Fantasy Focus: Hang Ten

A few heretofore relative unknowns appear in the high scorers this week. I mean, really, I would never have looked twice at a few of these guys, which may be a part of why it was a relatively low scoring week. First, we turn our attention to Dlewis, who led the league with 71 points. Chris Wondolowski (SJ, $10.2M) wore the captain's armband and scored on the way to 16 points. Following him were defenders Chance Myers (SKC, $5.3M), who scored 2 goals to help get to 13 points, and Josh Williams (CLB, $5.5M), who scored his 3rd goal of the year and added a clean sheet for 12 points. DCU4Lifers SC only scored 54 points, but they still strengthened their hold on first place, lengthening their lead to 18 points.

Positional Leaders

Goalkeepers

Los Angeles surprised many by playing a bunch of dudes who nobody would have thought to play, including Brian Rowe ($3.9M), who came up with 10 points in his first action of 2013. Andy Greunebaum (CLB, $5.3M) and Bobby Shuttleworth (NE, $4.9M) were just behind him with 9 points. D.C. United's Bill Hamid ($5.2M) earned 2 points.

Defenders

Point Break extra Chance Myers (SKC, $5.3M) scored two goals en route to leading all defenders, and tying for the overall points lead with 13 points. The aforementioned Josh Williams and his 12 points were 2nd at the position. Revolution teammates Chris Tierney ($4.9M) and Jose Goncalves ($5.7M) scored 10 points each. Just three DCU defenders tallied points -- Dejan Jakovic ($5.4M) led with 3 points, and Chris Korb ($4.5M) and substitute Ethan White ($4.3M) scored 2.

Midfielders

Tim Cahill (NY, $8.0M) scored twice to help himself on to 13 points and the co-overall scoring lead. San Jose's Shea Salinas ($7.8M) did a little of everything, including assisting on two goals, on the way to 12 points. Los Angeles' Hector Jimenez ($5.5M) added 10 points in just his second appearance this season. D.C.'s midfielders weren't collectively terrible this week. Kyle Porter ($4.8M) posted his second consecutive 5-point week to lead the way. Marcos Sanchez ($7.0M) was close behind with 4 points. Perry Kitchen ($5.7M) and Raphael Augusto ($5.5M) lagged behind with 2 points, and both Dwayne De Rosario ($9.4M) and Marcelo Saragosa ($5.2M) showed up for 1 point.

Forwards

Ryan Johnson's (POR, $8.5M) goal and assist played a big part in his position-leading 12 points. Columbus' Federico Higuain ($9.3M) equaled his point output for the previous three weeks combined by scoring 10 points. Vancouver's Kekuta Manneh ($5.0M) played just 36 minutes, but scored a goal and added an assist on the way to 9 points. For the Black and Red, Lionard Pajoy ($7.8M) earned 3 points, and Rafael ($7.7M) appeared for 1 point.

Looking Ahead

Three teams find themselves on bye this week: Chicago, D.C., and Dallas. Those of you with Dallas defenders, or any other Frisco kids for that matter, are going to be looking for help this week, because who has Chicago or D.C. guys at this point? Colorado goalkeeper Clint Irwin ($4.5M, 39 points) has gone up $0.1M in price each of the past 5 weeks, but he's still a cheap buy, and they're playing Toronto at home. Also, Carlo Cudicini ($5.4M, 37 points) is an intriguing option for the rested Galaxy at home against Houston. Speaking of LA, defender Omar Gonzalez ($6.0M, 31 points) is not cheap, but he's put together consecutive performances of 8 and 9 points the last two weeks. If you're on more of a budget, perhaps Danny O'Rourke (CLB, $4.9M, 33 points) is your man, as he's scored 7 points each of the last two weeks. Columbus hosts the Metros. In the midfield, Colorado's Dillon Powers ($5.6M, 32 points) has scored 5 points his last 2 weeks and 24 points over the last five, while Portland's Diego Chara ($7.4M, 34 points) has scored 5 and 6 points his last two weeks, and 22 in his last 4. Among forwards, Higuain may be back among the goals, but Dominic Oduro (CLB, $7.1M, 38 points) is a better option.

Forwards are an interesting case this year. 172 goals have been credited to players this fantasy season, and 48% of them have been scored by forwards, while 39% have been scored by midfielders, and the remaining 13% by defenders. More midfielders than forwards have scored goals this year. What that means to me is that, as goals are where forwards prove their worth in fantasy, it doesn't make sense to splash a lot of money around on forwards when you can put that towards midfielders. Looking at the list of forwards by point totals, the most expensive forward (Thierry Henry) is worth $10.5M and is 5th with 39 points. Just behind him in 6th is Dominic Oduro with 38 points, and he's worth $7.1M. The average top 10 scorer among forwards is worth $8.89M and has scored 37.9 points. The average top 10 scorer among midfielders is worth $8.08M and has scored 44.9 points. Ryan Johnson, the top scoring forward (45 points) would be the 4th leading scoring midfielder. For the time being, it just makes more sense to save on forwards and spend on the midfield.