Fantasy football 2025 -- draft order announcement

The Who Needs Linebackers fantasy league is officially back for its 24th season, and that number could not be more meaningful as we head into another six months of gridiron showdowns. For you see, since this league was formed way back in the early 2000s, the Philadelphia Eagles have appeared in four Super Bowls, and won two of them. I like to think our symmetry is a mathematical celebration of the Iggles excellence.

Two is also the number of consecutive titles for our defending Awesome Cup champion, a young man who still cannot drive but can apparently steer the direction of our entire league. One more win would be historic, giving him the first threepeat in league history and tying him for the most championships all time in the league record book. So, it’s time to buckle down and stop the boy, because he is already getting a little too full of himself.

Before we get to the fantasy strategery, it’s time for the official fantasy league draft order announcement. For everyone who forgets how this highly scientific process is handled, here are the rules established a whole year before our defending champion was born. 

The name selection is being handled again this season by the youngest member of Fort Awesome, a true Eagles fan who is wearing a birds hat and waving an Eagles wand that was present AT BOTH EAGLES SUPER BOWL PARADES (that is a phrase that exists now). Since all our coaches can’t be here to witness the picks live, proxies in the form of trading cards of 2024 Super Bowl winning players have been procured to stand in for everyone.

Every year this dumb process ends up screwing me personally (and often benefitting the boy) but I have my brand new Saquon Barkley jersey T-shirt nearby and a veneer of optimism that only a Super Bowl trophy ceremony can sustain through the offseason.

Our vintage Eagles helmet has the first four names stirred around inside, and the first slip out of the hat belongs to …

Pick #12 — Jo

Ooooh, last year’s second-place finisher (by just 14.32 pts!) slips down one spot in the draft order and will pick last in the first round. Her representative, a Kenneth Gainwell Panini Instant Super Bowl LIX Champions card (valued at $2.99), falls forward for a short gain. 

Jo again asks why she needs a proxy if she’s actually in the room, and whether her second child thinks she’s getting any dinner tonight after that pick. We press on, confident in the system. Another name goes into the helmet, and the next name out is…

Pick #11 — Jonathan

Wait, it’s not me? It’s always me first or second. Instead, the reigning champ moves up only a single spot in the draft order instead of his customary seven or eight. His stand-in, a Prizm A.J. Brown Red No Huddle (valued at $9.50), glances down at his copy of “Inner Excellence” to calm his disappointment. 

The boy looks towards me to ask why he also needs a representative if he’s even closer to the action than his mother, but thinks better of it. He’s lucky I won’t throw the Awesome Cup at his head. Next name goes in, and the next victim out is …

 

Pick #10 — Grandmom Linda

Our draft selector is once again seriously concerned about what all of these moves will mean for her upcoming birthday presents. Her concerns are ignored, much like the Chiefs offensive line was ignored by the Eagles rushers again and again and again in the Super Bowl. 

Mom slips down one spot in the draft order, but that’s not a big deal for her proxy, a Rookies Phoenix Jeremiah Trotter Jr. card ($4.74 on Ebay right now). Did you know that Trotter has more Super Bowl rings than his father, and he’s only been in the league for one year? We keep chopping our way down the list, and the next draft order pick goes to …

Pick #9 — Mike

Another coach slips in the draft order. Someone is benefitting from this, but I can’t quite figure out who. Mike’s deputy for tonight’s announcement, a Kenny Pickett Super Bowl LIX Champions card (marked down to $17.75 now), remains as calm and cool as you’d expect from a Super Bowl winning QB. 

Did you know that the Eagles traded Kenny Pickett for a 5th round draft pick this year, and the Browns have already traded him to the Raiders for another 5th round draft pick next year? Did you care? We’re leaving the past in the past, and that means putting another coach into the helmet, and pulling out the next drafter …

Pick #8 — Ant

Another coach who fell down, this time two spots, thanks to this ridiculous draft system. Who came up with this idea anyways? Luckily, Ant barely notices the slight because his stand-in, an All-Rookie Team Cooper DeJean card (also $17.75, somehow not more valuable than Kenny Pickett), is re-enacting his championship game pick-six with a candy bar and a collection of Barbies with better tackling range than the Chiefs. 

The second child asks if we can stop this madness and continue playing with the Barbies. Her pleas are again ignored, and we head onward…

Pick #7 — Bob

Exactly where our 2024 top-6 finisher should be picking. Finally, logic prevails for a moment. The Doctor’s representative here is the Dagger himself, a Honeycomb Mosaic DeVonta Smith card (going for $55 at the moment), who promptly runs in the other room and snags a backbreaking touchdown for team Bob. 

The vibes are so positive this squad that Yahoo AI has already predicted he will win the league this year. Which means Bob has just been eliminated from contention in the league. So sad. Tough break this early. Maybe our next coach will do better …

Pick #6 — Pop

Dad finished in the bottom four last year but will pick in the middle of the first round anyways. Seems like nearly everyone moved down a spot this year, without anyone getting a real benefit. Dad’s proxy, a $20 dancing Eagles hamster, responds to the draft order announcement with a subtly subdued rendition of “We Are The Champions.” 

Jonathan asks why his grandfather doesn’t get a trading card for this exercise. I blame Dan Marino and quickly move to the next name …

Pick #5 — Sam

Hold on, I’m starting to realize what’s happening here, and it’s not great news for Sam. His Fightin Pickles squad finished in the bottom three last year, but he’ll have to settle for the #5 pick. What he won’t have to worry about is subpar representation: His stand-in is a coveted, $300 autographed Prism Decal Tanner McKee card, because who wouldn’t pay big money for the card of a third-string QB? Imagine how much that card would be worth if McKee still had 10 fingers. 

Speaking of 10 fingers, we use two to drop another name in the helmet, and then the next name comes out …

Pick #4 — Jeff

Jeff actually moved in a positive direction here: He finished fifth worse in 2024, but has the fourth best pick now. He is represented by a man always moving in a positive direction: an Alien Case Score Jordan Mailata card (just $100, because Jordan is just one-third the size of McKee, I guess?). 

Both Jeff and Jordan are known for their singing voices — just make sure to ask Jeff to belt out a rendition of “Fly, Eagles, Fly” for you next time you see him. Not right now, though, because we still have three names left…

Pick #3 — Joel

Oooooh, that one stings a bit. Joel has finished last in the league for two straight years, but he gets shut out of the top two picks this year. But his representative — a Red & Blue Prism Shock Nakobe Dean card, valued at just $1.75 — is familiar with the third round, because that’s where he was drafted. He's also familair with disappointment, on account of his injury last year, and still ultimate success and bliss, given that he will always be a Super Bowl champion. That's inspriration for any team.  

Joel’s misfortune is someone else’s gain, but I still can’t quite put my finger on it. Onto our final two draft picks…

Pick #2 — Capt. Awesome

OHMIGAWD THIS IS THE GREATEST DRAFT PROCESS EVER! THIS IS WHY I PRAISE THIS SYSTEM YEAR AFTER YEAR AFTER YEAR!

Incredibly, my name has survived 10 earlier rounds of helmet selections to steal me a top two pick in the fantasy draft. I’m speechless. I always pick in the bottom half, even when my teams stunk the previous year. I’m more excited than when I found out Taylor and Travis were getting married (which was like 10 minutes ago, so…). My representative leaps up in the air in excitement. Of course, my proxy is the coveted $650 Reverse Backward Hurdle Saquon Barkley card, so he’s always up in the air. But still, it’s a great moment for everyone. And by everyone, I mean me, and possibly the impartial name selector who will now get presents for her birthday.

Just one name left in the helmet, so our top pick goes to …

Pick #1 — Paul

This marks the third time in the last five years that Paul will get first crack at the draft board. Here’s hoping this is the season he is inspired to actually set his roster week to week and compete at a championship level. His avatar for the draft is #1 himself — The Pre-Historic Mammoth True Color Match Jalen Hurts card, yours for only $699.99. Worth every penny for a chance to honor the Super Bowl MVP properly. 

And it's appropriate too, given the ... mammoth weight on Hurts' shoulders as QB ... and his thick hide ... and ... honestly I have no clue what I'm looking at here. $700 for a dinosaur QB card? Whatever. Hurts is awesome no matter what. 

***

We’re all set, folks. The draft order is getting put into the system and it’s time to get your player rankings squared away. Now is the time to pick a new team name, start taunting your fellow coahces and block all those Cowboys from getting on your roster. I’ll switch the league over to autodraft sometime after Saturday morning (Aug. 30) so don’t delay.

Here’s looking forward to another fun fantasy season and a second consecutive Super Bowl win for the Eagles.

Fantasy football 2024 -- final season recap

The games are all complete, the rankings are in, and there is just one thing left for the 2024 season: The 23rd official awarding of the Awesome Cup to our champion. But before we celebrate our victor, we have to analyze what went wrong with our 11 losers. Here are the final standings:

All Rogers No Sauce (Joel)

Yahoo ranking: 1935.26 pts, 2nd place
My ranking: 2001.77 pts, 7th place
Actual finish: 1465.16 pts, 12th place
NFL equivalent: New Jersey Jets

Yes, people were predicting the Jets would challenge for a playoff spot this season, just like Yahoo was predicting Joel’s team would challenge for a championship. It didn’t help that RB Christian McCaffrey was pretty much a wasted pick for the whole season, or that RB Travis Etienne and QB Anthony Richardson weren’t much better. But coaching was the real issue here: Joel started at least one inactive player for each of the last five weeks of the season and two inactives for the final three weeks. It’s hard to score points with players who aren’t playing.

 

They Certainly Are Dwarves (Paul)

Yahoo ranking: 1817.21 pts, 11th place
My ranking: 1844.34 pts, 9th place
Actual finish: 1556.39 pts, 11th place
NFL equivalent: Cleveland Browns

The team formerly known as “I heart wideouts” boasted one great fantasy receiver (CeeDee Lamb), two wideouts who were traded midseason (Davante Adams and Amari Cooper), another who was killed midseason (Chris Olave, RIP) and another who was hurt every other week and finally euthanized in the last game of the season (Christian Watson, RIP). Other than that, Paul pretty much forgot to add any skill players to his team. He did grab the Cleveland defense in the draft, which turned into a complete disaster early. And he did get Aaron Rodgers funk all over everything. But despite the drama, the result was the same this year for Paul as it has been recently — another Browns-like finish.

The Fightin Pickles (Sam)

Yahoo ranking: 1802.68 pts, 12th place
My ranking: 1736.92 pts, 11th place
Actual finish: 1802.09 pts, 10th place
NFL equivalent: Carolina Panthers
Sam actually gets the league’s coveted “outstanding achievement in the field of excellence award” for complaining about Jonathan’s team in his Christmas card to Fort Awesome. That’s the right way to spread holiday joy, folks — unexpected, funny moments that make you question how much time you’ve put into your hobbies. Well done, sir. Sadly, his fantasy team wasn’t as inspiring. WR Justin Jefferson was great. The Eagles defense was solid. K Harrison Butker didn’t cause too many class wars. And no one else on the team lived up to the hype. Still, there were enough moments of brilliance that this team could have been a major problem if we were a head-to-head league. We’re not, but it was fun anyways.

Beer ‘n Chips (Pop)

Yahoo ranking: 1961.49 pts, 1st place
My ranking: 1751.13 pts, 10th place
Actual finish: 2027.21 pts, 9th place
NFL equivalent: New England Patriots
Called it. Yahoo loves loves loves Dad’s team every year, and it’s a total kiss of death. I think the most upsetting part is that Yahoo undershot Dad’s points total and still was nine spots off in a 12-team ranking. Pop does get a special shout out as the first team ever to break 2,000 points on the season and finish outside the top eight. There’s a world where instead of drafting Josh Allen/Josh Jacobs/Rachaad White in the first three rounds, he drafts Jamar Chase/Josh Jacobs/Josh Allen in that order and wins the league by a mile. But that’s not this multiverse, and Dad doesn’t watch the Marvel movies anyways.

Blue Collar Killers (Jeff)

Yahoo ranking: 1844.28 pts, 9th place
My ranking: 2095.47 pts, 5th place
Actual finish: 2028.06 pts, 8th place
NFL equivalent: Las Vegas Raiders
Last year, Sam edged out Bob for 7th place by just 0.41 pts. This year, Jeff edged out Dad for 8th place by less 0.85 pts. It’s a vicious fight for every spot in the standings. Or, to quote a stupidest moment from recently, WHO SAYS BOWL GAMES DON’T MATTER ANYMORE?!? Sadly, much like a Patriots/Raiders real life showdown, this fight is just for draft order next year, as both teams are way out of the championship running. Jeff’s first three picks — RB Breece Hall, RB Isiah Pacheco and WR Cooper Kupp — all disappointed this season. Jeff had late-round wins with QB Joe Burrow and RB J.K Dobbins, but it wasn’t enough to pull this squad up to the top level.

Jabronis (Ant)

Yahoo ranking: 1879.24 pts, 6th place
My ranking: 1657.07 pts, 12th place
Actual finish: 2032.74 pts, 7th place
NFL equivalent: Seattle Seahawks
Like the Seahawks, it felt like Ant’s team was doing well all year, and then at the end of the season we all looked at the standings and wondered why this team wasn’t in contention at all. In fairness, Ant did succeed in his personal mission for the season — sabotaging Dak Prescott and the Dallas defense by keeping them on his squad. Our coach of doom ruined both of their seasons and brought joy to all our hearts. So while the standings were not kind to Ant, he deserves a shout out for taking one for the team — nay, all of the teams across the country — and making the world a better place. But I’m still not sure why he had to kill WR Nico Collins along the way.

No One Likes Us We Don’t Care (Bob)

Yahoo ranking: 1869.61 pts, 7th place
My ranking: 2095.45 pts, 6th place
Actual finish: 2053.59 pts, 6th place
NFL equivalent: Atlanta Falcons
Just call me Nicole Beyer, because I nailed it again with my prediction. Bob had all the big names this year — QB Patrick Mahomes, RB Alvin Kamara, RB Bijan Robinson, the San Fran defense — and they all did just enough to settle in the mediocre middle of the standings. On the plus side, it doesn’t feel like Bob (or the Falcons) really did much wrong. They just didn’t do much right either. At least he did get to have the Chuba Hubbard experience this year: middling stats, exciting pronunciations. Sometimes you just gotta take what you’re handed.

Murder Hornets (Mike)

Yahoo ranking: 1911.70 pts, 3rd place
My ranking: 2317 pts, 1st place
Actual finish: 2124.41 pts, 5th place
NFL equivalent: San Francisco 49ers
This season was a tough one for Mike, who I thought would be raising the Awesome Cup this year. True, he had fantasy studs WR Jamar Chase and RB Kyren Williams. But QB CJ Stroud disappointed. WR Deebo Samuel was a fraud. TE Kyle Pitts underachieved yet again. And rookie wideout Keon Coleman never materialized into anything. And the real tragedy for Mike came just last month, when Department of Agriculture officials announced that they have successfully eradicated murder hornets in the United States. After four years, his team name is no more. That’s a terrible blow, and I’d like everyone to take a moment of silence before moving to the next team recap, in honor of our fallen moniker.

DeVonta’s Inferno (Mom D)

Yahoo ranking: 1847.14 pts, 8th place
My ranking: 2244.32 pts, 2nd place
Actual finish: 2128.33 pts, 4th place
NFL equivalent: Minnesota Vikings

A furious finish by Mom D drove her squad to a respectable finish in the standings. In week 7, she was mired down in 7th place, losing ground to competitors. But she averaged more than 161 pts a week over the last three weekends, showing the grit and determination that should serve as an inspiration to coaches at the bottom of the standings. Sure, having RB Derrick Henry bulldozing most of the league helped. But like the Vikings, she also found success with mediocre QB play (looking at you, Brock Purdy and Joshua Dobbs) and a strong defense (Minnesota, both for her team and Minnesota). In the end, neither team got a first-round bye, but did win the respect of the league.

Chop Block to the Artery (Capt. Awesome)

Yahoo ranking: 1911.43 pts, 4th place
My ranking: 2233.44 pts, 3rd place
Actual finish: 2212.56 pts, 3rd place
NFL equivalent: Buffalo Bills

I may not know much, but I do know how to analyze my own team. And I nailed my pre-season prediction for myself, and landed my point total with a 1% margin of error. For the record, I had four fantasy teams this year, and three of them finished third in their respective leagues. Much like the Bills, I’m good enough to be a contender each year, and not good enough to get over the hump. This is my sixth podium finish in the last eight years, and my league-leading 13th top three finish. But even Saquon Barkley’s 2,000-yard season wasn’t enough to bring me the title, as my team fell just 26.05 pts short of victory. What if QB Jalen Hurts didn’t get injured? What if I had started RB Tony Pollard every week instead of every other week? These are the questions that will haunt my coaching staff the whole offseason. However, this is the highest finish ever for a coach who had major invasive surgery in the preseason (Joanna finished 6th when she pulled her medical stunt), so I’m taking that as another title victory.

Kodos for President (Jo)

Yahoo ranking: 1842.91 pts, 10th place
My ranking: 1999.96 pts, 8th place
Actual finish: 2224.29 pts, 2nd place
NFL equivalent: Detroit Lions
Joanna already had the roughest finish in league history — back in 2014, she finished in 4th place, 13 points out of first, because her RB (LeVeon Bell) got injured in the second quarter of the final game of the season and didn’t give her enough points to catch the top three. This season, she pulled off another painful near miss: Falling just 14.32 pts short of first place. Who’s to say if starting a healthy wideout for three weeks late in the season instead of injured WR Jalen Waddle would have made a difference? (It would have.) Who’s to say whether trading backup QB Jayden Daniels for a good defense would have made a difference? (It would have.) Who’s to say if taking RB Saquon Barkley with her first pick would have been better than taking WR AJ Brown? (It would have.) Losing by less than 15 points is hard to swallow, but at least Jo can boast beating me by four field goals to place second in our house. Speaking of which…

Still the Best (Jonathan)

Yahoo ranking: 1908.33 pts, 5th place
My ranking: 2139.82 pts, 4th place
Actual finish: 2238.60 pts, 1st place
NFL equivalent: 2017 Philadelphia Eagles
For the first time in league history, the entire podium stand is confined to a single household, and it’s only fitting that that house should be Fort Awesome (because we’re the only one with three coaches). Jonathan backed up his team name boast by winning the league in back-to-back years, though just by the skin of his teeth this time. Getting the fantasy MVP Lamar Jackson in the FOURTH ROUND went a long way to securing his victory, as did snagging the top fantasy TE (Brock Bowers) and the second-best wideout (Amon-Ra St. Brown).

But this victory was more than just draft luck. It was hard work. It was keen insight. It was having a parent who could remind you to set your roster every week and then help you pick up good players when you have no idea what to look for. In short, it was everything we have come to expect from the greats like Andy Reid, if Andy Reid also had his father on the sideline coaching him through all the coaching work.

This is only the second time in league history we’ve had back-to-back titles, so Pop has company in that elite fraternity. So let’s put his name where it belongs:

Only two more titles and the boy can tie me for the league lead. I did win another title this season — besting the Yahoo algorithm yet again, by going 8-4 in our pre-season predictions. Take that, AI overlords.

Only 241 days until the 2025 fantasy season officially starts. Thanks again to all of you for hanging around here for another year of nonsense, and don’t wait until the anagrams start again to keep in touch.

Fantasy football 2024 -- week 18 recap

Here are a few ready-made talking points for WIP callers after Sunday’s convincing, very very significant Eagles win over the New Jersey Giants:

** “I’m just saying that if Jalen Hurts is still hurt next week, I think Tanner McKee could carve up the Packers’ defense.”

** “Every Eagles team that has ever won at least 13 games has made the Super Bowl, and you could see that heart out there on Sunday.”

** “That offense looked just as good with Saquon on the bench. I’m still not sure that was money well spent.”

** “Why haven’t we seen more of Ainias Smith this season? Kid is a baller.”

** “I know they won, but Nick Sirianni should be embarrassed that the Giants made it that close.”

** “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — Sydney Brown may be the best ‘Brown’ on this team.”

** “Why did they win that game? Doesn’t this front office understand how much that helped the Giants’ draft pick? That’s gonna come back to haunt the Eagles next year.”

Top QBs of the year

3rd place: Baker Mayfield, 447.80.31 pts — 23rd QB drafted (Jo)
2nd place: Joe Burrow, 458.82 pts — 10th QB drafted (Jeff)
1st place: Lamar Jackson, 513.38 pts — 4th QB drafted (Jonathan)

Josh Allen (4th overall QB) will probably win the MVP, but he certainly wasn’t the fantasy MVP. Jackson outscored him by 88 pts and came at a much cheaper draft cost (4th round vs. 1st round). Burrow didn’t get picked up until the 7th. Maybe even more shocking, Allen got beat out for a spot on the final podium by Baker Mayfield, a 17th round fantasy draft pick. Joanna actually ended up with the #3 and #5 fantasy QBs (Jayden Daniels, 401.60 pts) and probably should have traded one. But the moral of the story? Never waste a first-round pick on a QB. You won’t win.

Top WRs of the year

3rd place: Justin Jefferson, 215.38 pts — 4th WR drafted (Sam)
2nd place: Amon-Ra St. Brown, 220.88 pts — 5th WR drafted (Jonathan)
1st place: Ja'Marr Chase, 285.57 pts — 3rd WR drafted (Mike)

Welcome to the second half of the first round of our draft. These three were the #7, #8, and #9 picks, and all of them paid off. The two wideouts before them? CeeDee Lamb (first WR taken) ended up in the top 8 in scoring, but Tyreek Hill (second WR taken) was outside the top 20. The sleeper this year was wideout Brian Thomas Jr., who ended up fourth in scoring after being the 39th WR drafted. I took Rome Odunze four picks ahead of him, and that move cost me 105 fantasy pts on the season. Ouch.

Top RBs of the year

3rd place: Jahmyr Gibbs, 320.17 pts — 7th RB drafted (Jo)
2nd place: Derrick Henry, 320.47 pts — 5th RB drafted (Mom D)
1st place: Saquon Barkley, 330.03 pts — 6th RB drafted (Capt. Awesome)

The second round was the place to find great RBs this year: Besides these three, Josh Jacobs (5th best back), Kyren Williams (6th best) and De'Von Achane (8th best) were all taken in the second round. The numbers between Henry and Barkley ended up pretty close, with the Eagles rusher finishing just 83 yds ahead of the Baltimore back (1,921 rushing yds). But that’s in large part due to Henry playing all 17 games, and Saquon sadly sitting out the finale. Gibbs’ four TDs in the finale pulled him just a hair out of second place, but he also played 17 games, so it’s just not as impressive as Barkley.

Top TEs of the year

3rd place: Trey McBride, 156.10 pts — 3rd TE drafted (Joel)
2nd place: George Kittle, 162.23 pts — 6th TE drafted (Ant)
1st place: Brock Bowers, 168.40 pts — 13th TE drafted (Jonathan)

Hello, rookie. Bowers ended up being a major steal for Jonathan, who also started Travis Kelce (8th overall TE) for most of the year. It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes having that extra flex spot as a W/T instead of just another wideout really makes a difference. Bowers and McBride were #3 and #4 in receptions on the season, only behind Chase and St. Brown.

Top Ks of the year

3rd place: Cameron Dicker, 180.00 pts — 14th K drafted (Jonathan)
2nd place: Chris Boswell, 191.00 pts — undrafted
1st place: Brandon Aubrey, 178.00 pts — 2nd K drafted (Jeff)

Joanna at various points in the season had Boswell, Ka'imi Fairbairn (#4 overall kicker) and Jake Bates (#7 overall kicker). Meanwhile, Jonathan cut Dicker almost immediately and kept 49ers K Jake Moody instead, who ended up 21st in scoring. If only Jonathan hadn’t made that small mistake, maybe his team could have amounted to something.

Top DEFs of the year

3rd place: Green Bay, 156.00 pts — 20th DEF drafted (Sam)
2nd place: Minnesota, 164.00 pts — 10th DEF drafted (Mom D)
1st place: Denver, 198.00 pts — 17th DEF drafted (Ant)

Looks like we missed big on this category. The fourth-best defense was Houston, who was the 15th defense drafted by us. Of the top 10 defenses on the season, only Minnesota, Pittsburgh (#7 overall) and Buffalo (#9) were taken in our top 12 draft spots. So using that early pick to have Dallas repeat as a defensive juggernaut went for nothing.

Top Ds of the year

3rd place: Andrew Van Ginkel, 69.00— undrafted
2nd place: Zack Baun, 69.50 pts — undrafted
1st place: Zaire Franklin, 70.50 pts — undrafted

Someday we’ll draft a top defensive player, he writes for the 20th year in a row, keeping faith alive despite all logical evidence to the contrary. But what we did get is a second Eagle making an appearance in a fantasy honors category this season. So miracles can happen.

QB: Bryce Young, 42.44 pts — started by me
WR: Drake London, 29.47 pts — started by Ant
RB: Jahmyr Gibbs, 42.47 pts — started by Jo
TE: Pat Freiermuth, 15.67 pts — on the wire
K: Joshua Karty, 17.00 pts — on the wire
DEF: Denver, 20.00 — on Ant’s bench
D: Derek Barnett, 11.00 pts — on the wire

It’s not often that a RB is the top performer on the week, but Gibbs and his aforementioned four TDs managed to just outpace Bryce Young’s surprising appearance on this list.

Gibbs is a Pro Bowler headed to the postseason with Detroit. Young was assumed to be another first-round bust halfway through the year, only to turn around the narrative completely. He had 14.56 fantasy pts combined through the first seven games this season. In the last three weeks alone, he totaled 94.48 pts. He did just enough to likely convince the Panthers’ front office to keep building the team around him in the offseason, which will probably mean he’ll fall apart again next year, because this is the Panthers we are talking about.

Awww, a second appearance on the top performer’s list for Derek Barnett this season. He had two tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery returned for a TD on Sunday. In week 11, he scored 12.50 pts after another monster game. In the other 15 games this year, he averaged one fantasy point a game.


“Worst performers of the year” edition

3rd place: Carolina, 20.00 pts — on the wire
2nd place: Kadarius Toney, -1.02 pts — on the wire
1st place: Clayton Tune, -2.08 pts — on the wire

For the weekly worst performers list, we had three defenses again hit -6.00 pts (Atlanta, Kansas City and San Francisco). Seven teams hit the worst score possible over the last two weeks. That’s what the NFL gets for jamming in too many meaningless games instead of sticking with the 16-game schedule.

But the big news is the worst performers of the year, because there really aren’t any. Only two fantasy players ended up in negative territory: Toney, who I’ve made fun of several times, and Cardinals QB Clayton Tune, who scored -2.60 pts on week 2 and never made it back into positive territory.

So to round out our worst performers list for this year, we’ll highlight the worst defense of the year: The Panthers, who managed just 20 fantasy points on the season. The team surrendered 534 points this season (31.4 pts a game, 66 more than the next worst team), and posted negative fantasy scores in seven of 17 weeks. They scored half their points in week 10 against the Giants, the only time they hit double digits and the only time they held an opponent to less than 20 points.

Still, the Panthers were worth more than Tommy DeVito (13.48 pts) this year. So that’s something.


** After the Brown’s loss on Saturday left their season record at 3-14, DE Myles Garrett told reporters that the result was a more disappointing season than their 0-16 finish in 2017 “because of what we expected out of ourselves.”

While I appreciate the frustration, it’s pretty ridiculous of Garrett to expect anything of the Browns. They’re had three winning seasons in the last 30 years. They’re lost at least 10 games in 12 of the last 18 years. Heck, this franchise went 0-16 just a few years ago. I wonder if Garrett remembers that…

** The Washington Post extolled the Maryland Commanders last-second win over the 7-10 Cowboys on Sunday by calling it the perfect cap to a “historic” season. The history? “The Commanders finished off a 12-5 season, its most wins since the 1991 season.”

So, a franchise that has won three Super Bowls is now being lauded for the “history” of having its fifth-best record ever. Makes sense.

** The Bears front office reportedly has asked to interview former Packers coach and current Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, because they’re looking for a leader who can’t lead his team to the playoffs but also has a history of enraging Chicago fans. Happy new year, Bears fans!
 

Here’s a quick recap of the 2024 Cincinnati Bengals:

** QB Joe Burrow led the league in passing yards (4,918) and passing TDs (43).

** WR Jamar Chase led the league in receiving yds (1,708) and receptions (127) and receiving TDs (17).

** The Bengals were the only team with multiple receivers with double-digit TD catches (Chase and Tee Higgins, 10).

** RB Chase Brown just missed a 1,000-yard rushing season (990).

 
** The team was sixth in the league in scoring and finished the year on a five-game winning streak.

** They missed the playoffs.

Every one of the Bengals eight losses this season came against a playoff team (Eagles, Commanders, Chiefs, Ravens twice, Steelers, and Chargers) except one: Their week one loss to the Patriots, one of only four New England wins on the season. If Cincy had avoided that inexplicable 16-10 upset, we’d be talking about the Bengals as the postseason sleeper team that no one wants to play. Instead, they’re on their way home to play golf. 

It’s good to know that one screwy misstep in the first game of the year can end an entire season before it starts.

Next week is the start of the postseason, and one team that won’t be there is the Dallas Cowboys. After three 12-win seasons in a row, the franchise from Arlington posted a disappointing sub-.500 record and will be spending the rest of January watching good teams play for the championship. And when you break down the basics, you can see that the letters had already preordained this result:

Dallas Cowboys miss the playoffs
** Fact: Bad, showy mess flops. I say LOL.

Next season marks the 30th anniversary of the last time the Cowboys were a relevant franchise, winning more than one game in the playoffs. That was before every member of the Eagles active roster was born except for TE Dallas Goedert, CB Darius Slay, OT Lane Johnson and LS Rick Lovato. It also covers QB Tom Brady’s entire career, including his time in college, each of his Super Bowl wins and both of his retirements. But, hey, let’s give them six prime time games again next year, because people still think they matter.

** Valiant effort by Dad this week, who went 6-4 in our picks. But that wasn’t enough for him to overcome my eight-game lead coming into the weekend. I’m now 10-5 against him over the last 15 years, and mysteriously all records were lost for the time before that. For the season I went 193-79, getting 71 percent of my picks right, which may be a personal record (I’m not bothering to look it up). Onto the playoffs, where I don’t think I’ve beaten Dad in the last five years.

** So if the Eagles beat the Packers and the Bucs beat the Commanders, the Eagles play the Bucs in the second round of the playoffs. That Tampa Bay loss was the only real defeat the Eagles had this year, and it was a complete mess of a game. So, that’ll be another fun rematch to look forward to.

** OK but I think Ainias Smith may be better than Jahan Dotson.

** I know it didn’t mean anything, but I do love when the Eagles beat the Giants. After the Eagles laid down against the Commanders in the finale of the 2020 season, effectively knocking the Giants out of the playoffs, New Jersey players and staff vowed never to forget the lack of effort and to get revenge on the Eagles. Since then, Philadelphia is 7-2 against the Giants, including a win in the playoffs. That’s some sweet revenge.


The final Awesome Cup standings will be unveiled on Tuesday in the final season recap.