Category: Max Stat Blats

DynaForOne Firebirds

OFFENCE/SPECIAL TEAMS

101.71 ppg, 9^th best in league

QB 21.68 ppg, 1^st RB 24.03 ppg, 9^th WR/TE 43.66 ppg, 7^thSPEC 12.34 ppg, 10^th

It was a case of first to worst (in Tim, it’s almost impossible for a Tim team to be worse than most of the teams in Peter) for Neil Hawke and the Firebirds last season. The inaugural champs didn’t lose it at QB though where Rusty Wilson and Big Phil Rivers are one of the best one-two tandems in the league. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and, barring the ever-present spectre of injury, there’s no reason to think that the Firebirds’ QBs won’t be right up there again this year.

So where did it go so wrong then? Step forward CJ Anderson and Marshawn Lynch. Neil’s two big RB threats going into last season both underwhelmed drastically for one reason or another and left the Firebird’s relying on Chris Johnson’s zimmerframe and Frank Gore’s determination to show the young ‘uns how they do back in the day. This season Lynch is retired and Gore and CJ2K are both yet another year older. The Firebirds have added Lynch’s heir presumptive in Seattle, Thomas Rawls, and traded for Eddy Lacy though. Rawls and Lacy both have question marks over them but it’s good to see Hawke recognise the problem and take big steps to resolve it. If CJ Anderson turns up this year and Ryan Matthews stays healthy this could be a very strong group.

The receivers weren’t quite as bad as the RBs but they still weren’t great. How Julio Jones didn’t get injured from the stress of having to carry this entire offence on his back last year I don’t know. Edelman gave him some help before injury ended his season and Hawke pulled Snead from the waiver wire but after those three there’s really nothing to say. Again though, the Firebirds went hard at fixing this position. Vincent Jackson came in free agency and Markus Wheaton in a trade (albeit for a vastly overinflated price for some reason). With Corey Coleman, Tyler Boyd and, particularly, Tajae Sharpe added in the draft there is a good group of young receivers here who can provide this season and hopefully for a while to come. And at TE? Hawke had Gronk last season and he still has him this season. End of story.

Trending up

DEFENCE

75.81 ppg, 8^th best in league

DL 28.22 ppg, 2^nd
LB 24.90 ppg, 7^th
DB 22.69 ppg, 9^th

Along with the Tamworth Two, the Firebirds have the best DT tandem in the league and both Geno Atkins and Ndamukong Suh (eventually) produced the numbers last season and are in a position to do it again this year. Unfortunately for Neil he only had one DE that scored over 51 points last season and none that scored over 100. It’s all change on that front this season with only Charles Johnson back. Brandon Graham moves from LB to DE to provide a clear #1 but Johnson is not the guy to rely on and so Neil is left looking askance at Mario Williams and hoping that he can be bothered to turn up and play in Miami when he couldn’t in Buffalo. To be honest though, if Neil just didn’t play a second DE it still wouldn’t be that much worse than last season.

The Firebirds’ LBs were a weak unit last season with injuries to De’Andre Levy and Alec Ogletree cutting down hugely on their ceiling. Behind those two both Lawrence Timmons and Julius Peppers were solid but Derrick Johnson was the only elite performer. This season both Johnson and Timmons are back and Levy is at least Questionable rather than Out. Ogletree looks healthy, Eric Kendricks moves into year two after a promising rookie season and Mark Barron has been moved from S to LB. Last season’s performance should be the floor for this unit going forward.

The real place that Hawke suffered was at DB though, giving away 16 points a week to the best unit in the league. If you got prizes for having the most players to choose from he would probably do very well as he had a whopping 12 DBs on the roster at the end of the season but sometimes less is more, particularly at CB where the Firebirds had 7 players and only one that scored over 90 points. Neil has trimmed down a little for this season (although he still has 10 DBs) and added Janoris Jenkins at CB who scored well last season, although he is in a new spot this year. Patrick Chung is the only addition at S though where Mark Barron’s loss will hurt.

Steady

OVERALL

177.52 ppg, 7^th best in league

The Firebirds have strengthened on offence and should be much closer to the middle of the pack this year and with more depth in reserve. On defence, although the LBs got better the DBs got worse and the D line is one injury away from collapse. I think they may still be the worst team in Tim but the performances should be better.

Dynablaster Bombermen

OFFENCE/SPECIAL TEAMS

103.81 ppg, 7^th best in league

QB 17.17 ppg, 7^th RB 25.09 ppg, 8^th WR/TE 47.47 ppg, 4^th SPEC 14.08 ppg, 4^th

Many people’s hot tips for the Owl last season ended up mired in mediocrity as their big guns just didn’t quite fire like many of us thought they would. Despite a poor QB performance it was the RBs that really hurt the most though. Going into the season with round 1 re-draft RB Jeremy Hill and hot rookie Melvin Gordon looked good but, in hindsight, we should have seen that the group was shallow and when Hill and Gordon were less than stellar it left the Bombermen’s ground game plodding. This year they have Gordon and Hill still in place, with appropriately tempered expectations, but superstar-on-the-rise David Johnson to back that up too. Surely another bright young thing can’t flop to the floor like a suffocating salmon at the Bombermen?

I skipped over the QB situation up there but it’s worth looking over again. The Bombermen go into the season with 6 QBs rostered as of today, two more than any other team. It’s a sure sign that they don’t think there are guys there to rely upon. Matt Ryan has consistently underwhelmed now to the point where he can only be seen as a backup and that leaves the Bombermen choosing between Kirk Cousins and RG3; both with huge potential but neither is a sure thing. Cousins should be an improvement over Ryan though and RG3 still has the potential for gold dust. The Bombermen will have to be careful not to fall into the Mangboob trap of tinkering too much though and PLOBbing themselves out of a lot of points.

Despite performing the best of the units mentioned already, the Bombermen’s receivers also have to be classified as a disappointment in 2015. Kelvin Benjamin never saw the field, AJ Green didn’t live up to his usual stellar standards, Brandin Cooks took half a season to get going and Jordan Matthews dropped, tipped and fumbled his ceiling away. With the exception of Matthews, all of those guys should be much better this year and the addition of Eric Decker in free agency brings some week-to-week stability to the unit. With the likes of Ty Montgomery, De’Anthony Thomas and Chris Conley backing up though the Bombermen have to hope that their WRs stay healthy. At TE Greg Olsen keeps on rolling and must be considered the #2 fantasy player at his position going forward.

Trending up

DEFENCE

79.38 ppg, 5^th best in league

DL 25.09 ppg, 4^th
LB 23.17 ppg, 8^th
DB 31.12 ppg, 3^rd

Looking at the Bombermen’s defence last season you would probably have had it down as average and that is how they performed. Ben Hendy spent big on the D line in the season, bringing in Aaron Donald and it paid off as the line clawed its way up to 4^th in the league by the end of the season. The procurement of Donald was just as well really as there was little to speak of outside him one Cameron Wake went down. This season sees Connor Barwin move down to DE and explosive rookie Noah Spence offers some potential at the same spot. You don’t have to imagine much though to see one injury to Donald leaving this unit producing bottom tier numbers.

The LB group wasn’t so much bad as it was lacking an elite talent. Ryan Shazier was the B-men’s top scoring LB and he was LB26 for the season in terms of production. Barwin, Sean Lee and Clay Matthews offered a solid presence but not much of a ceiling. This year the picture is much the same, if not worse with Barwin’s move to DE. Hendy will need to hope that Willie Young’s sack numbers continue to rise and that Clay Matthews’ move back to OLB kicks up his point ceiling. Sean Lee and Elvis Dumervil are fragile presences to rely on though and there is a question about how long Julius Peppers can reasonably keep going at an elite NFL level.

The defensive backs produced well last season and they’re almost entirely all in place still for this season. You wouldn’t want to bet serious money on a group of corners and safeties producing with any consistency but there’s no reason to think that they will be worse so you have to consider this area the strength of the D.

Trending down

OVERALL

183.20 ppg, 5^th best in league

Barring another clean sweep of disappointment, the Bombermen have to be better on offence this season. On paper their starting lineup is excellent but I am concerned about the depth behind it. The same could be said of the defence except that, DT and DB excluded, I would say the starting lineup is average. If this team is going to challenge they’re going to need their big names to produce and to stay on the field but I worry that the teams around them have strengthened more than Hendy’s men have.

Champions of the Sun

OFFENCE/SPECIAL TEAMS

122.17 ppg, best in league

QB 16.52 ppg, 9^th RB 35.13 ppg, 2^nd WR/TE 56.31 ppg, 1^st SPEC 14.21 ppg, 3^rd

When you have the best offence in the league, where do you look to improve? Well, the stats would tell you to look at your QBs who averaged out at replacement level for the season. There were a couple of games that Roethlisberger left injured that influences that but Max Cubberley was lucky that Carson Palmer’s poor numbers didn’t come in the regular season as they might have cost him a couple of wins. Will they be better in 2016? Palmer is gone so it really all depends on Ben Roethlisberger’s health. If he plays 16 games then they probably will but if he goes down injured it becomes Joe Flacco or Paxton Lynch calling the shots and things could get ugly.

A triple combination of Latavius Murray, Thomas Rawls and DeAngelo Williams really brought home the bacon for the Champions last season as they scored consistently well through the year to prop up the team. Rawls is gone for the coming season but Murray and the Bell/Williams tandem should still be top performers. Behind them Cubberley would have been hoping Jay Ajayi would provide depth but Arian Foster seems to have taken the starting job in Miami and so he will be relying on the mercurial talents of Shane Vereen or a rookie breakout from Devontae Booker or Keith Marshall to back-up and that’s not ideal.

Breakout seasons from Allen Robinson, Jordan Reed and DeAndre Hopkins led to the Champions’ receivers plowing a furrow through most opposing defences last season, scoring nearly 9 points more per week than the 3^rd placed unit. John Brown, Mike Evans, Travis Kelce and the late addition of Eric Decker really reinforced the strength of this group and it’s no surprise that they topped the scoring charts. Cubberley took the somewhat perplexing decision to move Allen Robinson on in the off-season though, ostensibly because he couldn’t afford to renew him, and the loss of Decker also makes this unit weaker. The Champions are gambling on Mike Evans to bounce back and replace Allen Robinson’s production and have also brought in Golden Tate to shore things up. Reed and Kelce are still present at TE in one of the best TE tandems in the league. Expect to see this group fall back to the pack but still be a top producer.

Trending down

DEFENCE

95.05 ppg, best in league

DL 20.68 ppg, 6^th
LB 35.89 ppg, 1^st
DB 38.48 ppg, 1^st

If the offence was the best in the league by a length, the defence was best in the league by a country mile, averaging nearly 12 points per week more than the unit in 2^nd. The biggest reason for this was a surprisingly huge production from the DBs. The Champions don’t roster a lot at this position but Reshad Jones and Kurt Coleman were both top 10 safeties and Josh Norman, Adam Jones and Marcus Williams were all top 10 cornerbacks. Every member of that secondary is back this season but the fickle nature of the position means that Cubberley cannot count on that production continuing. Norman is in a new spot, Jones is a year older and Coleman’s supporting cast has diminished. They should still be good but you wouldn’t want to bet on them being the best.

If secondary was the strength of the D then the line was the weakness. Marcell Dareus is a fantasy bust and Robert Quinn played half a season at best, leaving the Champions without their top two earners on the line. Thankfully Cubberley struck gold on the wire with Tom Johnson from Minnesota and a mid-season trade for Olivier Vernon made up for the loss of Quinn. The line should be stronger in 2016. Cubberley drafted three rookie DTs and, although it looks like Tom Johnson will still lead the line into the season, he can hope that by week 9 he may have more options there. At DE though Robert Quinn is back and has been joined by the newly re-classified Khalil Mack. Add Robert Ayers (#8 DE by average weekly points), Olivier Vernon, Calais Campbell, Leonard Williams and a healthy Dante Fowler Jr. to the mix and, frankly, it all looks a bit silly.

In a reverse-Chandler Jones though, the line’s gain is the linebackers’ loss as Khalil Mack’s re-classification leaves the Champions’ #1 LB corps light. Jamie Collins, Navorro Bowman and Anthony Barr are back but Justin Houston may or may not play this year. There is scarily little depth present at this position at the moment and Cubberley will have to look to address that before the season starts otherwise this unit will see a serious drop off.

Trending down

OVERALL

217.21 ppg, best in league

Although both sides of this team are trending down I still think the Champions will be one of the better teams in the league. Cubberley has leveraged some of his potential to repeat to try and build for longevity a bit through the draft and that will see the team drop to the pack but hopefully stay bobbing near the top, hunting for the playoffs.

Kelkowski Don’t Play By No Dynarules

OFFENCE/SPECIAL TEAMS

109.08 ppg, 4^th best in league

QB 19.94 ppg, 4^th RB 30.00 ppg, 5^th WR/TE 45.88 ppg, 5^th SPEC 13.25 ppg, 5^th

After a slow start to the season that saw Kelkowski start 1-4 they really rallied at the right time and made a strong, late run to the playoffs. Looking at their scores it’s a story of consistency across the board being just top-half in every category. This would seem to tell the tale of an offence with few weaknesses but perhaps lacking in top-end but in fact it was more a case of top-end talent not performing at a top-end level for one reason or another. At RB Mark Ingram only played half a season and Arian Foster managed less than that. DeMarco Murray was trapped in a nightmare and TJ Yeldon was defeated by game script. Despite all of that though they put up good numbers and gave Kelkowski a solid floor every week. This season Murray is in a better spot but Foster a worse. Ingram is still going to be top 5 when fit and TJ Yeldon has gone from being flummoxed by game script to being flummoxed by Chris Ivory. Pretty much status quo at Kelkowski.

QB is a tale of a jaguar. Well, not just a jaguar but El Jaguar. Blake Bortles ascent into the stratosphere of premiere QBs was a thing of beauty and timed to perfection to help Kelkowski as Romo and Kaepernick both finally gave up any pretence of fantasy relevance. This season they have a little more depth behind them but I have my doubts as to whether El Jaguar will get quite the stats he did last year, if only because the Jags may not be losing quite as much, quite as often (I can’t believe I just put that in black and white).

What was a tremendous WR group for Kelkowski in 2014 took a step back last year as Calvin Johnson got older, Julius Thomas went to Jacksonville and Randall Cobb took a step back. Their numbers were saved by Doug Baldwin’s frankly ludicrous second half of 2015 and Ben Watson coming out of leftfield to be a fantasy TE1. This year Megatron and Watson are gone and Kelkowski are relying on Baldwin to continue his form in order to give them a truly top tier WR and Julius Thomas to stay healthy to produce at TE. Unless they do Kelkowski may find themselves lagging behind the field at receiver.

Trending down

DEFENCE

79.66 ppg, 4^th best in league

DL 14.82 ppg, 9^th
LB 33.81 ppg, 2^nd
DB 31.03 ppg, 4^th

In drafting Kwon Alexander, Preston Smith and Stephone Anthony, did Kelkowski show themselves as IDP draft geniuses or did they just get lucky? Whichever it was, the trio of rookies produced and, alongside wily vets Brandon Marshall and D’Qwell Jackson, contributed to the 2^nd best LB unit in the league. This season they’ve added Jerell Freeman, Dont’a Hightower and Nigel Bradham to strengthen an already powerful unit and should be right up there again.

Kelkowski’s eye for talent seems to apply equally to the secondary too where they had 5 safeties and 3 cornerbacks over 100 points. There has been turnover at CB this off-season but that isn’t necessarily a problem as the position is very volatile. The names Kelkowski have in place offer a lot of potential again and their solid S group from last year is largely intact leaving them with the most strength in depth in the league at this spot.

Where Kelkowski were let down was on the defensive line, a recurring problem for many teams in the league. Everson Griffen did not produce at his 2014 levels and he and Cliff Avril were a pedestrian DE pairing. It was even worse at DT where Malcolm Brown (DT15 but nearly 200 points down on Aaron Donald at #1) was their top scorer. Things look brighter this year with Malik Jackson moving to DT, Jason Pierre Paul having got through an off-season without blowing any more bits of his hands up and Mario Edwards Jr into his second season. The ceiling still looks low on this group but they have a chance to be better than last year.

Steady

OVERALL

188.74 ppg, 3^rd best in league

Although they added a lot of strength in depth to the defence I don’t actually see the ceiling being raised a long way and I’m concerned about the depth on the offensive side of the ball. Kelkowski aren’t as bad as their first half of 2015 but they aren’t as good as their second half of 2015 either and I think they could end up pretty middle of the pack in Tim.

DynaHard With A Vengeance

OFFENCE/SPECIAL TEAMS

115.45 ppg, 2^nd best in league

QB 19.08 ppg, 5^th RB 33.91 ppg, 3^rd WR/TE 47.91 ppg, 3^rd SPEC 14.55 ppg, 1^st

Embroiled in a two horse race with the Champions of the Sun for the best record in the Dbowl for most of the season, Chris Braithwaite denied the fans the Owl they wanted by choking in the semi-final against the Tamworth Two. DynaHarder were strong all over the roster but it’s at WR where their depth really shone from stars like Antonio Brown and TY Hilton to impact youngsters like Sammy Watkins, Allen Hurns and Tyler Lockett. Their 3^rd place finish is perhaps a reflection that a lot of these players are young and a bit inconsistent but more than good enough to put the points up each week. The TE position was a bit of an achilles heel with a bunch of pedestrian options however. Over the summer Chris has engaged “win now” mode, trading away youngsters and picks for Dez Bryant to attempt to move from 3^rd to 1^st. The Hards have more than enough depth to take the hit though and looks stronger than ever in this department for 2016 although if Martellus Bennett isn’t a big part of the New England offence they may be light at TE again.

A power couple of Jamaal Charles and Todd Gurley made sure that Chris’ RBs held up their end of the bargain too. Jeremy Langford got a welcome boost by Matt Forte’s injury and Alfred Morris proved his usual dependable if unexciting self in Washington. This season the outlook isn’t so rosy. Todd Gurley is still a stud but there are doubts about Jamaal Charles’ role, Jeremy Langford’s competence and Alfred Morris has become a back-up in Dallas, albeit one with a huge ceiling if Ezekiel Elliott goes down. The rest of Chris’ selection consists of questionable rookie picks (Wendell Smallwood, Kenyan Drake) and handcuffs (Charcandrick West and Benny Cunningham). It’s still not difficult to envisage a scenario in which this unit produces at a top level but it’s far from guaranteed.

At QB Chris rode on the back of a good season for Eli Manning for most of the year before making a trade to bring in Tom Brady to prevent the usual post-season choke (not much luck there). Before Brady’s arrival the group was at a low-end QB1 level and that’s probably still where it is. The future looks a little better if Stafford can maintain his form of the second half of last season but Chris may well be looking around again as the trade deadline looms trying to find that extra bit of quality.

Steady

DEFENCE

83.58 ppg, 2^nd best in league

DL 27.43 ppg, 3^rd
LB 29.76 ppg, 4^th
DB 26.39 ppg, 6^th

It was a strong effort all round in 2015 from DynaHarder, led by the D-line where the force of nature that is JJ Watt continued to dominate and Ziggy Ansah’s potential started to pay off with a 14.5 sack season. The line was kept from dominating truly by mediocre options at DT with Brandon Williams and Johnathan Hankins and that situation is the same going into 2016. Ansah and Watt are still present too and Sheard and Ninkovich offer decent depth behind. If I had to pick one unit on any team to perform almost identically to last season it would be Chris Braithwaite’s D-Line.

In 2015 injuries to Kiko Alonso, Terrell Suggs and Jadeveon Clowney left the Hards looking a little thin at LB but a trade for Thomas Davis mid-season took care of that and, ably supported by CJ Mosely and Von Miller, the group started to put up good numbers. Those three are all back this season and Deone Bucannon has been re-designated as an LB, giving Braithwaite an excellent starting four. Jadeveon Clowney has the potential to put up big numbers too but beyond those 5 players there’s little else here. It would take a lot of bad luck to unsettle this group in 2016 though.

DynaHarder’s secondary was run-of-the-mill last season and, for 2016, they’ve lost their top 2 safeties with Walter Thurmond no longer on the roster and Bucannon moved to LB. Chris will be hoping to cover that gap with free agent signing Harrison Smith and Thurmond’s replacement in Philly, Rodney McLeod. Smith has top 10 pedigree but time will tell if McLeod or rookie Keanu Neal can step up. At CB Damarious Randall is coming into his 2^nd year in Green Bay after a good first season and you know that teams will throw at Delvin Breaux all day long.

Steady

OVERALL

199.03 ppg, 2^nd best in league

On both Offence and Defence it looks like more of the same for Chris Braithwaite’s Dyna Hard. Even if his corps of running backs isn’t as robust as last year that’s compensated for by a top-heavy WR unit and a defence that looks as steady as they come as a top-line group. If you were wanting to point to a weakness then you could say that DynaHard may struggle for production at TE week-on-week but, really, they should be able to get by.

MAX’S STAT BLATS! Pre-Season Peter Preview

August 25, 2016

Max Cubberley

It’s nearly time for the new season of football and so it’s time to let the Stat Blats get all up in yo’ bidness and make you feel tingly. Below is a combination 2015 season review and 2016 season preview for each team in Peter. Want to know where the Sadness’ QBs ranked last season? This is your place. Want to know my opinion on whether the Breeses have improved their woeful linebacker corps? Come on in friend!

Tamworth Two

OFFENCE/SPECIAL TEAMS

106.3 points per game (ppg), 5^th best in league

QB 18.52 ppg, 6^thRB 32.21 ppg, 4^thWR/TE 43.22 ppg, 8^thSPEC 12.35 ppg, 9^th

Looking at the stats it’s clear that sub-par offensive performance was the thing that kept T2 from challenging more closely in the Owl. When you pay Aaron Rodgers the big bucks you expect better than run-of-the-mill QB numbers but that’s what he put up last season. There were mitigating factors though and, despite the fact he’s on another roster, they must have their fingers crossed hoping Jordy Nelson will be back in form this season.

RB was the Hogs’ strongest position last season riding the unexpected highs of Chris Ivory and Darren McFadden. Run DMC is down the Cowboys depth chart now though and Chris Ivory is gone, leaving T2 looking sparse. Jonathan Stewart is still pootling along and they have the Buffalo backfield sewn up tight but Duke Johnson is not someone I would want to be relying on for my third RB position.

Injuries to Alshon Jeffery and DeVante Parker hit Tamworth hard at WR last season and their 8^th placed finish will be some way off what they’d have been hoping for at season start. The bad news is that I don’t see where it’s improved. Jarvis Landry, their WR1, is gone, DeVante Parker is, by all accounts, running hot and cold in camp and Demayrius Thomas will be catching balls from the Sanchize. At TE there is hope for Eric Ebron and Virgil Green but neither are a sure thing for regular production.

Trending down

DEFENCE

82.23 ppg, 3^rd best in league

DL 33.02 ppg, 1^st
LB 25.83 ppg, 6^th
DB 23.38 ppg, 7^th

So if your offence isn’t great then how do you get to the final of the Owl? Great defence. Defence wins Owls. The Hogs’ had a dominant line led by Kawann Short and Gerald McCoy, two of the best fantasy DTs in the business. They’ve lost their best DE, Chandler Jones, to a position switch though and will be relying on the promising Stephon Tuitt and rookie Chris Jones to pick up the slack, a big ask.

The Hogs’ LB corps was a sea of pregnant potential and mediocrity, lifted by the transcendent talents of Luke Kuechly and the hard graft of Paul Posluszny. The Pos has jumped ship for the coming season but the unexpectedly solid Whitney Mercilus should still produce and Jeremiah Attaouchu is poised to break it big. Add to that the fact that the D-Line’s loss is the ‘Backer corps’ gain when it comes to Chandler Jones and things should keep ticking along nicely.

The Hogs were let down in the secondary by a poor showing from their safeties. Kam Chancellor being motivated for a whole season may help but David Amerson will lose snaps at CB to Sean Smith in Oakland so there is a question mark about his ability to repeat last season’s good showing.

Steady

OVERALL

188.52 ppg, 4^th best in league

The Hogs should see performance drop from last season. The defence will still be there or thereabouts but the offence has taken a hit in the loss of Landry and Ivory. If Aaron Rodgers can play like he’s paid he may make up for it.

Prediction: 6-7, 3^rd in Peter

East Flanders Dungeoneers

OFFENCE/SPECIAL TEAMS

104.17 ppg, 6^th best in league

QB 20.97 ppg, 2^nd RB 26.22 ppg, 7^thWR/TE 44.24 ppg, 6^thSPEC 12.74 ppg, 8^th

Being definitively the worst team on the Dbowl last season means it makes for slightly surprising reading to see that the Dungeoneers were middle of the pack in offensive terms. Cam Newton’s rise to superstardom helped buoy the numbers no doubt, racking up the record highest weekly score for a QB in the process, and he should continue to raise his team for the coming season.

The RBs were a mess in East Flanders last year with Justin Forsett and Carlos Hyde both missing considerable time and forcing Pete Conaghan to rely on the likes of Ronnie Hillman and Darren Sproles. Danny Woodhead was a consistently good performer though who at least made sure to keep Conaghan’s men from complete ignominy week on week. The Dungeoneers have re-signed Rashad Jennings on a good deal and brought in T2 reject Chris Ivory to strengthen this season but will still rely on Woodhead for production. A fit season from Carlos Hyde could make a huge difference however.

Amari Cooper, Brandon Marshall and Michael Floyd all put in good showings last season but a lack of depth behind those big names and a horror show at TE kept the Dungeoneers from putting up consistent good scores at receiver. Things are looking much better this year. Those three are all still in the fold and have been joined by a fully fit Kevin White and Keenan Allen plus rookie Josh Doctson. The TEs are no better in terms of personnel but Coby Fleener escaping from Indianapolis to New Orleans hikes his ceiling way up.

Trending up

DEFENCE

63.80 ppg, 9^th best in league

DL 15.64 ppg, 8^th
LB 27.37 ppg, 5^th
DB 20.79 ppg, 10^th

If the Dungeoneers offence were surprisingly good for the worst team in the league then that can only mean one thing for the defence. Look away now, Pete, it’s not pretty! Tyrone Crawford was the star on the defensive line last year, turning in a top 10 performance. There is absolutely no depth behind him however though if Sen’Derrick Marks can stay fit and work into the Jacksonville rotation significantly he offers some hope. Kony Ealy flashed his talent last season too and Conaghan will be hoping that the Panthers’ DE can step up to the next level this season.

When you’re only paying two of your LBs more than $3 and one of those two is Paul Worrilow your expectations for the unit are probably reduced. Pete can be quite happy then with his middle-of-the-pack placing. Astute signings of tackle machines Melvin Ingram and Malcolm Smith brought a good floor to the team and the likes of KJ Wright and Worrilow produced steady if uninspiring numbers. The Dungeoneers’ prospects of improvement have been hindered by Shaq Lawson’s injury but the Justin-Houston-shaped hole in Kansas may open the door for Dee Ford and Vontaze Burfict’s suspension may put Paul Dawson in the mix.

What do you do when you have the worst secondary in the league and the top-scoring player in that secondary retires? Nothing! Apparently! That’s not fair, Pete signed rookie safety Karl Joseph. I’m sure he’ll be a good player down the line but expecting him to replicate Charles Woodson’s numbers in year one is probably asking a bit much. The Dungeoneers are relying on the fickle nature of the secondary to provide a better result.

Steady

OVERALL

167.97 ppg, 10^th best in league

I don’t think the Dungeoneers will finish the season as the worst team in the league again; the offence has the potential to put up top 3 numbers under the right circumstances. Unfortunately, the defence is still a hot mess and will drag the team down.

Prediction: 5-8, 4^th in Peter

The People’s Republic of the 4^th Dynmension: Dynasty of Sadness

OFFENCE/SPECIAL TEAMS

102.06 ppg, 8^th best in league

QB 14.98 ppg, 10^th RB 19.74 ppg, 10^thWR/TE 54.46 ppg, 2^ndSPEC 12.88 ppg, 6^th

Well, if you’re not sure what an unbalanced offence looks like then there you go. The problems at the QB position for the Sadness were largely self-inflicted as Mangboob’s love for Teddy Tinyhands prevented him from just starting Drew Brees in every game he was available for. Brees averaged 20.28 points per game, a full 5 more than the Sadness did. Even if you add in the fact that Teddy averaged 11.5 points in the two weeks Brees missed that is a clear case of overthinking it. Mangboob should not make the same mistake this year.

Unfortunately, the Sadness’ struggles at RB cannot be blamed on GM tinkering. It turns out that owning the entire Lions’ backfield is not conducive to fantasy success. Eddy Lacy’s plummet off a cliff accounts for some of the underperformance here and Mangboob has lost patience with the player, shipping him out to the Firebirds. He has been replaced by number 1 draft pick Ezekiel Elliott, one of the most hyped fantasy rookie prospects of all time. Zeke and fellow rookie Kenneth Dixon add some spark to the position and Abdullah and Matt Jones could improve in their second years. This is a young unit on a young team and should get better year-on-year.

In contrast, the Sadness’ receivers were stellar. Led by superstar OBJ, even a down season for Dez Bryant couldn’t stop them marching to 2^nd place on the receiver rankings. Eric Decker, Delanie Walker, Golden Tate and, surprisingly, Ted Ginn Jr turned in performance after performance over the season to keep scores high. This season it’s all change with Dez, Tate and Decker gone but Stefon Diggs, Laquon Treadwell, Michael Thomas and DeSean Jackson come in. Mangboob is building for the future and while I would expect to see this unit decline this season they look strong for the future and improvement elsewhere should more than make up for it.

Steady

DEFENCE

77.18 ppg, 6^th best in league

DL 14.66 ppg, 10^th
LB 33.62 ppg, 3^rd
DB 28.90 ppg, 5^th

The defensive line is the real Achilles heel for a defence that is otherwise strong. Mangboob has three players there and they are all nearly men. Michael Brockers is a very good player but with the strength on that Rams’ line his play doesn’t equate to fantasy points. Linval Joseph and Sharif Floyd are both similarly good players but Tom Johnson’s pass rush exploits on the interior limit their upside. All are young and Joseph missed a few games with injury so Mangboob can hope for an improvement. He’ll have to, because he has brought in no extra help for his tackles. The viewing is even more bleak at Defensive End where no player scored over 80 points. Sheldon Richardson is a talented idiot but the others are just not elite players. The drafting of Robert Nkemdiche may help but he enters a crowded situation in Arizona and we will likely not see him emerge until at least 2017.

The linebackers at the Sadness, by contrast, are elite and dominant. Lavonte David, Telvin Smith and Bobby Wagner are all top level talents on the field and on your fantasy teams and are young enough to provide for a few years yet. Behind them, Danny Trevathan, Mychal Kendricks and Bruce Irvin feel like players on the cusp of a fantasy boom and with Trevathan and Irvin in new teams this season this year could be the year.

The secondary is a similar situation to T2’s linebackers: an average group of players propelled upwards by one stellar talent. Tyrann Mathieu scored twice as much as most other members of the Sadness’ secondary last season and the rest were much of a muchness. Sean Smith comes in this year and Eric Berry is re-signed to a better contract but question marks of Tyrann Mathieu’s health mean that last season’s performance probably remains the ceiling for this bunch.

Steady

OVERALL

179.23 ppg, 6^th best in league

I don’t think this season will see much change for the Sadness. They have lost elite level talent at WR but added a lot of young players and have a deeper pool of players to pick from. A lot is riding on Zeke Elliott’s shoulders as far as this season is concerned. If Mangboob decides to start Teddy Bridgewater all season long then all bets are off.

Prediction: 5-8, 5^th in Peter

Dynasore Losers

OFFENCE/SPECIAL TEAMS

99.75 ppg, 10^th best in league

QB 16.56 ppg, 8^th RB 28.83 ppg, 6^th
WR/TE 39.87 ppg, 10^thSPEC 14.49 ppg, 2^nd

Hoo boy, it’s difficult to know where to start with this one. The Losers’ WRs were a horror show last year. Jordy Nelson injured, Josh Gordon failing to get reinstated, Emmanuel Sanders feeling the bite of the Peter-collapse, Torrey Smith left hopping mad by Colin Kaepernick and Nelson Agholor leaving everyone wondering what Chip Kelly deemed worth the 20^th overall pick about him. Add to that a wasteland at TE and it’s easy to see how this unit came out bottom in points scoring per game. That kind of luck should regress back towards the mean this year and almost every player at this position should be better in 2016. The loss of Larry Fitzgerald is a blow to the weekly floor of the group but Jarvis Landry, the Losers’ big blockbuster summer trade, covers that and more. The Losers are a candidate to go from worst to first at WR in 2016.

A shallow group at RB left a lot on the shoulders of Adrian Peterson and Matt Forte and it was enough to struggle to mid-table in the RB rankings. David Slater is relying heavily on rookies Jordan Howard and DeAndre Washington to provide depth for the coming season though. Dion Lewis is already out, surgery required on his knee, and AP and Forte are getting no younger. This situation could get very unpleasant, very fast.

If that happens, Slater may look to trade in some of his excess talent at QB. The group performed poorly last season with Peter Manning’s decline the headline event but this season should be vastly improved. Andy Dalton is healthy, Jameis Winston is no longer a rookie and Derek Carr is heading into his 3^rd year heading an offence going from strength to strength. Add to that the free agency addition of Carson Palmer and this is a strong group that should be able to comfortably mix and match each week for the best matchups.

Trending up

DEFENCE

75.93 ppg, 7^th best in league

DL 23.33 ppg, 5^th
LB 20.27 ppg, 9^th
DB 32.34 ppg, 3^rd

A much-reduced year from Ryan Kerrigan was still the highlight of the LBs at the Losers last year as he was the only player to top 100 points. David Slater put a lot of work into fixing the offence but this was another place that the Losers were giving points away on a weekly basis. The free-agency addition of Paul Posluszny, plus the drafting of three rookie LBs shows that Slater recognised this fact and has moved to address it. The group is still raw and has a lot of question marks but is an improvement over last season, albeit only a small one for this year.

A middle of the pack defensive line remains largely unchanged. Carlos Dunlap was re-signed to resume a powerful starting tandem at DE but if one goes down then much will depend on 2^nd year rusher Danielle Hunter of the Vikings. Hunter looked excellent in limited snaps in his rookie year and Slater will hope that he can maintain that form into more snaps.

The strongest unit on the Losers’ defence remains largely intact though whether Marcus Peters can perform at the same level in year 2 is questionable. Some regression to the mean is to be expected (players are rarely consistently at the top of the CB rankings) but the brothers Johnson (Kevin and Trumaine) and Logan Ryan should be able to offer plentiful depth. At safety Slater will grind his teeth as he hopes for Michael Mitchell of the Steelers to remain steady and clasp his hands in prayer that Tashaun Gipson can recapture his 2014 Cleveland form in Jacksonville.

Steady

OVERALL

175.69 ppg, 8^th best in league

Unless the Losers are struck by catastrophic bad luck again this year they should perform better. The QB and receiver units can hopefully carry the RBs on offence and an improvement from 9^th to 7^th or so in the LBs would be enough to see the defence able to support. I expect an improved year but not an Owl year.

Prediction: 7-6, 1^st in Peter

Here Comes The Brees

OFFENCE/SPECIAL TEAMS

111.22 ppg, 3^rd best in league

QB 20.20 ppg, 3^rd RB 38.24 ppg, 1^st WR/TE 39.98 ppg, 9^thSPEC 12.81 ppg, 7^th

If I’d asked at the start of last season which Dbowl team had the best RBs in the league would you have said the Breeses? Come on now, don’t lie. Doug Martin’s renaissance, Devonta Freeman’s explosion and a combination of Lamar Miller and (really) Isaiah Crowell left the team top of the pile. All four of those players are back this year with the added depth of Charles Sims, Darren Sproles and a healthy Tevin Coleman. The Breeses are set up nicely to repeat in 2016 and perhaps even improve though a predicted decline for Freeman and Martin after their monster seasons could throw a spanner in the works.

It’s a good job Archer and Sayles’ RBs were such a surprise smash hit because the receivers were a disaster. Injuries for Steve Smith, Breshad Perriman and DeSean Jackson left the team scrambling to field a decent unit and there were too many weeks of Pierre Garcon and Terrance Williams for anything to be salvageable. Tyler Eifert was a ray of hope at TE, particularly with Zach Ertz providing depth. The Breeses have gone all out this summer to rectify what is their problem position on offence with a host of bodies run through camp. The big arrival was Martavis Bryant, right at the tail end of last season, but a year-long suspension buried that. The new big arrival was Allen Robinson who has, incredibly, yet to get suspended or go on injured reserve for the entire season. Larry Fitzgerald and Jaelen Strong also arrived and even with the departure of DeSean Jackson the unit looks better. Phillip Dorsett comes into his 2^nd year with a path clear to a starting job, Travis Benjamin lands in a friendly spot in San Diego and JJ Nelson is pushing in Arizona.

Even with Andrew Luck’s injury, the Breeses managed to get good QB production, largely thanks to Tom Brady with occasional spells of Fitzmagic. Luck is fit this season, Brady is back (albeit suspended for the first 4 games) and Alex Smith is ready to step in in an emergency. This unit should be top end producer again.

Trending up

DEFENCE

60.20 ppg, 10^th best in league

DL 19.02 ppg, 7^th
LB 18.39 ppg, 10^th
DB 22.79 ppg, 8^th

Well, that is ugly reading. There were very few bright spots for the Breeses on defence after they traded away Aaron Donald. Fletcher Cox had a breakout season at DE but the Breeses got unlucky mixing and matching between him, Cameron Jordan and Michael Bennett and too often the big points were on the bench. For the new season though Fletcher Cox has moved to DT, solving that problem. The Breeses should not PLOB themselves out of his points any longer. Not least because, at time of writing, they have no other DTs on the roster. Jordan and Bennett are still in place at DE, backed up by Jaye Howard and new boy DeForest Buckner. I think we should see this unit move into the top half in the league but if Cox goes down there is (literally) nothing to cover for him.

Sheesh, if you thought the DL reading was bad, take a look at this shower. In week 10 last season, the Breeses started Karlos Dansby, Daryl Smith, Jelani Jenkins and Derrick Morgan. Not a collection to inspire fear in the opposition. I’m not convinced this unit looks any better going into 2016. Dansby and Pernell McPhee are good starters but 2^nd year guys Shaq Thompson and Jordan Hicks are going to have to step up if there is to be any improvement. It’s still a fairly uninspiring bunch.

At DB the Breeses suffered a blow when they lost Harrison Smith for the year but they got a nice surprise in the performance of DROY Ronald Darby who put up a nice tally. There’s little to see here beyond that. Earl Thomas is an amazing real-life safety and an average fantasy one and the rest of the unit were all much of a muchness. This season the CBs are the same but the Ss get a little influx with the drafting of Von Bell and the signing of Barry Church but the inexplicable decision to drop Harrison Smith (the #1 safety in 2014) means that I can’t say this unit has improved.

Steady

OVERALL

171.42 ppg, 9^th best in league

It’s easy to see that the Breeses have improved on offence. A lot of their guys are starting the season healthier, more experienced or in better situations than last year and strength has been added, particularly to the wide receivers. I can still see them being hampered by a defence, however, which seems to take a step back for every step it takes forward. It won’t be the worst in the league again, but it will be a long way from the best.

Prediction: 7-6, 2^nd in Peter

MAX’S STAT BLATS! – Week Seven

October 27, 2015

Max Cubberley

League Business Max Stat Blats Stat Attacks No Comments

In last week’s Stat Blat, whilst looking at the Dynablaster Bombermen, I noted that their defensive line had been an area of weakness but something they’d addressed already with the trade for Aaron Donald. Well, this week the Dynablaster Bombermen’s defensive line scored 75.5 points on their own. That got me wondering about the highest and lowest performances from each positional group through both seasons so far. Was 75.5 a record high for a defensive line? Surely it must be! Read on to find out.

Note: Week 17 of the 2014 season was not included when collating these results.

Highest:

1	Firebirds	37.12	S1 W7	Rusty Wilson
2	Tamworth Two	36.6	S1 W10	Aaron Rodgers
3	Firebirds	36.36	S1 W16	Rusty Wilson
4	Tamworth Two	34.92	S2 W3	Aaron Rodgers
5	Firebirds	34.24	S1 W5	Rusty Wilson

The running here are obviously dominated by God’s chosen QB (Wilson) and the Arm of the Doubtful (Rodgers). It’s a classic battle between good and evil.

Lowest:

1	Sadness	0.00	S1 W1	“Fuck You” Cam Newton
2	Breeses	0.36	S1 W16	Andrew Luck
3	Dungeoneers	1.84	S2 W5	Nick “Cunt” Foles
4	Sadness	2.62	S1 W6	Teddy Bridgewater
5	Losers	2.72	S1 W14	Peter Manning

Fun fact: In week 14 of season 1, David left Andy Dalton (26.28 points), Joe Flacco (24.36 points) and Derek Carr (22.36 points) on the bench in favour of Peter (2.72 points). Now, kids, that is how you PLOB yourself right up. For those of you wondering, Andrew Luck did not leave that game injured. He threw for just over 100 yards with 0 TDs and 2 interceptions. Impressive stuff.

Highest

1	Breeses	74.2	S2 W5	Isaiah Crowell, Devonta Freeman, Doug Martin
2	Breeses	65.6	S2 W7	Devonta Freeman, Doug Martin, Lamar Miller
3	Firebirds	61.8	S1 W16	CJ Anderson, Jeremy Hill, Marshawn Lynch
4	Tamworth Two	61.6	S2 W6	Chris Ivory, LeSean McCoy, Jonathan Stewart
5	Champions	61.4	S1 W14	Le’veon Bell, Isaiah Crowell, Latavius Murray

Come on, who saw that coming at the start of the year? Who also saw Isaiah Crowell and Doug Martin each appearing in 2 of the 5 best RB performances of the Dynabowl so far…

Lowest

1	Dungeoneers	5.625	S1 W9	LaGarette Blount, Branden Oliver
2	Firebirds	7.3	S1 W6	Chris Johnson, Marshawn Lynch
3	Breeses	8.2	S2 W3	Isaiah Crowell, Doug Martin
4	Champions	8.3	S2 W1	Latavius Murray, Damien Williams
5	Firebirds	8.4	S1 W8	Chris Johnson, Marshawn Lynch

Crowell, Martin, Latavius Murray and Marshawn Lynch have the distinction of being in both the best and the worst RB groups. If I was better at this I’d probably give you some analysis right now. Here’s what I got: blah blah blah analysis blah blah best-selling book Fantasy Life blah blah analysis blah state-the-obvious.

WR/TE

Highest:

1	Kelkowski	109	S1 W1	Randall Cobb, Calvin Johnson, Jeremy Maclin, Cor!Darelle Patterson, Jordan Cameron, Julius Thomas
2	Losers	93.3	S1 W10	Larry Fitzgerald, Jordy Nelson, Emmanuel Sanders, Torrey Smith, Larry Donnell, Jimmy Graham
3	Kelkowski	91.5	S1 W2	Randall Cobb, Calvin Johnson, Jeremy Maclin, Cor!Darelle Patterson, Julius Thomas, Delanie Walker
4	Firebirds	91	S1 W8	TY Hilton, Julio Jones, Eddie Royal, Demaryius Thomas, Antonio Gates, Rob Gronkowski
5	Firebirds	89.7	S1 W6	TY Hilton, Julio Jones, Mohammed Sanu, Demaryius Thomas, Antonio Gates, Rob Gronkowski

We still love you Cor! Darelle! The passing game has never been better than those heady days of the first weeks of the Dynabowl. What a glorious time that was! It just goes to show, it’s a running league.

Lowest:

1	Breeses	12.1	S2 W1	DeSean Jackson, Charles Johnson, Steve Smith Sr., Terrance Williams, Owen Daniels
2	Dungeoneers	14.25	S1 W14	Keenan Allen, Andre Johnson, Brandon Marshall, Kenny Stills, Kyle Rudolph, Jason Witten
3	Breeses	14.4	S1 W9	Dwayne Bowe, Pierre Garcon, Andrew Hawkins, Steve Smith Sr., Zach Ertz
4	DynaHarder	17	S1 W12	Kenny Britt, Julian Edelman, Cecil Shorts III, Sammy Watkins, Jace Amaro
5	Dungeoneers	18.1	S2 W5	Keenan Allen, Amari Cooper, Michael Floyd, Reuben Randle, Coby Fleener

Tough reading for fans of the Brees and the Dungeoneers. Probably not surprising reading though.

SPEC

Highest:

1	Dungeoneers	23.6	S2 W4	Cairo Santos, Andy Lee
2	Sadness	22.725	S1 W9	Adam Vinatieri, Shane Lechler
3	DynaHarder	21.3	S1 W11	Mason Crosby, Marquette King
4	Breeses	21.2	S1 W10	Matt Bryant, Brett Kern
5	Dungeoneers	20.475	S1 W12	Cody Parkey, Mike Scifres

Lowest:

1	Dungeoneers	1.65	S1 W14	Cody Parkey, Mike Scifres
2	Dungeoneers	3	S1 W4	Cody Parkey, Pat O’Donnell
3	Losers	3.3	S1 W16	Justin Tucker, Donnie Jones
4	Champions	3.95	S1 W6	Shaun Suisham, Brad Nortman
5	Firebirds	4	S1 W8	Dan Bailey, Tim Masthay

The Dungeoneers showing that famed consistency hear by having two of the best scoring special teams units and two of the worst. I like that Parkey and Scifres put up over 20 points in week 12 and then under 2 in week 14. Absolute gangbusters.

Highest:

1	Bombermen	75.5	S2 W7	Aaron Donald, Haloti Ngata, Cameron Wake, Mario Williams
2	Breeses	69.5	S1 W10	Marcell Dareus, Aaron Donald, Michael Bennett, Cameron Jordan
3	Kelkowski	58.75	S1 W7	Nick Fairley, Everson Griffen, DeMarcus Ware
4	DynaHarder	55.35	S1 W13	Jonathan Hankins, Ezekiel Ansah, JJ Watt
5	Champions	50.5	S1 W8	Tom Johnson, Robert Quinn, Cameron Wake

Well, there’s the answer to your question. Yes, the Bombermen’s score on the line this week was the highest ever. By a comfortable margin too. The players on that top 5 read very much like a who’s who of defensive line talent, it’s not difficult to see why these guys scored like they did. Plus Tom Johnson’s there too. Good old Tom Johnson. Who’s Tom Johnson?

Lowest:

1	Dungeoneers	1.25	S2 W3	Tyrone Crawford, Demarcus Lawrence, Stephen Paea
2=	Sadness	1.5	S2 W1	Sharrif Floyd, Damontre Moore, Devin Taylor
2=	Sadness	1.5	S1 W1	Michael Brockers, Jared Allen, Calais Campbell
4	Champions	1.75	S1 W4	Steve McClendon, Mike Daniels, Cameron Wake
5	Bombermen	2.5	S2 W1	Kyle Williams, Cameron Wake, Mario Williams

A round of applause for the Dynasty of Sadness in managed to fashion a tie for 2^nd place in the worst D-line performances of all time. Mike and Mark certainly know how to get their defence off to a strong start to the year. Looking at the players in these units it’s very noticeable that one of these is not like the other. 2.5 points for the Williams twins and Cameron Wake would have been unthinkable last season.

Highest:

1	Champions	63.25	S1 W8	Anthony Barr, Jamie Collins, Justin Houston, Wesley Woodyard
2	DynaHarder	57.55	S1 W5	Von Miller, CJ Mosley, Alec Ogletree, Jason Worilds
3	Kelkowski	55.8	S2 W6	Stephone Anthony, Karlos Dansby, D’Qwell Jackson, Brandon Marshall
4	Champions	55.5	S2 W6	Anthony Barr, Shaq Barrett, Jamie Collins, Justin Houston
5	Champions	53.95	S1 W4	Anthony Barr, Justin Houston, Khalil Mack, Wesley Woodyard

It’s like no-one believed me when I said linebacker was the most important fantasy position.

Lowest:

1	Losers	1.25	S2 W3	Ryan Kerrigan, Paul Kruger, Alex Okafor
2	Bombermen	3.5	S2 W7	Connor Barwin, Elvis Dumervil, Sean Lee
3	Firebirds	5	S1 W4	Mason Foster, Julius Peppers, Lawrence Timmons
4	Firebirds	5.75	S1 W3	Mason Foster, Manti Te’o, Lawrence Timmons
5	Dungeoneers	6.25	S1 W8	Connor Barwin, Dwight Freeney, KJ Wright

I seriously don’t know who Mason Foster is. If this week’s Stat Blat has made me realise anything it’s quite how bad Neil’s team was at the start of last season. What a tremendous rags to riches story his Dynabowl triumph was. Someone should film that. With Paul Giamatti playing Neil.

Highest:

1	Bombermen	76.45	S1 W10	Casey Hayward, Bradley Roby, Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix, James Ihedigbo
2	Bombermen	73.2	S2 W4	Stephon Gilmore, Bradley Roby, Corey Graham, TJ Ward
3	Sadness	59.75	S2 W3	William Gay, Jerraud Powers, Eric Berry, Tyrann Mathieu
4	Kelkowski	58	S2 W3	Janoris Jenkins, Jimmy Smith, Mike Adams, Malcolm Jenkins
5	Kelkowski	57.55	S1 W13	Janoris Jenkins, Devin McCourty, Mike Adams, Rashad Johnson

The fact that the Bombermen and Kelkowski each have 2 entries here somewhat belies my theory that DB scoring is entirely random. Note that the presence of more season 2 scores in this entry than others is likely influenced by the point increased for Defended Passes this season.

Lowest:

1	DynaHarder	3.75	S1 W7	Patrick Peterson, Sam Shields, Deone Bucannon, Jonathan Cyprien
2	Sadness	4.5	S1 W10	Travis Carrie, Kyle Fuller, Eric Berry, Tyrann Mathieu
3	Dungeoneers	5	S1 W11	Vontae Davis, Chris Harris, George Iloka, Rahim Moore
4=	Losers	6	S1 W4	Darius Butler, Logan Ryan, Chris Conte, Glover Quin
4=	DynaHarder	6	S1 W13	Antoine Cason, Patrick Peterson, Micah Hyde, Eric Reid

I can’t help but think that at least three of those entries would make pretty good real-life secondaries. That’s fantasy football for you, I guess.

OFF

Highest:

1	Losers	177.205	S1 W4
2	Kelkowski	165.36	S1 W8
3	Firebirds	164.34	S1 W5
4	Losers	164.21	S2 W2
5	Firebirds	161.62	S1 W14

Lowest:

1	Dungeoneers	52.7	S1 W14
2	Sadness	54.97	S1 W11
3	Breeses	58.345	S2 W1
4	Bombermen	62.19	S2 W7
5	Dungeoneers	64.965	S2 W5

DEF

Highest:

1	Kelkowski	143.6	S1 W13
2	Tamworth Two	142.05	S2 W6
3	Bombermen	130.95	S1 W10
4	Champions	129.25	S1 W8
5	Firebirds	126.55	S1 W16

Lowest:

1	Firebirds	26.75	S1 W1
2	Tamworth Two	27	S1 W16
3	Dungeoneers	32.25	S1 W11
4	Sadness	35	S1 W10
5	Kelkowski	36.5	S1 W14

MAX’S STAT BLATS! Week 6

October 25, 2015

Max Cubberley

League Business Max Stat Blats Stat Attacks No Comments

It’s the start of week 7 of the 2015 NFL season which is, near as dammit, halfway through the fantasy NFL season so, this week, Stat Blats will look at positional groupings in the DynaBowl to breakdown which parts of your team are riding high and which are down in the dumps. I’ll start with the raw data, then do a team-by-team breakdown, looking at the season so far with some slipshod analysis. You’re welcome. You’re all so very welcome.

Quarterback

	Team	Starters	Average
1	Tamworth Two	Rodgers, Palmer	21.76
2	Dynaforone Firebirds	Wilson, Rivers	18.28
3	DynaHarder	E. Manning, Mariota, Stafford	18.03
4	Champions of the Sun	Roethlisberger, Palmer	17.57
5	Kelkowski	Bortles, Kaepernick, Romo	17.43
6	Here Comes the Brees	Brady, Luck	16.77
7	East Flanders Dungeoneers	Newton, Tannehill, Foles	16.61
8	Dynablaster Bombermen	Ryan	16.21
9	Dynasore Losers	Dalton, P. Manning	15.32
10	Dynasty of Sadness	Brees, Bridgewater	11.80

Running Backs

For sections under flex consideration I have worked out the average number of starters in each position over the first 6 weeks and divided the average by that number. This produces an average score per player you start at that position, not favouring teams that start more players in one position.

1	Dynasore Losers	Forte, Peterson, Lewis (3 starters (2.5 av))	34.27 (13.71)
2	Here Comes the Brees	Freeman, Martin, Crowell, Miller (4 starters (2.83 av))	37.05 (13.09)
3	Champions of the Sun	L. Bell, L. Murray, Rawls, Da. Williams, Spiller (5 starters (2.17 av)	24.95 (11.5)
4	Tamworth Two	Ivory, Du. Johnson, McCoy, McFadden, Stewart, K. Williams, A. Williams (7 starters (3 av))	32.30 (10.77)
5	Kelkowski	Blue, Foster, Ingram, D. Murray, Yeldon (5 starters (3 av))	31.72 (10.57)
6	DynaHarder	Charles, Morris, Randle, Sankey, Gurley (5 starters (3 av))	31.11 (10.37)
7	East Flanders Dungeoneers	Forsett, Woodhead, Hyde, Jennings (4 starters (3 av))	28.05 (9.35)
8	Dynasty of Sadness	Abdullah, Blount, M. Jones, Lacy, Vereen, De. Williams (6 starters (3 av))	26.73 (8.91)
9	Dynablaster Bombermen	Bernard, Ellington, Gordon, J. Hill, Da. Johnson (5 starters (3 av))	25.96 (8.65)
10	Dynaforone Firebirds	Anderson, Gore, C. Johnson, Lynch (4 starters (2.83 av))	19.38 (6.85)

Receivers (WRs and TEs)

1	Dynaforone Firebirds	Colston, Edelman, Ju. Jones, Royal, Thomas, Bennett, Clay, Gates, Gronkowski (9 starters (5.17 av))	60.84 (11.77)
2	Dynasore Losers	Agholor, Fitzgerald, Ja. Jones, Moncrief, Sanders, T. Smith, Donnell, Graham (8 starters (5.5 av))	57.15 (10.39)
3	Kelkowski	Baldwin, Cobb, Ca. Johnson, Maclin, Barnidge, Witten (6 starters (5 av))	48.38 (9.68)
4	Champions of the Sun	J. Brown, Evans, Hankerson, Harvin, Hopkins, Robinson, White, Kelce, Reed, Walker (10 starters (5.83 av))	54.45 (9.34)
5	Dynablaster Bombermen	Boldin, Cooks, A. Green, A. Johnson, Matthews, Shorts, Olsen, Sefarian-Jenkins (8 starters (5 av))	44.47 (8.89)
6	Dynasty of Sadness	Beckham, D. Bryant, Crowder, Decker, Ginn, Tate, Wheaton, Allen, Chandler, Escobar, L. Green (11 starters (5 av))	41.71 (8.34)
7	East Flanders Dungeoneers	Adams, Allen, Cooper, Mi. Floyd, S. Johnson, Marshall, Randle, Stills, Fleener, Rudolph (10 starters (5 av))	41.17 (8.23)
8	DynaHarder	Austin, A. Brown, Hilton, Hurns, M. Jones, Watkins, Wright, Bennett, Cook (9 starters (5 av))	40.33 (8.07)
9	Tamworth Two	Coleman, Crabtree, V. Jackson, Jeffery, Landry, Snead, Wallace, Ebron, Rodgers (9 starters (5 av))	39.48 (7.90)
10	Here Comes the Brees	Benjamin, Garcon, D. Jackson, Ch. Johnson, S. Smith Sr., T. Williams, Daniels, Eifert, Ertz (9 starters (5.17 av))	39.00 (7.54)

Special Teams

1	Dynasore Losers	Gostkowski, Tucker, Anger, King	16.86 (8.43)
2	DynaHarder	Bryant, McManus, Hekker, Pinion	15.30 (7.65)
3	Dynablaster Bombermen	Brown, Schmidt	14.58 (7.29)
4	Champions of the Sun	Catanzaro, McAfee, D. Colquitt	13.48 (6.74)
5	East Flanders Dungeoneers	Parkey, Santos, Lee	12.56 (6.28)
6	Dynaforone Firebirds	Crosby, Koch	12.51 (6.26)
7	Dynasty of Sadness	Hauschka, Vinatieri, Lechler	11.91 (5.96)
8	Here Comes the Brees	Gano, Jones, Kern	10.91 (5.46)
9	Tamworth Two	Carpenter, Coons, Butler, McAfee	10.42 (5.21)
10	Kelkowski	Prater, Gould, Huber, Martin	9.53 (4.77)

Defensive Line

1	Tamworth Two	McCoy, McDonald, Short, C. Jones, Tuitt, Vernon (3.33 av)	29.67 (8.91)
2	Here Comes the Brees	Donald, Howard, Bennett, Cox, Jordan (3.17 av)	27.88 (8.79)
3	DynaHarder	Hankins, Harrison, B. Williams, Ansah, Watt (3.17 av)	26.58 (8.38)
4	Champions of the Sun	Dareus, Mitchell, Campbell, Carradine, Quinn, Vernon (3 av)	24.54 (8.18)
5	Dynasore Losers	Babineaux, Phillips, Siliga, T. Walker, S. Williams, Dunlap, Hughes, Wilkerson (3.33 av)	19.67 (5.91)
6	Dynasty of Sadness	Brockers, Floyd, Joseph, J. Allen, Bailey, Clayborn, Moore, Richardson, Taylor (3 av)	16.38 (5.46)
7	Dynaforone Firebirds	Atkins, Suh, Edwards, Gilberry, Ch. Johnson, Ninkovich, Tuck (3.5 av)	18.29 (5.23)
8	Kelkowski	Brown, Ratliff, Shelton, Avril, Griffen, Jenkins (3 av)	11.25 (3.75)
9	Dynablaster Bombermen	Hill, K. Williams, Casey, Liuget, Wake, M. Williams (3 av)	11.00 (3.67)
10	East Flanders Dungeoneers	Crawford, Marks, Ealy, Hayward, Lawrence, Paea (3 av)	10.25 (3.42)

Linebackers

1	Champions of the Sun	Barr, Barrett, Bowman, Collins, Davis, Houston, Mack (4 av)	42.60 (10.65)
2	Dynasty of Sadness	P. Brown, David, Irvin, M. Kendricks. T. Smith, Trevathan, Wagner (4 av)	34.22 (8.56)
3	DynaHarder	Alonso, Clowney, Hightower, Laurinaitis, V. Miller, Mosely, Orakpo (3.83 av)	29.51 (7.70)
4	Kelkowski	Alexander, Anthony, Cushing, Dansby, Greenway, D. Jackson, B. Marshall, Robinson, Ware (4 av)	30.68 (7.67)
5	Tamworth Two	Attaouchu, Freeman, C. Jones, Kikaha, Kuechly, Posluszny, Williamson (3.67 av)	26.12 (7.12)
6	Dynaforone Firebirds	Graham, D. Johnson, Ogletree, Peppers, Te’o, Timmons (3.5 av)	23.92 (6.83)
7	Dynablaster Bombermen	Barwin, Dumervil, Elliott, Lee, C. Matthews, Shazier (4 av)	25.23 (6.31)
8	East Flanders Dungeoneers	D. Davis, D. Harris, Ingram, M. Smith, Worrilow (4 av)	23.17 (5.79)
9	Here Comes the Brees	Bradham, Butler, Hicks, Jenkins, Kennard, Lansanah, McPhee, Morgan, D. Smith, Tulloch (3.83 av)	20.91 (5.46)
10	Dynasore Losers	Hali, Kerrigan, Kruger, Okafor, Rey, Suggs, Unga (3.67 av)	14.92 (4.07)

Secondary

1	Dynablaster Bombermen	Breeland, V. Davis, Gilmore, Roby, Graham, Ihedigbo, Ward	38.88 (9.72)
2	Champions of the Sun	Carrie, Carroll, Flowers, A. Jones, Norman, Church, R. Jones, Weddle	38.13 (9.53)
3	Kelkowski	K. Jackson, J. Jenkins, Revis, J. Smith, M. Adams, Bethea, M. Jenkins, Nelson	33.70 (8.43)
4	Dynasty of Sadness	Butler, Fletcher, Fuller, Gay, Berry, Matthieu, McDonald, Vaccaro	30.03 (7.51)
5	Tamworth Two	Amukamara, Rhodes, Shields, Verner, Chancellor, Collins, Rolle, Whitner	28.96 (7.24)
6	Dynasore Losers	J. Banks, Joseph, M. Peters, Logan, Gipson, Moore, Quin	28.18 (7.05)
7	DynaHarder	Cox, Peterson, Talib, Webb, Bucannon, Cyprien, Pryor, Reid	26.74 (6.69)
8	Here Comes the Brees	Darby, Hall, Toler, Verrett, T. Williams, Conte, R. Johnson, H. Smith, E. Thomas, S. Thomas	25.55 (6.39)
9	East Flanders Dungeoneers	Haden, Harris, Maxwell, Clinton-Dix, Hill, Iloka, A. Williams	22.68 (5.67)
10	Dynaforone Firebirds	Grimes, Sherman, Trufant, C. Williams, Barron, Burnett, Parker, Searcy	19.64 (4.91)

Below is a table that brings each team’s positional ranks, along with their offensive, defensive and overall average points, into one place for easy digestion.

Name	QB	RB	Rec	Spec	OFF	DL	LB	DB	DEF	OVR
Champs	4	3	4	4	110	4	1	2	105	216
T2	1	4	9	9	104	1	5	5	85	189
Harder	3	6	8	2	105	3	3	7	83	188
Losers	9	1	2	1	124	5	10	6	63	186
Rules	5	5	3	10	107	8	4	3	76	183
Breeses	6	2	10	8	104	2	9	8	74	178
Bombers	8	9	5	3	101	9	7	1	75	176
Sadness	10	8	6	7	92	6	2	4	81	173
Birds	2	10	1	6	111	7	6	10	62	173
Dung’s	7	7	7	5	98	10	8	9	56	154

The above table shows a clear leader and a clear trailer in terms of average overall score, with the other 8 teams clustered with only 15 points separating them from the Tamworth Two in 2^nd to the Firebirds in 9^th.

Champions of the Sun – The current front-runners for the Owl show good consistency across all categories, indicating playmakers in most spots. Although their offence is above average, the clear difference maker is the defence, scoring 20 points per week more than the 2^nd best defence on average.

Tamworth Two – If I’d done this article last week the Hogs would not have been as high up the tables but that’s what scoring 280 points in a week will do for you. Unsurprisingly, having Aaron Rodgers as your QB lands you at #1 in the QB rankings but the dominant defence from last year is rolling back into form too, after a slow start. An injury to Alshon Jeffery has cost the receiving corps but that doesn’t explain #9 by itself. This is an area T2 should, and are, looking to improve but getting better at skill positions mid-season is never easy. Willie Snead should help but they may want to look at special teams too for an improvement.

DynaHarder – A hot start from the owners of last year’s #1 pick has tailed off somewhat but Chris and Steve’s team is still looking strong even with JJ Watt’s transformation into ‘normal NFL player’. Their low ranking at WR is nothing to worry about as the return of Ben Roethlisberger should carry Antonio Brown back to his previous heights and Martavis Bryant is also now back from suspension.

Dynasore Losers – Oh Peter. Peter, Peter, Peter. Should’ve quit while you were ahead. Manning’s struggles have sunk the Losers’ QB ranking but with Andy Dalton cemented at #1 on the Losers’ depth chart now and Derek Carr waiting to back him up the only way is up. Early-season predictions of doom from the Stat Blats were wide of the mark at RB but spot-on at linebacker where the Kruger/Kerrigan axis from last season has failed to hit form this year, leaving the Losers languishing. Their top scoring offence is covering for now but Slater may want to look into trading for some promising talent on his defence.

Kelkowski Don’t Play By No DynaRules – The Rules started slowly but are now rounding into better form, largely thanks to the return from injury of Arian Foster and the return from ‘getting dropped for a 2 yard loss on every play’ of DeMarco Murray. Expect that mediocre #5 rank at RB to rise. The big holes are at special teams (for a pair of owners who won’t shut up about the value of kickers and punters they don’t seem to have any good ones) and on the defensive line, where rookie tackles, people blowing their own fingers off and under-performing Everson Griffen have left them light. If I was Kelkowski I would be hitting the phones and sounding out other owners with depth at DT or DE on potential deals.

Here Comes the Brees – I thought this team were supposed to be terrible? Everybody told me they were terrible, including co-owner Ben Archee. Instead they’re a team with a few big holes and a few big strengths who have perhaps gone into full rebuilding mode too early. Their high ranking at DL is sure to drop with Aaron Donald traded away but the unlikely power-trio of Doug Martin, Devonta Freeman and Lamar Miller should carry them through at RB. Injuries to DeSean Jackson, Breshad Perriman, Steve Smith Sr and Victor Cruz have left them low at WR, hence the low ranking but, to my mind, there’s enough here to be optimistic.

Dynablaster Bombermen – Well, so much for the Stat Blats pre-season choice for the Owl. Through 6 games the Dynablaster Bombermen have underwhelmed and you can’t really point to any 1 thing as the reason why. The Falcons are 5-1 but Matt Ryan is no more than a low-end QB1 so far. What should have been one of the best RB groups currently looks like one of the worst, whether through injury, game plan or poor play. The saving grace for the Bombermen has been an overpowering set of playmakers in the secondary and solid special teams play. They’ve addressed the problems on the line already with the trade for Aaron Donald at least. In terms of action I think Hendy and Smith have taken the best course with that move. Their offence is horribly underperforming at the moment but the talent is there and this team will score very well when it breaks right. Don’t give up hope!

The People’s Republic of the 4^th Dynmension: Dynasty of Sadness – New year, same problem. The Sadness are unlucky to be 1-5 with their average scores showing them to be at the same level as most other teams but they are let down, for the second season in a row, by poor QB play. Laycock and Simpson went all in on Teddy Bridgeeater and they have to be wondering if that was sensible at this point as the 2^nd year QBs play has been questionable at best. Brock Osweiler sits on the bench, rubbing his hands gleefully at every wobbled pass thrown by Peter Manning but should the Sadness be looking to get in another pair of hands until that point? The Stat Blats think so. The rest of the team looks ok with no obvious holes except, maybe, DT but that position can be a lottery. A trade for Allen Bailey has shored up DE and the loss of Dez Bryant is always going to hit your receiving corps hard. TE is a position that could use a bump, having said that. How much for Gary Barnidge…

Dynaforone Firebirds – Is this a typo? What are the current champions doing languishing down here in 9^th place on overall average score?! Look at those running backs (ranked 10^th). Look at that secondary (ranked 10^th). Look at those linebackers (ranked 9^th). This is a team with some obvious strengths and some hideous weaknesses. Neil has been trying to address some of the holes on defence but without much luck so far. The secondary could do with an overhaul though. At this point it might be worth dropping the lot of them without guaranteed money and just picking up whoever the best free agents are. Could that end any worse? Injuries to Lynch and the underperformance of CJ Anderson explain the poor RB play but Hawke may well be regretting the trading away of Jeremy Hill in the summer (not that he’s done much better). Chris Johnson’s re-emergence and a recent trade for Ryan Matthews help here and should see the position pick up.

East Flanders Dungeoneers – Well done, Pete. You won a couple of games with this shower. Kudos. We knew it would be a long re-building process for the Dungeoneers and so it’s proving. Pete Conaghan is in the midst of a furious reshuffling that has seen him trade many of his players with short-term value for picks or multiple lottery ticket players. It was never going to be pretty in the short term. The offence has been competent, if inconsistent, but the defence is a disaster. What does Stat Blats recommend? Keep on keeping on, Pete. Keep on keeping on. And maybe don’t pick up quite as many Chargers.

MAX’S STAT BLATS! – Week Two

September 24, 2015

Max Cubberley

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The spreadsheet has been fed this week and my dot matrix printer has finally finished churning out the data for me to pore through. This week I’ll take a look at the first two weeks performance from 2015 and compare it to the first two weeks from 2014 to see if we can build a picture of where each team’s fortunes will go from here.

Reality Bites

Below are comparisons of performance through week 2 of the 2015 and 2015 seasons, ordered by finishing order in the 2014 season.

	2014 Week 2	2014 Standing	2015 Week 2	POA Diff
Dynaforone Firebirds	1-1 (137 poa)	7-6	1-1 (181 poa)	+44
Here Comes the Brees	1-1 (146 poa)	8-5	0-2 (152 poa)	+6
Dynasore Losers	2-0 (175 poa)	8-5	2-0 (172 poa)	-3
Kelkowski	2-0 (212 poa)	8-5	0-2 (153 poa)	-59
Dynablinker Obamamen	0-2 (168 poa)	7-6	0-2 (156 poa)	-12
Champions of the Sun	1-1 (181 poa)	6-7	2-0 (192 poa)	+11
Tamworth Two	2-0 (185 poa)	6-7	1-1 (167 poa)	-18
East Flanders Dungeoneers	1-1 (161 poa)	5-8	2-0 (158 poa)	-3
Dynasty of Sadness	0-2 (129 poa)	5-8	0-2 (154 poa)	+25
DynaHarder	0-2 (168 poa)	5-8	2-0 (223 poa)	+55

So let’s get the good news out of the way. DynaHarder have gone from an 0-2 start last season to a 2-0 start this season, having the highest average points in the process. The attendant 55 point jump in average score shows that the team has improved hugely over last season’s average start and there is still the return of Martivis Bryant and abhorrent human being Greg Hardy to come.

The other two significant improvements over last season can be seen at the Dynasty of Sadness and, worryingly, 2014 Superb Owl winners the Firebirds. The Sadness were a flimsy excuse for a fantasy football team last year and anything less than a big jump from 2014’s 129 average points would have been a disaster. Whilst the team are still at the bottom end of the points scorers they are not cut adrift like last season and can expect to be competitive. How the Firebirds improved from 2014’s disastrous start to claim the Owl may warrant an article on its own but the team has started strongly this year, being unfortunate to lose with the 3^rd highest score in week 1.

On the other side of the ball it would be remiss not to start with Kelkowski’s 59 point plummet from the first two games of last season. Last week I highlighted some of the reasons Jay and Ian might not be surprised by this but the extent of the drop off is alarming. Despite the poor start of the Breeses this year it’s worth noting that they’ve actually started better in terms of their weekly output this year, suggesting all may not be as bleak as first appeared. Could another unlikely playoff run emerge? Another team I believed to have regressed have proved me wrong through two weeks as the Dynasore Losers are still scoring at the same level as the opening of last season. Whether they can power up to the heights of 2014 as they go along remains to be seen.

What Might Have Been

Looking at what the teams actually scored in the first two weeks is all very well and good but to get a full picture of improvement and regression we should also look at their potential points. What do their best line-ups look like compared to last season? This will also highlight where GMs are more directly responsible for good or poor performance with their team selection.

	2014 Week 2	2015 Week 2	PPOA Diff
Dynaforone Firebirds	188 ppoa	228 (79% eff)	+40
Here Comes the Brees	210 ppoa	228 (67% eff)	+18
Dynasore Losers	212 ppoa	244 (70% eff)	+32
Kelkowski	265 ppoa	206 (74% eff)	-59
Dynablaster Bombermen	233 ppoa	232 (67% eff)	-1
Champions of the Sun	204 ppoa	258 (74% eff)	+54
Tamworth Two	261 ppoa	216 (77% eff)	-45
East Flanders Dungeoneers	212 ppoa	208 (76% eff)	-4
Dynasty of Sadness	206 ppoa	211 (73% eff)	+5
DynaHarder	250 ppoa	282 (79% eff)	+32

The numbers here back up the findings for the Firebirds and DynaHarder, showing an overall squad improvement to match their gameday improvement. The other big improvers are the Losers and the Champions, both of whom seem to have added a lot of depth between the start of last season and now, whether it was during the season last year, in the off-season or in the draft. The Breeses too can be happy that, whilst they’re squad still has holes, the actions Dan and Ben have taken have strengthened and added depth.

For the other 5 teams the story is either one of maintaining the status quo or of regression. Despite some strong additions, the Sadness seem to only have a squad as good as the start of last season, suggesting inefficient squad selection contributed to the team’s woes at the start of last year. The Bombermen and, surprisingly, the Dungeoneers also seem to have remained on par with the start of last season. The Dungeoneers are a strange one. To the naked eye, the team seems stronger than last season yet the stats don’t back that up so far. It’s early days, and GM Pete is building for the future, but if the team finishes the season not having outperformed last year’s iteration it should go down as a disappointment.

Kelkowski’s woes have been dwelt on enough but they can at least take solace that a 74% squad efficiency is not horrible and they are doing a good enough job of team selection. The Tamworth Two’s drop in potential points isn’t far short of Kelkowski’s however and that should be a cause of concern. The struggles of Alshon Jeffrey and Jonathan Stewart have certainly contributed to this but the defence has taken the biggest hit with Olivier Vernon and the linebacking unit firing blanks so far. It’s early days yet, of course, and defensive scoring is notoriously streaky but this is a situation worth keeping an eye on. The good news is that the Hogs’ 77% efficiency rating is second best in the league so they, at least, making the most of what they have.

In the efficiency stakes both Bens and both Dans will hope to improve their team selection in the coming weeks as the hot hands become clear and depth chart fog starts to dissipate. Both teams are at sub-70% efficiency which is a major barrier to success. David is, of course, PLOBbing the shit out of himself but what else would you expect? The Losers are still 2-0 so maybe his carefree team selection is motivating the troops.

Join me next time on Stat Blats where I’ll be doing something else with stats, probably, unless I’m not.

MAX’S STAT BLATS! Pre-Season Tim Preview

MAX’S STAT BLATS! Pre-Season Peter Preview

MAX’S STAT BLATS! – Week Seven

MAX’S STAT BLATS! Week 6

MAX’S STAT BLATS! – Week Two

Reality Bites

What Might Have Been

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