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By Steven Van Tassell (@SteveVT33)
There were a couple of significant upsets in the NFL this week as the New York Giants defeated the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday and the Washington Football Team took down the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers in the early Monday Night game. The champagne was flowing by the 1972 Dolphins as the last undefeated team left in the NFL lost, thus keeping them as the only undefeated team to win the Super Bowl.
Not only that, but the 0-11 Jets nearly knocked off the 6-5 Las Vegas Raiders, losing on a scrambling 46-yard TD pass from Derek Carr to Henry Ruggs III with five seconds left in the game. And the Jacksonville Jaguars who are 1-10 took the Minnesota Vikings to overtime, only to lose 27-24. Two teams with one win combined each almost won. All four of those teams didn’t give up, kept on playing and won (or almost did).
Keeping on playing to win every week is what Dynasty Owners should do as you never know who is going to have a great week or a poor week. One great week from a fringe starter could help your not-so-great team win or a poor week from a star player might lead your seemingly unbeatable team to defeat. We had quite a few upsets in Dynasty Owner this week by teams that could have packed it in and not tried but didn’t and ended up defeating a team far ahead of it in their League standings. In fact, there were two Dynasty Owner teams in the Top 10 of the Chase for the Ring standings who lost to teams with .500 records.
- The #4 team in Chase (just wanna win) lost a close 147.9 to 141.4 match-up to The Bluntzworths who came in with only a 6-6 record and were projected to lose by 42.3 Dynasty Owner fantasy points.
- The #6 team in Chase (Mad Minshew’s Moustache) was defeated 163.5 to 141.2 by the Turd Ferguson’s who had a 6-6 record.
In addition, two other Top 25 Chase teams (ShowMeThemCeedee’s and Yanji) lost to teams with 7-5 records (Furious Ferrets and Judge Jeudy) who they were projected to defeat by nearly 40 Dynasty Owner fantasy points. We also had the #9 Chase team (The Tough Guys) almost lose to a 4-8 team (Str8 Cash Homie) who they were projected to beat by a whopping 78.5 points. The Tough Guys were like the Raiders and barely pulled out a 125.2 to 122.8 victory. Str8 Cash Homie could have won if Lamar Jackson had run in the Ravens’ final TD of the evening instead of J.K. Dobbins, it was that close for them. Congrats as they kept on playing and almost pulled off a huge upset.
Our Dynasty Owner Player of the Week had himself a great game and his team had to keep on playing until the very end of the game to secure their victory, while the Value Player of the Week wouldn’t have won that honor without playing until the end. We’ll name both of them in this recap article, highlight a player at every position who should have been one of your Starters and one who should have been on your Bench or Practice Squad. We’ll also find out if the teams in our Dynasty Owner Match-up of the Week made their League playoffs or not and take our weekly look at the Chase for the Ring standings.
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). There is also a 3 point bonus for clutch scoring, which is a score that results in a lead change in the final two minutes of the 4th quarter or overtime. Kickoff and punt return touchdowns are worth 6 points for the player and kickoff and punt returns are worth 1 point for every 40 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.
For the purposes of this article, ADP and Dynasty Owner ownership statistics were current as of December 9th.
Dynasty Owner Player of the Week
Our thirteenth and final regular season Dynasty Owner Player of the Week is: Darren Waller
Waller becomes the first TE to win the Player of the Week honor in Dynasty Owner history with his 51.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy point performance (13 receptions, 200 receiving yards, 2 receiving TDs). He is the first TE to earn the 6-point bonus for a 200-yard receiving game and also set the Dynasty Owner record for most points in a single game by a TE. Even after this great performance, Waller is just the second ranked TE in Dynasty Owner, 47.7 points ahead of T.J. Hockenson in third place, but still 45.5 points behind Travis Kelce. That’s fine with his Dynasty Owners who drafted him, on average, 40 draft positions later than Kelce’s Dynasty Owners did (37.2 ADP for Kelce vs. 77.3 ADP for Waller).
- Week 13 Points: 51.0
- 2020 Salary: $7,450,000
- Cost per Point: $146,078
Congratulations Darren on winning your first Dynasty Owner Player of the Week honor and becoming the first TE to win it!
Dynasty Owner Value Player of the Week
Because this is Dynasty Owner and we’re all looking for value from the players on our roster, we also have the Value Player of the Week. The thirteenth and final regular season Dynasty Owner Value Player of the Week for 2020 is: Aaron Jones
Jones is the poster boy for “keep on playing” this week. He was having an average game until his 77-yard TD run with 2:36 left in the Packers’ 30-16 victory over the Eagles. That one play was worth 15.7 Dynasty Owner fantasy point alone as it pushed him over 100 rushing yards for the game. Overall, he had 25.8 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (130 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD, 3 receptions, 18 receiving yards), the lowest number of points in any of his four Value Player of Week performances. Because he kept on playing through the entire game, Jones was able to secure the Value Player of the Week award for himself and his Dynasty Owners.
- Week 13 Points: 25.8
- 2020 Salary: $650,484
- Cost per Point: $25,213
Congratulations Aaron on your second Dynasty Owner Value Player of the Week honor for 2020 and fourth overall in two seasons!
Players Who Should Have Been Starters This Week
Next, we look at those players who should have been one of your Starters based on their performance in Week 13. We aren’t going to write that you should have started Davante Adams or Travis Kelce because barring injury or bye week, both of them should always be in your Starting lineup. Instead, these are players who might be Free Agents or on your Bench or Practice Squad, but likely weren’t Starters in Week 13 when they should have been.
QB: Baker Mayfield (CLE) – 40.8 points
Another week, another player with an incredible first half. Last week, it was Tyreek Hill with 63.9 Dynasty Owner fantasy points overall and 45.3 points in the first half alone. This week, it was Baker Mayfield who had 40.4 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in the first half (290 passing yards, 4 passing TDs, 3 rushing yards, 1 reception, 6 receiving yards). Unlike Hill, Mayfield didn’t do much in the second half and finished with a total of 40.8 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (334 passing yards, 4 passing TDs, 5 rushing yards, 1 reception, 6 receiving yards, 1 fumble – lost). It wasn’t enough to make him the Player of the Week, but still good enough to be someone who Dynasty Owners should have had in their Starting lineup. That’s just as his Dynasty Owners projected him to be when they drafted him (ADP 57.2), not expecting to get the #20 rated QB right now.
Honorable mention to Derek Carr who had more Dynasty Owner fantasy points this week than Mayfield, but was likely in more Starting lineups, even after last week’s -1.3 Dynasty Owner fantasy point performance. That’s because he was playing the Jets and predicted to do far better. Carr didn’t disappoint the Dynasty Owners who started him as he had 44.5 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (381 passing yards, 3 passing TDs, 5 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD, 1 INT). He also got the 3 point clutch scoring bonus for the game-winning TD pass at the end of the game.
RB: Ty Johnson (NYJ) – 21.7 points
The Raiders-Jets game not only featured the near upset by the Jets and the game-winning TD by the Raiders on an ill-fated Jets blitz on the final play, but it also featured an unlikely 100 yard rusher in Ty Johnson. Most fantasy football analysts would have predicted Devontae Booker, playing in place of late first round, early second round (ADP 12.5) Dynasty Owner draft pick Josh Jacobs, to be the backup RB to do so, but it was Johnson. After an injury very early in the game to Frank Gore, Johnson stepped up to score 21.7 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (104 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD, 2 receptions, 13 receiving yards). His low annual salary ($672,976) and ownership (28%) would make him the perfect free agent pickup if there wasn’t a transaction freeze in Dynasty Owner right now. Those of you who have Ty Johnson on your Dynasty Owner roster might be tempted to put him in your Starting lineup in the playoffs after this week’s performance. He should have been there in the last regular season game.
WR: Keke Coutee (HOU) – 24.9 points
With Will Fuller out after receiving a suspension for performance-enhancing drugs on the heels of placing Randall Cobb on Injured Reserve and releasing Kenny Stills, the Texans WR corps was looking a little thin coming into Week 13, but they had to keep playing. Through the first eleven games of the 2020 season, Coutee hadn’t played much, only accounting for 15.5 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (6 receptions, 38 receiving yards, 1 receiving TD, 24 return yards, 1 2-pt conversion, 1 fumble – lost). He ended up exceeded those meager stats in Week 13 alone with 24.9 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (8 receptions, 141 receiving yards, 112 return yards). Coutee should have been in the Starting lineup for his Dynasty Owners.
TE: Dan Arnold (ARI) – 20.1 points
Arnold had quite the efficient Week 13 game against the Los Angeles Rams with 2 receptions on 3 targets for 61 receiving yards and 2 TDs (20.1 Dynasty Owner fantasy points). He really likes playing against the Rams as the last time he faced them in Week 17 of 2019, he had 17.6 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (4 receptions, 76 receiving yards, 1 receiving TD). In the 11 games in between, he only averaged 4.2 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game with a high of 7.9 points back in Week 4. Based on those stats, it’s unlikely that too many of his Dynasty Owners had him in their Starting lineup when they should have done so.
K: Dustin Hopkins (WAS) – 14.0 points
Despite being the kicker for the Washington Football Team all year and the starting kicker since Week 2 of 2015, Hopkins is only owned in 42% of Dynasty Owner leagues. That is despite his $2.48 million salary only ranking 18th among all kickers. So far this season, he’s performed as expected since he was drafted 29th on average (ADP 251.1) and is currently the #26 ranked kicker in Dynasty Owner. He easily exceeded his average of 5.4 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game in Week 13 with 14.0 points. He had 3 FGs of between 40 and 49 yards (two 45 yarders and one 49 yarder) plus 2 PATs and should have been in your Starting lineup.
Players Who Should Have Been on the Bench or Practice Squad
For every player who should have been one of your Starters but wasn’t, we have at least one player who probably was in your Starting lineup but would have been better left on your Bench or Practice Squad. Here are some likely Starters who scored few, none or negative Dynasty Owner fantasy points this week, so they should have been riding your Dynasty Owner Bench or hanging out on the Practice Squad in Week 13.
QB: Justin Herbert (LAC) – 4.4 points
Herbert played the entire game in the Chargers 45-0 loss to the New England Patriots and threw more passes (53) than in any other game in his rookie season. It didn’t matter as he only scored a total of 4.4 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (209 passing yards, 2 INTs) for all of that effort. Facing a Bill Belichick coached team will do that to a rookie. Prior to Week 13, his worse game was back in Week 3 versus Carolina when he had just 18.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points. Herbert was averaging 30.5 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game in his ten starts prior to Week 13 and had more than 25.0 points in eight of those games. He was worthy of starting pretty much every week until this week when his Dynasty Owners would have been better off leaving him on the Bench or Practice Squad.
RB: Miles Sanders (PHI) – 3.1 points
When his Dynasty Owners drafted Miles Sanders, they fully expected to be playing him in every single game, except his bye week. That’s what to expect when a player has an ADP of 13.9. He’s been just ok when healthy in 2020, averaging just 13.5 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game prior to Week 13 when he had his worst game of the season with just 31 rushing yards (3.1 Dynasty Owner fantasy points). It’s difficult to imagine having your first or second round draft pick on the Bench, but that’s where Sanders should have been.
Dishonorable mention to Clyde Edwards-Helaire who was active for the Chiefs game versus Denver but didn’t play a single snap and thus got his Dynasty Owners a Blutarsky (0.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points). After the game, Chiefs Coach Andy Reid said that Edwards-Helaire was only active as an emergency option. This enraged a nation of his fantasy owners who put him in their Starting lineups upon the news that he would be active in Week 13. Kudos to those of you who either ignored this news and left him on your Bench or Practice Squad or didn’t see it and just left him there because you weren’t sure if he would play. Either way you made the correct choice to have Edwards-Helaire on your Bench or Practice Squad.
WR: Terry McLaurin (WAS) – 3.4 points
After Week 13, McLaurin is the #15 WR in Dynasty Owner, but was in the Top 10 before this week’s 3.4 Dynasty Owner fantasy point performance (2 receptions, 14 receiving yards). It wasn’t for a lack of trying to get him the ball as he was targeted six times in the Football Team’s upset victory. Despite missing their top RB in Antonio Gibson and McLaurin’s lack of production, the Football Team kept playing and were able to defeat the previously undefeated Steelers. His team produced a victory, but McLaurin didn’t have a lot of Dynasty Owner fantasy points and would have been better on your Bench or Practice Squad than in your Starting lineup.
TE: Hunter Henry (LAC) – 1.5 points
The Blutarsky streak at TE ends at three as no top ranked TE had 0.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points this week. Hunter Henry was the worst of the likely Starting TEs with just 1.5 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (1 reception for 5 yards) in the Chargers’ loss to the Patriots. Despite a season worst game, Henry is still the #6 ranked TE in Dynasty Owner and generally a week in and week out starting TE. Not this past week as he should have been sitting on your Bench or on your Practice Squad.
K: Will Lutz (NO) – 1.0 points
Lutz carries a salary of $4.05 million annually for each of the next four Dynasty Owner seasons. At that price, he probably should be in your Starting lineup every week and in the Saints’ first 11 games of the 2020 season, he had performed very well, making 20 out of 22 FGs and all 38 PAT attempts. He remained perfect on PATs going 3 for 3 but missed his only FG attempt of 40 yards to garner only 1.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points for his owners. Unfortunately for those Dynasty Owners who had him in their Starting lineup, that was his worst game and one in which he should have been on the Bench or Practice Squad.
Dishonorable mention to three kickers who probably weren’t in many Starting lineups based on their performances this season, but still deserve to be mentioned because they all put up negative points in Week 13. Randy Bullock of the Cincinnati Bengals, Greg Zuerlein of the Dallas Cowboys and Michael Badgley of the Los Angeles Chargers all missed at least one FG each. Bullock had a made PAT and a missed 53-yard FG for -1.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points. Zuerlein missed three out of his four FG attempts (misses of 40, 52 and 53 yards) to go along with one made FG of 31 yards and 2 made PATs for -2.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points. Badgley had the worst game with -4.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points from a missed FG of 46 yards and a blocked FG attempt from 57 yards that was returned by New England for a TD. Hopefully, there aren’t any Dynasty Owners out there with two or even all three of them on their roster who were forced to have one of them in their Starting lineup.
Dynasty Owner Match-up of the Week Recap –
Cap Casualties vs. Squirrel Master
Squirrel Master was able to defeat Cap Casualties by a 148.5 to 122.6 score and claim the sixth spot in their League playoffs with a sub-.500 record. Cap Casualties ended up with the same record as Squirrel Master but just out of the playoff hunt in eighth place. Vampire Facials also made the playoffs despite losing to Tafoya as both of these teams finished 6-7. Vampire Facials had the most points out of the 6-7 teams and finished in fifth place. Tafoya missed out on the playoffs by just over 20 points and earned the top spot in the tournament for the extra draft pick.
As we look to the playoffs in this league, we see Top 25 Chase regular BluecivicJJ sitting in third place in this League and looking at a first-round playoff match versus Squirrel Master. We’ll find out if Squirrel Master will keep on playing to pull off the upset and eliminate a contender from the Chase.
Chase for the Ring Leaderboard
The Dynasty Owner regular season ended this week with little change at the Top of the Chase for the Ring standings. Barbee Kilgore retains the top spot, while Quaranteed for Greatness holds on to second place.
There was slight movement among the rest of the Top 5 among All Might, just wanna win and Bayside Tigers. Out of the Top 10, only one new team appeared (HawkNation in the #10 spot) with Gabagool dropping out.
We may not see much movement again in Week 14 as most of the teams in the Chase standings should have first round byes in the Dynasty Owner playoffs. After that, more teams will lose and drop out of the running since you need to win your League to win the Ring.
Conclusions
The Dynasty Owner playoffs start in Week 14 and as we’ve seen from Week 13 anything can happen on a weekly basis in the NFL and Dynasty Owner. The loser’s bracket tournament for the extra first round draft pick (#13) also starts in Week 14 as well and every team in that tournament has a chance. They just need to keep on playing and try their best to win to grab that extra pick. There’s at least one more week for everyone to keep on playing Dynasty Owner in 2020 and hopefully more.
Right now, we are expecting to be back to our usual Tuesday recap article and Friday preview articles for the Dynasty Owner playoffs. Even if there are game delays, we’ll keep on publishing articles. Please read the Week 14 preview article to see how my Week 13 recommendations did and who should be a Starter and who should be on your Bench in the first round of the playoffs and loser’s bracket tournament. We have an article on League Winners and Playoff Predictions from Matt Morrison – The Jerk (@Dynastyjerk) as well this week. Three weeks without transactions means that we won’t have the regular weekly look at Free Agent Auction targets from Jay Poundsee (@jaypoundsnfl), but he’ll be back. Be sure to follow all of us plus Dynasty Owner (@Dynasty_Owner) on Twitter to read what we’re writing and tweeting.
The podcast series with myself and Dynasty Owner CEO Tim Peffer is live at 1 PM on Wednesday. If you can’t make it live, then watch or listen anytime on the Dynasty Owner YouTube channel. You can catch up with older videos and tutorials there as well. Subscribe as well to receive notifications and make sure to “Like” all of the videos to help promote them. Dynasty Owner is up to 570 subscribers on YouTube. All of this great content is available to help you win your first round matchup or continue your quest to make your way into the Top 25 in the Chase for the Ring standings.
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