Checking in on the teams of Die Nasty halfway through the league’s second season. We got some tight races boys.
Teddy Bristow’s Dirty Dawgs (6-2)
2018 Record thru Week 8: 5-3
Teddy has enjoyed a successful start to his first full season as an owner in the league. After taking over for Zach Stark last year, he led the team to an 8-5 season, the third-best record in the league. This year, he’s kept the momentum going, and is the hottest team in the league sporting a five-game win streak. Early season tanking rumors have been shut down harder than the Taco Bell in Tallman. The emergence of Aaron Jones as a clear RB1 is a big reason for this team’s success, and there’s more RB help on the way, as he’ll have Marlon Mack down the stretch after acquiring him from Griff. Austin Hooper also has solidified himself as one of the best TE options for fantasy, and Royce Freeman has put up solid numbers after a disappointing rookie campaign. Throw in mainstays like Stefon Diggs and Michael Thomas, and it becomes clearer why he’s at the top of the standings.
Jake Brenner’s McChicken & Fries (5-3)
2018 Record thru Week 8: 3-5
A mediocre inaugural season for McChicken left fans questioning their allegiance, but some offseason acquisitions brought new life into this club. Adding Adam Thielen, Devonta Freeman and James White helped give the team the depth it desperately needed. The breakout season from 2018 dynasty stash pick, DJ Chark, and the return to fantasy relevance for Leonard Fournette have become critical in solidifying the starting lineup. Starting off the year with two losses for a combined 9 points thru the first three weeks put McChicken in a bad position, but the team currently boasts a three-game win streak, and sits second in the overall standings. Going forward, the health of guys like Pat Mahomes, Thielen & Keenan Allen will dictate the success of this squad, who has already lost Kerryon Johnson for the year.
Matt Bruton & Vinny Perri’s Couple Yelpers (5-3)
2018 Record thru Week 8: 3-5
Our almighty league champions find themselves still hanging at the top of the standings. They were 0.4 points away from pulling out a victory last week and tying Bristow for first place, which has got to be rough on this team. But, considering where they were at this point last season, things are looking pretty good. Although OBJ hasn’t been great fantasy-wise, this team still has enough weapons to beat the best. Their depth pieces at WR is what interests me the most. Golden Tate, Christian Kirk and Sterling Shepard have all been great when they’ve played this year. Kenyan Drake now becomes interesting too, leaving the depressing Dolphins for the Cardinals, a team that won’t be afraid to run. Not to mention he’s pretty much the only healthy back available. It’s hard not to wonder where the Yelpers would be had David Njoku not gone down during Week 2, but they’ve made it work.
Zack Stewart’s Rockland Rimjob (5-3)
2018 Record thru Week 8: 4-4
A one-win improvement so far definitely doesn’t tell the full story of this team. Stewie’s Squad has a whole new look, thanks to some great offseason moves. He traded for Tyreek Hill and Sony Michel (separately), signed Darren Waller and Danny Amendola for $1 each and drafted Devin Singletary, who has been good when healthy. Another good contributor, who turned out to be a great stash from 2018, has been Tyrell Williams, who has a TD in each game he’s played this year. The rest of the season will be interesting for Rimjob, with Drew Brees (another offseason acquisition) coming back after the bye, and wildcard Kareem Hunt eligible to play Week 10. It’s also worth noting the recent trade between Stewart and Max B, in which he parted ways with Zach Ertz and Derek Carr for Carson Wentz and O.J. Howard. If this says anything, it’s that Rimjob fans should be buying their Darren Waller jerseys ASAP, because he’s the tight end of the present AND future.
Max Brenner’s Team Brenner (5-3)
2018 Record thru Week 8: 7-1
Starting off last year with a record like 7-1, it’s not surprising to see a slight decrease. That’s not to say this team is worst than last year, but a whole lot of things need to fall in your favor to go half a season nearly unblemished. That 7-1 start ended up turning into 10-3, the best record in the league, so it’s no surprised that in a league like this Team Brenner is still hovering around the top of the standings again this season. That being said, this team lost some fire power this year, as Max was the unlucky owner of Antonio Brown in this league. But, he’s gained a lot more than he’s lost, having acquired Alvin Kamara in the trade heard round the world this offseason. He’s also made separate trades for Russell Wilson, Robert Woods, Latavius Murray. As mentioned earlier, he just traded for Zach Ertz as well, which could be huge. I think the biggest factor of this team’s success going forward is the performance of his first round pick this year, David Montgomery. After a slow start for the rookie, he put up a monster performance Week 8, showing the rest of the league the type of force he can be. If come playoff time, Max has Alvin Kamara, James Conner and THAT David Montgomery, he’ll be tough to stop.
Max McQuillan’s JMU How You Doin’s? (4-4)
2018 Record thru Week 8: 3-5
This is another team where the talent is greater than the record. His starting WR’s are up there with the best, led by Julio Jones & Cooper Kupp (both top 5 in scoring this year) and complimented by Allen Robinson (14th in scoring this year). Max has also enjoyed a healthy, unstoppable Dalvin Cook and a great second year from Phillip Linsday. The main reasons his record isn’t above .500 are injuries and inconsistent depth pieces. Losing Ben Roethlisberger early in the season has forced Max to start Josh Allen for most of the year, who has had an up-and-down fantasy season, and just as Jared Cook was finally getting in his groove, he’s missed the last two weeks, and will miss this week (bye), which has forced Max to choose between Tyler Eifert and rookie Noah Fant. I see this as a playoff team, barring injuries, even with the league moving from an eight-team format to six.
Mason Smerling’s Team Smerling (4-4)
2018 Record thru Week 8: 3-5
Although he only has one more win through 8 weeks, it’s actually a one-win improvement over his final record last year as well, as Smerling would lose the next five games, finishing at 3-10. The glaring issue with this team that holds Mason back from taking that next step is depth at RB. With David Johnson tending to his injuries, Ronald Jones has been forced to start alongside Zeke Elliott. If one of those two were to also go down, next up would be either Kalen Ballage or Wendell Smallwood. All of that being said, Mason has done a great job maneuvering both in the offseason and during the season to make this team competitive. Once David Johnson is healthy, a two-headed monster of him and Zeke is real sexy. Kenny Golladay and Chris Godwin are really young and really good. Terry McLaurin turned out to be a good find in the middle rounds of this year’s rookie draft, and should be solid for years to come. He also has Josh Gordon, who very well could see the field again this year. This certainly is no longer a team that’s gonna roll over, and standings-wise is right on the cusp of a playoff spot. However the year ends up for Big Mase, I’d count it as a success to this point.
Nick Tomiello’s Team Tomiello (4-4)
2018 Record thru Week 8: 6-2
On paper, it looks like regression from the team who finished last year with the same amount of losses he currently has, but when you dive in deeper, it’s a string of bad luck, which by the way, seems to be behind Team Tomiello at this point. Melvin Gordon missed the first four weeks, Saquon Barkley missed three, JuJu Smith-Schuster hasn’t had Big Ben, and Derrius Guice has missed 7 weeks and counting. On top of all this, he was 4.5 points away from a win vs Max McQuillan week 4, which would have him at 5-3 right now, rather than being on the outside of the playoffs looking in at the point of the season. Like I said though, Tomiello may have already gotten through the worst of it. Melvin Gordon’s workload is slowly increasing, Saquon Barkley is back and churning, Derrius Guice may return week 11, and guys like Mike Evans & Nick Chubb have been fantastic. Trading for Jordan Howard will help with depth, and if he could get just a little more out of Alshon Jeffrey, Brandin Cooks and TJ Hockenson, there’s no question he’ll be loaded for another deep playoff run.
Dan Hack’s Team Hack (3-5)
2018 Record thru Week 8: 3-5
Like Smerling, Hack would go on to lose out the rest of the season from Week 9 on, finishing at 3-10, so it’s tough to know what another 3-5 start means for Hack. His team is definitely better than last season, with additions of Josh Jacobs & Marquise Brown via draft, and Austin Ekeler via trade. He’s also enjoyed a breakout season from Lamar Jackson, and the return of Le’Veon Bell. Emmanuel Sanders being traded to the undefeated 49ers will help in fantasy terms as well. Hack could definitely benefit from some better consistency out of WR’s not named Tyler Lockett, and the Jets offensive line blocking more than just their own arteries for Lev Bell. To be frank, it doesn’t seem like this is a playoff team yet, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. (And also I think Hack is gonna beat me this week)
Griffin Merkert’s Die Lit (3-5)
2018 Record thru Week 8: 5-3
Although he had a better record up to this point last year, Griff would only end up getting one more win for the rest of 2018, so improvement is certainly not out of the question this season. Even after trading his best fantasy asset in Alvin Kamara, Die Lit is still hanging in there. It’s gonna be tough to make the playoff with the way the roster is currently constructed (a lot of inconsistency at RB), but it seems the plan is acquiring draft capital for this squad. Die Lit could be sellers, with the trade deadline less than a month away, and good assets still on the team. It’s possible by this offseason, the draft could be Griff featuring Griff.
Dan McQuillan’s Mount Hebron’s Old Bay (3-5)
2018 Record thru Week 8: 1-7
Keep in mind, he lost by 0.1 (yikes) week 4, and by 8 points last week, so he could very easily have been 5-3 to this point. It’s also worth noting after the 1-7 start last year, he finished the rest of the season 4-1. The great thing about this league is that almost every team is right in the thick of things, and almost every team is dangerous. Danny Mac has a red-hot Aaron Rodgers (70 points in last two games), Tevin Coleman who now has the 49ers backfield in a headlock after nearly putting up 40 last week, Derrick Henry who’s been very solid, Miles Sanders who is starting to pick it up, George Kittle AND 2018 stash Mark Andrews. The one spot that has given Dan some trouble is wide receiver, but AJ Green should be returning next week, and hopefully can provide some consistency. Even if this doesn’t end up being a playoff team, he’s bound to play spoiler to another playoff hopeful later on.
Nick Hudock’s Team Hudock (1-7)
2018 Record thru Week 8: 5-3
Remember when I said almost every team is competitive this year? Hudock is the almost. Now yes, he lost Rob Gronkowski to retirement, Cam Newton has missed a ton of time to injury, Todd Gurley hasn’t gotten his normal workload, Jarvis Landry hasn’t been great (thanks to Baker), Gronk’s replacement, Delanie Walker has taken a step back, and Delanie Walker’s replacement Will Dissly is out for the season. Even the poor guy’s kicker is on IR. The few bright spots: Daniel Jones seems like he’ll be a fantasy relevant QB in the future, Larry Fitzgerald has shown he can still ball, and maybe Mohammed Sanu could see some relevance after getting traded to the Pats. Now usually, the bright spot of a season like this is owning the number 1 pick in next years’ draft, but actually Griff owns his pick. That being said, Hudock still has 10 picks in the draft next year! Including six in the first three rounds. That can definitely turn into a lot, as we’ve seen some late picks in last years’ draft turn out well this year. With rumors circling that Hudock may be selling the team after this season, I personally hope the fans can convince him to stay, I really enjoy having him in the league and I think the fans trust the process.
Die Nasty: SZN 3 