The Football Diaries: Week 5
This is going to be a weekly segment in which I break down a cash game lineup I used and a GPP lineup. It’s an effort to show what my mindset was heading into the games and how those decisions ultimately turned out. I believe the decision-making process is the most important thing in DFS and not necessarily the actual outcome. Hopefully reading this can help with roster construction in some way, either through my good rosters or even learning from my bad ones.
Good Team
Peyton Manning – I just felt like this particular Sunday was going to revolve around Manning and Brees. Manning held up his end of the deal but Brees did not. More on him later
Andre Ellington – This stat line and point total was bolstered by a very lucky 81-yard TD catch. I’ll take those numbers, but as an observer of the game I was unimpressed about his performance. I am not sure how much I can roster him going forward.
Reggie Bush – In hindsight, this is the most disappointing effort of the day. Just a few more points and I could have won a Vegas trip on FD. I stick by the fact that without Bell in the lineup, Bush was a top 7 RB on Sunday. He just flamed out.
Brandin Cooks – If there was a such thing as a 9-reception dud then this is it. After reaching the end zone in Week 1, it looked like Cooks was going to be integral to this offense and even used in the red zone. That doesn’t appear to be the case. He is best left for the PPR sites for now.
T.Y. Hilton – Hilton ended up on a plethora of late rosters for me, as I had the feeling that this game might end up being a shootout. That didn’t come into play. This was still a solid effort from Hilton, albeit an unspectacular one. He remains in the mix as a GPP-viable WR based on his upside.
Brian Quick – A late rally by the Rams boosted this stat line. That happens in the NFL sometimes. I placed him on here because I felt like this was a matchup he could capitalize on. Philly is weak in the secondary, and the Eagles could also jump out to a big lead on the Rams, and some garbage time stats could ensue. That played out pretty much according to plan, but people will start playing him heavy now, so it may be time to fade Quick for a while.
Julius Thomas – I had to pair Manning with someone on this team and I pretty much used equal amounts of all the pass catchers for the Broncos around the industry Sunday. The big winners paired Manning with both DT and Orange Julius.
Detroit Lions – I played the Lions defense in a few spots, because I felt like there was a real lack of options at this position this week. I honestly felt like Orton would be an upgrade for the Bills, so I was hesitant to play this defense. It worked out well enough, but usually I like to find the most likely defense to have a shutout and latch on to them.
Not-So-Good Team
Drew Brees – Well as I stated earlier, I thought it was a Brees/Manning day with some Bortles mixed in. I failed on Bortles again (enough of the top 15 QB talk on him until he proves something) and Brees was very average for what you expect. I don’t want to sound greedy, but with Brees at home you kind of expect a floor of 3-4 TDs and MAYBE a turnover. Two TDs and three interceptions are unacceptable.
LeSean McCoy – It seemed like a good spot for him to have a breakout game this year, but it didn’t happen. This was a prime team to run against, so I am legit concerned for Shady at this point. The Eagles need their bye week soon so they can get that offensive line healthy and back in order.
Rashad Jennings – This was a prime matchup for Jennings, and I thought that since everyone was using him on DK they might go to FD and see the price tag and avoid him. Well that didn’t happen, and in addition he was an injury-plagued failure Sunday.
Brandin Cooks – Cooks again because I wanted two pass catchers with Brees. Wrong team to do this with. The second pass catcher for Denver (Demaryius) would have been nice.
Brandon LaFell – Just a case of getting a little too fancy with this pick. LaFell looked good against KC and I thought perhaps a new option for Brady was going to emerge while Gronk was still a bit hurt. Lesson learned on this, as Brady is going to spread this ball around more or less and still target Gronk the most.
Keenan Allen – Usually when you look back at a team that performs this poorly (75 points), you just see things that went horribly wrong that had no business going that bad. Keenan is a prime example of that. He had a breakout game the week before and went into this game facing a really bad secondary. Then he ends with three catches for 25 yards, and you just have to shrug your shoulders and put it behind you. The solid reasoning was there, but it just didn’t work out.
Jimmy Graham – This may have perhaps been the most disappointing performance of the year out of a player for me. He was my clear cut #1 TE used on Sunday and it wasn’t even close. He got hit with an injury in the first quarter, played a little after that, and then never came back out after halftime. He should have been able to shred the Bucs defense, but just like a lot of guys on Sunday, he was a victim of an injury.