Champion crowned & Season Recap

 

Ya know, Bijan did his part at least... Tom's team did manage to put up a fight at the end.

But ultimately DAN comes out victorious and is now a back-to-back champion.

No easy feat. Congrats!

Dan gets $200 for winning the title and another trophy to add to the mantle..

A few interesting season stats:

Biggest blowout: Tom over Ramsey (123.62 - 43.36) - Week 13 

Closest matchup: Eric over Brice (107.04 - 106.92) - Week 3

Most TDs scored in a single week: 11 - (Kent - Week 7) & (Kyle - Week 8)

I have worked on some player awards & highlights/lowlights for each team as well, just for the hell of it.

There may be some obvious choices, mixed in with some controversial ones. Guess you can be the judge(s)..

Worth mentioning, "Biggest Letdown" are just my picks for players who underperformed, or didn't deliver on expectations. Not generally players who lost significant time due to injury, although that's sometimes part of the equation.

Dan

• Team MVP: Trey McBride (119 receptions, 1,174 receiving yards, 11 TDs)
• McBride finished as the #1 TE on the year, and set the NFL record for most receptions at the position. Obvious choice. The scoring separation between him and the rest of the tight end field is wild.
• Best Draft Pick: George Pickens (Round 7, #70 overall)
• Finishing with 1,420 receiving yards & 9 TDs, Pickens was nothing short of phenomenal as an offensive weapon for the Cowboys this year.
• Honorable mention: Chris Olave, who Dan drafted in the 10th round and finished with 1,163 total yards & 9 TDs.
• Biggest Letdown: Malik Nabers - Injured in Week 4 - (271 receiving yards, 2 TDs)
• Generally I don't like to have a player lost due to injury for this category, but the reality is that pretty much all of Dan's top draft picks delivered for him this season. Nabers being the one major exception, and it is pretty tough losing your second round pick early in the year. Since Dan was last in the draft order, he took Nico Collins & Nabers #1 & #2 at the end of the first round. Scary to think he could have had 4 elite WRs this season instead of "just" 3.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 15 (154.72 points scored)

Tom

• Team MVP: Bijan Robinson (1,445 rushing yards, 810 receiving yards, 11 TDs)
• Bijan finished as the #3 RB on the season, and led the league with 2,255 total yards. Would have been nice to see a few more endzone opportunities, but hard to complain about someone who could very well be the #1 overall draft pick again in 2026.
• Best Draft Pick: James Cook (Round 3, #21 overall)
• 1,606 rushing yards (most in the NFL this season), 14 TDs. Tom's RB duo of Cook & Bijan were insane all season and led him all the way to the Championship game.
• Biggest Letdown: Ladd McConkey (66 receptions, 789 receiving yards, 6 TDs)
• When your #2 draft pick finishes outside the Top 25 at their position, they belong here. McConkey started off slow and without a TD until Week 5, then had a few serviceable games. His last game with more than 4 receptions was Week 8...
• Best Scoring Week: Week 12 (132.82 points scored)

Matt

• Team MVP: Jonathan Taylor (1,559 rushing yards. 20 TDs)
• Matt's 2nd round draft pick did not disappoint. He had the most TDs in the NFL this season and finished as the #2 RB in total scoring.
• Best Draft Pick: Travis Etienne (Round 11, #102 overall)
• 1,361 total yards and 13 TDs from a double-digit round draft pick is wild, and he proved all the doubters wrong. He was consistently reliable pretty much all season, but really turned it up to another level in the 2nd half, with 10 TDs in his last 8 games.
• Biggest Letdown: Alvin Kamara (471 rushing yards, 186 receiving yards, 1 TD)
• Drafted in the 5th round as Matt's #2 RB, I don't think any of us were expecting the electric Kamara of old, but he really did not deliver anything to be excited about. His lone TD came in week 1, and after a couple weeks of double-digit fantasy points to start the year, things were looking promising. However, things took a turn, and he only averaged 43 rushing YPG & 17 receiving YPG in the 11 games he played, while missing the last several games due to an MCL sprain.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 3 (151.12 points scored)

Eric

• Team MVP: Jahmyr Gibbs (1,726 total yards. 17 TDs)
• Best Draft Pick: Dak Prescott (Round 10, #97 overall)
• Dak was the 12th QB taken in the draft, and finished as the #4 QB overall. He was #1 in passing yards with 4,482, and tagged on 30 passing TDs.
• Biggest Letdown: Marvin Harrison Jr. (608 receiving yards, 4 TDs)
• Whether it was confidence concerns or QB issues (it was both), Harrison had a sophomore slump instead of the sophomore bump that many NFL wideouts experience. Mix in some late-season lingering injury issues, and you have a recipe for a rough fantasy year.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 12 (157.96 points scored)

Kent

• Team MVP: Derrick Henry (1,469 rushing yards. 16 TDs)
• Henry put an exclamation point on his season, with 216 yards and 4 scores on THIRTY-SIX carries in Week 17.. Guess it's no surprise, his elite production is often a product of the volume of carries he's getting. Just imagine what kind of numbers he could have put up if the Ravens fed him the ball that way throughout the season.
• Best Draft Pick: Quinshon Judkins (Round 11, #109 overall)
• Judkins became a clear game-changer when he effectively became the Browns' bellcow back starting in Week 3. Whenever you end up with a starting RB in the double-digit rounds, you're doin' pretty well. Judkins generally made the most of his opportunities in Cleveland's putrid offense. Will be interesting to see where the talented RB gets drafted next year.
• Biggest Letdown: Omarion Hampton (737 total yards, 5 TDs)
• I say I'm not going to put players here due to injury, but here I go again. Reason being, I think Kent's season could have been entirely different had Hampton not gotten injured. Hampton had solidified himself as an elite dual-threat RB, before missing 7 games between Weeks 6-13. Coincidentally, Kent had a 6-game losing streak during that time, which put to bed any chance he had of saving his season.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 7 (132.04 points scored)

Brice

• Team MVP: Kyle Pitts ☺ alright, alright... MAYBE it's Christian McCaffrey instead.
• McCaffrey (2,069 total yards, 96 receptions, 17 TDs)
• Not much to say about this pick. CMC managed to stay healthy and that's all that's needed in order for him to deliver insane production. Even after Jonathan Taylor's crazy season, McCaffrey still managed to finish as the #1 RB on the year.
• Best Draft Pick: Puka Nacua (Round 2, #14 overall)
• This was difficult to choose, as Brice actually had some really solid picks in the mid-late rounds of the draft. Unfortunately most of his team got hurt, apart from a few survivors. Puka finished as the #1 WR on the year, so Brice's top 2 draft picks both finished at the top of their respective positions.
• Biggest Letdown: Lamar Jackson (2,311 passing yards, 18 passing TDs. 340 rushing yards, 2 rushing TDs)
• Jackson battled through a few injuries, but aside from Week 1, he never had a game with 50+ rushing yards the rest of the year. Not what you wanna see out of your dual-threat QB. He also had a horrendous stretch of games in pivotal weeks 10-13 which was devastating to Brice's playoff chances.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 5 (150.36 points scored)

Jordan

• Team MVP: Kyren Williams (1,192 rushing yards, 13 TDs)
• Williams was very consistent all year, reliably found the endzone, and finished as the #8 RB on the season.
• Best Draft Pick: Chuba Hubbard (Round 5, #45 overall)
• Ok this is an unconventional choice, as Chuba was actually only on Jordan's team for the first four weeks. However, he was able to FLIP him for Rico Dowdle, who went on a mid-season tear, averaging nearly 20 PPG in Weeks 5-11. During that span, Jordan won 6 straight matchups and averaged 128 points.
• Biggest Letdown: T.J. Hockenson (438 receiving yards, 51 receptions, 3 TDs)
• The Iowa native was partially a victim of the Vikings offensive woes, but he was essentially held in check the entire season. Jordan wisely cut him loose after Week 6, and found better TE production out of Tucker Kraft (at least until Kraft was injured and he was forced to rely on Mark Andrews the remainder of the season).
• Best Scoring Week: Week 6 (157.46 points scored)

Kyle

• Team MVP: Josh Allen (3,668 passing yards, 25 passing TDs. 579 rushing yards, 14 rushing TDs)
• Allen was the #1 QB on the season, and put up some truly monstrous performances (37.84, 38.76, and 44.68 fantasy points)
• Best Draft Pick: Courtland Sutton (Round 7, #63 overall)
• Drafted as the 24th WR off the board, Sutton ended up as a Top 10 WR on the year. Despite a couple of games where he was essentially ignored on offense, he still managed to put up a 1,000+ yard season and find the endzone 7 times.
• Biggest Letdown: Saquon Barkley (1,140 rushing yards, 273 receiving yards, 9 TDs)
• So maybe this is a controversial choice, because he did finish as a Top 15 RB. That being said, we expected more considering his wealth of talent and opportunity. He failed to reach 100 total yards in a game until Week 8, which is surprising considering he's not a stranger to being used in the receiving game as well. Apart from a big game in Week 8, he really didn't contribute enough considering his draft spot. He partially saved his season stats with some good starts in Weeks 14-16, but it was too little too late.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 8 (138.48 points scored)

Ramsey

• Team MVP: Jaxon Smith-Njigba (1,709 receiving yards, 10 TDs)
• This may have been the easiest MVP choice I've had to make, and there was rarely a week that went by where I didn't envy Ramsey for being able to draft him in the FOURTH ROUND. Go look at JSN's game logs.. go look at them. He was as reliable and elite as they come. I was almost expecting him to somehow put up points during his Bye week.
• Best Draft Pick: Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Round 4, #33 overall)
• I don't like doubling-up on choices, but feel it's deserved in this case.
• Biggest Letdown: Justin Jefferson (947 receiving yards, 2 TDs)
• Another super easy choice here. If you would have told me at the beginning of the season that Jefferson would play in every game, yet finish outside the Top 25 WRs, I never would have believed it. Yet, here we are. It's particularly frustrating when the talent is there and it's just not utilized.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 5 (142.02 points scored)

Zach

• Team MVP: Amon-Ra St. Brown (1,262 receiving yards, 11 TDs)
• Finishing as the #3 WR on the year, Brown is one of those "set it and forget it" guys on the roster. He's always getting targets, even on a team full of weapons.
• Best Draft Pick: Javonte Williams (Round 13, #126 overall)
• Possibly the biggest steal of the draft. Over 1,200 rushing yards and 13 TDs. Nearly forgotten in fantasy drafts, yet finishing the season as a Top 10 RB.
• Biggest Letdown: Brian Thomas Jr. (658 receiving yards, 2 TDs)
• Talk about another player that saw a sophomore slump...ouch. Incredibly disappointing season after his spectacular rookie breakout.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 3 (125.24 points scored)

That's all I've got.

Guys, it's been a fun year. Thanks for the great competition and the comedic banter in our group chat.

Obviously I hope to see the same squad around next year. I generally renew the league sometime in July and go over league details then. But feel free to discuss in the off-season any changes you might want to see before then.

Have a safe & Happy New Year!

Cheers,

- Eric

Week 15 Recap & Playoff Preview

 

Wow, we made it guys.

The regular season concludes with 4 playoff-bound teams who are all probably pretty happy.

While the rest are.. not as much..

Congrats to Matt, Dan, and Tom. Well-deserved.

Tom will square off with me in Round 1, while Matt and Dan will battle it out to see who advances to the championship matchup.

As for this past week's matchups..

Dan vs Tom

The battle of the Dacken brothers had a lot of eyes on it this week, as a couple of teams needed Dan's squad to stumble if they had any chance of making the playoffs.

Well, Dan apparently saw them in the rearview mirror and just hit the gas.  His team put up the highest score of the week and he cruised to victory on the backs of Nico Collins, TreVeyon Henderson, and Trey McBride.

McBride in particular has been nothing short of phenomenal.  He now has 105 receptions on the season, which is only 11 shy of the NFL record for a tight end.

Probably not much love lost for Tom's team, as he was a lock for a playoff spot regardless of the result.  His RB duo of Bijan and Cook delivered again, as they typically do.  Davante Adams is dealing with a hamstring issue, but hopefully he can stay on the field for a couple more weeks.

Brice vs Zach

Well it's been a rollercoaster for Brice.  He saw his all-time favorite (non-Packers) player put up 40 POINT 1 points in the Thursday night game.  Giving him hope that his team would put up a huge point total & maybe even Dan would lose his matchup.  

But Dan was obviously having none of that, and the rest of Brice's team only put up 70 in addition to Pitts' total.  However it was enough to JUST edge out Zach's team for the W though.

Brice finishes the regular season a respectable 8-7, but I'm sure he's thinking "what could have been".

It was only fitting that Zach would lose his last regular-season matchup by less than a point.  

I believe he lost last week by .34, his week 9 matchup by .84, and a couple other close ones.  Sometimes they just don't go your way.

Amon-Ra St Brown didn't get the memo that Zach's team was supposed to be tanking though, because he decided to put up his highest point total of the season.

If it's any consolation, there's no official punishment for finishing at the bottom.

Jordan vs Kyle

Ultimately, Jordan's team did about all they could to put up a fighting chance for the playoffs.  His RBs delivered, with Kyren Williams and Josh Jacobs combining for 4 TDs in his victory over Kyle's team.

Jordan finishes the regular season in 5th place at 8-7 and gets to take on Kent in the consolation bracket.

Courtland Sutton tied his best fantasy output of the season and Saquon put up a serviceable game, but it was not enough for Kyle to catchup to Jordan this week.

Kyle was fighting an uphill battle a lot of the season, with the most points scored against him in his matchups.  Always tough to overcome that.  He'll face off with Brice in Week 16.

Matt vs Ramsey

Matt couldn't quite manage to catch me in the regular-season point total, but he did make it pretty close.  More importantly, he made the playoffs in his inaugural season.  Since he won't be playing me in the first round, I caught up with him to give him a little pre-playoff prep talk..

Ramsey fell on the losing end of this one, but Tyrone Tracy & George Kittle didn't go down without a fight.

Also, I talk about Jaxon Smith-Njigba in every single write-up, because the man has been an absolute weapon for his team all year.  On the flipside, Justin Jefferson has been all but left for dead.  Sad to see, to be honest.

Kent vs Eric

Kent came up short in our relatively low-scoring matchup.  CeeDee Lamb did put up his 3rd 110+ yard game in a row, but Burrow was dominated by the Ravens and Omarion Hampton hasn't shown the magic since coming back from his long injury absence.

I somehow ended the year winning the last 7 matchups.  An optimist would say that's a hot streak, but I can't help but thinking now I'm due for a loss.  Guess we'll see what happens in Week 16.

Best of luck in your playoff matchups!

Cheers!

- Eric

Week 14 Recap & Pre-Playoff Panic

Things are gettin' real now...  and I do love a little fantasy football drama to end the regular season.

While Tom & myself have clinched playoff spots, Matt effectively has a reserved spot also, due to his points lead over any potential ties.

With a wild, down-to-the-wire win this week over Zach's team, Dan now sits alone in 4th place at 8-6, and destiny is in his own hands.  If he secures a win in Week 15, he makes the playoffs.  But if he doesn't, then that leaves the door open for a couple teams..

Right on his heels is Brice, who has had...let's just say, a rough last month or so.  His team drops to 7-7, but with only a handful of points separating the teams still in contention, things could get interesting in the last regular season matchup.

With Jordan getting an absolute "must-win" over Matt's team this week, he moves up to 7-7, and would also need a win in Week 15 to have a shot at the final playoff spot.

Both Brice & Jordan need wins to have any shot, but they will most likely be paying very close attention to Dan & Tom's matchup as well.

Quick summaries of the Week 14 matchups..

Dan vs Zach

OK...this matchup was, wild.  Not only did it have serious playoff implications, but it came down to the very last play of the Monday Night game.

With Dan having a narrow lead going into the MNF game, Zach basically needed a measly 5 points out of Jalen Hurts in order to get the win.  Well....yeah that didn't happen.  Hurts had something like 3 fantasy points at halftime after contributing several turnovers, only to see the game go into OVERTIME with Zach's team having a little over a point deficit.  

At this point, I'm thinking "surely, Hurts is going to manage to score a couple points in overtime, right?"  Well, he DID do that to give Zach's team the brief lead, only to promptly throw them away with an interception immediately afterwards.  What a crazy end to that game, and to this matchup.

Pretty sure that Jalen Hurts also became the first player in NFL history to throw an interception AND have a lost fumble on the same play.

Dan escapes with the narrow victory, to cement himself in 4th place at 8-6.  Dan faces off with Tom in the last matchup of the regular season.

Zach will get another chance to play spoiler when he squares off with Brice in Week 15.

Jordan vs Matt

As I previously mentioned, Jordan HAD to win this week and did just that vs Matt's team.

Jordan got a career day out of WR Michael Wilson, while Matt saw Jayden Daniels leave due to injury in the 2nd half after only contributing a handful of points.

Matt drops to 8-6, but it's looking like his playoff spot is basically locked up with his fairly considerable points advantage over the other teams in contention.

In Week 15, Matt will get a matchup with Ramsey while Jordan squares off with Kyle.

Eric vs Ramsey

Ramsey & I battled in a fairly high-scoring affair this week.  Gibbs & company managed to just outpace JSN, Tony Pollard, and the rest of Ramsey's crew.

Ramsey will close out the regular season in a matchup vs Matt.

Kent vs Tom

Kent did manage to dominate Tom's team in Week 14, albeit in a game without any real playoff implications.  We're always playin' for pride though, and it has to feel nice to knock the #2 placed team down a peg.

It has ultimately been a tale of "too little, too late" for Kent's team.  I liked him as a dark horse pick early in the year, but costly injuries (like Omarion Hampton missing the majority of the year) made it tough to have a fighting chance.

Kent gets a matchup with me this week.

Tom's team must have heard he secured a playoff spot and decided to take the week off, because most of his squad played pretty flat.  It never bodes well when none of your players find themselves in the endzone.

Stafford was really the only one who contributed, as he did throw for 3 TDs in their win over the Cardinals.

Tom does get a matchup with serious playoff implications (for his opponent) when he faces off with Dan in Week 15.

Kyle vs Brice

Kyle got a nearly 40-point game out of Josh Allen to lead his team to victory over Brice's team in Week 14's high-scoring matchup.

Puka Nacua did put up his season-best fantasy score, and Lamar decided to actually play football this week, but it wasn't enough for Brice's squad.

Brice will have a must-win matchup vs Zach in Week 15, while Kyle can play spoiler again as he faces off with Jordan.

It'll be very interesting to watch how everything unfolds in the matchups this week, as we close out the regular season and venture into the playoffs.  Best of luck in your matchups!

- Eric

Week 13 Recap

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.

We're in crunch time now, with just 2 weeks remaining in the regular season.

As is usually the case, there is still a lot up-in-the-air, as quite a few teams are vying for a playoff spot.  How these last couple weeks play out will be interesting to see.

On to the Week 13 matchups..

Tom vs Ramsey

Talk about getting hot at the right time.  Tom moves up to 9-4 after winning his 4th consecutive matchup, and appears to be destined for a playoff spot.  His team is averaging over 122 points over the past month.

His RB duo of Bijan & James Cook have been reliably great most of the season, and Davante Adams leads the league with 14 receiving TDs so far.  Nobody else in the NFL even has double-digit receiving TDs yet, so he's way ahead of the pack.

Tom will look to clinch things up when he faces off with Kent in Week 14.

Ramsey drops to 5-8.  I could say this was the lowest score of the year so far, or I could talk about how it was the greatest score disparity in a matchup.. but I won't talk about that.

Jaxon Smith Njigba is the #1 scoring receiver in the league.. and he had 2 receptions for 23 yards.  This was the first time he has failed to get double-digit fantasy points all season.

Justin Jefferson had 2 receptions... for 4 yards.

The Vikings & Seahawks should be publicly ridiculed for that, that's all I'm gonna say.

Ramsey would need some help from others to have any shot at a playoff berth, but we're always playing for pride anyways.  He gets a matchup vs me this week.

Jordan vs Eric

I managed to get the best of Jordan's team this week.  But now he's sitting at 6-7...so, I guess he can do that hand-thing at least.

Packers QB Jordan Love led his team this week with 4 passing TDs and gets another plus matchup vs the Bears in Week 14.

Jordan will likely have to win his last two matchups to have a shot at the playoffs, as getting to 8 wins would give him the best chance.  But he'll have to get through Matt this week in order to do so.

Matt vs Brice

Matt led the league in points in Week 13, and moves on up to 8-5.  Currently sitting in 3rd place in the overall standings.  A great spot to be in, considering another win would essentially clinch it for him, as he's #2 in points scored on the season, which is the tiebreaker stat if two teams have the same record.

Worth noting that there is $50 up for grabs for both the regular-season winner and regular-season points leader.  Matt is still in a position to claim one (or both) of those.

Matt squares off with Jordan in Week 14.

Oh Brice, what can I even say?  

Ok, I know what to say...I blame Lamar.

Lamar Jackson is averaging 7 points over his last 3 games.  Ouch. 

That's tough for the rest of a fantasy team to overcome.  But what can you even do?  Bench Jackson?  That's borderline crazy talk...but it will be up to Brice on how he manages things going forward.

He drops to 7-6 and is still sitting in a decent position in 5th place.  But it will be interesting to see what happens through these next couple weeks.  He'll get a matchup with Kyle in Week 14.

Kyle vs Zach

Kyle moves to 5-8 after dispatching Zach's team in Week 13.  Brock Bowers contributed a couple scores to lead his team's scoring.

If my math is correct, Kyle still has a very outside chance of earning a playoff spot.  The good thing is, he plays two other contenders (Brice & Jordan) in the final two weeks.  So his destiny is, at least partially, in his hands.

Zach drops to 4-9.  Sometimes things just don't go your way.  Amon-Ra left the Lions' Thanksgiving game with an ankle sprain before being able to contribute any points.

Zach IS in a prime position to play spoiler though, as he faces off with Dan & Brice in Weeks 14 & 15, who are both needing some wins to close out the year.

Kent vs Dan

Always enjoy seeing how this rivalry plays out, and this time it was Kent claiming the victory in a closely contested, high-scoring matchup.  He seemed more than happy to do his part to try and spoil Dan's playoff chances, although Dan is definitely still in the running, sitting in 4th place.

Kent is peaking a bit too late unfortunately, but his WRs Rashee Rice & Lamb both put up big games. 

Kent will get a matchup vs Tom this week, while Dan faces off with Zach.

Best of luck in Week 14!

- Eric