Notable Transactions
Team Smerling trades Derrick Henry, Miles Sanders & 2021 First Rounder to Mount Hebron’s Old Bay for David Johnson & Geoff Swaim
This move created some controversy amongst other owners, but in my honest opinion I think it was fair for both sides. We saw this week how 1st round draft picks can make an immediate impact, plus Derrick Henry showed a lot to love. Miles Sanders was underwhelming, but you figure at some point he’s Philly’s guy. Not much needs to be said about David Johnson, he’s been a workhorse for quite some time.
Team Brenner Beats McChicken And Fries 127.9 to 122.4
What better way to open up the season than a sibling rivalry? This was a close one all week. After an underwhelming Thursday Night game that included underwhelming performances from Tarik Cohen (ish) and David Montgomery, it seemed like McChicken was in the driver’s seat. But duds from Kerryon Johnson, Leonard Fournette and Devonta Freeman left just enough room for Wil Lutz to swing his dick into the lead on a Monday Night thriller. Max’s blockbuster deal to bring in Alvin Kamara came into play, as the Tennessee product put up 23.9. A trade late in the offseason between these two teams can also be considered the deciding factor of this game, as 4.1 points from the aforementioned Freeman opposed to the 16.6 put up by Robert Woods played heavy.
Mount Hebron’s Old Bay beats Dirty Dawgs 117.9 to 91.1
This one wasn’t the prettiest, with some underwhelming performances on both sides. For Old Bay, Aaron Rodgers was only able to contribute 12.9 on Thursday, Tevin Coleman put up 7.6 and suffered a high ankle sprain that will keep him out of action, and Corey Davis was nowhere to be found in the Titans’ offense, laying a goose egg. For the Dawgs, it was an ugly performance from Baker Mayfield (9.4), a combined 12 points between starting RB’s Royce Freeman & Aaron Jones, 5.7 points for Stefon Diggs and a goose egg for Anthony Miller. During the matchup, Dirty Dawgs owner Teddy Bristow was quoted saying “Might have to tank this year”, which may be the Dawgs’ best option, but it’s still too early to tell. On Old Bay’s side, not only did Derrick Henry contribute right away with 28.9 points, but a 25.3-point performance from John Brown may be enough to vault him into the flex over Corey Davis. He may also have an interesting trade piece in Baltimore tight end Mark Andrews, who put up 24.8, but is blocked in the lineup by George Kittle.
She Wants Moore Kareem beats JMU How You Doin’s? 134.1 to 125.9
A solid showing by both teams, but man you just know that JMU is having nightmares about benching Sammy Watkins. The 46.8 points from KC’s deep threat is tough to see sitting on the bench, but at least with Tyreek Hill out, he should see a lot more opportunity. Speaking of Hill, Stewart was the one impacted by that injury in this league, only getting 4.1 points out of him before he left the game. Big performances by Nuk Hopkins (31.1), Mark Ingram (22.7) and Tyrell Williams (22.5) helped make up for Hill’s injury as well as disappointments from Sony Michel (1.4), Justin Jackson (7.1) and a slightly low week from Zach Ertz (10.4). Based off performances this week, Stewart has some good options for next week, with Bills rookie Devin Singletary (14.8), Malcom Brown (17.3) who split carries with Todd Gurley and Danny Amendola (23.4). Stewart also may need the nickname TE-University, as after trading away his surplus in David Njoku, it seems he has another prodigy in Darren Waller. As far as JMU’s outlook, you expect that Jared Cook and Big Ben will bounce back, rookie D.K. Metcalf showed a lot to like and Allen Robinson’s performance showed a glimpse of what he was in Jacksonville.
Team Hack beats Team Hudock 177.3 to 134.7
This one was a slobberknocker. Hudock was a victim of some bad luck, scoring third highest in the league, but facing the team that scored the most. Hack silenced the doubters with a dominant Week 1 and finishing with the worst record last year. Lamar Jackson (33.6) was perfect, Le’Veon Bell, who Hack missed dearly last year, looked like his old self with 23.2, Josh Jacobs (24.3) kicked down the door in his league debut, and Austin Ekeler (39.4) made Melvin Gordon really tight at home (probably). Hack also had Hollywood Brown on his bench who put up 30.7 in his league debut. Hey, maybe those draft picks actually are worth something after all. That being said, the way Ekeler played, that trade looks a lot better already. Hack may end up having a lot quicker of a turnaround than many expected. As for Hudock, it was tough to see Cam Newton put up 5.4 and Todd Gurley only have 11. To still score in the 130’s with your two best players having bad weeks is nothing to bat an eye at though. Larry Fitz (25.3) still has it (thanks Kyler), Delanie Walker (22.5) looks like Mariota’s go-to, and the second coming of Jesus (Gardner Minshew) found Chris Conley (21.7) in the end zone. It could be a long year for Hudock, but hey you never know with an inspiring week 1 like this, even though it resulted in a tough loss.
Team Smerling beats Team Tomiello 132.5 to 119.7
In the biggest upset of the week, last year’s league runner-up was taken down by Smerling, who finished last year 3-10, but after a busy offseason has a new-look squad. Smerling acquired Dak Prescott (33.4), David Johnson (25.7), Kenny Golladay (14.2) and Chris Godwin (14.3) all in separate trades, and signed Josh Gordon (16.3) for $5. Performances from DeSean Jackson (35.4) who was benched this week but also acquired via trade, the breakout of John Ross (34.8), and drafting rookie receiver Terry McLaurin (23.5), make this team unrecognizable from last year. Could Smerling be an early front-runner for the first annual GM of the Year award? For Tomiello, although he will start the year 0-1 he definitely has the pieces to make another deep run. Even with the possibility of missing Melvin Gordon for the season, his RB combo of Nick Chubb and Saquon Barkley is one to fear. He’s strong at WR, even with week 1 duds from Mike Evans (4.8) and Brandin Cooks (5.9), and TJ Hockenson (25.1) looks like the next great tight end already. The missing kicker botchery proved to not matter as Matt Bryant laid a goose egg anyway. Derrius Guice was disappointing and left with an injury, but as long as he gets back on the field, it’s tough to think he won’t contribute with his talent level.
Couple Yelpers beat Die Lit 156 to 134.4
It doesn’t seem like there is any championship hangover, as our gracious league champs put up the second-highest scoring performance this week. Led by a MONSTER showing by Run-CMC (42.9), and strong games from Amari Cooper (22.6), Chris Carson (24.1) and Damien Williams (18.5). Even in a rough Browns’ loss, Yelpers had the two fantasy relevant players from the team in OBJ (14.1) and newly acquired David Njoku (13.7). Jared Goff was unimpressive (9.4), but faces a Saints defense next week that Deshaun Watson carved, and they have the option of Kyler Murray as well. Kenyan Drake (4.7) was the ugly child for the Yelpers this week, but with Derrius Guice doubtful for week 2, Adrian Peterson could side into flex consideration. Our league’s favorite worldwide traveler, Die Lit had a great week too, but faced some bad luck. As mentioned earlier, Deshaun Watson (30.7) had a day vs the Saints, Marlon Mack (25.4) doesn’t care about Andrew Luck, and Evan Engram (28.6) had the highest scoring week amongst all tight ends. Joe Mixon (3.7) leaving with injury, Davante Adams’ dud (7.6) and Will Fuller’s all or nothing style (8.9) weighed heavily in this matchup, as well as the performance on the bench by T.Y. Hilton (28.7), who also clearly doesn’t care about Andrew Luck anymore.
Die Nasty: SZN 3 