For my first fantasy lineup of the season I'm rocking with these guys. And I must say I think the change from last season with three triers of players to fill out the lineup to this season with an overall points total per team will produce better results for fans.
A: I went with Teat & Sowers, easy choices. Teat plays the Redwoods who haven't gotten great goalie play the last few seasons. Sowers might be a risky choice because he's playing my goalie choice in Blaze and if he has a big day that probably means Blaze didn't have one and vice versa.
M: A couple of young guns here at midfield with Anderson & Hannah. I picked these two because I think neither one of them will get the LSM matchup this weekend. The Whips will probably pole Heacock or Handley. While the Chaos will likely pole Currier or Kelly. That leaves Anderson to make plays all over the field and it gives Hannah free range to spray it all over the cage like he did in the NLL this season. The PLL changed their face off rules which means less settled 6 v 6 possessions, so midfielders who can score in transition and right off the face off will be important this season.
D: Salama will likely be the starting LSM for Chrome and with his box lacrosse background I expect him to fill up the statsheet and make plays from arc to arc. At least a goal, an assist, 3 GBs and a CT for Salama this weekend.
G: How could you go wrong with big Blaze in cage. Now I did something I usually try to avoid and that's picking a goalie that's playing against my offensive selections for the weekend. If Dillon Ward was in cage he'd be a no brainer as the Chaos offense is a patch work of guys with limited PLL experience except for Kyle Jackson and Ryan Smith. Last year the Chaos did okay without the Bandit Boys in week one, but week two was a different story. The Chaos defense looks strong and I'm hoping they can build a wall in front of Blaze and then 0 can plug the gaps wherever some water gets through. All the other goalie choices I wasn't sure about: I don't know who the starter is for the Redwoods. I don't know who the starter is for the Cannons, I don't know who the starter is for the Archers I think it'll be Dobson but I'm not sure and I won't take the risk. I already talked about DeLuca and the Waterdogs. Bernhlor isn't a bad choice, but I expect him to see ALOT of shots with Connor Farrell going up against a banged up rookie in LaSalla. Sconone would be a smart choice, but he's playing a retooled Whipsnakes offense and part of me sees them having a big game even though I think they will lack possessions and their biggest tool Zed isn't there. It's a bit of a contradiction, but I can't shake that feeling. Jack Connanon is great for the Atlas, but the Redwoods got a new offense with JGR and it might come out the gates hot, plus Jack isn't great against 2 pointers and the Woods have Jones and Perkovic.
F: Connor Farrell AKA the Milk Man is shaping up to DOMINATE the opening week matchup. Last season Farrell had the third best FO percentage in the league. This week he has all of the things going for him: he's facing a rookie, that rookie played deep into the college playoffs, that rookie is also banged up. The trifecta for a big game at the face off spot for Farrell. As always Trevor Baptiste is a great choice, but he's going against TD Irelan and I expect it to be a close, grind it out matchup. Stephen Kelly for the Cannons would also be a good choice, he's going against a rookie Sisselberger for the Archers, and it's a revenge game against his former team, but I'm sticking with the Milk Man, drink up.
UPDATED LINEUP
I made some late game adjustments to my lineup. Apparently, I forgot the Archers were a team in the league because I didn't even consider one of their players for my fantasy lineup.
A: I swapped Michael Sowers for Grant Ament, I think Ament might more points than Sowers, or at the least they'll have the same amount. Plus, Grant is back with his college teammate Mac O'Keefe, back like Shaw and Kobe during their three peat era! The Cannons don't matchup great against Ament, while Sowers would be facing Rowlett and the Chaos.
M: I swapped Jack Hannah for Matt Moore. Moore had double the shooting percentage of Hannah 35 and 17 in 2022. Matt Moore has BEEN a baller and will be facing an aging Kyle Hartzell (sorry Kyle, the Woods will miss you this year) and also new to the Cannons Matt Rees at LSM. Moore will be the second middie out of the box behind Tom Schreiber, while Hannah might be third or forth behind Currier, Kelly, Conrad, and either Carraway or Ethan Walker depending on which of those guys play out of the box.
The main reason I brought in the two young Archers is their opponent. The Cannons have lots of new faces on their roster and while I believe they will be much improved this season, they are facing the top offense from last season, and that's a tough matchup out the gate. Plus the Chaos defense has Blaze and well I would not bet against Blaze back in Albany.
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