We’re already half way through the regular fantasy season, which means the model is now based on 7 weeks of data. The model seems to continue to improve (see metrics below). I’ve added the Spearman’s Rank Coefficient for my data and FantasyPros. I’ve also included the Spearman’s rank coefficients for VIRMD’s kicker rankings (as provided by him) and QuickOnTheDrawl’s defense rankings. I’ve outperformed VIRMD and QOTD once each in the last two weeks (they crushed me before that). The model did really well at TE and K last week, outperforming FantasyPros. The average point deviation continues to improve at many positions (QB, RB, K, DEF), but this hasn’t translated into ranking improvements, which are less forgiving. The continually shrinking point deviation suggests that adding a week’s worth of data is still influential.

Here are the rankings for this week. There were a few tricky spots this week regarding injuries, which is partly why I decided to wait until Friday to post. I am assuming that the following relevant players will be out: Owen Daniels, Fred Jackson, CJ Spiller, Chris Ogbonnaya, DeAngelo Williams, Mike Tolbert, AJ Green, Tyler Eifert, All Lions TEs (replaced with Jordan Thompson & Kellen Davis), Pierre Thomas, Stevan Ridley, Victor Cruz, Calvin Johnson, Reggie Bush, Reggie Wayne, Trent Richardson, Khiry Robinson, among others.

Although I’m posting this after Thursday night’s game, the game’s results are not taken into consideration in the ranking of SD and DEN players.

Due to inconsistency in production, many elite WRs continue to be undervalued by the model (Dez Bryant, Julio Jones, Brandon Marshall). Others might be overvalued, because they are assumed to get the lion share of targets that were going to elite WRs that are hurt (Golden Tate & Mohammed Sanu). Under these circumstances, each player has had one great and one meh game. The model also continues to undervalue Drew Brees, again, due to early season inconsistency. The model also really likes Kyle Orton against the Jets, because NY is allowing 53% more passing TDs than the league average. In the RBs, Ahmad Bradshaw and Mark Ingram are ranked way higher than usual. This is due to the assumption that Trent Richardson, Khiry Robinson, and Pierre Thomas will be out this week, making multiheaded RB committees rely on primary backs.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions and best of luck in week 8!