2017 NFL.com Fantasy Football (halfway)

My 17th year playing Fantasy Football has gotten off to a rough start for one of my three teams. It all boils down to several NFL players that are on my team not performing as they did last season. Carolina Panthers quarterback (QB) Cam Newton, Atlanta Falcons wide receiver (WR) Julio Jones, New Orleans Saints WR Michael Thomas, Chicago Bears running back (RB) Jordan Howard, and the Arizona Cardinals and Baltimore Ravens defense have struggled.

Click below to view the halfway point of the 2017 NFL.com Fantasy season for the teams below.

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2017 Highland Executions (halfway)

1-6-0 

The Highland Executions (1-6-0) are coming off a 10-4-0 record and a 2016 division title, their 5th in team history (2000-2016). They were defeated in the 1st round of the 2016 NFL.com Fantasy Football playoffs and haven't been the same team since. The last season the Executions finished below .500 was in 2013. Their worst record in team history occurred in 2010 as they finished 4-10-0.

The Executions only win (thus far) is week 1, as they defeated their opponents 133.42 - 115.10 and played well with Carolina Panthers Quarterback (QB) Cam Newton as the starter.

QB 

Newton got off to great start, but slowed down after week 1. Miami Dolphins QB Jay Cutler (benched) was doing better in terms of fantasy points. The Executions never started Cutler over Newton until week 4, thus Newton decided to rack up 47.60 fantasy points to Cutler's 10.70. That seems to be the downfall of fantasy football. Executions started Newton for week 5 (put up another 40+ points) and has been the starter since. Cutler has played terrible in recent weeks and is currently out with a rib injury. The Executions picked up Jacksonville Jaguars QB Blake Bortles (starter last season for the Executions) who will remain benched in favor of Newton.

RB

Week 1 starters for the running game were Detroit Lions running back (RB) Ameer Abdullah (who's been a disappointment) and Chicago Bears RB Jordan Howard, who's been good off and on. The duo continued to be starters until week 7 (bye) when Abdullah was replaced with Baltimore Ravens RB Javorius Allen heading into week 8. Allen has 15 more fantasy points than Abdullah. RB Joe Mixon of the Cincinnati Bengals (along with Abdullah) are benched. Mixon will get the start for week 8 in the flex position.

WR

The wide receiver (WR) position has been so-so thus far with a few disappointments. WR's Jeremy Maclin (Ravens), Julio Jones (Atlanta Falcons), Amari Cooper (Raiders), and Sterling Shepard (N.Y. Giants) got the start for week 1. Since then, only Jones and Shepard are the starters. Until week 7, Cooper has struggled this season. Maclin hasn't produced much points since week 2. Benched at the start of the season were New England Patriots WR Danny Armendola, who made the starting position in week 5 after Patriots WR Julian Edelman suffered a season ending knee injury. Armendola has started since.

WR Josh Doctson of the Washington Redskins never started due to a disappointing season and was released in week 5.

Seattle Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett never started a game until week 7 and put up some decent points. Another surprising player that has put up some good points this season is Shepard, who is a flex starter, though, for week 8 he's benched due to a Giants bye.

Jones, Armendola, Cooper, and Lockett are the current starters.

TE 

If there was a position that couldn't get anything going, it would be the tight end (TE) position. Carolina Panthers TE Greg Olsen got the start while Redskins TE Jordan Reed was benched. Both are good TE's, but struggled last season, at least Reed did. Olsen broke his foot in week 3 and will miss 6-8 weeks. The Executions picked up Falcons TE Austin Hooper off waivers, who struggled to get 2 fantasy points. Reed (struggling) was benched in favor of Hooper. 

With Hooper out due to a bye and Reed hardly putting up points, the Executions released Reed and picked up Ravens TE Benjamin Watson, who for week 5 only put up a lousy 0.60 points. Executions took another gamble and started Hooper along with Watson at the flex position, which means you can start a WR or TE. Both scored a combined 10.20 points for week 6. Week 7 saw the duo come back down to earth with a combined 6.60 points.

K 

Ravens kicker (K) Justin Tucker is one of the best in the league and has been the starter since week 1. Green Bay Packers K Mason Crosby was the backup (benched) until week 7 when he was released. Crosby only started when Tucker had a bye week.

DEFENSE

The Arizona Cardinals defense hasn't been the best this season. In terms of fantasy points, the benched Green Bay Packers are ahead by 12 points. The Executions picked up the Pittsburgh Steelers defense off waivers (when they released Crosby) and will start for week 8. Steelers are 28 points higher than the Packers.

CONCLUSION... Tinkering with the lineup after loss after loss hasn't done any good for the Executions. Heading into week 8 the team has decided to continue with the WR foursome of Jones, Armendola, Cooper, and Lockett. At RB will be Allen and Howard. Joining the flex position (benching TE Watson) will be Bengals RB Mixon. Hooper and Tucker will remain the starters at their positions while the Steelers defense will get the start.

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2017 Highland GraveDiggers (halfway)

3-4-0

Last season the Highland GraveDiggers (3-4-0) were inches away from making the NFL.com Fantasy Football Playoffs for the 8th time in team history (2001-2016), but their final game of the season ended in a tie. If they would've won that game they would've made the playoffs with a 9-5-0 record and not settling for 8-5-1.

With a nasty taste in their mouth to start the 2017 season, the GraveDiggers slipped away with a 54.00 - 51.00 victory in week 1. The Philadelphia Eagles defense helped the team earn a win with 25.00 points. The team suffered two losses in a row, both not close. Weeks 2 & 3 saw the GraveDiggers score the same amount of points...70.00. With a 1-2-0 record and two losses under their belt, the team did some position changes by starting New York Giants wide receiver (WR) Odell Beckam, Jr., though, he only scored 6 points. The team pulled away with a victory to get things rolling at 2-2-0. The GraveDiggers got a win in week 5 by only 8 points. The team would fall in the next two games to finish 3-4-0 heading into week 8.

QB

Green Bay Packers quarterback (QB) Aaron Rodgers was the starter until his season ending injury in week 6 (might return toward the end of the season), which was a huge loss for the team. The GraveDiggers ended up losing that game 29.00 - 72.00. Los Angeles Chargers QB Phillip Rivers was the backup. The GraveDiggers released Rodgers prior to week 8 and picked up N.Y. Jets QB Josh McCown as a backup to Rivers, which Rivers is now the starter.

RB

Detroit Lions running back (RB) Ameer Abdullah and Indianapolis Colts RB Frank Gore remained the starters until week 6. Philadelphia Eagles RB LeGarrette Blount took the starting position at week 5 in the flex position (wide receiver/tight end/running back can play). He hadn't played until week 6 when the GraveDiggers were 3-3-0.

Abdullah has been a big disappointment and was benched in week 7 (bye) and will continue to be benched for Minnesota Vikings RB Jerick McKinnon. Weeks 6 & 7 saw Gore score very little points and since the GraveDiggers have lost 2 games in a row, the team decided to give Blount the starting position over Gore.

WR

The GraveDiggers were solid at the wide receiver (WR) position at the start of the season. Beckam had been out due to an injury and was back for week 2, but only scored 2 fantasy points. Luckily the GraveDiggers didn't start Beckam. Beckam put up some good numbers until week 5 when he was injured and needed season ending surgery. This was a loss for the GraveDiggers as they placed Oakland Raiders WR Amari Cooper in his spot. With Beckam out for the season, the GraveDiggers picked up Arizona Cardinals WR J.J. Nelson off waivers. The GraveDiggers have yet to start Nelson.

Pittsburgh Steelers WR Martavis Bryant, New Orleans Saints WR Michael Thomas, and Cooper remained the starters until week 6 when Bryant was benched due to poor play. The GraveDiggers replaced Bryant with New England Patriots WR Danny Amendola. The team released Bryant after week 7.

Prior to week 8 the GraveDiggers picked up Los Angeles Chargers WR Travis Benjamin (when they released Bryant) and Dallas Cowboys TE Jason Witten for extra measure. Both players are benched.

TE

Witten is the only TE on the GraveDiggers. The TE position isn't required in the league the GraveDiggers are in.

K

Philadelphia Eagles kicker (K) Caleb Sturgis was the starter while N.Y. Jets K Chandler Catanzaro was benched. Sturgis was injured (hip flexor) and placed on IR for week 2. The GraveDiggers went to the waivers and picked up a gold mine. The team picked up Tennessee Titans K Ryan Succop (#2 kicker in NFL.com fantasy football) for week 3 and started him over Catanzaro in week 7. Catanzaro had continued to outperform Succop every week (besides 2 weeks). Succop will continue to start.

DEFENSE 

The GraveDiggers have continued to start the Philadelphia Eagles defense over the Minnesota Vikings, which has been a toss-up situation. Both have been performing well this season.

CONCLUSION

The GraveDiggers are 3-4-0 and in 7th place out of 12 teams. They're 2nd in their division and two games back from taking 1st. They're still in good position to make the playoffs, but if they started today, they wouldn't be in the post season, as they're two spots out of the single wild card spot.

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2017 Highland LavaRockets (halfway)

5-2-0

Last season was a remarkable for the Highland LavaRockets (5-2-0) as they finished with their best record in team history (2001-2016) at 9-4-0 and earned a trip to the 2016 NFL.com Fantasy Football playoffs. The LavaRockets won their division for the 2nd time in team history, but came up short of winning their 2nd league championship. The LavaRockets had been struggling for several years and missed the playoffs three years in a row (2013, 2014, 2015) and were worse before that (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009).

The team has gotten off to a great start, but things didn't look so well heading into week 4 with a 1-2-0 record. They won their first game in week 1 with a 104.20 - 54.30 victory and that's with New York Giants quarterback (QB) Eli Manning securing only 6 points. Manning hasn't had a good season, but the LavaRockets (somehow) continue to win games with him as their starter. Buffalo Bills QB Tyrod Taylor is the backup. Due to Manning having a week 8 bye, Taylor will start.

Houston Texans wide receiver (WR) DeAndre Hopkins, Minnesota Vikings running back (RB) Jerick McKinnon, Philadelphia Eagles RB LeGarrette Blount, and Baltimore Ravens defense helped the team get the W.

The team would lose their next two games. Week 2 saw both McKinnon and tight end (TE) Kyle Rudolph from the Vikings score very little points and the Ravens defense had a -4, which didn't help. 

With the LavaRockets 1-2-0, the team finally picked things up in the scoring department and haven't looked back. Weeks 4 & 5 saw Manning increase his numbers, while McKinnon and Rudolph increased theirs as well. Giants WR Odell Beckham, Jr. was back to playing football as he was recovering from his injury. He too put up some decent points. Beckham would later need season ending surgery due to being injured. He was released.

The team tweaked only two positions as they headed into week 6. The team started Los Angeles Rams kicker (K) Greg Zuerlein over Dallas Cowboys K Dan Bailey, who compared to the #1 K in the league (Zuerlein), Baily has struggled. Bailey had started since week 1 and was released after week 7. The LavaRockets picked up New England Patriots WR Danny Amendola (benched) off waivers and the team benched the Ravens defense (struggling) and started the Jacksonville Jaguars defense, who are #1 in the league. The LavaRockets got a week 6 victory, so the tweaking pulled off.

Due to a week 7 bye, Hopkins was benched and Amendola became the starter, but only scored an awful 1.60 points, but thanks to the Jaguars defense, the LavaRockets got the 79.86 - 62 victory to go 5-2-0 with their fourth straight win.

With a few players on bye for week 8, Amendola will get the start again, despite his awful week 7 performance. Hopkins is back in the lineup, so that should help. The LavaRockets picked up K Robbie Gould off waivers from the San Francisco 49'rs due to Zuerlein having a week 8 bye. The Jaguars will also have a bye, thus the Ravens defense will start. Week 8 could be challenging for the LavaRockets.

QB

They say if it's not broke, don't fix it. I guess the same could be said for Manning being the starting QB for the LavaRockets. He hasn't performed well, but the team continues to get victories with him at the helm.

WR

The LavaRockets have WR Hopkins and Amendola as starters, with Tennesse Titans WR Rishard Williams benched due to a week 8 bye. The Team picked up Los Angeles Chargers WR Travis Benjamin (benched) for some extra insurance.

RB

The team has a great core of running backs (RB) who haven't been talked about yet. New Orleans Saints RB Mike Ingram has been terrific thus far. Ingram is in the flex position, which means a WR or RB can fill that spot. The team currently has no backup RB, thus Ingram would fit that position if need be. His spot would be replaced with a WR in the flex position. Philadelphia Eagles RB LeGarratte Blount has performed well, but hit a slump last week, though he tends to do that. The surprise is RB McKinnon from the Vikings. He's had a wonderful year and continues to put fantasy points up on the board. I don't see any changes to those positions.

TE

Vikings TE Rudolph continues to be the starter and has been since week 1. For the first three weeks of the season Washington Redskins TE Vernon Davis was the backup, but was released heading into week 4 due to poor performance, but the past two weeks (weeks 6 & 7) he's picked up some steam. The LavaRockets picked up Los Angeles Rams TE Gerald Everett, who hasn't done any better than Davis.

K

You can't get any better than having K Zuerlein as your starter. The LavaRockets had K Gould on their team as the starter a few years back when he was with Chicago.

DEFENSE

Who would've thought the Jaguars would have the #1 defense? They've proved that with knitting a victory or two for the LavaRockets.

CONCLUSION

The LavaRockets are on the path to taking their division and heading to the 2017 NFL.com Fantasy Football Playoffs. They're currently 2nd in their division, but tied for first place. They're ranked #6 out of 16 teams. Out of those 16 teams, five have a 5-2-0 record, including the LavaRockets. If the playoffs started today the LavaRockets would be in.

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