Every week, I’m going to go over my suggestions from last week, and determine if they were a good or bad pick based on position and points. To describe in detail the ranking system here is the metric: bust = 3 or fewer points (or not starting/on the bench), average = 4-5 points, good = 6-8 points, great = 9+ points. Players not available for selection I am disregarding and not counting as a positive or negative in the article.
- Deandre Yedlin – Average (6, 2 – 4 point avg)
- Shaq Moore – Bust (5, 1 – 3 point average)
- Ravel Morrison – Average (3, 5 – 4 point average)
- Randall Leal – Bust (2, 2 – 2 point average)
- Gyasi Zardes – Great (2, 18 – 10 point average)
- Gonzalo Higuain – Average (3, 7 – 5 point average)
Week 21 Final Results: 1 Great, 3 Average, 2 Busts
Full Season Results: 17 Great, 21 Goods, 20 Average, 60 Busts
Welcome everyone to another special edition of DiffeRanchals! For week 21, I am choosing picks that are commonly known as “gut picks” or “just a hunch pick.” Each pick will have minimal reasoning, as most of them are just players that I feel like will have a good week. “But Ranch, isn’t that what a differential is anyways?” Yes, that is the basic idea of a differential, but I’m totally throwing reasoning out of the window this week and picking some random gut picks. Let’s get into it!
Antonio Carlos, $6.5m (Orlando Defender)
Antonio “AC” Carlos has consistently been a reliable defender for Orlando City and is always a goal threat. This week, he travels to New Jersey to play the Red Bulls for a chance at a goal (and to prove the US Open Cup game wasn’t a fluke).
Steven Moreira, $6.9m (Columbus Defender)
I’m not recommending Moreira for the clean sheet chance, but rather the attacking potential. Colorado is one of the weird defensive teams where they go through both good and bad defensive spells. Last week they gave up 7 goals in 2 games, which tells me that either it was the result of having an away game (which they previously hadn’t ever won an away game) or that they are in a questionable defensive state.
Thiago Almada, $9.5m (Atlanta Mid)
I don’t care what you say about Atlanta’s offense, this is a great matchup for Almada traveling to Cincinnati!
Franco Fragapane, $7.8m (Minnesota Mid)
The alliteration of his name makes me feel happy. Minnesota travels to Nashville to play in a conference match that could determine a final playoff position. This will be a match with fireworks left and right! The best setup for a player that isn’t the primary pick (Mukhtar or Reynoso) to step up and have a big game.
Tosaint Ricketts, $4.0 (Vancouver Forward)
Brian White is out injured and Lucas Cavallini is out on suspension. Their third forward in line is the 35 year old veteran, Tosaint Ricketts. Traveling to LA to play the Galaxy, Vancouver is very likely to score in this matchup. I would argue that the Galaxy are within the 5 weakest defensive teams in their current run of form, making this a tasty matchup for Ricketts.
Gabriel Pereira, $6.3m (NYCFC Forward)
I’ll be honest, I closed my eyes and scrolled through the schedule until I landed on a match. From there, I went for a random player on the team. I ended up with Gabriel Pereira. Call it fate, but he will score at least 1 goal this weekend.