We made it! Week 1 is here and we are now just hours away from the start of the 2020 NFL regular season and of course the official start to fantasy season!
I am sure you have heard it said many times in conversations with those around you that 2020 “has been a year like no other” or maybe you heard things like “What a crazy year this has been”. I couldn’t help but wonder what it would take for us to use those words to describe our 2020 Keepers Fantasy Football XVII Season!? Well.. maybe it would look something like this…
16hrs ahead of you would have a winning record (hasn’t happen in 9 years) AND make it to the playoffs (has happened only twice in 15 years) AND win a playoff game (has never happened). No, I am not going to say win the Super Bowl because well that is just too hard to believe even in the year 2020!
DaUnderdog not only makes the playoffs but they actually win a game (currently 1-9 in the playoffs and have lost 9 straight).
teamAlaska makes it to the playoffs for this first time since 2012 and they lose in the first round (teamAlaska owns a .800 win pct in the playoffs which is currently the highest among active coaches).
And last but not least the most crazy thing that could happen in this 2020 fantasy football season….. Big Papa or Sportsfreak actually win the Super Bowl!
Alright! You all ready now!? It’s a new season and week 1 is here. Let’s get to the week 1 preview.
U Don’t Know (0-0) vs Pack Attack (0-0)
U Don’t Know is coming of a season last year in which they had a chance right at the end to make the playoffs but needed to find one more win and they couldn’t do it. They will be looking to build on that performance and get back to the playoffs this year. Yahoo wasn’t loving their initial draft and gave them a rating of C but I think a big X factor are the two rookies they drafted. If Jonathan Taylor becomes the workhorse in Indy and CeeDee Lamb goes on to have a Offensive rookie of the year type of season this team will be just fine! Pack Attack has not made the playoffs since their championship year in 2016. Will they get back there this year?
Prediction:
Check out the Yahoo predictions for this one!
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 14
- Record: Advantage Pack Attack at 9-5
- PPG Avg: Advantage Pack Attack 120.49 to 107.39
pack slayer (0-0) vs 16hrs Ahead of You!! (0-0)
Alright so I was having some fun with my good friend who coaches 16hrs but despite finishing last season in last place he was competitive all year and was the most engaged I have seen him (maybe his son is now helping manage the team?). I am looking forward to seeing how he rebounds and how he plans to avoid that last place this season. For pack slayer, they got the grand prize to start the season in that they got the opportunity to pick #1 and Christian McCaffrey. They did a nice job of filling in pieces behind him and look to have another strong team. They will be hoping for the MVP form Cam Newton to come alive and if he does this team will be dangerous!
Prediction:
Week 1 is always the hardest to pick games but I am going to go with pack slayer to get the win. I can see them getting solid points from numerous positions and they have the ultimate X factor in Christian McCaffrey. pack slayer to start the season with a solid win!
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 8
- Record: Advantage pack slayer at 6-2
- PPG Avg: Advantage pack slayer 110.83 to 93.04
PackerFANatic7 (0-0) vs Big Papa (0-0)
I think it is safe to say that Big Papa is good at one thing for sure and that is getting Yahoo to say he has had the “Best Draft”. Technically this year that award went to pack slayer but they both finished with a A-. There is a big risk / reward player sitting on their team this year in the rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire. He has shot up draft boards and ultimately Big Papa got him at #8. He has top RB in fantasy potential but he also is a rookie and putting that much stock in a rookie is risky! It will be interesting as the season goes on to watch this one and how it plays out but overall this looks like a team that should be in the mix come playoff time. PackerFANatic7 is no longer the newbie in the league, with 3 years under their belt it is time to start making some moves and show everyone that their 13th place finish last season was a fluke! Overall they had a solid draft but I think they may look back and regret taking Ertz in the 4th round when there was still some solid WR’s on the board.
Prediction:
As I look closer at this match up, I see a lot of places for Big Papa to score points. In the fantasy world I would say that both their ceiling and floor for scoring as a team is a great deal higher then their opponent. PackerFANatic7 is going to need P. Williams, B. Edwards and to some level AJ Green come through with better then projected points if they want to win this week! I am picking Big Papa to come away with the win!
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 3
- Record: Advantage Big Papa at 2-1
- PPG Avg: Advantage Big Papa 98.64 to 90.58
starrfavrerodg (0-0) vs BIGBOY! (0-0)
BIGBOY! had to give up that trophy last season as their attempt to become the first team to three-peat was squashed rather handily! However, winning two championships in a row is impressive nonetheless and they will be looking to get back to their winning ways again this year. They started off with a solid pick in the draft (#3) and were able to nab Zeke in the first round. I also like the pick of C. Carson in the second but after that things start getting a little bit up in the air which honestly in a 14 team league I could probably say that about every team. Both Odell Beckham Jr and TY Hilton have name value but they have been average at best for fantasy purposes the last couple of years. They will need them to be back to their top WR forms if this team wants to compete. For their opponent, starrfavrerodg they didn’t join this league to have some fun and win a couple of games (which… let’s be honest, it is hard to have fun and only win a couple of games). They came into the league to compete for championships and trust me that is fun! They were drafting right in the middle with the 7th pick and took the MVP in Mahomes. Even though the draft experts might tell you to wait on a QB it is hard to fault drafting a QB that single handedly can win games for you on a weekly basis. They were able to add a solid RB group but at WR is where they may struggle. Godwin is a stud but Jeudy is a rookie and after that there are some guys who I would call “Flyers”. If one or a couple of those turn out to over perform expectations…. watch out for the rookie! It is always fun to have rookies in the league so welcome starrfavrerodg and good luck this season!
Prediction:
This looks to be a good game and I don’t have to tell you the obvious in this one which is starrfavrerodg needs a big game from Mahomes to win. I believe that will be the mantra for most of the year due to some other shortcomings on this team which I mentioned above. I think this one will come down to the wire with Monday night deciding it. I think Conner for starrfavrerodg does his part and has a good game but Jeudy doesn’t quite put up enough points to pull off the victory. I am going with BIGBOY! to get the win.
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 0
- Record: N/A
- PPG Avg: N/A
Bossman (0-0) vs DaUnderdog (0-0)
Bossman is coming off a great season last year which saw them make it all the way to the Super Bowl. They weren’t quite able to finish the job but it may have been their best coaching job ever in getting their team that far with the roster they had. They landed two top RB’s in Cook and Ekeler and then some good potential guys at WR. This once again looks like a team that will be right in the thick of things come playoff time. Not to mention, Bossman is currently riding a 9 game regular season winning streak which is tied for the 5th longest regular season winning streak in league history! For DaUnderdog, they had the #2 pick and landed Saquon at that spot they then followed that up with Lamar Jackson in the third round. If you look at game changers and guys that will be at the top of the rankings in their respective positions each and every week you would expect both Barkley and L. Jackson to be there. This gives them a solid foundation to build on and now they just need some of those guys around them to perform (like L. Bell)!
Prediction:
This is going to be another close one. Look for Bossman to be down by 45 points going into the Monday night games. It will come down to Sutton who will need 17pts to get the win but he will only put up 14 and DaUnderdog wins by 3 thanks to Lamar Jackson and his 37 week 1 points!
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 15
- Record: Advantage Bossman at 11-4
- PPG Avg: Advantage Bossman 122.10 to 113.13
HHH (0-0) vs Rapids Plungers (0-0)
The Defending champion Rapids Plungers squad is ready to defend their title and become only the 3rd team in league history to win back to back championships. That feat however was made a little tougher when they were handed the 12th pick in the draft but they had a draft strategy in place and they stuck to it. They got their usual cornerstone players (D. Watson, T. Hill and M. Sanders) and from there it is on the manager to put the other pieces together which I have no doubt Rapids Plungers will do. For HHH, they are coming off a playoff season last year and will be looking to get there again and fighting for another championship. They too were dealt a tough hand in having to pick 14th! That is a tough spot to be and all things considered they put together a solid roster. Like every team in the league they will need their top picks to produce as expected but they will also need some guys drafted in the later rounds to come through and specifically for this team it is the guys they drafted with picks 8 – 11. (8) M. Hardman, (9) Justin Jefferson, (10) Jonnu Smith and (11) Damien Harris. These are all guys that have potential to produce as fantasy starters and outperform their ADP but if they don’t it may be a long season for HHH.
Prediction:
I don’t expect a lot of points scored in this one and if I had to guess.. I would say approximately 50% of Rapids Plungers scoring for the week will come from tonight’s game as they have D. Watson throwing to Will Fuller and Tyreek Hill catching passes from Mahomes. I don’t think Rapids Plungers having 60 points at the end of the day is out of the question and in fact I expect that they will which is why I am picking them to win. If they only have somewhere in the 35 to 40 range then I think they are in trouble. I think Watson and Mahomes get in a shootout and Rapids Plungers starts off the year with a win.
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 12
- Record: Advantage Rapids Plungers at 8-4
- PPG Avg: Advantage Rapids Plungers 116.51 to 96.25
Sportsfreak (0-0) vs teamAlaska (0-0)
First let’s talk about Sportsfreak for this one as this is one of the longest and most successful teams in the league however they have yet to win a championship and the last two seasons have been terrible by their standards with a combined 8-18 record. They will be looking to put all that behind them this season and they are starting off with what looks to be a solid draft. Speaking of draft, I think this is interesting. In the 2018 draft, Sportsfreak takes a second year QB named Patrick Mahomes in the 11th round. Mahomes became the top fantasy QB that year and wins the NFL MVP. In the 2019 draft, Sportsfreak takes a second year QB named Lamar Jackson in the 6th round. Lamar Jackson became the top fantasy QB that year and wins NFL MVP. This year’s draft, Sportsfreak takes a second year QB named Kyler Murray in the 5th round…. what happens next!? I guess I am not sure where Sportsfreak is getting these tips but they are working. The more I think of it, I am not sure what is more impressive…. The fact that Sportsfreak has drafted the top fantasy QB the past two years in draft rounds 11 and 6 or the fact that he has only won 8 games and failed to make the playoffs in both of those years!? Alright now to teamAlaska. This is a team that showed some signs of life last season and there was a point where they even looked like they may even break that string of 8 straight seasons without a playoff berth. They weren’t able to get it done but they are now back at it this year and looked poised to do so. They had a strong draft led by the 4th overall pick in Alvin Kamara. Like every team in week 1 there are question marks but they have some home run hitters on their team and overall I like what I see.
Prediction:
Sportsfreak has a really solid set of WR’s that should be one of the top trio’s in the league this year. They also may have gotten a steal in D. Montgomery assuming he comes back healthy. However, this week it looks like they will rely on J. White and A. Gibson at the RB position. I think this will be one of the higher scoring games of the week with teamAlaska pulling out the win. Any of you remember last year when teamAlaska put up 199.26 points in their week 1 win or maybe you just remember the next week when they only had 52.61 points! Either way, this is week 1 and I think they win here!
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 15
- Record: Advantage Sportsfreak at 13-2
- PPG Avg: Advantage Sportsfreak 128.19 to 100.25