Well, it was a rough year in football with lots of injuries, political drama, and replay controversy, but above all, it was technically a season of pro football. And with that season, the UMassBallers played a virtual game of points based on player statistics where, each week, the team with more points versus its competitor would be credited with a win, until finally, in Week 16, we would have a champion. The name of that champion? Smackycat!
Our feline overlord wasn't the only interesting storyline from the fantasy season though - click below to take a look at all the hindsight analysis of the draft, recaps of game-changing transactions, and other rando happenings in TDZ's annual UMassBallers season synopsis!
The Draft
Every year, I do some simple math to try to arrive at a value for each
team's draft - below is a simple calculation of drafted player points
(Weeks 1-16) per dollars spent. Rather than simply dividing by the $200
budget, I divided by the actual dollars spent, since the remainder could
be carried into the regular season's waiver budget.
smackycat - 11.509 (league champion)
Troll Tyrant - 9.671 (self-proclaimed midseason champion)
Bear Down - 9.659 (league runner-up)
Nickel Blitz - 9.537
Chicago Ferrets - 9.143 (4th place finisher)
mangenius - 9.015
Neat Team - 8.993
Cash4Gould - 8.295
Doge Flutie - 7.217 (3rd place finisher)
Sweaty Sac - 6.571
One
thing to keep in mind is that QBs almost always end up with the most
total fantasy points, so a GM that drafts multiple QBs will generally
look better using this analysis.
So one thing immediately jumps out - the league champ had the best draft! And in this case, it was the 2nd best in UMassBallers league history (at least for the years where I did this analysis). The top mark is 11.967 by The Others in 2013, but he drafted 3 QBs (Brees, Luck, and Eli) compared to only 2 QBs for smackycat (Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton), which for me makes smackycat's 2017 draft the best of all-time. Plus The Others somehow only went 3-11, and I have no recollection of who their GM was.
Sweaty Sac goes from best draft last year (10.827) to worst draft this year. Remember Car RamRod from last year, who went 2-11 and had an average draft score of 7.545? Sweaty Sac's draft was way worse than that, and he may as well have renamed his team Sad Sac. I think we all know who is to blame: David Johnson ($76!) landing on IR early on, along with Jordy Nelson ($42) and Devonta Freeman ($63) underwhelming. Even my team was worse than Car RamRod, but somehow I landed 3rd place.
All-Aldi Team
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| I should be getting paid for this free advertising. |
QB: Dak Prescott - Troll Tyrant - $1
I was very surprised to see Dak as the #9 QB in fantasy for the season, given that he did not pass the eye test at all this year. He finished ahead of the likes of Drew Brees, Matt Stafford, Philip Rivers and Matt Ryan. It must have been his 6 rushing TDs.
Honorable mentions: Cam Newton - smackycat - $6; Kirk Cousins - mangenius - $5
WR: Adam Thielen - Troll Tyrant - $1
It's another auto-draft special from Troll Tyrant as Thielen broke out in a major way this season. The Pro Bowl selection is #11 in our fantasy game with 1,215 yards, 4 TDs, and major yards-after-catch ability.
Honorable mentions: Marvin Jones - Troll Tyrant - $2; DeAndre Hopkins - smackycat - $20
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| Seriously, just look at this speed... |
Usually I stick to players who only cost a few bucks, but in this case I had to make an exception for an incredible season from Todd Gurley. Over 2,000 yards from scrimmage and 19 TDs through 15 games, he's been an absolute monster. He outscored almost every single player in fantasy including QBs with the lone exception being Russell Wilson, who is only 2.18 points ahead of Gurley. The next closest RB is 60 fantasy points behind Gurley. Considering the premium placed on RBs on draft day, this was, in my opinion, the biggest steal of the draft.
Honorable mentions: Mark Ingram - Bear Down - $9; Dion Lewis - Nickel Blitz - $1; Leonard Fournette - Chicago Ferrets - $26; Kareem Hunt - Chicago Ferrets - $39
TE: Zach Ertz - Neat Team - $3
The #3 TE in fantasy went for $3, totaling 800 yards and 8 TDs. Overall, though, this was a very thin position with no major value standouts.
Honorable mentions: Kyle Rudolph - Chicago Ferrets - $2
All-Whole Foods Team
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| Would you like some ASPARAGUS WATER for $5.99? |
QB: Aaron Rodgers - smackycat - $30
He was good while healthy, but he missed most of the year with injury. Packers fans are currently suffering through Brett Hundley PTSD - oh wait, he still has one more game to play, meaning the horrors must go on....
Dishonorable mentions: Drew Brees - Nickel Blitz - $20; Marcus Mariota - Doge Flutie - $4
WR: Odell Beckham Jr. - Troll Tyrant - $54
Odell was the third-most expensive WR in the draft, but succumbed to injury in a year that Giants fans would like to forget. Perhaps next year he'll have Geno Smith throwing to him!
Dishonorable mentions: Jordy Nelson - Sweaty Sac - $42; Amari Cooper - Neat Team - $32; Dez Bryant - Doge Flutie - $38; Terrelle Pryor - Chicago Ferrets - $19
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Not only was he the most expensive player in this year's draft - he was the most expensive player in UMassBallers draft history EVER. Le'Veon also went for $71. Perhaps all the spending was due to reducing the league to 10 teams, but for context, the previous high was only $69 for Jamaal Charles in 2015. All Sad Sac got out of Johnson was 6 points.
Dishonorable mentions: Jay Ajayi - Troll Tyrant - $46; Devonta Freeman - Sweaty Sac - $63; DeMarco Murray - Bear Down - $44; Dalvin Cook - Doge Flutie - $29
TE: Greg Olsen - Cash4Gould - $16
The third-most expensive TE in the draft could only muster 181 yards and a TD, and the vast majority of that production occurred in Week 15. Good grief!
Dishonorable mentions: Jordan Reed - Bear Down - $7
Terrible Trades
This was the first year in a long time where I didn't participate in any trades, and in fact I rarely even proposed any. This trend of laziness may continue if I keep finishing in the top 3.
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| Uhh, Blobb? BLOBB??? |
- September 19 - mangenius sends Mike Gillislee to Nickel Blitz for Drew Brees.
- This one felt like a bigger trade at the time: Gillislee was potentially in line to take over the LeGarrette Blount power back role, while Drew Brees is a future HOF QB.
- This trade didn't do anything for Nickel Blitz as Gillislee had 6 lackluster weeks of production before being inactive up until Week 16.
- mangenius got a starting QB, although his point totals were nothing special.
- Winner: I'm giving the edge to mangenius for having a starting quality player at a position of need.
- October 10 - Sweaty Sac sends Randall Cobb to smackycat for Tevin Coleman.
- Outside of 2 random TDs, our favorite Blobb didn't do much, due mostly to the aforementioned injury to Aaron Rodgers.
- Meanwhile, Tevin put up 5 double-digit point weeks after the trade, including a very solid month of November (56.7 points in 4 games). Tevin also represented an insurance policy for any Devonta Freeman injury - which did occur and caused him to miss the better part of 3 games.
- Winner: I've got to give the edge to Sweaty Sac for this one.
Trades
were one way to improve our teams, but most turned to free agency and
the waiver wire. Some spent their FAAB dollars more wisely than
others, although I must say, we really didn't have any egregious overpayments like in past years.
Most Hilariously Wasteful FA Bids:
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| Sweaty Sac, my hand thinks you crazy. |
- Sweaty Sac: Tarik Cohen for $55 (beat a bid of $29 by smackycat)
- He burst onto the scene in Week 1, but he basically ended up being the Bears version of Theo Riddick. Would you spend half your budget on Theo Riddick? Specifically, the Bears version of Theo Riddick?
- smackycat: Wendell Smallwood for $23 (beat a competing bid of $7 from Doge Flutie)
- He did have one decent week immediately following this pick up, but then he disappeared for the rest of the year.
- Neat Team: Josh Doctson for $21 (beat a bid of $12 from Cash4Gould)
- This acquisition didn't move the needle, but it did make Neat Team, dare I say, neater?
All-Free Agent Team
Every fantasy season sees the emergence of unforeseen stars, and some of us are lucky to snag them throughout the year. Here's my list of the top free agents that made an impact in 2017.
QB - Alex Smith
- It's hard to believe it, but our old friend Alex Smith was the #2 QB in the fantasy game this year. That's right - even beating out the likes of Cam Newton and Tom Brady. He has over 4,000 yards, a 26-5 TD-INT ratio, and a decent chunk of rushing yards. I would be remiss, however, if I didn't also mention fantasy free agent Carson Wentz, who served as a reliable producer for the Ferrets
RB - Alvin Kamara
- Another pleasant surprise this season was a N'awlins Saints rushing attack that burst on the scene in a major way. Rookie Kamara exploded for 1,426 total yards and 12 TDs as a back that was deadly in the open field, giving me flashbacks to Reggie Bush's early career. Bear Down benefited substantially from picking up Kamara early in the year.
TE - Evan Engram
- This guy was on my radar early in the year based on scouting reports and preseason performance, and he ultimately delivered a solid rookie year with 722 receiving yards and 6 TDs, good for the #4 TE in fantasy. It was de facto Giants fan Neat Team that picked him up for most of the year.
W/R - Alex Collins
- At the beginning of the year, the Ravens rushing attack was a mess with lots of options and no one startable, but gradually Collins began to take control of the early down work. He ended up amassing 1,064 total yards and 5 TDs, though fumbling is still an issue for him. Nickel Blitz edged me out on waiver priority to get him.
K - Greg "The Leg" Zuerlein - This has been the first kicker I think I've ever been excited about, and he pretty much won me multiple match ups this year. He finishes with 178 points in just 15 weeks, good for #1 among all kickers in fantasy and beating Gostkowski by 17 points despite playing one fewer game.
DEF - Baltimore Ravens
- While the Jaguars were the main story this season as the #1 defense for fantasy, the Ravens were actually not far behind, scoring only 10 fantasy points behind the Jags for the #2 ranking. Bear Down rode them for much of the year.
Odds and Ends
- Bear Down finished the regular season with the best record at 11-2, and had 12 total wins including the playoffs. The UMassBallers record is still 14 total wins, set by Farts are Funny in 2011.
- Sweaty Sac and mangenius tied for the worst record at 4-9, but mangenius ended up winning the consolation playoffs with 2 wins thanks to Gurley. The record for losses is 11, tied by Car RamRod last season, including a 9 game losing streak that set a new league record.
- Sweaty Sac was the lowest scoring regular season team at 1,033.6, but no one approached the league's all-time low point total of 888.54, set by IdChokeTilaTequila2 in 2009.
- The lowest single-week point total was 47.08, set by Nickel Blitz in Week 6. That's still a ways from beating Car RamRod's record low of 29.32, set during the consolation rounds.
- Bear Down led the league in scoring with 1,695.7, which was not far off from Nickel Blitz's record of 1,722.7, set in 2013.
- The single week high for points was set by smackycat in a Week 14 playoff beatdown of Nickel Blitz: 159.26. That's shy of Deals and Steals' all-time record of 179.92, but still awesome that it happened in the playoffs.
- The largest championship margin of victory remains Forte Shades of Jay's 63.56 margin in 2014.
- Speaking of, 2014 was the last time smackycat's GM won the league.
- The one player that was on both championship rosters? Frank Gore.
- Frank Gore was also the only player who was on last year's championship team with the Ferrets!
That's all I've got - congrats to smackycat on their championship, and good luck to the rest of us next year!
Past season champions (w/ links to season revues):
- 2008: Amherst Tropics
- 2009: Chicago Ferrets
- 2010: Todo o Nada
- 2011: Farts Are Funny
- 2012: Farts Are Funny
- 2013: Nickel Blitz
- 2014: Forte Shades of Jay
- 2015: Nickel Blitz
- 2016: Chicago Ferrets
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| Doge Flutie surges to a top 3 finish!!! |
Great write-up as usual! A pleasure playing with you again this year, looking forward to the 2018 season already.
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