SD Fantasy football 2k19 recap and CHampionship Preview
Season recap
Going into the 12th year of our league and our league is as strong as ever. All 12 teams returned in search of the prestigous championship trophy and to be immortalized on the rafters of Altamont Place. Many story lines developed going into Season 12 after Don Rigz secured his first ever title after 11 long years leaving only Jun-Jun'ing as the only original member of the SDFF 2K league without a title. Will this be the year Jun finally secures the trophy? Panda Trooper and Hotel, Odell, Golladay Gin are the other 2 teams still trying to lock up their first ever title. The Flying Ninjas and Show Me Your TD's are also vying for their second title after 9 long years of missing out. Will we have our first 3 time winner? Don Magic Johns, Hashis Man Thang and Da Egots look to hold that honor.
We started this year going back to our roots and embraced the digital age once again by drafting through the ESPN site and allowing any and all devices to be used. With the use of all information at our fingertips this looked to be one of our toughest and most evenly skilled draft yet. The draft trended in favor of high quality running backs being selected in the 1st and 2nd rounds while only two teams opted for a Zero RB strategy. ESPnis and NKOTB both opted to select highly ranked WR early in hopes of striking gold later in the draft. Hashis Man Thang took an alternative route, as he always does and went with 3 QB's in the first 9 rounds hoping to stash trade bait for later in the year. ESPN early predictions had Hotel, Odell Golladay Gin as the early favorite with a well rounded draft that included Alvin Kamara, Mike Evans, George Kittle and Sony Michel. You can see a full recap of the draft over at https://sleeper.app/draft/nfl/471479803749330944.
As the season progressed the ESPnis, Da Egots and Don Magic John took control of the East division early and never looked back. ESPnis put on his GM hard hat and went to work on the trading block, acquiring Phillip Lindsay, Tom Brady and Mark Andrews via trade, locking up the number 1 seed and a bye week. Da Egots also advanced to the playoffs on the backs of Derrick Henry, Chris Godwin (later traded to City of Champs Sundays Best) and Travis Kelce. Don Magic Johns took the final playoff spot in the East with a well rounded roster including Deshaun Watson, Ezekiel Elliot and Chris Carson. Panda Trooper couldnt shake off early losses and failed to make the playoffs despite having a strong Dalvin Cook and emerging stars DeVante Parker and Terry McLaurin. A down year for players like Patrick Mahomes and James Conner held Show Me Your TDs out of the playoffs after making it to the semi-finals last year. The early favorite going into the season Hotel, Odell, Golladay Ginn was held out of the playoffs after a very disappointing season from the 2nd overall pick Alvin Kamara.
The West division saw long time favorite and everyone's best friend Jun Juning struggled early and often with injuries to Saquon Barkley, Kerryon Johnson, Cam Newton and TY Hilton. Jun Juning could not recover form the injury bug as he finished last in the West and will have to wait til next year to try an obtain the elusive championship. Hashis Man Thang also suffered through injuries most of the year to David Johnson and Greg Olsen and failed to make the playoffs. NKOTB made a late run with studs Michael Thomas and Austin Ekeler but fell just short this year. NKOTB has now failed to make the playoffs after winning it all in his rookie season. Don Rigz or should I say Christian McCaffrey was able to secure a playoff spot despite Antonio Brown and having the second lowest amount of points scored with some savvy waiver wire moves, a true bargain hunter. City of Champs Sundays Best looked to be one of the stronger teams heading into the playoffs after a late season trade saw him acquire WR stud Chris Godwin via trade to join his elite WR squad of Cooper Kupp and DJ Moore. The number 1 seed and bye week of the East went to the Flying Ninjas who is looking to ride #1 RB Lamar Jackson and Big Truss Mark Ingram to a championship victory. Check below for ESPN's draft day projections vs final standings chart.
Playoff recap
With ESPnis and Flying Ninjas obtaining BYE weeks going into the playoffs. The first round saw matchups of Don Rigz vs Da Egots and Don Magic Johns vs City of Champs Sundays Best. The first matchup once again showcased the strength of the early GG with Don Rigz advancing with his ragtag group of brothers over Da Egots who was dealt with crucial injuries to Alshon Jeffrey and Miles Sanders during the monday finale. Final Score 110.5 - 91.5. Don Magic Johns showcased the overall strength of his team beating City of Champs Sundays best 124 - 70 while surviving a potential comeback against Russell Wilson, Todd Gurley, Cooper Kupp and Greg Zuerlein. Keeping the hope of a championship match between two Dons alive. The semi-finals saw the highest of highs and lowest of lows when it comes to playing fantasy football. Not even an early GG could save Don Rigz as Flying Ninjas went off to a hot start on Thursday night when Lamar Jackson, Mark Ingram and Lev Bell put up combined 67.5 points. Flying Ninjas never looked back as he advanced to his second championship match in 3 years. The second semi-final match between Don Magic Johns and ESPnis saw how cruel and unforgiving fantasy football can be as a last minute substitution of OBJ in place of Kenyan Drake cost ESPnis big time. Drake put up 37.5 fantasy points on the bench while OBJ only scored 10. Don Magic Johns wins 140.5 - 112. The championship match will feature our two highest scoring teams Don Magic Johns and Flying Ninjas. To preview the Championship match, Let's hear from both of the managers.
Championship preview
Flying Ninjas:
After a long season, it feels amazing to be back in the Championship game. I was there a few years ago, but fell short against Rommel. I’m hoping that it’s not a similar result this time, but I truly believe John’s team has a great chance at making that happen. It’s been a whole 10 years since I actually won a championship, back when I was in the 9th grade and we were using Yahoo and playing with a Team QB. It’s been so long that it feels like I haven’t even won a championship yet. I’m determined to get back to the top, and with this squad, I believe I have a good shot.
For the most part, this team has been good to me. I take full credit for this team because I’ve pretty much used the same lineup every week since week 1, aside from my TE and K (Both injured). I’ve only had 17 transactions all season, second lowest to Carter [13], and I still have $615 left for my transaction money. I’m taking all the pride for having a great draft. Amazing QB play from Lamar (potential keeper???) has kept me afloat all season. These dual threat QBs are the future, and that’s what I said during our draft too. My RBs haven’t been excellent, but they’ve given me good enough numbers for me to keep starting them. My WRs have been solid as well. They’ve all got that big game potential, and it’s made it a little hard for me to decide which receiver to use. The TE position has really been my only struggle this season. I started off hot with a 2 TD game from Delanie Walker, but low usage and ultimately a trip to the IR had me on the waiver wire for TEs until round 1 of the playoffs, when I picked up Tyler Higbee who has been producing at a solid rate. My K was also solid this year. I drafted Gostowski, just as I do every year, but a season ending injury forced me down a different path, and that’s when I picked up Matt Gay, who has given me what is expected from a kicker each week. But the biggest surprise of the season was my Pats D/ST. Double digit scoring weeks in 9 out of the 15 weeks we’ve played, hitting 35 points in week 2. They’ve been amazing and I couldn’t be any prouder to have drafted them.
Good luck to John. I obviously want to win, but I wouldn’t be too upset if I lost to your team. Best 2 teams this season!
Don Magic Johns:
Another year, another championship run! I approached this season just about the same I do every season. I started my draft prep a couple days prior and hoped for the best. My plan was always to keep Zeke even with the hold out. I didn’t plan on taking Melvin Gordon but since he was available I felt the gamble might pay off. With Ekeler’s emergence it hasn’t been the home run I thought he would be but he has been decent nonetheless. I’ve had some close losses this year but my team has been fairly consistent throughout. The biggest pain point for me this season has definitely been the tight end position. Evan Engram has been great when he’s played but he’s been injured way too much to be a factor. I’ve thrown a lot of shit TE’s against the wall and none of them have stuck. I almost got bit hard in the semi’s by not paying attention and leaving an inactive David Njoku in the game. Lucky for me Joel played others over Kenyan Drake.
Looking forward at my matchup this week against Shawn the plan is damage control. Hoping Lamar Jackson and Mark Ingram don’t beat me up too much. I’ve seen them put up 60pts on their own and come back from huge deficits. I’ve played Lamar Jackson in multiple leagues 5 times this season and have lost every matchup. The rest of Shawn’s team is nothing to brush off as they have huge boom potential as well.
My team however has been really strong going into the championship. My stud rbs Zeke and Chris Carson have been just that and Julio Jones looks to be back to his old ways. For the finals I plan on bringing in some veteran leadership to my bench to help the morale going into the game. Overall I think the matchup will be close and whoever wins will surely be deserving. Good Luck to Shawn and final GG’s to everyone for another good season!