The Dynasty Aftermath: Week Thirteen

Jeff Haverlack Posted On December 4, 2012

Welcome to DLF’s Dynasty Aftermath. This Tuesday staple has long been one of our signature pieces as we have a little fun after a tough week at the Dynasty League Football office. You’ll find this article will review the week’s happenings in a variety of ways and help set you up for the coming weeks as we spin around the league in the way we know best. After twelve weeks, the contenders are starting to further set themselves apart from the pretenders in both reality and fantasy.

Let’s take our weekly spin around the league!

Week Thirteen Fantasy MVP

As always, there were lots of candidates for the award this week. Andrew Luck, Brandon Myers or how about the amazing Bryce Brown? Let’s go with Calvin Johnson, who has now posted four relatively ridiculous weeks of fantasy scoring … in a row! Over the past month, depending on your scoring format of course, Johnson has 128+ fantasy points, give or take. In week 13 alone, Calvin posted 36 points through 13 receptions, 171 yards and a single touchdown. On 20 targets! Coaches have had to put up with a few snoozers from Megatron this year but he’s been huge of late. And heading into fantasy playoffs, you want a huge Johnson.

Sorry.

Week Thirteen Fantasy LVP

There are so many deserving candidates for this week’s LVP award. Drew Brees‘ disastrous Thursday night performance is an easy choice. But rather than take a single poor performance from week 13, let’s instead give this week’s nod to a player that has certainly been deserving for multiple weeks running: Larry Fitzgerald. His troubles are well known. He’s got a third-string quarterback, who has been throwing like a third string right tackle, under center and defenses have learned simply to play bracket coverage and force other receivers to step up. None have.

Over the past three weeks, Fitzgerald has tallied five passes for an amazing 66 yards. Even more impressive is the fact that he’s been targeted 26 times over that span, good for less than a 20% conversion rate. It’s not like Fitzgerald has a narrow or limited catch radius. He’s simply unplayable for the rest of the year. Yet, he still manages to be professional and composed. Very impressive Mr. Fitzgerald, most from around the league should take a queue from how you operate, week in, week out. Sorry to have to hang this award on you.

Lineup Fun The virtually unbeatable lineup of the week…

QB Andrew Luck IND = 391 passing yards, four touchdowns, 33 yards rushing
RB Bryce Brown PHI = 24 carries, 169 yards, two touchdowns. Four receptions, 14 yards
RB Adrian Peterson MIN =21 carries, 210 yards, one touchdown. One reception, 10 yards
RB DeMarco Murray DAL = 23 carries, 83 yards, one touchdown. Four receptions, 19 yards
WR Calvin Johnson DET = 13 receptions, 171 yards, one touchdown
WR Demaryius Thomas DEN =Eight receptions, 99 yards, two touchdowns
WR Wes Welker NE = 12 receptions, 103 yards, one touchdown
TE Brandon Myers OAK = 14 receptions, 130 yards, one touchdown

The dominant underdog lineup of the week…

QB Russell Wilson SEA = 293 passing yards, two touchdowns. Nine rushes, 71 yards.
RB Bryce Brown PHI = 24 carries, 169 yards, two touchdowns. Four receptions, 14 yards
RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis CIN = 25 carries, 118 yards. Four receptions, 14 yards
RB James Starks GB = 15 carries, 66 yards, one touchdown. Two receptions, 16 yards
WR Donny Avery IND = Five receptions, 91 yards, two touchdowns
WR Josh Gordon CLE =Six receptions, 116 yards, one touchdown
WR Golden Tate SEA = Five receptions, 96 yards, one touchdown
TE Jacob Tamme IND = Nine receptions, 89 yards

The unexpectedly horrible lineup of the week…

QB Drew Brees NO = 341 passing yards, 0 touchdowns, 5 interceptions
RB Ryan Mathews SD = Nine carries, 26 yards. Three receptions, 25 yards
RB Darren Sproles NO = 0 carries. Five receptions, 47 yards
RB Chris Johnson TEN = 13 carries, 51 yards. Four receptions, 20 yards
WR Torrey Smith BAL = Three receptions, 33 yards
WR Vincent Jackson TB = Three receptions, 55yards
WR Roddy White ATL = One reception, 20 yards
TE Dennis Pitta BAL = One reception, 19 yards

Gut Checks

I’d be worried if…

If I’m counting on anything for the following running backs, now or in 2013: Donald Brown, Rashad Jennings, Beanie Wells, Jonathan Stewart or Ronnie Hillman. I realize there are some bigger names here in Stewart and Hillman, but at some point we have to label Stewart a bust and Hillman a deep project. I expect all of these backs to just slowly fade away.

Ryan Broyles was my secret weapon heading into the playoffs (or 2013?). You have to feel terrible for Broyles. We all here at DLF are big fans and have been highlighting him since last year before the draft. Now he’s ‘done’ his good knee and will likely miss at least a portion of 2013, Working in his favor is his size and position, not to mention his work ethic. We’re not counting him out at all, but owners need to give him until 2014 to be back to full health.

I was/am counting on Michael Vick. He’s done in Philly. There’s no reason for the Eagles to put him under center again. The Nick Foles era has begun.

I believe Nick Foles is the next franchise quarterback for the Eagles. In the preseason, I had begun to believe that perhaps Foles was going to prove me wrong. His shoddy mechanics, poor decision making and happy feet when the pocket broke down seemingly had been left in the rear view mirror. They’re back. I just don’t see anything special about him that leads me to believe he’s going to develop. And Philly is the wrong place for a trial by fire.

I play against Tony Romo in the playoffs. Romo has always been a streaky player, but when he’s on and throwing with confidence, he’s really on. While he does have a tougher match-up against Pittsburgh in week 15, he plays at home vs. New Orleans in week 16. Dez Bryant has been a monster and DeMarco Murray is back. All arrows are pointing north for Tony Romo.

I’m a Jets fan.

I’m hoping for a return to prominence for 49’er tight end Vernon Davis. Chemistry is no longer there in Jim Harbaugh’s offense, at least as far as the tight end position goes. Furthermore, Davis’ feelings are starting to bubble to the surface and it has all the makings of an ugly end to the season. Whether Davis has been deemphasized, used as a decoy or can no longer get open, he’s going to end up one of the bigger disappointments in 2012.

I’m counting on riding Bryce Brown’s hot hand into the playoffs. The fact remains that, while Brown has looked tremendous in his two games as a starter, he’s still LeSean McCoy’s backup and there is no competition here. McCoy should be back soon and will, at worst, split time with Brown. There’s not a lot of incentive for the Eagles to over-work McCoy through the end of the season, but he’ll still get the lion’s share of the touches.

I have any connection to Titus Young.

I underestimated Russell Wilson’s ability to be a NFL quarterback. I never under-estimated this guy’s heart but I did question whether or not Wilson could be a long term starter at the NFL level. It’s too soon to tell, but all systems are ‘go’ for the rookie. Wilson is doing more than just managing the game. He’s putting the team on his back and winning tough games. The Hawks haven’t been good on the road for some time, but Wilson is starting to turn that around. His gritty win in Chicago was a thing of beauty. I don’t believe he’ll ever be elite, but he can be top 15.

I’ve accumulated 2013 draft picks in hopes of rebuilding my team. The 2013 draft looks as weak as any draft has in a long time, especially at the offensive skill positions. Unless you need a quarterback, it’s going to be a crap shoot of massive proportion.

Author
Recent Posts

Jeff Haverlack

Co-Founder at Dynasty League Football

Appreciative husband and proud father who poorly attempts to balance family life with his passion for creating the largest, most helpful and most impactful fantasy community on the planet! DLF was created for the community and we're committed to each member within it! Hope anyone playing this great game will call DLF home in some way!

You can find Jeff on Twitter at @dlf_jeff

Latest posts by Jeff Haverlack (see all)