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Author: Steven Van Tassell
It’s Week 3 and what a crazy season it’s been so far. Eli Manning has been benched and there are multiple injured high-priced QBs out. Dynasty Owners who drafted them are scrambling to find replacements, so their first Dynasty Owner season isn’t a complete washout.
This is our third Dynasty Owner game preview article. We’ll continue pick some players who should be in your Active lineup and some who you should Bench, as well as analyze how we did in Week 2. We’ll also look at one Dynasty Owner match-up, analyze each team’s starters and bench to see if any switches are needed, highlight other things of interest and importance, such as the creativity of the team names, and make a prediction on the winner and final score of the match-up. Hopefully I can get a prediction on the Match-up of the Week correct for the first time.
All stats are based on the Standard Dynasty Owner scoring system as outlined in the updated Dynasty Owner Constitution. Standard Dynasty Owner scoring gives you .1 points for every yard rushing or receiving, .1 point for every 2 yards passing, 1 point per reception, 6 points for a rushing, receiving or passing touchdown and 2 points for a successful 2-point conversion (rushing, receiving, or passing). Interceptions or fumbles lost cost you 3 points, while a fumble that is recovered by the player’s team is a loss of only 1 point. Bonus points are available for 100-199 yards rushing (2 points), 200 yards rushing or receiving (6 points), 300-399 yards passing (1 point) and 400 yards passing (4 points). Kickoff and punt return touchdowns are worth 6 points for the player and kickoff and punt returns are worth .25 points for every 10 yards. Standard Dynasty Owner scoring for kickers gives you 1 point for every extra point, while a missed extra point will cost you 1 point. It’s 2 points for a field goal of between 0 and 39 yards, 4 points for a field goal between 40 and 49 yards and 5 points for a field goal of 50 yards or longer. A missed field goal of between 0 and 39 yards will cost you 3 points, while a miss of 40 yards or more is a loss of 2 points.
Activate These Guys
First, let’s look at last week and see how my recommendations worked out (Good, Bad or Just OK). Last week, I recommended having the following players Active:
- QB: Derek Carr – 10.7 points (Bad recommendation)
- RB: Chris Thompson – 10.1 points (Just OK recommendation)
- WR: Michael Gallup – 12.8 points (Just OK recommendation)
- TE: Mark Andrews – 24.2 points (Good recommendation)
Let’s hope for better predictions this week. Here are some players who should be Active in Week 3.
Jacoby Brissett (QB – IND): Brissett threw for 3 TDs last week. Expect a high-scoring game between the Colts and Falcons on Sunday, which will enable him to exceed the 21.8 and 21.4 fantasy points he scored in the first two weeks of the season. He won’t be as productive as Mahomes and Dak Prescott have been so far, but he’ll be good enough that you want him Active this week.
Frank Gore (RB – BUF): The ageless wonder, 15-year veteran, 36-year old Frank Gore has a great match-up this week against a Bengals defense that has allowed 3 rushing TDs and 2 passing TDs to running backs in the first two weeks. They also allowed the 49ers RBs to run for over 200 yards in Week 2. Devin Singletary may be out due to a hamstring injury suffered in Week 2 leaving Gore as the main RB in Buffalo. Put him in your Active lineup with confidence.
Nelson Agholor (WR – PHI): The Eagles will likely be without both DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffrey in Week 3 against Detroit. The beneficiary of those absences in terms of targets should be Agholor who had 24.7 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (8 catches for 107 yards and a touchdown) in Week 2. In addition, the Detroit defense gave up 17.8 points to Keenan Allen in Week 2 and 25.3 points to Larry Fitzgerald in Week 1. It’s time to Activate Agholor.
Greg Olsen (TE – CAR): Olsen is healthy so far this season and gets to face the Arizona defense that allowed 24.2 Dynasty Owner fantasy points to Mark Andrews in Week 2 and 25.1 Dynasty Owner fantasy points to T.J. Hockenson in Week 1. That’s easily the worst against TEs. Until further notice, make the top tight end facing Arizona Active. This week, that’s Olsen.
Bench These Guys
Now, let’s look at last week and see how my Bench recommendations worked out (Good, Bad or Just Ok). Last week, I recommended having the following players on the Bench:
- QB: Aaron Rodgers – 19.5 points (Just OK recommendation)
- RB: James White – 11.9 points (Just OK recommendation)
- WR: Emmanuel Sanders – 28.8 points (Bad recommendation)
- TE: Eric Ebron – 11.5 points (Bad recommendation)
Ouch! Not a single good Bench recommendation. Let’s hope for better predictions this week. Here are some players who Dynasty Owners drafted to use in their Active lineup, but would be better if they sat on the Bench in Week 3.
Baker Mayfield (QB – CLE): Only two TDs through the first two weeks is troubling for the Browns’ franchise QB. He did throw for 325 yards versus the Jets on Monday Night, but still only managed 20.3 Dynasty Owner fantasy points. The Rams defense has yet to give up a passing TD. All of this adds up to a performance from Baker that should make you leave him on the Bench.
Le’Veon Bell (RB – NYJ): He’s produced well for his Dynasty Owners in the first two weeks (23.2 points vs. Buffalo and 19.9 points vs. Cleveland). However, this week he faces a New England defense that only allowed James Connor to score 10.5 points in Week 1 and the combination of Kenyan Drake and Kalen Ballage to score 12.0 points last week. With Luke Falk at QB, expect Bill Belichick to stack the box to stop the run and shadow Bell out of the backfield to limit his touches until the game turns into a blowout and the Jets sit Bell to preserve him for future weeks. He’ll get around the same number of points as Connor, but 10 isn’t enough to have him Active. Bench Bell.
Josh Gordon (WR – NE): Sharing targets with Julian Edelman and Antonio Brown (not to mention James White and Rex Burkhead out of the backfield) isn’t going to be easy for Gordon. Some weeks, he might not get targeted very much like the first two weeks in which he only has 9 targets in total. The game against the Jets has the potential to be another blowout like the Dolphins game and he only scored 3.9 Dynasty Owner fantasy points last week. Dynasty Owners might be tempted to have him Active in this match-up against the Jets, but my recommendation is to Bench him.
Eric Ebron (TE – IND): Even though he was a bad Bench recommendation last week, I’m doubling down and calling for everyone to Bench Ebron in Week 3. Through the first two weeks he has only been on the field for less than half (47.3%) of Indianapolis’ plays, according to Pro Football Reference (https://bit.ly/2m0svCn), compared to over two-thirds (69.6%) for fellow TE Jack Doyle. Ebron scored a TD in Week 2, but once again, he’ll need one to be worthy of being Active. He likely won’t score a TD for the second consecutive week, so Dynasty Owners can Bench Ebron this week.
Dynasty Owner Match-up of the Week – Tim Peffer (Dynasty Owner Tim) vs. Mike Williams (MikeDynastyMaster)
It’s time for our Dynasty Owner Match-up of the Week. This week’s match-up pits two colleagues who are both looking for their first Dynasty Owner victory. Yes, Dynasty Owner Tim is looking for his first victory. As is the trash talking Mike Williams (no, not the Chargers WR). Who’s going to get their first victory and be trash talking so loudly that everyone in Richfield can hear it?
Some quick thoughts about the match-up:
- Both seem to have solid teams, so it’s a surprise that they are each 0-2 so far this season. Tim is a little weak at QB with Baker Mayfield and Case Keenum as his QB duo. Baker should turn things around and while Keenum is playing well so far this season, he probably won’t be the starter for too long in Washington. Even though most Dynasty Owners would be better off having Baker on the Bench, Tim isn’t one of them as Keenum should have a rough time against the Bears defense.
- Adam Thielen is a shaky player on Mike’s Active roster since Minnesota hasn’t thrown the ball much to start the season. Mike doesn’t have a lot of better options on his Bench (Calvin Ridley and James Washington) or Practice Squad (Alshon Jeffrey).
- Even though it’s not the Mike Williams from the Chargers, you wouldn’t know it from looking at his roster. He’s got five Chargers on his team (Philip Rivers, Austin Ekeler, Justin Jackson, Hunter Henry and Michael Badgely). Of course, they are all on his Bench or Practice Squad. But still, that’s a lot!
- Speaking of Austin Ekeler, get him off the Bench! He’s only the #1 rated RB in Dynasty Owner. No wonder Mike is 0-2 if he’s benched him both weeks.
- Finally, both Tim and Mike really need to step it up in the creative team name department. We all know Tim is busy squashing programming bugs, so we’ll give him a pass.
We should have another close game this week. Based on the exclusive Dynasty Owner score projections, MikeDynastyMaster should beat Dynasty Owner Tim by a score of 134.2-128.6. Having two Cowboys playing against the Dolphins should help Mike exceed his projections, while Baker is unlikely to reach his point projection which will lead Tim to come up a little short this week. Trash talk away Mike!
Final score prediction: MikeDynastyMaster 136.6 vs. Dynasty Owner Tim 123.2
Check back next Tuesday to see who won this match-up and who’s our Dynasty Owner Player of the Week and Player Value of the Week.
Steven Van Tassell is a freelance writer for Dynasty Owner.
Follow us on Twitter: @SteveVT33 and @Dynasty_Owner