Four weeks in and nobody is who they said they were
Week 4 was a week of guys having the right player and not playing him. Seven games, and in five of them the loser had the answer sitting on the bench the whole time. Cheston is still undefeated. Nobody has a plan for that either.
The scoreboard
Rudy 111.90, Daniel 107.42. Daniel. Nico Collins scored 30.8. He was on your bench. You started Parker Washington. Parker Washington scored 2. You lost by 4.48. Your optimal lineup was 136.22 and you put up 107.42. You have the third most points in the league and a 2-2 record and this is the entire reason. Meanwhile Rudy started Rashee Rice, who scored 0.0, and still won. The commissioner got a zero out of a starting wide receiver and went home 3-1. I don't have a joke. I just want you to sit with it.
Cheston 137.94, DJ 125.72. DJ lost. That's the recap. He also started Travis Kelce for 3.5 with T.J. Hockenson and his 24.9 on the bench, which means he had the win and gave it away himself. Best possible outcome. CeeDee Lamb put up 41.3 for Cheston and Cheston is 4-0 and has the most points in the league, and normally I'd care about that, but DJ lost.
Dan 109.88, Culley 78.42. Lowest score of the week by 10.84. Culley started Ladd McConkey in the flex. McConkey scored 0.0. Josh Allen was his high man at 18.52. Dan won this one while leaving RJ Harvey and his 19.3 on the bench and starting David Montgomery for 4.3, so the robot wouldn't have been impressed, but the robot also wasn't needed. Dan is 2-2.
Sean 104.90, Joe 103.24. Joe set a perfect lineup. Zero points left. His entire bench scored 1.8. He lost by 1.66. Honestly man, go for a walk, this one isn't on you.
Marcellus 155.88, Tanner 125.18. High score of the week. Tetairoa McMillan went for 45.2 on a 15.8 projection. Tanner started the Jets D/ST and got a 0.0, started DJ Moore for 2.7 with Rome Odunze and 15.4 on the bench, and put up 125.18, which beat nine of the other thirteen teams. Doesn't matter. He drew the buzzsaw and he's 1-3.
Zac 142.18, William 89.26. Blowout of the week, 52.92. William left 43 points on his bench. Brian Robinson Jr. scored 25.7 in street clothes as far as the lineup was concerned, and Blake Corum started and scored 3.1. William's optimal was 132.26. Still would have lost.
Nathan 124.08, Wyatt 97.62. Kyren Williams scored 36.7 on a 13.09 projection and carried me to a win I did not earn. I left 21.3 on the bench. I started TreVeyon Henderson for 4.2 with Ollie Gordon II and his 18 sitting there. I won by 26.46 and I was the sixth highest scorer of the week. We'll get to that.
Points left on the bench
Daniel again. Nico Collins 30.8 on the bench, Parker Washington 2 in the lineup, 28.8 points of difference, lost by 4.48. He's the only guy in the league this week whose optimal lineup would have flipped the result and who lost by less than five. It cost him the game. It cost him the matchup with Rudy specifically, so he's also responsible for the commissioner being 3-1.
Honorable mention to DJ, who left 21.4 on his bench and would have beaten Cheston with it. Second time this paragraph I've said the words "would have won." Love that for him.
William led the league with 43 points left on the bench and it changed nothing, which is somehow worse.
Luck
DJ scored 125.72. That beats ten of the other thirteen teams. He lost. Unluckiest loss of the week and I want it written down in large print.
Sean scored 104.90, which beats four of thirteen, and won. Luckiest win of the week by a mile. He beat the one guy who played a perfect lineup.
Season gaps: I'm 2-2 and eleventh in points scored. Dan is 2-2 and twelfth in points scored. The two of us are stealing wins from people who actually put up numbers and we play each other next week, so one of us gets exposed. Daniel is third in points and sixth in the standings. He knows why.
The wire
Rudy had seven moves. Seven adds, seven drops. Nobody else had more than two. He also dropped Mike Washington Jr. on Wed, Oct 7 and picked him back up on Thu, Oct 8. Our commissioner. The guy who approves trades.
Speaking of which, Rudy approved a trade he was in. Fri, Oct 9, Culley sent Keaton Mitchell to Rudy and got Will Shipley back. Grade: fine for Culley, and Keaton Mitchell scored 11.3 on Culley's bench on his way out the door.
Tue, Oct 6, Dan sent RJ Harvey to me and got Wan'Dale Robinson. Grade: I'd like to thank Dan.
DJ and Tanner made zero moves all week. Tanner's quarterback situation is what it is. We'll get there.
Injury desk
Lamar Jackson is OUT. Tanner started him last week and now has a hole at quarterback and no transactions in seven days.
Saquon Barkley is OUT for Culley, who just scored 78.42 with him.
Kyle Monangai is OUT for Wyatt. He scored 28 last week and that was Wyatt's leading man.
Stefon Diggs is OUT for Marcellus. The 155.88 is going to be hard to repeat.
Tank Bigsby is on IR for Joe, who is also down Travis Etienne Jr. and Tank Dell. Joe plays a perfect lineup every week because there's nothing left to choose from.
CeeDee Lamb is QUESTIONABLE for Cheston after 41.3. Quinshon Judkins too. First real test for the undefeated guy.
Playoff picture
Cheston 99 percent. Wyatt 97. Rudy 94. DJ 89, and yes, I checked twice.
Daniel 85 and Marcellus 79, both comfortable.
Then it's me at 48 and Dan at 44, the two teams propped up entirely by schedule. Culley 40, Zac 37, Tanner 33, William 31. That's six teams fighting for two spots and most of them think they're fine.
Sean 18. Joe 9. Joe has the fewest points in the league and the best lineup management in the league at the same time.
Next week
Culley vs Marcellus: Culley is down Saquon and scored 78.42. Marcellus hung 155.88. Pick Marcellus.
Tanner vs Sean: two 1-3 teams, one of them without Lamar Jackson. Sean.
Dan vs me: the two luckiest teams in the league finally cancel out. If Muse AI is taking over, this is the week to do it.
Joe vs DJ: Joe has the worst points total in the league and I'm picking him anyway. Please.
Wyatt vs Daniel: start Nico Collins, Daniel.
Cheston vs Zac: Zac just put up 142.18 and Cheston might be without CeeDee. This is the upset spot.
Rudy vs William: William has left 43 points on his bench in one week. Rudy has made seven moves in one week. Something has to give and it's probably William.