Jeff's Week 6 Power Rankings

1) Unicorn King (5-0)

What a team. Even with AP and Marshall on bye, Andrew's team doesn't miss a beat. Gio continues to play like the true #1 in Cincy. Gurley is living up to his hype. Rivers keeps getting it done despite a weak O-line. Andrews WRs keep killing it. And Julius Thomas is returning this week to a surprisingly potent Jax offense. Andrew's got everything you could want in a FF team: balanced scoring, bench depth, and no injuries.

2) DanceDothe#JULIO (3-2)

We've got a newcomer at the #2 spot! Nothing against Abraham, but I think Eric's team has earned the right to move up. The key to Eric's success lies in the explosive potential of his players. Between Martin, Gore, Eifert, Julio, Tucker, and Philly/Carolina DEF, he can always count on 2-3 of these guys to score an insane amount of points. This allows him to weather subpar performances from Julio Jones and Russell Wilson every now and then. Charchandrick West was an intelligent pick up off the waiver wire and well worth the risk in my opinion. Might as well splurge if you have no other holes on your team to address. Plus, I can't imagine too many more RBs popping up on the waiver wire between now and the end of the season. With West in the fold and McCoy slated to return in 2-3 weeks, Eric has potentially 4 solid RBs he can play. On another note, I'm interested in seeing how Gore does now that Andrew Luck is back. Will he get the same amount of touches? Or will the Colts revert back to a pass-happy attack?

3) Di Yi (4-1)

When Romo went down with a broken clavicle, Abraham was able to do the FF impossible and find a better replacement at the QB position. Not only has Dalton exceeded expectations this season, but he has staked his claim as the top QB this season. Through five weeks, he leads our league in FF QB scoring. Can Abraham work the same magic with Charles out? Not likely. I don't envision Antonio Andrews playing on the same level as Charles, but luckily for Abraham I don't think he needs Charles-like production from Andrews to succeed. His team is so balanced from top to bottom that if he gets just enough points at the RB #2 position he'll be ok. Dalton, Sanders, Green, Chris Johnson (he's now the starter), Gostkowski, and Arizona DEF can carry the load. Same with Jeffrey whenever he finally decides to comes back. I also like the Charles Sims pickup. Very smart and sneaky. I had no idea he was playing that well the past three weeks (10+ points per week). Between Andrews, Davis, and Sims, I think Abraham is going to find himself a RB that is decent enough.

I'm also not a big fan of Witten/T. Williams sans Romo, but winds of change are a brewing in Dallas. It looks like Cassell is going to replace Weeden after the bye. While Cassell doesn't have a great record as a starter, I do know he can throw the ball better than Weeden can.

4) TOUCHDOWN MACHINE (3-2)

Gabs' team is a little banged up right now, but as long as Devonta Freeman and Tyrod Taylor are good to go, his team will remain competitive. Taylor is literally doing everything for the Bills on offense--throwing, running, and catching passes. Yes, you heard me. He even played WR on one series. Here's Tyrod's stat line from last week: 10-17 for 109 yards and 1 TD, 8 rushes for 76 yards and 1 TD, and 1 reception for 4 yards. 

Now if Gabs could just get a little more production from Cobb, Lacy, and Graham, his team could contend for FF "elite" status. I'm still bullish on Cobb. He's bound to get more love from Rodgers in the near future. Lacy has been a little iffy as of late but also difficult not to start. With GB building such large early game, they will need to keep feeding Lacy the ball to run out the clock. And Graham? He's a head scratcher. I can't blame Gabs for sticking with him, but the Seahawks don't really seem to be making any effort to get him the ball. It also doesn't help that Wilson has like no  time to make the reads he needs to make in the pocket. The Seahawks lead the league in sacks right now.

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

Aaron's team has been in a slump the past two weeks, but I'm expecting him to break out again. Palmer should continue to chip in 20+ points per game. Bell and Lewis are a solid one two punch combination at RB. The underrated Eric Decker is coming off his bye week. And Seattle defense continues to play well from a FF perspective. Bonus points for Aaron if Steve Smith returns this week from his rib injuries. Normally, a player with rib injuries would scare me, but Steve Smith is an iron man who can play through anything. Aaron's got all the pieces to beat David Lin this week and goto 4-2.

6) Unicorn Queen (3-2)

Things are looking up for Tim. He's getting strong play at the QB position from Cam (and Eli). Olsen is returning this week. And his WRs are providing very balanced scoring. However, Tim's RBs are still a concern me. Hyde is extremely talented but limited by the rest of his team. Rawls has lost whatever value he had now that Marshawn (and Fred Jackson) are back. And Gordon is playing like a true rookie--fumbling the ball and missing block assignments. It also doesn't help that he's playing behind a hodgepodge line in San Diego. If Tim can get more consistent production at the RB position, he'll move up.

Fun fact: Eli has scored 23+ points over the past four weeks. That's pretty darn consistent if you ask me. With Cam playing a motivated Seattle defense this week, Tim may want to consider giving Eli the start instead.

7) HAMAJANG (1-4)

I know my win-loss record is crappy, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and put myself at #7. My rationale? I've got more "Pts For" than all the teams below me, and a win next week would catapult me to 7th or 8th anyway. Here's what I like about my team. I've got a nice core in Forte, Rodgers, James Jones, and Gates. These four players went a long way in pushing me over 100 points last week, and as long as they continue producing, my team will see better days. It is true that Rodgers has struggled over the past two weeks. There are signs that he is starting to miss the vertical threat Nelson provided. (That back shoulder throw was automatic). However, I have complete confidence that the #1 QB in the NFL will figure things out. Just throw to Randall Cobb more! Right Gabs? Now if I could just pick the right guys to play at WR #2, WR #3 and RB#2, I'll have a good week. I guess this is where the "skill" piece of FF comes into play.

8) David's Team (2-3)

David Li's team is quietly getting better. Flacco had a good showing against Cleveland and is facing a weak but underrated SF defense next week. Forsett is starting to get into a groove. And Yeldon has held down the fort long enough for Beastmode to return. Willie Snead has been a good pickup too. Maybe this will be the week that David Li finally breaks 100 points. He's playing me after all.

9) It's a me! Mariota! (2-3)

After another subpar performance from Peyton, David Lin has finally turned the reins over to Hawai'i local boy and hero, Mariota. Now his team name matches his starting QB! Yay!

Mariota will give David's team a lift, not a big lift but a lift nonetheless. He's got better FF numbers than guys like Tanehill, Cutler, Brees, and Bridgewater, and he's outplayed Manning the past two times he's hit the field. I also like what I see at WR. After a lot of monkeying around on the waiver wire, David Lin has finally landed himself a nice crop of WRs. Allen Hurns has been putting up Dez-like numbers the past three weeks. OBJ has been a bit hit-or-miss, but the Giants and Eli are trending up in a weak NFC East. As long as Eli keeps targeting OBJ, he'll have more weeks like last week. And Donte Moncrief should benefit with the return of Andrew Luck. The only thing holding David back though are his RBs--seems to be the recurring theme this season. CJ has got to be the biggest FF bust this season. Woodhead is still hit or miss. And Duke Johnson is playing second fiddle to Crowell although he does get those receptions. If David Lin can squeeze more points out of his RBs, he may be able to make some noise the next couple of weeks. 

10) I Called Game (1-4)

I still think highly of Duke's team, but for one reason or another, his talented group of players can't seem to put it all together. Some of the the blame lies in inconsistent individual performances (e.g.: Hill). Some of it lies in factors he can't control like injuries (e.g.: Foster) and poor QB play (e.g: Matthews and Megatron). Some of it lies in Duke hitting early bye weeks (e.g.: Brady, Blount, and NY Jets DEF). And some it lies in indifference/apathy. (Yes, Duke did start the NY Jets DEF last week even though they were on bye). 

Luckily for Duke though, I think he's got a good shot at taking down Tim this week. The Patriots are playing the Colts this week--the team that got them into the whole Deflategate mess. This means Brady is going to be super motivated to annihilate Indy. As a result, Blount will also get a TD or two too.

11) DeEz Nuts (2-3)

Here's a fun fact: Justina's team has failed to top 70 points the last two weeks. While the loss of Big Ben has been hard to recover from, I don't think that's the only problem she has now. Other parts of her teams are starting to unravel. Randle is on bye this week and in jeopardy of losing his starting gig to Christine Michael when he returns. That means she has to start DeAngelo, the only other RB on her bench. Wright and Mumphrey aren't getting it done. Vick has been a fairly decent back-up QB in real-life but only a so-so FF play. (I still think there better options out there on the waiver wire). And she plays Andrew this week. *Womp womp*

12) Spider Pig (1-4)

Do you like the picture Luke? I think it's cute. =) Here's another fun fact: Luke had the presence of mind to change his team name last week but not to pick up a different defense. This same defense, Houston, went on to score 0 points even after I wrote about how bad this defense was in this very blog. Guess which defense Luke is starting again this week? Yep, Houston.