As the XN Sports staff League of Champions rolls along, we’ll be recapping all the transactions around the league so you can see what your favorite fantasy analysts are doing in practice, not just in theory. You can always check in to see what’s going on by visiting the League of Champions for yourself.
Let’s take a look at the flurry of moves that followed Week 1.
Waivers:
My Buddy and Me (Dave Major) added Julian Edelman, dropped Jonathan Franklin
Dave won the Edelman sweepstakes, grabbing the most sought after waiver wire grab of the week with his top waiver priority. Edelman proved to be a PPR monster and a standard league dud, catching 13 passes but only collecting 78 yards and no touchdowns. We use .5PPR so Dave fell somewhere in the middle with a serviceable 13.5 FPS. Franklin had a rough preseason and saw his value tumble. He didn’t see a single touch in the Packers’ first game so there’s little point keeping him around.
Fifty Shades of Cats (Felipe Melecio) added Leonard Hankerson, dropped Mark Ingram
Felipe decided that a receiver with three other guys competing for his touches is better than a running back with two other guys competing for his touches and grabbed Hankerson. Could be a good move after Hankerson was targeted seven times against the Eagles. Or, Josh Morgan and Santana Moss could water down his value. Felipe has deemed that “In a league of champions, I’m the most champion of all!” on his team page so I will defer to his obviously superior expertise.
Coconut Pete (Tom Fitzgerald) added Percy Harvin, dropped Patrick Edwards
Percy will be picked up in every league eventually but Tom decided it’s best to attack before there’s a market at all. It’s unclear when Harvin will actually be back. He’ll be eligible to play after Week 6 but the Seahawks are reportedly hoping for a December return. It’s a gamble and probably not one worth making just yet but Tom finished with the fourth-most points in Week 1 (suffering a bitter defeat at the hands of Tony Consiglio) and is looking forward (way forward), not over-tinkering with what’s sort of working now. Perhaps Michael Crabtree is next on the target list.
Blurred Goal Lines (Tony Consiglio) added Marlon Brown, dropped Ryan Broyles
Tony’s riding high after edging out the boss man in a tightly contested Week 1 duel and grabbed one of my favorite pickups of the week. Brown was impressive in his NFL debut, catching four passes on six targets for 65 yards and a touchdown. With Jacoby Jones out for over a month, the undrafted Georgia product should be in line for a much larger role than anticipated. Broyles is coming off his second ACL surgery and isn’t playing the first two weeks of the season. Tony is going to need all the help he can get as he gets set to face a small team from a small town called Make It Wayne. The team, not the town.
Fantasy Foundation (Rich Hribar) added Panthers D/ST, dropped Buccaneers D/ST
The Panthers front-seven looked vicious against the Seahawks and are a good bet this week against the young Bills offense.
Derwood #Degenerates (C.D. Carter) added Raiders D/ST, dropped Steelers D/ST
Denny is going full stream ahead with his defenses, grabbing the Raiders as they get set to play the hapless Jags offense.
My Buddy and Me (Dave Major) added Chad Henne, dropped Nick Foles
Speaking of the hapless Jags offense, meet the new guy all the Cecil Shorts owners will blame. In a 2-QB league, every starter pretty much needs to be owned, no matter how unexciting they may be. After watching Week 1, it’s hard to believe that Michael Vick was competing with Foles for the QB job in Philly and Henne will start at least one week in place of the injured and even more unexciting Blaine Gabbert.
Fifty Shades of Cats (Felipe Melecio) added Kellen Winslow, dropped Marcel Reece
Winslow is the tight end du jour this week after getting some additional work in place of a temporarily injured Jeff Cumberland in Week 1. Unfortunately, Cumberland is healthy and the starter and will prevent Winslow from having startable value as Felipe found out on Thursday when Winslow caught just three passes for 16 yards. Luckily Felipe is starting Greg Olsen so the champion of champions remains untarnished.
The Winter Classics (Chris Blanchard) added Nate Burleson, dropped Quinton Patton
Burleson looks like a great get with defenses focusing on Megatron most of the time. He caught all six of his targets for 78 yards and Matt Stafford is likely to look his way often when Calvin finds himself in double coverage. Chris is also playing the trade block, trying to make any move, any move at all, that might help his team after finishing eighth in points in Week 1.
Make It Wayne (Igor Derysh) added Brent Celek, dropped Jacoby Jones
Celek was only targeted three times but still put up 56 yards and a touchdown. With Maclin out, DeSean Jackson being overused, and no other real receiving threats on the team, I like Celek’s prospects, unlike those of my current TE Kyle Rudolph.
Coconut Pete (Tom Fitzgerald) added Doug Baldwin, dropped Zach Sudfeld
Tom is doubling down on his Seattle receivers, albeit with one that’s seeing game action this time. After taking a shot at Zach Sudfeld and seeing a whopping zero fantasy points out of him, Tom is jumping on the Doug Baldwin bandwagon. There’s little reason not to, Baldwin was targeted eight times against the Panthers and came away with 91 yards. Of course, he now has a quarter of the catches he had all of last year so there’s always the chance that Tom gets Kevin Ogletreed.
4th and Goal (Neil Parker) added Dallas Clark, dropped Fred Davis
Although Clark is splitting time with Ed Dickson, the former Colt saw 12 targets to Davis’ four. It wasn’t a pretty game for Clark, who dropped a touchdown pass and missed four other targets but in the land of tight ends, you can do much worse. He’s one of C.D. Carter’s top TE streaming options this week but we’ll see how Clark does in a game where the Ravens aren’t playing catch-up all second half.
Trade Block:
My Buddy and Me (Dave Major): Placed Peyton Manning on trade block
After a seven-touchdown effort in the season opener, Dave is looking to sell high on Manning. So far, no one seems to have matched the presumably sky high asking price.
The Winter Classics (Chris Blanchard): Placed Dwayne Bowe, Maurice Jones-Drew, Stevan Ridley, and Blaine Gabbert on the trade black.
While I’m shocked no one’s jumped on the Blaine Gabbert opportunity of a lifetime, Chris is going with the anti-Dave strategy and looking to sell low. We’ll see if anyone bites.
