Checking in on our annual Experts Leagues, it looks like the closest race in the 17-year history of the competition. Mario Puig of Rotowire is in the top spot, but three other teams -- The Huddle, Fantasy Sharks and Footballguys -- are within 5 games of him. Anybody's game, it seems.
These leagues use a "Play-All" scheduling format, where every team plays every other team each week of the season. Top score goes 11-0 for the week, lowest scores goes 0-11, etc. Given that, it's easy to see how a 4-game edge isn't a big deal; Puig could easily have a poor week and fall from the top spot. Indeed, even one of the teams outside the top 4 could zoom up and steal the top prize.
The Rotowire team is 88-33 overall, and it got there by hitting on virtually all of its early picks from the 5th spot in the draft. Alvin Kamara, Nick Chubb, Allen Robinson, Calvin Ridley, Kyler Murray, Christian Kirk -- no misses in his first six picks. Chubb missed a chunk of the season, of course, but all those guys are currently on the field and making it into his best-ball lineup most weeks (as always, this is a no-transaction league, where each team gets its best possible starting lineup from its 22-player roster).
David Dorey of The Huddle, Tony Holm of Fantasy Sharks and David Dodds of Footballguys are all battling it out to move into that top spot, and they've done so with different kinds of teams.
Dorey has been competitive despite most of his running backs not panning out. The first three he drafted were Melvin Gordon, Mark Ingram and Cam Akers, none of whom has been great. But later pick Malcolm Brown has chipped in some good weeks, and his wide receivers have been strong even with Odell Beckham getting hurt: DeAndre Hopkins, Justin Jefferson, and even last-round pick Chase Claypool. Robby Anderson, Marvin Jones and Darius Slayton have chipped in at times, and tight end Travis Kelce is lapping the field.
Holm has also been carried by his wideouts in this 3-WR league. Keenan Allen, Stefon Diggs, Corey Davis, Jamison Crowder, Mike Williams -- not hard for him to get 3 good starters a week. Quarterback Josh Allen has put up big numbers, and his running back duo of Ezekiel Elliott and Clyde Edwards-Helaire, while disappointing, has at least stayed healthy.
Dodds started out his draft with Julio Jones and Tyreek Hill, and his 21st round selection of Tee Higgins has paid off. He wound up with both Tampa Bay running backs (the draft was held when Fournette was still in Jacksonville), which works out well in an uncertain committee in best-ball. The Joe Burrow injury could hurt, though; Dodds has had both Burrow and Higgins in his lineup a lot of weeks during the season.
Full standings, with five weeks left in the season, are below. We'll check out the Experts Auction league in the next day or two. Rosters can be seen in our preseason annual, or by searching for the Fantasy Index Mock Draft League at RealTime Fantasy Sports.
| EXPERTS DRAFT LEAGUE | ||
|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L |
| Rotowire | 88 | 33 |
| The Huddle | 84 | 37 |
| Fantasy Sharks | 84 | 37 |
| Footballguys | 83 | 38 |
| Draft Sharks | 74 | 47 |
| FFMastermind.com | 72 | 49 |
| GuillotineLeagues.com | 58 | 63 |
| FI Open -Teegardin | 42 | 79 |
| FI Open -Varnon | 40 | 81 |
| Big Guy Fantasy Sports | 37 | 84 |
| Fantasy Index Blackout | 33 | 88 |
| Extra Point Press | 31 | 90 |
--Andy Richardson