Weekly Bender: Fantasy Frustrations

Mon Sep 29 1:55pm ET
By HOWARD BENDER
Fantasy Writer

In fantasy football, some weeks you’re the dog and some weeks you’re the hydrant. That’s how I opened my weekly hot takes video following the Sunday afternoon action of NFL Week 4. Not that I felt literally pissed on, but definitely pissed off. I thought, perhaps, maybe I’ll feel better after an action-packed Sunday Night Football game and a good night sleep; that I would be able to come here and write a Weekly Bender article filled with positivity and hope for those who may be struggling in the early weeks of their fantasy football season. But as I sit here now, picking up the pieces of my most nightmarish weeks of the 2025 season, the feelings of Hulk-smashing my computer are stronger than ever.

Now don’t worry. I’m not going to sit here and whine and cry about losing Malik Nabers to a torn ACL. Injuries happen and there’s nothing you can do about them. Does it suck? For sure. But what sucks even more when the injury news you’re supposed to be getting doesn’t come through when it should. Case in point: Jaylen Warren.

Every bit of news we received regarding Warren indicated that he would play. He was limited in practice all week with a designation of “rest/knee” and on Saturday morning at 11 am ET, Adam Schefter tweeted out that Warren was expected to play. We literally heard nothing else until early Sunday morning when Brooke Pryor of ESPN tweeted a video of Warren warming up on the field with a “questionable but I’d imagine he’s good to go.”

And then he was declared inactive just before the game. Cue up the sad trombone. Now listen…I’m not going to go on some profanity-laced tirade about how NFL beat writers are total garbage these days and no one is asking the coaches the tough questions they should be asking for fear of losing their locker room access. I’ve been fighting that battle for years. Instead, I’m going to piss and moan about these games being played overseas in Europe. Can we stop this nonsense already? It is literally nothing more than a money-grab by the NFL. They get all the rights and all the revenue that come from these games and there’s no way we’re ever going to get a successful World League of American Football. It’s been tried before and it’s failed miserably. So why does the NFL keep doing it? Money. That’s it.

But it’s the fans and the fantasy community that suffer most because of the time difference. Do you have any idea how many texts, emails, tweets and other messages I got from people who slept through lineup lock? It’s ridiculous. Now, sure, they only have themselves to blame. Set an alarm clock, for crying out loud. Getting up at 9 am ET on a Sunday shouldn’t be too difficult. But then that backlash falls on me, the guy who has to get his ass up at 3:30 am to write articles, set lineups and answer start/sits in time to help you all. These stupid Europe games are now making my job more difficult while simultaneously ruining your fantasy teams and football Sunday.

What else has me all steamed up…?

Let’s start with Adonai Mitchel because he’s the epitome of what’s wrong with younger players. Fundamentals, you idiot. Fundamentals. How many videos of players do we have to see of veterans who have done it in years past? Kids these days have their heads buried in their phones, so don’t tell me Mitchell never saw the video of Jonatan Taylor doing it in 2024 or Malachi Corley also last year or DeSean Jackson in 2008 or back in college when NFL washout Kaelin Clay did it in 2014. There’s even a stupid Hulu show called Chad Powers being advertised AS WE SPEAK that shows it. That was a 76-yard touchdown erased from existence. And not only did I recommend this idiot as a DFS dart-throw this week, and used him in my lineups, but he also ruined Taylor’s 53-yard touchdown run with a stupid holding penalty because he…what…? Doesn’t know his fundamentals.

It doesn’t matter who’s calling the plays in Tennessee. This offense is going nowhere for two reasons. Number one is the offensive line. Are we going to hang Cam Ward out to dry like everyone did Will Levis when he got absolutely no pass protection? How’s a kid supposed to learn to be an NFL-caliber quarterback when he’s running for his life on every play. Or, and this is number two – when his receivers can’t hold onto the damn ball. I’m officially done with Calvin Ridley. I gave him a shot, but this guy has to go. The drops have been maddening and then with Ward having no time to throw, he either doesn’t finish his routes or he quits on them.

The Commanders backfield is trash. Jacory Croskey-Merritt, a.k.a. Bill seems to be the biggest fantasy hoax of the 2025 draft season and none of the running backs can build any sort of momentum because they’re just alternating series. Do we think their value is somehow going to improve once Jayden Daniels returns and starts running the football himself? Time to clear some room on your rosters.

Can we all please just get out of the Cleveland tight end game? After all that hype on Harold Fannin and all the defending of David Njoku from many of us, the bottom line is that both suck and have no value until one of them gets hurt. They’re sharing snaps, sharing targets and with this offense going absolutely nowhere, neither should be started in fantasy.

There were two quarterbacks I was using in DFS this past week – Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson. I was actually more into Mahomes, but ownership numbers told me to pivot to Jackson in cash games and I’m still banging my head against a wall for allowing that to change my decision. I wouldn’t normally be mad about something like this if it wasn’t for the fact that Jackson bitched out of the second half, claiming he had a hamstring issue. We didn’t see him receiving any medical attention, he wasn’t on a massage table getting treatment and he never went back to the locker room to get it wrapped. He was getting beat on the field and he didn’t want any of that Kansas City smoke. I’ve spent the past how many years defending this guy, praising this guy, promoting this guy and for what…? To be shown he actually doesn’t have heart. Gimme Footsteps Falco next time.

And finally, games that end in a tie are garbage. Play until there’s a winner. Simple as that.

Bender out.

Weekly Bender: Fantasy Frustrations

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