Any time a RB puts up better production than the combined fantasy output of the week’s 3 highest rated backs (Foster, McCoy, Rice), you know it must have been a good week for said RB. Add in that those 3 RBs didn’t exactly disappoint fantasy owners, and you’re looking at a historic performance. Such was the case for Doug Martin (aka “Muscle Hamster”), who produced the best fantasy total for a RB in STD leagues since 2003!
Needless to say, week 9 (and 8, for that matter) was a good time for the experts to rank Martin high in their lists. So, which expert had the best rating for the rookie running back and who gave the best overall advice for the week? Read on below to find out.
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Week 9 Accuracy Results
| Top 10 Experts – Overall Leaderboard* | ||
| Rank | Expert | PAY™ |
| 1. | Site Projections – Fantasy Football Starters | 70.3% |
| 2. | Russ Bliss – Fantasy Football Starters | 67.3% |
| 3. | Nathan Zegura – CBS Sports | 64.9% |
| 4. | Michael Pichan – RotoInfo | 64.8% |
| 5. | Site Rankings – FantasyOMatic | 64.6% |
| 6. | Jody Smith – Gridiron Experts | 64.6% |
| 7. | David Dodds – FootballGuys | 64.4% |
| 8. | Ken Zalis – Fans Fantasy Football | 64.3% |
| 9. | Austin Lee – Pro Football Focus | 64.3% |
| 10. | Scott Pianowski – Yahoo! Sports | 64.2% |
*See how all 101 experts ranked for the week
It was a great week for anyone affiliated with Fantasy Football Starters (including the site’s subscribers). Their projections took home the #1 accuracy rating while the site’s featured expert, Russ Bliss, had the week’s 2nd best advice. Not a bad 1-2 combo, right? Of course, it’s always important to have a good read on the top studs and FFStarters accomplished that in week 9. Their rating (RB #6) for Doug Martin was higher than all but 6 experts (out of 101) we monitored. Meanwhile, they also had a nice sleeper hit by slotting Isaac Redman – another top 5 performer – above all but 2 pundits. Decisions like these helped propel FFStarter’s projections to a #2 RB rating for the week. Their accuracy score was also aided by ranking the week’s top QB, Carson Palmer, 2nd highest among experts (QB #10) and 5 spots above the expert consensus. That advice served as a wise recommendation to consider Palmer as a legitimate QB1 option. Lastly, FFStarters also notably had a good eye for the week’s top TE, Brandon Myers. Their rating (TE #8) was eclipsed by only 1 other expert and that ended up being a great pick as the Oakland TE hauled in 2 TDs on Sunday.
Peak Performers
We also want to give kudos to the experts that did the best job of ranking week 9′s peak performers. Below are several key players that came through beyond expectations for fantasy owners along with the experts who delivered their top ranking.
Consensus: QB #15
Best Rank: QB #9
Actual Rank: QB #1
Top Experts: Staff Rankings (Bruno Boys) & Maurile Tremblay (FootballGuys)
Consensus: RB #9
Best Rank: RB #4
Actual Rank: RB #1
Top Experts: Scott Cullen (TSN) & Greg Smith & (The Fake Football)
Consensus: RB #19
Best Rank: RB #8
Actual Rank: RB #3
Top Expert: Site Projections (scoutPRO)
Consensus: WR #20
Best Rank: WR #6
Actual Rank: WR #3
Top Expert: Nathan Zegura (CBS Sports)
Consensus: WR #48
Best Rank: WR #38
Actual Rank: WR #4
Top Experts: Brad Evans (Yahoo! Sports) & Dave Richard (CBS Sports)
Consensus: WR #61
Best Rank: WR #38
Actual Rank: WR #6
Top Expert: Cedric Hopkins (Field & Court)
Consensus: TE #14
Best Rank: TE #6
Actual Rank: TE #1
Top Expert: Maurile Tremblay (FootballGuys)
Year-to-Date Accuracy
| Top 10 Experts – YTD Leaderboard* | ||
| Rank | Expert | PAY™ |
| 1. | Jody Smith – Gridiron Experts | 63.2% |
| 2. | John Paulsen – 4for4.com | 62.8% |
| 3. | Sablich Brothers – The New York Times | 62.7% |
| 4. | Mike Tagliere – Tags Fantasy Football | 62.6% |
| 5. | Site Rankings – Fantasy Football Nerd | 62.4% |
| 6. | David Dodds – FootballGuys | 62.3% |
| 7. | Austin Lee – Pro Football Focus | 62.2% |
| 8. | Site Projections – Fantasy Football Starters | 62.2% |
| 9. | Nick Raducanu – The Fantasy Fix | 62.1% |
| 10. | Ken Zalis – Fans Fantasy Football | 62.1% |
*See how all the experts rank for the season
With another top 10 weekly finish, Jody Smith (Gridiron Experts) extended his lead atop the season standings. This now marks the 4th consecutive week that Smith has held the #1 overall spot in the competition. That’s an impressive feat, indeed. Outside of Smith holding his ground, 4 experts broke into the top 10 this week: Austin Lee (Pro Football Focus), Fantasy Football Starters, Nick Raducanu (The Fantasy Fix), and Ken Zalis (Fans Fantasy Football). In the case of FFStarters, their site projections jumped all the way up to #8 from #34. Of course, that type of leap is always possible when a site/expert nails their predictions like FFStarters did in week 9. We’ll be anxious to see if they can maintain the momentum moving forward.
That wraps up our accuracy recap for this week. We’ll be back again after the games next weekend to provide another update on which experts are making the most accurate predictions. In the meantime, best of luck to everyone in your fantasy matchups!
