Commissioner Power Rankings - Week 8

Commissioner Power Rankings (Commish)
#1

Ah yes, Week 8 and 9. The BYE weeks of all BYE weeks. These are the weeks that 6 NFL teams are on BYE and rosters have to be jumbled to piece together the right combo from what’s left. There’s a bit of skill and a whole lot of luck involved with these weeks. Some teams (like mine) aren’t phased by this week at all, whereas others (like Alex’s) have over half their starters missing. Most teams have a particularly “bad bye week” where you have many starters out (mine’s week 11 with ATL and NYJ). The skill portion of this is choosing the right bench players and playing the waiver wire well. The luck portion is everything else. Will that RB you picked up as an emergency play pan out? Yes in this case for Ian A. Will the only usable QB on your roster be better than a waiver pickup? No, in Chasen’s case.
The number of players teams are missing this week greatly affect the power rankings. Things should level out more or less next week when most starters are back in lineups. Note: BYE weeks continue through week 13.

As we hit the second of these back-to-back loaded bye weeks, I wish you the best of luck and remind you to hold onto hope : ) Remember, 7 teams in our league are within a game of each other (8 within 2 games). There will be hope all the way through Week 13.

POWER RANKINGS WEEK 8

  1. TEAM DYNASTY - @IanC . This week’s win was a combination of Team Matt (Ryan and Forte that is), a fortuitous bye week, and lucky coaching. Lambo managed to put up a goose egg as a kicker and the waiver wire pickup for guaranteed points of a D/ST against Cleveland scores just one point. TY goes out early and luckily makes one catch right at the end of the game for a grand total of 2 points. Julio rolls his ankle on top of it all. Despite the not-so-great showing this week, still 1 in PF and Bell is back. No crazy BYE week stuff for this team this week, but week 11 looms. (Last Week’s Rank: 1. Weeks at #1: 5)

  2. Santa Barbara Sailors - @jonathan . Not a great showing last week, but it was to be expected with OBJ, AB, and Jarvis all on BYE. The Sailors look to be back to form this week against Paul’s team. Currently in 2nd in the standings and 4th in PF, this team has found itself with a spinning RB roulette wheel all year. Rawls goes out, Ware becomes a stud, Mathews goes in a time-share, Howard gets a starting job, Ware gets injured, Howard may lose starting job, Booker becomes a starter, etc. etc. All the while, this team gets to keep a steady stream of quality WRs in its lineup. Guess what? no more BYE weeks for these receivers. It’s full steam ahead. (Last Week’s Rank: 3. Trending UP 1)

  3. I Need More Than Just Luck - @ianamunrud . This team was sixth in the power rankings last week and then pulled off highest score. You’re welcome. People should be asking me to put them lower in these rankings so their teams can blow up (in a good way). The Robert Kelly pickup was huge. Each starter put up good points and Dak and Dez may have a thing that can carry into the future (to the future!). As for this week, AJ Green and Lamar Miller are out. It’s time to see if Jay Ajayi is the real deal (but because he is in this team’s starting lineup, you know it won’t be the case : ). Replacing those players? Demaryius Thomas and Todd Gurley/Carlos Hyde. This team had a rough start, but it’s moved from from 9th in PF to 6th in a few weeks and looks to continue the trend. This team is the definition of trending up. (Last Week’s Rank: 6. Trending UP 3)

  4. Brandon McManus - @mikeastock . You guys! Stock won! You guys! Stock is one game out of 3rd place!* The competitive nature of this league means that this team just has to pull off a few more wins to be playoff bound. This team was dead last two weeks ago and currently sits in 6th. Being 5th in PF is going to be helpful in tiebreakers. Here’s the thing: next week is this team’s worst BYE week, so it should expect a hefty drop in the rankings next week. For now, it has all of its starters available to play and is up against Alex with the Patriots on BYE. This week should end in victory for this team. (Last Week’s Rank: 4. Weeks at #4: 2)

  5. “Chinese Characters About A Horse Team” - @ventura . This team is back to .500 on the year, is 2nd in PF and currently in 3rd place in the standings. A lot of things have gone right for a team that lost Keenan Allen at the beginning of the season and Danny Woodhead + Kevin White shortly after. If you think about it, this team is defying many odds to be where it is now. Andrew V doesn’t have to worry about BYE weeks much for the rest of the season. Elliot’s locked in the lineup with Christine Michael and Jonny Stewart. Like Garrett’s team, this team is relying on RBs to carry it through the season. Well, that and Drew Brees’ arm. Hey! Jeremy Maclin is relevant when Foles throws. Perhaps Andy Reid liked what he saw on Sunday…The WRs are still up-and -down on this team, but playoff expectations have been set. (Last Week’s Rank: 7. Trending UP 2)

  6. All Aboard the Wentz Wagon - @chasenrogers . Wentz didn’t feel like assisting his own wagon this week. Carson gave his best Alex Smith impression with dink-and-dunk throws against Dallas, but there weren’t a lot of yards to be had. Also Eagles WRs don’t like to catch the ball. It’s a bold wildcard strategy Cotton, but I don’t think it’s paying off. This week: Gio, Fitz, Z. Miller, and Cardinals D/ST are on bye. Not a great setup. The good news? Emmanuel Sanders has a soft Oakland secondary this week and Moncrief can be activated. We’ll have to keep an eye out on the Jacquizz Rodgers injury situation (I never expected that guy would be fantasy relevant ever again). If he can’t play, a lot of trust is going to be given to TJ Yeldon…or Darren Sproles. (Last Week’s Rank: 5. Trending DOWN 1)

  7. A Britt of Hope - @awmelman . After a great win last week, this team can’t get back over 100 points. To be fair NO ONE in all of sports would have predicted Mark Ingram to end up with -1.5 points. Matt Berry is going to be livid. Also, Ty Montgomery didn’t play, he was a last minute inactive. The matchup could have been very different if Melton makes a last minute roster adjustment (it would have had to have been Hill or Roberts though). The good - Rodgers gets a weak Indy defense and Ingram (assuming he starts) should have a field day in the bay this weekend (you know…assuming numbers are useful to predict things). The bad: Jamison Crowder looked great! … and is now on BYE with Will Fuller. Dorsett may not play, so we’re looking at Lockett, Wallace, Britt, or Tyreek Hill in this one. (Last Week’s Rank: 8. Trending UP 1)

  8. Equipe Wildcard - @PaulDawg . Whatever it takes to trend up! This team is missing Alshon, but is able to play Pryor, Snead, Diggs, and Hurns this week. Charcandrick West may have a good number of carries this week depending on Charles’ and Ware’s health this week. Unfortunately while this team has more playable starters than most this week, this team has to play Jon’s team who just finished up their worst BYE week of the year. Brown, OBJ, and Landry are all back in the lineup. If Paul wants to climb his way to the top, he’s going to have to earn it this week. (Last Week’s Rank: 10. Trending UP 2)

  9. Mr. Hemingway I Presume - @gbhart . This is 100% BYE week related. This team won with the fourth lowest score this past week, but has had an excellent run currently 3rd in PF for our league. However, this week this team does not have Dalton and the only usable QB on his bench plays the Seahawks. This team is without Garcon, Floyd, and most importantly Hopkins. Those are, for those keeping track, this team’s regular starting 3 WR. Also no LeGarrette Blount, currently RB5 in fantasy. That’s five starters. This team has an uphill battle this week but should be able to score a lot of points in the following weeks. (Last Week’s Rank: 2. Trending DOWN 7)

  10. Now That’s What I Call QB, 69 - @Alex . This is mostly just a promise kept. Alex has 4 regular roster spots dedicated to the Patriots in his starting lineup (not counting Hogan). Who else is on BYE when the Patriots are off? Cardinals (David Johnson), Bengals (Brandon LaFell & CIN D/ST), and the Bears (Ka’Deem Carey). Mike has all of our envy to play this team this week. If this team beats Mike, however, there will be no end of it. To note: this team lost last week with the 3rd highest score. Expect a jump up next week. (Last Week’s Rank: 9. Trending DOWN 1)

Off into another week we go. As always, I love you all and wish you great success in your fantasy and real-life endeavors.
Blessings.