With 7 of the 14 weeks of the FF regular season in the books, we’ve hit the midway point in the season. I figured it’d be a good time to revisit the grades I gave to each team pre-season and give an updated midterm grades.
As a refresher, here were the pre-season grades:
Here are my big-picture observations:
Gabs’s team is still at the top of the rankings. He has improved his grade from a 89.55 to a whopping 95.20 just like the good Asian kid he was growing up. Much of that is attributed to Dak playing well, acquiring CeeDee for the stack, and Ertz still being relevant. Bravo, Gabs - keeping himself FFNUTHANG dyNASTYc-relevant.
Jeff Chen’s team is also still 2nd. His score jumped from 89.50 to 92.45, with much thanks to better-than-expected RB play. Even though it has an improved score, his team has been trending down the past few weeks due to injuries, but that trend should self-correct with time.
The biggest jump up was David’s team, who went from 8th to 3rd, with a 6.10 point improvement. Props to the Terrifics.
Other teams that took jumps were Aaron’s team (from 12th to 8th with 4.60 point improvement), my team (from 7th to 4th with a 4.25 point improvement), Haji’s team (from 9th to 5th with a 3.75 point improvement), and Eric’s team (from 10th to 7th with a 3.75 point improvement).
The biggest fall down was Jeff Lin’s team, who went from 3rd to 12th, with a -13.15 point difference. I don’t think we needed data to come to that conclusion.
Other teams that took tumbles were Laura’s team (5th to 10th with a -5.70 point difference) and Andrew’s team (4th to 9th with a -4.60 point difference).
Abraham’s team is still mid and Luke’s team (aka NOT Justina’s team - don’t shift the blame) still sucks.
I thought perhaps the grader was more generous for the midterm scores, given the inflated scores of the top teams. But the average pre-season score was 84.79, while the average midterm score was 85.49. While this is a slight increase, it seems negligible.
Onto the rankings!
1. Run It Back! (Gabs) (5-2) [1]
Gabs’s team keeps getting scarier every week. Jonathan Taylor is a beast, Quinshon Judkins has been incredible as a rookie, the Dak-CeeDee stack is going to cause problems, and Zach Ertz doesn’t seem to be going away. There are very few weaknesses in his team, except arguably at the TE position, but even there he has pretty good depth.
2. Lamar You Ready? (Jeff Chen) (5-2) [2]
Jeff Chen’s team continued its downward spiral last week, as predicted with the injuries and byes. When Lamar returns, Jeff’s team should be on more solid ground. Egbuka will continue to eat, Javonte should continue to be a reliable RB1, and Kittle will produce with time.
3. Terrific (Taylor’s Version) (David) (6-1) [8]
David’s team is demanding more respect, now that it’s sitting at 1st place in league standings after a convincing performance against Jeff Chen. Rashee Rice is already making David’s wait worth it, and the Detroit Lions offense has been rolling. Maybe I was wrong to question David’s strategy of starting KC and Detroit players. His team has been solid across the board, in spite of a relatively lower Points For.
4. Unicorn QueenZ (Tim) (4-3) [5]
CMC continues to carry my team (and the 49ers), and Trey McBride as the #2 overall TE so far has been a massive help. But Jayden Daniels’s injuries continue to put my QB situation in flux. Also, the lack of consistency at WR will eventually come to haunt me as the season progresses.
5. Just Didn’t Catch D’Achane (Haji) (5-2) [3]
Haji has really nice depth at RB, but as we were reminded of last week, Jeanty can have down weeks as well. Tyler Warren at TE has been solid, though. Haji’s main weakness is at QB, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Jordan Love do better in the 2nd half of the FF season.
6. 第六 (Abraham) (2-5) [6]
Abraham’s team has been low-key good, being 4th in Points For so far this season. Unfavorable matchups have put his team at 2-5, but he’s got the best QB in the NFL and a good WR corps that somehow has Jordan Addison (who has been really good since returning) on the bench. Abraham needs a lot of help at RB and TE, but his team is still playoff-relevant with a 2-5 record.
7. ToInfinityandBijan! (Eric) (5-2) [4]
Eric’s strength at RB continues to dominate our league, but Ladd hasn’t been consistent and Terry McLaurin has been hurt, so he’ll need more consistency at WR to continue vying for a top spot in these rankings, even with his impressive 5-2 record. The potential for a Herbert-Ladd stack is definitely an X-Factor that could help, though.
8. choubacca (Aaron) (1-6) [10]
I was surprised at where the midterm grades put Aaron’s team, but the numbers are the numbers. There was a blip in time where Aaron’s team seemed to have turned a corner, but last week saw another down week for him. JaMarr Chase has definitely returned, though - if Aaron can utilize Chase’s production with Flacco at QB, and get consistent points from Jalen Hurts, he can definitely avoid Sacko.
9. chinaballa (Andrew) (2-5) [9]
Andrew’s team got a much-needed win with help from Drake Maye, JSN, and Cleveland’s D. But with JSN and Marvin Harrison Jr on bye, this week may not be so friendly. The underperformance of Derrick Henry has hurt his team pretty badly, and his TE situation has been suspect as well. We’ll see if his FAAB spend on Gadsden will help, but I think Andrew will need a lot more from the RB spot to move up in the rankings.
10. Maybabyboo (Laura) (3-4) [12]
What was once seemingly Laura’s strength (RB) has now become a major weakness due to injury or overall underperformance. Her team got a win off the crazy comeback from Bo Nix and the Broncos, but whether that’s a sustainable formula moving forward is yet to be seen. At least Ferguson has been FF’s best TE so far, and I believe Laura has enough going in her favor to at least keep her somewhat relevant.
11. Justina’s Team (Luke) (3-4) [7]
Is Luke giving up after a 62.14 point showing in Week 7 and handing the reins over to Justina now? On a positive note, Olave played well. But things seem to be falling apart fast for Luke. At least Josh Allen will have a field day against the Panthers this week, and Luke hopes Puka will return soon. Losing Puka was huge, and having Saquon underperform so far this season has been another reason Luke has gotten such poor grades.
12. 大展鸿图 (Jeff Lin) (1-6) [11]
Props to Jeff Lin for starting Flacco at QB - now he’ll have the tough decision each week on whether to start Jaxon Dart or Joe Flacco. Interestingly enough, he might be able to trade one away to help him at other positions. But I do think Jeff’s outlook is a bit more positive if AJ Brown can continue trending upwards, and with more clarity on NE’s RB situation, at least starting Rhamondre might be more palatable than before (although probably not this week vs. Cleveland). Tucker Kraft has also been pretty decent as far as TEs go. But staying out of Sacko will be an uphill battle.
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