Fantasy Football: Week 5 redemption?

My roster for week 5.

It's a very slow news day today so I thought I would do something different. Ok, that's a lie, there is a huge hurricane bearing down on Florida right now which has already made a mess of Hati. Unfortunately, weather is outside of my expertise. I really don't think I would add to much to people's knowledge if I put up a post about hurricane Matthew. I took a weather class in college, but, as soon as I passed the final I forget everything I knew about it.

The hurricane is dominating news coverage right now so that doesn't leave me many options. I could, of course, put up another post about the election, but I think everyone needs a break from that once and awhile. I also think it's good for both this blog and my sanity to have some lighter fare once and awhile. With no movies or TV shows to review, fantasy football is a good outlet for this.

When we last saw my team I was 2-1 after a humiliating defeat in week three. Week four was only slightly better. I was going to lose no matter what, my opponent had Julio Jones who put up 48 points by himself, but I at least broke the 100 point threshold and then some. Though I don't think 114.5 points is a good score at all, it's better then being totally humiliated, and if it wasn't for Julio Jones, it might have been enough to win.  

I've dropped down to 6th place, which is obviously not where I want to be. The good news is that there are no longer any undefeated teams. Right now there are three teams sitting at 3-1 and then five sitting at 2-2, with me being in the middle of that pack. Though I had two bad weeks back to back, I am still in it.

And, as of this Thursday, I think I have a decent chance to win. Why? As you can see above my Cardinals players really came through for me. I started their defense, that did pretty well against the 49ers and got me a respectable 15 points. Anytime you get 10+ points from you D/ST, it's a good day. 

David Johnson really came through for me as well, and I think he has so far really justified my first round pick. He's 2nd in the league for points scored at his position in our scoring system, only behind DeMarcco Murray who went in the 4th round, and he has way out scored the other RB's taken in the first round. His worst game so far is 14 points, which is acceptable, but the 33.5 he scored me might make the difference this week. Anytime you get 30+ points from one position, your team has to really work hard to lose. Given the 15 points the D/ST gave me, my time will have to completely blow it to lose this week. 

Still, I have some concerns. I am in bye week and injury hell right now. Christine Michael, Brandin Cooks and Julius Thomas are all on bye week and just about everyone else is injured. This is where having good fill ins helps though. Though I am not super happy with Isaiah Crowel's matchup, it's still a good sign when the #7 RB points scored, is filling in for your starters. And besides a rough game last week against a very good Minnesota defense, Sterling Shepard has been a rock solid flex play. 

I'm not so sure about everything else. It's starting to look like my concerns about Alshon Jeffery are coming true. He's been ok this year, but the injury concerns, QB play and lack of TD's makes me think that he's not going to be someone I can rely on. He should be OK this week, but what about the future? And if, for some reason, he is held back, my remaining options to replace him with are not good. I really need him to step up his game or I might have to look at other options. 

And I have a total nobody starting at TE. I picked up Gary Barnige off of waivers last week because of the injury to Julius Thomas. He was really good last year but this year, he's an afterthought in a bad Browns defense. Plus he has a bad matchup against the Patriots as well. Too bad there isn't anyone else better available on waivers. All I can hope for is that he doesn't put up a donut and gets me at least 10 points.  

Still, getting almost 50 points from two players means that even if my team only does the minimum I should at least break 100 points. Right now I am projected to get 144, which usually is enough to win. At the very least I have a shot this week, especially since my opponent has problems as well. He's got Cam Newton and Ron Gronkowski, which would usually be good news, but for the fact that they are both hurt and may not even play. He also has almost nothing at WR, so even with all my team's problems, I think I can redeem myself this week, if I get even a little bit lucky. We will have to wait until Monday to know for sure though...