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.
- 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.
- 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?
- 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.
- 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 1st and 3rd pick. Then as a stroke of genius he traded away JK Dobbins at his maximum value getting Jordan Addison and a 3rd right before Dobbins got hurt and Addison began to smash. He has the 6th highest Point For and the 3rd 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.
- 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 8th 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 3rd and a 2026 2nd. He traded Tyrone Tracy to Mike B for a 2025 2nd and a 2026 3rd 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.
- 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 1st
2025 2nd
2025 3rd
2025 4th
2025 5th
2026 1st
2026 2nd
Mike Dickinson’s 2025 1st
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
fantasyfootballbrad 