Week two is in the books and it provided some interesting results. Let's talk WR vs RB scoring through the first two weeks. The first thing to note is that the top six RBs in scoring are none of the players selected in the first round, which is surprising to say the least. Combined, the seven RBs selected, all in the first round, are averaging 13.7pts per week. That doesn't seem awful but when you compare it to the first seven WRs drafted, those are averaging 21.6pts per week. Two weeks isn't a great sample size but the trend is showing that snagging a top WR is paying off early for teams.
Inside Story: It may sound obvious, but starting 0-3 is a quick way to get you eliminated from the playoffs early and historically speaking, teams that start 0-3 miss the playoffs 80% of the time. Yet, one owner is responsible for that other 20% having defeated the odds of a horrendous start, twice. Jere, not only has made the playoffs both times he started 0-3, but both times he ended up in the finals, showing that you can rise from the dead and make a run. Through the five years, he has continuously started slow with a combined record of 5-10, but has only missed the playoffs once. One thing to attribute is luck, but he also works the waiver wire harder than anyone else, finding matchups that have paid off and short-term rentals with high-upside. In 2017, he streamed QBs like Blake Bortes and Tyrod Taylor who helped him catch wins. One pickup can change a season, like Alex Collins who went on a run, scoring 18ppg in a late run. In 2021, Gronk played a vital role in picking up some slack when Pitts was underperforming.
As the only two-time league champion, Jere is notorious for picking up guys and dropping them within a week, only to pick them back up a week later but he inevitably finds winners among the bunch. In three of the five previous years, he led the league in transaction moves, one other year he was second, and the only year he didn't make the playoffs he was middle of the pack. This year, through two weeks he has an early lead as the only team to make double-digit transactions thus far.
Alright, let's get into it.
WEEK 2 PAYOUT WINNER - BIGGEST LOSER
Probst, 144.37pts
Probst goes back-to-back on weekly payouts finishing as the biggest loser this week. His point total was good enough that he would have only lost to two other teams this week, showing that sometimes the schedule just does not go in your favor.
START OF THE WEEK
Worzie, Amon-Ra St. Brown - 39.40pts
There wasn't a standout Start of the Week but I feel like this guy is still being underappreciated. It's not often we get a chance to talk big about a Detroit player but Amon-Ra St. Brown is on his way to becoming a legitimate star in this league. In his last 8 games, going back to 2021, he has been targeted double-digits in each contest. In those games, his PPR scores were: 39.4, 35.4, 26.1, 26.0, 24.8, 23.5, 20.4, 15.3.
The Sun Gods PPG during that 8 game stretch? 26.4, that's a better pace than Cooper Kupp had for his 2021 season, 25.9 FPG. While I don't anticipate him to finish with 2021 Kupp numbers, eight games isn't a small sample size and it's about time we start recognizing him as a WR1 moving forward.
Like the simp he is, Nathan texted me that his defense, Tampa Bay, should be the start of the week but I'm not a DJ, I don't take requests.
BLUNDER OF THE WEEK
Probst, Albert Okwuegbunam - 0.00pts
One week after landing on the Start of the Week, Albert O. finds himself as a blunder and anytime I get a reasonable opportunity to shit on another AFC West team/player, I will take it. This dude dicked me out of a win last week and betrayed his own team by goose egging in a close matchup. Denver's offense is in shambles with their new coach, Hackett, who is already showing he may not be able to hack it. It's been all of two games into Russell's 7-year contract with Denver and he's already getting booed for mediocre performances against Seattle and Houston. Until Denver can settle in, Albert will almost certainly find himself on the waiver wire moving forward.
GAME-CHANGING PLAY OF THE WEEK
Jared, Stefon Diggs
Monday night miracles. Jared finds himself down 29.25pts going into MNF with only Diggs left. Most of the time you could count yourself out but on this cool evening in Buffalo, Diggs proved why he was worthy of a first-round pick. Picking the Titans' defense apart, he left the game with 44.80pts, early in the fourth quarter. One wild stat is that Diggs only played 45 snaps in the game, gaining essentially one fantasy point per snap he played. I'll have to do some deeper research but I doubt there are many examples of that with players who played at least 40 snaps. The Josh Allen to Diggs connection is the strongest 1-2 punch in the game at the moment. The play you'll see below is the one that caught Jared a dub and sent Nick into an air-punching frenzy.
THE LEAGUE POWER RANKINGS
LOADING...
1) TBD
2) TBD
3) upHill Battle
4) TBD
5) Just Do It
6) TBD
7) TBD
8) Chark with Frickin Lazard Beams
9) TBD
10) TBD
MATCH-UP FOR WEEK 3
Spencer (1-1) vs Justin (1-1)
This matchup is a divisional rivalry as each team fights to get above .500 after losing in week 2. Spencer will need Hurts and Swift to keep their hot starts going if he wants a chance to win as he has arguably the worst WR core in the league. Justin will look to bounce back by finding RB's who can produce with volume. Najee has had a quiet start, Akers has lost his leading role and relying on Seattle's backfield is about as reliable as McDonald's ice cream machines.
This week could provide a lot of disparity between the league as there is potential for two 3-0 teams and two 0-3 teams. I went 4-1 last week with my picks, off to a great start as expected. Here are my weekly picks below.
Commish vs. Nathan: Commish Wins
Spencer vs. Cheeno: Cheeno Wins
Probst vs. Ryan: Ryan Wins
Jared vs. Jere: Jared Wins
Nick vs. Worzie: Worzie Wins
WEEK 3 WEEKLY PAYOUT
Run Forrest Run! - Team that has the single RB with the most combined rushing and receiving yards.
The way it's currently looking, no first-round running backs will end up taking this home.
Good luck to everyone in week 3. Except you Nathan, let's go ahead and put a mark in that loss column for you.