It's Grab Your Nuts Week In The Show

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It's Week 9 and with so many pivotal matchups that are absolutely vital to playoff positioning, I'm dubbing this week Grab Your Nuts Week. We've got some HUGE matchups, headlined by Wil Myers vs. the Guardians duo of Shane Bieber & Austin Hedges.

The top two teams in the league will get byes in the first round of the playoffs and there Biebs & Hedges are on fire, winners of five in a row after starting out 0-3. DeAndre Hopkins was a savvy pull from Alex Bregman's squad has really put him over the edge. Hopkins has had double digit catches the past two weeks which is huge in a full point PPR league. I think they'll be able to get past Christian McCaffrey's bye as both Bucs players should have steady games and I think Isaiah Likely has a big Monday Night with Mark Andrews dinged up. As for Wil Myers, Patrick Mahomes didn't throw a single TD pass the last time he played the Titans, but he'll need a big game today. I do think Josh Jacobs and Davante Adams bounce back from a horrid Week 8. But Devin Singletary and Curtis Samuel have their arrows pointing down and Tyler Lockett is nicked up, so I like the Guardians duo today in an upset.

Commissioner Cheah's pick: Ja'Marr U Lose Ja'Less U Care

Meanwhile, Mike Moustakas is looking to take a leap into the #2 spot with a win and some luck. Moose leads the league in both points and points against, so if that hold true this'll be a high scoring matchup today against Mike Napoli.

Napoli had two of his major guys go with Jalen Hurts and Miles Sanders. While they basically did right at projection, as a 10 point underdog he needs more than that. He'll need a big game from either Aaron Jones or Cooper Kupp who is nursing an injury but will play in Tampa today. Meanwhile, Moose has the ever so dangerous Lamar Jackson along with STUD WRs Tyreek Hill and Justin Jefferson. Hill has at least 7 catches in 7 of 8 games this year. Deon Jackson was also a wise pickup with Jonathan Taylor missing today's game and the former backup, Nyheim Hines dealt at the trade deadline. That will likely be a very effective plug and play start. 

Commissioner Cheah's pick: Takos and Tequila

Dave Portnoy is in a tailspin having lost 4 straight and he needs a W this week against Manny Machado, who is also at 4-4. 

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Dave will get a big boost with Cordarrelle Patterson back this week. His recent trade of Stefon Diggs for Raheem Mostert, Gus Edwards, and Patterson is too soon to be fully judged yet, but with Edwards missing this week after a tough performance last week, the early returns aren't great. Dave did make a key pickup this week in Justin Fields who is the 4th QB on his roster. But Fields arrow is firmly up. The only worry now is picking the best of the bunch every week is a tough task. Can Dave make the right call? As for Manny, Devin Duvernay is a sneaky good signing now that Rashod Bateman is out. He's also got explosive RBs with Austin Ekeler and Kenneth Walker, so a big positional advantage there. Garrett Wilson should see another uptick in numbers with Corey Davis out. But the Mark Andrews injury is killer and Kyle Pitts has been a giant disappointment this year, will he able able to squeeze enough out of him? 

Commissioner Cheah's pick: Cono Squad

1st Place Jake Marisnick made three trades this week but is vulnerable with both Saquon Barkley and Amari Cooper on a bye. Can Eric Hosmer take advantage to save his season?

DeVonta Smith already underwhelmed on Thursday Night Football but Hosmer is trotting out one of the worst fantasy lineups I've seen in a given week. And I like that guy so it's tough to say, but Derek Carr, Antonio Gibson, Michael Carter, Adam Thielen, Taysom Hill, Zay Jones - oof! None of those guys except Carr are #1 WRs or RBs on their own team. Even Taysom Hill isn't TE1! Marisnick is vulnerable with the byes, but I still think he washes Hosmer here in a rout. The talent deficiency is just too great in this matchup. 

Commissioner Cheah's pick: We Are Phamily

The trio of Joc Pederson, Alex Wood, and Austin Barnes are almost 20 point underdogs to a guy who is starting to heat up, Mike Trout.

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Trout's starting lineup when there are no byes rivals anyone in the league. But his depth is almost as weak. He'll be missing Nick Chubb this week on a bye but he still should handily get a W. Joc/Wood/Barnes will need huge performances from Amon-Ra St. Brown, Joe Mixon, and Tee Higgins to get the job done, but that's asking a lot. On the other end, you've got Stefon Diggs, Derrick Henry, and Tua, all guys capable of putting up a huge game. With a win, Trout will put himself firmly in the playoff picture and I don't think the league wants to see this guy get hot!

Commissioner Cheah's pick: The Kid

Congratulations to Alex Bregman on the World Series win, but I'm not sure he'll get a W today in fantasy!

This is a brutal matchup between two underperforming teams. Bregman has dug himself a massive hole as a GM and he's actually starting Taylor Heinicke in a 1 QB league this week which is a tough look. Darrell Henderson has been awful and Evan Engram is extremely flighty. He'll need big games from a few of his WRs Michael Pittman Jr, Chris Godwin, or Terry McLaurin to have a chance. Meanwhil, the Brewers duo of Christian Yelich and Jace Peterson are on the outside looking into the playoffs at 4-4. But they also have the least amount of points in the league by 60 point to the 11th place guy and that's Bregman. However, I think the backfield of Dalvin Cook, David Montgomery, and Jamaal Williams who will likely get a majority of the carries vs. his old team, the Packers could be too much for Bregman to overcome. 

Commissioner Cheah's pick: One at A Time