1. Tyler Crispen

Tyler’s game is really starting to take shape now. After a slow week 1. his stock has surely risen in the house due to his excellent maneuvering. He’s set up right in the middle of a majority alliance and hardly anyone is looking at him as a threat; not even on anyone’s radar… save for Da’Vonne’s lie-detecting tactic that hugely flopped on her part.

It may have been an obvious presumption that his target size in the pregame was large, but how he has handled himself and his position in Week Two is quite impressive. Tyler certainly has proven to be a force to reckon.

He’s got separate individual agreements with David and Christmas… he’s tight with Cody and Enzo… “The Unusual Suspects” (aka “Hard 6”) with Memphis, Christmas, Cody, Dani, and Nicole F…. might he even exceed the amount of deals he made on Big Brother 20? Remains to be seen, but so far, it’s working for him splendidly. He doesn’t plan on sticking with most of these deals for long but except for a back-to-back HOH run by Janelle and Kaysar, making the jury seems assured.

2. Nicole Franzel

Hate her or love her, you can’t deny she is playing one helluva game. She has embedded herself so well — having the Hard 6, Core Four, and Million Club (with Ian, the only other former winner) — a jury spot seems imminent (to the chagrin of Janelle and Kaysar, of course). Heck, at this point of the game, penciling her in to the final 3 is not out of the question. She is building necessary relationships, staying true to every ally she has made, keeping them all happy. We might not love her but her game currently is a thing of beauty.

3. Dani Briones

Dani immediately had the inside track to reach the endgame. The opening week to the season involved her cultivating consistently close bonds with Tyler, Nicole F., and Enzo. She also confided much with then-HOH Cody, privately divulging how others perceived the house dynamics (I.e. warning Cody that Da’Vonne was concerned about him in a guys’ alliance).

Then, she got bored and proved the old proverb, “idle hands are the devil’s workshop” — she approached Janelle for a new alliance, hoping Janelle would join Dani’s already established game friends. That set off a chain of discussions among most of the house that resulted in an internal mistrust of her. A makeshift “Slick Six” grouping was merely created to keep her (along with Da’Vonne and Bayleigh, separately) in check.

Another concern is an over-aggressive push of her own agenda. We saw it this week with Memphis as HOH and how she pleaded with him to backdoor Janelle. Attempting to take too much control over others’ HOH’s might spook her allies.

No, she won’t be going home anytime soon but her standing has considerably dropped and she’s none the wiser. Whether she can rebound is anyone’s guess.

4. Cody Calafiore

Cody is in the best spot in his alliances. He is very likable and he’s had several assurances (real or otherwise) that he would be their plus-one in the Safety Suite. So, no matter what, he is safe next week even if a Janelle HOH or Kaysar HOH were to occur.

Cody is a physical and social juggernaut, which may cause himself to be a liability in the long run but it may be lead to dominant run for him and his allies. He may even be able to slide into jury despite the big target on his back.

5. Enzo “Meow Meow” Palumbo

THE biggest lock to make jury. Enzo is the house’s comic relief; his affable nature makes him a big attraction for others to want to work with him. And unlike his BB12 status, he finally sports a challenge win to his resumé. However, the key to reaching the proverbial mountain top will have to include some nod to those outside his core alliance structure. Unfortunately for him, that was a huge negative for him back in 2010, and it appears it continues to be this season.

6. Ian Terry

Ian finds himself in an interesting spot. He seems most satisfied with his Million Club deal with Nicole F. but it’s not exactly a secret that they’re working together. Nicole F. has several bonds outside of Ian, to which he is not privy. His Safety Suite punishment role as Dirk Spacejammer delighted the house this past week, but even that gimmick did not provide the huge inroads he needed to make with several important others and even hesitating on ones (most notably, Kaysar) that seem interested in working with him

His approach to averting trouble by going on a competition winning streak seems murky, at best. It’s been eight years since his victorious season and the challenges have evolved to favor more physicality, putting him at a severe disadvantage if he competes head-to-head against the likes of Cody and Tyler.

It would not be surprising if Ian managed to wiggle himself into situations that will further his game but the stigma of being a former winner probably ultimately will cause his downfall. An Enzo HOH and definitely another Memphis HOH could spell doom.

7. Bayleigh Dayton Williams

Bayleigh continues to be a well-liked houseguest but her association with Da’Vonne (who fell out of favor by Tyler and Cody) caused her position to slip. She once had a tight group with Cody and Dani, but those days are gone. The new “Slick Six” (Cody, Tyler, Enzo, Dani, Da’Vonne, Bayleigh) is merely a facade, only created to obstruct the once-quickly rising pro-save Nicole A. sentiment. She’ll still go through in saving David but what had been solid footing for her last week has gotten shakier this week.

8. Christmas Abbott

Christmas is placed exactly in the middle of these rankings, just like she is in the house. She’s benefiting from her closeness to Tyler (does she remind him of BB20 Angela?) and is part of Memphis’ 6-person alliance. Yet her Safety Suite challenge win led to her affiliation with the Nicole F.-Ian duo, as she saved Ian. Of course, it was a contest she did not need to win so perhaps down the road, her challenge prowess will be viewed as threatening.

As a positive, she isn’t viewed as a nemesis to even the likes of Janelle and Kaysar. That’s why she was party to their ramping-up of campaigning for Nicole A.

But most of all, she’s very comfortable being the tattletale for the likes of Tyler, Memphis and Cody. It’ll benefit her survival in the house currently, being a workable tangent with the power alliances.

9. Da’Vonne Rogers

If there’s anyone who needed to vastly alter their game play from past seasons, it’s Da’Vonne. For the first week, she displayed a willingness to join the power structure and maintain her presence there. However, that didn’t last long. The most recent week showed she has reverted to her self-destructive ways. The news of Dani suggesting an alliance with Janelle without being included in that grouping sent Da’Vonne into a tailspin, leading her to turn into a pseudo-Columbo (the 70’s TV detective; one of Nicole A.’s admitted faves). She tossed out lies for the sake of testing who may be untrustworthy, but all that did was cause mistrust in her; her so-called tests were not exactly stealth detective work. Add in the putting our feelers looking to evict David caused even more distance between her and the house’s powers that be. And most disappointingly, the crucial info with which she receives almost instantly loses its luster because she freely discusses it with almost anyone she encounters.

With her highlighted performance on MTV’s “The Challenge”, the potential for a new and improved Da’Vonne was in the making. But unless she finds power for herself (or by proxy, from Bayleigh) within the game — a position she has never claimed in the Big Brother game — apparently, her third time will not be the charm she had hoped for.

10. Robert “Memphis” Garrett

It took him 12 years to finally win an HOH but Memphis finally achieved it. But with it, came a case of HOH-itis at its “finest”. This was where his game started to unravel. He managed to unify the house in their distaste for him. Almost everyone seemed baffled by his decisions, attributed by his constant vagueness. And while the entire house was celebrating Dani’s birthday on Aug. 20, Memphis chose to sleep all the way through. In a game about social interaction, the choice to alienate one’s self is quite puzzling. His sense of entitlement made him feel he could play “the middle” and not satisfy everyone. But all that did was make him the backup choice, should Janelle or Kaysar come off the chopping block in a pending week. And if Tyler or David become HOH, he’d be their prime target. Memphis joined the many past players in Big Brother lore to have an HOH reign ruin their own game.

11 (tie). Janelle Pierzina DeSanto

Janelle is always an attraction on the daily feeds. She cried for the very first time onscreen in all her four seasons — that was this past week for Nicole Anthony. And despite Miss Anthony misleading herself (and being misled) into constantly bashing Janelle and Kaysar all over the house, Janelle never took that to heart. Sure, her game is practically in the toilet but that did not stop her for backing her friends. She earned a one-week stay of execution with Memphis as HOH, but with almost everyone else targeting her or not highly regarding her, an HOH win for herself or by Kaysar is necessary for survival. Anything short results in a trip back home.

I do pray that the Big Brother gods give us a miracle and let her stay at least a few more weeks to show how great of a player she truly is. If she makes it to jury, it will be a miracle.

11 (tie). Kaysar Ridha

You could practically copy the Janelle section, and paste it here then just swap out her name for Kaysar’s.

In addendum, Kaysar continues to exhibit his supreme game intelligence despite being dealt a really bad hand.

13. David Alexander

Many scoffed at Memphis’ call for David to “prove” himself upon getting nominated for eviction this past week. After all, David having gotten cast was simply enough to be there plus his apt reads of the house last summer sparked curiosity on how he might do in a fresh season. Granted that he’s up against several of the best ever to compete on the show, yet he still failed to rise to the occasion in campaigning. In fact, he did way more harm for himself than good. David advised Da’Vonne to “chill out” on the stumping for him, then confusingly confirmed Kaysar’s rumor that David is part of a guy’s alliance — David refused to divulge the members of such alliance to Da’Vonne yet she’ll be okay based on the “safeguards” he had put in place.

WHAT?!?

David did more for the pro-Nicole A. movement than anything she had done.

Furthermore, the trust with David’s ally Tyler took a slight hit when Tyler had warned David that Da’Vonne was looking to evict David — a warning David quickly dismissed as hogwash.

Obviously, David prefers having Tyler, Bayleigh and Da’Vonne in his back pocket but those supposed assets aren’t feeling the mutual love. He’ll probably skate by in the weeks to come because they’re are way bigger fish to fry.

14. Kevin Campbell

One would think a player who once placed third for the season could at least get a firm handle on the house. We obviously saw Nicole A. become wrapped up in her own delusions, but those were delved further thanks to Kevin’s outlandish claims. We all knew Kevin was out of the loop, but that was made all the clearer by repeatedly uttering his warped view of the reality in the house. He finally began to come to his senses once Nicole A. had realized she was completely incorrect about Janelle and Kaysar.

As for his status, ironically, his odd takes may lead to the house overlooking him for the next month, barring getting put on the block as a replacement nominee. He may attain pawn-nominee status (aka being a “Block Star”) but he’s certainly not viewed as a threat.

15. Nicole Anthony

Very tight spot for Nicole block but not dead in the water just yet (as of the morning of August 20, of course). She has some outlets but it may be too late for finally getting her head in the game, realizing that Janelle and Kaysar were working for her and not against her! A frustrating week to witness Nicole think that they were trying to get her out of this house while all the while they are doing everything they can to protect her. On Wednesday night, she managed to pull in to that Love Lounge the exact people she needed to stay, but the last-minute pitch might not be enough.

Thursday afternoon is still available for that coalition to get behind her, however, it’s probably too little too late.

She’s a much more interesting and engaging houseguest compared to the eviction nominee sitting next to her, but her All-Stars stint will be remembered for her misguided view of the game punctuated by the haunting parallels of her original season.