Week 2 Recap - Living the Stream Vol. 3
Week 2 Recap - Living the Stream Vol. 3
Top 5 Players
QB:
- Ryan Fitzpatrick TB, 72.3 points.
- The man with the swag, the dude just having fun, Fitzmagic, the beard, however you want to know him as just remember that the objective fact in our league is that he is known as the QB1 right now. Those weapons are electric, his play isn't hectic, no receivers feel dejected, are you all still skeptics? Ryan Fitzpatrick is playing like a man that is totally relaxed and completely in sync and trusting his receivers. Can Winston still come back and take the job? Are we really seeing the renaissance of Harvard man? It's a fun story at the very least.
- Patrick Mahomes KC, 67.2 points.
- Has played LAC and PIT. Both teams that have a high powered offense that can score and keep Mahomes throwing. LAC was missing Bosa and PIT just looks like it has an absolutely awful defense. I'm not saying its certain that we see Mahomes regress, but I think its more likely than not. Remember KC last year? Hunt blew up through the first half of the season and then dropped off significantly after their bye, it could also happen with Mahomes. The excitement of Mahomes throwing 10 TDs through his first two games shouldn't overshadow the fact that Fitzpatrick is killing it.
- Kirk Cousins MIN, 53.9 points.
- How about that throw to Thielen for a TD? If you haven't seen it, go and find it. The ball seems to just go through defenders and magically wind up in Thielen's hands. Kirk has looked pretty good, but it is worth noting that he played through 5 full quarters before the game ended and that won't happen super often. With weapons like Diggs, Thielen, and Rudolph Cousins has the weaponry to continue playing incredibly.
- Philip Rivers LAC, 51.7 points.
- Bolo tie himself, Philip Rivers has the sweetest schedule for a QB through two weeks. He has to keep up with KC and their terrible defense week 1, and then gets to just smack around BUF in week 2. Rivers has weapons and we've seen him be consistent season after season, I think he's a bit ahead of where he'll end up at the end of the year, but Rivers is solid and looking to have more children.
- Drew Brees NO, 49.2 points.
- Are the Browns actually a good defense? They had Brees shut down through most of the day, it wasn't until nearly at the end that Brees actually put up some points. With Thomas and Kamara balling out though, it is important to remember that their QB will probably feast as well, and Drew Brees might really benefit from a bad NO defense.
RB:
- Alvin Kamara NO, 61 points.
- 46 yards rushing this last week, a two point conversion and pass catching has helped out quite a bit in keeping Kamara up here. Without giving too many spoilers, pay attention to the rushing yardage totals of the next RBs last week to get an idea of a strong trend in the NFL. Kamara himself always manages to look fantastic and even against a strong Browns D got some points in without a TD. Getting these points without a TD gives a strong idea of what Kamara can be capable of week-in week-out.
- Melvin Gordon LAC, 58.2 points.
- 28 yards rushing this last week. 3 total TDs though against an awful awful BUF defense and he might have made a player retire by halftime. Gordon is also getting it done through the air as opposed to on the ground, and it is clearly boosting the play of his QB too. The top two RBs here are also couple with two top 5 QBs above, and I don't think that's an accident. Melvin Gordon has been great thus far, and his backup looks great as well.
- Todd Gurley III LAR, 56 points.
- 42 yards rushing. 42 yards on 19 carries. Against the Cardinals. That sounds just awful, but Gurley did what he does best and scored 3 TDs. The thing about Gurley is he doesn't always get huge yardage totals but that Rams offense is so stacked with weaponry that I have no doubt that they will be able to get into the redzone consistently and that is what they did. There is room for regression built into a guy that scores with TDs though, and unless you believe that he is going to score 32 TDs he is playing a bit out of his mind.
- James Conner PIT, 53.7 points.
- 17 rushing yards. I remember when an RB that had less than 50 yards rushing just had a bad day. But instead we have these guys that are exploiting match ups with LBs and making it work. He did not do as well as he had the week before and that's probably because PIT went down way early. A couple things you have to face, Conner is not Bell. At some point I believe that Conner will drop off because he just isn't as good as Bell. Second, PIT has a very bad defense. He can get scripted out of games against good offenses and unless he can keep scoring TDs his days will start to look a bit worse. He's still a good play but I think as the season goes on we see more and more that Bell is as good a talent as his agent believes he is.
- Chris Thompson WAS, 47.1 points.
- 1 yard rushing against IND. 1 yard! 22 points! This is something else. Thompson has never been a heavy rusher, but at what point do we just start calling him a WR? 13 receptions for 92 yards, that's a lot of volume and frankly just sounds like a real rushing number. There's something to be discussed regarding how PPR makes these backs better than they actually are.
WR:
- Michael Thomas NO, 68.9 points.
- 3 TDs through 2 games and 28 receptions. Those don't sound particularly sustainable but even if he drops off a bit he is still doing wonderfully. His QB is Brees and frankly there's no one on that team with the ability to steal receptions from him at any considerable rate. Last week was against a sneaky good Browns D also, so it's not like he's just picking on PIT and BUF.
- Tyreek Hill KC, 62.3 points.
- After that huge boom game week 1 Tyreek had something of a down to earth week. If his down-to-earth week looks like 5 receptions for 90 yards and a TD than Tyreek is probably a pretty safe bet. If Mahomes regresses then we might see Tyreek regress a bit as well, but a regression is still going to make him underdrafted and a strong candidate for top 5 WR. Last year though we saw a home/away split that stopped Tyreek from completely blowing up, and it's early in the season so we could see that start to develop again especially once KC starts playing more competent offenses.
- DeSean Jackson TB, 54.5 points.
- Is it 2008? Sometime last week was the anniversary of Jackson dropping the ball at the 1 yard line and celebrating before he crossed the goal line. What a time that was. Well DeSean is back and Fitzmagic is finding him down the field. His wardrobe looked pretty good too. If DeSean can keep this up (I'm very doubtful) he could be THE STEAL of the draft.
- Mike Evans TB, 50 points.
- Another TB receiver, and one that makes a bit more sense to be here. Mike Evans is also benefitting from the stellar play of Fitzmagic and has actually looked active and buying completely into the offense. Mike Evans always had the body for playing in the NFL and being elite, and if the motor starts showing up now he could be a stud once again.
- Stefon Diggs MIN, 50 points.
- 5 quarters of a high octane game do wonders for a players score, and Kirk Cousins is looking like a legitimate upgrade. Though the Vikings end that game with a tie, Diggs owners certainly felt like it was a win. They won't often get 5 full quarters, but it looks like Diggs will often get good looks.
TE:
- Jared Cook OAK, 35.9 points.
- A super standard game after the week 1 blowup, are we seeing the trend of Jared Cook continue? He still made some big plays against the Broncos and arguably should have been a little more used as opposed to Cooper in some situations. Cook looked good and Carr looked a little better, but I'm not sure a Carr that is throwing well is a Carr you want for Cook. Side note: lot's of names on Oakland start with a C.
- Jesse James PIT, 33.8 points.
- If you've been playing Jesse James through the first two weeks (pro tip: you haven't) than you've done pretty well, hell better than the people below him (obviously). If in the future you start playing Jesse James you're chasing points and will go down in flames...just like Jesse James (I apologize for Cher references).
- Will Dissly SEA, 32.7 points.
- WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? I know the names but just take a look at this top 3, that's asinine. I don't think TEs are actually scoring points anymore and we should probably adjust expectations for the rest of the season. He has a TD both weeks and honestly looks like he really might be the second coming of the Barn Dog.
- Travis Kelce KC, 31.5 points.
- Alright this makes me feel more sane. I dislike Kelce, I still think he's a jerk and his nickname is Baby Gronk. I'd never say that to his face though because he is a mountain of a man and is playing like one. After an awful first week he catapults right back into the top 5.
- Zach Ertz PHI, 30.2 points.
- He had a great game this last week and Wentz is coming back now. We could see a surge of points coming from Ertz, and with the complete and total lack of pass catchers on the Eagles Ertz could seriously eat.
D/ST:
- Jets D, 35 points.
- Dominates the Lions and then loses to the Dolphins, but loses respectfully. This Jets D might be seriously underrated because everyone is talking about Darnold. If Darnold keeps playing well too then we could see the offense stay on the field longer and keep this defense energetic.
- Bears D, 32 points.
- Watching a Bears game is like rubbing salt-in-wounds for Raiders fans like myself. MACK MACK MACK MACK MACK. Listen to MACK grunt, listen to MACK yell, look at MACK as a child, look at MACK miss a tackle. I love Mack but it is just incredibly hard to watch.
- Rams D, 26 points.
- Maybe Carr wasn't bad week one, maybe the Rams D is just as good as advertised? I'm actually surprised they don't have a higher score after curbstomping Arizona.
- Dolphins D, 23 points.
- A competent and solid looking defense, there is not a lot of excitement here but there is a solid floor that won't kill you.
- Cowboys D, 21 points.
- Good until Sean Lee gets injured, the Cowboys benefited strongly from scheming free-runners into the Giants backfield. That's sarcasm btw, that wasn't a scheme that was the Giants o-line being godawful and Eli literally looking scared out of his mind.
Head-to-Head Matchups!
Jason Brown (Stand and Crumple 0-1) versus Talik Mohammed (Polar Better than IPAs 0-1)
I remember for quite a long time a battle between Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson was fantasy gold and a marquee matchup. Now we have Rodgers hobbled and Wilson constantly scrambling around running away from D-lineman like that's his only job. This fantasy matchup features these two players at simultaneously the most important real life position and the least important fantasy position, and it shows in the scores that it just isn't the same anymore. Jason, on the backs of Deandre Hopkins and AJ Green, comes away with a win but it's not exactly a convincing win. Jason would have only beat 4 teams in the league with his score this week, and as fantasy luck dictates he went against one of those 4 teams. Jason wins 156.5 - 104.9.
Jason:
- You played Cole Beasley and Duke Johnson, the only option that you had that did worse than these two was Trent Taylor and Jermaine Kearse. Anyone else would have been a better decision, and honestly Beasley over Richardson leaves me curious as to your reasoning.
- Royce Freeman and James White did okay for you, but looking forward how worried are you about their opportunities? Freeman just got outsnapped by an UDFA in Lindsay and White is a RB on the Pats. Alfred Miller makes for an unexciting bit of depth, but he was also outshone by Breida. This would worry me.
- Kelce is as annoying as ever and still a good fantasy play. Week 1 may have made you upset about drafting him, but week 2 brings you back down. Holding Kittle sounds good in theory, but maybe there's value to be found in someone that likes him a bit too much.
Talik:
- This week was not kind to your squad as Joe Mixon, Mike Wallace, and Corey Coleman all got injured or are getting dropped in favor of Josh Gordon.
- Speaking of Joe Mixon's injury, your RB starters look really really sad. Burkhead, Ekeler, Williams, and Penny fail to make me feel either good or bad, and apathy is the absolute worst thing you can feel towards someone.
- Outside of Golden Tate and Antonio Brown WR seems to be a wasteland on your squad also. I think there are some serious depth issues here, and even if Brown pops off any given week I still find it hard to hope for a win here. You might want to consider trading for more solid starters even if it means saying goodbye to a top play.
- You got Hooper on your bench, and that's certainly a thing.
- You've got to win if you don't want to lose.
Steve Donovan (Sexy Skeletons 1-0) versus Chris Slade (One Kupp in a Hilton 0-1)
In the battle that absolutely none of us knew we were waiting for, we got to see CMC and Barkley duke it out for who could catch more passes. The joke was ultimately on us, the viewer, as we had to watch both backs catch the ball 14 times in losing efforts by teams that quite frankly don't look super good. I say that to be nice to the Panthers as they looked semi-competent, the Giants on the other hand just looked flat-out bad and an embarrassment to the Manning family, the NFL, the American flag, Colin Kaepernick, Carrie Underwood, WR advocacy groups, O-line Anonymous, and Bud Light. That wasn't the case with these two teams as they both put up a respectable score but ultimately Chris Slade decided it was time to stop being winless and came through 180.7 - 162.5.
Steve:
- They call him the Brees, he ain't got him nobody, he don't carry no load. After coming out the gates swinging he goes into Cleveland and... puts up some mediocre stats and barely manages to win. Brees is clearly good, maybe that means the Browns defense is legit? Or maybe it means the fumbles his WRs dropped down actually hurt his fantasy day more than we can know.
- Theo Riddick and CMC might be the least ran running backs of the last few years, and somehow they always end up relevant. I do find it interesting that you leave all the actual rock tote-ing runners on your bench and it is the right move. That could bring up a discussion about the future of the NFL and the RB position, but I won't.
- Crowder and Davis are similar in that I always hear about how good they are supposed to be but I never see the results. Davis is young still sure, but man it's not like he looks any better than Kelvin Benjamin and I might argue he looks worse. You can blame that on Tennessee missing Mariota but let's be real, Mariota isn't any good so I don't see it mattering a ton.
- Hogan and Westbrook proved themselves useful in your flex. Westbrook figures to be a guy that every time the Jags pass and it is complete you will sit there and wonder "was it Westbrook?" Hogan on the other hand is a bit more worrisome, if Flash is eased in then perhaps you can expect some more garbage time/good weeks but if Flash is thrown in, well bye Hogan.
Chris:
- You know the main difference between Barkley and Thompson? When Thompson catches the ball it's because the offense is actually schemed towards it and not just an effect of a terrible o-line and Eli Manning panicking.
- Alex Collins is a bit of an enigma to me. Whenever I watch him I think, wow that guy's really good. However it seems like his stats never quite reflect that. I'm not certain if its the Ravens or what, but his situation bothers me.
- Hilton looking more like TY Stealton. Luck is looking his way again, and it looks good. Allen Robinson is proving that maybe playing with a bad QB is just what he does, and he does it well. Cooper Kupp looking like the perfect WR for the Patriots to receive in a trade in the future.
- How bout your flex?! The only player that underperformed was Rishard Mathews and honestly that TEN offense looked so bad that maybe he performed well considering.
- OJ Howard might be the only person catching balls in Tampa Bay that is waiting for Winston to come back. With that said, Fitzpatrick knew this to be true and tossed a few his way to win him over.
- Texans D only threw up 3 against a Gabbert led Titans, and that is hilarious to me.
Zach Kennedy (The Simulation 1-0) versus Zach Ernst (JoHnBrOwN TrutherDont@Me 1-0)
The battle of the Zach's, because as we know from the movie Highlander there can be only one true Zach. Also, in a maybe related note, the only game that took place this week between two undefeated teams. This was a right to earn an early season record that is unmatched by anyone. As a matter of fact, The Simulation is the only team left that is undefeated. That's right, two weeks in and we're already down to just one left. Congrats for that huge target on your back.
Zach K:
- Watson hasn't looked good, but he did put up a respectable point total. Do you have any worries about consistently choosing the wrong QB between Watson and Stafford though?
- Melvin Gordon is playing like a real RB1 this season despite deciding absolutely against rushing yards. Drake is as solid an RB2 as you could hope for, and then you still have Miller, Breida, and Conner. I wonder if this means that fading RBs might have been a bad strategy... Or you just took the right one and then also took the right late round RBs. Either way good on you.
- Watkins actually is a real receiver and can actually catch the ball. I don't have anything more to say about that, it surprises me honestly.
- Agholor has been a PPR machine, and with the lack of absolutely any threat he may stay that way even when Jeffery gets back. It's to be seen if Wentz continues using him like Foles has though.
- Adams is something else, "I'm injured" means that he's going to get at least one TD. Rodgers WR1 and really a great WR despite all the early troubles he had in his career.
- Rudolph is by far the least interesting fantasy viable TE, and while he puts up points just seeing him on a team makes me more bored.
- Ridley on your bench looks pretty good too, but if it is him or Julio it will probably be Julio each time.
Zach E:
- David Johnson looks super disappointing. Correction, the Cardinals look super disappointing and it has to be scary to know that this high round pick could become nothing more than a middling RB2.
- It's cool though, if David Johnson doesn't work out for you at least you have....... Blount? JizzRod? Wilkins? Mark Ingram realistically, but you have to win some games for his comeback to have any sort of meaningful impact on your season.
- Your WRs probably looked really good last week, and this week not so much. Hopefully Fitz isn't injured seriously, Sanders is indeed still getting the ball thrown to him by Keenum and Baldwin clearly is a hope but needs to make it back to the lineup to score any points.
- To your namesake John Brown seems to be steady. Jimmy Graham also came alive, hopefully he can continue to build that rapport with Rodgers. Good to see it doesn't require TDs for him to score some points.
- Will Dissly did it again, did you get this generation's version of the Barn Dog?
Tom Whalen (Big Cranberry) versus Tom Scott (Hollywood Elites)
Isn't it fun when you see a team that looked explosive and ridiculous crash hard the following week? It's fun as long as you aren't the owner of that team, and Tom Scott was. These things are bound to happen especially early on in the season, but this game certainly reminded us that the league is still wide open for a team to come and take control. The lowest scoring affair of week 2, Tom Whalen comes out ahead 130 - 119.4.
Tom W:
- You should be sending fan mail to Patrick Mahomes this week for absolutely carrying your team.
- Hunt is actually performing as your RB1, and sure that sounds good to start a sentence but it doesn't mean it is actually a good thing. Lindsay is a good back to own right now, but Crowell and Juice man don't inspire confidence past that.
- The WRs you played certainly don't look good, but I bet you're really happy with Gordon on your bench going to the Patriots. I'm curious as to whether or not you believe he'll actually put up some points this year after being traded? You think he might hurt himself in all those photo shoots he's definitely going to do with his brand-new jersey?
- Jeffery might come back now that Wentz is here too, and that can help shore up an ugly group, but really you got lucky pulling out a win this week and might need someone a bit more explosive on your team.
Tom S.
- When you stack Pats players, I have to imagine that you don't believe a matchup will come along and neutralize the stack so well. The Jags did exactly that though, and while Tom Brady actually scored some late TDs, you could tell he was not happy with the performance.
- If Ajayi is hurt it is a bit disconcerting for your RB group but it's not as bad as what I've seen elsewhere. Kamara looks like a slam dunk and threw up 17+ without scoring a TD (albeit there was a 2-point conversion).
- Trust in the magic man! Play DJax while Fitz is still the starter and you will feel good. Let's say you played DJax over Barber, you win. Let's say you played DJax over Sutton, you win. Let's say you play DJax over Christian Kirk, you win.
- Daniel Carlson was on one of my teams and I won, I can only imagine how it feels to have Carlson and lose. What if he had hit those field goals? Who knows, but at least he lost his job for the loss of your fantasy team.
Toby Miller (Full Tilt Ahead) versus JJ Zachariason (Dad Runners)
You know, I wonder how much of an advantage there really is in leading the podcast that the league is based around. Maybe it isn't that just the time in which you spend studying, which means it's an advantage well earned. Either way, this looked like a good matchup before the week started and I can still see it, but ultimately Todd Gurley and that Viking stack would not be beaten. JJ wins 193 - 124.4
Toby:
- Immediately looking at your bench I want to pretend that you made some bad decisions that led you to where you are. You didn't, that team looked pretty solid considering the sheer number of players we have to put into our lineups.
- Interesting that Bilal Powell looks like the more effective version of Dion Lewis. It's not based on skill though, surprisingly it seems like it is based on New York being a better system for RBs than Tennessee. I wouldn't have guessed that but here we are.
- Odell and Demaryius hugely underperformed for you, and like most people I bet you watched that game and tilted as hard as I did at all those passes that should have went to Odell going to Barkley instead who proceeded to do absolutely nothing with them.
- How about those Demaryius drops?
- Cobb is not the truth, but Burton might be.
- How about Cam getting up from that dirty hit and then lighting it up. Cam's one of the few players that just needs a little "waking up." Maybe this is Cam's way of protecting himself after all the hits he's taken, "kill me and I will become stronger."
JJ:
- Good call on taking Gurley! That was probably a hard decision. Jordan Howard and Marshawn Lynch make for a formidable RB corp, and if Aaron Jones performs the way you expect I'd bet this is the strongest RB corp in the league.
- Baby Tron is killing it so far, as is Thielen. Tate may the WR1 in Detroit but Golladay is seriously looking like he may threaten for it. Thielen appears to have a killer instinct for finding the right spot on the field, I assumed part of it was just his chemistry with Keenum but thus far I would be wrong, Thielen keeps doing it even with a new QB.
- Gordon was hurt shooting promotional photos, and it turns out the one that got the biggest promotion was Callaway. Pretty sweet setup he got from that whole ordeal, and if he can keep making awesome catches he'll probably see the field quite a bit.
- All of this without Goodwin, and it looks like the 9ers desperately need Goodwin.
Cameron Clark (Gruden Tape Grinders) versus Denny Carter (Maryland Mediocres)
As I get through more and more of these matchups it seems a bit clear that week 1 might have been simply a mirage. Or week 2 is. One of them is not the norm, it seems like most of the teams that did well (Denny's) did poor week 2. Flip it around and the teams that did poorly (Cameron's) did pretty well. This might be the fun of fantasy football, being constantly frustrated and never feeling confident that you know what you're doing. I digress, Cameron wins 202.4 - 129.1.
Cameron:
- Corey Clement! Amari Cooper! Willie Snead (or won't he?)! Some good scores from names I would not expect.
- Zeke and Diggs are studs, and they performed like studs. It's nice to get a good return on investment.
- Sticking through bad games with Big Ben pays off pretty well. After that first week Ben looked like garbage and didn't perform to expectations, cue a game against the Chiefs. Steelers go down huge early, the Chiefs have a bad defense, and Big Ben gets offended that they would dare. So he puts up a ton of yards and a few scores and still loses. Enough to say he tried, but not enough to get the W.
- Good call on benching Henry, I bet that hurts in a league this size but that guy is not getting run. Unfortunately, Chris Carson isn't getting run either. Can't cut em, can't play em sort of players that make you frustrated they exist.
Denny:
- Tyreek Hill is clearly your best player and at this point in the season looks wonderful for a second round pick.
- Seeing Adrian Peterson crash and burn after a good first week is eerily reminiscent of his season with Arizona last year. Hope that reach in the draft was worth one good week and a bunch of middling ugly running.
- Coleman paying off and Woods paying off well.
- A great call that you've had this year is Jared Cook. He may not blow up another game this year but he looks to have something of an actual existent floor. Carr throws that ball out of his hand so quickly that you can't help but think the TE will continue to get play. It may not be 9 for 180 each week but 4 for 40 is... actually solid for TEs so far? Eh.
- Jordan Reed survived a game but didn't put up a huge score? This is a strange year.
- Landry might be the biggest winner of the Josh Gordon saga. He was already getting a ton of targets and it looks like he'll keep getting more.
Nicholas Meyer (Pacific Standard Time) versus Ross Kidwell (Team Pee Hands)
As is the only way this makes sense for me, I'll tell you I always assume I'll win a game even when my team clearly looks much worse. It's called believing in something even when it means losing everything. Much like my team has lost every RB that existed in what was once a good looking group. Ross somehow played a team that should have beat the tar out of mine and lost, 178.7 - 118.6
Ross:
- Hey you got Gio, the person everyone will be speaking about on every podcast based around fantasy. Nice!
- Evans, Jones Jr, and Jones (just Jones) still looks like a wicked receiving corp.
- Your RBs scare the crap out of me, I know their names but Buck Allen, RoJo, Alfred Blue? Just uh ouch.
- Does Andrew Luck look good or bad, it is hard for me to tell with any sort of confidence.
Me:
- You guys were right about Shady, but I didn't listen. Now I have to hope he doesn't listen to doctor's and plays
- Has anyone seen Leonard Fournette? Last I saw him he was taking a nap on the sidelines.
- I feel like my WR group went from virtually nonexistent to actually looking solid. Do I have faith that continues? Sure.
- I'm legitimately wondering if it's a better idea to drop Austin Carr in this league than it is to drop Zuerlein. This league is bizarre.
POWER RANKINGS
- Zach Kennedy (385.4 PF) (Draft grade C)
- Chris Slade (336.9 PF) (Draft grade B-)
- JJ Zachariason (334.4 PF) (Draft grade A-)
- Tom Scott (327.9 PF) (Draft grade B+)
- Cameron Clark (322.2 PF) (Draft grade A)
- Steve Donovan (315.4 PF) (Draft grade B+)
- Nic Meyer (307.2 PF) (Draft grade A+)
- Toby Miller (300.5 PF) (Draft grade C+)
- Denny Carter (297.7 PF) (Draft grade C-)
- Zach Ernst (292.1 PF) (Draft grade D)
- Ross Kidwell (269.1 PF) (Draft grade D+)
- Tom Whalen (264.5 PF) (Draft grade C+)
- Jason Brown (256.3 PF) (Draft grade C+)
- Talik Mohammed (234.5 PF) (Draft grade C)
GOOD LUCK NEXT WEEK.
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