By Simon Nunn
Playoff dreams, RB nightmares
Was it pretty? Absolutely not. Did we get the win? You bet we did! Going into Week 6 at 1-4, a win was all that mattered. We’re now 2-4, and while it’s going to be a slog, there are signs of life within this team. Just maybe not my RB position. And say it very quietly, but maybe, just maybe, we can sneak into the playoffs after all. Especially as I’m only one win off the playoff places.
My running back position is still a concern. Tyler Allgeier and MarShawn Lloyd combining for 6.8 points as my starting RBs this week was not ideal. Neither was the fact that Rico Dowdle, sitting on my bench, outscored them both with a massive 7.9 points on his return.
The Week 6 Post-Mortem
Team: Williams Chase N Boutte
Points: 92.28
Result: Victory
League position (record): 10th (2-4)
Biggest scorer: Chiefs DEF: 16 pts
Biggest disappointment: MarShawn Lloyd: 1 pt
Bench points: 12.7 pts
No Chase, no Jamo, but we still managed to get the job done. Bo Nix will continue to scare the life out of me every week at QB, but it was good to get Caleb Williams back into the lineup and some hope of scoring big fantasy points again.
What the hell was I thinking?
Not picking up Germie Bernard instead of the Chiefs DEF.
Hear me out. When waivers ran last week, Roman Wilson still hadn’t been placed on IR, and I didn’t fancy Rodgers against the Bucs’ defence. Plus, Bernard had only had one good week, which was against the Colts the week before, and they’re not exactly a top defence this season. I also have Ja’Marr Chase, Jameson Williams, Tet McMillan and Michael Wilson on the roster in a start-three-WR league. Surely that was the logical decision. Anyone would have done the same, right?
I was wrong. Bernard does look like he could be the next Steelers WR hit. He’s made the most of Pittman and Wilson being out and seems to have earned Rodgers’ trust, which goes a long way. I will probably spend the rest of the season hoping that it’s not a decision that I’ll end up regretting too much; hopefully the Cardinals and Michael Wilson do enough to help me on that.
The Chiefs helped me win this week, as I’ll get to below. It’s missing out on what Bernard could offer for the rest of the season that worries me.
I had my reasons
Starting Allgeier over Dowdle at RB this week.
It says everything about the quality of my team that this was the big lineup decision of the week. Do I go for the backup RB who should get the lion’s share of the work with Jeremiyah Love out, but faces the Rams at SoFi? Or do I go for the, at best, timeshare RB playing his first game back from injury against the Buccaneers?
Overall, I think the decision was pretty straightforward. Even though the Rams were at home, their run defence hasn’t been great this year, and Allgeier was going to get the start. Dowdle, on the other hand, was coming off an injury, Jaylen Warren has been playing lights out recently, and the Bucs’ run defence hasn’t exactly been a matchup to target.
The decision didn’t pay off, but we’re not talking massive fantasy margins here: just 2.1 points. I’d make the same decision every week in those circumstances because the logic was there.
The question I probably should have been asking was Lloyd vs Dowdle. Even then, unfortunately, the answer would still have been the same.
Week 6: no regrets
Starting Pat Freiermuth in my flex position.
Rodgers has shown trust in The Muth, and that means a lot from a fantasy perspective, as I mentioned above with Bernard. With three TDs in the previous two weeks, I figured he was a better bet than Dontayvion Wicks, especially with Tanner McKee making his first start at QB for the Eagles.
I just happened to pick the wrong Steelers TE to score this week. Turns out it was a Darnell Washington TD kind of week.
That said, I’d do it again every time in this situation, especially with the receivers I had on a bye.
Always knew what I was doing
Picking up the Chiefs DEF off waivers this week while keeping the Bengals DEF on the roster.
It’s not always a great tactic to hold onto a defence through its bye week, and maybe it’s my Bengals-supporting bias, but the fourth-highest-scoring fantasy DEF in my league through the first six weeks is worth keeping, especially with the run of opponents they’re about to face.
The Chargers have too many injuries, are playing awful football while trying to run Mike McDaniel’s offence, and were heading into Arrowhead. It was too tempting not to burn waiver priority on the Kansas City DEF this week, and it paid off. With the state of my team in Week 6, they were my highest-scoring position. And it’s the big decision that’s giving me the delusion that I know what I am doing as a competent manager. At least until this time next week.
I’m definitely doing this next week
1) Closely monitoring what the Steelers are saying about their RB plans. If they stick with a committee approach and Dowdle starts getting more work as he returns to full health, he could definitely work his way into my starting RB lineup.
2) Trying my hardest to pick up Tanner McKee off waivers with my #3 waiver priority. I only have Bo Nix and Caleb Williams at QB, and the position feels thin with how badly Nix has been playing. It would be nice to have another option, although the Jalen Hurts owner has the #2 waiver priority, so I’m not hopeful.
3) My backup plan is probably to look for more RB help. With Josh Jacobs eligible to return in Week 7 after being removed from the commissioner’s exempt list, that kills any hope of MarShawn Lloyd becoming relevant on my team, especially after last week. Although I am secretly thankful that I hopefully won’t have a Lloyd start/sit decision to make any time soon!
4) Finally, I’ll be paying much closer attention to who’s being dropped when waivers run. I missed out on a Blake Corum drop last week, and that was a costly mistake. Probably more so than the Germie Bernard one.
My RB room is officially on life support. Unfortunately, my decision-making and the waiver wire are doing everything possible to pull the plug.
Corum would have been a great addition, and if I’m going to have any chance of making a playoff run, I need to be on the ball when it comes to spotting players with high upside who other managers might be getting fed up with. If I keep making mistakes like that, my team will probably end up being more comedy than tragedy with even lower scoring.
Moving into Week 7, the playoff dream is faintly alive. But the RB nightmare, meanwhile, shows no signs of ending.
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