The Judge's Verdict:
football 2019 Week 10
November 12, 2019
CASE SUMMARY:
The Top 5 QBs this week were: Lamar Jackson, Daniel Jones, Pat Mahomes, Kyler Murray and Dak Prescott. The only guy who isn't a consensus must-start is Jones. And instead of keeping anyone in suspense, every expert rated Jones between 13th and 18th among QBs, in fact all but 3 had him between 15 and 17. Nobody rated Jones as a starter, and given the tight window, the Judge will not award any points based on predictions regarding Jones.
Among RBs, the Top 5 was all chalk: Henry, Jones, Cook, McCaffrey, Gordon. WR is the usually most volatile position, and the Top 5 contains names like Christian Kirk, Darius Slayton and Golden Tate along with expected names like Tyreek Hill and Amari Cooper. Kirk was the obvious star, 6 catches, 138 yards and 3 TDs on his way to 34 points (1/2 PPR scoring), well ahead of Slayton (10-121, 2TDs) and everyone else. Kirk actually had zero TDs this year coming into the game. Tate was actually just outside the Top 5 in PPR leagues as he had just 4 catches but 2 TDs and 95 yards.
(In case you were wondering, while there were some Tyreek Hill non-believers last week, this week every expert had him ranked 7th or higher, with multiple experts ranking him in their top 3.)
Slayton was a bit too far off the radar for any expert to rate highly. Except for one expert (see below) his highest ranking was 39th among WRs, with most experts placing him solidly in the 40's. As such, no points will be awarded for Slayton's rankings either.
DEFENDANT TESTIMONY:
4for4
4for4's picks were unremarkable, listing Kirk 23rd among WRs and Tate 19th.
Huddle
The Huddle continues their hot streak, successfully calling big days by both Kirk (ranked 7th) and Tate (14th). The Huddle wisely noted the choice of opponents (Tampa and the Jets) as well as injury situation (Giants were missing Sterling Shepard and Evan Engram) as reasoning behind elevating these two players from previous weeks and well above less-insightful experts.
Advice
FFAdvice ranked Kirk 15th and Tate 18th, both of which are slightly ahead of the consensus, and hopefull high enough that FFadvice subscribers added them to their starting lineups.
Sharks
Had both players just outside their Top 20, with Kirk 22 and Tate 21st.
CBS
None of CBS's analysts were high on Kirk (ranking him 21, 23, 27) but they did see promise in Tate's matchup, ranking him 10th (Cummings), 14th and 17th
ESPN
ESPN was pretty high on Kirk, ranking him 12th, led by #11 positions by Matthew Berry and Tristan Cockroft. But they listed Tate at 28th.
Footballers
Ballers ranked Kirk just inside their Top 20, at 19th, and Tate just outside, at 21st.
Sharks
Sharks did not anticipate anything special from Kirk, ranking him 26th, but to their credit, for the second week in a row they made a great call by ranking Golden Tate 8th among WRs. This was the highest ranking among the experts and only spot in anyone's Top 10.
Sixpack
Ranked both players outside the Top 20, with Kirk at 21 and Tate at 23.
FFToday
FFToday had Kirk 23rd but they did list Tate 12th, tied for the highest ranking except for Fantasy Sharks.
Diehards
Placed Kirk at 23 and Tate down at 31.
Fantasy
Along with The Huddle, the two leading sites were spot-on calling a huge game from Christian Kirk. Fulltime ranked him 6th, a solid must-start which paid off huge. They also were very positive on Tate, ranking him 12th. Terrific job.
SleeperU
Had Kirk all the way down at 35th, and Tate at 23rd.
(read more about the fantasy football experts here)
VERDICT ANALYSIS:
The two leading sites in The Fantasy Judge's season rankings continued to show why they are currently the superior predictors. While most sites didn't expect a special day from Christian Kirk, these two sites both noted the defensive matchup and the comfort level of QB Kyler Murray, and recommended a must-start from Kirk owners, who were handsomely rewarded. They also, along with Fantasy Sharks, FFToday and CBS, saw big-day potential from Golden Tate who made the most of his 4 catches against the Jets.