GWBL - 2021 Season Recaps - 4th Place - Commish
4th Place: Fire That Pigskin - Commish - 9-5 record, 1,794 points (2nd)
What Went Right:
My team scored the second most points and finished as the #1 seed, so it was a successful regular season. The success came in large part due to some good fortune and good execution during the draft as none of my major draft picks “busted” in the normal sense of the word. In order of draft rounds:
Round 1: Dalvin Cook was a stud and averaged nearly 20 points a game. He did miss some time with injury and covid, but I had Alexander Mattison who was more than a capable replacement (see below).
Round 2: Hopkins was the closest thing to a bust, but it was due to injury. He still averaged 12.5 points per game and scored 8 TDs.
Round 3: Joe Mixon had a career year, scoring 16 TDs.
Round 4: James Robinson had a slow start, but ended up as a top 25 RB despite missing 3 games.
Round 5: arguably my best pick, Mark Andrews may have established himself as TE1 in fantasy going forward. Even though Lamar sucked this year, he put up 100+ catches, 1300 yards and 9 TDs.
I didn’t have many devastating injuries which is always helpful. Dalvin, Hopkins, James Robinson and Russel Wilson missed some time, but a lot of it was late in the season.
I harp on everyone’s “easy wins” so I’ll do it here as well. 3 of my 9 wins came when my opponents scored 93 or fewer.
What Went Wrong:
I don’t need to go any further than the ridiculous joke of a loss in Round 2 of the playoffs. A game I lost 143-171 to fuckface Dylan who decides to score a million points every time he plays me in the playoffs. Actually, every time I lose in the playoffs it’s a ridiculous score. My last three playoff losses are:
2021 Semifinals: lost 143-171
2019 Finals: lost 127-150
2018 Finals: lost 132-172
Quick math - my opponents average more than 164 points per game against me in losses. Meanwhile I average 134. The highest scoring team in the league this year (Rob D) averaged 129, so these are not bad games. These are good games that are stolen from me based on absurdly lucky outputs by my opponents.
How lucky? For starters, Dyl followed up his 171 point game vs me with a SICK 110 point turd burger in the finals. Awesome Dyl, good job, good effort.
But Dyl was a good team, so it’s not that bad I lost to him right? Yes and no. Yes because he had a good team. No because you’d have to go back to Week 10 to find a time that Dyl put up more than 143, the amount I scored in the semis. 6 weeks.
What else can I complain about? Oh yeah how about the 32 points dyl got from Justin Jackson, a guy he added off waivers an hour before game time. Yeah, that one is fucking ridiculous too. Jackson scored 32 fantasy points - he’s only scored 56 combined the rest of the season. Jackson scored 32 against me - but still only averages 6 points per game this season. Jackson scored 2 TDs against me…. his only touchdowns of the season.
Holy shit what a lucky win by Dyl. Fucker.
Best Owner Move:
Jaylen Waddle in the 9th round was a good pick. He’s WR17 and averages the same points per game as DeAndre Hopkins (12.5). He had a 20 point effort in my semi finals loss. Did I tell you about that shit? Yeah? Okay, moving on.
Alexander Mattison in the 14th round was a smart handcuff for Dalvin. Cook missed Weeks 3, 5, 13 and 16 with injury. During those weeks Mattison scored 28, 31, 24 and 17 points.
I spot started Rhamondre Stevenson against that Browns when he went off for 32 points. I think I got him off waivers for around $7 of FAAB.
Worst Owner Move:
I didn’t draft WRs well aside from Hopkins/Waddle. Tyler Boyd, Corey Davis and Jakobi Meyers were all non-factors for most of the season.
Drafting Russel Wilson over Aaron Rodgers and Justin Herbert was a terrible move as well. Just terrible.
ESPN Projection:
I was projected to finish 3rd, so right about on target. I think we’re at 5 for 7 and ESPN is looking pretty good right now - on playoffs, not final standings.
Final Thoughts:
Coming off a title in 2020 (yes I’m taking one more victory lap), I was worried about a post-title slump. I thought maybe I’d used all my luck or I’d get complacent and not focus as much. Thankfully I was able to avoid that and I’m proud of the squad for having a good season. A good season that could have resulted in back to back titles if it wasn’t for a particular asshole league member who pulls rabbits out of his ass every time we meet in the playoffs. I digress, I’ll have to take my 4th place finish. Solid team, solid season, no ragrets.
