Sonic’s MME Pool 3.24
Sonic is a Milly Maker winner and large-field tournament mastermind who focuses on mass-multi-entry play
Of Odunze and Onezies
Tight End has been a cesspool, void of consistent production and projectable value. If ever a player truly separates from a price-adjusted ceiling standpoint, he’ll be crucial to have on your tournament roster. This funnels us into three ways of approaching this ever-important “onesie” position.
A) Pay Up for targets and talent. There are no easy clicks with projectable volume below $4000 so let’s spend on guys that have an actual role in their offense. Rostering Trey McBride feels safe and comforting—until you reach your ninth spot with only $3,600 left and feel forced to eat the Elijah Moore chalk.
B) Pay Down. Tight End sucks anyway, and the expensive guys don’t always post had-to-have-it scores, so just scroll south and hope one of these dust balls gets more than his 2.5 target average and/or falls into the end zone. Greg Dulcich is going to approach double-digit ownership because he got eight targets last week. Sadly, those targets came from Bo Nix and it resulted in a whopping 4.6 fantasy points. Yay!
C) The Middle. My guess is that as gamers start building, ownership of the mid-4K players will increase since they seem like a good compromise. If I think Dallas Goedert stays around 6% ownership, I’ll be well ahead of the field. More on this range later.
*When punting, I prefer to correlate. I’ll pair low-owned Noah Fant with Geno Smith in hopes of a spike week from him at 2% ownership, and I’ll get my Johnny Mundt-Cake sandwiched in stacks between Sam Darnold and Justin Jefferson. Damnit, now I’m hungry.
OK, let’s look at how I’m planning to get different.
These are contrarian moves I will be mixing into my rosters to differentiate from the masses. Many will miss, but if they hit, we’ll lap the field. Spend your money how you want. I’m not your dad (most likely).
Secondary Core-Relations
We’re always hunting for those high-ceiling combinations to add to our existing game stacks. It’s better to aim at getting four things right instead of trying to hit a nine-way parlay. I’ll lean on a handful of core secondary stacks that will be finessed into lineups whenever feasible.
George Pickens/Quentin Johnson
Projections don’t account for Pickens’ missed opportunities that didn’t show up in the stat sheet. He had several big plays that only contributed to team penalty yards. QJ may have benefited from positive touchdown variance, but what if he and Justin Herbert (Note: Justin Herbert is questionable with a high ankle sprain) just have great red zone chemistry? If this game turns out to be more than the projected grind-it-out, three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust affair, we could see fantasy points at an affordable price and very low ownership.
Jonathan Taylor/Rome Odunze
We have a classic ‘unstoppable force meets immovable object’ situation brewing, as the Colts elite offensive line plows the road for Taylor against a Bears defense that has been impressive so far. Taylor is bound to have some ceiling games this year, and I want to be on him when his ownership is in the single digits and there are multiple chalk running backs on the slate
Malik Nabers broke out right away, and Marvin Harrison Jr. followed with a breakout in Week 2. The next wide receiver taken in the 2024 draft was Rome Odunze. With no injury designation this week, Keenan Allen out, and Odunze priced at $4,200 with 3% projected ownership, this is a tempting opportunity to get in early on a future star.
I’m also kind of into the reverse scenario here. D’Andre Swift is at 6% projected ownership, and the Colts have struggled against the run. The Colts also welcome Josh Downs back from injury, and he’ll be extremely low-owned. If the Bears take an early lead, we could see plenty of volume for Swift and some deep shots aimed in Downs’ direction.
Ceedee Lamb/Derrick Henry
Both teams are desperate for a win and will lean heavily on what’s working. If Henry can exploit Dallas’ defense anywhere near the level Alvin Kamara just did, he’ll be a great play at 5% ownership. The Cowboys skill position group is either inexperienced (Rico Dowdle, Jalen Tolbert), banged up and chalky (Jake Ferguson), or dusty (Ezekiel Elliott, Brandin Cooks). They have one elite weapon in his prime. If things fall apart, Dak will force the ball to Lamb, and we’ll be glad we got him at single-digit ownership.
Offset RB Chalk with Contrarian Correlation
Hard to avoid rostering mispriced running backs in a salary cap contest. Let’s play these guys in a different way than the field, but one that still tells a plausible story.
I’m gonna roll out some Jordan Whittington (1.3%) across from some of my Jordan Mason shares. Whittington got plenty of buzz in preseason and now he has a chance to play the Cooper Kupp role. Air Jordans! LFG!
Zach Charbonnet has a questionable ceiling for someone who’s going to be played by a third of the field. I’ll be underweight on him, and when I do use him, I’ll add silly ceiling at low ownership in the form of Tyreek Hill. Losing Tua hurts but that’s why Reek will be 1% owned. Devon Achane isn’t the only guy that Miami will scheme touches for.
