EDOTLOCCA's Corner: Week 4

Happy Friday everyone! Probably (not) the only time I will be able to use that intro so thought I’d get it out of the way. There are many advantages to writing an article on a Friday, primarily that I could massively increase my Bold Prediction hit rate no end, more on that later… And we also get to see some nice games shaping up already as well, IKSAN vs. Tanky McTankface is off to a great start for the divisional matchup. Although, waking up 50 points down on a Friday can’t feel too hot. Coach Allen, thoughts? Hit up the comments section, why not, it must be there for some reason, right? Anyway, we’re already a day late, so let’s crack on.

Coaches Award

A super close game that was at heavy risk from being micromanaged on both sides. As it was, both coaches made good and bad calls (not that I disagree with any of them, just the NFL doesn’t always make sense…), but the critical decision came late on Sunday when Coach Nathwani got Desean Jackson in the starting lineup, and his contribution was critical to the slimmest of victories. Spare a moment of thought for the terribly unlucky Coach Burdett (two weeks running), but then he also keeps putting up huge scores, so only a short moment.

Wooden Spoon

No one makes the correct decision every week, but there is only one coach in the league who seems to be trying his absolute hardest to have the highest scoring bench each week. So far he has been getting away with it, but not in Week 3. Coach Gardner got caught short in a relatively close game with plenty of points left on the bench that could have won him the game. Unlucky, but then he was pushing his luck somewhat the first couple of weeks.

Bold Predictions

Another correct prediction last week! Brady going big on the Texans has upheld my record of one per week, good man. This week we have a bit of a head start from Thursday night’s matchup but, whilst hindsight is glorious, it is also most definitely cheating. Let’s see how we do!

The Dream Team vs. The Southampton Narwhals: Fresh off a Coaches Award, the Dream Team are looking to spread their wings. After a decent start from Howard, they double the Narwhal’s score, complete with a big British Brees performance!

Forge Flyers vs. The Burdettinators: These teams have really built off of their RBs, and they seem pretty matchup proof! 600 yards and 6 TDs on the ground, count ‘em.

Cash4Gould vs. Gridiron Gang: Annnnnd Gridiron Gang are back to Palmer, didn’t take long, unfortunately he fails to score even one third of Ryan’s points total and the rollercoaster relationship continues.

Patistan vs. Bear Necessities: Predictions get harder to make when over a quarter of the players have already played. So, focussing on the players who haven’t played, Patistan’s rookie RB investment pays off with 35 points between them.

Tanky McTankface vs. IKSAN: IKSAN look to be hitting their stride this season and this game could be a high scorer. Having already won going into MNF, Cousins and Kelce provide the sprinkles on the cherry on the icing on the cake.

Tom’s Tyrants vs. ADRZ: Something is cooking in Gronk town, a big performance is on its way. 100 yards and 2 TDs here could be insurmountable for Tom’s Tyrants.

Right short outro here, before I have to change the intro to ‘Happy Saturday’, so gonna get straight to posting! Good luck this week everyone!

2017: Power Rankings Week 4

And here we are again to attempt to hopelessly assess the balance of power in the LOC! And it was another interesting one, in which we saw many of the win-less teams win....obviously. It wasn't all topsy turvy however, as some teams actually decided to follow their pattern. Let's find out who!

Power Rankings

1. Burdettinators, 1-2 (1): The top of this list, as expected, is pretty much as you were. As was said last week, this team is strong from top to bottom with depth to boot. They narrowly lost last week, by less than a point, but they had more than enough on the bench that would have brought home the W. This team is going to continue to put up good performances and the wins will surely follow.

2. Forge Flyers, 3-0 (2): Speaking of good performances, Forge Flyers just had their 3rd one in a row too. While they don't have the strength top to bottom like Burdettinators, each week they have guys capable of shouldering the load while others struggle, which is a perfectly fine situation to be in. The depth certainly isn't as good, but as long as the core remains intact that's not a problem.

3. Bear Necessities, 3-0 (4): And to round out the fearsome trio at the top of the league is Bear Necessities. Once again, #PackersOrPanic worked it's magic, and seemingly the only time this team will panic is on their bye week. While only Rodgers (and Crosby I guess) performed from the Pack this week, they have enough options around them to chip in when required. As long as the Pack are rolling, they should too.

4. The Dream Team, 2-1 (7): Now there's the team that I saw after draft day. Coach Nathwani's side finally put it together in Week 3, delivering the performance we all expected. While the roster still does have it's worries, week 3 looks like the week where The Dream Team have finally figured it out and can start to get their season properly on track. This is another sneaky strong starting lineup.

5. Patistan, 2-1 (6): A bit of a ho hum week in what has been a good start to the season for Coach Allen. But we've all had them once upon a time. This team was doing ok but really got sunk on Monday night by the Raiders offence (West coast teams typically never do well when travelling to the East coast). If they would have even put in an average performance this would have looked a lot better, and their bench is seemingly getting stronger every week.

6. ADRZ, 1-2 (5): After a decent start to the season, Coach Wells' side finally broke the duck and got a win. Not much to report here really, the team is as it has been, putting up decent weekly scores and finally facing an opponent that didn't outscore them. They might struggle to rack up the wins this year, but there's no doubt they're going to get their fair share with a decent lineup. However, the bye weeks and any injuries may cripple this side without any budget left to spend.

7. IKSAN, 1-2 (11): They haven't had the best of starts to the season, but Coach Sherwood rolled out a nice performance to bring home the W in week 3. They looked much better than they have been, and they could certainly build off of this going forward. However, with the looming potential of losing Zeke Elliot to the suspension he delayed, IKSAN could be in hot water before we know it.

8. Tom's Tyrants, 1-2 (8): And thus ends the precipitous rise of Coach Barnes' side up the power rankings. Look, it was a bad week, we all have them, I'm not going to slate them. What is positive though is they got to 68 points with only 2 people topping 10 points, and 4 players not even topping 3. Chalk this one up to a bad week, and while they might not be world beaters they should be better than this going forward.

9. Tanky McTankface, 1-2 (3): So after I finally give Tanky McTankface some credit and shoot them up the power ranking....they deliver an absolute dud with a season worst 44 points, one of the lowest weekly totals in LOC history. Not one player topped 10 points. However, they did have options on the bench that would have, and this team is definitely better than this. Time will tell if consistency eludes them or finds a home.

10. Cash4Gould, 2-1 (9): The team that was fortunate to get to 2 wins has finally lost their first game. It was a decent week, but another one that marked them leaving a lot of points on the bench. The depth is starting to shape up for this team, now Coach Gardner just has to make sure he plays the right players on a given week. If he can they should improve.

11. Gridiron Gang, 1-2 (12): Another win-less team that finally woke up in Week 3. Key players finally delivered on their price for Gridiron Gang, and they got decent chip ins from the surrounding cast. Despite suffering multiple injuries to start the season, Coach Stubbs Jr. has done an adequate job of plugging the holes via trades and waiver additions. Let's see if they can carry it through to next week.

12. Southampton Narwhals, 0-3 (10): #BradyOrBust is alive and well with this team, with Brady lumping in half of this teams weekly points. Which is pretty incredible when you add in the fact they got 89 points. Outside of Brady's heroics, and a good week by Hilton, there wasn't much to write home about...which unfortunately could be the case most weeks. Coach Nunn really needs to hit the waiver wire, filling his last vacant bench spot and dropping Allen Robinson to boot.

EDOTLOCCA's Corner: Week 3

Greetings kind folk, I hope you come prepared to divulge in the latest entry into the LOC history books. As always, the most meaningless chapters in said history books come straight from the darkest corners, the EDOTLOCCA’s corners that is. If that little intro hasn’t reminded you why you never click on the link that I post each week, then nothing will, so we might as well get into the nitty gritty.

Coaches Award

When only one game amongst the whole week of matchups really stands out as a high scorer, it is hard not to look in that direction for such an award. I have already questioned (multiple times) the brave tactic of committing oneself so closely to the fate of one particular team, but the questions will dry up with more performances like these. Congrats to Coach Stubbs Sr. for proving that his pioneering fantasy tactic does make the grade. And what a happy coincidence that Coach Stubbs Sr. is such a big fan of Green Bay too… oh… wait a minute…

Honourable Mention: Proving once again that necessity is the mother of invention, Tanky McTankface refuse to do what you expect of them. Great performance and well deserved win, can this team go further though?

Wooden Spoon

Ouch, sometimes there doesn’t really seem to be a reason for a team doing particularly badly, the players just don’t seem to be living up to expectation. Well, Gridiron Gang need to take a good hard look at themselves because something doesn’t add up here. For all the wheeling and dealing that Coach Stubbs Jr. has managed in the early part of the season, he needs to find away to put some points on the board. Cutting loose with Palmer was a good start, lets see if he can keep it trending up.

Bold Predictions

I can honestly say that I have never felt hard done by whilst writing this before. I got one whole prediction right! Cash4Gould’s rookies did make Zeke look useless, but I hit the post on two more and was so close to a .500 record for the week, the stuff dreams are made of. It will come, we just have to keep pushing on!

Forge Flyers vs. The Southampton Narwhals: The Narwhals look in trouble early doors, a culmination of bad depth and really bad luck. From their point of view, Forge Flyers must look like the metaphorical Goliath, Brady could just be their David however, cracking the 40 point mark.

Burdettinators vs. The Dream Team: If there is one constant that you can count on in fantasy football, it is that you start whoever is playing the Saints. Newton and Benjamin combine for 50 points here and all Coach Nathwani can do is watch.

Patistan vs. Gridiron Gang: Coach Stubbs Jr. really needs someone (anyone) to step up at this point, but Patistan’s WRs may be too hot to handle this week. Overdue some breakout games, the three receivers go over the 50 mark.

Bear Necessities vs. Cash4Gould: To continue his perfect record, Coach Gardner might need to start scoring a few more points. He continues his winning record here, but it is close again, with the highest scoring game of the week totalling 240+ points.

Tanky McTankface vs. ADRZ: In a matchup of arguably the two least predictable coaches in LOC history,  predicting anything at all seems bold to be honest. So lets go with this: *spins giant wheel that you can’t see but totally exists* TEs! *spins wheel once more* 35 points! There you go, TEs combine for at least 35 points, your guess is as good as mine.

Tom’s Tyrants vs. IKSAN: Will Zeke show up this week? If he doesn’t then this could well be the most uninspired group of RBs every collected in a LOC matchup. Well, I am going bold here and saying that there is only one rushing TD in this Week 3 game, and it goes to Trevor Siemian, obviously.

Despite feeling cheated from last week, I am still on a hat trick ball here, so I want everyone to keep their fingers crossed for another successful week. Disregard your meaningless fantasy sports to assist in my pursuit of correct meaningless predictions about your meaningless fantasy sports! Don’t ask why, just do it! Until next time.

2017: Power Ranking Week 3

Here we go again! After 2 weeks of LOC football what we have is either a clearer picture of the teams - or a more muddled one because the second week was the complete opposite of the first. Aren't you happy you're not the one who has to sort through this mess? I hope you enjoy my attempt at doing just that. Action!

Power Rankings

1. Burdettinators, 1-1 (2): Despite dropping a game last week (in which Coach Burdett still scored 115 points), Burdettinators have looked like the real deal so far this season. An incredibly well balanced team from top to bottom, there's scarcely a weak point in the starting lineup. As long as more of the same continues and they avoid the injury bug, they're looking like this year's team to beat.

2. Forge Flyers, 2-0 (3): I need to borrow Coach Leach's crystal ball before we draft next year. He said on the podcast a few weeks ago he'd rise up the rankings and - low and behold - he's one spot from the top of the mountain. While there are concerns and some players not bringing home the bacon, Coach Leach has a well rounded side that should be able to get you around that magic 100 every week.

3. Tanky McTankface, 1-1 (11): A meteoric rise here for Coach Merritt, I'm not sure he's been this high since 2014. And with good reason. While not everything is rosy on the roster, this team has shown it is capable of putting up points (something the team didn't show lasts year). There are concerns at running back, but this team has other strengths to mask this. Coach Merritt could be back people, finally proving he can hang in a 12 team league.

4. Bear Necessities, 2-0 (9): A very very nice week for Coach Stubbs Sr. last week, but this team will be quite volatile. Way down after Sunday night, they made a roaring comeback. Mainly because they have 5 (count 'em, FIVE) Green Bay players playing in the Sunday night game. While they're definitely a good team to have shares in, you have to figure this will be volatile. But if Green Bay go off, so will Bear Necessities.

5. ADRZ, 0-2 (4): Coach Wells has to be disappointed at starting 0-2 because the team has certainly done enough to deserve 1 win. Alas, the win will come as they have a decent, deep roster. After their splurge on waiver adds in week 1, they saw a bit of a boost, although probably not as much as they would have hoped considering the investment. Still, this team definitely has options to turn too now and should be quite consistent.

6. Patistan, 2-0 (7): Another very deep team from top to bottom that I don't think has come close to hitting their apex potential, so I'm ranking them at what they are right now. It's just a good, strong, consistent side, what more can I say? Jones and Thomas haven't even hit full stride yet, while I'm just waiting for the day when McCaffrey and Mixon take the next step. This could be an under the radar team that storms to the finish.

7. The Dream Team, 1-1 (1): Ok, Beckham still isn't at full strength, but I've seen enough to take some of the shine off of this side. Howard and Reed have been disappointing to this point, while other options aren't doing much to pick up the slack. Anderson looks like the real deal, but around that there's not much to write home about. They might turn the corner at some point, but for now they're looking shaky.

8. Tom's Tyrants, 1-1 (10): Coach Barnes is continuing his slow and steady rise on the power rankings (place an early bet now on them being no.1 in week 7). The side nearly pulled off an upset with a late comeback in the 9pm games but didn't quite make it. But this is also the worry, as without the charge from Witten and Siemian it was looking like a bad week. Still, Coach Barnes is too good a coach to write off, so they'll make it work.

9. Cash4Gould, 2-0 (5): A some what surprising 2-0 team as they've scored the 9th most points, but as you can probably guess, it's because they've conceded the least. Perhaps Coach Gardner is the new Coach Wells, who has not had the same fortune thus far. It was another disappointing week for Coach Gardner in which he limped to not losing, but to his credit he does have options on the bench. That won't be the case when he instantly puts them in the starting line up, but he has got potential.

10. The Southampton Narwhals, 0-2 (12): Coach Nunn is firmly committed to the #BradyOrBust strategy for a second year in a row, and the third year in a row that it has been a strategy. Brady put the team on his back in a narrow loss, in which outside of special teams and the Quizz the team did not do much. There is also little to turn too on the bench. But, on the flip side, some of the key players aren't performing right now, so maybe they can be better than they've been showing.

11. IKSAN, 0-2 (6): While Coach Gardner has depth aplenty, Coach Sherwood's cupboard is bare. Nelson got hurt this week but should be back soon, while Blount might not get any carries anymore. The bench is a wasteland of disappointment, and only Cousins, Kelce and Elliot at this point are their saving grace. But, despite all the negativity, Coach Sherwood finds a way of turning it around. He does know something about the NFL after all.

12. Gridiron Gang, 0-2 (8): As you can imagine, I'm pretty disappointed with my team's start. Bell has been slow out of the gate, and my trio of receivers have yet to pop. QB play has been an issue, and I've had a starter go down injured both weeks in a row. But I think it's just been a bad start as opposed to being a bad team. A silver lining is that the injuries to this team have been to non-core players. The core of the team should still be good, we'll just have to see how long it takes to emerge.

2017: Week 2 Status Report

2017: Week 2 Status Report

Gridiron Gang
- Clean bill of health

The Dream Team
- Jordan Howard: shoulder, limited all week, questionable but expected to play
- Odell Beckham Jr: high ankle sprain, questionable, was close last week, should play

Tanky McTankface
- Clean bill of health

The Southampton Narwhals
- Jarvis Landry: knee, questionable, should be all systems go

Bear Necessities
- Clean bill of health

Burdettinators
- Danny Amendola: concussion/knee, out

Tom's Tyrants
- Sam Bradford: knee, questionable, will be a game time decision but tentatively expected to play
- Andrew Luck: shoulder, out
- John Brown: quad, out

Forge Flyers
- Clean bill of health 

IKSAN
- Clean bill of health

Cash4Gould
- Golden Tate: finger, all systems go

ADRZ
- Clean bill of health

Patistan
- Clean bill of health

EDOTLOCCA's Corner: Week 2

Hello! After 8 months or so off, we have our first taste of LOC action! And boy was it good… well if you like defence anyway. A lot of NFL offences left a lot to be desired after Week 1, even studs like Le’Veon Bell and Tom Brady looked distinctly average, and as a result only four teams managed to get above the middling 90 point mark, bit of rust to shake off of the ol’ LOC. Despite this, it didn’t stop any of the thrill of the LOC with 12 teams taking their first step towards glory in 2017. Who got off on the right foot you ask? Well, read on.

Coaches Award

This coach was close to a mention in this section last week, he had a very strong draft and managed to singlehandedly derail my strategy on the day. It would be easy to just pick whoever scores the highest each week, and I am not one for making things unnecessarily harder for myself, so congratulations to Coach Burdett. The team looks legitimately stacked and, yes it is only Week 1, but I am already thankful that I am not in his division. He also made my bold prediction last week look ridiculous, but that is actually relatively easy to do, moving on.

Honourable mention: We all knew the new waiver system was going to cause a bit of confusion, but no one saw what happened Wednesday coming. Coach Wells isn’t getting this mention for his savvy pickups however, he gets it for sticking to his guns, admitting his mistake and rolling for it. That is enough for a virtual high five from me! In fact, unless they are playing against The Tyrants, I can’t help but root for ADRZ now!

Wooden Spoon

This team was missing their top WR due to an inconvenient hurricane, but they appeared to be missing more that than last week. With a team full of committee RBs and secondary target WRs, Coach Merritt will be looking for a spark to emerge within his ranks, or one of his classic waiver wire steals that no one saw coming. Whatever the fix is, it is still early doors, he has time yet.

Bold Predictions

It is always nice to start the season with a win and, like 6 of the teams here, your EDOTLOCCA has done just that. Okay, 1-5 isn’t everybody’s idea of a win, but we have come to lower expectations over time here. Any week with a correct prediction is a good week! Speaking of which, here’s what you can expect in Week 2.

Tanky McTankface vs. The Southampton Narwhals: I have been through the matchups and, if I’m brutally honest, I am not sure where the points are going to come from on these two teams. Other than the two QBs, no player posts double digit points in this game.

Gridiron Gang vs. The Dream Team: Coach Nathwani might feel a bit miffed that his first round pick missed his Week 1 matchup, well Beckham starts paying off the debt this week, snatching victory with a 25 point performance on Monday night.

Bear Necessities vs. Burdettinators: Coach Stubbs Sr. won’t need to flick through the games much this week, he only has starters on four different teams and two of them play each other! With 90 points from a single game (surely a record), will we see the greatest LOC comeback ever?

IKSAN vs. Cash4Gould: IKSAN drafting Zeke seems inspired at this point in time (all bets are off for how long it lasts), but he is facing a tough matchup this week. Coach Gardner will see his two rookie RBs both surpass the sophomore star.

ADRZ vs. Patistan: Question, what does spending your whole waiver budget after the first week get you? Well, thanks to Coach Wells, we are about to find out! He will need his waiver gems to pick up the slack after his WRs combine for less than 12 points on Thursday night, especially with Coach Allen employing the almighty ‘Jets Stack’ technique.

Tom’s Tyrants vs. Forge Flyers: Can two mid round RBs outscore three RBs taken in the first three rounds? Maths would say no, but boldness doesn’t know the meaning of the word. Of course, the unholy combination of Scott Tolzien and Jacoby Brissett could make that entirely irrelevant.

There they are then, predictions seven to twelve of 2017, if we could get another correct one after two weeks, this really would be a season to remember! Well, we can all dream. Good luck gentlemen, see you in a week!

2017 Power Rankings: Week 2

With week 1 in the books have your fantasy dreams been realised or crushed? Are you feeling the highest of highs, or wallowing in the lowest of lows? If you're either of these, pause - and remember, it's only week 1, there's a lot of games left to play. But after seeing a week of real football, the power rankings are certainly less of a stab in the dark....

Power Rankings

1. The Dream Team, 0-1 (1): Yeah they lost, boo hoo, cry me a river, and so on. Coach Nathwani was without his first round pick, in a game where Brees didn't light it up. While my optimism for a Viv title has softened, I'm not going to drop them off the first spot until we see the team at full strength.

2. Burdettinators, 1-0 (6): A team that has definitely been buoyed by a strong week 1 performance. Much of my Burdettinators ranking (as I said last week) was trying not to gauge them at their best or worst, which was why they were 6th. However, week 1 confirmed that Hunt and Diggs look good, which were 2 of my major concerns. A very nice season could be in store for them.

3. Forge Flyers, 1-0 (5): They said on the LOC Report they'd start to rise, and they were right. Building off a strong last season, Coach Leach started by going over 100 points. It was a consistent, steady effort from all. The receivers didn't look particularly flashy, but they hid it with a strong RB performance. Let's see what next week brings.

4. ADRZ, 0-1 (2): Our first faller! It was a curious week for Coach Wells. Leaving Gillislee on the bench cost them, and the rest of the team was largely...flat. They'll definitely do better than 70 points most weeks, but when I scan down the roster I'm not sure if there are many consistent high scorers in the line up.

5. Cash4Gould, 1-0 (4): They fell, but only because other teams jumped in front. Coach Gardner brought home a win despite losing his 1st round pick Ajayi. While there are definitely holes on the roster, this team showed in week 1 there are points to be had, and most reassuring to me is that the bench which looked questionable, right now looks like a strong group.

6. IKSAN, 0-1 (3): Another tough to gauge team based on week 1. A few of their starters (Cousins, Miller, Sanders, Kelce) did under perform compared to what we expect. However, Miller and Sanders aren't flashy names in the first place, so some other players will need to step up to give this team the oomf it needs.

7. Patistan, 1-0 (9): A reassuring week 1 lifts Patistan up the rankings a bit. I saw enough to believe Lynch will have some nice games, and that McCaffrey should too vased on volume alone. All this in a week where Jones and Thomas combined for 11 points, and they still got the W with 98 points. Patistan is going to be just fine.

8. Gridiron Gang, 0-1 (7): WHAT, PUSH THE RED BUTTON, PANIC PANIC!!!! I'm joking. Gridiron Gang usually lose the first game of the season, this is a widely known fact. They were truly sunk by a terrible performance from Palmer AND an early injury to Woodhead. While the Rams D did hide what would have been a horrible week, this was just one of those weeks where none of the key players really did anything. Let's see if they can turn it around.

9. Bear Necessities, 1-0 (8): I'm still not a fan of the all Green Bay strategy. Although they had arguably their toughest match up in week 1, a blip week by them is going to hurt you. As well as this, some key starters looked uninspiring and others have question marks. To top it off, there aren't many bench options to turn too. Let's see what week 2 brings before we deliver the verdict.

10. Tom's Tyrants, 1-0 (12): A team that was never going to stay on the bottom for long, a good week and a win have moved them up. While I don't think Bradford scores 31 points every week, the strength of the receiving corps alone is going to keep them in games. West looked good too, so they could be a hipster underdog pick this year.

11. Tanky McTankface, 0-1 (10): Not a great start to the almighty comeback from Coach Merritt. While I admire his optimism in the face of a large deficit, the game never really looked in doubt. And for good cause. There are many alarm bells ringing on this roster. Rivers showed well against a tough D, but everyone else's outlook is looking murky at best. I look forward to seeing how they come out in week 2.

12. Southampton Narwhals, 0-1 (11): Now, Coach Nunn's side were already low on the rankings, but matters have been made worse by losing David Johnson and Allen Robinson for potentially the season. There are no options on the bench to really turn to to replace them. Brady will have to carry this team for them to be successful, but the early outlook for this team is sadly bleak. Being savvy on the waiver is crucial for Coach Nunn this season.