CFL Week 2 Rewind
I feel it is very important to review your lineups to see what worked, what didn’t work and figure out why. This past 3 game slate was exciting and nail biting so I think there is a lot of information that we can gather from this as we head into the 3rd week of the season. Below is a picture of the optimal lineup based on score.
Here is the link to my Week 2 article:
My Week 2 Player Pool with DK Final Points QB- Masoli (39.02), Reilly (13.36), Harris (30.16), Franklin (7.44) RB- Madu (10.80), Gable (15.30), Powell (15.30), STE(22.50), JWJ(7.50) WR1(8k+)- Banks(32.60), Burnham (4.30), Walker (10.70) WR2(6k to 7.9k)- Daniels (If playing), Carter (10.20), Green (12.30), Addison (40.20), Harris (16.10) WR3 (Sub 6k)- Collins Jr. (2.10), Stafford (3.50), Durant (11.50), Cannon (3.20), Adjei (5.70) D/ST- SSK (0), OTT (4)
Overall Review of the Week 2 Slate: This will go down as one of the weirdest and most confusing CFL weeks I have ever seen. The Thursday night SSK vs. Ottawa played out the complete opposite as most would have guessed which killed both D/ST plays. Both Davis and Fajardo had themselves big time games throwing the football so this is something to take note of moving forward. For a game that was projected to be in the low 40’s it nearly doubled the Vegas total and shocked almost everyone. Needless to say, my D/ST spot was not looking good after this game.
In the 2nd game of the slate, Trevor Harris had himself another great game and is really showing his ability to be a star QB in the CFL with the Eskimos. Mike Reilly got off to a decent start but after watching this game, there is a lot of work to be done on the BC Lions offensive line. He had no time to throw and was constantly under duress, getting sacked 7 times! Greg Ellingson re-emerged as the strong weapon that we have all been accustomed to him being so it was encouraging to see his big game. On the flip side, Ricky Collins Jr. and Kenny Stafford were nowhere to be found and definitely hurt everyone who rostered them. Burnham also let down his fantasy owners while Lamar Durant and Duron Carter showed their ability to be consistent pieces in this Lions offence.
Hamilton came through for us this week and I am happy that they did. Masoli went HAM (pun intended) and proved to be the top QB play on the slate. He connected with Bralon Addison 3x while Sean Thomas Erlington recorded his first ever 100 yard rushing game. Toronto struggled to get anything going and James Franklin was later replaced by McLeod Bethel-Thompson who delivered a TD late in the game. The Argonauts defence was diced up all afternoon and it seems as if they carried over the same defensive unit from last season.
Review of my Main Plays/ Player Pool for Week 2:
QB: Masoli went off and you have to roster him every time they play the Argonauts! Harris was very solid and would have been the 2nd best option if going off of the QB’s that I listed. Reilly and Franklin both disappointed and I would stay away from them for varying reasons moving forward. Reilly is playing behind a very rough offensive line while Franklin just could not muster up any offensive flow in their first game of the season. Shoutouts go to Fajardo and Davis for balling out and putting up some monster numbers!
RB: Madu ended up being solid value but he did not see the same amount of carries as he did in week 1 due to the overall game flow. CJ Gable turned out another solid performance and right now, he is a top 4 fantasy running back in the CFL for both the ground game and how involved he is in the passing attack.He saw another 20+ carries so they are committing to part of that explosive offence to just utilizing him. William Powell wasn’t really effective, partially due to Ottawa committing to stop the rushing attack of Saskatchewan. What saved Powell was a rushing TD but I am sure Powell owners were more furious with the usage of Marcus Thigpen (2 catches, 9 carries and 22.35 DK points). STE had a monster day and it is encouraging to see him finally put together a 100 yard rushing performance. He has carved out a role in this offence
and will be a consistent viable RB option moving forward. Wilder Jr. was limited all day and once the game got out of hand, we all knew he would not see the touches like they normally would give him.
WR: The Hamilton receivers helped me out a tremendous deal with Addison going for 40 and Banks going for 26. I loved the spot for Hamilton and they did exactly what I thought they would do. Unfortunately, a good chunk of receivers also flopped that I listed, most notably, Ricky Collins Jr.(2.1), Kenny Stafford (3.5) and Bryan Burnham (4.3). On the flip side, Lemar Durant did well from a value perspective, getting 11.5 points and showing consistency in the Lions offence. Also, RJ Harris went off for 16 points so he gets a notable mention as well. The big let down was being a week early on Greg Ellingson! Ellingson went off and dropped 41 DK points this week so he is showing that he is still the security blanket for Trevor Harris.
Defence: Burn this category! Just kidding, no one saw that game coming unless you wanted to be completely contrarian and go against the top 2 chalk defences. This game will not scare me off of either defence moving forward and I can see them having bounce back performances in the coming weeks. Shout out goes to Hamilton’s Defence for putting up 22 DK points this week! (They looked legit)
What we learned from Week 2:
- Trevor Harris is the top and most consistent QB in this league with Edmonton
- Masoli vs. Toronto is a thing…..play him!
- Dominique Davis is a fantasy viable option at QB…can do it both through the air and on the ground
- Nick Marshall got burned several times for SSK, teams will attack him
- The offensive line for BC is awful! No wonder they do not have a run game and Reilly can’t push the ball downfield (Fade until they get this fixed)
- Fajardo has upside
- STE is actually a solid running back
- Regardless of how bad Toronto looks, Derel Walker will still be fantasy relevant
- Following injury news is important! (No Tasker meant bump up for every WR,especially Addison and Tucker)
Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter if you have any questions! @rdr1634
