I'm switching the MOTW format for this week. I'll see how I like it and revert back if it sucks.
The majority of teams get 55-65% of their points from their top 3 players i.e. 33% of the roster. So instead of breaking down the entire roster from top to bottom, I'm going to focus on who I believe will be the top 3 point-getters for each team. Additionally, I'll identify an X-factor, who may swing the match up for a tight win or an unexpected loss.
MOTW
2. Jacked Up! vs. 4. Orange MFN Charizard
A rematch of the final from last year, David K. has quite the grudge to avenge. Of course, Cho doesn't know or care about any of this so he's taking this like any other week.
Cho's Top 3:
1. Mahomes (QB) - 36
2. Zeke (RB) - 26
3. Jordan Howard (RB) - 23
Cho's running backs have some juicy match ups. Usually home + beatable opponent + weak QBs + porous run defenses is a perfect recipe for 20+ fantasy points. Cho's team got a lucky break and got that perfect formula for BOTH of his backs. However, neither of them are outscoring Mahomes who is on pace to throw 69 TDs this year. 69 (heh). Denver can try to slow him down with Miller and Chubb but worst case, he'll throw a couple picks. This won't stop him for throwing for 300+ yards and 3+ TDs.
David K's Top 3:
1. Kamara (RB) - 29
2. Dalton (QB) - 26
3. Kelce (TE) - 18
Kamara is a monster and he gets to play a NYG team that really hasn't been able to stop anybody. And now they get to face Charizard with no water type Pokemon. That's a recipe for disaster. Dalton should be involved in a nice shootout with a Falcons defense that has personnel dropping like flies. I think he loses the game but puts up a nice 25+ point effort. Kelce is an interesting play here as he should take advantage of a linebacking corp that cannot cover TEs (Dissly, a slow white guy, had 16 points on them). Additionally, he'll help mitigate Mahomes' yardage points for every throw that comes his way.
X-Factor: Sanders (WR, Cho) vs. Michel (RB, David K)
Unfortunately, this is the story of diverging X-Factors. Sanders, who has found new life with Keenum at the helm, should tear up the Chiefs secondary that couldn't even stop Beathard from leading some scoring drives. Michel struggled with the opportunity that came his way last week and it doesn't take much to lose Belichick's trust. I can't see him getting more than 12 touches and I'm not sure he'll do enough with them to help mitigate Cho's running backs.
Winner: Cho
David K fails to get revenge today but it's not entirely his fault. The match ups for Cho's running backs are as good as they'll be all year and the lack of a 2nd running back is going to hurt David K in this match up.
Bonus mini-MOTW
11. Afghanistananis vs. 12. David Y Team
No team's chances are over until they lose 7 games but falling into an 0-4 hole means you have to go 7-3 the rest of the way. While 6-4 isn't remarkably easier, it's definitely more feasible than the former. One of these teams will take a step in the right direction as one of them have to win this matchup of no-win teams (unless there is a tie, which has only happened once since 2010, so let's say it won't happen).
Winner: Dan
One of these teams doesn't deserve to be 0-3. While he has cooled off after a 130 point week 1, he still has enough talent on his team to beat David Y. 2 true WR1s, Wilson against a terrible Cardinals team, and the return of Ajayi should all be enough to get the W. Unless Cousins and Thielen connect for 3 TDs on Thursday night, I'll say this is over before SNF.
Good luck to all!
Simon Kim
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Thursday, September 20, 2018
Week 3 - Still Too Early...
... for a MOTW.
If 2 weeks in, we could decide who was the best team, I would take the money and run. However, we still have a long 11 regular season weeks and another 3 playoff weeks. Therefore, we'll have to hold off one more week before a proper MOTW can be written. I was going to write one on Dan and Biggie as there are a few story lines to keep it interesting (e.g. both 0-2, Dan taking Conner, two elder statesmen battling it out) but Dan's record doesn't really reflect his team's great play. I think we'll save it for week 4 when we could have teams with a combined 5 wins facing off against each other (David K. vs. Cho, Jon vs. Mike are two possibilities).
So I'm not sure what to write about for this week. I'll just post some random thoughts:
- Apparently marriage is the key to fantasy football. The top 6 players are all married while the bottom 6 are not. For those that thought marriage would take away the time required to do fantasy football research, one thing is clear: marriage gives you a great start to your fantasy football season. Let's see if these findings hold until the end of the year
- Based on the points he's scored, Dan should be 2nd. He's unfortunate to be in 9th place but I wouldn't be surprised if he's over .500 by the end of week 7.
- Nobody likes seeing undeserving players at the top of the table but luckily I don't think anybody has that inglorious honor 2 weeks in. Jung is a hair under 200 points but only Dan and Eric may have a bone to pick with him. If Dan can normalize, we won't have as much dysfunction as we did last year when comparing PF to W-L record.
That's pretty much all I have for today. I can already hear David K. grumbling about not having airport reading material and Eric giving me some choice words under his breath but get ready for some sick MOTWs in the coming week. I may be tweaking the format a bit so look for a breath of fresh air. Also, look forward to a mid-season post on re-visiting the draft analysis done before the season. We'll get to see which picks actually panned out and which ones busted. When we compare it to the previous post, we'll see moments that make me look like a genius. And moments that make me look like an idiot. But we'll forgive the latter.
Good luck to all!
Simon Kim
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Week 1 Win = Championship?
Aren't you all glad football is back? The joys of watching 11 straight hours of football is hard to describe. The cherry on top this week was that the five games I decided to watch (flipping between CBS/FOX and outside of NFL Redzone running on my computer) were ridiculously entertaining. Browns Steelers gave us a tie but it seemed like both teams had multiple chances to win the game. Bucs Saints brought the return of Fitzmagic in a shootout for the ages. In the afternoon slate, Tyreek stole the show against the Chargers and the Broncos and Seahawks had exciting plays galore that came down to the final drive. And of course, the final chapter of this night was a tale of two halves: Mack + Rodgers. All this is to say that I can't believe I was able to survive 7 months with no football.
This week, since it's still too early for a MOTW, we're going to look back at the correlation of week 1 performance to the team's eventual standing in the league, and what that means for the teams that won or lost this week. All data is from when the first year of a 12 man league (2011) until last year.
Some observations:
1) Week 1 performance seems to indicate some weird trends. While it doesn't predict the champion (4 losers of week 1 have been champ vs. 3 winners of week 1), it paints a clear picture on placing in the league. Only 6 of the 42 week 1 losers were able to place and win money while 15 of the 42 winners have done the same. Additionally, all of the 2nd place finishers have won week 1.
2) I also did some research on what your week 1 score was vs. how you perform in the league. There's definitely a bigger correlation than just the ability to win or lose in the first week. Anyone who has scored less than 70 points in the first week has never placed, with only 2 of the 7 teams even making the playoffs. The ability to score high correlates to placing as well as the ability to score in explosive bunches is key to winning matchups.
- 115+: 2 championships, 2 runner-ups, 3 third (7 total)
- 100-115: 1 championship, 3 runner-ups, 2 third (6 total)
- 85-100: 2 championships, 2 runner-ups, 1 third (5 total)
- 70-85: 2 championships, 0 runner-ups, 1 third (3 total)
- <70: 0, 0, 0
3) Next, I combined the two groups to see if being unlucky (high scoring and losing) or lucky (low scoring and winning) carries with the team through that season. There were 6 instances of teams that scored 100+ and lost their first week. 4 didn't make the playoffs and only 1 was able to place. On the flip side, there were 4 teams that scored less than 85 and won (nobody won scoring less than 70), of which only 1 was able to make the playoffs.
What does this mean for our league this season?
1) Bad news for Biggie as he was unable to break the 70 point marker in week 1. If he can place this year, he will make history as the first team to do so with such a terrible start.
2) Dan shouldn't fret too much about losing with the second highest score this week. History has shown that there is a higher correlation to score than the actual win or loss. Let's just hope he doesn't add to the data for 'unlucky' teams carrying that unluckiness to the end.
3) There actually weren't that many outliers this season in week 1 so the teams that deserved to win won and the teams that deserved to lose lost. David Y might consider himself a bit unlucky but it's not unheard of.
Some other random observations about team names as I was gathering this data:
1) Cho has never changed his name. Don't go running to him for creative ideas.
2) Jon and David Y (sneakily) come up with the corniest names. I won't even repeat them here as they are horrifying. They try to balance humor with being appropriate and the latter ruins their ability to fulfill the former.
3) David K and Paul are the opposite of their cousin and always come up with the most vulgar names. Never change.
4) Dan Park, I love that you made my job easy. Office Reference = Dan. Just in case you're throwing your hat in the air from the praise I'm bestowing upon you, I have a great line for that: "May your hats fly as high as your dreams"... I know nobody is graduating! Wow. Relax, spazzy boy.
Let me know if you'd like the data to play around with it yourself. Just shoot me an e-mail and I can send it to you. Also, if anyone has incriminating photos of Chris Chung, please provide so I can update the banner.
Good luck to all!
Simon Kim
Thursday, September 6, 2018
Welcome to 2018! - Draft Analysis
Welcome to 2018! Sorry I've been so swamped to give everyone a proper welcome or update the cover photo to replace Alex with Chris but I'm guessing you're here for the content anyways.
Let's get right into the draft. Just a few words to start: I think it's really impressive how much better our entire league has gotten at drafting. Nobody picking 3 QBs, nobody drafting 2 TEs, nobody reaching for a QB in the 2nd round. It's quite honestly a testament to how much we humiliate the terrible draft choices.
Anyways, on to the good stuff. We'll go in the order of the draft. I'll give an overall grade on the draft and an overall grade on the team name as well:
Don't Stop BellLeveon (Eric Lee)
Best Pick: 6th Round, Kerryon Johnson
Worst Pick: 2nd Round, Joe Mixon
Sleeper (10th round or later): 13th Round, Calvin Ridley
Overall Grade: A
Team Name Grade: F
Eric had a very solid draft, with little to no surprises. He took Gurley at 1 and took Gronk at 3 to solidify the core of his team. He may have a steal with Johnson who looks poised to be a 1000+ rusher for the Lions for the first time in 4 years. Joe Mixon may have more opportunity this year, but I'm not so sure I'm sold on his ability to deliver. He's still got Gio poaching 3rd down carries and in his action last year, nothing screamed "breakout potential" in 2018. Nonetheless, he may have found a gem in Ridley in the 13th round, especially if Matt Ryan expects to get to the heights he reached 2 years ago, he'll need more than Julio to get him there. I could see Ridley exploding for 900+ yards and 8+ TDs if the Falcons can get back to their scoring ways.
As for his name, he doesn't even have Le'veon anymore. May I suggest a Gurley themed name?
David Y Team (David Yim)
Best Pick: 8th Round, Devin Funchess
Worst Pick: 1st Round, Le'veon Bell
Sleeper: 15th Round, John Ross
Overall Grade: C
Team Name Grade: F-
The worst pick by David's team isn't entirely his fault. Other than Bell, who could have known that he would be taking a stand and missing games in order to get his money? Outside of that, he may have reached on a few others like Kelce (2nd before Gronk) or Tate (4th before Demaryius or fellow teammate Marvin Jones) but he may have found a nice gem in Funchess. Cam and the Panthers look like they want to play fast-paced, high-scoring offense and Funchess should be the main beneficiary. While CMC and Olsen are the white boys getting off-season hype, Funchess is the clear number one receiver and showed some chemistry with Newton last year. If John Ross can elevate his game to be more than a speedster who runs fly routes opposite of AJ Green (Bengals may be another team ready to bounce back on offense), David's receiving corp may be targeted in trade talks.
As for his name, he has the worst in the league by far. It's the Yahoo default name. Change the name, man.
Jacked Up! (Brian Cho)
Best Pick: 3rd Round, Jordan Howard
Worst Pick: 5th Round, Corey Davis
Sleeper: 12th Round, Michael Gallup
Overall Grade: A-
Team Name Grade: D
Grabbing a back like Jordan Howard, who could be argued to be a top 20 player, in the third round is how you win fantasy leagues. A great nab by Cho, both as a fantasy player and a Bears fan. Howard should be a workhorse, seeing 20+ touches every game. Corey Davis was a little bit of a risky pick as his QB still can't throw more TDs than INTs and Davis hasn't really shown that he's ready to be a number one option. However, maybe that won't matter if Gallup lives up to the hype around him in the pre-season. With no number 1 receivers on the Cowboys depth chart, Gallup could run away with the job if he can forge a connection with Dak. If Dak throws for 250 yards a game, somebody's gotta catch them, and I think Gallup has as good a chance as anybody else.
As for his name, it's old news. I don't think Cho has changed his name since I started playing fantasy football with him. However, it did win him the ship last year (yes, I attribute it all to the name, not his fantasy play) so I'll bump it a letter grade.
Fe-brees (Jon Lee)
Best Pick: 4th Round, Royce Freeman
Worst Pick: 7th Round, Trey Burton
Sleeper: 14th Round, John Brown
Overall Grade: B+
Team Name Grade: D
Mr. Optimistic lived up to the reputation of his name with both his best and worst pick. His best pick shows a rookie running back that may start off slow in a time share but has clearly been the better back during the pre-season. As the season wears on, expect Freeman to be a bell-cow back, hogging 80% of the backfield touches. I know Burton had some good weeks and flashed high-level athleticism at his position in the last few weeks of 2017, I just don't see his QB situation being good enough for him to be taken in the 7th round. I think he may have still been available in the 9th and I'm not even sure he was the best option left on the board. In John Brown, Jon gets a burner who is looking to bounce back on a team where a QB with a big arm has newfound motivation to succeed. Sounds like a recipe for success.
As for his name, he also didn't change it but at least he drafted Brees to keep it relevant.
By the way, everybody congratulate him on his recent marriage!
Afghanistananis (Dan Park)
Best Pick: 2nd Round, Keenan Allen
Worst Pick: 4th Round, Jerick McKinnon
Sleeper: Waiver, John Conner
Overall Grade: B-
Team Name Grade: A-
Typing that team name was the hardest thing I had to do for this post. Seeing McKinnon tear his ACL had to hurt Dan. Not his fault, but with what we know now, it's clearly the worst pick as he used a 4th rounder to get 0 points. But all hope may not be lost. By grabbing Keenan Allen (arguably a top 4 fantasy WR) in the 2nd round after the likes of Julio and Michael Thomas (who are good in their own right but Allen may outscore them both) and then using his waiver to bolster his RB position with John Conner (who has been earning rave reviews and may play until week 10), Dan kept himself alive for this fantasy season, even after losing a stud.
As for his name, Dan knows the way to my heart. Office references are guaranteed at least a B+. It's not my favorite reference (some of Dan's better team names have been Dinkin Flicka and Oaky Afterbirth), but it's enough to get him that A-.
O-PI Awareness* Tour (David Kim)
Best Pick: 4th Round, Josh Gordon
Worst Pick: 2nd Round, Christian McCaffrey
Sleeper: 10th Round, Mike Williams
Overall Grade: B
Team Name Grade: B
Never draft a white guy in the NBA lottery. That is a tenet that I live my life by. That's where I got the basis of my Fantasy motto: never draft a white WR or RB in the first 2 rounds. David broke that when he went after CMC, a guy who couldn't average 4 YPC last year. I don't doubt Norv Turner trying to force feed him but with a competent backup in Anderson, how short will that leash be? Meanwhile, he went almost completely the opposite way with his Josh Gordon pick. Arguably the best receiver when he can lay off the pipe, in the 4th round, there is nobody with more talent and upside than Josh Gordon, especially with a competent QB throwing to him for the first time in his career. And for those of you who watched Hard Knocks, he looks like he's ready to commit and keep the bong in storage (at least until the offseason). Couple that with another high upside pick in Mike Williams, who is remembered for his dominance in Clemson games of yore, and David's WRs may carry him to the ship.
As for his team name, I like that he's using the name as a soap box to proclaim the unjust handling of the Texans game that cost him a ring. He's the Kaep of our league. However, the name isn't all that creative or funny. B for effort.
Shock the F'n World (Chris Chung [R])
Best Pick: 8th Round, Adrian Peterson
Worst Pick: 4th Round, Derrick Henry
Sleeper: 12th Round, Kelvin Benjamin
Overall Grade: B+
Team Name Grade: C+
Our lone newcomer this year, Chris was able to show that during his 7 years on the wait list to join this league, he hasn't let his fantasy skills deteriorate. He pulled in a solid haul, solidifying his team with a low risk, high reward pick in AP. As the only true bruiser in that backfield, I still believe in AP, even if he's 33 years old. And he may have to be thrust into action sooner than later on this team. Derrick Henry may not even be the best running back in his own backfield. Dion Lewis joined the Titans this offseason and is threatening to take away snaps and touches. The 4th round may have been a slightly high price to pay. Kelvin isn't in a great situation. A terrible QB, a terrible line, and a terrible offense overall. However, every team has to throw for at least 3,600 yards in today's NFL. Whose catching those for the Bills?
As for his name, he's named it after the eSports team, the San Francisco Shock. Wrong sport Chris. But I can appreciate the loyalty and effort (unlike half the league that didn't change their names).
Berries'n Kareem (Jung Kim)
Best Pick: 7th Round, Will Fuller V
Worst Pick: 3rd Round, Tom Brady
Sleeper: 10th Round, Kenny Stills
Overall Grade: B-
Team Name Grade: B-
Did everyone forget when Watson and Fuller lit the world on fire last year? I know teams will be able to better plan for it this year but even if they regress by 50%, Fuller would still produce at a borderline WR2/3 rate. His worst pick isn't an indictment on the pick itself. Brady is still a great QB who should put up numbers, even without a black receiver. However, the third round was too early as the only QB that should go before the 5th round is Rodgers. He may have panicked when Chris took Rodgers the pick before. Unless Brady has a 2007 season, it's hard to see this pick returning the proper value. Similar to Benjamin on Chris's team, Stills should get over 100 receptions this year for a floundering (pun) Dolphins team. With 100+ Landry targets to share, expect Stills to take a monster work load.
As for his name, it's a little cheesy but it flows nicely off the tongue. It's a family friendly name as well.... but that hurts you in this league. More offensive, more points.
The Glory Hogans (Paul Kim)
Best Pick: 8th Round, Jamaal Williams
Worst Pick: 3rd Round, Chris Hogan
Sleeper: 10th Round, Julian Edelman (with an exception)
Overall Grade: C+
Team Name Grade: A
Jamaal Williams may end up being the lead back for the best offense in the league. This means garbage time yards, checkdowns from the best QB in the game, and copious goal line chances (even if a large number are taken by Jimmy, there will be so many chances to share). But WTF was Chris Hogan in the 3rd round? First, he's white. Second, even if there are no other receivers on the team, there's still Gronk, Burkhead, White, and Edelman (eventually) who he has to deal with. Third, he was injured last year so there's a potential risk. Fourth, Brady is only allowed to have one favorite white receiver at a time and last I checked, it was Julian Edelman. Speaking of Edelman, I think he's a great find in the 10th round. Once he serves his suspension, he'll be solidly at a WR3 with some upside. So why would you draft both him and Hogan? You're not going to play them together. The logic baffles me.
As for his name, definitely my favorite this year. The only way to have beaten this would have been if Dan took Juju Smith-Schuster and made his name "Voodoo Mama Juju."
Just Forsett In (Mike Lee)
N/A
I will not unfairly punish Mike for not being able to attend the draft. Instead, I will punish him on a weekly basis whenever he is featured as the losing team in MOTWs.
As for his name, our league really needs to get better at changing our team names.
By the way, everybody congratulate him on his recent marriage!
trubiskuits (Rich Kim)
Best Pick: 5th Round, DeShaun Watson
Worst Pick: 7th Round, George Kittle
Sleeper: 11th Round, Chris Thompson
Overall Grade: A-
Team Name Grade: C-
Drafting DeShaun Watson 2 rounds after Rodgers and Brady is a win. I think he has the potential to put more points than the latter. Sure there's some injury risk, but you can take that on for 40 point weeks. The incomprehensible pick was Kittle in the 7th. With players like Jamaal Williams, AP, Barber, and Funchess available, he took a TE that has not done anything to even hint that he'll be a much better player this year. Will he be that much better than Doyle, Njoku, or Rudolph, who were all taken after him? Kittle may even be outplayed by Biggie's own 14th round pick, Tyler Eifert. If AP fails, Chris Thompson may be the big winner, if he isn't already. With checkdown king Alex Smith in town, Thompson should put up the numbers he was on pace to last year before his injury.
As for his name, I'm not quite sure what it's supposed to be. It's clearly a play on Trubisky (who Biggie doesn't even have the courage to roster) but is it a mix with triscuits? True biscuits?
Draft Winner: Eric Lee
With no real weaknesses and Gurley and Gronk ready to carry his team, Eric could win yet another title. He's like the San Franciso Giants of fantasy: every even year.
Draft Loser: David Yim
While his team isn't as bad as his name, some questionable picks and an uncertain lead back conundrum have left David scrambling and unsure of his team as the season is set to begin. McCoy may be a steal in the 5th round now that he's been cleared from the Commish's list, but his receivers look shaky.
Good luck to all!
Simon Kim
Let's get right into the draft. Just a few words to start: I think it's really impressive how much better our entire league has gotten at drafting. Nobody picking 3 QBs, nobody drafting 2 TEs, nobody reaching for a QB in the 2nd round. It's quite honestly a testament to how much we humiliate the terrible draft choices.
Anyways, on to the good stuff. We'll go in the order of the draft. I'll give an overall grade on the draft and an overall grade on the team name as well:
Don't Stop BellLeveon (Eric Lee)
Best Pick: 6th Round, Kerryon Johnson
Worst Pick: 2nd Round, Joe Mixon
Sleeper (10th round or later): 13th Round, Calvin Ridley
Overall Grade: A
Team Name Grade: F
Eric had a very solid draft, with little to no surprises. He took Gurley at 1 and took Gronk at 3 to solidify the core of his team. He may have a steal with Johnson who looks poised to be a 1000+ rusher for the Lions for the first time in 4 years. Joe Mixon may have more opportunity this year, but I'm not so sure I'm sold on his ability to deliver. He's still got Gio poaching 3rd down carries and in his action last year, nothing screamed "breakout potential" in 2018. Nonetheless, he may have found a gem in Ridley in the 13th round, especially if Matt Ryan expects to get to the heights he reached 2 years ago, he'll need more than Julio to get him there. I could see Ridley exploding for 900+ yards and 8+ TDs if the Falcons can get back to their scoring ways.
As for his name, he doesn't even have Le'veon anymore. May I suggest a Gurley themed name?
David Y Team (David Yim)
Best Pick: 8th Round, Devin Funchess
Worst Pick: 1st Round, Le'veon Bell
Sleeper: 15th Round, John Ross
Overall Grade: C
Team Name Grade: F-
The worst pick by David's team isn't entirely his fault. Other than Bell, who could have known that he would be taking a stand and missing games in order to get his money? Outside of that, he may have reached on a few others like Kelce (2nd before Gronk) or Tate (4th before Demaryius or fellow teammate Marvin Jones) but he may have found a nice gem in Funchess. Cam and the Panthers look like they want to play fast-paced, high-scoring offense and Funchess should be the main beneficiary. While CMC and Olsen are the white boys getting off-season hype, Funchess is the clear number one receiver and showed some chemistry with Newton last year. If John Ross can elevate his game to be more than a speedster who runs fly routes opposite of AJ Green (Bengals may be another team ready to bounce back on offense), David's receiving corp may be targeted in trade talks.
As for his name, he has the worst in the league by far. It's the Yahoo default name. Change the name, man.
Jacked Up! (Brian Cho)
Best Pick: 3rd Round, Jordan Howard
Worst Pick: 5th Round, Corey Davis
Sleeper: 12th Round, Michael Gallup
Overall Grade: A-
Team Name Grade: D
Grabbing a back like Jordan Howard, who could be argued to be a top 20 player, in the third round is how you win fantasy leagues. A great nab by Cho, both as a fantasy player and a Bears fan. Howard should be a workhorse, seeing 20+ touches every game. Corey Davis was a little bit of a risky pick as his QB still can't throw more TDs than INTs and Davis hasn't really shown that he's ready to be a number one option. However, maybe that won't matter if Gallup lives up to the hype around him in the pre-season. With no number 1 receivers on the Cowboys depth chart, Gallup could run away with the job if he can forge a connection with Dak. If Dak throws for 250 yards a game, somebody's gotta catch them, and I think Gallup has as good a chance as anybody else.
As for his name, it's old news. I don't think Cho has changed his name since I started playing fantasy football with him. However, it did win him the ship last year (yes, I attribute it all to the name, not his fantasy play) so I'll bump it a letter grade.
Fe-brees (Jon Lee)
Best Pick: 4th Round, Royce Freeman
Worst Pick: 7th Round, Trey Burton
Sleeper: 14th Round, John Brown
Overall Grade: B+
Team Name Grade: D
Mr. Optimistic lived up to the reputation of his name with both his best and worst pick. His best pick shows a rookie running back that may start off slow in a time share but has clearly been the better back during the pre-season. As the season wears on, expect Freeman to be a bell-cow back, hogging 80% of the backfield touches. I know Burton had some good weeks and flashed high-level athleticism at his position in the last few weeks of 2017, I just don't see his QB situation being good enough for him to be taken in the 7th round. I think he may have still been available in the 9th and I'm not even sure he was the best option left on the board. In John Brown, Jon gets a burner who is looking to bounce back on a team where a QB with a big arm has newfound motivation to succeed. Sounds like a recipe for success.
As for his name, he also didn't change it but at least he drafted Brees to keep it relevant.
By the way, everybody congratulate him on his recent marriage!
Afghanistananis (Dan Park)
Best Pick: 2nd Round, Keenan Allen
Worst Pick: 4th Round, Jerick McKinnon
Sleeper: Waiver, John Conner
Overall Grade: B-
Team Name Grade: A-
Typing that team name was the hardest thing I had to do for this post. Seeing McKinnon tear his ACL had to hurt Dan. Not his fault, but with what we know now, it's clearly the worst pick as he used a 4th rounder to get 0 points. But all hope may not be lost. By grabbing Keenan Allen (arguably a top 4 fantasy WR) in the 2nd round after the likes of Julio and Michael Thomas (who are good in their own right but Allen may outscore them both) and then using his waiver to bolster his RB position with John Conner (who has been earning rave reviews and may play until week 10), Dan kept himself alive for this fantasy season, even after losing a stud.
As for his name, Dan knows the way to my heart. Office references are guaranteed at least a B+. It's not my favorite reference (some of Dan's better team names have been Dinkin Flicka and Oaky Afterbirth), but it's enough to get him that A-.
O-PI Awareness* Tour (David Kim)
Best Pick: 4th Round, Josh Gordon
Worst Pick: 2nd Round, Christian McCaffrey
Sleeper: 10th Round, Mike Williams
Overall Grade: B
Team Name Grade: B
Never draft a white guy in the NBA lottery. That is a tenet that I live my life by. That's where I got the basis of my Fantasy motto: never draft a white WR or RB in the first 2 rounds. David broke that when he went after CMC, a guy who couldn't average 4 YPC last year. I don't doubt Norv Turner trying to force feed him but with a competent backup in Anderson, how short will that leash be? Meanwhile, he went almost completely the opposite way with his Josh Gordon pick. Arguably the best receiver when he can lay off the pipe, in the 4th round, there is nobody with more talent and upside than Josh Gordon, especially with a competent QB throwing to him for the first time in his career. And for those of you who watched Hard Knocks, he looks like he's ready to commit and keep the bong in storage (at least until the offseason). Couple that with another high upside pick in Mike Williams, who is remembered for his dominance in Clemson games of yore, and David's WRs may carry him to the ship.
As for his team name, I like that he's using the name as a soap box to proclaim the unjust handling of the Texans game that cost him a ring. He's the Kaep of our league. However, the name isn't all that creative or funny. B for effort.
Shock the F'n World (Chris Chung [R])
Best Pick: 8th Round, Adrian Peterson
Worst Pick: 4th Round, Derrick Henry
Sleeper: 12th Round, Kelvin Benjamin
Overall Grade: B+
Team Name Grade: C+
Our lone newcomer this year, Chris was able to show that during his 7 years on the wait list to join this league, he hasn't let his fantasy skills deteriorate. He pulled in a solid haul, solidifying his team with a low risk, high reward pick in AP. As the only true bruiser in that backfield, I still believe in AP, even if he's 33 years old. And he may have to be thrust into action sooner than later on this team. Derrick Henry may not even be the best running back in his own backfield. Dion Lewis joined the Titans this offseason and is threatening to take away snaps and touches. The 4th round may have been a slightly high price to pay. Kelvin isn't in a great situation. A terrible QB, a terrible line, and a terrible offense overall. However, every team has to throw for at least 3,600 yards in today's NFL. Whose catching those for the Bills?
As for his name, he's named it after the eSports team, the San Francisco Shock. Wrong sport Chris. But I can appreciate the loyalty and effort (unlike half the league that didn't change their names).
Berries'n Kareem (Jung Kim)
Best Pick: 7th Round, Will Fuller V
Worst Pick: 3rd Round, Tom Brady
Sleeper: 10th Round, Kenny Stills
Overall Grade: B-
Team Name Grade: B-
Did everyone forget when Watson and Fuller lit the world on fire last year? I know teams will be able to better plan for it this year but even if they regress by 50%, Fuller would still produce at a borderline WR2/3 rate. His worst pick isn't an indictment on the pick itself. Brady is still a great QB who should put up numbers, even without a black receiver. However, the third round was too early as the only QB that should go before the 5th round is Rodgers. He may have panicked when Chris took Rodgers the pick before. Unless Brady has a 2007 season, it's hard to see this pick returning the proper value. Similar to Benjamin on Chris's team, Stills should get over 100 receptions this year for a floundering (pun) Dolphins team. With 100+ Landry targets to share, expect Stills to take a monster work load.
As for his name, it's a little cheesy but it flows nicely off the tongue. It's a family friendly name as well.... but that hurts you in this league. More offensive, more points.
The Glory Hogans (Paul Kim)
Best Pick: 8th Round, Jamaal Williams
Worst Pick: 3rd Round, Chris Hogan
Sleeper: 10th Round, Julian Edelman (with an exception)
Overall Grade: C+
Team Name Grade: A
Jamaal Williams may end up being the lead back for the best offense in the league. This means garbage time yards, checkdowns from the best QB in the game, and copious goal line chances (even if a large number are taken by Jimmy, there will be so many chances to share). But WTF was Chris Hogan in the 3rd round? First, he's white. Second, even if there are no other receivers on the team, there's still Gronk, Burkhead, White, and Edelman (eventually) who he has to deal with. Third, he was injured last year so there's a potential risk. Fourth, Brady is only allowed to have one favorite white receiver at a time and last I checked, it was Julian Edelman. Speaking of Edelman, I think he's a great find in the 10th round. Once he serves his suspension, he'll be solidly at a WR3 with some upside. So why would you draft both him and Hogan? You're not going to play them together. The logic baffles me.
As for his name, definitely my favorite this year. The only way to have beaten this would have been if Dan took Juju Smith-Schuster and made his name "Voodoo Mama Juju."
Just Forsett In (Mike Lee)
N/A
I will not unfairly punish Mike for not being able to attend the draft. Instead, I will punish him on a weekly basis whenever he is featured as the losing team in MOTWs.
As for his name, our league really needs to get better at changing our team names.
By the way, everybody congratulate him on his recent marriage!
trubiskuits (Rich Kim)
Best Pick: 5th Round, DeShaun Watson
Worst Pick: 7th Round, George Kittle
Sleeper: 11th Round, Chris Thompson
Overall Grade: A-
Team Name Grade: C-
Drafting DeShaun Watson 2 rounds after Rodgers and Brady is a win. I think he has the potential to put more points than the latter. Sure there's some injury risk, but you can take that on for 40 point weeks. The incomprehensible pick was Kittle in the 7th. With players like Jamaal Williams, AP, Barber, and Funchess available, he took a TE that has not done anything to even hint that he'll be a much better player this year. Will he be that much better than Doyle, Njoku, or Rudolph, who were all taken after him? Kittle may even be outplayed by Biggie's own 14th round pick, Tyler Eifert. If AP fails, Chris Thompson may be the big winner, if he isn't already. With checkdown king Alex Smith in town, Thompson should put up the numbers he was on pace to last year before his injury.
As for his name, I'm not quite sure what it's supposed to be. It's clearly a play on Trubisky (who Biggie doesn't even have the courage to roster) but is it a mix with triscuits? True biscuits?
Draft Winner: Eric Lee
With no real weaknesses and Gurley and Gronk ready to carry his team, Eric could win yet another title. He's like the San Franciso Giants of fantasy: every even year.
Draft Loser: David Yim
While his team isn't as bad as his name, some questionable picks and an uncertain lead back conundrum have left David scrambling and unsure of his team as the season is set to begin. McCoy may be a steal in the 5th round now that he's been cleared from the Commish's list, but his receivers look shaky.
Good luck to all!
Simon Kim
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