Rebels Tops To Start the Season!

After all the anticipation and hype, 2025 starts with a bit of a whimper.  Or at least a subdued bang.  With only 772 total points scored, this was the lowest scoring Week 1 since 2017 (when only 706 points were scored), and is a full 144 points lower than Week 1 last season.  Last season five teams opened up starting the year in triple digits, and this year only one team managed the feat.

That one team, was my Scottish Rebels.  Really not even a team effort though, as it was more like two stud superstars and then some other random dudes.  With 62% of my production coming from just two players, my Rebels claimed the Week 1 High Score with 114 points.  Josh Allen was an absolute beast, logging 41 points, and Derrick Henry led all runningbacks with 30 points.  Didn’t really need much after that, as my third highest scoring player was my kicker, Tyler Loop, who scored 12 points.

In other games this week James, Jason, Jens and Tim all logged victories, with Russ, John, Joe and Rob starting out 0-1.  Somehow Tim overcame zero wide receiver points to still win his game 67-55.  The best and worst starting and losing records both stand at 6 games (i.e. 6-0 and 0-6), so everyone is on their way to setting some kind of record!

BIG TIME

• Josh Allen, QB – Scottish Rebels – 41 pts – Josh went off for a total of 394 yards and 2 TD’s through the air, plus 30 yards and 2 more TD’s on the ground.  He was fortunate a few of his passes didn’t get picked off, but overall just an unbelievable start to the season.
• Derrick Henry, RB – Scottish Rebels – 30 pts – An otherwise dominating performance, Henry gave up a crucial fumble which allowed the Bills to come back and win.  Still a fantastic way to start the year with 182 total yards and 2 TD’s.
• Lamar Jackson, QB – Big Sack No TDs – 29 pts – Jackson had as good of a game you can have in a losing effort.  Finished with 209 yards and 2 TD’s passing, plus 70 yards and 1 TD rushing.  He literally averaged over 11 yards per rush, and nearly 15 yards per completion.
• Daniel Jones, QB – Free Agent – 28 pts – Let’s go Danny Dimes!  Amazing how a player can flourish after escaping from New York.  
• Justin Fields, QB – J LUV U LONG TIME – 28 pts – Wait, Fields flourishes by going into New York?  Oh, I see, because he escaped Chicago.  Makes sense.
• Justin Herbert, QB – Big Sack No TDs – 27 pts – Rounding out the great QB performances to start the season was Herbert, who passed for 318 yards and 3 TD’s in a win over K.C.  

COME ON MAN

• DeVonta Smith, WR – J LUV U LONG TIME – 1 pt – Just not a good start to the year for Smith, as he finished with merely 3 catches for just 16 yards.
• T.J. Hockenson, TE – J LUV U LONG TIME – 1 pt – Not much there for Talking Jim this week, logging a measly 15 yards on three catches.
• Baltimore, DEF – Wyld Ass Monkeys – 0 pts – Baltimore gave up 40 points, and only recorded one sack.   The Ravens defense was the lowest scoring defense this week, which is hard to believe.  If Ray Lewis was dead, he would be rolling in his grave.
• Mark Andrews, TE – Joe’s Pats – 0 pts – The Ravens scored 40 points and had hundreds of yards of offense, yet homeboy barely sniffed the stat sheet.  Out of 432 total Raven offensive yards, Andrews had 5.  Yes, 5.
• A.J. Brown, WR – NASCAR Café Honey Mustard – 0 pts – Brown caught the one pass thrown his way and took it for all of 8 yards.  Not what you want from a guy drafted this season in the 2nd round with the 8th pick (excluding keepers).

ALL-UNWANTEDS TEAM WEEK 1

Since all NFL teams had at least two players drafted, the ‘All Unwanteds’ team this season is going to be slightly different.  From the Week 1 results, I’ve selected the top free agent performers in each position as the starting line up.  

Here are the Week 1 starters:

• QB – Daniel Jones, IND 28
• RB – Javonte Williams, DAL 18
• RB – Trey Benson, ARI 6
• WR – Quentin Johnston, LAC 19
• WR – Keon Coleman, BUF 17
• TE – Noah Fant, CIN 8
• K – Spencer Shrader, IND 16
• DEF – Tennessee, TEN 17
• TOTAL = 129

Additionally, I’ve taken the next top performing free agent in each position for the bench.

Current Bench:

• Aaron Rodgers, QB (25)
• Raheim Sanders, RB (6)
• Michael Pittman Jr., WR (14)
• Zach Ertz, TE (8)
• Joey Slye, K (15)
• Jacksonville, DEF (15)

From those 14 players I’ll assemble the optimal roster each week to see how they stack up.  They’ve started off the year hot, completely dominating all other teams with 129 points.  We’ll see if this continues, or if they were just a one week fluke.

BEST BENCH

Before getting into this week’s Best Bench, I wanted to share a few Best Bench stats from over the years. 

• Average Best Bench Improvement (since 2019) = 35.2 pts
• Highest Best Bench Improvement (since 2019) = 60 pts, Luck of the Irish – Week 13, 2020
• Highest Best Bench Improvement (All-Time) = 89 pts, sprouts – Week 2, 2009
• Lowest Best Bench Improvement (All-Time) = 13 pts, Big Sack No TD’s and Wyld Ass Monkeys – Both on Week 9, 2022
• Team with the Most Best Benches (since 2019) = Luck of the Irish, 18
• Team with the Fewest Best Benches (since 2019) = Joe’s Pats & Wyld Ass Monkeys, 7

Last season there was only one team who avoided taking home a Best Bench.  In spite of leading the league in Best Benches, Luck of the Irish was perfect last year, never once claiming the dubious crown.  Luck had a streak of 27 weeks without a Best Bench, which was the longest active record.  But records, as they say, are meant to be broken, and that is precisely what happened this week.  With a solid 37-point-improvement possibility, the first Best Bench of 2025 goes to none other than John’s Luck of the Irish!

John needed a half roster swap to get there:  G. Wilson for T. McLaurin +13, C. Williams for J. Goff +12, J. Croskey-Merritt for J. Gibbs +10 and J. Warren for A. Jeanty +2.  

The team now with the longest active streak of avoiding a Best Bench is J LUV U LONG TIME, where Shawn has not had one since Week 2 last season.  How long can he keep it rolling?

Okay, get those waiver claims in, and get your rosters ready for Week 2!!