Category: Power Rankings

We’re now 4 weeks into what is turning out to be, well, one of the weirdest years in The League’s 18 year history. Corona has thrown the owners curveball after curveball through the first month of the season. Who has handled it best? The League Power Rating has the answers. For a refresher on LPR (previously known as OPR):

Basically, OPR, or Overall Power Rating, is a statistic that allows us to compare teams across all the different configurations and scoring settings of The League’s history. Rather then just looking at wins (which can obviously be impacted by luck) or looking at purely points (which doesn’t factor in consistency or managerial decisions such as playing a less volatile or risky player in a matchup you’re favored to win), OPR uses a formula to combine the two, as well as factoring in consistency, to give us a more complete picture of the strength of each team. The formula is 60% average points per game, 20% win percentage, and 20% consistency (comparing high scores and low scores). The League historical average for OPR is 126, the single season high is 173.92, and the single season low is 88.04. Teams who finished the season with an OPR above 142 won the championship 10 out of 20 times.

But before we get to the rankings, a quick congratulatory announcement is in order. With last week’s win over Cody, Big Tony recorded his 100th career victory!

And of course, all of those 100 wins have come in the regular season. Congrats Ant! And now, to the rankings.

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1. The Undisputed Era (LPR: 155.81) (3-1)

The Undisputed Era got off to the undisputed best start of the season, so its no surprise to see them topping the first edition of the power ratings. Vaf’s 3-1 start has The League buzzing about a return to form for the 3-time champ. Alvin Kamara and Lamar Jackson pace a dynamic squad, and free agent pickup James Robinson has been a pleasant surprise sliding into the RB2 slot. Calvin Ridley’s goose-egg last week was a stunning development and led to Vaf’s sole L of the season.

2. Down With The Brown (LPR: 149.55) (3-1)

After finishing last year as the runner up, Diamonds has captained his squad to a hot start out of the gates in his quest to finally hoist Ol’ Glory. One of only two 3-1 teams, Down With The Brown holds sole possession of first place in the Central. Josh Jacobs has led the way for Diamonds, who looks to also get blockbuster trade acquisition Michael Thomas into the starting lineup for the first time this week.

3. Lobster Beesc (LPR: 146.41) (2-2)

The reigning champ has begun his title defense in solid fashion, posting roughly the same LPR through 4 weeks as his championship winning team from last year posted on the 2019 season. Meade’s faith in first round pick Dalvin Cook has been heavily rewarded, George Kittle is healthy, and Stefon Diggs has helped push Buffalo to the next level.

4. The Meat Mavens (LPR: 145.97) (2-2)

After an 0-2 start, the Maven has bounced back with 2 straight victories to pull back to .500. How he manages the injury bug will play a big factor in determining whether he can stay this high, however, First and second round picks Julio Jones and Austin Ekeler are banged up, and the corona bug struck him, sidelining JuJu last week.

5. 2 Feets In (LPR: 142.34) (2-2)

Jacky G has had an up and down start to the 2020 campaign, alternating wins and losses through the first 4 weeks. Injuries have played a role, particularly with first round pick Davante Adams missing the last two weeks. In week 4 however, Joe Mixon and Melvin Gordon finally exploded, leading Jack to the week’s high score (which he needed every bit of to hold off Meade, and which also happened to be Jack’s all-time career high score; congrats to Jack!).

6. Brainbusters (LPR: 134.36) (2-2)

BJC has been another up and down team, putting up big scores in weeks 2 and 3 while being uncompetitive at best in weeks 1 and 4. Aaron Jones and Nick Chubb were the main catalysts in his two victories, and the loss of Chubb for at least the next few weeks will be a huge test for the Brainbusters moving forward.

7. Del Boca Vista (LPR: 134.22) (2-2)

Yet another team bit by the injury bug, Jay has been without number one overall pick CMC since week 2. Never one to rest on his laurels, Jay Hey and Del Boca Vista have been active as ever in the trade and waiver markets, reshaping the team in the absence of his superstar with acquisitions such as Devonta Freeman and Mike Davis to pair with Mahomes and ARob.

8. Frank The Tank (LPR: 133.34) (2-2)

Frank was hit hard by the corona bug last week, getting unexpected byes from Derrick Henry and James Conner, which he was unable to overcome. Thankfully for Frank, the tank should be a full go this week with his two starting backs returning to action. DK Metcalf has been electric as Frank’s number one receiver through the first quarter of the year.

9. The Knights of Ryan (LPR: 132.52) (2-2)

Olsen picked up wins on the bookends of these first 4 games, dropping the two in the middle. Zeke has been steady as ever for the Knights, Kyler Murray has been tearing it up on the ground and in the air, and recent acquisition Tyler Lockett provides a big play presence.

10. CARONIE (LPR: 130.69) (2-2)

After a slow start, Daddy Yankee reshaped his team by dealing away first round pick Michael Thomas for OBJ, Darrell Henderson, and Justin Jefferson. The trade paid off big time in Week 4, as OBJ flashed back to his Giants days and Mark pulled off the upset over Vaffy Kid. Mark will try and keep the ball rolling in Week 5 as he faces off with Olsen.

11. So Much Honey (LPR: 118.26) (1-3)

It’s been a rough start to 2020 for the Diesel. DHop, CEH, and Thielen have been solid, but have yet to truly erupt and splatter over the rest of The League. Cody clearly has potential, it just hasn’t materialized yet this year. If it does, Cody can climb up these ranks quickly.

12. Krazy Eyez Killaz (LPR: 115.91) (1-3)

Bringing up the rear, unsurprisingly, is The Commish. Week 2 proved devastating, losing Saquon Barkley and Courtland Sutton for the season to torn ACLs. Number one receiver Kenny Golloday also missed time. The Commish is the clear favorite to sing the Anthem this year, his week 4 narrow victory over Jay Hey notwithstanding. A rivalry matchup with Vaf looms in Week 5.

1. Scoops Ahoy — 154.81 (-1.11) [Last rank: 1]
2. Lobster Beesk — 148.98 (+2.47) [LR: 3]
3. Couple Screws Loose — 143.81 (-5.16) [LR: 2]
4. The Undisputed Era — 135.74 (+1.36) [LR: 6]
5. Brainbusters — 132.07 (-9.50) [LR: 4]
6. Frank The Tank — 130.85 (-5.29) [LR: 5]
7. 2 Feets In — 129.93 (+14.43) [LR: 11]
8. The Pecan Sandies — 127.64 (-0.77) [LR: 7]
9. The Meat Mavens — 123.76 (+6.83) [LR: 10]
10. So Much Honey — 121.51 (+1.20) [LR: 9]
11. The Resistance — 117.17 (-5.03) [LR: 8]
12. Midnight Rider — 106.72 (+2.74) [LR: 12]

Notes:

• All movement in ratings and rankings is since Week 7, so it incorporates the last 2 games played.
• Jay’s 6 game win streak (and 6 game 130+ point streak) finally came to an end last weekend with a loss to 2 Feets In, but his streak atop the OPR ranks continues. Even in defeat, Jay put up 127 points and served notice to the rest of The League that it will take an A+ effort to scoop up and sail away with a victory against Scoops Ahoy.
• Meade and Mark continue their tug of war for the 2 and 3 spots. With back-to-back victories, Lobster Beesk is once again the soup du jour of The League standings, with his 7-2 record pacing the field and giving him a 2 game division lead with 4 to play.
• Mark, on the other hand, earned a narrow victory in Week 8 followed by a not-so-narrow defeat in Week 9, causing him to suffer the third largest OPR drop over the past two games. That Week 8 win could prove critical down the stretch when Couple Screws Loose adds the nuts and bolts of their roster back from injuries/byes.
• Vaf is 3rd in The League in points and moved up to 4th in the OPR ranks last with a Week 9 win over Frank, but still sits on the outside looking in of the playoff picture heading into the home stretch due to a couple of extremely narrow losses. In addition to overall point totals, Vaf’s consistency this year is undisputed, scoring over 105 points in each game since Week 2.
• Back to back losses have shaved almost 10 points off Brian’s OPR and busted him out of the wild card spot he’s been narrowly holding on to. He has what he hopes will be a get-right matchup with Midnight Rider set to kick off in a few hours.
• The last two weeks have not been kind to Frank the Tank, who took back-to-back 130+ point shellings from his opponents after a 4 week stretch of stress-free victories. The drop in win% is the main cause of his OPR drop though, as he has remained consistent in putting up point totals of his own — he’ll carry a 5 game streak of 106+ point performances into a pivotal Week 10 matchup with the Commish.
• Jacky G makes the biggest leap of the past two weeks, raising his OPR by over 14 points and moving from 11th to 7th in the ranks. The two straight wins certainly helped, but the real catalyst was his 150+ point outburst in Week 8 followed by his 130+ point showing in Week 9 to edge out the red hot Scoops Ahoy. Reinvigorated, Jack has both his feets squarely in the playoff picture, currently holding the lead in the East.
• The Commish failed to make any big moves in the ranks one way or the other over the past 2 weeks, with his .77 drop being the smallest change in either direction for any squad. Makes sense, considering he’s gone 1-1 since his trade with Olsen and has barely moved in the standings. He’ll look to get to .500 for the first time this year in his aforementioned matchup with Frank.
• It looked like the Maven was dead in the water a couple weeks ago, but with the arrival of little MeEli maybe his luck has turned? Tony raised his OPR nearly 7 points but more importantly, managed to pull into a tie with Jack for the East with a 3 game win streak.
• Cody may have sipped a bit too much of his own honey during the offseason, as it looks like he’s experiencing a heavy championship hangover. He managed to grab a victory in a must win game against the banged up Marky Mark last week though. Playoff mode has officially begun for the 3-6 squad — they’re all must-wins from here on out.
• Our fourth 5+ point drop of the week is Ryan O, who seems to harbor a resistance to getting into the win column this year. During his 4 game losing streak, he’s only topped 100 points once.
• Bringing up the rear is Nicky Diamonds, who actually climbed slightly in OPR but not in the standings. The clock on the regular season is getting close to midnight — will he ride a remarkable turnaround into the playoffs, or right into pole Anthem position?

1. 2 Feets In (8-1, 126.5 ppg)  Last Rank: 1 ↔ – 16 years up, 16 years down without a perfect season in The League. Jacky G was dealt his first loss in nearly a year last week, snapping his 12 game win streak dating back to last season.  His 84 point dud marked the first time this year he failed to top 115 points in a contest, and ended his 5 game string of 130+ point outings. League sources state that Jack is quietly relieved that the pressure and publicity of the undefeated season has come to an end. Problem is, Meade is right on his heels in the Central.
2. Lobster Beesk (7-2, 118.0 ppg)  Last Rank: 2↔ – Credit to Meade for not making anything easy on the defending champ in The Central. Lobster Beesk has won 3 straight and stands only one game out of a tie for the division and the first round bye that would almost assuredly come with it. He’ll look to keep the win streak alive against The Pecan Sandies in what would have been the game of the week if not for both teams being riddled with bye weeks.
3. The Pecan Sandies (7-2, 118.1 ppg) Last Rank: 3 ↔ – A two game losing streak in weeks 6 and 7 had The Commish a bit worried that his 5-0 start would be all for naught, but The Pecan Sandies took care of business in Weeks 8 and 9 and now possess the largest division lead in The League. The Commish can lock up a playoff berth with a win this week.
4. Meat Mavens (5-4, 125.6 ppg)  Last Rank: 4↔ – The Big Tony bandwagon continues to Eli Manning, as The Meat Eli Manning Mavens continue to carve up the Eli Manning like Eli Manning in an Eli Manning shop. It hasn’t been a fluke either — over their last six Eli Mannings, The Meat Mavens are averaging over 138 Eli Mannings per Eli Manning.
5. So Much Honey (4-5, 123.2 ppg)  Last Rank: 7 ↑ – The season looked to be slipping away from Cody, who entered Week 9 on a 4 game losing streak before he erupted for 177.5 points. Just like that, So Much Honey catapulted right back into the thick of the playoff mix, leapfrogging Frank in both these rankings and the standings. It’ll be tough to repeat last week’s performance, but Cody will sign up for anywhere near a repeat performance the rest of the way out.
6. CAN YOU DIGG IT? (4-5, 116.5 ppg)  Last Rank: 5↓ – The League can be a cruel mistress, and god damn has she done Frank dirty over these past three weeks. CAN YOU DIGG IT? has dropped 3 games in a row, with a combined margin of defeat of just a tick over 5 points. A couple of bounces go his way and he’s sitting at 7-2. Instead he’s 4-5 and currently on the outside looking in at the postseason. Frank has had a Jekyl and Hyde season, scoring 125+ points in 5 of his games while failing to reach the century mark at all in the other 4. He’ll need the team that showed up the last two weeks to stick around for the rest of the season and/or for the Fantasy Gods to pick another victim to return to the postseason.
7. The Demon (4-5, 110.3 ppg)  Last Rank: 9↑  – If there’s one thing we can say for certain this year, it’s that The West is wild. So far, The Demon has managed to corral first place in the division even with a losing record, but this one seems destined to come down to the wire. A win this week against Olsen would be a welcome conclusion to the out of division portion of the season and set up The Demon nicely for the shootout that awaits in the final round of divisional play.
8. The Wild Bunch (4-5, 101.0 ppg)  Last Rank: 8↔ – The Wild Bunch got  a lot of press these past few weeks as League analysts were bullish on the squad’s rest of season outlook. While that hasn’t necessarily come to fruition just yet in the points column, the only thing that matters is the W and Nicky Diamonds and The Wild Bunch pulled off the heist of the season last week by knocking off the defending champs while only scoring 87 points in the process. It wasn’t pretty, but it hasn’t been all year for this rough and tumble squad that ranks 11th in total points scored but sits tied atop The West regardless. The addition of the Big Ben gives The Wild Bunch a much needed gunslinger to lead the merry band as they look to pull of the greatest caper of all.
9. The Knights of Ren (3-6, 118.9 ppg)  Last Rank: 6 ↓ – Bad luck killed Olsen in the first seven weeks, but good luck might have kept him alive one more week, as he was fortunate enough to square off against BJC’s abysmal 53 point effort in rivalry week to stay one game out of w ild card spot. Still, the Week 8 loss to the bottom dwelling KerryOnMyWaywardSon has The Knights of Ren on life support.
10. Team Thanos (3-6, 110.3 ppg)  Last Rank: 11 ↑ – Jay managed to snap his 4 game streak of failing to reach 100 points in Week 9; unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to snap his losing streak, which now sits at 6 games thanks to So Much Honey’s 177 point outburst. Through it all, Jay sits only a game out of the division lead. If he can sweep the second round of divisional play like he did the first round, odds are Jay will emerge with the Western crown.
11. KerryOnMyWaywardSon (2-7, 112.9 ppg)  Last Rank: 12 ↑ – Mark has sort of put up a valiant effort after an 0-5 start I suppose, but Lobster Beesk treated Mark’s playoff dreams like an unwanted pet fish and drowned them in baking soda before unceremoniously tossing their remains behind the backyard fence.
12. Bri Wyatt (3-6, 94.2 ppg)  Last Rank: 10 ↓ – Bri Wyatt probably should have occupied this spot in the rankings earlier, but he managed to scrape together a few wins to stave off this cruel fate. After his 53.5 point showing in Week 9, however, there is no other option. BJC’s season has been a train wreck of epic proportions, beginning with Le’Veon Bell’s no show, continuing through the no shows of the Bri Wyatt’s entire roster in Weeks 4, 5 and 9, and punctuated by the trade for Rob Gronkowski, who has also seemingly decided to take the rest of the fantasy season off the minute he landed on the team (Gronk won’t suit up for Bri Wyatt until Week 12 at the earliest). Through it all, though, there is a faint glimmer of hope — Brian sits only one game out of the 6 seed. Such is life in The League in 2018.