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 6th 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 3rd
overall, having won it in 2019 and 2010.
For Jason, it is the 4th time he has finished in 2nd
place, having also done it in 2019, 2012 and 2005.
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 3rd 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 – 1st 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 4th 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 15th ranked defense this
season after being the 2nd 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 4th 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 12th
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 9th ranked
TE) and Sam LaPorta (finished as the 7th 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 18th ranked kicker last season.
Ka’imi Fairbairn ranked 26th last year. Cam Dicker was 11th and Jason
Sanders was 9th. The only one
with any consistency was Brandon Aubrey, who was last year’s top kicker and
finished 2nd 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, 3rd 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)
- James – 1st To Worst
- Joe – Joe’s Pats
- Timmy – NASCAR Café Honey Mustard
- Rob – Wyld Ass Monkeys
- Russ – sprouts
- John – Luck of the Irish
- Shawn – J LUV U LONG TIME
- Jens – Big Sack No TDs
- Jason – American BadAss
- 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. 4th, 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: 1st
$500, 2nd $300, 3rd $200 and 4th $150. Basically, this would add a payout for the 4th
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 3rd
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!!
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