Scottish Rebels are 2024 Champions!

Going back just over 10 years ago there was a real trend where the Championship team also won the Weekly High Score in the final week of the season.  American BadAss (Jason) did it in 2013 with 129 points; Joe’s Pats (Joe) did it in 2015 with 122 points; Vandelay Industries (Louis) did it in 2016 with 116 points; Joe’s Pats (Joe) did it again in 2017 with 101 points; and my Longshanks team last did it in 2019 with 111 points.  So across a 7-year span from 2013 to 2019, it happened five times!  Now for the first time in the 2020’s, my Scottish Rebels have done it by securing a 124-81 victory over American BadAss to win the 2024 Championship and secure a record-tying 6^th Weekly High Score Prize this season!

This week I had the usual solid performances from Josh Allen and Derrick Henry (22 and 21 points), but also got a big game from Tee Higgins (29 points) and the Seattle defense (18 points).  (Interesting side note - in 2019 my opponent was also American BadAss…more on that later).  For the entire season including playoffs, my Rebels scored 1,774 points which is the most points ever scored in league history.  (Prior to 2023 there were only 16 games, versus 17 games in 2023 and 2024).  Looking at it on a weekly average, my Rebels averaged 104.4 points per week.  The only other time a team has averaged over 100 points was sprouts in 2020 when they averaged 101.9 points per week.  (Last year’s champion, Sofa King Great, was the high scoring team with 1,650 points an average of 97.1 points per week).  This championship is my 3^rd overall, having won it in 2019 and 2010.  For Jason, it is the 4^th time he has finished in 2^nd place, having also done it in 2019, 2012 and 2005.

In the ‘What Do You Know?!’ Bowl for 3^rd / 4^th, Big Sack put the beat down on an injury riddled J LUV U LONG TIME squad and finished with a 99-54 victory.  Jens had his standard big games from Lamar Jackson (28 pts) and Saquon Barkley (19 pts) and also got a 20-point defensive performance from the Miami D.  Congratulations Jens!  This is his second 3^rd Place finish, having also done it back in 2014.  For Shawn, it marks the third time he has finished in 4^th place, having also done it in 2019 and 2009.

Lots to get to this week as we will check out the season’s final Top Fives, check out some highlights from the year, recap all the prize money from this season, award the Skelton Crown to the worst fantasy player of the season and give out the final Best Bench of 2024.  Let’s do this!

 

BIG TIME

• Joe Burrow, QB – Wyld Ass Monkeys – 39 pts – Burrow had a monster day tossing for 412 yards passing plus 3 TD’s, and added 25 yards rushing plus a rushing TD.  Joe Cool finishes the season as the 3^rd highest scoring QB.
• Baker Mayfield, QB – American BadAss – 37 pts – Mayfield and the Buccaneers received little to no resistance as they demolished the Panthers, and Baker racked up 359 passing yards and 5 TDs!
• Drew Lock, QB – Free Agent – 34 pts – I think the Giants have found their QB!!  Lock was locked-in and racked up 309 yards and 4 TDs.  Could this be the second coming of Jeff Hostetler?
• Malik Nabers, WR – American BadAss – 32 pts – The main guy catching Lock’s passes, and he made the most of it!  He caught 7 of 8 passes thrown his way for 171 yards and 2 TDs. 
• Jayden Daniels, QB – 1^st to Worst – 31 pts – Daniels’ rushing total from this game would have been impressive enough, as he ran 16 times for 127 yards.  But he also added 227 yards passing and 3 TDs.  He finishes the season as the 4^th highest scoring quarterback, as a rookie.  Amazing!

 

COME ON MAN

• Brandon Aubrey, K – American BadAss – 1 pt – One lowly extra point was all the Cowboys could muster up.  Weak.
• Jayden Reed, WR – American BadAss – 0 pts – Targeted four times, caught one ball for all of 6 yards. Yuck.
• Ka’imi Fairbarin, K – J LUV U LONG TIME – 0 pts – Houston was destroyed by Baltimore, losing by the bizarre score of 31-2.  Nary a field goal or extra point to speak of.
• Terry McLaurin, WR – Joe’s Pats – 0 pts – They threw the ball his way 7 times (yes 7!!), but he only managed 1 catch for 5 yards.  W.T.F?!!

 

2024 HIGHLIGHTS

• Highest Single Week Score for a Player – Josh Allen, QB, BUF – 51 points, Week 14.  He had SIX total TD’s (3 passing and 3 rushing), plus had 342 yards passing and 82 yards rushing.
• Highest Single Week Score for a Kicker – Chris Boswell, K, PIT – 26 points, Week 1.  Boswell was a beast in Week 1, nailing 6 total FG’s, including 3 from 50+!  He had another big week in Week 11 where he again hit 3 from 50+ and finished with 24 points.  After the big start in Week 1, Boswell finished as the top ranked kicker for the year.
• Best Defense Single Week Score – Chicago Bears, DEF – 28 points, Week 1.  The Bears faithful must’ve been pumped after a dominating Week 1 performance, amassing 3 sacks, 3 turnovers and 2 TD’s!  Unfortunately the rest of the season did not go so well for the Bears, as they cracked double digits only one other time (19 pts in Week 6), and limped to the finish the year scoring only 25 points in the final five weeks of the season (including a -1 score in Week 14) ultimately finishing as the 17th ranked defense.
• Highest Single Week Score for a Team – 144 points – Tie between Big Sack No TDs (Jens) and Scottish Rebels (Jerry).  Jens did it in Week 12, and I did it just two weeks later in Week 14.  For Jens in Week 12 it was Saquon Barkley leading the way with 44 points, and in Week 14 when I did it I had Jason Allen score 51 points.
• Most Optimal Line-ups – An Optimal Lineup is where there are no roster changes to improve your score.  This season in total there were 11 Optimal Lineups.  The team who did it the most times was Shawn’s J LUV U LONG TIME who accomplished it 3 times!  The Wyld Ass Monkeys and Luck of the Irish both accomplished it twice this season.
• Biggest Blow-out – 69 points, Week 10 – Wyld Ass Monkeys defeats Joe’s Pats 142-73.  In this matchup, Rob had Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase combine for 83 points, while Joe had Sam Darnold and Zay Flowers combine for 8 points. 
• Lowest Best Bench this season – 18 points – Big Sack No TDs, Week 14.  Across all teams in Week 14 there were only 108 bench-improvement points.  Impressive team management all around.
• Highest Best Bench this season – Read on… ;-)

WORST FANTASY PLAYER THIS SEASON

Since introducing the Skelton Crown in Week 15 and the first three nominees for the Worst Fantasy Player this season, there was only one more nominee to make the cut.  The fourth and final nominee goes to:

-        Dallas Cowboys, DEF – Week 17 – -4 points – As mentioned before -4 points is the absolute lowest score a defense can get, which means they gave up >35 points and registered no meaningful defensive stat.  The Cowboys did just this against Philly in Week 17, losing in stunning fashion (41-7) and just looking like a deer in the headlights for most of the game.  Dallas finishes the season as the 15^th ranked defense this season after being the 2^nd best last year.

After careful consideration of all the nominees, the Skelton Crown for 2024 goes to… New York Giants wide receiver Dee Williams!  His name may be “Dee” but he gets an “F” for his play this season.  He finishes the year with -2 points, which was a result of scoring -2 on three separate occasions, but then offsetting that with four 1-point outings.  Dee Williams, you are the worst of 2024, here is your crown.

 

TOP FIVES

Final look at the top five scorers from each position this season:

	Name	Pos	Team	Total	Owner
1	Lamar Jackson	QB	Bal	392	Big Sack No TDs
2	Josh Allen	QB	Buf	367	Scottish Rebels
3	Joe Burrow	QB	Cin	362	Wyld Ass Monkeys
4	Jayden Daniels	QB	Was	340	1st to Worst
5	Baker Mayfield	QB	TB	338	American BadAss

Lamar Jackson ruled over all this season and was the top scorer since Week 7.  And how about the rookie, Jayden Daniels, finishing as the 4^th highest scoring player this season?!

 

	Name	Pos	Team	Total	Owner
1	Saquon Barkley	RB	Phi	323	Big Sack No TDs
2	Derrick Henry	RB	Bal	289	Scottish Rebels
3	Jahmyr Gibbs	RB	Det	256	Luck of the Irish
4	Josh Jacobs	RB	GB	237	sprouts
5	Bijan Robinson	RB	Atl	236	Luck of the Irish

Barkley was on a mission this year, and he absolutely smoked all other runningbacks.  Shout out to John for having 2 of the top 5 runningbacks!

 

	Name	Pos	Team	Total	Owner
1	Ja'Marr Chase	WR	Cin	261	Wyld Ass Monkeys
2	Justin Jefferson	WR	Min	201	American BadAss
3	Amon-Ra St. Brown	WR	Det	194	Joe's Pats
4	Brian Thomas Jr.	WR	Jax	178	1st to Worst
5	Terry McLaurin	WR	Was	168	Joe's Pats

For wide receivers, it was Ja’Marr Chase as top dog since Week 5.  Brian Thomas Jr. is definitely a surprise, coming from the Jaguars.  And shout out to Joe having 2 of the top 5 wide receivers.

 

	Name	Pos	Team	Total	Owner
1	George Kittle	TE	SF	153	Scottish Rebels
2	Brock Bowers	TE	LV	130	Luck of the Irish
3	Trey McBride	TE	Ari	121	sprouts
4	Jonnu Smith	TE	Mia	118	sprouts
5	Mark Andrews	TE	Bal	115	Wyld Ass Monkeys

The two surprises on the list are Brock Bowers (ranked 12^th among TE’s to start the season, and Jonnu Smith who wasn’t even in the top 20 TE’s to start the season.  The surprises not on the list are Taylor’s Boyfriend (finished as the 9^th ranked TE) and Sam LaPorta (finished as the 7^th ranked TE).  Shout out to Russ for having two Tight Ends in the top 5!

 

	Name	Pos	Team	Total	Owner
1	Minnesota	DEF	Min	201	J LUV U LONG TIME
2	Denver	DEF	Den	199	Scottish Rebels
3	Green Bay	DEF	GB	175	American BadAss
4	Buffalo	DEF	Buf	170	American BadAss
5	Seattle	DEF	Sea	165	Scottish Rebels

They say defense wins championships, and would you look at that?!  Both Jason and I with 2 defenses in the Top 5.  Wild!

 

	Name	Pos	Team	Total	Owner
1	Chris Boswell	K	Pit	184	Luck of the Irish
2	Brandon Aubrey	K	Dal	178	American BadAss
3	Ka'imi Fairbairn	K	Hou	164	J LUV U LONG TIME
4	Cameron Dicker	K	LAC	161	W (Jan 1)
5	Jason Sanders	K	Mia	156	J LUV U LONG TIME

Time and again I’ve shown how unpredictable kickers are from season to season.  Chris Boswell was the 18^th ranked kicker last season.  Ka’imi Fairbairn ranked 26^th last year.  Cam Dicker was 11^th and Jason Sanders was 9^th.  The only one with any consistency was Brandon Aubrey, who was last year’s top kicker and finished 2^nd this season.  But perhaps my favorite shout out of all – Shout out to Shawn Martin finishing with 2 kickers in the top 5!  If you are gonna carry a back-up kicker, he better be good!

 

EVERYONE NEEDS MONEY, THAT’S WHY THEY CALL IT MONEY

Here is the final tally on prizes won this season:

1)      Scottish Rebels – Jerry - $700 (6 Weekly High Scores, Champion)

2)      American BadAss – Jason - $325 (3 Weekly High Scores, Runner-up)

3)      Big Sack No TDs – Jens - $250 (2.5 Weekly High Scores, 3^rd Place)

4)      J LUV U LONG TIME – Shawn - $100 (2 Weekly High Scores)

5)      Luck of the Irish – John - $75 (1.5 Weekly High Scores)

6)      Wyld Ass Monkeys – Rob - $75 (1.5 Weekly High Scores)

7)      Joe’s Pats – Joe - $25 (0.5 Weekly High Score)

Congrats to everyone who won a prize!  I’ll send an email to each winner to settle up.

 

2025 DRAFT ORDER & PRIZES

The 2025 draft order will be: (inverse order of this year’s standings)

1.  James – 1^st To Worst
2. Joe – Joe’s Pats
3. Timmy – NASCAR Café Honey Mustard
4. Rob – Wyld Ass Monkeys
5. Russ – sprouts
6. John – Luck of the Irish
7. Shawn – J LUV U LONG TIME 
8. Jens – Big Sack No TDs
9. Jason – American BadAss
10. Jerry – Scottish Rebels

As always each team can select up to two players from this year’s final roster to be a keeper for next season.  Keepers will count as a draft pick in next year’s draft based on what round they were drafted this season.  Keepers from this season who are re-kept for next season count as a first round pick.  I’ll send out a final roster sheet with all draft values in the next week.  Rosters will be considered final at the end of day on Saturday, Jan. 4^th, 2025.  Also, as always we will target Labor Day Weekend 2025 for the draft.

In terms of prizes for next season, I was thinking about increasing the buy-in by $45 to make it an even $200.  The Weekly High Score Prize would remain the same at $50/week for 17 weeks but the overall prizes would change to: 1^st $500, 2^nd $300, 3^rd $200 and 4^th $150.  Basically, this would add a payout for the 4^th place team, plus increase payouts for the top three.  If anyone is strongly against this, let me know and we can just keep the buy-in the same.  Otherwise, this will be the plan for next season.

 

BEST BENCH

Final Best Bench of the season, and it was a good one!  It was the highest improvement possibility we saw all season, and the highest since Week 2 of last year.  With a highly impressive 47-point-improvement-possibility, the final Best Bench of 2024 goes to… American BadAss!!  Jason needed a half roster swap to get there:  M. Nabers for J. Reed +32, J. Myers for B. Aubrey +7, K. Pitts for T. Kraft +5, and J. Mixon for J. Conner +3.  This was Jason’s 3^rd Best Bench this year, which tied him for the most with sprouts.  Now are you ready for one more weird coincidence?  Back in 2019 when I won the championship and the Weekly High Score Prize against American BadAss, Jason also took home the Best Bench that week!  History on repeat!

 

Well it is hard to believe another season has come and gone in what feels like just a couple weeks.  Can’t wait to do it again next year! 

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous 2025!! 

Championship Week is Here!

The playoffs deliver another down-to-the-wire finish in a game for the ages!  In a game where 277 total points were scored, American BadAss got enough points from the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night to pull off an improbable 142-135 victory.  This game sets the record for the highest scoring game in league history (playoffs or regular season), and the 135 points scored by Big Sack No TDs smashes the record for highest score in a loss.  (The prior record was 124 held by Sofa King American who lost to Vandelay Industries 128-124 back in Week 5, 2021.)  In this week’s game, Jens had amazing performances from Saquon Barkley (30 points), Devon Achane (25 points), and the Atlanta Defense who added 27 points!  Jason was able to counter with Justin Jefferson (26 points), Baker Mayfield (22 points) and three players scoring 21 including his kicker, Brandon Aubrey!  (James Conner and the Green Bay Defense both also scored 21).  Crazy game!  Congrats to Jason on taking the Weekly High Score and advancing to the finals!  This marks the 3rd Weekly High Score for American BadAss this season.

In the other semi-final game, J LUV U LONG TIME had some bad luck with Jalen Hurts going down with a concussion after scoring only 4 points.  Meanwhile, my Scottish Rebels had a big game from Chuba Hubbard (31 points) and Derrick Henry (21 points) to take a 105-58 victory.  So it’s a Noble-Noble matchup for the Final, and a “What Do You Know?!” Bowl to settle 3rd/4th.  

In the remaining meaningful matchup this week, Luck of the Irish defeated sprouts 102-71 to officially finish in 5th place.  Just a quick update this week, as I’ll have a full season wrap up next week.  Just one final point of business…

BEST BENCH

Luck of the Irish is the only team yet to snag a Best Bench this season, and John managed to hold on for one more week!  However, it’s getting close as this week’s Best Bench was Luck of the Irish’s opponent… sprouts!  Russ had a very solid 38-point-improvement possibility with three roster moves:  K. Allen for G. Wilson +15, J. Cook for C. Brown +14 and Indianapolis for San Francisco +9.  This is sprouts 3rd Best Bench this season, which leads the league.

All the roster moves, waiver claims, trades, start and sits all come down to one final week!  Weekly High Scores are still in play for all teams!  Get those final waivers in and get ready for the 2024 Finale!!

Merry Christmas!!

First Round Playoffs Fireworks!

What a way to start the playoffs!!  The two wild card games were decided by just 7 points combined, and both had players playing all the way through the final Monday Night game!  In the first matchup, J LUV U LONG TIME managed to hold on for a 113-109 victory over Luck of the Irish.  Such a tight matchup where both teams had 30 point scoring wide receivers (Davante Adams with 36 for JLULT and Mike Evans with 30 for LOTI).  It really looked like it could go either way all the way down to the wire.  In the second matchup, Big Sack No TDs held on for the upset with a 102-99 victory over sprouts.  BSNTDs had a big MNF performance from the Atlanta defense who rattled off 21 points (they had a safety and 2 blocked kicks, along with 4 sacks and 3 turnovers), plus Lamar Jackson laid down a cool 35 points.  Again, this one could have gone either way, and I was watching it intently all the way up to the end.  So close on both finishes!  Congrats Jens and Shawn!  Big Sack No TDs will face American BadAss in the second round and J LUV U LONG TIME will face my Scottish Rebels.

Speaking of my Scottish Rebels, thanks to some amazing managerial work, and one guy named Josh Allen, my Rebs have snagged the last two Weekly High Scores!  Last week was just insane as I had my second highest score ever with 144 points.  That score was made possible by Josh Allen scoring 51 freaking points, and Isaac Guerendo (yeah, who’s that guy?) scoring 24.  This week Josh Allen did his thing again by dropping a cool 43 points, plus the Denver defense stepped it up and logged 25.  All told I ended this week with 117 points and my 5^th Weekly High Score this season.  The record for the most Weekly High Scores in a season is 6, which is held by the 2017 Joe’s Pats team.  Three other teams have snagged 5 in a season, Timmy’s Ch. 4 News Team in 2013, Joe’s Pats in 2018 and most recently, James’ Sofa King American in 2020. 

This week we’ll check in on the Top Fives and I’ll present the first three nominees for ‘Worst Fantasy Player of the Year’.  Plus we have two Best Benches to give out!  Onward!

 

BIG TIME FOOTBALL

• Josh Allen, QB – Scottish Rebels – 43 pts – To say Allen has dominated recently wouldn’t do justice to what he has done.  The man has scored 94 points in the last two games he has played. And add in his last 3 games and he is at 120 points! (40 ppg average).  Do you know how long it takes most players to score 120 points?  Heck, only 87 players in all of fantasy have scored more than 120 points all season so far, and Allen has done it in just three weeks.  This week he had 2 passing and 2 rushing TD’s, and last week he had 3 passing and 3 rushing TD’s, to go along with 704 yards passing and 150 yards rushing in those two games.  Man is on a mission.
• Jared Goff, QB – American BadAss – 43 pts – Goff did all his damage through the air, in the shootout against Josh Allen, throwing for 494 yards and 5 TD’s!  This is Goff’s best performance this season and moves him to 8th ranked among quarterbacks.
• Davante Adams, WR – J LUV U LONG TIME – 36 pts – These are the kind of games you’ve been hoping to see since Adams was back with Rodgers.  Davante torched the Jags this week for 198 yards and 2 TD’s.
• Lamar Jackson, QB – Big Sack No TDs – 35 pts – The Lamar Jackson point machine just keeps on keeping on.  Just a ho-hum 290 yards and 5 TD’s passing.  He is the top scoring player in fantasy with 344 points, leading Josh Allen by 10 points.  (Think about that, even with Allen’s two monstrous games, he still hasn’t caught Lamar!)
• Mike Evans, WR – Luck of the Irish – 30 pts – Big week for Evans making 11 catches for 159 yards and 2 TDs!  In spite of missing time with an injury, Evans ranks as the 9^th highest scoring receiver in fantasy.

 

COME ON MAN

• Najee Harris, RB – Joe’s Pats – 1 pt – Six carries for 14 yards and 1 catch for 7 yards.  Oof.
• Amari Cooper, WR – 1^st to Worst – 0 pts – More like D.B Cooper, as he just disappeared out there.  Get this, Cooper played in 32 of the Bill’s 70 snaps (nearly 46%), yet didn’t even catch a pass, and wasn’t even targeted!  What in the wha… 
• Evan Engram, TE – Wyld Ass Monkeys – 0 pts – Engram was put on IR earlier this week and Mark Andrews was just sitting on WAM’s bench.  Check your rosters!
• David NJoku, TE – 1^st to Worst – 0 pts – Njoku was ruled out earlier in the week, and T.J. Hockenson was just sitting on the Captain’s bench.  Come on guys, Check. Your. Rosters!
• Detroit, DEF – NASCAR Café Honey Mustard – -4 pts – Detroit posted no defensive stats, and provided no resistance to the Bills as they gave up 48 points, and lost 48-42.  Can you imagine an offense scoring 42 points and still losing by a touchdown?!  Detroit can still be Detroit sometimes I guess.

 

TOP FIVES

Through 15 weeks of play, here are the top five scoring players by position:

Quarterbacks:

	Name	Pos	Team	Total	Owner
1	Lamar Jackson	QB	Bal	344	Big Sack No TDs
2	Josh Allen	QB	Buf	334	Scottish Rebels
3	Joe Burrow	QB	Cin	302	Wyld Ass Monkeys
4	Jalen Hurts	QB	Phi	297	J LUV U LONG TIME
5	Baker Mayfield	QB	TB	279	American BadAss

-Jackson has held the top spot in Fantasy since Week 5.  The fact that Allen has scored 94 points in two weeks and hasn’t caught him just shows how big a of a lead Jackson had, and just how monstrous a season he has delivered.  Baker Mayfield holding on to the 5^th spot has also been a surprise this season.

 

Runningbacks:

	Name	Pos	Team	Total	Owner
1	Saquon Barkley	RB	Phi	274	Big Sack No TDs
2	Derrick Henry	RB	Bal	247	Scottish Rebels
3	Jahmyr Gibbs	RB	Det	215	Luck of the Irish
4	Josh Jacobs	RB	GB	212	sprouts
5	Bijan Robinson	RB	Atl	195	Luck of the Irish

-In Week 10, Barkley trailed Henry in scoring by 45 points.  In the last five weeks, Barkley has scored 112 points while Henry has posted just 40.  (Henry did have a bye week, but still…)

Josh Jacobs has surged up the leaderboard in the last five weeks as well, as he has posted 104 points across that span, and is now the 4^th overall runningback.

 

Wide Receivers:

	Name	Pos	Team	Total	Owner
1	Ja'Marr Chase	WR	Cin	236	Wyld Ass Monkeys
2	Amon-Ra St. Brown	WR	Det	169	Joe's Pats
3	Justin Jefferson	WR	Min	166	American BadAss
4	Terry McLaurin	WR	Was	156	Joe's Pats
5	Brian Thomas Jr.	WR	Jax	143	1st to Worst

Chase, Jefferson and McLaurin have been on the top five leaderboard all season.  The surprise this week is Brian Thomas Jr., coming in at the 5^th spot and bumping Ceedee Lamb off the list this week.

 

Tight Ends:

	Name	Pos	Team	Total	Owner
1	George Kittle	TE	SF	132	Scottish Rebels
2	Brock Bowers	TE	LV	114	Luck of the Irish
3	Jonnu Smith	TE	Mia	104	sprouts
4	Trey McBride	TE	Ari	101	sprouts
5	Mark Andrews	TE	Bal	94	Wyld Ass Monkeys

Sprouts is killing it on the tight ends with not one, but two in the Top Five.  Who would’ve thought Brock Bowers, Jonnu Smith and Trey McBride would be up here at the start of the season?  Last season’s top scoring TE, Sam LaPorta, currently ranks 7^th with 79 points, and Travis Kelce ranks 9^th with 75 points.

Defenses:

	Name	Pos	Team	Total	Owner
1	Minnesota	DEF	Min	188	J LUV U LONG TIME
2	Denver	DEF	Den	184	Scottish Rebels
3	Houston	DEF	Hou	153	W (Dec 18)
4	Green Bay	DEF	GB	151	American BadAss
5	Pittsburgh	DEF	Pit	149	Joe’s Pats

While positions ranked #2-5 have shifted around all season, Minnesota has been the steady leader since Week 4.  And check out the free agent Houston Defense coming in as the 3rd highest scoring defense this season. 

 

Kickers:

	Name	Pos	Team	Total	Owner
1	Chris Boswell	K	Pit	173	Luck of the Irish
2	Ka'imi Fairbairn	K	Hou	158	J LUV U LONG TIME
3	Brandon Aubrey	K	Dal	156	American BadAss
4	Cameron Dicker	K	LAC	134	1st to Worst
4	Wil Lutz	K	Den	134	W (Dec 18)

Chris Boswell is having himself a season, as he has scored 173 points through Week 15.  You have to go all the way back to 2017 to find a kicker who scored more points than that in a full season (Greg Zuerlein scored 180).  Last season’s highest scoring kicker was Brandon Aubrey who scored 168 points in 17 games.

 

WORST PLAYER IN FANTASY NOMINEES

There have been some pretty bad fantasy performances this season, and at the conclusion of the year, I will give out an award to the “Worst Player in Fantasy”.  Here are some nominees:

Nominee #1 - Dee Williams, WR, NYG – -2 pts (season) – Dee Williams point total for the season would make you think he’s just played one time and lost a fumble one time.  You’d be wrong.  He has scored -2 on three occasions, but has somehow offset that with four single-point outings.  So this means there have been three times where this guy got on the field, caught a pass and fumbled it without gaining even 10 yards.  Three times! 

Nominee #2 – Will Levis, QB, TEN – -5 pts (Week 15) – Levis and the Titans have not been good this season, and it really showed in Week 15.  Levis was benched in the game after going 8-12 passing for just 89 yards and 3 interceptions, plus losing a fumble.  Oof!  This is the lowest single week score of any player this season.

Nominee #3 – Cincinnati, DEF – -4 pts (twice!) – Overall Cincy ranks 24^th in fantasy scoring so they are not the worst defense, but here is why they are a nominee.  In our scoring system, the absolute lowest score a defense can achieve is -4.  This is the penalty to the team if they give up 35 points or more.  Defenses have plenty of ways to score points: sacks, interceptions, fumble recoveries, blocked kicks, 4^th down stops, safeties, touchdowns and even return yards.  For a defense to score -4 means that they gave up 7 or more touchdowns and recorded no meaningful defensive stat including return yards.  Cincinnati has done this not once, but twice this season…first time in Week 8 versus Philadelphia, and again in Week 10 against Baltimore.  Man that’s bad.

We’ll see if we have any additional nominees by the end of the season, and I’ll award a crown to one of these pathetic losers.  I think I’m going to call it the ‘Skelton Crown’ in honor of John Skelton (QB, ARI) who was the first player to ever score -8 points in a game by throwing 4 interceptions PLUS losing a fumble, while gaining only 74 yards passing.  That was way back in Week 14, 2012, and was matched in Week 11 of 2017 by Nathan Peterman (QB, BUF) who threw an incredible 5 interceptions while gaining only 66 yards passing and 4 yards rushing. 

 

BEST BENCH(ES)

The Week 14 Best Bench was interesting because it was the lowest bench improvement possibility we’ve seen this season, and was the team who had the 2^nd longest streak of avoiding the Best Bench.  With just an 18-point-improvement-possibility, the Week 14 Best Bench goes to… Big Sack No TDs!  Jens needed just a single roster move to get there:  Z. Charbonnet For D. Achane +18.  This was Jens’ first Best Bench this season and his first since Week 8 last season.

The Week 15 Best Bench winner did not have a matchup, so their failure to put forth their best team did not cost a victory.  But with a solid 38-point-improvement-possibility, the Week 15 Best Bench goes to… American BadAss!  Jason needed three roster moves to get there:  J. Conner for J. Mixon +20, J. Goff for B. Mayfield +16 and J. Reed for T. Dell +2.  This is Jason’s 2^nd Best Bench this season, having also snagged it back in Week 1.  Only one team remains, who has not gotten a Best Bench this year… can the Luck of the Irish hold through the end of the season?

Just two more weeks of fantasy football!  Get those waivers in and get ready for Week 16!!