EFL Power Rankings - Week 10, 2022
Elite Fantasy League
2022 POWER RANKINGS - WEEK 10
I have never seen such a tight league in my life. All of us are within 4 wins of each other, and 80% of us are averaging within 10 points of each other week in and week out. It’s an impressive balance. Congratulations.
Sucks for me, though. Or maybe it sucks for you. Because that means these might be the most subjective rankings yet. But it also means that many of you do have a case to #1… even if it isn’t the strongest case.
Best of luck out there in Week 11, and without further adieu,
Read ‘em and weep.
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1.
ThrowUpThe X (5th | 5-5)
Week 5 Rank: 5 (+4)
Manager: RD Gallant
Years in League: 13
Best Finish: Champ (1x - 2013)
Resume:
ThrowUp The X has the most points scored in the league by a pretty wide margin. So why is this team 5-5? The points are skewed by the fact that they have had 3 weeks in which they scored 135, 158, and 173. Outside of those 3 weeks, chances are, if you score 105 against them, you win.
Argument for #1:
Most points scored, very balanced. Great RB tandem, good receivers, above average QB, solid bench, no significant drop off with the rest of the roster.
Argument against #1:
RD at the beginning of this season: “I always end up with a bunch of Cowboys players, but this year I’m going to be smart.”
RD today: CeeDee Lamb, Dalton Schultz, Tony Pollard, Dallas Defense, and former Cowboy Amari Cooper.
If you live and die by the Cowboys, you will inevitably die.
But for today, you’re #1.
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2.
Jets Jets Jets (1st | 7-3)
Week 5 Rank: 2 (-)
Manager: Tim Cook
Years in League: 14
Best Finish: Champ (1x - 2015)
Resume:
Currently league-leader at 7-3. Weeks 1-4 this team looked unbeatable. Weeks 4-8 this team looked pedestrian. Weeks 9-10 it’s starting to look like a juggernaut again.
Argument for #1:
#1 in the standings today. Patrick Mahomes is good for 35 points any given week. Look out folks, we just had a Jonathan Taylor sighting, and the WR corps of Tyreek Hill, Deebo Samuel, and Christian Kirk might be the highest ceiling group in the league despite inconsistency. Let’s not forget special teams, either. Tyler Bass and Denver DEF are valuable contibutors.
Argument against #1:
4th lowest point total in the league. It’s a high-ceiling team, but Jets Jets Jets’s RBs and WRs can’t be trusted to consistently score each week. It’s more common to get 2 of 5 hitting and 3 of 5 not.
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3.
Jujus on that Beat (2nd | 6-4)
Week 5 Rank: 4 (+1)
Manager: Joshuwa Shelton
Years in League: 7
Best Finish: 3rd (2018)
Resume:
While finding themselves in 2nd place with a 6-4 record, Jujus on that Beat has managed to be consistently inconsistent. Through the first 6 weeks of the season, if you caught Jujus on an odd-numbered week, it was a bad day. If you caught them on an even-numbered day, you might just have a chance. Then, in Week 7, Jujus decided to swap that. You need to see it to believe it.
Week 1: 132 points Week 2: 74 points
Week 3: 132 points Week 4: 97 points
Week 5: 132 points Week 6: 92 points
^ (yes, truly had 132 points in each odd week)
Week 7: 76 points Week 8: 119 points
Week 9: 91 points Week 10: 107 points
Argument for #1:
Good team management, Lamar Jackson, TE duo, deep bench. Jujus has not had to play the waiver wire much, but when they have, it has largely been effective. Lamar is still a fantasy king. Travis Kelce and TJ Hockensen are probably 2 of the top 4 tight ends in the game right now, and the bench is deep. The deep bench has been key for overcoming the underperformers.
Argument against #1:
The team really hasn’t played outstandingly well (like we would expect from a #1) over the past 5 weeks. Further, the WR corps looks as suspect as ever. I wouldn’t trust Jeudy, Boyd, MVS, Lockett, Doubs, Pittman or Refrow to clear 7 points on any given week. Unfortunately, they either are on bad offenses, or play 2nd-3rd fiddle in a good offense. It’s not a bad situation, but it’s not one that can be counted on.
While 100 points are a relatively safe bet, it feels like the 132-point days might be in the past unless a new X-factor shows up.
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4.
Butt Fumble (3rd | 6-4)
Week 5 Rank: 1 (-3)
Manager: Austin Owen
Years in League: 7
Best Finish: Champ (3x – 2016, 2017, 2021)
Resume:
Butt Fumble started the strong season at 4-1, and was our Week 5 PR #1. Weeks 6-9 weren’t so generous to the team, as they failed to crack 100 points in any of their games. Week 10 saw Butt Fumble finally get north of the 100-point threshold again on the back of that wild Bills v. Vikings game.
Argument for #1:
This team still has Josh Allen and Justin Jefferson, who can each go for 40 any given week, and also boasts a fairly deep bench. And, despite the recent struggles, the team is still 3nd in the league at 6-4.
Argument against #1:
The RB room just hasn’t panned out this season. Leonard Fournette has been a disappointment, and the rest have been spotty. Currently, Jeff Wilson Jr. might be the most consistent RB on the roster, but is out on Bye in Week 11. It also doesn’t help that Diontae Johnson has been the victim of the Steelers’ offensive struggles. Oh, and we’re just streaming defenses each week for the foreseeable future.
The faith in this team just isn’t there right now. Week 12 may be better as players come off of their Byes.
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5.
Pewter Pirates (8th | 4-6)
Week 5 Rank: 10 (+5)
Manager: Sy Gallimore
Years in League: 14
Best Finish: Champ (2x – 2010, 2020)
Resume:
After starting the season 0-5, Pewter Pirates has won 4 of 5 while scoring 100 or more points in its last 5 contests.
Argument for #1:
Most points scored over the past 5 weeks, 3rd overall, and the apparent fantasy MVP of the past 4 weeks: Justin Fields.
Argument against #1:
The last 5 weeks have been great, but Bye weeks will likely trip up Pewter Pirates in week 11, and the loss of Ja’Marr Chase to injury over the last few weeks has split up an otherwise potent WR trio. And is Justin Fields’ ground game production viable long-term? At some point, teams will find a way to slow him down as they have Jalen Hurts. If that happens, it’s back to Aaron Rodgers, which at this point, feels like a very bad thing.
If the team can get fully healthy and continue the playoff push (currently last in at #8), watch out.
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6.
Run CMC (6th | 5-5)
Week 5 Rank: 3 (-3)
Manager: Nick Gosney
Years in League: 4
Best Finish: Champ (1x - 2019)
Resume:
Opposite of The Falcoholics, Run CMC has lost 3 straight after starting 5-2, but still boasts the 2nd highest point total in the league.
Argument for #1:
Look at this team! There have top-level contributors at nearly every position. Great WR tandem, good RBs, Philly DEF, high-ceiling TE. Not only that, but Kenneth Walker was a huge waiver wire pickup.
Argument against #1:
Kyler Murray and injuries. Kyler has not been the fantasy option he has been in the past. Mike Williams’ injury disrupted a great WR trio of Williams, Evans, and McLaurin. Swift’s injury split up the dynamic duo of Swift and McCaffrey and now it looks like Swift might have lost not just his starting job but maybe #2 as well? Mark Andrews has been hampered by injuries seemingly all season. Going into Week 11, Run CMC has to trot <100% Kyler Murray & <100% Mark Andrews out onto the field while Mike Evans and Kenneth Walker III will be riding the bench on bye.
This team at full strength can and should beat anyone. But who knows if it’ll ever get there.
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7.
The Falcoholics (7th | 5-5)
Week 5 Rank: 8 (+1)
Manager: Ryan Johnson
Years in League: 4
Best Finish: 3rd (2019)
Resume:
The Falcoholics have been streaky this season, and find themselves at 5-5 on the year in 7th place. In weeks 1-3, The Falcoholics scored 100+ points in each of their games and went 2-1. In weeks 4-7, the Falcoholics scored less than 100 points in each of their games and went 0-4. Now, they’ve won 3 straight including at 150 outburst (hello, Joe Mixon) in Week 9 to get back to .500.
Argument for #1:
Tua is a sleeper MVP candidate, and the RB trio of Joe Mixon, Saquon Barkley, and Dameon Pierce might be the best in the league. New England’s defense has had some boom weeks that can carry a team.
Argument against #1:
There just aren’t any pass catchers on this team. The Falcoholics only have 3 WRs on the roster, so what you see is what you get with Amon-Ra St. Brown, Juju, and Courtland Sutton. Unfortunately, none of them have had more than 3 weeks with 10 points or more. And the only true TE is Darren Waller, who has been injured most of the season. Taysom Hill is intriguing in that spot, but the intrigue is skewed by that one amazing game he had against Seattle in Week 5.
Week 10’s win was clutch to stay in the middle of the standings and pull Run CMC down to .500, but the win wasn’t very impressive. It showed how much the team relies on Joe Mixon and the New England DEF each week.
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8.
Ruthlessberger (9th | 3-7)
Week 5 Rank: 5 (-3)
Manager: Ian Svendsen
Years in League: 6
Best Finish: 2nd (2020)
Resume:
Ruthlessberger is scratching their head so hard that it’s bleeding. They find themselves in 9th place with a 3-7 record despite having the 4th highest point total in the league. Ruthlessberger has had 100 more points scored against them than the next highest team in the league.
In fact, teams playing Ruthlessberger are averaging 120 points against them. In case you were wondering, the league average excluding Ruthlessberger is 102. That’s some unfortunate luck. In other words, Ruthlessberger is in the complete opposite situation as Golden Boy, who I will eviscerate in just a moment.
Argument for #1:
I mean it’s a stacked roster. Hurts, Diggs, Higgins, Kupp, Waddle, Etienne. Not to mention they are averaging a 4th best 106 points per game.
Argument against #1:
The argument against #1 might be the only reason the team isn’t #1: Running Backs. Thank goodness for Ruthlessberger that Travis Etienne Jr. seems to have found his way, because Melvin Gordon and Kareem Hunt have been good for about 12 points combined each week. Week 11 might not be super nice to Ruthlessberger either because they have some key players on Bye. But they need the win because it is against fellow cellar-dweller Sweet Carolina.
Surely, the tides will turn, right? THE INJUSTICE MUST END.
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9.
Golden Boy (5th | 3-2)
Week 5 Rank: 7 (-2)
Manager: Kyler Stock
Years in League: 1
Best Finish: N/A
Resume:
Tied for 2nd best record in the league at 6-4. Somehow this manager must play defense because their Points Against is almost as low as their Points For.
Argument for #1:
There is absolutely no basis for any argument for #1. Not even style points.
Argument against #1:
Let me paint you a picture.
Golden Boy has averaged 90 points per game this season. The league average is 105.5 points per game. Logically, this would translate to Golden Boy losing many games.
ON THE CONTRARY. Golden Boy has won 6 games. How?
Golden Boy’s opponents have somehow all had terrible weeks against them. While Golden Boy is averaging 90 points per game, opponents are only averaging 91.6 points per game. But even that is misleading. Let’s take out the two weeks where Golden Boy’s opponents scored 132 and 123 against them. The average for the other 8 weeks is just 82.6 points per game.
All this to say, teams that go to play Golden Boy die. In fact, Golden Boy has faced 3 teams who happened to have their WORST game of their season. Golden Boy has also faced 4 teams who happened to have their SECOND WORST game of their season, and still managed to lose one of those games as well (Jets Jets Jets beat Golden Boy with 78 points in Week 6).
Still, unless Golden Boy goes on a losing streak to finish the season, they are primed to make the playoffs. The intriguing component for seeding will be reflected in that any team that matches Golden Boy’s win total will have the tie breaker because of the Points For spread.
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10.
Sweet Carolina (10th | 3-7)
Week 5 Rank: 9 (-1)
Manager: Michael Schultz
Years in League: 2
Best Finish: 3rd (2021)
Resume:
Let me be clear: Sweet Carolina is not worse than Golden Boy. BUT wins matter when it comes to a chance to make the playoffs, and unfortunately Sweet Carolina has not had Golden Boy’s fortune.
Argument for #1:
There isn’t much of one. The bright spot has been Michael’s impressive insistence on starting the Carolina Defense, which has actually performed admirably this year despite only being 3% rostered across all Yahoo leagues. The roster isn’t inherently bad, but unfortunately none of the players, including the stars, can be counted on to score 10 points. This team would’ve been amazing last year. It’s just not last year anymore.
Argument against #1:
Sweet Carolina has had some real duds, exemplified by an abysmal 49 point showing in Week 9. Normally, when a team scores that few it’s because they left someone in the lineup that was out. Nope, not for Sweet Carolina, who saw their receivers combine for 9 points and their defense score -2. It also didn’t help that Eli Mitchell was on IR most of the season and that Aaron Jones, Alvin Kamara, and DJ Moore have underperformed.
It just hasn’t been a lucky season for Sweet Carolina. And to add icing to it, a potential suspension for Kamara might be looming.
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