Little Lennie's Fantasies

For awhile now I've been a tool for making a case that the Power Rankings are the real measurement of our league's best teams. And rightfully so, mind you. Take, for example, the Bad Boyz of Essex. Right now they sit atop the rankings, which combine win/loss records, points scored, strength of schedule, and roster strength (points scored for each player and how they rank among their own category). The Power Ranking system then awards the top rank in each category with 1 point, with the next ranked team getting 2 points and on down until the last ranked team in that category gets potentially 12 points (unless they are tied with another team, then both teams get awarded 11 points). So, it's sort of like golf in that the team with the least total points is ranked highest. Right now, the Boyz have a total of 7 points in the Power Ranking, thanks to being ranked first in points scored and roster strength. Next are the Straphangers and BillyClubs which each have 12 total points, a pretty big drop from the Boyz. In 4th is the Blitz with 17 points and rounding out the top 5 is the Hellraisers with 19. Now on the other end, Goverment Mule sits at the bottom of the heap with a whopping 45 total points, with the Road Dogs at 11th with 42. Basically, the computer is telling us that as of October 12th, the Boyz are exponentially better than the Mule. When you look further into the Boyz' case it is a pretty strong one at that. Their record is only 5-2, tied with 4 other teams, but their 2 losses came in the doubleheader weeks where they had the misfortune of playing the high teams each of those weeks. In Week 2 the Boyz scored a solid 94 points but one of their games was against the Blitz who put up 115. And in Week 4 the Boyz scored 113, only to get bested by the Strappies' 142, this year's current high! Realistically, the Boyz could easily be 7-0. They have only scored below 90 points once, in Week 1 (61) and have topped 100 three times. They are also 3-0 in their division and lead the league by a comfortable margin in points scored while coming in a modest 5th in points allowed. Oh, and I haven't even mentioned that Billy's lineup is crowded with players having great years like Javonte Williams, Jonathan Taylor, Puka Nacua, and even George Pickens! Yep, 7 of the Boyz'  regular starting 9 are in the top 10 scoring for their category! Add it all up and, for now anyway, a huge shoutout to the Boyz as being the team to beat as we hit the midway mark of October! Little Lennie knows there is a lot of cringing going on at 10 Acacia Street in downtown Gloucester as a certain owner reads this but, hey, the numbers back up the Boyz... 

Little Lennie's Quick Picks

Road Dogs +26 vs. the Straphangers... Rookie Cam Skattebo and his 3 TD's have gotten the 0-7 Dogs out to an early 20 point lead over the heavy favorites, but the conditions of Deebo Samuel and Brandon McManus, both going on Monday night, give a lot of pause to the Puppies' chances! Bobby is facing a fight for survival as in needing to win a minimum of 8 of his remaining 10 games to have a shot at the postseason. Facing a loaded squad like the Strappies is not a good way to start a comeback. Mayfield, Jeanty, Metcalf, and company do what they have to do to avoid the major upset. Strappies take care of business by 19!

Beach Court Blitz +7 vs. the Hellraisers... The Satanic Duo saw enough of Cooper Rush (-3) in his debut to cut ties and pick up Flacco as they await the return of Lamar Jackson, which will be Week 8 at the earliest. This week they face a strong Nation team hell-bent on making a statement of their own; that after a disastrous injury-filled 2024, they are back! While Little Lennie applauds their moxie, this game is no cakewalk! Look fo a lower scoring affair, in part fueled by the East coast storm limiting field goals and the passing game. While the computer favors the Blitz as of now, Little Lennie sees the Devildoers eking out a hard fought 3 point comeback win thanks in part to the legs of James Cook.

Government Mule +27 vs. Moulton Lava... Help me out here owners. When has any team run by Wayne Moulton been 27 point favorites this late into the season? Seriously? Is this more a statement to the strength of the Lava or underperformance of key players for the Mule, like Breece Hall (benched today) and Derrick Henry (who hasn't topped 100 yards since the opening game)? As for this weekend, the white hot combo of Goff to St. Brown continues as the Burnham Field kid moves his team to 6-2 with a solid 9 point win. Sad days are here for the Mule as they drop to 2-6. Sad days indeed.

BillyClubs -1 vs. TripleA... The defending champs are riding a modest 3 game winning streak as they head to Arsonist Arena today. Ja'Marr Chase seems to have righted his game while Dak Prescott continues to shine. For the Arsonists, Mahomes continues his fantasy comeback after 2 subpar seasons while Christian McCaffrey is healthy and forms a nice one-two punch with Josh Jacobs. The spread is just 1 while the comuter gives TripleA a rare favored status against his nemesis brother-in-law's team. Little Lennie goes out on a limb and gives the Arsonists the call as the Rednecks suffer a 6 point loss and head back to Rowleyville in Jethro's truck to batten down the hatches and cover the cement pond with the noreaster soon to be upon us. 

Bad Boyz -22 vs. the Sunnyvale Shit Hawks... The computer has the Boyz a whopping 96% favored to win team as they have jumped out to a 29-0 lead! Gotta tell ya, Little Lennie admires Drake Maye for his progress thus far, but is he good enough to help his fantasy team overcome our league's best offensive unit? The Boyz' star-studded lineup pours it on as Taylor, Williams, and Nacua are just too much for the Hawks. Boyz head back to Essex to celebrate a 17 point win with clams at the Blue Marlin while not-so-young anymore Danny Brown calls his mentor looking for advice on how to right his Hawks ship!

The Iron +3 vs. the Chuddaheads... Legendary Coach P. tries add/drop move after move to keep his team (3-4) in the thick of the playoff hunt but it really continues to be a pretty simple formula for Team Geritol. As Josh Allem goes, so too does The Iron go. This week they meet up with the lovable Baghdad Bombers who are looking to once again ride the arm of Matthew Stafford and the sure hands of Adams and Odunze. And that should be enough for Eddie and his boys to escape with a nice 9 point win. Free Agent wire watch out. Paul's still got a move left! The Chuddas win...The-a-a-a-a Chuddas win!

Good luck to everyone this weekend. Keep checking on your players and make the moves if injured. Remember, you have literally up to game-time to replace inactive players. Lastly, stay safe as we approach an upcoming windy and rainy next few days!