This blog is still taking shape, but...

...here we go!

I had a split weekend between my two leagues. I'm playing in two leagues, both of which are traditional scoring format with very few bonuses, so scores tend to be low and fantasy value really comes down solely to either monster yardage games or touchdowns.

My "main league" has ten starters with only five bench spots, so streaming kickers and defenses is a must and rosters have been challenging during these bye-heavy weeks. My "other league" has nine starters and seven bench spots, so the flexibility is there but waiver-wire talent is much weaker. I'm doing better in my main league than in my other league.

Spearmint Wino (main league)
Anchored by a solid QB performance from Kirk Cousins, the continued RB consistency of Melvin Gordon, and my waiver pickup of the season, WR Kenny Britt, I managed a 12 point win. Timely TDs from Steve Smith, Sr., Kyle Rudolph, and Doug Martin also helped me make up for very disappointing days from Brandon Marshall, J.J. Nelson, and the Patriots D/ST. Justin Tucker was worth a solid 9 points from Kicker as well.

(I was particularly pleased with Martin's TD as I took a risk and started him over Todd Gurley who I finally had to bench.)

I'm excited about Britt and I like Smith's floor, but overall the WR position has been killing me this season. Marshall can't catch a break with the current QB situation with the Jets and Jarvis Landry is in an offense with too many targets and a dominant run game.

WHAT I SHOULD'VE DONE: Started Jarvis Landry over J.J. Nelson at WR and started Gurley over Marshall in my FLEX spot. This would've netted me 10 more points.

WHO'S CUT: RB Kapri Bibbs is going back on waivers now that Martin and Carlos Hyde are back in the mix and J.J. Nelson is done too. If my bench was deeper I'd keep Nelson for another week just to see if he can bounce back but in another bye-heavy week there just isn't room.


Traumatic Wine Injury (other league)
This week was a major disappointment and has convinced me that I need to go with my own analysis and gut. Too much "advice" can be a bad thing, as evidenced by my 14 point loss which I can trace directly to two last minute lineup changes.

WR Stefon Diggs and K Brandon McManus were my only bright spots and the only players besides QB Philip Rivers who cracked double digits. RBs Todd Gurley and Mark Ingram were mediocre, WR J.J. Nelson had a goose egg, TE Zach Miller was barely there, and WR Jarvis Landry was nothing special in my FLEX. The Jets were fine in the D/ST position but nothing worth me keeping them next week.

Now, here's where I really fucked up....

WHAT I SHOULD'VE DONE: I left QB Marcus Mariota and TE Cameron Brate on the bench. I opted for reliability and high floor over explosiveness. Mariota alone would have brought me within four points. Add Brate over Miller and WR Jamison Crowder over J.J. Nelson and I would be looking at a 16 point win. I never considered Crowder, but Mariota and Brate were both in my lineup earlier in the week before I made final game day tweaks.

WHO'S CUT: I'm dropping the Jets D/ST for a better streaming option going into their bye week. Perhaps against my better judgment, McManus is also getting cut because of his bye week. I've got WR Amari Cooper back next week so Nelson is also gone and I'm dropping RB Chris Thompson in hopes of picking up better RB bench depth for the stretch run.