The WMFFL has undergone some significant changes over the last few years, with three (soon to be four) new owners over the past year.  With new blood comes new owner personalities and skill sets, so it will be interesting to see how things shake out over the next few seasons.  Also, in case any new owners are wondering, the role of League Shithead is already taken (by Warren).

 

2016 Season Recap

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After rolling to a 12-2 season and championship in 2015, the MeggaMen pounded out an even better 12-1-1 record and were poised to repeat last year before falling in the championship to the upstart Woodland Rangers, with first-year coach Derek Inman at the helm.  

In actuality, the MeggaMen were more lucky than good last year and seemed to always play other teams on their down weeks or when their best players were on a bye.  Even though they recorded a 12-1-1 record (the second best in league history and their record fourth 12-win season), they finished #4 in overall points and were 5th in total offense.  The MeggaMen have only lost 3 games in the past two seasons and have now gone 24-3-1 over the past two years.

Derek however took a turd of an expansion team to their first championship in his first season as coach (easily winning Coach of the Year honors).  When I say this team was bad in the past, I mean they were bad even for an expansion franchise, with previous "owners" putting up an embarrassing .370 winning percentage, going to 3 straight Toilet Bowls (4 total in 6 years of existence), and posting a 1 win season in 2011 (yes, only 1 victory all year).  Even historically awful franchises like the Fighting Squirrels and Gaelic Warriors have never been that bad (sorry guys, it's true but not all your faults).

 

Fond Farewells

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I feel the need to talk a bit about the three owners that departed this past year, especially since two of them were with us for a long time.

 

Tim Shoobridge 

At long last, the Tim (with sometimes companion Andy) experiment has come to an end.  As much as I enjoyed playing with Tim (he was one of the best trade partners around and often had the best team name), his actual results left much to be desired.  In 24 years as an owner, he went to three championships and never won a single one (yes, you read that right).  He did post a career record over .500 but hadn't been to a championship since 2003.  His team names will certainly live on in WMFFL lore (I can't decide if I like Ravaging Camel Clutch or Lindbergh Baby Casserole more) and he certainly deserves a place in the WMFFL owner Hall of Fame (if there were such a thing).

 

Joel Ward and Ann-Marie Ward

Owners since 2007, Joal and Ann-Marie were the lovable losers of the league.  The little team you always rooted for but could never seem to pull it out when push came to shove.  In their 9 years in the league, the mustered a mighty 35% winning percentage and, while they tended to draft pretty well, they never seemed to end up on the right end of player transactions (yes, I once traded them Clinton Portis at the end for Andre Johnson in his prime).  Having a girl in the league classed the place up though and we had to take Joel, since they were a package deal.

 

Matt Mansfield

Matt was only with us for 6 years, but managed to build a decent team and make an impact in the short time.  He fielded a competitive team (for the most part) and, aside from his first year when he was getting his footing and last year when he gave up, posted a 54% winning percentage over that time.  He always drafted well and did a good job with personnel but his teams seemed to collapse late in every season.  He managed just one playoff appearance in his career, losing to Warren in 2012.

 

Team-by-Team Review and Predictions

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Amish Electricians

2016 Predicted Finish: 7-7
2016 Actual Finish: 9-5

2016 Results: Josh always does better in even years and this past season was no exception.  After missing the playoffs in 2015, the Amish bounced back to finish first in the Burgundy division.  Josh almost pulled it out in the first round of the playoffs but ultimately dropped that game to the surging Woodland Rangers and Player of the Year, Ezekiel Elliot (yes, I'm still handing out fake awards).

Best Pick: Randall Cobb (a steal in round 15)
Worst Pick: Donte Moncrief (Indy is a sinking ship)
Player his season depends on: Matthew Stafford

Draft Grade: C
Predicted Finish: 9-5

Summary: Josh will hate reading this again because I'm rarely a fan of his drafts.  I am however, very much a fan of the way he handles his team during the year (he tends to make good, educated, pickups and trades).  This year he gets to play in the worst division in the league, so that alone will take him to a plus .500 record.  He's lacking at QB, with Matthew Stafford and Carson Palmer, but boasts the top RB tandem in the league with Le'Veon Bell and LeSean McCoy.  He has one starting quality WR in Davante Adams and enough pieces on the bench to put some points on the board at the other wideout slot.  His DL is great but his LBs and DBs are just mediocre.  In any other division, he'd probably be looking at an 8-8 season, but in this year's Burgundy group, he's got enough to push him up to 9 wins.

 

Norsemen

2016 Predicted Finish: 5-9
2016 Actual Finish: 5-8-1 (nailed it)

2016 Results:  After a good start out of the gate, with a 3-2-1 record, Byron dropped 6 of 8 to finish well out of contention.  His season hinged on Cam Newton and Adrian Peterson, and we all know how their seasons went last year.

Best Pick: C.J. Mosley
Worst Pick: Corey Davis
Player his season depends on: Cam Newton

Draft Grade: C-
2017 Predicted Finish: 5-9

Summary: Byron had an up and down draft this year and continued his favorite trend of drafting rookies, even to a fault.  It's always a gamble drafting rookies high and we've seen so many of them flame out fast or never come around at all (e.g. Trent Richardson, Tavon Austin, Jahvid Best, and MANY more).  Byron has always been the type to go all-in though and he continued his favorite trend throughout the draft by pulling in a grand total of 6 rookies.  On offense, he'll field a (hopefully) renewed Cam Newton and has a solid #1 RB in Jordan Howard, but it goes downhill from there.  His backups are all rookies or unprovens and his "top" WR, Keenan Allen, hasn't played a full season since he was a rookie (even then barely clearing 1,000 yards) and has only amassed 1,571 yards since 2014!  Behind his he'll again field rookies and unprovens.  His defense is another story and will probably carry him through a few wins this year, with top notch pairs of DL, LBs, and two fine DBs.

 

Richard's Lionhearts (formerly Mansfield Onanists)

2016 Predicted Finish: 6-8
2016 Actual Finish: 4-9-1

2016 Results:  Matt fielded the best running back in the league in David Johnson, and that was about it.  One player and a little bit of defense gets you a .321 winning percentage.

Best Pick: TY Hilton
Worst Pick: Allen Hurns
Player his season depends on: TY Hilton

Draft Grade: D-
2017 Predicted Finish: 4-10

Summary: What can I say, there wasn't much I liked about Richard's draft but, seeing that it's his first year, I can't give him an F.  Picking Hilton in round 1 was a good choice but his draft went off the rails from there.  He'll field a top notch QB in Roethlisberger, the best RB in the league in DJ, a top WR in Hilton, and a top TE in Kelce but there's little to like beyond them.  His second RB and WR options are questionable (at best) and his defense could vie for the bottom defense in the league, lacking any real good players.

 

Sean Taylor's Ashes

2016 Predicted Finish: 6-8
2016 Actual Finish: 4-10

2016 Results:  Tim was at .500 after the first four games but folded after that and went 2-8 the rest of the way. 

Best Pick: Tennessee Titans OL
Worst Pick: Most of the rest
Player his/her/its season depends on: Matt Ryan

Draft Grade: N/A, I don't grade auto-draft.
2017 Predicted Finish: 2-12

Summary: How much worse can it get when auto-draft picks you four QBs and four kickers?  1-13 level bad.  I hope whomever decides to ride this team out has a strong stomach and a lot of patience, because they'll be on the receiving end of plenty of ass kickings this year.  On the plus side, they have the 2016 MVP at QB, a top receiver in Dez Bryant, and a top TE (when healthy) in Jordan Reed.  Those three alone will get them a couple wins but that's about it.

 

Crusaders

2016 Predicted Finish: 10-4
2016 Actual Finish: 7-6-1

2016 Results: After going 11-3 in 2015, things were looking up for Hall's Crusaders.  He then started the 2016 season by going 5-2-1, including a 100-0 stomping of Warren's Whiskey Tango, but was only able to muster a 2-4 record to close out the year (with three of those losses coming against playoff teams).

Best Pick: Harrison Smith
Worst Pick: Coby Fleener
Player his season depends on: Leonard Fournette / Dalvin Cook (tie)

Draft Grade: B
2017 Predicted Finish: 9-5

Summary: I loved Hall's draft class last year but they just couldn't hold up in the long run.  An injury to Gronk and inconsistent play from Demaryius Thomas, Matt Forte, and Amari Cooper resulted in him struggling to close things out.  He had another solid draft this season and should have the players to be in contention for the Gold division title again this year.  It all starts and revolves around Aaron Rogers, without whom his season would tank quickly.  At RB, he'll try out two rookies and two others who will are either backups or in time shares.  At WR, Cooper will anchor the first slot with Tyreek Hill or Allen Robinson pulling up the second.  If any of his WRs can develop some consistency, they'll be a decent pair.  He sports one of the top TEs in Gronk but special teams are lacking.  Defense was a strong spot for Hall last year and will continue to be so this year, with top players are each position.  This group could vie for top defensive honors this season.

 

Fighting Squirrels

2016 Predicted Finish: 6-8
2016 Actual Finish: 6-8 (Nailed it, two years in a row!)

2016 Results: After going 8-6 in his first two years as an owner, Brian regressed last year and went 6-8 to miss the playoffs yet again.  His group stumbled out of the gate, going 1-4 in his first five, but managed to regain form and go 5-4 to close out the season.

Best Pick: Christian Kirksey
Worst Pick: Wil Lutz (why pick a kicker when you protected one?)
Player his season depends on: Andrew Luck

Draft Grade: B
2017 Predicted Finish: 6-8

Summary: Brian had a good draft and there are very few picks I can argue with.  The real problem is he doesn't have a good enough core group of players to move up to the next level.  At QB, if Luck can return to form he'll have a good shot at surpassing .500 but, if not, he could struggle to get there.  Dak Prescott is a capable backup and will get points every week, but not enough to carry games.  At RB, he'll leadoff with career hype-machine Lamar Miller (better suited as a #2 RB) and a couple longer shots in Bilal Powell and Rob Kelley.  At WR, he'll field Brandin Cooks, Larry Fitz, and Terrelle Pryor.  All three are capable of having big #1 level years or bottom rung #3/4 seasons but will probably average somewhere in between as a group.  At TE, he's got Mr. Possibility in Jimmy Graham who could also land near the top of TEs or middle of the pack.  On Defense, He's fairly solid all around with potential strength at LB, if Navorro Bowman can bounce back to form and Christian Kirksey is the real deal.  This is a team that could easily go 5-9 or 9-5 if some of these players bounce back.

 

Gallic Warriors

2016 Predicted Finish: 4-10
2016 Actual Finish: 8-5-1 (I blew this pick big time)

2016 Results: Chris rebounded in a big way after going 5-9 the previous season.  It looked like it might be rebuilding time for the Gallic Warriors but Chris proved me wrong and righted the ship in one year.  He burst out of the gate by going 5-1-1 over the first half but slowed up and limped into the playoffs with a 3-5 record over the second half, only to be bounced out by the MeggaMen in the first round.

Best Pick: Carlos Hyde
Worst Pick: Ryan Mathews (cut from Philly two weeks ago)
Player his season depends on: Tom Brady

Draft Grade: C
2017 Predicted Finish: 8-6

Summary: It was a mediocre draft for Chris but he still has three of the best players in the league.  The lynchpin of this team is Brady, who needs to stay healthy and productive this season to keep this team in the playoff hunt.  There are major question marks at RB and he'll need Carlos Hyde to start strong and Marshawn Lynch to play like it's 2014.  At WR, Julio Jones leads the pack but his health is always a concern and, behind him, unproven Chris Hogan will get more looks with Edelman out, but will it be enough?  On defense, He's got a strong DL and LB group, anchored by stellar sophomore Joey Bosa and Defensive Player of the Year Khalil Mack, but his DBs are just ok.

 

Tim Always Pulls Out Late (formerly Whiskey Tango, but the new name is great)

2016 Predicted Finish: 5-9
2016 Actual Finish: 6-8

2016 Results: After a nightmare 3-11 season in 2015, Warren was able to regroup to up his win count by a few last year.  It didn't look very good early on (he went 2-6 to start the season) but the Tango closed strong by going 4-2 over their final six games.

Best Pick: Vontaze Burfict (although we should have expected the suspension)
Worst Pick: Jay Cutler (with two ok QBs already, why not draft a third crappy one?)
Player his season depends on: Todd Gurley / Brandon Marshall / Adrian Peterson (3-way tie)

Draft Grade: C+
2017 Predicted Finish: 5-9

Summary: Like the Squirrels, Warren needs a comeback season from more than one of several players to make an impact this year.  At QB, he'll field two ok options in Philip Rivers and Andy Dalton but Rivers needs to get his INTs under 20 to be effective again.  At RB, he'll try and see what Adrian Peterson has left in the tank, see if Todd Gurley can find his game, and see if Doug Martin can regain his 2014 form.  None of these RBs are in their prime and/or hitting their career stride, which is a major concern.  Things are better at WR with top-notch Mike Evans and Doug Baldwin but Brandon Marshall or Demaryius Thomas will have to regain form to contribute.  The TEs are mediocre at best and Jared Cook is always a curse.  Things would be ok on defense were Burfict not suspended but he'll have to try and make it work with a poor DL, one decent LB, and one good DB.  Too many stars have to align for Warren to make and impact this year.

 

Fightin' Bitin' Beavers (formerly Pretend I'm Not Here)

2016 Predicted Finish: 6-8
2016 Actual Finish: 3-11 (who could have predicted that collapse?)

2016 Results: The PNH had a decent run in 2013 and 2014 but they fell back in 2015 and fell completely apart in 2016.  It was clear by mid-season that Joel and Ann-Marie had bailed on the team and weren't even submitting lineups but, seeing as how they started the season by going 0-5, it's not entirely surprising.  Luckily, new ownership will breathe life into this franchise.

Best Pick: DeVante Parker
Worst Pick: Pittsburgh Steelers OL (a fine pick but chosen pretty early for an OL)
Player their season depends on: DeAndre Hopkins

Draft Grade: B
2017 Predicted Finish: 6-8

Summary: Steve started his WMFFL career in fine fashion, with one of the better drafts if the year.  Taking Hopkins at #1 is a gamble, with his QB situation, but could pay off if he can return to form.  At QB, Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston are a fine combo but won't be carrying games on their own.  At RB, question marks abound with the other two RBs, Ty Montgomery and Terrance West.  The same is true at WR where, if Hopkins and DeVante Parker or Sammy Watkins can put up numbers, this could be a solid group.  Golden Tate is steady and will post a few points a week.  The TEs are fine and he's loaded at special teams.  On defense, he's got a fine DL and very strong LBs and DBs.  With boom-or-bust options at many offensive positions, Steve's defense will most likely be the unit keeping him in games from week-to-week.  In any other division, this is a plus .500 team but the White Division is absolutely brutal this year.

 

MeggaMen

2016 Predicted Finish: 11-3
2016 Actual Finish: 12-1-1 (undersold myself for the second year)

2016 Results: Looking past the record, the luck factor could not have been higher for the MeggaMen this past season.  They finish with a +26 luck rating (20-points higher than the next team) and were only fourth in total points.  Their one loss came against an unimpressive Whiskey Tango team and they won at least two games against teams that didn't start a complete lineup (and would have lost if they had).  I don't know that I've ever seen such a lucky season but, being on the receiving end of it, I'll take it.

Best Pick: Martavis Bryant
Worst Pick: David Njoku
Player his season depends on: Luke Kuechly

Draft Grade: C+
2017 Predicted Finish: 8-6

Summary: It's tough to grade yourself in a draft but the MeggaMen were able to come out with some good options and some where they had to settle for second best.  They'll field a top-notch QB in Brees but, with Carson Wentz as the backup, they'll need him healthy and playing at a high level to succeed.  At RB they have a good, although streaky, starter in Jay Ajayi and ok options behind him in Isaiah Crowell and Ameer Abdullah (although neither of those two will keep opponents up at night).  Things improve at WR as they'll field a potential top tandem in the league with Odell Beckham and Michael Thomas and have depth with up-and-comer Stefon Diggs and returning Martavis Bryant.  At TE, Olsen was a 2nd round steal but depth is a concern.  On defense it gets worse.  While typically a great defensive team (with the top unit over the last two years), they'll field an ok DL, potentially strong LBs if Kuechley can regain form, and potentially strong DBs if Rashad Jones can bounce back from injury (both big if's).  If the defense can't play like it's 2015, this team could land around .500.

 

Sacks on the Beach

2016 Predicted Finish: 8-6
2016 Act