After proclaiming that 2019 was an outlier of a season, of course history repeats itself in 2020 with another championship team gaining steam late in the season and making winning transactional moves through free agency and trades to shore up a championship roster. Gandalf the Goat started the season off to a rocky 0-2 start but was able to even up the record before divisional play ended. Again during intra divisional play the Goat remained steady going 2-2 over the next 4 weeks and keeping a .500 record. Despite never having any dominant signature wins or being in the top half of points scored for a majority of the season, the Goat was able to stay in contention and keep his head above water until help arrived in the form of David Montgomery.
The Draft and Evolution of the Roster
The Goat has never been shy of trading draft picks and we saw that occur once again in the 2020 draft as the second round pick was traded for more volume later in the draft. After a first round pick of Patrick Mahomes, the skill positions began to dry up before the next pick was made in Round 3 of Le’Veon Bell. DK Metcalf proved to be a fantastic pick returning top 5 value picked in the 4th round followed by Devin Singletary. When you look at these two running backs selected, you might think this was not the make up of a good team but solid picks in the middle rounds plus some activity later in the season provided great opportunities to upgrade the starting running backs. JK Dobbins in the 6th round is another league winning pick that proved to be one of the most essential players in the playoff weeks.
If there’s one fact that can be cemented by the last two championship teams: the draft is only a small building block of your roster and should never constitute an ironclad commitment to these players over the course of an entire season. A GM who sees his players as assets and tradable commodities with the goal of seeking and executing roster moves to improve the roster at every opportunity is a GM who will reach the promised land.
It was in Week 8 when the key addition to the roster was made via trade: David Montgomery and Damien Harris were acquired for Le’Veon Bell and Devin Singletary. Montgomery proved to be one of the hottest running backs in the playoffs crucial to a late season surge. The other key element of the trade is what was not included: JK Dobbins. The rookie running back came into the season with great promise and the general belief in fantasy football circles that his talent would usurp the aging Mark Ingram. Dobbins usage rate, particularly in the red zone area, shot up drastically in the latter half of the season which resulted in six consecutive weeks with a touchdown score and snap counts in the 50-60% range after being used conservatively in the first half of the season.
You might think a team with Patrick Mahomes is a one man show where it’s easy to accredit all the success, but the fact of the matter is this roster was very well rounded with great running backs who got hot at the right time, a top 5 receiver in DK Metcalf and a great value receiving option in Brandin Cooks who became a volume hog resulting in tremendous fantasy value vs where he was drafted.
The Division Race
The Goat was never viewed as a threat or powerhouse through most of the season. Rather they coasted under the radar staying in contention and made a strong late season push even clinching the “Never say never” GM of the year award. Through the first twelve weeks of the regular season, Mahomies Deezflated Nuts had a grasp of the FFC East Division. But it was a critical week 12 matchup against Gandalf the Goat that turned the tides for good and shifted all the momentum very late into the season. The Goat vs the Nuts had two of the highest scoring game totals across the entire league over the course of the whole season, and the Week 12 matchup delivered. The Goat survived a 44 point onslaught of points from Tyreek Hill as they persevered with strong games from Montgomery, Metcalf and Mahomes to gain control of the division.
After taking ownership of first place in the FFC East, the Goat never looked back. From Week 11 on the Goat never lost another game, took the division crown, and cruised through three rounds of the playoffs en route to the first franchise championship. The wildcard matchup was the closest of the three games with a narrow win over the Rubber Duckies. It was during the division round that the Goat was tested against the highest scoring powerhouse of the entire league and bested Dr. Jenious with a strong 100 point performance and victory before getting to the Superbowl. The Superbowl game was nothing short of a decisive victory over the Sacramento Wolfpack in which Superbowl MVP Patrick Mahomes threw for 278 yards and two touchdowns along with David Montgomery who had been on the greatest tear of his professional career in which he scored point totals of 20.3, 23.1, 21.5, 28.2 and 18.1 over the last five games of the regular season to solidify a championship run. Congratulations to Gandalf the Goat on capturing the 2020 BFFL Championship and with that let’s get to our annual interview with the champion.
Interview with the Champ
Question: Casey, your 2020 championship run was highlighted by one of the most dominant performances by a pair of running backs with David Montgomery and JK Dobbins over the last six weeks of the regular season. You got hot at the right time, how did you feel about your roster entering the playoffs and can you reflect on your incredible run last season?
Casey: Going into the playoffs I felt great. I didn’t expect the run that David Montgomery since he pretty much tanked the entire season. I made the trade right in time. If it wasn’t for that trade, I wouldn’t have made the playoffs. It was probably one of the most challenging/stressful seasons to date in the league with any player possibly catching Covid and potentially being the cause of a loss that week. It was awesome to be ranked 16 on ESPN last year to winning it all. It just reaffirms that no matter what happens with the right moves in season anything can happen.
Question: You have been one of the most active GMs in the entire league whether it’s acquiring free agents or not being afraid to trade. You’ve traded out of the second round in last year’s draft. This year you made the big decision to trade out of the first round. Do you feel confident in this strategy to win another championship and do you feel you have enough of an advantage with your added picks in the 2nd and 3rd rounds?
Casey: I really hopped Mahomes would fall to me but was worried he wasn’t going to get past Ryan. I was initially trying to actually trade up to the 1.03 and to take Mahomes before Ryan’s pick. It obviously fell through but it would have consisted of trading future years picks. I decided to wait and see if he fell to me and once Justin picked Mahomes I knew I was going to trade out. I feel way better this year than I did last year heading into the season.
Question: Looking at your roster this season, I’m impressed with how strong you look on paper. Did you have Josh Allen earmarked as your 2nd round pick? Were there other players you knew you had to leave the draft with or was it all in the moment? Tell us a little about how you approached the draft this season.
Casey: Yes Josh Allen was my 2nd Target after Mahomes. When I traded out I knew I needed to land my starting RB at 2.05 or else I would be thin at RB so I took Montgomery hoping Allen would be there with my acquired 2nd and sure enough he was. QB is crazy important in this league and landing a great one is almost paramount because of scoring. Micheal Thomas was a no brainer for me. I knew he was dropping and felt if I could get my starting lineup before the rest of the league I could get him first. My trade with Ryan made that happen. MT is out until week 6 and I feel if I go 3-3 I should have no problems making a run with MT added into my lineup. Hopefully by then Winston will be back to gunslinger ways.
Question: Last year it was a contentious divisional race in the FFC East and I expect it to be no different this year. Looking around the league, who do you consider to be some of the biggest threats to defending your championship this season?
Every team has some really strong pieces. There are a few teams that really stand out to me as big threats.
- Elk Grove Spartans
- Pool of the Dead
- Da Moons HUGE CRATERS
These teams are strong in every position and I feel can all make a strong push. May the best team win!
Thank you to Casey for graciously providing his time with the annual interview with the defending champion.
Bali's Fantasy Football League 