Fantasy Focus: The Lucrative FC Dallas Rearguard

D.C. United were on bye this week, so this may be a little shorter than usual. Let's dive right into it by recognizing the week's highest scorer, Handsome Boys SC. Employing a 4-3-3, Handsome Boys scored 74 points and rose to 9th place in the league. Defender Aurilien Collin ($6.1M, SKC) was the leading scorer, putting up a captain-aided 18 points. Sporting Kansas City teammate Graham Zusi ($9.8M) put up 10 points, and FC Dallas defender Matt Hedges ($5.2M) scored 9. Everyone is still chasing DCU4Lifers SC, who scored 65 points and have a total of 334 overall.

Positional Leaders

Goalkeepers

FC Dallas' goalkeeper, Raul Fernandez ($5.5M) scored 8 points to lead all at his position, helped along by a clean sheet at New England. Following close behind were Tally Hall (HOU, $5.9M) and Jimmy Nielsen (SKC, $6.0M), who scored 7 points each.

Defenders

Two players, Matt Besler (SKC, $6.0M), and Michel Garbini Pereira (DAL, $5.2M) set the backline pace with 10 points each. Matt Hedges (DAL, $5.2M) and Jermaine Taylor (HOU, $5.5M) scored 9 points each, and they were followed closely by four players with 8 points: Zach Loyd and Jair Benitez (both DAL, both $5.0M), Corey Ashe (HOU, $5.0M), and the aforementioned Collin. An honorable mention goes to George John (DAL, $5.7M) for scoring 7 points and being the fifth highest scoring Dallas defender, which is an unusual feat, as I don't think any team has had as many players in one position score so much.

Midfielders

Portland's Will Johnson ($7.4M) scored two goals on his way to 13 points, a point total equaled by Kansas City's Benny Feilhaber ($7.8M). Zusi's 10 points made him third.

Forwards

As a whole, the forwards weren't a particularly high scoring group this week. Four players tied for 1st in scoring at the position with just 7 points: Will Bruin (HOU, $8.7M), Kenny Miller (VAN, $8.0), Robert Earnshaw (TOR, $8.1M), and newly acquired Peguy Luyindula (NY, $7.5M). Only Luyindula managed the points without scoring a goal.

Planning for Week 6

Five teams are on bye this week: Chivas, Montreal, Los Angeles, New England, and Seattle, so you know what to do with those players. New England's bye is particularly saddening, considering their offensive deficiencies were likely a large part of the FC Dallas defensive success this week.

So who should you find to replace the Mike Magees, Hassoun Camaras, Patrice Berniers, and [name your Chivas midfielder] of the world this week? Dallas defenders are hot right now, and Hedges (seriously, what are you waiting for) and Michel are two of the top three highest scoring defenders in the league, and Zach Loyd is cheaper than both of them, with only a slight drop off in scoring. If you have just $5.0M to spend and don't want to go the Dallas route, Jason Hernandez and Ramiro Corrales (SJ, 21 points each), along with Kofi Sarkodie and Corey Ashe (HOU, 20 points each) are decent values.

In the midfield, Philadelphia's Amobi Okugo ($6.2M, 22 points) has been consistent if not spectacular. Uri Rosell (SKC, $6.8M, 26 points) is still affordable, and Luis Gil (RSL, $7.0M, 20 points) just scored as part of an 8 point week.

At forward, Robert Earnshaw's 28 points leads the league, and he's gone up in value $0.6M since week 1. He's got 12 more points than Chris Wondolowski for $2.4M less. Forwards are just not scoring a lot of points thus far this season, so I'd recommend playing just one if you can afford to.