Fantasy Football Forum Week 14: Playoffs and Payoffs

Well, that sure flew by in a hurry. The regular season is over in the WCG leagues and we’re staring at the first round of the playoffs. My team in the Tourney did not make it. It deserved better but it wasn’t a great team. It finished 4th in points but some tough losses sealed its fate before what should’ve probably been a semi-final exit. Oh well.

My team in the League of Champions is sitting comfortably at home this weekend, awaiting the fate of the 3 thru 6 seeds fighting it out this weekend. I thought we’d highlight those match ups in the Forum this week for fun and I’ll give my prediction (below).

I picked up Gardner Minshew is literally every league I have something left to play for. I don’t know if I’ll play him in all of those leagues or not, but you have to admit, a schedule that includes Oakland and Atlanta in the money weeks is pretty enticing. If he heats up, he could be the most fun QB to lead a championship run ever. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been playing fantasy for about twenty years now but I am just really interested in a fun story. What’s the most interesting or fun pick up you’ve made recently that you think would make for an unlikely story?

WCG League of Champions

The first quarter-final is between a team named after a slang term I don’t fully understand so they’ll be referred to as Ya Bears! vs. the Champaign Cubbies. Ya Bears! bounced out to an early lead with good games from Allen Robinson II and Ezekiel Elliot. He’s got Patrick Mahomes and Leonard Fournette waiting in the wings. It’s a good team and one that is rolling along nicely right now. The Champaign Cubbies are countering with Nick Chubb against the Bengals, Courtland Sutton in a potential high scoring game against Houston, and George Kittle in the Big Easy. Ya Bears! are currently projected to take this one by 14 points but I’m picking the underdog here. I love the Chubb matchup and I think it could be the difference here.

The second quarter-final pits the upstart Hurricane Ditka against a really solid License to Khalil. Hurricane Ditka has already used Amari Cooper and will be looking for help from Devante Parker, Chris Godwin and Todd Gurley. Unfortunately, he’s rolling with Jacoby Brissett and Rashaad Penny. License to Khalil definitely has the advantage in the running backs department as he’s rolling with Christian McCaffrey in a dream match against the Falcons and Derrick Henry in another good match vs. the Raiders. I’d love to predict the upset here because I truly do not want to face this squad next week, but License to Khalil is simply too strong of a choice.

In fact, I think License to Khalil is the team to beat. I may have finished the regular season as the top scorer, but I believe I’ll be in a world of hurt next week. Overall, I want to thank everyone involved for the super competitive league. Ten teams were fighting for the playoffs until the final week. The 11th place team was a victim of bad luck more than a bad team and scored more than the 1st seed (sorry Whiskey Ranger, but your team is a bit of a fluke!).

Daily League Update

I don’t know how other leagues like this have gone over the years, but this one is so incredibly tight down the stretch. Tyler is still in first but there are now three teams well within reach of taking over the league, including yours truly in third. My big payoff last week was playing Robert Woods for a cool 23.7 points as a cheap option. That was offset by getting a big goose egg from Sammy Watkins. Ugh. The fight goes on.

I’m counting on a bounce back game from the Vikings defense as they get the Lions this weekend. Picking defenses has not exactly been my strong suit in this league this year as I seem to pick a defense a week early or a week late from a major outburst but I figure betting against the Lions isn’t a bad idea.

Good luck to everyone this weekend! Follow us on Twitter @gridironborn and @whiskeyranger29.