Jack Predovic's Blog

I read a lot of articles about sports, and I also like to watch videos about them on YouTube while I’m sitting down at my dining room table eating breakfast. If I’m doing something like chores around the house and I want to be distracted, I’ll turn on a podcast like The Ringer or a channel like Thinking Football and just listen while I work. Recently, I’ve been paying pretty close attention to the NFL Draft, at least much more than I have in years previous. With the event set to occur next Thursday, in this blog post I want to detail some of my favorite prospects in the 2023 draft class and why I like each of them. These players aren’t necessarily who I think are the best in the class, but more so players that I like and am rooting for once they get into the league.

 

Jordan Addison

Kicking it off with my favorite wide receiver in this year’s class, Addison is a receiver who will dice you up no matter where he is positioned on the field. With the expansive route tree that he possesses, the USC prospect is a dangerous threat on all three levels. The production that Addison had in college is everything that you could desire when assessing a WR prospect. He won the prestigious Biletnikoff Award in his 2021 season playing at Pitt, delivering multiple signature performances en route to it, like his 202-yard, 4 touchdown game against Virginia. After he transferred to USC this past season, Addison kept up the dominance as he quickly formed an almost telepathic connection with his new QB, future top-five pick in the 2024 NFL draft Caleb Williams. He has an unmatched swagger to his game, and he will step up to the plate when the lights are the brightest, as he showed by catching multiple go-ahead touchdowns late in games for the Trojans. Some will look at his lean 5’11” frame and average performance in the athletic tests at the combine and project his ceiling as only a slightly above average player at the next level. Don’t let those people fool you, though. Addison is going to be a problem in the NFL.

 

Devon Witherspoon

Am I biased in calling this guy the best corner in the draft just because he went to the University of Illinois? Maybe, but even so, there are multiple reasons why Witherspoon stands out even amongst this year’s historically loaded DB class. The Illini product was a blur in orange and blue on the field this past season, with an unnatural knack for making huge plays. His on-ball productivity in 2022 was exceptional, as he closed out the season with three interceptions and 14 pass breakups. When you look at those numbers combined with his prowess in coverage (he allowed only 22 catches for 206 yards on 63 targets last season, amounting to an absurd average of 3.3 yards per target), it becomes easy to see why many analysts have him near the top of their draft boards. He also hits super hard for a cornerback. Like viciously hard. Witherspoon will deliver blows to receivers that make you utter an audible “damn!” as they are knocked to the turf. Bottom line, he is an extremely entertaining player to watch, and I can’t wait to see what he does in the NFL.

 

Bryce Young

Everyone will be quick to point out Young’s lack of height as a fatal flaw, and dismiss him from ever becoming an elite quarterback at the next level. But I will tell you right now that his lack of size isn’t going to matter. Because Young is a gamer. If I were to compare him to an NBA player, it would be Stephen Curry, because he can do the football equivalent of going and getting you a bucket. Bryce Young showed during his tenure at Alabama that he can make magic out there on the field. His ability to create something out of nothing when his pocket collapses is second to none, and there is a gigantic gap between him and every other QB in his class at this present moment. Historically however, quarterbacks of Bryce’s stature have had little success at the next level, with the notable exception of Drew Brees, though even he was a bit taller. The only concern I have about his height and especially his weight is how he will handle taking hits from NFL pass rushers, and the injury risk that comes along with that. Other than his physical profile however, Young has every intangible quality that you could ask for in your franchise star. He has the poise, the competitiveness, the leadership, and the unteachable creativity to improvise when things go south. Young is a unicorn of a prospect because of his size, and I’m excited to see if he can become a future All-Pro quarterback in the league.

Playoff time is coming soon in the National Basketball Association. With the regular season winding down and each team having only a few games left to play, I think that now is the appropriate time to start looking towards the postseason. We have a solid understanding of what each team is at this point, though obviously anything can happen in the playoffs. Traditionally however, basketball is a sport that throughout its storied history has not had many true underdogs make runs to the title. Because there is still a lot of uncertainty with the Western Conference and what the standings will look like when all is said and done, in this blog post, I will be focusing specifically on the Eastern Conference, which is much more top-heavy. I will be looking at each of the three teams in the East that I think have the best realistic shot at winning the NBA championship and describing the strengths and weaknesses of each of them.

 

Milwaukee Bucks

The team with the best overall record in the league, it is not shocking that the Bucks are the favorites to win the NBA title. This is the case largely because they have Giannis Antetokounmpo, who for my money is still probably the best player in the world due to his otherworldly impact on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Complimenting him is all-star guard Jrue Holiday, one of the toughest perimeter defenders in the association with the ability to put the clamps on other teams’ stars in the postseason. He has also taken a substantial jump with his scoring this year, shouldering a larger workload with regular secondary-scorer Khris Middleton being in and out of the lineup due to injury. Their 35 year old 7’1” center Brook Lopez has also had somewhat of a resurgence this season, recementing himself as an outstanding rim protector with his ability to hold down the paint and block shots. Because of these players, the Bucks unsurprisingly have had an elite defense all season, ranking top-5 in the league in defensive rating. The fact that they have had all of their success without Middleton for stretches of the season makes this team even scarier, and his health woes could be the only thing potentially holding them back. They have been on an absolute heater since the turn of the new year, with an absurd record of 30-9 since January 1st. With solid, dependable role players like Bobby Portis and Grayson Allen filling out the rest of the roster, the Milwaukee Bucks are the safest pick to hoist the Larry O’Brein trophy come June. 

 

Boston Celtics

Sitting at second place in the Eastern Conference standings, Boston is fresh off a Finals appearance last season where they lost to the Golden State Warriors in six games. They have two bonafide stars in forwards Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown, the former of which was getting MVP buzz early in the season. The Celtics were rattling off wins to start the season off, and their roster is probably the deepest in the entire league. With last year’s DPOY winner Marcus Smart, the versatile Derrick White, and Malcolm Brogdon whom they acquired in the offseason, the C’s can boast about great depth at the guard spot. Savvy big man Al Horford is the glue guy for the team, and Rob Williams III anchors their defense down at center, although he has been injured for a portion of this season.For whatever weird reason though, things just sometimes don’t seem to click for the Celtics, often at crucial moments. Sometimes it is due to them resorting too much to isolation possessions with their star players and stopping their movement off-ball. Sometimes it is just them going on a cold streak shooting, which happens with every team. Most recently, their forward Grant Williams missed two free throws in the closing seconds of a game against the Cavs that would have sealed the victory, which were made more comical due to the fact that he told the other team before shooting them that he would make both. But the bottom line is that when the Celtics move the ball, shoot well, cut, and play cohesively, they are almost unstoppable. I just don’t know how much I trust them to put it all together.

 

Philadelphia 76ers

 

The Sixers are a team that feels like they are potentially poised for a breakthrough this postseason. After falling short of reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the past few seasons, superstar big man Joel Embiid has jumped up to another level this season, and is currently the betting favorite to win the MVP award. He is flanked by the notorious James Harden, who has morphed himself from one of the league’s most prolific scorers to one of its best playmakers. Tyrese Maxey is the third best player on the roster, and he is an electric young guard who can both shoot and pass. After struggling a bit to begin the season, this team has found their groove as of late, and are currently sitting at third place in the East with some notable wins against other top teams under their belt. The main obstacle standing in the way of the 76ers is injuries. Embiid has a terrible track record when it comes to getting hurt, and both Maxey and Harden have missed time this season as well. Philadelphia’s defense is also a shade worse than both Boston’s and Milwaukee’s, and even the four-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers. If they can’t hold up defensively, this worries me for their ability to hold up throughout a long playoff run. Pieces they have added like De’Anthony Melton and P.J. Tucker can help them somewhat, but it will still be a tough road. The 76ers certainly have the talent though, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they found themselves in the NBA Finals.

Anyone who has ridden in my car can tell you that my music taste is quite diverse. When my phone is hooked up to the aux cord, at one moment you might hear some old Taylor Swift song, like “Love Story” or “Our Song”, only for the speakers to be blaring Nardo Wick a minute later. My playlists span vastly over multiple genres, and as such I consider myself able to have good recommendations about whether music is good or not (some of my friends may not agree with this statement). I often sort of flip-flop every week or so in terms of my mood about what I want to listen to, and in this blog post I am going to share with you all the music that I have been listening to recently.

About two weeks ago I had a phase where I was almost exclusively listening to the La La Land soundtrack when I would drive home from track practice after school. I think that this was inspired in part by a few of my friends telling me that they recently finished watching the movie in their Film as Literature class, and also in part by my sister who is involved in show choir at North. Anyways, there are some extremely catchy songs on this soundtrack that I found myself singing along to, like “Someone in the Crowd” and the iconic “Another Day of Sun”. 

Speaking of sun, “Saturday Sun” by Vance Joy is another song that has been in my rotation as of late. He is one of my mom’s favorite artists, and I also like a few of his other songs like “Riptide”. The enthusiastic acoustic guitar on these songs is a nice departure from some of the other music that I listen to, and I enjoy playing some alternative every once in a while.

This month I also went back in time a bit and listened to some older music from one of my favorite artists, which is Drake. I revisited his surprise 2015 album If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, and I got a nice nostalgia blast. “Energy”, “10 Bands”, and “Used To ft. Lil Wayne” are all throwback hype songs that I like, but my favorite track on the album is “Jungle”, which is definitely a top-five Drake song of all time, and firmly in contention for his best as far as I’m concerned. The slow, booming kick of the bass pairs beautifully with the sample taken from Brooklyn musician Gabriel Garzón-Montano, which goes “Rock me real slowly/Put a bib on me/I’m just like a baby drooling over you,” and Drake’s vocals complete this 5 minute 20 second masterpiece.

I listen to a lot of rap music, and there were a couple new hip hop albums that I listened to this month. Don Toliver dropped his album Love Sick just a couple of days ago, and I intended to listen to it all the way through, but when I saw that Justin Bieber was featured on one of the songs I had to play it immediately. The song in question, “Private Landing”, did not disappoint. Don provides a nice hook, and Future’s verse on the song is stellar also. But the Bieber feature, OH MY GOD THE BIEBER FEATURE. He absolutely slides, and his part feels like a transfer back to his R&B era that he was in years ago. Having that song in my ears when I’m walking through the hallways is a great feeling. There are a few other songs on the album that I like as well, like “Leave the Club ft. Lil Durk and GloRilla” and “Slow Motion ft. Wizkid”, but I never listened to the album fully and mainly only played the songs with features that I wanted to hear.

Another new release that I listened to was Young Nudy’s album Gumbo. I saw a review of it on TikTok, and considering that every song on the album is named after a different food, I did not have extremely high expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. The beats are fun and unique, and the whole album is pretty lighthearted. My favorite song is called “Pancake”, and the chorus of it begins “Splat, pull up in the ‘Cat (Nyoom), whole neighborhood see that I got racks (That I got racks)”. There are only two features on the album, but they are both very good and from high-profile artists. Nudy partners with longtime collaborator 21 Savage on “Peaches & Eggplants”, and then Memphis rapper Key Glock delivers a verse on “Pot Roast”.

Another Memphis rapper that is frequently booming out of my AirPods is Pooh Shiesty. His album Shiesty Season has been a staple in my playlist for a minute. “See Red” is the best from it in my opinion. That song is a masterpiece and I won’t let anyone tell me otherwise. “Guard Up” is a close second place. I also discovered an artist named Caleb Gordon, who makes exclusively clean Christian rap music. I like his songs “Rocky Road Pt.. 2” and “Quick”. The last artist I want to shout out that I’ve been listening to is Young Thug, specifically his songs “Check” and “Wyclef Jean”. If you have any song recommendations for me, drop them in the comments.

As soon as this assignment was introduced, I knew that I wanted to analyze another E. E. Cummings poem. I had enjoyed reading his poems in class, learning about how he attempts to “shortcircuit” our understanding of language, and I wanted to try and decipher another piece of literature from this ingenious mastermind of words.

My search on the Poetry Foundation website led me to [love is more thicker than forget]. When I first read the title, I was reminded of [i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]. However, unlike that iconic love poem, this one is absent of Cummings’ trademark parentheses. In fact, it is completely void of punctuation altogether. This initially threw me for a loop, because Cummings is known for his unorthodox use of punctuation marks to create unique meaning. But I moved on regardless, thinking to myself: “Hey wait….you know what…Cummings is known for weird punctuation…and there’s no punctuation…maybe this’ll be easy!” Then I read the poem. And I had no idea what it meant. 

Well, almost no idea, I guess I should say. I knew it had something to do with love. The speaker was clearly making some sort of commentary on the idea of love, but they were doing it through seemingly incomprehensible metaphors and paradoxical statements. The first line, “love is more thicker than forget”, sounds like it was written by a kindergartener. And the second stanza contains the word “unbe”, which I didn’t even know was a real word until I looked it up. I recalled Cummings’ goal of bringing us back to our most basic understanding of how language functions, and then somehow in my mind the phrasing made more sense.

So I went back to the beginning and read it again, line by line this time.

First line: “love is more thicker than forget”. I thought to myself, what is this line saying? I decided that it meant that love is long-lasting, overcoming our ability as humans to forget things quickly. OK, that was manageable.

I moved to the second line: “more thinner than recall”. Wait a minute, that sort of seems to completely contradict the previous line. So love is permanent, but at the same time fleeting? 

Third line: “more seldom than a wave is wet”. Well, “seldom” means rare, so love is more rare than wet waves? Waves are always wet, so does this mean love is common? Weird way to phrase it.

Fourth line: “more frequent than to fail”. Love occurs more often than failure. We fail at things all the time. So again, love is common in life. Aha! That’s saying almost the same thing as the previous line! So through one stanza, we have found some meaning, a connection.

After rereading the poem a few times over, I listened to a recording of it read aloud on the Poetry Foundation website, and I noticed a distinct rhyming pattern that was present. The reader stressed the alternating rhymes in each stanza, like “sunly” and “only”, emphasizing the quatrain structure that the poem is written in. When I listened again, I noticed many elements of repetition in the poem. There is alliteration present in the phrases “sane and sunly” and “mad and moonly”. I also discovered through closer examination that the alternating stanzas in the poem are structured literally identically to each other. In the second and fourth stanzas, the beginning of each line is the same: 

it is…

and…

than all…

is…

 and in the first and third stanzas, there is only one distinct difference. While the last three lines of the first stanza begin with “more…more..more”, the last three of the third stanza go “less…less..less”. More and less are opposites of each other. I went back and searched for any more instances of opposites occurring in the poem, and to my surprise I found many scattered throughout it. “Thicker” and “thinner”, “moonly” and “sunly”, “always” and “never”, “bigger” and “littler”. I was thrown for a loop by these opposites. Why would the poem have so much repetition and sameness but at the same time contain all of these contrasting pairings? I thought back to my initial goal, examining the lines for any meaning that I could get out of them. What is the speaker trying to say through all of these lines? And then everything clicked together.

In this commentary about love, the speaker in this poem is saying both something and nothing at the same time. Throughout the entire poem, the speaker is essentially repeating the exact same thing. 

Cummings illustrates in this poem that love, at its core, is not simple. He uses complex metaphors to paint a vivid picture of the nature of love, but that ultimately doesn’t make it any easier for us to comprehend. However, what Cummings is getting at is the idea that even though we may not be able to contextualize, describe, or understand love, we know what it feels like. We can feel it, and we can take comfort in that feeling. We can feel love even in the darkest of times. It is a force that is always present in our lives. 

In this poem, Cummings explores the classic theme of love, one that he understands is the most popular and most prevalent in all of literature. There is nothing to say about love that hasn’t already been said before. I think that this is a part of Cummings’ commentary on love that we can see in this poem through his use of repetition in both words and in the format of the stanzas. Cummings plays with both sameness and opposites, making parallels and contrasts at the same time to embellish the complexity of love. He writes this poem using very simple language, but incredibly difficult metaphors, and in doing so creates a nuanced commentary on love that requires thought to decipher.

In honor of the indoor season starting at North this week, in this post I will be counting down the top ten events in track and field and giving my reasoning for each. Of course, these rankings are all just my opinion.

Honorable mentions: 4×200 meter relay, high jump, 800 meter

10: Pole Vault

Maybe surprisingly to some, coming in at the ten spot is going to be the pole vault. This spot is always going to be controversial, but I think that I had to include it here just due to the sheer uniqueness of the event. In what other sport do you see athletes vaulting over a bar nearly 20 feet in the air with a stick? While it definitely has a reputation as probably the most dangerous event, and I certainly would never try it, pole vault undoubtedly deserves a spot on this list.

9: Discus

Another field event here in the nine spot, discus is one of the few throwing events, and in my opinion the best one. I used to compete in this event in middle school, and it is very fun. If you’ve never seen it, I highly encourage you to look it up. It’s basically throwing a metal frisbee as far as you can. Many of the top athletes in this event are absolutely massive, which makes sense since success in throwing the discus is all about how much power you are able to generate. It is also extremely technique based, as athletes often do a spinning wind-up to throw as far as possible.

8: 200 meter dash

Often thought of as a sort of “baby brother” to the 100 meter dash, the 200 doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves. While the 100 is all about pure top speed, the 200 requires athletes to be able to hold that speed for a longer distance. The very best athletes in this event can accelerate to their maximum speed around the curve at the start of the race and then finish by holding this speed through the straightaway. If you watch the Olympic sprinters run this event, many of them look as if they are almost gliding, their feet barely touching the ground.

7: 400 meter dash

An event that is near and dear to my heart, the 400 meter is the longest running event that is still considered a “sprint”. Because of this, the 400 requires not only elite speed, but also elite endurance. There is also a fair deal of strategy involved when running the 400, and it is taught in four distinct phases throughout the race, which are the four P’s: Push, Pace, Position, and Pray. The “Pray” phase refers to the final straightaway where you run to the finish with all the energy that you have left in the tank. One lap around the track, the 400 meter dash is a hallmark challenge for any track athlete.

6: 300 meter hurdles 

An event that many may be unfamiliar with, the 300 meter hurdles race is one of, if not the most physically demanding events in the sport. It requires athletes to sprint 3/4 of the track while jumping over eight hurdles along the way. This demands incredible focus so as not to fall when jumping the hurdles as well as insane stamina and technique to not slow down after clearing a hurdle. The athletes who compete in this event are truly some of the toughest out there, and as such it definitely deserves a spot on this list.

5: Triple Jump

Kicking off the top five is another underrated event: the triple jump. Most have probably seen this event before. Athletes, after a short run-up, get three consecutive hops to launch themselves as far as possible before landing in a pit of sand. This event is the most technical in all of track and field, as competitors need to hone their technique in order to get the most out of each of their three jumps. The best jumpers can fully cycle and reset their legs in between each hop, almost as if they are running while in the air. It is an awkward event when you try it for the first time, and takes a lot of practice and time to master.

4: 4×100 meter relay

One of my favorite events to watch, the 4×100 is a great display of teamwork at top speed. The race encompasses one loop around the track, with each athlete in the relay team sprinting 100 meters. It is crucial that the exchanges of the baton between teammates be crisp in this race where every millisecond matters and one drop or miscommunication will ruin everything. The 4×100 demands precision at maximum velocity, and that is why it lands here on the list at number four.

3: 1600 meter run

The one-mile run. As the most iconic distance event, this race is truly a test of mental toughness. While holding their pace for four laps around the track, there are many strategic decisions that athletes must make while they are running, like how they are positioned amongst the other runners and when the right time is to pass the person in front of them. While it may have a reputation as a “boring” race, I personally find it extremely entertaining to watch. Because of the length of the race, there is also opportunity for comebacks to be made even if an athlete seems to be falling behind early on.

2: 100 meter dash

The most famous event in track and field, the 100 needs no introduction. Everybody knows it as the purest test of an athlete’s acceleration and speed. As the runners burst out of their starting blocks, the excitement of the 100 cannot be matched. Usain Bolt, the king of the sport, also holds the crown in this event and it is what he is most known for. The sport’s most iconic race, the 100 meter dash is more than deserving of the number two spot.

1: 4×400 meter relay

But holding the top spot is none other than the 4×400 meter relay. Similar to the 4×100, this race sees a team of four athletes each run a lap around the track while carrying a baton. I love this event more than any other. Traditionally the final event held in the schedule of a meet, the 4×400 can often be the deciding factor in the scoring for which school wins the meet, and as such there is always a special electricity in the air during this race. In high school meets, each school’s athletes line the outside of the track and cheer on their teammates who are running. Pushing and competing with everything that you have, under the bright lights of the stadium with your team on your back as you hear the noise of the crowd around you is a feeling unlike any other. This event is where bonds are forged and champions are made, and for that reason it is the best event in track and field.

Reflecting on Senior Year so far

Rewarding. If I had to choose one word to encapsulate my senior year thus far, that would be it. I knew coming in this summer that it would at times be difficult. In terms of academic rigor, my class schedule this year was slated to be the most challenging so far in high school. I was taking three AP classes, and on top of that two other classes that were weighted. Having to balance school with playing soccer, work, college apps, and my other extracurricular activities did not give me a lot of free time, but I wouldn’t change anything. Embracing the challenge,  I became more in tune with myself as an independent worker, and also deepened my relationships with my teammates and my friends. 

I have a younger sister who is going to be a junior next year, and I was thinking about pieces of advice that I could give to her as she becomes an upperclassman. I think that I would tell her to not be afraid of undertaking too much. While I was incredibly busy at certain times during the semester, the feeling when I accomplished everything that I needed to do was so gratifying. And also, high school doesn’t last forever, so I think that you need to take advantage of all of the opportunities that you have to get involved and make memories. 

Here are some of my biggest takeaways:

–Spend time with your friends: With as much as you may have on your plate, it is still so important to make time to hang out with your friends. A random Saturday night could turn into the most fun that you have ever had. Ultimately, it will not be all of the work that you remember from your senior year, but the people that you spent it with. 

–Go to school events: Go to all of the school events. I don’t care what it is. The 80’s dance, homecoming, football games, crosstown, basketball games, Mr. NNHS, the musicals. Go to everything, because sometimes this will be the last chance that you get to do these things.

–Meet new people: This kind of goes along with my other two points above, but I’ve gotten to know a lot of new people this year. Even just getting to know better people that you are already familiar with is enough to make new connections that you will treasure forever.

–Watch the World Cup: Obviously this is not going to be applicable every year, only once every four, but I can really say that watching the World Cup this year was the most excitement I’ve ever felt watching a sporting event on TV. I watched almost all of the games from the group stages through to the knockouts, oftentimes in class, silently reacting to whatever happened in the games. Rooting for Croatia, I remember watching their group stage game against Belgium during my third period class and seeing every other guy in the class looking at their computer screens with a shocked expression whenever Lukaku missed an open goal. My heart dropped at least four times watching it for that very reason. And I will forever remember coming home after school and racing to my living room to turn on the TV to see the penalty shootout between Argentina and the Netherlands. Also sitting and watching the World Cup Final with my dad while simultaneously trying to review for my calculus final will be a moment that I will forever cherish.

As I look back on this first semester, I certainly remember being swamped with schoolwork as I tried to finish my college essays, but I think that when I look back on it in the future, the moments that I will remember will be the times spent with my friends and my family, and all of the memories that I have made.

Welcome back everyone, for what is sadly the last blog post for the year. In this post I’ll be going over how my team performed the past three weeks of the fantasy football season.

For a quick recap, my record after Week 9 was 6-3, and going into Week 10 I was cruising on a three game win streak, just coming off my biggest win of the season against Anton. My entire team had been going off, especially my running backs, and I was looking to make it four wins in a row against my next opponent Carter Kotrba. 

I wasn’t missing any of my key players due to bye weeks, though I was without Chargers WR Mike Williams, who was still out due to his ankle sprain. Carter’s team was devastated by injuries to some of his top players, namely Ja’marr Chase and Damien Harris, but his team was still surging thanks to great production from Deandre Hopkins and his new pickup Justin Fields. I was confident though that my team had what it took to come away with the W.

And I was right. While Fields had another absolutely insane performance with 39.38 points in a narrow loss against the Lions, my star receiver Justin Jefferson was able to nearly equal him in Minnesota’s historic comeback win over the Bills. He scored a whopping 35.3 fantasy points in this game through multiple highlight plays, including coming down with a contested one-handed catch that might be the greatest in NFL history. Despite good games from Carter’s receivers Hopkins and Pickens, and a bad 1.7 point game from A.J. Brown, I was able to get the win 148.2 to 119.28 backed by solid games from Hurts, Kelce, and Tony Pollard.

Next up in Week 11 was a matchup against Jakob Pawlikowski and his team led by King Derrick Henry. I was aided in this one by his two top receivers Mike Evans and DK Metcalf both being on bye, though my two top RB’s Etienne and Walker would miss the week as well. 

The Titans played the Packers on Thursday night, and I had to watch Derrick Henry rush for one touchdown and pass or another en route to a 25.36 point fantasy performance, as well as Allen Lazard catch a few passes for 10.7 points, putting me in a bit of a hole to start the week. However, Mike Will was slated to make his return from injury this week against the Chiefs, so I had some optimism, albeit with some concern too. Unfortunately, Mike Will reaggravated his injury very early into the game, and was ruled out for the rest of it; having recently sprained my ankle, I felt a lot of sympathy for him. But one positive that came out of that game was that Travis Kelce had another trademark huge performance, scoring a hatrick of three touchdowns and 35.5 points. That wasn’t even the biggest scoring affair on my team for the week though, as Tony Pollard had an insane 36.9 fantasy points in Dallas’ thumping of the Vikings. And as if that wasn’t crazy enough, my kicker Tyler Bass made not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5, but 6 field goals against the Cleveland Browns for 23.0 points. I ended up taking a commanding victory 155.8 to 106.82, increasing my win streak to five games in a row.

But coming up in Week 12, I would be facing a big test in the form of Zane Anderson and his team the Boston Benchwarmers. His record at the time was 6-5, but that did not reflect how scary good his team had the potential to be, as many of his players had been underperforming on the season. Built with possibly the best running back core in the league with all of Dameon Pierce, Jonathan Taylor, and Saquan Barkley,  and good receivers in Godwin and Ceedee Lamb, the only real weakness his team had was at the QB with Tom Brady. But I had the confidence that my team could go toe-to-toe.

This was the week of Thanksgiving, and we each had a few players playing in the NFL holiday games. Justin Jefferson had another jaw-dropping game, exploding for 29.34 points in a win over the Patriots that was made all the more sweet by the fact that Zane had the Patriots as his defense. Unfortunately though, Tony Pollard had a letdown of a performance compared to what he had been doing in the previous three weeks and finished with 8.1 points, while Ceedee and Saquan both had solid statlines in that same game. Ceedee Lamb could’ve actually had an even bigger performance if he had managed to get his left heel in on what would’ve been a spectacular one-handed touchdown grab, so I was lucky that didn’t happen. Bass also kicked his way to another good showing with 10.0 points.

Before I talk about the Sunday games, I need to talk about an important (and ultimately very stupid) lineup switch that I made. I was planning to start the Jets defense, but they were playing against the Bears, and I couldn’t do that to my hometown team. Also, there had been a viral Instagram post that I had seen of someone attempting to predict the Jets’ season record by flipping a coin for each game, and so far every single result had been correct. And wouldn’t you know it, the next prediction was that the Jets would fall to the Bears in Week 12. So maybe it was the coin, or just my delusion as a Bears fan, or maybe even a combination of the two, but with stalwart belief that the Bears would kick the crap out of the Jets and take the victory, I swapped out the Jets defense and started the Bears defense instead.

Unfortunately though, Mike White and the New York Jets proceeded to smoke the Bears 31-10, delivering them an absolutely embarrassing Sunday morning beatdown. The Bears defense is atrocious, and they ended up giving me -5.0 points, detracting from my total for the week. And when all was said and done, that decision would be what ended up costing me the victory. Godwin had a great game with 29.0 fantasy points, and even an equally great game from Jalen Hurts wasn’t enough to offset it. To make matters worse, Etienne left the Jaguars game against the Ravens in the first quarter with a foot injury, so he finished with only 0.3 points and more importantly may miss Week 13 as well. Prayers up for a quick recovery. I ended up taking the L 130.64 to 117.76, and all respect to Zane for his team’s performance.

Although my win streak ultimately came to an end, I still had an overall record of 8-4, and am virtually locked in to a spot in the playoffs of my league. Hopefully Etienne and Mike Williams can get healthy and my team can go on to win it all.

We’re getting right back to it. In this blog post, I’m going to be recounting how my fantasy team performed in Weeks 8 and 9 of the NFL season.

Starting where my last post finished, my record was 4-3 after Week 7, and I was coming off a win against Aidan. With the regular season now halfway over, I felt that I now had a pretty good understanding of my team and what I needed to do to hopefully have a shot at the playoffs.

And for Week 8, the first order of business was figuring out how to handle the bye weeks of the Chiefs and the Chargers. The Chiefs bye meant that I would be missing Travis Kelce for my matchup against Parthiv and his team Team Manchella. This had the potential to be a tough battle as well, with Parthiv’s team spearheaded by Josh Allen, who had been the top fantasy quarterback on the season so far. I would also be without Mike Williams, as the Chargers WR had unfortunately suffered a high ankle sprain in his team’s last game that would likely keep him out for 4-6 weeks. Another major blow to my team considering that Mike Will had been an integral part in many of my previous victories. 

I put Tony Pollard in at my FLEX spot again to join Etienne and Kenneth Walker III, and then I looked to the waiver wire for a replacement for Kelce. I saw that another team in my league had recently dropped Dolphins TE Mike Gesicki, so I picked him up to stand in for my star tight end. While he had by no means been all that great on the season, I figured he was serviceable enough. Gesicki had had a couple of solid performances in the past and I also liked the way he hit the griddy, so that was all I needed to take a shot at starting him for the week.

But really, surprisingly, none of these moves ended up mattering all that much in the grand scheme of things, because my entire team went absolutely nuclear in Week 8. With Ezekiel Elliott out, Tony Pollard rushed for a hat trick of 3 touchdowns and an insane 33.7 fantasy points. Etienne continued his hot streak by scoring another touchdown and 25.2 fantasy points. Jalen Hurts threw for 4 touchdowns and had 28.4 points. Jefferson had 15.8, Walker had 12.2, and my kicker Tyler Bass had 10.0. Even Gesicki got in on the action, scoring 12.8 points and a touchdown of his own. And the Jaguars defense actually didn’t suck, as they managed a respectable 5.0 points. But not to be outdone by anyone, A.J. Brown had a monster 6-156-3 statline, giving him 39.6 fantasy points and making him the overall WR1 for the week. 

Adding up all the scores, my team finished with a ridiculous total of 182.7 points on the week, by far my highest total of the season. With an uncharacteristically bad game from Josh Allen, Parthiv’s team only managed 76.76 points, so I walked away with another W.

I was feeling good coming off of a win, but my opponent in Week 9 would be maybe my toughest yet. I was facing off against none other than my good friend Anton Frantisak and his stacked 8-0 squad. This was going to be a real test.

The Cowboys bye week meant that I would be without Tony Pollard and he would be without Dalton Schultz. I started off with an early lead in points, as the Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown both had solid performances against the Texans on Thursday night. As the early 12:00 games started on Sunday, I was hoping for a big game out of Justin Jefferson, and he immediately delivered, catching 4 passes on the Vikings’ opening drive of the game and scoring a touchdown as well. But in the other 12:00 game, Anton’s own star receiver Davante Adams was torching the Jacksonville Jaguars. Luckily I had chosen to start the Chiefs defense over the Jaguars this week, or otherwise I would have been in even more trouble. Adams had 2 touchdown receptions and had scored over 30 fantasy points by halftime. He would finish the game with 60 points if he kept up that pace. It was not looking good. 

But in the second half of that game, the Jaguars rallied back against the Raiders. They held Davante Adams to only one more catch the entire game, and equally as importantly, Travis Etienne scored 2 touchdowns to put me back in the lead. Jefferson continued his great game and finished with 25.5 points,and Falcons rookie RB Tyler Allgeier, who I had started in place of Pollard, had a nice outing rushing against the Chargers. Kelce and Kenneth Walker III both had exceptional games as well, and with uncharacteristically bad games from Anton’s duo of Justin Herbert and Leonard Fournette, it was looking like the win was all but secured. I just needed Alvin Kamara not to score 50 points when the Saints played on Monday night, and fortunately, that did not happen. I managed to end Anton’s undefeated record and come out with a win 161.82 to 119.7.

After Weeks 8 and 9, I was sitting in a five-way tie for the top of my division with Vishal, Ian, Jacob, and Lex. With the jaw-dropping point totals my team had been putting up recently, I am excited to see what is to come.

Welcome back everyone. As you smart folks can guess from the title, in this blog post I’m going to be going over how my fantasy football team did in Weeks 6 and 7. So without further ado, let’s jump right into it.

First, a quick recap from my last post. After a statement win in Week 5, my record had improved to a solid 3-2. I was on a two game winning streak and my players had all been performing very well, so I was feeling nice and confident going into Week 6. 

Hoping to keep my win streak alive, I was facing Jeff Prakash and his team the Chicken Lit Chickens in Week 6. Jeff’s team had been struggling a bit for the past couple of weeks and I was projected to come away with a victory on paper, but I knew that ESPN’s projections are oftentimes a bit off the mark, to say it kindly. 

It started off well enough, though. Jeff had Commanders receiver Curtis Samuel playing on Thursday night, and he busted hard, scoring only 2.2 points. However, nothing could have prepared me for the chaos that was to ensue next in this matchup.

It started with the early 12:00 games on Sunday. I had Justin Jefferson playing against Miami, and I was hoping that he would be able to have a monster game against their so-far suspect secondary. He only turned in an average performance however, at least by his standards, scoring 16.7 points. But I wasn’t sweating it too much yet, as I figured that the rest of my team would be able to make up for it. 

And that’s when I looked at the score of the other 12:00 game. The Colts vs. the Jaguars. Now, I didn’t actually have any players in my lineup playing in this game because I benched Etienne for the week in favor of Cardinals RB Eno Benjamin, but I did start Jacksonville’s defense. They were supposed to do well in this matchup, as they had been a solid fantasy defense to start the year and the Colts had been struggling to score the ball. You should be able to tell by that lovely foreshadowing that this was not going to be the case.

I watched in a mix of absolute horror and shock as the Colts offense ripped the Jaguars defense to shreds. By the fourth quarter, the Colts had already scored 26 points. Then, to add insult to injury, Colts QB Matt Ryan threw a bomb down the field in the final seconds for the game-winning touchdown. The Colts beat the Jags 34-27, their highest point total of the entire season, and the Jaguars defense finished with an abysmal -4 fantasy points. To make matters even worse, Jeff had the Colts #1 receiver Michael Pittman Jr. on his team, and he finished the game with 13 catches and 26.4 fantasy points.

So after that, the tables had turned, but I wasn’t out of it by any means. The Chiefs and the Bills were playing at 3:25 in America’s Game of the Week, and I knew I could count on Travis Kelce for a big performance. The only problem was that Jeff’s team featured the Bills top receiver Stefon Diggs, as well as the Bills top running back Devin Singletary, who I had actually traded to him. I was not feeling good about that combination.

I watched this game live, and every time that Buffalo had the ball, I prayed that Josh Allen did not throw it to Stefon Diggs. Clearly though, God did not hear my prayers. Diggs caught pass after pass after painful pass, and finished the game with a ridiculous 30.8 points.

However, after all that, I still somehow had a small chance to win the week, and it all came down to the Monday night game, where the Broncos played the Chargers. Jeff had the Broncos defense and I had Chargers receiver Mike Williams. If Mike had a big game, then there was a good chance that the Broncos defense would be bad as well. But unfortunately, Mike Will had one of his worst games of the season, only seeing six targets. The Chargers did win, but as you could probably guess from a game featuring the Broncos, it was a low-scoring affair. I ended up losing to Jeff 104.7 to 120.88, and all respect to him.

After a rollercoaster ride of a Week 6, I headed into Week 7 needing to bounce back. The only problem was that three of my four best players, namely Justin Jefferson, Jalen Hurts, and A.J. Brown, all had a Week 7 bye. If a player has a bye in football, it means that their team is not playing that week for rest purposes implemented into the NFL schedule. So, it was going to be an uphill battle. Looking to get back in the win column, my Week 7 opponent was Aidan Donnelly. His team is stacked at running back, having all of Nick Chubb, Joe Mixon, Ezekiel Elliot, and Breece Hall, who is now unfortunately out for the remainder of the season. I knew that I would need to make some moves to have a chance. 

First, I needed to find a wide receiver that could fill in for Justin Jefferson, and the answer was already on my bench. Prior to Week 5, I had picked up the Colts rookie WR Alec Pierce from the waiver wire, and he had been putting up solid numbers over that time span. While he certainly would be no Justin Jefferson, he would be good enough. I then turned my sights towards finding a quarterback to step in for Hurts. Since the Colts offense had just scorched my beloved Jacksonville defense the week prior, I figured it would be a good idea to pick up their quarterback, Matt Ryan. He also would form a nice stack with Alec Pierce, as they both played in the same offense. With my stand-in QB and receiver situation addressed, I just needed to fill my FLEX spot on my roster, so I slotted in trusty Cowboys RB Tony Pollard. 

With my lineup set to go, it was time to square off against Aidan. And thankfully, this week went a lot smoother than the last. Despite Matt Ryan and Alec Pierce not playing particularly well and the Jaguars defense giving me negative points for the second week in a row, I was able to get past Aidan. I was aided by a bounceback game from Mike Will, a breakout performance from Travis Etienne Jr., and a huge 28.8 point outing from my new favorite rookie Kenneth Walker III. I won with a final score of 118.62 to 107.14.

With my overall record now sitting at 4-3, and my hole at running back seemingly filled, I am excited for the rest of the fantasy season, and hopefully finding myself in the playoffs.

Since my last blog post, there have been three more weeks of fantasy football action, and I’m here to tell you all about how my team has been performing.

As you may recall from my previous post, I was going into Week 3 with a record of 1-1. My Week 3 opponent was none other than Vishal Yelamanchili, and if you saw his comment on my last post then you know that I ended up losing to him. It was a close contest, but the final score was 107.1 to 117.8 in Vish’s favor. This loss was due to a variety of factors, but the most glaring one was an ugly 4.4 point game from Justin Jefferson. His statline of 3 catches for 14 yards was atrocious by his standards, especially playing against the Lions of all teams, and it was painful to see. Jerry Jeudy also had a poor outing, scoring just 3.7 points on 2 catches for 17 yards, but this was much more excusable in my opinion. Jeudy was dealing with a rib injury that he had picked up in the Week 2 game, and he was also dealing with the god-awful quarterback play from Russell Wilson. So it was probably a questionable call on my part to put him into my starting lineup, especially when I had waiver-wire stud Greg Dortch go off for 17 points on my bench, but hindsight is always 20-20 I guess. 

The rest of my roster all played well, with the exception of my newly acquired kicker Tyler Bass, but some volatility is expected at the kicker position from week to week. Prior to my Week 3 matchup, I traded Bills RB Devin Singletary and Nyheim Hines for Travis Etienne of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Etienne was a player that had severely underperformed so far in the season with respect to the lofty expectations placed on him, but I figured I’d take a shot on his upside since I didn’t have much to lose at the RB position anyway. He and my other running back Tony Pollard both had solid games, but it ultimately wasn’t enough to beat Vishal’s team, as he was aided by a 28 point explosion from Hollywood Brown. 

Going into Week 4 with my record of 1-2, I determined that I needed to try and make another trade. I was looking specifically to find a more reliable WR3 than Jerry Jeudy, as the Broncos offense had looked like hot garbage through three weeks and I didn’t trust Russell Wilson to be able to get him the ball consistently. I identified my trade target as Chargers receiver Mike Williams, who was coming off a down performance in Week 3 that saw him haul in only one catch. I swung a deal for him and Seattle rookie RB Kenneth Walker III in exchange for Jeudy, Chase Claypool, and Mark Ingram II off my bench, who I threw in because the manager who I was trading with had the injured Saints star Alvin Kamara on his team. While it pained me to trade away Jeudy, with Mike Williams I felt that I had acquired a WR that I could feel more safe about playing, and who also had the potential to have a few incredible games with Keenan Allen sidelined by injury. Getting Kenneth Walker in the deal I thought was also a nice addition, but as you’ll see later he would prove to be much more than that. 

In Week 4, I was matched up against Jacob Pandya, who had a 2-1 record and a really good all-around team featuring Kyler Murray and Dalvin Cook. But I was confident going into the matchup that my team could secure the win. It started with a huge bounce-back game from Justin Jefferson, as he dominated the Saints in London scoring 31 points. Helping my cause further was Dalvin Cook having a lackluster performance in that same game, putting up a modest 10.6 points. I got a bit scared when Pollard and Etienne both gave me next to nothing in terms of points scored, but it ended up being ok because Jacob’s two receivers, Amari Cooper and Diontae Johnson, ironically both gave him next to nothing as well. A good game from new addition Mike Williams and the ever-reliable Travis Kelce secured my team the win 125.66 to 106.18, and brought my overall season record to 2-2.

Week 5 I played my friend Tarik Bennouna, who went into the week with a record of 3-1 but also some injuries on his team to key players like Cordarrelle Patterson and D’Andre Swift. I had some momentum from last week, and was looking to see if I could get another win. A lot of my top players performed really well in this one. Jefferson had another game where he scored above 30 points, and Jalen Hurts and Mike Williams again had great performances as well. The cherry on top was Travis Kelce having a monster game against the Raiders in which he scored 4 touchdowns, cementing the victory in style. I won the week 152.98 to 102.06, though it would have been a bit closer had Tarik started Gabe Davis instead of Christian Kirk. 

With an overall record now of 3-2, my team seems to be trending in the right direction. Some of the players on my roster have begun to show flashes of their upside as well. Etienne, who started the season in a backup role to James Robinson, has begun to split carries out of the backfield more evenly and has demonstrated the dynamic running and pass-catching skill set that had him being drafted so highly at the start of the fantasy season. And Kenneth Walker III could now be thrust into a much bigger role in his respective offense with Rashaad Penny’s heartbreaking season-ending leg injury. I am excited for my team going forward and hope to keep my win streak alive in Week 6.