We’ve scored all 2,400 player selections – 20 experts listing 120 players each – and Jeff Ratcliffe of Pro Football Focus is the overall champion of the 28th annual Fantasy Index Experts Poll. This one was close.
Using our complex scoring matrix, scores averaged about 265,000 points, and Ratcliffe finished less than three tenths of a percent ahead of Mike Clay of ESPN. Bob Henry of FootballGuys also finished near the top, before a more sizable dropoff to the other entries.
FANTASY INDEX EXPERTS POLL (final standings) | ||
---|---|---|
Analyst | Company | Points |
Jeff Ratcliffe | Pro Football Focus | 270,252 |
Mike Clay | ESPN | 269,586 |
Bob Henry | FootballGuys | 269,031 |
Ryan McDowell | Dynasty League Football | 266,521 |
Sam Hendricks | Extra Point Press | 266,218 |
Tony Holm | Fantasy Sharks | 266,156 |
Lenny Pappano | Draft Sharks | 265,544 |
Jody Smith | Gridiron Experts | 265,245 |
Scott Pianowski | Yahoo Sports | 265,017 |
Justin Eleff | Fantasy Index Podcast | 264,516 |
Michael Nazarek | Fantasy Football Mastermind | 264,406 |
Chris Liss | RotoWire | 262,838 |
Alan Satterlee | Charlotte Observer | 262,824 |
Ryan Murphy | East Berlin, Pa. | 262,161 |
David Dorey | The Huddle | 260,559 |
Scott Sachs | Perfect Season FF | 260,116 |
Cory Bonini | USA Today Fantasy Sports | 259,721 |
Ken Valis | Gaithersburg, Md. | 259,634 |
Paul Charchian | LeagueSafe | 259,141 |
L.A. Hale | Fantasy Gives | 258,592 |
Ratcliffe was average at Kicker (11th) and Tight End (10th) but finished 2nd at Quarterback, 3rd at Defense and 6th at both Running Back and Wide Receiver. He was also a strong finisher last year, placing 6th in his debut season.
Clay (who formerly worked alongside Ratcliffe at PFF) finished 2nd at both Running Back and Wide Receiver, won the Defense category and finished a respectable 5th at Quarterback. But he ranked only 13th and 15th at Kicker and Tight End.
Henry finished 3rd, and he wasn’t far back – the only analyst to finish above-average in all six positions. Henry has been the most consistent performer in this competition in recent seasons. In the previous six years he finished 3rd, 6th, 4th, 1st (in 2014), 14th and 2nd.
Ryan McDowell (Dynasty League Football) finished 4th and had a well-rounded entry. He finished 12th at Tight End but was in the top 6 at every other position.
Like Clay, Sam Hendricks (Extra Point Press) was undone by below-average finishes at Tight End and Kicker. Hendricks won the two most heralded positions (RB, WR) and was in the top 8 at Quarterback and Defense.
Scoring such a contest can be subjective – results vary based on what you want to emphasize. Using “Waiver Wire Scoring” (which limits the damage of picks that go horribly wrong – Andrew Luck, Cairo Santos, etc. – Clay finished slightly ahead of Ratcliffe. Not much difference between those entries.
FANTASY INDEX EXPERTS POLL (Waiver Wire Scoring) | ||
---|---|---|
Analyst | Points | Std Rk |
Mike Clay | 46,761 | 2 |
Jeff Ratcliffe | 46,611 | 1 |
Sam Hendricks | 46,220 | 5 |
Justin Eleff | 45,938 | 10 |
Ryan McDowell | 45,729 | 4 |
Jody Smith | 45,371 | 8 |
Scott Pianowski | 45,369 | 9 |
Michael Nazarek | 45,106 | 11 |
Tony Holm | 44,852 | 6 |
Bob Henry | 44,660 | 3 |
Ken Valis | 44,521 | 18 |
Chris Liss | 44,269 | 12 |
Lenny Pappano | 44,186 | 7 |
Paul Charchian | 44,111 | 19 |
Ryan Murphy | 44,103 | 14 |
Alan Satterlee | 43,894 | 13 |
Cory Bonini | 43,822 | 17 |
Scott Sachs | 42,429 | 16 |
L.A. Hale | 42,398 | 20 |
David Dorey | 41,274 | 15 |
The field included two qualifiers from the Fantasy Index Open – the top 2 finishers from 2016 – but neither was a big factor. Ryan Murphy from East Berlin, Pa., finished 14th. Ken Valis (Gaithersburg, Md.) finished 2nd at Defenses and 5th at Tight Ends but ended up 18th.
All-time 10 qualifiers from the Fantasy Index Open (the sister competition – open to the general public) have won their way in to compete in this event. Three finished 5th, 6th and 8th, but none of the other seven have placed higher than 14th.
The top 11 finishers in this competition earn spots in the Mock Draft League that will be featured in the pages of Fantasy Football Index magazine. As the winner, Ratcliffe can start thinking about which of the 12 draft positions he would prefer in that league.
EXPERTS POLL, POSITIONAL RANKS (Standard Scoring) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rk | Analyst | QB | RB | WR | TE | PK | Def |
1. | Jeff Ratcliffe | 2 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 3 |
2. | Mike Clay | 5 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 13 | 1 |
3. | Bob Henry | 1 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
4. | Ryan McDowell | 6 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 5 | 6 |
5. | Sam Hendricks | 7 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 8 |
6. | Tony Holm | 3 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 4 | 11 |
7. | Lenny Pappano | 4 | 15 | 15 | 3 | 18 | 7 |
8. | Jody Smith | 11 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 4 |
9. | Scott Pianowski | 16 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 20 |
10. | Justin Eleff | 15 | 3 | 3 | 19 | 6 | 5 |
11. | Michael Nazarek | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 12 | 15 |
12. | Chris Liss | 14 | 13 | 13 | 4 | 8 | 12 |
13. | Alan Satterlee | 13 | 17 | 17 | 11 | 7 | 16 |
14. | Ryan Murphy | 18 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 9 | 13 |
15. | David Dorey | 12 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 15 | 19 |
16. | Scott Sachs | 19 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 1 | 14 |
17. | Cory Bonini | 10 | 14 | 14 | 20 | 16 | 18 |
18. | Ken Valis | 9 | 20 | 20 | 5 | 17 | 2 |
19. | Paul Charchian | 20 | 10 | 10 | 17 | 20 | 9 |
20. | L.A. Hale | 17 | 19 | 19 | 9 | 19 | 17 |
EXPERTS POLL, POSITIONAL RANKS (Waiver Wire Scoring) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rk | Analyst | QB | RB | WR | TE | PK | Def |
1. | Mike Clay | 2 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 16 | 1 |
2. | Jeff Ratcliffe | 3 | 1 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 4 |
3. | Sam Hendricks | 8 | 10 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 12 |
4. | Justin Eleff | 5 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 6 |
5. | Ryan McDowell | 10 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 15 |
6. | Jody Smith | 1 | 12 | 11 | 20 | 2 | 8 |
7. | Scott Pianowski | 6 | 16 | 19 | 10 | 20 | 7 |
8. | Michael Nazarek | 7 | 7 | 13 | 8 | 15 | 3 |
9. | Tony Holm | 12 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 17 | 18 |
10. | Bob Henry | 14 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 3 | 5 |
11. | Ken Valis | 13 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 16 |
12. | Chris Liss | 9 | 14 | 18 | 1 | 14 | 11 |
13. | Lenny Pappano | 16 | 15 | 4 | 13 | 10 | 20 |
14. | Paul Charchian | 17 | 11 | 3 | 17 | 12 | 9 |
15. | Ryan Murphy | 19 | 20 | 17 | 6 | 13 | 19 |
16. | Alan Satterlee | 18 | 18 | 14 | 19 | 1 | 14 |
17. | Cory Bonini | 11 | 17 | 15 | 16 | 19 | 17 |
18. | Scott Sachs | 4 | 13 | 16 | 14 | 4 | 2 |
19. | L.A. Hale | 20 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 10 |
20. | David Dorey | 15 | 19 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 13 |
—Ian Allan