One From The Bun: Taking The Wood To Beaver (Week 2)

Sep 22

Hello world. For week 1 of the NFL, I was coming off a big wedding weekend and wasn’t back to my couch and in front of the RedZone channel until after 2PM. Disgusting! The things nightmares are made of. So I was going into week 2 ready to have a full day of family and football in front of the TV… until my dad asked me to come over to cut down trees on Sunday! WHY DO PEOPLE DO THIS TO ME.

As it turned out, this would be good practice, since I was facing off in a highly publicized head-to-head with fellow FU member and obvious wood-gnawing expert, The Beaver. This match-up came to be after he continued to troll me, saying I didn’t know how to play cash games. WELL GUESS WHAT. I BEAT HIM AT HIS OWN GAME TWICE: I CUT UP THOSE TREES BETTER THAN ANY BEAVER COULD, AND I BEAT DAT ASS IN THE H2H.

Ah, how sweet it is. I’m expecting a full public apology this week on the pod.

Inside my own lineup:

QB: Kyler Murray was lightyears ahead of any other play with his head-scratching $6,100 salary. For some reason I was really considering going Lamar Jackson, as I thought he had blow-up potential against the Texans indoors. However, the $2,000 gap between Lamar and Murray was simply too big to ignore.

RB: Early in the week Zeke seemed like the clear-cut best play at RB, but the more I pondered that game, I thought Dallas would do more damage through the air, and decided to move down to Derrick Henry for my RB1, thinking he was a lock for 80+ yards and a touchdown against the Jags.

Jonathan Taylor was impossible to not play at $5,700. I didn’t want to miss out on that party.

I was expecting the Chiefs to lean on Clyde Edwards-Helaire more this week against the Chargers on the road, betting on a sharp rise in pass-game involvement after the rookie posted 0 catches in week 1, with the Chiefs potentially using quick throws to combat the Chargers’ pass rush.

Luckily he was involved in the passing game, since his 6 catches kept his value afloat in a game where the Chiefs struggled to move the ball. There were also multiple other times the Chiefs were looking to CEH in the pass game, including a late-game ~25-yard completion that was called back.

Two other RBs I was toying with were Aaron Jones and Miles Sanders. Aside from landing on no-upside Herndon at TE, the Aaron Jones miss is my only regret from the weekend, simply because the only reason I didn’t play him is because I labeled him as a tourney play over cash, instead of just thinking he could smash against the shithole Lions. I got locked onto CEH, even though Jones had the better match-up and was $300 cheaper.

WR: In a week with supposedly a ton of value at WR, Diontae Johnson was the only cheap WR I felt safe with. Though somewhat random, I liked Allen Robinson as a safe, squeaky wheel play against the Giants. Terry McLaurin emerged as one of my favorite plays in a projected high-paced game where Washington would likely be playing from behind. #Terry’s place as the undisputed No. 1 in Washington combined with his big-play potential made him stand out to me as a strong high-floor, high-ceiling option this week with his $5,900 salary.

I fucked up tight end by splitting the difference between my three targets: Jordan Reed, Chris Herndon, and Hayden Hurst. I found it really hard to get to Hayden Hurst with the other guys I was prioritizing, and the idea of playing Reed in cash kept freaking me out. I always want to play guys with upside, even in cash, and I should have known better than to trust anyone from the limp-dick Jets.

For defense, I was considering the Cardinals, Bucs, Dolphins, and Jets heading into Sunday. However, in my morning tinkering session I plugged in the Colts, and it really felt good, as it got me thinking about how few ways the Vikings could attack them on the road, and also that they just lost another starting o-lineman in week 1.

It was a case where I realized late in the week how big of a difference there was between the Colts at $2,500 versus the Dolphins and Jets at $2,100 and $2,000, respectively. Amazing that it was that decision that ultimately allowed me to have a nice week. Every inch matters!

For most of Sunday I was afraid to even open my DraftKings app, thinking that the Henry, CEH, and ARob flops left me for dead. However, I won 74/91 H2Hs (81%), and from what I saw I cashed in every 50/50 and double-up I entered. My weekly breakdown from RotoTracker is below. I’ll be increasing my bankroll even more next week, looking to be at max exposure by week 4. And RIP, Beaver.