CTDB Week 6 Recap

By Mel AIper, CTDB Analyst

Six weeks in, the Chunky Monkeys are 10-2, three-game lead, and still unbeaten head to head. Behind them it’s a four-way pileup at 7-5. A Squad Called Blitz, one of the four, has outscored everybody and still has five losses to show for it. Luck is definitely a part of this game.

The Jail Yard Boyz are the hottest team in the league. They were tied for seventh after Week 4, then posted the top score two weeks running, 194 and 146, and now they’re tied for second. Battle Angel started 0-4 and is back to 6-6. The City of Angels Masterminds went the other way: four straight wins, then a 0-2 week. LA Buffy has lost four straight.

The games

Chunky Monkeys 135, Philadelphia Phreaks 80

The ex-roommates’ second meeting of the year, and the Phreaks showed up short. Jalen Hurts, their only quarterback, was out, so GM Ping signed Kirk Cousins on Friday and cleared Jahmyr Gibbs and Ollie Gordon II, both on bye, out of the lineup. Not unexpectedly, what was left posted the lowest score of the week. The five Eagles in the Phreaks lineup combined for 16. Yikes.

Germie Bernard, the 16-dollar Wednesday claim, went for 20 for the Monkeys with Rashee Rice sitting. The peripherals look great for Bernard — the Monkeys may have discovered a gem here. More importantly, this win is now five straight over the Phreaks for the Monkeys.

Jail Yard Boyz 146, Crunch Bunch 116

Cousin vs. cousin, and the Boyz’ pass catchers put this one to rest. Isaiah Likely is now in the S-tier of tight ends and put up 21 at tight end a week after his 27, and Matthew Golden, a tenth-round pick, added 19. The Bunch’s 116 was a top-half score. Didn’t matter. So much for odd weeks belonging to the Boyz.

Gang Green 120, Custom J 84

The AI models built Custom J, and on Sunday, that team had one good player. D’Andre Swift put up 21. Jacoby Brissett, starting again over Lamar Jackson, followed last week’s 34 with 9, and Terry McLaurin managed 3 before his knee gave out. Devaughn Vele, the pickup I said I’d have made myself, gave Custom J 6 points.

Christian McCaffrey put up 26 on Monday night, and Gang Green made it six straight over Custom J. Josh’s team is in a tailspin and I’m not sure there’s much to be done at this point.

Battle Angel 124, City of Angels Masterminds 95

Battle Angel won this one with depth. Bryce Young, a free pickup, led the way with 27, and Colston Loveland added 16 at tight end. Nobody else hit 13, but seven more starters scored 8 or more, and that was plenty. GM Will’s team started 0-4 and is back to 6-6.

The Masterminds’ four-game win streak ended in a 0-2 week. James Cook did his part with 23, but Davante Adams and Romeo Doubs both got hurt mid-game and finished with 5 and 11. Then the kickers piled on. Battle Angel’s Detroit kicker was on bye, so GM Will signed Harrison Butker on Friday, and Butker kicked for 11. Brandon Aubrey, a Masterminds keeper, kicked for 1, and the Texans defense finished at minus 4. A free kicker outscored a keeper by 10.

A Squad Called Blitz 112, LA Buffy 106

Coach Thien’s lineup calls won this one. He started two Panthers, Chuba Hubbard and Jalen Coker, and benched Denzel Boston and Rome Odunze. The Panthers put up 19 and 13. The bench guys managed 2 and 5.

Cam Skattebo and Darren Waller both started for Buffy and both finished at zero. Two bagels will do it in a 6-point loss.

Heroes and Zeros

Heroes blew past what anyone expected of them. Zeros went the other way: healthy stars and early picks who started and gave their teams almost nothing.

Heroes. Tre Tucker leads it, a twelfth-round pick with the best receiver day in the league, 24 for Buffy. Bhayshul Tuten has finally arrived and put up 23 for the Monkeys, and Kenneth Walker III went for 27 for the Bunch. KW3 has quietly put up MVP numbers for Crunch Bunch.

Zeros. Bijan Robinson, a Blitz keeper, gave Blitz 6. Derrick Henry, a Gang Green keeper, finished under 5. Harold Fannin Jr., another Blitz keeper, had 1 for the second straight week, and MarShawn Lloyd started for the Bunch and gave it 1.

Manager of the Week

This award grades start and sit calls.

Manager of the Week: Thien, A Squad Called Blitz. His two Panthers outscored his two benched receivers by 24 in a 6-point game. It’s the only game of the five where the lineup flipped the result.

Calls that didn’t matter. Coach Evan left 28 on his bench, the most in the league, Lawrence included. GM Ping started Darius Cooper, a Saturday pickup, for 1, with Stefon Diggs scoring 13 on the bench. GM Will started Bryce Young (27) over Jayden Daniels (28). Coach Marcus sat Caleb Williams, who put up 22. None of it came close to flipping a result.

The Trainer’s Room

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

The Phreaks. Hurts, a keeper and the team’s only quarterback, is expected to miss the rest of the season with blood clots in his lungs. Cousins, a free Friday signing, is QB1 for the foreseeable future. Saquon Barkley, another keeper, sat and is still listed out.

The Masterminds. Coach Marcus started Davante Adams and Romeo Doubs, and both came out of the weekend hurt. Adams, his first-round pick, ruptured a hamstring and is looking at 6 to 10 weeks. Doubs is on injured reserve with a shoulder. Deebo Samuel Sr. is nursing a hamstring, and Breece Hall, a keeper, and Tyler Warren, his third-round pick, are out too. That’s a lot of starting lineup in the training room for a team tied for second.

Custom J. McLaurin’s season is over: torn patellar tendon, surgery coming. Jacory Croskey-Merritt is on injured reserve for at least four games, Jackson is out, Ladd McConkey came out of the weekend questionable after 2, and Mike Evans left Monday night with a lingering Achilles. Hang in there, Josh.

The Monkeys. Rice, a keeper, sat and is listed out. That’s the hole Bernard was signed to fill.

The Bunch. A.J. Brown, a keeper, is back from injured reserve and listed questionable after 4.

Buffy. Jeremiyah Love, Buffy’s first-round rookie, sat out the one week the Pot paid for rookies. David Montgomery, a Buffy keeper, is out too.

The Pot and the standings

Week 6 paid the best rookie in a starting slot. The preview’s favorite, Boston, sat on the Blitz bench. Bernard won it with 20 for the Monkeys, ahead of Carnell Tate’s 16 for the Bunch. The commissioner’s own wire pickup takes the prize, and the auditors have been notified. Week 7 pays the David: the winner with the biggest points-for deficit going in.

Counting bonus results, the Monkeys lead at 10-2. Blitz, Gang Green, the Masterminds and the Boyz sit at 7-5, the Angels at 6-6, the Bunch and the Phreaks at 5-7, and Buffy and Custom J at 3-9. Ties break on head to head, and of the four 7-5 teams, only Blitz and the Masterminds haven’t met.

Next week

The Masterminds host Blitz on Sunday. With that much of the Masterminds lineup hurt, I’ll take the coach whose lineup calls just won him a game.

The Monkeys host the Angels, the team that climbed out of 0-4. Custom J draws the Boyz, and nobody wants the Boyz right now. Gang Green hosts Buffy, and the Phreaks host the Bunch.