Week 3's Biggest Guillotine League Questions: Saving Your FAAB, Adding Hunter Renfrow, and More

I’ll be here once per week answering questions from you, the readers. If you have a specific Guillotine Leagues™-related question you want answered in this column, shoot me a tweet @jakenagy98 on the former Twitter. I’ve temporarily rebranded myself as Spencer Rattler Propaganda Account because that dude’s been ballin’. Remember Drew Brees? 

Anyway…

Q: How can I apply the Week 2 Utilization Report to my Guillotine League?

If you want the breakdown, check out Dwain’s musings over at the full Utilization Report. In my opinion, it’s the best mid-week analysis in fantasy football. Here, we're focused on how to apply Dwain’s points to our Guillotine Leagues.

Let’s talk about “buy low” targets. Dwain identified Brian Thomas Jr. & Josh Jacobs as buy lows based upon their production to date relative to their underlying usage metrics. In a traditional fantasy league, that means go pepper their impatient owners with lesser trade offers hoping for a bite. In a traditional Guillotine League, there’s no trading; the waiver wire is the sole player exchange mechanism. Now, if one or both of these guys is on your waiver wire, that means you can probably get them for less than you’d normally have to pay. This is assuming your leaguemates also saw Tucker Kraft steal all of Jacobs’ touchdowns and watched Brian Thomas play like you and I would if we were running a shallow crosser into traffic. We’re still advising a stringent strategy, but this is something to keep in mind when you see buy low targets in the Utilization Report as the weeks pass.

Moving on, here are two commonly available players that should be rostered in Week 3, and can be started in a pinch, based upon their Week 2 utilization:

• Hunter Renfrow: Whenever I see Bryce Young target Hunter Renfrow in the end zone (as he did four times last week), I think that they’d be able to pass for a tight end if they sat on one another’s shoulders and wore a trench coat. Renfrow sees enough work to be started in a pinch.
• Elic Ayomanor: He made this list last week, but I’m double dipping. Pick up Elic Ayomanor! He’s the man!

Here are some players that were likely in Week 2 starting lineups that should be benched in Week 3 based upon their utilization last week:

• The Browns Backfield: Dylan Sampson paid off with a garbage time touchdown last week, but this is a straight up avoid in Guillotine until somebody emerges. Hopefully Quinshon Judkins.
• Treveyon Henderson and RJ Harvey: More on them later. You probably don’t have better options based upon where they were being drafted, but these guys will get you chopped right now.
• The Bills Wideouts: Erratic playing time and inconsistent usage when on the field leads to inconsistency in your lineup, which leads to your head being removed from your body.

Q: What are your thoughts on Week 2’s most chopped players?

Last week, we had a few players that were actually worth throwing decently high bids on, even though it was pre-Week 2. This week is much uglier. The most chopped players in Week 2 were:

1. Derrick Henry
2. Josh Allen
3. Courtland Sutton
4. Ashton Jeanty
5. Drake London
6. Justin Fields
7. Khalil Shakir
8. Aaron Jones
9. Mark Andrews
10. Marvin Harrison

Charch has covered the Josh Allen question at length in the CHOP Podcast and his waiver wire article. Josh Allen is a unique talent, but for me, he’s not worth even the recommended $175 price this early. He’s obviously not foolproof; he’s on this list, isn’t he? Justin Fields is in concussion protocol and might not even play in Week 3.

This was Derrick Henry’s lowest fantasy output since joining the Ravens; safe to say this was an outlier. His lack of receiving usage (33% route participation, 6% targets per route run is basically zero) is a concern for his floor, but he’s Derrick Henry. Ashton Jeanty is a tougher case. His utilization decreased from Week 1, as he ceded third down and two-minute work to Zamir White and Dylan Laube. You have to start him, but I wouldn’t spend big to get him. Aaron Jones is going on IR and should not be rostered.

Drake London is easily my favorite receiver on this list, and a potential buy low. I would not be mad if I threw out a $90 fall-through-the-cracks bid and got him. I will not be doing so with Courtland Sutton, Khalil Shakir, and Marvin Harrison. Shakir is the safest of the Buffalo pass catchers, but all of them carry substantial risk.

This is Mark Andrews’ second consecutive week on this list to open the season. He can be rostered for $10 or less but cannot be started.

Q: What do you make of the lack of production from this year’s rookie class thus far?

We at Fantasy Life prefer not to rely too heavily on rookies in our Guillotine Leagues, at least to start the season. These first two weeks provided a great case for that stance. Pretty much every highly-drafted rookie outside of Tetairoa McMillan has provided at least one chop-worthy game this season (he wasn’t drafted highly, but my beautiful prince Elic Ayomanor has been great, too). The beauty of the Guillotine format is the ability to improve upon your roster almost at will. We have the unique opportunity to acquire Treveyon Henderson and RJ Harvey multiple times throughout the season, but we also have the luxury of waiting for them to truly break out. Based upon their ADP, it’s unlikely you have better options at the position, but Henderson and Harvey should be banished to the bench; they simply are not seeing the field enough. Omarion Hampton and Ashton Jeanty should remain in lineups, but you should keep an eye on immediate waiver improvements. Kaleb Johnson may not even be worth rostering following his kickoff return blunder last weekend.

Q: You guys over at Fantasy Life keep imploring us to save our FAAB. Is that truly the only way to win our Guillotine Leagues?

Absolutely not! We think it’s the most optimal, but it’s not the only way to win. In my home league last season, one of my buddies blew his entire budget assembling the Avengers and the Avengers’ mothers by Week 10 and rode that all the way to a championship. It was pretty hardcore. If you’re worried about your team already, go ahead and spend! Remember, this is supposed to be fun, and it’s only fun if you’re alive. In my opinion, though, the most fun part is winning.