Fantasy Awards 2024

Josh and Matt wrap up the 2024 Fantasy Football season with a discussion about player highlights and low-lights.

Transcript

00:00:03:02 - 00:00:31:14
Josh
All right. Welcome back to another episode of Your Other League. This is your host, Josh. And this. You know, this is still, fantasy football and fantasy sports as well as sports podcast. So, I just wanted to remind everybody of that. And we're going to be talking about a little bit of fantasy football today. So, yeah, this is this is your other league, you know, we got a great show for you guys today.

00:00:31:14 - 00:00:36:23
Josh
I'm really excited to be back in your feed. We got Matt joining us today. What's going on Matt, how are you?

00:00:37:01 - 00:00:40:09
Matt
Good man. Good to be back in the I would say you're looking fresh today bro. Fresh new haircut.

00:00:40:09 - 00:01:07:13
Josh
Looking good. Yeah dude. Fresh new cut buddy. You know it. Thank you. We got we got a fun time ahead today, but, before we get into that, you know, I got to start out with my thank you's. Thank you so much, Andy, for being on that last episode. That was a really good time. A ton of fun to just sit there and, shoot the shit about NFL franchises and what makes us fans, that's always the most fun that we have on the show, is kind of when we're just, hanging out and talking about our favorite thing.

00:01:07:13 - 00:01:26:14
Josh
So really appreciate you coming on that show, Andy. And, we'll be seeing a lot more of him soon. So, don't you guys worry. And, of course, I want to take this opportunity to welcome all the new listeners. We've had a flood of new listeners coming into the show. We just want to say, hey, we see you guys out there.

00:01:26:20 - 00:01:43:22
Josh
Make sure that you have an opportunity. If you have an opportunity, check out the back catalog. There's a ton of fun episodes. We've been doing this for almost 100 episodes now. I know we've had. If you go back to the very beginning, there might be a little bit of a dip in quality. But, still an incredible show.

00:01:43:22 - 00:02:05:12
Josh
Still great substance in there. And, you know, we've always had the most fire editor, in the game, so, Yeah, go ahead and check out all the back stuff. But welcome all the new, new listeners and international listeners, from all over the place. So really happy to have you all, here with us. We see you go ahead and write in.

00:02:05:12 - 00:02:29:04
Josh
We know you're listening. So, thank you so much. And everyone who's been with us, please keep sending in your favorite moments from the first 100 episodes of the show. This has been a wild ride. We've had some great moments in the past. Ryan and I are working on putting together a fun little episode, to kind of reminisce on the past of the show.

00:02:29:04 - 00:02:55:08
Josh
So please continue to send those. And we want as many fan moments sent in as possible because we want to know, you know, what you guys have liked over the first 100 episodes, and what we can continue to do in the future. To keep the listeners and all of our fans and friends and family happy. So please continue to send those in, and things that we don't want to see sent in, deranged messages from Chiefs fans.

00:02:55:09 - 00:03:14:17
Josh
It's been going on all season. It's like Ryan usually gets this stuff. Ryan checks out all that. He sees fan mail. He sees all this stuff before I see it. So I I'll like, see like a group of like ten. Just like hate messages from Chiefs fans. And it's just like, okay. I mean, we we see everything that comes in.

00:03:14:17 - 00:03:38:11
Josh
If you're getting on there and you're writing a comment on our show or you're or you're texting us in, it's it's we're all seeing it. So, you know, maybe we'll try to maybe get some more Chiefs fans to talk about this stuff on the show, but, and maybe I'll have Ryan help me by putting together some of the best of fan mail that we've, received over the course of the season.

00:03:38:13 - 00:03:46:02
Josh
And maybe that can be something that goes in that final 100 or 1 hundredth, the special 100th episode. Not finally.

00:03:46:03 - 00:03:59:20
Matt
I was going to say I would love to read some, like, angry fan letters like on the show. Like we could do, like, kind of like an oral, like, you know, like a, an oral telling of all the hate that we're getting. I, I like that idea. Let's, let's let maybe, maybe we can read like, the, like the meanest ones or something like that.

00:03:59:21 - 00:04:12:07
Josh
Well, and it's not necessarily even the vitriol, it's the derangement and delusion of the Chiefs fandom. That's the biggest issue is they're just off base.

00:04:12:09 - 00:04:17:01
Matt
Have they become like the new Philly fans? Like, are they taking the throne as like some of the worst fans in the league?

00:04:17:03 - 00:04:36:12
Josh
I don't know about that. I, I just Philly fans are absolutely obnoxious. We've been hating on them for the last couple episodes now, so we better drop that or we're going to start receiving some fucking mail from them. So but yeah, Chiefs fans, we hear you, we see you. We still want Chiefs to lose. Sorry. It's not it's just a that's just not like it's.

00:04:36:12 - 00:04:40:11
Matt
Not our fault. Like it's I mean it's it's what America wants. It's not just.

00:04:40:11 - 00:04:57:17
Josh
Us. Exactly. And if you remember in the past and I know because I've talked about this before on the show, the Rams flub flubbed out of the playoffs last year. And I said, who am I going to root for now? And I went two Chiefs fans. And this is I've got receipts. If they're asking me to bring these up.

00:04:57:17 - 00:05:17:05
Josh
I went to Chiefs fans last year and I said, hey, Rams are out. I'm thinking I'm thinking about rooting for the Chiefs for the rest of the season. What do you think every single one of them said, come on in. The Chiefs kingdom, we'll take you. We're happy to have you. They're still on that same vibe, but no way.

00:05:17:11 - 00:05:28:23
Josh
Not this year. I'm sorry. It just it just isn't. It's different when you're headed for the three peat, the asterisk ridden three peat. But yes, I do.

00:05:29:01 - 00:05:39:00
Matt
Who are you riding with now? Like now? Obviously, like I have, I'm in the same position as you now that the Ravens are out. But now that the Rams are out, like, who are you going all in on?

00:05:39:02 - 00:05:48:14
Josh
I don't know if I'm going to. I can't say who I'm going all in on. On the last episode I made some picks, so I'll just whatever I said they're, I'm going to have to stick with so.

00:05:48:20 - 00:05:55:14
Matt
I can I can tell you I'm going. I mean, ravens are out. I'm going all in on the commanders, man. I hope they go all the way.

00:05:55:16 - 00:06:18:09
Josh
Yeah, a lot of America's with you, Ryan. He's nodding over there. Ryan's. Ryan you're not allowed though. He's literally Ryan has he's maxed out. He's capped out the number of teams that he's allowed to root for. Period. It's there's a cap you reach. I know we didn't mention this at all on the last night, because it was just me and Andy free flowing, and Ryan wasn't really able to get in on what he thinks of the franchise this year.

00:06:18:09 - 00:06:37:09
Josh
But Ryan, actually, there's a, memorandum against Ryan rooting for any more teams. He really wishes he could root for the commanders. And this is what happens, Ryan, when you blow your load year after year. He switched teams so many times, he says he's 40 Niners fan. He's been on the show and said that. But yeah, we'll have to have Ryan come on.

00:06:37:13 - 00:06:54:18
Josh
He does not want to start getting into football fandom truths, because he really wants me to talk about my experience as a Rams fan at a Cardinals special like game event, and I've refused to talk about that on the show. So maybe I do need to be quiet here. I just got to stop Ryan. You're right. All right.

00:06:54:20 - 00:07:19:18
Josh
Yes. But, commanders, a lot of people are on that wagon to Matt. They want to see. It's just fun. You're rooting for fun? Football. Exactly. It's just. Yeah, I don't I don't want to. Like I said, I would love to see the David versus Goliath situation in the Super Bowl. There's there's a lot of things I'd like to see, but, yeah, I don't I'm not riding with anyone.

00:07:19:19 - 00:07:27:17
Matt
You got to pick. You got to pick one though, man. Like, like out of out of the four teams left, who do you want to see when host. You know, host the trophy at the end.

00:07:27:19 - 00:07:44:05
Josh
I'll pick I'll pick you. I'll see you after this weekend's game. So. Oh, okay. Yeah. We'll see what happens there. We've got a great show for you guys today, and we're going to be talking about we're going to be going back in the past, over the entire season and doing some fantasy football awards for having a little bit of fun here today.

00:07:44:07 - 00:08:05:18
Josh
There was a great article released actually, that I initially saw by, ESPN fantasy, which is where I do a lot of my fantasy football. But Matt and I found this article that I thought just had some more fun style awards, and I kind of like the way that they did it a little bit better. By Yahoo!

00:08:05:20 - 00:08:08:00
Josh
Yahoo! Sports. So,

00:08:08:02 - 00:08:12:08
Matt
Why did you say it like that? Yahoo! Yahoo!

00:08:12:10 - 00:08:38:21
Josh
Yeah, I did, I'm from the.com boom. But yeah, I just, I thought it'd be fun to just go over this article. We'll give some credit here. It's by, a gentleman named Scott P, and now ski is the, lead writer on the article. And there's also, like, a couple more contributors. Contributors. Andy Barron's is kind of at the top too.

00:08:38:21 - 00:09:02:06
Josh
So Scott Pinsky, Andy Barron's shout out to those two at Yahoo Sports, for putting together this list of fantasy football awards. Matt and I will be just kind of dropping our commentary over it as we give these, as we give the list and, you know, saying whether we agree or not, obviously, we know that there are differences in how these things are scored.

00:09:02:11 - 00:09:18:16
Josh
You know, across different leagues and all that stuff. But in general, it's just fun to look at it. And this might be different than the list that you guys might have put together. This might be different than the ESPN list, but it's just fun. It it gives us another opportunity to reminisce a little bit about the season.

00:09:18:18 - 00:09:45:01
Josh
And I think that it's a good time and the sting of the loss for anyone, it's it's kind of over at this point, you know, like fantasy football loss. Sadness period has officially ended. And now we can nostalgically look back on last season already. And you know, it's great because fantasy ends and then we still have more, playoff NFL football to root for.

00:09:45:03 - 00:09:47:22
Matt
As I say, all the tears have dried by now.

00:09:48:00 - 00:09:53:06
Josh
Exactly. And all the bank accounts have been reimbursed by a paycheck or something. You know what I mean?

00:09:53:06 - 00:09:56:13
Matt
Like all the other vendors have been fulfilled.

00:09:56:17 - 00:10:16:08
Josh
Yeah. Everything is back whole again. So, the 2024 Fantasy Football Award winners, and there's a ton of categories here. We might talk about all of them. We might skip a couple of them as we go through the list here, but they're basically going to be the heavy hitters and big ones. We're going to knock off right at the top.

00:10:16:08 - 00:10:39:04
Josh
And then a little bit more of the fun, style award are a little bit further down here on the list. But if you, have any disagreements or anything, Matt, obviously just let's just, we'll we'll shout them out right away. But starting here, you got the article pulled up first of all. Yeah, I got it.

00:10:39:06 - 00:11:00:13
Josh
All right. We're just going to start right at the top, baby. Fantasy MVP. And this is a guy who showed up on our game breaker t shirt award list during our our award or our season. And is a guy who just had an incredible, year catching the ball. Ja'Marr Chase.

00:11:00:15 - 00:11:19:23
Matt
Honestly, like, if we're if we're factoring non quarter, like if we're just looking at non quarterbacks, I think this is a great pick. But like I, I don't I have a hard time putting Jamaar chases the fantasy MVP when there's a player that scored or significantly more points than him I got to give it to Lamar. Man I, I don't like this pick.

00:11:19:23 - 00:11:31:20
Matt
I think if it was again like if it was just going off of non QBs like awesome decision. But how can you how can you say that a player that scored less points in another player is the fantasy MVP and average for you know what I mean?

00:11:31:22 - 00:11:59:07
Josh
Well, luckily they do provide us a little bit of context and shout out Mister Mister Andy Barons on this one. His he doesn't disagree with you there. His thought process was that, in full PPR scoring, Ja'Marr Chase finished 68.3 points ahead of the next closest guy in his category. That would be Justin Jefferson. So there was no like wide receiver replacement value.

00:11:59:11 - 00:12:13:17
Josh
There were several quarterbacks that were right up there at the top with Lamar Allen, Joe Burrow, and or Lamar Allen, Lamar Allen. You kidding.

00:12:13:17 - 00:12:17:00
Matt
Me? Lamar just like Allen.

00:12:17:01 - 00:12:17:23
Josh
Caught.

00:12:18:01 - 00:12:19:16
Matt
The ultimate quarterback.

00:12:19:18 - 00:12:47:07
Josh
No. Like wait, are you kidding me Lamar Allen it Josh Allen Lamar Jackson Joe Burrow those guys were all up there at the top. And so you know there just there wasn't that separating factor. He's he's just saying, you know, Ja'Marr Chase being almost 70 points ahead of Justin Jefferson. It's just kind of like absurd. And that like, yeah, he's calling it most valuable Player.

00:12:47:07 - 00:12:51:19
Josh
So there wasn't like any other player as valuable in that sense.

00:12:51:21 - 00:13:07:05
Matt
Yeah. I mean, and just to play devil's advocate, I mean Lamar Jackson was like 50 points on top of Josh Allen like in that race too. So I mean like like again like I'm not mad at that decision, but like I think if we're splitting hairs, like I think it doesn't really make sense. Like I think Lamar's the clear cut MVP of this league.

00:13:07:07 - 00:13:13:19
Josh
Well, they don't even have him as an honorable mention because their next guy is Saquon Barkley. They have honorable money. That's one Barkley.

00:13:13:21 - 00:13:18:22
Matt
Yeah like and like I I am mad that Lamar they're they're not giving Lamar I.

00:13:18:22 - 00:13:27:08
Josh
Just don't know what league you're in because you're just I think you're overvaluing the quarterback a little bit here. I just I just I mean I'm looking backs.

00:13:27:10 - 00:13:28:20
Matt
I'm just looking at.

00:13:28:22 - 00:13:49:00
Josh
But nobody's taking Lamar Allen first over Lamar God damn it Lamar Jackson did take Lamar Allen first. Overall they're not taking these guys first overall. So I mean we can argue with it all day. We're going to move on to this one. No next one. And this is a big word I love it. This is the the the award that they give this second most credence to here.

00:13:49:04 - 00:14:10:05
Josh
And that's bust of the year because this is such a great one. And they're giving it to Breece Hall. And they have a list of a few other guys that they mentioned too. But I, I wouldn't have said this was my my pick. I have a different guy, but their, their reasoning here is he was healthy enough to play in 15 games.

00:14:10:05 - 00:14:29:04
Josh
So this isn't an injury thing. They're just they don't want to do injury to as too much of a factor. It can play a minor factor in it, of course. He was drafted as the consensus running back two in Yahoo leagues. And he at the end of the year, he was ranked about 18 to 20th overall.

00:14:29:06 - 00:14:46:02
Matt
Yeah. I mean, I don't hate that one nearly as much. I, I think I had a couple different guys ahead of that. I mean, if you're factoring out the injury bug issues like Russell is kind of fits the fits the mold. I personally like Tyreek Hill Moore's bust of the year though. Just given like he was available like all those games man.

00:14:46:02 - 00:15:01:01
Matt
Like. And he just did not produce obviously without Tua. Like he just wasn't that boy but even went to a game back like he he never reached that same fucking level that we were kind of accustomed to from Tyreek. I think if we're looking at it like in terms of just like a straight analysis, I feel like it has to be Christian McCaffrey though.

00:15:01:01 - 00:15:06:21
Matt
I mean, how many people drafted him within the top three picks and how many games did he play and how many points he scored this year?

00:15:06:23 - 00:15:29:19
Josh
Yeah for sure. I think that they're just taking him out strictly because of injury, and there's actually an award we'll get to later on that they kind of use to address that. But yeah, definitely. That was one of the most disappointing fantasy picks of all time. Yeah. Just but yeah, I can see that just as like on the field disappointment I think is what they were going with.

00:15:29:19 - 00:15:49:13
Josh
So in order for that to be the case, you had to make it on to the field and to disappoint. And yeah Tyreek Hill he was that guy for me because those those I mean it was just abysmal. I mean the guys that were playing with him, they could throw the fucking ball. Like it's like you just feel like there was just there's something off there.

00:15:49:13 - 00:16:05:08
Josh
But, they also mentioned Marvin Harrison Jr Deebo Samuel. So another 40 niners. Yikes. Hurts. And then Anthony Richardson who's another guy I thought that was super disappointing. Just and based on the leagues that I was in, he was drafted really highly and probably shouldn't have been.

00:16:05:14 - 00:16:17:18
Matt
Yeah I mean they were touting Anthony Richardson like he was going to be like an elite top five kind of quarterback talent. Like to wrap up the season with I think that's another another good one too. Like he I think he definitely disappointed a lot of people. There were there were a there were some stinkers this year though.

00:16:17:18 - 00:16:19:07
Matt
I will say, man.

00:16:19:09 - 00:16:37:19
Josh
Oh yeah, definitely. All right. Going on to the next award they've got here. And this is a really good one. And this is one that this one was tough this year. I think last year it was pretty unanimous and pretty easy. It's fantasy rookie of the year last year Puka Nacua kind of you know took that year 2023.

00:16:37:19 - 00:16:50:18
Josh
You know that was really easy kind of pick there I think this one, there was a lot of really good rookies that kind of came out of nowhere. But they end up giving it to the, Raiders tight end Brock Bowers.

00:16:50:20 - 00:17:10:22
Matt
You know, I don't hate that one. I think his dominant performance with the Raiders, man, like, like come in at the time position and have that performance is super commendable. There are a couple other guys I think obviously Jayden Daniels. Bo Nix I think would be fair ones to do too. But, I think just given like the non-core, especially if we're looking at like non quarterbacks, I think Brock Bowers is the easy decision.

00:17:10:23 - 00:17:17:18
Josh
Oh yeah. And this to me is like where you talk about okay he had Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell throwing to him all season. And Tyreke.

00:17:17:18 - 00:17:18:14
Matt
Hill.

00:17:18:16 - 00:17:34:14
Josh
And that's the thing. It's like that's where I'm like so like a lot I blame Tyreek Hill a lot more than I blame the like the situation where it's like oh well who was throwing to him in Miami was like who the fuck was throwing the block. Brock Bowers they just were throwing the ball up in the air in prayer situations.

00:17:34:14 - 00:17:48:03
Josh
And he's just beast mode and he's going to grab it. So it's like Tyree kills the supposed to be the cheetah. He's supposed to be that boy. You're supposed to be able to just. You know what I mean? You're supposed to play 500 with him like any quarterback. Hundred to go out there and just deep bomb to Tyree kill.

00:17:48:03 - 00:18:02:20
Josh
So I think that that's a, you know but they had other guys like Brian Thomas Jr. And I know personally a champion in one of my leagues had Brian Thomas Jr run through the season. So that's a guy that I think could easily have been in that spot.

00:18:02:22 - 00:18:17:11
Matt
I think especially two given that like I mean I see the season as like kind of a down year for a lot of tight ends too. Especially like our kind of like go to guys. Definitely had kind of underwhelming seasons. So to see like a rookie come in at that position to and just fucking flourish and dominate it.

00:18:17:12 - 00:18:19:02
Matt
Definitely commendable.

00:18:19:04 - 00:18:30:08
Josh
Yeah. Here's the honorable mentions. And I'm surprised you didn't say this because you're so high up on quarterbacks right now Jayden Daniels, Bucky Irving and then Malik Nabers also amongst Brian Thomas junior.

00:18:30:10 - 00:18:43:08
Matt
League Nabers is again another good one too. I mean, if we're looking at rookie rookie of the year kind of candidates, I think like Jayden Daniels is kind of the obvious selection on this one. But again, like Brock Bowers, I'm not mad at that choice at all.

00:18:43:10 - 00:19:07:01
Josh
Sleeper of the year. Their next award does go to Jayden Daniels. And you know that's just I don't necessarily know their definition of what a sleeper is because it's hard to say that that's different than a rookie. Or if it's a guy I guess that maybe even has been around for a couple of years, but just suddenly explodes.

00:19:07:03 - 00:19:19:03
Josh
Not my favorite award of theirs. I think that they also felt like they should have maybe given him a little more credence in the Fantasy rookie of the year. So, I don't know. Sleeper of the year. Not my favorite award from Yahoo Sports.

00:19:19:05 - 00:19:37:12
Matt
Yeah, I honestly do. I feel like Sam Darnold kind of deserves this more. Just give it like how much of a darkhorse he was coming into like super low expectations. Dominant performance throughout the regular season obviously fizzled out in the post, but I feel like that would have been a better one to pick over Jayden Daniels because, I mean, Jayden Daniels has the hype of being a lottery pick coming into the fucking season.

00:19:37:14 - 00:19:38:23
Josh
Yeah, because it's like.

00:19:39:01 - 00:19:39:20
Matt
Yeah, like as.

00:19:39:20 - 00:19:45:10
Josh
Everyone who's not played in the NFL, a sleeper right now, you're like, well, well it's yeah.

00:19:45:12 - 00:20:00:14
Matt
Yeah. What's the kind of thing where it's like, I know we kind of talked about this with basketball before about like most improved player with with like lottery picks where it's like, are we going to kind of applaud these guys for like playing at the level that everyone kind of expected them to. So I mean, obviously it's different with quarterback and like with football and quarterbacks versus the NBA.

00:20:00:14 - 00:20:08:10
Matt
But like when you see a lottery draft pick quarterback come in, you kind of have that expectation of like this guy is going to fucking perform.

00:20:08:12 - 00:20:38:00
Josh
Yeah, okay. Well this award was by by Scott Pinsky. Wag of the finger there. I don't love it. Jayden Daniels wins it. But the award is not super legit. So, we're going to go down here and they've got a the next award goes to fantasy's most underrated asset. This this award I feel like you can go all over the place with they ended up giving it to Baker Mayfield just by him having such a huge season.

00:20:38:02 - 00:21:05:00
Josh
He, you know, had career highs in every stat that matters from a fantasy perspective. Touchdowns, yards, completions, all those things were just massive, for him this season. And he's he's one of those guys that I can see as know. Right. It's like you're very happy if you get Baker Mayfield and your quarterback wasn't what your team was built around.

00:21:05:02 - 00:21:20:22
Matt
Oh, 100%. And I like this I like this pick too, because, I mean, I feel like he definitely was like a kind of, under utilized, you know, selection going into the draft. And I'm sure people got him probably later than he deserved. And, I mean, he was a top five quarterback this year in fantasy points, too.

00:21:20:22 - 00:21:27:17
Matt
So I think that's definitely well deserved. I'm a big Baker Mayfield fan, and as I've said many times on the show, so I'm happy to see him get that nod.

00:21:27:19 - 00:21:50:09
Josh
Yeah. Definitely a good one there. They also had honorable mentions on this one that they listed Josh Jacobs, Joe Mixon, Courtland Sutton, Courtland Sutton, that does because he was a major connection with Bo Nix, my boy. And he was definitely putting up points. And I know personally I played against him one time and it was like I think the Broncos played on like Sunday night or Monday or something.

00:21:50:09 - 00:22:03:20
Josh
And it was like, you know, I, I was maybe 8 or 9 points ahead. And I was like, at Courtland Sutton, he might have, I could see him having a seven and a half point game or something out here. And it was like, you know, he put up like 23. It was just like, then I went and looked at is, you know, what he's been doing all season.

00:22:03:20 - 00:22:19:02
Josh
I was like, oh shit. He's actually putting up a lot of points. So, those are definitely some good ones. Definitely some names. I like it when they talk about these guys who are going to still be around. I think a future focused is fine. I mean, Joe Mixon, maybe not. You know, he's could be potentially on the edge of his career.

00:22:19:02 - 00:22:46:13
Josh
But Josh Jacobs you know he's running well right now. Courtland Sutton is playing at the top of his game. So next award and this is a fun one. This is where I think like if you want to say like I'm good at fantasy or I made a good move, this is one that's like, this is less about the player himself and more fantasy managers making a smart move.

00:22:46:13 - 00:23:07:16
Josh
And that's why I really love this award. And it's top waiver ad of the year. The award goes to Bucky Irving, but the award really goes to anyone in your league who was able to pick up Bucky Irving on waivers. So shout out to whoever that was in your league who picked up. And they've got other guys that they list as some honorable mentions here.

00:23:07:19 - 00:23:23:09
Josh
Baker Mayfield, he came off waivers in a lot of leagues. John Smith ended up being fucking huge at the end of the season. Jordan Mason, Isaac Arenado, either one of those guys, those were great fantasy manager.

00:23:23:11 - 00:23:44:07
Matt
Yeah, I would have liked to have seen Jerry. Judy on here. I picked him up on the wire and he performed super well. And to kind of go back to what you were saying, too, I think you're 100% right. I think a lot of times, these big, pushes to the playoffs and to the people that won the championship, a lot of times that's made on these kind of secret pick up wire moves.

00:23:44:07 - 00:23:58:00
Matt
And so like, like people, people kind of make their seasons with these, with these pickups. So I think it definitely goes to show of, like a deeper kind of thought into the game and like, and understanding like these players at, at a more like individual basis.

00:23:58:02 - 00:24:07:16
Josh
Yeah. Or it also means you're up late as fuck at night for some reason or something. I don't know, you're on the toilet. Ryan does a lot of his best fantasy waiver adds on. That's it bro.

00:24:07:17 - 00:24:10:07
Matt
That's it's where the magic happens. Yeah.

00:24:10:07 - 00:24:34:13
Josh
He picked up, he had the Corriendo and Jordan Mason combo. I think he pulled that out of the out of the hat somehow. You mean he ended up still having a terrible season? Sorry, Ryan, but yeah. Yeah. Bucky Irving though UN rostered in 79% of Yahoo leagues going into week two. So only, you know, not a lot of people had drafted him or a lot of leagues had him drafted on any teams.

00:24:34:13 - 00:24:35:15
Josh
So that's pretty crazy.

00:24:35:19 - 00:24:38:03
Matt
That is wild. That's that's fucking nuts actually.

00:24:38:05 - 00:24:50:23
Josh
Because a lot of people will take waive like you'll take a late round flier on a rookie running back. You know what I mean? That's not unheard of at all. Like oh for sure. No, I haven't taken in the draft.

00:24:51:01 - 00:25:00:19
Matt
No hundred percent. I mean, and honestly, like another thing, it's like those late round draft picks, like, those can be like the, like the big moves that people get those sleepers, for sure.

00:25:00:21 - 00:25:27:12
Josh
All right, next award we've got here and this is what's going to address the, Christian McCaffrey situation. And that's the liar Liar award. And that goes to Kyle Shanahan himself. Like just he fucked over fantasy football owners so bad with his fucking misleading about what was happening with, with Christian McCaffrey. And I love this that the fantasy football liar liar award is going to Kyle Shanahan.

00:25:27:12 - 00:25:41:19
Josh
Just like I said that like the last one the fantasy or the top waiver out of the year for Bucky Irving. It doesn't go to Bucky Irving. That goes to anyone in your league who picked him up off of waivers. This just goes also straight up to fucking Kyle Shanahan.

00:25:41:21 - 00:25:59:14
Matt
My my favorite part about Kyle Shanahan me naming this is they go to honorable mentions and it just says nope, no one is close. Yeah. It's no it's spot on man. Like, honestly, it's the kind of thing where it's like it's like borderline criminal because it's like how many people lost money because of Kyle Shanahan, the season.

00:25:59:16 - 00:26:01:11
Josh
Yeah. Oh God. Oh God.

00:26:01:12 - 00:26:10:08
Matt
It's it's like there's it's going to be we're going to see class action lawsuits with with fantasy franchise owners against Kyle Shanahan for their loss, their lost income.

00:26:10:10 - 00:26:32:16
Josh
Five days before the season. He said Christian McCaffrey is looking good to play. What the fuck, Shanahan. So yeah, shame on him. And you know, they got, I saw they got Robert Saleh back at the, 40 Niners though. We're going to be talking about coaching. I promise we'll talk about it eventually on here. Guys. A lot of stuff has been happening right now.

00:26:32:16 - 00:26:53:21
Josh
It's impossible to keep up with, especially in a podcast format. So it's like we're going to let the dust settle and then we'll address some things. But, this next award is actually has to do with coaches, and it's the fantasy team and coach of the year. And this is I like fantasy team better I because I mean the coach is kind of there to an extent.

00:26:53:21 - 00:27:04:20
Josh
But fantasy team of the year was the Lions. And that just I mean they were putting up they were a fantasy. It was just a fantasy out there for them that regular season.

00:27:04:21 - 00:27:13:12
Matt
They were a suit. I mean, I feel like they were like the super team this year. Like everything clicked with the Lions this year. So I think I think that's a good selection. I have no problem with that one.

00:27:13:14 - 00:27:34:03
Josh
Like you, if you were a Lions fan and this was the year you were like, I'm fucking fuck it, I'm I'm putting up a Lions roster. And you were decided to go with Jared Goff, Tamir Gibbs, David Montgomery, Amon-ra, Saint Brown, Jamison Williams I mean Lions D I mean, it could have been like that would have been a fucking championship squad easily if anyone was insane enough to try that.

00:27:34:03 - 00:27:53:14
Josh
But, the honorable mentions on here are great because there's a lot of people who are ripping their hair out being like, but, but, but the bangles, you know what I mean? Like, I know they didn't have a huge record when it came to their NFL record, but boy, that Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase connection was a game breaker every week.

00:27:53:14 - 00:27:54:11
Josh
If you had it.

00:27:54:13 - 00:28:14:23
Matt
Oh for sure. The Bengals too. It was like this situation where it was like, you could have told me the Bengals went like 11 and six this season and I'd be like, yeah, for sure. Like their record did not reflect the football that they played on the field this season. Like they lost those close games. Like, it was almost like kind of sad to see like such talent kind of come to that level and like have to like take those losses.

00:28:15:01 - 00:28:37:16
Josh
Yeah. But sometimes from a fan or fantasy perspective, you're rooting for that. Dude, I love that shit. Sometimes where I'm like, dude, I need Jamir Gibbs to have like four touchdowns. But somehow the Lions to lose, you know what I mean? So it's like there's probably so many times where people were like, fuck, I need you or I need Ja'Marr Chase to put up 300 yards and have two touchdowns, Joe Burrow to get two touchdowns and, you know, 350 yards.

00:28:37:16 - 00:28:43:04
Josh
And I need them to lose somehow. And then when they they were like, they lost. You know.

00:28:43:06 - 00:28:48:09
Matt
No, you're 100% right. Like they definitely like fulfilled some of those like strange scenarios this season.

00:28:48:11 - 00:29:09:10
Josh
Oh yeah. So it's like I especially I'm not a Bengals fucking fan. So it's like, yeah, you know it happens. It happens. But like from a fan of fantasy perspective, like I have definitely found myself saying like, oh, I need so-and-so to have a really good game. I need Tyler Lockett to go off. But I need the Seahawks to lose, you know, I mean, or if they're playing your team like, shit like that happens all the time.

00:29:09:10 - 00:29:29:02
Josh
Like Seahawks are playing the Rams and and that's one of the reasons why like I there's certain teams where it's like I don't often have a lot of Cowboys on my team because I don't even want to find myself having to root for the fucking Cowboys for any reason. So it's like the Bengals definitely fulfilled that. And then the next team that had a lot of fantasy production.

00:29:29:02 - 00:29:47:12
Josh
Obviously they've mentioned a guy from this team. Baker Mayfield, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They had a ton of just like you know Mike Evans is just still Mike Evans. And if you're also having success throwing the ball in other places and then Bucky Irving I mean you've just we've been hearing a lot of names that are on that team from a fantasy perspective.

00:29:47:14 - 00:30:02:16
Matt
Oh for sure. I mean, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin like were like the backbone of like one of my fantasy teams this year up until they basically both basically got hurt at the same time. And Godwin went out for the season. But like, they they were like they were producers for me and fantasy man.

00:30:02:18 - 00:30:21:18
Josh
Yeah, yeah. And now we're kind of getting into here some more like kind of funny, like more like player specific, type of awards here. I mean, you could clearly just sit and go through and say, like, who was the best running back, who is the best wide receiver, who is the best? And ESPN kind of took a little bit more of a take like this.

00:30:21:18 - 00:30:41:22
Josh
But I kind of want to go through here. And we won't spend a ton of time talking specifically about, you know, each one of these ones because they're just like I said, they're almost designed. They're almost like that liar Liar award where they're kind of just like, designed in a sense, to kind of highlight something specific that happened during the, you know, something odd or, you know, unique that happened during this season.

00:30:41:22 - 00:30:58:15
Josh
But, we'll start with this one because I think it it's fun to mention because the Eagles are still playing right now, and that's the Jerome Bettis Award. And they give this out to the player with a bunch of one yard touchdowns.

00:30:58:17 - 00:31:00:15
Matt
Who's the winner.

00:31:00:17 - 00:31:11:03
Josh
Jalen Hurts oh yeah. Well this Barkley because Saquon Barkley loves to just like not go all the way in and then hand fucking Jalen Hurts the the one yard touchdown.

00:31:11:05 - 00:31:16:11
Matt
And the fact that he did this this year without Kelsey to in the tush push like respectable man I'll give it to him.

00:31:16:13 - 00:31:23:19
Josh
Yeah. But 43 of his 94 career touchdowns in the regular season came from one yard or less.

00:31:24:01 - 00:31:31:21
Matt
That's actually a crazy stat. I did not I did not realize that that that's like how like a huge majority, a majority of his touchdowns have come from. Yeah.

00:31:32:03 - 00:31:49:12
Josh
That's crazy. Yeah. So it's it's a little bit ridiculous when it comes to the rushing. And then, you know, that was just the same way like but Jerome Bettis like you it's it's you know he was just known as some guy who could pound it in from one yard. Jalen hurts gets handed these fucking one yards from Saquon Barkley.

00:31:49:12 - 00:32:17:09
Josh
It's just I know a little bit different there. But I thought that was a fun one. Next the word though we've got dead zone running back of the year. And there's some you know they even say it there's some argument about like what exactly the red zone or the dead zone for running backs is and, they can just they, they just kind of say that.

00:32:17:11 - 00:32:34:01
Josh
You know, it's like the idea of, like, does it's not the goal. You're not in the red zone running towards the goal line. It's just somewhere in the middle of the field where you might be running the ball. You might be throwing the ball. If you're going to run the ball at this point, you're probably not expecting to get too many yards.

00:32:34:01 - 00:32:50:07
Josh
But maybe, hey, they hand the guy the ball and who knows what happens. I think it's kind of their thought process here. They give the award to James Connor, and that's just exactly the kind of fucking way that the Cardinals utilize him this year was just like all else is failing. Just hand James Connor the ball and pray.

00:32:50:09 - 00:33:07:17
Josh
And he was going to you know he wasn't going to have some huge touchdown production. He wasn't going to win him the game. But it's like suddenly they might pick up three first downs. And you know the middle of the field on on you know James Connor and then Kyler Murray, you know, throws a pick or fumbles the ball or whatever.

00:33:07:19 - 00:33:22:17
Matt
And typical Cardinals fashion. Yeah, I like it. That's a good selection. The other guy that comes to mind is, David Montgomery with the Lions. I feel like the kind of same scenarios, like he would like, they would be these awkward kind of fucking field positions. He would break off a couple good runs, put him in a good position, and then score from there kind of thing too.

00:33:22:23 - 00:33:26:07
Matt
But I don't I don't mind the Connor selection on that one. I think it's a good choice.

00:33:26:08 - 00:33:45:00
Josh
Yeah. And it's like he at one point like he had a stretch with like 300 scrimmage yards and three touchdowns. You know I mean it's like he he's not going to get the 30 yards somehow two touchdowns because they utilize him down at the red zone. You know like how Miles Sanders was used a few years back and ended up getting a lot of points.

00:33:45:00 - 00:33:48:22
Josh
It's like now if he's going to get a touchdown, he had to run 100 yards to get it.

00:33:48:22 - 00:33:51:12
Matt
Like I was going to say he was breaking ones through. Yeah, yeah.

00:33:51:13 - 00:34:04:21
Josh
Like it's like no no no. So I think that's just a fun one because it's like James Conner, he put up a ton of fantasy points, but he certainly was not a, name that you were hearing talked about on TV or anything like that. Like from the NFL perspective.

00:34:05:02 - 00:34:09:12
Matt
No idea. He was definitely kind of one of like, the more quiet assassins kind of thing.

00:34:09:14 - 00:34:28:20
Josh
All right. And this is a great one. And I love this for all of our new fantasy players who have just joined in the last couple of years, because I know I'm talking about Jerome Bettis Award. Some people are like, ooh, I feel like the yeah, but here we go. We've got the Kyle Pitts Award for underwhelming performance following excessive hype.

00:34:28:22 - 00:34:30:15
Josh
You know who wins it?

00:34:30:17 - 00:34:31:20
Matt
The man himself.

00:34:31:22 - 00:34:37:22
Josh
Guy wins it for the second year in a row. That's fucking funny.

00:34:38:00 - 00:34:51:00
Matt
There are some names this year I think you could toss around to, like, just under what? Like, just like big hype. Underwhelming. I mean, Travis Kelce, the name that comes to mind that didn't live up to expectations. Sam Laporta is another one too I think Cooper cups another one too.

00:34:51:02 - 00:35:09:23
Josh
Yeah, totally. I think some of those guys kind of like live in this weird, like not necessarily as much hype world for some reason is like it's always I'm always hearing that Kyle Pitts is going to be that boy this year. It's like you kind of just already assume something about it. Like, I never hear someone say, like, it's going to be Cooper Cups year.

00:35:10:00 - 00:35:37:02
Josh
Yeah. Like for some reason I keep hearing about him and he keeps continuing, to, to disappoint. The next one we've got here is the Deontay Johnson Award, and that's all target. No touchdowns okay. For this year they had to they just changed it a little bit. And he had one touchdown. And that was Trey McBride. But I think that came after most people's fantasy season was over.

00:35:37:04 - 00:35:56:09
Josh
Yeah. Trey McBride is who got it. The Deontay Johnson Award. And yeah, he had a bizarre fucking season with tons of yards, tons of catches. And it might have been the second to last or last game of the season when, Trey McBride finally actually got a touchdown. But for most fantasy seasons, you were already over.

00:35:56:11 - 00:36:00:22
Matt
Yeah. That's funny.

00:36:01:00 - 00:36:15:09
Josh
And then this one is really fun because this was kind of a, one. And we're getting down towards the end here. I think we've only got 1 or 2 more awards, and this might be the last one we're talking about here is the Julius Thomas Award. And that goes to an unreasonable touchdown total for very few touches.

00:36:15:12 - 00:36:40:10
Josh
And it goes to Nick Westbrook. Akina from the Tennessee Titans. Whoo! Dude, you didn't like this guy this year. If you didn't know about him this year like you were I mean, we know you didn't really do that well, but this guy was on fire, bro. Like, he ended up. There was one time where he had multiple stretches of games where he would have for every catch he had, he had a touchdown, like 2 or 3 catches, 2 or 3 touchdowns.

00:36:40:12 - 00:36:47:09
Matt
Oh, that's crazy actually, I was gonna say I didn't watch too many Titans games this year. So I mean, that kind of adds up then because like I'm looking at the name, I'm like, I don't know what the fuck that is.

00:36:47:09 - 00:37:08:23
Josh
Even no, dude, he was insane. And he broke away for some huge runs, like any time. I mean, the reason why, like, anyone has any excitement about that, about, you know, what Will Levis was even able to do is because if he got that ball into Westbrook, Aquino's hands like he was getting it into the end zone.

00:37:09:01 - 00:37:16:16
Josh
Over two seasons, he's scored on one fifth of his one out of five catches. He has is a touchdown.

00:37:16:18 - 00:37:21:07
Matt
That's insane. Actually that's like that has to be like a record. Like that's those are insane stats.

00:37:21:12 - 00:37:45:14
Josh
Yeah. And it's like for most people he was a late round, fantasy pick up. And then they have some honorable mentions on here Quentin Johnson, Rashod Bateman, Tucker Kraft. But all those guys just didn't produce at the same rate. Like I'm telling you, he had multiple games where with multiple catches, all leading two touchdowns. So, no, this guy was all over the place this year.

00:37:45:14 - 00:37:59:21
Josh
But, last one I'll talk about and it's just because we've got a little bit of time left here, and that's the Billy Volk Award. And it's unexpected and short lived excellence. And that goes to Jameis Winston. I think they'll probably even just change the name to the Jameis Winston Award.

00:38:00:02 - 00:38:14:21
Matt
I was going to say at this point like they have to name it after him. I loved I loved that like few week period. There were Jameis was just going off like I love seeing him in the NFL and like have some kind of a podium to be on. He's such a good personality. I'm happy to see him get that recognition.

00:38:14:23 - 00:38:32:23
Josh
Yeah, and it's great. I mean it's fun for this is for a fantasy perspective. Also. Just remember that too, because it's like if sometimes someone's run comes at just a really unexpected time. And it was like late in the fantasy zone, it seemed like if you had anybody on the Browns, it was just going to be nothing but a dead time.

00:38:32:23 - 00:38:37:08
Josh
And Jameis Winston came in and and saved the, save the day.

00:38:37:10 - 00:38:45:17
Matt
Yeah. It was short. It was short left. But I had some benefit and the Joker and I feel like he definitely got some looks because of James that I probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

00:38:45:19 - 00:39:04:23
Josh
Yeah for sure. All right. Well, we are running out of time on this one. Matt, I really appreciate you coming in here and chatting through these awards with me. We've, really are we really appreciate all the listeners. Make sure you guys continue to download the show. And we will see you on the next episode of your other league.