(A little after) Midseason Team Assessment

[femurov]

I guess this is more for me to actually type it all out and go over this for myself more than asking for advice, but as always, any input is appreciated. I am going to include my IDPs, even though I know a lot of you don't feel comfortable giving IDP advice, because you don't play in any IDP leagues.

My main money league. PPR, with bonus points for TDs over 40 yards.

I am about to go to 4-4 after losing my 2nd straight game. I will lose to the only undefeated team in the league this week after dropping last week to my division leader and I put up the 3rd highest point total for the week. This week, I put up a dud and should have easily won with my opponent putting up less than the league average. The trade deadline for draft picks has passed and I missed out on last second deals to get Keenan Allen and Tarik Cohen. We can still trade players for players for a couple more weeks, so there is time to make a move.

QBs (we start 1) - Drew Brees and Carson Wentz - I feel very solid about my QBs. To the point where I am considering trading one, but there isn't much need across the board for QBs in the league. Everyone seems to be happy with what they have.

RBs (we start 2 + 1 W/R/T flex) - Conner, Bell, Ingram, Alex Collins, Doug Martin. Martin was picked up when Lynch went on IR (was too late to get Richard.) Royce Freeman, Judge Ito, Matt Brieda, Dion Lewis and Carlos Hyde are on the ww. I have been a little worried about the Collins/Bell situation when Bell comes back. I can see a couple games (if not more) where they split touches and neither will be the stud that they have been in the past. Ingram seems like he is going to be hit or miss and I would like someone more consistent. Collins can't hold onto the damn ball and I'm surprised Buck Allen hasn't been given more touches there yet. Martin got fed yesterday and could be respectable, but I am thinking about cutting him for one of these other guys.

WRs (we start 2 + the aforementioned flex) - Tyreek, OBJ, Doug Baldwin, Corey Davis. I have no complaints about Hill or OBJ. Doug Baldwin was a FA pickup early in the season that I thought would pay off huge for me by now, but has yet to wake up this season. Wilson has not targeted him too often and he is still bugged by his leg injury. Can I cut him? Trade him? Ugh. Corey Davis is someone I have probably held on too long to, but I hope this past bye week was put to good use in Tennessee. Maybe Mariota healed up a little or the coaches pulled their heads out of their ass or something. He has been getting targets, though, and I still feel like he has breakout potential. But my patience is wearing thin. Some interesting names on the ww... Tyrell Williams, Keke Coutee, Cortland Sutton (if DT gets traded, I will definitely put a bid in for him), Devonte Parker, Taylor Gabriel/Anthony Miller, Antonio Calloway, some others in that range (Kirk, Hogan, Beasley, Amendola, etc.)

TE - Trey Burton (we start 1 + the flex) - Whatever. TE is a crap shoot this year and I feel like he is a decent plug and play. He's better than anything on the ww, which features the Pittsburgh guys, Doyle, Ricky Tikki Tavi Seals Jones, Ed Dickson. I doubt I can pull an elite option in a trade.

K - Prater now, but who cares? Succup was my guy until the bye and I may go back to him.

P - Lachlan Edwards - Jets punter. I like to get guys with a rookie QB. He is in the middle of the pack (#6) in punter scoring in my league. No reason to make a change, imo. There is nothing on the ww worth looking at until his bye week.

DL (we start 2 + 1 flex which is usually a LB) - Chandler Jones and JPP. Ranked 7 and 8 in our league's scoring and both are top 5-10 in most of the ROS ranks that I have seen. Pretty happy with this combo.

LB (we start 2 + 1 flex) - Luke Kuechly, Bobby Wagner, and Zach Cunningham. Kuechly and Wagner are potential keepers and elite options. Wagner was banged up a bit, but is starting to play like himself. Cunningham is solid, but got hurt last week and has a bye week in week 10, so if he misses this game, I will have to cut him for someone. Our bench is small, so I don't like to hold onto an extra IDP unless he is elite and Chandler Jones is on bye this week, so I will be down a spot there regardless.

DB (we start 2 + 1 flex which is usually a LB) - Derwin James, Jamal Adams, Demarious Randall. Randall was a bye week filler, but it is possible to get something for him in a trade. Adams and James are great and I have no issues with either of them if they stay healthy.


I feel like there is a clear cut top 5 in my league that has a legit shot to win it all, plus a couple of wild cards who could make a run. After this week, it looks like I am still in that group, but my inconsistency from week to week puts me towards the lower end of that spectrum. My schedule has been pretty brutal, so far, and it eases up a lot after this current week. I only play one of those top 5 teams and it is one of the weaker ones. We play in week 12 or something, so who knows how we will match up by then. I think I should be able to make the playoffs, then make a run, but I will need to do some tweaking and hit on a FA or two to solidify things.

So, what do you guys think? Any of these names stand out as someone I should pick up or look to replace?

Also, feel free to use this thread to post your own teams for assessment in a similar way. I'm not concerned if someone hijacks this thread.

 

[TKOSpikes]

I would add Lewis for Davis absolutely.

Then, I guess the logical goal would be to move Baldwin and Collins or Ingram for an RB2 upgrade. That's probably easier said than done.

Burton is scary, but like you said, whatcha gonna do...but wouldn't stop me from trying to get an upgrade via trade.

 

[averagejoe]

I wouldn't trade for a DB. Not worth it.
My philosophy is to look for the highest ranked player with the toughest schedule. You figure the defense will be on the field the most giving them a good chance for tackles/points.

 

[femurov]

I wouldn't trade for a DB. Not worth it.
My philosophy is to look for the highest ranked player with the toughest schedule. You figure the defense will be on the field the most giving them a good chance for tackles/points.

I wasn't planning on it. I think you read something wrong. Or maybe I typed something wrong. I'm happy as hell with my DBs. Actually, I'm happy with pretty much all of my IDPs

 

[averagejoe]

I wasn't planning on it. I think you read something wrong. Or maybe I typed something wrong. I'm happy as hell with my DBs. Actually, I'm happy with pretty much all of my IDPs

I guess I misinterpreted this:

it is possible to get something for him in a trade.

 

[femurov]

I guess I misinterpreted this:

​

Oh... I was saying that I could try to trade away Randall and get something for him, but I won't even waste the energy. Just going to dump him to try to pick up Cortland Sutton or Davonte Parker or someone like that.

 

[femurov]

Rather than start a new thread on this, I figured I would search for this one and update it for my playoff push...

PPR league with bonus points for TDs over 40 yards...

Barring some miracle, I will fall to 9-5 and miss out on the bye and division and earn the #4 seed as a wild card. Most likely, I will be playing the team that was my preseason favorite to win it all, but he started off slow and made some trades and still ended up making it to the playoffs and is one of the hottest teams right now. So, basically, this week went about as bad as it could have gone for me. But, I am still in the playoffs and anything can happen.

A couple things to think about...

- Our championship is week 17, so I have to think about the fact that some players may be sitting to rest if their teams have their seeds clinched by then.

- We start QB, 2 RBs, 2 WRs, TE, Flex (RB/WR/TE), K, P, 2 DL, 2 LB, 2 DB, 1 flex (DL/LB/DB). 6 bench spots.

- We keep 2 offensive players and 1 IDP each year. We drop down to a 5 man squad after the NFL Super Bowl and can begin trading off that roster for players or draft picks for the upcoming draft and next year's (2020) draft. I only say this so people don't think I should drop Leveon Bell because he is useless for this playoff run.


QB - Drew Brees. I dropped Wentz this past week when Manny Sanders went down to scoop up Courtland Sutton (brilliant move to start him, by the by.) Wentz was expendable because Cam Newton was dropped (not sure why) and I figured between him and Wentz, I could pick one up and still be fine in case Brees sits. Add Dak to that list, since he is still somehow on the wire. So, I have those 3 to choose from and should easily be able to get one of them. Brees has slowed down the past couple of weeks, but he is still Drew Brees, so I shouldn't need whichever guy I choose for a backup until later, if I make it that far.

RB - Conner, Bell, Jaylen Samuels, Ingram, Josh Adams, Gus Edwards. What a clusterfuck this turned out to be. I'm really hoping Conner is able to come back this week. Ingram has been inconsistent and doesn't face a rushing defense ranked out of the top 7 for the rest of the year. Samuels is a handcuff... actually, a handcuff to a handcuff if you really think about it. Josh Adams had been getting touches (until this past week), but isn't anything special. Same with Gus, but there is talk about Kenneth Dixon starting to take his spot, which could lead to them splitting carries before he does win it outright.

WR - OBJ, Tyreek, Sutton, Baldwin, Corey Davis. This was the strength of my team mid-season. I am really hoping OBJ comes back and doesn't get the ol' shutdown treatment since this is a lost season in New York. I also hope the Hill injury is minor, but it will be tough for him to play this week with a game on Thursday. Sutton is shooting up the depth chart, but only because of trades and injuries. Now, he is the #1 and getting #1 attention and I don't know if he can handle that role and produce like a #1. His targets have not really increased at all since the DT trade. Baldwin has been a bust this season. I don't think he ever got healthy and now has a new injury to add to the list. He may be droppable. Corey Davis has been about as up and down as you can get. He hasn't been getting the monster targets like he was earlier in the year, but he has put up a couple nice games. He has also put up some duds.

TE - CJ Usomah. I have been playing musical TEs this year. Usomah is my 6th TE that I have started. I thought I found the guy with Trey Burton, but he failed miserably. I know everyone has had issues at TE unless they got Ertz or Kelce or lucked out with Ebron, Kittle or Cook. I guess I will need to play matchups the rest of the way, although Usomah has a decent ROS schedule.

K - Justin Tucker. One of the few plug and play guys I have.

P - Lachlan Edwards. The Jets punter. No issues here. Maybe I check the schedule and find someone else, but he is solid.

DL - Chandler Jones and JPP. 2 top 10 guys this season. No issues here.

LB - Luke Kuechly, Bobby Wagner, Eric Kendricks. Kuechly and Wagner are top 5 guys and Kendricks will move up to #20 if he puts up his average. No issues there unless Kendricks does not play tonight. Then, I will have to drop him (or Doug Baldwin) and I have his brother (Mychael Kendricks) on my radar, since he is back from suspension and should be starting for KJ Wright.

DB - Jamal Adams and Derwin James. The top 2 DBs in my league. Absolutely no issues here.


So, on the ww, I mentioned the QBs (Cam, Dak and Wentz) and I will grab one of them this week when the waiver period begins. I think the order I listed them above is probably my order of preference, at the moment.

At RB, Matt Brieda is available. I just don't know if I can trust him to stay healthy for more than one half. But, otoh, one half of Brieda may be better than 1 full Adams or Gus. Kenneth Dixon is there, but as I mentioned earlier, it may take him a game or two to wrestle that job away from Edwards. Then, you got guys like Doug Martin, Eli McGuire, Frank Gore, Ito Smith... Meh.

At WR, obviously, there are a bunch of guys, but here are the ones that stick out...

Kenny Stills - Tanny seems to lock in on him, but Tanny is banged up.

Dede Westbrook, any Baltimore WR, Zay, Funchess, Samuel, and every other scrub that is on every other ww.

The one name that really intrigues me due to situation, targets, and performance over the past few weeks is Dante Pettis. Since week 10, his targets have been 6, bye, 7, 7, 7 and his points have been 5.something, bye, 18, 35, 14. Mullins took over in week 9, so, there may be some chemistry brewing between those guys.

So, I think I need to grab a QB and maybe Pettis. Then, who knows? And WDID to do all this (plus maybe more)? Is Baldy droppable now? Especially if he is out tonight. Or if he plays and sucks again? Is Gus droppable? Adams?

Anyway, as always, thank you to those who read all this and thank you even more if you have some sort of suggestion.

 

[TKOSpikes]

I wouldn't be scared to drop Baldy.

Also, I'd like to give a shout out to Robert Foster. Should see a healthy dose of targets the next few weeks.

 

[femurov]

What about dumping Gus for Breida? Or Sutton for Pettis? Or maybe Adams instead of one of those guys?