WTBU Sports Fantasy Football: Week 11 Power Rankings
By Daniel Multz
There are but three weeks left in the WTBU Sports Fantasy League season. In the East Division, the heavyweights are already established and the playoff picture in that half of the league is set. In the West, the situation is a polar opposite. Every team is either 5-5 or 4-6, and it remains unclear if one, two, or even three teams from this division will move on. However, there’s still Week 11 to address, and here’s this week’s power rankings.
No. 10: The Flavortown Trash Can Lids (2-8) Akshai Wadhwani [Last Week: 10]
Added:
Dropped: RB Rex Burkhead (Waivers)
Akshai’s team once again failed to reach the 100-point threshold. Despite big games from JuJu Smith-Schuster, Aaron Rodgers, and the strong return from Nick Chubb, the rest of his team left much to be desired. Travis Fulgham flatlined like the whole Eagles’ team, Jared Cook hauled in zero passes from Drew Brees and the Saints QBs, and the outlook against Senior on J.V. is equally grim. Both of his QBs (Rodgers and Tom Brady) face elite opposing defenses, and his opponent is simply far more stacked.
No. 9: Dobbins the Free Elf (4-6) Ethan Fuller [Last Week: 8]
Added: WR Jakobi Myers (Free Agency), RB Kalen Ballage (Free Agency), TE Logan Thomas (Free Agency), QB Cam Newton (Waivers(
Dropped: WR D.J. Chark Jr. (Waivers), RB Justin Jackson (Waivers), TE Irv Smith Jr. (Waivers), QB Drew Brees (Waivers)
I did in fact say that the potential for an upset by Ethan against D-Hop’s Pancakes was possible. While it definitely was not a blowout, Ethan got plenty of help from Josh Allen, Brandon Aiyuk and Daniel Carlson to pull off the upset. However, this week presents a unique predicament for Ethan as the Bills have hit their bye.
Drew Brees is injured, and Ethan has resorted to snagging Cam Newton for a week. I know from experience that this may not end well, especially with Jakobi Myers throwing the deep passes in a now run-first offense. His players face VERY easy matchups, so he looks to be in decent shape for a second straight upset against Happy Golladays.
No. 8: Happy Golladays (4-6) Daniel Multz [Last Week: 9]
Added: WR Darnell Mooney (Waivers)
Dropped: RB Jordan Howard (Waivers)
My losing streak finally came to an end in explosive fashion last week. I never would have guessed that I’d have the second-highest score from last week at 139 points. My Week 11 matchup with Dobbins the Free Elf will depend on a few key factors.
Kenny Golladay needs to get cleared and take the field against a solid but beatable Carolina secondary. Tee Higgins needs to continue his second-half surge against a very tough Washington defense. James Robinson needs to get things done somehow against the Steelers.
The last seems most likely as the Jaguars rookie RB almost never leaves the field while the offense is on. But with Dobbins the Free Elf’s players facing cakewalk defenses while my team faces much tougher foes, the stars need to align for me this week
No. 7: D-Hop’s Pancakes (5-5) Brady Gardner [Last Week: 5]
Added: RB Nyheim Hines (Waivers), RB Wayne Gallman Jr. (Waivers)
Dropped: RB Duke Johnson Jr. (Waivers), RB Devonta Freeman (Waivers)
Brady is the newest member of the league to slide from the top-five to the bottom-five in the rankings. This comes after only Deandre Hopkins and Ryan Succop excelled for him last week. ‘Nuke’ earned nearly half his points on the day in the “Hail-Murray” play anyway. His RBs and QB also greatly let him down in Week 10.
He does get Matt Ryan and Todd Gurley II back, but Darren Waller faces a Chiefs defense that is out for revenge, both of his Buccaneers (Succop and Chris Godwin), must face an elite Rams defense, and he is hedging his bets on another big week from Nyheim Hines. With an equally struggling team in The Phillips Heads waiting, the outlook is very ‘meh’ for Brady’s team this week.
No. 6: Hannah’s Bananas (7-3) Hannah Yoshinaga [Last Week: 4]
Added: K Matt Prater (Free Agency), QB Teddy Bridgewater (Free Agency)
Dropped: TE Robert Tonyan (Waivers), RB JaMycal Hasty (Waivers)
Hannah’s whole team was boom-or-bust last week, and it seemed that the decision to rank her squad no higher than No. 4 was smart despite having the best record entering last week. Antonio Gibson, Diontae Johnson and Matt Stafford each scored over 20, but at the same time A.J. Brown, DaVante Parker and Austin Hooper reached no higher than 5.1 points. Getting Julio Jones and Hayden Hurst back is huge, but Suh-Tang Clan presents one tough challenge to overcome.
No. 5: The Phillips Heads (5-5) Joe Pohoryles [Last Week: 7]
Added: WR D.J. Chark Jr (Waivers), Browns D/ST (Waivers)
Dropped: RB Jamaal Williams (Waivers), Eagles D/ST (Waivers)
Joe’s team squeaks into the top-five once again heading into Week 11. As I often point out with his team, he rides to victory or falls in defeat at the hands of his Seahawks. As Russell Wilson D.K. Metcalf and company got squandered by the Rams, he saw only Justin Jefferson beat his projection with no one on the bench proving capable.
Fortunately, the Seahawks will probably excel once again against the Cardinals defense in a hopefully-epic rematch, and only Giovani Bernard faces a very difficult defense to beat. The path is there for Joe to get back over .500 and defeat D-Hop’s Pancakes, but his players need to show up.
No. 4: These Ladies Love Sosi (4-6) Perry Sosi [Last Week: 6]
Added: Rams D/ST (Free Agency)
Dropped: Giants D/ST (Waivers)
In terms of roster depth, Perry’s team may be best or second-best in the whole league, but the whole team does not make the lineup. Sitting Mike Evans and Chase Claypool was a mistake on each count, while Chase Edmonds and Allen Robinson II may start to lose viability as non-FLEX starters.
This week presents a very intriguing matchup against The Philadelphia Pigeons since both teams are ranked in the top five, and both are projected for over 130 points this week. Ezekiel Elliot returns as he eyes a revival to his season, while seven of his nine starters project for over 14.5 points. Hopefully Perry picks the right starters in a week where he will need every point he can get
No. 3: Philadelphia Pigeons (5-5) Ben Silver [Last Week: 2]
Added: WR Alshon Jeffery (Free Agency, later dropped), WR Jalen Raegor (Free Agency, later dropped), WR Cole Beasley (Free Agency)
Dropped: 49ers D/ST (Waivers),
This time the hype-train reached its destination: victory! Ben’s team did not achieve the high score I or his projection expected, but he did still walk away with a win to reach .500. Stefon Diggs and Kyler Murray were his saving graces as Jimmy Graham got no points against the Vikings, Will Fuller V did not get any big plays, and his RBs underperformed
With the resurgence of D.J. Moore, he looks much steadier as a starter than a boom-or-bust deep ball receiver in Fuller. Further, he loses Diggs, who leads the NFL in receiving, to a bye. He needs to start the right players in order to win against These Ladies Love Sosi, which is possible, but this matchup should be a barn-burner.
No. 2: Senior on J.V. (7-3) Chad Jones [Last Week: 3]
Added: None
Dropped: None
Chad’s team got back into the win column while posting the highest score of the week at over 143 points. Led by a 34.8-point effort from Alvin Kamara, and the entire rest of his team scoring at least ten points, things could not have gone better in Week 10. That being said, he would definitely drop in the rankings were it not for the fact that he is playing the No. 10 Flavortown Trash Can Lids.
Deshaun Watson, Aaron Jones, and Jerry Jeudy all face stout defenses. At the same time, Jeudy and Calvin Ridley are still listed as questionable, and he has no available alternatives at WR. If his starters are all healthy, and his team meets projections, he will walk away with his 8th win.
No. 1: Suh-Tang Clan (7-3) Patrick Donnelly [Last Week: 1]
Added: None
Dropped: None
With five straight wins, Patrick’s team stays at the top spot for the third consecutive week. His team did not have an explosive week, but did enough to win over The Trash Can Lids. The challenge was going to be winning without Patrick Mahomes and he did. Led by Ronald Jones II, Davante Adams and the Saints Defense, Patrick’s team got to 7-3, and is now back at full strength for Week 11.
His big three should guide the way to another win against Hannah’s Bananas, but it is noteworthy that Adams faces the Colts, and Jones must face the Rams. Perhaps Curtis Samuel against Detroit is a worthwhile high-risk start this week? Either way, the reigning No. 1 team looks set up for another win and a continued stay atop the rankings.