WMFFL Season Review, Draft Recap, and Season Predictions (2023 Edition)

Welcome to our new owners!  This draft was the year of the running back, with 11 taken in the first round alone and 16 total in the first 2 rounds.

2022 Season Recap

Another year and another missed opportunity for the Testudos Revenge. 4 years of being one of the top scoring teams in the league (3 on top, last year in second) and still a quick exit from the playoffs. Derek has to be banging his head against the wall at this point but it can't last forever. It's been 7 years now since he took the league by storm and won the title in his first year as owner.

Luck reigned supreme again this year as two of the luckiest teams (Norsemen and TMC) both made the playoffs and the TMC won the title, even though Warren's squad was in the middle of the pack in total points scored.  He got hot (and VERY lucky) at the right time though, edging out Byron by 4 points to advance to the finals and then besting the MeggaMen by only 6.  Talking about poor luck, that's 2 years in the row as a finalist for the MeggaMen and 2 straight losses.

Warren's franchise secured their league record eighth title, although 3 of those were secured by the legendary Bobby Rainey in the "dead ball" era (before the Internet, the forward pass, and the traffic light).

Team-by-Team Reviews and Predictions

All I can say is, as the great Yogi Berra said, "It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future".

My predictions got better last year.  I predicted 8 teams correctly within 1 win/loss but still tanked 3 badly.  I think I gave too much credit to owners who have historically done well, like Hall and Mike.

    Nailed it - 2 teams
    Missed by 1 game - 6 teams
    Missed by 2 game - 1 team
    Blew it (missed by 3 or more) - 3 teams

Burgundy Division

Another year where Byron will run roughshod over the division.  He is a division champion without a challenger who can already punch his playoff card.

Amish Electricians
2022 Predicted Finish: 5-9
2022 Actual Finish: 6-8
2022 Results: Josh has been going through this cycle where his team is strong, then there is a lull of about 3 years before he bounces back and is strong again.  Last year was not the bounce back year however.  Things were looking up when the Amish were 4-2 at week 6 but the decline began thereafter, and he went 2-6 the rest of the way to finish below .500 for the second straight season.  His failures started on the ground with a lack of a running game, due to leaning on the oft-injured Elijah Mitchell and shortly thereafter traded from JAX James Robinson.  Dropping Christian Watson before his breakout didn't help matters.  Will this year be different?  I doubt it.

Best Pick: Rachaad White
Worst Pick: Deebo Samuel
Draft Grade: D
2023 Predicted Finish: 6-8
Summary:  Not much to see here and another long year awaits for Josh.  He drafted an injured, disgruntled RB with his first pick (Jonathan Taylor), a WR who had a down year in Deebo Samuel, and a RB in TB (Rachaad White) who is unproven and will face a stacked box all year.  Josh will need Lamar Jackson to earn every penny of that big contract this year and stay upright for once, the aforementioned Taylor and White to come on strong, and one of his pool of "big" name but questionable WRs to come through (Samuel, Calvin Ridley, and Mike Evans).  Josh has question marks up-and-down his offense with only Davante Adams as a truly reliable starter, although he has a new QB so who knows how that will play out.  On defense, he has two top players in Aaron Donald and Derwin James but he'll need Bobby Wagner to play like Bobby Wagner of old and more than one of his other DLs or LBs to step up to make this a strong unit overall.  IF the stars align, Josh could do ok but the odds of that are slim and Byron will continue to have his way with him, as he has for the past 2 years.

Norsemen
2022 Predicted Finish: 9-5
2022 Actual Finish: 12-2
2022 Results:  Byron continued his dominance of the Burgundy division in 2022.  He's now won his division's title in 4 of the past 5 years and has enjoyed 4 seasons of double-digit wins over that same time span.  2022 was more of the same, things started a bit shaky and Byron was 2-2 after week 4 but he didn't look back thereafter.  Powered by Patrick Mahomes, Christian McCaffrey, Amon-Ra    St. Brown, and Mark Andrews, the Norsemen blasted through the league and didn't lose a game after week 4, finishing with a 12-2 record.  He stumbled in the playoffs however, losing by 4 to the ultra-lucky TMC.

Best Pick: George Pickens
Worst Pick: Sam Howell
Draft Grade: B
2023 Predicted Finish: 10-4
Summary: Byron had a solid draft but one has to wonder how long his luck can hold out.  Two things have gone his way over the past few years.  First, to his credit he was smart with his drafts, picking a good mix of rookies who may add value later in the season and strong vets who can produce now.  Second, he's been lucky with his top players in that they have stayed healthy and, in Christian McCaffrey's case, went from a poor team in Carolina to a strong, run heavy team in SF.  I would propose that he's rolling the dice a bit more than usual this year but I don't think it will impact his team's performance tremendously, mainly because he has no challenger in his division.  At QB, he'll continue to field Mahomes, who is the engine for his team.  As Patrick's performance goes, so goes the Norsemen.  At RB, as long as McCaffrey can keep producing and stay healthy, he'll get a ton of points.  At WR, St. Brown will lead the way and put up solid numbers and Mark Andrews will continue to dominiate touches in Baltimore.  It doesn't really matter who accompanies these guys, these 4 alone are his offense and if they stay healthy, the division is his.  On D, Aidan Hutchinson will be a top DL contender but the rest of his defense is middling.  Byron's offense will be top-3 again this year and even if his defense slips a few notches, he'll still be in the playoffs for the 5th time in the past 6 years.

Richard's Lionhearts
2022 Predicted Finish: 4-10
2022 Actual Finish: 4-10 (spot on! I can smell a stinker)
2022 Results: Nothing to see here.  The Lionhearts were 2-5 by the midpoint and only won 1 game the rest of the way.

Best Pick: Deshaun Watson
Worst Pick: Alexander Mattison
Draft Grade: C+
2023 Predicted Finish: 5-9
Summary: Richard's Lionhearts struggled mightily this year and he posted his worst winning percentage since he was a first-time owner in 2017.  His draft this year was just ok but the team has not improved enough to challenge Byron or be a threat for a wildcard.  He's still missing the game-changing, top scoring player that defines the top teams but he has made some recent attempts to fix this, starting with his trade for Justin Fields last year.  If you look at Fields' second half of last year, he averaged close to 18 points per game which would put him in the top 5 for QB scoring in our league and put him in the company of Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, and the other elites.  While a good start, one man does not make a team and there are big question marks across the rest of his lineup.  At RB, he drafted a middling starter with a sub-4.0 YPC in Alexander Mattison who he'll probably pair with committee member Khalil Herbert.  AT WR, Zay Flowers may end up being a steal but he'll need DeAndre Hopkins to turn back the clock and Michael Pittman to have significantly better QB  play from Anthony Richardson to keep pace.  At TE, Juwan Johnson could prove to be a strong addition.  On D, he's in a better spot than last year with two strong DLs in Zaven Collins and Danielle Hunter, a potential top 5 LB in Bobby Okereke, and one strong DB in Minkah Fitzpatrick but depth is a definite concern here.  Unless something changes, it will be another long season for Richard.

Ain't Nothing But a Jew Thing (formerly Sean Taylor's Ashes.  Like the new name but was hoping for a return of the Lindbergh Baby Casserole!)
2022 Predicted Finish: 7-7
2022 Actual Finish: 6-8
2022 Results: When Don took over this team in 2017, he turned in the second worst performance in the history of the league with a 1-12-1 season (second only to the disaster that was Bill Webster's short 2 years as an owner in which he had 5 total wins).  Following that, Don actually lifted this team to 3 seasons over .500 out of the 6 in which he was an owner and actually had this team in the playoffs twice and in the championship once.  No title came out of his ownership but he turned around a historically middling franchise and proved to be a strong owner, even though I regularly trashed his drafts.  Will Andrew continue to turn this team around?  He's a Commanders fan so he's clearly not used to success.

Best Pick: Diontae Johnson
Worst Pick: Chris Godwin
Draft Grade: D
2023 Predicted Finish: 5-9
Summary: Andrew made more than a few questionable moves in his first draft but not unexpected for a new owner, so he gets a mulligan.  These included him picking a RB in the first round who had a sub-4.0 YPC and less than 1k yards last year in Joe Mixon, a good WR with a shit QB in Tampa who will struggle to be a WR3 (Chris Godwin), and a second QB (in a single-QB league) in the 5th round (Brock Purdy).  He'll field a solid QB in Dak Prescott, a top RB in Nick Chubb, and a top TE in George Kittle.  At WR, he'll need Diontae Johnson to return to 2021 form and Baker Mayfield to do a good Tom Brady impression in Tamapa for Godwin to put up good numbers.  On D, he's got a top DL in TJ Watt but there's a steep drop-off in talent thereafter.  Andrew will not make the playoffs in his first year but he probably won't be the worst team either.  

Gold Division

Another year in which it's tough to call the division winner in the Gold divison.  Warren and Hall will be in the mix but the Warriors may come on strong.

Crusaders
2022 Predicted Finish: 8-6
2022 Actual Finish: 4-10
2022 Results: Hall's team for the past few seasons had been powered by Russell Wilson, Dalvin Cook, Austin Ekeler, and Darren Waller.  3 out of 4 of those guys tanked in 2022 and a 4-10 finish is the result.  Russell Wilson proved that you always have to be wary when a guy goes to a new team, especially a QB that has been in the same system since they were drafted.  Cook could never quite return to his 2020 form and Waller struggled with injures.  This left Ekeler to carry the torch for the Crusaders and it proved to be too much of a task.  Hall finished with fewer than 5 wins for the first time since 2007 and has not won a playoff game since 2011.  This team was a regular contender over the past 10 years and look for Hall to bounce back and return to form this year.

Best Pick: Bijan Robinson
Worst Pick: Raheem Mostert
Draft Grade: A
2023 Predicted Finish: 8-6
Summary: Always a good drafter, Hall continued to be so this year and may have invigorated enough life in the Crusaders to bring them back to the spotlight.  Things get going at QB, where Kirk Cousins' solid, if unspectacular, play will be a steady hand compared to Wilson and having Aaron Rodgers as a backup could prove to be a steal if he can produce with the Jets.  At RB, Ekeler is top of the heap and if Bijon Robinson is as good as he looks, Hall will crush at the RB position this year.  At WR, Marquise Brown could be a steal and Amari Cooper could have a big year with Watson behind center.  At TE, if Darren Waller can stay healthy then he could do big things in New York.  On D things are less optimistic with top-notch Zaire Franklin leading the way at LB.  The rest of his D is filled with middle-of-the-pack players so some work will have to be done here.  In this division, Hall should be over .500 and be in the playoff hunt.

Gallic Warriors
2022 Predicted Finish: 7-7
2022 Actual Finish: 6-8
2022 Results: Another year in which the Warriors finished around .500. Chris always seems to have his team close to making some noise but can never quite bridge the gap.  This could be the year that changes.  Chris turned in a solid draft and, for the first time in years, is poised to make some noise in the Gold division.  He secured last year's overall #1 RB in Josh Jacobs, a top LB in Jordyn Brooks, and some good depth.

Best Pick: Josh Jacobs
Worst Pick: Zay Jones
Draft Grade: B
2023 Predicted Finish: 8-6
Summary: Could this be the Warrior's year?  After years of wandering, Chris may finally have his team on the right track.  He just needs a few things to break his way this year and he could secure his first division title in 7 years.  At QB, Justin Herbert continues to be a strong, and solid, option but one wishes he would improve a bit more to get up into the upper echelon of QBs.  At RB, Jacobs should shine again this year and Dameon Pierce is poised to breakout in Houston.  If things break his way, this could be a strong tandem.  At WR, CeeDee Lamb is top notch but questions abound with his other receivers, none of which are clear #1s.  At TE, he'll need Zach Ertz to turn back the clock or hope Dalton Schultz can do what he did in Dallas.  On D, he's got middling DLs but he has the best LB core in the league, with Roquan Smith, Jordyn Brooks, Drue Tranquill, and Matt Milano (if only he could start all 4!).  At the DB position, Talanoa Hufanga and Rayshawn Jenkins are solid so he will do fine here.  Overall, if Chris can get a #2 WR to step up, he will take this division.

Sigourney's Weaver's (previously Fighting Squirrels)
2022 Predicted Finish: 5-9
2022 Actual Finish: 6-8
2022 Results: Brian's team had some high-caliber talent and should have performed better than it did (and would have frankly with some halfway decent management).  He fielded the top RB in Josh Jacobs and one of the top WRs in Tyreek Hill along with some decent complimentary players. He finished 5th in total offense but his D was downright bad and finished in the lower half.  Steven elected to move on from most of this roster and do a total rebuild so it may be a tough first year.

Best Pick: Trevor Lawrence
Worst Pick: Jalin Hyatt (good pick but taken very high for rookie WR)
Draft Grade: B+
2023 Predicted Finish: 3-11
Summary: Steven made some very curious moves with his protections so I did not have high hopes for his first draft but he proved me wrong and turned in one of the best drafts of the year.  Aaron Jones would not have been my choice for the 1st round but he's a steady producer and will be a solid foundation for his team.  He reached by drafting a rookie WR in the first round, when rookie WRs are notoriously slow when starting pro careers. He nailed it with the rest of his draft though.  He'll field Trevor Lawrence at QB, who could turn in a top 5 season with Ridley back, Jones at RB with some questionable backups behind him, and most likely Jerry Jeudy and Christian Kirk at WR.  At TE he's got a couple fine options in Goedert and Dawson Knox but nothing earth shattering.  His O will be powered by Lawrence but that won't be enough to make an impact this year.  On D, he solidified his position better with Quinnen Williams, and two old men on the line (Von Miller and Khalil Mack).  At LB, Fred Warner leads the way but little depth behind him.  At DB, both options are mediocre so I would not expect his D to make much noise this year.  All-in-all, Steven had a solid draft but, by not protecting Josh Jacobs and some of Brian's other stronger players, he has put himself in a bit of a hole this year.  Based on this draft, I would say Steven is poised to improve this team in the future but this won't be the year.

Trump Molests Collies
2022 Predicted Finish: 8-6
2022 Actual Finish: 8-5-1
2022 Results: A strong year coupled with lots of luck results in championships, and that's exactly how Warren's year went.  He was 6-2-1 by week 9 and, even though he went 2-3 to close the year, still beat two (better on paper teams) to win his 5th title as an owner and record 8th title for a single franchise.  Can his streak continue?  In a much-improved Gold division this will prove to be a tall order.

Best Pick: Drake London
Worst Pick: Roschon Johnson
Draft Grade: B
2022 Predicted Finish: 7-7
Summary: Warren is a seasoned WMFFL owner and drafter and proved that again this year, by turning in a solid draft overall.  His team has recently been powered by two players, Josh Allen and Saquon Barkley, and that remains the same this year.  Anything that derails either of these guys will derail his season.  Allen is one of the best at QB so he's set here.  Barkley returned to form after 2 brutal years and will lead his RBs with Kenneth Walker being the most likely pairing.  Warren will need the talk of Walker being relegated to committee or being overtaken to be overblown for his O to succeed this year.  At WR, Chris Olave and Drake London are both rising talents but one (or both) will need to make that next step, to elite level, to lead this pack.  At TE, TJ Hockenson won him the title and he should continue producing in a pass-heavy offense in Minnesota.  On D, Joey Bosa and Christian Wilkins are a solid pairing, Foyesade Oluokun is THE top LB in the league and pairing him with the solid Dre Greenlaw will mean Warren's LBs will be top scorers at the position this year.  At DB, Jordan Poyer is solid but lacks a second, making the pool tough to pull from.  In the end, Warren will put up good numbers again but can his luck continue for another year?  There will certainly be more competition in the division this year.

White Division

Can the White division continue to stay strong and will any team knock off the MeggaMen?  My magic 8 ball says "Outlook not so good".

British Bulldogs
2022 Predicted Finish: 6-8
2022 Actual Finish: 7-7
2022 Results: 2022 looked like it was finally the year for the Bulldogs.  Adam's team started 5-0, was 6-1 at the midpoint of the season, and was poised to dominate a tough White division before injuries to Breece Hall and Cooper Kupp derailed him.  The Bulldogs went collapsed and went 1-6 the rest of the way to finish at an even 7-7 on the year.  

Best Pick: 
Worst Pick: 
Draft Grade: C+
2023 Predic