Fantasy league 2016 -- week 7 recap

 

QB Sam Bradford’s emotional return to Philly, where he played all of one season, did not disappoint the Eagles faithful on Sunday. The former #1 overall pick threw his first pick of the season, along with two fumbles and one TD pass in the Vikings surprise loss.

So now is a good time to look at what exactly Bradford’s tenure in Philly meant? Here’s what they gave up and got back for his short stint of mediocrity in town:

What the Eagles gave away:
-- QB Nick Foles
-- Eagles 2015 4th round pick
-- Eagles 2016 2nd round pick

What the Eagles got:
-- One year rental of QB Sam Bradford
-- Rams 2015 5th round pick
-- Rams 2016 4th round pick
-- Vikings 2017 1st round pick
-- Vikings 2018 4th round pick

That final 2018 pick could become a higher round pick if the Vikings reach the conference championship.

All in all, that’s not a bad exchange for the birds, who turned a 2nd, 3rd (Foles) and 4th round pick into two 1st rounders (including Bradford), two 4th rounders and a 5th rounder. But I still had to watch Bradford play for a year, so I’m considering the whole thing a failure.

QB: Andrew Luck, 33.82 pts -- started by me
WR: Davante Adams, 27.30 pts -- on the wire
RB: Melvin Gordon, 31.33 pts -- started by Ant
TE: Jack Doyle, 15.70 pts -- on Paul’s bench
K: Sebastian Janikowski, 18.00 pts -- on the wire
DEF: Philadelphia, 26.00 pts -- on Bob’s bench
D: Landon Collins, 15.00 pts -- on the wire

Second week in a row that Dolphins RB Jay Ajayi rushed for more than 200 yards and was not the top fantasy RB for the week. Since the start of the month, he has amassed 460 yards rushing and four TDs. His 71.33 fantasy pts in three games is better than the season total for Eagles RB Ryan Mathews, Packers RB Eddie Lacy and Raiders RB Latavius Murray. And he even forced Arian Foster into retirement this week.

On a related note, I was absolutely positive Janikowski had retired. He just started his 17th season in the NFL, which is just ridiculous. He’s one of only three players from that year’s draft still in the league, including punter Shane Lechter and some late-round QB prospect named Brady.


“Familiar names” edition

3rd place: Larry Donnell, -0.47 pts -- on the wire
2nd place: Aaron Burbridge, -0.50 pts -- on the wire
1st place: Matt Barkley, -0.86 pts -- on the wire

Good old Matt Barkley, drafted in the 4th round of the 2013 draft by the Eagles and at the time considered something of a steal, considering he would have been a first rounder if he had left school a year earlier. He was pressed into mop-up duty after Bears starting QB Brian Hoyer broke his arm on Sunday, and Barkley … was not great. It was his fifth appearance in an NFL game, and his third with at least two turnovers. For his NFL career, he has 9 turnovers, zero TD passes, and a fantasy total of -2.76 pts.

The Bears do not plan on starting him again Sunday.

** DJ Durkin was a Michigan assistant last year when the Wolverines had a punt blocked, then returned 38 yards for a game-losing score against the Michigan State Spartans last year. This season he’s a coach on the Maryland team, and was asked before the Terrapins game against Michigan State about that unbelievable turn-around, a game many pundits have called one of the top few shocking endings in collegiate history. His response:

“That game will go down, I’m sure, for a long time as a memorable game in college football.”

Way to take the excitement out of the room, coach. A 24-21 game with two 4th quarter scores is “a memorable game.” You can use bigger adjectives for legendary comeback wins.

** The Washington Post had its NBA preview section on Tuesday, and listed the best-case and worst-case scenario for all 30 teams. Best case for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors was to win the championship next spring. The worst case for both teams? Losing in the NBA finals. They didn’t bother to entertain the possibility of another team making the finals.
So, don’t worry about tuning in to the NBA season until May. Apparently there isn’t even a theoretical scenario where it’s not a rematch of last season.

A lot of ink has been spilled on why NFL ratings are down this season, particularly among the marquee Sunday and Monday night games. Many have speculated it’s because they haven’t been compelling games, but that’s only part of the story. In fact, what’s happening is they’re boring viewers away early.

In 15 Sunday and Monday night games so far this year (remember, they had two Monday night games the first week because the NFL hates you), only four times have the teams combined for more than 20 first-half points. That’s a lot of not scoring for games where halftime usually hits around 10:15 p.m. on the East Coast.

In 12 of the games, one of the teams failed to score a first half TD. In two of those, neither team scored a touchdown before late-night TV started. That includes the dreadful four-hour-plus 6-6 tie between the Seahawks and Cardinals this week.

It’s not a matter of folks not tuning in. There’s just no reason for them to stay tuned in for the first few hours before they fall asleep.

This doesn’t apply to the Thursday night games. Viewership is down there because it’s a lousy night for NFL viewing.


The Cowboys come out of their bye week Sunday with a big NFC East showdown against the upstart Philadelphia Eagles, and they’ll have some extra weaponry when it happens: WR Dez Bryant is expected to play for the first time in weeks. That could be the difference in a tight contest, giving the edge to … the Eagles, since Dez is full of hatred and evil and will poison his sidelines. Still think he can burn up the field with his now healed knees?

A healthy Dez Bryant returns for Dallas
** Bad flare: Lazy trash head runs rottenly

Remember, you can’t spell Dez Bryant without “zybra dent” with is both an insult to referees and just objectionable millennial spelling effects.

** I took two more from Dad this week to go up three in our weekly picks. And he even picked Oakland right this week. And, yes, of course we both picked the Eagles. Never had a doubt.

** I’m finding the NFL more relaxing since the Cubs made the World Series, because now I know the universe is going to end before the Super Bowl rolls around again.

Week 7 standings

1 -- Gronky Tonk Man (Joel), 909.68 pts
2 -- For Who? For Wentz? (Ant), 908.40 pts
3 -- Blue Collar Killers (Jeff), 861.56 pts
4 -- Cosby's Sleepers (Mike), 847.01 pts
5 -- Not with that Attitude (Sam), 839.24 pts
6 -- QBs for Everyone! (Jo), 834.45 pts
7 -- May Pay Attention (Paul), 781.14 pts
8 -- Who's on First? (Dad), 746.57 pts
9 -- Last exit 2 Kutztown (Bob), 715.37 pts
10 -- North Dakota Reaches (me), 698.98 pts
11 -- Tiny Trump Gloves (Jim), 688.22 pts
12 -- Yelp for help (Mom Doyle), 633.61 pts

Joel and Ant are starting to pull away from the field, but not from each other. Only 1.28 pts separate the top two teams, and everyone in the top six is still within 100 pts of first place.

The bottom half of the standings? It’s not so great. Our two-time reigning Awesome Cup Champion finds himself mired in 7th place, and that’s an improvement over recent weeks. I’m inching ever closer to catching Bob, but still 200-plus points away from the top of the heap.

But remember, we’re not even halfway through this marathon yet. Ten more weeks of fantasy await.