Hope. Not just a word they cram into every Star Wars film. Hope is what fantasy seasons are built upon. The last three seasons have proven that all anyone needs is a little hope and a perfectly timed winning streak. The last three seasons we have seen three straight teams earn long awaited titles. In 2020, Jeff Greenblatt, if we count his partnership with Colby, waited 17 years before he earned his first crown.
The following season, Eric, who at the time had the longest streak without a title (20 years), won his first ever crown as an 8-seed.
And this season, Colby put to bed a 19-season stretch without a championship by defeating Matt Neatock in the 2023 title game. This leaves Rob Masterson as the only veteran player to never earn a crown. In fact, Rob has yet to even play in a title game.
However, that’s not the only hope Colby has given everyone with his run. He’s proven that bad ends to the regular season are not what they are cracked up to be.
Recall…Colby began the year like he ended it, as the best. He won his first three games and cracked 1,400 in all three wins. Sure, there were a couple of bumps along the way (a two-game losing streak in weeks four and five), but through eight weeks, he was still a solid 6-2 and battling Eric and I for the top spot.
However, beginning in week 10, Colby’s boys began to fail him. Even though he would win three of his final five, he averaged just 1,135 points per game. Only Griff scored less in that time. Hot…he was not.
Yet, it didn’t matter. As we always say, just get to the playoffs and win three games and win three games is what Colby just did. He scored over 1,500 in all three games and defeated Neatock, 1,975 – 1256 in the finals. He came up just 25 points short of 2,000 in the title game, settling for the second most points scored in that contest.
Of course, his success in 2022 actually began in 2021 when he drafted Travis Etienne in round 13 in last year’s draft. The Jaguars back was out for the year, so Colby designated him the red shirt (something not enough people do). It paid off big time, as Etienne delivered 340 points in this title game and 752 points in the postseason.
It helped he made the right keeper choice in category one as well, keeping Josh Allen, who proved to be the second best arm in fantasy. In this season’s draft, he took a big chance taking McCaffrey second overall, as the Panthers back had failed to finish so many recent seasons. Well, he became a 49ers back and finished the season by scoring a title game high 446 points.
Third round pick Sutton had his moments, but Waddle in round four proved to be a gem, giving Colby what he needed; an All-Robio type receiver. Of course, good draft decisions weren’t the only reason for Colby’s success. He spent $19 in week two on the wire for Tayson Hill, who was his starting tight end this weekend. On top of that, he performed a trade this year. While the trade did benefit Bob more since he landed Stevenson, it was Amari Cooper who delivered 330 points in the championship game and that’s all it matters.
Good keepers, good draft, good wire work, good enough trade and good timing…and hope.
Congratulations to Colby…the monkey is officially off the back.
As for Neatock, a sixth title game appearance may not have ended in a fifth championship, but it was an impressive run nonetheless. His 4,456 points scored in the postseason was the 8th most scored by a runner up. He also took down both the top seed and second seed, although that may not be as impressive as it sounds, since it’s actually the third year in a row someone has done it.
As a man who I know takes great pride in his place in the history of this league, his six title game appearances are now third most in league history…one more than even Bob.
On to 2023…