Burrier opened the decade with three straight 6-7 seasons, which is the fantasy football equivalent of a mayonnaise sandwich. Sure, it’ll keep you alive, but nobody’s calling it satisfying.
Those first two 6-7 campaigns were just enough to sneak into the playoffs as the No. 8 seed. In both cases, he drew beatable No. 1 seeds. Yet, he couldn’t capitalize, despite Jeff scoring only 905 points in 2016 and Bob scoring just 1,271 in 2017. The door was wide open and Rich tripped over his own feet before reaching it.
The problem in those games were the same as the rest of the decade: Rich couldn’t score.
From 2016 through 2019, he finished 9th, 11th, 12th, and 10th in points. Rock bottom was 2019, when Burrier stumbled to a 2-win season and missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year, capping off one of the league’s least threatening four-year stretches.
To his credit, things improved after that.
Since 2020, Burrier has made the playoffs four times in six seasons, including three straight appearances from 2020-2022. His best years came in 2022 and 2024, when he won nine games and earned the No. 3 seed both times. Unfortunately, more playoff invitations didn’t bring him any closer to lifting the mug.
Over the full decade, Burrier’s average finish in the standings is 7.6, while his average finish in scoring is an even less impressive 8.1. Both are firmly in the league’s bottom third. His regular-season record sits at 62-73 (.459), tied for the eighth-best winning percentage, and that slips to 64-79 (.448) when the playoffs are included (2-6), ranking 10th overall. He averaged 1,317 points per regular season and 1,320 overall: never the league’s worst, but rarely anything close to dangerous.
In total, Burrier reached the postseason six times. That’s respectable on the surface, but four of those appearances came as the No. 6 seed or lower. More importantly, he escaped the quarterfinals only twice. His deepest runs ended in semifinal losses to No. 5 seed Jeff in 2020 and No. 4 seed Colby in 2022.
The resume is filled with “almost.” Almost a winning record. Almost scored enough points. Almost a dangerous playoff team.
To earn respect over a decade, you need to excel somewhere. Dominate the regular season or make memorable postseason runs. Burrier doesn’t have to do both, but he has to do one.
Over the last ten years, he never really did either.