The BEN Fantasy Football Newsletter

NOTE: Any rankings appearing before names in this edition refer to ESPN power rankings, not my own rankings nor the actual fantasy standings. Additionally, last week’s ranking will be used to recap the below matchups, and the new rankings will be used near the bottom where the Power Rankings and the preview for this week’s matchups are.

Week 2 had a mix of nailbiters and blowouts, and only three teams remain unbeaten. Let’s recap what happened:

The matchup of the week, once again, did not live up to the hype. You read that number right, 60.72 points is all Johnny’s team could come up with. I asked last week if Johnny’s team would be able to continue some of their magic into this week, and the answer is a resounding NO. His lineup just screamed failure across the board. RB Travis Etienne Jr. and WR Tetaiora McMillan were the only bright spots, providing 16.9 and 16 points respectively. Broncos Defense actually scored -5 points. RB Derrick Henry, WR Drake London, WR Courtland Sutton, and TE Mark Andrews only scored 11.2 fantasy points COMBINED. And prolific QB Josh Allen only scored 11.82 points, partly due to the game script of dismantling the Jets early. Not a recipe for success. Now there was no beating 154 points from Sudais, but off the bench for Johnny, RB Kenneth Walker III scored 18.8 points, WR George Pickens scored 17.8, and TE Kyle Pitts Sr. scored 7.7. After exploding in the first game, Johnny’s team went the completely opposite way, and will now have to answer to the press this week because of it.

And what a bounce back for Sudais. The largest margin of victory, 93.56 points. I mentioned last week that on paper, Sudais had a strong team and it showed. Double digit performances from everyone except TE Sam LaPorta and K Chase McLaughlin, including an explosion from WR Ja’Marr Chase with 36.5 points. Now that’s the performance you want from the #1 pick, unlike last week. It will be interesting to see how his production might be affected with QB Joe Burrow out for likely the season. But for now, all is well again for the Sea Cox.

This was the closest matchup this week, and one that did not look like it was going to be close halfway through Sunday. TE Tucker Kraft started off the fireworks for Mohit with 24.4 points on Thursday night. RB James Cook followed up on Sunday with 26.5 points (and is currently RB1 of Fantasy Football!). But WR Malik Nabers stole the show with a jaw-dropping 37.7 points. And yet, as Sunday night concluded, it was still too close to call, as QB Jalen Hurts only dropped 11.54 points and WR Ricky Pearsall with only 9.2. K Will Lutz only scored 3.0, as he missed his only field goal attempt from around 40 yards. Monday night only made it more tense, as RB Ashton Jeanty continued to struggle with only 7.4 points. And WR Ladd McConkey continues to be overshadowed, almost to a concern at this point. He only dropped 9.8 points. But in the end, it was enough to outlast Caden’s push and stay undefeated.

It was a valiant attempt for Caden’s team, seeing how they looked dead in the water halfway through Sunday with the explosions from Tucker Kraft, Malik Nabers, and James Cook. But WR Puka Nacua came through with 27.6 points. With RBs Chuba Hubbard and Alvin Kamara doing as expected with 18.7 and 16 points respectively, this one went all the way to the wire. Monday night, Caden only had QB Justin Herbert left to play. And he did his best to win, but ultimately Ladd McConkey, in the few receptions he had, was able to vulture some points and keep Caden’s team at bay. Another tough loss for Caden, who can only help but just continue on. But, the core of Caden’s team is about to dramatically change.

A more comfortable win for Patrick this week, thanks to the boom of WR Amon-Ra St. Brown’s 39.2 points. Incredible. If you see an opponent player with 39.2 points, all you can do is just laugh. With contributions from QB Lamar Jackson (26.3 points) and TE Trey McBride (13.8), his team was able to easily stay undefeated.

And the hits keep coming for Ryan. Only three players were able to hit double digits: RB Bijan Robinson with 19.8 points, WR Tyreek Hill with 16.9 points, and WR Mike Evans with 10.6 points (which still isn’t enough for his standards). The big blow came as QB Joe Burrow only dropped 7.04 points before being injured mid game. He was taken out and evaluated, and now has gotten surgery on a turf toe injury that will lead to him missing most, if not, the rest of the season. On the bench, QB Drake Maye dropped a promising 26.3 points and is going to step in to become the starting QB, in hopes that he will be able to turn this ship around for Ryan.

Eric was able to bounce back against Luke, thanks to double digit performances by everybody except TE T.J Hockenson and Steelers Defense. QB Bo Nix returned to form with 20.24 points. And for a WR2, Davante Adams was able to put up 22.6 points! Impressive. And shout out to what some are calling the best kicker in the NFL: Brandon Aubrey. He dropped 24.5 points, outscoring everyone. This just goes to show that with the revised kicker scoring, kickers have become a lot more important, and could even be league winners. Eric might’ve also batted an eye on WR Rome Odunze on his bench, who dropped 31.8 points. Rome Odunze has looked promising, even as the Bears are 0-2.

Some might say that Luke returned to Earth, failing to score 100 points and losing. If you look at his first three players, you might’ve thought he won this week. QB Jayden Daniels had 19.7, RB Jahmyr Gibbs had 19.4, and RB Bucky Irving had 18.1 points. But after them, there is nothing appealing. WRs Jerry Jeudy and Michael Pittman Jr. each failed to cross 10 points. Phenom TE Brock Bowers, who was projected 15.9 points, only dropped 8.8 points. And I’m not sure who’s advising Luke, but he should probably think twice about starting RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt at his FLEX, who dropped only 1.7 points. Those 14 points in Week 1 might’ve been Fool’s Gold.

Isaac comes up with another comfortable win this week. It did not matter that RB Kyren Williams and WR Garrett Wilson only had 19 points combined. Because RB Jonathan Taylor and WR CeeDee Lamb combined for 49.7 points. And it did not take much else to overcome the measly total that Carson put up. But Isaac’s core is about change as well.

Carson’s team did worse than they did last week. QB Justin Fields only had the courage to drop 3.98 points. RB Omarion Hampton evidently continues to trick managers that drafted him, dropping 3.5 points. Outside of RB Christian McCaffrey dropping 22.7 points, not much else to look around for inspiration on Carson’s starting lineup. This probably would’ve been closer had he started WR Jameson Williams and/or WR Jauan Jennings, who combined for 38.7 points.

Normally I’d move on to my Lucky Rankings, but we have to talk about the multitude of trades that happened since last week.

Isaac gets:

Caden gets:

Commissioner’s opinion: Obviously Isaac valued Puka Nacua a lot to pull off a blockbuster trade. And I’d say this is a pretty even trade. But if I had to choose a side, I am personally (slightly) leaning towards Caden winning this trade.

Caden gets:

Eric gets:

Commissioner’s opinion: Eric gets his wish of bolstering his roster with more reliable weapons, at the expense of Josh Jacobs. And Caden continues to completely flip his roster after an 0-2 start. I’d also consider this trade pretty even, where both sides fill some holes, but I’d lean towards Eric winning this trade.

Carson gets:

Carson also dropped TE Evan Engram immediately after.

Luke gets:

Commissioner’s opinion: Carson finally gets his wish (after it being vetoed before) of reuniting with phenom Brock Bowers. And Luke does end up getting more depth at WR, giving him more options to consider from week-to-week. However, Carson is the clear winner here, giving up nothing significant for a potential superstar in Fantasy Football. Luke does have another great TE in Jake Ferguson that will take over the spot, but did he ask too little for Brock Bowers? We’ll see.

What do you guys think of these trades?

Week 2 of the Lucky Rankings are here. As a reminder, this is a ranking that tries to quantify how “lucky” is team over a season. As the season moves on, the more refined and accurate this data becomes. A reminder that if you end up being the most lucky team, you will infact get a trophy for it.

The farther away from 0 you are, the more lucky/unlucky you are. Alternatively, the more greener/redder you are, the more lucky/unlucky you are. 0 is the baseline, meaning your record is exactly what is expected at that point.

If you’d like to take a look at last week’s ranking, I’ll link the previous edition at the bottom.

Let’s take a look at the ESPN Power rankings after Week 2.

A little shuffling across the board, but Johnny falls 2 spots and Sudais rises 3 spots!

And here is the Commissioner’s Power Rankings:

Here’s a visual of the ESPN Ranking so far:

As we move on to Week 3, let’s see the matchups:

#3 Sudais looks to continue his Week 2 greatness against Carson, but he does have a big question that will need to be answered: How will Ja’Marr Chase’s production be affected with QB Jake Browning taking over for the Bengals, if at all? On the other side, will the newly acquired tight end Brock Bowers (pending approval) be enough to get himself his first win? Which QB will Carson pick up, or does he think Justin Fields will come through after a let down?

The other matchups include:

#2 Mohit (2-0) vs. #9 Ryan (0-2)#4 Isaac (2-0) vs. #7 Johnny (1-1)#5 Luke (1-1) vs. #8 Caden (0-2)#1 Patrick (2-0) vs. #6 Eric (1-1)

Make sure you submit a question for Johnny to answer in his Press Conference! Each manager can submit a question, and the more people that send a question, the better. You’re limited to one question. You can send it in the fantasy group chat, or directly to me if you want it to be a surprise question.

If you haven’t read last week’s edition, here it is:

By participating in this league, you agree to follow the rules. The commissioner reserves the right to issue rulings regarding league matters so long as they don’t conflict with pre-existing rules or previously proposed, but rejected, amendments. These rulings include, but are not limited to: vetoing trades despite public vote, collusion, tanking, and inactivity.