Interview with the Champ

This week we will start with our annual interview with the defending champion. Congratulations again Bryce on an amazing post-season run in 2019.

Bali: Looking back at your post season run last year was incredible. You destroyed all the big names and your average points sky rocketed for the playoffs. Talk to us about what that experience was like and how you pulled off that marvelous feat.

Bryce: To be honest going into the playoffs I did not feel confident at all. I was scrambling for a quarterback and the majority of my team had been underperforming. I just happened to hit Ryan Fitzpatrick’s best span of games in his career to lead me through. I made a lot of changes throughout the year to put myself into a good position for playoffs and it happened to pay off. 

Bali: I noticed last year you waited long (until Round 8) to draft a quarterback. You waited even longer this year (Round 12) to grab Bridgewater. Without giving away too much strategy, was this planned or did this just happen naturally as the draft went on? How do you feel about your team overall after Week 1?

Bryce: This year I didn’t want to jump at a quarterback early. I had done it in the past and ended up not having the depth I needed at some key positions that hurt me. This year I was not wanting to jump at quarterbacks early because I felt I could get someone better in a deeper round. I was not expecting to wait until the 12th round but just when I was looking at some of the QBs I wanted they would get snagged. Some of the tough parts about having to wait so long between picks when you are at the ends of the draft. I feel really good about my team this year still. I think Bridgewater still has a lot of talent and I feel like I have a lot of depth at my skill positions.

Bali: Last year you were one of the most active GMs in trades and not afraid to move your big name players. Do you think teams are too afraid to trade away their star players to improve their teams and make a playoff run like you did last season? How did you know you were making the right moves at the time?

Bryce: I think each year I take a little different approach to the season following my draft. I was really happy getting Hopkins and when we got out of the first 4 divisional games I saw some major holes on my team and knew I needed to move someone big to have a chance. I think the majority of teams are afraid to move big name players and I tend to side with them. Your 1st 3 picks are people that are supposed to be your “sure fire picks” I think for much situation last year they ended up not being that way and I needed to pull the trigger to get someone who was performing. Just like every trade there is no guarantee but watching the progression of the guys I had at the time I wasn’t happy and knew I wouldn’t be happy just riding it out with them.

Bali: Looking at the landscape, who do you think are the biggest threats to your championship this season inside your division and across the league?

Bryce: Well seeing week 1 play out has definitely helped with this question. I think Stan has another team built for a championship run and he is always a contender I feel like. After that Ryan always seems to have 3 picks in the first 2 rounds thanks to Christian. He has a very strong starting team but I think he falls apart when bye weeks start to come into play. I think the south always has a strong competition for the divisional champion and this year isn’t any different I think Chet, Nav, and J all have strong teams and we always seem to come down to the last week of games to decide who makes playoffs.

Thank you to the defending champion Bryce for giving us some of his time for this interview.