CFL Weekly Review
I feel it is very important to review your lineups to see what worked, what didn’t work and figure out why. The first week of CFL offered a lot of excitement and I think there is a lot of information that we can use heading into the 2nd week of the season. Below is a picture of the optimal lineup based on score.
Original Week 1 Article: https://fulltimefantasy.com/cfl-week-1/
My Week 1 Player Pool
QB- Harris, Reilly, Nichols(if Matthews is out for WPG, I’m bumping Nichols down), Collaros/ Pipkin (Cheap Options, probably don’t have to reach this far down this week)
RB- Harris, Powell, Jackson, Stanbeck, Madu, Whitehead ( could crack the starting lineup as a receiver but could also get looks on punt returns which would be huge)
WR1(8k+)- Ellingson, Burnham, Rogers
WR2(6k to 7.5k)- Addison, Begelton, Adams, Brescacin, Roosevelt
WR3 (Sub 6k)- S. Evans, Posey, Holley, Lawler (If Matthews is out)
D/ST- SSK, CGY, EDM
Review of my Week 1 Article: Starting out, Trevior Harris was the highest scoring QB by over 10 fantasy points. He has a big time group of receivers which will make him fantasy viable almost every single week. CJ Gable was heavily involved in both the run and the passing game and he will be someone to consider on a weekly basis as well. Bryan Burnham proved to be the go to guy for Mike Reilly, getting 12 total targets while catching only 5 passes for 153 total yards. Ricky Collins Jr. also saw 12 targets while catching 9 of them and going for 175 yards. For his price, he was a steal (One that I overlooked)! Mossis Madu put in a very solid game and seems to solidify his spot as a complete back for the Redblacks. He saw 24 carries for 112 yards while also being targeted 7 times and catching 6 passes. If he continues to see this kind of workload, Madu has upside you would want every single week. Kenny Stafford saw a shocking amount of targets and it seems like this Emdonton offence will spread the ball around to everyone. Stafford had 7 catches on 10 targets while getting 98 receiving yards and 2 TDs. He provided great value at his price point and looks to be a red zone target for the Eskimos. Hamilton took advantage of a great opportunity once Collaros went down with an injury and recorded 2 sacks and 2 picks while holding SSK to 16 total points.
My Main Plays for week 1
QB: I was very high on Trevor Harris and even said he was my fav. QB play of the week. He did not let me down by going for 40 DK points! He has such talent around him so it makes it tough to not like him every week. Mike Reilly had a down week but he was facing a Winnipeg defence that is very sound so it was a little tougher to justify his price tag even though he carries a bunch of upside. Nichols had a solid performance but with Matthews sitting, I was less interested. Collaros was out with an injury during the first drive so that killed that play and Pipkin was also injured during his game as well so neither of these punt options worked out well.
QB Fades: Masoli struggled against the SSK defence like I anticipated and only put up 10.86 DK points. BLM had a mediocre game as the Redblacks defence held him to 275 passing yards and only 1 TD. The fades worked out just as I would have hoped!
RB: Powell and Harris did not disappoint as they both put up 20+ point performances and both showed they are ready for big years this season. Madu had 23 DK points while Stanbeck and D. Jackson both had a solid 17 fantasy points which was great for their cheaper price tag. The RB position was the one to use and it might be a better cahs build if you use at least 2, if not, 3 RB’s on a weekly basis.
WR: My gut said Greg Ellingson and I went with it….and it did not work out as I would have hoped. Sure, he had a chance at a 40 yard TD reception but was not able to haul it down. The Eskimos passing attack spread the ball around and once Davaris Daniels joins the fold, it will only make it tougher to figure out who the go to guy will be. I was also high on Bryan Burnham and he put in a monster game with Mike Reilly. He will only continue to build off this performance so make sure to get shares of him early on while his price tag is affordable. I swung and missed on the Bralon Addison play but once I saw Brandon Banks was active, I decided to lower my interest in him. Some other notable plays were Devier Posey (12.7 points), Caleb Holley (10.5 points) and Juwan Brescacin (16.8 points). Unfortunately, I had more misses in the receiving department with Ellingson (11.6 points), Rogers (8.3 points), Begelton (7.5 points) and Lawler (3.9 points) and I was higher on these plays overall.
Defence: This was a tough week for defence! SSK was in a great spot due to price but once Collaros went down with the injury, the game flow was all thrown off and they were working with terrible field position all game long. Calgary lost a lot of pieces in the offseason and it showed with their performance against Ottawa. Luckily, they forced 4 picks which salvaged the 28 points allowed. Edmonton had 8 DK points which wasn’t too bad since they allowed 24 points while recording 2 sacks and 1 pick.
What we learned:
- Edmonton is going to be a very fun offense to watch and use every week for fantasy purposes
- Calgary D got exposed with losses during the off-season so not as safe of a play like last season
- The Mike Reilly/ Bryan Burnham connection is off to a great start
- Brandon Banks is still the most electrifying WR option in the CFL
- SSK D will still be priced low to start out so always in consideration
- Teams are spreading the ball around more so using RB’s at flex could be a more viable option
- Dominique Davis could be fantasy viable streaming option due to his running upside at the QB position (2nd highest scoring QB on the week 1 slate, 26 DK points)
- Greg Ellingson will cause us headaches all season long! (And I will still talk myself into using him)
Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter if you have any questions! @rdr1634
