All-Star vs All-Misfit, Week 9

Here's a good story.

I was going to be in just three fantasy leagues this year. I had been in four last year, but I thought I'd scale it back this year and focus on dynasty leagues. That was, until my good friend Sean told me he had two spots open in his fantasy league and asked me if I could join. It was an 8-team league, so it was low pressure. He asked me if I could find another person,and I said I would. The draft was the same night he asked me, so time was short... I asked my girlfriend.

Let me explain. I love playing fantasy, and during fantasy season I think about it a lot. I thought that by giving my girlfriend her own team, she would get an appreciation for something I enjoyed. Ok, now back to the story:

She agreed. The league was full. The draft was that night. I'd already explained a little bit of how to draft, but I made her a cheat sheet based on the league's scoring and we went to draft. She handled her own drafting, occasionally asking me whether I had an opinion about Player A or Player B. But she did the whole thing herself.

Fast forward to Week 9. She's beaten me twice, and is leading the league with a record of 7-2. She definitely got an appreciation for fantasy football, and also for kicking all of us to the curb. It just goes to show: Everyone can love fantasy football.

The All-Star team contains the top players from each position in terms of Average Draft Positions. For instance, Peyton Manning was the first quarterback off of most boards this year. Therefore, he’s the weekly All-Star QB. If the All-Star player has a bye, I go to the next person at that position by ADP (when Manning is out, I go to Aaron Rodgers, the second QB off the board). The All-Misfit team contains the players that nobody expected to score, but hit paydirt. This team will change drastically week-to-week, as no player can be on it consecutive weeks.

The scoring is ESPN standard, and the team format is: QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, TE, D/ST, K.

Without further ado, here is your Week 8 All-Star team!

QB: Peyton Manning – 21 points
RB: LeSean McCoy – 11 points
RB: Jamaal Charles - 14 points
WR: Dez Bryant - 7 points
WR: Demaryius Thomas – 12 points
TE: Jimmy Graham - 14 points
D/ST: Seahawks - 15 points
K: Stephen Gostkowski – 15 points

Total: 109 points

McCoy had a good game here, and he's going to have an excellent second half. His O-Line is getting better. Peyton proved he's going to score, no matter what. Dez Bryant's lack of production was tied to Weeden being his quarterback - he's not a good play this week... but Calvin Johnson will be back so the All-Star team will be ok. Other than that, there's not much to see here.

Here’s the All-Misfit team!

QB: Mark Sanchez - 12 points
RB: Matt Asiata - 25 points
RB: Chris Polk - 11 points
WR: Taylor Gabriel - 14 points
WR: Rishard Matthews - 8 points
TE: Mychal Rivera - 15 points
D/ST: Rams - 17 points
K: Caleb Sturgis - 12 points

Total: 114 points

Sanchez is good in this offense... he probably stays here all year. Asiata is a huge drain for McKinnon owners, but he's not going away any time soon. But Adrian Peterson may come back.... Chris Polk is McCoy's handcuff, not Darren Sproles. Sproles has a unique role in that offense. Who the hell is Taylor Gabriel? And Mychal Rivera is a good plug-and-play streamer this week.

VICTORY: Misfits! 114-109. Close this week.

Overall: Misfits lead 4-1-1.