Reid,Mike and Jason are joined by Tim to break down one of the CRAZIEST DGWs of the 2017 season. They touch on all the red cards, injury concerns, surprising point totals and give Jason plenty of time to talk about RSL. They also preview all of the upcoming games for Round 21 and have a great conversation about the true value of Villa and Giovinco. Oh and can you catch all of the nerd references? Enjoy!
At the start of the season, the powers that be in charge of MLS Fantasy face the daunting task of trying to assign fantasy price tags to all of the MLS players. As the season progresses, some of the players live up to or even exceed their perceived value, and some fall flat, providing little fantasy output for huge fantasy costs. MLS Fantasy managers should always be on the lookout for the players that are meeting or exceeding their value, so we’re going to take a look at some of the star contributors and some of the biggest duds through 20 rounds of play.
Goalkeepers
Player |
Team |
Cost |
Games |
PPG |
PPG/$ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Melia |
SKC |
$5.9 |
20 |
6.20 |
1.05 |
Lampson |
CHI |
$4.9 |
11 |
6.00 |
1.22 |
Bono |
TOR |
$5.2 |
15 |
5.27 |
1.01 |
Gonzalez |
DAL |
$4.9 |
15 |
5.07 |
1.03 |
(Games and PPG only include games with 60+ minutes or 6+ fantasy points scored; Cost is as of the end of Round 20)
You can’t talk about defensive efforts without mentioning Sporting KC, and Tim Melia has been a big part of the reason they have kept nine clean sheets through 20 rounds. He started the season at a $5.5 value, and is currently tops of all goalkeepers in total points scored. Jesse Gonzalez hasn’t kept a ton of clean sheets this season, but also hasn’t given up more than two goals all season.
Player |
Team |
Cost |
Games |
PPG |
PPG/$ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gleeson |
POR |
$5.6 |
16 |
3.81 |
.68 |
Diop |
LA |
$3.9 |
10 |
3.20 |
.82 |
Frei |
SEA |
$6.2 |
19 |
4.26 |
.69 |
Howard |
COL |
46.0 |
13 |
4.08 |
.68 |
Jake Gleeson has his moments where he comes up big, such as his point-blank save on Sunday night to help preserve a 2-1 win against the Vancouver Whitecaps, but overall, his 3.81 points per game is way too low for any goalkeeper over $5.0. I don’t care if Clement Diop only costs $3.9 now – if you’re playing him in your fantasy squad, you have no one to blame but yourself.
Defenders
Player |
Team |
Cost |
Games |
PPG |
PPG/$ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Medranda |
SKC |
$5.8 |
15 |
7.60 |
1.31 |
Elliott |
PHI |
$4.6 |
13 |
5.77 |
1.25 |
Opara |
SKC |
$6.4 |
18 |
7.61 |
1.19 |
Kappelhof |
CHI |
$6.2 |
17 |
6.88 |
1.11 |
Jungwirth |
SJ |
$6.0 |
17 |
6.53 |
1.09 |
Jimmy Medranda and Ike Opara are both scoring big on the Sporting KC backline, but what may go unnoticed is that John Kappelhof is nearly as productive for the Chicago Fire. For $4.6, Jack Elliott’s 5.77 points per game is nothing to sneeze at.
Player |
Team |
Cost |
Games |
PPG |
PPG/$ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Marshall |
SEA |
$6.1 |
13 |
4.54 |
.74 |
Calvo |
MIN |
$6.1 |
16 |
4.56 |
.75 |
Ciman |
MTL |
$6.1 |
15 |
4.87 |
.80 |
Afful |
CLB |
$5.6 |
12 |
3.83 |
.68 |
Birnbaum |
DC |
$5.6 |
15 |
3.13 |
.56 |
If you’re spending more than $6.0 for a defender, they have to produce at least five points per game, and none of these guys are. Harrison Afful and Steve Birnbaum, who were go-to guys last season, but have done nothing but drop in value since the start of the 2017 season.
Midfielders
Player |
Team |
Cost |
Games |
PPG |
PPG/$ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gressel |
ATL |
$4.3 |
12 |
5.42 |
1.26 |
Ibson |
MIN |
$6.7 |
14 |
5.86 |
.87 |
Godoy |
SJ |
$7.4 |
15 |
6.47 |
.87 |
Alessandrini |
LA |
$10.2 |
16 |
8.19 |
.80 |
Almiron |
ATL |
$10.0 |
17 |
7.59 |
.76 |
Julian Gressel has a huge advantage in the value department of costing less than $5.0 for a midfielder that’s producing more than five points per start. Both Romain Alessandrini and Miguel Almiron have proven their worth time and time again, putting up huge numbers to match their hefty salaries.
Player |
Team |
Cost |
Games |
PPG |
PPG/$ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lodeiro |
SEA |
$11.6 |
19 |
6.53 |
.56 |
Kaká |
ORL |
$10.0 |
8 |
5.63 |
.56 |
Kljestan |
NY |
$10.6 |
16 |
5.94 |
.56 |
Finlay |
CLB |
$8.6 |
13 |
3.38 |
.39 |
Sam |
DC |
$8.0 |
15 |
3.53 |
.44 |
Speaking of hefty salaries, Nicolas Lodeiro and Sacha Kljestan have done moderately well in 2017, but nowhere near the level that they were at in 2016. Ethan Finlay has done even worse – going from one of the top midfielders in 2016 to averaging around 3.4 points per start… when he starts.
Forwards
Player |
Team |
Cost |
Games |
PPG |
PPG/$ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Solignac |
CHI |
$5.8 |
14 |
4.93 |
.85 |
Bruin |
SEA |
$7.2 |
10 |
5.60 |
.78 |
Sapong |
PHI |
$8.1 |
17 |
6.24 |
.77 |
Badji |
COL |
$6.6 |
14 |
5.07 |
.77 |
Urruti |
DAL |
$9.6 |
16 |
7.38 |
.77 |
I’ll bet you figured there would be a Chicago Fire player at the top of the forwards list, but you probably weren’t expecting Luis Solignac. Both Nemanja Nikolic and David Accam made the top 10 in terms of value, but Solignac is scoring almost five points per game and costs less than $6.0. Will Bruin and Dominique Badji also both fall into the underpriced-but-overdelivering category.
Player |
Team |
Cost |
Games |
PPG |
PPG/$ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Morris |
SEA |
$8.4 |
15 |
3.27 |
.39 |
Zardes |
LA |
$8.5 |
11 |
2.55 |
.30 |
Oduro |
MTL |
$6.5 |
13 |
3.00 |
.46 |
Kamara |
NE |
$9.4 |
15 |
4.47 |
.48 |
Jordan Morris may have started to find his form for the US national team, but he has not been impressive in MLS so far this season. Fellow USA teammate Gyasi Zardes has equally been a disappointment compared to 2016.
Who have you been most impressed by or disappointed in this season? Let us know in the comments below!
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