Someone needs to go Cougar hunting! Week 3 Fantasy Recap

Crazy to think that we are already a quarter of the way through the season! By now you can't believe the kind of fantasy value you are getting out of that off-the-cuff thirteenth round pick (lookin' at you, Greg Olsen for Low Fat Greek Goedert), or you can't believe you spent your fourth-round pick on the guy who is no longer in the NFL (cough, cough, Antonio Brown). In any case, teams are really starting to separate themselves now. We have some strong teams in our league and some...not so strong teams. As one of them, I'm allowed to say that. Don't get discouraged! There's nothing to stop a 1-2 team from getting right back up to .500 with a win this week. At least that's what I tell myself. On to the recaps!

Links Dawg Pound came into the week desperately needing a victory to keep the preseason hopes of repeat fantasy championships alive. They took on the Albuquerque Cat Killas, who may be relying a bit too much on Patrick Mahomes heroics to keep their team in it. Links Dawg Pound saw his team's potential boosted significantly with the New York Giants switch to Daniel "Danny Dimes" Jones at quarterback, who was wheeling and dealing to Evan Engram. He put 113 yards and a score on the board, enough for 17.3 fantasy points. Mahomes seems determined to break the regular season touchdown record with three touchdowns and 374 yards through the air, but it wasn't enough for the Cat Killas. Links Dawg Pound picked up his first win of the season, 87.5-54.8.

Goin' In Blind was taking on one of the early juggernauts of the season, The Reindeer Gamers, who immediately came out swinging. While it seemed like Derrick Henry was going to put up a stinker on Thursday night, immediately putting the Gamers behind the eight-ball, he scored a touchdown in the final quarter of a 20-7 loss to break the ten point mark, a respectable total for any RB or WR. Alvin Kamara and Dalvin Cook rang their own running back bells with 48.4 cumulative points. Goin' In Blind, however, withstood the punches, with waiver wire pickup Josh Allen scoring 18.3 points, Christian McCaffrey getting on track with 24.8 points, and the Bears defense delivering the knockout blow Monday night with 20 points. Going In' Blind took down the Reindeer Gamers, 120.4-95.5.

Better Luck Next Time played England Excessive Force, whose eight wide receivers may be a record number for our league. In this case, it paid off, as Keenan Allen of the Los Angeles Chargers exploded for 183 yards and two touchdowns, leading to 30.3 fantasy points, the second-highest weekly fantasy total of his career. On the other side, Carson Went powered through the lack of healthy pass-catching options to get 21.7 fantasy points. Multiple players dragged Better Luck down though, as Robert Woods, T.J Hockenson, and Josh Jacobs combined for 10.3 points. England Excessive Force broke the 100-point barrier for the first time in this victory, winning 100.5-82.7.

Provo Cougars Go Cougs and Nothin' Runs Like a Deere was our only showdown of unbeaten teams this week, and it certainly showed in this game. Nothin' Runs was hit hard by Antonio Brown being cut by the Patriots, and failed to pull him out of the starting lineup, essentially giving Provo Cougars a one-player advantage. It didn't slow Nothin' Run down much though, as Mark Ingram and Mike Evans combined for six touchdowns and nearly 70 points. Provo Cougars, however, showed that slow and steady wins both the race and fantasy football, as seven players scored in double digits, highlighted by Philip Lindsay's 25 points. Provo Cougars stretched out the win and remained unbeaten,  132.2-128.

Looking' To Winovich picked up a solid win last week and looked to build on that momentum against Low Fat Greek Goedert. While the Patriots look like a fantastic defense, and Tom Brady continues to defy time, they weren't enough for Looking' To Winovich, who had to deal with Calvin Ridley's 0.7 fantasy points. Greek Goedert, on the other hand, benefited from 13th-round pick Greg Olsen's continued excellence, as he scored 19.5 fantasy points when he caught 75 yards and two touchdowns. Lamar Jackson also carried the team on his back as he rushed for a touchdown and 21.5 fantasy points. Low Fat Greek Goedert ran away with this one, 107.8-75.6.

I am the Goat and Team John's Winners both entered this game winless, so somebody was guaranteed to make some progress. Team John's Winners loaded up on Atlanta Falcons and was rewarded, as Matt Ryan threw two touchdowns to Austin Hooper, leading to 41.1 points for Team John's Winners. While the Goat also benefitted through Julio Jones, who caught eight balls for 126 yards and a touchdown from the aforementioned Ryan, the supporting cast didn't do enough for him, as James Washington, Zach Ertz, and Duke Johnson only combined for 10.2 fantasy points. Team John's Winners picked up his first victory pretty easily, 97.1-76.7.

Once again, the second-highest score of the week went to a loser, as Provo Cougars Go Cougs got the high of 132.2 and Nothin' Runs like a Deere was next with 128 points. Going' In Blind was third with 120.8, and Low Fat Greek Goedert and England Excessive Force both picked up 100-point scores. Provo Cougars Go Cougs is sitting alone and in first place at 3-0. Sounds like somebody needs to go Cougar hunting! While Cat Killas would be poetic, we'll see if some Excessive Force gets it done in Week 4. Several teams sit at 2-1 or 1-2, with tiebreakers decided by number of points scored over the course of the season. One team remains winless, and for whom the "Goat" monicker might be appropriate...See you next week!

Where’s my fantasy football bell curve? Week 2 fantasy recap

Well, week 2 is in the books! We had some odd trends in our league this week, as six players scored over 99 points, one scored over 90, and then we had five score 74 or less. The average score was 88.6, but that doesn’t really capture the sheer breadth of scores we had. As someone who appreciates a good bell curve, I imagine our scores would look pretty weird when compared to the average fantasy population. Anyway, enough stats, lets get to the recap!

Looking 2 Winovich and Tean John’s Winners went at it this week. And the biggest thing we learned isn’t about any of their players. It’s that the Miami Dolphins (the real team) aren’t very good. Last week, Lamar Jackson destroyed them for 33 points and probably should have had more. And then this week, Winovich’s New England defense took the Dophins to the house…twice. Their 35 points behind two touchdowns, four interceptions, and no points allowed was the highest defensive score in fantasy for the past several years, and it propelled Looking 2 Winovich to a score of 120.8 fantasy points. Team John’s Winners held their own, as Odell Beckahm Jr. bounced back from Week 1 with 161 yards and a touchdown for 22.1 points, but Team John’s Winners score of 110.1 was the highest losing score of the week. Lookin 2 Winovich wins, 120.8-110.1.

I am the Goat and Provo Cougars Go Cougs were also pretty competitive. Dak Prescott is trying to prove he’s worth a major contract to the Cowboys, and it’s showing up in the fantasy box score for Go Cougs. Three touchdowns, 269 yards, and an interception, along with 69 yards rushing were a masterpiece for him, culminating in 27.7 fantasy points. On the other side, Julio Jones has always been recognized as one of the best receivers in the NFL, but has struggled to score touchdowns as opposing teams place so much emphasis on stopping him. Well, he got Philly twice on Sunday, scoring two touchdowns along with 106 yards for 22.6 fantasy points. Unfortunately,  I am the Goat’s quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, suffered an elbow injury in the first quarter that will cause him to miss the rest of the season, and that cost I am the Goat this matchup as well. Provo Cougar Go Cougs got I am the Goat’s billy goat gruff, 99.4-90.9.

Back when I was a teenager and playing Risk with friends (#nerdalert), occasionally I would end up rolling one die against my opponent’s one die, and we would both roll a 1. Now, in Risk, the defender wins ties, so someone would win this particular roll. I always pictured the imaginary armies beating each other with the back ends of their spears in that scenario, though, because they’re too incompetent to actually use the correct end of the spears. In the end, one of the guys would trip over his own spear, and that’s how victory would be won for the defender. We had a few of those kinds of fantasy matchups this week, and Nothin Runs like a Deere and Better Luck Next Time definitely had one of those. Both had individual performances that were okay. Nick Chubb scored 15.8 points for Better Luck, and Todd Gurley had 12.7 points for Runs like a Deere. However, Better Luck Next Time was the one who tripped over his own spear, and Nothin Runs Like a Deere squeezed out the W, 73.4-69.6.

Low Fat Greek Goedert and Goin’In Blind pit two high scoring offenses against each other. Alas, Drew Brees went down for the Saints in the first quarter with a thumb injury, and finished the game with NEGATIVE 0.5 points. That set the tone for Goin’ In Blind, who had some decent players like Tyrell Williams, who has been a pleasant surprise for a 14^th-round selection, and Kerryon Johnson, but just couldn’t pull it all together. Low Fat Greek Goedert, on the other hand, bounced back from last week’s rough start. Six players scored in double digits, and Lamar Jackson maintained his top fantasy quarterback status with 30.9 points. This week he added 120 yards rushing and two passing touchdowns to his torrid start to the season. Low Fat Greek Goedert rolled in this one, 103.7-67.3.

Another stinker of a game, England Excessive Force and Albuquerque Cat Killas both just had some bad luck this week. Both teams had three players score under three points, and England Excessive Force’s best individual performance came from Royce Freeman, who got 10.2 points behind 54 yards rushing and 48 yards receiving. Lucky for the Cat Killas, they have an ace in the hole: Pat Mahomes is going to be good, no matter what, so his 31.6 points overcame the other putrid scores to lead the Cat Killas to victory. Albuquerque Cat Killas wins 64.1-50.5.

Dalvin Cook has been AWESOME so far.

Let’s end on a high note, shall we? The Reindeer Gamers have had a tough schedule so far, starting the first two weeks against playoff teams from last season. Links Dawg Pound was determined to show they belonged, and the team brought it. Saquon Barkley continues to prove why he was the top overall pick in fantasy with 135 total yards and a touchdown, good for 19.5 fantasy points, and Kenny Golladay has turned into a No. 1 receiving option in Detroit, with 17.7 fantasy points and a touchdown in his own right. The Reindeer Gamers, however, have gotten massive production out of some players who were not projected to be this productive before the start of the season. Dalvin Cook has been a monster, scoring over 24 points for the second consecutive week, and Chris Godwin, a sixth round pick, scored 18.1 points as well. The Reindeer Gamers successfully overcame a second straight challenge, 109.2-99.6.

Like I mentioned at the beginning, we had some high scores this week. Lookin 2 Winovich had the high score of 120.8 points, Team John’s Winners came in second with 110.1, and The Reindeer Gamers finished third with 109.2. Low Fat Greek Goedert also broke 100 points with 103.7. As things progress, we are starting to see some separation. We have three teams at 2-0, Reindeer Gamers, Provo Cougars Go Cougs, and Nothin Runs Like  Deere. We also have three teams at 0-2, all of whom can certainly come storming back into contention. The rst of the league sits at 1-1 with plenty of jostling among them.

That’s all for this week, let me know if you have any questions!

Waivers: Don't you all go claiming John Ross III at once

Today on our text group there was a question about waivers, and I wanted to make absolutely sure I understood it before I fully answered. I also want everyone to have the knowledge of it if they need it, so here it is.

Just like I previously mentioned in the trade post, there may come a time when a player needs a firm handshake and a thank you for all they've done for your team, but they definitely need to be off your team. That kicker has missed one too many field goals, or that running back continues to run into large piles of men intent on stopping him and he lets go of the football way too much. Alternatively, there might be a player who is killing it the last couple of weeks, but for whatever reason nobody seems to have room for him on their team. You can either "add" the player you like, or "drop" the player you don't like, but either way you will be going to the waiver wire. All players are in waivers immediately after all the games end Monday night, and will be there until Wednesday morning.

As an example, John Ross III, a wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals, is currently on the waiver

John Ross had a VERY good Week 1 fantasy line: 158
receiving yards and two touchdowns.

wire. He scored 27.8 fantasy points on Sunday, good enough for the second-highest point total by a wide receiver this past week. You can theoretically add him to your team and drop whatever player you want, but you will notice that he won't be added immediately. Instead, he will be a "Pending Transaction." Those pending transactions take place on Wednesday morning. Most of the time, whatever player you want gets added to your roster no problem, and you successfully claimed that player off waivers. If, however, someone else was interested in John Ross III at the same time as me, the order of the waiver claims matters. My current waiver order is 11th out of 12. The rule is "Reset each week to inverse order of standings," which means that the waiver order is determined by the opposite of whatever the standings currently are. As it stands, I'm currently in second place in the league because I am 1-0 and currently have the second-highest points total for the season (that is the tie breaker for our league, and since the season is just made up of one game at this point, it equates to your score from last week), so my waiver order is 11th out of 12. Rebecca (Low Fat Greek Goedert), on the other hand, is first in the waiver order because she is 0-1 and has the lowest points total for the season. So, if both Rebecca and I want John Ross III, she will get him because she's before me in the waiver order, and my claim will get denied. The order of waivers will change each week to reflect the current standings, so we should see some movement each week.

Now, after Wednesday morning, every player gets put into the free agency pool. From there, you can add and drop players immediately, no waiting required. Everyone has had the chance to claim those players, and since they didn't claim them at that point, they are now free for anyone up until they start playing the following week. At that point they head back to the waiver wire, and while you can submit a claim for them, they won't be available until Wednesday morning when those claims are processed. 

Hopefully that all makes sense. As a word of advice, which everyone is more than happy to take or leave as they will: I have, in past seasons, overreacted to Week 1 results and may or may not have dropped half my team because I thought they would underperform the rest of the season. Not only does Week 1 only count as a single week, but there is usually a reason why players are in the free agency pool. Add or drop a few end of the bench-type players who don't have a great outlook in favor of others who seem to be breaking out, but don't get rid of half your team. There's a reason you drafted Chris Godwin in the seventh round, or Sony Michel in the fourth. They are much more likely to do well over the course of the whole season than Mike Davis or Chris Thompson.

Hopefully this all helps! As always, let me know if you have questions.

Week 1 Fantasy recap!

Welcome to the Pigskins n’ Pirates Week 1 recap! We had quite a few entertaining matchups this week, both fantasy and actual NFL, and it turned into some pretty spectacular results. I imagine this is also some of the first forays onto the blog. Everyone has been added as an author, so feel free to post if you feel so inclined, and there are a few posts below that I’ve already written. With that out of the way, let’s get to the recaps!

Week 1 saw two of last year’s playoffs teams immediately face off, with the Reindeer Gamers and Low Fat Greek Goedert going head-to-head. Greek Goedert had a fantastic opening game from Lamar Jackson, who certainly tampered any ideas that he is a run-first quarterback with 324 yards passing and five touchdowns. Unfortunately, the rest of her team wasted that gem of a game, with the starting running backs combining for 7.9 total points. The Reindeer Gamers, on the other hand, took a career 37.8 points from Sammy Watkins, the recipient of three touchdown passes, including a 68-yard pass and another 49-yard score, and ran with it into the endzone. Derrick Henry demolished the Browns defense for 159 total yards and two touchdowns, while Dalvin Cook was basically the entire Vikings’ offense with 120 total yards and another two scores. The Reindeer Gamers annihilated Low Fat Greek Goedert 135.3-69.

We also had several matchups this week put family loyalties to the test, as Albuquerque Cat Killas took on Nothin Runs like a Deere. Both teams had some struggles, with two Cat Killas laying goose eggs on the scoreboard. The Pittsburgh defense also ran like a deer away from the New England offense for the Deeres, posting a -5 point total. There were also some bright spots though, as Pat Mahomes continued his fantastic quarterback play with 27.3 for the Cat Killas. Nothin Runs like a Deere looked to be out of it, but the Monday nightgame featured a mid-season form Deshaun Watson, who scored 30.7 points of his own against the Saints. As a result, Nothin Runs like a Deere ran away with this one, 88.5-81.2.

Goin’ In Blind admittedly struggled last year, but had the benefit of facing a fantasy football rookie this week in Team John’s Winners. Both teams got stellar play from their first-round picks, as Christian McCaffrey scored twice on the ground, ran for 128 yards, and caught ten balls for another 81 yards for Goin’ In Blind, totaling 32.9 fantasy points. David Johnson, on the other hand, did his own damage for John’s Winners in the bizarre tie against Detroit, scoring 19.7 points with 137 total yards and a touchdown. The supporting casts ended up being the difference, as Goin’ In Blind left Team John’s Winners wandering blindly in the wilderness, 103.5-82.4.

Better Luck Next Time took on I am the Goat, complete the a goat avatar. I am the Goat looked like it in the early games, as Austin Ekeler of the LA Chargers scored three times and registered 154 yards against the Colts for 33.4 points, the highest running back total of the week. The struggles of Ben Roethlisberger were a problem though, as he scored a putrid 9.7 points when I am the Goat was firmly in control of the matchup. Better Luck Next Time took advantage on Monday night, scoring 35.6 points largely thanks to Josh Jacobs of the Oakland Raiders, who racked up 113 yards and two touchdowns in his NFL debut. Better Luck Next Time pulled away early Tuesday morning to take the matchup, 111.1-101.1.

Links Dawg Pound came in with last year’s championship in his trophy case looking to make a statement against a newcomer, England Excessive Force. Evan Engram certainly helped with that early, gaining 116 yards and a touchdown on eleven receptions. Cam Newton, on the other hand, struggled in his loss to the LA Rams, turning the ball over twice and throwing for a mediocre 239 yards and no touchdowns, leading to 5.4 fantasy points. England Excessive Force took advantage during the Monday night games, as DeAndre Hopkins lit up the Saints’ defense for 111 yards and two scores, enough for 23.1 fantasy points to put away the matchup. Excessive Force put the game away late, 83.1-75.9.

Finally, Lookin 2 Winovich may have felt confident coming in with a year’s experience against the rookie Provo Cougars Go Cougs.  Tom Brady showed that he could still be a viable starting fantasy quarterback, as he picked the Steelers apart with three touchdown passes and 341 yards, enough for 25.6 fantasy points. Chris Carson also lived up to the slow hype train of the preseason (this author may or may not have desperately wanted Chris Carson in the draft) and scored 18.1 fantasy points with two touchdowns and 81 total yards. Provo Cougars Go Cougs showed no fear though, as Dak Prescott lit up the Giants with 405 yards and four touchdowns of his own, just behind Lamar Jackson as the second-highest scoring quarterback of the week with 33.4 fantasy points. Provo Cougars got fairly balanced scoring from the rest of his roster, and cruised to a relatively easy victory, 104.7 to 84.8.

Nobody could touch The Reindeer Gamers’ high score of 135.3 points, which looks even more impressive considering some of the points left on Reindeer Gamers’ bench. Better Luck Next Time came in second with 111.1 points, and Provo Cougars Go Cougs came in third with 104.7. Goin’ In Blind and I am the Goat also broke the 100-point mark for the week. As you might be aware, after one week half the league sits at 1-0, with the rest lingering behind at 0-1. As always, check your teams before week 2, as injuries unfortunately play a part in every NFL season. There were several notable injuries this past week that may or may not have affected your fantasy teams. Let me know if you have any questions, thanks for sticking with us!

Want to trade?

I don't know that everyone knows how to trade, so I wanted make sure everyone knows that this is a thing:

Even though I know you all put your hearts and souls into the players you picked last night, there may come a time when you feel like that player is not going to cut it on your team and you need to give them a firm handshake and a "good luck." At the same time, there may be another player on someone's team that you have secretly coveted since the second you saw their name disappear from the draft board:

At that point, you might want to try and trade the player you no longer like to another player. Simply go to the opposing team that has the player you want, select that player, and there should be a big "TRADE" button. Click that, and you can then select which player you want to receive, and which player you want to offer up (aka the player you don't want).



The person to whom you offered the trade can either reject it or accept it. They can also counteroffer if they want. It then becomes a negotiation between the two of you. Once the trade is finalized, the rest of the league can then veto the trade if they think it is an unbalanced trade in which people are using current relationships to give another person an unfair advantage. We all have 48 hours to vote, and the trade will then go through.

I would recommend testing the system, even if you don't want to trade. Click on some players and see how it works, but maybe don't actually offer the trade. You never know who or what other players are willing to part with unless you try. As the Grinch famously said: "One man's toil waste is another man's potpourri." It applies to fantasy too!

Welcome to Pigskins n' Pirates Nation!

Hello everyone! First thing I wanted to say is thank you all for playing! It's always more fun to play fantasy football when more people are involved. We had a successful draft this evening and looks like everybody is ready for the season.

Just so everyone is aware, each week there will be one game on Thursday, several games on Sunday, and one game on Monday. You can change your starting roster at any point until the game in which a player is playing begins. So if Patrick Mahomes is playing on Thursday night and is on your bench when the game starts, you will be unable to move him into your active roster after the beginning of the game.

You can also pick up players who are not currently on a roster on the waiver wire. Waiver wire pickups start Wednesday morning, and can be picked up until the players' goes start that week. The waiver wire order changes each week, and if someone has a claim before you and you both have a claim to the player, they will get that player.

After all of the games are finished for the week, I will post a recap of the games on either Tuesday or Wednesday to this blog and send it out to everyone. I will also give an update on the standings and the top three high score of the week. Also, if anyone wants to post anything here, feel free to do so!

Thanks everyone, let me know if you have any questions.

Ethan