Fantasy Wednesday Hates “The Process”

Fantasy Wednesday is here to provide a recap of how our Lions performed on the fantasy gridiron as well as a small look forward to what we can expect out of them in the coming week. There’s myriad of ways to score a fantasy league, so we picked Yahoo!’s scoring template as our standard.

The Lions lost a heart breaker, but how did your fantasy team do? If you were counting on a Lion to perform well in your starting lineup, chances are you’re disappointed (unless you had Jahvid Best, of course).

Possible Starters

These are the guys on your fantasy roster that you either started or considered starting.

• QB – Matthew Stafford – Many Lions fans were excited about the potential for a big fantasy year out of Stafford. Unfortunately for us, it looks like that won’t come to fruition this year. A shoulder injury prematurely knocked Matthew out of the game against the Bears, and looks to keep him out for a few more weeks. Before the injury, he threw for 83 yards and lost a fumble, which meant only 1.32 fantasy points. I haven’t heard anything official yet, but I can imagine there’s any way he plays on Sunday. Week 2 outlook: out.
• RB – Jahvid Best – Best’s fantasy numbers were great, even if his rushing yard total wasn’t. He only accrued 20 yards on the ground and 18 through the air, but he scored twice and racked up 16.5 fantasy points. That total was good 6th among week one running backs. The Eagles allowed the Packers to rack up 132 rushing yards, even after starter Ryan Grant left with an ankle injury in the second quarter. Week 2 outlook: start him.
• WR – Calvin Johnson – Calvin came away with 4.5 points on Sunday (on 45 yards receiving), but would have scored 13 had he completed “the process.” His value drops with the likely loss of Stafford, but unless you have another “can’t miss” option, he should be in your starting lineup. Week 2 outlook: start him.
• K – Jason Hanson – The aging kicker has slipped down the position rankings in recent years, but the position is a bit of a crap shoot anyway. He was 2-2 on extra points, but didn’t attempt a field goal. Week 2 outlook: fair.

Reaches

These were lineup spots that probably should have been filled by someone else.

• WR – Nate Burleson – Nate had four passes thrown his way on Sunday, but only one was completed (for 19 yards and 1.9 fantasy points). He’s going to be the number two option in the passing game, but it still remains to be seen what that means with Shaun Hill as the quarterback. Week 2 outlook: I’d look elsewhere.
• TE – Brandon Pettigrew – Pettigrew was only thrown to twice on Sunday. He caught a ball from Stafford, and a pass in his direction from Hill fell incomplete. I don’t see him getting enough balls thrown his way to make any sort of fantasy impact. Week 2 outlook: poor.
• TE – Tony Scheffler – He caught six balls against the Bears which could suggest that he’s the primary tight end target in Detroit, but Shaun Hill threw to him once. The entire passing game takes a hit when Hill’s in the game. Week 2 outlook: I’d look elsewhere.
• DEF – Detroit – Props to you if you started the Lions’ defense on Sunday. The critical fourth and inches stand was like nothing I’ve seen in Detroit. I still wouldn’t consider them a good fantasy option (or even an option at all), but the certainly impressed me. The 13 fantasy points they recorded was good for fifth best in week one, but I wouldn’t expect any sort of a repeat performance. Week 2 outlook: poor.

Others

You don’t actually have any of these guys, do you?

• QB – Shaun Hill – Hill was forced into duty after Stafford’s injury, but the Lions offense didn’t do anything (that counted) with him in the game. His performance of 83 yards passing, -4 yards rushing, 1 INT, and 1 fumble lost was good for 0.12 points. The best the Lions can hope for out of Hill is him being a ‘game manager,’ which doesn’t do anything to improve his fantasy value versus the Eagles. Week 2 outlook: poor.
• RB – Kevin Smith – Kevin was inactive for the first week of the season, but even if he had played, he wouldn’t have gotten enough touches to provide value to your fantasy team. Week 2 outllok: poor.
• RB – Maurice Morris – Like Kevin Smith, Morris doesn’t figure to be a large part of the offense. He had two carries for -3 yards, and two catches for 18 yards, which was good for 1.5 points. Week 2 outlook: poor.

AthleteXchange

As Zac detailed previously, eight Detroit Lions are currently listed on AthleteXchange, the fantasy sports stock market. You can check the scoring rules on the AX website. Here’s the Lions that are listed along with their week 1 earnings:

E/P is the earnings to price ratio. It’s a good quick tool to check a player’s pace for the season. Since one game is 6.25% of the regular season, a player with E/P above that would be on pace to exceed his price. Based on this, Scheffler and Best appear to be good players to buy for your portfolio. Calvin Johnson would have also been a good buy if not for “The Process”; it cost him nearly $10 in earnings.