EFL Power Rankings - Week 6, 2023

Elite Fantasy League

Oct 23, 2023

2023 POWER RANKINGS - Week 6

Due to my delinquency in releasing our Power Rankings over the first 6 weeks of the season, I have dedicated this power rankings to be my longest yet. You all deserve a proper review of what has happened thus far.

Before I begin, let me remind you that the sheer purpose of these Power Rankings is to reward the things that should be and are, and bring to light the way things should be but aren’t. And with that in mind, there is a lot to talk about here.

Fantasy football is always unpredictable and always has its fair share of injuries, etc.

But this year has been DIFFERENT.

Unpredictability.

We knew their offense was going to be good, but the Miami Dolphins (more specifically: Tyreek Hill, Raheem Mostert, and Devon Achane) have single handedly won multiple games for fantasy owners and created some truly lopsided weeks. The types of weeks where your 9 other players only scored 60 points combined, but Devon Achane had 47 so you won a game (or not - sorry Jets Jets Jets).
We thought their offense was good, but the Cincinnati Bengals (more specifically: Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Joe Mixon) have been abysmal so far this year outside of one game against Arizona. The types of weeks where you needed Joe Burrow to score 10 points to win and he only got you 6.5 (sorry Austin).

Injuries.

Over 20% of last year’s top 50 players have had injuries this year. Here are 10 of them that were probably picked by you in the top half of the draft:

Nick Chubb
Austin Ekeler
Saquon Barkley
James Conner
Justin Jefferson
Cooper Kupp
Devonta Smith
Travis Kelce
Justin Herbert
Joe Burrow

And, of course, that list doesn’t include Aaron Rodgers, who, along with himself, single-handedly tanked the value of two high-round picks in Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall.

IF, by chance, you happened to:

a) Either own Miami Dolphins players or happened to escape playing against Miami Dolphins players,

b) Not own Cincinnati Bengals players or happened to get to play against Cincinnati Bengals players,

c) Not own NY Jets players or happened to play against NY Jets players, or

d) avoided one (or more) of your top 6 picks in the draft getting injured,

then you should be in a good spot.

Remember the lopsidedness I mentioned earlier?

Yeah, check this out:

The difference between the team who has scored the most points in the league (Run CMC, 710 points) and the team who has scored the least points in the league (Jets Jets Jets, 464 points) is a whopping 246 points.

Folks, we have only played 6 games.

That’s a 41.5 point PER GAME scoring difference. But is Jets Jets Jets last in our league standings? Nope. That would be Golden Boy, who is 1-5 despite having 604 points over the course of the year. Good for 23ish points per game more than Jets Jets Jets. Yet, they are struggling to find wins because they have the 3^rd highest points against in the league at 652.

Only 3^rd highest at 652? That’s right: EVEN MORE BONKERS than Run CMC having put up 710 points this year is the absolute MISFORTUNE of Sweet Carolina, who has had 711 points scored AGAINST them this year. Put more simply, Sweet Carolina has had teams average 118.5 points per game against them. How many times has your team scored 118.5 points in a game this season? If the answer is at least once, you probably did it against Sweet Carolina. To put that in perspective, teams have happened to average just 93.8 points per game against Turn Down for Watt.

To make it more frustrating for Sweet Carolina, they have scored the second highest amount of points in the league this year. So, if Sweet Carolina had Turn Down for Watt’s luck, they would be 6-0. But they’re 3-3. Just colossally bad luck.

Let’s look at some averages across the league:

Average Points Per Game Scored AGAINST You This Season

Interesting how 4 of 5 of the league’s most successful teams have averaged teams scoring under 97 points against them, huh…

And I know you’re thinking “Well, yeah, if you score more points than the other team you win the game.” OK, BUT IT’S A LITTLE DIFFERENT IN FANTASY FOOTBALL WHERE YOU CAN’T PLAY DEFENSE.

For that reason, it makes it doubly as impressive that Sweet Carolina & Ruthlessberger have been able to overcome their obscene Points Against to still have as many wins as they do.

Ok, I think that’s enough cueing up. Let’s dive into the power rankings.

Read ‘em and weep.

_____________________________________________________________

Run CMC (4-2) Y! Draft Grade: B-

Preseason Rank: 1 (-)
Manager: Nick Gosney
Years in League: 5
Best Finish: Champ (1x - 2019)

I liked ‘em then, and I like ‘em now. But, I will admit, the team is slightly less balanced than I had originally anticipated – something that has become increasingly evident during Run CMC’s current 2-game slide.

Before the season started, I was pretty high on Run CMC’s receivers: Tee Higgins, Amon Ra St. Brown, Deebo Samuel, and Tyler Lockett. I mean that’s a group. But that was before we found out that Cooper Kupp cloned himself and changed his name to PUKA NACUA.

Goodness, what a few weeks those were. And it was fortunate for Run CMC, too, because Tee Higgins, Deebo Samuel, and Tyler Lockett each had about 1 good game during that stretch.

But the consistency of Puka Nacua came to a crashing halt last week as the offense continues to shift away from the clone and back to the original Cooper Kupp who is healthy again. With the spottiness of the rest of the receivers, Amon Ra St. Brown is the lone consistent WR remaining.

But that’s ok because Run CMC has a really great RB situation too. Christian McCaffrey and Javonte Williams were supposed to lock that down, but once JW started doing his best Najee Harris impression, we found out that Kenneth Walker III is secretly a top 5 RB and Isaiah Pacheco is a top 15 RB. So who needs JW anyways?

Over the last couple of weeks both KWIII and Pacheco have come down to earth a little, and CMC is dealing with an injury again. So, again, the story is consistency.

But this team is just stacked. Add to that a top 5 kicker, top 5 defense, and a top 5 QB…

Pro Comparison: The Greatest Show on Turf

______________________________________________________________________

Ruthlessberger (4-2) Y! Draft Grade: A+

Preseason Rank: 2 (-)

Manager: Ian Svendsen
Years in League: 7
Best Finish: Champ (1x - 2022)

After Week 1, there were more questions than answers. Ruthlessberger followed up a great draft with a Week 1 dud against Jets Jets Jets.

J.K. Dobbins was out for the year, Treylon Burks was out indefinitely, Dalles Goedert didn’t catch a single pass, Lamar Jackson had a whopping 7 points and Saquon Barkley left his game early.

But, remember, Ruthlessberger had a great draft.

To the bench he went. James Conner & James Cook stepped up, and Nico Collins decided he was a #1 receiver with CJ Stroud throwing him passes. Then Ruthlessberger won the Kyren Williams waiver wire sweepstakes, and plot twist: he’s better than the two Jameses combined. It didn’t hurt that Cooper Kupp returned from IR in Week 5, too.

So that loss to Jets Jets Jets? A distant memory. For both teams, actually.

Now Ruthlessberger is 4-2 and has to feel pretty good about the team. The only problem? The dang RB room got hit by injuries again. James Conner is on IR and Kyren Williams has a bad ankle. Still, this is a team you don’t want to see get healthy.

Pro Comparison: 2004 Detroit Pistons

______________________________________________________________________

Sweet Carolina (3-3) Y! Draft Grade: D

Preseason Rank: 4 (+1)
Manager: Michael Schultz
Years in League: 3
Best Finish: 3rd (2021)

Turn Down for Watt is mad that he’s not in the top 3 right now, but kick rocks. This is me bringing light to what should be but isn’t.

You all saw my spiel before we got into the rankings about Points For and Points Against, So I probably don’t need to mention again how Sweet Carolina is hands down the unluckiest fantasy team I have ever seen through 6 weeks of a season and how it’s actually preposterous how many points they’ve scored and yet how many points have been scored against them and how every other team should be thanking the high heavens that they haven’t had to play the teams Sweet Carolina has played when they’ve played them.

So glad we aren’t rehashing that.

Instead let’s talk about how Sweet Carolina gets production from all over its roster, and is putting up points despite not having a boom week where everyone has put it together at once. Sweet Carolina has ridden various spot games from Hurts, Diggs, Aiyuk, Mostert, Henry, and even Christian Kirk to the second highest point total in the league. Nevermind that Darren Waller, Miles Sanders, and any defense they start being terrible, the other assets are producing.

If this team can catch some luck, it could be a championship-caliber squad.

Pro Comparison: 2009 screwed-by-Bounty-Gate Minnesota Vikings

_____________________________________________________________________

Turn down for Watt (4-2) Y! Draft Grade: B Preseason Rank: 7 (+3)

Manager: Joshuwa Shelton
Years in League: 9
Best Finish: 3rd (2018)

Turn Down for Watt might not be top 3 in the rankings, but they are top 4, if that’s any consolation. This team had paths to True Greatness and paths to True Ineptitude and happily found a compromise somewhere around Quite Good.

Preseason - Path to True Greatness: Justin Fields becomes Lamar Jackson lite, Tyreek Hill and AJ Brown are monsters, Etienne finally becomes a #1 option, Breece Hall benefits from Aaron Rodgers, Michael Thomas and Terry McLaurin turn back the clock.

After Week 2 - Path to True Ineptitude:

There had to be concern after Week 2.

We knew the spottiness of Justin Fields last year – scoring 40 one week and scoring 10 another. It’s been relatively the same this year, but most thought he was going to take a significant step forward. Unfortunately, he just hasn’t - giving Turn Down for Watt reason to consider Geno Smith as a “safe” option for a consistent 17 points and hopeful for 20+.. but that hasn't really worked out either.

Breece Hall was horrible with the Jets offense going one-dimensional post-Rodgers’ injury.

AJ Brown looked anemic.

Tyreek Hill barely saved his fantasy day with a TD.

After Week 5 – Quite Good:

There were signs before Week 5: Tyreek and the Dolphins started cooking, AJ Brown started getting things right against Tampa, and the 2022 excitement over Travis Etienne that had (mostly) gone unproven, was returning.

But Week 5… 177 points. 177 points?!

This team isn’t perfect by any stretch. Still don’t know what you’re going to get out of the QBs, Breece Hall, McLaurin/Thomas, etc. But Turn Down for Watt just needs to continue riding the coattails of Tyreek Hill & Travis Etienne and hope for points from the others when possible. And that’s more of a winning formula than most others in this league can boast.

Pro Comparison: 2022 L.A. Chargers

______________________________________________________________________

Johnny Baseball (4-2) Y! Draft Grade: D

Preseason Rank: 8 (+3)
Manager: Chad Holcombe
Years in League: 1
Best Finish: N/A

Johnny Baseball’s 4-2 record is exactly two things at once:

1. Completely justified by the names on its roster.

2. Completely unjustified by the roster’s performance.

Through 6 weeks, Johnny Baseball scored 100+ three times, and scored in the 80s three times. There’s no in between. And if you look deeper, you’ll see that the three times Johnny Baseball scored 100 or more, there was a singular hero player that had their only hero game of the year.

In Week 2, it was Brian Robinson with 27 points. In Week 4, it was Khalil Herbert with 18 points. In Week 5, it was Ja’Marr Chase with 37 points.

Now, that being said, the roster does have Ja’Marr Chase, Mark Andrews, CeeDee Lamb, and Aaron Jones – all of whom are normally fantasy stars. This year? Not so much. It’s actually been Jared Goff, Brian Robinson, Gabe Davis, and the Eagles Defense that have been most consistent. There’s a puzzler for you.

The bottom line is, Johnny Baseball is a 4-2 team on paper, but should be a 2-4 team in actuality. But if the players that should be stars remember to be stars, and if the players who normally aren’t stars continue to play like stars, then Johnny Baseball might just be a five-star roster.

Pro Comparison: Philadelphia Eagles

______________________________________________________________________

ThrowUpThe X (4-2) Y! Draft Grade: B-

Preseason Rank: 5 (-1)
Manager: RD Gallant
Years in League: 14
Best Finish: Champ (1x - 2013)

If you’re looking for this year’s imposter so far, look no further. ThrowUpThe X has managed 4 wins while averaging under 100 points per game, which has Butt Fumble and Jets Jets Jets somewhere punching the air.

Week 1, ThrowUpThe X looked about how we thought they would. Devonta Smith and Calvin Ridley had nearly 30 points, Ekeler and Pollard had 43, the Jets defense was a top 3 unit, and Dak Prescott sucked. All according to schedule.

After Week 1, though, Ekeler was hurt, and Smith, Ridley, and Pollard have been spotty. The bright spots have actually been Sam LaPorta, Dak, and the Jets defense.. And leaning on those 3 to carry doesn’t feel all that comforting.

Were it not for DJ Moore scoring 41 points on Thursday Night football in Week 5, ThrowUpTheX would be on a 5 week stretch without a 100 point game. But they were still able to pick up a few wins during that stretch as they played Butt Fumble & Jets Jets Jets in back to back weeks.

All that to say, this looks more like a 2-4 team than a 4-2 team BUT, at the end of the day, they’re 4-2. And 4-2 in something as unpredictable as fantasy football might just be enough to pace ThrowUpThe X to a decent season. Ekeler’s return and the others’ potential is enough to have some faith in this team, but the performance thus far has really left a lot to be desired.

Pro Comparison: 2022 Minnesota Vikings

______________________________________________________________________

Pewter Pirates (2-4) Y! Draft Grade: A+

Preseason Rank: 2 (-5)
Manager: Sy Gallimore
Years in League: 15
Best Finish: Champ (2x – 2010, 2020)

Things haven’t gone according to plan. Yahoo said I’d go 13-1 this year. I thought I’d probably go 10-4. That means I need to run the table here on out, because through 6 games, I’m 2-4.

Here’s the thing: there are two reasons that you might point to for why this is the case, but there’s actually only one reason.

I’ll go through the two reasons you might be thinking of, and then I’ll tell you the real reason.

RBs haven’t produced as expected. Damien Pierce and Josh Jacobs (two of last year’s top 10 RBs) have been OK at best, averaging just 8 ppg a piece. Jonathan Taylor returned from his bogus PUP and has scored exactly 9 points in two games.
WRs hampered by something. Mike Williams was lost for the year due to injury (blink twice if you saw that coming). Drake London and Amari Cooper’s production is completely unpredictable based on how bad their QB decides to be on a given week.

Now, the real reason: the existence of Taylor Swift. If Taylor Swift didn’t exist, I’d be 5-1.

The real boon of the year so far for this team has been the stacking of Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce not performing to their past.

Through 6 weeks last year, Travis Kelce had scored 88 points. This year: 52. Rough. 36 points may not sound like a lot, but if one player could have added 6 points per week, OR if he could’ve just had one of those 3 or 4 TD games, I might’ve won some of those dang shootouts I’ve had with practically everybody. Alas, the dude is distracted because T-Swift’s cardigan-wearing-self decided she needed to invest in some future breakup content.

Anyways, it’s not a bad team but it’s not a great one either, despite what Yahoo thought 6 weeks ago.

Pro Comparison: Cincinnati Bengals

______________________________________________________________________

Golden Boy (1-5) Y! Draft Grade: D- Preseason Rank: 10 (+2)

Manager: Kyler Stock
Years in League: 2
Best Finish: 6th (2022)

After having what I considered to be a terrible draft, Golden Boy has proven to have a punchy team that probably should have a couple more wins than it currently has. Week 1, Golden Boy needed Josh Allen to have just 1.5 points in the second half to beat Pewter Pirates. Unfortunately, Allen had an interception and 2 fumbles and managed to have -1 points in the second half.

In Week 3, Golden Boy put up 118 points only to be upstaged by Ruthlessberger’s 145. In Week 5, Golden Boy put up 109 in a 12-point loss to Johnny Baseball… with Alvin Kamara’s 16 points sitting on the bench.

It’s a tough start to swallow for Golden Boy, who, at 1-5, is dead last in the league. But really? This team should probably be at least 3-3.

Golden Boy also deserves some credit for drafting some players that I didn’t have a ton of faith in, but have panned out pretty well. Most notably, David Montgomery, who everyone and their mom thought would lose touches to Jahmyr Gibbs. Instead, it’s been Montgomery giving everyone scares in their fantasy matchups this year. Unfortunately for Golden Boy, Montgomery is now hurt.

I don’t have a lot of faith that Golden Boy is going to be a real competitor down the stretch, but I do think that this could be a last-team-in squad, especially considering the next two teams on this list.

Pro Comparison: Arizona Cardinals

______________________________________________________________________

Butt Fumble (2-4) Y! Draft Grade: D

Preseason Rank: 9 (-)
Manager: Austin Owen
Years in League: 10
Best Finish: Champ (3x – 2016, 2017, 2021)

Butt Fumble’s all-time drafting fiasco (taking TJ Hockenson & George Kittle in back to back picks) was sure to limit the ceiling a bit for Butt Fumble. But Justin Jefferson, Davante Adams and Joe Burrow were supposed to stem the tide in the meantime.

But from Week 1, Butt Fumble has their QBs cycling like rotisserie chicken. Burrow was so bad through 3 weeks, that Butt Fumble actually dropped him. The following week, Burrow had his breakout game versus the Cardinals. Baker was good enough through 2 weeks that Butt Fumble started him against the Eagles.. And he only scored 11 points. Jordan Love had some good games and gave Butt Fumble their best performance on the season at 19 points.. But surely there was something better. Namely, CJ Stroud, who had 3 straight 20 point games going into Week 5. But, one week as Butt Fumble’s starter, and he put up just 14 points. But surely, he would have a bounce back in Week 6, right? He did do better, putting up a whopping 15 points.

Justin Jefferson and Davante Adams were hot to start the season, but Jefferson going on IR and Adams having to overcome Jimmy G have impacted this team further. Now, Butt Fumble is relying on two rookie QBs (Sam Howell & CJ Stroud) to lead the team, and, while they’ve both had great starts to the season as rookies, they are not going to scare anyone playing against Butt Fumble.

The consistent bright spot has been Zach Moss, who has filled in as an RB1 with Jonathan Taylor on the PUP list. And so far, he has continued admirably, but at some point, his volume will decrease significantly with Jonathan Taylor’s return.

In other words, despite some star players, there are enough limitations with the roster that Butt Fumble may need to look for some trade partners to improve the team.

Pro Comparison:

____________________________________________________________________________

10.

Jets Jets Jets (2-4) Y! Draft Grade: C-

Preseason Rank: 6 (-4)
Manager: Tim Cook
Years in League: 15
Best Finish: Champ (1x - 2015)

Jets Jets Jets is a dumpster fire. It’s the only team in the league to have failed to score 100 points this season, and boasts a Points For that is 100 points lower than the next guy. Yes, you read that right.

It all started when the Jets season went up in flames 4 plays into the season. Aaron Rodgers’ injury gravely impacted Garrett Wilson and Dalvin Cook’s fantasy outlook - which especially hurt Jets Jets Jets who reached for them in the draft expecting good things.

Following that up, Trevor Lawrence and Chris Olave have both had underwhelming starts to the season.

There has been only ONE bright spot to Jets Jets Jets, and his name is Devon Achane. But for one of the most colossally unfortunate fantasy moments of all time, Jets Jets Jets had to watch Achane put up 47 points ON THE BENCH in Week 3. Talk about pain. The only silver lining there was that they still would have lost even if Achane had played - which should give some context to how rough of a season it’s been.

Incredibly, Jets Jets Jets have been so bad that not even Justin Tucker and the SF defense can save them.

In other words, Jets Jets Jets should be absolutely ECSTATIC to have 2 wins on the season.

Pro Comparison: 2008 Detroit Lions

______________________________________________________________________

EFL Power Rankings - Week 6, 2023

Elite Fantasy League

Discussion about this post