Panic Trade

Ladies and Gentlemen, we've had our first panic trade of the season.  I traded away the bane of my existence, David Wilson and Torrey Smith (currently ranked 24th among wrs) for Matthew Trexler's equally disappointing running back Maurice Jones-Drew.  Many may be scratching their heads after reading that one, but please step inside the mind of Mardukas.  Maurice Jones-Drew only has 19.5 fantasy points thru three games this season tying him with fellow under achieving running backs Ray Rice (who missed last week) and C.J. Spiller (who left last week's game early due to injury), so why would I trade a top 30 w/r in a 14 team ppr league for a past his prime under achieving running back?  Because of Adrian Peterson.  Peterson started last season with a bang (he found the endzone twice opening day) but averaged only 70 rushing yards through the first three weeks and then...well, we all know what All Day did last year.  I know MJD is not AP by any means, but it was just two seasons ago that MJD lead the league in rushing yards, and he's only 28 years old.  I think he wakes up this week against the Colts a team in which he's historically torched.  The other main reason is because I wanted to start Josh Gordon.  I wanted to eliminate the weekly conundrum of choosing between the two.  Remember week one? Josh Gordon will be a top 15 w/r this season.  David Wilson is a fumble away from being cut, which is sad because I believe in his talent.  Maybe next year Dave.

Through the first three weeks of the season my fantasy records are as follows.

Yahoo- Siragusa's Sliders Shack
1-2.  Lead by the underachieving Arian Foster, Chris Johnson, Colin Kaepernick and DeSean Jackson(last week at least.)

ESPN -
Somali Pirates Only -
1-2. Ranked last place for points scored, didn't draft a qb and paying the price for it.  Trent Richardson hasn't gotten it going yet, and we'll see if my MJD prediction will prove true.
Foreman's Heros -
2-1.
DIA Enterprise -
1-2.  This is the most frustrating 1-2 of them all because my team is stacked and just can't catch a break.  Andrew Luck, Jamal Charles, Reggie Bush, AJ Green, Larry Fitz, Jimmy Graham, and Pierrce Garcon starting. Dwayne Bowe, Cecil Shorts, and Ryan Matthews highlight my bench.  I will win that league.

NFL.com -

ShuttheChuckUp-
1-2.  Both losses to my siblings, but at least i beat the wife right?

Alvari Unite -
1-2. Family league, once the bye weeks begin Mardukas will rise.

XXFL-
2-1.

CBS Sports -
3-6.  This is one of my favorite leagues, its an IDP PPR league and you play 3 teams per week.  I thought i was going to go 3-0 going into MNF with Moreno and Run DMC to play....yeah ended up 1-2.

Heres the Commish's first bold prediction of the week.  I will be at .500 or better in all of my league this week.

12-8 overall in my picks with El Gallo Negro taking down the Janikowskiis on the back of Demarco Murray, and Brooklyn Beatdown was one of the thousands of benefactors of Antonio Brown's explosion last sunday night resulting in The Champ's first L of the season.  Sorry Swag....I told you about the backdoor and Charles Cash.

This week, i'm going to put the Somali Pirates League on a BYE week and dedicate this week's post to Siragusa's Slider's Shack.  Although i'm not the commissioner, I did create the league 6 years ago, but due to lack of yahoo access during deployments, i had to step down.  Either way, its my longest running league, and my great white buffalo.  Lest not we forget the playoff team debacle of 2010 in which i went from having a bye week to having to play the 8 seed and losing by 4 pts, only to have outscored all of my potential opponents the following weeks.  Bitter. Yes.

Matchup 1 - Battle of the longest tenured team names.(and first place) Go Dan 2-1 (144) vs Team Olson 3-0(120)

Our league currently has only one 3-0 team that is being managed by Mrs. Ashley Olson-Knowlton-Rogers.  In three of her four years in our league she has drafted Aaron Rogers as her QB which in the HICAG is downright blasphemy.  Needless to say she's come close but has never won the big one.  This week she is playing Dan Coll, manager of Go Dan.  Both teams are suffering due to their lack of Packers, with Olson missing both Rogers and Finley and Go Dan missing Randall Cobb and James Jones, the schedule could not have been more perfect for either of these team due mainly on that fact.  Its going to come down to who drafted the better bench.  Go Dan is going with two high risk medium reward players in T.Y. Hilton and Kendall Wright subbing in for his cheeseheads, while Team Olson is bringing is Big Ben who will be playing in front of Big Ben in London this week, and the Lawfirm in her flex spot where she started finley last week.  All I can say is..YUCK.  I wouldn't start ANY of those four players.  Dan Coll seems to be taking Roddy White's injury seriously, and is sitting him this week against the Pats, which i believe to be a mistake.  Its week four, primetime, Roddy comes back in a big way this week.  Team Olson is starting the Lawfirm AND Rashard Mendenhall this week, while sitting Ben Tate and Ryan Matthews on the bench.  Personally, i'd flip flop right there because as good as Seattle's Defense is, it's not impossible to run on them and Tate has been getting just as many looks and has been AS effective as Arian Foster, and I'd pick Matthews over the Lawfirm mainly due to emergence of Gio Bernard (my new favorite running back).  Ashley, go pick Alex Smith or Carson Palmer both will outscore Big Ben who's playing in London where no one ever does anything fantasy relevant (except Matt Forte).  When it's all said and done i think Go Dan will claim the top spot in the Birds of War division due to MONSTER days from Megatron and Jamal Charles.  Tuesday afternoon you will find Dan Coll enjoying a cup of victory soup...alone on a bench.

Matchup 2- Child Abuse.  The SCREAMING Ditkas 1-2 (140) vs Raider Nation 1-2 (142)

Last year's champion Benjamin Dale Knowlton is one of the many owners pulling their hair out due to C.J Spiller. Pair that with Reggie's Bush and Eddie Lacy's early injuries and you have a 1-2 team. This week he tries to turn things around against his dear old dad Steve Knowlton and the Screaming Ditkas.  Ditka started this week with a solid performance from Anquan Boldin putting up 21 pts, which will help the fact the Steve is stuck with the enigma that is David Wilson, but i guess to can always sleep well knowing you have Adrian Peterson as your number 1 back.  Benny is in a very similar situation as his Pops with C.J. Spiller, but having the luxury of Marshawn Lynch as his number one.  The X factor in this matchup, much like most fantasy matchups, will be the flex spot.  The Ditkas are hoping Eli bounces back from last week's shit show and feeds the ball to Hakeem Nicks (NOT Victor Cruz who is a part of Raider Nation), whereas Raider Nation is banking on the fact the Reggie Bush is close to 100% and proves week one wasn't a fluke.  This one will be close, but i think the Matt Ryan to Julio Jones connection will prove too much for the Nation.

Matchup 3 - The Worst 2-1 teams in history.  Password is Taco 2-1 (122) vs TM (154)

Both teams have already had someone play in the thursday night game with two very different outcomes.  TM had the benefit of starting Frank Gore and Taco stuck with Vernon Davis who isn't 100% but managed to get in the endzone to save the day from becoming an absolute stinker.  Taco is starting DeAngelo WIlliams on his bye week with 15 hours until kickoff.  His substitute options are Ahmad Bradshaw (ruled out) and Steve Jackson (ruled out).  Well good this he has...Bernard Pierce?? to fall back on.  Well maybe his wide receivers will bail him out, Dez Bryant, Mike Wallace and Michael Floyd.  Dez has a nice matchup against San Diego who's given up more receiving yards than any team in the league, and i've got a gut feeling that the Phins are going to put up big numbers while trying to keep up with the Saints on monday night, but Michael Floyd has no business starting on anyone's roster at this point in the season.  TM (it's actually the trademark symbol) came up with a huge upset last week, taking down Jaycutty Bustanutty in a matchup that turned out to be the a battle of the week's two highest scoring teams.  TM manager Ernie Alvinito is reaping benefits of garbage time extraordinaire Cecil Shorts, who has 16 catches on 29 targets over the last two weeks resulting in 236 yards!  This is an easy one mostly due to Taco's lack of running backs.  Papa Ernie might be taking over the division this week.

Mardukas' Fan Duel Lineups - (last week i pulled out knowshon, pierce and fleener for gio bernard, joique bell and antonio gates = 75 bucks!)

Ryan Tannehill
Doug Martin
Maurice Jones-Drew
Santonio Holmes
Dez Bryant
Brandon Marshall
Heath Miller
Dan Bailey
Bengals

Peyton Manning
LeSean McCoy
Lamar Miller
Calvin Johnson
Denarius Moore
Terrance Miller
Delanie Walker
Robbie Gould
Bears

I tried to pair both teams with all but guaranteed studs and a couple of high risk high reward players.  I think the Phins, even after beating Atlanta last week, still need to prove themselves.  What better way than on Monday Night Football against a high power offense in the New Orleans Saints? My gut says 300 yards 2td game for Tanny, which should be more than enough to get me in the money if my other players perform to their averages.  Terrance Miller is a pure gut call, with Miles Austin out and the rookie getting the start I think  the former track star gets behind the defense that will be focusing on Dez Bryant for a 50 yard td this week.

Last Week's Primetime leashers was an epic fail, so much so that i've retired the segment after one week.

On the other end of the spectrum Mardukas' Gutcalls were right on the money!
This week:

Quarterback - Matt Flynn - Confirmed yesterday that Flynn would start, and this might be his last shot.  A man with nothing to lose and everything to gain against the worst pass defense in the league..did you noticed i'm playing Denarius Moore in fanduel?

Running - Doug Martin - here's the call.  Martin is the highest scoring back in the NFL this week.  Rookie quarterback, no tight end, who's he going to dump the ball to? Muscle Hamster.  Minimum of 8 receptions, and 225 total yards and he finds the endzone.  You read it here.

Tight End - Delanie Walker - I liked what I saw last week from Delanie and Jake Locker.  Walker had 5 receptions for 50 yards last week and should've had a touchdown.  I think Locker may have finally tapped into the potential that once had him projected as the #1 overall pick in the draft.  Walker gets into the endzone this week.

Wide Receiver - Terrance Miller - See Above.

Hour and a half until kick off Ds!

Kicks Rocks,

Mardukas.

PS:  5 dollars says David Wilson breaks 100 yards and gets in the endzone this week now that i've traded him.  Comment if you want in on that action.