Week 8 Recap!

Really a pretty down week, probably due to bad QB play potentially caused by the storm, but it was a week and as such there are winners and losers.  At this point there are 5 regular season games left in fantasy, so you've got to start making them count.  This week marks the second to last big bye week (the last being week 11) and now all of a sudden we will probably get much more clarity on who the good teams are.

Also, hey trade deadline.  What did you do to Ajayi?!  Kelvin Benjamin is now one of the Bills?  He just switched from Verizon to T-Mobile. Duane Brown's on the Seahawks now and he sounds like a character from Blaxploitation movies.  Jeanine is reunited in SF with her brother Jimmy Garropolo.  Maybe, just maybe that means a few more offenses can actually produce something worthy of calling it a fantasy start.  I'm a bit hesitant to say it's for sure, but that's the way of the road.

TOP 5:

QB

1. Deshaun Watson (29 PPG)
• Well he wrecked Seattle and still lost, but this season for him looks magical.  He reminds me of RG3 in his crazy rookie season, only his weapons and supporting cast are even better.  He's making those around him look better and he's breaking records.  For the first time in as long as I can remember the whole Texans offense looks amazing, not just Arian Foster.
2. Russell Wilson (25.9 PPG)
• 4 weeks above 30, and 3 weeks below 20.  He's kind of a boom/bust QB and luckily he's boomed a lot.  The roofs the ceiling for this guy, and he's in the infamous second half Seahawks offense now so he could keep it going.  It's crazy to me because they don't even have the semblance of a running game right now and somehow that's working for dangeRuss.
3. Carson Wentz (25.0 PPG)
• Dudes been pretty consistent and is on a tear.  He's literally in MVP talks right now, and it's only his second year.  He's doing right now what I had truly hoped Derek Carr could have done this year.  I am curious to see how Ajayi changes his game, they might feed him and it might hurt his production a bit if their RBs start scoring TDs.
4. Alex Smith (24.4 PPG)
• I still don't trust this guy.  Too many years of being mediocre to suddenly put up this stuff.  They're kinda in a downward trajectory but their start was so hot it would be unbelievable if it was any other way.  They did lose to the Raiders though and that team is garbage (admittedly Smith scored 31 points in that loss).
5. Dak Prescott (23.9 PPG)
• He scored 6 points last week and he still has the 5th highest average point per game.  Zeke is gone now (or is he?) so we can probably expect more passing, but will the opposing defenses respect that?  Beasley is probably out this week too due to a head injury, so potentially a huge game by Dez or even maybe Terrance Williams.  Maybe even the whole offense falls apart, without Zeke as that main dog it's hard to be super excited about him.

Note, PPG = Points Per Game.  I'm doing it this way now because of all the byes that have happened, I probably should have before but eh you live and you learn.

RB

1. Todd Gurley II (22.3 PPG)
• I'm happy to once again own the Gurley.  His usage and importance to that team cannot be overstated.  He was on bye last week so not a huge amount to say, but he's had a good year.  Hopefully the rough stretch upcoming isn't too bad.
2. Ezekiel Elliott (21.3 PPG)
• Well, RIP.  Or not.  Who the heck knows.  
3. Kareem Hunt (20.3 PPG)
• His hot start has slowed down considerably, and he put up less than 10 points in a week for the first time.  It was against Denver so eh, not the end of the world.  His slowing down is still pretty damn good numbers though, and seems to be closer to what may have been expected when drafting.
4. Le'Veon Bell (19.1 PPG)
• His usage is unreal.  That Steelers offense is literally backyard ball with Ben, Bell and Brown, they get used like crazy.  Every once and a while another guy shows off but seriously, Bell hasn't even been hugely efficient with his touches, he just gets a whole heck of a lot.
5. Melvin Gordon (18.3 PPG)
• Well when you bust out the biggest run that Belichick has ever seen you probably deserve a spot here.  Gordon can be huge, but he's also had some really really cold weeks.  You can't be mad at his production up to this point though.

WR

1. DeAndre Hopkins (20.6 PPG)
• Seriously, if Watson can keep it up I don't know why Hopkins couldn't.  He's shown off his skill before and Watson is consistently showing his, so really this could again be his year.
2. Antonio Brown (19.5 PPG)
• Does JuJu hurt him?  It looked that way last week, but really I'm not certain he does.  Maybe they won't be able to bracket him as much?  We know Brown by now, so doesn't see, to be much more to say.
3. AJ Green (16.3 PPG)
• Honestly I hadn't thought he had been quite this good.  Turns out he has had 2 big weeks and a bunch of okay weeks.  He isn't consistently winning D Smith games (clearly haha), but it also isn't really fair to say he's losing the, for you either.
4. Mike Evans (15.9 PPG)
• His worst game was by far his easiest defense, NE.  Despite the feeling that he's been disappointing he really hasn't.  Pretty consistent, and kinda regardless of Winston being good or not.
5. Larry Fitzgerald (15.3 PPG)
• I can't say I see anyway that he keeps it up with Drew Stanton, I mean Stanton is pretty bad.  They do go against SF though so he'll probably score 38 points.

TE

1. Zach Ertz (15.8 PPG)
• His new range is 13-19.  That shit is ridiculous.  It's inhumanly consistent.  
2. Travis Kelce (15.1 PPG) 
• Baby Gronk kilt Denver.  I'm still not a fan of this guy so no good words.

3.  Rob Gronkowski (14 PPG)

• That week off doesn't help him, but Gronk does smash bro.

4. Cameron Brate (13.3 PPG)

• Much like Alex Smith he's fighting to keep his job from a newfangled rookie and he's really doing it pretty well.  

5.  Evan Engram (11.4 PPG)

• He's the rookie sensation you do want. As Eli Mannings only true target, he has been able to show off his skill and actually do something unique:  put up points as a rookie TE.  

GAME RECAPS

Valeriy Shishkin versus Jake Yorke

Val:  Eddie Lacy dude, that's a killer.  Ajayi gets another bye week, so sorry for that.  Crowder showed up, but of course he's on your bench.  You didn't really have a bad game, but there wasn't anyway you were going to beat Jake unfortunately.  You are dropping dangerously low in w-l so be careful.  3-4-1 you don't need to win out, but you've got to win at least 6 to get in, that's 3 outta 5 man.

Jake:  you pulled off a win!  When McCoy is alive your team is alive, and your TEs actually seemed like good choices this week back to back.  4-4 and suddenly you're looking pretty strong in this late season push man.

Jake Yorke wins 144-110

Daniel Smith versus Jared Grube

Daniel: you are not having any luck man.  If you had played Matt Ryan this week you would have won.  Mind you I recognize that this is the opposite of what I said last week, and thus this is your season defined.  Good luck man, your team isn't bad at all, and I hope I best you this week but I won't be surprised if you do well.  

Jared:  222.  222.  222.  Philly D, Wentz, and Elliott carried you and Elliott is going away for a long time.  You've done pretty good for yourself so there's probably no reason to panic, except maybe Julio isn't that great this year and Cooper is Jekyll and Hyde.  I would guess, your season is going to rely on Hunt showing that his ability and point showing weren't flukes and putting something back on the board.

Jared wins 113-110

Orest Yaslinskiy versus Chris Cone

Ory:  that must have been a damn nail biter.  Right down to the last minute and you only won by two points.  Good idea not giving up ASJ as now Reed has been hamstringed again.  Wilson threw up 43 and you only scored 120 though so that's not the coolest feeling I'm certain.

Chris:  Dude your team was actual remarkable well rounded.  If Bernard had even gotten 20 yards you would have tied, even 2 catches for like 5 yards would have done it.  The Luck was not in your side man.

Ory wins 120-118

Andrew Gomez versus Yuriy Yedinak

Andrew:  Diggs is probably the real disappointment in your lineup, everyone else had somewhat hard matchups.  It was in London though so it's fishy if it's something you can trust.  Your RB situation is terrifying and getting worse with the Duke Johnson possible concussion.  Good luck man.

Yuriy:  seemed like a week where everything worked out pretty well for you.  How about that Hopkins eh?  Alex Smith over McCown wasn't a bad choice but it's really the only other thing you could have done any better.

Yuriy wins 153-110

Alex Gomez versus Matt Burke

Alex:  done did it again man, and this time it looked damn good with that 157.  Good Juju, had Juju on your side, Juju was strong, etc.  Does Benji on the Bills excite or terrify you?  I know as the owner of Tyrod I like the idea quite a bit.  Seriously though, that was a pretty good well-rounded effort from a team of ragtag misfits.

Matt:  you know that I'm going to tell you that if you played Deshaun Watson you would have won.  Trust in the breakout, enjoy the breakout.  Your team did a damn good job, you just got killed by Alex's uncanny ability to show up on game day.  Your team can still make the wildcard, and it's been pretty good lately so do your weird second half thing where you make the playoffs out of nowhere.

Alex wins 157-135

Nic Meyer versus Oscar Meyer

Nic 🌚🌝🌚🌝🌚🌝🌚🌝🌔🌝🌔🌝🌔🌚🌚🌝🌚🌝🌚🌝🌚🌝🌚🌚🌝🌚🌚🌝🌚🌝🌚🌝🌚🌝🌚

Dad:  I'm sorry Dad, that was pretty brutal. Only Robby Anderson and Jeremy Maclin even showed up.  It seems everyone else just kinda took an extra bye week and decided it wasn't really worth it.  Funchess is now a WR1 in Carolina though haha.

I win 125-77

POWER RANKINGS

1. Yuriy Yedinak (6-2 1045 PF) (previously 2)

2. Jared Grube (6-1-1 1068 PF) (previously 1)

3. Nic Meyer (6-2 1027 PF) (previously 3)

4. Orest Yaslinskiy (5-3 973 PF) (previously 4)

5. Jake Yorke (4-4 989 PF) (previously 5)

6. Alex Gomez (4-4 884 PF) (previously 10)

7. Andrew Gomez (3-5 965 PF) (previously 6)

8. Matt Burke (3-5 921 PF) (previously 7)

9. Daniel Smith (2-6 970 PF) (previously 8)

10. Chris Cone (2-6 926 PF) (previously 11)

11. Valeriy Shishkin (3-4-1 822 PF) (previously 12)

12. Oscar Meyer (2-6 819 PF) (previously 9)

Good luck guys!