Championship Week & Regular Season recap

 

Well gentlemen, it's been awhile since I've typed up a recap, but figured we're due for one now that the regular season is over and Championship Week is upon us.

The top 2 seeds were bounced in the first round of the playoffs, so Zach & I will be vying for 3rd, while Jordan and Ramsey will fight it out for the Championship.

My team did end up winning the regular season and most points scored, but the $200 championship payout and 2023 season trophy will be awarded to whoever emerges victorious between Jordan & Ramsey.  Best of luck!

Longest winning streak: 8 (Zach) - Weeks 1-8

Biggest blowout: Kyle over Jordan (142.36 - 80.06) - Week 7 

Closest matchup: Zach over Eric (119.98 - 119.42) - Week 5

I did individual team awards/highlights/lowlights last year, so figured I could do that again.

Keep in mind, "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.

Brice

• Team MVP: Josh Allen (3778 passing yards, 27 pass TDs, 413 rushing yards, 13 rushing TDs)
• Allen finished as the top-scoring QB. First player in NFL history with 40+ TDs in 4 straight seasons.
• Best Draft Pick: Mike Evans (Round 9, #88 overall)
• 1163 receiving yards, 13 TDs. #3 scoring WR on the year.
• Biggest Letdown: Bijan Robinson (873 rushing yards, 373 receiving yards. 7 total TDs).
• His numbers don't look that bad on paper, but a disappointing result for a first-round draft pick, and several weeks with virtually no production.
• I really wanted to hand Kyle Pitts this title, but he was only a 7th round pick this year, so expectations were limited from the start.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 16 (148.28 points scored)

Dan

• Team MVP: Lamar Jackson (3357 passing yards, 19 pass TDs, 786 rushing yards, 5 rushing TDs)
• Jackson finished as the #4 QB on the year
• Best Draft Pick: D'Andre Swift (Round 9, #81 overall)
• 1,197 total yards, 6 TDs
• Biggest Letdown: Tee Higgins (637 receiving yards, 5 TDs)
• In reality, losing Justin Jefferson was the biggest letdown, but at least when Jefferson was on the field, he performed. Higgins did miss a few games in the middle of the season, but he was a ghost in most of the games he suited up for.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 3 (161.78 points scored)

Eric

• Team MVP: Christian McCaffrey (1,932 total yards, 21 TDs)
• Best Draft Pick: Keenan Allen (Round 5, #44 overall)
• 1,243 receiving yards, 7 TDs on 150 targets
• Biggest Letdown: Miles Sanders (546 total yards, 1 TD)
• Best Scoring Week: Week 10 (173.58 points scored)

Jordan

• Team MVP: TE Duo of T.J. Hockenson & Sam LaPorta
• Finished as the top 2 TEs on the season in fantasy scoring.
• Best Draft Pick: Sam LaPorta (Round 12, #116 overall)
• 776 receiving yards, 9 TDs
• Biggest Letdown: Davante Adams (972 receiving yards, 5 TDs)
• While he had a couple potentially week-winning performances, Adams was drafted in the 2nd round, and had a 2-month stretch in the middle of the season where he never found the endzone.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 8 (142.62 points scored)

Kent

• Team MVP: Patrick Mahomes (3,938 passing yards, 26 TDs, 387 rushing yards)
• Best Draft Pick: DeAndre Hopkins (Round 7, #62 overall)
• 939 receiving yards, 6 TDs on 120 targets
• Biggest Letdown: Austin Ekeler (571 rushing yards, 394 receiving yards, 6 total TDs)
• Ekeler started off the season with 164 yards and a TD in week 1, then missed a few weeks due to injury, and never notched a 70+ yard rushing total the remainder of the year. His receiving usage helped overall production, but essentially half of his weeks left disappointing results. Not what we've come to expect from the #2 overall pick.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 5 (151.84 points scored)

Kyle

• Team MVP: Jalen Hurts (3,778 passing yards, 20 pass TDs, 576 rushing yards, 15 rushing TDs)
• Best Draft Pick: Alvin Kamara (Round 8, #71 overall)
• After being forced to miss the first 3 weeks due to suspension, Kamara has been incredibly consistent and reliable every week. Ended up being a steal in Round 8, in a season where solid starts at RB were hard to come by.
• Biggest Letdown: Tony Pollard (886 rushing yards, 295 receiving yards, 5 TDs)
• Pollard broke out last year with nearly 1,400 yards and 12 TDs, while essentially playing 2nd fiddle to Ezekiel Elliott. With the starting role locked in this year on a high-powered offense, there was a lot of hype. But many Pollard was largely inefficient with his touches, and overall had a disappointing season.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 13 (143.82 points scored)

Luke

• Team MVP: Tyreek Hill (1,641 receiving yards, 12 TDs)
• Best Draft Pick: Rachaad White (Round 8, #75 overall)
• 1,380 total yards and 9 TDs so far. White has become one of the biggest surprises of the 2023 season, and is the #3 scoring RB on the season.
• Biggest Letdown: Dalvin Cook (214 rushing yards, 0 TDs)
• He completely lost the starting role to Breece Hall, and was relegated to essentially a bench/backup role after week 1. He was only a 7th round pick, so not the end of the world.
• Strongly considered Derrick Henry for this. He saved himself by turning it on down the stretch and putting up 7 TDs through the past 5 weeks. But through Week 11, he was only averaging 66 rushing yards per week, with 4 total TDs.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 1 (132.44 points scored)

Ramsey

• Team MVP: Raheem Mostert (1012 rushing yards, 21 total TDs)
• Best Draft Pick: Raheem Mostert (Round 12, #118 overall)
• Absolute steal near the end of the draft. He is currently the #2 scoring RB on the season, on one of the most high-powered offenses in the NFL.
• Biggest Letdown: Aaron Jones (425 rushing yards, 2 rushing TDs. 193 receiving yards, 1 rushing TD).
• He has missed some games due to lingering injuries, but even when on the field, he's only hit 100 rushing yards once this season. Not what you wanna see from a 2nd round draft pick.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 16 (143.04 points scored)

Tom

• Team MVP: Stefon Diggs (1,070 receiving yards, 8 TDs on 145 targets)
• Best Draft Pick: James Cook (Round 8, #72 overall)
• 1,038 rushing yards, 433 receiving yards, 6 TDs)
• Biggest Letdown: Garrett Wilson (958 receiving yards, 3 TDs)
• Losing Rodgers was a dagger for Wilson and the Jets. While he still saw an enormous amount of targets (153), Zach Wilson did not do enough to make Wilson pay off on his first-round draft capital.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 10 (120.94 points scored)

Zach

• Team MVP: A.J. Brown (1,394 receiving yards, 7 TDs on 101 receptions)
• Best Draft Pick: Brian Robinson Jr (Round 9, #87 overall)
• With 990 total yards and 8 TDs so far, Robinson was a solid RB pickup near the middle-late rounds.
• Honorable mention for Dallas defense, who put up some ridiculous totals that helped solidify some wins.
• Biggest Letdown: Rhamondre Stevenson (619 rushing yards, 238 receiving yards, 4 TDs)
• He has had unreliable usage & production essentially all season. Zeke has essentially served as the lead back most of the time, with Rhamondre simply not living up to pre-season expectations.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 4 (144.42 points scored)

Thanks again for a great season, and good luck to Jordan & Ramsey in the Championship match!

Cheers, - Eric