The Canadian Press
Fun With Fantasy Numbers looks back at a Week 11, when Kamar Jorden established himself as the league’s best receiver, Mike Reilly didn’t torch a secondary and (man, oh man) the game’s top two running backs doomed more than 10,000 TSN CFL Fantasy users to a Monday morning of shame and regret around the water cooler.
The Jorden Rules: We’re used to seeing the Stampeders receiver doing Kamar Jorden things, but Saturday took things to the next level, as he put a Week 11 best of 40.9 Fantasy points by catching 10 passes for a career-high 249 yards and a touchdown in Calgary’s 39-26 win over Winnipeg. His 68-yard score late in the fourth quarter not only sealed the game for the Stamps, but it also provided Jorden with the best Fantasy point total this season for a wideout.
Fantasy Analysis: A host of Fantasy users had a premonition about Jorden putting together a monster game, with 3,749 fans benefiting from his numbers, the seventh-most in Week 11. He’s scored touchdowns in four of his last five games while putting up at least 185 yards in two of the last three. D’haquille Williams may have been overtaken as the league’s best receiver, as Jorden now has six majors on the season and leads the league with 11 catches of better than 30 yards. He’ll be atop the Week 12 rankings when Calgary meets Williams and Edmonton.
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Calgary’s Bo Levi Mitchell had a career-high 452 yards in the Stampeders Week 11 meeting with the Blue Bombers, which certainly made Fantasy owners of his quite happy. (Johany Jutras, CFL.ca)
Calgary Double Stack: Those who went with the Buddy System and paired Stamps pivot Bo Levi Mitchell with Jorden ended up with a combined 72 Fantasy points. Mitchell had the second-best FP total in Week 11 with 31.1 FP that was bolstered by three passing majors.
Fantasy Analysis: Mitchell, who finished with a career-high 452 yards, has been on a tear in the last four games, tossing 11 majors to go along with two games of at least 370 yards. Ranked ninth in usage (3,740), expect his numbers to trend upward leading into the Labour Day tilt versus the Eskimos.
Pip, Pip, Hooray: With only 749 users, Alouettes pivot Antonio Pipkin emerged as the best sneaky pick of the week following his 25 FP performance in Montreal’s win over Toronto on Friday night. In only his second start, Pipkin threw for 303 yards and rushed for a pair of touchdowns to give the Als only their second win of the season, along with the best passing effort by a Montreal quarterback this year.
Fantasy Analysis: Johnny Manziel might be ready for Friday’s game against Ottawa, yet it’s obvious Pipkin has brought life into the Montreal offence. Expect him to get the start versus the REDBLACKS and if Pipkin can add a passing major or two onto his resume, Fantasy users won’t be the only ones beginning to believe Pipkin may have seized control of the starting job.
Wild ‘N Out: Fantasy users went all in with Toronto running back James Wilder Jr. who had a Week 11-high 7,357 Fantasy players who were left shaking their heads after he finished with a mere 29 rushing yards on nine carries against Montreal. His six catches and 31 receiving yards were the only reason Wilder’s production wasn’t lower than the 12 Fantasy points he ended with, placing him 24th overall.
Fantasy Analysis: Well, that’s tough to explain. Wilder was supposed to dual-threat his way through the Alouettes defence, which had other things in mind. He should put up better numbers on Labour Day against the Ticats, but there will be a sense of hesitation among many who’d prefer not to be once bitten, twice shy.
Andrew…Oh, Andrew: Just above Wilder in the Week 11 FP totals, Winnipeg running back Andrew Harris was held to 13 yards on seven carries in their loss at Calgary. Like Wilder, Harris’ receiving numbers (six catches, 51 yards) salvaged what would been a bigger disaster for the 2,857 Fantasy users whose teams suffered greatly.
Fantasy Analysis: With defences locked and daring any other Winnipeg offensive player other than Harris to burn them, Bombers fans and Fantasy users should hope Saturday isn’t the start of a downturn for the Most Outstanding Player candidate. His salary will take a bump down, but there will still be a sense of not getting a reasonable ROI by playing him against a tough Ticats defence on Labour Day.
More Green Acres: Hamilton running back Alex Green scored his fifth touchdown in his first three games back with the Ticats during Thursday’s win over Edmonton, helping him finish with 21 Fantasy points, the week’s eighth-best total.
Fantasy Analysis: Green is averaging nearly 21 Fantasy points per game in his three starts and will get a Toronto defence that has struggled against the run. He was 11th in player usage but expect him to crack the top 10 as he seeks to find the goal line for the fourth time in as many games on Labour Day.
Not Quite Like Mike: Edmonton quarterback Mike Reilly looked somewhat ordinary in Thursday’s loss to Hamilton, throwing for a season-low 250 yards, yet threw three touchdowns and finished with 25.1 Fantasy points, the week’s fourth-highest total.
Fantasy Analysis: A surprising 30th in player usage (1,601), Reilly still showed that his “off” nights are better than a great game from other pivots. The league’s leader in passing yardage and touchdowns will have a huge task on Labour Day when he and Edmonton’s high-powered passing game will have to solve the oppressive pass defence of the Stampeders, leaving Fantasy users left questioning whether to look elsewhere at pivot or buck the trend and go with Reilly.
Solid Second Act: Saskatchewan receiver Jordan Williams-Lambert was the second most-used player in Week 11 (6,320) and while he didn’t have ground moving numbers like Week 10, he still had a decent 11.3 Fantasy points, placing him 28th overall.
Fantasy analysis: His touchdown catch helped bolster his numbers but it’s becoming apparent Williams-Lambert will see his share of targets from Zach Collaros, a trend that should continue when the Riders host the Bombers in Sunday’s Banjo Bowl. Williams-Lambert will be a Top 10 in usage as his salary cap number continues to make him a bargain.
Lulay or Not to Lulay: BC quarterback Travis Lulay was 20th with 13.9 Fantasy points in Saturday’s loss to Saskatchewan. Lulay has scored more than 20 FP once this season and while he’s thrown scoring passes in each of his six games, Lulay has only one game with multiple majors.
Fantasy Analysis: The Lions are off this week, but it should be a week where the offence works on finding consistency. Lulay is a due a breakout performance, one that could come in BC’s next game on September 7 when they return from their bye to face Ottawa.
