The Unleashing Report Week 10: Oregon State Alumni And Leaf Bags
Hello great people of Australia! And a big ol’ hey to everyone else…
Welcome back to the latest edition of the Unleashing Report, my weekly write-up on fantasy football and other stuff that’s being unleashed in the world.
Fantasy wise, we’re more than halfway through the fantasy football season, and it’s been the worst one of my entire life. I’m not really in a strong position in any of my leagues, and my life in general is a complete disaster. My wife’s team in her 8-team league is even below 500.
Am I just going to throw in the towel though? Roll over and quit like a little bitch? Yes, yes I am. Hey, why would I spend my time on something that isn’t going to work anyway? It’s called proper time management. Ask Mark Cuban.
IN FANTASY FOOTBALL…
Oregon State Alumni
Ryan Nall came in for the Bears this past week because David Montgomery suffered a concussion, and according to the Chicago Sun Times, “Nall played a career-high 10 snaps, and while he didn’t get any carries, he caught all four passes thrown his way and finished with 35 yards. He also scored his first NFL touchdown.” Nall was pretty productive in his last couple years at Oregon State, scoring 13 and 8 touchdowns. At 6’2” 235ish pounds, he’s a big back who ran a lumbering 4.58 40-yard dash. Who knows if Nall will continue to see opportunity since Lamar Miller could get called up, but it was worth calling out this former Beaver’s first touchdown because I had never heard of him.
And how about former OSU QB Jake Luton? Not bad! He almost got the Jaguars a win over the Texans after this stunning fourth-quarter touchdown run. SPIN MOVE, LUTON!
WHAT AN ATHLETE!
Mike Davis (Again)
Well, Christian McCaffrey blessed up with his presence for one week before getting hurt again, meaning Mike Davis is likely to step up as a workhorse back. From a rushing standpoint, it’s not the best matchup against Tampa Bay, but JJ Zachariason (@lateroundqb) posted some numbers on Twitter this week showing the Buccaneers have given up an above-average 18.2% of their receiving yards to running backs, suggesting the passing game role could still be there for Mikey boy. And hey guys, he’s $4K on DraftKings…
Anthony McFarland?
When I turned on the Cowboys-Steelers game this past week, I was surprised to see rookie Anthony McFarland in there getting some first half action Now, he only saw two carries, but it at least suggested the Steelers wanted to give the explosive rookie RB some playing time. I love McFarland’s potential, so I’ll be monitoring this going forward. He’s worth a stash, IMO, given his game-breaking ability, James Conner’s injury history, and Benny Snell being Benny Snell.
Miles Sanders
He’s BAAAAAAAACK…. maybe. Sanders is practicing again, and seems poised to return to action this week against the Giants. Sanders could reemerge as one of the few remaining workhorse backs in the league. This would sure be great news for the FU Main Event team on FFPC, and my best ball teams.
Duke Johnson
It was apparently a week for below-average, volume-based RBs to get concussions, because like David Montgomery, David Johnson also exited with a head injury. His status is uncertain for week 10, and if he’s out, Duke Johnson will look to build off his week 9 performance where he handled almost all the work in the Texans backfield. Fantasy players have wanted to see Duke in a featured role for years, and now could be the time.
Tua-Herbert Matchup
Again, I just can’t get over how good Tua Tagovailoa looks in a Dolphins uniform. Is anyone else seeing this? Like, aqua and orange just seem to fit him so damn well.
… Anyway, this week the Dolphins face off against the Chargers, meaning Tua will got up against fellow top-10 pick Justin Herbert. Tua had to throw a bit more last week, and he did just fiiiiiine. He will likely need to do that again this week against the meteor himself, Justin Herbert.
Kyler Murray Fantasy MVP Talk
The path to SPECIALNESS for Kyler was clear coming into the season, and it’s coming to fruition. After another huge performance in week 9, he gets a week 10 matchup at home against the Bills with a monster 56-point over/under.
Haha he pretended to throw it but didn’t.
Rams Passing Game
Speaking of great matchups, the Rams are coming off their bye for a huge divisional matchup against the Seahawks… who literally don’t have a secondary or pass rush. Darrell Henderson is still banged up, and though McVay said he should be good to go, this could be just another factor that pushes the Rams to be more pass-heavy this week. Per Pro Football Focus, Cooper Kupp projects for the second-best CB matchup this week, and Robert Woods isn’t too far behind. Let’s also not forget about Josh Reynolds, who’s $3,500 on Draftkings.
In the World…
Dumb GMC Christmas Commercial
As I mentioned in last week’s Unleashing Report, Christmas spirit is coming earlier and earlier. That’s true in the real world, and on TV, where I’m already seeing Christmas commercials, including this classic from GMC.
This commercial’s already been torn apart a lot in recent years, but these people can suck a fat one. They probably cheated the system got small business COVID loans.
New Video Game Consoles
The new Xbox and PlayStation are out this week. On the Xbox front, there appear to be some usability issues.
McDonald’s McPlant
McDonald’s announced it will be working on a new plant-based protein chicken sandwich that I guess it’s calling the McPlant? I can’t believe this got out of the marketing department, but here’s the USA Today write-up about the McPlant, with tons of great lines like: “We believe it’s going to jump-start our chicken journey, build our chicken credentials” and “Author Kathy Freston started a Change.org petition asking for McDonald's to add a vegan burger about seven years ago.” Damn, seven years, Kathy?! I’m glad this long battle has paid off.
McDonald’s should probably get in touch with the marketing team over at Four Seasons Landscaping in PA, which parlayed that random Trump campaign press conference into some awesome merch opportunities.
A+!
Home Depot Leaf Bags
These things are everywhere in my hometown, just bags and bags of leaves in front of every house. Great marketing for Home Depot, I guess, and they’re so popular that they recently sold out at my local store. If that’s the case where you are, you could just use my strategy of doing nothing with your leaves and killing your grass.
The Queen’s Gambit
I recently ran through this limited series on Netflix and it’s awesome. I love shows about really smart people, a wise janitor, and heavy drug use, so this is right up my alley. Highly recommend!
Alright, that’s it for this week’s unleashing list. Tune in next week for whatever random crap I find to write about. In the meantime, check out the FU podcast.
