I’m just getting into scoring our season-long competitions. We’ve got the Experts Poll, with the 20 industry analysts in the magazine, and we’ve got the sister contest, the Fantasy Index Open, which is open to everyone. I hope to get both of these scored by the end of next week. I’ll release the position-by-position results as I go along.
Starting off with the defenses, the overall winner is a familiar name. John Moore, a real estate agent from Sea Isle City, N.J. He finished in 2nd place overall in the Fantasy Index Open back in 2012. And he’s the early leader after winning this category.
This is the competition, recall, where each participant ranks his top 20 at each position. All picks count, and the higher you rank a player, the more his on-field production counts towards your overall score.
The overall winner captures a giant deluxe trophy from the team at Affordable Trophies. We thank them for being part of this venture. And the top two finishers earn berths in the regular Experts Poll in the magazine, competing against 18 industry experts.
In this kind of competition, injuries play a huge role. If you’re higher than most of the others on a player, and he misses more than half of the season with a knee injury (or gets benched or suspended or whatever) that can really gut your score. Such situations should be more of a problem this year than they have been in the past. But at this one position – defenses – at least all of the entries had 20 defenses playing in 16 games each.
For this position, scoring is based on 6 points for touchdowns, 2 for takeaways, 1 for sacks and 2 for each safety. It includes special teams, with credit given for kickoff and punt returns and touchdowns on blocked kicks. No points, however, for holding opponents under yardage and scoring thresholds.
So for starters, we should establish the lay of the land at the position in general. Arizona, Carolina, Denver and Kansas City were the best options at this position (by far). Seattle might have a great real-life NFL defense, but it was just 13th. Buffalo, Baltimore and Miami were popular preseason picks, but they finished 22nd, 28th and 25th. So in general, the lower you ranked those units, the better.
| FANTASY SCORING TOTALS, DEFENSES | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Team | Pts | Fum | Int | Sack | Fan Pts |
| 1. | Arizona | 46 | 14 | 19 | 36 | 148 |
| 2. | Carolina | 24 | 15 | 24 | 44 | 146 |
| 3. | Denver | 38 | 13 | 14 | 52 | 144 |
| 4. | Kansas City | 38 | 7 | 22 | 47 | 143 |
| 5. | Philadelphia | 38 | 11 | 15 | 37 | 127 |
| 6. | Pittsburgh | 18 | 13 | 17 | 48 | 126 |
| 7. | Minnesota | 36 | 9 | 13 | 43 | 123 |
| 8. | St. Louis | 26 | 13 | 13 | 41 | 119 |
| 9. | Indianapolis | 32 | 8 | 17 | 35 | 117 |
| 10. | Washington | 26 | 15 | 11 | 38 | 116 |
| 11. | NY Giants | 38 | 12 | 15 | 23 | 115 |
| 12. | Houston | 18 | 11 | 14 | 45 | 113 |
| 13. | Seattle | 30 | 8 | 14 | 37 | 111 |
| 14. | New England | 14 | 9 | 12 | 49 | 105 |
| 15. | Cincinnati | 6 | 7 | 21 | 42 | 104 |
| 16. | Tampa Bay | 18 | 12 | 11 | 38 | 102 |
| 17. | Green Bay | 12 | 6 | 16 | 43 | 99 |
| 18. | NY Jets | 0 | 12 | 18 | 39 | 99 |
| 19. | Oakland | 10 | 11 | 14 | 38 | 98 |
| 20. | Jacksonville | 24 | 9 | 9 | 36 | 96 |
| 21. | Detroit | 16 | 9 | 9 | 42 | 94 |
| 22. | Buffalo | 20 | 8 | 17 | 21 | 91 |
| 23. | Cleveland | 18 | 10 | 11 | 29 | 89 |
| 24. | Tennessee | 12 | 8 | 11 | 39 | 89 |
| 25. | Miami | 24 | 3 | 13 | 31 | 87 |
| 26. | New Orleans | 12 | 13 | 9 | 31 | 87 |
| 27. | Atlanta | 18 | 8 | 15 | 19 | 83 |
| 28. | Baltimore | 18 | 8 | 6 | 37 | 83 |
| 29. | San Diego | 6 | 9 | 11 | 32 | 78 |
| 30. | Chicago | 0 | 9 | 8 | 35 | 69 |
| 31. | Dallas | 8 | 3 | 8 | 31 | 61 |
| 32. | San Francisco | 6 | 3 | 9 | 28 | 58 |
And I should clarifying how our complex scoring matrix works. For each of the 20 defenses each person ranks, they get some kind of score. Seattle, for example, scored 111 fantasy points. Those who ranked the Seahawks #1 receive 2,775 points (25 x 111). Those who ranked Seattle 2nd received 2,664 points (24 x 111) and those who ranked Seattle 20th receive 666 (6 x 111). So it’s a descending grid of 25 to 6 (as the multiplier number).
We have used 20-1 and 30-11 ratios in the past, but both have flaws. With the 20-1 system, the lesser picks don’t seem to carry enough weight. It’s all based on who doesn’t the best ranking the top couple of picks. That is, it doesn’t really matter if you cleverly ranked Doug Martin as your 18th pick. That would have been a great recommendation, but it would have been washed out by whatever you did with your top few selections. Similarly, the 30-11 doesn’t quite work. It tends to place too much weight on simply picking guys who don’t get hurt. That is, the winner at the quarterback position isn’t the guy who does the best job with his top 5, but instead which entry lands the most guys in the teens who at least stay in the lineup for 14-plus games.
So we’ve settled on the 25-6 scale as the Lesser of Three Evils.
And at this first category, John Moore is the winner. Jim Kovac of Tuscon, Ariz., is the runnerup, and Brett Watts of Florence, South Carolina, is third.
| FANTASY INDEX OPEN, Defenses (top 20) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Name | Occupation | Points |
| 1. | John Moore | Real Estate Agent | 35,723 |
| 2. | Jim Kovac | Retired | 35,643 |
| 3. | Brett Watts | Product Manager | 35,633 |
| 4. | John Broadbent | Implementation Analyst | 35,591 |
| 5. | Bill Mason | Operator | 35,564 |
| 6. | Andrew Leahy | Sales Director | 35,558 |
| 7. | Scott Sachs | Headhunter | 35,554 |
| 8. | Kenneth Yuen | Attorney | 35,530 |
| 9. | Jason Pilon | Office Grunt | 35,440 |
| 10. | Bob Adelman | Sales | 35,398 |
| 11. | Ben MacLeod | Academic Advisor | 35,368 |
| 12. | Michael O'Brien | Fingerprint Examiner | 35,320 |
| 13. | Michael McAninch | Network Engineer | 35,309 |
| 14. | Johnny Bazzano | Dispatcher | 35,294 |
| 15. | Kevin E. Smith | Student | 35,253 |
| 16. | Steven Alessandrini | Public Relations | 35,235 |
| 17. | Gary Allen | Engineer | 35,228 |
| 18. | Eric Gustitus | Title Searcher | 35,184 |
| 19. | Geoff Greggs | Fiscal Analyst | 35,176 |
| 20. | Victor Kitzes | Accounting | 35,143 |
Here’s the rundown for all the entries. There were 194 entries this year, so you’ve got to rank in the top 97 to be above-average. Top 39 gets you in the top 20 percent.
| FANTASY INDEX OPEN, Defenses (all entries) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | Hometown | Points | Rank |
| Adam Bergeron | Salem, N.H. | 33,898 | 166 |
| Adam Locke | Lynnwood, Wash. | 34,459 | 100 |
| Adam Sheets | Santa Rosa, Calif. | 34,508 | 94 |
| Adam Taylor | Media, Pa. | 35,114 | 21 |
| Andrew Leahy | Audubon, N.J. | 35,558 | 6 |
| Andy Richardson | Port Chester, N.Y. | 34,484 | 95 |
| Ben MacLeod | Manchester, N.H. | 35,368 | 11 |
| Bill D'Allesandro | Huntington, N.Y. | 34,948 | 33 |
| Bill Mason | Huntersville, N.C. | 35,564 | 5 |
| Billy Friedrich | Raleigh, N.C. | 34,202 | 140 |
| Bob Adelman | St. Louis, Mo. | 35,398 | 10 |
| Bob Tecca | Minneapolis, Minn. | 34,451 | 102 |
| Brad Freeman | Geneva, Ill. | 33,426 | 179 |
| Brad Henderson | Louisville, Ken. | 34,699 | 61 |
| Brent Miles | Pasco, Wash. | 34,173 | 148 |
| Brenton Roberts | Kirkland, Wash. | 34,663 | 73 |
| Brett Watts | Florence, S.C. | 35,633 | 3 |
| Brian Sauber | Highlands Ranch, Colo. | 34,826 | 46 |
| Bruce Alwine | Havertown, Pa. | 34,211 | 137 |
| Charles Raifman | Short Hills, N.J. | 33,976 | 160 |
| Chris Durham | Yuma, Ariz. | 34,205 | 139 |
| Chris Henkle | Aurora, Ill. | 34,367 | 117 |
| Chris Hertzberg | Austin, Tex. | 33,511 | 176 |
| Chris Weber | Appleton, Wis. | 34,481 | 96 |
| Chris Whitney | San Jose, Calif. | 34,199 | 142 |
| Chris Winder | San Ramon, Calif. | 34,840 | 43 |
| Cliff Shannon | Maple Ridge, B.C. | 34,586 | 84 |
| Cory Bonini | San Diego, Calif. | 34,981 | 30 |
| Craig Leedy | Sacramento, Calif. | 34,770 | 55 |
| Curt Goldgrabe | Boise, Idaho | 34,447 | 104 |
| Dale Gander | Sun Prairie, Wis. | 33,726 | 169 |
| Dana Duffield | Rochester, Minn. | 34,665 | 72 |
| Daniel Bowman | Liberty, Mo. | 34,337 | 123 |
| Daniel MacDonald | Torrance, Calif. | 34,223 | 134 |
| Dave Cohen | Brooklyn, N.Y. | 34,200 | 141 |
| Dave Pizzica | Springfield, Pa. | 34,684 | 68 |
| Dave Wilde | Mukwonago, Wis. | 34,770 | 56 |
| David Bouchard | Fort Kent, Maine | 34,151 | 151 |
| Dennis Lyons | Elk Grove, Calif. | 34,705 | 60 |
| Derek Irelan | Round Hill, Va. | 34,465 | 99 |
| Don Pavelka | Plainview, Minn. | 34,805 | 47 |
| Doug Brown | Fort Gratiot, Mich. | 34,637 | 78 |
| Doug Pacey | Tempe, Ariz. | 34,297 | 128 |
| Drew Englebright | London, U.K. | 33,691 | 172 |
| Duke Davis | Merchantville, N.J. | 34,115 | 153 |
| Ed Burke | Philadelphia, Pa. | 34,799 | 48 |
| Ed Weiss | Parsippany, N.J. | 34,265 | 131 |
| Eric Goetz | Shoreline, Wash. | 34,854 | 38 |
| Eric Gustitus | Exeter, Pa. | 35,184 | 18 |
| Eric Scolnick | Redmond, Wash. | 34,158 | 150 |
| Fabrizio Danova | Los Angeles, Calif. | 34,567 | 86 |
| Frank Rotella | Sewell, N.J. | 34,616 | 79 |
| Frank Shinnick | Milford, Mass. | 34,182 | 145 |
| Gary Allen | Charleston, S.C. | 35,228 | 17 |
| Geoff Greggs | Roy, Wash. | 35,176 | 19 |
| Glen Williams | Columbus, Ohio | 35,073 | 25 |
| Greg Heminway | Sacramento, Calif. | 34,598 | 80 |
| Greg Resin | Hermosa Beach, Calif. | 34,369 | 116 |
| Henry Goers | Bartlett, Ill. | 33,164 | 184 |
| Henry Gong | State College, Pa. | 32,923 | 189 |
| Ian Allan | Seattle, Wash. | 34,208 | 138 |
| Ian MacEwen | Seven Hills, Ohio | 34,303 | 126 |
| J.Brack Varnon | Houston, Tex. | 35,022 | 27 |
| Jacques Dugger | Taylor, Mich. | 35,079 | 24 |
| James Wimmers | Lincolnton, N.C. | 34,780 | 53 |
| Jamie Alberts | Sturgeon Bay, Wis. | 34,850 | 41 |
| Jared Ross | Champaign, Ill. | 34,893 | 35 |
| Jason Howe | Oakland, Calif. | 34,781 | 52 |
| Jason Howes | Stewartville, Minn. | 34,275 | 130 |
| Jason Pilon | Roseville, Minn. | 35,440 | 9 |
| Jay Harding | Portland, Ore. | 34,954 | 32 |
| Jeff Alberts | Sturgeon Bay, Wis. | 34,357 | 120 |
| Jeff Fossett | Newburgh, Ind. | 34,752 | 57 |
| Jeff Friedrich | Greenville, N.C. | 34,345 | 122 |
| Jeff Noordhoff | Indialantic, Fla. | 34,694 | 63 |
| Jeff Ross | Lake Villa, Ill. | 34,181 | 146 |
| Jeffery Lebeouf | Crowley, La. | 33,549 | 175 |
| Jeremy Schwartz | Edison, N.J. | 34,774 | 54 |
| Jesse McGuigan | Pittsburgh, Pa. | 34,661 | 74 |
| Jim Coventry | Chicago, Ill. | 34,380 | 114 |
| Jim Kangas | Viroqua, Wis. | 34,192 | 144 |
| Jim Kovac | Tucson, Ariz. | 35,643 | 2 |
| John Broadbent | Philadelphia, Pa. | 35,591 | 4 |
| John D. Smith | Willow Grove, Pa. | 32,791 | 190 |
| John Dent | Ann Arbor, Mich. | 34,650 | 76 |
| John DUGGINS | Greenville, S.C. | 34,686 | 67 |
| John Lapertosa | Bethpage, N.Y. | 34,424 | 107 |
| John Moore | Sea Isle City, N.J. | 35,723 | 1 |
| John Ruppe | Fort Myers, Fla. | 34,193 | 143 |
| John Smulowitz | Wilkes-Barre, Pa. | 33,490 | 177 |
| John Stolzmann | Las Vegas, Nev. | 33,343 | 180 |
| Johnny Bazzano | Santa Rosa, Calif. | 35,294 | 14 |
| Johnny Pullen | Tampa, Fla. | 33,700 | 170 |
| Jon Hansen | Reno, Nev. | 34,708 | 59 |
| Jon Rodningen | Omaha, Neb. | 34,854 | 39 |
| Jonathan Mora | Chicago, Ill. | 34,058 | 155 |
| Joseph Michelangelo | Oceanside, N.Y. | 34,397 | 110 |
| Keen Johnson | Dearborn, Mich. | 34,247 | 132 |
| Ken Norman | Chanhassen, Minn. | 34,696 | 62 |
| Ken Valis | Gaithersburg, Md. | 33,432 | 178 |
| Kenneth Jones | Aurora, Colo. | 35,082 | 23 |
| Kenneth Yuen | Arlington Heights, Ill. | 35,530 | 8 |
| Kevin Cuozzo | Concord, Mass. | 34,535 | 89 |
| Kevin E. Smith | Philadelphia, Pa. | 35,253 | 15 |
| Kevin Hall | Allen, Tex. | 34,049 | 156 |
| Kyle Soppe | Rochester, N.Y. | 34,001 | 157 |
| Larry Weinhauer | Andover, N.Y. | 34,642 | 77 |
| Mark Burns | Runnemede, N.J. | 34,583 | 85 |
| Mark Kundrotas | Waterford, N.J. | 34,782 | 51 |
| Mark Stoecker | Dallas, Tex. | 34,384 | 113 |
| Matt Weight | Minneapolis, Minn. | 34,689 | 64 |
| Michael DeSario | Las Vegas, Nev. | 33,675 | 173 |
| Michael Kolton | Green Bay, Wis. | 34,785 | 50 |
| Michael Livengood | Ward, Ark. | 34,977 | 31 |
| Michael McAninch | Naperville, Ill. | 35,309 | 13 |
| Michael McIlraith | North Hollywood, Calif. | 33,986 | 159 |
| Michael O'Brien | Brighton, Colo. | 35,320 | 12 |
| Michael Stoltz | Great Falls, Va. | 32,381 | 191 |
| Miguel Tames | Miami, Fla. | 34,400 | 109 |
| Mike Balliet | Milton, Pa. | 34,457 | 101 |
| Mike Clay | Blandon, Pa. | 33,991 | 158 |
| Mike Craig | Kokoko, Ind. | 34,354 | 121 |
| Mike Knorowski | Wesley Chapel, Fla. | 34,367 | 118 |
| Mike Kovacev | Lynnfield, Mass. | 34,302 | 127 |
| Mike McIlraith | Fort Worth, Tex. | 34,236 | 133 |
| Mike Nease | West Chicago, Ill. | 34,689 | 65 |
| Mike Rickel | Ira twp, Mich. | 34,392 | 111 |
| Mike Taylor | Meridian, Idaho | 34,516 | 91 |
| Mike Wells | Good Thunder, Minn. | 33,154 | 185 |
| Moishe Steigmann | Milwaukee, Wis. | 34,438 | 105 |
| Nathan Kline | Topton, Pa. | 34,165 | 149 |
| Nathan Priest | Waynesboro, Pa. | 34,292 | 129 |
| Nathan Roberts | Lucasville, Ohio | 33,291 | 182 |
| Nathan Zanon | San Jose, Calif. | 34,684 | 69 |
| Nick Petrevski | El Segundo, Calif. | 34,596 | 81 |
| Norm Shirk | Rockford, Ill. | 34,661 | 75 |
| Owen Kennedy | Midhurst, Ont. | 34,862 | 37 |
| Paul McCann | Hopewell Twp., Pa. | 34,588 | 83 |
| Paul Owers | Lake Worth , Fla. | 33,697 | 171 |
| Paul Staas | Pompano Beach, Fla. | 33,909 | 164 |
| Pete Collins | Orland Park, Ill. | 34,386 | 112 |
| Pete Owers | West Palm Beach, Fla. | 32,975 | 188 |
| Pete Richmond | Alexandria, Va. | 33,953 | 162 |
| Peter Johnson | Fullerton, Calif. | 33,556 | 174 |
| Rich Mays | The Dalles, Ore. | 34,797 | 49 |
| Richard Fechter | Coral Gables, Fla. | 35,008 | 29 |
| Richard Jackson | San Francisco, Calif. | 34,467 | 98 |
| Richard Loppnow | Ephrata, Wash. | 34,594 | 82 |
| Richard Meadors | Seymour , Ind. | 31,173 | 192 |
| Richard Meyers | Gurley, Ala. | 33,758 | 168 |
| Rob Dammers | Ringwood, N.J. | 34,540 | 88 |
| Robert Milelli | Cherry Hill, N.J. | 34,915 | 34 |
| Rocky Petrella | Philadelphia, Pa. | 34,839 | 44 |
| Rudy Flores | Chicago, Ill. | 34,150 | 152 |
| Rustin Paul | New York, N.Y. | 33,109 | 186 |
| Rusty Stephens | Atlanta, Ga. | 34,689 | 66 |
| Sam Wood | Boston, Mass. | 32,987 | 187 |
| Scott Anderson | Lakewood, Colo. | 33,269 | 183 |
| Scott Kopischke | Menomonee Falls, Wis. | 34,448 | 103 |
| Scott Liles | Russellville, Ark. | 34,514 | 92 |
| Scott Sachs | Canton, Ohio | 35,554 | 7 |
| Seamus McGuigan | Pittsburgh, Pa. | 34,533 | 90 |
| Sean Chi | Flushing, N.Y. | 34,317 | 125 |
| Sebastian Falsone | Philadelphia, Pa. | 33,907 | 165 |
| Sergio Garcia | Lake Elsinore, Calif. | 35,022 | 28 |
| Shane Scott | Toronto, Ont. | 34,683 | 70 |
| Stephen McKenzie | New Richmond, Wis. | 34,745 | 58 |
| Steve Blenker | Sloan, N.Y. | 35,091 | 22 |
| Steve Clark | Las Vegas, Nev. | 34,670 | 71 |
| Steve Horne | Novi, Mich. | 35,070 | 26 |
| Steve Hoyt | Buffalo Grove, Ill. | 33,950 | 163 |
| Steve Math | Austin, Tex. | 33,975 | 161 |
| Steve Moyer | Oakland, Calif. | 34,098 | 154 |
| Steve Tortora | Wallingford, Conn. | 34,213 | 135 |
| Steven Alessandrini | Flanders, N.J. | 35,235 | 16 |
| Thomas Alexander | Bristow, Va. | 34,547 | 87 |
| Tim Smith | Hayward, Calif. | 34,474 | 97 |
| Tim Wandling | Rohnert Park, Calif. | 34,874 | 36 |
| Todd Voorhees | Chula Vista, Calif. | 34,847 | 42 |
| Tom Deskovitz | South Lyon, Mich. | 34,511 | 93 |
| Tom Morande | Tinley Park, Ill. | 34,335 | 124 |
| Tommy Libretti | Long Island, N.Y. | 34,423 | 108 |
| Tony Holm | Chicago, Ill. | 34,212 | 136 |
| Tony Zeller | Dundalk, Md. | 34,177 | 147 |
| Travis Perry | Coeburn, Va. | 33,308 | 181 |
| Trevor Ross | Edmonton, Alberta | 34,425 | 106 |
| Trey Quinn | Annapolis, Md. | 34,827 | 45 |
| Victor Kitzes | Maple Valley, Wash. | 35,143 | 20 |
| Will Carpenter | Seven Lakes, N.C. | 34,367 | 119 |
| William Rehor | Culver City, Calif. | 34,373 | 115 |
| Zach Leavitt | Highlands Ranch, Colo. | 34,851 | 40 |
| Zach Nizolek | Kansas City, Mo. | 33,817 | 167 |
—Ian Allan

