After a litany of injuries to kick off the campaign, my squad underperformed early on, dropping its first three games. Instead of bailing out of the free-agency and transaction market at that point though, I stayed the course, confident that the Scooters would reward my faith—and they did just that, reeling off three consecutive victories to even its record at 3-3 at the halfway point.
Here’s a quick look at some of what has transpired thus far ...
What’s Worked:
Sure, Stephen Jackson has been solid when healthy, Steve Johnson has been about what I expected and the San Francisco defense/special teams has come through with some stellar performances.
But Jimmy Graham has absolutely carried the Scooters at times. He’s hasn’t been putting up touchdowns so much, but he is putting up insane yardage numbers (four straight 100-yard outings for a tight end?!). It’s too much to expect him to keep up his torrid pace, but if some of my other studs can finally get untracked, he’ll get the help he needs in my lineup.
What Hasn’t:
Injuries. Plus, injuries. Also, injuries.
Beyond that, Michael Vick has woefully underperformed, Desean Jackson has been spotty at best, Mike Tolbert has yielded to Ryan Mathews faster than expected, Lance Moore has struggled to find his role in the Saints offense, and kicker Matt Bryant has gotten fewer chances than expected from the Falcons offense.
In fact, it’s what hasn’t worked that well to date that gives me the most optimism about my second-half chances. I know what these guys—especially Vick and Jackson—are capable of, and if they can play up to even some of those expectations, the Scooters are poised for a nifty run.
Worst Move:
As I predicted at the time, the selection of Knowshon Moreno has hurt the Scooters badly. He got hurt almost immediately, then got stuck behind Willis McGahee and has rarely been heard from since.
Best Move:
Snaring Bernard Scott off waivers soon after the news broke of Cedric Benson’s three-game suspension hasn’t turned out to pay off yet, but it paved the way for some shrewd roster management for the Scooters. With Stephen Jackson coming off IR, I had to get rid of a running back, so instead of having to cut Moreno or Joseph Addai, I thought Addai had enough name recognition to still warrant something in trade. I wasn’t looking for much: an upgrade at D/ST and a competent backup quarterback.
I found a trade partner who sent me Kevin Kolb and the 49ers defense for Chad Henne, Joseph Addai and the Bengals D/ST (which wasn’t performing at the time). San Fran has been big-time for me, while he has lost Henne and Addai to injury, though Cincy has been playing strong defense this year. Anyway, it was a good example of getting something instead of just jettisoning someone with some value.
Outlook:
There’s no hiding the fact that the Scooters are going to need a lot more from Vick and D-Jax, including at least a couple of those long-distance connections that were so common a season ago. However, both guys are capable of exploding for huge games at any time, so if early standouts like Graham and the 49ers D/ST can just hold serve, this team has all the pieces necessary to make a lot of noise down the stretch in my 14-team league.
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