Winning Is Not Evidence of Learning

SteelerIDKher wins by 58.94 while starting Terry McLaurin over Parker Washington again, and aemmar goes 2-0 with 49.86 points on the bench.

Last week we asked whether anyone would start their best players. The answer is still no. Davante Adams got his points back, Patrick Mahomes finally made a lineup, and SteelerIDKher recovered from the opening loss without fixing the recurring lineup mistakes. Three teams are 2-0, three are 0-2, and gwaman is still waiting for a kicker.

Meanwhile, the man who took a quarterback at 1.09 is undefeated, and his 14th-round backup has now outscored him. We'll get to that.

The Matchups

The week's high score and the week's biggest blowout, by 58.94. Jaxon Smith-Njigba scored 42.5, the most of any player this week, and Amon-Ra St. Brown added 35.2. The first two draft picks are doing exactly what they were drafted to do. Waiver pickup Dalton Schultz scored 26 at tight end. The third-round tight end, Brock Bowers, is still at zero and still hasn't started.

Now the bad news. For the second straight week SteelerIDKher started Terry McLaurin (7) over Parker Washington (16.8). Last week the dog was sitting in the burning room. This week the dog set the fire himself and won anyway. New kicker Chad Ryland debuted with 1 point, and TreVeyon Henderson, gwaman's fifth-round pick, scored 13.6 on the bench. Winning hides a lot.

InelvatableBeerMile ran into a buzzsaw and couldn't have escaped: the best possible lineup scored 124.3. Jaylen Waddle went from last week's 1.2 to 21.8, and Chris Olave scored 22.6. But number-one overall pick Bijan Robinson managed 11.1, Lamar Jackson scored 15.8, and the new Buccaneers defense scored 2. Deebo Samuel (6.5) started over Jaylen Warren (9.7), which didn't cost them the game.

Last week tylikestushpushes lost by 3.9 with Josh Jacobs's zero in the lineup. This week Jacobs scored zero again, but on the bench, and that's what we call growth. First-round pick Ja'Marr Chase went from 3.2 to 26.5, CeeDee Lamb scored 35.3, and ninth-rounder Dalton Kincaid added 22.5. Justin Herbert (9.88) started over Trevor Lawrence (7.16), and this time that was the right call. Only 4.7 points on the bench, the best-managed lineup of the week.

BiNG438 got 40.82 from Josh Allen, 20.9 from James Cook, and 17 from Brandon Aubrey, who had some explaining to do after last week's 1 point. It still wasn't enough. We found Kyle Pitts in the box score: 2.5, while Romeo Doubs scored 12.6 on the bench. Alec Pierce scored 10.1 on the bench last week, so this week he started and scored 2.1 while Xavier Worthy scored 13.5 on the bench. For the second straight week, a better lineup would have won. BiNG438 is 0-2.

kimchi6769 finally started Mahomes, and he scored 28.98. Kenneth Walker added 23.8, Trey McBride 18.1, and kicker Harrison Butker, a 15th-round pick, scored 16. Colston Loveland left the Goose Egg Club with 1.3 points. First-round pick Puka Nacua took his spot with a 0. kimchi6769 is 2-0 and top of the table.

Last week's Best Loser is now just a loser. Arianajonas learned from week 1 and started Dallas Goedert. He scored 1.4, and the benched Oronde Gadsden scored 9.8. Saquon Barkley, the 1.02 pick, scored 3. DeVonta Smith (27.7) and Jalen Hurts (18.16) tried. Even the perfect lineup would have scored 120.86 and lost, so this week at least wasn't Arianajonas's fault.

Last week's Draft Day, Revisited called Davante Adams and Matthew Stafford reaches. This week Adams scored 39.5 and Stafford scored 27.98, so consider this our formal apology. Jonathan Taylor added 29.2, and Christian Watson finally got a start and scored 14.1. DJ Moore scored -0.1, which somehow made it into a winning lineup.

underscore11 lost for the first time and did it to itself. Mike Evans started and scored 8.4 while Stefon Diggs scored 21.7 on the bench. For the second straight week Jeremiyah Love started over Breece Hall (7.5 to 14.2). Dak Prescott (29.76) and Jahmyr Gibbs (23.3) played well. A better lineup would have won.

A 5.24-point game that neither team deserved to win. aemmar left 49.86 on the bench, the most in the league. Jared Goff scored 29.78 on the bench while the 1.09 pick, Caleb Williams, started and scored 8.72. Jake Ferguson scored 20.3 on the bench, and the Vikings defense scored 18 on the bench while the third-round Seahawks scored 8. George Kittle (18) and the sixth-round kicker, Chase McLaughlin (16), saved the day. aemmar is 2-0 and still doing everything backwards.

gwaman had the week's lowest score again. Cameron Dicker scored 1, the Chiefs defense scored 1, third-rounder Malik Nabers scored 1.1, and Jayden Reed scored 1.4. Travis Kelce (25.1) and Christian McCaffrey (22.6) deserved better. With a better lineup, gwaman would have won. SpongeBob is crying again.

Draft Report Card

After two weeks, here's the verdict. The big one first: aemmar's 1.09 pick, Caleb Williams, has scored 45.98 points. Jared Goff, taken 123 picks later in the 14th round, has scored 46.22, all of them on the bench. The third-round Seahawks defense has 21, and the 11th-round Vikings have 28. And the round-6 kicker, McLaughlin, leads every drafted kicker with 27. It's the worst-looking draft in the league, and it's 2-0.

The best pick so far is Josh Allen at 3.06: 76.48 points, most of any drafted player. The biggest steal is Mahomes at 13.08 (51.64). The worst early picks are Brock Bowers (0), A.J. Brown (5.6), Saquon (12) and Puka (12.4).

The Awards

Standings

Next week: underscore11 leads the league in points and sits fourth, and aemmar is 2-0 with a lineup that keeps benching its best players. Anything can happen.