DiffeRANCHals: 2025 Round 1

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome back to a brand new season of DiffeRANCHals picks! After a very successful season last year with Brandon and Matt, we bid a farewell to Brandon. He was just too good at making predictions (55% accuracy), causing the rest of us to look worse. All jokes aside, we only hope for the best with Brandon on his next adventure. For those of you who need a refresher, let’s review last season:

Every week, we’ll go over our suggestions from the previous week, and determine if they were a good or bad pick based on player position and points. Here is the scoring system: 

• bust = 3 or fewer points (or did not play)
• average = 4-5 points, good = 6-8 points,
• great = 9+ points 

Double gameweeks (DGWs) are scored as follows: 

• bust = 6 or fewer points (or not starting/on the bench)
• average = 7-9 points
• good = 10-12 points 
• great = 13+ points
• Players not available for selection are disregarded and not counted as either a positive or a negative.

Last Season Final Results: 

Matt:

• 11 Great, 5 Good, 10 Average, 28 Bust (48% non-bust)

Brandon:

• 10 Great, 9 Good, 10 Average, 24 Bust (55% non-bust)

Ranch:

• 10 Great, 11 Good, 4 Average, 27 Bust (48% non-bust) 

2024 Full Season Results: 31 Great, 25 Good, 24 Average, 79 Busts (50%)

 

This FMLS season we have the same scoring format and plan to take advantage of that with our picks. Week 1 is usually a budget week, so we have some cheaper options as well as just some fun diffeRANCHal options. Pick your poison as we enter into week 1 of the MLS Fantasy season. Let’s get into it!

Ranch: Vitor Costa, $5.8m (Defender – San Jose)

With the first pick of the 2025 season, Ranchinator selects a San Jose defender! Wait.. that doesn’t sound right.. Why would he ever pick a defender from San Jose? Well, if you remember correctly, Rodrigues and Nathan were both some of my most famous diffeRANCHal picks in previous seasons. I am diving into my 3rd San Jose defender to fill that role this year, Vitor Costa. Coming in at a cheap $5.8m price and with a newly reformed San Jose team, I firmly believe that Costa has a chance to do well this weekend. He plays against a tired, weakened RSL team and is an attacking wingback. Keep your eyes peeled for some assists!

Matt: Tomas Totland, $6.3m (Defender – St. Louis)

One of the difficult parts of the beginning of the FMLS season is figuring out which CCC teams are going to rotate and which ones we should target. Colorado played a really tough match against LAFC Tuesday night and because they are taking a 2-1 win with them into the second leg, I could see them rotating this weekend. Not only does that give St. Louis a chance for a CS at home, but it also bodes well for Totland’s involvement in the attack. While he only got 2 goals and an assist last season, I do think this could be a great weekend for the Norwegian.

Matt: Santiago Moreno, $7.5m (Midfielder – Portland)

Not only does a new season bring new signings, but it also brings new roles for older players. With Evander leaving, a massive hole is left in the Portland midfield. And while David da Costa physically fills that hole, he is far from the same playmaker the Brazilian 10 was for the Timbers. That is where Santi Moreno steps in. When Evander was out last season, Santi took many of the set pieces and often acted as that on the ball playmaker. This should not only give Santi a chance to rack up KPs from the run of play and dead ball situations, but also get some goal involvements in a very favorable at home matchup against the Whitecaps.

Ranch: Saba Lobjanidze, $7.3m (Midfielder – Atlanta)

Want a cheaper way into the Atlanta attack when they demolish Montreal this weekend? Why not take a peek at Saba Lobjanidze. He was a consistent goal scorer last season, finishing on 10 goals and 3 assists. With those stats, and the fact that Miggy Almiron is back in Atlanta, expect Lobjanidze to have a career year. This Atlanta attack is potentially strong enough to score the most goals in a single season for a team, too. That is my bold prediction for the season! Side note: Montreal hasn’t done anything to improve this season and they did not play that well last season.

Ranch: Jacen Russel-Rowe, $7.3m (Forward – Columbus)

Columbus Crew were the 2nd best team in MLS during the 2024 season. However, this year they will feel the absence of Cucho Hernandez in their lineup, which at the moment makes them exponentially weaker. However, they do still have another strong Designated Player, Diego Rossi. While Rossi is still around, I have hopes for Columbus to have at least a fighting chance to make the playoffs. With that in mind, the next in line for the forward position is 22 year old Jacen Russell-Rowe. Although he only had 5 goals last season, he did that in just 1,035 minutes (about 11.5 games). That is an average of a goal every other game. I would love to see this consistency continue from the young forward against a Chicago Fire defense that is questionable at best.

Matt: Ezequiel Ponce, $8.0m (Forward – Houston)

FC Dallas seem to be in a bit of a rebuild this year. But it seems they forgot to actually build anything new outside of Lucho after losing a significant chunk of their core players. Houston will have plenty of chances to run at this Dallas team and if Houston scores, you’d expect to see Ponce involved in some way. The best part of this game, though, is I see Micael’s absence on the Dynamo backline being exploited by Lucho Acosta and Peter Musa. It should be a back-and-forth goal fest and Houston won’t be able to put it in neutral and coast their way to full time. That is great news for someone like Ponce who should be pushing to score for the entire 90 minutes.

Contributors: 

Tyler Norman, @Rachinator on Discord

Matt Nelson, @Tinkerman on Discord