Will Gavin's Wednesday Six-Pack: Week 5 Edition

YTD: 0-0

Just a quick introduction, since I’ve been absent through the first quarter of the season (I’ll let Nick stick to the real writing, because god knows it’s not my strength). It has been a great start to the 7th(!) season of Slushie Sundays, and I’ve been loving all the content from everyone so far. I can’t promise to write this every week, because some weeks I just don’t have it in me, but it definitely won’t be the last of my weekly picks columns this season. 

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We are now in our 6th year of this as a keeper league, and it’s pretty cool to look back at some of the drafts to see who guys spent big draft picks on or decided to keep. Some teams, such as Daves have been handsomely rewarded by keepers. He has now owned the trio of Todd Gurley (4th round), Devonta Freeman (8th round), and Deandre Hopkins (3rd round) for three consecutive seasons. They led him to a championship, performed subpar for a season, and are now leading him to the best record in the league. Some teams have decided to trade off assets for future draft picks (see Josh, Dom in recent years), and have seen it pay off. Josh had just one keeper last season, but instead capitalized in the draft to win in some of the most dominating fashion in Slushie Sundays history. Other players (me) have spent keepers on players such as Justin Forsett or Demarco Murray with the Eagles, to completely bone my season from the get go. Certain players have been staples of some teams for many years (see: Joe and Lev Bell, Will and AJ Green, Nick and Andrew Luck, and many more that escape me). Some teams have been rewarded by loyalty to solid keepers, and other teams have been beaten by it due to inconsistency or injury.  

The one thing for certain is that there is no one strategy for sure to succeed in this league. In a league that now has 10 teams separated by just one game, you can’t count any team out. Anyways, on to my picks:

Kissing Suzy Kolber VS. Mommy’s Little Kerwynn

Winner: Mommy’s Little Kerwynn

Injuries and bye weeks are here in full force. Josh will have Derek Carr out, and OBJ’s upside has been limited by injuries so far. But it is only a matter of time until Joe Mixon (who got over 20 touches last week) gets it going, and Zeke continues to perform at a high level. Going to be tough for Vinnie to replace 4 players on bye this week, but he has a shot if the Pats have a big performance on Thursday night (See: Brady, Cooks, Hogan). 

Famous Jameis VS Are Bonita Fish Big?

Winner: Famous Jameis

This game currently has the highest projected total for week 5 (which is not surprising given Dave’s early success), but Ben should be right there with him. Jameis Winston is playing the Patriots Thursday night (who rank dead last in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks), in a primetime game that I would predict will see quite a few points on the board. He also has a group of deep threat receivers (Sammy Watkins, Devante Parker, Martavis Bryant) who could tilt him into a victory in any given weekend. Dave slips Ameer Abdullah into Devonta Freeman’s spot in this bye week and doesn’t miss too much from his RB’s or WR’s. But, Cam (coming off a huge week against the Patriots) goes up against a Lions defense that has been really good so far. It’ll be close, but I tip the scales towards Ben in this one. 

Team New Year VS Thielen Myself

Winner: Team New Year

Brian's team has not been “Thielen It" so far this season. Dalvin Cooks tears his ACL, and he now has 5 players on bye this week. I actually think his team will be okay this year- just too much talent not to turn it around, but it won’t be this week. For Chreeyusszzz, Amari Cooper has been a major let down so far (Sorry Nick), but fortunately Stefon Diggs has been fantastic. He keeps it rolling, and Demarco Murray sees a lot of touches as the Titans play against an incredibly stagnant Dolphins team.

Big Baby Boi VS Death Row Records

Winner: Big Baby Boi

Joe gets a much needed win this week behind a big game from who else but Le’Veon Bell and Mike Evans, who both get pretty savory matchups this week (Jags are 30th against running backs, Patriots 29th against receivers). Bilal Powell and Lamar Miller are unlikely to repeat last week’s stellar performances, and Doug Martin gets off to a slow start to his season (Jacquizz Rodgers has been pretty good so far, and should still get some work). 

Dewsy McDukeSters VS Why You Pee On My Car?

Winner: Dewsy McDukeSters

I’ll heed Aaron’s previous requests not to pick him to win this week, and say that I think I take this one. Russell Wilson has been awesome the last two weeks- and the Rams have been able to score a lot of points thus far. Russ Wilson keeps up with that pace, and has himself a nice week. Leonard Fournette, AJ Green, and Keenan Allen have all been pretty safe so far, and do enough to get it done for me (Assuming I can avoid getting zero or negative points from a player, which I’ve managed to do in 3 out of 4 weeks so far). Wendell Smallwood looks to have solved part of Aaron’s RB conundrum, and was a huge pickup for him, but the Cardinals D ranks 4th against fantasy RB’s, and Derrick Henry doesn’t get enough volume to lead Aaron to a W.  

Sch’dy Schmeckles VS Sergio Dipp

Winner: Sch’dy Schmeckles

Dom gets a test of his much talked about depth, and comes up short in week 5. Davante Adams is doubtful to play after taking a brutal hit last week. With 2 QB’s on bye, and Sam Bradford still day to day, Dom will likely have to release someone to pick up a QB. He also has Broncos D on bye, and will need to release a player if he wishes to hold on to them as well. Definitely looks like a sticky situation. Despite a 1-3 record, Chris’s team looks pretty solid (5th in the league in points for). Aaron Rodgers and Zach Ertz give him an advantage most weeks at the QB/TE positions, and his RB’s and WR’s have performed fairly well so far. He’ll need to find a viable fill in at his flex this week, but if he does he could pull out a W this week.