Fantasy Footballers Week 6: Ranking Audit and Podcast Highlights
Epic. That is about the only way to describe Week 5 of the 2019 season. This may have been the highest-scoring week, on an individual player level, in my entire 15-year career of playing Fantasy Football. What is the most amazing part was how many of my leagues had teams with multiple players absolutely go off. Single week league scoring records were not just broken, but obliterated. After a Week 4 that saw many of the top players end up on the stinkers list, they redeemed themselves in Week 5. How are things looking for Week 6?
Quarterback Rankings
The Ballers’ consensus and FantasyPros rankings are very similar for Week 6. The first 3+ variance doesn’t come until Josh Rosen, Ballers QB21 and FantasyPros QB26.
Within the Ballers’ rankings, Andy’s QB5 ranking for Deshaun Watson is three spots lower than Jason and Mike, which is rather surprising considering the shootout potential with the Chiefs.
There is a four-spot difference between Mike (QB6) and Andy (QB10) for Dak Prescott, with Jason splitting the difference at QB8, mirroring both the Ballers’ and Fantasy Pros consensus.
Andy is taking the 49ers’ defense seriously, having the lowest ranking on Jared Goff at QB14, a full six spots lower than Mike.
In most single QB leagues, Kirk Cousins has likely been toiling on the waiver wire for a couple of weeks now. Andy is looking forward to this weekend’s match-up with the Eagles, ranking Cousins the highest as QB9.
In a QB quagmire at QB15-17, Gardiner Minshew, Baker Mayfield, and Kyle Allen might be as high as QB14 or down at QB20, depending on which Baller your following.
Running Back Rankings
Andy is bucking the chalky move of ranking Christian McCaffery at RB1, dropping him all the way down to….RB2. As we continue to gain more information to use for these rankings, The Ballers consensus is in lock-step with FantasyPros.
Individually, Jason is four spots lower on Nick Chubb (RB8) than Mike is (RB4) as the Cleveland offense continues to sputter.
Andy and Mike are much higher (RB7 and RB6 respectively), than Jason’s RB11 ranking for Mark Ingram, even heading into a tasty match-up against the Bengals.
James Conner continues to slip down the rankings each week, coming in like Andy’s RB17, five ranks behind Jason.
Mike is taking the Titans’ recent defensive prowess seriously, ranking Phillip Lindsay down at RB25.
Wide Receiver Rankings
There are two big variances between the Ballers and FantasyPros within the “starting” ranks of the top 24 WRs; Larry Fitzgerald (Ballers WR14, FantasyPros WR18) and Stefon Diggs (Ballers WR22, FantasyPros WR27).
While the Cowboys offense has been prolific through the first five weeks, Jason is the lowest on Amari Cooper at WR8, four spots behind Mike’s WR4. Sticking with the Cowboys, Mike is the highest on Michael Gallup at WR25, six spots ahead of Jason’s WR31 ranking.
Often times, when there is a big disparity in the rankings, two of the Ballers will have similar rankings while a third will be the outlier. That is not the case for Michael Thomas, who sports a four-spot variance, between Jason’s WR4 and Mike’s WR8, with Andy smack-dab in the middle at WR6.
Where Larry Fitzgerald had the biggest variance between consensus ranks, Jason’s WR10 ranking is propping that consensus rank up, while Mike has him at WR15 and Andy’ is even lower at WR18.
When will D.J. Chark get the respect he deserves? He has (essentially) caught a TD every week thus far, if you recognize the Week 4 TD that was called back after a penalty. He promptly went out in Week 5 and caught two TDs to bring his total to five through five games. He’s a top 10WR and a must-start every week, yet his best ranking is Jason’s WR16, four spots higher than Mike’s WR20 and FantasyPros WR21 consensus.
Tight End Rankings
Another quiet week at the TE position. The first 3 spot variance doesn’t occur until the Ballers TE 16, Vance McDonald, who is FantasyPros TE13.
Will Dissly is starting to get the respect of the top TE, ranking as Mike’s TE4, three spots higher than both Andy and Jason.
If you’re desperate for a TE with a solid floor, Jason Witten is your guy, coming in at TE11 for Mike, three spots higher than Andy’s TE14 ranking.
Biggest Takeaways from the Week 5 Podcasts
Monday – Week 5 Studs & Stinkers + Weekly Rewind, Kerplunk!
Monday Punday is filled with poop jokes, but I can’t stop laughing at Duck Duck Mike Evans (due to his goose egg). Weekly Rewind kicks off at 7:54. Fantasy Studmuffins can be found at 14:12 and it’s a doozy! The Stinkers of the Week segment starting at 40:56 and highlights of that player who earning those poop-themed names after pooping in their big boy pants.
Tuesday – Week 6 Waivers + Full Stream Ahead, Russian Roulette Week
The Ballers discuss the atrocious performance by the Cleveland Browns in Monday Night Football game, followed up by the News and Notes segment at 8:59. This week’s Waivers segment opens at 14:16. A lot of variations on waiver strategy this week depending on how your team is fairing thus far. At 45:34 the Ballers discuss some of the drop candidates to acquire one of those waiver-wire wonders. Streamers for Week 5 starts at 47:28, including a QB that was highlighted in the ranking audit above.
Wednesday – Buy/Sell + Let’s Talk Trades, A Healthy Beating
Fantasy Buy or Sell (2:54) focuses on some of the underachieving AFC North players heading into Week 6. The New and Notes segment opens at 10:28. The Ballers highlight Jeff Greenwood’s Trade Targets and Ammo article in the Let’s Talk Trades segment at 19:38. The Thursday Night Preview of the Giants at Patriots game closes the show starting at 50:18.
Thursday – Starts of the Week + Week 6 Breakdown, Burgles, Penguins, Boom-Booms
The Question of the day starts at 3:06: “If you’re 4-1 or 5-0 at what point do you start planning your roster for the playoffs? For example, Jordan Howard’s playoff schedule is the Giants, Redskins, Cowboys which seems prime. What are your thoughts on buying players like this with great playoff schedules at this point if you have a good record?”
Up next is the News and Notes at 7:16 discussing a few top RB draft picks. the Fantasy Forecast opens at 19:08 discussing the following matchups:
Panthers vs Buccaneers (London, 9:30am EST)
Texans @ Chiefs
Seahawks @ Browns
Bengals @ Ravens
Saints @ Jaguars
The Ballers’ Starts of the Week can be found at 50:13. A couple of them are players highlighted in the rankings audit and now you can hear why! If you are still playing in a league with Kickers, Jason’s Ironclad, Locked & Loaded, 100% Guaranteed, Boom Boom Kicker of the week can be found at 1:05:08.
Friday – Week 6 Matchups + In-or-Out, Oh Yeahhhhhhhhh!
The Friday show starts with a recap of the Thursday Night Football game, including the Patriots’ new goalline back, Tom Brady and his two rushing TDs. The Ballers fire up the In-Or-Out segment at 9:40. If you match up was not on the Thursday show, you can listen to the second half of the Fantasy Forecasts at 18:45. The 59:45 mark closes out the show with the Ballers on a Budget segment.
Fantasy Previews:
Eagles @ Vikings
Redskins @ Dolphins
49ers @ Rams
Falcons @ Cardinals
Cowboys @ Jets
Titans @ Broncos
Steelers @ Chargers
Lions @ Packers
Weekly Articles:
Monday
Rob Wilson’s Ten Things We Learned from the weekend.
Jeff Greenwood’s Trade Targets and Ammo
Tuesday
Matthew Betz’s Injury Recap
Aaron Larson’s Target Report
Ryan Weise’s Snap Count Observations
Lauren Carpenter’s Waiver Wire
Wednesday
Ryan Weisse’s Defense/Special Teams Strategy
Kyle Yates’ Dynasty Report
Thursday
Friday
Kyle Borgognoni’s Predicting the Top-12 QB’s
As we head into the fall, the weather will start to play a role in some of the games. Make sure you check back every Sunday for Eric Ludwig’s Weather Conditions article.
Have a great weekend and best of luck in Week 6!