Jeff's Week 4 Power Rankings (Part 1)

1) Cry Me A Rivers (3-0)

At the end of Week 3, we have already seen two teams set themselves apart from the rest of the pack. The first is Andrew's. The second is Abraham's. I had a hard time deciding who to rank first but I decided to give Andrew the edge for two main reasons: a) Andrew is undefeated and b) Andrew has more depth on his bench. Abraham is a very very close second though.

What I like: 

a) Andrew's WRs. With Fitz, Edelman, Allen, and Marshall in tow, Andrew has hands down the best and deepest set of WRs in the league. And here's the crazy part... He only spent a total of $36 on them. Marshall was $15, Kenan Allen was $11, Larry Fitzgerald was $7, and Julian Edelman was $3. That's less than the $38 he threw away on Jordy Nelson. Talk about finding diamonds in the rough! Kenan Allen has bounced back nicely from a down year where he put up subpar numbers. Fitz is benefitting from having a healthy Palmer back at the helm. Julian Edelman is reaping the benefits of Tom Brady's suspension being overturned coupled with the Patriots' "scored earth" strategy on offense. As an interesting side note, did you know that Edelman had an insane 19 targets in Week 2?!?! He's turning into the second coming of Wes Welker. Finally, to my surprise, Marshall has been able to make it work with journeyman quarterback Fitzpatrick in New York. The best thing that could've happened to Andrew was Geno breaking his jaw. No way Marshall gets this type of production with Geno at QB. And to top it all off, Andrew adds Marvin Jones as his WR#5 for $20 just so he can ride his bench all season long. Oh man, I would hate to be Andrew right now. It must be so difficult for him to figure out which WR to play each week. =)

b) AP. It is becoming increasingly harder these days to find a bonafide, #1 fantasy RB that you can count on week in and week out. AP is one of the few RBs that still fits this bill. He's worth every dollar Andrew spent on him.

c) TE. Jordan Reed was a nice pick-up on Andrew's part. He may not get a lot of TDs this season, but he will get the yards as Washington's #1 receiving option. He also serves as great insurance for Julius Thomas, who could conceivably not pan out in Jacksonville.

d) Matt Bryant. Atlanta's offense is rolling so that means plenty of points for its kicker.

e) Roster depth. Andrew has the deepest team in the league. In a league where injuries are increasingly becoming a problem, Andrew can afford to lose a player a two and still do just fine.

What I don't like: 

a) Philip Rivers. I'm not crazy about Andrew's QB. Most weeks Rivers should chip in a solid 15+ points a game, but every now and then, Rivers will play like a bonehead, turn the ball over a bunch, and finish with less than 10 points. That inconsistency would drive me crazy. If I were Andrew, I would pick up a second QB as insurance. There are were plenty of other promising QBs on the waiver wire at the end of Week 3 (Tyrod Taylor and Derek Carr), but it looks like they've been snapped up now. Joe Flacco may be worth picking up and stashing on the bench just in case.

b) RB #2. If I were to nitpick here, I would say that Andrew is a little weak at the RB#2 position. When Ellington went down in Week 1, Andrew was able to fill the gap nicely with Geo Bernard, but I'm not convinced he will keep producing going forward. Even though Geo has outperformed Hill the past two weeks, Cincy's coaching staff continues to insist that Hill is their #1 back. Ellington is now back, but he's facing the prospect of a timeshare with one or both Johnsons. Gurley is a rookie RB who is coming off an ACL injury, so the Rams will look to work him in slowly. And Sproles is an awesome RB but doesn't get enough touches to be a consistent scoring threat each week. If one of these RBs doesn't turn into a consistent starter, Andrew may have to just play the match-up roulette game all season long.

2) Di Yi (2-1)

After Tony Romo went down, I thought Abraham's team was going to take a step back. Boy was I wrong. In Week 3, his team blew up for 184.42 points despite the fact that one player (Terrence Williams) put up zero points. While I doubt his team will continue to sustain this type of play every week, Abraham has established himself as the one of the clear favorites to win the regular season championship. I'd be very very afraid to play his team if I were you.

What I like: 

a) Abraham's managerial prowess. I don't know how he does it, but Abraham always seems to make the right roster moves at the right time. Romo goes down? No problem. Let's pick up Andy Dalton--who is arguably playing better than Romo was this season--and plug him in at the QB position. Rashad Jennings isn't panning out? No problem again. Let's just sub Chris Johnson in (who mind you Abraham picked up off the waiver wire before the season) to the tune of three TDs. Alshon Jeffrey's hurt? Let's pick up Terrence Williams and squeeze some points out of him - 14 points in Week 2 and 0 points in Week 3. While Williams laid an egg in Week 3, he filled the hole long enough for Jeffrey to come back. Major props.

b) Abraham's WRs. Like Andrew, Abraham's draft strategy was to go all in on WRs. Unlike Andrew's strategy, he paid top dollar for his talent and so far it's paying off. Sanders for $30. Green for $40. Jeffrey for $39. That's a total of $109. He's also got Terrence Williams on the bench, who was a good waiver wire pick-up before Romo broke his collarbone. I'm not sure how productive he is going to be now that Weeden's delivering him the ball.

c) Arizona defense. Has anyone watched Arizona's defense play yet? They are absolutely filthy. The honeybadger flies all over the field doing honeybadger things. He don't care. Last week I watched Mathieu pick Kapernick twice, taking one of the ints back to the house. And guess how much Abraham paid to draft Arizona D? Yep, only $1. 

d) Gostkowski. The Patriots are going to mercilessly drop as many points on their opponents as possible. 

What I don't like:

a) No Romo = no points for other Cowboys. If Week 3 is any indication of Dallas' game plan going forward, then the future does not look bright for Witten or T. Williams. Expect Dallas to pound the ball a bunch and then pound it some more to prevent Weeden from having to throw the ball.

What I'm not sure about:

a) Thus far, Andy Dalton has been killing it this season, but I am a little wary of him given his past history. Every year Dalton starts off well but then chokes under pressure down the stretch, especially in the playoffs. Will this year be any different? Has Dalton turned over a new leaf? I am going to reluctantly say... yes. Why? Over the last couple of years, the Bengals have invested heavily in their O-line, making it one of the deepest and most talented in the league. A good O-line in Cincinnati means no pressure on Dalton, which translates into FF numbers. Through Week 3, this has proven to be the case. It will be interesting to see how Dalton responds in Week 5 versus the Seahawks and Week 6 against the Bills.

3) Aaron Chou's Team (2-1)

On draft day, we all watched as Aaron spent all of his money on his first three draft picks (Bell, Luck, and DeMarco) and then was relegated to hunting in the bargain bin for cast-offs like Palmer ($1), Decker ($6), Smith ($4), and...Duron Carter ($4). Out of these picks, it looks like he has struck gold on Palmer, Decker and Smith. Not bad for $11. How much of this is Aaron getting lucky? And how much of this is a product of good drafting? I'm going to argue the former. Anybody who blows $94 on FF disappointments, Luck and DeMarco, and somehow ends up with the third best team in the league is just plain lucky.

What I like:

a) Carson Palmer. Great pick-up on Aaron's part. Palmer's career kind of reminds me of Kurt Warner's. When they were young, they were both big shot QB who put up crazy fantasy numbers, then they got injured, and bounced around the league awhile before finding a second life in Arizona. As long as Palmer stays healthy, Aaron's team will have a chance.

b) Bell's back! Aaron survives the first two weeks by going 1-1 without Bell. Now that Bell's back and Big Ben is out, expect the Steelers to feed the ball even more to Bell.

c) Aaron's WRs are surprisingly decent. Smith is playing out of his mind right now because Flacco has no one else he can reliably throw the ball to. Like Marshall, Decker has come back to life thanks again to Geno Smith breaking his jaw. Best thing that probably could've happened to the Jets offense. Recent pickup, Rishard Matthews, is scoring more points than Jarvis Landry. And Duron Carter has finally been banished to the waiver wire where he belongs. Not bad for a bunch of bargain bin WRs.

What I don't like: 

a) RB #2. Philly's offense looks awful. As Business Insider has pointed out, more and more defenses are catching onto ChipKelly's schemes, which apparently involves running the same four/five plays over and over again as fast as possible. Bradford hasn't proven that he can throw the long ball, and the Eagles O-line is a mess. While the Eagles running game did well in Week 3, I don't think this will be the norm. Finally, factor in a red hot Sproles pilfering carries, and it doesn't look good for DeMarco. As for his other RBs, they all have concerns. Matt Jones is sharing with Alfred Morris, CJ Spiller can't stay healthy, and Dion Lewis now has to split touches with Blount. Until one of Aaron's RBs emerges as more of a consistent scoring threat, I won't rank him higher.

b) Andrew Luck looks awful and nothing like the star he was last season when he led all QBs in scoring. Will the Colts eventually turn things around? I think so, but Aaron may not need him anymore with Palmer playing so well. Either way, he's a great back-up to have on the bench and may have some trade value going forward.

What I'm not sure about:

a) Steve Smith is looking like a top wideout right now, but will it last? Last season he started off well and then faded down the stretch. While Smith is good, he's no Julio Jones. As defenses start to key on him, I wonder if we will see a drop-off in his production.

4) DanceDothe#JULIO (1-2)

I've got Eric's team ranked as the #4 team right now. I want to see more consistent scoring from his RBs before I rank him higher.

What I like:

a) Julio Jones! He's a scoring monster. Literally unstoppable.

b) Defense. Carolina is playing well. Imagine what will happen when they get Kuechly back and add Jared Allen. Nice job on Eric's part to pick up Philly D. What was I thinking in dropping them??? So dumb on my part.

c) Eifert. He's playing like a top 5 TE right now.

What I don't like:

a) Eric's RBs. LeSean McCoy is not the same player he was a couple of years ago. He's constantly injured and losing more and more carries to Karlos Williams. Doug Martin's comeback has been a dud. Frank Gore had a great Week 3, but he's old, playing on a struggling Colts offense, and behind a crappy O-line. And Ryan Matthews is still playing behind DeMarco and splitting carries with Sproles. None of this seems sustainable.

b) Russell Wilson. The Seahawks have started every game off this season slow. They do nothing in the first half, realize they are losing, and then come out charging in the second half. Imagine what kind of points Wilson would put up if the Seahawks offense actually played both halves.

c) WR #3. I think Eric could upgrade his WR #3 position. Shorts has been underwhelming. I'm also not that crazy about Parker, Green-Beckham, or Colston either.

What I'm not sure about:

a) Hilton does not have a TD yet this season, but I think this will change as the Colts right the ship. He’s also battling a knee injury right now.

5) DeEz Nuts (2-1)

Tough loss for Justina. Big Ben hurts his knee and is out 4-6 weeks, which doesn't bode well for Justina's playoff prospects. I'm going to tentatively rank her as the #5 best team right now (based on past performance), but I think her team is going to drop a bit. Hopefully, Vick will play well and prove me wrong.

What I like:

a) Gronk. Rex Ryan said it was impossible to cover Gronk. I agree. There's Gronk and then there's every other TE. He's in a class by himself.

b) RBs. So far, Justina's RBs have played better than expectations. Randle had 3 TDs last week, but I’m little worried opposing teams are going to catch onto Dallas’ one-dimensional strategy. Ingram has played well so far. He’s not getting a lot of yards but making up for it with TDs. He also is the clear #1 in New Orleans, so that's a nice plus.

c) WRs. It doesn't matter who the QB is in Houston. Hopkins always delivers. Landry is a target machine in Miami. And Kendal Wright is the clear #1 in Tennessee.

What I don't like:

a) Vick. I'm not a big fan of his. He's old, not the best thrower, and admitted last year that he hadn't studied the playbook that hard while with the Jets. Yikes.

b) The bench. I think it's time Justina hit the waiver/trade wire and upgrade her bench. DeSean Jackson is injured and playing in a weak Washington offense. DeAngelo had a great two weeks, but now has been relegated to the sidelines. Brian Quick is just taking up space. Heyward-Bey is about to lose what little value he had with M. Bryant coming back from suspension. And Crowell plays for Cleveland. Can't remember the last time they had a good RB.

c) Big Ben's injury. Big Ben was going to be a top 5 FF QB this year.

6) I Called Game (1-2)

Even though Duke lost last week to Abraham by over 120 points, I don't think his team is as bad as his record indicates. His team is going to rebound over the next couple of weeks, especially with Foster coming back. His team is really promising. It has the potential to be top 3 in our league.

What I like:

a) Tom Brady. Last year around this time we were all saying Brady was finished. Too old. Not an elite FF QB any more. Now look at him. Kudos for Duke for taking a flyer on Brady when no one else would touch him in the wake of the Deflategate scandal. The Patriots are on a mission to prove all the haters wrong, which means lots and lots and lots points for Duke.

b) RB depth. One could look at Duke's RBs and say that they are mess. Foster's injured. Jeremy Hill can't stop fumbling the ball. Blount is talented, but playing for a team that uses him inconsistently. Some weeks Blount will get 25+ carries and 3 TDs, and other weeks he won't even see the field. And Jon Stewart is leaving Cam hanging. While RB has not been a strength of Duke's thus far, something tells me that his RBs are going to do better. Hill is way too talented for Cincy to bench him forever. Arian Foster will be a force to reckon with when he returns from injury. I'm also high on Blount. I think he's eventually going to outplay Lewis.

c) Jets Defense. The Jets are deep at DE and they have two shutdown corners in Revis and Cromartie. I'm not sure what happened in Week 3 against Philly, but I don't expect that to be the norm.

d) WRs. Duke's WRs are also not playing well right now, but I think that will change. Calvin Johnson is bound to blow up at some point once Stafford figures things out. Crabtree is rising with Carr as his QB. And Matthews is still cleaning up in garbage time. Vincent Jackson and John Brown are good WRs to sub in and out depending on the matchup. Palmer likes Brown, so he gets some looks every now and then.

e) Derek Carr. I think he's really underrated. Great sub for Tom Brady on his bye week, and a great backup QB to have in case Brady goes down.

What I don't like:

a) Kyle Rudolph. Duke could use a better TE. Bridgewater has not taken the big step forward people were predicting he would make.