2013 Mid-Season Review
AldenLeague 2013 has hit
the mid-season point, and there have been some highs and lows. Here’s a
mid-season report on what’s transpired so far, and a look into the
second half of the March to Fantasy Bowl XIV.
Keeper Player Updates
A few keepers have turned out very well. The Skyns’s Jamaal Charles leads all RBs in scoring, and is a focus of the KC offence, making him an excellent 3rd Round value. Peyton Manning was kept by the L.A. Ninjas in the 2nd
round, which isn’t a big discount in terms of probable draft position,
but it’s hard to argue against locking up the man who is not only the
highest scorer of all positions in the league, but – get this – 90
points ahead of the 2nd highest-scorer. The Risen’s Marshawn Lynch comes in 4th in RB scoring. Most Murderous’s Demaryius Thomas (though traded) is the 3rd best WR (taken in the 6th) and Syn City’s Dez Bryant is the 5th best WR (taken in the 6th) and are very good values.
Falling in the so-so department are Fireseed’s Randall Cobb, who was an excellent value as a top-10 scoring WR taken in the 12th, but who suffered a long-term injury. The Ice Cold Bruschi’s Drew Brees is a great player as the 5th best QB, but that doesn’t make him a must-keep 1st rounder. The C-Men kept Adrian Peterson in the 2nd round, which is about fair value for the 7th best RB.
Falling in the “Bad Idea” category comes no one more glaring than Cam Newton of CheektoWojo, who was kept in the 1st Round, but is only the 15th best QB in the league.
C.J. Spiller of Andy’s Red Hots is a tremendous bust as the 34th best-scoring RB (who hasn’t even had his bye week yet), but to be fair only cost Andy an 8th Round pick. And what seemed like a bad idea at the time turned out to be just that – the Boys of Fall made sure to lock up TE Tony Gonzalez in the 8th, who turned out to be the 8th best at his position so far.
Trader Joe’s
As usual, the Boys of Fall
have been active in a number of trades that have sent meaningless
players to other teams in exchange for other meaningless players, doing
deals involving the likes of Golden Tate, Andre Ellington, and the Tampa
Bay defense. Well done once again, Justin. Syn City worked over the new guy early on in the season and took #3 RB Matt Forte off the hands of the Dandy Lions in exchange for Steven Jackson, who could’ve been all right, but has been hurt all year. The C-Men clearly came out on top when acquiring keeper and top-5 WR Demaryius Thomas from Most Murderous
in exchange for the underperforming Doug Martin, who promptly got hurt
in the same week following the trade, and could be out for the
long-term. In what could be the most reasonable trade, Andy’s Red Hots traded surprise Top-10 RB Fred Jackson and an ACQ to Fireseed
in exchange for WR T.Y. Hilton – who could be in a nice position
following Reggie Wayne’s season-ending injury, and underperforming RB
Maurice Jones-Drew.
Waiver Winners
Most Murderous and the Ice Cold Bruschi’s
jumped out and picked up Jordan Cameron and Julius Thomas,
respectively, within the first 2 weeks of the season, and locked up top 3
tight ends. Syn City also got in on the action by signing Charles Clay, an unknown who is now in the top 10 of the position. The Dandy Lions picked up a nice player in Danny Woodhead, who has put up respectable numbers in recent weeks. I.C.B. has gotten 4 straight weeks of double-digit points from FA WR Keenan Allen.
A Team on the Rise
The Risen started
the season off 0-3, seemingly left for dead. Closer inspection,
however, reveals a string of bad luck moreso than a failing team. Two of
those losses came with the team scoring 165 and 174 points, only to
lose to opponents scoring in the 180s. Since then, the team has put
together 4 straight wins, is the 5th best scoring team in
AldenLeague, and has clawed back to being within 1 game of the Cobras
Division lead. Led by a very impressive set of WRs on good offenses and
Marshawn Lynch, who continues to add up points, the team seems to be on
the way up. Of concern is this week’s injury to starting QB Jay Cutler,
who is out a minimum of 4 weeks, and leaves the only starter as the
slightly disappointing Colin Kaepernick. We shall see how this team
rebounds.
A Team on the Fall
Most Murderous
may sit only 1 win less than the #6 seed and final playoff slot, but
this team is hurting and could struggle to stay in the hunt. It all
starts with 1st Round draft pick David Wilson, who drew
heckles on Draft Day that turned out to be well justified: Wilson has
scored only 38 points this season, and was a miserable disappointment
even before getting hurt. However, hurt he is, alongside starting QB
E.J. Manuel. The injury bug also hit at the worst time possible – after
dealing keeper player Demaryius Thomas to the C-Men in
exchange for some much-needed help at the RB position (see: David
Wilson), newly acquired Doug Martin got hurt in the very next week, and
could be out for the very long term. To make matters worse, the team
pissed up all 9 of their ACQs by Oct. 9, leaving them with no solution
for bye weeks or future injuries, and a future heavily dependent on the
improbably success of Eli Manning, Geno Smith, Zac Stacy, and the like.
Big Advantage
The Ice Cold Bruschis sit atop the Cobras Division (and #2 overall in the league) with a 5-2 record, but are just one win ahead of the #7 team, Andy’s Red Hots.
That’s a lot of teams within near striking range. What I.C.B. does have
goes for them, however, is a sterling 5-0 record within their division.
The Skyns and The Risen, tied at 4-3 behind them, each have a 2-3 divisional record, while the Red Hots
are at 4-1. Remember that when it comes to the tiebreaker system for
divisional championships, divisional record – not points – is the first
tiebreaker.
Early Keeper Watch
It’s
still too early to tell, but looking ahead to 2014 keepers, there don’t
appear to be any major steals coming from the late rounds of this
year’s draft. However, here are a few decent players from late rounds
that are showing some potential. Syn City has the best steal, with QB Philip Rivers showing a great revival as the 3rd highest scoring QB, who was drafted in Round 14. Syn City also has Knowshon Moreno as the #5 RB, who was taken in Round 10. The 8th-best WR is Chicago’s Alshon Jeffrey, who was taken by CheektoWojo in the 10th Round as well. Josh Gordon, a 9th Round pick of the C-Men, has posted games of 30, 10, 18, 18, and 3 points in the five games since returning from his early-season suspension. The 10th best WR is The Risen’s Eric Decker, taken in Round 6. Fireseed’s Rueben Randle is the 21st best WR and was taken in Round 13.
Eliminated
Fireseed came out on top of the Eliminator game on the message board after 5 weeks, and in Game 2, The Skyns have already bowed out, leaving only CheektoWojo to attempt to put an end to Fireseed’s reign of terror.
Final Word
As things stand now, the difference between last place and the final playoff spot is only a difference of 3 games, with 6 weeks left. Anything can happen. Best of luck to all!
