Open Rants by Semaj

A run down of my cash line up for the week, including thought process, triumphs, regrets and results. 

QB

Jimmy Garapollo ($5500)

• More often than not I look to pay down at QB, as a QB’s volume is more predictable than a skill guy. Garapollo was the cheapest guy I felt comfortable with, ahead of Kizer and Gabbert. He had a good match up, his game total had climbed throughout the week, and we saw him have success in Soldier Field the week prior. Add in the little bit of rushing upside and JG was in a fine spot.

RB

Giovani Bernard ($3100)

• This was the lock and load play of the week. When Mixon exited last week’s game with a concussion Bernard handled all the work at RB. A projected three down plus goal line back as a home favorite for just $3100 is something you can’t pass up in cash. What made me feel even better about it was the fact that we’ve seem Bernard have success as a feature back in the past. 

Todd Gurley ($8100)

• While not egregiously under priced like Bernard, Gurley was still $1000 too cheap for his projected work load. He has been getting more usage than David Johnson was last year, and we saw Johnson settle around the 9k range once DK caught up to his usage. He had a tough match up, but I expected LA to put some points up, whether they were playing catch up or playing with a lead, and Gurley was sure to be a part of that. 

WR

Deandre Hopkins ($8500)

• I went back and forth a lot between Allen and Hopkins before Ertz was ruled doubtful (more on that later) Once I was safely able to lock in Trey Burton I had the salary for Hopkins and a third WR I wanted to play. Hopkins is a target machine and going against the worst corners in football made him safer than Allen. In retrospect I should’ve never considered not going with Hopkins, his situation was too good and we had enough value to where the salary didnt matter. 

Josh Gordon ($5500)

• Only Odell Beckham had topped 85 receiving yards against the Chargers secondary. Gordon received 11 targets in his first game in years and looked fantastic, prompting Casey Hayward to call him the toughest match up he’s had all year. At $5500, for his upside and projected targets against the terrible GB secondary he was probably $3000 too cheap.

Adam Thielen ($7200)

• Thielen was the last piece to my puzzle. He fit right in once I was able to lock in Burton. At $7200 I felt he was fairly cheap considering how consistent he had been throughout the year. The Panthers had been lit up by WR1’s the past few weeks, so I liked Thielen to bounce back from his down performance last week. 

TE

Trey Burton ($2900)

• All week I had Stephen Anderson locked in this spot, but didnt feel comfortable with my last WR and FLEX. Once Ertz was ruled doubtful late Saturday night, the extra $300 let me play both Thielen and Fitz. We have seen Burton be productive in the preseason and when Ertz misses time. Playing him was a cheap was to get exposure to Carson Wentz and gave me a little correlation with Gurley. 

FLEX 

Larry Fitzgerald ($6500)

• I expected Gabbert to play well against a bad Tennessee secondary, and he is most accurate when targeting Fitzgerald. I felt $6500 was pretty fair, and it allowed me to leave a 4pm EST guy in my FLEX in case I felt the need to make any changes. I though about K Hunt here but couldn’t pull the trigger after his performance the past 4-5 weeks. 

Defense

Minnesota ($2700)

• For how good the Vikes defense is $2700 is too cheap for them. On the road in Carolina may have been too loose for cash, but I couldn’t pass up this value. I’d make the play 10 times over. 

I ended up scoring 182 in cash this week, which would’ve been good enough for a 90% win rate in head to heads.