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  • Writer's pictureThe Commish

#GMRRFFA Week 8 Recap: A Salty Separation Week

Look, #GMRRFFA isn't just a Sunday type of fantasy football league, and its commissioner isn't one to simply send out an email about approaching bye weeks. The days leading in to Week 8 were insane plus the match-ups were nothing short of exhilirating - its why I've taken on commissioner duties full time. This league continues to surprise, perplex and enthrall me so without further ado let's get to it...

Trades

I can’t recap the week that was without discussing the plethora of trades that went down last week, some being more contentious than the usual, so here’s my quick breakdown and grades largely because I can. Nine teams participated in EIGHT trades last week, including 22 players and $75 2019 draft dollars:


Mark sends Commish: Julian Edelman; Commish Sends Mark: Jordan Howard and Sammy Watkins

Analysis: Sammy Watkins is the best player you regret not starting every fourth week, so I’m happy he’s gone. Last Monday, Mark needed a running back, so who knows. Grabbing Edelman stabilizes my Flex spot, which only eclipsed double digits twice in seven weeks previous to Week 8.

Grades – Commish: B+; Mark: C


The Sausage King sends LKA!: TJ Yeldon, AJ Green, Amari Cooper; LKA! Sends the Sausage King: CMC, Chester Rogers, Christian Kirk

Analysis: LKA! clearly had a plan by shipping Yeldon later this week, but this was a solid move, especially considering AJG is arguably the better player than CMC. Plus, the Yeldon and Cooper pieces are significantly better than Rogers and Kirk.

Grades – LKA!: A; Sausage King: B


Carlos sends Stabs: Benjamin Watson; Stabs sends Carlos: LeGarrette Blount

Analysis: Not worth the time

Grades – Stabs: Incomplete; Carlos: Incomplete


Mark sends Fredo: Jordan Howard Corey Davis $35 future draft dollars; Fredo Sends Mark: Jarvis Landry, Carlos Hyde

Analysis: I sort of love what Fredo did here, getting the money and even Howard, but Mark essentially turned Julian Edelman and $35 draft dollars in to Jarvis Landry. I love Mark but it’s a head scratcher. Over the last 4 weeks, Edelman has averaged 16.5 points while Landry is at 13.5. I get that Hyde might be good, but Howard might be good too and coming in to a crowded Jax backfield just depreciates Hyde's value more. The future dollars is killer.

Grades – Fredo: A; Mark: D


Commish sends Makese: LeSean McCoy; Makese Sends Commish: Mohammed Sanu, $25 2019 auction draft dollars

Analysis: There’s nothing more relieving then getting value back and no longer being invested in the Buffalo Bills offense. Getting the $25 + Sanu for McCoy helps me forget I spent $70+ on McCoy in the draft. On the other hand, Makese was desperate, and blood in the water brought on the sharks. Not sure this was worth it for the Kidney Division leader.

Grades – Commish: A; Makese: C-


Fredo sends Unicorn: Jimmy Graham; Unicorn Sends Fredo: Evan Engram, $15 draft dollars

Analysis: Is Smeet jealous of Fredo for copying his 2018 strategy? I think this is a perfectly fine trade for both, though I’m underwhelmed by Graham just a bit.

Grades – Fredo: A; Unicorn: B


LKA! sends Unicorn: Aaron Rodgers, TJ Yeldon, Golden Tate; Unicorn Sends LKA!: Ezekial Elliot

Analysis: LKA! strikes again, and it’s a winner for him, bringing on a premiere RB after trading CMC for AJG earlier this week. LKA!’s moves are marginal upgrades, but most people would take AJG and Zeke over CMC and Tate any day. Meanwhile, the Unicorn basically says Wilson is a bust, has to deal with the Yeldon question in a crowded backfield, and hope Tate consistently performs. He claims that this trade gets him 20 points more on average per week, but we’ll have to wait and see (below)…

Grades – LKA!: A; Unicorn: C-

The Unicorn was... ummm... none too pleased with the Friday night debate

Fredo sends Commish: Derrick Henry; Commish Sends Fredo: Mike Williams

Analysis: I tried to forget this one, but drunk trading isn’t recommended. I take comfort knowing Williams has under-performed and Henry is a chance I need as I’m desperate for RB help.

Grades – Fredo: B; Commish: C


Ok, my brain hurt after that… so let’s get in to the actual on-the-field action…


Hot Streaks

Four weeks ago, the Filipino contingent in #GMRRFFA were both sitting at 1-3 and while Tito Galen was simply facing bad luck, the Sausage King was sputtering with two straight games around 102 point per week. Both were three games back in the wildly competitive Kidney Division with four teams ahead of them (sorry Smeet). But now? Both are running impressive four-game winning streaks (Tito Galen scored the highest in the league three straight weeks!) and both sit just one game behind Makese and will assuredly sit atop this week’s power rankings again. Neither had their best performances this week, but both comfortably knocked off Toby and Fredo, respectively, as they gear up for two massive match-ups this week (see below).


Critical Outcomes

I have a lot to say this week, so I don’t want to expound too much on what happened in Week 8 beyond the obvious. We had FIVE match-ups between 3-4/4-3 teams and candidly this definitely felt like separation week. First, the Sausage King knocked off Toby, who impressively defeated Makese and FIL in the two weeks previously. Second guessing is so fun, but if Toby had inserted Larry Fitzgerald in over Baldwin or Godwin, he’d be at 4-4 and absolutely viable for a post-season run…


I’m going to say this carefully; I don’t have a clue about Carlos’ squad at this point. He’d won 3 out of 4 previous to dropping an absolute turd in Week 8 against Coop (whose 123 points is his best total in FIVE weeks). Carlos has seen his points total drop from the previous week five straight match-ups which is terribly surprising considering he had LeGarrette Blount and Kenjon Barner as his starting running backs. In fact, his RBs and WRs combined 20.8 points (as a comparison, each of my WRs this week outscored all five of Carlos’ players combined).


Super excited to never have to face Todd Gurley again this season, which was truly terrifying. My match-up with Stabs could have gone either way in about 16 different scenarios. Notably, the Gurley rushes in the last two minutes post-Ty Montgomery fumble were insane. First, Stabs received a critical 3.7 points post-fumble from Gurley, which required Edelman to get 18 points, not 14.5 on MNF. BUT, if Gurley takes the touchdown, Stabs beats me by about two points. That is just Gurley in the last two minutes on Sunday afternoon, and by no means touches on the remaining 15 scenarios…


Thanks for playing this week Unicorn… After a tense WhatsApp group chat on Friday where the reigning champ said he needed stability in scoring – hence trading for Tate and Yeldon – he lost again to Dorne. My favorite part though? Unicorn’s claim of adding up to 20 points more in scoring. End result? An uptick of three points in Week 8 above his season average. There’s an LOL in there somewhere, but he’s salty and I think still competitive so I’m going to resist piling on…


After a resurgent Week 7 victory, its official that Fredo Maisel may be dead, losing five of his last six after being trounced by Tito Galen, who looked as vulnerable as it gets while posting 130 points in a week. Given his trading last week, Fredo’s in rebuild regardless but it was fun having him around for one special week.


Smeet? Lost again – sorry buddy. The Dolphins D at negative 11 was basically the difference, but coming in to MNF, how much was Makese sweating, being down 13 with McCoy and Gordon set to go? Given their seasons, I’d say a lot. Tough loss for the always-fiesty Smeet, who remains competitive with a core of young non-keepers starting every week for his team. (Also, Mitch Trubisky makes me happy – proving competent plus he averages 28 points per week and is top-10 in fantasy! #Beardown).


What’s Next?

So, here’s the dilemma… Smeet is re-building, Stabs and Fredo are now re-building. The Unicorn is sort of rebuilding. Toby’s been rebuilding even if he doesn’t realize it yet. That’s five teams who are essentially calling it a season plus Coop, Carlos and the Commish teetering on the brink of competitiveness. So now we are up to 8… if all of us decide to throw away the remainder of the season, just remember TWO are going to be sucked in to the playoffs to face Tito Galen or LKA! in the first round. If you’re tanking, you better reallllllllrealllllllly start tanking…


Strength of schedule

I’ve held off looking at teams’ strengths of schedule the last few weeks, mostly because given the parity I didn’t think they’d reveal too much, but at this point with 4 or 5 teams beginning to distance themselves from the pack, I thought it’d be pretty insightful to look at remaining schedules for individual teams. To absolutely no one’s surprise, most teams’ remaining schedules hovered around .500. Ten teams have schedules where their opponents’ combined records are within two games of .500, but there are four with real interesting schedules the rest of the way.

LKA! has the easiest remaining schedule, with opponents’ combined records of 16-24. In fact, LKA!’s four-game losing streak included teams with a combined 20-12 record like Makese, the Sausage King and FIL, all above .500. His remaining schedule? Week 12 vs Dorne is his only remaining opponent currently with a winning record, and he’s facing three opponents – Fredo Maisel, Stabs, and Smeet – all of whom have cancelled the remainder of the season.


On the other side, two teams have actual tougher schedules ahead – Tito Galen and Makese – with opponents’ records both at 24-16. If Tito Galen was to ever face a tough stretch, its definitely the next 3 weeks vs FIL (6-2), Makese (6-2) and the Sausage King (5-3). Meanwhile, Makese is also in for a tough road ahead, and doesn’t face a single team with a losing record currently from here on out (the Sausage King, Tito Galen FIL, the Commish, and Coop).


Week 9 Preview

We have two doozies ahead this week – first, there’s 5-3 Sausage Kings against 6-2 Makese. A win for either is massive considering they’re separated by one game in the division. Meanwhile, Tito Galen and FIL is another must see. Tito Galen can stay in the race for the Kidney Division lead with a win, and FIL has 5-3 Dorne breathing down his neck. Meanwhile, 4-4 Carlos needs a win against the rebuilding-or-not Unicorn, LKA! could finally break a four-game losing streak against Fredo, and Stabs’ season is basically over if he loses to 5-3 Dorne.


Rivalry of the Week

Don’t let the combined 5-11 record fool you - #Smeet and the Commish face off in a fun match-up with yours truly riding his first two-game winning streak of the season. This one is a rivalry for about 5000 reasons – Smeet still pissed the commish made him return a video rental after he dislocated his shoulder; Smeet’s still pissed the commish only gives him a biweekly mail column; the commish is pissed Smeet continues to lie about hot-boxing an elevator… You get the point. These two are brothers from long ago, and there’s animosity that exists for decades that only family would understand. There’s zero doubt Smeet wins to royally mess up my season, but we’ll see.


Actually, Smeet is just pissed still because the Commish swapped him out of the original Riff Raff crew for Toby last weekend:


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