John Frascella rounds out the 2023 season with an NFL Year-End Round-Up
It’s been a wild year in our ever-expanding fantasy football community, hasn’t it?
I’m sad to say, following this column, I’ll be signing off until the beginning of next season. I sincerely thank you all for reading and a special thanks to those who take their own personal time to comment below my articles. You know who you are, and you are most certainly appreciated.
So, without further ado, let’s take a look back at the fantasy football roller coaster that led us to where we are now.
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Part 1: ‘No Country for Old Quarterbacks’
Of course, that’s a play on the Coen Brothers’ classic, No Country for Old Men, but I can probably take the ‘old’ out when it comes to everyone but Aaron Rodgers.
As we all know by now, we lost Rodgers four plays into another doomed Jets season, and the falling dominoes certainly didn’t stop there. Joe Burrow got hurt during the offseason, then again during the year, making way for a mini-miraculous run from unknown Jake Browning. The run didn’t last long, however.
In Indianapolis, explosive rookie Anthony Richardson started out hot – rushing and dashing his way into our fantasy football hearts – before one too many aggressive runs put him in the hospital. Richardson went down for the season early, opening the door to a solid year from both Gardner Minshew and the Colts. Minshew has been a godsend in Superflex leagues, operating as a great option for the QB2 spot throughout the year.
After a scorching hot start to the season, ‘Captain Kirk’ Cousins also went down for the year. That was a sad one, as the Vikings were working their way back up from a slow start, and Cousins had been playing a particularly impressive brand of football under center. Cousins’ many years of experience had been showing, so much so that he was looking like a serious MVP candidate early in the year. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Now we have to wait to see where Cousins lands during the offseason.
With the Chargers, well, they are basically as disastrous as my Jets. Brandon Staley was finally run out of town, and the team lost Justin Herbert for the last third of the season. That opened the door to Easton Stick and a lot of social media jokes about the metal bats we used to use in Little League.
As one quarterback after another fell, we had to thank both Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts for always having a nose for the endzone. It’s not always pretty with both of them – Allen is prone to turnovers, and Hurts has struggled without former OC Shane Steichen – but they rack up fantasy points, time and time again.
Of course, MVP candidates Lamar Jackson, Brock Purdy and Tua Tagovailoa were near and dear to our fantasy hearts, as well. Well done, lads.
Part 2: ‘Three RBs to Tango’
We lost uber-famous Friend Matthew Perry recently, and this section is a nod to his rom-com film Three to Tango.
At the running back position, three names stand tall above the rest this season: Christian McCaffrey, Raheem Mostert and Kyren Williams.
Now, we’ve covered both ‘CMC’ and Mostert extensively throughout the year, so let me focus on Kyren this time around. Here’s a guy who was a TOTAL afterthought heading into the fantasy season (for everyone except maybe me). The Rams were a disaster last season – looking old and hungover from their Super Bowl victory – and my colleagues in the fantasy football field were looking at shaky Cam Akers as the lead back in LA’s attack.
Well, they thought wrong.
Akers has been a problem everywhere he’s been, complaining about playing time, getting hurt and putting up wildly inconsistent production. He wore out his welcome instantly with Sean McVay this season, opening up the door for Kyren as Akers was shipped off to Minnesota. Nothing materialized there, either.
In LA, well, credit is due to McVay. Guys like Puka Nacua and Tutu Atwell came in totally under the radar, but they produced beautifully, especially when Matt Stafford and Cooper Kupp were also healthy. Thus, the offensive balance we look for was there for Kyren Williams. And DAMN, did he take advantage!
Kyren was a stud virtually every time he was healthy, racking up points in the redzone and putting up one big game after another. None more important than the fantasy football Finals this weekend, where he popped off for 30-plus points in the most critical spot of the year!
So again, credit to Kyren and McVay for making our fantasy dreams come true this wild and wacky season.
Part 3: ‘This Is the End’
Again, I’d just like to thank you all for reading throughout the year. A special thanks to our Boss, the top dog Grey Albright, as well as Senior Leaders and Editors Bobby LaMarco and Jen Polvogt. Y’all are the reason why I stay involved in the fantasy game!
I’ve been doing this a long time, but Grey, Bobby and Jen are three of the best I’ve encountered in the business. Y’all should be consuming their content and following them, as well.
I leave you now with nothing but my best wishes for your New Year. I hope it is fun, fantastic and full of fantasy surprises.
John Frascella is a published sports author who has been covering the NFL for 20 years. Follow him on Twitter @LegendSports7 for all things NFL, NBA and MLB throughout the year.
