Fantasy News
Fantasy Football Index on Sunday became the first company ever to win both of the experts leagues hosted by Fanex Football.
The “FAD” (Fantasy Analysis Draft) title was sewn up weeks ago. In that league, each team selects 20 players in May, and no waiver moves are allowed. Lineups are calculated on a best-ball basis, and most points at the end of 17 weeks wins it. In that one, Ian Allan finished 427 points ahead of all of the other teams. There was less of a points spread between 2nd and 11th place.
In the Fanex Analysis Draft Allan drafted Steven Jackson in the first round, then put together a crushing quartet of wide receivers – Steve Smith, Andre Johnson, Wes Welker and Calvin Johnson. In the later rounds, he picked up Jay Cutler, Matt Forte and Kevin Smith, and even grabbed Pierre Thomas in the final round. Allan has won this 12-team league both years he has competed.
Fantasy Index completed its double when it won the Fanex Head-to-Head League on Sunday night. That’s a 24-team league, made up of two completely separate 12-team conferences. That one came down to a championship game that was virtually tied entering the Sunday night game. Ian Allan was able to hold off Jim Butler by less than 3 points in the championship game when Brandon Marshall slightly outperformed Vincent Jackson in the final game of the season.
In the head-to-head league, Allan finished as the highest-scoring of the 24 teams but had to win on the final weekend of the season to even qualify for the playoffs, then win three straight playoff games. Allan is the first ever to make the playoffs six years in a row in the Fanex league but previously had gone only 1-6 in playoff games.
Fantasy Index employed a similar strategy in that head-to-head league, picking up franchise receivers (rather than running backs) in the early rounds. Andy Richardson handled the player selections in that league and opened with Brian Westbrook, Larry Fitzgerald, Wes Welker (PPR format), Brandon Marshall and Kevin Smith. The team just missed out on Matt Forte (who was one of our targeted players) but struck gold in the seventh round with Chris Johnson. Later in the season, Allan was able to bolster the lineup by picking up Zach Miller and Cedric Benson off waivers.
Including the Fantasy Index Mock Auction Allan in 2008 won all three experts leagues in which he participated. In the mock auction, Allan made Tom Brady his highest-paid player but later bought Drew Brees anyway when others were hestitant to spend big money on quarterbacks. “My team will be fine,” Allan said on page 80 of this year’s magazine. “Maybe one of those guys will surprisingly get hurt and I’ll look back at it as what saved my season.”
Top finishers in 12-team Fanex “FAD” league
Ian Allan, Fantasy Football Index
John Georgopoulos, Sportsgrumblings.com
Tony Holm, Fantasysharks.com
Michael Nazarek, Fantasy Football Mastermind
Top finishers in 24-team Fanex head-to-head league
Ian Allan, Fantasy Football Index
Jim Butler, founder, Global Fantasy Football Leagues
Jerome Hickerson, Talkfootball.com
Craig Davis, Fantasyfootball.com
Top finishers in 12-team Fantasy Index Mock Auction league
Ian Allan, Fantasy Football Index
Sam Hendricks, Fantasy Football Guidebook
Scott Pianowski, Yahoo! Sports
David Dodds, Footballguys.com
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Posted by ERIC WOSICK | Dec. 29 at 06:07 AM
Congrats Ian! More proof that the analysis we receive from Fantasy Football Index is among the top in the industry. You guys do take risks and make mistakes, but it always comes from a place of reliable info and analysis. Keep up the good work!