Danger Zone!
As many of you know, James Koh and I do a segment on the Wednesday and Sunday show called The Danger Zone which will showcase some deep, deep sleepers. Mostly because we recognize there is a segment of fantasy enthusiasts who play in daily leagues or super deep competitive leagues where many of Rank's 11 are gone. Plus we also get to sing (a lot of singing), do impressions of wrestlers and drop obscure pop culture references that fly over the head of the average millennial who believe "Star Wars: Episode I" was actually a good movie.
I must say, not everybody is a fan of The Danger Zone. Although some of you are very, very sweet.
So first of all, thank you. No matter if you voted with a retweet or hated with a (heart emoticon), you are all appreciated. This is supposed to be fun. So if you want to have an enjoyable time with us, great. If you want to be the person who sits in the corner and pouts, that's also great because it's not going to ruin my good time.
Now that we have that out of the way.
This week (as luck or crooked commissionership would have it) James and I are pitted against each other in the NFL Fantasy Live league. And we've dubbed this game the inaugural Danger Zone University Valedictorian Bowl (thanks to Kenneth Borah for the suggestion). I can't decide if we will play for a busted F-15 or a black turtleneck. But (expletive) is about to go down!
So we've released everybody from our rosters and will only go with players who enrolled in Danger Zone University this year. I'll refrain from posting the entire list of Danger Zone players we selected this year. But you could build a rather impressive championship lineup with guys from DZU. Check this out.
Not bad, right? All of these players were owned by less than five percent of NFL.com leagues at the time they enrolled. Now, they are fantasy superstars. And most of those players are already on rosters. So James and I chose other Danger Zone players who are available to us right now. Hurns and his 4.4 points from last week is already on my roster, so I'm going to keep him.
Team Maverick(Rank): Brock Osweiler, Christine Michael, Marcel Reece, Stefon Diggs, Adam Humphries, Will Tye and Hurns.
I think I have this! That black turtle neck will be mine!
BTW, if you want to participate, you can also get into the mix. We'll have a list of available superstars for you this week. Most of the big-name guys who are no longer in leagues won't be available to you. I know I've bent the rules with Hurns a little bit. But that's the way it goes.
Now for those of you in actual fantasy championships this week, here are some sleepers for you to help get you to your championship! Or fifth place trophy, or whatever! Maybe you need some nice daily pickups for the week. Let me help you out.
Hey, this guy is a good quarterback. He's had at least 24 points in NFL.com standard scoring in three of his last four games. I'm hesitant to write this, but he's had at least two touchdown passes in five consecutive games against the Patriots.
Darn it, this is Koh's guy. He had a nice game last time he played the Eagles. He's scored at least 21 fantasy points in three of his last four games.
Look at the emotion the Chargers played with in what could have been their final home game in San Diego. Now I expect the Chargers to come out very flat. The Raiders should be emotional especially in what will be Charles Woodson's final home game. Look, it's not as fancy as saying Carr has thrown seven touchdown passes in three career games against the Chargers, but it matters.
He became the backfield back to have in Carolina as he got most of the action. The Falcons aren't very good against the run this season. So you've got all of that going for you. I liked him a lot at Auburn, and I'm a little surprised he was inactive for most of the season. But he's getting his chance now, which is awesome.
Another guy who is fueled off emotion. He was dropped by the (expletive) Dallas Cowboys. You don't think he wants to make the most of his final chance? St. Louis can't stop anybody on the ground. Its season is over. It might be moving to Los Angeles. I love this matchup.
The 49ers have allowed the third-most fantasy points to running backs this season. Abdullah was my jam last week and he came through. I should quit while I'm ahead, but I just can't seem to stop myself.
He's had three touchdown receptions in the last four games. The Ravens have allowed the most fantasy points to receivers this season. My daily stack this week will be Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Wheaton.
If you haven't been convinced of Ginn at this point, I'm not sure there are any amount of statistics that will win you over. Although we did joke on the Weekender that Ginn was going to trade hands with Odell Beckham Jr. And if you saw Odell drop that first pass, you might have said to yourself, dang, they did it before the game.
I like him better when Odell is on the field. He's had more than 10 fantasy points in back-to-back games. He's had a receiving touchdown in three of his last four.
The Steelers also allow a lot of fantasy points to receivers. Well, at least the ones who hold on to the ball. In any event, even though a lot of his fantasy points came on one desperation heave at the end of the half, those points still count according to my recollection.
In the latest episode of the NFL Fantasy LIVE podcast, the gang discuss the top waiver wire pickups of Week 16 and profile the matchups they don't trust in the Fantasy Championships. Don't forget to subscribe to the show or download each episode HERE!
-- You can hit Rank up for more advice or let him know how lousy his picks are on Twitter @adamrank. Don't be thrown off by his # wars, though.
