Week 1 Rankings, 2012

Week 1 is in the books and a new near-consensus #1 has emerged. But if you are one of the 12 teams with another name than Chalice, fret not! This fantasy football season is not a sprint, but a marathon! (Or at least some viewer unfriendly mid-distance race, maybe the 800m).

Last week, I showed that there has been no correlation between draft pick and regular season wins over the last six years. If the beginning of the season doesn’t matter (or more accurately, is just based on luck), a logical follow up might be whether in-season engagement matters. Since trading so rarely happens in our league, let’s use number of free agent moves as a metric.

There a slight positive correlation between number of moves and number of wins. Now, obviously there are many explanations for why one might be doing a lot of dropping and adding; maybe there are injuries to deal with, or perhaps your team is terrible and you’re just trying to find someone to fill holes. And I’m making no judgments on the quality of the moves – though presumably one adds a player who is projected to be better than the one who is replaced. But, 15-20 moves per year gives roughly a 10% better chance of adding a win to your total, which could easily be the difference between making the playoffs or being left out. Tinkering with your roster throughout the season will help you do better. Mix it up!

Sorry I haven’t had a chance to gather the pics yet…next week, probably…

12. Cactus watch out! (Steve S.)
Average Ballot Position: 11.3 (0)
Yahoo Power Ranking: 8
Standings: 11
W-L: 0-1
Done in by a horrific running game this past week – that needs to improve for them to be competitive week in and week out.

10. Minions (Chris)
Average Ballot Position: 9.0 (0)
Yahoo Power Ranking: 12
Standings: 4
W-L: 1-0
Equaling the win total from last year! Great start, which no one seems to think will last.

10. Z Power (Andy G.)
Average Ballot Position: 9.0 (0)
Yahoo Power Ranking: 3
Standings: 10
W-L: 0-1
A bunch of mediocre showings – too soon to tell whether it’s just an aberration or something to worry about.

9. Yakety Sacks (Jaron)
Average Ballot Position: 8.7 (0)
Yahoo Power Ranking: 10
Standings: 12
W-L: 0-1
A week to forget.

8. MutantMennoMarauders (Brett)
Average Ballot Position: 7.6 (0)
Yahoo Power Ranking: 11
Standings: 6
W-L: 1-0
Got a win, but not respect. And really, which is most important? Wins? Respect? Gangnam style?

7. Bacon Cheeseburgers (Andy K.)
Average Ballot Position: 6.9 (0)
Yahoo Power Ranking: 2
Standings: 7
W-L: 0-1
Stunning loss for the preseason favorite!

6. Obese Geese (Steve E.)
Average Ballot Position: 6.0 (1)
Yahoo Power Ranking: 5
Standings: 8
W-L: 0-1
Blown out of the water by a hot Schmuckernators team last week.

5. Chi Don't Dance (Luke)
Average Ballot Position: 5.6 (0)
Yahoo Power Ranking: 7
Standings: 9
W-L: 0-1
Speaking of blown out…

4. Stars (Dan B. H.)
Average Ballot Position: 4.7 (0)
Yahoo Power Ranking: 6
Standings: 5
W-L: 1-0
Solid performance, and took advantage of a surprisingly powerless Z to notch the win.

2. Sack Attack SuperPAC (Danny K.)
Average Ballot Position: 3.7 (0)
Yahoo Power Ranking: 4
Standings: 3
W-L: 1-0
Nice week, though basically carried by a few outstanding performances. Have the makings of a real boom-or-bust team.

2. The Schmuckernators (Jason)
Average Ballot Position: 3.7 (0)
Yahoo Power Ranking: 9
Standings: 2
W-L: 1-0
Had a great week, though Yahoo is still unsold on this team. They look really strong at the moment.

1. ChalicePastryCarnage (Adam)
Average Ballot Position: 1.1 (6)
Yahoo Power Ranking: 1
Standings: 1
W-L: 1-0
That was…impressive. The early season favorite establishes themselves with a bang!