EXPECT TEXANS-CHIEFS TO BE A FANTASY EXPLOSION
Week 6 fantasy football rankings
Oct 10, 2019, 1:29 pm
EXPECT TEXANS-CHIEFS TO BE A FANTASY EXPLOSION
These are my very early ranks and I will update them later in the week. Make sure you check the injury report on Sunday for players that have missed practice. Keep in mind, these are PPR rankings, and don't forget to set your lineup for Thursday Night Football.
If you have any questions, feel free to hit me up on Twitter. Be sure to check out my show MoneyLine with Jerry Bo on ESPN 97.5FM. We're on every Sunday morning from 10-noon, and we'll talk a lot of fantasy football and NFL gambling getting you ready for kickoff every Sunday.
1 Patrick Mahomes
2 Deshaun Watson
3 Russell Wilson
4 Lamar Jackson
5 Matt Ryan
6 Tom Brady
7 Kyler Murray
8 Dak Prescott
9 Aaron Rodgers
10 Jameis Winston
11 Carson Wentz
12 Gardner Minshew
13 Jared Goff
14 Philip Rivers
15 Kirk Cousins
16 Kyle Allen
17 Jimmy Garoppolo
18 Matthew Stafford
19 Sam Darnold
20 Baker Mayfield
1 Christian McCaffrey
2 Alvin Kamara
3 Ezekiel Elliott
4 Dalvin Cook
5 Mark Ingram
6 Aaron Jones
7 Le'Veon Bell
8 Chris Carson
9 David Johnson
10 Leonard Fournette
11 Austin Ekeler
12 Nick Chubb
13 Derrick Henry
14 Kerryon Johnson
15 James Conner
16 Phillip Lindsay
17 Sony Michel
18 Melvin Gordon
19 James White
20 Joe Mixon
21 Devonta Freeman
22 Damien Williams
23 Malcolm Brown
24 Chris Thompson
25 Tevin Coleman
26 Adrian Peterson
27 Matt Breida
28 Carlos Hyde
29 Kenyan Drake
30 LeSean McCoy
31 Jordan Howard
32 Ronald Jones
33 Royce Freeman
34 Jonathan Hilliman
35 Miles Sanders
36 Duke Johnson
1 Julio Jones
2 Chris Godwin
3 Cooper Kupp
4 DeAndre Hopkins
5 Amari Cooper
6 Michael Thomas
7 Keenan Allen
8 Adam Thielen
9 Tyler Lockett
10 Julian Edelman
*Tyreek Hill Looks like he will play, He's a top 10 play
11 Larry Fitzgerald
12 Odell Beckham
13 Tyler Boyd
14 Josh Gordon
15 Mike Evans
16 Kenny Galladay
17 D.J. Chark
18 Will Fuller
19 D.J. Moore
20 Emmanuel Sanders
21 JuJu Smith-Schuster
22 Michael Gallup
23 Calvin Ridley
24 Courtland Sutton
25 Marquise Brown
26 Terry McLaurin
27 Stefon Diggs
28 Jarvis Landry
29 Alshon Jeffery
30 Curtis Samuel
31 Marvin Jones
32 Dede Westbrook
33 Marquez Valdes-Scantling
34 Mike Williams
35 Mecole Hardman
36 Mohamed Sanu
37 Demarcus Robinson
38 Auden Tate
39 Robbie Anderson
40 Geronimo Allison
Photo via:Chiefs/Facebook
1 Travis Kelce
2 George Kittle
3 Austin Hooper
4 Zach Ertz
5 Will Dissly
6 Greg Olsen
7 Mark Andrews
8 Jimmy Graham
9 Gerald Everett
10 Delanie Walker
11 Jason Witten
12 Jared Cook
13 Noah Fant
14 Vance McDonald
15 O.J. Howard
1 Patriots
2 Chargers
3 Cowboys
4 Ravens
5 Vikings
6 Titans
7 Seahawks
8 Packers
9 Panthers
10 Broncos
11 Steelers
12 Redskins
13 Jaguars
14 49ers
15 Eagles
1 Justin Tucker
2 Greg Zuerlein
3 Will Lutz
4 Harrison Butker
5 Robbie Gould
6 Ka'imi Fairbairn
7 Mason Crosby
8 Joey Slye
9 Zane Gonzalez
10 Brett Maher
11 Matt Bryant
12 Jake Elliott
13 Mike Nugent
14 Matt Prater
15 Jason Myers
As of 9:42 Central Daylight Saving Time Friday night, the Astros (and all other baseball players) are officially the Boys of Summer, officially so far as the season is concerned anyway. When the summer solstice arrived last year the Astros were nine games off the lead in the American League West. So in addressing the rhetorical axiom “what a difference a year makes,” the difference in the Astros’ case is a whopping 14 games as they start the weekend atop their division by five games. At this point in the season last year the Astros’ record in one-run games was a brutal 5-14. In 2025 they are 13-7 in games decided by the narrowest of margins.
That the Astros are just 4-5 in road games against the two worst teams in the American League is no big deal, other than that every game counts in the standings. Still, just as was losing two out of three at the pathetic White Sox earlier this season, it is no doubt disappointing to the Astros to have only gotten a split of their four-game set with the Athletics. The A’s had gone 9-28 in their last 37 games before the Astros arrived in West Sacramento. The former-Oaklanders took the first game and the finale, as the Astros’ offense played bi-polar ball over the four nights. Two stat-padding explosion games that totaled 24 runs and 35 hits were bookended by a puny one-run output Monday and Thursday’s 5-4 10-inning loss. Baseball happens. Nevertheless, as the Astros open their weekend set versus the Angels, they have gone 17-7 over their last 24 games to forge their five-game division lead.
The New York Yankees’ offense has been by a healthy margin the best attack in the American League so far this season. The reigning AL champions snapped a six-game losing streak Thursday. The Yankees mustered a total of six runs over those six losses, including being shutout in three consecutive games. The baseball season is the defining “it’s a marathon not a sprint” sport. With 162 games on the schedule, combined with the fact that the gap in winning percentage between the best teams and the worst teams is smaller than in any other sport, making much about a series, or week or two of games is misguided, apart from all the results mattering.
The future is now
Without context, statistics can tell very misleading stories. Cam Smith is having a fine rookie season and has the looks of a guy who can blossom into a bonafide star and be an Astro mainstay into the 2030s. But it’s silliness that has anyone talking about the big month of June he’s having. Superficially, sure, going into Thursday’s game Smith’s stat line for the month read a .321 batting average and .874 OPS. Alas, that was mostly about Smith’s two monster games in the consecutive routs of the Athletics. Over those two games Cam went seven for nine with two home runs and two doubles. Over the other 14 games he’s played this month Smith is batting .213 with an OPS below .540.
Cam Smith is a long-term contender for best acquisition of Dana Brown’s tenure as General Manager. If his career was a single game Smith is still in the first inning, but if his career was a stock it’s a buy and hold. If the Astros were for some reason forced to part with all but two players in the organization, I think the two they would hold on to are Smith and Hunter Brown. Jeremy Pena would be another strong candidate, but he turns 28 in September and is two seasons from free agency (unless the rules change in the next collective bargaining agreement). Smith is 22 and under Astros’ control for another five seasons, he’s not even presently eligible for salary arbitration until the 2028 season. Brown turns 27 in August and is currently ineligible for free agency until after the 2028 season.
Angels in the outfield
Hunter Brown pitches opposite Yusei Kikuchi Friday night. Kikuchi was Dana Brown’s big in-season move last season, and Kikuchi was excellent with the Astros which set up to get the three-year 63 million dollar deal he landed with the Halos. After a slow start to his season Kikuchi has been outstanding the past month and a half, with a 2.28 earned run average over his last nine starts. Brown’s 1.88 season ERA is second-best in the big leagues among pitchers with the innings pitched to qualify in the category. Only Pirates’ stud Paul Skenes has a better mark, barely so at 1.85.
Kikuchi was a stellar rental who helped the Astros stretch their consecutive postseasons streak to eight. There was an absurd amount of vitriol over what Dana Brown gave up for him. Joey Loperfido is 26 years old and having a middling season at AAA. Will Wagner is 26 years old and back in the minors after batting .186 with the Blue Jays. Jake Bloss is the one guy who maaaaaybe some day the Astros wish they still had. Bloss is out into 2026 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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