Halfway Home: Promising Scooters Squad Paces The League In Points

After adopting a bit of a shift in strategy during this year’s draft, I came away highly optimistic about my haul. Halfway through the season, that positive outlook has proven to be well-founded.

The Scooters sit at 4-2 at the midway point, and even though the squad should be 5-1, it’s hard to argue too much with that record. Perhaps more importantly, we are the leading point-scorer in my league by a healthy margin, which bodes well the rest of the way. Considering I’m stuck in easily the best division in my league, we are in about as good a position as possible for the stretch run (famous last words).

Here’s how each position group on The Scooters has fared to date …

QUARTERBACKS

Aaron Rodgers has been steady, though the customary colossal games have been few and far between. With Jordy Nelson out for the year, the long-distance strikes just haven’t been there, replaced by more of a controlled, short passing game. However, you have to think those explosive games are still out there to be had as the best quarterback in the game progresses with a young receiving corps. And let’s face it: he stills ranks fourth in our league in points among QBs.

In the move of the season to date, I parlayed surprising Tyrod Taylor into a deal for DeAndre Hopkins, who has been a scoring machine at receiver. I’ve replaced Taylor with first Ryan Mallett and now Brian Hoyer, in hopes of pairing Hopkins with his signal-caller during Rodgers’s upcoming bye week.

RUNNING BACKS

Mark Ingram has been about what I anticipated before the year (No. 8 in RB scoring in my league), Legarrette Blount has been somewhat less than I had hoped (but seems to be finding his role, as evidenced by his No. 10 ranking in RB points), and Chris Ivory (No. 7 in RB points) has been even more than I had predicted. I’ve leaned extensively on Ivory and Ingram to carry the load, but my fourth RB, Ryan Mathews, produced big-time in a spot start and seems to need more touches in Philly, while Blount could be more than a flex as the season progresses. At the end of the day, having three backs in the top 10 in RB points considering my draft approach has to be considered a win.

WIDE RECEIVERS

My wideouts early on were solid, with room to grow, in youngsters Amari Cooper and Jarvis Landry. As I anticipated, Cooper has quickly established himself as a bonafide go-to receiver, developing a strong rapport with Derek Carr and putting up impressive numbers (No. 17 in WR points) that should result in more touchdowns as the season goes on. Landry has in some ways been a victim of a pathetic Dolphins team and a regressing Ryan Tannehill, but he is still getting tons of touches. The coaching change in Miami should pay big dividends and open some space for Landry (No. 19 in points among wideouts) to operate.

However, the direction of this unit got a massive boost when I traded for “Nuke” Hopkins, who is working hard to join the conversation of best WR in the league, backed up by his presence as the top scoring receiver in my league. With Leonard Hankerson surprising in Atlanta (No. 42 in WR points) and Eddie Royal getting healthy in Chicago, this has suddenly become a deep unit. Harry Douglas is getting lots of touches but no production in Tennessee, so I have a spot to play with at the back end of the receiver roster.

All of a sudden, I am facing tough flex decisions with guys like Blount, Mathews, Landry, Hankerson, and Royal—obviously, a good problem to have.

TIGHT ENDS

Thus far, Gronkowski’s been Gronkowski. He seems to go silent during the course of games for longer than usual, but then usually erupts for a big play that salvages the entire performance. My backup, Larry Donnell, has been solid (No. 14 in TE points), though prone to key red-zone drops that have hurt his numbers. I’ve gotten a trade offer (underwhelming doesn’t begin to describe it) for him along the way, but he’s a good guy to have in his current role.

KICKERS

Adam Vinatieri has been a woeful disappointment (No. 27 in points among kickers), largely as a function of the Colts’ sputtering offense. However, cutting Andrew Franks to pick up field goal machine Robbie Gould of the Bears was a shrewd move. I expect Vinatieri to become a more viable option as Indy (theoretically) figures things out, but the ageless Gould (No. 4 in K points) will be challenging for the starting nod each and every week.

DEFENSES/SPECIAL TEAMS

This has been the perpetual weak spot for the Scooters this year. A byproduct of Miami’s implosion was the disappearance of a Dolphins “D” that was widely expected to be borderline dominant in 2015. The unit has shown signs of being that (No. 17 in D/ST points), but the early part of the schedule—where they should have wreaked havoc—is now over, and Miami has the hardest part of its schedule looming. I have resorted to playing my second defense, Cincinnati, on several occasions, and they have been a bit too up and down for my liking (No. 23 in points among defenses/special teams). This will be an area where I continue to search out an upgrade, whether through trade or playing the weekly matchup game on the waiver wire.



I don't really have any sort of grandiose closing statement about the second half of the season; I've been burned way too many times by the fantasy gods. We're just gonna take it one game at a time, live to fight another day, work hard for our teammates, stick to the process, and see where the dust settles.

Stay tuned ...