Roster Overview Part I

Time to look at last year's rosters for each team and make observations on what each team might be looking to do as far as their keeper situation. I'll be doing this in 4 installments of 3 teams apiece.


Alex (SCLSU MudDogs)

QB- Drew Brees, Marcus Mariota

WR- Larry Fitzgerald, Julian Edelman, Tavon Austin, Tyler Boyd, Travis Benjamin, Torrey Smith

RB- Le'veon Bell, Carlos Hyde, Bilal Powell, Theo Riddick

TE- Delanie Walker, Jimmy Graham

Potential Keepers: Le'Veon Bell, Drew Brees, Marcus Mariota, Bilal Powell, Theo Riddick, Jimmy Graham

Overview: Well, we can pencil in Le'Veon Bell as Alex's first keeper. It's one thing to not keep when you don't have a first round prospect like Alex did last year, but it's another to do it again and let go of a guy you will not see again since Alex picks 11th in the draft. The 2nd keeper is interesting. Do you go with ol' faithful Drew Brees or do you take a value keeper in Marcus Mariota (though he won't be as valuable as a drafted keeper since he'll be kept at ADP position, but it still may be enticing enough to keep). There's also guys that might not seem "keeperish" but could provide excellent value in Bilal Powell, Theo Riddick or Jimmy Graham. It's all about strategy so we'll see what Alex plans to do with his keepers.


Ryan (Hoosier Daddy)

QB- Ben Roethlisberger

WR- Michael Crabtree, Demaryius Thomas, Kenny Britt, John Brown, Brandon LaFell

RB- Ezekiel Elliott, Thomas Rawls, Mark Ingram, Tevin Coleman, Deangelo Williams, Jacquizz Rodgers

TE- Greg Olsen

Potential Keepers: Ezekiel Elliott, Mark Ingram, Ben Roethlisberger, Michael Crabtree, Tevin Coleman, Greg Olsen

Overview: Well, Ryan has a problem off the bat..there's no way you'd drop Zeke, but it's looking like a suspension will cost him a game at the very least. That's tough to swallow, but hey, Alex did it last year with Le'veon and he won it all. I still think it's a no brainer to keep Zeke. The 2nd keep is a bit murkier. There's no standout guy to keep. If you wanna go safe, possibly Greg Olsen, Big Ben or Michael Crabtree. If you want to go high risk/high reward..then Tevin Coleman is intriguing in the 10th round. I doubt Ryan Keeps Ingram in the 2nd, given the Adrian Peterson is now sharing the backfield with him, but he's still there just in case.

Albert (Channel 4 News Team)

QB- Andrew Luck

WR-  T.Y. Hilton, Doug Baldwin, Will Fuller, Dontrelle Inman, Jordan Matthews

RB- Jordan Howard, LeSean McCoy, Ty Montgomery, Derrick Henry, Justin Forsett, Doug Martin

TE- Tyler Eifert, C.J. Fiedorowicz

Potetinal Keepers: Andrew Luck, T.Y. Hilton, Doug Baldwin, Jordan Howard, LeSean McCoy, Ty Montgomery, Derrick Henry, Tyler Eifert

Overview: Man...this team is BRIMMING with legit keepable prospects. It's going to be tough to week through. Under last year's rules, Jordan Howard would've been a no brainer keep since he was undrafted last year. Unfortunately for Albert, the rule change would make Howard a 1st round keep..which makes Howard an extremely risky keeper. He could be legit, a top 5 RB, like he showed last year. Or he could be Jeremy Langford. LeSean McCoy seems like a no brainer keep too...but then you worry about injury and age..injuries also come into play with Andrew Luck and T.Y. Hilton but you can't deny their talent. How about Doug Baldwin, who seems to be underrated, or Tyler Eifert a top flight Tight End when healthy at a double digit round price? There's also the possibility of taking a flier on Derrick Henry and hoping he steals the job away from DeMarco Murray either through an injury to Murray or sheer talent. And is Ty Montgomery a legit RB? If he is, is he worthy of a keep? So many questions that need to be answered. Sometimes to much of a good thing is a problem. We'll see if it is for Albert.


 

Year 8 of the Wane McGarity Bowl has ARRIVED!

Well, we are slowly but surely getting closer and closer to yet another season of Fantasy Football! We are ready for year #8 of the Wane McGarity Bowl. Pretty crazy that we're nearing a decade of this crazy unpredictable league. Speaking of unpredictable, that's where we last left off as Alex Kronberger defied all odds and became Wane McGarity Bowl champion narrowly edging out Ryan in the championship game. Alex proved to everyone that it really doesn't matter who has the best keeper prospects or best looking team on paper, all it takes is smart drafting, and a little bit of luck and anyone has a chance at winning it all. Can he recapture the magic for a second straight year? Or will Albert or Leland get their chance at an unprecedented 3 championships? Will there be a new "Alex" that comes outta nowhere to win it all? All questions that no one has any answers to until we start playing the games! Before we start that though, let's reintroduce the 12 owners who will be playing this season! I added an extra little descriptor this year, citing everyone's connection to me in this league. Though most of yall don't know each other personally, the reason most of yall are in this league is because of your tie to me so I thought it'd be interesting to show everyone how we all crossed paths.

The Reigning Wane McGarity Bowl Champion
Alex Kronberger (SCLSU MudDogs)
4th Season
Connection to me: Friend from Stripes
Playoff Appearances: 2
Previous Season Finishes: 5th in 2014
                                           9th in 2015
                                           1st in 2016

Last year's surprise champion, won't be any kind of surprise this year as he official becomes "the hunted". Deciding to start from complete scratch last year paid off handsomely for Alex (along with taking a chance and drafting Le'Veon Bell who was suspended). I'd imagine Alex will be defending his championship with Le'Veon Bell in tow this season. Can Alex be the first since 2012 to break the "Championship Curse" streak, where no Champion (or Runner Up for that matter) has made the playoffs the following year since Albert in year 3? We'll find out if Alex can duplicate his excellent drafting from last season and successfully defend his title.

Ryan McKinnis (Hoosier Daddy)
8th Season
Connection to me: College Friend
Playoff Appearances: 3
Previous Season Finishes- 8th in 2010
                                           3rd in 2011
                                           3rd in 2012
                                          11th in 2013
                                            8th in 2014

                                          11th in 2015

                                            2nd in 2016

Ryan's one of the few guys that's played in every season and last season was his best season ever. He finished with one of the best regular season records of all time and came withing mere points of finishing his magical season with a fantasy football championship. Things won't be easy this time around as a threat of a suspension looms over his franchise running back Ezekiel Elliott. Can Ryan survive the potential disaster? Hopefully he drafts a team that can sustain the inevitable blow. 

Albert Rodriguez (Channel 4 News Team)

8th Season
Connection to me: Friend from Eckerd (Now CVS..yep..we've known each other THAT LONG)

Playoff Appearances: 5

Previous Season Finishes- 1st in 2010
                                           1st in 2011
                                           2nd in 2012
                                          12th in 2013

                                           4th in 2014

                                          10th in 2015

                                           3rd in 2016

Albert's had a very successful run in the 8 years he's been in our league. The crazy thing? His run could be EVEN BETTER had it not been for some unlucky bounces his way. It's entirely conceivable that Albert could've been in 5 Wane McGarity Bowl Championship Games had it not been for some last minute roster decisions on his end, not that 2 Titles, 3 Finals Appearances and a 3rd place finish last year is anything to sneeze at. It's been a while since Albert's won it all though, and he's always a threat to put a winning, dangerous team out there. 

Eugene Lawrence (Rocket Man)

5th Season
Connection to me: Brother to our good ol' "Internet Guy" Leland

Playoff Appearances: 3

Previous Season Finishes- 7th in 2013

                                           3rd in 2014

                                           3rd in 2015

                                           4th in 2016

In his 5th season, Eugene's had a pretty good run so far in our league. 3 straight playoff appearances (all in the final four). It seemed like Eugene had a solid shot to get to his first finals last year, as he spent most of the season neck and neck with Ryan, but he ultimately fell to Alex's super hot team. Still a combination of solid keeper choices yet again (should be interesting to see where he goes there) will definitely keep Eugene in the mix as a title contender.

Mike Posey (Woe Is You)

6th Season
Connection to me: College Friend

Playoff Appearances: 3

Previous Finishes: 6th in 2010
                              8th in 2011
                              5th in 2012
                              4th in 2013

                             DNP in 2014

                             DNP in 2015

                              6th in 2016

After two years out of the game, Mike made his return to our league and made the playoffs in his first year back. Not a bad reintroduction to the league. He'll look to build on that momentum and do something he hasn't done in the previous 5 years he's been in the league, place in the top 3. He has some solid keeper prospects at his disposal so we'll see what decisions he makes for this upcoming season.

Leland Lawrence (No Soup For You)

7th Season
Connection To Me: Blowout Card Forums Member. Answered an open call I posted on there. The one and only "Internet Guy"

Playoff Appearances: 3

Previous Season Finishes- 4th in 2011
                                           1st in 2012
                                           9th in 2013
                                          11th in 2014 

                                           1st in 2015

                                           7th in 2016

The bad news? Leland was considered by most of the league to be the Golden State Warriors of fantasy football last year. By those standards, his team was a massive disappointment not even making the playoffs mainly thanks to the underachieving of 6th round keeper Todd Gurley and glut of interchangeable Wide Receivers.  The silver lining? Thanks to winning the Michael Wiley Loser Bowl and thus earning the #1 pick of the draft and once again having solid keepers in super low rounds in David Johnson and Michael Thomas, Leland seems to be once again be the front runner for winning it all. He'll be gunning for a third title and if anyone can draft a championship caliber team it's Leland. Will his guys fail him yet again...or redeem themselves from last year's disappointment. 

Robert Puente (BigBadBob)

7th Season
Connection to me: Dad

Playoff Appearances: 4

Previous Finishes- 5th in 2011
                               6th in 2012
                               3rd in 2013                                

                               9th in 2014 

                               5th in 2015

                               8th in 2016

What a disaster season Dad has last year. He lost 11 straight weeks before beating me and Mike at the end of the season, then went on this underdog run in the Michael Wiley Loser Bowl to the finals where he ultimately got destroyed by Leland. Cam Newton was a disaster, but as the old adage goes "it can't really get worse" can it? Dad will be picking #2 and does have a great keeper thanks to a trade with Ryan last year to acquire Devonta Freeman (who he can keep in the 9th round). Last year was only the 2nd time Dad failed to reach the playoffs, so here's hoping he can right the ship this season.

Matt Gonzales (Light's Broken Bots)

8th Season
Connection To Me: Cousin

Playoff Appearances: 3

Previous Season Finishes- 4th in 2010
                                           9th in 2011
                                           4th in 2012
                                           8th in 2013

                                           1st in 2014

                                           7th in 2015

                                           9th in 2016

Sigh..what could've been. Matt was in prime position to build a Dream Team of sorts with his potential keepers and #1 pick of last year's draft. Unfortunately his draft was plagued with injuries to his top picks and Matt never recovered. The good news though, just like Leland, Matt's got another chance to right the ship as he still has excellent keeper prospects and the #3 pick of the draft. It hasn't been great for Matt since that's glorious championship in 2014, but all it takes is a little luck to bounce his way and he'll back in the thick of things in no time.

Marc Freeman (Shock The Monkey)

5th Season
Connection To Me: Friend From Stripes

Playoff Appearances: 2

Previous Season Finshes- 6th in 2013
                                         10th in 2014

                                         2nd in 2015

                                        10th in 2016

From the get go Marc has the most volatile team in the league. Immensely talented but just so injury prone and unreliable and that's exactly what attributed to his 10th finish after making the finals the year before. The good news though? There was a bright spot in DeMarco Murray and proved he was still an elite fantasy back and his price is low for Marc to build around and make a solid run at a championship. We'll see if Marc can get some "Pro Bowlers" on his squad this season.

Chris Puente (Catch My Javelin!)

8th Season
ME!!

Playoff Appearances: 4

Previous Finishes-3rd in 2010
                             2nd in 2011
                             9th in 2012
                             1st in 2013
                            12th in 2014

                                              4th in 2015

                           11th in 2016

So yes...last year was just a combination of off the field factors and league factors to caused my nearly every week meltdown and destruction in what was for me, the most unfun, frustrating season I've ever experienced. That's all behind me and now, and I look forward to hopefully rebounding from such a bad year and be competitive and make the playoffs. I can't promise I won't overreact to losing (that's just me and you should know this by now, lol) but I can promise it won't be nearly as bad as it was last year. I'm ready to go and hopefully this season can erase the bad taste last season left in my mouth.

Andrew Mata (BABY CARROTS)
7th Season
Connection To Me: Cousin
Playoff Appearances: 3
Previous Finishes: 2nd in 2010
                              DNP in 2011
                              8th in 2012
                             10th in 2013  
                             6th in 2014
                             6th in 2015
                            12th in 2016 

Ya know, it's actually kind of crazy how poorly Drew's team have performed, considering he's one of the most knowledgeable players in the league. I hadn't realized that the highest he's finished is 6th after making the finals in the first ever season of the league. This past year Drew's team hit absolute rock bottom with a 12th place finish. His team was ravaged by injuries and Allen Robinson being a bust even as a 6th round keeper. Drew's definitely got his work cut out for him, but if there's someone who can dig himself out of a hole into contention, it's him. 

Well, that's 11 players accounted for which means yes..we've lost someone. Mayra has decided to leave the league and her replacement should be to the surprise of no one. Introducing team #12..

Kenny Bybee (Easy Beasley)
7th Season
Connection To Me: Best Friend Since Middle School
Playoff Appearances:  2
Previous Finishes- 5th in 2010
                               6th in 2011
                               7th in 2012
                               2nd in 2013
                               7th in 2014 
                               8th in 2015
                               DNP in 2016 
 Did ya really think he'd stay away?? Kenny just needed to recharge his batteries after back to back disappointing frustrating seasons. His reward? A team that includes keeper prospects Antonio Brown and Jay Ajayi (in the 12th round). After only 1 top 3 finish in his first 6 seasons in the league, let's see if Kenny can make a triumphant return to the league and become a title contender.

And those are our 12 teams! It's the beginning of what's no doubt going to be a very interesting season!