Nick's Note: Sean wrote these following Week 4 as I was going back to work. They've sat in drafts for 2 weeks and are too good not to post. Ranking order is based off where everyone was following Week 4, but I've updated records/points forced to where they currently stand. Everything you read from this point on was written by Sean or Will. Please enjoy.
Well, well, well Y’all didn't think I'd take two fucking years off in a row did you?
I get it. I phoned it in last year. I auto-drafted and never set a lineup
(until someone complained, but more on that later). I shit the bed last year.
My bad. So who am I to put out a power rankings when I’m the only
undefeated team? No one really. I don’t want to do this. But as our
commish is pretending he’s busy with a new baby (really dude she’s at that
eat/sleep/repeat stage) and our interim commish is busy playing video
games (would it kill ya to spend an hour a week doing this?) SOMEONE
has to put out rankings. Now this is going to be a bit different from what
Nick does. See, he has these fancy formulas and records of The Captain’s
League to fall back on. I’m going off this year’s ESPN stats only. This post
will also contain more R rated language than normal (Mom, time to stop
reading now).
Any italicized comments from now on were added by one of the commissioners.
Also, any GIFs were not my doing. The last thing I want to say is this is
meant in good fun and I can take any trash talk coming back my way. Slainte!
#7 (Tied) Trips onya B 2-4 589.16 PF
Well going WR with the first five picks was a new one in The Captain’s League.
How’s that working out Chip? Maybe time to go back to the “Started” team
name? ‘Cause you are at the bottom.
Editors Note: After week 1 I thought Corey was a genius for drafting 5 WRs
in a row and ending up with RB1 Javonte Williams and a serviceable Aaron
Jones as his RB room. Unfortunately Burrow is Hurt, Jones is dead, Herbert
forgot that Ladd Mckonkey is on his team. It might be over… Time will tell…
#7 (Tied) Wait and Pray 3-3 625.16 PF
Oh man, I hate to bash my own Godfather. But seriously Timmy, from
the bottom of my heart, STOP DRAFTING 49ERS! Yeah CMC was a no-brainer
and I’m guilty of fan-boy status also (Good bye Jack Bech) but as a life long
Raiders fan, I know a dumpster fire when I see one. But seriously, how did you
give Eddie his first W of the year? Step up and show me something Don Coreone (sic).
#7 (Tied) Fast Eddie 2-4 629.98 PF
Bullshit. Absolute bullshit. I change my team name the first couple years
and then stick with the one that got me my first championship. This guy hasn’t
changed his team name since joining. But is he getting pressure to change his
name? Where are the outcrys (sic) over Fast Eddie? Not from me because I
wanted to keep my team name. Anyway, congrats on your first W. Don’t quit
on us or someone might complain to the commish to have your roster set for
you but only at a time it's convenient for them.
Editors Note: Eddie I like your team but PLEASE start Etienne man hes been
a top 10 rb and the jaguars look like a whole new beast. PLEASE.
#7 (Tied) Strictly Bangers 1-5 673 PF
Spousal abuse. My Dad got beat down by my Mom. IDK maybe he
likes that sort of thing. There didn’t seem to be any hard feelings in the
Brown house on Sunday. But since I’m playing Bobby B this week, and
fantasy karma is real, I can’t lay it on too heavy. Fuck it, I’m crossing that
line. 34-0? To San Diego State? Didn’t Dave go to SDSU? Maybe you
should have drafted Sproles with the first pick. And ANOTHER team that
doesn’t get shit for not changing their name! If I hadn’t taken a sponsorship
I’d go back to Joe Buck Yourself today.
Editors Note: In other news Jaydon Blue won the “Most Improved” superlative
on the Cowboys Practice Squad after a TOUGH 4 yard run between the
5th string tackles.
#4 (Tied) Mama’s Homemade Salsa 2-3 586.84 PF
This fucking guy. Let me be clear. He didn’t have a baby. Christa had a
baby. He’s milking every last bit of paternity leave he can get. OK, maybe a
little unfair cause I’ve never been there/done that. But if there were moms in
this league I’m sure I’d get the feminist vote. Also, my two favorite pictures
are the first time I held Lily and when I knew she was a Brown when she flipped
the bird to the camera. So yeah. Nick’s a Dad. And probably not going to win
this year. Sorry Pops
Editors Note: Nick has lost Ceedee Lamb while both Chase Brown and King
Henry have lost their QBs and somehow his team doesnt look terrible quite
yet. He has demercado and Jordan Mason who are both getting starts?
This might go down as the best draft in league history.
#4 (Tied) Are you kittling me AKA Puke Nukem 3-3 639.6
I don’t even know where to go with Gabe’s team. Except on a personal
note. Fuck Dave Montgomery, Stop stealing touches from Gibbs. Ok, I got that
out. Oh you little shit! You changed your team name as I was writing this.
Some of us stand by our names! Some with less allegiance change their
names mid-season. And some take a buy out… oops. Fuck off cuz. I'll see ya
next week.
Editors Note: Gabe has the Best 2-2 team by a long shot and he is on pace to
win the Will Brown “Most Active Owner” award this season.
#4 (Tied) CAN’T TOUCH THIS 3-3 666 PF
So like a teenage girl using ALL CAPS. You’d think the spelling bee
master would know something about grammar. At least it’s spelling and not
math. Jesuchristo hermano (that’s German mom, and definitely not swearing)
I’m still not sure she’s got the new scoring figured out. “Josh Allen never scored
under 20 points last year! I know I had him last year!” That’s all I heard week 1.
I have a gun, someone come shoot me.
#2 (Tied) Always Sunny In Philadelphia 3-3 643.88 PF
Jimmy, what can I say? Not a lot actually. We’ve only met a couple times.
And as my sister in laws brother in law I don’t really have any dirt or shade to
throw your way. But you’re still family so fuck you and have a nice day. Also you
strike me as a cat or hamster person. Get a real pet. Sorry (not really) I had to take
the sole undefeated spot from you.
Editors Note: This guy is really 3-1 by just starting the Eagles Big 3. What
Happened to the game I love?
#2 (Tied) Ball Quaeda 5-1 709.86 PF
Ah.. my benefactor. Luckily there are no hard right wing MAGA’s in this
league. I mean… anything with a resemblance to al quaeda would be met
with pitchforks, red hats, burning crosses and ‘Merica's fav AR. Maybe 9/11
was an inside job. Maybe Will and I rigged the draft. Maybe aliens did
land in Roswell. And maybe Will has a real team.
Editors Note: Ball Quaeda has no affiliation with any terrorist organizations.
Any similarities in name or team logo are strictly coincidental and do not reflect the
views or actions of Ball Quaeda past present or future.
#1 Sponsored By Will 6-0 769.06 PF
“This guy took everyone that the predraft articles said not to take!” Nick
Brown. The day after my birthday. Eat it bro. I’ll let Nick and Will
talk shit about me…..
Editors Note: I’ve been there Sean. Riding high sitting pretty at 4-0 feeling like
you got a world beater clearing out a shelf making room for the trophy. Hell,
I once went 8-0 before everything fell apart and I became just another first
round exit.
Sure, the team looks unstoppable now, 3 RB1s, a bunch of WRs that are
punching above their weight class, and the best TE in football? What could
go wrong? Can the luck run out? Poor Management? INJURIES? Who knows.
Just dont get too cozy Sean, just last week you were rostering 3 tight ends and
I don’t often share a lot about my life outside of Fantasy
Football in these posts, but under the circumstances I figure I might as well.
In May I got to travel to New York for work and attend the Sports Emmys. Last September,
I worked Noche UFC at Sphere (the first live sporting event in that venue) and
I was the creative director for one of the shoots we had to do as part of that
on top of producing a behind the scenes documentary about the event. It was a
massive undertaking that I played a small part of but that small part allowed me to walk the red carpet where I won my first Emmy.
Aint she a beaut'?
It was pretty sweet! I got to wear a suit and eat fancy
dinners and when I got home I found out that a deal I had been working on with
Fanatics got signed, meaning that I’m now in charge of UFC’s podcast portfolio.
It’s a long term deal for a good sum of money (that I won’t see a dime of) and a
number of shows I conceptualized are going to be made because of it. I even got
to host a few podcast episodes opposite UFC Hall of Famers (which will go live
later this year).
Aint he a beaut'?
So that’s kind of cool and made for a really busy June. But
then we hit July.
On July 7th, 2025, Deputy Commissioner Christa Brown
gave birth to our first child, Lily. Lily emerged from the womb 6 weeks early.
She weighed 4 pounds and 13 ounces and immediately flipped off the nurses
attending to her.
Aint they a beaut'?
We had read all the books. We had taken all the classes. I
had practiced diaper changes and swaddling and CPR and none of it helped once
she arrived because she moves a LOT more than a plastic, 1-pound doll.
But, over the last 6 weeks, we’ve adapted. I’ve taken on the
night shift, meaning that I stay up until 3 or 4am feeding her bottles while
Christa takes the mornings. We’ve figured out some of Lily’s quirks (she needs
her hands free), her likes (caterpillar stuffed animals), and her dislikes
(having her neck touched).
Lily with said caterpillar
We haven’t mastered it by any means, but the days have
slowed just a bit. One night, just last week, I was feeding her during my
shift. It was a little after midnight when I pulled the bottle out of her mouth
and went to burp her. I patted her back in the dark – The only sound in the
house coming from my cupped hand hitting her back as he grunted with each blow.
After a minute or two, she burped and I pulled her off.
Usually I lay her back down at that point so she can go back to sleep, but for
some reason I just held her in my arms. I looked at her as she lay there and occasionally
she’d peek to make sure I was still the one holding her. It was a rare, quiet
moment between the two of us that I’ll never forget.
And that’s because she looked at me, just big enough for me
to hold in one arm, and said “how the fuck did you lose the John Cunha Memorial
Trophy?”
I looked at her, disgust growing on her tiny, little face. “You
seriously had Jayden Daniels, Brian Thomas Jr., Derrick Henry, Terry McLaurin,
Drake London, and David Montgomery and you let Uncle Jimmy take it from you?”
“Well, your Uncle Jimmy had Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase and
–“
“He had a POCKET PASSER and you let him win?”
I just looked at her. Her disgust shifted to rage and back
until she closed her eyes.
“Send me back.”
“To the crib?”
“No, to the hospital. Mom can come but I’m going to live in a
house of winners.”
“But I…I won an Emmy…”
“’I wON aN EmMy’ Do you even hear yourself? Do you even look
yourself in the mirror, Nicholas? Just send me back.”
She kept her eyes closed and we sat in silence for awhile. I
knew she wasn’t asleep because she wouldn’t shift and squawk like she normally does. She just lay in
my trembling arms in the dark.
“But what’s the lesson?” I asked.
“The what?”
“The lesson. Every year when I do the Power Rankings I open
it with a lesson.”
She didn’t answer. At least, not for awhile. I watched her
stoic little face, unmoving and unflinching, until she opened her eyes to meet mine.
“Win or go the fuck home.”
Welcome to the 2025 Captain’s League Power Rankings. The
fact that you’re reading this means that we’re mere days from football season
and mere weeks away from a new TCL Champion. Congratulations to Jimmy for his
first win last year. I hope that the John Cunha Memorial Trophy makes your
children proud up there in Spokane.
Because of my feisty little newborn, I needed some help with
the Power Rankings this year, and who better to help me than Interim
Commissioner and 3x TCL Champion Will Brown? Will’s entries are italicized
below.
For those of you who are new or who have been in the league
for years without understanding how these rankings come to be, it’s simple: On
the day of the draft, I input everyone’s teams into a number of sites. These
sites give me some actionable data that I then plug into a formula I
constructed (the Sproles Predictive Aggregate Ranking Kappa, or SPARK). Once I
have each team’s SPARK score, I aggregate the predictive odds that each team
has for making the Playoffs and then I rank them below in order of Highest 2 Lowest (in theaters now).
Thank you to our sponsors
There is zero bias or personal input in these numbers. It is
based solely on data that I got on Draft Day. If you want my personal feedback,
trust me that you don’t.
I think that covers everything. Welcome back.
1.) Ball Quaeda (96.5 SPARK, 81% chance of Playoffs)
Will is many things: He’s a 3-time champion, an interim
commissioner, an athlete. He’s a streamer, a cinephile, and now he’s number 1
in the preseason rankings. For a man with such an illustrious resume, it may
come as a surprise to hear that this is only the second time that Will has gone
into a season as the top-ranked roster.
Makes no sense, right?
His strategy is seemingly non-existent. Some years he leans
RB (like Sean), some years WR (like Corey). He rarely reaches on a QB or a TE
(like Lindy). He doesn’t salivate over rookies (Bobby B) or fan boy over his
own team (Tim). No, instead he’s steadfast and relies on a strategy of letting
the draft come to him.
He is consistently inconsistent. He has started 0-3 just as
many times as he has 3-0. He has won the league coming into the season ranked
#3, #6, and #7. He’s made the playoffs 6 times in 13 years. Call it lucky, call
it unlucky. Call it what you will. But when you look at this roster, it’s easy
to see the vision of a man who is tied for the most rings.
There is friskiness and value in Ashton Jeanty and Bucky Irving.
There is a steady floor and heapings of upside in Nico Collins and Tee Higgins.
There are fun lottery tickets in Drake Maye, Calvin Ridley, George Pickens, and
“Evil” Quinshon Judkins. It’s a very Will team in that we have no idea how they’ll
pan out but the upside is there and every single player is someone you’d want
to watch.
These rankings are based on cold, hard numbers and not
personal projection but it’s easy to see why Will was picked as the #1 team
with a high chance of making playoffs: He’s got strong starters, he’s got
depth, and he’s rigging the system. But more on that later...
2.) Hooked on Bonix (95 SPARK, 60% chance of Playoffs)
MASTERCLASS ALERT
That's synergy, baby
Don’t let his absence fool you, Gabe had a tailor made
draft strategy that had to be handcrafted by the man himself. Hours of
research, dozens of mock drafts to perfect the round by round instructions
(followed perfectly by the interim commissioner).
The only thing he couldn’t account for? The absolute
serial killer level sick minds that fill The Captains League. Getting stuck
with local blocker George Kittle at TE and missing out on the top 3 QBs really
hurts, and did he really think Bobby B and Jimmy weren’t gonna start drafting
defenses 4 rounds early? Regardless, Gabe has himself a great squadron that I
could see him drafting even if he was present, putting him at rank 2 in the
preseason rankings.
3A.) Sponsored By Will (92.75 SPARK, 81% chance of Playoffs)
BREAKING NEWS: For the first time since 2020 (where he
briefly went from “Joe Buck Yourself” to “Jeff Buck Yourself” and back), Sean
Brown has changed his team name. Was it of his own accord? Not necessarily.
Sean was financially motivated to change his name.
We in the league office have been privately deliberating
about whether to approve or whether to ban foreign entities from buying stakes
in our league. Now, I believe that it’s a failure on our part to not have
gotten ahead of this trend by issuing new amendments. However, never in our
wildest dreams would we have anticipated a current team owner purchasing a
stake of a DIFFERENT team.
Quite frankly, it’s sickening. It’s unfair and creates an
imbalance. What do we do when the trade deadline approaches and Sean happens
to trade his top players to Will for peanuts? I mean, it’s not like he hasn’t
done this before! We all remember the Great Benjals Robbery of 2012!
And what do you know!? The same year that Will purchased an
ownership stake in a 2nd team, he also voted to REMOVE VOTES ON
TRADES – A vote meant to remove anti-corruption measures and to give more power
to the commissioner. Remind me: Who volunteered to step in as interim
commissioner the same year that these other changes were implemented?
We’re being taken advantage of. And, worst of all, it’s
happening in plain sight. They’re daring us to say something. I’ve been fending
off Saudi money for years (“Riyadh Season Mama’s Homemade Salsa” doesn’t
exactly roll off the tongue) but when I step aside for one second corruption
rears its ugly head.
IT GOES ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP
How can we stop this? Or rather, how can I stop this?
Lord knows how many of you are on the take and are benefitting from such
obvious corruption. I mean, to allow Will’s name on the #1 AND #3 teams in the
rankings? You can’t tell me that that’s not fishy. Yes, Sean’s roster is good.
He took good players at spots that make sense, but you can’t tell me that Jimmy
and Tim haven’t received gift baskets or envelopes of nonsequential bills just
so that things fell the right way.
3B.) Mama’s Homemade Salsa (92.75 SPARK, 36% chance of
Playoffs)
Derrick Henry is the ripe age of 31 years old and every
year the same questions arise, is father time catching up to him? has the magic
run out? is my goat washed? This is a common theme on Nick’s team: 28 year old
DJ Moore, 30 year old Courtland Sutton, 35 (yes, THIRTY FIVE) year old Travis
Kelce. These old bags of bones all have something to prove this season and so
does Nicky B: has he gone soft? is he losing touch? is he a Derrick Henry
Merchant?? At this point the rankings are on his side but only TIME will tell…
5.) Strictly Bangers Football Club (89.75 SPARK, 49% chance
of Playoffs)
As a kid, I used to hear about this thing called
“allowance.” Whether it be through schoolyard conversations or Nickelodeon
dialogue, the term had worked its way into my repertoire. On a number of
occasions, I went so far as to ask my parents if I could have an allowance. The
answer was always the same.
“You do,” my dad said. “I invest it and you’ll get it when
you turn 18.”
Me with all my allowance on my 18th birthday
You see, my dad has somewhat of a passion for investing.
He’d push us to invest as young as we could (we didn’t) and to be on the
lookout for any companies we heard about that were on the verge of taking off,
so to speak. He urged us to learn about the ins-and-outs of the stock market
and, as someone with a whopping $1068 dollars in various stocks, I dare say
that I’m an expert. So that’s why I’m going to pass my wisdom onto you free of
charge.
The key to making money is value. That’s it. That’s the
secret. What you want to do is find things that are not getting traded at the
price that they should be valued at. Sometimes it’s pennies, sometimes it’s
dollars, but you have to look for assets that the public will want before they
know they want it. That inevitably requires education, perspective, and a whole
lot of patience, but it’s a surefire way to turn a profit.
The great Warren Buffett once said that “The stock market is
a device to transfer money from the impatient to the patient.”
Bobby B, for those unaware, is arguably the least patient
man to have ever existed. Whether it be hitting the road, grabbing a meal, or
drafting a rookie running back who made a headline on FantasyPros.com 48 hours
prior to your draft, Bobby B cannot fathom the concept of waiting for
something. I thought that fishing was just tapping your watch while sitting
near a body of water until I was in my twenties.
6:01pm on every Sunday
“RJ Harvey is going to be a stud,” he may argue. “Jaydon
Blue is going to be a starter for the first since his Junior season at Klein
Cain High School,” you may hear him scream. “Matthew Golden is big and strong
and fast and will feast as a true wide receiver one,” he may shout while selectively
skipping articles where Matt Lafleur explains his philosophy of spreading the
ball around and constantly having fresh legs at receiver.
Bobby B after drafting for 4 rounds
Each of those names could be studs, don’t get me wrong. Each
and every one of them could be called on this year to produce and could come up
big. But those names were taken over guys like Mike Evans, DK Metcalf, DJ
Moore, Breece Hall, Deandre Swift, Devonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle, etc. All guys
who have been top-15 at their position already in their NFL careers. Do we
expect these guys to be top-15 at their position as rookies?
Maybe, but probably not. And hey, I like scratching lottery
tickets as much as the next guy. But the idea is to take these guys when we are
through the known commodities and are in the upside portion of the draft. If we
reach, we do so by 10-or-so spots to make sure we get our guy while not burning
a high-value pick on a what-if. I’ve only drafted rookies like De’von Achane,
Sam Laporta, Brian Thomas Jr., and Jayden Daniels so what would I know?
And as if that’s not bad enough, Bobby B now finds himself
halfway down the rankings after boasting that “I win when I’m last in the
preseason rankings.” To make matters even worse, he was actually ranked
#1, #4, and #9 in years where he has won it all. Tough out for the #5 team.
Really, though. Someone save him.
6.) CAN’T TOUCH THIS (88.25 SPARK, 60% chance of Playoffs)
Lindy arguably loves fantasy football more than anyone.
Every year she sets aside time for her mock drafts. She reads, she looks into
draft strategies, she finds out what ADP is and drops it into conversation.
Even after the draft is over, she chops it up. She talks about players she
wanted that were stolen from under her. She bemoans reaches and she pesters new
fathers to take time away from their newborns in order to write up a blogpost
on TheCaptainsLeague.com
I did it. I did it at 2:01 in the morning. Are you happy now?
She’s obsessed. And in a lot of ways that passion shines
through. She knew she couldn’t go wrong with Justin Jefferson at 3. She knew
that Josh Jacobs was the end of a tier break at the end of the 2nd
round. She knew that if she didn’t take Josh Allen in the 3rd then
none of the top QBs would make it back to her.
She knew that Rashid Shaheed puts up big plays as a lottery
ticket, that Keon Coleman could emerge as Josh Allen’s #1 target, that Xavier
Worthy could take a step up with Rasheed Rice suspended. She knew all these
things and had written them down and had taken them to memory.
But did she understand?
Lindy’s starting running backs are Josh Jacobs and Alvin
Kamara. Great football players. Hell, great running backs that I always root
for. How can you not?
But her other running backs are Cam Skattebo and Ray Davis. Two
guys with VERY undefined roles behind established talents. Could they emerge? Sure.
But there are better odds that Josh Jacobs and Alvin Kamara take a step back
than Cam Skattebo and Ray Davis becoming startable running backs.
That puts a BIG strain on your wide receivers to win you
games and Justin Jefferson hasn’t practiced since July. His coach “hopes” he’s
ready for Week One of the season. If he misses, Lindy’s starting wide receivers
are DK Metcalf and Jaylen Waddle.
Lindy's roster with even one injury
Last year I wrote up a big song and dance about Lindy always
going 7-7 (or close to it). She far exceeded those expectations last year and
tied her career high with 10 wins. If she reaches double-digit wins this year then
I will dress my daughter up as a bee and hand deliver her to Lindy with a bottle
of Chateau de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
7.) New Blood (86.75 SPARK, 60% chance of Playoffs)
The Champ sure loves his champs. Jimmy opened his draft with
3 reigning Super Bowl Champions in Saquon Barkley, AJ Brown, and Jalen Hurts.
That sounds like a winning strategy to me. I mean, how can
you beat a guy who gets points for every yard that the World Champions drum up?
Well, OK sure, he’s almost guaranteed a loss during the Eagles’ BYE week, but
I’ll take one loss for a free walk to the playoffs.
And yeah, I guess that losing your Offensive Coordinator to
another team could sting but he was only the OC for one season. Before that
Jalen Hurts “freelanced” and the team “defied the coaching staff” and ranked 15th
in point differential and were 27th in turnovers per game.
Is this your guy?
But what am I saying? We all know that AJ Brown is a drama
queen who demands targets and the Tush Push avoided a ban so Jimmy is bound to
rake in points from his Big 3 while sniping studs like Chuba Hubbard, Tony
Pollard, and Fantasy GOAT Kyle Pitts.
Either Jimmy sees something we don’t or he’s decided to
mercifully concede his efforts at being the first back-to-back champion.
8.) Wait and Pray (82.5 SPARK, 81% chance of Playoffs)
For years I have scratched my head while watching Tim
draft 49er after 49er and today I just want to thank the rest of the league for
saving this man from himself. Gabe taking Kittle and yours truly taking Juaun
Jennings may have saved this mans Draft. Sure he took Christian McCaffrey who a
mere 8 months ago many were saying he would never play football again without
experimental German knee surgery, but who wouldn’t? That kids a ball player!
Sure he took Ricky Pearsal who got shot in the chest less than a year ago but
who wouldn’t? That kids a ball player! Sure he took Michael Pittman Jr. who is
averaging 1 more TD than concussion per season but who wouldn’t? That kids a
ball player!
Rankings be damned I think this team is Tim’s best he’s
ever drafted and is a few breakouts away from competing, never change Tim!
9.) TBD (84.25 SPARK, 33% chance of Playoffs)
Jackie Robinson, Pocahontas, Corey Hewett, what do all
these names have in common? They are pioneers.
As a founding member of the league Corey has been there
through eras, trade reform, the Darren Sproles first rounder, QBs early, QBs
late, even the Mickey Mouse ring keepers season: but are we about to enter a
new era? What Corey has done this draft has the potential to change The
Captains League forever.
FIVE WIDE RECIEVERS in FIVE ROUNDS, I thought he was
crazy, I thought he was trolling, I thought my eyes deceived me but when I saw
Corey’s final roster I saw the vision. Analytics show that top WRs are more
consistent than top RBs and if any of these mid round RBs pay off we may be
looking at a MONSTER come week 5. Round that off with a steal at TE and a
bigger steal at QB? The rankings don’t like it, but I’ll say it: I do.
It's crazy enough it just might work.
10.) Fast Eddie (82.5 SPARK, 60% chance of Playoffs)
Eddie had a rough draft.
Let’s get a few things out of the way: Your draft ranking is
naturally going to be deflated by these websites when you draft 10th
overall. It’s just the way these sites crunch the numbers without taking draft
position into account. Every 1st round pick will be punished for not
being Bijan Robinson or JaMarr Chase, so obviously Eddie is at a disadvantage
for having 9 players go before his turn.
Because of that, we need to realize that the analytics were
naturally going to penalize him. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that Eddie drafted 10th last year
and he wound up #1 in the Power Rankings, so clearly said penalty isn’t big
enough to completely throw things off the rails. “But Nick! The rankings are
made up anyways! The Sproles Predictive Aggregate Ranking Kappa? What the actual
hell is that? It doesn’t mean anything and it holds no weight over how things
end up!”
THAT’S WHERE YOU’RE WRONG! In my research, Eddie has
actually been the gold standard of analytics for these power rankings. Since
entering the league in 2015, Eddie has finished more than 4 spots of his
preseason ONE time (and that includes the years where we had a 12-man league).
He averages 2.6 spots, meaning that if he maintains his average he would finish
7th to end the year.
Now, historical data may not entirely dictate present
performance, but while Eddie has some young studs in Treveyon Henderson and
Colston Loveland, he’s also fallen to the classic pitfalls of early drafts.
Since our draft on July 27, quite a few of Eddie’s higher profile players have fallen
on draft boards.
Player
Where they’re drafted
Where Eddie took them
De’Von Achane
12
10
D’Andre Swift
57
50
Zay Flowers
55
51
Jordan Addison
98
71
Is it an insurmountable climb to contention? Not at all. It’s
a long season and this is all based on projection at this point until real
games are played. Is it a good look? Not necessarily. These reaches are hard to
swallow. Especially considering how strong of a drafter Eddie normally is. Are
they as bad as Bobby B’s? Not even close.
