Before we get into the rankings, I want to acknowledge the tragedy that took place on Monday night football yesterday. The best of us, our shining light in the darkness, the hero we don’t deserve: Nicholas Chubb suffered a catastrophic injury, ending his season. We here at BAFFL.ca were distraught upon seeing this, and to be honest it was difficult to think about putting out a power ranking in the face of such senseless tragedy. We are praying for a miracle recovery, and hope to see Chubb back in a Browns uniform next season. The show must go on – and we struggled through putting together this column today – so apologies to readers if this falls short of your expectations, but there is not a lot of joy to be found in the world today.
Week 2 is in the books and things are starting to take shape in BAFFL. It’s only been two weeks, but the list of contenders are starting to narrow, and the chomps bracket has at least 3 teams basically already locked in. Scoring was back up this week, with 7 teams breaking the century mark, and week 1 donut players like Tee Higgins bouncing back with monster performances. Before managers get upset at their team’s rankings – I want to say that ranking some of the middle teams is quite difficult at this point, and anyone from 1-11 is still in the mix and could end up winning it all. Team’s 12-14 on the other hand, in the words of our good friend Dino 2L of Pop Guy: “Well… YOUR TEAM SUUUUCKS! Come on man, get your shit together”
#1 – Launay McFavres 2-0 (-)
No question about the number one team in the rankings when the defending champs kick off the season 2-0 in convincing fashion. The New England gameplan was to eliminate Tyreek Hill – and he still put up 12.5 points in what will probably be a down game for him. Saquon continues to show he was worth the hefty price Jamie paid for him, and Mostert might be one of the biggest steals of the draft. It looks like Saquon might be hurt – but he appears to have avoided a more serious high ankle sprain and may only miss a couple games. The McFavres should be able to tread water until then, and should continue their dominance when he returns.
#2 – Thresher Tornados 2-0 (+3)
OK – maybe we overreacted to week 1 but I think this column can take credit for lighting a fire under the draft winning Tornados. Maligned RB duo James Conner and D’Andre Swift had excellent days leading the Tornados to a convincing victory. Even the bench got in on the action, with Gus Edwards looking to be the lead dog in Baltimore, and Drake London bouncing back from a week one donut with a 15 point performance. This team will be in the mix for the title in the post season, but will need the stars to align to beat one of the powerhouse teams in a playoff match.
#3 – Crevasse Cheeks 2-0 (+1)
The chomps streak came to an end last year – even the savvy aquatic GM couldn’t help the mess that is the BIG GUYs organization. This year, the orange co-GM is back to his old tricks and is looking to take the cheeks from zero to hero. Chomps struck gold in selecting Puka Nacua, who broke the NFL record for receptions in his first two games. Cooper who? Bijan Robinson had another monster day, putting up 19 points without finding the end zone. Every single one of his mid round wide receivers is a viable week to week play so far. The only thing that can get in this team’s way is a return to their band-aid roots, so hopefully GM Conde has the boys stretching and doing Pilates to avoid the injury bug and avoid derailing this promising squad.
Editor’s note: in order to meet our deadlines we write part of our articles on Monday while we wait for the final scores to roll in and then make some edits on the fly. We decided to leave this bit in because well, the only thing that could go wrong for this squad did, and they now have one giant Nick Chubb sized hole in the lineup with only tank bigsby currently on the squad. The Cheeks better pony up for a new running back through FAAB or trade fast or they may slide down the rankings in a hurry.
#4 – Minoterie BIG GUYS 1-1 (+2)
After a tough week 1 the BIG GUYs put up the high score of the week en route to a shitkicking of the valley lords. Brian Robinson has evolved into a borderline RB1, and James Cook had an encouraging day as well. The BIG GUYs are going to need to make some calls at QB with Anthony Richardson going down just as GM Allen was on his way to the tattoo parlour to get some ink of the star QB. First round pick Dameon Pierce also continues to struggle, if he can turn it around this team will be one to watch.
#5 – Delamere Dawgpound 1-1 (+3)
The raiders had a big bounce back week as expected from star WR Davante Adams and survived a last-minute Amari Cooper injury scare to slip past the Karps. Josh Jacobs had another so-so week but his utilization is encouraging and he should break out at any moment. Expect to see the dawgpound in the BAFFL playoffs at year end.
#6 – Aquarium Avenue Magikarps 1-1 (-4)
The Karps put up 100 points in a hard fought loss with encouraging performances from Danny Dimes, Lockett, Moore and Waller, making up for the Ekeler injury that GM Dufresne hopes will be short-lived. This team doesn’t have anything to worry about provided Ekeler gets back, but their ranking this week is indicative of where this team is at: they’re a good team and in the mix no doubt, but by no means is this team going to cakewalk to a #1 seed and BAFFL championship, they are going to have to scratch and claw their way there like the rest of us.
#7 – Creek Crossing ZenSharks 2-0 (+2)
The Sharks looked much better in week 2, putting up the third highest point total of the week despite less than 1 point from keeper Breece Hall. This team should continue to get better as the season moves along, and a 2-0 start puts them in good shape to weather a few stinkers from their young RB duo, although Gibbs should be in line for a bigger role with Montgomery sidelined. The Sharks had a number of injury scares on Sunday with the Sun God, Jackson, and Metcalfe all briefly exiting with injury, but all appear to have avoided the worst. This league truly is made up of a bunch of idiots for letting Keenan Allen drop to the second round, and GM Shark is thankful for that every day.
#8 – Nature Trail Angry Birdz 1-1 (+3)
From no runningbacks to all the runningbacks, the Angry Birdz fate changed dramatically in week 2, en route to the second highest score of the week. Rachaad White had a bounceback game, Zack Moss inexplicably looked like he was kinda good, and WR Devonta Smith looks to be the guy in Philly. This team’s biggest question is : can Justin Fields get back to the dominance he showed last year? Or will GMGrove be searching the waiver wire for QB help by week 6?
#9 – Hibiscus Battle Hogz 1-1 (-6)
The biggest slider of the week is the Battle Hogz, who put up a dud against the Sharks this week and lost starting RB David Montgomery to injury in the process. Don’t get me wrong – the sky is not falling on the Hogz season, and they seem to find a way to scratch and claw their way to the playoffs every year, but on paper this team took a big hit and looks pretty thin at the RB2, TE, and Flex spots at the moment. That could change in a hurry though, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see the Hogz climb the rankings quickly.
#10 – Pepsiland Pontooners 0-2 (-)
The tooners put up a respectable showing in week 2 but ran into the Angry Birdz second highest point total. This team doesn’t have a lot of weaknesses, and Kelce should continue to get even better as his health improves and he shakes off the rust. We fully expect this team to bounce back and make their way up the rankings and into the playoff hunt.
#11 – Moustache Mystics 1-1 (-4)
It was a tough week for the mystics, putting up a measly 66 points against the vaunted McFavres D. Mystics fans have to be getting worried about Ja’Marr Chase, who put up another dud and could be without Joe Burrow who re-aggravated his calf strain in the game Sunday. Javonte Williams only managed 6 points in a high scoring affair, and Deshaun Watson looked lost without Chubb. On the bright side, Christian Kirk bounced back from a tough week 1 and put on an impressive performance, but most importantly was very involved in the offense all day long. The Mystics are the last team in this tier of the rankings – they are currently the favourite to land in the fish bracket, but it wouldn’t surprise this writer if they made the playoffs either. The same can’t be said about the next 3 teams we are going to talk about.
#12 – Lords of the Valley 0-2 (+1)
Another week, another sub 70 point performance with some extremely questionable roster decisions. The Lords RB1 and RB2 (and keepers) combined for -0.3 points. Yes, that is not a typo, their two best players combined for negative points. Trade acquisition Joshua Kelley didn’t fare much better, putting up 3.9 points replacing the injured Ekeler. The only thing giving this team any semblance of hope is the performance of Kyren Williams – maybe GM Tyler will remember to start him this week. Either way – it won’t matter, the Valley Lords are a mortal lock for the chomps bracket, but they probably have a good enough team to squeak by the bottom 2 managers and avoid the fish.
#13 – Voldemorts 0-2 (-1)
The Volds are who we thought they were – a steaming pile of fantasy trash. Keeper / Trade acquisition Rhamondre Stevenson bounced back to have an OK day, but the rest of his roster showed us who they really are this week. Mac Jones came back down to earth, Thomas should be good for 5-9 points every week, and Mattison might just be a career backup RB for a reason. Looking at the bench and the waiver wire – help is not on the way… it’s going to be a long season for this squad.
#14 – Aconitum Wolves 0-2 (-)
Eyebrows were raised across the league when baffl.ca ranked this team dead last in week 1 behind basement dwellers such as the Voldemorts and Valley Lords, but the Wolves proved deserving of the ranking with an absolute stinker putting up a league low 62 points, despite solid outings by Josh Allen and Ceedee Lamb. I’m honestly getting tired of writing about how bad Najee Harris is – hopefully at some point the GM can find better options such as Latavius Murray or Devin Singletary to plug into his starting lineup. There’s a reason BAFFL is a runningback-centred league, and this is what happens when the music stops and you’re the one without a chair. With Jamaal Williams hurt and Kamara returning in one more week, expect this team’s RB crop to be among the worst in the league all year. The fact that GM Begin decided to pick up Deon Jackson after his week one debacle tells you pretty much all you need to know.
BAFFL 