Roundtable Week 4: Tackling the Footballguys' Subscriber Contest -- Part II

Photo: Reinhold Matay, USA Today Sports

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Welcome to Week 4 of the 2022 Footballguys Roundtable. Our intrepid panel of fantasy pundits discusses and debates four topics every week. From this point forward, we're splitting the topics into separate features.

This week's roundtable features these four topics:

• The True Reveal
• Tackling the Subscriber Contest (See below)
• Running Back Game Script Dependency

• Emerging Player Candidates

Let's roll with Jeff Bell, Jason Wood, Gary Davenport, Sam Wagman, and Matt Waldman sharing their contest entries.

TACKLING THE SUBSCRIBER CONTEST

Matt Waldman: We're nearly a month in. Please share the following:

• Your roster.
• Your construction strategy.
• Are you still alive?
• If so, what are you enthused and worried about?

Share your entry, strategy, and current thoughts after two weeks.

Jason Wood: Here is my roster for the playoff entry:

QB Kirk Cousins - $14
QB Tua Tagovailoa - $12
QB Matt Ryan - $10
QB Kenny Pickett - $3

RB Travis Etienne - $22
RB Chase Edmonds - $14
RB Nyheim Hines - $13
RB Michael Carter - $12
RB Dameon Pierce - $10
RB Brian Robinson - $7
RB Zamir White - $6

WR JuJu Smith-Schuster - $15
WR Allen Lazard - $12
WR Rondale Moore - $11
WR Jahan Dotson - $9
WR Michael Gallup - $9
WR George Pickens - $6
WR Sammy Watkins - $4

TE Dallas Goedert - $15
TE Brevin Jordan - $8
TE Cameron Brate - $7

PK Matt Prater - $5
PK Greg Joseph - $5
PK Jake Elliott - $5

TD Philadelphia Eagles - $5
TD Baltimore Ravens - $4
TD Kansas City Chiefs - $4
TD Arizona Cardinals - $3

One of my favorite things about our contest is the tight pricing. You can't grab one or two studs at every position and then lottery tickets to fill out the roster. To survive, you must hit on a bunch of mid- and low-priced players. With that in mind, you'll see I only have one $20+ player in Travis Etienne. I also always try to field a roster with as many spots as possible (our contest allows flexibility on roster size, as long as you're under budget) because it's a true set-it-and-forget-it, and you have to give yourself as many outs for injuries and bye weeks as possible.

I am still alive, although I've barely squeaked through in two of the first three weeks. I highly doubt I'll make it through October at this rate. I have a lot of worries, most notably, my highest-priced player looks like a bust, and my tight-end situation is dire as Dallas Goedert is the only reliable option.

Gary Davenport: Here's my roster . . .

• QB: Kirk Cousins, Matt Ryan
• RB: Leonard Fournette, A.J. Dillon, Elijah Mitchell, Chase Edmonds, Dameon Pierce
• WR: Michael Pittman, Brandin Cooks, Courtland Sutton, Christian Kirk, DeVonta Smith
• TE: George Kittle, Gerald Everett
• PK: Nick Folk, Rodrigo Blankenship (oops)
• TD: Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins

I went for balance with my construction. Rather than spend too much on one player or position, I tried to bake in some margin for error so that one injury to the wrong guy wouldn't be a season-killer. Given that I have already lost Mitchell and have been without Pittman and Kittle, it doesn't appear to have been a bad idea.

My wide receiver corps appears pretty solid, and there's still a fair amount of untapped potential if Kittle and a couple of RBs hit their stride. But in the second half of this contest, I don't know that this team's ceiling is high enough to survive.

Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. My team is still alive.

Jeff Bell: I attempted to build around two expensive anchor players in Christian McCaffrey and Kyle Pitts, hoping to lock in upside at my top running back and in the elusive tight end position. I targeted cheap dual-purpose quarterbacks hoping to play upside weekly due to rushing ability. I filled the remaining running back and wide receiver positions with players from great offenses or young ascending players hoping for mispriced production.

QB Trey Lance - $15

I saw my elimination in Week 2. I did not get the quarterback production I hoped to obtain; my expensive anchor players did not deliver on their price tags. I was ultimately done in by only rostering one kicker as the Colts released Blankenship, and I fell under the cutline in week two by three points. Next year, I will rely less on elite high-end players and more on depth through roster construction as the boom-bust approach only works if players boom every week.

Ryan Weisse: I built this roster from the bottom up, looking for value plays everywhere and then using what I had left over to buy the best running back I could afford. I wanted to go thin at quarterback, tight end, kicker, and defense. The goal was to find starters that would not lose their jobs but had some upside. While their jobs might be safe, the upside part was very wrong in the opening weeks. I wanted a lot of running backs and wide receivers and ended up with a 6/8 split, but my "stud" running back, Javonte Williams, has been about as average as can be to open the season.

QB Matt Ryan - $10

If my tone hasn't given it away, I was eliminated in Week 2 after barely scraping by in Week 1. Looking back, I took too many gambles on too many players in new situations. Almost 50% of my position players are on new teams or in new offenses in 2022. At some point this season, this team might be really good. But it wasn't good enough in the opening weeks, while these players were still figuring things out. It makes my pick of DeAndre Hopkins even more absurd, thinking I could just wait out his six-game suspension. Slow and steady might win the race, but you need to get out of the starting blocks at some point.

Waldman: My team is still alive after three weeks and typically, my squads last 7-8 weeks. Last year, my team went a bit deeper.

This year, I began with 27 players but whittled it down to 22 before the deadline. Last year's expanded roster relative to my previous season was an influence, but I didn't embrace that successful track as much. This may prove to be my Achilles heel.

• QB: Russell Wilson and Derek Carr
• RB: A.J. Dillon, Kareem Hunt, Josh Jacobs, James Cook, Raheem Mostert, and Tyrion Davis-Price
• WR: Allen Robinson, Michael Thomas, Jaylen Waddle, Courtland Sutton, and Hunter Renfrow
• TE: David Njoku, Albert Okwuegbunam, Foster Moreau
• PK: Rodrigo Blankenship, Kaimi Fairbairn, and Cario Santos
• DEF: Eagles and Dolphins

It looks like a lot of us were shocked that Blankenship got cut. Add me to the list.

I initially went back to the well with Tom Brady and had him paired with Jameis Winston. However, my choices at other positions required me to go cheaper. I am all-in on the Raiders' offense as a source of quality performances this year, and Carr came through last week, whereas Wilson was fine the week before. As you may know, it's cool to be a Wilson hater, but it won't be productive. He looks fine to me. I just hope his teammates will acclimate soon.

I'm not satisfied with my choices at running back, but I know Dillon and Hunt have great upside and solid floors relative to their cost. I needed this if want to roll with at least three tight ends and three kickers. Losing Blankenship is a reason why having at least 3-4 kickers is a good idea.

Jacobs and Mostert were intentional picks against consensus because everyone seemed down on them, and I like their skills. Both look good when given touches, but only Jacobs is getting enough touches. That said, they out-produced Hunt and Dillon two weeks ago and were my top-two starters.

Davis-Price was a lotto pick for the ever-elusive 49ers' backfield, and he's out for a while. Zack Moss has foiled my early-season hopes with Cook.

I love my receivers despite varying degrees of public concern about them. Robinson showed last week that he's not washed up. Thomas is back to his pre-injury form. Waddle is up there with JaMarr Chase and Justin Jefferson as a talent but underrated because of how the Dolphins' had to use him last year.

Sutton is the primary option and big-play threat in Denver despite one big play from Jerry Jeudy in Week 1 that will make the box score watchers have false hope, otherwise. Renfrow still earned a compelling target share in Week 1 after Davante Adams' 17-target game. He followed it up with a solid outing in Week 2. He'll be fine.

Njoku is far from my favorite option for a tight end, but he was cheap for my remaining budget. The same with Okuegbunam, who I liked a lot more, but his effort seems to be in question. I love Moreau and decided I'd take a shot at him earning a much bigger role either due to Josh McDaniels' scheme or if Darren Waller gets hurt.

I simply took the cheapest kickers. The Eagles and Dolphins were calculated choices. Both had strong defensive fronts, and the Dolphins' Xavien Howard and Brandon Jones are difference makers.

If I had to do it over again, I would have taken fewer backs and opted for Nick Chubb. I just didn't want to risk an injury and lack the bodies to compete.

If my team survives another 4-6 weeks, it's because one of my running backs comes alive. I'm not expecting it at this point.

If you'd like to see the rest of the topics, once again, you can find them here:

• The True Reveal
• Running Back Game Script Dependency

• Emerging Player Candidates

Thanks, and good luck this week!