Week 5 Recap: Odd Week

By Mel Alper, CTDB Analyst

Five weeks in, the Chunky Monkeys sit alone in first at 8-2. They’ve been first or tied for first after every week of the season - the defending champs continue to roll. However, the rest of the league continues a topsy turvy season. The Masterminds have won four straight and moved into second. Blitz still leads the league in points, but on Sunday it posted the fewest of anyone and slid to third at 6-4.

Perennial contender, Gang Green has lost four straight and is a rut of back luck - this past week he lost with the second-best score of the week. Thankfully we have the bonus win losses in places. LA Buffy has dropped three straight while Custom J ended a three-game skid.

In the preview I said odd weeks belonged to the Jail Yard Boyz, who finished last in Weeks 1 and 3. Right week, wrong end of the table. On Sunday they put up 194, the best score of the season, a week after sitting dead last in the league in points. Same Boyz, Different Sunday. Drake Maye, who had cleared 15 points once all year, went for 51, the best game by any player in this league so far. That’s five new season highs in five weeks, and this one reaches past the season. Since 2021 only one team has scored more: Fat Jubas, the franchise that’s now Blitz, put up 196 in Week 5 of 2021. This season already owns three of the ten best scores of that stretch. It’s October. Buckle up.

The games

Jail Yard Boyz 194, Gang Green 154

Drake Maye was the MVP here. He scored more on Sunday than in his first three games of the season combined. GM Victor started him over C.J. Stroud, the Friday pickup I told him to play. Noted, GM Victor.

Gang Green’s 154 would have beaten all eight other teams this week. It lost by 40 anyway, and GM Greg is now on a four-game slide with the second-most points in the league. Fantasy football can be be brutal.

Philadelphia Phreaks 140, A Squad Called Blitz 99

None of Blitz’s stars showed up this week. CeeDee Lamb caught two passes on Thursday night for 2 points, and Bijan Robinson, coming off two 100-yard games, gave Coach Thien a very pedestrian 14 points. The league’s highest-octaine g team posted the week’s lowest score, and it wasn’t a bye-week problem: Denzel Boston, one of the two fill-ins, was the fifth-best starter on the roster with 12. 

The Phreaks’ keepers did the opposite. Jahmyr Gibbs went for 35 and Puka Nacua for 29 even pre-hernia and all, and the Phreaks won by 41 a week after finishing last.

Chunky Monkeys 145, Crunch Bunch 121

The pass catchers decided the cousins’ game. Christian Watson’s 29 alone beat the 20 that GM Eddie’s whole receiving room and tight end gave him, and Carnell Tate, his first-round pick, had 1 of those. Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Brock Bowers added 20 and 19 for the Monkeys that was pretty much all she wrote for this matchup.

Coach Evan kept Trevor Lawrence as starter which was the right call as Lawrence delivered 29 fantasy points while Tyler Shough sat on less than a point (no touchdowns and 2 interceptions will do that).145 was the third-best score of the week, and it ended the Bunch’s four-game run in this series.

GM Eddie could've won as his best lineup scored 150, with MarShawn Lloyd’s 16 sitting on the bench but these games are never won on the bench as every GM in this league knows.

City of Angels Masterminds 137, LA Buffy 103

Buffy’s backfield lost this game. Jeremiyah Love, Cam Skattebo and David Montgomery gave GM Roger 9 points between them, on a day Matthew Stafford finally started for Buffy and went for 37 but it wasn't nearly enough - definitely not enough when the rest of your offense fails to show up. 

Parker Washington, the Masterminds’ second-round pick, posted 27 and powered the Mastermind offense. Honestly, the Masterminds are on a roll - it took 'em a few years but this may be the best roster we've seen from this franchise since they joined the league. 

Custom J 113, Battle Angel 102

Custom J wins! The quarterbacks decided this one, in both directions. GM Josh’s starter, Lamar Jackson, was listed out, so GM Josh paid 3 dollars on Friday for Jacoby Brissett, who scored 34. GM Will started Bo Nix over Jayden Daniels. Nix scored 11, and Daniels put up 34 on the bench, enough to flip the result on his own.

Custom J’s Trey McBride, whose points had dropped four weeks running, bounced back with 17. Custom J has now won five of the last six against the Angels. The team I drafted beat my own pick, took the Pot with the lowest winning score of the week, and gave GM Josh his first win since Week 1. Congrats, Josh. You earned this one, even if the computer did the drafting.

Heroes and Zeros

Heroes are the players who blew past what anyone expected of them. The Zeros list is for healthy stars and early picks who left the lineups built around them empty.

Heroes. Maye leads it by a mile. Isaiah Likely, a sixth-round pick, went for 27 at tight end for the Boyz, and Jaylen Warren put up 34 for the Bunch in a loss.

The waiver wire paid off for two teams. Brissett, a 3-dollar claim, won Custom J a game, and GM Ping’s prize free-agent signing, Ollie Gordon II, the season’s biggest bid at 31, finally started and posted 15. Keon Coleman, the Bunch’s 15-dollar claim, sat on the bench with 7.

Zeros. Blitz owns this list. Lamb finished with 2 and Harold Fannin Jr. with 1, both keepers. Two first-round rookies joined them: Love, Buffy’s first pick, put up 2, and Tate had 1 for the Bunch. Chase Brown, a Monkeys keeper, gave the champ 6 and was the one Zero whose team won.

Manager of the Week

This award grades start and sit calls, and the ones that decided games this week were at quarterback.

Manager of the Week: Victor, Jail Yard Boyz. GM Victor benched his Friday pickup, Stroud, for Maye, against my advice, and the Boyz set the season high.

Calls that cost. GM Will’s quarterback call cost the Angels 23 points, the most in the league, and the game. GM Eddie left 29 on his bench, second-most in the league behind the Angels.

Calls that didn’t. GM Ping started six Eagles, and one of those calls was Makai Lemon over Justin Jefferson. Lemon put up 7, and Jefferson, back from his ankle, put up 16 on the bench. The Phreaks won by 41.

Projections only. Coach Evan, GM Roger and Coach Thien started exactly what the projections wanted. The champ got 145 and a win out of it. Buffy and Blitz got 103 and 99.

The Trainer’s Room

In a keeper league an injury costs this week’s points, the waiver money spent covering for it, and sometimes next year’s keeper.

Gang Green. Three of GM Greg’s first four picks sat this week, and all three carry an injury tag. Jadarian Price, his first-rounder, and Michael Pittman Jr., his fourth, are on injured reserve, and DJ Moore, his second, went from questionable to out. That’s a lot of draft capital on the sideline for a team on a four-game slide.

The Phreaks. Saquon Barkley, a keeper, was listed out and sat. J.K. Dobbins took his spot and scored 14. Will Shipley, GM Greg’s 7-dollar claim and Barkley’s backup in Philadelphia, left the weekend doubtful, so that bet hasn’t paid yet.

Custom J. Jackson, a keeper, was listed out, and two starters picked up new tags: TreVeyon Henderson is doubtful after 4, and the early word on his ankle is multiple weeks, and KC Concepcion questionable after 1. De’Von Achane, also a keeper, remains on injured reserve, so both of the stars Custom J kept at quarterback and running back are sidelined.

The Bunch. Kyle Monangai was listed out. Roman Wilson, the 8-dollar claim, is now listed out too, and Quinshon Judkins, the second-round pick, is questionable after 7 with an ankle tweak that’s being called day-to-day. A.J. Brown, a keeper, is still on injured reserve.

The Masterminds. Deebo Samuel Sr. started, scored 2 and is now listed out, with a hamstring expected to cost him at least a couple of weeks. He joins Breece Hall, a keeper, and Caleb Williams, the Masterminds’ fourth-round pick, both out, and Alec Pierce is on injured reserve. Four players down, and the team is second in the standings.

Buffy and Blitz. Montgomery, a Buffy keeper, left Sunday doubtful after his 1 and is now week-to-week with a groin injury, and DeVonta Smith, another keeper, was out. Lamb, a Blitz keeper, came out of the weekend questionable with a quad bruise from Thursday night, with the waiver run on Wednesday.

The Monkeys. Smith-Njigba, a keeper, finished questionable after a 20-point day with a twisted ankle, though he’s expected to be ready for Thursday.

The Pot and the standings

Week 5 paid the lowest-scoring winner, the prize the Monkeys looked built for. They won with 104 in Week 2 and 101 in Week 4, and either one would have taken it. This week they scored 145, and Custom J won it with 113, the next-lowest winner sitting at 137. It’s Custom J’s first Pot of the season. Week 6 pays the best rookie.

Counting bonus results, the Monkeys lead at 8-2, the Masterminds are second at 7-3 and Blitz is third at 6-4. Gang Green, the Boyz and the Phreaks are 5-5. The Bunch and the Angels are 4-6, and Buffy and Custom J share the bottom at 3-7. Blitz’s 99 was a bottom-half score, which is how it lost twice on Sunday.

Next week

The Phreaks host the Monkeys in a rematch of Week 2, when the Monkeys won 104 to 87. The Phreaks have alternated wins and losses all five weeks, which makes this one a loss on paper. The Monkeys haven’t lost head to head.

The Bunch host the Boyz in a cousins’ game and a Bay Area division game, 6-6 over the last five years, a week after the Boyz set the season high. The Masterminds bring four straight wins against an Angels team that just lost with its best quarterback on the bench. Buffy hosts Blitz, the points leader coming off its worst week. Custom J hosts Gang Green, which has won ten of the last twelve between them.

Week 5 Preview: Two Ways to 6-2

By Mel Alper, CTDB Analyst

Four weeks in, A Squad Called Blitz and the Chunky Monkeys share first place at 6-2, and they got there in opposite ways. Blitz lost in Week 1, hasn’t lost since and leads the league in points. The Monkeys haven’t lost a matchup all year, yet they rank fourth in points, and twice they won with the lowest winning score of the week. Blitz is the best team in the league. The champ is the luckiest.

Behind them, the City of Angels Masterminds sit alone in third at 5-3 on a three-game winning streak, and Battle Angel has won two straight to climb to 4-4. Gang Green and Custom J are headed the other way, three straight losses each. At the bottom, the Jail Yard Boyz and the Philadelphia Phreaks have taken turns: the Boyz finished last in Weeks 1 and 3, the Phreaks in Weeks 2 and 4. Odd weeks belong to the Boyz, and this is Week 5.

My picks went 3-2 last week, with misses on Gang Green and Buffy. Was this good, bad? Are you on a hot streak, cold streak?

Matchup of the week: Chunky Monkeys vs Crunch Bunch

Cousin against cousin, and the Crunch Bunch have won the last four in this series. The two men who led last week’s 188, Tetairoa McMillan and Kenneth Walker III, are both on a bye. The Bunch still have Joe Burrow, who has put up 30 or more in back-to-back weeks. The Monkeys’ answer is Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who hasn’t had a game with fewer than 5 catches.

The Monkeys’ question is at quarterback. Coach Evan is starting Trevor Lawrence over Tyler Shough, who has averaged 29 a game to Lawrence’s 22. I’d flip them, and the call is due early: Lawrence’s Jaguars play the Eagles in London at 6:30 Sunday morning Pacific.

My pick: the Monkeys, to end the Bunch’s four-game run.

Jail Yard Boyz vs Gang Green

The quarterback market in this league is upside down. Ten quarterbacks on league rosters have scored 15 or more in every game, and six of them sit this week: Bryce Young and Patrick Mahomes on byes, Lamar Jackson on a bad ankle, and three by their own managers’ choice. Shough is one. The other two are in this game.

GM Greg is sitting Jared Goff behind Josh Allen, and I can’t argue with 34 a game, the most of any player in the league. Word out of the Gang Green facility is that Goff has started wearing his helmet to quarterback meetings. GM Victor’s call is the one I’d reverse. C.J. Stroud joined the Boyz on Friday morning, when Victor cut Justin Herbert for him, and went straight to the bench behind Drake Maye, whose 35 last week is the only time he’s cleared 15.

The Boyz already have a head start on breaking the odd-week curse. Bucky Irving scored twice on Thursday night, his first touchdowns since Week 1, and banked 30.5 before anyone else kicked off. Gang Green answers with the end zone: Derrick Henry has scored in every game this season. My pick: Gang Green.

Philadelphia Phreaks vs A Squad Called Blitz

Coach Thien is running the best team in the league, and he is still starting two players on a bye?? Bijan Robinson has gone for 100-plus yards and two touchdowns in each of the last two games, so Blitz can afford a little sloppiness. It already spent some: CeeDee Lamb’s encore on Thursday night was two catches for 9 yards.

GM Ping’s problem is Saquon Barkley, a keeper who missed practice Wednesday and Thursday with a hamstring and isn’t expected to play in London. He’s averaged 5 a game without a touchdown anyway. Swap in J.K. Dobbins, who averages about the same and is healthy, and do it before the 6:30 kickoff. Ping’s other call is at receiver: Justin Jefferson is trending toward playing and is sitting on the bench, while Stefon Diggs, in the lineup, didn’t practice Wednesday or Thursday. My pick: Blitz.

City of Angels Masterminds vs LA Buffy

Matthew Stafford has thrown for 300 yards in three straight games, and Buffy got none of it: all three came from the bench. With Mahomes on a bye, Stafford finally starts. Buffy’s weak spot is the flex, where David Montgomery hasn’t reached 8 points since Week 1. The Masterminds’ streak has James Cook III’s name on it: at least 15 points and a touchdown in every one of those three wins. My pick: the Masterminds.

The Custom J watch: Custom J vs Battle Angel

I built this team, and it has finished ninth of ten three weeks running. Its only quarterback, Lamar Jackson, hasn’t practiced all week, Friday included. One waiver claim later, GM Josh has Jacoby Brissett. The receivers are no healthier: Ladd McConkey (likely out) and Terry McLaurin (unlikely) are both on the bench, and Mike Evans, who is starting, sat out Thursday with his ribs. Trey McBride has caught 7 or more passes in every game, and his points have dropped every week: 20, 14, 12, 7.

The Angels already have Thursday in the bank. George Pickens caught 9 balls and his first touchdown of the season, though the Cowboys defense GM Will paid 3 for gave back minus 3 the same night. Will also took Bo Nix back for nothing and is starting him over Jayden Daniels, who practiced in full Wednesday and Thursday after missing two games. Nix has earned it with 15 or more in each of his last three. Custom J has won four of five against the Angels over the last five years. None of that matters this year. My pick: the Angels. Sorry, Josh. This one hurts the computer too.

Starters and bench

GM Eddie is keeping Kyle Monangai in his lineup after Monangai missed practice Wednesday and Thursday with turf toe and a sore thumb. Brian Robinson Jr., on his bench, has a touchdown in each of his last two games. Coach Thien needs two starters for Hubbard and Worthy. I’d use Denzel Boston, at 12 a game, and Rome Odunze, who put up his best game of the season last week. GM Victor is keeping Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins on his bench. Chase is in the concussion protocol and needs a full Friday practice. Higgins didn’t practice Wednesday or Thursday, but if he plays, I’d start him over Jaylen Waddle: Higgins has caught 5 or more in each of his last three.

Transactions

The hole was at receiver, and GM Eddie spent 24 of the league’s 36 waiver dollars Wednesday morning filling it: 15 on Keon Coleman, 8 on Roman Wilson and 1 on Will Reichard, a kicker. My read: with A.J. Brown still on injured reserve and McMillan on a bye, Eddie bought two receivers to replace one. Coleman is going straight into the lineup after his best game of the season, 21, and Wilson has a touchdown in each of his last two.

With Jadarian Price on injured reserve, GM Greg paid 7 for Will Shipley, who averaged 2 points a game as the Eagles’ backup. With Barkley not expected to play, Shipley is in line to start in London, so Greg’s 7 dollars is a bet against the Phreaks’ keeper that looks like it’ll cash. Greg also paid 17 for Mike Gesicki in Week 2, dropped him for Jake Ferguson in Week 3, and got him back on Thursday for a dollar. He now owns both and paid twice for one of them.

Coach Evan dropped the Ravens defense six days after claiming it and paid 2 for the Commanders defense.

Three quarterbacks changed teams this week. Victor took Stroud for nothing, Josh paid 3 for Brissett, and Will took Nix back for nothing, which makes Nix a Phreak, a member of the Bunch and an Angel twice in three seasons. Somebody get the man a keeper deal.

The Pot

Week 5 pays the lowest-scoring winner, the one prize the Monkeys have been training for all season.

Week 4 Recap: Crunch Bunch's Jekyll & Hyde

By Mel Alper, CTDB Analyst

Put the Crunch Bunch’s Week 3 lineup next to its Week 4 lineup and you’ll find the same ten players in the same ten slots. BUT - in Week 3 they scored 102 and lost to Blitz by 72. Week 4 was a different story. On Sunday they put up 188 and broke the season high points scored, which Blitz had just set in that Week 3 game with 174. Tetairoa McMillan went from 3 points to 38, and Kyle Monangai from 3 to 28. Same guys. Different Sunday. Better plays by Coach Eddie??

This year - points scored records have been broken week over week. Gang Green’s 159, the Masterminds’ 167 and Blitz’s 174 each fell the next Sunday, and this week Blitz beat its own mark with 179 and still had only the second-best score.

The Chunky Monkeys on the other hand - limped to another win with 101, the eighth-best score of the week. Yikes. 

My picks went 3-2 again, with misses on Gang Green and Buffy.

The games

Crunch Bunch 188, LA Buffy 121

Last season these two finished at the bottom, Buffy ninth and the Bunch tenth, and Buffy won all three of their meetings. The last was 93 to 41 in the consolation bracket, the widest margin between them in five years until Week 4.

The backfields decided this one. Crunch Bunch running backs outscored the Buffy backfield by 59, nearly all of the 67-point margin, and Monangai alone beat Jeremiyah Love, Cam Skattebo and David Montgomery combined, 28 to 17.

Buffy’s best day came from Nico Collins, back from two missed games with 27. Buffy’s 121 was fifth-best in the league, good enough for the bonus win.

A Squad Called Blitz 179, Jail Yard Boyz 128

Blitz has scored 79 more points than anyone else in the league so far this.  This is the team that hasn’t finished better than fifth in any of the last five seasons. Coming into this year, the Boyz owned this matchup, 8-4 over the last five years, and even knocked Blitz out of last season’s playoffs, 151 to 120. None of that mattered this year. 

Blitz was led by its usual core of super stars. Blitz win when its stars, well, star. CeeDee Lamb caught 33, and Bijan Robinson, Brock Purdy and Chuba Hubbard each cleared 25 beside him. Blitz left 3 points on its bench, the fewest in the league, and Victor’s best possible lineup scores 162, was still 17 short. 

Battle Angel 156, Gang Green 117

Gang Green won the last meeting, 149 to 130 last November. This time it came in as the widest favorite on the board, by 17 on the projections, and then they got crushed

The Angel's Kyren Williams ran for 32, more than Derrick Henry and Christian McCaffrey gave Greg together, and Javonte Williams added 29. Like Crunch Bunch, this game was decided by the Angels' running game.

Sunday night’s game between the Panthers and the Bills had both quarterbacks -- Bryce Young got the better of this one with 29 points. Gang Green's usual capital, Josh Allen, threw for a very pedestrian 23 points.  The Angels are on a bit of a run. Just wwo weeks ago, the Angels were 0-4. After two 2-0 weeks they sit level at 4-4 with Gang Green, the franchise with the best average finish in the league over the last five years.

City of Angels Masterminds 120, Philadelphia Phreaks 84

GM Ping is trying - he made big bids this week and acquired some prize free agent signings but weirdly, he didn't play them. The Phreaks made the biggest bid of the season on Wednesday, 31 dollars for Ollie Gordon but then started J.K. Dobbins over him. Insiders said Ollie was still learning the playbook. Gordon put up 17 on the bench and while Dobbins scratched together only 6 points. The Phreaks also suffered some bad luck by benching Hockenson for Sadiq who put up a bagel. In fact, the Phreaks' best lineup would've scored 123 points which would've of secured a win in the best of worlds. 

Marcus relied on some late round draft picks this week including Romeo Doubs and Deebo Samuel, his round 8 and round 11 picks, and they put up 36 on a day his first two picks, Davante Adams and Parker Washington, managed just 7 points. Kudos to the Mastermind scouting department.

Chunky Monkeys 101, Custom J 89

The Monkeys had won the last four meetings between these two -- the latest last season’s semifinal victory over Custom J, 120 to 72.

Neither manager set a good lineup this week. Emanuel Wilson, a 6-dollar claim in Week 3, went for 26 on the Monkeys’ bench.  Coach Evan labored over his QB1 decision and did ultimately make the right call in the preview’s coin flip: Tyler Shough outscored Trevor Lawrence but it wouldn't have really mattered.

Custom J's roster really struggled this week. Ladd McConkey put up a bagel and the rest of the team is really struggling to find its offensive rhythm. Worth noting that like this article, Custom J's article was AI built and now the team is 2-6 and alone in last place -- sorry, Josh. Love, Claude.

Heroes and Zeros

This is where the projections get graded. Heroes beat theirs by the most; Zeros are the healthy stars and early picks who didn’t show for the lineups built around them. McMillan has now been both: last week’s Zeros, and this week’s top Hero, 38 on a projection of 13.

Heroes. Monangai, Kyren and Javonte Williams, Lamb and Collins all beat their projections by 14 or more, and Collins was the only one whose team lost. Even the season-high lineup left one on its bench: Brian Robinson Jr., the Bunch’s round 12 pick, put up 25 on a projection of 6, and no bench player beat his projection by more.

Four of the six best days by waiver pickups sat on a bench: Emanuel Wilson, Hockenson, Gordon and Vele.

Zeros. Bucky Irving, the Boyz’ first-rounder, went for 6 on a projection of 15. Two keepers sank lower on points: Garrett Wilson caught 4 for Gang Green and David Montgomery put up 4 for Buffy, both on projections of 13. All three teams lost.

Manager of the Week

Manager of the Week: Marcus, City of Angels Masterminds. His calls gained 9 points, the most in the league, all of it Doubs and Samuel. Eddie finished a hair behind, with the same ten starters that cost him 16 against the projections a week earlier.

Projections only. Will and Ping both started exactly the projections’ lineup. It won Will a game by 39 and lost Ping his.

Calls that cost. Evan’s calls cost 16, the most in the league, a week after he won this award. That’s the same 16 Eddie’s ten starters cost him in Week 3. The Monkeys also left 39 on the bench, a hair more than the Phreaks. Roger’s calls cost 9. Victor’s cost 8, all of it Malik Nabers catching 20 on the Boyz’ bench, and none of the three changed a result.

The Trainer’s Room

In a keeper league an injury costs this week’s points, the waiver dollars spent covering for it, and sometimes next year’s keeper.

Custom J. De’Von Achane, a keeper since 2024, is out for the season with the knee he hurt in Week 3. Without him, Custom J’s three starting running backs gave Josh 23 between them. Gordon, next in line in Miami’s backfield, went to the Phreaks on the season’s biggest bid, so Achane’s replacement belongs to someone other than Josh.

The Phreaks. The Phreaks have kept Justin Jefferson every year since 2021, and he sprained an ankle in Week 3. Early in the week he looked like he might play, and by Friday he was ruled out. Dontayvion Wicks took his spot and caught 3. Dallas Goedert was out too, which left Sadiq as the only healthy tight end on the roster until the Hockenson claim on Sunday morning.

The Angels. Jayden Daniels, their fourth-round pick, missed another game after talk of a Week 4 return. After Young’s Sunday, Daniels’ return is a lineup question, not an automatic start. Travis Etienne Jr., a keeper, is on injured reserve with a hamstring, and Josh Jacobs is day-to-day. The Angels paid 8 dollars on Friday for Kendre Miller to cover, and Miller scored 1 on the bench.

Gang Green. Greg spent his first-round pick on Jadarian Price, who was listed questionable on Friday and was on injured reserve by Monday night. Seattle’s other back, Emanuel Wilson, is a Monkey, which makes Price’s injury Evan’s opening as much as Greg’s problem.

The Masterminds. A quad injury kept Breece Hall, a Masterminds keeper since 2025, out of Week 4. The early word is weeks, not days.

New tags. Seven starters were listed active on Friday and came out of the weekend questionable: the Bunch’s Monangai, Buffy’s Love, the Boyz’ Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, Custom J’s Lamar Jackson, the Monkeys’ Rashee Rice and the Phreaks’ Saquon Barkley. Five of them are keepers. Rice and Barkley finished with 0 and 2, so watch those two before Wednesday’s waiver run.

The Bunch. The Bunch set the season high without A.J. Brown, a keeper since 2023, who remains on injured reserve.

Tidbits

• Week 4 history ran backward. The Masterminds, 1-4 in Week 4 over the last five years, won, and Gang Green, 4-1, lost.

• The family went 2-2, and the brothers split: Eddie won and Josh lost.

• Eddie had the Panthers on both sides of the ball Sunday night: McMillan on offense, and a defense that scored minus 5. 

• Ping started five Eagles, and they gave him 33 of his 84.

• The best rookie starter was Carnell Tate, the Bunch’s first-round pick, with 17 on a projection of 10. Week 6’s Pot pays the best rookie.

This Week’s Pot 

Week 4 paid the waiver hero: the highest-scoring starter who wasn’t drafted or kept this year. Bryce Young won it for Battle Angel with 28.75, two Sundays after Will claimed him for nothing and cut Bo Nix to make room. Last year’s Week 4 went to the Phreaks. Tyler Shough’s 20.8 was second and Dominic Zvada’s 12.0 third — both waiver starts, neither close. Week 5 pays the lowest-scoring winner, and the champion’s 101 would have taken it this week.

The standings

Counting bonus results, Blitz and the Monkeys share first at 6-2, and the Masterminds, who haven’t finished better than seventh in five years, sit alone at 5-3. Gang Green, the Bunch and the Angels are 4-4, with Buffy, the Phreaks and the Boyz at 3-5 and Custom J at 2-6. Last season’s runner-up and last season’s fourth-place team are both near the bottom: the Boyz have scored the fewest points in the league, and Custom J is last.

Next week

The Monkeys host the Bunch, the season’s best score against Week 4’s lowest winner, cousin against cousin in the first of their two Bay Area division games. The Bunch leads 4-2 over the last five years.

Elsewhere, the Masterminds host Buffy in the first City of Angels game, Custom J hosts Battle Angel, and the Boyz host Gang Green. The Phreaks, the week’s lowest score, host Blitz, the league’s points leader.

Eddie, you know where I stand on Monangai, and after Sunday I’m keeping it to myself.

Week 4 Preview: Ollie Gordon Comes Home

By Mel Alper, CTDB Analyst

Ollie Gordon has spent September getting passed around this league like a casserole dish. He spent last season with the Phreaks. This year, Blitz took him in the fifth round on draft night only to be cut ten days later. On Wednesday, GM Ping paid 31 dollars to bring him home, the biggest bid this league has seen all year — the prodigal son returns.

What changed was a knee in Miami. De’Von Achane tore his ACL on Sunday, and four of Wednesday’s eight claims were Dolphins: Gordon and Jaylen Wright to Ping, Malik Washington to Marcus, Chris Bell to Josh. More than half the league put in bids for Ollie but Ping won out. In fact, by Wednesday morning Ping owned both halves of the Miami backfield, and Josh owned a questionable receiver — sorry Josh.

Josh’s reward for his week is a matchup against the 5-1 Monkeys. The Monkeys are 5-1 and alone in first and with Bowers back, they seem to be primed for a run. Custom J, on the other hand, is 2-4, down a keeper, and projected to score 117 by ESPN, the lowest number in the league. My picks went 3-2 last week, and one of the three was a pick against Custom J (sorry again Josh).

Matchup of the week, and the Custom J watch: Chunky Monkeys vs Custom J

Custom J gets watched every week because Claude built him and honestly, AI eradicating humans seems like a lower probability these days. The computer drafted for Josh, and every Sunday is a referendum on Claude (sources say, it was even Fable at work). The Monkeys won it in 2021, 2022 and 2025, Custom J in 2023 and 2024. Across all twelve meetings in that span the Monkeys lead 8-4, and they have won the last four.

Custom J comes in this week hurt, and the hurt runs past Sunday. Achane, a keeper since 2024, is done for the year. A late-September tear leaves an outside chance he’s ready for Week 1 next season, which turns next summer’s keeper call into a medical question. Ladd McConkey, also a keeper, is questionable with a new foot problem. D’Andre Swift landed on Thursday’s report with a knee but was back at practice Friday. Mike Evans has the ribs, the kind of injury receivers play through on fewer snaps and fewer targets, and the cautious read says sit him.

The projections want Terry McLaurin in for TreVeyon Henderson, though McLaurin turned up Friday with a hamstring of his own. His game kicks off early, in London, so Josh will know before the rest of the slate. The projections also want the Chiefs defense over the Bears, which is a sentence with a history. Josh claimed the Bears for a dollar two Sundays ago, dropped them for the Chiefs four days later, and claimed the Bears back on Wednesday for another dollar. The gap is two-tenths of a point, so this is about principle, not math. Keep the Chiefs.

The Monkeys’ lineup is stout — they made some last-minute changes at K and DST. The front office says the staffer on the improvement plan has been moved off lineup duty so things should be smoother going forward.

Pick: the Monkeys, healthy, set and favored by 12 against three questionable starters and a keeper on injured reserve. Two straight weeks now the preview has gone against the roster the computer built.

A Squad Called Blitz vs Jail Yard Boyz

Last week’s best score against last week’s worst, in the Bay Area division. Blitz put up 174, the season high. The Boyz put up 75 and sit 60 points behind everyone else in points for. The series says ignore all of that. The Boyz own it 8-4 over the last five years and have won the last two meetings, including last year’s playoff game, 151 to 120.

Blitz has scored more points than anyone this season and has its whole lineup set the way the projections want it, with one catch. Jalen Coker is questionable with a quad and isn’t expected to play, so Thien should have Emeka Egbuka, at 9.5, ready to slide in. On the other side, Bucky Irving is questionable with a glute, but he practiced on a limited basis, which usually means he plays.

Pick: Blitz, by about 10 on the projections. History is nice to have, but it doesn’t play receiver.

Battle Angel vs Gang Green

The widest projection on the board, Gang Green by 17, in a Road-division game between two franchises that have split eleven meetings over five years almost evenly, 6-5 Greg.

The Angels’ case is a waiver quarterback. Bryce Young projects at 27, within a point of Josh Allen, for a team that claimed him off the wire two Sundays ago when Jayden Daniels’ elbow went. Daniels is out again, and the cautious read says Week 6, so the job is Young’s for now. He plays Sunday night against Detroit. Jakobi Meyers is questionable again with the thumb he has played through every week.

Greg’s call is in the flex, where the projections want Braelon Allen, at 11.9, over DJ Moore at 10.8. Moore has since come off the injury report, so this is a matchup call, not a health call. With Breece Hall out, Allen inherits most of the Jets backfield, against a soft Bears run defense.

Pick: Gang Green. Seventeen points is a lot of ground for one waiver quarterback to cover.

City of Angels Masterminds vs Philadelphia Phreaks

The Masterminds are 4-2 and lead Gang Green on points for by a tenth of a point, 425.4 to 425.3. It buys them nothing. Head-to-head is the first tiebreaker, Gang Green won the Week 1 meeting, and ESPN lists Greg third. The Phreaks have won the last three meetings in this series by 48, 67 and 47 points, the latest 152 to 106, and ESPN has them by 3, the tightest projection of the week.

Then look at who’s actually playing. Marcus is without Breece Hall, a keeper, ruled out with a quad strain that usually costs about two weeks and carries re-injury risk. The back who replaces him in New York sits on Gang Green’s bench. The projections want Tyler Warren at tight end and Alvin Kamara in the flex, and the Masterminds’ lineup carries no injury tags at all.

Ping’s carries three. Puka Nacua, a keeper, is expected back from the groin, though the more cautious read is that it lingers all season. Kenyon Sadiq practiced on a limited basis and should play. Justin Jefferson is the problem. He has been a Phreaks keeper every year since 2021, he didn’t practice Wednesday, he wasn’t spotted Thursday, and the cautious read of the tape says high ankle, which usually means more than one week and a dip after. Swap his 15 for a bench receiver’s 9 and that 3-point edge becomes a 3-point deficit.

Pick: the Phreaks, narrowly. They have won this game by 46 or more three years running, and Nacua’s return covers part of what Jefferson’s ankle costs.

Crunch Bunch vs LA Buffy

These two spent last December together in the consolation ladder, twice, and Buffy won both, the second one 93 to 41. That made three straight for Buffy in a series the Bunch opened 4-0.

For the third straight week the preview has a note for Eddie about Kyle Monangai, and this week Thursday night made the call before he could. Jaylen Warren, projected at 15, played the Browns on Thursday and scored 14 on the Bunch bench. That’s locked. Monangai, projected at 8, still has to play, so he needs 14 just to make the lineup look right. Last week the same pair went 19 to 3 the wrong way.

There is one way Monangai pays off. He’s D’Andre Swift’s backup in Chicago, and Swift, who plays for Eddie’s brother Josh, has that knee. Swift practiced Friday, so don’t count on it. Quinshon Judkins already put 19 on the board Thursday, so Eddie starts Sunday ahead.

Buffy’s lineup is already the best version of itself by the projections, with two questions at receiver. Nico Collins, a keeper, is expected back from the hamstring. DeVonta Smith, another keeper, sat out Thursday’s practice with his. Roger’s best insurance, DK Metcalf, already played Thursday and scored 14 on the bench, so the backup plan is Tre Tucker.

Pick: Buffy. Three straight in the series, nothing left on the bench, and Eddie hoping Monangai can outrun a number that’s already in.

Starters and bench

This section is for the calls that can still be made. Thursday took some off the table. Warren’s 14, Metcalf’s 14, Denzel Boston’s 11 and KC Concepcion’s 9 all went up on benches and are staying there.

Most of what’s left is in the games above. Eddie has two more: Juwan Johnson over Tucker Kraft at tight end, 8.6 to 6.9, and the Jaguars defense over the Panthers, who draw Detroit on Sunday night, opposite Eddie’s own Amon-Ra St. Brown. Victor should get Malik Nabers back in over Jaylen Waddle, 11.4 to 9.5. Ping’s projections want Dobbins over the 31-dollar man, 9.6 to 8.0. The Monkeys, Buffy and the Angels are within a point of their best lineups, and Blitz is too if Coker plays.

Atlanta and New Orleans play Monday night, which leaves Bijan Robinson and Drake London for Blitz, Chris Olave for the Angels and, if Evan flips the coin his way, Shough for the Monkeys as the last word of the week.

Transactions

The hole was in Miami, and Wednesday’s run went straight at it. Five teams claimed and five stood pat, and the run cost 71 dollars. Ping spent 48 of it, as much as Gang Green has spent all season, and at 66 for the year he is now the league’s biggest spender.

Gordon was 31 of the 48 and Wright the other 17. To make room, Ping let go of Devaughn Vele, the receiver he bought for 11 in Week 2, and Baker Mayfield, his backup quarterback, who is out for weeks with a dislocated thumb. Read: Ping didn’t buy a running back. He bought the whole Dolphins backfield, both halves, the week Josh lost it. The early word is a committee, Wright on passing downs and Gordon in short yardage, against a Vikings defense nobody wants to start into. Week 4 is the audition.

Marcus paid 10 for Malik Washington, another Dolphin, and dropped Rashid Shaheed. Josh paid 8 for Chris Bell, a fourth, plus a dollar for a kicker, Dominic Zvada, and a dollar to bring the Bears back. Victor’s Steelers defense cost 2 and returned 3 on Thursday. Evan spent a dollar Wednesday on Shrader and went back Thursday for the Ravens defense at 3.

This Week’s Pot 💰

Week 4 pays the waiver hero: the highest-scoring starter who wasn’t drafted or kept this year. Last year’s Week 4 paid for wide receiver catches and went to the Phreaks, so nobody is defending this one. The Angels’ Young is the clear favorite: at 27, he has the best projection of any qualifying starter by a wide margin. The closest challenger sits on a bench: Shough, a 5-dollar claim, projects at 24.8 behind Lawrence on the commissioner’s roster. Start him, and the Pot becomes a two-quarterback race between waiver adds. Sit him, and it’s Young’s to lose.

Week 3 Recap: The Empty Slot

By Mel Alper, CTDB Analyst

What a week - the Monkeys shipped an awesome week despite displaying some really rookie GM mistakes. Evan spent Wednesday morning shopping for a kicker but somehow picked up a defense and cut the kicker and as a result, had played against Gang Green with no kicker. It didn't matter though - the Monkeys still won (see below). The Monkeys front office is calling it an administrative error, and an unnamed member of the staff has been placed on a performance improvement plan.

The Monkey's nine men in a ten-man lineup scored 163, beat Gang Green by 29, and put the Monkeys alone in first at 5-1.

It was also a week to be a backup quarterback. Sam Darnold, Matthew Stafford, Trevor Lawrence and Jared Goff all threw for 26 or more from a bench, and six of the ten starting quarterbacks scored less than all four of them. Darnold’s 39 sat behind Brock Purdy’s 42 on the same Blitz roster, on the way to the highest score this league has seen all season. For all that bench production, not one quarterback call flipped a game. Purdy and Shough outscored the backups behind them. Goff’s extra 7 would have left Greg 22 short, and Stafford would have left Roger a point and a half short.

The preview board went 3-2. It was right on Blitz, on the Angels, and on the Phreaks over the roster the computer drafted. It was wrong on Gang Green, who lost to the commissioner by 29, and wrong on the Boyz, who lost by 72.

The games

Chunky Monkeys 163, Gang Green 134

This was the first real test for the champion. They were the only two teams above even, and Gang Green had won the last two meetings, 136 to 84 in 2024 and 116 to 112 last season. The preview took Greg because the Monkeys’ Wednesday lineup needed two substitutions just to reach its own ceiling. Evan made both of them, and then a third.

Tyler Shough, claimed Wednesday for 5, threw for 34 while Lawrence sat on 28. Brock Bowers played for the first time this season and went for 23 at tight end, where Michael Mayer would have given him 11. Luther Burden III took Rhamondre Stevenson’s spot and outscored him 16 to 5. Add them up and the three changes were worth 30 points, and the margin was 29. With the Wednesday lineup left alone, the Monkeys lose this game by eight-tenths of a point.

Greg lost it in the half of his roster he didn’t start. Josh Allen threw for 19 on a projection of 30, and Goff threw for 26 on the bench, a week after throwing for 41 there. Michael Wilson caught 20 and Kalif Raymond, the 19-dollar claim, caught 18, both on the bench. Nobody sets that lineup on a Sunday morning, but it was on the roster, and it scores 169. Greg did what the projections told him and scored 134, fourth in the league. That was good enough for the standings win and nowhere near enough for the game.

A Squad Called Blitz 174, Crunch Bunch 102

Blitz had won the last two meetings in this Bay Area series, and Eddie came in with one obvious fix: Joe Burrow in for Jaxson Dart, who had already been cut. He made it, and Burrow threw for 31. It didn’t matter.

Blitz had four players at 20 or better, and no lineup on Eddie’s roster was catching that. Purdy threw for 42. Bijan Robinson ran for 34, twice his projection. Drake London and Harold Fannin Jr. added 24 and 21. The Masterminds’ 167 from Week 2 lasted exactly one week as the season high.

Thien has run this franchise since 2023 and finished ninth, fifth and fifth, and it hasn’t cracked the top four in the last five years. A roster that scores 174 with a 39-point quarterback on the bench isn’t built for fifth. It’s too early for verdicts, and I’m tempted anyway.

The call that hurt Eddie was at running back, where Kyle Monangai started and scored 3 while Jaylen Warren ran for 19 on the bench. It was the worst lineup call in the league this week, and it didn’t decide anything. The best lineup the Bunch owned scores 154 and still loses by 20.

City of Angels Masterminds 147, Jail Yard Boyz 75

The preview picked the Boyz on history. They had won the last three meetings, scoring 147, 151 and 170. This time Dak Prescott didn’t need another 41. He threw for 24, and the Masterminds scored 146.9, within a rounding error of the 147 the Boyz once beat them with, and won by 72.

The Boyz didn’t lose at one position. They lost everywhere. Victor had switched to Drake Maye at quarterback, and Maye threw for 6 against a projection of 24, the furthest any player in the league fell short of his number. Justin Herbert threw for 17 on the bench, so the switch cost 11, which barely registers in a 72-point loss. Six Boyz starters finished at 6 or less. Ja’Marr Chase caught 20, and no other starter got past 12.

The Masterminds didn’t need a star. Prescott, James Cook III and Davante Adams all landed between 17 and 24, and the Vikings defense added 18, most of what won Marcus the Pot.

Philadelphia Phreaks 99, Custom J 90

This was a rematch of December’s semifinal, which Custom J won 130 to 119, and it came down to the tight end slot. At midweek Ping had Dallas Goedert there, doubtful and projecting zero, a starting spot with nothing in it. By Sunday Goedert was out and Kenyon Sadiq, the round 8 rookie, was in. Sadiq caught 20 on a projection of 7. The Phreaks won by 9, so Sadiq covered the margin twice by himself.

Josh had a fix of his own on the bench and didn’t make it. The preview said Tony Pollard belonged in the lineup. Pollard ran for 12 on the bench while TreVeyon Henderson started and scored 3, and Terry McLaurin’s 17 sat behind Josh Downs’s 10. Those calls cost 15 points in a game Custom J lost by 9. The draft was the computer’s. The lineup was Josh’s.

So the league’s favorite storyline holds for another week: the roster a computer drafted lost to the roster an Eagles fan built around his team, though the Eagles had little to do with it. Ping’s five Eagles starters gave him 26 between them, the Eagles defense finished at minus 2, and Jahmyr Gibbs, a Detroit Lion, carried the Phreaks with 38. The computer has no comment. It also lost its best running back the same afternoon, which is where the Trainer’s Room starts.

Battle Angel 108, LA Buffy 100

These are the two franchises with the worst five-year records in the league, and the Angels came in 0-4. The preview picked them anyway, because Will’s lineup was already the best version of itself and nobody else’s was. He started exactly the lineup the projections wanted, and it held up.

Roger lost this on the lineup page. Jordan Addison caught 18 on his bench while Tre Tucker started and caught 6. Swap those two and Buffy wins by 3. His calls cost 11 points in the closest game of the week.

The quarterback call will get more attention, and it mattered less. In Week 2, Patrick Mahomes beat Matthew Stafford by about half a point, 38.8 to 38.25, with Stafford on the bench. This week Mahomes threw for 22 and Stafford threw for 29 on the bench. Start Stafford and Buffy still loses by a point and a half. The receiver call decided the game.

The Angels won by 8 and finished fifth in scoring, so their first win came with a second one attached. They went from 0-4 to 2-4 in one Sunday. Kyren Williams and Bryce Young each put up 19, and Javonte Williams added 17.

Heroes and Zeros

The final scores tell you who won. This section covers the individual swings behind them: the heroes are players who blew past anything a manager could reasonably expect, and the zeros are healthy starters who were supposed to carry a lineup and gave nothing back.

Heroes. Bijan’s 34 was 17 points above his projection, the most by any starter. The only player who beat his number by more was Darnold, by 18, from the Blitz bench, and that tells you about Blitz’s week. It was also a tight end week, with George Kittle’s 23 for Gang Green leading four tight ends at 20 or better: Kittle, Bowers, Fannin and Sadiq. Two of them decided games. Bowers’s return covered 12 of the Monkeys’ 29-point margin, and Sadiq outscored the Phreaks’ margin twice.

The waiver wire finally paid this week, mostly to benches. Shough was the one who started: 5 dollars, 34 points. Darnold, a free Blitz pickup before Week 1, threw for 39 behind Purdy. Raymond, last week’s biggest bid, caught 18 behind Zay Flowers. A week ago, every claim that made a lineup scored 7 or less. Evan spent 17 of the league’s 19 dollars on Wednesday. The 5 on Shough bought 34 points. The other 12 bought a benched running back, a benched defense and a kicker who didn’t last until Sunday.

Zeros. Jadarian Price, the eighth pick of the draft, followed a 5 in Week 2 with a 1 for Gang Green. Tetairoa McMillan, a Bunch keeper, caught 3 against a projection of 12. Jonathan Taylor won last week’s Pot with 27 out of the flex and ran for 8 this time. Jalen Hurts threw for 14 on a projection of 25, on Monday night, for the one GM in the league who started five Eagles. Three started defenses finished at minus 2: the Eagles, the Bengals and the 49ers.

The one mercy is that no zero cost anyone a game. Price’s owner lost by 29, Taylor’s and McMillan’s games were decided by 72, and Hurts’s team won anyway. The lineup page did all the damage this week.

Manager of the Week

Rosters get built in August, but games get won on the lineup page. This award measures the one thing a manager fully controls on Sunday: his score against what the lineup the projections wanted would have scored.

Manager of the Week: Evan, Chunky Monkeys. His calls gained 11 points, the most in the league, and every one of them came from Burden over Stevenson. Shough and Bowers were what the projections wanted anyway, so they don’t count toward it. Complaints about the commissioner winning an award in his own league can be filed with the commissioner.

Nothing to decide. Will, Greg, Marcus and Victor each started exactly the lineup the projections wanted. Victor’s is the one to feel bad about. He did what the projections said, and the projections missed on the Boyz by 52. Thien gained 4 and Ping lost 1.

Calls that cost. Eddie’s cost 16, the most in the league, and all of it was Monangai over Warren. Josh’s cost 15 and Roger’s cost 11, and those were the only two sets of calls this week that decided a game.

The Trainer’s Room

In a keeper league, an injury isn’t just one bad Sunday. It lands on the five players a manager built his roster around, it follows the franchise into next summer’s keeper decisions, and it sends half the league to Wednesday’s wire. Five keepers picked up a new tag since midweek, and one of them is gone for the year.

De’Von Achane, Custom J. Torn ACL on his third carry Sunday, out for the season. He had been a Custom J keeper since 2024 and gave the team 2 on a projection of 17 before he went down. A late-September tear leaves an outside chance he’s ready for Week 1 next year, so next summer’s keeper decision turns into a medical question. For now Pollard is the fill-in, and Jonah Coleman, the round 13 rookie, is on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain and can’t come back before Week 7. Custom J is the obvious bidder at running back this week.

Josh Allen, Gang Green. Questionable after a 19-point day and a helmet to the left knee late in the game. His coach says he isn’t concerned, and early reads call it a bruise rather than structural damage. Allen has been a Gang Green keeper since 2022, and his backup has thrown for 41 and 26 from the bench the last two weeks. Of all the quarterback injuries in the league, this is the one nobody needs to panic about.

Justin Jefferson, Phreaks. Ankle sprain. Imaging came back clean and he could play in Week 4, though the more cautious read of the tape says high ankle, which usually costs two to three weeks and dents production for a while after he returns. He has been a Phreaks keeper every year since 2021, and he caught 4 before he left. Ping’s list is longer than that. Puka Nacua missed his second straight game with a hip, and the Rams are hopeful but noncommittal about Week 4. Goedert missed Sunday with the knee sprain and is expected to miss Week 4 too. Baker Mayfield, the backup quarterback, is out at least three weeks with a dislocated thumb on his throwing hand.

Travis Etienne Jr., Angels. A keeper who aggravated his hamstring and will miss time, with no timeline yet and injured reserve still possible. Will has the depth for it: both Williamses started beside him and scored 17 or better.

Breece Hall, Masterminds. A keeper, week-to-week with a quad strain, and likely out in Week 4. The MRI was better than feared. The back who takes over the Jets backfield, Braelon Allen, is sitting on Gang Green’s bench, so Marcus won’t find the handcuff on the wire. Caleb Williams, the Masterminds’ backup quarterback, is still on a three-to-four-week clock with the hamstring strain from Week 2.

The rest. Nico Collins, a Buffy keeper, missed his second straight game with a mild hamstring strain, returned to practice Wednesday, and has a decent chance to play in Week 4. Rico Dowdle sat out for Blitz with a toe, and Jalen Coker left with what looks like a mild quad strain and is questionable. Mike Evans is day-to-day for Custom J with a rib injury, and even if he plays, receivers with rib injuries tend to lose snaps and targets. Jayden Daniels is back at practice for the Angels, limited, in an elbow brace and with no surgery, and could return in Week 4, though the cautious read says Week 6.

Back. Bowers played for the first time this season, and Mayer, the 15-dollar fill-in, goes back to the bench. Flowers played through his hamstring for Gang Green, and Darnold came back from a glute injury and threw for 39 from a bench.

Tidbits

A few things that didn’t decide a game but will come up at the draft table anyway.

The Monkeys have won Week 3 every year since 2021. The Masterminds had lost it every year since 2021. Both streaks were live on Sunday, and only one of them survived.

Blitz and the Masterminds both won by 72, in the same week, four-tenths of a point apart.

Blitz has now beaten the Bunch three straight times.

Ping beat Josh in the Stanford game, and Evan, the third Stanford GM, won his.

The family went 1-3. Evan won and Victor lost. The brothers, Josh and Eddie, both lost, and both are 2-4.

This Week’s Pot 

Week 3 paid the highest combined score from a starting kicker and defense, and the City of Angels Masterminds (Marcus Moore) take it with 29: Brandon Aubrey kicked for 11 and the Vikings defense scored 18. Marcus switched from the Texans to the Vikings this week, a week after the Vikings scored 15 on his bench, and the switch was worth 10. He didn’t need it. Aubrey plus the Texans’ 8 still wins at 19, with the Boyz and the Bunch tied for second at 12. The Monkeys, who spent 6 dollars on this Pot, finished ninth with 4.

The standings count the game plus a second result for finishing in the top or bottom half of the week’s scoring. The Monkeys went 2-0 and sit alone at 5-1, even though three teams have outscored them. Blitz, the Masterminds and Gang Green are 4-2. Blitz leads the league in points at 446, and the Masterminds and Gang Green are separated by a tenth of a point, 425.4 to 425.3. ESPN still lists Gang Green third, because head-to-head is the first tiebreaker and Gang Green won their Week 1 meeting. The Phreaks are 3-3. Custom J, the Bunch, the Angels, Buffy and the Boyz are 2-4, and the Boyz have scored 263 points, 60 fewer than anyone else.

Next week

The Monkeys, 5-1, host Custom J, 2-4. That puts the commissioner against the roster the computer drafted for his cousin Josh, now playing without its best running back. The Monkeys lead that series 8-4 over the last five years.

Blitz hosts the Boyz in the Bay Area division, the best score of Week 3 against the worst, in a series the Boyz lead 8-4. Gang Green visits the newly revived Angels in the Road division, with Allen’s knee the question. The Masterminds host the Phreaks, Hall probably out on one side and Jefferson and Nacua uncertain on the other, and Buffy visits the Bunch. Picks come in the preview.