Consolation Bracket Team Analysis

7. Ollie (6-8)

There’s no easy way to say it.  Ollie got hosed.  He was put in the MITE division.  A division with 4 playoff teams from 2023.  This means he had to play Adam, Mike D, and Dom all twice.  He started out 1-2 in Divisional play.  Then he got a great victory in Week 4 defeating Ian 139.10-104.18. He was 5-4 after 9 weeks.  Then he had a string of horrible luck when it comes to Points Against.

150.70

148.56

140.12

141.98

Ollie falls to 5-8.  Despite that he had a chance at making the playoffs.  He needed to beat Dom and he needed both Andy and Brad to lose in Week 14.  But Brad got lucky again.  Facing Oscar when Oscar didn’t have Ladd McConkey, Courtland Sutton, Dallas Goedert, Zach Ertz, and he lost Bucky Irving to an in-game injury.

Ollie did send his 2025 1^st to Brad in the Blockbuster deal.  Dak, JT, his 2025 1^st for Mahomes, Addison, Brad’s 2025 2^nd.  Dak was lost to IR.  Brad traded away JT.  Ollie traded away Addison.  Ollie finds himself in the consolation bracket.  He does hold his own 2^nd round pick and Brad’s 2^nd round pick.  It’s tough to be motivated to win the consolation bracket when you don’t own your own 1^st.  But in this deep RB draft class there is sure to be value to be had in Picks #13-16, which is where Ollie’s 2^nd will fall.  This class has Jeanty, Hampton, Judkins, Henderson, Singleton, Gordon, Etienne, and Scattebo.  At WR it’s not too bad either with McMillan, Burden III, Egbuka, Bond, Harris.  If Ollie wants to develop his QB room there’s Sanders, Ward, Milroe, and Gabriel.  And a few Tight Ends that could climb the draft boards depending on their landing spot.

Ollie also has Derrick Henry, Joe Mixon playing great for their age.  He’s stacked at Tight End with Kelce, Engram, and Jonnu Smith.  And his WRs improved a lot this year with Shakir, Meyers, Reed showing flashes.  Losing Johnathan Brooks is a bummer, but he can compete in the consolation bracket and make his 2^nd round pick a bit higher next year.  But make no mistake.  If I was Ollie I’d be pissed about the way my luck turned out this season.  According to Fantasy Genius a widget on the sleeper App.  Ollie had 4 unlucky losses and a net luck score of -3.  That means in four of his losses he scored in the Top 6 teams that week, but lost because of who he played against.  These 4 unlucky losses was tied with Adam for the most in the league this season.

8. Andy (6-8)

Andy finds himself in the exact same situation as last season.  Andy was 6-8 and the 8^th seed, meaning he got a bye in the consolation bracket.  In 2023 Andy had 1503.48 Points For and 1416.40 Points Against.  In 2024 Andy had 1535.82 Points For and 1574.90 Points Against.  Andy got great production out of Jahmyr Gibbs (RB#5) and Alvin Kamara (RB#3).  His QB room improved with Justin Herbert and Sam Darnold.  CeeDee Lamb regressed a tad, but still is a Top 5 Fantasy WR despite losing Dak midyear.

The big story of Andy’s season (other than the bad luck Points Against) was Marvin Harrison Jr.  While other rookies like BTJ, Nabers, and Bowers are WR1 or TE1 so far this season, Marvin is only a WR3.  There’s no doubt he’ll have a great career in the NFL, but the slow start was unfortunate for Andy’s chances to go the distance this season.  Andy also improved his TE room with the addition of Tucker Kraft.

Andy will look to add depth at RB, but also some higher floor Wide Receivers.  Many of his weeks were Boom/Bust due to his Trio of Deep Threats in Jameson Williams, Elijah Moore, and Alec Pierce.

Let’s add Jeanty or McMillian to this team next year and see what happens.

9. Ian (5-9)

The Green Bubble definitely exists, I think.  It’s not just the fact that he doesn’t participate in the group chat for this league.  It’s that he doesn’t participate much in terms of transactions either.  But he put up the 5^th highest points for and transactions don’t help with Points Against, where Ian had the 3^rd highest.  This was evident from the get-go.  He lost a nail-biter in Week 1 120.58-121.32 against Oscar.  Less than 1 point was the difference between starting 0-1 and 1-0.  Then he took care of Brad easily in Week 2 151.84-107.16.  But then he had 3 consecutive weeks where the team against him scored over 130 points.  131.56, 139.10, 130.74.  So he starts out 1-4.  He got a couple of wins to get to 3-4, but then had Mike B get 142.86, then Cuz get 140.44.  Dropping him to 3-6.  It’s hard to climb out of a hole like that and the bubble couldn’t catch a break.

With that said.  Looking at his team he’ll compete in the future.  Kyler was inconsistent, but has stayed healthy and is QB#10 on the season.  David Montgomery is RB#9 and has gotten at least 12.60 fantasy points in 12/13 games.  (mostly because of his 12 rushing touchdowns).  Kenneth Walker is super talented but just couldn’t get it going consistently and has missed 3 games so far.  Deebo has had worst fantasy year of his career other than his sophomore campaign that was lost due to injury.  Rome Odunze has started off very slow as a WR4.  Luckily his best player Justin Jefferson has done his thing and is WR#2 on the season.  Mark Andrews started off slow then came on strong for Ian.  And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Chris Godwin.  Want to talk about “What might have been?”  Godwin was averaging 19.69 points per game prior to his ankle injury that took him out for the season.

The Bubble has his own 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd next year, so look for him to compete in the consolation bracket and retool and be competitive against next season, hopefully with some better Points Against luck.

10. Dom (5-9)

Dom.  Dom, Dom, Dom, Dom, Dom… He started off the year in the offseason with banger after banger of trades. He shipped off Tyreek Hill for Breece Hall.  Traded D’Andre Swift for Kirk Cousins and a pair of picks.  Traded Jaylen Warren and a couple picks for Michael Pittman.  Traded with Adam to move up and draft Jayden Daniels.  Traded Cuz DeAndre Hopkins for a 3^rd.  Had two incredibly saavy pickups in Andre Iosivas and Jordan Mason.  He acquired Dotson and a 3^rd for Gibson and a 2^nd right before Dotson was traded from the Commanders to the Eagles.  He kept going into the season.  Trading Bateman and a 2^nd for Wicks.  Then Justin Fields for Diontae Johnson and a 3^rd.  Then trading a 3^rd and 2^nd for Watson and a 4th.  In summary, The Dom was a Diddling.  He started out 5-1.  Then it all came crashing down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulJXiB5i_q0

36 Seconds Into This Video.

He lost 3 in a row to Mike B, Dan, and Brad.  But in Week 10 when he lost to Oscar 123.08-70.88 it was the final straw.  Nothing had worked out.  Pittman injured his back and the Colts were doing QB Roulette.   Dotson busted.  Breece Hall only had 4 RB1 finishes so far.  Wilson only had 3 WR1 finishes so far.  Kyle Pitts did what he does every year and was a Bust.  James Cook was inconsistent.  Keenan Allen was inconsistent.

So after Week 10, while trades were happening prior to trade deadline weekend.  Dom made a decision.  He decided he had seen enough and that he would tank the rest of the season.  He traded Adam Breece Hall for Adams 2025 1^st, Andy’s 2025 2^nd, a 2026 5^th, and a 2027 3^rd.  Understandable.  Let’s switch from win-now to rebuild mode.

But then Dom began to bench starting players for bench players.  He started to throw his games.  He didn’t bench all his starters at first.  In Week 12 he put up 94.50 against Dickinson.  But he gave victories to Ian, Dickinson, Adam, and Ollie over the last four weeks of the regular season.  Now looking at things I think he would have gone 1-3 in that stretch anyway.  But this had big implications.

In Week 14 if he had started the following lineup:

Kirk Cousins, Zach Charbonnet, James Cook, Garret Wilson, Christian Watson, Kyle Pitts, Keenan Allen and MVS.

A probable starting lineup if he was trying.  He would have scored 104.26 to Ollie’s 96.50.  Why does that matter?  From Dom’s point of view maybe he was trying to ensure Adam didn’t get a Top 4 pick in next years draft?  But his decision had playoff implications.  If I would have lost to Oscar (I only won due to four things that went wrong for Oscar, so it was a possibility) then Ollie would have made the playoffs over Andy.  Dom’s decision to bench Zach Charbonnet and Garet Wilson would have cost Andy a playoff spot.  Now I did beat Oscar, but it still made Ollie jump Andy in the consolation bracket.  We’ll have to see how it’ll play out with the draft order next year.  In essence Dom’s decision prevented Adam from getting a Top 4 pick and ensured Brad got a Top 4 pick because Brad owns Ollie’s 1^st.  Dom chose Ollie over Andy for playoff implications and Brad over Adam for draft implications.

But this is a really shitty thing to do.  You play to win in almost every case.  If you’re Adam, why would you ever trade with Dom again?  Get someone’s first round pick, but then they tank to make your pick worst?  That’s fucked up.  And it didn’t make any sense because Dom doesn’t own any of his own picks.  It was like the season didn’t work out for him, so he wanted to burn it all down and cause as much disruption as possible out of spite.

Now I like Dom and he is an integral part of this league and part of what makes the league such a fun one to be a part of.  But this setting a lineup to lose on purpose is just bullshit.  It’s immature.  It lacks integrity.  Fantasy Football, crazy shit can happen.  You built a win-now team.  It didn’t work, you trade away Hall to hedge your bets then you keep trying to compete.  Alright soap box over.  Hopefully we can all move past this and look for a more optimistic Dom in 2025.

11. Dan (4-10)

Dan has proven to be quite the talent when it comes to weekly recaps.  Laughing loudly several times each week with his shenanigans, I hope I can do this little blurb about his team this year justice.

Dan’s 2^nd season wind up being worst than his first season.  Several factors played key reasons as to why that is.

1. Rashee Rice tears ACL in Week 4.
2. Keon Coleman starts slow, then starts to get going, then injures wrist and misses 4 weeks.
3. Rachaad White has new OC and Bucky Irving emerges. Dropping White from RB1 to RB2.
4. Sam LaPorta has a sophomore slump dropping in every statistical category from his TE1 finish in 2023.
5. Chris Olave dealt with injuries to his QB then to himself before being lost for the season in Week 9.
6. Tank Dell couldn’t regain his rookie season’s magic after breaking his leg then being shot in the offseason.
7. Inconsistent QB play. Jared Goff is QB#9, but with QB finishes as follows: 18, 25, 19, 4, 4, 10, 20, 27, 15, 1, 25, 18, 6.  Aaron Rodgers is QB#18 with only 4 QB1 finishes this year and none better than QB#10.
8. D’Andre Swift starts off slow, then smashes for a few weeks, then regresses back again.
9. Dan has 2^nd highest Points Against with 1719.02 (Average of 122.79 against him each week)

With all that being said, Dan has a lot to be optimistic about.  He sold Cedric Tillman high and bought Tee Higgins low.  He picked up Jauan Jennings who looks like a stud for the 49ers.  He picked up Noah Gray who may be organically replacing the aging Travic Kelce.  He’ll have a Top 6 pick in 2025 and 3 picks in the Top 18 picks in a deep RB class.  He’s going to come back next year with Kyren, Rashee, Tee, Olave, Rookies, and be competitive.  Don’t count out our Meme Master General.  He’s going to be back and better than ever next season.

12. Colton (2-12)

I talked about this in the offseason.  Colton’s startup draft was historically bad.  He knew he would be starting from the bottom this season as he slowly works his way back in competition.  But he made all the right moves this year.  2-12 may be a shocking record.  But he had the lowest Points For and the highest points against this season.  8 times this season a team put up at least 125 against him.  But he knew what he had to do.  Get younger, get picks, get ready.  Full rebuilds can be fun.  Let’s look at what he’ll bring to the table in 2025:

QB: Jordan Love (26), Tua Tagovailoa (26), Geno Smith (34), Will Levis (25), and JJ McCarthy (21). A plethora of veterans and young talent at the QB position.

RB: Aaron Jones (30) has been a solid RB2 this year.

WR: Jaxon Smith-Njigba (22) is WR#6! On the season.  Xavier Worthy (21), Jerry Jeudy (25)

TE: David Njoku (28) is TE#8 on the season.  Cole Kmet (25)

But more importantly than the young talent already on his team.  His picks for 2025, a very good RB class looks like this:

2025 1^st (Top 6 Pick)

Brad’s 2025 1^st (Pick 7-12)

Mike D’s 2025 1^st (Pick 7-12)

Mike B’s 2025 3^rd (Pick 31-36)

Adam’s 4^th

Brad’s 5^th

Dom’s 5^th

And In 2026 he has even more fire power:

His 2026 1^st

Brad’s 2026 1^st

His 2026 2^nd

Dom’s 2026 2^nd

His own 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th

Now we can talk about Colt taking Xavier Worthy over BTJ and Bowers, but Worthy is still fast as hell and young as hell, so we’ll see what type of career his turns into.  But JSN and Jeudy are already performing now.  I look forward to watching Colt turn this thing around in the years to come.

Well good luck everyone in the consolation bracket.  Keep fighting for those higher picks.  The 1.01 looks like Ashton Jeanty.  There’s a ton of RB talent.  McMillan, the 6’5” behemoth at WR.  QBs like Cam Ward, Jalen Milroe, Gilbert, and Sanders.  Judkins.  Henderson.  Fight until the bell and let’s see how it shakes out next year.

-Fantasy Football Brad

Congratulations to the 6 teams that made the playoffs.  To the 6 in the consolation bracket I’ll try to get a team analysis this week if I’m able to find the time.

1. Oscar (12-2)

Our defending champ has defended.  He finished with the lowest Points Against total with 1383.60 (average of 98.83)  The next closest was Mike B with only 1438.60 (average of 102.76) against him.  Oscar played to the level of his competition all season.  He wind up finishing third in Points For, so don’t just chalk his success up to luck.  He has Fantasy QB#4 Jalen Hurts.  RB#7 Josh Jacobs who averages 17.56 points per game on the season, but has averaged 24.58 since the Packers Week 10 bye week, with RB finishes of 5, 2, 5, and 4 the last four weeks.  Oscar’s bye week is crucial as he tries to repeat as champion.  He’s nursing injuries from his two stud rookies Bucky Irving and Ladd McConkey.  He’ll once again turn to his veteran wideouts in Cooper Kupp (averages 18.41/game), Mike Evans (averages 14.40/game), and new addition Courtland Sutton (averages 13.91/game).  He did lose his starting Tight End Dallas Goedert, but thanks to an earlier season saavy trade with Brad he has reliable Zach Ertz (10.01/game) as a suitable replacement and the Eagles replacement for Goedert in Grant Calcaterra who scored a touchdown in Week 14.  Oscar only needs to win two games to repeat as Champion.  It’ll all come down to the health of his rookies and whether Isaih Pacheco can carve out a larger role for himself prior to the postseason.

2. Mike B (11-3)

Our dear commissioner was hoping to avoid a repeat of last season’s first round bounce by his brother Adam and has successfully secured the bye.  Thanks in large part to #1 Fantasy QB Lamar Jackson who has scored 324.40 Fantasy Points so far this season and #1 Fantasy WR Jamarr Chase who has scored 317.40 Fantasy Points so far this season.  This incredible duo averages a combined 49.37 each week.  Giving Mike an incredibly high floor.  His lowest scoring week came in Week 3 when he scored 98.38 points.  Mike started off 5-0 before falling to Dickinson in Week 6 and then he lost to Oscar in Week 9 in that Classic Kareem Hunt OT rushing touchdown game to beat Tampa Bay.  Sometimes games and playoff seedings are settled by a coin toss.  The biggest story for Mike was some saavy trades to add better running backs to his team.  He added Tyrone Tracy from Cuz and Rico Dowdle from Dan.  Then of course he has his incredible trio of Chase, Puca, and Nico who are all healthy heading into the postseason.  He also has #3 TE Trey McBride averaging 14.78 fantasy points per game despite not catching a single touchdown so far this season, although he does have 1 rushing.  Incredibly high floor.  Points Leader.  He’s deep.  He’s ready.  Will Mike win the coveted title?

3. Adam (9-5):

Adam has been dominating this entire season.  His lowest scoring week was Week 4 where he scored 96.68.  The next lowest was Week 1 where he scored 109.68.  Just a tremendous floor.  Adam started out 0-2 with high Points Against games against Ollie (115.44) and Dom (121.94).  His team settled in around Week 5 and rattled off 3 wins in a row to move to 4-3.  He lost one to Andy when Andy exploded for 160.90 in Week 8 and then another to Cuz in a 2.82 point nail biter in Week 10 (112.0-114.62).  But then he dismantled Mike B in Week 11 (150.48-119.78) and has averaged 138.93 points per game in the final four weeks of the regular season.  Coming into the playoffs screaming hot.  Steaming hot?  Screeching hot?  Just hot.  The big story with Adam’s team is his MVP race duo of Josh Allen (QB#2, Averages: 23.74) and Saquon Barkley (RB#1, Averages: 23.08).  These two averages 46.82 per week giving him a high floor like his brother.  Adam also has a pair of high scoring RB2’s in #13 James Conner and #15 Breece Hall.  These two also pair with an incredible Foursome at WR: #3 Amon-Ra St. Brown, #5 Terry McLaurin, #15 Zay Flowers, and #16 Darnell Mooney.  Perhaps the hardest thing for Adam will be deciding which of the 7 players will sit out each week of the playoffs.  There are also rumblings about Breece Hall being shut down for the season in a lost Jets season.  But with almost all his players either making the NFL playoffs or vying for an NFL playoff spot, look for Adam to continue his hot streak on his quest for a title.

4. Mike Dickinson (9-5)

Mike Dickinson, by far the prettiest member of the league who would make the best looking woman if he were to change genders, comes into the playoffs as one of the savviest traders in the league.  He traded away Jaylen Waddle for Stefon Diggs and Ricky Pearsall in a four-way trade between Brad, Cuz, and Colt.  He preyed on a depressed 2-4 Brad who was projected to lose by obtaining Johnathan Taylor for a 1^st and 3^rd pick.  Then as a stroke of genius he traded away JK Dobbins at his maximum value getting Jordan Addison and a 3^rd right before Dobbins got hurt and Addison began to smash.  He has the 6^th highest Point For and the 3^rd lowest Points Against.  He’s suffered through lots of injuries like many of us.  Adam Thielen missed 7 games, Stefon Diggs was lost for the season, CMC missed 8 games then was lost for the season.  Ricky Pearsall was hurt then got shot after Dickinson traded for him.  CJ Stroud has regressed big time in his Sophomore season. His rookie year he was fantasy QB#11.  This year he sits at QB#19.  Luckily Dickinson traded for Brock Purdy in the offseason.  Purdy missed one game with a hurt shoulder, but was able to come back and is QB#12 on the season, averaging 18.29 points per game.  The other big storyline is De’Von Achane.  Achane is RB#6 on the season and has not missed a game all year.  One of the reasons he’s RB#6 on the year is his involvement in the passing game.  Through 14 Weeks, 13 games he has 71 targets, 63 receptions, 474 receiving yards, and 6 receiving touchdowns.  He averages 17.72 points per game and the Dolphins offense is surging at the right time as they attempt to make an unlikely playoff bid.  Despite all of this, Dickinson’s best player is Rookie Phenom Brock Bowers.  Tight End #1 who sits at 118 targets, 87 receptions (rookie te record), 933 yards, and 4 touchdowns.  He averages 15.82 points per game.  Can the rest of his team stay healthy?  Will Jordan Addison stay hot? (Two 30+ Point games in the last three weeks).  Purdy. Achane.  JT.  London (WR#8).  Bowers.  Mike can compete and gets Cuz in Round 1.

5. Cuz (8-6)

In 2023 Cuz finished 7-7 but was edged out by Points For by the Mikes who were both also 7-7.  It led to Cuz playing for a Consolation Bracket Title, but he came up short and was awarded the rights to Malik Nabers.  Fast forward to 2024.  Cuz gets the coveted 8^th win and secures the 5 seed.  No consolation bracket for him a second year in a row.  Cuz has done this despite keeping a “Build for the future” management style.  He traded Baker Mayfield to Brad for a 2025 3^rd and a 2026 2^nd.  He traded Tyrone Tracy to Mike B for a 2025 2^nd and a 2026 3^rd and Zamir White.  He also sits with his roster having FOUR empty roster spots and FIVE players on IR including Taysom Hill, Austin Ekeler, Zach Moss and Theo Johnson.  He also enters Rounds 1 with George Pickens nursing a hurt hamstring.  The young wideout has had a resurgence of his career with Russ Wilson at QB and is averaging 12.95 points per game this season.  Despite all of what I just said his starting lineup is legitimate.  He CAN compete in his playoff bracket!  #3 QB Joe Burrow has averaged 27.74 points per game over his last 5 games.  RB#12 Chuba Hubbard averages 15.4 points per game and has zero backfield competition as Miles Sanders (IR), Johnathan Brooks (IR), and Raheem Blackshear (went to ER during Eagles game for a severe chest contusion) are all dead.  Cuz will rely on Brian Robinson (averages 13.45/game, No Ekeler competition) and Jaylen Warren (averaging 11.06 in past five games).  He has a stud at Tight End in #2 George Kittle who is averaging a whopping 16.73 per game.  And his trio of Wideouts #13 Tyreek Hill, #9 Malik Nabers, and DeAndre Hopkins.  Cuz might not have the depth to go far into the playoffs, but while he can make a starting lineup he’s just as deadly as the rest of the contenders.

6. Brad (7-7)

Where to start.  Brad has now traded away the following list of players and picks over the past two seasons:

Patrick Mahomes

Johnathan Taylor

Zay Flowers

Jordan Addison

Courtland Sutton

Tee Higgins

Jerry Jeudy

Sam LaPorta

Zach Ertz

Cade Otton

2025 1^st

2025 2^nd

2025 3^rd

2025 4^th

2025 5^th

2026 1^st

2026 2^nd

Mike Dickinson’s 2025 1^st

Colton’s 2025 3rd

And he’s dropped:

Russell Wilson

Alexander Mattison

Andre Iosivas

Tucker Kraft

And yet here he is.  After starting the season 2-6 and left for dead on the side of The Witches Road in the internal depression of his mind he decided to make a change.  He wanted to be more positive.  He changed his team name to “To Infinity and Bijan!” and started to have fun tinkering with his lineups and roster rather than dreading the #2 Points Against he was having at the time.  He hedged his bets with trading away Johnathan Taylor to Dickinson.  Sitting at 2-4 with 2-5 on the horizon, Brad knew it would take a lot of luck to be able to make the playoffs.  He also saw the potential in his RB2 Chase Brown.  After trading away a decent looking Dynasty Roster the past two seasons, who the hell does Brad have competing for a title this season?

At QB he has QB#5 Baker Mayfield.  Baker hasn’t been the stud he was when Chris Godwin was in the lineup.  He just hasn’t.  But he’s had QB1 or QB2 finishes in four of the last five weeks.  At RB Brad has his Dynamic Duo of RB#4 Bijan Robinson (18.98/game average) and RB#11 Chase Brown (15.52/game average).  If you look at Chase Brown since Zach Moss was put on IR? 22.34 per game.  But was it Zach Moss?  Or was it our Commissioner in his podcast saying that Chase Brown was not in the same Tier as James Cook.  Mike said that Bijan and Brown were not on the same tier as Cook and Hall.  Well, it turns out he was right!

At WR Brad has WR#10 Brian Thomas Jr, the Ole Miss shirtless duo of AJ Brown and DK Metcalf, who both have missed multiple weeks this season AND have underperformed to their expectations.  Then there is Jaylen Waddle who just started to heat up over the past 3 weeks and Amari Cooper who Brad traded for unknowing that he had suffered a freak wrist injury that would cause him to miss multiple weeks.

He’s here.  He doesn’t have high ranked players like the rest of the bracket.  But anything can happen in fantasy.  He rides his 5-1 record over the last 6 weeks into the juggernaut Adam in Round 1.

Which of the 6 teams will win it all?  Our Commissioner?  Our Inaugural Champion?  Adam with Josh Allen and Saquon Barkley?  Mike D and Brock Bowers?  Cuz with no depth?  Or the luckiest SOB over the past 6 weeks Brad?

-Fantasy Football Brad