Weller Done: Ben Turns Low-Owned Gold Into the Crown

Week 3 — Fancy Football X

A sleeper-powered coronation

Congratulations to Ben Weller, who captured the Week 3 crown with 175.6 points and collected $70. It was his first top-half finish of the season, and he made it count by setting a new personal best.

Ben found 56.2 points from a pair of lightly drafted standouts in Geno Smith and George Kittle. The $4,900 Smith scored 30 points at just 5.1% ownership, while Ben was the only contestant to roster Kittle and his 26.2 points. He also landed Drake London’s 31.4 and joined the crowd on Jaxon Smith-Njigba, whose 38.4 points made him the centerpiece of many successful lineups.

Even a quiet 6.8 from David Montgomery could not derail a lineup that produced at every other skill position. Ben’s 12.3 chalk rating also showed that the winning formula was more than simply following the room.

The chase came up short

Erik Nelson finished second with 165.5 points, 10.1 behind the crown. Smith-Njigba, Garrett Wilson, Matthew Golden and Tyler Shough all delivered, but 1.9 points from Terrance Ferguson left just enough of an opening for Ben.

Jake Minick followed closely in third at 164.1 despite taking a minus-two from Packers D/ST. His lineup nearly overcame it with Brock Purdy scoring 31.3, Juwan Johnson adding 24.3 and Smith-Njigba supplying the week’s most popular explosion near the top.

Only 4.3 points separated second-place Erik from fifth-place Cameron Mahoney, making the pursuit behind Ben particularly crowded. Brian Salisbury took fourth with 162.5, while Cameron’s 161.2 was powered in part by Johnson, one of the week’s best salary values.

Big points, different results

The highest NFL score of the week belonged to Jahmyr Gibbs, who erupted for 41.4 points at 10.3% ownership. Giovanni Vincenzo converted that performance into the best result among his four drafters, finishing 10th.

Meanwhile, Bijan Robinson went almost completely overlooked. Alycia Holmes was his lone drafter, and his 38.3 points helped push her into sixth place. Her lineup also survived zeroes from Joshua Palmer and Oronde Gadsden II, making that top-six finish especially impressive.

The most popular selection, Kenneth Walker III, rewarded his 12 drafters with 21.3 points. Smith-Njigba and Wilson, each drafted by 28.2% of the field, were even more productive with 38.4 and 29.7 respectively.

A Weller family split at the cut line

The final top-half result came down to an exact scoring tie. Evan Devoe and Bill Weller both posted 128.5 points, but the official order placed Evan 19th and Bill 20th, giving Evan the final win and $5.

That made for a striking family contrast: Ben wore the crown while his father Bill landed directly on the wrong side of the payout line. One Weller conquered Week 3; another missed cashing by the narrowest margin possible.