This is where I review everything I predicted from my fantasy focus article every week. It’s pretty easy to follow, always feel free to write in if you have any questions. As for my fantasy predictions in Week 1, some good, some bad, just like my fantasy teams. I’ve graded out each fantasy pick, and as you’ll see, I killed my sleeper picks for Week 1.
See how everyone did with Week 1’s overall positional rankings (PPR) listed next to each player’s name from Team Lucky Lester’s Week 1 projections below. Some hits and misses for all, no doubt, but naturally, I came out ahead of the group…
Elite Starters: Guys picked really early that I love this week…
1. DeAngelo Williams – He finished 10th prior to Monday Night’s action, 17 fantasy points, they got way down early…. B-
2. Tom Brady – Tom started slow but ended up with 376 yards and 2 TDs. The guy is a sniper. A
3. Larry Fitzgerald – 6 catches for 71 yards and a TD: Not terrible, but worst than I expected, that offense was bad on Sunday. B
4. Randy Moss – Randy may have not caught any TDs, but his 12 catches for 141 yards totaled 26 fantasy points. Not bad. A
5. Brian Westbrook – Westy had just 15 fantasy points in a decent amount of action. The Eagles D was scoring too much for Eagle offensive players to light up the fantasy boards. B-
Solid Starters: Guys picked in middle rounds that should outplay their ranking/draft position this week…
1. Eddie Royal – I thought he’d grab 10, he grabbed 2. F
2. Reggie Bush –Reggie had 7 fantasy points, not getting into the scoring fun against the Lions. F
3. Ray Rice – Ray didn’t get involved in the passing game too much, but still had 13 fantasy points after rushing for over 100. B
4. Joseph Addai – He wasn’t too efficient, but scored and had just under 80 total yards. 5 catches were nice to see. 16 pts. B+
5. Matt Hasselbeck – Matt was #4 overall going into Monday, tossing for 279 yards and 3 TDs (2 ints as well). 22 pts. A
Sleeper Starters: Guys ranked low, drafted low or not at all, but I still like them this week…
1. Donnie Avery – Donnie had 6 receptions for 46 yards, but lost a fumble too, finishing with 8 fantasy points. C-
2. Julius Jones – Jones was huge today (117 rushing yards and a score to go with 2 catches for 19 yards), most of it came on one huge run, but you can’t really take that away from him. A
3. Tim Hightower – I’m glad I got my hands on Hightower in some leagues, he caught 12 balls for 121 yards – 25 pts. A
4. Mark Sanchez – 272 yards, a TD and an INT – nice game for the rookie in a big win. Decent fantasy day. B
5. Nate Burleson – 2 fantasy points like ESPN projected? Ha. 7 grabs for 74 yards and a TD. Nate posted 20 pts for my team. A
Sit ‘Em Son: I don’t care where they were drafted, I don’t like these guys starting this week…
1. Carson Palmer – 247 yards, 0 TDs, 2 ints… You’re welcome for this sit. A
2. Clinton Portis – 16 rushes for 60 yards. 1 catch for 10 yards. Could have been worse, but are you angry I told you to sit him? B
3. Willie Parker – 13 rushes for 19 yards. 1 catch for 5 yards. You’re welcome for this one too. A
4. Devin Hester – 4 catches for 90 yards and a nice long touchdown. Yeah, I was dead wrong about Devin. F
5. Hines Ward – 8 grabs for 103 yards was a good day, and even with the fumble he still put up 16 pts. Solid day. Sorry. F+
PS – I hope you didn’t start Marshawn Lynch like 33% of ESPN Leagues….
Week 1 Fantasy Rankings
Josh Arsenault Ryan Kauffman Papa Weimer Lucky Lester QBs---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.Peyton Manning 9 1.Tom Brady 4 1.Drew Brees 1 1.Tom Brady 4 2.Drew Brees 1 2.Drew Brees 1 2.Peyton Manning 9 2.Drew Brees 1 3.Tom Brady 4 3.Matt Ryan 8 3.Chad Pennington 26 3.Peyton Manning 9 4.Jay Cutler 25 4.Aaron Rodgers 13 4.Donovan McNabb 7 4.Aaron Rodgers 13 5.Phillip Rivers 15 5.Peyton Manning 9 5.Kyle Orton 14 5.Matt Schaub 31 RBs----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.Adrian Peterson 1 1.Adrian Peterson 1 1.Michael Turner 46 1.DeAngelo Williams 11 2.DeAngelo Williams 11 2.DeAngelo Williams 11 2.Adrian Peterson 1 2.Brian Westbrook 15 3.Steven Jackson 43 3.Matt Forte 48 3.LaD. Tomlinson 30 3.Maurice Jones Drew 6 4.Ray Rice 20 4.Reggie Bush 31 4.Frank Gore 10 4.Adrian Peterson 1 5.Willie Parker 65 5.Knowshon Moreno 69 5.Ryan Grant 19 5.Ronnie Brown 34 WRs----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.Andre Johnson 52 1.Calvin Johnson 35 1.Steve Smith 61 1.Randy Moss 3 2.Reggie Wayne 1 2.Terrell Owens 56 2.Reggie Wayne 1 2.Larry Fitzgerald 10 3.Randy Moss 3 3.Steve Smith 61 3.Marques Colston 33 3.Reggie Wayne 1 4.Vincent Jackson 18 4.Andre Johnson 52 4.Randy Moss 3 4.Andre Johnson 52 5.Calvin Johnson 35 5.Wes Welker 8 5.Eddie Royal 77 5.Greg Jennings 4 TEs----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.Antonio Gates 12 1.Jason Witten 13 1.Dallas Clark 21 1.Dallas Clark 21 2.Jason Witten 13 2.Antonio Gates 12 2.Tony Gonzalez 4 2.Antonio Gates 12 3.Dallas Clark 21 3.Dallas Clark 21 3.Antonio Gates 12 3.Jason Witten 13 4.Greg Olsen 40 4.John Carlson 1 4.Owen Daniels 16 4.Zach Miller 7 5.Dustin Keller 12 5.Brandon Petitgrew 00 5.Jason Witten 13 5.John Carlson 1 TEs----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.Ravens 21 1.Ravens 21 1.Giants 3 1.Vikings 8 2.Steelers 9 2.Cowboys 29 2.Ravens 21 2.Ravens 21 3.Giants 3 3.Seahawks 4 3.Chargers 16 3.Cowboys 29 4.Patriots 24 4.Redskins 26 4.Saints 13 4.Giants 3 5.Bengals 12 5.Patriots 24 5.Steelers 9 5.Bengals 12 Kickers------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We still don't care about kickers, but these guys were the Top 5 point producers... 1. Neil Rackers 2. Lawrence Tynes 3. Nick Folk 4. Jason Hanson 5. Joe Nedney Looking back at the week's action.. Drew Brees was the #1 overall QB if averaged out amongst our picks. The #1 overall running back was Adrian Peterson. So, as a group, we got two right on the button. The #1 overall receiver, Reggie Wayne, was a Top 3 receiving options on 3 writer's lists, making him the highest pre-rated receiver on our boards as well. So, while none of us picked everything right, our highest averaged players at the 3 key positions all finished #1 for the week. Now that's good work. TE was a little bit different as only one guy, Red-Red Ryan Kauffman even had John Carlson, this week's #1 TE, on his board. As for defenses, we all missed out on the Eagles, who just happened to put up one of the all time great defensive point scoring shows of all time on the unsuspecting Panthers. At least we didn't expect it. What about the worst picks on our lists? Papa Weimer's WR chart had some issues as #1 Steve Smith had a terrible day, almost as bad as his #5 Eddie Royal. Arse's picks of Steven Jackson and Willie Parker hurt his RB respect, and Andre Johnson as his #1 busted him, and everyone besides Papa. Ronnie Brown sure looked average in my Top 5, and Matt Schaub finished well out of the Top 15 as well. Papa, Arse and I took big chances putting Orton, Pennington, and Schaub in our Top 5 lists, none of which pay off, making us look bad with 9, 8, and 4 points a piece. Obviously I looked the worst in that gong show. We all picked the Ravens to finish either 1 or 2, they finished 21. Who did we miss? Tony Romo and Joe Flacco went 2 and 3 for QBs in Week 1. Both went unpicked by our four fantasy writers. Hasselbeck and Trent Edwards finished 5th and 6th respectively. Nobody picked the top defense (Philadelphia) to finish in the Top 5. Nobody picked the second ranked defense (Atlanta) either. Keeping score for week 1! This is the positional breakdown based on Week 1's rankings:Josh Arsenault Ryan Kauffman Papa Weimer Lucky Lester 1.QBs 2 1.QBs 1 1.QBs 3 1.QBs 4 2.RBs 3 2.RBs 4 2.RBs 2 2.RBs 1 3.WRs 2 3.WRs 4 3.WRs 3 3.WRs 1 4.TEs 4 4.TEs 3 4.TEs 2 4.TEs 1 5.DST 2 5.DST 4 5.DST 1 5.DST 3