are all inconsistent.  I believed Diggs, even when he was ranked 1, had the possibility of having a goose egg like he had any given week.  Elliot, Brady, and Ertz are the only reliable starters for Nick and he doesn’t even have Elliot next week.  His RB situation may be the only one worse than my own. In all, he’s getting to the point of no return.  If he drops to 0-6 there may be no hope for him at all.  I am sure he can already see the Sacko threat in his rear view mirror.  Time to get it together.