Fantasy Index

Fantasy Index Blackout

January 06, 2026

Maxwell F 412 Wins Blackout

Maxwell Flaugh from Wallingford, CT made a big splash by selecting two of the top receivers in this week’s pool. Zay Flowers’ WR1 finish benefited just 16-percent of managers but put Maxwell over the top.

Maxwell mostly toed the line this week to his benefit and his detriment. Outside of Flowers he had just two players with a selection rate under 20-percent. Tee Higgins finished outside the top 3 but provided a serviceable outing for the 12-percent of rosters that included him. Same with Dalton Schultz who was the TE5. Colston Loveland finished the year with back-to-back TE1 performances in the Blackout and Michael Wilson finally got the love he’s been earning with a 43-percent selection rate. There were some big duds this week as well. Travis Etienne and Bo Nix fell flat for 32 and 21-percent of managers respectively. Here is this week’s winning team :

Week 18 highest score
Maxwell Flaugh, Wallingford, CT
(Maximum-points picks in bold)
% StartedPosNameTeamScore
38.46%QBCaleb WilliamsCHI20.70
20.81%QBBo NixDEN11.95
38.91%RBJahmyr GibbsDET20.30
31.67%RBTravis EtienneJAC4.80
11.76%WRTee HigginsCIN18.70
43.44%WRMichael WilsonARI20.90
16.29%WRZay FlowersBAL29.80
36.65%TEColston LovelandCHI25.10
17.65%TEDalton SchultzHOU11.30
53.85%PKBrandon AubreyDAL5.00
27.60%PKJason MyersSEA7.00
28.05%STJacksonville JaguarsJAC9.00
20.81%STNew England PatriotsNE8.00
Total192.55

The most popular roster struggled mightily this week with just 45-percent of the available points. Loveland and Wilson joined the Denver Broncos Defense to give the crowd three top scoring players. Caleb Williams (QB8) and Jamyr Gibbs (RB 5) turned in decent scores but after that it fell apart badly. The other eight most popular players scored in the single digits. The busts were headlined by a pair of Cowboys who played limited snaps but Mike Evans and Travis Etienne came by theirs honestly. It was an unfortunate sequence of events, see for yourself:

Week 18 Wisdom Of The Crowd Score
(Maximum-points picks in bold)
% StartedPosNameTeamScore
38.91%QBDak PrescottDAL3.40
38.46%QBCaleb WilliamsCHI20.70
38.91%RBJahmyr GibbsDET20.30
31.67%RBTravis EtienneJAC4.80
43.44%WRMichael WilsonARI20.90
42.53%WRGeorge PickensDAL1.90
22.62%WRMike EvansTB5.40
46.15%TEJuwan JohnsonNO9.10
36.65%TEColston LovelandCHI25.10
53.85%PKBrandon AubreyDAL5.00
27.60%PKJason MyersSEA7.00
55.2%STDenver BroncosDEN14.00
33.94%STBuffalo BillsBUF1.00
Total138.60

The Blackout finished strong with five top players unavailable. One Two managers selected the QB1 Mitchell Trubisky. That lends some credibility to the rumor that Matt Nagy plays the blackout, but all joking aside, it was a bold move and kudos to those who made it. Both top scoring RBs were selected on under 2-percent or rosters, and nobody started the WR2, Alec Pierce. Cade Otton’s wild finish to the year also benefited just two managers. Here is the max points roster:

Week 18 Perfect Score
(Blackouts in strikethrough).
% StartedPosNameTeamScore
0.90%QBMitchell TrubiskyBUF31.45
n/aQBMatthew StaffordLAR29.25
5.88%QBTyler ShoughNO26.35
1.36%RBRhamondre StevensonNE35.30
1.36%RBTyrone TracyNYG29.90
16.29%WRZay FlowersBAL29.80
0.00%WRAlec PierceIND29.20
n/aWRPuka NacuaLAR26.00
n/aWRJa'Marr ChaseCIN23.60
43.44%WRMichael WilsonARI20.90
36.65%TEColston LovelandCHI25.10
0.90%TECade OttonTB22.40
n/aPKKa'imi FairbairnHOU20.00
0.45%PKBen SaulsNYG14.00
n/aPKHarrison MevisLAR13.00
2.26%PKJake BatesDET13.00
11.31%PKWil LutzDEN13.00
3.62%PKZane GonzalezATL13.00
3.62%STCleveland BrownsCLE18.00
55.20%STDenver BroncosDEN14.00
0.90%STLas Vegas RaidersLV14.00
Total309.40

This season’s finale was exciting by Blackout standards. Nostrildamus entered the week in 3rd, trailing by 45.95 points. He did exactly what he needed to do, finishing 5th, but the leader, Nate S., didn’t hold up his end of the deal with a sub-100 finish. Instead, he landed yet another haymaker, finishing 18th and retaining 39.8 points of his sizeable lead. So, we have our winner, a manager who finished outside the top 100 just once in the final 13 games but didn’t manage to win any weeks and thus, has not been properly celebrated. So, congratulations to the 2025 Fantasy Index Blackout champion, Nate Swanger, locality unknown. I’ll have a feature article later this week highlighting Nate’s path to victory and the highs and lows of another year of the Blackout. Thanks to everyone who participated. Here is a look at the Top 25 overall through the 2025 NFL regular season:

Top 25 Overall
RkTeam NameScore
1Nate S.3,257.05
2Nostrildamus3,217.25
3Miles3,210.70
4Frosty Mugs3,205.30
5Whoops Eiferted3,189.55
6Math Mania3,175.90
7Texan Eddie3,164.85
8Headbangers3,151.55
9CRAIG MACHINE3,147.95
10Donald D.3,144.15
11Fantasy Index (Ian Allan)3,143.55
12GREGH9873,140.95
13RK Edge3,139.90
14Steve K.3,134.95
15PR Lightning3,133.70
16Northern King3,125.60
17Col. Jessup's Code Red3,123.45
18Bull 513,122.30
19Sphynx-sters3,121.55
20Jeff S.3,117.75
21Paulie's Playhouse3,116.85
22Jerry M3,105.65
23Frank M.3,105.40
24Mike T.3,103.05
25Manifest Density3,101.40

Here’s a look at the Top 25 from this week :

Top 25 Week 18
RkTeam NameScore
1Maxwell F 412192.55
2Dennis L.186.95
3Harry S.185.10
4Frosty Mugs182.70
5Nostrildamus178.90
6Eric M.177.20
7Bearly Legal177.15
8Miles176.30
9Mike T.174.80
10The Crushers174.25
11AZTECS173.25
11Network Stars173.25
12PR Lightning172.60
13David B.172.05
14Ben_FID171.95
15Whoops Eiferted171.85
16Plano Guru169.70
17Nate S.169.65
18GiWizard168.95
19RAMS!167.65
20Coors Light Patriots167.35
21ToXicWaSte 2025166.85
22It Hurts to Push my Tush166.70
23Prehistoric X166.10
24DRUMGATE165.50
25Scruff Dog164.00
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