Taylor-Made Takeover: Starosta Claims the Crown

Week 8 — Fancy Football IX

Crowning the king

Congrats to Jonathan Starosta, who earned the crown with a season-best 188.9. He built a balanced hammer around a pair of monster hits: Jonathan Taylor (40.4) and slate-breaking tight end Tucker Kraft (36.3). Add in steady lifts from Derrick Henry (19.1), Bo Nix (24.8), Michael Pittman Jr. (23.5), and DK Metcalf (16.5), and Jonathan cruised despite a whiff on Marvin Mims Jr. (1.8). With a modest chalk rating (15.0), he zagged where the field zigged—and avoided the biggest land mines.

The chase pack

Michael Bordes took second at 163.6 on the back of two low-rostered gems: James Cook III (36.6) and Troy Franklin (26.9), plus chalk that actually hit in Rashee Rice (25.5). Nick Rohrbeck rounded out the podium (160.7) thanks to the Franklin-Rice combo and a nice boost from Daniel Jones (23.2), though Bijan Robinson (6.8) kept him from truly threatening the crown.

Chalk talk and land mines

• The week’s biggest bust was the biggest chalk: Bijan Robinson (6.8) showed up on more than half of lineups and sank a lot of ships.
• Pain, part II: Bengals D/ST (-4) was the most-rostered defense and one of the lowest scorers on the slate.
• Not all chalk was bad: Rashee Rice (25.5) delivered at 40.5% rostered.
• Quiet dud for a premium: Christian McCaffrey (9.8) underwhelmed across multiple lineups, while the widely drafted Courtland Sutton (10.7) was just okay.
• D/ST roulette: only one manager clicked Buccaneers D/ST (26), a swingy solo hit that nearly dragged a bubble lineup into the money.

Low-rostered difference-makers

• Positional hammers: Tucker Kraft (36.3) at TE and James Cook III (36.6) at RB were both sparsely rostered and week-winning caliber.
• Two-for-two: Breece Hall (35.9) paid off nicely for his tiny cohort.
• Lone-wolf smash: Saquon Barkley (36.4) showed massive upside but appeared on just one roster.
• Value WRs: Troy Franklin (26.9) and one-off dart Rashid Shaheed (15.5) punched well above their salaries.

Standings snapshot

• Michael Petty climbs into first overall on a five-week top-half streak, while Cameron Mahoney slips to second after a rough week.
• Jonathan Starosta surges to 7th overall with a fourth straight top-half finish and his new personal best (188.9).
• On the bubble: the final win spot went to 19th place, where a solo Buccaneers D/ST (26) rescue kept Brian Salisbury on the right side of the ledger.

Congrats again to Jonathan—Taylor-made lineup, crown well earned.