Well it's finally here. 12 teams aspire to get here, only 6 make it. The Wane McGarity Bowl Playoffs. In 3 weeks, one of the 6 teams left will be crowned the Wane McGarity Bowl Champion? Will Albert be the first team to win it for a 3rd time? Will Mayra be able to claim the title she disappointingly lost two years ago? After two 3rd place finishes, will Eugene finally break through and win it all? Will Ryan be the first #1 seed to win it all? Will Mike's first year back in the league result in a fantasy football championship (boy that would piss Kenny off, lol), will Alex be the darkhorse surprise team that everyone is sleeping on? So many questions, and those questions will be answered as soon as next week. Before the chaos begins though, here's a quick snapshot of the teams left vying for the coveted Wane McGarity Bowl.
#1 Seed-Ryan (Hoosier Daddy)
Regular Season Record: 11-2
Playoff Appearances: 3rd
Last Playoff Appearance: 2012
Best Playoff Finish: 3rd Place (2)
Strengths
QB Play: As far as QB goes, Ben Roethlisberger is one of the best. For the most part Big Ben has been a solid as can come and there's no doubt at this stage of the game having a QB that can put up solid points is a MAJOR advantage to have.
ZEKE!!: Man has this guy been more than amazing. Drafting Zeke so high was such a risky move, but it paid off a thousand times over. Guy is a legit superstar and the sky's the limit with him. Zeke is a huge reason Ryan's been so successful this year.
Strong Complimentary Players: Ryan's team is surrounded with guys like Michael Crabtree, Mark Ingram, Demaryius Thomas, and Thomas Rawls. Even though Greg Olsen has been shitty, you can put him there too. There's not a lot of question marks on this team. They are all capable of putting up great numbers and it's reflective in Ryan's 11-2 record.
Worries
Greg Olsen's Ineffectiveness: I don't want to call these "weaknesses" but "worries" as these are problems that could arise. Greg Olsen has been flat out awful since Ryan traded for him. Luckily tight end is a pretty thin position, but when looking around at who's left, Albert got's a great one in Tyler Eifert, so does Eugene in Travis Kelce, hell Alex has two he can start in Delanie Walker and Jimmy Graham. Really only Mayra and Mike have mediocre options. Olsen really needs to step his game up for Ryan to compete with the other tight ends that are being used.
Mark Ingram's Toe Injury: This is definitely a cause for concern and the fact that Sean Payton is willing to ride Tim Hightower if need be is equally concerning. Ryan's got a couple of weeks to hope Ingram gets more healthy, but if it's something that's going to linger, it might be a problem.
That Damn WR3 Position: Kenny Britt or Steve Smith? It's a question Ryan's had to answer lately and Britt just keeps producing. But can you really trust him in that offense during this critical playoff stretch? Picking the right WR3 is crucial and could be a game changing decision.
#2 Seed Eugene (Rocket Man)
Regular Season Record: 10-3
Playoff Appearances: 3rd
Last Playoff Appearance: 2015
Best Playoff Finish: 3rd Place (2)
Strengths
QB Play: Even with last week's snow driven game, Aaron Rodgers is the #1 fantasy scorer of the entire league. Having him week in and week out is such a huge advantage because he rarely has off games. In fantasy football, we don't care about the Packers regular season, it's purely stats driven and Rodgers is as money as can be there.
Cornerstone WR: It's also very nice to have a top flight wide receiver in Julio Jones. His schedule also looks very nice come with the 49ers and Panthers in Weeks 15 and 16
Reliable TE: It's very hard to have someone to trust at Tight End but Travis Kelce has FINALLY looked like that guy the past few weeks. He's always had the skills, it's just the offensive game plan has always been inconsistent with Kelce. If he's going to be THIS impactful, it's a huge advantage to have.
The Emergence Of Melvin Gordon: I was 100% wrong about Melvin Gordon. He looked like absolute crap last year, but this year he's been nothing short of amazing. I keep waiting for "that week" that he returns to shit but it doesn't look like that's going to happen this year. He's only had 1 single digit scoring game (and that was 9 points) all season, dude has been as consistent as consistent can be. He's got no one challenging him for serious work and he's going to be a huge part of Eugene's playoff push.
Worries
Julio's Nagging Injuries: It's the biggest thing that can derail Eugene's playoffs. Julio Jones deals with constant nagging injuries and now it's turf toe. Hopefully it's not too serious, but it's a slight concern right now. Eugene has a couple of weeks to hope the situation gets better but an unhealthy Julio could turn into a decoy Julio and might be a problem.
The Rest Of The Gang: As money as Julio Jones, Melvin Gordon, and Aaron Rodgers are, the rest of Eugene's team is as inconsistent as you can get. In a perfect world, DeAndre Hopkins would be one of those money guys, but with his performances tied to a terrible QB, it's hard to know what kind of production Hopkins will get. Same with guys like Devante Parker, Kenneth Dixon, Marty B, Rishard Matthews etc. Gordon, Jones, and Rodgers do most of the scoring. For Eugene's sake he can't afford them to have terrible games, because I'm not sure this supporting cast can pick up the slack.
#3 Seed Mayra (Bigger Balls)
Regular Season Record: 8-5
Playoff Appearances: 3rd
Last Playoff Appearance: 2014
Best Playoff Finish: 2nd
Strengths
QB Play: Matt Ryan has always had Elite QB upside for Fantasy purposes, but has really never lived up to the hype...until now. He's had a couple of shaky starts, but this schedule is really good and no doubt Ryan can put up some monster numbers the next 3 weeks.
Best Receiver In The Game Today: Antonio Brown..nuff said
Solid Receiving Group: Outside of Brown, Amari Cooper has been outstanding, Golden Tate has been revived and hell, she doesn't even play DeSean Jackson and to a lesser extent Mike Wallace. This is an excellent group of receivers with no weak link.
Worries
RB Play: On paper, it looks really dangerous and deep but as a season overall, it's been a pretty underwhelming group. Lamar Miller has been for the most part very disappointing and now it looks like he's dealing with some sort of injury every week. Matt Forte is the Jeckyl and Hyde of Fantasy Football, some weeks he looks unstoppable and some weeks he's old and washed up. It's hard to know what Forte you're going to get and now that the Jets are firmly in "next year" mode, who knows what Forte's role will be going forward, it was pretty small Monday Night. Jay Ajayi probably has the best upside of the group but after 3 outstanding weeks, he's kinda tailed off the past 4 weeks and the next two weeks aren't cupcakes against the Cards and Jets (still a good run D) run defenses. To me Mayra's running back play will determine if she wins it all or not. If she can get two of these 3 guys to perform to their potential, she's going to be very tough to beat. If not, it's going to be difficult getting past solid well rounded teams like Albert, Alex, Ryan, Eugene.
Poor TE Play: I love Jason Witten and he's a sure fire Hall Of Famer, but outside of that 1 game anomaly where he went off, Witten just isn't a serviceable startable TE in fantasy football. Besides that 20 point blowup Witten has only gone for double digit points once, and that was Week 1. Mayra has won despite his duds, but now it's high stakes and it's going to be hard to swallow Witten's typical 3-7 point productions, when most teams at this stage have significantly better tight ends. Unfortunately, there's really nobody out there to get, so it is what it is. Just makes it that much more important for Mayra to get the maximum potential from the rest of her team.
4th Seed Albert (Channel 4 News Team)
Regular Season Record: 8-5
Playoff Appearances: 5th
Last Playoff Appearance: 2014
Best Playoff Finish: 1st (2)
Strengths
QB Play: Again, you can say what you want in real life, but in fantasy, when healthy, Andrew Luck is pretty damn good. It also helps when you have T.Y. Hilton on your fantasy team and this is by far the best stack in our league. It's really hard to overcome the Luck-Hilton combo and it has won plenty of games for Albert.
Deepest Team In The Field: It's crazy for a team to trade away A.J. Green and LaGarrette Blount and STILL have the most depth in the league. Thanks to injuries, it took a while to see it come together, but as of today, this is bar none the best team in the field depth wise. There's legit no weak link when healthy. I don't want to jinx it, but Albert's probably a big favorite to win it all. I already talked about the Luck-Hilton combo, then you have Doug Baldwin and Jordan Matthews (when healthy) who are solid receivers, LeSean McCoy is just plain awesome, and despite a small slump, Jordan Howard has reemerged as the Bears lead back and there's no doubt with all the Bears problems, he's going to have a HUGE workload each and every week. Tyler Eifert is an elite tight end, and Doug Martin has RB1 upside but is a flex play, so you really don't need him to do the bulk of your scoring and it's really a perfectly set up team. Since getting his team all on the right page, Albert's won 3 in a row and is putting up some monster points. It's going to be real tough to beat this squad.
Worries
Injuries: The only worry but it's a HUGE worry is health here. Pretty much every guy on this team has been injured at some point this year. Luck, Hilton, Matthews, McCoy, Martin, Eifert all have missed games and/or parts of games this season and are susceptible to getting injured again. Any kind of injury to these guys would derail Albert's chances and to have so many injury prone guys on one team is definitely scary and concerning.
5th Seed Mike (Woe Is You)
Regular Season Record: 8-5
Playoff Appearances: 3rd
Last Playoff Appearance: 2013
Best Playoff Finish: 4th
Strengths
QB Play: Mike took a gamble on Derek Carr (a guy I had initially thought Mark might keep) and it's paid off so far. Carr's performance has been a huge reason why Mike's been able to survive 3 season ending injuries to 3 of his top players and still make the playoffs. His schedule isn't intimidating and Carr should be fine the rest of the way during this playoff run.
OBJ: Again if you have a dominating elite receiver who can go off in a moment's notice, you'll always have a chance to win and that's what Mike has in OBJ. The guy has 30+ point upside. Again him and Carr have basically carried this team to a playoff berth.
Worries
The Supporting Cast: In my opinion, the weakest of the field. It's probably going to take the aligning of who Mike plays underperforming (Mike DOES lead the league in lowest points against) and Mike getting a couple of his other guys to overachieve to get past the first round. Can it get all the way to a title? Well, anything can happen, but strictly looking at it on paper, I just can't see it happening. Too many boom/busts type to count on for 3 straight weeks.
6th Seed Alex (SCLSU MudDogs)
Regular Season Record: 7-6
Playoff Appearances: 2nd
Last Playoff Appearance: 2014
Best Playoff Finish: 5th
Strengths
Elite QB Play: Eugene has the best QB, who's 10 points behind him? Drew Brees. Brees has been a monster all season and he's the unquestioned leader of this squad. He's capable of 30+ point games with ease. Brees will be the key in how far Alex goes this playoff run.
Le'Veon Bell: Outside of David Johnson, he's THE running back to own, slightly edging out Zeke only because Le'Veon is involved in all aspects of the game, receiving and rushing. This is EXACTLY why Alex took the risk of getting Bell at pick #4 with his 3 game suspension. He can have a mediocre rushing game but light it up with receptions. Hell, he doesn't even need to score to be effective, but when he does, his stat lines are monstrous. Having Brees/Bell lead the way is such a huge advantage to have. You definitely can't take Alex lightly.
Overall Depth At Each Position: He doesn't have that DOMINANT receiving that most of the other teams have, but he still has solid guys in Julian Edelman, and Fitz. He's got a solid #2 RB in Carlos Hyde, and not one but two tight ends in Jimmy Graham and Delanie Walker that he could probably play at the same time if he chose to. He's also got Theo Riddick who I rag on, but in PPR he's pretty solid. It's kind of the perfect group of complimentary guys to pair with Brees/Bell leading the way.
Worries
Brees' Home/Road Splits: Brees is a beast, but here's a worry. It's infamously known that for whatever reason Home Brees is way better than Road Brees. Well, Brees plays on the road the next two weeks and one of those weeks is against Arizona at Arizona. Alex better hope he bucks the trend, because if he doesn't, it might be an early exit from the playoffs.
Depth for WR3: Tyler Boyd hasn't exactly taken advantage of the opportunity presented to him when A.J. Green went out with injury, but honestly it's Alex's best bet at that WR3 position. Even one weak play can severely hurt the chances of advancement in the playoffs.
The Flex Problem: It's good to have some depth, but man, to me, it's gotta be tough who to play between Jimmy Graham and Delanie Walker. Both are great options, and you can argue you should start both..but where does that leave Theo Riddick? My concern is Alex plays the wrong guy and it could end up hurting him. The problem is...who's the wrong guy?! The TE/Flex decision will be very nerve wrecking to make and could be a game changer.
Alright, I can do all the analysis in the world, at the end of the day, the players play the games. I think the field is wide open and I wouldn't be surprised one bit if any of these teams ended up our champion. Should be interesting to see unfold!
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