GWBL - 2022 Season Recaps - 9th Place

Team:

Zero-Point-Zero - Commish (5-9), 1841 points (9th of 10)

What Went Right:

The second half of my season was fairly successful. I went 4-2 during the final 6 weeks and was in contention for a playoff spot until Week 12. I scored 145+ in all 4 of those wins and there was an outside chance I could have make a playoff run. Sadly for all of us, a Week 12 loss ended my season at 4-8. The 8 losses were too much to overcome. Not much else went right so I’ll move on.

What Went Wrong:

While the second half of my season had some promise, the first 8 weeks of the GWBL was the worst stretch I’ve ever had in fantasy. Any league, any season, any format, any sport, you name it. I have never had a worse stretch than the first 8 weeks of this year, a time during which I stumbled to a 1-7 record.

During that 1-7 stretch I had the most points against. My team was just getting slammed week in and and week out - my opponents’ totals during that time were: 152-178-135-162-140-134-144-132. Not a single score below 132 which is ridiculous even in this new scoring format. Overall I “only” finished 3rd in points against, but I was one of 3 teams to top 2000 against. Over 143 per week against.

Aside from that it was the small matter of having some of the biggest busts in fantasy on my team. I have to start with Russel Wilson - my 6th round pick. He was supposed to be a stud with his new team and their stacked WR group, but he became the laughing stock of the league. Honestly Russel Wilson’s season is the embodiment of my season in the GWBL this year.

I’ll also mention Kareem Hunt and AJ Dillon, some of the bigger mid-round busts in fantasy. All the experts were in on these guys as great handcuffs and players who could have standalone value as the 1b on their team. Instead, both guys were underutilized and the starting RBs on their team stayed healthy.

We’re talking about busts and I haven’t even gotten to the biggest bust of all - Kyle Pitts. Kyle Pitts as my 3rd round pick was terrible. Never mind the opportunity cost of the players I passed up on. I thought that a record breaking rookie season would lead to bigger things, but shame on me. He went from 68-1000-1 in his rookie season to 28-350-2 in year 2. Not even 50% of the production.

Best Owner Move:

Justin Fields was a great free agent pickup, $25 of FAAB on October 26. He went on to score 30-50-45-28-24 in the games I was able to start him. I won 4 of those games.

The Amari Cooper trade worked out pretty well for me. I traded Marquise Brown and Geno Smith for Cooper and Julio Jones. He was uneven during his time with my squad, but did have 3 huge games in the 6 I started him (24-33-17). Brown was hurt and i had Fields at QB so I didn’t need Geno.

Worst Owner Move:

The way I constructed my roster was ill-advised to put it nicely. I also took way too many chances on unproven commodities. The Kyle Pitts result was bad luck to an extent, but I completely underestimated the impact that Marcus Mariota would have on that offense. I should have taken a more proven RB-WR there.

Gabe Davis was another upside play that didn’t pan out. The darling of the 2021 NFL Playoffs was hyped to the moon and I took the bait. While he’s had some nice weeks, he’s also had fewer than 10 points in 9 of 14 weeks, including the bye. This is full PPR, that production is unacceptable. The very next pick in the draft was Amonra St Brown, WTF was I thinking.

Last but not least was the RB position. David Montgomery was my RB1 (4th round) and I didn’t have a single other player who was the clear RB1 on his team. The rest of my RBs were backups or the 1b in their backfield - Kareem Hunt, AJ Dillon, Mostert and Ken Walker. Hunt/Dillon never took off and their backfield counterparts never got hurt. Mostert had some good games but was inconsistent. I dropped Ken Walker before he became the starter.

Preseason Prediction:

I had a real bad feeling about this season and I actually predicted I’d finish 10th. Mercifully I didn’t earn the Gabriel, but I was in the on deck circle. 1 for 2 on these.

ESPN said 10th of 10 - ESPN batting 1.000 for playoffs vs not.

Final Thoughts:

This was easily the worst season I’ve ever had in the GWBL, both in record and points. I think I found the flaw in my draft process and am hoping to get back into the playoff hunt next year, but that doesn’t make this sting any less. Thankfully it’s over and I have some playoffs to get to in other leagues, but man this was tough to endure.