Born Weird

Well, week 8 of the NFL season is over and that means we’re roughly halfway through fantasy football. Seems like as good a time as any to review how things have unfolded given my early optimism.

As of now my team has a record of 5-3, putting me in a tie for third place (or second, since the two teams above me are tied at 6-2). While my record is a bit disappointing, I lead the league in scoring by about 50 points, which is pretty significant and gives me high hopes for the remainder of my season. My average weekly score is over 10 points higher than last season’s top-scoring team.

Of the 18 players I drafted, five are no longer still with the team (well, really six, but I don’t count Hasselbeck since I only dropped him due to my need of a kicker during Gostkowski’s bye week and Brees has had his bye). Of those five, the highest-drafted is D’Qwell Jackson, who is on IR — though I dropped him before he got hurt. That’s a pretty high retention rate for fantasy, I think.

Some quick grades, in draft order:

DeAngelo Williams: B
Eighth-highest scoring RB in the league, outperforming many of those drafted near him (such as Forte).

Drew Brees: A-
Second QB drafted but fourth-highest QB scorer, trailing Manning, Brady and… Schaub.

Roddy White: A
Sixth WR taken, third WR in points behind Wayne and DeSean Jackson. A little inconsistent but aren’t all WRs?

Tony Gonzalez: C+
He’s putting up decent numbers, but so are lots of TEs this year; he’s eighth at the moment. Not worth a fourth-round pick.

Ray Rice: A+
Took a while to get going but is now fourth among RBs and 11th overall. A steal in round 5.

Joseph Addai: B
20th among RBs; not as good as I’d hoped, but not nearly as bad as I feared.

Jon Beason: C-
Ranked 25th among defenders, not anywhere close to where I expected him to be having taken him so early.

Eric Weddle: B-
Like Beason (ranked 22nd), but drafted a round later.

Donald Driver: B+
Ranked 15th among WRs — very respectable for a ninth rounder — but trails some who-dats.

Matt Hasselbeck: C+
Was a fabulous bye-week sub for Brees, but hasn’t materialized at a level justifying his draft position (I was hoping he’d be tradable).

Felix Jones: C
Had a few okay games which is probably all I can expect considering he was a tenth-round RB. Injury hasn’t helped.

D’Qwell Jackson: F
Had stats that weren’t draft-worthy; I dropped him. Shortly thereafter he was hurt for the season.

Donnie Avery: D
Amounted to basically nothing and was cut, but I can’t give him an F because he was such a late-rounder and his numbers are similar to much earlier picks such as Royal, Holt, Williams and Bryant.

Yeremiah Bell: F
Not even in the top 30 among DBs. Dropped, and good riddance.

Stephen Gostkowski: B+
Fifth-ranked kicker, which is solid but doesn’t justify taking him this early.

Ted Ginn Jr: C
Dropped a while back; his recent special-teams prowess is all that prevents a much lower mark.

Visanthe Shiancoe: A+
Yes, I am very happy to have gotten the fifth-highest scoring TE in the second-to-last round. Thanks for asking.

Leon Washington: B-
Did about as well as one could expect of a last-round pick… until he busted his fibula.

Players currently on my roster acquired via free agency: Percy Harvin (who I very nearly drafted, and has I think earned every-week starter status), Shonn Greene (you never know), Robbie Gould (only for Gostkowski’s bye week), James Laurinaitis (16th among defenders, not bad for a FA), Scott Shanle (who I’m probably about to drop) and Louis Delmas (solid 6-7 points a week).

Can I climb to the top of the league before the end of the season? Can my team continue to stay healthy? Can Rice keep it up? We’ll see…