Le'Veon Bell....for the past two years he's been the ultimate definition of high risk high reward. The guy is an AMAZING talent. You wouldn't get too many people disagreeing that he's the best running back in the league today. So why has there been sooooo much hesitation on whether to keep or draft him the past two years? Because with his talent comes baggage. Last year Bell was suspended for two games due to marijuana possession. Mayra, coming off her historic season in which Bell was a big part of, decided to keep him in the 2nd round. Unfortunately due to the suspension and season ending ACL injury, he only played in 6 games and as crucial as he was to Mayra's success two years ago, he was a big reason she finished last, last year. So before the season, once again it's learned that Bell is suspended for violating the league's substance abuse policy, this time for 3 games. Here we go AGAIN. So questions start buzzing...is this Josh Gordon alllll over again? What if he gets busted AGAIN..is it a year suspension? Can he really NOT go without weed? Also, is he going to be fully back from an ACL injury? Mayra wasn't going to deal with the headache and what if's and since she at the time thought she had a damn good replacement in Lamar Miller (as a 3rd round keeper with zero suspensions) she decided it was time to part ways. The question became..."Where would Le'Veon Go?" If not for the suspension, he's a no brainer #1 pick, especially in a keeper league where 24 players are kept in the round they are taken. Talent wise, he was the best on the board, but who was going to take the risk of not having their #1 guy on the field for 3 weeks, basically a quarter of the fantasy season? You'd have to really have a great draft to be able to withstand the loss and if Bell busted...well..you saw what happened to Mayra's team, but if he didn't....what a HUGE advantage you'd have...best RB in the game. The most logical team I thought would take him was Ryan, because he had DeAngelo Williams. In fact, that was Ryan's whole plan, keep DeAngelo Williams in the 14th round, and draft Bell with the 2nd pick, that way he'd have the Steelers backfield covered. The problem was, Matt threw a wrench in the plans when he decided to not keep Odell Beckham Jr. AND take Gronk #1 overall. When he did that, it gave Ryan more options and I started to wonder where Bell would actually land. Honestly, I predicted that Leland would get him in the 2nd round with his back to back picks in the premise that he already had a dream team in Todd Gurley and David Johnson to hold down the fort..if he added whoever he would draft in Round #1 AND BELL?? Man...forget it. I honestly felt no team would take a shot at him in Round #1 because of the suspension. So Ryan went risky himself with Zeke (which has also paid off big time), Mike went safe with Beckham, and it was Alex's turn to pick. This was a huge pick for Alex as he decided to not keep anyone (very risky to not even take a flier on anyone) and start fresh so his first round pick would HAVE to be a homerun pick. In Fantasy Football, you gotta be willing to take risks. Sometimes it pays off (Ryan with Zeke, Leland with David Johnson last year) sometimes it doesn't (Gronk with Matt this year). Alex decided to take the plunge and go with Bell at #4. Huge risk, huge reward. It basically meant Alex couldn't make any mistakes while drafting as he would already be out Bell for 3 weeks. If he could survive though...Bell is a GAME CHANGER capable of single handedly winning weeks. And so why the long winded introduction about Le'Veon Bell? Because as you'll read in the results, you're going to see just why Le'Veon Bell was worth the risk and just how dangerous he can be.
SCLSU MudDogs (8-6) 114.58
Bigger Balls (8-6) 79.78
This is alllllllllllllll about the greatest single performance in Wane McGarity Bowl History. Le'Veon Bell's 49.80 point performance is the highest individual score by a single player in our league history (in a "official" game that matters, in 2013 Jamaal Charles scored 55 points for Matt but it was in the consolation bracket which I don't count as an official game within the season). This is why you take a risk on him. This is why you sacrifice 3 weeks of play and just hope your team can do well enough to survive the initial weeks of play..because this guy is so dynamic in both the running and receiving phases of the game. Bell had nearly 300 YARDS combined rushing and receiving, including 3 TD's. There was just nothing Mayra's team was going to be able to do this week. When a guy goes off like that against you all you can do is shake your head and just say "damn". Bell's performance totally overshadows what Carlos Hyde did for Alex (200 total yards and a score) and also totally covers what honestly was a pretty terrible week for the rest of his guys. That's two straight games where Drew Brees has been downright horrific. He has 0 TD's and he didn't even put up 6 points this week. Also Larry Fitzgerald was shut down as were Delanie Walker and Jimmy Graham. Only Tyler Boyd was ok with nearly 12 points. Thankfully Bell's nearly 50 point EXPLOSION and the fact that Mayra's guys just didn't show up at all outside of Matt Ryan and Lamar Miller, gave Alex the surprisingly easy win. I'm telling you, each one of these teams is definitely capable of winning it all. Sure Le'veon not's going to pop off for 50 again, but in most weeks he won't have to, because there's no way Alex's guys all play this bad together again. For Mayra, definitely a disappointing ending to her season. Thanks to Le'Veon Bell going off, it basically rendered Antonio Brown to have just an okish game (which was due to weather). Surprisingly LAMAR MILLER was great finally (107 yards and a score), but on this day it just wouldn't matter as outside of him and Matt Ryan, no one scored over 10 points. She never recovered from that slow Thursday Night Start. All in all, making the playoffs is still a success in my book and she'll now be in the 5th place game. For Alex, it's his first trip to the "final four" and he'll take on Eugene's pretty banged team (Aaron Rodgers, Julio Jones, and Melvin Gordon are all suffering some kind of injuries) for a chance to go the Wane McGarity Bowl.
SCLSU MudDogs (8-6) 114.58
Bigger Balls (8-6) 79.78
This is alllllllllllllll about the greatest single performance in Wane McGarity Bowl History. Le'Veon Bell's 49.80 point performance is the highest individual score by a single player in our league history (in a "official" game that matters, in 2013 Jamaal Charles scored 55 points for Matt but it was in the consolation bracket which I don't count as an official game within the season). This is why you take a risk on him. This is why you sacrifice 3 weeks of play and just hope your team can do well enough to survive the initial weeks of play..because this guy is so dynamic in both the running and receiving phases of the game. Bell had nearly 300 YARDS combined rushing and receiving, including 3 TD's. There was just nothing Mayra's team was going to be able to do this week. When a guy goes off like that against you all you can do is shake your head and just say "damn". Bell's performance totally overshadows what Carlos Hyde did for Alex (200 total yards and a score) and also totally covers what honestly was a pretty terrible week for the rest of his guys. That's two straight games where Drew Brees has been downright horrific. He has 0 TD's and he didn't even put up 6 points this week. Also Larry Fitzgerald was shut down as were Delanie Walker and Jimmy Graham. Only Tyler Boyd was ok with nearly 12 points. Thankfully Bell's nearly 50 point EXPLOSION and the fact that Mayra's guys just didn't show up at all outside of Matt Ryan and Lamar Miller, gave Alex the surprisingly easy win. I'm telling you, each one of these teams is definitely capable of winning it all. Sure Le'veon not's going to pop off for 50 again, but in most weeks he won't have to, because there's no way Alex's guys all play this bad together again. For Mayra, definitely a disappointing ending to her season. Thanks to Le'Veon Bell going off, it basically rendered Antonio Brown to have just an okish game (which was due to weather). Surprisingly LAMAR MILLER was great finally (107 yards and a score), but on this day it just wouldn't matter as outside of him and Matt Ryan, no one scored over 10 points. She never recovered from that slow Thursday Night Start. All in all, making the playoffs is still a success in my book and she'll now be in the 5th place game. For Alex, it's his first trip to the "final four" and he'll take on Eugene's pretty banged team (Aaron Rodgers, Julio Jones, and Melvin Gordon are all suffering some kind of injuries) for a chance to go the Wane McGarity Bowl.
Game MVP
Le'Veon Bell (SCLSU MudDogs)
236 Rushing Yards, 3 Rushing TD's, 4 receptions, 62 Receiving Yards, 49.80 Points (Highest score ever for a single player)
Channel 4 News Team (9-5) 127.34
Woe Is You (8-6) 82.88
I don't wanna be a dick (but I will) but this pretty much went exactly as I expected. I can't crap on Mike's team much, his team would've kicked my sorry team's ass this week, but Albert's just been on a such a roll lately, I really thought he had no chance at matching him scoring wise and sure enough Albert puts up the most points of the week. What sealed the deal was the Carr Thursday play. A couple of Mike's guys actually played well (Beckham had 94 and a score, Todd Gurley ACTUALLY scored a TD, and Taylor Gabriel had 82 and a score) but to beat Albert, all of Mike's guys had to perform to at least to their projected points and plays like Terrelle Pryor (under a point) and the aforementioned Carr absolutely killed his chances at winning. For Albert...man...this is looking a lot like his championship runs a few years ago, where his team kinda just wins during the season and then totally picks up steam towards the end of the season and into the playoffs. This is his 4th straight win, which is the best current streak going and his guys are just in the zone. Every player had at LEAST 11.9 points except Doug Baldwin. Luck and Hilton struck again as Hilton had 9 catches for 115 yards and a score. LeSean McCoy was overshadowed by Le'Veon Bell's historic game, but he had a nice game himself with 108 total yards and a score. Tyler Eifert added 2 scores, and Doug Martin added a TD too. Albert is a serious threat to beat Ryan next week in what should be a super close matchup. For Mike, I think it's definitely a successful comeback to the league. Considering how injuries absolutely destroyed his original roster, he still managed to win 8 games and make the playoffs. He just had the unfortunate draw of facing the hottest team in the league right now. He'll take on Mayra in the 5th place game.
Game MVP
T.Y. Hilton (Channel 4 News Team)
9 Receptions, 115 Receiving Yards, 1 Receiving TD, 22 Points
Other League Notes: Man, when my teams play in the consolation bracket they play even WORSE than they do in the regular season. I got absolutely smashed by Matt's team this week and it's looking like another last place finish for me, which would be 2 in the last 3 years. Not good. So Dad has the worst regular season in league history, yet manages to easily destroy Drew's ragtag team, which means at the very least, he'll finish 10th and not last. The season Dad's had, that's basically like winning a championship. Dad will probably actually have a good shot at advancing as he takes on Mark next week, while Matt takes on Leland.
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