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.

Before I start this off, I want to wish a happy birthday to one of our fellow managers Caden Locklar! I hope this edition of the newsletter does not disappoint you too much on your birthday.

We’ve hit the halfway point of the season, which means Rivalry Week has ended. So let’s see who got the bragging rights.

Sudais stays hot, despite missing out on Deebo Samuel this week! He now has won 4 straight weeks. And the big reason? Joe Flacco threw to his best player Ja’Marr Chase, over and over and over again. Chase garnered an all-time 23 targets, turning 16 of those into receptions for 161 yards and a touchdown to go with it. He scored 38.1 points! Mahomes had 26.24 points, and Jaxson Smith-Njigba had 26.3, who now holds the WR1 title in Fantasy Football right now. Talk about a steal, as Sudais did not take JSN until Week 5, a huge mistake for all other managers. It didn’t even matter that Michael Carter only had 5.6 points, or that the Chargers Defense scored negative 5 points (because so did Mohit’s defense), or that Sam LaPorta (who was forced into a FLEX spot) only scored 4.5 poionts. Sudais has taken control of the league, and other managers should take notice right now.

Coming off a much needed win, Mohit goes right back to the losing column. Ashton Jeanty, much to the demise of the Raiders offense vs the Chiefs, only scored 4.4 points, after back-to-back promising performances. There were promising spots though. Recently acquired Jaylen Warren scored 19.8 points without scoring a touchdown, Ladd McConkey scored 15.7 points, Tucker Kraft scored 16.8 points, and Jalen Hurts had 24.04 points despite being much maligned in the league right now. But the Steelers Defense scored -4 points after being a prime target playing against the Bengals Offense, but we saw how that turned out. Wil Lutz only scored 5.9 points. And Quentin Johnston only scored 11 points, which isn’t terrible, but you would want more from a guy of his caliber. And Brian Thomas Jr., after showing weeks of improvement and promise, dropped a dud of a performance. Only 6.1 points, and also dropped a couple of passes. The fatal mistakes were leaving D’Andre Swift and Keenan Allen of the bench. They had 20.8 points and 28.9 points respectively. Had he had started both, it would’ve made for a more interesting Monday night. Mohit will have to continue to look for answers or trades.

A high scoring effort has finally paid off for Ryan, securing his second win of the season and keeping himself alive in the league! DeVonta Smith had an astonishing total of 33.3 points, while Bijan Robinson continued to be Bijan with 21.2 points. With other contributions from Cam Skattebo (18.4), Drake Maye (23.08), and the Lions Defense with 13 despite only being projected for 3.9, it all combined to be way more than he needed to claim victory over Caden. This is now the second straight win vs Caden in this Rivalry Week matchup!

Caden was brought back down to Ryan’s level this week. Despite Chris Olave booming for 26.8 points, with additions from Tyler Warren and Josh Jacobs, it was nowhere close to Ryan’s output. After trading for Emeka Egbuka, he only dropped 9.8 points. But maybe higher output is returning for him, since Mike Evans will miss “most of the season” with an injury. Rachaad White, despite being projected for 18 points, only managed to score 8.4. Same story for Kyren Williams, who only scored 8.5. Baker Mayfield looked off for the first time this season, only scoring 11.12 points. Thes two teams will continue to try to get out of the pit.

Don’t look now, but Eric has won two straight weeks, both against top teams! Matthew Stafford had 27.38 points, and Davante Adams took advantage of Puka Nacua’s absence and scored 26.5 points. Brandon Aubrey scored 18.7 points! And the Chiefs Defense handled the Raiders, scoring 13 points. There were duds on his team, with boht of his running backs Saquon Barkley and Alvin Kamara scoring 5.2 and 5.9 points respectively. Rome Odunze and DK Metcalf scored 5.1 and 8 points respectively. And the tight end Hunter Henry scored 7.3 points. But it was all enough to beat Johnny and take the bragging rights, for a second straight time in this Rivalry Week matchup!

It was there for the taking, but there wasn’t enough production to give Johnny the win. Dak Prescott scored 23.26 points. Courtland Sutton scored 16.7 points. And the tight end Kyle Pitts scored 13.2! But George Pickens did come back to Earth and scored 12.2 points. Not a bad total, but regression was expected, and Johnny must’ve wanted just a little more from him. Drake London was the big dud in the receiever room, scoring just 8.2 points, only roughly half of what he was projected. A combination of the Falcons offense being absent and Darnell Mooney returning hurt his chances. Matt Gay only scored 2 points as a kicker, the Broncos Defense let the Giants score 32 points and only scored 4 points. Jordan Mason had a decent 11 points, but Travis Etienne Jr. continues to disappoint with 6.5 points. With the league being close together in terms of records, there no time to panic yet. But losing this particular week definitely, especially since Johnny (by a mere 2 points) will have to answer to the press this week!

It was a close one heading into Monday Nightm but Carson made sure tie the season-series in a more-important Rivalry Week matchup. Three players basically did all the work. Christian McCaffrey scored 39.1 points where he could just not be stopped. Recently acquired CeeDee Lamb came back from injury and scored 22 points. And…the Browns Defense?? Yeah, they scored 24 points (despite being projected for 5.6) against a lifeless Dolphins team right now. Together, that accounted for MORE THAN HALF of Carson’s total (52.5% of total points). All he needed were some modest contributions from Eddy Pineiro, Stefon Diggs, and Jordan Love to seal the deal.

Patrick might be losing steam. After a hot start, he’s now 4-3. Trey McBride had an amazing 29.4 points, Amon-Ra St. Brown had 20.6, and Javonte Williams had 18.8 points. It was a close one, but it inevitably wasn’t enough. Marvin Harrison Jr. only scored 7.8, and Tony Pollard continues to have a low ceiling, with 12.1 points. Justin Jefferson had 12.9. For someone of his caliber, if he had performed to a little above his projection, we very well could be talking about Patrick as the winner instead. I’m pretty sure I said Patrick had nothing to panic about after his first loss. I still don’t think it’s time to panic considering how competitive the league is currently, but it might be time to start thinking.

Well, it’s decided. Luke makes better music than Isaac. Jahmyr Gibbs went off for 36.8 points. Michael Pittman Jr. bounced back for 20.8 points, and Jake Ferguson continues to haul in touchdowns, scoring 21.9 points. Rico Dowdle expectedly regressed this week after Chuba Hubbard returned, scoring only 10.6 points. And Jacory Croskey-Merritt, otherwise known as Bill, heavily disappointed with 4.2 points. But with Jayden Daniels scoring a modest 17.74 points, it was all enough to take advantage of Isaac’s depleted roster.

And speaking of, this is Isaac’s third straight loss. Let me shorten this for you guys. There were three fantastic players. Jonathan Taylor boomed for 34.2 points, Quinshon Judkins returned to form with 26.4 points, and the Patriots Defense took advantage of the Titans and scored 20 points. Ka’imi Fairbairn also had 9.2 points. Everyone else was straight garbage. Caleb Williams stunk it up with 4.68 points. Chuba Hubbard expectedly had his opportunities limited with the breakout of Rico Dowdle and scored 7.5 points. In his first game back from injury, George Kittle put up a DONUT! What a travesty. And because of his injured star receivers in Garrett Wilson and Puka Nacua, along with Zay Flowers, Jakobi Meyers, and Keon Coleman all being unavailable, he was left with starting Tre Tucker and Kendrick Bourne and hope for the best. And it went about how anyone would’ve expected it to go. Bourne had 3.4 and Tucker had 8.3. At the end of the day, it was still a close final score, but Isaac has some serious thinking to do after losing three straight. Will he continue to ride out the injuries or make a move?

Congratulations to our Rivalry Week winners, you all will be receiving a trophy at the Trophy Presentation at the Super Bowl Party at the end of the year! And for the losers, better luck next time (assuming I don’t change the matchups again next year).

Week 7 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.

Let’s take a look at the ESPN Power rankings after Week 7.

Carson is the big riser, probably because he now has Christian McCaffery and CeeDee Lamb both on his team. Here is the Commissioner’s Power Rankings:

Here’s a visual of the ESPN Power Rankings so far:

Welcome to a new segment of the newsletter called the All-play standings. This is a record that shows what your cumulative record would be if your team played every other team each week. For example, this week, Ryan scored the most points with 143.48. This week his All-play record would’ve been 9-0 because his total points would’ve beaten anyone. Sudais’ All-play record would have been 5-4 this week, since his total of 122.24 was higher than 5 teams, but lower than 4 other teams. And Johnny’s All-play record would’ve been 0-9, since his total of 97.76 was lower than anyone else’s total meaning he wouldn’t have beaten anyone.

This is an indicator that removes some of the luck involved in a head-to-head scheduling, where you play one team a week, and gives a more accurate picture of each team’s performance.

With that being said, these are the cumulative All-play Standings so far this season:

Both teams are looking to get to 5-3, but only one can this week. It’s been a whirlwind of start/sit decisions for Johnny. Can he get it right this week to take down Carson? Will the star duo of CeeDee Lamb and Christian McCaffrey once again deliver for Carson? Will Nico Collins play for Carson after suffering a concussion? If the potential return of Aaron Jones Sr. happens, will it affect Jordan Mason for Johnny? A lot is at stake here.

The other matchups are as follows:

#3 Isaac (4-3) vs. #7 Mohit (3-4)
#8 Eric (3-4) vs. #10 Ryan (2-5)
#1 Sudais (5-2) vs. #9 Caden (2-5)
#6 Luke (4-3) vs. #4 Patrick (4-3)

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 (to be clear, Johnny will know who sent what question, but the questions will not be revealed to him until close to when its time to answer them, giving him little to no time to prepare answers).

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

Thank you for being in this league.

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.