06-03-2024, 02:57 AM
(This post was last modified: 06-03-2024, 09:19 PM by wetwilleh. Edited 1 time in total.)
We’re almost halfway through the ISFL Fantasy season, so it’s time to do a full recap of how things are going so far. We’ll go position by position, listing all the players who should be rostered in your fantasy group (i.e. the top 6 at each position aside from Running Backs who will have 12 and Wide Receiver/Tight End who will have 24). The format will be Player’s Name, Team, Fantasy Points, and Preseason Rank (as determined by an amalgamation of rankings from @TubaDeus, @jdc4654, @br0_0ker, and @CROney3). Approximate tiers within each group will also be separated by color (and are somewhat subjective). Let’s dig in!
Quarterbacks
1.) Wolfie McDummy Jr., BAL, 152.5 (6)
2.) Tuna TurnDaBallOva, BER, 148.5 (9)
3.) Lenard McRobinson, HON, 133.0 (2)
4.) Donovan Winters III, AZ, 127.6 (6)
5.) Lloyd Bannings, OCO, 123.1 (8)
6.) Josh Patterson, SJS, 121.6 (3)
The preseason hype surrounded the two scrambling quarterbacks Thor Bǫllrsveifla and Lenard McRobinson as well as the leader of the San Jose juggernaut in Josh Patterson. Turns out the real hype belonged to the leader of the Baltimore juggernaut in Wolfie McDummy Jr. and the gunslinger extraordinaire Tuna TurnDaBallOva. Now don’t get me wrong, McRobinson and Patterson have been fine, coming in at the top and bottom of the second tier of quarterbacks so far this season. The problem is that you likely spent a premium pick for one of them while McDummy or TurnDaBallOva could have been gotten on the cheap. The other problem is if you went all in on Bǫllrsveifla, you’ve been severely underwhelmed as he has planted himself squarely in the replaceable tier of 5 quarterbacks roughly 20 points behind the top 6. In fact, Bǫllrsveifla has been so bad for fantasy owners that he decided to give up his life of a rushing quarterback and become a more pure passer. Will that be a net positive for him in fantasy? Only time will tell.
Running Backs
1.) Anakin Skywalker, BAL, 169.9 (9)
2.) Ace Anderson, SAR, 167.7 (2)
3.) Kyle Crane, NOLA, 149.5 (4)
4.) Reginald Shrubbery, BAL, 148.5 (3)
5.) Money Tolliver, YKW, 125.6 (12)
6.) Triceracop, CHI, 122.4 (11)
7.) Howard Coward, AUS, 117.7 (1)
8.) Frank Dux, NYS, 102.3 (6)
9.) Bertie Mannering-Phipps, AZ, 102.2 (7)
10.) Stetson David, HON, 101.5 (8)
11.) Nakiri Ayame, CTC, 99.4 (5)
12.) Purdy Mediocre, AZ, 98.9 (13)
They say go running back early and often in fantasy as they tend to be the highest scorers and the most consistent. Well the consistency is certainly there, though the order has swapped around a bit. The preseason top 4 were Howard Coward, Ace Anderson, Reginald Shrubbery, and Kyle Crane, 3 of which are still in the top 4 while the last fell all the way down… to 7th. The Shrubbery hype ended up being well founded, but surprisingly it’s been Anakin Skywalker who has taken Baltimore and the whole league by storm this year. Skywalker and Anderson have been the clear top 2 backs thus far, with Crane and Shrubbery forming the 2nd tier. Coward slid down to third tier but is joined by Triceracop and Money Tolliver. Triceracop had some hype as a strong RB2, so sneaking into low RB1 isn’t much of a surprise, but Tolliver was considered the best of the “maybe these backs can be decent RB2s” tier, so sliding up is a bit more surprising for him. Of the top 12 backs this season, the only one who wasn’t a preseason favorite was Purdy Mediocre, and even then he came in tied for 13th. Willie Swaggert was the one back to fall out of the top 12, but he, Kit Fisto, and Reginald Hammerfall are within about 10 fantasy points of the last tier of viable backs, so any of them could sneak in there by the end of the season. In fact the only running back that has been a complete bust is Swamp Maiden, so hopefully you’ve cut your losses by now.
Wide Receivers & Tight Ends
1.) Pitter Patter, BER, 174.0 (5)
2.) Keanu Calhoun, SJS, 155.9 (2)
3.) La’Fluke Paris-Johnson, COL, 154.9 (TE1)
4.) Big McLarge Huge, OCO, 149.1 (9)
5.) Sam Mercury, SAR, 139.0 (18)
6.) Benji Aguilera, AZ, 136.3 (5)
7.) Jordan Bamford, AZ, 130.3 (10)
8.) Tim Riggins, COL, 127.0 (14)
9.) Thomas Passarelli, NOLA, 125.1 (11)
10.) NCADV RAINN, COL, 123.9 (24)
11.) Jonathan Irons, BER, 119.0 (25)
12.) Sem’ga Nah’sim, CHI, 117.1 (8)
13.) Ollver Tolliver, OCO 116.4 (16)
14.) Soul King Brook, AUS, 113.5 (NR)
15.) Maria de la Rosa, BAL, 113.1 (26)
16.) Bread Bowl, NOLA, 102.0 (TE3)
17.) Orange Julius, SJS, 101.8 (17)
18.) Shane Turnbull, AZ, 101.0 (21)
19.) Dru Freduci, CTC, 100.9 (NR)
20.) Detective Crashmore, YKW, 100.6 (TE2)
21.) Seer Ial, AUS, 96.9 (NR)
22.) Emile Charles, BAL, 96.5 (7)
23.) Delores Bickerman, AUS, 96.0 (22)
24.) Nick Williams, YKW, 94.0 (1)
We talked about consistency at the running back position. At wide receiver? Throw it all out the window. Three rookies have made their way onto this list, as well as four 2nd year players, including the standout Pitter Patter, who rode in on some late preseason hype to drive himself all alone at the top of the wide receiver hill as fantasy's top scorer. Originally the Flex slot was going to be separate, but with all six of the qualifiers falling into wide receiver or tight end, I simply merged them together (though shout out to the Kit Fisto fanbase as he fell just 1 point shy of the last spot). Looking over the list, you get a strong mix of “yeah I expected that” and “what the hell”. Arizona having 3 rosterable receivers doesn’t surprise anyone, but who saw Austin managing the same? And what of Colorado not only having 3, but all of them being in the top 10?! Sure, La’Fluke Paris-Johnson was a bit of a given thanks to the tight end boost, but while some people may have been a bit high on Tim Riggins, no one saw NCADV RAINN hanging around. The biggest surprise though may be how 3 of the top 4 preseason receivers have simply vanished! Keanu Calhoun held up his end of the bargain, but consensus number one Nick Williams is barely hanging on to a Flex spot at this point (and that was after he had a big game in Week 7). Hank Mardukas lands one spot behind Williams just outside this list while last season’s number one Sean Robinson falls all the way to 30th, right behind Tyler Higbee II. Unlike other positions, the tiers are a bit less clear here at receiver. Patter is by himself at the top while Calhoun, Paris-Johnson, and Big McLarge Huge form the 2nd tier. The next couple of tiers are a bit hard to distinguish, as essentially every receiver from 5th to 15th is roughly 2-3 points behind the one above them. I put the cutoff behind RAINN, but if you wanted one after Jordan Bamford I wouldn't fault you. There is a clear break between 15th and 16th though, and that last tier includes everyone on the list from 16th on (as well as the unlisted Mardukas).
Offensive Line
1.) Kelijah Verwae, NOLA, 106.0 (1)
2.) Great Khali, AUS, 104.0 (3)
3.) Bengal Tigerheart, BAL, 98.0 (7)
4.) Fortified Fridge, AZ, 94.0 (4)
5.) Swantavius Stack, SJS, 82.0 (6)
6.) Walrus Jones, CTC, 77.0 (5)
If you love chalk, you can’t get much better than this. Bengal Tigerheart’s return to Baltimore has him bouncing back to the elite level of fantasy linemen, as he’s on pace for over 100 pancakes for the first time since… well since the last time he played for Baltimore. The top 4 players here form a top tier of their own, with the young Swantavius Stack leading the 2nd tier along with the aging Walrus Jones and a handful of others that aren’t far behind him. The only real shock here is the fall of Klaus von Reinherz, who some regarded as the best option coming into the season. He’s struggled to keep pace in Berlin’s air raid attack and has fallen all the way to 15th overall. It’s hard to say cut bait, but it might be time to cut bait.
Defensive Line
1.) Clint Mustache, BER, 67.0 (6)
2.) Lionel Scrimmage, NYS, 53.0 (5)
3.) Leo Simon Schwartz, HON, 49.0 (11)
4.) Carter Goad, BAL, 44.0 (9)
5.) MC Hammer, BAL, 43.0 (11)
6.) Carly Rae Jensen, AUS, 39.0 (NR)
6.) Jason Steele, CTC, 39.0 (3)
And we come to the most useless position in all of fantasy. Most of our rankers phoned in this position, and the results show why: the top scoring defensive lineman doesn’t hold a candle to any other position on the fantasy team. Heck, if you drafted players at every other position who would not be fantasy viable, you’d still have players at every other position scoring more points than here. Of course, value is always relative, so just because they are the lowest scorers, doesn’t mean you can’t find value. And by that, I mean I hope you drafted Clint Mustache. The only defensive end on this list, Mustache is heads and tails above the competition here. Of course, owners of Lionel Scrimmage and Leo Simon Schwartz aren’t too upset (and Simon Schwartz is likely available in your group if you’re desperate). The rest of the list is pretty meh, and even the “busts” like Alex Armstrong, Bruce White, and Mo Gago aren’t far enough behind the pack to really justify burning a waiver.
Linebackers
1.) DJ Maclean, SJS, 127.0 (1)
2.) Cheecago Boucher, YKW, 111.0 (11)
2.) Sim Sunigh, OCO, 111.0 (NR)
4.) Crasher Wake, AUS, 109.0 (4)
5.) Dub Redd, AZ, 107.0 (2)
6.) Ignatious Cleetington, SAR, 103.0 (NR)
There’s a strong argument to be made here that we should expand fantasy to include a 2nd linebacker slot (or maybe get extra spicy and allow linebackers to slot into the current Flex slot). That said, the volatility of the position has been a bit extreme, as half the top 6 were appropriately ranked and the other half were barely ranked, if at all. Of course, it doesn’t really matter too much overall: either you have DJ Maclean or you don’t. There’s a bigger point difference between Maclean at 1 and Cheecago Boucher at 2 than there is between Boucher and the 11th ranked Justin Willis (who clocks in right at 100.0 fantasy points). With that level of parity, you couldn’t have missed, right? Well not exactly. Mike Gesicki was a consensus top 3 pick but has fallen all the way to 15th, one rank behind fan favorite Willeh Strong. Other popular picks Rolud Onyxgut and Max Honestly also fell a bit further than that. Thankfully, if you did miss on your pick, there’s plenty of value to go around if you’re willing to burn the waiver!
Defensive Backs
1.) Kadarius Claypool II, YKW, 103.0 (4)
2.) Blacksmith Andre, SJS, 102.0 (5)
3.) Hellajs Owidhuse, CHI, 101.0 (2)
4.) Ezra Azazel, NOLA, 100.0 (1)
5.) Benjamin Duvernay, AZ, 88.0 (7)
6.) Loose Cannon, NYS, 86.0 (NR)
Coming into the season, there was a very clear top 5, with Ezra Azazel and Hellajs Owidhuse fighting for the top spot, Dino Nuggets a half step behind them, and Kadarius Claypool II and Blacksmith Andre rounding out the top 5. Well as we approach the midpoint of the season, that top 5 has solidified itself as a clear top 4, with everyone but Dino Nuggets cementing themselves as fantasy contenders. Nuggets has lost their sauce and fallen all the way down to 17th, a far cry from their preseason projection. Owners should probably replace them at this point. Benjamin Duvernay headlines the second tier of defensive backs along with surprising veteran Loose Cannon, who despite being an 8th year pro, has already set a new career high in pass deflections this season at 16. Jamdrian LeBayers, Fronky Fresh, and The Riddler round out the rest of the second tier, and even though they aren’t in the top 6, they all have 80+ points on the season so far.
Kickers
1.) Wing Wang, NYS, 103.7 (8)
2.) Master Chief, BAL, 103.0 (1)
3.) Booter McGavin, SJS, 101.6 (4)
4.) Jayme Jayne Jay-Jaymison, AZ, 93.0 (5)
5.) Golden Foote, BER, 90.3 (NR)
6.) Jack Sloth, NOLA, 89.7 (2)
What’s there to say about kickers? Wing Wang, Master Chief, and Booter McGavin are on top so far, but even if you missed them, the rest of the pack isn’t far behind. Heck there’s five more kickers not listed here that are above 81 fantasy points. You picked someone with one of your last picks of the draft, just stick with them and hope for the best.
Quarterbacks
1.) Wolfie McDummy Jr., BAL, 152.5 (6)
2.) Tuna TurnDaBallOva, BER, 148.5 (9)
3.) Lenard McRobinson, HON, 133.0 (2)
4.) Donovan Winters III, AZ, 127.6 (6)
5.) Lloyd Bannings, OCO, 123.1 (8)
6.) Josh Patterson, SJS, 121.6 (3)
The preseason hype surrounded the two scrambling quarterbacks Thor Bǫllrsveifla and Lenard McRobinson as well as the leader of the San Jose juggernaut in Josh Patterson. Turns out the real hype belonged to the leader of the Baltimore juggernaut in Wolfie McDummy Jr. and the gunslinger extraordinaire Tuna TurnDaBallOva. Now don’t get me wrong, McRobinson and Patterson have been fine, coming in at the top and bottom of the second tier of quarterbacks so far this season. The problem is that you likely spent a premium pick for one of them while McDummy or TurnDaBallOva could have been gotten on the cheap. The other problem is if you went all in on Bǫllrsveifla, you’ve been severely underwhelmed as he has planted himself squarely in the replaceable tier of 5 quarterbacks roughly 20 points behind the top 6. In fact, Bǫllrsveifla has been so bad for fantasy owners that he decided to give up his life of a rushing quarterback and become a more pure passer. Will that be a net positive for him in fantasy? Only time will tell.
Running Backs
1.) Anakin Skywalker, BAL, 169.9 (9)
2.) Ace Anderson, SAR, 167.7 (2)
3.) Kyle Crane, NOLA, 149.5 (4)
4.) Reginald Shrubbery, BAL, 148.5 (3)
5.) Money Tolliver, YKW, 125.6 (12)
6.) Triceracop, CHI, 122.4 (11)
7.) Howard Coward, AUS, 117.7 (1)
8.) Frank Dux, NYS, 102.3 (6)
9.) Bertie Mannering-Phipps, AZ, 102.2 (7)
10.) Stetson David, HON, 101.5 (8)
11.) Nakiri Ayame, CTC, 99.4 (5)
12.) Purdy Mediocre, AZ, 98.9 (13)
They say go running back early and often in fantasy as they tend to be the highest scorers and the most consistent. Well the consistency is certainly there, though the order has swapped around a bit. The preseason top 4 were Howard Coward, Ace Anderson, Reginald Shrubbery, and Kyle Crane, 3 of which are still in the top 4 while the last fell all the way down… to 7th. The Shrubbery hype ended up being well founded, but surprisingly it’s been Anakin Skywalker who has taken Baltimore and the whole league by storm this year. Skywalker and Anderson have been the clear top 2 backs thus far, with Crane and Shrubbery forming the 2nd tier. Coward slid down to third tier but is joined by Triceracop and Money Tolliver. Triceracop had some hype as a strong RB2, so sneaking into low RB1 isn’t much of a surprise, but Tolliver was considered the best of the “maybe these backs can be decent RB2s” tier, so sliding up is a bit more surprising for him. Of the top 12 backs this season, the only one who wasn’t a preseason favorite was Purdy Mediocre, and even then he came in tied for 13th. Willie Swaggert was the one back to fall out of the top 12, but he, Kit Fisto, and Reginald Hammerfall are within about 10 fantasy points of the last tier of viable backs, so any of them could sneak in there by the end of the season. In fact the only running back that has been a complete bust is Swamp Maiden, so hopefully you’ve cut your losses by now.
Wide Receivers & Tight Ends
1.) Pitter Patter, BER, 174.0 (5)
2.) Keanu Calhoun, SJS, 155.9 (2)
3.) La’Fluke Paris-Johnson, COL, 154.9 (TE1)
4.) Big McLarge Huge, OCO, 149.1 (9)
5.) Sam Mercury, SAR, 139.0 (18)
6.) Benji Aguilera, AZ, 136.3 (5)
7.) Jordan Bamford, AZ, 130.3 (10)
8.) Tim Riggins, COL, 127.0 (14)
9.) Thomas Passarelli, NOLA, 125.1 (11)
10.) NCADV RAINN, COL, 123.9 (24)
11.) Jonathan Irons, BER, 119.0 (25)
12.) Sem’ga Nah’sim, CHI, 117.1 (8)
13.) Ollver Tolliver, OCO 116.4 (16)
14.) Soul King Brook, AUS, 113.5 (NR)
15.) Maria de la Rosa, BAL, 113.1 (26)
16.) Bread Bowl, NOLA, 102.0 (TE3)
17.) Orange Julius, SJS, 101.8 (17)
18.) Shane Turnbull, AZ, 101.0 (21)
19.) Dru Freduci, CTC, 100.9 (NR)
20.) Detective Crashmore, YKW, 100.6 (TE2)
21.) Seer Ial, AUS, 96.9 (NR)
22.) Emile Charles, BAL, 96.5 (7)
23.) Delores Bickerman, AUS, 96.0 (22)
24.) Nick Williams, YKW, 94.0 (1)
We talked about consistency at the running back position. At wide receiver? Throw it all out the window. Three rookies have made their way onto this list, as well as four 2nd year players, including the standout Pitter Patter, who rode in on some late preseason hype to drive himself all alone at the top of the wide receiver hill as fantasy's top scorer. Originally the Flex slot was going to be separate, but with all six of the qualifiers falling into wide receiver or tight end, I simply merged them together (though shout out to the Kit Fisto fanbase as he fell just 1 point shy of the last spot). Looking over the list, you get a strong mix of “yeah I expected that” and “what the hell”. Arizona having 3 rosterable receivers doesn’t surprise anyone, but who saw Austin managing the same? And what of Colorado not only having 3, but all of them being in the top 10?! Sure, La’Fluke Paris-Johnson was a bit of a given thanks to the tight end boost, but while some people may have been a bit high on Tim Riggins, no one saw NCADV RAINN hanging around. The biggest surprise though may be how 3 of the top 4 preseason receivers have simply vanished! Keanu Calhoun held up his end of the bargain, but consensus number one Nick Williams is barely hanging on to a Flex spot at this point (and that was after he had a big game in Week 7). Hank Mardukas lands one spot behind Williams just outside this list while last season’s number one Sean Robinson falls all the way to 30th, right behind Tyler Higbee II. Unlike other positions, the tiers are a bit less clear here at receiver. Patter is by himself at the top while Calhoun, Paris-Johnson, and Big McLarge Huge form the 2nd tier. The next couple of tiers are a bit hard to distinguish, as essentially every receiver from 5th to 15th is roughly 2-3 points behind the one above them. I put the cutoff behind RAINN, but if you wanted one after Jordan Bamford I wouldn't fault you. There is a clear break between 15th and 16th though, and that last tier includes everyone on the list from 16th on (as well as the unlisted Mardukas).
Offensive Line
1.) Kelijah Verwae, NOLA, 106.0 (1)
2.) Great Khali, AUS, 104.0 (3)
3.) Bengal Tigerheart, BAL, 98.0 (7)
4.) Fortified Fridge, AZ, 94.0 (4)
5.) Swantavius Stack, SJS, 82.0 (6)
6.) Walrus Jones, CTC, 77.0 (5)
If you love chalk, you can’t get much better than this. Bengal Tigerheart’s return to Baltimore has him bouncing back to the elite level of fantasy linemen, as he’s on pace for over 100 pancakes for the first time since… well since the last time he played for Baltimore. The top 4 players here form a top tier of their own, with the young Swantavius Stack leading the 2nd tier along with the aging Walrus Jones and a handful of others that aren’t far behind him. The only real shock here is the fall of Klaus von Reinherz, who some regarded as the best option coming into the season. He’s struggled to keep pace in Berlin’s air raid attack and has fallen all the way to 15th overall. It’s hard to say cut bait, but it might be time to cut bait.
Defensive Line
1.) Clint Mustache, BER, 67.0 (6)
2.) Lionel Scrimmage, NYS, 53.0 (5)
3.) Leo Simon Schwartz, HON, 49.0 (11)
4.) Carter Goad, BAL, 44.0 (9)
5.) MC Hammer, BAL, 43.0 (11)
6.) Carly Rae Jensen, AUS, 39.0 (NR)
6.) Jason Steele, CTC, 39.0 (3)
And we come to the most useless position in all of fantasy. Most of our rankers phoned in this position, and the results show why: the top scoring defensive lineman doesn’t hold a candle to any other position on the fantasy team. Heck, if you drafted players at every other position who would not be fantasy viable, you’d still have players at every other position scoring more points than here. Of course, value is always relative, so just because they are the lowest scorers, doesn’t mean you can’t find value. And by that, I mean I hope you drafted Clint Mustache. The only defensive end on this list, Mustache is heads and tails above the competition here. Of course, owners of Lionel Scrimmage and Leo Simon Schwartz aren’t too upset (and Simon Schwartz is likely available in your group if you’re desperate). The rest of the list is pretty meh, and even the “busts” like Alex Armstrong, Bruce White, and Mo Gago aren’t far enough behind the pack to really justify burning a waiver.
Linebackers
1.) DJ Maclean, SJS, 127.0 (1)
2.) Cheecago Boucher, YKW, 111.0 (11)
2.) Sim Sunigh, OCO, 111.0 (NR)
4.) Crasher Wake, AUS, 109.0 (4)
5.) Dub Redd, AZ, 107.0 (2)
6.) Ignatious Cleetington, SAR, 103.0 (NR)
There’s a strong argument to be made here that we should expand fantasy to include a 2nd linebacker slot (or maybe get extra spicy and allow linebackers to slot into the current Flex slot). That said, the volatility of the position has been a bit extreme, as half the top 6 were appropriately ranked and the other half were barely ranked, if at all. Of course, it doesn’t really matter too much overall: either you have DJ Maclean or you don’t. There’s a bigger point difference between Maclean at 1 and Cheecago Boucher at 2 than there is between Boucher and the 11th ranked Justin Willis (who clocks in right at 100.0 fantasy points). With that level of parity, you couldn’t have missed, right? Well not exactly. Mike Gesicki was a consensus top 3 pick but has fallen all the way to 15th, one rank behind fan favorite Willeh Strong. Other popular picks Rolud Onyxgut and Max Honestly also fell a bit further than that. Thankfully, if you did miss on your pick, there’s plenty of value to go around if you’re willing to burn the waiver!
Defensive Backs
1.) Kadarius Claypool II, YKW, 103.0 (4)
2.) Blacksmith Andre, SJS, 102.0 (5)
3.) Hellajs Owidhuse, CHI, 101.0 (2)
4.) Ezra Azazel, NOLA, 100.0 (1)
5.) Benjamin Duvernay, AZ, 88.0 (7)
6.) Loose Cannon, NYS, 86.0 (NR)
Coming into the season, there was a very clear top 5, with Ezra Azazel and Hellajs Owidhuse fighting for the top spot, Dino Nuggets a half step behind them, and Kadarius Claypool II and Blacksmith Andre rounding out the top 5. Well as we approach the midpoint of the season, that top 5 has solidified itself as a clear top 4, with everyone but Dino Nuggets cementing themselves as fantasy contenders. Nuggets has lost their sauce and fallen all the way down to 17th, a far cry from their preseason projection. Owners should probably replace them at this point. Benjamin Duvernay headlines the second tier of defensive backs along with surprising veteran Loose Cannon, who despite being an 8th year pro, has already set a new career high in pass deflections this season at 16. Jamdrian LeBayers, Fronky Fresh, and The Riddler round out the rest of the second tier, and even though they aren’t in the top 6, they all have 80+ points on the season so far.
Kickers
1.) Wing Wang, NYS, 103.7 (8)
2.) Master Chief, BAL, 103.0 (1)
3.) Booter McGavin, SJS, 101.6 (4)
4.) Jayme Jayne Jay-Jaymison, AZ, 93.0 (5)
5.) Golden Foote, BER, 90.3 (NR)
6.) Jack Sloth, NOLA, 89.7 (2)
What’s there to say about kickers? Wing Wang, Master Chief, and Booter McGavin are on top so far, but even if you missed them, the rest of the pack isn’t far behind. Heck there’s five more kickers not listed here that are above 81 fantasy points. You picked someone with one of your last picks of the draft, just stick with them and hope for the best.