Normally with the Fantasy Index Open, winners at the positions are of the marginal variety – a slight edge here, or a few points there. But not so at the wide receiver position. Steve Moyer of Oakland, Calif., blew away everyone. He beat everyone else by over 1,000 points. He beat all but seven of the other 221 entries by over 2,000.
Brandon Marshall was his key pick. Marshall was coming off a huge season, and that was enough to get him in the top 10 on most ballots. He was the consensus #8 wide receiver entering the preseason.
Moyer wasn’t buying. He wanted no part of Marshall, dropping him all the way down to 16th on his board. By allocating his resources differently, that got Moyer off to a huge lead against the vast majority of the entries.
Moyer also trended towards truth on a lot of other wide receivers. He was a little higher than the average on Mike Evans, T.Y. Hilton, Jordy Nelson, Demaryius Thomas, Golden Tate, Kelvin Benjamin, Jarvis Landry and Doug Baldwin. All of those choices created value for him, helping to separate him from the other 10 entries that were even lower on Marshall.
Jordy Nelson and Kelvin Benjamin were key picks at this position. Those who were leery (like me) of wide receivers coming off ACL surgeries were severely punished.
Antonio Brown, Odell Beckham and Julio Jones were the top 3 wide receivers on most boards, so they didn’t factor much in the scoring.
Adam Holtz of Rochester, Minn., finished 2nd in this category. He cleverly ranked A.J. Green, Dez Bryant and DeAndre Hopkins 13th, 16th and 18th on his board, creating a lot of value. And he had Mike Evans 1st and Jordy Nelson 6th, also providing huge value. But had too many other choices that backfired, allowing Moyer to overtake him. Ranking Beckham just 12th, for example, resulted in a huge loss.
Dan Martinez from Yuba, Calif., finished 3rd. He got off to a great start by ranking Jordy Nelson 2nd, but undid all of that value by ranking Randall Cobb 3rd.
A shout out is in order for Ellis Kilgore, a band director in Von Ormy, Texas. He made the most impressive pick of anyone at any position. He was the only person to include Terrelle Pryor in his top 20. Pryor wasn’t even available as an option (with choices being due before the start of the preseason), but Kilgore utilized the write-in rule, making a request for him. Pryor was previously a quarterback and was on one of the worst teams in the league (one that had other wide receiver prospects – Josh Gordon and Corey Coleman) but Pryor had a great year, ranking 16th in scoring at this position.
Mike Whitla of Ottawa finished last at this position, the second time he’s finished down in that spot. He has been trying an aggressive approaching, usually zigging where everyone else is zagging. Didn’t work at all here, with the decisions to leave Odell Beckham, Julio Jones, Mike Evans and Amari Cooper not even in his top 20 destroying him at this position.
The overall winner of this competition takes home a really huge and really cool trophy from the team at Affordable Trophies. They’ve been partnering with us on this contest for years.
The winner and the runner-up also earn berths in the Experts Poll in the magazine, competing in a similar contest in a 20-man field composed mainly of industry experts.
The quarterback results will be announced tomorrow morning, and then I’ll total up all the points and name the overall winner.
FANTASY INDEX OPEN, WIDE RECEIVERS (top 10 percent) | ||
---|---|---|
Name | Occupation | Points |
Steve Moyer | Investment Realtor | 47,613 |
Adam Holtz | Financial Analyst | 46,557 |
Dan Martinez | Attorney | 46,548 |
Dave Wilde | Home Improvements | 46,499 |
Andrew Southworth | Writer | 46,269 |
Joe Pizzica | Teacher | 46,267 |
Phil Montalbano | Project Manager | 45,973 |
Daniel MacDonald | Transportation Manager | 45,928 |
Steven Schindhelm | Attorney | 45,602 |
Jay Wimmers | Data Analyst | 45,481 |
Drew Englebright | CFO | 45,324 |
Ken Valis | Project Manager | 45,323 |
Steven Torres | Collector | 45,318 |
Brandon Barnes | Sales | 45,308 |
Jamie Alberts | Banker | 45,272 |
Eric Titus | Engineer | 45,267 |
Scott Wilkinson | Supply Chain | 45,205 |
Chris Sullivan | Teacher | 45,168 |
Jim Coventry | Fantasy Writer | 45,156 |
John M. Smyczynski | Food Service Management | 45,145 |
Shelby Teagardner | O/N Stocker | 45,140 |
Miguel Tames | Retail Manager | 45,116 |
FANTASY INDEX OPEN, WIDE RECEIVERS (alphabetical) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Name | Hometown | Points | Rank |
Aaron Green | Maple Grove, Minn. | 43,126 | 128 |
Aaron Lance | Yakima, Wash. | 42,419 | 161 |
Adam Bergeron | Salem, N.H. | 40,444 | 209 |
Adam Holtz | Rochester, Minn. | 46,557 | 2 |
Adam Locke | Lynnwood, Wash. | 44,679 | 38 |
Adam Renzoni | Buffalo, N.Y. | 44,057 | 69 |
Adam Sheets | Santa Rosa, Calif. | 40,581 | 207 |
Adam Taylor | Media, Pa. | 39,004 | 217 |
Adam Thygeson | Oregon City, Ore. | 43,316 | 116 |
Allen Martirossian | Ashburn, Va. | 44,117 | 68 |
Andrew Leahy | Audubon, N.J. | 43,265 | 122 |
Andrew Southworth | Wilkes-Barre, Pa. | 46,269 | 5 |
Andy Richardson | Port Chester, N.Y. | 41,582 | 191 |
Anthony Difranceisco | Turnersville, N.J. | 38,102 | 220 |
Arden Vos | Edmonton, Canada | 44,830 | 32 |
Barry St Peter | Pittsfield, Mass. | 44,048 | 70 |
Ben Weisner | Wausau, Wis. | 41,744 | 186 |
Bill Dallesandro | Huntington, N.Y. | 40,789 | 203 |
Bill Rehor | Culver City, Calif. | 43,444 | 107 |
Bob Adelman | St. Louis, Mo. | 42,403 | 163 |
Brack Varnon | Houston, Texas | 43,613 | 95 |
Brandon Barnes | Portland , Ore. | 45,308 | 14 |
Brent Miles | Pasco, Wash. | 43,410 | 110 |
Brett Watts | Florence, S.C. | 42,147 | 172 |
Bruce Alwine | Havertown, Pa. | 43,282 | 121 |
Bruce Boase | Ogden, Utah | 41,365 | 196 |
Charles Raifman | Short Hills, N.J. | 43,168 | 126 |
Chris Brooke | San Diego, Calif. | 42,716 | 147 |
Chris Durham | Yuma, Ariz. | 41,722 | 187 |
Chris Erickson | Sparta, Wis. | 43,683 | 91 |
Chris Hertzberg | Austin, Texas | 43,251 | 124 |
Chris Sullivan | Ottawa, Canada | 45,168 | 18 |
Chris Weber | Appleton, Wis. | 43,140 | 127 |
Chris Winder | San Ramon, Calif. | 40,628 | 206 |
Chris Wright | Lynchburg, Va. | 42,361 | 166 |
Craig Barltrop | Adelaide, Australia | 40,541 | 208 |
Craig Leedy | Sacramento, Calif. | 43,284 | 120 |
Curt Goldgrabe | Boise, Idaho | 42,775 | 143 |
Dale Gander | Sun Prairie, Wis. | 41,856 | 180 |
Dan Martinez | Yuba City, Calif. | 46,548 | 3 |
Dana Duffield | Rochester, Minn. | 43,895 | 79 |
Daniel Bowman | Liberty, Mo. | 43,645 | 93 |
Daniel MacDonald | Torrance, Calif. | 45,928 | 8 |
Darrell Sooy | West Chester, Pa. | 42,729 | 146 |
Dave Cohen | Brooklyn, N.Y. | 44,002 | 75 |
Dave Pizzica | Springfield, Pa. | 42,295 | 170 |
Dave Renstrom | Apple Valley, Minn. | 42,990 | 132 |
Dave Sjogren | Vienna, Va. | 42,491 | 158 |
Dave Wilde | Mukwonago, Wis. | 46,499 | 4 |
David Battersby | Bellevue, Wash. | 42,074 | 174 |
Dennis Thomas | Watsonville, Calif. | 43,557 | 97 |
Dominic Romeo | Sacramento, Calif. | 40,183 | 211 |
Don P McKendry | Orland Park, Ill. | 42,636 | 152 |
Don Pavelka | Plainview, Minn. | 37,758 | 221 |
Doug Brown | Fort Gratiot, Mich. | 42,572 | 155 |
Dr. Billy Friedrich | Raleigh, N.C. | 44,505 | 48 |
Drew Englebright | London, U.K. | 45,324 | 11 |
Ed O'Hair | Katy, Texas | 42,062 | 175 |
Edward Burke | Philadelphia, Pa. | 44,878 | 30 |
Ellis Kilgore | Von Ormy, Texas | 42,662 | 150 |
Eric Gustitus | Exeter, Pa. | 44,021 | 72 |
Eric Titus | Port St. Lucie, Fla. | 45,267 | 16 |
Fabrizio Danova | Los Angeles, Calif. | 44,265 | 59 |
Frank Read | Pittsburgh, Pa. | 41,649 | 189 |
Frank Rotella | Sewell, N.J. | 43,845 | 81 |
Frank Shinnick | Milford, Mass. | 43,460 | 103 |
Gary Allen | Charleston, S.C. | 42,902 | 138 |
Gary Borges | Toronto, Canada | 43,431 | 108 |
Gary Fortier | Marietta, Ga. | 42,962 | 136 |
Geoff Greggs | Roy, Wash. | 39,876 | 213 |
George Taylor | Moosup, Conn. | 41,541 | 192 |
Gerald M. Hoehn | West Liberty, Iowa | 44,661 | 39 |
Grant Hubbard | Rochester Hills, Mich. | 43,311 | 117 |
Greg Heminway | Sacramento, Calif. | 40,396 | 210 |
Greg Resin | Hermosa Beach, Calif. | 43,060 | 129 |
Henry Goers | Bartlett, Ill. | 44,423 | 53 |
Ian Allan | Seattle, Wash. | 41,003 | 198 |
Ian MacEwen | Akron, Ohio | 41,437 | 193 |
Jacob Floriolli | Chico, Calif. | 44,162 | 66 |
Jacob Wilson | Crandall, Texas | 42,969 | 135 |
Jacques Dugger | Westland, Mich. | 41,920 | 178 |
James Carvin | Mt. Laurel, N.J. | 43,298 | 119 |
James Frauel | Walworth, N.Y. | 42,586 | 154 |
Jamie Alberts | Sturgeon Bay, Wis. | 45,272 | 15 |
Jared Smola | Rochester, N.Y. | 44,255 | 60 |
Jason Flatley | Cohoes, N.Y. | 39,960 | 212 |
Jason Mattern | Wintersville, Ohio | 43,759 | 86 |
Jason Pilon | Roseville, Minn. | 43,536 | 98 |
Jay Harding | Portland, Ore. | 42,455 | 159 |
Jay Wimmers | Lincolnton, N.C. | 45,481 | 10 |
Jeff Friedrich | Greenville, N.C. | 42,871 | 141 |
Jeff Zwiers | Bellingham, Wash. | 41,817 | 183 |
Jeremy Marzofka | Seattle, Wash. | 44,558 | 43 |
Jeremy Schwartz | Edison, N.J. | 43,703 | 90 |
Jesse McGuigan | Pittsburgh, Pa. | 43,347 | 114 |
Jim Costello | Portland, Maine | 41,779 | 185 |
Jim Coventry | Chicago, Ill. | 45,156 | 19 |
Jim Kovac | Tucson, Ariz. | 44,785 | 36 |
Joe Loeb | Aloha, Ore. | 44,589 | 41 |
Joe Pizzica | Wynnewood, Pa. | 46,267 | 6 |
John D. Smith | Willow Grove, Pa. | 44,196 | 64 |
John Dent | Ann Arbor, Mich. | 44,007 | 74 |
John Duggins | Greenville, S.C. | 44,986 | 24 |
John M. Smyczynski | Buffalo, N.Y. | 45,145 | 20 |
John Moore | Sea Isle City, N.J. | 43,334 | 115 |
John Ruppe | Fort Myers, Fla. | 43,261 | 123 |
John Whitney | San Jose, Calif. | 43,705 | 89 |
John Yarsinsky | Marlton, N.J. | 42,432 | 160 |
Johnny Bazzano | Santa Rosa, Calif. | 41,852 | 181 |
Jon Hansen | Reno, Nev. | 44,968 | 26 |
Jonathan Mora | Chicago, Fla. | 41,000 | 199 |
Josh Shupien | Tacoma, Wash. | 44,288 | 58 |
Ken Norman | Chanhassen, Minn. | 43,305 | 118 |
Ken Valis | Gaithersburg, Md. | 45,323 | 12 |
Kenneth Jones | New Orleans, La. | 43,459 | 104 |
Kenneth Yuen | Arlington Heights, Ill. | 41,594 | 190 |
Kent Stewart | Poplar Bluff, Mo. | 43,000 | 131 |
Kenzie MacNeil | Halifax, Canada | 44,237 | 61 |
Kevin Cuozzo | Concord , Mass. | 43,828 | 83 |
Kevin Smith | Philadelphia, Pa. | 43,621 | 94 |
Kirk Kennedy | Beulaville, N.C. | 42,601 | 153 |
Kyle Soppe | Bristol, Conn. | 43,920 | 78 |
Kyle Wells | Lynnwood, Wash. | 42,987 | 133 |
Larry Weinhauer | Andover, N.Y. | 44,857 | 31 |
Marc Mayfield | Longview, Texas | 41,430 | 194 |
Mark Becker | Los Angeles, Calif. | 44,429 | 52 |
Mark Burns | Runnemede, N.J. | 44,382 | 55 |
Mark Christie | Fairport, N.Y. | 43,664 | 92 |
Mark Maloney | Andover, Minn. | 40,870 | 201 |
Mark Stoecker | Mansfield, Texas | 42,894 | 139 |
Matt Menghi | Niantic, Conn. | 38,339 | 219 |
Matty Strothman-Evans | Winston-Salem, N.C. | 42,752 | 144 |
Michael Crow | Orion, Ill. | 42,653 | 151 |
Michael Kolton | Green Bay, Wis. | 44,583 | 42 |
Michael McAninch | Naperville, Ill. | 45,027 | 23 |
Michael Menke | New Berlin, Wis. | 44,514 | 47 |
Michael O'Brien | Lakewood, Colo. | 44,915 | 28 |
Michael S. Livengood | Ward, Ark. | 44,495 | 49 |
Miguel Tames | Miami, Fla. | 45,116 | 22 |
Mike Balliet | Milton, Pa. | 42,306 | 169 |
Mike Clark | Las Vegas, Nev. | 44,549 | 44 |
Mike Clay | Cheshire, Conn. | 42,970 | 134 |
Mike Freeman | Hamilton, Canada | 44,805 | 34 |
Mike Lenett | Silver Spring, Md. | 42,734 | 145 |
Mike McIlraith | Fort Worth, Texas | 42,097 | 173 |
Mike Nease | West Chicago, Ill. | 42,008 | 176 |
Mike Taylor | Meridian, Idaho | 43,416 | 109 |
Mike Whitla | Ottawa, Canada | 35,474 | 222 |
Moishe Steigmann | Milwaukee, Wis. | 44,480 | 51 |
Monte McDonald | Las Vegas, Nev. | 43,589 | 96 |
Nathan Bileck | San Diego, Calif. | 43,449 | 106 |
Nathan Priest | Waynesboro, Pa. | 43,878 | 80 |
Nick Heuton | Carroll, Iowa | 44,175 | 65 |
Nick Petrevski | Los Angeles, Calif. | 44,494 | 50 |
Patrick Wentz | Columbus, Ohio | 41,880 | 179 |
Paul McCann | Hopewell, Pa. | 42,869 | 142 |
Pete Collins | Orland Park, Ill. | 42,885 | 140 |
Pete Gould | Nottingham, U.K. | 42,921 | 137 |
Pete Richmond | Alexandria, Va. | 40,703 | 204 |
Phil Mazurowski | Huntingdon, Pa. | 43,248 | 125 |
Phil Montalbano | Napa, Calif. | 45,973 | 7 |
Ponce Hatch | Haddon Township, N.J. | 42,326 | 167 |
Ray Calisto | Fishers, Ind. | 44,517 | 46 |
Rey Diaz | Miami, Fla. | 43,752 | 87 |
Rich Dooley | Arlington, Va. | 44,204 | 63 |
Richard Fechter | Coral Gables, Fla. | 40,634 | 205 |
Richard Jackson | Berkeley, Calif. | 42,666 | 149 |
Richard Loppnow | Ephrata, Wash. | 44,540 | 45 |
Richard Spinella | North Providence, R.I. | 43,994 | 76 |
Rick Stark | Manchester Center, Vt. | 40,991 | 200 |
Rick Wiegan | Chesapeake, Va. | 42,369 | 164 |
Riley May | Denver, Colo. | 44,825 | 33 |
Rob Milelli | Cherry Hill, N.J. | 44,683 | 37 |
Rob Reiber | Randolph, N.J. | 44,310 | 57 |
Robert Yang | Simi Valley, Calif. | 43,994 | 77 |
Rocky Petrella | Philadelphia, Pa. | 41,983 | 177 |
Roy Sherman | Columbia, Tenn. | 41,414 | 195 |
Russell Dawson | El Dorado Hills, Calif. | 41,839 | 182 |
Rusty Stephens | Atlanta, Ga. | 39,553 | 214 |
Ryan Deal | West Mifflin, Pa. | 44,979 | 25 |
Ryan Murphy | East Berlin, Pa. | 43,475 | 101 |
Sam Dugan | Pittsburgh, Pa. | 44,954 | 27 |
Sam Hendricks | Lynchburg , Va. | 43,469 | 102 |
Scott Anderson | Lakewood, Colo. | 44,611 | 40 |
Scott Kopischke | Menomonee Falls, Wis. | 40,822 | 202 |
Scott Liles | Mountain Home, Ark. | 44,372 | 56 |
Scott Sachs | Huron, Ohio | 43,809 | 84 |
Scott Sintkowski | Waterford, Mich. | 43,799 | 85 |
Scott Wilkinson | Portland , Ore. | 45,205 | 17 |
Seamus McGuigan | Pittsburgh, Pa. | 43,014 | 130 |
Sean Chi | New York, N.Y. | 44,217 | 62 |
Shane Scott | Toronto, Canada | 43,730 | 88 |
Shelby Teagardner | Pittsburgh, Pa. | 45,140 | 21 |
Steve Blenker | Cheektowaga, N.Y. | 39,469 | 215 |
Steve Math | Austin, Texas | 44,804 | 35 |
Steve Moyer | Oakland, Calif. | 47,613 | 1 |
Steve Tortora | Wallingford , Conn. | 42,189 | 171 |
Steve Weber | Paso Robles, Calif. | 44,014 | 73 |
Steven Alessandrini | Flanders, N.J. | 41,671 | 188 |
Steven Schindhelm | Milwaukee, Wis. | 45,602 | 9 |
Steven Torres | Nipomo, Calif. | 45,318 | 13 |
Stewart Kuehne | Redmond, Wash. | 43,499 | 100 |
Terence Larro | Woodland Hills, Calif. | 42,368 | 165 |
Thomas Oliver | Silver Spring, Md. | 43,534 | 99 |
Tim Wandling | Rohnert Park, Calif. | 44,031 | 71 |
Todd Voorhees | Chula Vista, Calif. | 43,390 | 111 |
Tom Deskovitz | South Lyon, Mich. | 41,089 | 197 |
Tom Groome | Duncannon, Pa. | 44,124 | 67 |
Tom Morande | Tinley Park, Ill. | 44,388 | 54 |
Tom Overberger | Bedminster, Pa. | 42,496 | 157 |
Tommy Libretti | Malverne, N.Y. | 38,810 | 218 |
Tony Mavreles | Reading, Pa. | 42,679 | 148 |
Trevor Ross | Edmonton, Canada | 43,354 | 113 |
Trey Quinn | Annapolis, Md. | 42,404 | 162 |
Troy McGovern | Melbourne, Fla. | 44,898 | 29 |
Tyson Traveller | McKinney, Texas | 43,840 | 82 |
Victor Kitzes | Maple Valley, Wash. | 41,803 | 184 |
Vince Corbin | Naperville, Ill. | 42,562 | 156 |
Wade Booth | Tulsa, Okla. | 43,367 | 112 |
William Trostle | Fort Rucker, Ala. | 39,434 | 216 |
Zach Leavitt | Highlands Ranch, Colo. | 42,325 | 168 |
Zach Nizolek | Kansas City, Mo. | 43,453 | 105 |