The Judge's Verdict:
football 2019 Week 3
September 24, 2019
CASE SUMMARY:
“Hard Knocks” star Darren Waller candidly revealed his struggles with substance abuse that had temporarily derailed his NFL career. But he also discussed his fight to stay clean and to unlock his potential as an elite tight end. Waller’s first two games hinted at his talent, as both games exceeded previous career highs for yards and catches. However this week, Waller’s talent was on full display, catching 13 passes for 134 yards, both single-game highs for any TE so far this season. His only negative, from a fantasy standpoint, was that Waller did not get in the end zone – but his performance was still (in PPR leagues) the 2nd best fantasy point total for TE’s in 2019. Which fantasy experts had Darren Waller as a starting TE?
DEFENDANT TESTIMONY:
4for4
6th (no change)
Huddle
dropped Waller to 11th, after ranking Waller 3rd the prior week
Advice
6th
Sharks
6th (7th the week before)
CBS
8th, 7th, 6th (was 7th, 7th, 5th the week before)
ESPN
6th (no change)
Footballers
6th (from 4th the prior week)
Sharks
18th, dropped from 8th a week earlier
Sixpack
6th, up from 9th in Week 2
FFToday
9th, down from 5th the prior week
Diehards
6th, up from 10th a week earlier
Fantasy
8th (no change)
SleeperU
ranked Waller the highest among the experts, at 5th, same as the prior week
(read more about the fantasy football experts here)
VERDICT ANALYSIS:
Actually, very few analysts anticipated Waller's breakout game and upgraded him this week, while many of them dropped his ranking from the week prior. Despite the downgrades, a ranking of 6th or 7th is still must-start status and only marginally different than, say, 4th, and as such the Judge (semi-reluctantly) gives credit to these experts.