GWBL - 2022 Season Recaps - 4th Place

Team:

Jimmy2Times n the Mafia Don- Dyl (8-6) - 2,015 points (3rd of 10)

*Note: this standing is contingent on resolution of the Bills/Bengals Week 17 game. Dyl may have a chance to get 3rd place if the game resumes and Josh Allen puts up enough to take the lead from Rob D.

What Went Right:

We’ll start with his 1st pick at #6 overall - Justin Jefferson. Jefferson had a career year and firmly established himself as the WR1 in the NFL. He averages 24 points per game and has 124 catches, 1771 yards and 8 TDs.

Josh Allen was another stalwart on Dyl’s roster - he’s QB2 in our scoring and averages 28 points per game. Dyl took advantage of a glitch in the matrix and somehow got him in the 4th round. He probably won’t make it out of the 2nd in future years given the state of the QB position. He tailed off a little down the stretch, but the first 6 weeks of Allen’s season may go down as some of the most dominant fantasy play I’ve ever seen. From Week 1 through 6 he put up 37, 35, 38, 26, 42 and 34 points. Even when he wasn’t on his game throwing the ball, his rushing always bailed Dyl out. He has 750 rushing yards and 7 rushing TDs. Ridiculous. How the Bills allow their franchise player to put himself in danger like that is beyond me, but hey it’s good for fantasy.

Amonra St. Brown was the Deebo Samuel of the 2022 season. Everyone knew the upside was big, but noone was willing to take him in the top 5 rounds. Dyl was happy to take him at his Round 6 ADP and was rewarded with the WR7 on the season. He’s still top 7 despite missing a game and being limited in several others. Ironically enough Dyl had deebo last year as well.

Dyl had the 3rd fewest points against, which always helps. His team was good though so hard to put much stock in this.

What Went Wrong:

Losing Javonte Williams (2nd round) was a big blow early. Williams wasn’t tearing it up and the Broncos stink but he was averaging 13 points a game, including the game he left with injury. Losing your second pick in Week 4 hurts no matter what.

Speaking of injuries, Breece Hall was another big hit. And not in a good way. Two young RBs, two ACLs for Dyl. I guess that’s Karma for always putting up 170 when he plays me in the playoffs, but I digress. Unlike Williams, Breece Hall was actually on a fantasy MVP pace. The 5th round pick scored 11 or more points in every game and averaged 19 over the course of the season. Prior to his Week 7 injury, he had a three game stretch of 19-33-27 points. He was just heating up anddddd dead. Bad beat for all his owners, a league altering injury.

Mark Andrews was an interesting case. He was injured and generally ineffective for stretches this year, but he still ended up as TE3 in our scoring. He was very boom or bust - 8 games with 11 or more and 8 games with 9.6 or fewer. The 7.5 point performance he had in the semi finals didn’t help.

Speaking of the semi finals, what a missed opportunity. Dyl was a clear under dog vs Kev, but Kev did his best to lose the game and only put up 129 - more than 30 points below his season average. Conversely, Dyl averaged 144 per game this season. All he had to do was put up his average, or 14 points below it…. instead he put up 110 and lost. Dyl put up 130 or more in 11 of his first 15 matchups, but not in his 16th matchup. Aside from Mark Andrew’s 7.5 dud, Hopkins put up a season low 1.4 and his defense got -4 points. Negative 4. Suboptimal.

Best Owner Move:

Breece Hall in the 5th round was a good move, but picking up Kenneth Walker for $148 of $150 faab was his best move. FAAB is a tricky subject, but I subscribe to the “get your guy” mentality. Dyl spent his entire FAAB on Walker and he proceeded to score 36, 15, 20, 5, 14, 21 and 23 points in his next 7 games. Well played.

Worst Owner Move:

Dropping Tyler Lockett on Sept 15th, right before Week 2. It was understandable given the uncertainty with the Seahawks QB situation (heading into the season), but Lockett had a huge year. He’s WR15 and put up a stat line of 80-1000-8.

Preseason Prediction:

I said he’d finish as the Champ and while I was right on playoffs, I didn’t anticipate he’d lose in the semi finals. I’ll give myself credit for playoffs, so 5 of 7 here.

ESPN said 3rd of 10 - ESPN is 6 for 7 now.

Final Thoughts:

Another good year for Dyl, even if it came up short. Fantasy playoffs are a coin flip every week and Dyl lost this time. At a macro level, I think there’s a clear top 3 in our league in terms of owners. Dyl, Keetz, Tieg. Not a bad place to be when you’re top 3. I’m sure we’ll see him in the playoffs again next year.