Welcome to Round 16 of Fantasy NWSL! As usual, we are here to answer all of your team selection questions through the magic of statistics. This week, we are taking a look at Team Selected By Percentage (TSB%) – the percentage of teams that select each player in FNWSL.
Round 16 Match Overview:
We are back to a standard six-game week in Round 16, with each NWSL team playing once. The week kicks off Friday night in Central Florida with the NWSL’s most confusing scoreboard abbreviation combo: ORL v. OLR (let’s just make sure RGN is used on all platforms this week).
Individual Stats:
Team Selected By Percentage is an important statistic in FNWSL. Since everyone has the ability to select any player in the league, it’s one of the best ways to compare your team to other teams. For example, in Round 14, Phallon Tullis-Joyce was the most selected player in FNWSL – the OL Reign keeper was selected by 53.9% of all teams. PTJ is always a great option at goalie, so it makes sense that over half of FNWSL managers played her in Week 14. However, if you select a player that is not on very many teams, you benefit much more from that player having a high-scoring week if she is on your team (because most other teams won’t get those points). I’ll go down the rabbit hole of “differential” options in a future post, but for now let’s just focus on players that are Under the Radar: scoring lots of points but not currently on very many FNWSL rosters.
The “Under the Radar” Team of the Week:
This week, I selected a team following all the standard rules of FNWSL, but with one twist: each player on the team must be currently selected by less than 10% of all FNWSL teams. There may be some hidden gems here that make a difference on your team!
Defense:
At some point I will stop posting about Tatumn Milazzo and Sam Staab, but today is not that day! The Chicago center back is still only on 9.18% of teams, despite the fact that she’s scored more points this year than all but two defenders and costs a very reasonable $150k. Spirit center back Staab has a slightly higher TSB% at 9.53%, which is still not high enough for the fifth-highest scoring defender in FNWSL. Milazzo is tied for second place among defenders with Portland center back Kelli Hubly. Hubly is a little more expensive, but is only owned by 5.42% of all teams. She’s the highest-scoring defender on the league’s first place team – get her on your team!
UPDATE: Milazzo left last Saturday’s last game with an injury. There has not been an official update on her status for this week, so keep an eye on reports leading up to the deadline.
Slotting in between Milazzo/Hubly and Staab is the third highest-scoring NWSL defender: OL Reign left back Lauren Barnes. There are many great defender options on the Reign, but Barnes has by far the lowest TSB% at 3.29% and is the second-highest scoring one behind FNWSL superstar Sofia Huerta.
Houston’s Katie Naughton may be the most “under-owned” player in the league at only 0.35%. The Dash are peaking at the right time late in the season, and Naughton is the cornerstone of their defense. Let’s get her over 10% TSB this week!
Midfield:
Despite being the fifth-highest scoring midfielder in FNSWL this year, Chicago captain Vanessa DiBernardo is on less than 5% of teams. She is the constant in a fluid Red Stars XI and has one of the highest weekly point floors in the league. Kristen McNabb, despite working daily alongside FNWSL superstars Alex Morgan and Taylor Korniek in San Diego, is on only 8.13% of teams. At a reasonable cost of $150k, she’s a great option on the prolific Wave offense. Just up I-5, Angel City’s Cari Roccaro is in a similar situation with Savannah McCaskill and Jun Endo. Roccaro is on just over 8% of all FNWSL teams despite only costing $125k. Take a look!
Forwards:
Though her attacking partner Ebony Salmon has skyrocketed in TSB% over the past few weeks, many FNWSL managers are still overlooking Houston winger Nichelle Prince. The Canadian international appears on only 2.82% of teams despite being the ninth-highest scoring forward through 14 weeks, tied with Washington’s Ashley Sanchez. Perhaps even more surprising is the 1.88% TSB% of Kansas City’s Cece Kizer, who scored goals in three consecutive weeks between Rounds 12-14. Both Houston and KC are coming on strong – Prince and Kizer should be great options for the stretch run.
Bench:
Speaking of Kansas City, defender Alex Loera is still on less than 9% of teams. She’s the seventh-highest scoring defender this season in FNWSL and costs a very manageable $75k. Orlando goalkeeper Erin McLeod is on less than 3% of teams even though she’s the sixth-highest scoring keeper. It’s a little difficult to predict minutes on Chicago’s front line, but Ava Cook is a top-15 FNWSL forward with a cost of $75k and a TSB% of only 4.52% – it should be higher! There are only three top 30 FNWSL midfielders with a cost of $75k: Savannah DeMelo, Sam Coffey, and OL Reign’s Olivia Van der Jagt. DeMelo and Coffey are both on over 15% of FNWSL teams, but Van der Jagt is only on 5.81%.
Good luck in Week 16, and keep your eye on players under the radar!
