With the way we score the Fantasy Index Open, it wasn’t crucially important whether you made Aaron Rodgers, Andrew Luck or Cam Newton your No. 1 quarterback (even though Rodgers killed those guys). More important was avoiding using all-important picks on statistical flops like Tony Romo, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Teddy Bridgewater.
Over two thirds of the entries included Romo, who went on to hurt his back in his first preseason game. And over two thirds included Fitzpatrick, who struggled mightily for the Jets. With the way we score this thing, if you had those two in your top 15 at this position, you were dead.
Paul McCann, a letter carrier from Hopewell, Pa., found the right balance. He got his list off to a good start with Rodgers as his top quarterback, and he had the smarts to stay away entirely from Romo, Fitzpatrick, Bridgewater, Brock Osweiler, Robert Griffin III and Jay Cutler.
He was also higher than most on Matt Ryan and Marcus Mariota, which helped, and was one of the few with the smarts to move Cam Newton down to 3rd.
You might say, “he delivered”. He’s the winner at this position. The state of Pennsylvania also took 2nd in this category, with Ryan Murphy, a teacher from East Berlin.
It was a good position for the magazine. Ian Allan (hey, that’s me), took 3rd place in this category. Earlier he/I took 2nd in running backs, so it’s been a successful run this time around. But it will be tough to dig out of the hole made at wide receiver, where undervaluing Jordy Nelson and Kelvin Benjamin (among others) caused a 198th-place finish.
I’m not sure that the scoring system for this tournament is ideal. Especially at the quarterback position, it tends to put too much of a premium on attrition. Tom Brady, for example, had a fine year, but with his four-game suspension finished as just the 20th-best cumulative scorer.
The Romo pick was particularly crucial. Suppose, for example, you ranked him 16th. You would take almost zero at that position. Had you instead put a lukewarm body there – Alex Smith, for example – you would have received 2,820 points (282.8 x 10). That’s a big chunk of points at a position where the spread from first to worst was about 17,000 points.
I’ve tinkered with multiple scoring formats, and this one seems to be the best. The 20-1 grading scale puts too much of a premium on the top picks (it doesn’t matter so much if you cleverly stick a breakout running back in at 17th on your board). With the 30-11 scoring scale, which I’ve also tried, the ordering in the top 10 doesn’t seem to matter much as all – it’s all about just getting guys with a pulse.
So this is how we score it. I have made it through the six positions, so now I will go back through and add up the total scores.
The overall winner 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.
FANTASY INDEX OPEN, QUARTERBACKS (top 10 percent) | ||
---|---|---|
Entry | Occupation | Points |
Paul McCann | Letter Carrier | 109,199 |
Ryan Murphy | Teacher | 108,863 |
Ian Allan | Fantasy Writer | 108,860 |
Kevin Cuozzo | Sales Professional | 108,845 |
Richard Jackson | Attorney | 108,817 |
Michael Menke | Building Products Estimator | 108,702 |
Mark Becker | Marketing | 108,498 |
Tom Deskovitz | Consultant | 108,461 |
Bill Rehor | Hospital Administrator | 108,460 |
Chris Hertzberg | Attorney | 108,348 |
Don P McKendry | Crewleader/Electrical | 108,335 |
Jacques Dugger | I.T. Professional | 108,257 |
Dave Cohen | Sales | 108,237 |
James Carvin | Insurance | 108,064 |
Bill Dallesandro | Loan Officer | 108,004 |
Craig Leedy | Retired | 107,938 |
Steven Schindhelm | Attorney | 107,896 |
Scott Liles | Journalist | 107,848 |
John Whitney | Pediatrician | 107,643 |
Ellis Kilgore | Band Director (Teacher) | 107,610 |
Michael S. Livengood | Page Designer | 107,599 |
Aaron Lance | Bank Employee | 107,556 |
FANTASY INDEX OPEN, QUARTERBACKS (alphabetical) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Entry | Hometown | Points | Rank |
Aaron Green | Maple Grove, Minn. | 106,842 | 44 |
Aaron Lance | Yakima, Wash. | 107,556 | 22 |
Adam Bergeron | Salem, N.H. | 100,684 | 202 |
Adam Holtz | Rochester, Minn. | 97,604 | 215 |
Adam Locke | Lynnwood, Wash. | 99,022 | 212 |
Adam Renzoni | Buffalo, N.Y. | 103,686 | 147 |
Adam Sheets | Santa Rosa, Calif. | 102,750 | 168 |
Adam Taylor | Media, Pa. | 98,061 | 214 |
Adam Thygeson | Oregon City, Ore. | 104,769 | 110 |
Allen Martirossian | Ashburn, Va. | 107,213 | 31 |
Andrew Leahy | Audubon, N.J. | 104,779 | 109 |
Andrew Southworth | Wilkes-Barre, Pa. | 104,052 | 132 |
Andy Richardson | Port Chester, N.Y. | 105,007 | 102 |
Anthony Difranceisco | Turnersville, N.J. | 94,709 | 219 |
Arden Vos | Edmonton, Canada | 103,956 | 135 |
Barry St Peter | Pittsfield, Mass. | 101,823 | 190 |
Ben Weisner | Wausau, Wis. | 106,084 | 70 |
Bill Dallesandro | Huntington, N.Y. | 108,004 | 15 |
Bill Rehor | Culver City, Calif. | 108,460 | 9 |
Bob Adelman | St. Louis, Mo. | 106,776 | 46 |
Brack Varnon | Houston, Texas | 106,367 | 60 |
Brandon Barnes | Portland , Ore. | 106,390 | 59 |
Brent Miles | Pasco, Wash. | 105,179 | 95 |
Brett Watts | Florence, S.C. | 105,791 | 77 |
Bruce Alwine | Havertown, Pa. | 105,460 | 84 |
Bruce Boase | Ogden, Utah | 106,282 | 61 |
Charles Raifman | Short Hills, N.J. | 104,051 | 133 |
Chris Brooke | San Diego, Calif. | 105,513 | 81 |
Chris Durham | Yuma, Ariz. | 106,111 | 69 |
Chris Erickson | Sparta, Wis. | 105,927 | 74 |
Chris Hertzberg | Austin, Texas | 108,348 | 10 |
Chris Sullivan | Ottawa, Canada | 103,938 | 137 |
Chris Weber | Appleton, Wis. | 102,173 | 184 |
Chris Winder | San Ramon, Calif. | 100,183 | 205 |
Chris Wright | Lynchburg, Va. | 103,897 | 139 |
Craig Barltrop | Adelaide, Australia | 107,502 | 24 |
Craig Leedy | Sacramento, Calif. | 107,938 | 16 |
Curt Goldgrabe | Boise, Idaho | 106,935 | 41 |
Dale Gander | Sun Prairie, Wis. | 105,053 | 100 |
Dan Martinez | Yuba City, Calif. | 94,777 | 218 |
Dana Duffield | Rochester, Minn. | 102,418 | 178 |
Daniel Bowman | Liberty, Mo. | 103,866 | 140 |
Daniel MacDonald | Torrance, Calif. | 107,039 | 39 |
Darrell Sooy | West Chester, Pa. | 104,932 | 104 |
Dave Cohen | Brooklyn, N.Y. | 108,237 | 13 |
Dave Pizzica | Springfield, Pa. | 103,646 | 149 |
Dave Renstrom | Apple Valley, Minn. | 106,470 | 54 |
Dave Sjogren | Vienna, Va. | 105,844 | 76 |
Dave Wilde | Mukwonago, Wis. | 104,893 | 107 |
David Battersby | Bellevue, Wash. | 93,973 | 221 |
Dennis Thomas | Watsonville, Calif. | 106,482 | 53 |
Dominic Romeo | Sacramento, Calif. | 105,682 | 79 |
Don P McKendry | Orland Park, Ill. | 108,335 | 11 |
Don Pavelka | Plainview, Minn. | 107,146 | 35 |
Doug Brown | Fort Gratiot, Mich. | 103,090 | 161 |
Dr. Billy Friedrich | Raleigh, N.C. | 104,069 | 130 |
Drew Englebright | London, U.K. | 104,342 | 122 |
Ed O'Hair | Katy, Texas | 106,249 | 63 |
Edward Burke | Philadelphia, Pa. | 104,168 | 127 |
Ellis Kilgore | Von Ormy, Texas | 107,610 | 20 |
Eric Gustitus | Exeter, Pa. | 103,059 | 162 |
Eric Titus | Port St. Lucie, Fla. | 104,556 | 117 |
Fabrizio Danova | Los Angeles, Calif. | 106,893 | 43 |
Frank Read | Pittsburgh, Pa. | 103,711 | 145 |
Frank Rotella | Sewell, N.J. | 105,094 | 99 |
Frank Shinnick | Milford, Mass. | 104,750 | 111 |
Gary Allen | Charleston, S.C. | 105,342 | 89 |
Gary Borges | Toronto, Canada | 106,212 | 64 |
Gary Fortier | Marietta, Ga. | 107,225 | 30 |
Geoff Greggs | Roy, Wash. | 103,355 | 154 |
George Taylor | Moosup, Conn. | 107,053 | 38 |
Gerald M. Hoehn | West Liberty, Iowa | 106,005 | 72 |
Grant Hubbard | Rochester Hills, Mich. | 106,802 | 45 |
Greg Heminway | Sacramento, Calif. | 106,201 | 66 |
Greg Resin | Hermosa Beach, Calif. | 105,288 | 93 |
Henry Goers | Bartlett, Ill. | 102,249 | 183 |
Ian Allan | Seattle, Wash. | 108,860 | 3 |
Ian MacEwen | Akron, Ohio | 105,644 | 80 |
Jacob Floriolli | Chico, Calif. | 102,976 | 164 |
Jacob Wilson | Crandall, Texas | 102,748 | 169 |
Jacques Dugger | Westland, Mich. | 108,257 | 12 |
James Carvin | Mt. Laurel, N.J. | 108,064 | 14 |
James Frauel | Walworth, N.Y. | 101,638 | 194 |
Jamie Alberts | Sturgeon Bay, Wis. | 103,486 | 152 |
Jared Smola | Rochester, N.Y. | 107,465 | 25 |
Jason Flatley | Cohoes, N.Y. | 102,744 | 171 |
Jason Mattern | Wintersville, Ohio | 106,905 | 42 |
Jason Pilon | Roseville, Minn. | 104,183 | 126 |
Jay Harding | Portland, Ore. | 105,470 | 83 |
Jay Wimmers | Lincolnton, N.C. | 104,992 | 103 |
Jeff Friedrich | Greenville, N.C. | 99,782 | 209 |
Jeff Zwiers | Bellingham, Wash. | 103,295 | 155 |
Jeremy Marzofka | Seattle, Wash. | 104,137 | 128 |
Jeremy Schwartz | Edison, N.J. | 105,331 | 90 |
Jesse McGuigan | Pittsburgh, Pa. | 98,837 | 213 |
Jim Costello | Portland, Maine | 106,575 | 52 |
Jim Coventry | Chicago, Ill. | 103,145 | 160 |
Jim Kovac | Tucson, Ariz. | 100,704 | 201 |
Joe Loeb | Aloha, Ore. | 103,208 | 158 |
Joe Pizzica | Wynnewood, Pa. | 105,407 | 86 |
John D. Smith | Willow Grove, Pa. | 100,847 | 200 |
John Dent | Ann Arbor, Mich. | 105,306 | 92 |
John Duggins | Greenville, S.C. | 102,595 | 174 |
John M. Smyczynski | Buffalo, N.Y. | 100,559 | 203 |
John Moore | Sea Isle City, N.J. | 104,377 | 121 |
John Ruppe | Fort Myers, Fla. | 107,201 | 32 |
John Whitney | San Jose, Calif. | 107,643 | 19 |
John Yarsinsky | Marlton, N.J. | 102,707 | 172 |
Johnny Bazzano | Santa Rosa, Calif. | 106,729 | 49 |
Jon Hansen | Reno, Nev. | 99,814 | 208 |
Jonathan Mora | Chicago, Fla. | 99,188 | 211 |
Josh Shupien | Tacoma, Wash. | 96,266 | 217 |
Ken Norman | Chanhassen, Minn. | 104,600 | 116 |
Ken Valis | Gaithersburg, Md. | 107,147 | 34 |
Kenneth Jones | New Orleans, La. | 102,653 | 173 |
Kenneth Yuen | Arlington Heights, Ill. | 107,335 | 29 |
Kent Stewart | Poplar Bluff, Mo. | 104,651 | 113 |
Kenzie MacNeil | Halifax, Canada | 102,747 | 170 |
Kevin Cuozzo | Concord , Mass. | 108,845 | 4 |
Kevin Smith | Philadelphia, Pa. | 103,147 | 159 |
Kirk Kennedy | Beulaville, N.C. | 99,338 | 210 |
Kyle Soppe | Bristol, Conn. | 101,923 | 187 |
Kyle Wells | Lynnwood, Wash. | 103,947 | 136 |
Larry Weinhauer | Andover, N.Y. | 102,098 | 185 |
Marc Mayfield | Longview, Texas | 107,114 | 37 |
Mark Becker | Los Angeles, Calif. | 108,498 | 7 |
Mark Burns | Runnemede, N.J. | 102,884 | 165 |
Mark Christie | Fairport, N.Y. | 104,392 | 120 |
Mark Maloney | Andover, Minn. | 104,217 | 125 |
Mark Stoecker | Mansfield, Texas | 103,732 | 144 |
Matt Menghi | Niantic, Conn. | 92,743 | 222 |
Matty Strothman-Evans | Winston-Salem, N.C. | 106,763 | 48 |
Michael Crow | Orion, Ill. | 103,777 | 143 |
Michael Kolton | Green Bay, Wis. | 102,771 | 167 |
Michael McAninch | Naperville, Ill. | 106,660 | 50 |
Michael Menke | New Berlin, Wis. | 108,702 | 6 |
Michael O'Brien | Lakewood, Colo. | 104,262 | 124 |
Michael S. Livengood | Ward, Ark. | 107,599 | 21 |
Miguel Tames | Miami, Fla. | 105,938 | 73 |
Mike Balliet | Milton, Pa. | 105,385 | 87 |
Mike Clark | Las Vegas, Nev. | 100,259 | 204 |
Mike Clay | Cheshire, Conn. | 104,624 | 114 |
Mike Freeman | Hamilton, Canada | 107,451 | 26 |
Mike Lenett | Silver Spring, Md. | 101,866 | 189 |
Mike McIlraith | Fort Worth, Texas | 105,777 | 78 |
Mike Nease | West Chicago, Ill. | 103,676 | 148 |
Mike Taylor | Meridian, Idaho | 105,324 | 91 |
Mike Whitla | Ottawa, Canada | 96,944 | 216 |
Moishe Steigmann | Milwaukee, Wis. | 107,350 | 28 |
Monte McDonald | Las Vegas, Nev. | 105,211 | 94 |
Nathan Bileck | San Diego, Calif. | 106,460 | 56 |
Nathan Priest | Waynesboro, Pa. | 102,514 | 176 |
Nick Heuton | Carroll, Iowa | 104,906 | 106 |
Nick Petrevski | Los Angeles, Calif. | 103,961 | 134 |
Patrick Wentz | Columbus, Ohio | 100,009 | 207 |
Paul McCann | Hopewell, Pa. | 109,199 | 1 |
Pete Collins | Orland Park, Ill. | 105,100 | 98 |
Pete Gould | Nottingham, U.K. | 94,308 | 220 |
Pete Richmond | Alexandria, Va. | 100,129 | 206 |
Phil Mazurowski | Huntingdon, Pa. | 103,236 | 157 |
Phil Montalbano | Napa, Calif. | 102,807 | 166 |
Ponce Hatch | Haddon Township, N.J. | 104,730 | 112 |
Ray Calisto | Fishers, Ind. | 104,270 | 123 |
Rey Diaz | Miami, Fla. | 106,774 | 47 |
Rich Dooley | Arlington, Va. | 105,162 | 96 |
Richard Fechter | Coral Gables, Fla. | 106,187 | 67 |
Richard Jackson | Berkeley, Calif. | 108,817 | 5 |
Richard Loppnow | Ephrata, Wash. | 106,149 | 68 |
Richard Spinella | North Providence, R.I. | 101,213 | 197 |
Rick Stark | Manchester Center, Vt. | 106,034 | 71 |
Rick Wiegan | Chesapeake, Va. | 102,399 | 179 |
Riley May | Denver, Colo. | 104,620 | 115 |
Rob Milelli | Cherry Hill, N.J. | 105,372 | 88 |
Rob Reiber | Randolph, N.J. | 103,559 | 151 |
Robert Yang | Simi Valley, Calif. | 106,616 | 51 |
Rocky Petrella | Philadelphia, Pa. | 106,431 | 57 |
Roy Sherman | Columbia, Tenn. | 107,196 | 33 |
Russell Dawson | El Dorado Hills, Calif. | 102,280 | 182 |
Rusty Stephens | Atlanta, Ga. | 102,048 | 186 |
Ryan Deal | West Mifflin, Pa. | 104,065 | 131 |
Ryan Murphy | East Berlin, Pa. | 108,863 | 2 |
Sam Dugan | Pittsburgh, Pa. | 107,522 | 23 |
Sam Hendricks | Lynchburg , Va. | 104,401 | 119 |
Scott Anderson | Lakewood, Colo. | 101,729 | 192 |
Scott Kopischke | Menomonee Falls, Wis. | 103,693 | 146 |
Scott Liles | Mountain Home, Ark. | 107,848 | 18 |
Scott Sachs | Huron, Ohio | 102,557 | 175 |
Scott Sintkowski | Waterford, Mich. | 106,467 | 55 |
Scott Wilkinson | Portland , Ore. | 107,015 | 40 |
Seamus McGuigan | Pittsburgh, Pa. | 102,375 | 180 |
Sean Chi | New York, N.Y. | 104,930 | 105 |
Shane Scott | Toronto, Canada | 102,317 | 181 |
Shelby Teagardner | Pittsburgh, Pa. | 103,245 | 156 |
Steve Blenker | Cheektowaga, N.Y. | 105,439 | 85 |
Steve Math | Austin, Texas | 101,346 | 196 |
Steve Moyer | Oakland, Calif. | 101,718 | 193 |
Steve Tortora | Wallingford , Conn. | 101,901 | 188 |
Steve Weber | Paso Robles, Calif. | 105,139 | 97 |
Steven Alessandrini | Flanders, N.J. | 103,452 | 153 |
Steven Schindhelm | Milwaukee, Wis. | 107,896 | 17 |
Steven Torres | Nipomo, Calif. | 105,918 | 75 |
Stewart Kuehne | Redmond, Wash. | 105,489 | 82 |
Terence Larro | Woodland Hills, Calif. | 101,800 | 191 |
Thomas Oliver | Silver Spring, Md. | 102,477 | 177 |
Tim Wandling | Rohnert Park, Calif. | 106,282 | 62 |
Todd Voorhees | Chula Vista, Calif. | 104,779 | 108 |
Tom Deskovitz | South Lyon, Mich. | 108,461 | 8 |
Tom Groome | Duncannon, Pa. | 103,846 | 141 |
Tom Morande | Tinley Park, Ill. | 106,203 | 65 |
Tom Overberger | Bedminster, Pa. | 101,056 | 198 |
Tommy Libretti | Malverne, N.Y. | 105,031 | 101 |
Tony Mavreles | Reading, Pa. | 103,899 | 138 |
Trevor Ross | Edmonton, Canada | 107,143 | 36 |
Trey Quinn | Annapolis, Md. | 104,449 | 118 |
Troy McGovern | Melbourne, Fla. | 103,633 | 150 |
Tyson Traveller | McKinney, Texas | 103,017 | 163 |
Victor Kitzes | Maple Valley, Wash. | 107,383 | 27 |
Vince Corbin | Naperville, Ill. | 100,897 | 199 |
Wade Booth | Tulsa, Okla. | 101,469 | 195 |
William Trostle | Fort Rucker, Ala. | 106,410 | 58 |
Zach Leavitt | Highlands Ranch, Colo. | 104,126 | 129 |
Zach Nizolek | Kansas City, Mo. | 103,819 | 142 |
—Ian Allan