Gross Bombs: NFL Props for Week 16
Josh Gross
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How many times have you looked at your fantasy team and realized it’s one of the best teams you have ever drafted? How many conversations have you had with friends or family about their fantasy team from a different league you are not in? I have always wanted a way to compete against my friends and prove who has the best overall team. Well, now? We can.
You can do all of that easily at Bettle Fantasy Sports. Bettle allows you to enjoy fantasy sports in more ways, as you can create competition with friends and family. You can create side pots with your league mates, challenge a stranger to a head-to-head match or just talk shop with a fellow fantasy guru.
Bettle lets you have more fun with your fantasy football, fantasy baseball and fantasy basketball teams. So if you want to put your friend’s fantasy team to the test against yours without waiting until it’s your turn on the schedule, you can do that with Bettle. Even better, you get to set up these competitions on your own time, so waiting on a league schedule or calendar to challenge your friends and family to fantasy competitions is over!
Here is a team I drafted in a 15-team league in late March. It’s a standard 5×5 roto draft with 30 rounds and preseason FAAB budget of $1,000. Through 7.5 weeks of the season, this team is 14th place among 15 teams and only has $274 left from its FAAB budget.
C: Gabriel Moreno (ARI)
C: Matt Thaiss (LAA) – FAAB pickup
1B: José Abreu (HOU)
2B: Bryson Stott (PHI)
3B: Casey Schmitt (SF) – FAAB pickup
SS: Bo Bichette (TOR)
CI: Anthony Rizzo (NYY)
MI: Maikel Garcia (KC) – FAAB pickup
OF: Luis Robert Jr. (CHW)
OF: Byron Buxton (MIN)
OF: Josh Lowe (TB)
OF: James Outman (LAD)
OF: Wil Myers (CIN)
UT: J.D. Martinez (LAD)
P: Yu Darvish (SD)
P: Jesús Luzardo (MIA)
P: Freddy Peralta (MLW)
P: Bailey Ober (MIN) – FAAB pickup
P: Brandon Pfaadt (ARI)
P: Adam Wainwright (STL) – FAAB pickup
P: Bryce Elder (ATL)
P: Raisel Iglesias (ATL)
P: Brusdar Graterol (LAD) – FAAB pickup
B: Anthony Rendon (LAA)
B: Tyler O’Neill (STL) – on IL
B: Mickey Moniak (LAA) – FAAB pickup
B: Jacob deGrom (TEX) – on IL
B: Chase Silseth (LAA) – FAAB pickup
B: Clarke Schmidt (NYY) – FAAB pickup
B: Chris Martin (BOS) – FAAB pickup
One may look at this team and wonder why it is slumming it so hard. Well, the first thing that may stick out is the lack of saves and quality relief pitchers who get save opportunities. Raisel Iglesias just recently returned, missing the first six weeks of the season and he’s already been hammered a couple of times with his pitch velocity down across the board. A healthy Iglesias is key otherwise this team may as well punt saves. Brusdar Graterol hardly gets save opportunities with Evan Phillips the lead for the Dodgers. Chris Martin was a pickup from this past weekend, attempting to capitalize on the recent struggles of Boston’s closer Kenley Jansen.
My team ERA ranks 13th of 15, and the WHIP is 12th. So much hinges on the return of Jacob deGrom, who is still a few weeks away. The core of Yu Darvish, Jesús Luzardo and Freddy Peralta have been faring well and the recent success of Twins’ second-year man Bailey Ober has certainly helped. Braves’ Bryce Elder has been quite fortunate this season, pitching to a 1.94 ERA in eight starts yet has a 3.75 xFIP and 4.57 xERA. There is some ratio correction in his future. Rookie Brandon Pfaadt bounced back nicely in his third career start and hopefully that’s a sign of good things to come. Strikeouts are this team’s best category so far (fourth of 15).
The hitting has been negatively impacted by José Abreu. No player in baseball drove in more runs between 2019 and 2021, yet he’s been abysmal so far this season. Not only has he not hit a home run in 2023, but Abreu only hit one homer in the second half last season. I’ll have to figure something out with him but am not quite ready to cut (perhaps just bench).
The rest of the hitters look decent though. Bo Bichette is among MLB batting average leaders, Luis Robert Jr. seems to hit a home run every day, Anthony Rizzo has been quite the value on his 13th-round ADP while Josh Lowe and James Outman are two of fantasy’s best late-round surprises. I’m hoping Byron Buxton can stay healthy and start to hit some bombs himself. This offense is middle of the pack in most offensive categories except for stolen bases where it’s second to last. That’s the category I’ll continue to be shopping for in Sunday FAAB.
This is the perfect example of a team to go to battle with on Bettle against another 15-teamer in the middle of their standings. I wouldn’t want to compete with this roster against a top team but do believe it’s one that can get out of the cellar and finish respectably in the standings.
Remember, Bettle works with ESPN, Yahoo and Sleeper and importing your league and teams is super easy and user-friendly.
After you create your account, you’re just a few steps away from a more exciting fantasy experience!
Next, import your league, start by selecting which sport you’ll be importing.
Then, let Bettle know where you’ll be importing your league from:
After that, you’ll provide a bit more league information and then you have the opportunity to add funds to start competing in new fun ways for real cash!
