Players Common to League Winning Teams

I swear this isn’t about the brag but the question that came up as a result. I’m in 5 leagues and won 1 Super Bowl last weekend and advanced to the other 4 for this weekend. My teams are VERY different with most of the players I’ve had in common across multiple teams not really having a huge impact (Waller in 3 leagues, Lazard in 3, Mike Williams in 3, Pacheco in 3). There were a few with larger impact (Barkley in 3, Hurts in 2, Kittle in 2 but only lately has that been a plus, Field in 2 and DJ Moore in 2) but only one of those was in a majority of my leagues. So usually there are some common themes that run through league winning teams and while 4 of those teams MAY not win, they all will get at least 2nd. Here’s the question at long last, do you think the crazy weather over the past 2 weeks which impacted an unheard of number of games has altered which players will end up being “league winners” and if there will be less of a consensus than usual because of the impact weather had?

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That is an interesting question. I’ve been asking myself the same.

My 2 dynasty leagues had a similar pattern this week. In both leagues, the #1 and #2 seed got eliminated by the #3 and #4 seed. Sadly, in one of those leagues, the #1 seed was me.

In both leagues, the #1 and #2 were ahead in projections. In both leagues, they had been the highest scoring teams during the regular season. And in both leagues, that didn’t help them this week.

The trick: all 4 teams look pretty different. As do the #3 and #4 teams.

Pattern recognition is my game, but other than the oddly similar results, I don’t really see one here. Maybe I’ll find one when analyzing the full season data after week 18. But right now, I’m leaning towards “freak week”.

In general, I can say that, when it comes to determining a “league winner” type player. scoring consistency beats total score. If Player A scores 40 points in one week and 5 in the next, while Player B scored each 18 in both weeks, B might be the more valuable player, even though A scored 25% more points in total.

But of course, that wisdom won’t get you anywhere if usually fairly consistent players like Rhamondre Stevenson or Justin Herbert suddenly decide to bust out in your playoff matches… :face_with_symbols_over_mouth:

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Welcome aboard!

The one common denominator I’ve seen this year is QB’s who are equally good running or passing seem to take their owners farther. Best examples are Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, and Trevor Lawrence.

Another big plus are elite WR’s, such as Davante Adams and AJ Brown. Obviously, I am referring more to PPR and half PPR leagues, but I don’t do standard leagues any more. Anyway, elite WR’s can outplay most RB’s on a weekly basis.

Bellcow RB’s still carry value, but nowadays they are becoming more like unicorns. What we see more of are RB’s carrying a large percentage of touches in committees, such as Rhamondre Stevenson or D’Onta Foreman. The problem with these committees is coaches will sometimes “ride the hot hand”, and a great RB one week can nearly disappear the following week. The key to avoiding these milk carton disappearances is a strong passing game that will force the defense to respect it, thus allowing the RB to do his damage freely. Najee Harris has been the biggest victim of this problem, since only recently has Pittsburgh’s passing game improved enough to force defenses to respect it.

TE’s other than Travis Kelce are rare contributors, and must be drafted early in order to be obtained, thereby making them worthless in anything other than dynasty leagues. Therefore, I’d take the sacrificial lamb approach to this position unless you are in some form of TE bonus league.

Speaking of TE bonus leagues, that brings up one important final point: Your league’s scoring quirks. Anything unique about your league’s scoring can make one position more or less valuable than others. For example, I have one league where I nerfed the kicker scoring this way:

|Field Goals 0-19 Yards|3||
|Field Goals 20-29 Yards|3||
|Field Goals 30-39 Yards|4||
|Field Goals 40-49 Yards|6||
|Field Goals 50+ Yards|7||
|Field Goals Missed 0-19 Yards|-3||
|Field Goals Missed 20-29 Yards|-3||
|Field Goals Missed 30-39 Yards|-3||
|Field Goals Missed 40-49 Yards|-3||
|Point After Attempt Made|3||
|Point After Attempt Missed|-3|

This has created a situation where a top kicker like Brett Maher ranks among top offensive players like AJ Brown. This past week, he helped save my playoff chances when Jalen Hurts missed the game. When you get 30 points from any position, that can save you. It sounds obvious, but scoring matters.

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Making kickers into leaders on O is the worst idea I have ever seen or heard of in fantasy, other than Nicelodian Slime Games for kids perhaps.

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If you’re going to have kickers in a league, why can’t they be worth something? If your best kicker is worth the same as the 5th best WR, what’s wrong with that?

Many would like to see kickers out of fantasy. They are what they are in the NFL we try to copy. Making them out to be more is no longer is football it’s kids playing a make up game. JMO

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I will put this out there for discussion.

Is this not what you have done? JK/lol

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Nope. NOW I did. See my other post.

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