Power Rankings: Week 5

Our league saw its first trade this week, with some big names being tossed around and some rosters being changed.  Time will tell how the trade pans out for each team, but I think at least one of the teams (me) is happy about it.  I am, however, disturbed by how it was a trade among the bottom-dwellers of the league.  Instead of the poor trading with the poor, shouldn't it be the rich giving to the poor?  C'mon people, where's your sense of justice and fairness in this fantasy world?

1. choubacca (3-2) [2]

This was a tough decision for me.  But I think Aaron's win this past week was convincing enough to have his team beat out Luke's in the power rankings.  Looking back, Luke's team has been more dominant and consistent in scoring points.  However, looking forward, I think Aaron has the potentially scarier team.  The status of RGIII is unclear right now, but it appears he'll be back in action soon, but we'll see if it affects his play.  Aaron's RBs are undoubtedly the best in our league - he's got Turner riding the bench, who sadly enough, could be an RB1 on some teams in our league.  And while his WRs are not that great, they've been getting the job done the past few weeks, AND he has decent options on the bench.  He's been pretty active in managing his team, and it appears to be paying off (along with his nice rookie draft picks).

2. Spider Pig (4-1) [1]

Taking his first loss of the season, Luke's team shows a bit of weakness, but I'm confident he'll bounce back.  He still is strong at QB, WR, TE, and DEF.  Jamaal Charles has continued to produce, but Luke will be scrambling for an RB2, especially next week, as the Saints and Panthers will be on bye and Andre Brown will be out for a while.  I'm sure we'll be hearing complaints about how our waiver system is flawed again this week.  Those privileged rich teams.  Maybe the top two teams should make a trade, instead of trying to steal from poor teams like mine - just a suggestion.

3. The Debbinator (4-1) [7]

David's team is up here by default.  I honestly couldn't justify placing another team this high.  While his team has been wildly inconsistent, I think he has the pieces in place to make a strong run for regular season champion.  Drew Brees looks to be un-phased by his team's woes and sorry record - I think it may be providing more motivation, obviously to throw more since they're always trailing in games.  His WRs are all over the place, but I think if he continues to start the right ones each week, it could pay off big time.  His RB1 and RB2 are surprisingly solid, with Forte and Mendenhall returning.  Just hope they don't fall victim to injuries again, because he won't have much backup to rely on.

4. THE Pain Train (2-3) [3]

Speaking of injuries and mishaps.. poor Gabs.  To his credit, he's made some nice adjustments and pickups (James Jones, Donald Brown), but he's just been plagued with bad fantasy vibes the past two weeks.  I think his WRs are looking stronger now, especially with Reggie Wayne playing like it's 2004 and Julio Jones hogging all the Matt Ryan love.  I'm hesitant to condemn Stafford, but he hasn't been as impressive as Gabs has hoped for, I'm sure.  And now with his RB situation all mixed up, it's hard to know how well Gabs can recover from the previous two weeks.

5. Rainbow Warriors (3-2) [5]

Aaron Rodgers, finally showing up to play.  Packers still stink, but I don't think Jeff cares.  As long as Frank Gore can stay intact, I think Jeff has a pretty good squad.  He'll need some help at WR, but at least his team is looking better with Rodgers back in it.

6. RelientK (0-5) [4]

I don't know what to do with Laura's team.  Whenever she decides to bench someone, they break out with ridiculous game-changing numbers (Week 1: Lance Moore, Week 2: Mike Williams, Week 3: Roethlisberger, Week 4: Jordy Nelson, Week 5: Ahmad Bradshaw).  Not that she made a bad decision in starting who she did each week (except arguably Romo in Week 3), but I think she's just getting no love from the game of fantasy.  And no matter how I make my predictions, I'm always messing her team up.  If I predict her to lose, I'm giving her team bad luck, if I predict her to win, I'm jinxing it.  Can't win.  Literally.

7. Green Nicks and Cam (2-3) [6]

Here we go again, with the wild mood swings.  To be fair, her team was affected by bye weeks and injuries.  But Cam Newton?  Makes me so mad.  So mad.  I don't even want to talk about it.  I think her team has some upside, but I'm still waiting for it to be more consistent.  If Nicks can return back to normal, it'll help her team tremendously.  But that's TBD.  As is her team's arguably higher ranking.  Looks ok on paper, but hasn't been getting the job done.


8. odoyle RULES (3-2) [10]

I finally get a glimmer of hope after my trade with Eric.  While I still would have won this week even if I didn't make the trade, I'm liking my team a lot more now than I did a week ago.  Sure, it helped that Colston got a ridiculous amount of points this week.  But I'm not complaining.  My WRs are a lot more impressive now, which I'm happy about.  With my RBs, I'm hoping I can make do and scrap by until one of them proves to be more consistent.  I'm still banking on Leshoure being a stellar pickup.. I may be waiting for a while.  My team isn't scary enough to break out of the bottom half yet, but I think it has potential to put up a fight against some of the best.  At least in my mind.


9. Terrible Titans T_T (3-2) [9]

I think David's team is also looking more hopeful after this week.  Yes, his team scored a low amount of points, and he has yet to have a week where he scored in the top half of the league, but at least his players are starting to put up promising numbers.  His WRs are starting to shine, with Andre Johnson, Percy Harvin, and Eric Decker carrying their loads when needed.  Ryan Matthews is beginning to play like people thought he would, and Eli isn't disappointing as much as he has in the past, either.  In spite of a weak RB2 and a possibly hurt Jimmy Graham, I think David has more than fantasy basketball to look forward to in the coming months.

10. errrdayimRussell'in (1-4) [8]

Eric was hit big-time with byes this week, so he wasn't able to do much better than he did.  While he got an upgrade at RB, picking up McCoy from me, he's a little weaker at WR now.  Only time will tell whether it was a good trade for him, but for now, I think it's safe to leave his team down here.  If Doug Martin comes back roaring, and if (big if) Greg Jennings does the same, then watch out, everyone.  Eric's coming out for you.