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I just snuck out of a court ordered gambling rehab facility to write this post, so I’ll have to be brief. After I was arrested for stealing old ladies’ purses from the retirement home down the block to fund my string of Arizona Cardinals’ Super Bowl wagers (a 50:1 lock!), the judge sentenced me to 6 month’s of in-patient rehab. Since I’ll be releasing my weekly fantasy football rankings each Thursday morning for the duration of the season, I’ve decided to throw in some bonus bold Thursday Night Football predictions along with my expertly handicapped pick for the contest:

Arizona Cardinals (+3) at Seattle Seahawks 

Forecast: Kyler Murray. That’s it, that’s the forecast. What, you want more? Sorry, I’m a little distracted; I spent all day trying to figure out how to inject Kyler Murray highlights into my veins. Actually, I spent the first hour of the day trying to figure that out and then the next 10 hours in the emergency room. Turns out it’s “not safe” to insert an HDMI cable into your forearm. Psssh. The medical professionals recommend I continue to ingest my Kyler highlights thru the eye holes only. What do doctors know? I have big plans for rectal consumption of Thursday night’s game where Kyler will show off his culinary skills making Russell Wilson look like my Aunt Mildred who can’t even cook a frozen pizza. The Cardinals will come out of Thursday alone in first place in the NFC West, just another step toward that Lombardi Trophy I predicted Kyler would hoist back in the preseason. Cardinals 31, Seahawks 21 

Wager:  Cardinals ML +140 (1 Unit)

2020 Season: 2-8 (-3.65 Units) 

Anyway, here’s my fantasy football rankings for week 11 which will be frequently updated until Sunday kickoff:

*If you’d like more robotic weekly rankings with projections, check out Rudy’s Pigskinonator which is available on a free trial and then only $17.95 for the full season.

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Your WR top 80 12.0 is here! Despite DeAndre Hopkins’ heroics, Davante Adams remains in a tier all his own. Don’t worry, there are still plenty of fantastic options to choose from in tier 2. As a rule, injuries will always bump guys down. I am generally pessimistic that players will return on time at full strength without a setback. 

This list is not league or format specific, but it is based on 2020 rest-of-season projection only. When thinking through tiers and rankings I asked myself simply – “all things considered who would I rather have on my roster?”

Read all of the QB, RB and TE Razzball Rest of Season Positional Rankings now!

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When Covid isn’t flattening QBs and teams left and right, massive windstorms have completely shut down QBs several times this year. In Week 10, another Vortex Giant (CR25 for you nerds) stomped into many stadiums, leaving giant killers like Nick Chubb and [checks notes] Ben Roethisberger (hmmm) to save the villagers. I’ve asked fantasy managers to be proactive about rostering useful streaming QBs, if not to provide options in case of Covid or weather, but at the very least to deprive your opponents of a starting QB. This last week, your opponents would have gotten useful streaming games from bottom-tier QBs like Alex Smith, Kirk Cousins, and Philip Rivers. Now, I’m not applauding their games. But when other QBs are facing off against sustained 25MPH winds, gusts to 50MPH, and rain/sleet, those fair weather QB streamers look awfully nice. 

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B_Don and Donkey Teeth are back to talk about the events of week 10. What a weekend with the grossest week of football so far this season and a new Masters record. 

The podcast starts with the Drew Brees injury and what each of us thinks it could mean for the Saints offensive weapons. We discuss the possible fallout of the Stafford and Bridgewater injuries. 

With the rise of D’Andre Swift, we take a look at rookie RB rankings from this point forward. The guys can’t seem to agree on a specific order, but hash it out. The two then talk about some confusing backfields in the Browns, Rams, Bucs, and Colts, and how we are approaching them over the ROS. 

As we move to WRs, B_Don asks DT if he trusts Marquez Valdes-Scantling after 2 strong showings, even with Allen Lazard likely to return to the mix. As with the RBs, the guys discuss a few complicated situations in the Eagles, Bucs, and Steelers. And of course, we finish with the A**hole of the week. 

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THUMP. That was Week 10 crushing us in the face. It was unpredictable, I know, but let’s begin the conversation about the running back position this past week with a look at some of the names that finished inside RB1 territory, with their overall rank listed: RB3 Nyheim Hines, RB4 Ronald Jones, RB5, D’Andre Swift, RB6 Devontae Booker, RB7 Rex Burkhead, RB8 Antonio Gibson, RB10 Wayne Gallman, RB11 Malcolm Brown and RB12 Salvon Ahmed. That’s three-fourths of the past week’s RB1 finishers going to running backs that were likely all drafted outside of the first five rounds in your fantasy draft and at least three, maybe four players who may not have even been rostered in your league as of Sunday night. Next, let’s move over to RB2 territory: RB14 J.D. McKissic, RB15 Boston Scott, RB17 Kalen Ballage and RB23 Alex Collins. Overall, that’s 12, or half, of Week 10’s RB1-2 crop going to names that likely required very little draft capital to make your roster. Some of those names are less surprising, like Swift and Gibson, but for the sake of argument, both running backs finished outside the top-28 running backs drafted in 2020. It’s already been a miraculous year at the position — for some, perhaps heart-breaking is a more fitting adjective — and the madness ensued in Week 10, to put it lightly. Fortunately, we can at least say we did not see the same absurd number of running back injuries as we’ve grown accustomed to.

Even so, it was a truly unpredictable week. Before you begin beating your forehead against the keyboard and your boss yells at you (or partner/child/parents/etc. for those still stuck at home) for disrupting the workplace over fantasy football for the umpteenth time since the onset of September, remember this: we’re all in it together. We’re all playing the same game, with the same weekly uncertainty factored in and with the same information at our fingertips. That’s reason for composure. That’s reason to keep fighting the good fight because, as you may have heard me say many times before, the grinders beat the whiners. I’ve actually never said that before, but you get the point.

It’s time to get to the rankings, but before we do, let’s take a quick trip around the league.

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The week 11 waiver wire looks like a bunch of desperation bye/injury fillers. I’d get more aggressive with your FAAB now, as there’s probably not much to be saving it for.

I group the adds by position and then within the position, rank them in order of preference. The sherpa will only advise players who are rostered in less than 50% of ESPN leagues.

This went to press before the Minnesota/Chicago game.

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Most who are educated on Viking lore are familiar with the legendary Lief Erikson, the first European to ever set foot on the North American continent. But generations before Lief raped and pillaged his way across the ocean, there was one even more historic Viking: Ragnar Thielen. You won’t read about Ragnar in any of those propagandized history books. He was the most peaceful of the Vikings. Instead of collecting skulls Ragnar spent his time knitting with the skin of pig. That’s right, old Ragnar Thielen created the first football back in the year 969. Fast forward 1,051 years and his great-greatX20-grandson Adam Thielen showed how the pigskin runs in his veins as he snatched 4 catches for 43 yards and his 8th and 9th touchdowns. Viking lore aside, I’ve been saying since summer that Thielen is a first half player. In the last two seasons he’s caught only two touchdowns in 12 games after the first week in November. This could be the year he bucks the trend, but I’m not betting on it. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday for fantasy football:

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After taking a long puff from the joint, I set it down in the ash tray and melted back into the couch. Gazing past the foggy haze, I transfixed my eyes to the ceiling , let the mushrooms kick in, and began contemplating the concept of fate. If I was meant to have something, then I could just chill in my room and it would magically appear. That’s how it works, right? Knock Knock. Who is it? Your Grubhub driver. Ok, thanks and leave it by the door. As I appeased my munchies, I realized that if you wanted something, you had to work for it. Now, that by itself doesn’t guarantee anything. Opportunites need to be presented. And that is the factor that many in the NFL have to deal with. The players are the top 1% of the 1% of athletes in the world, but many vanish into the ether because they never got that opportunity. On the flip side, many have made a name for themselves due to opportunity. Salvon Ahmed of the Miami Dolphins got his opportunity on Sunday and made the most of it, as he received the start and rushed 21 times for 85 yards and a touchdown while catching one pass for 5 yards. Should you go Ahmed and add him?

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What a weekend! Masters Sunday in November due to pandemic scheduling. College football hanging on by a thread with virus outbreaks and cancelled games. But the NFL? No worries, mon. It was a light news cycle this week with lots of wind and weather, but one man had the gall to go off.  Wayne Gallman toted 18 carries for 53 yards, caught 1 pass for 7 yards and hit pay dirt for his 4th and 5th touchdowns. Wayne Enterprises’ stock spiked this past week when Devonta Freeman (hamstring) was placed on the IR. Somehow Gallman’s only owned in 50% of Yahoo leagues. Most of those leagues are probably abandoned but make sure yours isn’t one of them. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday for fantasy football:

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Team: Washington Football Team

Opponent: Detroit Lions

WR1: Terry McLaurin

Shadow Coverage Matchup: Desmond Trufant

 

Terry McLaurin vs. Shadow Coverage
Opponent Games Rec Yards TDs PPG
All Other Opponents 15 4.9 72.7 0.5 12.5
Vs. Shadow Coverage 7 5 74.3 0.4 12.5

Historical Production vs. Shadow Coverage

So far in 2020 Terry McLaurin has gotten it done vs. Shadow coverage finishing as a WR1 in 2/3 contests. However, in week 2 vs. Arizona it wasn’t until the Washington Football Team was down 3 scores late when McLaurin to finally got his production. Last week vs. James Bradberry McLaurin’s final line looks strong with 7-115-1, but his 68-yard TD came from the slot on a play where 3 Giants defenders missed a tackle. Now making plays isn’t a bad thing and there is 4 quarters in football no matter what so production is production.

Week 9 Recommendation – WR3/Flex

It took almost all season, but the Lions finally have a CB they can use as a shadow corner. Offseason acquisition Desmond Trufant is finally healthy and was tasked to shadow Adam Thielen holding him to 2-38 on 5 targets. The Lions were one of the top teams in using shadow coverage the prior two seasons, so we should expect this trend to continue. McLaurin has been great all year, but I don’t expect the Lions offense to put up points in bunches which means McLaurin might not have the best game flow to dominate this week.

DFS Recommendation – Price FanDuel (FD) $7,000 / Draft Kings (DK) $6,800

On FD McLaurin is priced as a top 15 option and with both offenses not expected to light it up this week I would look elsewhere. Players on FD I would pivot to include Robert Woods vs. SEA and Allen Robinson vs. MIN. On DK McLaurin is getting the love he deserves being priced as a top 10 option. However, this week player should pivot away as both Robert Woods and Allen Robinson should have better matchups.

Team: New York Giants

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