After starting out the season slowly (two losses, by a combined margin of 173-140, to two teams which are now a combined record of 9-1), my fantasy team has picked up the pace recently. My last three opponents, whose records combine to 5-10, I've defeated by an average margin of 106-73. More importantly, my team is now looking MUCH stronger than it did at the beginning of the team. It's not just that I've made good free-agent pickups (although I've made a few), but also that my draft picks have gradually started to look smarter and smarter as the season progressed. Let's take a walk through my roster.
Draft Picks:
Rd 1: Matt Forte. Forte started out the season slowly, with only 26 points through his first three games, but in the last two weeks he's put up 16 and 20 points, and he is now the #4 ranked RB in the league. Given that I was picking 6th, and four of the players taken beForte have busted (McCoy, Peterson, Charles, and, so far, Calvin Johnson, the lone exception being DeMarco Murray), I'm happy calling this pick a win.
Rd 2: Doug Martin. Douggie's taking a while to warm up after missing the first three games of the season, and it certainly looks like Le'Veon Bell, who went three picks later, might have been a better choice. But I'm optimistic that Martin will perform well enough in the last two-thirds of the season to make up his draft position. Right now, though, he's underperforming.
Rd 3: Julio Jones. Julio is the 3rd ranked WR in fantasy football at the moment, and he's outperforming each of the six taken above him, some more than others. This is a win.
Rd 4: Vincent Jackson. Booo. VJax had 14 his last time out, but that offense is just too depressing. I'm not starting him until he proves that this isn't just a flash in the pan.
Rd 5: Ryan Mathews. Mathews got injured almost immediately this year (why do I never learn), but when he comes back he's talented enough that he could potentially power me through the playoffs. Potentially. Considering that he went directly before a kicker, I don't feel that bad about this pick. (I'm not joking about that, by the way. Team Idiot took Zac Stacy as their #1 RB. He didn't pick a second RB or a first WR until AFTER he picked his QB, TE (admittedly a good choice in Julius Thomas), D/ST, and K. He took his first WR, Julian Edelman, in the 8th round. This team is 3-2. That will never stop making me angry.)
Rd 6: DeSean Jackson. Same old DJax. He's got a week of 21, a week of 17, a week of 6, a week of 1, and a week of 0. Non-consecutively. How the hell do you ever start someone like that?
Rd 7: Rashad Jennings. R-money tore it up before getting injured for "a few weeks" last game. At the moment he's the #7 RB, which is fantastic value for the 7th round; I just hope he gets back soon.
Rd 8: Jeremy Maclin. #4 WR. Talk about value. Maclin also has 10+ points in four of his weeks so far, which is superb consistency. Love that Eagles offense.
Rd 9: Golden Tate. Tate's blown up a little bit recently, but it's hard (stupid) to start him over Maclin or Jones, and it's scary to start him in the flex. Which is exactly what I'm doing this week. Wish me luck.
Rd 10: Anquan Boldin. B-roke hasn't put up 10 points in a game so far this year. I cut him recently. He's still owned in 96% of leagues, but my team is no place for bottom-feeders. THERE IS NO WEAKNESS ON TEAM JONES. This is basically what my locker room looks like.
Rd 11: Dennis Pitta. IR. Gonzo. Peace.
Rd 12: Philip Rivers. I love this pick so much. Despite being the fifteenth (yes, the fifteenth) QB selected in my draft (there are only ten teams in my league), Rivers has performed at an incredible level all season. He's the #2 ranked QB so far, and five teams took backup QBs before taking him. Before the draft I had my eye on either Rivers or Romo (who went the previous round, is the #12 QB, and would have been a much worse choice), and I'm pleased to say that my preparation paid off. I'm straight-up bragging here. This pick was amazing. You can call me Mr. God. Mr. Football God.
Rd 13: Donald Brown. Bad choice. I'm over it.
Rd 14: James Starks. We all float down here.
Rd 15: Steven Hauschka. I'm Pennywise the dancing clown!
Rd 16: Redskins D/ST.
Free Agent Pick-Ups:
Branden Oliver: It remains to be seen what Oliver adds to my team. He had an exceptional week last week but this week doesn't begin for another... 7.5 hours.
Antonio Gates: G-money (aka Antonio "Bill" Gates) was my replacement tight end for the awful Dennis Pitta, and while he disappointed at first (3 total points in weeks 3-4, he blew up against the Jets for 18 and I'm excited for his future.
Chargers D/ST: They're a D/ST. They do fine. Who really cares? They're a D/ST.
Cody Parkey: Remember how my strategy is to find the kicker who seems to be doing the best and pick him up? This year, that's Cody Parkey. Tell your friends. Or, you know, don't, and pick him up for yourselves, you greedy bastards. He's not even owned in 50% of leagues. (He's owned in 48.8% and started in 46.1%. Which means that 2.7% of leagues have at least one team that's either not starting a kicker, or has two kickers on their roster. And one of those kickers is Parkey. Just FYI.)
Matt Asiata: Asiata seems... decent. I don't know. I think I started him once (not the week he went off) and then just benched him. I don't think he has any real value.
Ahmad Bradshaw: Now THIS was a solid pickup. I got Bradshaw pretty early on when I realized that his competition was Trent Richardson. Trent "My Career YPC Is 3.3" Richardson. Trent "There Are Nine Players in My Draft Class with Higher YPC than Me" Richardson. Trent "There Are Only Ten Qualified Players in My Draft Class" Richardson. Trent "That Makes Me Dead Last" Richardson. Trent "And I Was Picked Fucking Third Overall" Richardson. Trent "Above Luke Kuechly, Dontari Poe, Doug Martin, Alshon Jeffery, Bobby Wagner, Lavonte David, Casey Hayward, Nick Foles, T.Y. Hilton, Alfred Morris, and Oh Yeah, Russell Fucking Wilson" Richardson. So, yeah. Bradshaw has been one of my most consistent backs ever since.
Go Hawks.
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