Looking back at Week 1
I typically play just one cash lineup and one GPP lineup per week, and this week was no different. In my GPP lineup, I try to gain enough leverage on the field in a game stack to take down a tournament, and in my one-off plays I will typically mix in some chalkier players with some other lower-owned one-offs for additional differentiation. In cash, which is where I tend to feast, I'm making sure I'm taking the right amount of chalk and finding high floor, moderate to high ceiling plays to compliment that, regardless of their ownership levels (although I typically want a little bit of leverage, too).
My GPP lineup
(played in the $5 milly maker - players in red were part of my game stack)
QB: Teddy Bridgewater ($5900 - 2.92% owned -19.4 points)
RB: Marlon Mack ($5300 - 9.56% owned - 8.6 points and a torn ACL...)
RB: Boston Scott ($4800 - 24.96% owned - 7.4 points)
WR: Davante Adams ($7300 - 18.97% owned - 44.6 points)
WR: DJ Moore ($6600 - 6.34% owned - 9.4 points)
WR: Robby Anderson ($4700 - 5.22% owned - 28.5 points)
WR - Flex: Allen Robinson II ($6500 - 11.79% owned - 12.3 points)
TE: Darren Waller ($5900 - 3.82% owned - 10.5 points)
DEF: Vikings ($2500 - 2.35% owned - -4 points)
See those ownership percentages on my stack? I love it, and even though my lineup did not cash, it's the process over the results here. I mentioned in my preview and picks article that I loved this game environment, and we kind of knew going in that CMC and Jacobs were probably going to be higher owned. The game hit 64 total, Jacobs had three touchdowns and CMC did his thing. I just needed one of them to fail, really, and this could've ended up much better than it did.
Total points: 136.7
Cash line: 148.74
Result: No Moolah
My Cash lineup
(played in various double ups - ownership and cash line based on GIANT $2 Double Up as largest cash contest entered)
QB: Carson Wentz ($6300 - 4.39% owned - 16 points)
RB: Josh Jacobs ($6800 - 48.22% owned - 35.9 points)
RB: Boston Scott (59.86%)
WR: Allen Robinson II (11.64%)
WR: Davante Adams (47%)
WR: DK Metcalf ($5800 - 13.52% owned - 19.5 points)
WR - Flex: Marvin Jones Jr. ($5500 - 30.87% owned - 9.5 points)
TE: Dallas Goedert ($4100 - 2.15% owned - 27.1 points)
DEF: Jets ($2100 - 17.2% owned - 7 points)
I was quite shocked that the Eagles pieces of Wentz and Goedert went so underowned, and while Wentz was a bit of a disappointment, Goedert smashed, more than making up for it. I ate the right chalk in Jacobs and Adams, and easily was over the cash line thanks to it.
Total points: 179.3
Cash line: 151.38
Result: Comfortably cashed in all double ups, resulting in a profit for the week
Players from last week's picks that didn't end up in my lineups
Russell Wilson ($7000, 34.78 points): I debated playing him in cash instead of Wentz, but I didn't because I'm a dummy. Not much else to that one.
Derek Carr ($5900, 13.56 points): I could have easily went here instead of Bridgewater in GPPs, but I found that it was more predictable to figure out where Bridgewater's targets would go (CMC, Moore, Anderson) than Carr's (Richard? Waller? Ruggs? Renfrow? Jacobs? Edwards?). When I get into situations like this, I like the narrower target trees for stacks - so long as they aren't chalk - and so I went that route. And in cash I liked Wentz and Russ better from a floor perspective.
Matt Ryan ($6700, 27.9 points): That Seahawks/Falcons game ended up being talked up quite a bit in the public sphere, so I stayed away in my GPP lineup for that reason. In cash, I would've rather played Russ on the other side.
Mitchell Trubisky ($5400, 24.28 points): My other stack I was considering was a Bears stack of Trubisky + Allen Robinson + Anthony Miller, but I didn't think I'd get as much leverage doing that as I did with the Panthers passing attack.
Christian McCaffrey ($10,000, 28.4 points): He's good at football, but there were a ton of WRs that I wanted to play that I prioritized there instead. It looks like it ended up being a good fade, but he was still in a lot of cashing lineups.
Joe Mixon ($6700, 7.1 points): Wow. This was not something I was expecting. He had 20 touches, but he had a fumble and he only caught one ball out of the backfield. The Chargers aren't a bad football team, especially defensively, but yikes, Cincy looked horrible.
Kareem Hunt ($5100, 12.1 points): Got off of him when the Boston Scott news came through. Important to note: He had three more carries than Chubb did in this game.
Tarik Cohen ($4900, 6.7 points): See Hunt, Kareem.
Jarvis Landry ($5900, 11.1 points): He led the team in receptions and was tied for second in targets with Kareem Hunt. There's consistency here, as mentioned, and he was in my cash pool - there were just other guys I liked in his range that I thought I could get a bit more upside from with similar enough safety. I was wrong on that. (Marvin Jones...)
DeSean Jackson ($4900, 6.6 points): He was hyped up way too much for tournaments, and with Reagor coming back and starting + my love for the TEs (they played a lot of 12 personnel!), I simply cooled on him towards kickoff.
Henry Ruggs III ($5100, 9.6 points): I would've played him in a Raiders stack, but took the opposite side of the game. The Raiders run-back piece was basically a toss up between him, Waller and Bryan Edwards for me, and I went with Waller in the end.
N'Keal Harry ($4400, 7.9 points): I didn't want to go this low at receiver once the Scott news opened things up. There was a ton of opportunity cost this week at WR. Important to note that he saw nearly a third of Cam's passes sent his way, a trend we should watch if his price stays low.
George Kittle ($7200, 8.4 points): I mentioned I didn't think it was necessary to pay up for him, especially with my love for Goedert in cash games, so it was really a matter of whether or not I was stacking the Niners game. I didn't, so I didn't have exposure.
Hayden Hurst ($4300, 6.8 points): This one I just got wrong. What is Russell Gage doing with 12 targets??? I think a lot of people, myself included, thought he was going to hop right in to the Austin Hooper role, but that didn't materialize.
A beer to celebrate a profitable week
Time to grab yourself a Surly Overrated to celebrate Tom Brady's delicious fall from grace. #WhoDat
Editor's note: the views and opinions, particularly regarding the ridiculous show of New Orleans Saints' fandom, do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Basement Brewed Fantasy Football.
With week 1 in the books, we look ahead to week 2! Be sure to follow along by subscribing below, joining us on Facebook, and trolling us on Twitter: Derek Devereaux (author), Mikey Henninger (owner/writer/editor), JJ Gosh (writer).