We’re two weeks into the season and teams are starting to get an idea of who they are. There’s still enough time to save the season, so let’s breakdown everyone’s strengths and weaknesses.
UPDATE: This article was written prior to Lucky changing their team name to Not Lucky to reflect the sad reality they find themselves in.
This article was written by Josh Teigland. Let me (Caleb) know if you would also like to contribute!
How are Performance Rankings different from Power Rankings?
Unlike Power Rankings which attempt to find the true overall strength of each team, Performance Rankings are based strictly on results. That comes with both positives (just numerical data, no flimsy expert opinions) and negatives (small sample size means they’re less effective at predicting future performances). In this article, we breakdown each team by offense, defense, and position to see how everyone compares to their peers.
The problem with flex players: The Performance Rankings are taken from summing the points from each team’s starting lineups. The Flex positions present a problem because any team can start a different number of RBs, WRs, TEs, and defensive players. To keep the comparison balanced, I’ve chosen to take the best minimum starts for each position. That means if a team starts three RBs, only the two with the highest scores that week are taken into account. All starting positions (excluding kickers) are included for overall offense and overall defense rankings.
In addition to totaling scores, I’ve adjusted all results onto a curve where the median is a passing C grade. A (>90%), B (>80%), C (>70%), D (>60%), F (<60%)
Overall Rankings
Here are the overall results after two weeks. It’s mostly quite close. No group of teams has taken a commanding lead yet. The Red Warriors and Detroit Wolverines sit squarely on the bottom. They’ll need to make some quick changes to save their season.
Offense
There’s a nice even spread throughout all the teams’ offensive performances. Lucky sits comfortably on top despite going 0-2. The two teams that beat them rank #2 and #3. Performance suggests they should be catching a break soon.
QB
Lamar Jackson is proving his haters wrong going 41/57 for 596 yards and 7 TDs through two games, which puts Pegasus on top for QB rankings. Behind Pegasus are speed-demons (with both the #2 and #4 overall QBs on their roster) and Winged Hussars who took Patrick Mahomes with the #12 overall pick. There’s a significant dropoff where five teams rest in the middle of the pack. Lucky, Necessary Roughness, Total domination, and Bling Bling could use some help at this position thanks to injuries and underperforming starters.
RB
While the best RBs account for some of the highest performing fantasy football players, there’s a rapid dropoff in talent. The RB rankings reflect that quite well. Lucky and Bling Bling have more than twice the amount of points from RBs as the league median. I’d feel pretty good about that position too if I was confident enough to start 4 RBs, which both teams did in their Week 2 head-to-head.
WR
The Golden Eagles sit on top after a monster performance in Week 1 from Sammy Watkins. Strong (but sporadic) performances from Nelson Agholor and Alshon Jeffrey also help. Unfortunately SPOILER ALERT this is the only category the Golden Eagles achieve a curved score higher than a C.
TE
There are never enough good TEs to go around when it comes to fantasy football. Three teams (speed-demons, Necessary Roughness, and Red Warriors) have shown the strongest consistency at the TE position. Perhaps uncoincidentally, they are also the only three teams to ever start more than one TE in a given week. Golden Eagles sit at the bottom with a fat 0. Oof! Teams looking to improve this position might be able to find help from some unlikely places.
Defense
They say defense wins championships, and these rankings definitely appear to separate the wheat from the chaff. The top four teams are all 2-0.
DL
After a stellar Monday night performance from Myles Garrett, Kali Warriors leap frog Pegasus in this category. A mostly even spread from all the teams with few significant cutoffs. Winged Hussars and Red Warriors sit at the bottom in single digits.
LB
No significant cutoffs at this position, but a large spread of 39.5 means there’s a lot of disparity at this position. Thirty-one of Bling Bling’s points come from Luke Kuechly’s Thursday Night Punch-Out!! (trademark pending)
DB
Pegasus and Tricksters lead the pack at this position. There’s a small drop after them at Winged Hussars, but it’s a pretty tight spread (just 11 points). We’ll see if that holds true for the rest of the season.
Final Thoughts
The best teams seem to be those that excelled in their strengths and mitigated their weaknesses. It’s too soon to count anybody out just yet. We’re five weeks from the midpoint of the season, so teams are going to have to make a move soon before the season gets away from them.