Fantasy Football Mid-Season Report

The mid-way point in the NFL has passed and it is time to check in on Fantasy Football.   For

my two teams, it has been feast or famine.

The Kamino Clone Kids started the season at 4-0 and have since gone 2-4 with some tough losses.  For example, in week 9 they scored well over 200 points at 226.35 only to lose to the 6-2 Dathomir Rancors who put down 236.90 points.  The bright spot is that Nico Collins was to return from the IR in week 10 to join an incredible wide receiver corps of Zay Flowers, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Quincy Williams.  He returned, but he did not play in week 10.  DK Metcalf should also return in Week 11.  Things are looking up for the Clone Kids. 

The Coca-Cola Kids stumbled out of the gate with a 1-3 record and not breaking 200 points once in the first four games.  They struggled with inconsistent play in the running back position and Will Levis struggled before Derek Carr replaced him to similar results.  In week 5, Trevor Lawrence joined the team and Denver took over the defense and the Kids have gone 3-3 since game 5.  Still two games under .500 at the mid-way point, the Kids need to figure out if Kyler Murray is their quarterback.  Rookie Bo Nix is on the bench waiting to join Trevor Lawrence in the two QB league.  Steady point getters, Jahmyr Gibbs and Brock Bowers are looking for some help from Cee Dee Lamb and Javonte Williams in key positions.  

If the Coca-Cola Kids want to make a run at back-to-back championships, they need to straighten the ship and start putting some points on the board through the second half of the season.  One thing that brings hope is that last year's championship season was not a perfect one.  The second half of the season is when they picked up steam.  So, this is something to work towards for the Coca-Cola Kids.  

I will continue to update the original posts with the weekly match-ups and records.  Here are the links to those two posts for the Kamino Clone Kids and the Coca-Cola Kids: 

Kamino Clone Kids

Coca-Cola Kids  

A New Fantasy Football League brings a New Team Name (Updated 12/16/24)

I have been playing Fantasy Sports since the late 1980s when my friends and I got permission from our math teacher on Tuesdays to go in the hall to figure our fantasy points from the baseball team stats in the USA Today.  Over the years, I've won a few seasons, had lots of promise for good seasons, but more than not, they end in disappointing seasons.  I have played Fantasy Baseball, Football, Basketball, and Nascar (I had no business in the Nascar league).  The league I have been with the longest started sometime in the early 2000's.  That is a baseball league league with guys from the West Coast to the East Coast of the United States.  I didn't know most of them when we started and some guys dropped off and some have joined, but we have become good friends even though many of us have never met in person.  

The whole point of this walk down memory lane is to say, when I am asked to join a new league, I struggle mightily to say no.  That said, I joined a new football league this year, and I would like to introduce a new Fantasy Football Team: The Kamino Clone Kids in the Jedi Knights Football League.  

Here's a look at the opening week roster of the Clone Kids: 

Starters: 

QB: Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

RB: Travis Etienne, Jacksonville Jaguars

RB: Joe Mixon, Houston Texans

WR: Nico Collins, Houston Texans

WR: DK Metcalf, Seattle Seahawks

TE: Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburg Steelers

WR: Zay Flowers, Baltimore Ravens

WR: Brian Thomas, Jacksonville Jaguars

WR: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks

DL: Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers

LB: Zaire Franklin, Indianapolis Colts

DB: Kevin Byard, Chicago Bears

Bench: 

QB: CJ Stroud, Houston Texans

RB: Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams

RB: JK Dobbins, Los Angeles Chargers

WR: Hollywood Brown, Kansas City Chiefs

LB: Bobby Okereke, New York Giants

LB: Quincy Williams, New York Jets

DB: Antoine Winfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

I am excited for this league for a few reasons.  First, I've never played in a league where we draft individual defensive players instead of a team defense.  That is kind of fun and offers a new way to strategize both in the draft, but in the season as well.  Second, I'm in this league with some really great friends, and I think that is what it is all about, friendships.  Anyway, after week 3 the Clone Kids are looking pretty good, and headed for a clash with the only other undefeated team in the league, the Pabu Porgs managed by my very excellent friend Colby, host of The Colby Cast.  

Week 1: 1-0

Kamino Clone Kids: 177.6

Khofar Nights:  129.20

Week 2: 2-0

Kamino Clone Kids: 228.45

Mustafar Moof:  188.30

Week 3: 3-0

Kamino Clone Kids: 180.00

Kessel Revolutionaries: 167.50

Week 4: 4-0

Kamino Clone Kids: 184.50

Pabu Porgs:  181.40

Week 5: 4-1 

Crait Vulptex: 216.70

Kamino Clone Kids: 201.35

Week 6: 4-2

Ferrix Rebels: 158.75

Kamino Clone Kids: 152.15

Week 7: 5-2

Kamino Clone Kids: 222.35

Lothal Starbirds: 139.51

Week 8:  6-2

Kamino Clone Kids: 187.15

Alderaan Molators: 186.30

Week 9: 6-3

Dathomir Rancors: 236.90

Kamino Clone Kids: 222.85

Week 10: 6-4

Khofar Knights: 152.59

Kamino Clone Kids:122.55

Week 11: 7-4

Kamino Clone Kids: 204.90

Mustafar Moof: 138.60

Week 12: 8-4

Kamino Clone Kids: 175.10

Kessel Revolutionaries: 167.15

Week 13: 9-4

Kamino Clone Kids: 217.35

Pabu Porgs: 216.40

Week 14: 10-4

Kamino Clone Kids: 202.75

Crait Vulptex: 162.55

Week 15: Round 1 Playoffs 11-4

Kamino Clone Kids: 211.75

Alderaan Molators: 203.50

Week 16: Round 2 Playoffs 11-5

Dathomir Rancors: 274.45

Kamino Clone Kids: 170.80

Week 17: Third Place Game  11-6

Pabu Porgs: 

Kamino Clone Kids: 

The Kamino Clone Kids end the season in 4th place.  

Coca Cola Kids - Fantasy Football Champs!!

Now that we have cleaned up all the confetti, we can finally sit down and reflect on the 23/24 Fantasy Football season.  It was a season that started in a pedestrian sort of way for the Coca-Cola Kids with a 3-4 record by week 7.  But then the kids went on a 5-game win streak and found themselves in the hunt with an 8-4 record then ending the regular season at 9-5.  

After that slow start, the Kids' manager started making some tremendous waiver wire pick-ups and seemed to play the hot players at the right time.  It was masterful managing (luck) to earn the five-game win streak as players like Sean Howell emerged mid-season.  When the Kids' manager realized that he had squeezed all he could out of the Miami Dolphins' defense, he swiftly turned to the Buffalo Bills defense which really brought the points the last several weeks of the season.  

Throughout the season Dak Prescott, Stefon Diggs, Amon-Ra St.Brown were stalwarts whom the Kids could count on every weekend.  Genius waiver wire pickups like Najee Harris, Howell, and late-season pickups of Isaiah Likely and Jake Browning kept the winning ways through the end of the season and playoffs.  

The Kids had a playoff run like no other season winning in the following ways: 

Quarterfinals: Bye

Semifinals: 216.70 - 198.26 over Roll Tide (8-6) the 2020 champions

Final: 207.48 - 149.41 over The Watergirl (12-2) the regular season champions. 

The season was topped with raising the Last Murray Standing Fantasy Football League Champion trophy.  The Kids become one of two teams to win the league since 2013 with their second league championship.  To their credit, the other multi-league winning team, LukeIAmYourFather has won the league six times.  

But, the Coca Cola Kids are the 2024 League Champions!

Friday Favorites: Top 5 Football Players

With the Super Bowl Sunday upon us, I thought I would share my 5 favorite NFL football players in my life.   As with any list, it fluxuates, but here today, these are my 5 favorite: 

5. Warren Moon, QB, Houston Oilers: Moon had a gun for an arm and he could throw the ball.  This is
not an official statement, but it felt like most of his passing yards were in the air, not after the catch.  He threw over 4000 yards four seasons and two of those seasons were over 4,600 yards.  He made the Pro Bowl 8 straight seasons and nine in all.  

4. Jerome Bettis, RB, Pittsburg: They called him the "Bus" but Jerome Bettis was a tank carrying the
ball.  I will never forget how powerful he was playing the Bears early in his career with the Rams.  Bettis for his smash style of running, racked up over 1000 yards rushing in 8 seasons.  

Jerome Bettis: Top 10 Big Guys video  **

3. Joe Montana, QB, San Francisco:  No player frustrated me more in the late 1980's than Joe Montana.
  Why?  Because he, more than anyone, knew how to win.  He stopped several really good Bears teams from reaching the Super Bowl, but I suppose Montana was pretty good himself.  In 1987, he threw 31 touchdowns to lead the NFL.  Montana has a 16-7 playoff record and over 5,500 passing yards in the playoffs.  He won every Super Bowl that he ever played in which is four, if you are counting.  What I remember most about Montana was his poise on the field even when he was under pressure.  

Joe Montana: Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players  **

2. Barry Sanders, RB, Detroit: Sanders was a highlight reel every week on some pretty bad Detroit
teams.  What made Sanders special was his ability to improvise and make defensive players miss.  Sanders was power, but he could spin, cut left to right to make defenders miss and then put on the gas to out run most linebackers and many secondary players.  

Barry Sanders: Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players **

1. Walter Payton, RB, Chicago Bears: He was Sweetness.  What more do I need to say?  Walter Payton was my favorite player growing up and when I think of the Chicago Bears or even favorite players in the NFL, Payton is always the first player to come to my mind.  I will never forget my dad saying to me, as he would a decade later with Michael Jordan, he is the best in the sport.  No one even comes close.  Best is always debatable, but I will always argue that Walter Payton is one of the best.  

I remember as a young boy watching Payton crash into the line over and over and my dad would say, "two yards and a cloud of dust."  The thing with Payton was, he may pound the "two yards" but then he would break out, hit some defenders really hard, and drive down the field.  As he approached the endzone, he would start his classic high-step and run right in.  Where Barry Sanders was a magician in making defenders miss him, Payton would make defenders pay the price for getting in his way.  

Walter Payton was innovative as he made the goal-line dive famous.  I will never forget the front page of the Chicago Tribune sports page one Monday morning with a end zone line shot of Peyton flying over the defensive line to score the touchdown.  Besides just being one of the greatest running backs, Payton was versitle as he set numerous blocks to set the fullback free.  Peyton could throw the ball as he completed 8 touchdown passes in his career.  This Chicago Bear brought my brother, dad and I together every Sunday afternoon for years.  I am grateful for that, and for the amazing skill he shared with all of us.  

Walter Payton: Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players **

** The videos are not available to post on the blog, so I supplied the YouTube links to checkout the highlights for yourself.