OBITUARIES - 6TH PLACE
6TH PLACE
Team/Record/Owner:
Coming in 6th place with an 8-5 regular season record and 1,695.3 points for (4th most) is thanos anal snap, owned by Tieg Bean.
What Went Right:
The first half of Tieg’s season went really well and Tieg stormed out to a 6-1 record through 7 weeks. He was in first place and it looked like he might run away with the league. The reason for his big first half was of course of running backs – the staple of all Tieg-made teams. His RB trio of Melvin Gordon, Kareem Hunt and Carlos Hyde carried the load early on.
Through the first 6 weeks of the season, Melvin Gordon scored 173 fantasy points and was averaging 29 per week. All in all he totaled 9 TDs in those 6 games (he missed Week 7 with injury).
Kareem Hunt was his 2nd round pick and he also put up big numbers in the first half of the season. Through the first 7 weeks Hunt put up 167 fantasy points, or an average of 24 per game. While Melvin Gordon had 9 TDs in 6 games, Kareem Hunt started off the season with 9 TDs in his first 7 games.
Carlos Hyde was Tieg’s 7th round pick and while he didn’t put up numbers like the guys above, he still outperformed his draft slot. Hyde started off the season with scores of 17.4, 14.7, 27.9, 18.6 and 12.1 fantasy points. He was averaging 18 fantasy points per game through the first 5 weeks and totaled 5 touchdowns.
Points against was another thing that went well. Tieg’s opponents only scored 1,547 points this year and he was one of three teams to have fewer than 1,600 points against (Ken/Lamone were the others). I’ve mentioned that the average team scored 126 per week this year – Tieg’s opponents averaged 119. Only 5 of his opponents topped 120. While Tieg built a good team, points against luck is always a good thing to have on your side.
What Went Wrong:
Tieg’s team got ravaged by the fantasy gods this year, there’s no denying it. While everyone would call him the “luckiest owner in the league”, we all have to admit that he got BONED in 2018.
After a huge start to the year, Carlos Hyde stumbled in Week 6 and scored 6.2 fantasy points. It was fine, no one expected him to be great every game. What happened next was really bad though. Hyde was surprisingly traded to the Jags right before Week 7 in a Friday afternoon news dump. Tieg’s 7th round pick was rendered useless and has combined to put up less than 20 points since then. The guy who replaced Hyde? He’s RB16, but unfortunately he was picked up off waivers before Tieg realized it happened.
The fantasy gods decided to rip more meat off the bone when a video of Kareem Hunt surfaced. The video showed him assaulting a number of people and pushing/kicking a woman. It was no Ray Rice, but it was still a bad look. The Chiefs released him immediately and Tieg lost his 2nd round pick. To that point, Hunt was on fire. He had over 1,100 total yards on 181 carries and 26 catches plus 14 total touchdowns. 14!! He was averaging more than 23 fantasy points per week and despite not playing since Week 11, he’s still RB8. Bad beat for Tieg, BAD BEAT.
Last but not least was the Melvin Gordon injury. Melvin Gordon got hurt in Week 12 and missed Weeks 13 and 14 – the last week of the season and Tieg’s playoff matchup. Awful awful awful timing. Gordon is currently RB7 despite missing 4 games this year, so that tells you the type of impact he makes. On the season he has 153 carries, 802 rushing yards, 44 catches, 453 receiving yards and 13 total TDs. Tough to win a playoff matchup without your best player.
Best Owner Move:
Drafting Robert Woods in the 10th round (#91) was a great move by Tieg. He’s WR12 at press time and has 78 catches for 1,100 yards and 5 TDs.
James White in the 11th round was another great pick – he’s RB13 on the season. He was especially huge the first 9 weeks of the year when he averaged 20 fantasy points per game.
Worst Owner Move:
Drafting Larry Fitz in the 4th round was a pretty poor move by Tieg. Larry is a surefire hall of famer and has been a model of consistency, but I still disagree with the pick. Mainly because they had a new QB on the team, but also because Larry came into the season at 35 years old. The worst part is the players he passed up to pick Larry – Zach Ertz (TE2), Golden Tate (WR25), Stefon Diggs (WR13) and Adam Thielen (WR3).
Tieg dropped Amari Cooper on Wednesday October 17th, which was right after before the trade to the Cowboys. I can’t really blame him because of how Cooper had performed to date, but based on the results it was a bad move. Cooper is WR18 in fantasy with 66 catches, 950 yards and 7 TDs.
Draft Recap/Prediction:
“I say Tieg finishes 6-7, but makes the playoffs on a tie breaker and is the #6 seed. His team is very solid, but I’m not sure it’s championship caliber. He’ll go out in the first round of the playoffs.”
Well I was right on the results – makes playoffs and loses in the first round. Off on the record, but got it right nonetheless.
Applicable Quote:
“You know that one scene in the Wizard of Oz… when the flying monkeys pull apart the scarecrow? That’s what it was like.”
That’s a quote from Step Brothers and is what Dale says after him and Brennan get beat up by a bunch of kids. This is like Tieg’s season – the flying fantasy football monkeys pulled apart his team. Carlos Hyde, Kareem Hunt and Melvin Gordon as I mentioned above. I haven’t even mentioned Jimmy Garrapolo (torn ACL) or Greg Olsen (missed first 5 weeks and mostly injured).
Final Thoughts:
Tieg built a good team this year, but his work was undone by a combination of injuries, questionable NFL roster management and pure bad luck. Fantasy football is a battle of attrition – can you sustain a good team longer than your opponents? Unfortunately for Tieg he just couldn’t survive the endless series of dick punches and he limped out of the first round of the playoffs. Just look at his roster in the first round – it shows a team that has broken down. Regardless of the way it ended it was a good season for Tieg and he re-established himself as a serious contender. Maybe the luck will bounce back his way next year.
