re: Should I put any stock whatsoever into the Yahoo Player weekly projections?

Yahoo and ESPN do their projections differently.

Let's use a healthy Calvin Johnson for example, and I will assume standard settings with fractional points since this is your first time playing.

ESPN tries to project exactly what Calvin will produce on Sunday. 8 catches, 132 yards, and 1 TD. Their projections would be 19.2 points in your league.

On the other hand, Yahoo tends to take an average score for each player (presumably based both on past and expected performance). Then, Yahoo fluctuates each match-up every week due to the opponent, weather, and the health of the player. As you can see, you can view all of a player's projections on Yahoo for the rest of the season and find they all tend to be within a couple points within each other.

Instead of hitting the nail on the head, Yahoo will expect Calvin to produce 6.8 catches, 102.3 receiving yards, and .9 TD in the game, which is obviously impossible, but they just want to get close. Yahoo's score would 15.63 for Calvin Johnson.

Both systems have their merits, but ultimately, projections are only a slight aid. You have to roll with your gut and instinct, but they can be a nice guiding hand to a new player.