THE 3 UP, 3 DOWN
NFL SLEEPER CELL FANTASY LEAGUE
LEADERBOARD
10. Charlie Forray – 48.97
9. Joanna Krupnick – 95.52
8. Andrew Wilhelm – 99.55
7. Kevin Morin – 121.02
6. Andrew O’Neill – 132.47
5. Meg Schneider – 145.05
4. Ryan Kelly – 200.56
3. Ned Donovan – 218.96
2. Justin Colombo – 252.19
1. Jake Bridges – 263.57
HOW IT WORKS
Each week our writers will make one sleeper pick each, in the hopes of that guy pulling through and exploding for a big week. We’ll note reasons why we like that player over another so on and what not. Each writer will accrue points every week from their pick, but there’s a catch.
Since it’s about sleepers, we’re going to take the DraftKings ownership percentage and subtract that amount of points. For example, if you select Drew Brees as your pick and he scored 50 points, but his ownership is at 50%, you’ll only score 25. If your Running Back, Wide Reciever, Tight End, or Defense’s ownership is under 5%, your points will multiply, 5% is multiplied by 1.5, 4% by 2, 3% by 3, 2% by 4, 1% by 5, and less than 1% by 6. For Quarterbacks, the multipliers are halved, 4% by 1.25, 3% by 1.5, 2% by 2, 1% by 2.5, and less than 1% by 3.
At the end of the season, the top 2 writers with the most points will split a $100 prize pool $75/$25.
THE PICKS
8. Andrew O’Neill – 132.47
Ardarius Stewart – WR, New York Jets
0.0 Points – 0.000001% Ownership
0 POINTS
I have legitimately never seen this before. I have never seen a player register as 0.00%. We must have been the only lineup he was in. It’s astounding. Stewart failed to put up any sort of points, so it’s sort of a wash, but it’s nice to know that Super Sleepers do in fact exist. I will chase this white whale until I die.
7. Kevin Morin – 119.55
Austin Hooper – TE, Atlanta Falcons
1.60 Points – 8.1% Ownership
1.47 POINTS
Hooper hasn’t lived up to his hype all year, last week wasn’t any different. It’s a little alarming how little Hooper was able to contribute, but then again when Julio Jones doesn’t get a TD until week 7, it’s gonna be rough for everyone. Big Dogs eat first.
6. Meg Schneider – 141.66
Adrian Peterson – RB, Arizona Cardinals RB
4.3 Points – 21.0% Ownership
3.39 POINTS
Peterson failed to repeat his numbers from his Cardinals debut, but it’s not entirely his fault. On his 11 carries, Peterson was only able to garner 21 yards, but the Cardinals had bigger fish to fry. As it usually does when your star quarterback goes out with an injury, there’s a significant learning curve for the replacement. Drew Stanton was 5-for-14, passing for 66 yards after Carson Palmer went down with a broken left arm. The Cardinals were unable to get anything going against the Rams Defense with Stanton calling the plays, so Peterson owners took a big hit.
5. Charlie Forray – 40.79 & Ned Donovan – 210.78
Bennie Fowler III – WR, Denver Broncos
9.50 Points – 13.9% Ownership
8.18 POINTS
Bennie Fowler saw fewer target this week against the Chargers than he did the week before against the Giants. Fowler saw 8 passes his way against the Giants secondary, three of which he hauled in for 21 yards. This week against a solid Chargers defensive backfield Fowler went 5-for-5, racking up 45 yards, averaging 9 yards a catch. In their second straight loss, the Broncos have struggled to get into the end zone, which makes any Broncos player a risky DFS play. With Trevor Siemian trending downwards, there’s not a ton of upside to latch onto int he Mile High City.
4. Joanna Krupnick – 80.01
James White – RB, New England Patriots
16.50 Points – 6.0% Ownership
15.51 POINTS
James White is the unsung hero of the Patriots backfield. There’s so much up in the air each week about the Patriots running game, mainly about who will see the most action. James White will always be the play. When the running game is stalling out, Bellicheck sends in White. A short pass out in the flats on a quick button-hook, James White is the answer. Keeping him on the field brings consistency to the offense, and while Gillislee and Lewis may be the more exciting DFS plays, White is going to perform.
3. Jake Bridges – 244.25
Brett Hundley – QB, Green Bay Packers
12.88 Points – 3.6% Ownership
19.32 POINTS
Hundley didn’t do too much in the realm of passing yards, but it’s his yards on the ground that make him an interesting play moving forward. Through the air, Hundley went 12-for25 for 88 yards but had 3 rushing attempts for 44 yards…. so that’s a thing. If Green Bay can exploit Hundley’s feet moving forward he becomes a very playable option. When you add another running threat to that offense, how can you defend it? Seriously. How?
2. Andrew Wilhelm – 68.35
Thomas Rawls – RB, Seattle Seahawks
5.20 Points – 0.3% Ownership
31.2 POINTS
Rawls and Lacy are in an unspoken timeshare of the Seahawks backfield. Rawls and Lacy each had 11 rushing attempts, with Rawl getting 36 yards to Lacy’s 34. Even split. A fine choice. Could have gone either way, but Rawls potential is still palpable where are Lacy is still on the decline.
2. Ryan Kelly – 169.36
Nick O’Leary – TE, Buffalo Bills
7.8 Points – 2.9% Ownership
31.2 POINTS
Hey. Good for you Nick O’Leary. You had yourself a game. Good for you. I’ll be very honest, I didn’t know too much about O’Leary until this pick came in. Nothing. The name didn’t ring a bell. However, when I did some research and saw that this dude doesn’t wear gloves, I was all about it. O’Leary is trending upwards. In the past two weeks alone, O’Leary has bested his career-best total yardage in a season. At this rate, in two weeks he’ll have doubled his total career yardage. That’s something to get behind.
1. Justin Colombo – 209.79
Marlon Mack – RB, Indianapolis Colts
10.6 Points – 2.2% Ownership
42.2 POINTS
Dear Chuck Pagano,
I saw that before last week’s game you said you were going to use Marlon Mack in a much bigger role. Why did you lie? Why did you lie to me, Chuck? You gave the guy 5 rushing attempts, for which he gained 25 yards. Fine. You gave 9 attempts to Frank Gore who turned that into 34 yards. Not great, Chuck. You didn’t target Gore downfield and mainly used Mack as a check down receiving option. Is that what you meant by “a special player”? Chuckie boy, you know that’s dumb. Give the keys to Marlon Mack and let the boy go off. It’s time to take the reigns off.
Love,
Me.