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.

As I’m writing this, the Kentucky vs Louisville game is tonight. I am rushing to write this to be able to watch that game, so enjoy a more condensed edition this week.

Editor’s note: What a waste of time.

Week 10 came and went, so let’s recap what happened.

It’s now 4. straight. wins for Luke, making him a back to back Matchup of the Week winner! And it’s his third time winning such matchup. Jahmyr Gibbs had 38.2, Jameson Williams had 23.9, and with healthy contributions from newly-acquired Travis Etienne Jr., Theo Johnson, the Texans Defense, and Tyler Loop, it was all enough to get himself to 2nd place in the standings! What a season so far for Luke.

It’s tough to win when one of your players drops a donut, and DJ Moore was the one who did it. Eddy Pineiro had 2 points, and Brock Bowers came back to reality in a big way scoring only 3.7 points. Everyone else on Carson’s team did great, but the bottom half did terrible, bad enough that the difference was insurmountable.

This weeks puts an end to the 4 game losing streak, as Patrick wins. Trey McBride was Trey with 27.7 points, and the receivers Marvin Harrison Jr. and Amon-Ra St. Brown combined for 31.1 points, but the main story was TreVeyon Henderson. He finally emerged with a 28 point bomb that definitely was the difference maker in this week’s matchup.

There were some big holes in Mohit’s performance. Jalen Hurts only had 12.02 points, although the possibility of that happening wasn’t low. James Cook III again looked average with only 10.7 points against the Miami Defense of all teams. Wil Lutz continues to disappoint as kicker with only 3.2 points. But trying to replace Tucker Kraft is an impossible mission. And Mohit tried his best with Hunter Henry, but he ended up dropping only 1.9 points. It might be danger time for Mohit’s season, trying to avoid last place.

What a big win for Caden. Everybody except for the Jaguars Defense and Chris Boswell had double digit performances. Kyren Williams had 22.4, Josh Jacobs had 19.7, Emeka Egbuka had 23.5, and Tyler Warren had 17.9. A very balanced production by Caden’s team!

Tough loss for Johnny. Despite Drake London continuing his hot streak scoring 24.4 this week, it’s a loss. Derrick Henry only had 11.4, Rico Dowdle had 15.3, Courtland Sutton disappointed with 5.4, and Kyle Pitts Sr. only had 5.8. You gotta tip your cap and move on.

De’Von Achane dropped 40.5 points and that’s pretty much all she wrote for Sudais this week. To go along with that, Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 20.3, and the Chargers Defense had 16. Sam LaPorta also had 10.3. Another week, another win for Sudais.

Make that three straight losses for Eric, which now has him at the bottom of the league in the standings. Matthew Stafford had 26.9, Davante Adams had 19.7, Ashton Jeanty had 15.3, but the other half of his team was BAD. A.J Brown continues to be mysterious, this week dropping 3.3 points. Oronde Gadsden II had 4.3, Keenan Allen had 3.9 (but congrats to him for becoming the all-time reception leader for the Chargers!), and the Rams Defense had 5. For scoring the lowest amount of points this week among all managers, Eric will have to answer to the press for the THIRD time this season!

Another losing streak ended this week, as Isaac wins his first matchup in six weeks! And Jonathan Taylor decided he had enough of losing on Isaac’s team, he dropped the nuke with 49.6 points!! George Kittle emerged with 23.4, Jaxson Dart had 26.28, and Puka Nacua had 17.4. But some concerning news, as Garrett Wilson had 0 points and now is expected to miss several weeks again with an injury, so that is something Isaac will have to manage.

A more expected loss for Ryan. Kyle Monongai was unable to win the RB battle, scoring only 8.8 points, largely due to a touchdown. Bijan Robinson continues to concern managers, this week dropping only 10.8 points (while his counterpart Tyler Allgeier had 17 due to scoring the TDs). Dalton Kincaid had 5.7, and the Lions Defense had 4. Ryan had great performances from DeVonta Smith (16.9), Jaylen Waddle (19.4), and Drake Maye (18.1), but it clearly wasn’t going to be enough.

Let’s take a look at a trade completed this week.

Luke receives…

Johnny receives…

Comissioner’s Opinion: I’m leaning towards Luke winning this trade.

I would put a poll here, but BeeHiiv (the new hosting site of this newsletter) has locked polls behind a paywall. One of the very little disadvantages compared to Substack.

Week 10 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 8.

And here is the Commissioner’s Power Rankings:

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

The All-Play Record is a record that shows what your cumulative record would be if your team played every other team each week.

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:

Here comes the rematch between these two teams. Johnny gets George Pickens back, will he be enough to get an upset bid over Sudais? Or will Sudais’ overwhelming roster once again impose its will on Johnny?

The other matchups are as follows:

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

Make sure you submit a question for Eric 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 to me if you want it to be a surprise (to be clear, Eric 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).

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.