AFL Quickplay Week 10 - Shark Attack
Andrew Nordmeier
Friday May 29, 2015
This past week in the world of Quickplay was one of the most unusual we’ve seen. The game appeared to have locked on Friday night, which was the original start time for the Tampa Bay Storm game last week. The game was rescheduled due to a conflict with the NHL playoffs in Tampa, which caused some issues.
It led to a weak with low scoring in the fantasy game and some room being opened up as the top teams are spread a little wider. Last week saw one team, SF Valleys, score more than 200 points as they rolled up 211. A score of 155 or better was good enough for a top-10 finish this past week which means we all got hit hard on Week 9.
Our Unemployed Punters lineup scored 161 points this week, good enough for eighth, despite having two zeroes from receivers who were on bye. This game does get weird like that and hopefully it doesn’t happen again with scheduling conflicts.
Overall, our example team the Unemployed Punters climb back into the top spot with 1705 points this season. Legnbaz is a very close second at 1699 while the Phantom Furballs (1688) sit in third. The South Phoenix Bombers stand fourth with 1676 points and then we have a drop to the fifth-place C-Gulls at 1623. The next five teams are separated by 33 points as we come up on the halfway mark.
Let’s look at this week’s schedule where everyone is playing.
Friday May 29 (All time Eastern)
Orlando at Cleveland 7:00 p.m. ROSTER DEADLINE 6:00 p.m.
Saturday May 30
Las Vegas at Philadelphia 6:00 p.m.
San Jose at Portland 6:00 p.m.
New Orleans at Tampa Bay 7:30 p.m.
Arizona at Spokane 10:00 p.m.
Sunday May 31
Jacksonville at Los Angeles 6:00 p.m.
Let’s also take a minute and mention some key player moves before we jump into the selections. Arizona will be starting Shane Boyd at quarterback this week at Spokane. BJ Coleman was filling in for Nick Davila but decided to suddenly quit the team. He chose to pursue a line of work outside of football, as reported by Richard Obert of the Arizona Republic.
Thryon Lewis of the KISS has been placed on recallable reserve and DeMarco Sampson takes his place on the roster. Lewis was playing second banana in the passing game on the league’s lone winless team.
Las Vegas quarterback JJ Raterink has been placed on inactive reserve. That leaves the Outlaws in a tough spot on the road against Philadelphia in the Boardwalk Bowl.
Portland lost quarterback Darren Thomas for the season to a leg injury and Kyle Rowley steps back in as the starter for the Thunder. Keeping those moves in mind, let’s build the Week 10 lineup for the first-place Unemployed Punters.
Eastern Division
Yes, it’s going to be the usual suspects here in Philadelphia quarterback Dan Raudabaugh and Cleveland quarterback Shane Austin. Philadelphia is taking on that Las Vegas team which will have a new quarterback this week with Raterink out of the lineup. How well the Outlaws will play is anyone’s guess but we know the Soul will keep coming in wave after wave much like the ocean against the beach in Atlantic City. There’s also the benefit of picking the league leader in yards (2550) and passing touchdowns (58) that makes him too good to pass up.
Austin takes on an Orlando team that has had a weak secondary at times this season. The Gladiators have been doing well this season but nothing compared to the team that went 17-1 a year ago. Austin’s second in the league in passing yards and touchdowns and you just can’t say no to that.
It’s tempting to try and take a receiver on either of these two teams but the quarterbacks have too much value. Joe Goolsby of the Soul had an outstanding Ironman game last week and merited some consideration but it’s almost impossible to beat the quarterbacks out.
The New Orleans VooDoo welcomes back quarterback Adam Kennedy this week as they take on Tampa Bay. It’s a piece of good news for the team that’s mired in the bottom of the division and will have a tough time getting out of the cellar anytime soon. New Orleans lost to Tampa Bay earlier this season in a 42-13 game and I can’t put much value in the VooDoo given the power of the other two teams in the division.
South Division
This is where things are going to get interesting and quickly. Our two players are both from Jacksonville and are wide receivers Anthony “Tiger” Jones and Joe Hills of the Sharks.
Here’s why I am going this route this week. Jacksonville looks like a team that has been putting it together as of late and their point totals have increased over the last three weeks from 46 to 58 to 70 in three straight wins. They head across the country to take on the winless LA KISS and their defense is awful to be polite. Los Angeles has allowed at least 60 points in six of their last seven games so this sets up to be a huge win for the Sharks. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Sharks roll by at least 21 points this week.
The reason I chose both receivers is that picking one over the other is a crapshoot at best. They combined last week for 18 catches, 222 yards and six touchdowns which is good for 46 fantasy points. I don’t know how it will break down this week but I don’t want to miss out on this game. Your lineup should definitely include two Sharks this week. Tommy Grady merits consideration based on the matchup but the other quarterbacks in our lineup should fare better.
And yes, I am benching Derrick Ross for that reason. There’s a better matchup and situation for a fullback to be in and you’ll find it at the end of the article.
Orlando’s Brandon Thompkins has back-to-back three touchdown games but was held to 6/95/1 last time out against Cleveland so my expectations aren’t that high for him this week. You can say the same about TT Tolliver who went 5/68/1 in the Storm’s previous game against New Orleans.
Pacific Division
If you can find a reason to say no to Erik Meyer, please give it to me now. He is coming off of a stellar outing last week and the Sabercats continue to roll despite injuries and quarterback changes. Meyer looks sharp and has a positive matchup with the Thunder. It came down to him or Grady for the third quarterback this week. I chose Meyer because the Sabercats look unstoppable and Portland poses little in terms of a challenge.
The kicker we’re taking is yet again Nich Pertuit of San Jose. You have to take the highest scoring kicker in the league who plays for the highest scoring team in the league and is an undefeated team. He’s been fairly consistent this season and it makes for a solid fantasy play. San Jose has scored at least 56 points in five of its last six games which makes Pertuit good for seven or eight points each week.
Spokane’s Mike Washington is dealing with an Achilles’ tendon injury, which is going to keep him sidelined for a while. The Shock has been using a mish-mash of young receivers, none of whom has really stood out yet. They have a good matchup at home against Arizona but it’s not enough to unseat the Sabercats who look to be fixtures in the lineup.
Reggie Gray was the Week 9 MVP with 201 yards and four receiving touchdowns. Yet he’s going to be left on the bench this week. Last time against Portland he posted a 7/70/2 outing which is good but I doubt he sets the world on fire again this week.
West Division
Our first pick is wide receiver Donovan Morgan of the KISS. Despite multiple quarterback changes and a team that hasn’t won a game this season, Morgan has been a beacon of hope in an otherwise desolate division. Morgan’s season numbers of 61/960/19 are right up there among the best in the league. He has three touchdowns in three of his last four games and at least two touchdowns in seven of the eight games the KISS has played this season. Thyron Lewis is out so it looks like the offense will go through Morgan this week.
Yes, this is more of a garbage time play in fantasy but the points all count the same. I would look for him to post 8/120/3 this week as the KISS tries to keep up but ultimately fall short against the Sharks.
That leaves a fullback and we’ll take Arizona’s Mykel Benson. Benson is a non-quarterback who has good rushing numbers of 108 yards and nine touchdowns this season on 41 carries. Add to that a new quarterback for Arizona and it looks like Benson should get his chances down by the goal line. It also helps that Spokane has allowed a league-worst 17 rushing touchdowns this season so everything is in place for Benson to shine this week.
Our team has been on or near the top for a few weeks now and hopefully this lineup keeps us there.
Unemployed Punters Week 10 Lineup
Dan Raudabaugh QB PHI
Shane Austin QB CLE
Anthony Jones WR JAX
Joe Hills WR JAX
Erik Meyer QB SJ
Nich Pertuit K SJ
Donovan Morgan WR LA
Mykel Benson FB ARZ