Want to do battle with the experts and have your picks published in Fantasy Football Index magazine? Then do what Todd did: Outwit hundreds of entrants in Fantasy Index Blackout or the Fantasy Index Open. Both competitions are free of charge and open to all comers.

Congratulations to Todd Blinn of Obetz, OH, our Fantasy Index Blackout champion for the 2023 season. He wins a free subscription to everything we publish for the 2024 season -- Fantasy Football Index magazine and the SuperFanatic newsletter package -- and he will be invited to join the professional fantasy analysts in the 2024 Fantasy Football Index magazine Experts Draft. Click through to see the overall Top 50 for the year.

Todd finished 39.90 points ahead of runner-up Dennis Thomas of Royal Oaks, CA, a difference of about 1.2 percent.

2023 really was a tale of two seasons. Weeks 1-7 saw five different managers hold the top spot but only one person led the Blackout from weeks 8-18, the champion Todd Blinn and his team, The Mighty Grimmace’s. I asked Todd how he approached this season:

“I spent more time focusing on the Blackout this year. Toward the beginning of the year I set-up the Blackout scoring system in my custom scoring systems to help evaluate quarterbacks. I realized that none of the other systems I use has one point for every 20 yards of passing."

"In the beginning of the season I took players which were considered to be elite at their position and had a good matchup. As the season went on and you selected more blackout players I attempted to mainly focus on the good matchups, in addition to leaning on the elite players like Lamar when he was not blacked out and Goff if he was playing at home."

"I also utilized the stacking strategy more, I remember that strategy working out several weeks during the year. One week I remember the most was Week 9, when I stacked Prescott and Stroud with Ferguson and Schultz."

"In addition, I always would use the Index projections as a starting point to evaluate the available players and then assess from there."

For Todd, 2023 was a tale of two games as well. He started the season well and finished Week 7 in 67th place overall. In Week 8 he put up 236.10 points and took 2nd place on the week, climbing all the way to 2nd place overall. In Week 9, Todd ran it back and took 2nd on the week again behind 233.60. From there it was “good night” for the field so let’s give those rosters some respect:

Week 8 2nd Place Score
Mighty Grimmace’s from Obetz, OH
(Maximum-points picks in bold)
PosNameTeamScore
QBTua TagovailoaMIA29.00
QBDak PrescottDAL33.10
RBJahmyr GibbsDET29.90
RBIsiah PachecoKC6.70
WRDavante AdamsLV2.10
WRDeVonta SmithPHI22.90
WRCeeDee LambDAL41.00
TEDalton KincaidBUF17.50
TEGeorge KittleSF23.90
PKJason MyersSEA6.00
PKYounghoe KooATL11.00
STSeattle SeahawksSEA9.00
STAtlanta FalconsATL4.00
Total236.10
Week 9 2nd Place Score
Mighty Grimmace’s from Obetz, OH
(Maximum-points picks in bold)
PosNameTeamScore
QBDak PrescottDAL32.10
QBCJ StroudHOU46.50
RBJosh JacobsLV21.80
RBIsiah PachecoKC6.60
WRAdam ThielenCAR7.90
WRTee HigginsCIN19.00
WRChris OlaveNO16.60
TEDalton SchultzHOU29.00
TEJake FergusonDAL22.10
PKTyler BassBUF4.00
PKEvan McPhersonCIN6.00
STAtlanta FalconsATL10.00
STLas Vegas RaidersLV12.00
Total233.60

Todd led the field by an average of 60.58 from there on. A 5th place finish in Week 12 gave him his biggest margin of the season, 90.15 points. Regarding his second half dominance, Todd had this to say:

”After week 9 I had the ability to select the best options I thought were available since I had the lead and it worked out through the end. There were a few weeks toward the end where I kicked myself some. For example week 16, when I thought Breece Hall would have a big game although I did not go with him."

A few managers gave him a run down the stretch but Mighty Grimmace’s were not to be caught. The most notable challengers were:

  • DT BOMBERS who claimed 2nd, 20th and 38th places in three of the final five weeks to claim 2nd overall
  • Barney’s Rubble who finished the year with 6th, 25th and 26th place finishes to finish 3rd overall
  • Plano Guru who finished 4th behind eleven top 100 finishes plus another at 104
  • Juggernauts who finished 5th with eleven top 100 finishes including eight in the top 40 and only finished outside the top 200 once.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Fantasy Index Blackout in 2023. Both the Blackout and the Fantasy Index Open will be returning in 2024. Hope to see you then!

Here’s a look at the top 50 finishers in the 2023 Fantasy Index Blackout:

2023 FI Blackout Top 50 Overall:
RkPtsTeamHometown
13378.40Mighty Grimmace'sObetz
23338.50DT BOMBERSRoyal Oaks, CA
33326.65Barney's RubbleOrlando
43323.70Plano GuruPlano, TX
53312.25Juggernauts Rocky Hill, CT
63291.85Jason S.Fort Collins
73282.20Matthew S.Chicago, IL
83276.25Highs GuysLakewood Ranch, FL
93254.95Serving CrowLone Tree
103250.65Forth and LongHamilton
113249.20Steve K.Miami
123246.65Dmomo22White Lake, MI
133243.30David M.New Lenox, IL
143240.20Joe KappMount Carroll, IL
153239.40RoughridersBluffdale, UT
163238.75Pizza PieHenderson
173236.90O ClubWilburton, OK
183236.20FIUSER0824Black Diamond
193233.75Frank M.Bristol, PA
203233.10Taylor's Trailer TrashMiami
213230.15Fantasy Index (official picks)Seattle, WA
223225.60Ken's ConfusedPhoenix
233222.60It Ertz when I LoseArlington Heights
243221.95CRAIG MACHINEHumble, TX
253221.55Dam GuyMossyrock
263216.10GRIZZMUNDICincinnati, OH
273212.25Fantasy Index (Ian Allan)Seattle
283209.85BizzleWest Linn, OR
293208.50Los Pollos HermanosLeland, NC
303205.20Ralph C.Owasso
313204.15DeutschlandEXPRESSSioux Falls
323203.65RenegadesFairport, NY
333203.65Wayne E.Clearwater, FL
343201.90Bruce R.Elgin, OR
353199.40Bo knows Tecmo BowlZionsville, IN
363199.30Saquon DestroyWard
373199.00CCBluecatsDallas
383196.70Scott KWinnipeg, MB
393196.65ztenPittsburgh, PA
403190.55Jeff S.Newark
413190.10Rich Z.Schaumburg
423186.60D-MenRegina, SK
433186.55Whoops EifertedCranberry Twp, PA
443182.60SHADOW DADMukwonago
453180.05SHAMROCKSFlorence, OR
463175.10Henne to ManninghamLa Crosse, WI
473174.05Bull 51Avondale, PA
483168.90Xiola BlueBerkeley
493166.65David D.Norristown
503160.75JoeG RxFolsom, CA