Week 7 Review:
Very up and down week. Reilly and Williams went off and that ended up being the chalky pairing of the week. I wasn’t expecting ownership to be that high on that pairing, but they have been the best QB/WR tandem in the league so far this year. The Winnipeg game went as expected with the only shock being Andrew Harris being a non-factor in this game. The OTT vs. Hamilton game did not see any excitement until the 4th quarter so unfortunately, the scoring in this game was very limited. Both offenses seemed to sputter and the Redblacks settled for 7 field goals throughout the game! Calgary continues to show why they are the best all around team in the league with a very solid performance against Saskatchewan. The Roughriders defense played a lot better than the score indicated and I am happy that they got to 11 DK points.
Week 8 BREAKDOWN
QB
I will be going back to the Jeremiah Masoli well this week, especially since he draws the same matchup that Mike Reilly has last week. Masoli and the Tigercat’s offense has struggled over the past several weeks but they have been hit with injuries and have been dealing with a porous running game. Montreal has struggled all year long against the pass, allowing 299 passing yards per game so far this year. The Ottawa defense they faced last week has improved drastically over the past several weeks against the pass so if Masoli was able to squeak out 20 DK points in that matchup, I like the upside he could have in this game. This is the perfect bounce back game for this Hamilton offense and I think we see Masoli ball out.
My favorite overall GPP play will be Trevor Harris. Toronto has struggled against opposing quarterbacks all year, allowing 9.3 yards per pass which is dead last in the CFL. In addition, they are allowing a 71% completion rate which is also the highest rate in the league. Harris has struggled the most when facing pressure which is a weakness of this Argonauts defense. They have only sacked opposing quarterbacks only 6 times on the year which is tied for last in the league. I am thinking Harris has a very good outing and we can get him at a very good overall price this week.
Collaros coming back from injury is a little risky but I think the Saskatchewan offense will be better off with him under center. In addition, they will be getting Duron Carter back as well so there is another big play weapon that can really stretch the field. The Eskimos had a short week to prepare for him so I think the limited amount of time being able to prepare can really benefit the Roughriders offense. He is a good pivot in the lower tiered QBs, getting away from the Johnny Football and Bethel-Thompson plays. He will not be in one of my main lines but I’ll have a few shares in a larger tournament.
*For me, I will be fading Mike Reilly. I know he just went off last week, but he draws a very tough matchup against Saskatchewan on the road and at his price point, I do not see him getting 30+ points.
RB
We are without Andrew Harris, so I am excited to see what our lines could look like without paying a high price tag on a top running back!
The first RB I like is William Powell. Powell has hit double digit points 5 out of 6 weeks and is one of the safest running back choices in the league. He draws a favorable matchup against Toronto who has allowed 126 yards per game on the ground which is in the bottom half of the league. Over the last 3 games, the Args have allowed close to 90 yards rushing, 35 yards catching and 1 TD to opposing running backs, so this is a solid matchup for Powell.
CGY running backs are in play this week. I have Don Jackson listed on the depth chart but that can easily change if he is unable to go this week. BC has struggled against the run all year long, allowing the most yards on the ground in the entire league. They have also allowed the 3rd most rushing TDs with 7 so far this year so definitely make sure to check and see who the starting RB for this game will be. It will either be Don Jackson, Terry Williams, or Romar Morris.
The last guy I like is Tyrell Sutton. He is still under 7k and with all the Manziel hype this week, I think Sutton could go under the radar. He has recorded 3 straight double-digit performances and has 25 receptions so far this season! Hamilton has had some trouble stopping the run and their primary focus this week will be shifting towards Johnny Football and not Sutton. He is a big asset to this team and I think his workload will be the same moving forward, regardless who is calling the plays.
WR
Duke Williams continues to be head and shoulders above the rest of the league and even though they are facing a tough SSK defense, he still is in play. He is over 10k which is tough to swallow for your lineups, but I know I will try to find a way to getting him in there. With Duke getting so much attention, Derel Walker has become somewhat of the odd man out. He could be used more this week if Williams is getting a good chunk of the attention but with that said, I think Kenny Stafford is the guy to have this week. He has outscored Walker 3 out of the last 4 weeks and is $1,400 cheaper.
Brandon Banks had a huge game last week and he might be the highest scoring receiver this week! Montreal struggles defensively, and we saw what the Reilly/Williams combo did to them last week. Even though he is $9,500, Banks offers the 25 point upside this week which is what we are searching for. Saunders is the only other Hamilton that I like but then again, there are a lot of solid options with Williams, Tasker and Toliver so it will be tough to get the right Hamilton combo this week.
I’m still a big believer in Greg Ellingson and I think this is the week where he goes off for a 20+ point performance. His price has dropped a huge amount and I think they will find ways to get him the ball. Sinopoli is a safe option but his price is getting up there and I think defenses are starting to see that he has been the more favorable target for Harris. Ellingson is $7,500 but is 5th overall in the league in regards to targets…..give me that value and move on!
Eric Rogers and Kamar Jorden are both in good spots against the Lions. They are both under 9k which is encouraging, especially when seeing some of the main WR options prices all jump up this week. Jorden is the safer option out of the 2 but Rogers has had some monster games as well, so I am comfortable rolling either of them in a lineup.
For some other tournament plays, I am considering Naaman Roosevelt, Duron Carter and BJ Cunningham. Cunningham has been the main WR option in this Montreal offense and I think Manziel will rely on him a good bit this week. If Zach Collaros draws the start for SSK, I think both Roosevelt and Duron Carter are in play. The Roughriders offense has struggled greatly over the past several weeks with Brandon Banks at the helm, so Collaros will provide an offensive spark when it comes to throwing the football. Carter is a gifted athlete and he is finally being moved back to offense this week. Keep your eyes on updates just to make sure he ends up being a starter on the offensive side of the ball. He could be a good punt play for salary relief since he is just $4,400 this week.
Def.
Calgary has been so sound and luckily we don’t see much of a price jump. Eventhough the Lions have been clicking on offense ever since Lulay took over, I think the Stamps overpower this offense.
Ottawa is intriguing if you need to save a few bucks. Toronto changes QBs yet again and this offense has been stagnant. Mix in the fact that SJ Green has been banged up and I don’t see that offense doing much against the Redblacks defense.
I like SSK enough to be ballsy and play their D this week. The can create turnovers and sacks and I think they can make this game competitive this weekend by keeping it low scoring.
My Depth Chart
Below is my depth chart for this week. I have the positions listed and this ranks the plays that I like the most. When it comes to the WR, I have them listed as starting (My favorites), 2nd string (Ones that could crack the lineup at some point), and 3rd string (punt plays). For the flex positions, you can use a combo of WR and RB so be creative with your lines!
MY PLAYER POOL
QB – Harris, Masoli, Collaros
RB – Powell, CGY RB (Jackson, Williams, Morris), Sutton
WR Tier 1 – D. Williams, Banks, Rogers, Jorden, Sinopoli, Walker
WR Tier 2 – Ellingson, Saunders, Stafford, Cunningham, Roosevelt, Spencer
WR Tier 3 – D. Carter, R. Smith
DEF – CGY, OTT, SSK (Contrarian)
