The Other Guys Fantasy Football Blog

Weekly updates from the world of Fantasy Football

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WEEK 10 LOSS!

Week 10 may have decided my fate for the rest of the season. Several of my players put up some big numbers this week, but it was not enough to defeat my division rival for the number four spot in the playoffs. As of right now, it is still possible for my team to make the playoffs. However, it is not looking good. My opponent this past week will have to lose two of our three remaining regular season games for my team to have a chance at the playoffs. It is going to be a long three weeks.

Week 10 might have been my worst week so far. My two best players were on BYE week in week 10. It is crazy that the week I needed them the most, or at least one of them, they were both out of my lineup. I ended up losing this past week by 28 points. My opponent had an average scoring week, while I was well below average. I would have had a much better chance of winning this week had I had not had faith in one of my favorite running backs. Sony Michel, running back for the New England Patriots, started in week 10 after having missed the past 3 weeks due to injury. I was so excited for his return that I thought it was a no brainer for me to start him. He finished this week with only 31 rushing yards and three fantasy points. Meanwhile, Kerryon Johnson, running back for the Detroit Lions, sat on my bench and scored 24 points with two touchdowns. Johnson has had a pretty good season for being a rookie running back, that is still getting to know the offense. Week 10 was definitely his break out week, and I failed to start him. However, Kerryon Johnson was not the only player I should have started this week. I should have started any other defense than the New York Jets defense. The Jets got destroyed this week by the Buffalo Bills. Their defense actually got me negative seven points this week, which really hurt me. I have yet to play a defense this season that scored me negative points, until this week. Those are the two mistakes I made this week, minus not having my two best players available to play.

It has been a long fantasy season with plenty of ups and downs for my team. I am fairly confident that my team will win out this season. All of my best players are back and ready to light up the score board. My opponent this week is a playoff contender. Since my team is healthy, it should be an exciting match up. I am expecting a win! Good luck to everyone in week 11!

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WEEK 9 LOSS!

I hope all of you had a better Week 9 than I did. I suffered a heartbreaking loss to the number one player in the league when I should have prevailed victorious. I made some very gutsy calls this week and they came back to haunt me. It is hard to find any positives that come from such a disappointing loss. However, the one positive that I could think of is that I am figuring out every week who I should be starting in the playoffs.

Before Week 9, I sat comfortably as the projected second seed in my league’s playoff bracket. After Week 9, I have slid down all the way to number four, the last playoff spot. There is still a great chance that I will make the playoffs based off my remaining schedule. The only week that really bothers me is Week 10, this week. My opponent in Week 10 is currently sitting at number five in the league. If he beats me this week, I will be bumped out of the top four. There would still be a chance that I would make the playoffs. However, I would have to win out and he would have to lose at least 1 game. That is definitely not impossible, but it would be easier if I were to prevail with a win this week. In Week 9, I made the mistake of starting QB Mitchell Trubisky over QB Matt Ryan. Trubisky finished with only 7 points on Sunday, while Ryan finished with 28. I would have won had I have started Ryan; I only lost by 16 points, 120-136. I also chose to start RB Lamar Miller over RBs Kerryon Johnson and Dalvin Cook. I made a good decision starting Miller over Johnson, but not over Cook. I actually did not even know that Cook was playing on Sunday until after I started watching the Vikings game. Either way, it was a tough week for my RB2. In Week 10, my best two players, WRs DeAndre Hopkins and Adam Thielen, have a BYE week. I was devasted when I realized that they both had Week 10 off. Because of this, I have chosen to start WRs Tyler Boyd and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. I picked up Valdes-Scantling of the Green Bay Packers from free agency earlier today. At RB2 for this week, I will be starting Sony Michel if he plays this week. If not, I will be starting Kerryon Johnson. Other than those changes, my lineup will remain the same in Week 10.

Even though my team is missing some key players this week, I still think my starters are ready to get a big win. Best of luck to everyone this week!

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WEEK 8 WIN!

What’s up, guys! I hope all of you had as great of a week as I did in Week 8. It was another high scoring week for fantasy teams and individual players. I beat my opponent this week by 41 points. It was definitely one of the easiest wins I have had this season. It also helped keep me in the running for a playoff spot. I am more than pleased with my team’s performance this week.

This week I had two players that tied for the top performance on my team. Those two players are Alvin Kamara of the New Orleans Saints and DeAndre Hopkins of the Houston Texans. Both players had 26 points finishing with 2 touchdowns a piece. Even though those were my top 2 scorers, I had 4 players out of the 9 to score over 20 points and only 2 players that did not score at least 10. However, there were 2 players on my bench that I regretted not starting this week. Those 2 players were Tyler Boyd of the Cincinnati Bengals and Lamar Miller of the Houston Texans. Tyler Boyd finished with 28 points, more than my top 2 starters, and Lamar Miller finished with 19 points, five more than my RB2 Kerryon Johnson. I would have planned on starting Tyler Boyd in Week 8 had he have been targeted more in Week 7. Week 7 was his worst performance of the season because his QB, Andy Dalton, targeted WR AJ Green more than him. But like I should have expected, he bounced back in a big way. I did not expect Lamar Miller to have as great of a game as he did however. In Week 9, I am planning on starting Lamar Miller over Kerryon Johnson. As of right now, it is unsure whether or not RB Alvin Kamara will play due to an injury. If he does not play, Johnson will get the start. Otherwise, my starting running backs will be Kamara and Miller. Other than that change, my lineup will be the same this week. I would have planned on starting Tyler Boyd this week, but the Bengals have a BYE week. I will most likely start Tyler Boyd in Week 10.

My opponent this week is #1 in the division, with me at #2. I previously played him in Week 2 and won by a very comfortable margin. If all goes well, my team should easily handle his. My team only seems to lose when one of my starters gets injured or a player’s team suffers a blowout loss. Either way, I am excited to see what this week has to hold for NFL football. Good luck in Week 9, my dudes!  

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WEEK 7 LOSS!

Week 7 was another great week for Fantasy Football. However, it was not a great week for my team. If you remember my blog last week, you probably remember me saying that my Week 7 opponent had a losing record and a poorly managed team. That was not the case this past week. His poorly managed team had a big week compared to the rest of his season. I took the loss this week for more than one reason.

Week 7 was not completely disastrous for me, even though it was not great. My up and coming star running back Sony Michel of the New England Patriots got injured in the first quarter of this week’s game. Had he have not gotten injured, I probably would have gone on to win the match up. But, we do not live in a perfect world. Sony Michel left the game in the first quarter with only 2 points to his name. He had 4 points until his left knee was twisted, which caused him to fumble the ball and lose 2 points. I started thinking that I was going to lose him for the rest of the season. I began looking for another running back to replace Michel because it was not looking good and my running back situation is far from great. I could not find a good free agent to replace him and all of my trade requests were declined. But, none of that mattered because Michel only suffered a sprain in his knee and should be returning in a few weeks. I have another running back that I can start until Michel returns. However, he is not a running back that I was looking to start for the rest of the season. Kerryon Johnson of the Detroit Lions is who I will be starting in Michel’s place for the next several weeks. I also have to start another QB this week because Matt Ryan and the Falcons are on a BYE week. I will be starting Mitchell Trubisky of the Chicago Bears in Week 8. He has been on a hot streak the last several weeks. If he continues to play well, he may earn the starting QB spot over Matt Ryan on my team. Those are the only changes I will be making in Week 8. I am pleased with the performance of the rest of my team, especially Adam Thielen.

Week 8 should honestly be an easy win. My opponent is 0-7 on the season and by far the worst team in the league. Unless something terrible goes wrong for the second week in a row, it should be a good week. Good luck in Week 8!

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WEEK 6 WIN!

Week 6 of Fantasy Football is in the books. Hope everyone’s week was as great as mine! I walked away with an impressive win this win. Like I said in my week 5 blog, I decided to make several changes to my roster after some poor performances the week before. One replacement paid off in a big way. The other had very little effect on my score for this week. However, I did not have much of a choose to make that change.

In Week 6, my team scored 153 points. I beat my opponent by 33 points. Overall, a fairly dominant win that led to a very stress free Sunday. My line up did not change this week other than Alvin Kamara and Jordan Reed getting benched. Jordan Reed was the only player that actually got benched; the Saints had a BYE week forcing me to bench Kamara. However, I was heavily considering benching him for RB T.J. Yeldon of the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 6. In place of Jordan Reed, I started TE Austin Hooper of the Atlanta Falcons. That turned out to be a great move. T.J. Yeldon, on the other hand, did not score as well as I had hoped he would. However, he did outscore every other running back on my bench, so it was a good start. I was also pleased that 5 out of my 9 starting players scored over 20 points. I decided to start Matt Ryan at QB again and he had another great week. Although, one player on my team had an even better week than Matt Ryan. Adam Thielen has turned into my best fantasy player and possibly the best WR in the National Football League. For six straight weeks, Thielen has had over 100 yards receiving. He has also had over 20 fantasy points every game for the past six weeks. Last season was definitely his break-out year. But, this year has established him as one of the best receivers / players in the game. Thielen was by far my best pick in the draft and I feel bad for all of you that do not have Thielen on your team.

Fantasy Football has been very exciting this season. The most fantasy points ever have been scored overall through Week 6. Offenses are moving the ball; defenses are getting turnovers. It has definitely been a great year for football so far.

My Week 7 opponent has a losing record and a poorly managed team. This week should be an easy win unless something terrible happens. Good luck in Week 7!

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WEEK 5 LOSS!

What’s up, dudes! Week 5 of the NFL season has ended. My fantasy team got off to a great start this week. However, the Monday Night game did not go as well as planned for me. I hope you guys had better luck than I did.

I had two players in my lineup that were set to play on Monday Night, Jordan Reed and Alvin Kamara. I was down by 29 points to my competitor. What should have been an easy win, turned into a devastating loss, especially after the Sunday I had. This week started out great for me on Sunday with WR Adam Thielen having another 100+ yard game and a touchdown. He has turned out to be my most consistent player this season. I have come to expect at least 20 points from him every week. I have also had great luck with WR DeAndre Hopkins of the Houston Texans. After several average fantasy seasons, he has finally been able to play to his true potential with the return of Deshaun Watson, the Houston Texans QB. I was very lucky to get both of these guys on my team. But, the rest of the guys around them seem to be falling apart. My star player, RB Alvin Kamara, had a less than stellar week. The Saints other RB Mark Ingram returned from his 4 game suspension this week and was somehow given more of the touches. Needless to say, Kamara finished with 6 total points, his lowest of the season by 11 points. I was completely stunned because no one would have ever expected that, especially since the Saints destroyed the Redskins this week. Jordan Reed did not have a chance versus the Saints because his QB, Alex Smith, could not find an open receiver. I was expecting Reed to finish with about 13 fantasy points this week. He ended up having 3 points off of one catch in the fourth quarter. It was truly an awful game for the Redskins and an even worse performance from me. I know that my team is still strong. But, I have to put up a bigger fight now.

The Saints have a BYE week this week, so I plan on starting RB TJ Yeldon of the Jacksonville Jaguars in place of Alvin Kamara, which I probably would have done regardless of the BYE week. I may also start TE Greg Olsen of the Carolina Panthers over Jordan Reed. My competitor this week does not have a great record, but he does have a stout team. I am nervous about how my team might play this week.

Good luck in Week 6!

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WEEK 3 LOSS! WEEK 4 WIN!

What’s up, fantasy footballers! The past two weeks I have been on a roller coaster of emotions. I suffered a devastating Week 3 loss that should not have happened. But, I got back up and dominated in Week 4. I definitely miss played my team in Week 3 and lost to what should have been a nonthreatening opponent. Regardless, I want to tell you guys how I messed up so that none of you will suffer the same consequences.

I want to start by saying that most of us have a favorite NFL team. My favorite team is the Minnesota Vikings. The first two weeks, almost every player on the Vikings was scoring big numbers. I figured that out quickly and decided to pick up all the Vikings player I could. I told you in my last blog that I traded Gronk for Dalvin Cook and Jordan Reed. That trade was not a huge mistake because Reed has been playing better than Gronk since I made the trade. However, Dalvin Cook has yet to get his game back. I started him in Week 3 along with Adam Thielen, Kirk Cousins, and the Vikings defense, which really hurt me. As you already know, the Vikings got destroyed in Week 3 by the Bills, which no one was expecting. Essentially, my team had no chance of getting a win in Week 3 because I became too reliant on one team. Fantasy Football is about getting good players from all teams to have a better chance to win if one team or player does not live up to your expectations. It is very important to have players from different teams. It might be okay to have two players from the same team, depending on the players. But, playing too many players from one team is what caused me to lose in Week 3.

Week 4 was a very different story. I restructured my team and got back into the winning spirit by scoring the most points I have ever had in a single week. I made some critical moves like dropping Kirk Cousins and picking up Jared Goff and Matt Ryan as my QBs. I also benched Dalvin Cook and started running back Sony Michel, who had a breakout week. I definitely think my team is set and ready to take on the rest of the season. My opponent in Week 5 is the leader of the West division. He has a 3-1 record, just like me. It should be an interesting match up. I still think I will walk away with a W though.

Good luck in Week 5, dudes!

[rallymantis4-blog]

WEEK 2 WIN!

Week 2 of the NFL season is complete and it’s time to talk about it. My team had another outstanding week, scoring 165 points! I beat my opponent this week by 55 points. It was a devastating loss for him; but, I am very happy with this past week’s outcome.

 It’s been a week since I have updated you guys about my team. In short, you have missed quite a bit. Last Saturday night before rosters were locked in, I acquired Quarterback Kirk Cousins of the Minnesota Vikings. I also made the wise decision of starting him this week. He was my leading scorer this past week with 33 points! He had an amazing week and I am grateful that he did. I had trouble choosing between Cousins and Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks. I made the decision to start Cousins because Wilson was up against the Bears defense on Monday night. Even though Wilson has a reputation of being great on Monday night football, I knew that the Bears defense, mostly Khalil Mack, would have something to say about that. It was an entertaining game to watch though; the Seattle Seahawks offense line truly embarrassed themselves. Anyway, back to fantasy football.

 I got to work Tuesday morning, trying to decide how I could make my team even better. Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots was my starting tight end this past Sunday. Gronk and the entire Patriots offense were no match for the Jacksonville Jaguars defense. So, I made an executive decision. My team could use another starting running back, and I had plenty of depth at the tight end position with Kyle Rudolph of the Minnesota Vikings as my back up. I made up my mind to put Rob Gronkowski on trade block. It only took a few hours before another team in my league saw that Gronk was available via trade. He asked me who I wanted on his team for Gronk. After a little back and forth, we settled on a trade. The trade ended up being Gronk for the Vikings running back, Dalvin Cook, and the Washington Redskins tight end, Jordan Reed. I was more than pleased with the trade because Cook was a player I wanted to pick up on draft night. All and all, I think it worked out for both sides.

 My opponent in Week 3 is not as stout as my opponent in Week 2. However, I still cannot take this game lightly. I have some new players on my team and I know it’s going to be another exciting week.

 Good luck this week, fantasy footballers!

[rallymantis4-blog]

WEEK 1 WIN!

Week 1 is in the books for NFL fantasy football. For those of you that did not watch any of the game’s week, you missed quite a show!

The week started with the Atlanta Falcons and the Philadelphia Eagles dueling it out on Thursday Night Football. The Falcons suffered a heartbreaking loss, despite having 5 attempts to score from inside the 10 yard line with under a minute left in the game. For Eagles’ fans and fantasy owners of Jay Ajayi, it was a week to remember. Jay Ajayi finished with 62 yards and 2 touchdowns, making him a highly recommended Week 2 starter. As for the games on Sunday, there were many players that stood out on our fantasy rosters. The best players of the week being Alvin Kamara, Tyreek Hill, Ryan Fitzpatrick and last but not least, James Connor. These four players definitely had the most impressive weeks of everyone in the NFL. However, there were a lot of players that showed great potential to have even more impressive weeks later in the season. Overall, it was a great week for fantasy football.

My team dominated in Week 1! The final score of the match up was 161-134. My standout player for Week 1 is definitely Alvin Kamara. He had 3 total touchdowns, 2 on the ground and 1 in the air. Without his amazing performance, I would have struggled to get the win in Week 1. The rest of my team played pretty well this week. There is only 1 player that will be getting moved to my bench this week, Jamaal Williams. Williams is the starting running back for the Green Bay Packers. His predicted Week 1 performance was much higher than his actual outcome. I will be replacing him with the Washington Redskins running back, Chris Thompson. Thompson exceeded his Week 1 expectations and I am confident he will play just as well in Week 2. Even though I am confident in Chris Thompson, I have decided to begin actively searching for another star running back. I sent another team owner in my league a trade request earlier today. I proposed a trade for Dalvin Cook of the Minnesota Vikings for Washington’s Chris Thompson and Philly’s Nelson Agholor.

My opponent in Week 2 had a much better Week 1 performance than my Week 1 opponent. My Week 2 opponent’s team also has more championship potential than my previous opponent. It is crucial this week that I set my best starting lineup if I want to start the season 2-0.

Good luck in Week 2, my friends!

[rallymantis4-blog]

After the Draft

Welcome back, fantasy football! Draft season is in full swing as NFL regular season games start this Thursday night. My fantasy football league drafted this past Monday night. I will be adding a picture of my roster along with every post I make this season to keep you guys updated on all my player transactions.

I was unlucky this season and got the eighth pick in draft (aka the last pick). Since I had the last pick in the first round, all my picks throughout 15 rounds were back-to-back. I felt quite a bit of pressure having to have two picks ready to go every time my name was called. I felt the most pressure to make a good pick with my very first pick. Most of the elite players in the draft had already been taken at that point. However, I was somehow able to walk away with the Saints RB Alvin Kamara, a top five running back in the league. Kamara was the most consistent player on my team last season. I was very happy to welcome him back to my team for this season.

Overall, I felt like I had a good draft. I obviously did not get all of the players I wanted. But, it rarely ever works out that way. My starting team is pretty stout; my bench players are also extremely reliable if I was to have to play them due to injury or a bye week. I do not expect my team to stay the same throughout the season. It never fails that one of your starters gets hurt halfway through the season. However, that’s what managing a fantasy football team is all about. The enjoyment of it all comes from the unexpected things that happen throughout the season that cause you to gutsy calls. Players have to be added, dropped, and traded from your roster in order for you to have a successful team. Most team managers do not see the need in adjusting their team throughout the season. I believe that there is always a free agent or a player you can trade for that would make your team that much better. Managing my team is what I enjoy most about it.

My team is ready for Week 1! My opponent in Week 1 had a great team last year. It will be a tough competition that will most likely come down to the last game of the week. However, I am confident that I will walk away with a Week 1 win.   

Image acquired from ESPN Fantasy Football