2019 RECAPS: 5TH PLACE
5: Return of The Mack (8-5):
Coming in 5th place with a record of 8-5 and 1,587.7 points (5th) is Return of the Mack owned by Jon Frader.
What Went Right:
Zeke falling to Frader at 7th overall in the draft is the first thing we’ll discuss here. As we all know - Zeke was holding out when our draft took place. It appeared as though he’d come back and play, but you never know with these things. The situation scared most owners away, but Frader was happy to take him with his first round pick. It worked out great for Frader…. not so great for Robby D and Lamone who took David Johnson at 4 and LeVeon Bell at 6 respectively. Zeke has done Zeke things this year and currently ranks as RB3 in our scoring. He’s over 1,100 yards rushing, nearly 400 yards receiving and has 12 total TDs. If it wasn’t for the holdout Zeke likely would have gone #2 overall so the circumstances really played in his favor here.
Another thing that scared owners in the preseason was the Andrew Luck retirement. Well, it scared everyone but Frader. Frader selected Marlon Mack in the 3rd round of our draft and was rewarded with a stud for much of the fantasy season. Through 11 weeks, Mack had scored 11 or more points in 9 of 10 games and was averaging more than 17 points per week. It also gave him a slamdunk for a team name – Return of the Mack.
Tyler Lockett’s breakout season was another thing - he was Frader’s 4th round pick. With Doug Baldwin retired, Lockett put up career highs in receptions/yards and is just shy of the 10 total TDs he had last year. He had a few rough weeks, but overall he’s WR11.
Frader won three outrageously close matchups this year that I have to mention:
- In Week 8 he beat Robby D 125.9-117.1. An 8.8 margin of victory doesn’t seem THAT close, but with the points we put up in this league actually is. In this matchup Robby D had Amari Cooper on a bye and Marquez Valdez Scantling put up 0.9 points in his WR2 spot which was fortunate for Frader. I can’t wait til that guy is irrelevant because typing his name is a pain in the ass.
- In Week 9 Frader beat my team 143.2-141.8. Any time you win by POINT FOUR points you have to consider yourself lucky.
- In Week 10 Frader beat Dylan 112.6-111.4. This one wasn’t quite as close, but 1.2 points is still an absurd margin.
All told he won those three consecutive games by just 10.4 points. When those things swing your way you go 8-5 and threaten for a bye. When they don’t you go 5-8 and miss playoffs.
He also had the second fewest points against – a total of 1,525 or about 117 per week. I mentioned that the average team scored 121 per week, so it’s not like Frader was playing AAA teams all year. Still, 2nd fewest points is 2nd fewest points. (It was only 70 points fewer than the 3rd highest points against (Kev)).
What Went Wrong:
Sony Michel was one of the worst things that happened to Frader’s team this year. Frader’s 5th round pick is RB23 on the year and that’s only because of points per carry scoring. In a different league I play in that doesn’t award points per carry (half ppr), he’s RB30. In another league that’s full-ppr (no PPC), he drops all the way to RB37. RB37!! I know our line has struggled and we lost Develin, but Sony has looked really bad at times this year. He’s averaging 3.5 yards per carry and he’s only broken 9 tackles this year. That’s the lowest among all players with 200+ carries and he only breaks 1 tackle every 23 carries. No other RB with 200+ carries has a worse ratio than 18 carries to 1 broken tackle. He’s been a living embodiment of the Patriots struggles on offense this year and I really hope he doesn’t touch the ball again this season. Give it to James White, Rex Burkhead, Bolden, anyone but him.
Aside from that the worst thing that happened was Frader’s playoff loss. Remember those close wins I mentioned earlier? The chickens came home to roost and Frader lost by 5.1 points to Robby D in Round 1 of the playoffs. Aside from Robby D’s kicker scoring 7 while Frader’s kicker scoring -0.5 points, there weren’t any ridiculous performances or bad beats in terms of players. Robby D just matched up toe to toe with Frader, traded punches and won a split decision. The one thing I will say for bad luck – Robby D scored 134 against Frader but put up 85 the following week.
Genius Move:
DJ Moore in the 6th round was a great pick. All of the preseason hype was on Curtis Samuel, but Moore quietly established himself as a top tier WR in his 2nd pro season. He’s WR9 in our scoring with 86 catches for 1,200 yards and 4 TDs.
Phillip Lindsay in the 7th was another good pick. Despite a breakout rookie season, I think people were hesitant to draft him because it came out of nowhere. He rewarded Frader’s faith with a top 20RB season and has accumulated 1,000 all-purpose yards and 6 TDs.
Terry Mclaurin was another good acquisition – a free agent pickup for $0 of FAAB before Week 2 of the season. The rookie out of Ohio State is WR24 on the season and has flashed big play ability with 51 catches for 833 yards and 7 TDs.
Dumbo Move:
Drafting Sony Michel. Can we all just learn that you shouldn’t draft Patriots RBs early unless they’re the pass catching back? How many times do we have to get burned by the Lawrence Maroneys and Stevan Ridleys of the world? (Wait til someone breaks out then add him is the key.)
Pre-Season Prediction:
“I say Frader goes 6-7 and misses the playoffs to Tieg on a tie-breaker”….
Note: If Zeke reports back any time before Week 4 then I change this. 7-6 and makes playoffs.”
I’ll call that a win and I’m shooting 66% (4 of 6).
Final Thoughts:
While he didn’t get the result he wanted, I’ll say this was a solid season by Frader. He finished in the top 5 in points scored and came out of the regular season with an 8-5 record. It was also a return to prominence for him after a brutal 3-year stretch prior to 2019. From 2016-2018, Frader went 3-10 (Gabriel), 4-9 and 4-9. For those of you keeping track that’s a cumulative record of 11-28 over that time.
This year he won as many games as he did in the two years prior (combined) and reestablished himself as a contender in the league. Things are looking up for this original 6 owner.
