Power Rankings: Week 1

Week 1 is always fun, because it's the start of something new.  For some, that came in good news, for others, not so good news.  For all, a new set of power rankings!

1. THE Pain Train (1-0) [1]

Gabs's team is still clearly dominant.  Imagine how many points he would have scored with CJ Spiller in the lineup instead of Fred Jackson.  I guess that's what next week is for.  Even with Stafford underperforming significantly, Flacco looks like he'll be a decent backup plan.  Gabs's WRs were just ridiculous, and McFadden added some solid numbers.  It doesn't hurt to have a defense that puts up 18 points, either.

2. The Debbinator (1-0) [9]

Ok, so I totally underestimated David's team.  I still don't like Drew Brees.  And I still see weaknesses in his team.  But I can't come up with an argument against placing him any lower than this.  He scored the most points this week, and it came from respectable sources (Steve Smith, Maclin, Forte, Hernandez).  I think Hernandez and Smith will continue to produce week-to-week.  However, I'm still not convinced about how consistent Maclin or Forte will be.  But for now, David has proven that he has a team to be reckoned with.  In spite of my dislike for Brees.

3. RelientK (0-1) [6]

How can a team lose and still move up in the rankings?  By putting up 110 points in a week, and having only 9 of those come from K / DEF combined.  That's impressive.  Rice continues to dominate like nobody's business, and Bradshaw showed up to play against Dallas.  As for her WRs, evidently, the Cutler-Marshall connection is still there.  And assuming that Laura gives Moore more playing time, her WRs are looking rather formidable.  Her team is another one that I seemed to have underestimated.  Funny story, I actually did have Laura as high as #2 in my preseason rankings before I came up with the final list.  My reasons for bumping her down were (1) Tony Romo, and (2) lack of depth on her bench.  So far, she's proving me wrong.

4. Rainbow Warriors (0-1) [3]

Wow, Adrian Peterson.  Very impressive for Jeff's team.  Too bad he didn't start him, or else he would have definitely had the win.  I think with the return of Britt and Moore, he'll be alright at the WR position as well.  He just has to hope Peterson stays healthy, and Gore keeps producing.

5. Spider Pig (1-0) [4]

Wait, didn't Luke beat Jeff this week?  Yes.  So why is his team lower in the ranking than Jeff's?  Simple.  His starting RBs were so sorry last week.  Ridiculously sorry.  If it weren't for his 31 points from K / DEF (highest in the league, Chicago playing a still-recovering Indy offense), it would have been a lot harder for him to capture the victory.  Yes, he had points on the bench that were unused.  A lot of points.  And yes, he got the win, so I shouldn't be a hater.  But I see trouble in Luke's future, trying to figure out which RBs to start each week.  Is Kevin Smith really going to blow up like that each week?  I doubt it.  How about Sproles?  Unlikely.  Jamaal Charles?  Clearly, no.  The rest of his team, however, is respectably solid.  Garcon's stock went up with RGIII's, as did Boldin's with Flacco's.  How that will play out in the long-run is yet to be determined, so for now, I still think he has a weaker team than Jeff's.  Maybe he should start thinking about cashing in on his QBs for an upgrade in RB.  Just sayin'.

6. odoyle RULES (1-0) [7]

Obviously, I am very pleased that I had the highest scoring player in fantasy this week.  Matt Ryan, I hope you continue to flourish in your throwing abilities.  I'm also happy with how my RBs performed.  But as was the case last week (and much of last year), I am still struggling at the WR position.  Struggling very hard.  At least my K / DEF picked up some of the slack and carried me to the victory and a respectable amount of points.  But I can't bank on that each week, so until the rest of my team proves itself each week, I'll head up the bottom half of the rankings.

7. JUSTINA OWNS (0-1) [2]

Justina's team was also a sufferer of wasted points on the bench.  It's not like she started the wrong players - who knew Fitzpatrick would do better than Cam, or Nate Washington + James Jones would outperform AJ Green + Hakeem Nicks?  She just had bad luck.  I think her starting WRs will bounce back from this week, but if she can't get more consistent points from her receivers, she may be in for a rough season.  Especially with her RB situation starting to look a bit iffy.


8. choubacca (0-1) [5]

Even with Foster and Demaryius Thomas's stellar performances, Aaron's team stunk it up this week.  His K / DEF is at part to blame for it, but I'm going to put more blame on his under-performing big-names, like Cruz (did anyone see how many easy passes he dropped on Wednesday?  You're paid millions of dollars, there's no excuse for you to drop those balls.), Antonio Gates, and Michael Turner (even though I didn't expect him to perform that well anyway).  He has a glimmer of hope on the bench in RGIII (In my opinion, he needs to be starting over Vick), but Richardson and Hillis don't seem to be sufficient replacements as an RB2 yet.  More question marks seem to be arising, even after the first week.


9. Terrific Tortoises (1-0) [10]
 
I'm sure David is happy about his win.  At least he's not in last place (or even second to last place) in our league right now.  Enjoy it while it lasts.  I think Andre Johnson looks like he'll be putting up numbers like he did 2-3 years ago, and Jimmy Graham will provide consistent points.  But beyond that, I'm having a hard time getting excited about any of his players.  Cutler may have some upside, but that's yet to be proven.  And Chris Johnson.. let's just not talk about him.  So sad.

10. errrdayimRussell'in (0-1) [8]

With the worst starting QB in our league this past week, it's not hard to see why Eric's team fell hard.  Will Russell Wilson bounce back?  I believe he will.  Will he bounce back enough to be this year's Cam Newton?  Very doubtful.  I'm not convinced that Pete Carroll really knows what he's doing, much less that Russell has the personnel around him to make a big season happen.  I think Eric's WRs will have better showings in the future, and with Ridley and BJGE as RB options, I think Eric can bounce back from this week's rough performance.  I would look in to an upgrade in QB, though.  Russell won't win the season for him this year, that's for sure.