I was invited to join a fantasy football league with some colleagues and alumni for this season.
I like fantasy leagues but I’m by no means a competitive or micro-managing fantasy player. I wanted to pick players I can cheer for from teams I enjoy — mainly Steelers and Seahawks.
The Draft
We have 12 people in the league and I got a nice number 3 spot for the draft. Here’s who I picked:
- CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys, WR
- Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts, RB
- Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals, QB
- DK Metcalf, Pittsburgh Steelers, WR
- Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs, TE
- Jaylen Warren, Pittsburgh Steelers, RB (I wanted to pick DeAndre Swift to complete Kelce/Swift duo but it was picked right before me)
- Zach Ertz, Washington Commanders, TE
- Cooper Kupp, Seattle Seahawks, WR
- Zach Charbonnet, Seattle Seahawks, RB
- Steelers Defense
- Jayden Higgins, Houston Texans, WR
- Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh Steelers, QB (as a Steelers fan, Rodgers situation became a pre-draft meme in our group so I had to pick him to be on-brand)
Matchups
Week 1
Lost 86.02 — 101.44
My man Joe Burrow failed me on the opening week. He hasn’t been able to crack Browns defence (three of his worst 10 games have been against them) and didn’t do it this week either.
Aaron Rodgers sat on my bench and played like a young man. I don’t like Rodgers though so I’m not gonna play him in the future but given how well he did in the opener, I’m not going to give him to anyone else either.
CeeDee Lamb was the MVP of my team, no surprise there. Worthy first round draft pick for sure.
| Me | Score | - | Score | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| J. Burrow (QB, CIN) | 10.82 | - | 10.84 | B. Nix (QB, DEN) |
| J. Taylor (RB, IND) | 12.80 | - | 14.50 | B. Irving (RB, TB) |
| J. Warren (RB, PIT) | 13.90 | - | 16.50 | B. Hall (RB, NYJ) |
| C. Lamb (WR, DAL) | 18.00 | - | 14.80 | J. Jefferson (WR, MIN) |
| D. Metcalf (WR, PIT) | 12.30 | - | 9.10 | D. Adams (WR, LAR) |
| T. Kelce (TE, KC) | 12.70 | - | 13.80 | D. Kincaid (TE, BUF) |
| C. Kupp (WR, SEA) | 3.50 | - | 17.90 | C. Hubbard (RB, CAR) |
| PIT (DEF, PIT) | 2.00 | - | 4.00 | KC (DEF, KC) |
Bench
| Me | Score | - | Score | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Rodgers (QB, PIT) | 33.66 | - | 6.90 | B. Allen (RB, NYJ) |
| Z. Charbonnet (RB, SEA) | 10.70 | - | 18.60 | T. Etienne (RB, JAX) |
| J. Higgins (WR, HOU) | 5.20 | - | - | C. Godwin (WR, TB) |
| Z. Ertz (TE, WAS) | 11.60 | - | 6.60 | J. Williams (WR, DET) |
Week 2
Lost 103.24 — 121.24
Why you be like that Joe? This week, Joe Burrow went down with an injury early into the game and is expected to be sidelined for months. Out of my 18 point loss, over 17 point swing came from Joe’s injury.
I benched Kupp after his horrible 3.50 performance last week, only to see him play amazing while on the bench. Ertz also surprised me on the bench this week.
Time to make some free agent signing to replace Joe for next week.
| Me | Score | - | Score | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| J. Burrow (QB, CIN) | 9.04 | - | 26.14 | D. Prescott (QB, DAL) |
| J. Taylor (RB, IND) | 29.50 | - | 1.30 | D. Henry (RB, BAL) |
| J. Warren (RB, PIT) | 17.40 | - | 9.20 | T. Pollard (RB, TEN) |
| C. Lamb (WR, DAL) | 20.20 | - | 39.20 | A. St. Brown (WR, DET) |
| D. Metcalf (WR, PIT) | 11.00 | - | 14.90 | Z. Flowers (WR, BAL) |
| T. Kelce (TE, KC) | 10.10 | - | 15.90 | J. Johnson (TE, NO) |
| Z. Charbonnet (RB, SEA) | 1.00 | - | 5.60 | K. Coleman (WR, BUF) |
| PIT (DEF, PIT) | 5.00 | - | 9.00 | LAR (DEF, LAR) |
Bench
| Me | Score | - | Score | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Rodgers (QB, PIT) | 14.42 | - | 4.40 | A. Ekeler (RB, WAS) |
| J. Higgins (WR, HOU) | 3.80 | - | 1.30 | M. Golden (WR, GB) |
| C. Kupp (WR, SEA) | 16.00 | - | 9.80 | T. McLaurin (WR, WAS) |
| Z. Ertz (TE, WAS) | 18.40 | - | 0.00 | G. Kittle (TE, SF) |
Week 3
Lost 94.60 — 101.38
Lamb and Charbonnet got hurt and scored a beautiful zero. Browning who I got from free agents to replace Burrow didn’t do much better in the QB spot.
| Me | Score | - | Score | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| J. Browning (QB, CIN) | 9.90 | - | 13.68 | J. Goff (QB, DET) |
| J. Taylor (RB, IND) | 32.80 | - | 16.10 | D. Achane (RB, MIA) |
| J. Warren (RB, PIT) | 13.10 | - | 11.40 | J. Jacobs (RB, GB) |
| C. Lamb (WR, DAL) | 0.00 | - | 3.10 | T. Hunter (WR, JAX) |
| D. Metcalf (WR, PIT) | 12.20 | - | 7.40 | M. Harrison (WR, ARI) |
| T. Kelce (TE, KC) | 6.60 | - | 15.30 | T. McBride (TE, ARI) |
| Z. Charbonnet (RB, SEA) | - | - | 29.40 | D. Montgomery (RB, DET) |
| PIT (DEF, PIT) | 20.00 | - | 5.00 | HOU (DEF, HOU) |
Bench
| Me | Score | - | Score | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Rodgers (QB, PIT) | 16.66 | - | 2.70 | J. Jeudy (WR, CLE) |
| J. Higgins (WR, HOU) | 1.50 | - | - | J. Jennings (WR, SF) |
| C. Kupp (WR, SEA) | 5.10 | - | 14.50 | K. Shakir (WR, BUF) |
| Z. Ertz (TE, WAS) | 6.80 | - | 4.10 | C. Loveland (TE, CHI) |