Fantasy Football "Who Should I Start" Thread, 2013

Andrew Luck (@CIN)
Carson Palmer (STL)
Philip Rivers (NYG)
I think of these three, I'd go with Rivers. I'm debating between Palmer and Luck myself this week, although the way they've both been playing, I feel like I have to go with Palmer.

Actually, I'm up in the air at several positions.

RB: Marshawn Lynch (@SF), Chris Johnson (@DEN), Andre Brown (@SD) Really, it comes down to CJ or Brown? I'm not sitting Lynch, even with the tough matchup. His last couple of games against the 49ers have been big anyway. He gave me 34 points against them earlier this year. I'm leaning toward Brown here.

WR: Victor Cruz (@SD) or Jarrett Boykin (vs. ATL) I guess this one comes down to whether Rodgers is back at QB for Green Bay. If not, I kind of have to go with Cruz, right? If he is back this week, it becomes a tougher call.

DST: Baltimore (vs. MIN) or Cincinnati (vs. IND) I also have Tennessee, but since they're going up against the Broncos, that's not an option. Bad enough my opponent has Peyton. The Ravens gave me a whopping 3 points last week, but they may be due for a bounce-back defensive performance. Or not. Luck's weak play lately that has me benching him at QB does make the Bengals an interesting choice, but if he lights it up (while on my bench) torching my D, that's the kind of double-whammy that would haunt me for months. Leaning Ravens here.

 
I like Brown a lot. He's ran really well since coming back, and the line has played much, much better. Had a bad game last week in terms of yardage, but still found the endzone twice. Plus, he's a decent every down back, so he does get involved in the passing game, as well, though he sometimes leaves Manning high and dry by not turning in time. The biggest concern you have with Brown is the likelihood of Jacobs and/or Hillis vulturing a TD from him.

The match-up this week is beautiful. San Diego has been awful against the run. They give up well over 100 rushing yards a game and have surrendered double digit rushing TDs. Last week, Cincy ate them up for over 150 and a score.

 
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First round of playoffs this week, I only have an issue at QB:

-RGIII (KC)

-Jay Culter, if he plays (DAL)

-Case Keenum, Thurrsday night game (@JAC)

I'm currently rolling with Cutler since Dallas D is 32nd in the league against the pass. I was thinking Keenum at first but he did horrible against the Jags two weeks ago. I wanna roll with my starter in RG3, but I don't think he's gonna even put up 2TDs against KC D.

 
@ Danimal
I would probably go Cruz and brown myself. If Rodgers is back I'd go Boykin against an Atlanta d that has been absolutely getting torched this season. I'm starting Jordy if Rodgers is back


Need help with running back. My running back woes this season I'll tell ya

My choices are
Booby Rainey
Shane Vereen
Lamar Miller
Chris ivory.

I was leaning toward
Vereen
Rainey or Miller probably go Rainey against an awful bills run d though

Also wide receiver
Jordy
Welker
V jax

Welker and v jax seem like the obvious choices.
 
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Vereen
Rainey

Welker
VJax


Who would go for at Flex this week non ppr.

K. Wright
C. Ivory
R. Mendenhall

Also J. Thomas is my starter but if he is out again L. Green, B. Myers, Z. Miller, or A. Fasono?
 
@ Danimal
I would probably go Cruz and brown myself. If Rodgers is back I'd go Boykin against an Atlanta d that has been absolutely getting torched this season. I'm starting Jordy if Rodgers is back


Need help with running back. My running back woes this season I'll tell ya

My choices are
Booby Rainey
Shane Vereen
Lamar Miller
Chris ivory.

I was leaning toward
Vereen
Rainey or Miller probably go Rainey against an awful bills run d though

Also wide receiver
Jordy
Welker
V jax

Welker and v jax seem like the obvious choices.
That is a rough situation at RB. I think I'd go Rainey and Ivory. At WR, VJax and Welker, but if Rodgers plays, I'd sub Jordy in for Welker.

Vereen
Rainey

Welker
VJax


Who would go for at Flex this week non ppr.

K. Wright
C. Ivory
R. Mendenhall

Also J. Thomas is my starter but if he is out again L. Green, B. Myers, Z. Miller, or A. Fasono?
I'd go with Mendenhall at flex, and if Thomas is out, I like Green out of that group.

 
First round of playoffs this week, I only have an issue at QB:

-RGIII (KC)

-Jay Culter, if he plays (DAL)

-Case Keenum, Thurrsday night game (@JAC)

I'm currently rolling with Cutler since Dallas D is 32nd in the league against the pass. I was thinking Keenum at first but he did horrible against the Jags two weeks ago. I wanna roll with my starter in RG3, but I don't think he's gonna even put up 2TDs against KC D.
If Cutler doesn't play I'd go with Griffen. Is McCowen available in your league? I'd drop Keenum for McCowen and start either McCowen or Cutler.

--

I was in two leagues this year and had two completely opposite outcomes. In one league I was the second highest scorer but missed the playoffs due to having the most points scored against. I should have seen it coming when Peyton got me 45+ points in first week and I lost. In the second league I had the lowest scoring team (until the last week of season), started 0-4 but finished 7-6 and in the playoffs.

 
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Interesting (and difficult) matchup in my 30 team league this week (Non-PPR). Made the playoffs by the skin of my teeth, but play arguably the best team in the league. We also have three of the same players since he's in a different conference than me. Nick Foles, Demarco Murray, Desean Jackson.

He currently has Desean Jackson and Nick Foles benched. My gut tells me to start Foles over Tom Brady, but I'm a little lost at WR. The double touchdown combo from Foles / Jackson would be nice, but if Jackson puts a clunker up this week, I'm screwed. On the flip side, I do have Alshon Jeffery, and I feel he's the safer pick.

Also in that league, RB. Andre Brown, CJ Spiller / Fred Jackson, or Zac Stacy? Currently leaning Brown.

 
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Need to reach for as many points as possible today.

Best flex out of this group(non-ppr)

Ivory

Mendenhall

Burleson

Wright

Also anybody have a hunch about a kicker today? These are the available options.

Janikowski
Akers
Feely
Lindell

Brown
Sturgus
Forbath
Bironas
Cundiff

Thanks

 
How crazy am I for thinking about starting Kendall Wright over Welker? My other two starting WRs are Demaryius Thomas and Michael Floyd.
You're crazy... like a fox. I would go with Wright over Welker right now, too. Wright has been consistently productive over the last four or five games, just as Welker's production has been falling off a cliff. With Manning, there's always a chance one of his WR's will put up a 3 TD game, but right now that's much more likely to be Thomas, or even Decker. Plus, Tennessee may be throwing more than normal trying to keep up with Denver, so Wright may get more targets than usual. (I'm benching CJ in favor of Andre Brown this week based at least partly on this logic, so we'll both be watching this)

Interesting (and difficult) matchup in my 30 team league this week (Non-PPR). Made the playoffs by the skin of my teeth, but play arguably the best team in the league. We also have three of the same players since he's in a different conference than me. Nick Foles, Demarco Murray, Desean Jackson.

He currently has Desean Jackson and Nick Foles benched. My gut tells me to start Foles over Tom Brady, but I'm a little lost at WR. The double touchdown combo from Foles / Jackson would be nice, but if Jackson puts a clunker up this week, I'm screwed. On the flip side, I do have Alshon Jeffery, and I feel he's the safer pick.

Also in that league, RB. Andre Brown, CJ Spiller / Fred Jackson, or Zac Stacy? Currently leaning Brown.
I'd start Foles over Brady, too. Jackson vs. Jeffery is a tough call, but I think I'd go with Jeffery. At RB, I'd go with Brown.

Need to reach for as many points as possible today.

Best flex out of this group(non-ppr)

Ivory

Mendenhall

Burleson

Wright

Also anybody have a hunch about a kicker today? These are the available options.

Janikowski
Akers
Feely
Lindell

Brown
Sturgus
Forbath
Bironas
Cundiff

Thanks
At flex, I'd go with Wright, and my hunchometer tells me that Akers is the guy to go with out of that group of kickers.

 
Thanks. I was leaning all three of those ways as well. It's snowing a good bit here in PA though so I'm beginning to get a little skeptical as far as Foles goes. I think I wanted to get cute with Jackson since I saw my opponent benched him, but Jeffery was who I originally thought at the beginning of the week.

 
I guess we shouldn't expect anybody to really put up any big points in that Lions/Eagles game. Holy crap.

I left Bush in my lineup, but looks like he won't play today. That sucks.

 
yeah I have Stafford and Calvin :(
My opponent does as well and looks like I dodged a huge bullet though. Still feel shaky on my matchup. Would feel more confident if I started KC's defense (picked up Arizona for this week since they seemed fairly favorable). In my defense, other than a KR touchdown last week, the past couple weeks have been duds for them.

 
Frakking Wright was a bust today. Ended up losing by 13 points. If I would have got anything out of Stafford, Morris, or Wright I might have had a chance.
 
Wow, I pretty much could not have given worse advice if I tried.  Let's see, I suggested Kendall Wright (2 catches for 17 yards) twice, Foles over Brady, and David Akers, who had no FG attempts and missed his only XP try.  Sorry guys, I hope you either didn't listen to me, or scored enough to win in spite of my unintended sabotage.  Yeesh.

This weekend has been a fitting end to a very frustrating season for me.  I've had worse teams before; I ended up being the 2nd highest scoring team in the league this year, but finished just 7-6.  I made the playoffs as the #6 seed, but like last weekend's final regular season game, I'm getting absolutely destroyed this week.  I'm losing 138-88.  I still have Brandon Marshall to go, but I'm not holding my breath for a 50 point game from him.  My opponent still has his kicker to go anyway.  I sat Andrew Luck down this week just in time for him to go off for his best game of the year.  Instead, I started Carson Palmer, so naturally he picked this week to end his string of 300+ yard, multi-TD games.  Oh well, it wouldn't have been enough to make a difference anyway.  My opponent this week has Peyton Manning and Jamaal Charles; I felt this beatdown coming all week.

Hope you guys fared better than I did this week.

 
Wow, I pretty much could not have given worse advice if I tried. Let's see, I suggested Kendall Wright (2 catches for 17 yards) twice, Foles over Brady, and David Akers, who had no FG attempts and missed his only XP try. Sorry guys, I hope you either didn't listen to me, or scored enough to win in spite of my unintended sabotage. Yeesh.

This weekend has been a fitting end to a very frustrating season for me. I've had worse teams before; I ended up being the 2nd highest scoring team in the league this year, but finished just 7-6. I made the playoffs as the #6 seed, but like last weekend's final regular season game, I'm getting absolutely destroyed this week. I'm losing 138-88. I still have Brandon Marshall to go, but I'm not holding my breath for a 50 point game from him. My opponent still has his kicker to go anyway. I sat Andrew Luck down this week just in time for him to go off for his best game of the year. Instead, I started Carson Palmer, so naturally he picked this week to end his string of 300+ yard, multi-TD games. Oh well, it wouldn't have been enough to make a difference anyway. My opponent this week has Peyton Manning and Jamaal Charles; I felt this beatdown coming all week.

Hope you guys fared better than I did this week.
I listened to you about Wright over Welker, but it wouldn't have mattered either way. I got a combined 1.95 from AP and Bush, and Michael Floyd added only 3.10.

 
Brady and Foles were pretty much a wash in my league. Foles had 20, Brady had 22. I can't blame you (unless I lose by two points or less).

 
Yeah, I guess Foles and Brady were closer than I thought.  I hadn't seen Foles full stat line, just the 179 passing yards with one TD and a pick, compared to Brady ending up over 400 with a couple TD's.  Didn't know he had the rushing TD.

 
I caught a nice, big break. Thank you, Mother Nature. My opponent had Stafford, Bell, and AP all in his starting lineup. Bell actually ended up having a great first half, which at least salvaged one spot for him, but of course, Stafford did nothing, and AP went down. And I got big games from Woodhead and Allen, so it looks like I'll be marching onto the final 4 in my league!

 
Had a bye week...Dang Welker got hurt again. Looks like I"ll need a back up WR...and I dont trust Jennings. I thought about Da'Rick Rogers, Rod Streater, or Brandon LaFell. I just need someone to fill in at WR3 for a week 

 
I caught a nice, big break. Thank you, Mother Nature. My opponent had Stafford, Bell, and AP all in his starting lineup. Bell actually ended up having a great first half, which at least salvaged one spot for him, but of course, Stafford did nothing, and AP went down. And I got big games from Woodhead and Allen, so it looks like I'll be marching onto the final 4 in my league!
Nevermind...Cam Newton and that pathetic Carolina line have been awful, and Colston, who has done shit all year, picked the best night to go off. I am pretty much on my way to a loss...

...and all week, I considered picking someone (Tannehill or Palmer, more than likely) up, just because I had a feeling this would happen. Ugh...

 
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Lead the league in scoring six times. Finishing the regular season with six wins. Lost to the second to last place team to officially knock me out. They rolled with a league high total this week. I'm shaping up to have either the 3rd or 2nd highest total.

I'm the highest scoring team in two of my leagues. Missing the playoffs in both leagues. In my money league, the second highest scoring team is everyone else, against me. Which is kind of baffling, since I'm clearly not facing myself, and 4 of my games have come against the lowest scoring teams in the league (all losses. Seriously).

 
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Danimal. I'm sorry but I did not listen to you to you at running back. I actually went Rainey and Vereen instead of Rainey and ivory. Heh. Sorry but at the same time I'm happy. Not that ivory would have been a bad start.

I'm making it to the second round of the playoffs unless Brandon Marshall scores 45+ points
 
Ended up starting Wright and Akers and lost by 13 points(had them starting all week). If I would have went for their replacements I had one my bench Ivory and Feely I would have won by one point. When I heard about the weather in Philly i did try and switch kickers but I was a minute or two too late. Not blaming my loss on starting those two guys but it would have been nice to get an effort out of Stafford and Morris.

I am proud that I made the playoffs as the third seed, but I am glad its over. This was my first and last year doing it, I am to much of an overthinker/flipflopper to handle the added stress it put on me.

 
In one league, I'm in first, and I'm going to lose to a 3-10 team that started inactive Owen Daniels and Darren McFadden. This is because I got a combined 3 points from TY Hilton (0), Donald Brown (2), Harry Douglas (2), and the Bengals D (-1).

 
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Seems like I'm going to lose W. Welker this week, should I go Spiller or D. Sproles?

Also, Saints D/Titans D or keep the Miami D?

 
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I think Sproles is the safer choice, but Spiller has more upside.  He got screwed out of a long TD reception this past week because of a penalty that would have turned a lousy game into a good one, but he's put up several stinkers this year.  Then again, if he's on your team, I don't need to tell you that.  I'd go with Sproles myself.

As for which D, I'd shy away from Miami.  I know the Patriots have been a different team without Gronkowski this year, but that matchup still makes me nervous.  Full disclosure- I may be biased.  I live in Massachusetts, but I'm not a Patriots fan, and those dicks screw me over every single time, whether it's Brady going off when my opponent has him, or their D getting torched when my opponent has someone going against them, or whatever.  So I avoid them like the plague whenever I can.  All that being said, I like the Saints D out of the options you listed.  They've been pretty consistent this year.

 
So, I drew the league's #1 seed for the semi-finals, but I'll take it. He finished 9th in total points, and I topped him by about 100. I think my lineup is pretty set, mostly due to lacking better options, but I'll see what you guys think.

Cam

Woodhead

Andre Brown

Megatron

Keenan Allen

Tony G

Shorts

Dawson

Baltimore D

I know Brown vs. the 'Hawks isn't great, but at least it's at home for the Giants, and though Seattle doesn't give up a lot of fantasy points against backs, they have given up a lot of yards recently...just not TDs. Gore tore them last week, and so did AP and Gerhart. My other options are Ball, Ridley, and Ellington. Solid back-ups, but back-ups nonetheless. Stupid Ridley was going so well for me, too.

I think Shorts at the flex (and at home) versus a Buffalo defense that gives up a lot of WR fantasy points is better than Boykin, Nicks, and Marvin Jones (or any of those other RB options have). I am somewhat intrigued by Boykin if Rodgers does play, though.

I've been riding with the Raven defense most of the year, and it has worked out, so I think I will stick with them. I'm sure Detroit will move the ball and score points, but they are also prone to turning the ball over. Plus, Jones is always a threat to run one back.

 
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So I lost in the first round but I checked this morning and I still have another game. It seems I have to play the other first round loser. Does this game now even matter for anything?
 
Damn.  If I had started McCown instead of Romo I would have been the first team ever in my league to top 200 points in a week.  I still won by 50+ but I left 124 points on my bench!  I finished first in both overall points (by 100+) and best overall record and now just need to figure out my lineup for the playoff game.  I'm feeling pretty good about my chances but it's still a total crapshoot.

 
I was down 36.53 + Witten to play going into the MNF game but Alshon Jeffery and McCown got me the win by 2 points. On to the next round.

So I lost in the first round but I checked this morning and I still have another game. It seems I have to play the other first round loser. Does this game now even matter for anything?
They are just for fun unless the end of the season placement matters for your league. For example if third place wins money or if the last place team has to buy beer for the league.

 
So, I drew the league's #1 seed for the semi-finals, but I'll take it. He finished 9th in total points, and I topped him by about 100. I think my lineup is pretty set, mostly due to lacking better options, but I'll see what you guys think.

Cam

Woodhead

Andre Brown

Megatron

Keenan Allen

Tony G

Shorts

Dawson

Baltimore D

I know Brown vs. the 'Hawks isn't great, but at least it's at home for the Giants, and though Seattle doesn't give up a lot of fantasy points against backs, they have given up a lot of yards recently...just not TDs. Gore tore them last week, and so did AP and Gerhart. My other options are Ball, Ridley, and Ellington. Solid back-ups, but back-ups nonetheless. Stupid Ridley was going so well for me, too.

I think Shorts at the flex (and at home) versus a Buffalo defense that gives up a lot of WR fantasy points is better than Boykin, Nicks, and Marvin Jones (or any of those other RB options have). I am somewhat intrigued by Boykin if Rodgers does play, though.

I've been riding with the Raven defense most of the year, and it has worked out, so I think I will stick with them. I'm sure Detroit will move the ball and score points, but they are also prone to turning the ball over. Plus, Jones is always a threat to run one back.
Yeah, if Rodgers plays, I'd slot Boykin in ahead of Shorts, but other than that, I think you're good to go. You didn't say if you had any other options at D besides Baltimore, but if they got you this far... I ended up carrying 3 DST's (Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Tennessee), which only guaranteed that I would start the wrong one each week.

So I lost in the first round but I checked this morning and I still have another game. It seems I have to play the other first round loser. Does this game now even matter for anything?
Depends on how your league does payouts. Does every playoff team get something? In my league, six teams make the playoffs (top two seeds get a first round bye), but only the last four teams standing get paid. We have 4 teams left now; this weeks two winners will play in the Super Bowl, and the two teams that lose this week will play next week in a sort of Consolation Bowl. The winner in that game gets $100, the loser gets $75.

 
Depends on how your league does payouts. Does every playoff team get something? In my league, six teams make the playoffs (top two seeds get a first round bye), but only the last four teams standing get paid. We have 4 teams left now; this weeks two winners will play in the Super Bowl, and the two teams that lose this week will play next week in a sort of Consolation Bowl. The winner in that game gets $100, the loser gets $75.
That's a lot of dough for 3rd and 4th place finish. In my league, we just did a $30 buy in/winner takes all. It's mostly just to deter people from not paying attention to their team. Last year, we had some problems with people starting players on their bye.

 
We collect $75 league dues from everyone.  $5 of that goes into a little side pool we do called the Eliminator Pool, where the two lowest scoring remaining teams each week face off the following week (separate from whoever they're playing in the weekly schedule), with the lower scoring of those two eliminated.  The last team left gets $60 ($5x12 teams)  We use part of the money to pay for the league website (we use CBS), part of it pays for pizza and drinks on draft night, and the rest goes into the pot.  The Super Bowl winner gets $245, the Super Bowl loser gets $140, then as I mentioned before the 3rd and 4th place finishers get $100 and $75.  So really, the Consolation Bowl loser is just breaking even for the year.

We've been doing the league for about 15 years now, and I think we all kicked in just $20 apiece back when we started, but people kept saying they wanted bigger pots for the playoff winners, so the amounts kept going up. (Fine by me; I've been in 5 of our last 6 Super Bowls, so I'm usually getting pizzaid this time of year.  Out of the money this season, though)  I've suggested looking for a cheaper site than CBS, but most of the guys in the league want to stay with it, I guess because it's familiar.

 
I don't think I'll win this week due to bad matchups but at wr starting two:

V jax
Jordy
Da Rick rodgers.

I lost Welker to a concussion and I'm a little uneasy about v jax due to a 49ers matchup
 
Won both my Playoff games this past week. Very happy. Couple start questions...

Andrew Luck(HOU)
Philip Rivers(@DEN THURSDAY)

Jacob Tamme(SD)
Delanie Walker(ARZ) if he plays (concussion)
Jordan Reed(@ATL) if he plays (concussion)
 
I don't think I'll win this week due to bad matchups but at wr starting two:

V jax
Jordy
Da Rick rodgers.

I lost Welker to a concussion and I'm a little uneasy about v jax due to a 49ers matchup
I'd go with Jordy and VJax. It is a tough matchup for VJax, but I'm more concerned about his hammy. If he's good to go, I'd roll with him.

Won both my Playoff games this past week. Very happy. Couple start questions...

Andrew Luck(HOU)
Philip Rivers(@DEN THURSDAY)

Jacob Tamme(SD)
Delanie Walker(ARZ) if he plays (concussion)
Jordan Reed(@ATL) if he plays (concussion)
Rivers is tempting for the possibility of a shootout, but he's been weirdly inconsistent. I'm leaning toward Luck, and at TE, I'd say definitely Walker if he plays, and Tamme if Walker is out.

Well with RG3 benched will Morris get more touches? Da'Rick Rogers over Greg Jennings? I need one to fill in at WR3
Morris should have a good week because Atlanta's D blows against the run. I think I'd take a chance with Rogers over Jennings.

 
I think Manning is subconsciously trolling fantasy owners right now. He's got all these receiving options that are big fantasy players this year, and he's throwing TDs to Andre Caldwell.

 
Any good options at TE? I got J. Reed but who knows what's going on with him. I just read G. Graham didn't practice today because of a hamstring. Should I consider this backup R. Griffin even though he's a rookie and their third TE? The pickings at TE is damn slim.

 
I think Manning is subconsciously trolling fantasy owners right now. He's got all these receiving options that are big fantasy players this year, and he's throwing TDs to Andre Caldwell.
I knew it was too good to be true. I finished #1 overall and the team I'm playing finished 7-7. I outscored him by over 300 points on the season. So of course Manning completely shits the bed (by his standards) on the one week it matters. I'm still feeling OK since I'm up by 3 points (21-18) and my opponent has already played 3 people and only Manning has played for me but still. I was hoping to just get the expected win this week and not sweat it out.

 
Got two spots in my big money league I'm trying to figure out this week.

RB - Andre Brown or Zac Stacy (also have the Buffalo Bills duo, but hard to trust either one right now).

Brown has been fairly beast these past couple weeks, but does get the Seahawks defense. Stacy gets the Saints, and I think the main concern there is if they fall behind too much and they don't run the ball much. Although Stacy is no stranger to the passing game.

WR - Alshon Jeffery or DeSean Jackson. (Also have Dez Bryant in my other slot)

Was really hoping McCown was going to be leading the offense this weekend as I feel he does at least spread the ball more to Jeffery as opposed to Cutler. Throw in the fact there Joe Haden licking his chops. He could cover Marshall leaving the door open for Jeffery, but if Haden covers my guy, I have the worst luck against him.

DeSean Jackson is tempting for two reasons. I'm starting Nick Foles and the Vikings have no defense. The double whammy potential is alluring, but there is a slight concern. My opponent has Riley Cooper and my guess is he'll be starting him. If everything goes to Cooper as opposed to Jackson, it's a double burn for me. Granted, the opposite is true as well.

The third option is to bench Bryant and start both. Bryant always has that potential, but has struggled the past couple weeks.

 
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