Look Back At It – Must Be Sunday

Look Back At It: Draft Edition

We are past the halfway point of the season. Good news for me, bad news for people who have fun playing fantasy football. Make it stop, please. Since we are more than 50% of the way through the season, I think it would be fun to look back at the draft and see what went right and what went wrong. Spoiler – if your name starts with the letter B everything went wrong.

I am going to go through the first ten rounds and analyze the best and worst pick based on what we know now. Remember, I am doing this for you. This is going to be painful for me. The things I do for The League.

Round 1

Christian McCaffrey (Beans)
Dalvin Cook (Andrew)
Derrick Henry (Abie)
Alvin Kamara (Max)
Ezekiel Elliot (Brent)
Austin Ekeler (Thomas)
Jonathan Taylor (Jack)
Davante Adams (Ryan)
Saquon Barkley (Brad)
Travis Kelce (Kris)

If I was writing this a couple weeks ago, the player I would name as the best pick in this round is obvious – Derrick Henry. D Henry scored less than 7 points in week 8, didn’t play at all in week 9 and is still RB1 on the year! King Henry may be back in time to lead Abie to a championship, but it’ll be increasingly difficult to make the playoffs without him in the first place! J Tay at the 7th pick was clearly the best move in round 1. Jack has been apart of the Taylor Gang since he was a mere little rookie. It is finally paying off, and then some! Some potential names that Jack could’ve picked instead of Taylor: Barkley, Kelce, Jones, Chubb & Gibson. Jack’s season could look mighty different if he didn’t have RB2 on the year.

Worst pick is, as you all guessed, Barkley. Brad took a gamble and, similar to most of the bets I make, it didn’t pay off. Brad wouldn’t be spending each night practicing standup to Waylon if Barkley returned to anything close to 2019 form. Barkley got off to a slow start, had two solid games and hasn’t played since. There are 42 better options at RB so far this year. Absolute nightmare. It happens. Just ask Kris last year. He had Barkley too. Or me with David Johnson in 2019.

Round 2

Aaron Jones (Kris)
Nick Chubb (Brad)
Antonio Gibson (Ryan)
Tyreek Hill (Jack)
Najee Harris (Thomas)
Joe Mixon (Brent)
Calvin Ridley (Max)
DeAndre Hopkins (Abie)
Clyde Edwards-Helaire (Andrew)
Stefon Diggs (Beans)

Congrats, Jack! You started the draft off real hot. While there are some fantastic picks here – did you know Joe Mixon is RB3? The WR depth this year was/is ridiculous. While Harris and Mixon are having great years, Jack has JTay as we spoke about, and a surprise 50 year old breakout player that we can discuss later. Jack could’ve gotten cute and taken Ridley or the historically fantastic Hopkins. Instead, he took the obvious choice and it’s paid off! T Hill is WR2 on the the year. Even more impressive considering the Chiefs offense hasn’t looked as sharp in recent weeks.

Obviously the worst pick is CEH. Andrew sort of needed to take him here, so I won’t criticize him for the pick, but CEH objectively stinks. RB51. Horrible. Andrew could’ve taken James Robinson. He also could have reached for Chris Carson like a certain owner of http://www.mustbesunday.com did. If he didn’t take a RB with the pick, Andrew would’ve almost certainly have drafted Metcalf, as he did a few picks later in round 3. With Metcalf going in 2 instead of 3 he then could’ve taken Robinson. He also could’ve forgone RB’s in this area and he likely would have picked AJ Brown, who is having a disappointing year himself.

Round 3

Chris Carson (Beans)
DK Metcalf (Andrew)
James Robinson (Abie)
Darren Waller (Max)
AJ Brown (Brent)
Justin Jefferson (Thomas)
George Kittle (Jack)
Terry McLaurin (Ryan)
Keenan Allen (Brad)
Allen Robinson (Kris)

Oh man what an ugly round. I think we are going to look back at these names as soon as next year and be shocked that some of these names went as high as they did. Best pick is clearly DK. Way to go, comish. The Seattle pass catcher is the only player taken in the third round who is top ten at their position, aside from Waller. Waller is five. This means there are four TE’s better than Waller. Which means he is a disaster third round pick.

He’s not the worst though! That belongs to Allen Robinson III. WR57. Poor Kris. He could’ve had CeeDee Lamb, Mike Evans, Amari Cooper or Adam Thielen. If the football god’s aligned and sent Robinson to a team with a good quarterback for the first time in his career he could be in store for a big second half. Instead he’s still wasting away in Chicago. Despite me listing all of the good WR’s that Kris could’ve taken, there is a RB that he could have grabbed in the fourth round that would’ve been even more of a disaster …

Round 4

David Montgomery (Kris)
Robert Woods (Brad)
CeeDee Lamb (Ryan)
J.K. Dobbins (Jack)
Mike Evans (Thomas)
Amari Cooper (Brent)
Adam Thielen (Max)
Patrick Mahomes (Abie)
Chris Godwin (Andrew)
DeAndre Swift (Beans)

Go Beans! I nailed the DeAndre Swift pick. Although he isn’t on my team anymore, he’s having a fantastic year and was one of the few semblances of hope and happiness I’ve had the last few months. When we discuss round 5 you’ll see why this was such a critical pick. Swift is RB12 on the year, which means he’s an absolute must start every week despite the fact the Lions consistently seem to be playing a different sport than their opponents.

This one is, unfortunately, too easy. Dobbins went down literally within minutes of this pick. What horrible luck! Jack could’ve had Swift! However, if he took Swift he likely wouldn’t have picked Mike Davis, which means he never would’ve landed Patterson. Still though, your fourth round pick never touching the field in the regular season is tough. Not Jack’s fault and unless he is secretly spending time with Doc Brown he wouldn’t have known Dobbins was about to go down for the year.

Round 5

Miles Sanders (Beans)
Josh Jacobs (Andrew)
Julio Jones (Abie)
Kareem Hunt (Max)
Cooper Kupp (Brent)
Chase Edmonds (Thomas)
Tyler Lockett (Jack)
Diontae Johnson (Ryan)
Brandon Aiyuk (Brad)
Myles Gaskin (Kris)

Two people with the same name spelt differently taken in this round. Weird! I wonder if that’s ever happened before. There are some great picks and some horrible picks here in round 5. This is when the empanadas started hitting and brains turned to mush. Brent was clearly eating his brain food because he took the WR1 in the fifth round. Cooper Kupp! Who woulda thought. The third WR Brent took but first in his heart. No one else to even consider as the best pick. Best pick of the draft.

Although there’s no shortage of bad, Julio takes the cake as the worst pick of the fifth round. We all know Abie loves to gamble. This is one bet that didn’t hit. Julio is WR71 on the year. He’s missed a number of games and was just added to the IR yesterday. As stated, WR is deep so there were many realistic options here for Abie … including Cooper Kupp! Ouch! Brandon Aiyuk is an honorable mention here. I’m giving it to Julio because he was earlier in the round and a bit more of a gamble. Also, Aiyuk will be playing the next three weeks and Julio won’t be I do respect that Aiyuk just kind of stopped doing his job for a while though. I will show solidarity by doing the same.

Round 6

Josh Allen (Kris)
Kyler Murray (Brad)
Mark Andrews (Ryan)
Mike Davis (Jack)
Tee Higgins (Bones)
DJ Moore (Brent)
Kyle Pitts (Max)
T.J Hockenson (Abie)
Kenny Golladay (Andrew)
Courtland Sutton (Beans)

Oh man this is another baaaaad round. I guess the best pick is Mark Andrews? TE2 on the year. Fourth one to go. Kelce in the first round, Waller and Kittle in the third. That’s a great value. Good job, Ryan. You nailed this pick. Courtland Sutton was looking like the best value in the sixth round to start the year, but because he’s on my team his star has dimmed in recent weeks. But is life.

Worst pick is interesting. Mike Davis has been a humongous disappointment. He is unstartable. However, as stated, getting Davis required Jack to handcuff him with Patterson, who in turn has randomly turned into a fantasy star. With that in mind, I’m going to give it to Kenny G. The Comish fell victim to Kenny’s trap. It’s a tale as old as time. Drafters see Kenny’s objective talent at catching footballs and running routes and think he’s the guy for their team. They fail to remember that Kenny doesn’t play football very often, which turns into a problem for their fantasy team. Andrew could’ve rolled the dice on a player who is shoo-in to win Offensive Rooke of the Year. More on that next round …

Round 7

Robby Anderson (Beans)
Darrel Henderson Jr (Andrew)
Jerry Jeudy (Abie)
Aaron Rodgers (Max)
Javonte Williams (Brent)
Lamar Jackson (Bones)
Ja’Maar Chase (Jack)
Russell Wilson (Ryan)
Sony Michel (Brad)
Juju Smith-Schuster (Kris)

Yuck! I really like Brent’s pick in this round. No one could’ve predicted than Melvin Gordon would revive his career in Denver, which has undoubtedly hurt Williams fantasy value. Huge pick if this was a dynasty league, but alas, it is not. Obtaining RB11 (Henderson) in the 7th round is unheard of, but so is drafting WR3. Ladies and gentleman, I am decreeing the best pick of the seventh round to be Ja’Maar Chase! He likely would’ve went a couple rounds earlier but he dropped some passes in the preseason. Everyone except Jack is stupid. That’s what I’m gathering from writing this. Some other WR’s hanging around here that Jack could’ve taken with this pick include Juju, Tyler Boyd and OBJ. My man dodged several bullets. Matrix ass guy. I’ve never seen any of those movies but I understand there is a lot of slow motion bullet dodging in them.

Juju is out for the rest of the year so that’s obvious – but I’m actually going to give it to Sony Michel. Kris was able to include Juju in a trade – to me. Brad ended up having to drop the LA running back. He started him a couple times and never got anything out of him.

Round 8

Damien Harris (Kris)
Logan Thomas (Brad)
Tyler Boyd (Ryan)
Chase Claypool (Jack)
Odell Beckham Jr (Bones)
Dak Prescott (Brent)
Will Fuller V (Max)
Raheem Mostert (Abie)
DeVonta Smith (Andrew)
Lavishka Shenault (Beans)

Uhhhh I guess the best pick here is Dak? Harris is having a nice year too. This round is tough. I’ll give it to Dak. Good job, Brent.

The Will Fuller pick was stupid but I gotta give it to Mostert. Again, no way to know he was going to be out for the year, but he is, and this is a Look Back At It so that’s what I’m doing. This is a bad round I don’t want to look at it anymore.

Round 9

Justin Herbert (Beans)
Brandin Cooks (Andrew)
Michael Thomas (Abie)
Zack Moss (Max)
Corey Davis (Brent)
Noah Fant (Thomas)
Kenyan Drake (Jack)
Curtis Samuel (Ryan)
Jaylen Waddle (Brad)
Jarvis Landry (Kris)

As lovely as it has been to have Justin Herbert, I’m going to give best pick in this round to Andrew for taking Brandin Cooks. Cooks is lowkey WR18 on the year. Again, this means he’s a must start every week without thinking. All without having Taylor under center for most of the games! Impressive. Andrew could’ve been a homer and taken Corey Davis. Instead, he took the better player and it paid off. Now, Brent is hoping he stays the course in the second half.

Worst pick goes to Abie for taking yet another gamble on Michael Thomas. Can’t Guard Mike if he isn’t playing. This was as dicey of a draft pick as they can come. If he came back and returned anything close to true form it would’ve been the pick of the century. Instead, Abie wasted a pick he could’ve used on Marquez “The Truth” Calloway. In the words of Swiper The Fox, “Ohhhh man!”

Round 10

Leonard Fournette (Kris)
Ronald Jones II (Brad)
Melvin Gordon (Ryan)
Deebo Samuel (Jack)
DJ Chark Jr (Thomas)
Trey Sermon (Brent)
Mike Williams (Max)
AJ Dillon (Abie)
Jonnu Smith (Andrew)
Marquez Calloway (Beans)

This is a fun round! Ryan got clowned for drafting and rostering and starting Melvin Gordon but he’s been nothing short of good finding himself at RB14 at the time of writing this. Regular Season Lenny is right behind him at RB15. Huge values this last late in the draft. You know what’s cooler than a million dollars? A billion dollars. That’s what Jack found himself with by drafting Deebo Samuel of all folks in the tenth round. WR4. Unreal! Is Jack extremely skilled at drafting or is he lucky? The dude spends his days crunching numbers and cooking books both for his current real life job and MustBeSunday.com. I think he knows what he’s doing. Wow!

As horrible as Ronald Jones has been, DJ Chark is out for the year. Sorry Bones. Whole lotta nothing for him. You shoulda taken Deebo Samuel!

That was fun! Let’s do it again at the end of the season. Congrats on Cooper Kupp, Brent! Sorry for your loses Abie and Brad.

Two Year Anniversary!

Today is two years from the first documented use of “Must Be Sunday” according to my Timehop! While the phrase itself may only be two years old, the meaning behind those three simple words has existed among human beings for ages. Or at least since the NFL’s founding in 1920.

To make a short story even shorter – a number of members of The League were watching Sunday football, as we do. I took a snapchat video of the crew watching, bantering and bartering, etc, and and captioned it “Must Be Sunday.” When future students are studying the rise and fall of the American empire they will write a DBQ (document based question, I think?, for you non New York public school educated readers) comparing this moment to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The only difference is I don’t know how to write in script.

The time stamp says 5:03 pm. According to the old google machine – there were two games on during this slate on this historical day – the 7-9 Raiders in Houston to face the 10-6 Texans and the 6-10 Browns facing the 12-4 Patriots. What an old fashion sentence! Things done changed. I imagine we were watching the Texans game because my QB1 that year was the now seemingly bad-guy Deshaun Watson.

What a day for football this was! The 3-5 Chargers visited the 3-4 Bears and, naturally, the Bears, lost 17-16 on a last second missed Eddy Pineiro missed field goal. Total Bears move. We probably laughed a lot. I don’t remember. Sounds fund. The 4-12 Giants lost to the 3-3-1 Lions 31-26. Ooooffff! I must’ve loved this one. Don’t let the score fool you. The G-Men scored a garbage time touchdown to get to 26. Love it. Boring game, but for the sake of New York fandom, the 1-6 Jets lost to the 4-4 Jaguars 29-15. Minshew Mania, baby! Old reliable Adam Vinateri delivered an end-of-game field goal to deliver a 15-13 victory for the 5-2 Colts over the 2-6 Broncos. Although by the time the primetime game was on we probably all crawled out of the Vignali’s house like basement people to go see our families and drink water it was a marquee matchup that I’m sure we were excited about. The 7-1 Packers against the 5-3 Chiefs. Wow! Packers won 31-24. Major fantasy implications in this game!

On that note, lets discuss what happened in The League on the day of our nations founding. Beans Corp faced Country Roads, Take Mahomes AKA Kris. I needed this one but I didn’t get it despite good performances from Watson, Marlon Mack and JuJu. Again, what an old fashioned sentence! Derrick Henry only got me 6.7. 2021 DH would never dog me like that. My sworn enemy / life partner Robby Anderson gave me 6.3 because obviously. Just obviously. What a joke. Despite the hot start for David Johnson that year this was when he was either injured or just stopped playing football as he was on my bench with a goose egg. For some reason Jacoby Brissett was also on my bench. Kris’ team honestly had a mediocre showing but I got Julio’d and Patriots D/ST’d to death as both scored 20 points. Buns! I lost 112.7 – 110.9. BRUTAL! Because it is pre-2020 Kris had Todd Gurley, although he only put up 10 points. Jamison Crowder and Carlos Hyde were out there battling for Kris. He also had Darrel Henderson before it was cool, although he was riding the bench this week. Also on the bench was Miles Sanders who put up 21.3 points. My eyes burned when I read that as I roster the Eagles back this year. Nightmares!

Everybody Hates Kris aka Andrew faced Here’s To You, Mr. Robinson (Jack). I wonder if they knew that two years into the future they would be sharing a bathroom in the big city. The champ before he was the champ that year put up a monster 144.9 to Jack’s 125.1. For some inexplixable reason Andrew started rookie Daniel Jones, but it greatly paid off as he put up a rock solid 28. Andrew also naturally had a huge week from McCaffrey and an awesome 25 points from Edelman. Nice! Some old school names on Andrew’s roster include Philip Lindsay at RB2 and Duke Johnson on the bench. “Duke Johnson? Duke Johnson?” You know the rest. Jack came up short despite 36 points (!) from Tevin Coleman and 18 points from 49ers D/ST against Carolina. A measly 10 points from Kyler. Ugly! Jack started Tarik Cohen and Kerryon Johnson. How was this only two years ago?

Baby Chark Doo Doo Doo aka Lebron beat HockeyPro69 aka Abie 137.2 – 113.1. Lebron enjoyed rock solid performances from Aaron Jones, James Conner and his team’s namesake DJ Chark. Also, Steelers D/ST dropped 15 points against Miami. Seems like a monster week for defenses. Leveon Bell had a horrible week for Lebron. Man, he has been so far from fantasy relevance. Lebron also gave scary Terry the start before he became truly scary. for so long now! I need to list Abie’s roster because it is SO 2019! Aaron Rodgers, Leondard Fournette, Jordan Howard, Michael Thomas, OBJ, DeDe Westbrook, Gerald Everett, Seahawks D/ST & Zane Gonzalez. Oh man, what a trip down memory lane. I genuinely haven’t thought about Jordan Howard or DeDe Westbrook in two years. I remember it was a thing on the pod that only Zane Gonzalez was good on Abie’s team that year. That held true this week as he dropped 11 points. Rodgers and Michael Thomas did well too. However, DeDe dropped a big fat goose egg. Classic!

Now We Cookin’ (Max) v. Baker MaySUCK (Ryan) was a true classic. Max dropped 189.3! What?! Ryan dropped a weak 94. Yikes! Ha – Max had Barkley, Dalvin Cook AND Ekeler. The first two combined for 49.9. Ekeler a meek 9.2. Aside from Robbie Gould who put up 9, Austin E is the only player who was in single digits! Yet another big week from a defense, as the Vikings dropped 13. Kenny G and Cooper Kupp scored 25.3 and 31.5, respectively. That halfway foreshadowed things to come. You know what’s happening with them this year. Ryan got 15.8 from Minseota Viking Stefon Diggs. Nothing else went right. Philip Rivers got the start and put up 10. Devonta Freeman gave Ryan 12. DeSean Jackson was on Ryan’s bench. Throwback!

Finally, The Flandrew’s (Brent) lost to Abraham Leider: Vampire Hunter (Alex). Our former member Alex needed this one. This was the year he kept scoring a lot but just couldn’t find a W. Luckily for him, Brent shit the bed this week and couldn’t crack 100. Alex won 137.8 – 99.9. Brent’s team has some current starters – Hopkins, Carson, Godwin and Waller. He also started Ty Johnson and Goff. Funny! You know what’s even funnier – Alex started MASON RUDOLPH. He also started Frank Gore. Gotta respect that. This was also the days of John Brown getting fantasy starts. Much to the chagrin of his brother, Alex got a nice 37.3 from Mike Evans. David Montgomery also had a nice week.

What a week for fantasy! Rockin’ and rollin’ and whatnot. What happened outside the football world on this historical day you ask? Thanks to Jack for sending me a link to a website that just lists things that happened each day. For some reason they didn’t include the start of Must Be Sunday, so take it with a grain of salt or whatever the phrase is I’m not even totally sure. There seemed to be a lot of news about ISIS, so that probably wasn’t good. Game 5 of the World Series took place that night. The Astros beat the Nationals 7-1 to take a 3-2 series lead. Thankfully, they would go on to lose the series to the Nationals. Soon-to-be Yankee Ace Gerrit Cole went 7 strong striking out 9.

Seriously, what a fun two years it’s been. Alex and Lebron are out, Brad and Thomas are in, but The League itself remains the same. Let’s see how different the NFL and fantasy football is two years from now. One thing I know for sure is Robby Anderson will be on my team and he will have just given me 6.3 points. He is going to turn me into the Joker. “That’s lifeee.”

Must Be Sunday: 2019 – infinity. Go League!

Look Back At It: Fantasy Football Week 4 Review

Four weeks in. Four weeks of bliss if you’re me or Brent. Four weeks of agony if you’re Andrew or Ryan. Four weeks of varying feelings for everyone else. There is just nothing like The League.

Me v. Abie

I genuinley don’t think I’ve ever played Abie in fantasy football. I know it’s impossible since we’ve been in the same league for a number of years but I just don’t know how this guy plays. One thing I do know for sure is that Abie hasn’t appreciated my very fair and balanced criticisms in recent weeks. Abie used my comments as inspiration and went on a nice two game win streak. Unfortunately for Abie, he couldn’t crack my three game win streak.

If you told me Nick Chubb would drop a quick 4 points and then exit the game due to a knee injury I wouldn’t be pumped. If you told me Matt Ryan would forget that Calvin Ridley is a human being that exists I really wouldn’t be pumped. Both of these nightmare scenerios did happen in real life. As the old saying goes – Beans Corp never says die. Where would I be without Dak? Not 4-0 let me tell you. The Cowboys had one of the worst loses in franchsie history on Sunday but, thankfully for me, that was entirely on the defense. Dak threw for 60,000 yards. Unreal. Dalvin Cook went off. CeeDee Lamb contributed to the Cowboys strong offensive showing. Too bad he can’t double up as linebaker.

Abie had a nice week. If he played most other teams he would’ve extended his winning streak. The good? Aaron Jones is a juggernaut. Amari Cooper dropped a rock solid 27.4. Again, can this guy play safety? Mark Andrews decided to stop stinking. The bad? Tyler Lockett got the silent treatment from Russell Wilson. The ugly? Kennyan Drake. Yikes oh man this guy stinks. Mahomes did fine. If he did what he’s capable of I would’ve sweat through my chicken bucket szn shirt. Go Yanks. Beans 142.9 – Abie 126.2

Jack v. Brent

This was a big one. Jack has looked good. If he could top Brent he would really get some looks as a big time contender. All I can say is get out of Brent’s way because he’s a goddamn freight train. Choo choo.

There’s no eye popping performances from when looking at Brent’s roster. Everyone did their job and did it well. Well, except Julio Jones, but Matt Ryan forgot how to throw footballs. Chris Carson recovered nicely from what looked like a very ugly injury. Melvin Gordon introduced himself to the City of Denver. Zeke did nothing in the game but somehow put up 16.5. Brent also pulled off one of the most notorious trades in the history of The League last week in which he got hooked up with Kelce. There will be a lot more talk of this trade but Brent only got 8.5 out of the second rounder. You definitley want more but it didn’t end up mattering.

Jack saw the Dallas Cowboys were playing the Cleveland Browns and figured it would be a good move to pick them up, because The Browns, as the name suggests and a certain widereceiver enjoys, are shitty. It really truly does make a lot of sense. The only issue is the Cowboy’s defense is the worst in the history of the National Football League. It is bannana’s bad. You know the classic video of EDP putting on his Eagles gear saying that, “he’s going in because he will play with more heart and passion than any of their sorry asses?” That’s me watching this defense. -9.0! Holy shit! That is the worst score I ever remember seeing in fantasy football. This will be in textbooks. If Jack played basically any other defense and Austin Ekeler didn’t blowout his hammy he probably would’ve won. Kittle was spectacular. Josh Allen is elite. Terry McLaurin was the play. Jerry Jeudy had a nice Thursday night. It was all for not. Brent 136.3 – Jack 116.9

Lebron v. Andrew

Let’s be honest – we all wanted this to end in a tie. That would’ve broken the internet or at least this website. Our servers can only handle 5 pageviews per day. Fortunately for Lebron and unfortunately for those who like to laugh, there was a definitive winner in this week’s battle of the bad aka the battle of the blackouts.

Waking up last Sunday Lebron needed four things – food, water, shelter and to win this fantasy football matchup. It was imperative. Due to COVID-19 Lebron needed a new QB and elexted for Joey Heisman’s. Burrow is going to enjoy a long career, hopefully not entierly in Cinncinati, and I expect him to be a starter in The League for years to come. It would’ve been fun for him to have a big welcome to the Burrow show week. He didn’t but he’s better than Jarred Goff. Kareem Hunt stepped up following Chubb’s heartbreaking injury. Mike Davis gave Panthers fans a reason to not be miserable. Devin Singletary and Devante Parker want to stay starters for the rest of the year. If you’re Lebron you’re not thrilled with Higbee aka Higsbee aka Ned Bigby.

Andrew is self declared officially dead. The death certificate lists the cause as “Lebreezy.” In the grand scheme of things, COVID ruining Andrew’s week in fantasy is, without a doubt, the least heartbreaking aspect of the pandemic, but the imapct is undeniable. He lost Derrick Henry, his first round pick, and AJ Brown. The comish decided to move in a different direction from Carson Wentz and he decided to pick up an almost equally as bad Jared Goff. Jared got paid, checked out and gave Andrew a pitiful 11.7 points. Everyone has a blacklist of players they won’t ever give another chance. Miles Sanders is going to find himself on Andrew’s list. Darrell Henderson is no Derrick Henry. Russell Gage did not give Andrew the billion points he needed Monday night to win. The positives? Gurley Benjamin Buttoned himself and had a nice week. Allen Robinson had his second solid week in a row. That’s about it. Lebron 119.7 – Lebron 96.0

Max v. Kris

This was a close one. Kris’s team is absolutely decimated and he still eeked victory out. If he can get get back to full strength we may have a third choo choo in the mix.

Russell Wilson had a down week and still dropped 20.9. McKinnion stepped up really nicely for Kris. Kupp and Diggs are planting themselves as consistent producers. Randy Bullock, who is the Bengals kicker if you’re like me and had no idea, went off. Kris needs Devante Adams back because Valdez-Scantling ain’t it. Hopkins had a bad week. Hayden Hurst has regressed to his mean following a solid week two quickly. Kris got burned by Colts D/ST last week so bad he picked them up this week. I can confirm he didn’t get the 90 points that I got against Kris last week, but it didn’t matter.

Man oh man did Max miss Leonard Fournette this week. If Rex Burxhead wasn’t so bad our friend in the deep south would’ve been celebrating a week well won with some sweet tea or whatever people in Alabama do. Lamar did his thing. Kamara will likely last another week as being featured in Max’s team name. Mike Evans and his new bff TB12 are really hitting it off. Max didn’t need this win, but he had a chance to cop a win against an injured Kris, and he squandered it. KRis 126.2 – Max 123.8

Alex v. Ryan

Ryan had a chance to finaly get into the win column. He gave it his all. He really did. Is he the new Alex? Big points with nothing to show for it. It really sounds like it.

I can’t believe Alex is rolling with Matthew Stafford but he had his best week to date so at this point let’s keep the party going. I wanted Adam Thielen and Alex stole him from me like Jean Valjean. OBJ shit all over the Cowboys but anyone is able to do that. Chiefs D/ST stepped up. If I’m Alex I’m extremley worried about Josh Jacobs. Julian Edelman needs to not start. Zach Ertz continues his downward trend. Sounds like problems Alex didn’t need to worry about this week.

Ryan was the third highest scoring team this week. He just hapens to play the second highest scoring team. Aaron Rodgers is continuing his Fuck You tour. Joe Mixon had a career day. Chark did that thing where he goes off once or twice a year. Ryan’s first round pick, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, has yet to truly breakout following his solid first career game in week one. Marvin Jones Jr and Mike Gesicki stink. Michael Gallup didn’t contribute to the powerful Cowboys offensive efforts. If he’s not going to contribute on offense then maybe he can help out on the otherside of the ball. It was just one of those weeks for Ryan.

Best Team: Alex (148.5)

Worst Team: Andrew (96.0)

Best Player: Joe Mixon 39.1

Worst Player: Cowboys D/ST (-9.0)

This week was a movie oh my god. There are some big plotlines brewing. There was an onslaught of waiver wire moves and I highly recommend you read Jack’s piece analyzing everything you need to know. Can Andrew and Ryan do anything to save their seasons? Can Kris keep acting like the 2019 Yankees? Is Alex going to end his fantasy career on top? Most importantly Brent and I play each other. This is the biggest matchup in the history of The League. Get ready. It’s war. Week 5 begins in less than 24 hours. I know you’re ready. I sure am.

Look Back At It: Fantasy Football Week 2 Review

Two weeks into the season and the NFL hasn’t shut down yet! You know that video of Paul Rudd on Hot One’s when he’s like, “who whoulda thought? Not me?” That’s how I feel about this season. Aside from the fact that every player in the NFL suffered a season ending injury, I would say this was a good week. We are settling into our roles this season – the good, the bad and the ugly. Enough small talk, let’s get into it.

Me v. Lebron

This is just one of those matchups. Two guys who talk the talk, but can they walk the walk? One of us backed up their shit talking and the other is experiencing backup from shit. To be fair, this was a pretty close contest. At one point, early in the day, it looked like Lebron was going to blow me out. Goonies never say die.

I was stressed as can be Thursday trying to decide on who to start – Tyler Boyd or Tre’quan Smith. I added Smith after Michael Thomas went down in week one. I was almost most folks. My roster flip flopped all day long. I may have flipped them legitmatley twenty times throughout the day. Most folks would’ve started Boyd. He’s the more established player. I ain’t most folks. Tyler Boyd is the type of guy you start if you want to finish in fourth place. Beans Corp don’t do fourth place. That seemed to be the right play all night last Thursday until Tyler Boyd naturally got the most obvious garbage time touchdown in the history of the National Football League. Whatever, I got 25.8 point from Chubb so I was happy. My RB1, Dalvin Cook, did well, giving me just over 16 points. Ridley is an absolute nutjob. He tore my beloved Dallas Cowboys up. All those guys are fine. It really just comes down to Dak. My guy dropped 39.8. Almost cracked the coveted 40 burger. What a beautiful person. He did so well that I got to make the rare move of benching my defense on Monday Night since Lebron didn’t have anyone going. If I lost because my D/ST got me negative points I would’ve quit mid season. Tre’quan smith gave me 11 points, by the way. What a move TY Hilton sucks. Whatever. On to the next one.

Is Lebron the new Alex? It is almost impossible to produce 135.8 points and lose but this is The League – where impossible happens. What went right? McCaffrey gave Lebron 22.8, but at what cost? Everything. Lebron won’t see the number one overall pick for some time. That scumbag Robbie Anderson did well. Tyler Higbee aka Higsbee was Lebron’s highest scorer. Kareem Hunt scared the shit out of me Thursday night putting up 23 points. What went wrong? Well, Tom Brady is 75 years old and a bad fantasy quarterback. You need more than 8.6 from Devin Singletary. Malcolm Brown continues the trend of disappointing Rams receivers. AJ Green is just nonexistent. I might file a missing person’s report. Hate to see it. Unless you’re me. Beans 154.2 – Lebron 135.8

Brent v. Andrew

Another marquee matchup. The biggest guy in The League against the Champ aka the comish. On the pod I predicted a Brent victory. I hate how right I was. This wasn’t just a win. It was a beatdown. Brent’s team did fairly well, but Andrew made it straight up uncompetitive. He is in serious trouble, as his blog post earlier tonight stated.

Brent survived terrible showings from Julio Jones and Will Fuller and mediocre performances from Watson and Ertz. How? He has the best running back duo in The League right now with Zeke and Carson. Keenan Allen and Melvin Gordon showed up. Bears D/ST dropping 13 points? Did I take a time machine to 2018? Jeez I sure hope this Mahomes guy pans out. What stands out the most to me is Brent getting 16 points from his kicker. I watched an E60 on Justin Tucker last year and he seems like a really good guy so this just warms my heart and potentially Brent’s wallet.

Andrew, Andrew, Andrew. We are very close from going from first to worst. This is like the Boston Red Sox trajectory. Win one year and then somehow implode in grand fashion the next. It’s just tough to watch. One of the lowest scored I’ve ever seen in the history of The League. You need double digits from Derrick Henry. Need. Peyton Barber dropping 0.1 is just a sad sight. It’s not surprising, but it certainly is sad. Side note – Andrew if you want Gibson hit my line. A normal Allen Robinson points total is like 7.8 or something. 4.8 don’t cut it. Imagine telling yourself two years ago Gurley would be on the Falcons and he would only give Andrew 6 points? You would laugh your way to the movie theatre to see Mid 90’s or whatever people did in 2018. Is there bright side? Miles Sanders did very well. Robert Woods did better than his usual goose egg. Darren Waller is turning into a start TE and could be the reason Andrew’s team has any chance of turning it around. It’ll take a lot though, but, hey, we went to the moon. Brent 119.8 – Andrew 87.8

Kris v. Jack

What a game. Wow. This was the closest matchup of the week. Kris may be the biggest victim of the injury plague that ravaged the NFL this week. Well, I guess the actual players who got hurt are the biggest victims, but Kris is a close second. He’s the San Francisco 49ers of The League. If his team stayed healthy, or David Johnson didn’t stink, he may have won.

Jack got his first win of the year thanks to Kyler Murray. It’s nice to see him panning out. Jack had Kyler last year too, right? This is growing into a beautiful friendship. Jeez I’m looking at Jack’s team and everyone did well. Terry McLaurin drops 22 points. My fingers couldn’t believe we were writing that sentence. If there’s one thing I know in this world it’s Wisconsin Badger football, so I could’ve told you a year ago Johnny Taylor was going to be a problem. Ronald Jones II produed 9.7, which is the most Ronald Jones II stat line possible. A really, really nice week from Jack.

Poor Kris. He dropped 141.6 points all while losing his first round pick, Saquon Barkley, early in the game, losing Devante Adams and having David Johnson. I feel so bad for Saquon. Two years of this. Devante Adams’s injury seems far less serious although he may miss this coming week. David Johnson is gonna David Johnson. Hey, to be fair 6 points is better than the .6 he would continually put up for me last year prior to him getting the scissors. Bright spots for Kris? Russell Wilson. What a man. He’s such a nice guy but will then drop 33.4 fantasy points on Jack. What a dangerous man. Want a hot take? DeAndrew Hopkins is really good. Hayden Hurst is a tight end who came out of no where but is producing very nicely. Diggs went nuts and dropped 25.3. Younghoe Koo, Kris’s team’s namesake said, “I’m sorry you have David Johnson, time to put the team on my back” and put up 17 points. Not enough. Jack 148.1 – Kris 141.6

Abie v. Ryan

The battle of last year’s 9th and 10th place teams. The content would’ve been hilarious if they both dropped like 60 points. Imagine they tied with a points total in the double digits. There would’ve been riots. Fortunately, or unfortunately if you’re me and need funny things to write about, that didn’t happen. Abie proved me wrong on the pod and had a nice classic HockeyPro69 performance.

Abie wrote in the group chat that me calling him out on the pod fired him up. You’re welcome, Abie. You needed this. Mahomes does Mahomes things. There’s not other way to put it. He is a fantasy bedrock and will be the reason Abie has any sort of run at all. Tyler Lockett did well, but that’s what happens when you got Russell slinging you the rock. Lockett’s solid 16.2 is irelevant when you look at what Aaron Jones did. Jesus Christ someone lock this guy up. 43.6 points. One of the most I’ve ever seen. He had a huge week last year too. Is he the new Derrick Henry? You tell me! If he had a very solid 19 points, something I would think it would be worth writing about, Ryan would’ve won. Cruel world. Kennyan Drake stinks. Mark Andrews had the first bad week he’s had in a while. That shouldn’t be too much of a concern for Abie. He’ll bounce back.

Ryan had a pretty good week. It wasn’t enough to overcome Aaron Jones, but, it was still pretty good. You know what though? The standings don’t care about pretty good. It cares about two things – wins or loses. Sink or swim. Survival of the fittest, etc. Ryan’s team all scored around the same amount of points. Seriously look at it when you get a chance it’s weird. Clyde, Mixon, Chark and Marvin Jones all scored 10 some odd points. The only one who really stood out was Mike Gesicki who dropped 23 points. Like any tight end dropping over 20, this is an anomaly and Ryan should not bank on this performance again. Hines did nothing. We’ve all done this – a player on your bench goes off and the next week you start them and they shit the bed. I call this Will Fuller syndrome. Get Tayson Hill in there. Abie 139.6 – Ryan 119.2

Max v. Alex

I feel like these are two guys who never play each other. I’m aware that this is impossible but in my mind these are two teams that just don’t cross each other’s paths. This was kind of like the Bucs playing the Chargers. It just doesn’t happen. As a result, I was psyched to see this play out. Alex joined the winners circle and Max woke up Alabama with his classic loud weeping following defeat.

It pains me to see Matt Stafford in a starting lineup. I know he’s good. Don’t show me the stats or argue with me. I understand he’s technically good. He dropped 16.2 which is, you know, what Matt Stafford is gonna do. Alex got nearly 18 points from Mostert until he fell victim to the 49ers injury bug. OBJ didn’t shit the bed this week, giving Alex 15.4 last Thursday. Kelce showed why he’s a second round pick, dropping 19.5. Alex’s best performer is surprising. Josh Jacobs? Nope. Adam Thielen? No, sir. Gotta be Seattle D/ST? WRONG! Parris Campbell? Good guess but nah. It’s Julian Edelman! Alex got clowned for that pick but look who’s laughing now. Rough week on Alex’s bench. Good thing this wasn’t a tie.

On the pod we both said Max is consistently one of the better teams but he’s never viewed as top tier. This would’ve been a good opportunity to shut us up. He absolutely squandered it. You’re just simply not top tier if you barley crack triple digits. Max got nearly 34 points from Kamara, 19 points from Hill, nearly 20 pints from Mike Evans and only scored a total of 104.5. How? Cam Akers stinks, Hollywood Brown stinks, Slayton stinks, Buffalo D/ST took a point away from him and Matt Prater stinks. That’s a whole lotta stink. If he played Fournette over Cam Akers Max’s week looks a whole lot better. He goes from losing to winning and having a pretty solid week. You rally want more from Lamar. 17.6 is not what you drafted him for. You really want Lamar Jackson to score more than just one point more than Matt Stafford. Yikes. Please don’t think I forgot, because I didn’t. Goose egg alert! Gronk putting up straight zeroes. Mike Greenberg and company on First Take is discussing Gronk right now as I write this. They agree that Max should be in full blown panic mode. Alex 119.9 – Max. 104.5.

Best Team: Beans (154.2)

Worst Team: Andrew (87.9)

Best Player: Aaron Jones (43.6)

Worst Player: Seattle D/St (-2.0)

How can you read this and be anything other than completely amped for this week? It’s The League! These injuries were heartbreaking and, for some, season jeopardizing. As a result, the waiver wire was HOT this week. Some serious FAAB bucks were flying. Will I ever lose again? Will Lebron and Ryan ever win again? Will Andrew ever crack triple digits again? How will everyone with major injuries turn it around? Is Jack going to go the distance? How did we let Brent assembly the roster he has? Is Max planning for next year? Is Abie here to stay? Is Alex happy he didn’t score 150 only to lose? There are just so many questions. They’re not for me to answer. Well, other than the one about me. No, I don’t plan on ever losing again. Week 3 starts in about 11 hours. I can’t wait. Until next time.

Look Back At It: Fantasy Football Week 1 Review

Welcome back. I can’t believe I’m writing this right now. It feels so good. New website, same blog. Breaking down each match-up each week without missing a beat. This week we saw it all – love, hate, heart break, joy, pain, etc. Ladies and gentleman, for the first time of your 2020 season of The League, let’s get into it.

Me v. Andrew

Oh man. We’re starting HOT. The last two reigning champs. The two hosts of League Talk – the official podcast of The League. The scheduling gods truly blessed us with such a perfect week one match up. Imagine all of the content. This has gotta be a shootout, right? Match-up of the year? WRONG. Me by a zillion. In case you forgot, I’m nice with it.

What went right for me? Well aside from the fact that this is fantasy football and I’m me, Dalvin Cook certainly didn’t disappoint. “No Brendan, don’t take him even though he fell to you at the 8th pick he’s injury prone.” Yeah maybe but he got me 21.3 points. Dak produced 17.64 points which is eh from your starting QB, especially someone of his caliber. To be fair to Dak, a deeeeep pass to Gallup at the end of the game was stolen from him in a nonsense OPI call. That could’ve led to a game winning touchdown, which would’ve given me more fantasy points and happiness as a Cowboys fan. Whatever. Shoulda, coulda, woulda. It doesn’t matter because I drafted Calvin Ridley and he was in my starting lineup. 9 receptions, 130 yards, 2 touchdowns. I’ll give you a second to do some math. Yep, that’s right, 29.4 points. Nice! Am I worried that no one else on my team did well? I probably should be but I’m riding pretty high to be honest. Nick Chubb is going to be an issue if he doesn’t get it together. Chris Herndon stinks but that’s what happens when Jets are on my team (ie, the Robbie Anderson debacle of 2019). Another year drafting Marlon Mack another year of a horrible injury. Poor guy’s career is in trouble.

Enough about me, let’s move onto the champ. Let’s just say he won’t be the champ come January unless some major changes are made. Did someone say rebuild? What went wrong? Well Carson Wentz is his quarterback. That’ll do it. Oh man does Carson Wentz stink. Two (2) interceptions. I love it. Miles Sanders, who Andrew sheepishly drafted, was ruled out so Todd Gurley got the start. This probably worked out better for Andrew since Gurly dropped a decently solid 12.7. Alan Robinson gave him 9.8 points which is the most Alan Robinson point total I’ve ever seen. We went into Monday Night Football with me leading by about 40. Andrew had Derrick Henry and AJ Brown going. I was confident, but those two, likely led by Henry, could definitely pull it off. I was pissed because the Titan’s game was on at 10:10 and ya boy’s gotta work, but I went to sleep at the start of the forth quarter with victory all but assured. Henry dropped 14.6, which is fine, but you need more from your first round pick. AJ Brown did nothing. Robert Woods did pretty well for Andrew much to my dismay against the Dallas football Cowboys. No matter. I am back. Beans 122.9 – Andrew 104.5

Brent v. Abie

Well, well, well this is an interesting match-up. These are two teams that both want to take the next step this year. Brent has been consistently solid but hasn’t been able to make a deep playoff run. Abie had a poor year last year. I don’t remember what he did in 2018, I know he didn’t win though ;). Unfortunately for Abie, he is picking up where he left off last year. Blowout alert!

Brent’s team looks good. He was on edge all Thursday and Sunday. Like, he was super pissed the whole day. I assumed he was losing but he won by 15,000 points. He managed to overcome a not so great zero points from Chicago D/ST (our first goose egg alert!) through standout performances from Zeke, Chris Carson and Julio Jones. Damn who let Brent get all these guys, those are some big fantasy names. Will Fuller had his annual good week and gave Brent a nice 15.2. Bench him now, Brent, it’s all downhill from here. Kennan Allen didn’t do what he should’ve done, but, hey, sometimes I don’t either, it’s all good.

I don’t mean to be hard on Abie. He didn’t do that bad, he wasn’t the lowest scoring team of the week or anything, he just so happened to play Brent who went nuts. Mahomes didn’t drop his usual 75, but getting 20.4 points from anyone won’t kill you. Mark Andrews is an absolute monster, giving Abie 20.3. Aaron Jones with a nice day. Abie wanted more from Drake. Cooper and Lockett were pretty average. The real debacle came from Brandin Cooks, Evan Engram and 49ers D/ST. Brandin Cooks just really stinks. No other way to put it. All I hear all off season long ever year is how great Evan Engram is but he just doesn’t preform. He is CANCELLED. San Francisco had an abysmal day. Just really ugly. He’ll bounce back, but not a great start for the East Side resident. Brent 142.1 – Abie 110.9

Lebron v. Alex

These two guys love to party. Just look at Alex’s lei. Only one of them was going to be popping champagne come Monday night though, or Tuesday if you didn’t want to stay up until 1:00 am watching the Broncos and Titans like me. Who sipped the bubbly? Just look at the color’s of the text of their names above their pictures! Alex, duh!

Last year Alex scored 100,000 points a week but his opponents always scored 100,001. It was tough. He had Lamar. He had it all. It just didn’t come together for the kid. Josh Jacobs said, “Alex, I don’t want you to hurt anymore.” He dropped 33.9. Almost 34! Mosert, who I was very skeptical of said, “Shut up, Brendan.” He dropped 23.1. Adam Thielen did well too but he’s boring so he didn’t say anything. Alex got 14.0 points from Kelce who he drafted in the second round. Alex had a shitty performance from OBJ, but, I mean, we all knew that was coming. I would be remiss to not mention Zane Gonzalez. I can’t tell you who had what kickers last year, but I do not Abie had Zane because I wrote about it every week. Partly because he was the best player on Abie’s team, mostly because he has a cool ass name. He gave Alex 6.0 points which isn’t good but he has a dope name so I’m sure Alex forgives him. He also won by a zillion.

Lebron talks a lot of trash. More than anyone I’ve ever seen. I respect it. It’s his thing. Maybe he’ll cool it after getting blown out this week. Probably not, though. He made the right move in starting Big Ben over Brady. Lebron has Christian McCaffreyy. Christian McCaffrey did Christian McCaffrey things. How did he lose? Because everyone else on his team is on his team. James Conner. Ooooffff. Mark Ingram? Now we know why everyone was high on Dobins. AJ Green? Not great. Tyler Higbee, who Lebron has called Tyler Higsby for the last two weeks, terrible. If I’m Lebron I am in panic mode. Alex 148.08 – Lebron 98.9

Kris v. Ryan

This was a fun one. Kris is consistently one of the best teams year after year. It must be in the water in the pond behind his house. Ryan has yet to put together a truly competitive team, but he is determined this year to breakout. Or at least to avoid whatever the yet to be determined punishment will be. I wasn’t too high on Ryan’s team after he drafted six wide receivers in a row but he scored more than I did this week so I guess I figured out my draft strategy next year. Scoring more than doesn’t mean Ryan won, though. That was all Kris. Let’s dive into it.

Kris enjoyed certified wackjob performances by Russell Wilson, DeAndre Hopkins and Devante Adams. Goddamn what a receiving core. My old friend David Johnson came back from the dead like it’s goddamn Night at Museum and gave Kris 18.4. He must hate me. Everyone else did really bad, so keep an eye on that. Barkley stinks, Cooper Kupp stinks, Hayden Hurst … you guessed it, stinks. Doesn’t matter when you get the performances you got out of your QB and receivers.

Ryan stayed in contention all week. There was a moment when I thought he had a chance on Monday night. Imagine if Ryan came back on Monday and beat Kris? Oh man. Maybe next time. Ryan benched Aaron Rodgers for Matt Ryan which cost him seven points, if it makes him feel better he still would’ve lost. Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Ryan’s first pick, had a really nice pro debut. JuJu decided to be good again after a stint on my team last year where stunk. DK Metcalf, who Ryan got clowned a bit for taking in the forth round, had a nice day too. Ryan’s biggest issue is going to be Joe Mixon. He stunk it up in week one and I just don’t see him becoming a factor. Marvin Jones Jr. didn’t do too hot and that was without Kenny Golladay playing, so that’s not a great sign. If Ryan started Hines over Mixon he would’ve won, but, to be fair, why would he have done that? No one likes a Tuesday night fantasy owner. Kris 144.4 – Ryan 132.7

Jack v. Max

This was as boring of a match-up as they come. That’s a good way to entice my readers to keep going, right? Both did fairly well. Max just happened to do 19 points better. It must be the googles.

Jack had a nice day from Josh Allen. Jeez that guy is good. Poor Max. The kid is a die hard Jet’s fan and had to watch them get torched by Allen, who is on his fantasy opponents team. It didn’t matter though because no one else on Jack’s team did much. Saints D/ST did well. Jonathon Taylor had a pretty good debut. Ekeler stinks. Michael Thomas stinks and is hurt. DJ Moore stinks. Kittle stinks. I’m sorry I don’t have more to say than that but they just didn’t do well. Here’s a take – Jack needs his team to do better.

Max, Max, Max. This guy lowkey always puts together solid teams. He won the Lamar sweepstakes and he did well. When you draft Lamar you expect some truly eye popping weeks and that wasn’t what we got this week, but I’m sure it’ll come. Kamara said, “what contract issues?” He had a day. Jamison Crowder had a really solid 21 point day. Jets receivers truly only do well when they’re not on my team. Max has some red flags – Gronk, Cam Akers and Mike Evans. Yes, yes, yes I know you took a statistics class in college and you’re thinking that one week is a small sample size and doesn’t mean anything. Cool you know numbers real good. I’m just saying if Max wants to keep his name in the green than he should be a bit worried. Sounds like a problem for Thursday night, though. For now, Max can go to sleep a champion. Max 130. 0 – Jack 111.9.

Best Team: Alex (148.08)

Worst Team: Lebron (98.9)

Best Player: Josh Jacobs (33.9)

Worst Player: Bears D/ST (0)

I’m just so happy we’re back. I really am. This is just so much fun. Setting lineups, scavenging the waiver wire, proposing trades, rejecting trades, not texting people back about trades, watching mostly terrible Thursday Night Football, being glued to the TV for 10 hours straight on Sundays,doing math on Monday’s, doing the pod, writing this. I love it all. I’m so happy that football is back I could come in last place this year and I wouldn’t complain. I’m just kidding. This is war.

Will Lebron crack triple digits? Is Ryan’s team legit? How will Jack respond to losing Michael Thomas? Can Abie get on track? Can Andrew rebound? Oh man this is going to be a crazy season. Week two begins in 22 hours and I can’t wait. Until next week, friends.