WTBU Sports Fantasy Football: Week 9 Power Rankings
By Daniel Multz
We are past the halfway point of the 2020 NFL Season. Here in the WTBU Sports Fantasy League, there has been nearly as much tumult and drastic roster changes as in the pros. This led to teams in this league sitting at many different rankings throughout the season. This week, the bottom half of the rankings stays pretty similar, while much change awaits in the top half. Let’s dive into this week’s power rankings.
No. 10: Happy Golladays (3-5) Daniel Multz [Last Week: 8]
Added: TE Dallas Goedert (Free Agency), Giants D/ST (Waivers), RB Matt Breida (Waivers)
Dropped: QB Cam Newton, Eagles D/ST (Waivers), RB Devin Singletary (Waivers)
The league has a new No. 10 team, and tragically it is my own. With Kenny Golladay injured and likely to hit IR, Myles Gaskin already on the shelf, Lamar Jackson facing a still-tough Colts defense, and all of the depth pieces having a bye in Week 9, my team has very low prospects this week.
As much as I can appreciate ESPN Fantasy still projecting my team to finish fifth in the league (out of the ten total teams), I am starting to believe that the projection instead means fifth in my division (out of five teams). Either way, the negative trend continues for my team. Due to all the circumstances above, my team has the bleakest outlook for Week 9.
No. 9: The Flavortown Trash Can Lids (2-6) Akshai Wadhwani [Last Week: 9]
Added: WR Travis Fulgham (Waivers)
Dropped: WR Julian Edelman (Waivers)
Adding Travis Fulgham, who has been the highest rated WR in the last four weeks, according to Pro Football Focus, was a gem of a steal for Akshai. Unfortunately, this did not do enough to propel his team to a win as he lost to Baby Chark by just 5.5 points.
The outlook for his team in Week 9 is unpredictable. Tom Brady and Tyler Lockett should be locks for good games, but the same cannot be said for Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Leonard Fournette and Christian Kirk. On top of that, Hannah’s Bananas is not the easiest matchup to overcome, and that’s why Akshai’s team stays at No. 9.
No. 8: Philadelphia Pigeons (3-5) Ben Silver [Last Week: 7]
Added: None
Dropped: QB Jimmy Garoppolo (Waivers)
Despite the enormous hype I had for Ben’s team earlier in the season, with his team being ranked as high as No. 3 in past weeks, the last few contests have proven me to be more and more wrong. That being said, Ben did squeak by with the slimmest margin of victory over Senior on J.V. with just 0.3 points separating the two. Tampa Bay’s defense preventing the game-tying two-point conversion saved their win and Ben’s as well.
Ben gets Kyler Murray back this week for a matchup with Happy Golladays, but he loses Kareem Hunt to a bye and still awaits Myles Sanders’ return. As such, Ben needs to find an emergency replacement RB. Otherwise, his team sits with an enormous vacancy in the lineup, and I can only imagine how much it would cost him.
No. 7: Dobbins the Free Elf (Formerly Baby Chark) (2-6) Ethan Fuller [Last Week: 10]
Added: WR Marvin Jones Jr. (Free Agency), Patriots D/ST (Waivers), WR Mecole Hardman (Free Agency), WR Brandon Aiyuk (Trade), RB J.K. Dobbins (Trade)
Dropped: WR Randall Cobb (Waivers), Chargers D/ST (Waivers), WR Cole Beasley (Waivers), RB Jerick McKinnon (Trade), WR Antonio Brown (Trade)
‘Twas another tough week for Ethan’s team as he once again finished under 100 points. However, thanks to a strong week from Marvin Jones Jr., Jerick McKinnon and Sterling Shepard, his team got just enough to take down The Flavortown Trash Can Lids.
However, Ethan traded McKinnon away to D-Hop’s Pancakes today. Losing that RB depth might prove costly, but, with the hopes of Michael Thomas finally returning to the lineup, and favorable matchups for Josh Allen, the Steelers’ defense, and many others, this week might result in an upset as a weakening Senior on J.V. awaits.
No. 6: Hannah’s Bananas (6-2) Hannah Yoshinaga [Last Week: 4]
Added: TE Robert Tonyan (Waivers), TE Hayden Hurst (Waivers)
Dropped: QB Derek Carr (Waivers), TE Mike Gesicki (Waivers)
Hannah’s team won a close matchup last week in a slate that featured either extremely tight or massive blowouts of weeks for the whole league. An enormous game from Nyheim Hines proved to be a great start for her team, and Julio Jones, James Conner, and A.J. Brown all did enough to close out the win.
Despite being 6-2, Hannah’s team faces some issues in Week 9. She likely lost George Kittle for the rest of the year and now must stream TEs. Matt Stafford has hit the COVID-19 reserve list, and JaMycal Hasty is a very boom-or-bust start as a FLEX. All told, Hannah’s team should win this week. However, there cannot be a guarantee like with the teams in this week’s top-five.
No. 5: The Phillips Heads (5-3) Joe Pohoryles [Last Week: 3]
Added: RB DeeJay Dallas (Waivers), TE Eric Ebron (Waivers)
Dropped: RB Carlos Hyde (Waivers), WR Tim Patrick (Waivers),
Yes, Joe’s team had the second-highest score of this past week with a commanding 154.5 point performance against These Ladies Love Sosi. However, this week will likely be far more challenging for his team. D.K. Metcalf provided an unreal game for Seattle with over 40 points, but there’s always the risk in Seattle of their star WRs being boom or bust from week to week.
Further, the Bills defense may finally return to form this week (though this is unlikely). Additionally, there are lingering injury concerns for Chris Carson and Jamison Crowder, Joe Mixon is on his bye, Justin Jefferson will flourish or falter depending on which Kirk Cousins shows up, and he is facing off against Suh-Tang Clan, who might be the hottest team in the league. That matchup is easily the best of the week, but one that I fear Joe will not win.
No. 4: These Ladies Love Sosi (3-5) Perry Sosi [Last Week: 6]
Added: Cardinals D/ST (Free Agency)
Dropped: WR Emmanuel Sanders (Waivers)
Perry’s team makes the big jump into the top-five this week for two big reasons. Firstly, it appears as though he has finally learned to never trust Carson Wentz again as the Eagles’ QB got outscored by Justin Herbert (his second QB), by 13 points. Herbert continues to keep his team in games despite many fourth-quarter collapses.
Secondly, his team projects for an enormous week with Chase Edmonds now in as a dual-threat starting RB, plus every player but Ezekiel Elliot faces a favorable opposing defense. If everyone on his team does what they’re projected to do, and Zeke pulls through with any positive number of points, Perry could do very well against D-Hop’s Pancakes.
No. 3: Senior on J.V. (6-2) Chad Jones [Last Week: 1]
Added: None
Dropped: None
Having sat at No. 1 for seven straight weeks, Chad’s team finally loses its place as the top team in the league. The team itself was likely never the best in terms of players and projections, but his squad regularly exceeded expectations greatly. Now at No. 3 with Odell Beckham Jr., Aaron Jones, and Kenyan Drake all out, Chad’s team has lost much of its momentum and elite talent.
After putting up just 106.5 points and narrowly losing last week, there is a strong possibility of another weaker performance this week. Adam Thielen falls into the same boat as Justin Jefferson, Darius Slayton faces an intense Washington pass defense, and Joshua Kelley’s workload is likely to be low. All told, Chad will likely win this week, but his team is no longer at the top of the league.
No. 2: D-Hop’s Pancakes (6-2) Brady Gardner [Last Week: 2]
Added: WR Scotty Miller (Free Agency, later dropped), K Ryan Succop (Waivers), WR D.J. Chark Jr. (Waivers), RB J.K. Dobbins (Waivers, later traded), RB Jerick McKinnon (Trade), WR Antonio Brown (Trade)
Dropped: K Harrison Butker (Waivers), RB Boston Scott (Waivers), WR Brandon Aiyuk (Trade)
Brady’s team was a massive pile of ‘meh’ last week. Only Brandon Aiyuk performed notably well while Jonathan Taylor, Robby Anderson, Todd Gurley II, and Darren Waller all had tough weeks. With the acquisition of McKinnon from Dobbins the Free Elf, he now has new RB depth to compensate for Taylor’s questionability this week.
Additionally, David Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins can both have explosive weeks against their respective opponents. With how highly I hyped These Ladies Love Sosi, this matchup should be exciting and may even result in a second straight loss for Brady. Only time will either verify or totally disprove my thoughts on this faceoff.
No. 1: Suh-Tang Clan (5-3) Patrick Donnelly [Last Week: 5]
Added: K Rodrigo Blankenship (Waivers), Texans D/ST (Waivers)
Dropped: RB J.D. McKissic (Waivers), K Chris Boswell (Waivers)
There is a new top team in the WTBU Sports Fantasy League, and it cannot be any other team but Patrick’s. Last week’s blowout of Happy Golladays finally showed what this team is capable of. By getting over 100 points from just Patrick Mahomes, Dalvin Cook and Davante Adams, his top-three draft picks look like the best trio in the league.
On top of this, T.J. Hockenson will get even more work this week with Kenny Golladay out, David Montgomery can have an impressive week against a porous Titans defense, and Ronald Jones II can get plenty of work in the passing game going up against a tough Saints rush defense. Patrick’s team exploded last week, and the new No. 1 team can do so once again this week if the stars stay aligned.