With just over half of the regular season behind us, it seemed the appropriate time to assess where the league is at with some power rankings. The rankings below constitute my opinion of how the league ranks as far as each team’s roster, and ability to succeed going forward. I did not rank teams based on their success so far (if you want that, you can just check the standings), and trades have made a significant impact in where teams will end up on this list.
#12: Why You Pee On My Car?
Sorry Aaron, but a lot of it has to do with momentum. After a 2-0 start, Aaron is now riding a 5 game losing streak into week 8, and coming off a 46 point performance. While the Antonio Brown/Big Ben trade away may have been beneficial for Aaron’s team for the future (Christian McCaffrey looks to be a pass catching machine at RB, and Big Ben has been fading as a fantasy QB), Brown was his only fantasy “stud”, a guy that could win you any given week. He has done a nice job finding fill in RB’s off of waivers thus far, but they look unlikely to be permanent solutions at the spot (Chris Ivory, Wendell Smallwood, Derrick Henry, Elijah Mcguire). McCaffrey gives him a guy that he can set and forget at RB going forward. Pierre Garcon looks to be his most consistent WR, and Alshon Jeffrey has been big for the Eagles success, but the emergence of Zach Ertz and Nelson Agholor cut into Jeffrey’s ability to put up WR1 numbers.
Regular Season Prediction: 4-9
#11: Kissing Suzy Kolber
Despite giving up Brandin Cooks, Vinnies team is still heavy with New England Patriots, who have indeed been one of the top offenses in the NFL, to no one’s surprise. But despite the Pat’s offensive success, it hasn’t translated into a ton of fantasy points for Vinnie's team. This may be partially due to the Patriots tendency to spread the ball out to a lot of different weapons.He was hurt early in the season by the Redskins slow start (Rob Kelley and Jamison Crowder have been duds so far). This team certainly has a lot of fantasy talent - Michael Crabtree and Chris Hogan are two very underrated fantasy players, and Tom Brady is an elite fantasy QB. Orleans Darkwa is potentially the first Giants RB to be fantasy relevant in awhile, but Joe Mixon has yet to breakout like many people thought he would.
Regular Season Prediction: 4-9
#10: Sch’dy Schmeckles
Chris has two standout WR in Demaryius Thomas and Larry Fitzgerald. But it’s hard to envision either of them having a great rest of the season with Drew Stanton (Just google Drew Stanton Supergirl: enough said) at the helm for the Cardinals, and Trevor Siemian really struggling to get DT the ball (He has less than 2 fantasy points in 2 of his last 3 games). Kirk Cousins has been great since his slow start, and Zach Ertz is the fantasy TE to own this year. But his team is thin at RB (Matt Forte, Mike Gillislee, Frank Gore, Alex Collins), and lacking those guys to get you consistent touches and points at the RB spot makes it hard to win in weeks when you’re other guys don’t have blow up games.
Regular Season Prediction: 5-8
#9: Im Fucked DJ on the Block
I’m sure I’ll catch some flak for this, but Josh’s team has overperformed it’s value so far. He lost 2 of the top fantasy players, and nobody really knows what Zeke’s season will look like a few weeks from now. Nelson Agholor, Mike Williams, Allen Hurns, and Sammy Watkins are all middle of the road WRs. Alex Smith has been a pleasant surprise, but being the #1 ranked QB means he only averages 1 more fantasy point per game than the next several QB’s. Dion Lewis was a sneaky good pickup, and may take control of the New England backfield in future weeks. If Zeke plays all season, Lewis takes control of the Patriots backfield, Alex Smith continues his MVP campaign, and he picks the right combo of WR every week, then Josh will end up near the top of the standings. But to me, that’s a lot of what if’s.
Regular Season Prediction: 7-6
#8: Team New Year
This was a tough spot to pick. Chreeyusz has a solid squad, but lack of RB’s puts him here. Amari Cooper finally picked up the slack, but can we really expect any more 200 yard, 2 td games? Hopefully last Thursday was the sign of Cooper getting on track, but as a big play threat with a low floor (look at his fantasy scores weeks 3-5) he may have some weeks that it’s hard to put him in your lineup. The injury to Stefon Diggs has raised concerns for his fantasy owners, but Chris has gotten great production from Jarvis Landry. Marshawn Lynch and Isaiah Crowell have been disappointments this season, and we have really only seen one week of fantasy relevance from Adrian Peterson. He’ll need Cooper to perform well the rest of the way, and will need a healthy Stefon Diggs as well.
Regular Season Prediction: 6-7
#7: Wentz Wagon
The insertion of Carson Wentz into his lineup, and the subsequent change in team name have sparked some life into the Cookie Man’s team. He’s got a great team this year, with several guys on his bench yearning for a chance to play (Aaron Jones, James White are both starting quality RB). He owns 3 of the top 17 RB in fantasy points, and they are guys that are getting touches and consistent points every week (Alvin Kamara, Kareem Hunt, Buck Allen). Michael Thomas and Adam Thielen are both safe and very good WR as well, but are not the type of guys to win you a week. Austin Sefarian-Jenkins does look to be a difference maker at the tight end spot, becoming one of the focal points of the jets offense. His WR depth is a bit shaky however. Martavis Bryant has been a joke this year, DeVante Parker’s has yet to get healthy, and Robert Woods is unexciting as a fantasy WR.
Regular Season Prediction: 6-7
#6: Death Row Records
If we were ranking teams based on owners, I’d have Nick in the top 3, as that is where he seems to finish every year. But I can’t anticipate waiver pickups and start/sit decisions of another owner, so this is where I have him based on his current roster. We have no idea if Andrew Luck will be back at all this season, and that hurts T.Y. Hiltons’ stock quite a bit. Jordy Nelson is an elite fantasy WR.. when Aaron Rodgers is on the field. Hard to picture a scenario where he gets the same production with Hundley at QB though. Nick has a really nice mix of RB (Doug Martin, Chris Thompson, Jerick McKinnon, Lamar Miller), so good depth at that position, and Hunter Henry has been producing really nicely. But the questions surrounding his wide receivers make that a position that I have less confidence in.
Regular Season Prediction: 7-6
#5: The House That Julio Built
Yuck. Pains me to say it, but Brian now has one of the best starting lineups in the league. Ajayi has underwhelmed so far, but has been getting so many touches, you have to figure he’ll start to score some touchdowns. LeSean McCoy is the focal point of the Bills offense. Julio Jones, Dez Bryant, and Brandin Cooks make up a nice trio of WR’s. He’s very deep at TE- especially if Reed can stay healthy for once (Jordan Reed, Evan Engram, Charles Clay when back from injury), but lacks depth at the WR spot. He would be wise to ditch Matt Ryan at QB (Who is ranked 24th in fantasy points for QB’s) and upgrade the position, but he is likely to put up points each week either way.
Regular Season Prediction: 7-6
#4: Sergio Dipp
Dom has two of the premier wide receivers in fantasy football with AJ Green and Mike Evans. He has Rob Gronkowski, a potential week winner on any week, and one of the top RB in Melvin Gordon. But with Rodgers out, Davante Adams value is called into question. Tevin Coleman has been solid, but on an offense that has been struggling. Ty Montgomery seems to get less and less work each week, with the ascension of Aaron Jones. He has a team I wouldn’t be surprised to see in the Championship at the end of the season, but it will take some big performances from his big name players.
Regular Season Prediction: 8-5
#3: Dewsy McDukesters
Leonard Fournette and Jordan Howard are both workhorse running backs on teams that are committed to running the ball first. That is a lot of guaranteed touches, and a good opportunity for fantasy points. On the flip side of that, the Seahawks can’t run the ball to save their life, which adds value to Russell Wilson and Doug Baldwin. I’ll need to continue to get steady production from Duke Johnson (Who I auto-drafted when my computer froze up, whoops) to churn out enough points each week. My team doesn’t have the ceiling that many others do, but has had a great floor so far- leading me to 6 straight weeks with 100+ fantasy points. I’ll probably get knocked off in the playoffs by somebody’s team having a blow up day, but If I can end the playoff drought (3 straight seasons without an appearance), I’ll be very happy. PS: I should get Danny Woodhead around week 10 or 11 off of IR. Remains to be seen how he will get used given Buck Allen’s current utilization, but he will certainly add some depth.
Regular Season Prediction: 7-6
#2: WATSON GANG
Joe and the WATSON GANG have been surreal the last 2 weeks. Joe has now scored 290 points in the last 2 weeks combined. Possibly the biggest waiver addition of the season so far is Deshaun Watson, who has been incredible throughout this early season. Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown is a combination that you never want to play against in fantasy, and Mark Ingram appears to be a top tier fantasy RB with Adrian Peterson out of the mix. He has a few questions as far as depth on his bench, but there is no denying that Joe’s team has the most firepower in the league.
Regular Season Prediction: 8-5
#1: Are Bonita Fish Big?
Dave has scored 100 points in 5 out of 7 weeks, and has not scored less than 95 points yet. When you can produce consistent points, you will give yourself the opportunity to win in any given week. He has depth at RB (Devonta Freeman, Todd Gurley, Carlos Hyde, and Ameer Abdullah). He also owns 2 of the top 3 fantasy WR in points scored (Deandre Hopkins, Tyreek Hill). Cam has been boom or bust each week so far, but Dave’s team has enough balance throughout the rest of his lineup to offset the bust weeks, and still pull out a victory. Pencil him in as the top team in the league through 7 games.
Regular Season Prediction: 9-4
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