Super Bowl XVIIII

Saquon Barkley, the Chunky Monkey's team captain, stepped up when it counted most.  The sophomore back tallied 422 yards and four touchdowns in the Monkey's two playoff games after disappointingly only accounting for 902 yards and three touchdowns the first fourteen weeks of the season. Barkley scored a season high 41.9 points in the championship game, culminating the in Monkey's fourth championship trophy in franchise history -- tying them with Dirty Birds for best in CTDB history.

The Monkeys overcame the feared Lamar Jackson (who should be the obvious MVP) and Mark Andrews stack who delivered with 62 points, but it wasn't quite enough for Custom J. Saquon and midseason waiver wire pick, Ryan Tannehill, delivered 74 combined points, which was the difference in the game. The Monkeys beat Custom J 139.2 - 123.8.

So how did the Monkeys get here?  After missing the playoffs with a near rock bottom 4-9 season in 2017, the Monkeys hit the lottery with their Toilet Bowl win by drafting Barkley with the first pick in 2018. The team finished 9-4 in 2018 improved to 10-3 this year, en route to its first championship in six years. [ Previous titles: 2006, 2010, 2013 ] In only his second year in the league, Barkley has set the pace for resetting the Monkeys franchise.

Along with the help of an emergent Chris Godwin and the ageless Tom Brady, the Pats defense led the charge for the Monkeys in the first part of the season.  The Patriots averaged sixteen points per game over the first eight weeks -- good enough to help the Monkeys to an 8-0 streak to start the season. While Brady and the Pats D eventually faded, it was good enough to secure the Monkeys a regular season second place finish and a first week playoff bye...and the rest is history.

The Monkeys have a bit of transformation more to do this off season. While Godwin has secured his spot on the keeper roster, there are a few question marks remaining. Hunter Henry failed to live up to expectations, Mark Ingram is on the wrong side of thirty, and is Stefon Diggs is really a WR2. For now though, the Monkeys can enjoy being the first franchise to four titles: no ties, no asterisks, just titles!

Some notable season highlights:

• Mark Ingram.  Gritty performance by the thirty year old running back. Ingram finished as the #8 back on season despite being an unheralded older keeper for the Monkeys. He was a steady starter all season and locked down an unseasonably turbulent running back corps especially when Barkley was out.
• Chris Godwin.  Probably the best pick of the draft.  Godwin was snagged at the end of the first round and ended up being the #2 overall WR behind Michael Thomas.
• Tom Brady. The Monkeys long planned to stream quarterbacks but Brady, like the Patriots D, gave the team a surprisingly steady hand at QB.  Brady was a team top three performer six out of the first eight weeks and played a big role in the team's roaring start to the season.
• Ryan Tannehill. A late season pick up that clinched the playoffs with two 30+ point performances, Tannehill was the lynchpin to the late season run especially after Brady faded late in the season.

As for Custom J, Josh's first season in CTDB has to counted as a huge success since they won the regular season crown by only losing one game all season. Led by Lamar Jackson, Nick Chubb, Leonard Fournette, DeAndre Hopkins, Joe Mixon, and Mark Andrews, Custom was close to a title but fell just a bit short. A new rivalry brews between them and Chunky and we'll see where Lamar can take them next season!

Super Bowl Preview 2019

#1 Custom J (12-1) vs #2 Chunky Monkeys (10-3)

Here we are, the first Cousin Bowl in CTDB history! It could have been a Brother Bowl but after Evan took our Eddie last week with a stellar 175.6 - 116.5 stomping, the stage is set for the best and second-best teams this season to face off in a Super Bowl XVIIII. (Yes, that’s nineteen!) Josh’s Custom J took care of business by taking out LA Buffy, 153.2 - 99.4, ending Roger’s upset hopes. Let’s take a look at the matchups.

QB: It’s Lamar Jackson versus Ryan Tannehill. While I haven’t been following football very closely this year, even I know that Lamar Jackson is the new MVP and mega superstar this season. So while there’s a Tannehill resurgence or something, we’re gonna go with the historic season from Jackson. Edge: Custom J

RB: Last year’s number one overall pick, Saquon Barkley powered Chunky Monkeys back to relevance but he’s going to have a tough time going up against fellow 2018 NFL draftee Nick Chubb. He’ll have Mark Ingram — the #8 rated back on the season — alongside him but Chubb has Leonard Fournette, giving Custom J two top ten backs. Still, we like Barkley’s upside and it’s possible that he and Ingram will have a standout Super Bowl. They’ll have to, for Monkeys to stand a chance. Both teams have flexed running backs, with Custom going with Joe Mixon and Monkeys starting Mike Boone. We’re pretty sure Mixon has been trash this year so I guess we’ll just go with big cousin Evan on this one… Edge: Chunky Monkeys

WR: Tannehill will have deep threats Tyreek Hill, Stefon Diggs, and Curtis Samuel facing off versus DeAndre Hopkins, Courtland Sutton, and Terry McLaurin. That, um, seems like a wash. Hill had a big game last weekend and he’ll have to again to keep up with Hopkins and Co. The big story here is who’s missing for both teams. Monkeys will be without the services for their number one receiver, Chris Godwin, while Custom doesn’t seem to be playing Cooper Kupp or Jarvis Landry. Will Josh’s big gamble on McLaurin turn out to be the right move? Edge: Even

TE: Ah, good old Hunter Henry. Did he finally break out this year? I guess being a top eight tight end means he sort of did, but it seems like his run of double digit scoring is over. He’ll be facing off against Mark Andrews, who is capable of multiple touchdowns and is Lamar Jackson’s safety net, meaning he averages about ten points a game. Edge: Custom J

DST/K: Where art though vaunted Patriots Defense? Monkeys rode the historic start by Patriots DST to the top of the league but they’ve been much less impressive of late. Even a matchup against the Bills might not be enough to push them back to their league crushing ways. While Custom J features the second best defense in the league in Pittsburgh, much of their success was earlier in the season as well. I guess we could talk about kickers then, with Evan’s Younghoe Koo going up against the second-best kicker in Will Lutz. I guess we’ll go with Chunky for this one, since in theory Patriots have more upside and we have to support our ex-Charger and still Korean Koo. Edge: Chunky Monkeys

Intangibles: Everything has lined up for Custom J to take the title this year. A stellar disbursement draft, a MVP candidate in Lamar Jackson. And most of all, the new/old Dirty Birds franchise has never lost to the Chunky Monkeys when its counted (is this even true? I want to say it is...) and we think cousin Josh will keep that streak alive. We predict a close win for Custom J!

Toilet Bowl X

#10 Philadelphia Phreaks (1-12) def #9 Fat Jubas (3-10), 139.4 - 124.0

Well well, after a litany of cries about the unfairness of having a Toilet Bowl and how difficult it made it for the worst teams in the league to garner a top pick, it looks like all that was just cover for an one-win Phreaks team to take the consolation tournament!

After upsetting Masterminds in RD1 by a narrow margin, Phreaks faced off against old foe Fat Jubas and emerged victorious behind big games from Patrick Mahomes, Miles Sanders, and Anthony Miller. All of that was just enough to fend off Jubas’ Jameis Winston’s 45.3 points. (This was Phreaks’ second Toilet Bowl appearance, with their last one being in 2011.)

So it looks like the worst team in 2019 will get a chance at the top 2020 overall pick. What will this portend for the future of the Toilet Bowl? Will this win change Ping’s mind about the unfairness of it all? Should the top pick have just been handed over to a near winless team? We look forward to the offseason debates but for now, congratulations to Philadelphia Phreaks for finally winning something!

Playoffs: 2019 RD2

Playoffs, RD2
#1 Custom J (12-1) vs #6 LA Buffy (5-8)
#2 Chunky Monkeys (10-3) vs #4 Crunch Bunch (8-5)

*Note: We reseed each round...

Toilet Bowl, RD2 Finals
#9 Fat Jubas (3-10) vs #10 Philadelphia Phreaks (1-12)

Playoff Matchups: 2019

Playoffs, RD1
#3 Gang Green (10-3) vs #6 LA Buffy (5-8)
#4 Crunch Bunch (8-5) vs #5 Battle Angel (7-6)

Byes: #1 Custom J (12-1), #2 Chunky Monkeys (10-3)

Toilet Bowl, RD1
#7 City of Angels Masterminds (5-8) vs #10 Philadelphia Phreaks (1-12)
#8 Tiiite End Jammers (4-9) vs #9 Fat Jubas (3-10)

Power Rankings 2019

PLAYOFF TEAMS
1. Custom J (12-1)
2. Chunky Monkeys (10-3)
3. Gang Green (10-3)
4. Crunch Bunch (8-5)
5. Battle Angel (7-6)
6. LA Buffy (5-8)

NON-PLAYOFF TEAMS
7. City of Angels Masterminds (5-8)
8. Tiiite End Jammers (4-9)
9. Fat Jubas (3-10)
10. Philadelphia Phreaks (1-12)

Tie-Breakers
10-3: Chunky Monkeys wins H2H 1-0 versus Gang Green, WK6
5-8: LA Buffy wins H2H 1-0 vs City of Angels Masterminds, WK6

Standings 2019

Midseason Review: 2019

Now that we’re all one big division, we’ll just take a quick stroll through how 2019 is going during our first eight weeks of the season. And here are the midseason standings as well. [ Draft Reviews: Capcom | Marvel ]

Chunky Monkeys (8-0)
Sometimes you assemble a great team and know you’re headed for success. Sometimes you draft the Patriots DST, aka the greatest DST in fantasy football history. Monkeys are averaging a league second best 144.6 PF — against 109.9 PA, the third lowest in CTDB — and was only tested last week, in a 153.7 - 147.9 duel with Buffy that still left them undefeated. If they can secure a win against second place Custom J next week, that ninth win will have been their best regular season since 2016… Plus with only five more weeks to go, Evan has a shot at pulling off an undefeated regular season. The good news for the rest of CTDB is that Monkeys is one of two teams with zero dollars left for FAAB. So, um, there’s some hope I guess.

Custom J (7-1)
In his rookie season with CTDB, Josh’s Custom J team has obliterated expectations by using the fourth highest PF at 133.9 points — albeit against the lowest PA — to storm out to a wonderful record while leaving his other new owners in the dust. Their lone loss so far was at the hands of fellow new owner Marcus’ Masterminds in WK7, but if Josh can take down cousin Evan in this week’s huge WK9 matchup, Lamar Jackson and Nick Chubb could find themselves heading into the postseason as the top seed. Long live Custom Birds!

Gang Green (6-2)
Running out to their best season in three years, the Greenies are using the Deshaun Watson and Christian McCaffrey duo to steadily take down their opponents, sometimes in thrilling fashion, as a WK1 win was by just +1.3 points. They’ll get a shot at avenging their WK2 loss to Tiiite End Jammers in two weeks, but there also is a pretty big WK10 face-off versus Custom J’s coming up. It’s possible Greg could still take this team to a bye, as they’ve got the edge against the two teams right below them in the standings.

Crunch Bunch (5-3)
After starting off a shaky 2-2 in their rookie year, Eddie’s Crunch Bunch delivered a statement win in WK5, with a 224.2 - 150.1 beatdown of Buffy that is likely the historical high mark for one week. Since then, they’ve even thrown in another gigantic crushing of Phreaks in WK8, putting up 182.9 points and thrashing them by +83.9 points. Outside of a super dud in WK6 against older brother Josh, Crunch Bunch has four wins in their last five games and could be ready for a postseason run behind the running duo of Dalvin Cook and Aaron Jones. Oh yeah, all those epic scores mean these Crunchies are the lead leaders in PF, at 148.1 points each weekend.

City of Angels Masterminds (5-3)
Tied with Crunch Bunch, our last new owner haven’t seen quite the highs of Eddie or Josh, but are nonetheless positioned for a postseason slot. They only average 113.9 PF against 109.3 PA, which means they’ve been a little erratic, with some 90+ games leading to wins but just as often losses. The good news is that inconsistency seems to be behind the Masterminds as they have been over 105+ in the last month and have gone 3-1 since. A possible playoff defining matching versus Crunch Bunch looms in WK9, and then two very tough games at the end of the regular season. Can Aaron Rodgers take City of Angels into the playoffs?

Battle Angel (3-5)
If the season were to end today, Battle Angel would technically be in the playoffs but that might end up begin the case in five weeks. Vu’s team had an outstanding WK3 game, 177.5 - 166.7, versus Phreaks and managed to take down Fat Jubas by +5.1 points in WK6, but note that those two opponents are a combined 1-15 this seasons. With three games against teams with winning records left to go, Battle Angel might be hard pressed to even equal last year’s 5-8 record. If nobody else can step up to help out Russell Wilson, these Angels could be headed right back into the Toilet Bowl.

Tiiite End Jammers (3-5)
We just did our first franchise look at Jammers, and well, it looks like they’re headed for a down season after last season’s barely 0.500+ performance. Losing Antonio Brown to his various fiascos didn’t help and Jammers is averaging a second to last 105.8 PF. With three losses in their last four — with their sole win coming versus the Phreaks — Lei’s team is going to need some luck and some pluck to pick up that last playoff spot. The good news is that Julio Jones is out of his slump and Tyler Lockett has been quite consistent all year. The lack of a run game though limits this team’s upside.

LA Buffy (2-6)
Roger’s team has been about middle of the pack in both PF and PA but they’ve been on the losing end of some tough matchups. There was the -1.9 point loss to Custom J in WK3, the -4.2 loss to Jammers in WK4, and the narrow -5.8 matchup versus undefeated Chunky last weekend. Not to mention the historic high put up by Crunch Bunch versus them in WK5. So yeah, it’s just been a star-crossed year for Roger. If the return of Drew Brees can catapult this team to the postseason, well, okay it won’t. But Roger could have his sights set on winning a Toilet Bowl, which would be a welcome reward for a season gone all sideways. If they can’t get to four wins though, this will be their worst regular season since 2013!

Fat Jubas (1-7)
After notching only five wins last season and four the year before that, we thought drafting 2019 RD1.1 Josh Jacobs could turn this team’s fortunes around. If Jubas can’t pick up three more wins, they are headed toward their worst regular season ever — since 2001, the very start of CTDB. The schedule has done them no favors, as they are facing the second toughest PA in the league, with opponents throwing up 138.6 versus them. Even with a league average PF, that’s just not gonna cut it. While injuries have hit this team hard, the trio of Jacobs, Mike Evans, and Chris Carson seem to be good, but I guess it’s just not meant to be for Jubas this year. See you in the Toilet Bowl (again)!

Philadelphia Phreaks (0-8)
This upcoming matchup in WK9 represents Ping’s best chance to get a win this season. After riding Patrick Mahomes to the playoffs last season — and taking Capcom’s division title — it’s quite possible that Mahomes’ injury could send Phreaks tumbling to a dark crevasse. I mean, darker than now. As the lowest scoring team in CTDB, Phreaks already face an uphill battle as they put up just 100.3 points per week, but having the league’s toughest PA at 141.1 just leaves them no chance to do much of anything. Can they get a single win this year? Just one?!? FYI: Phreaks have had two two-win seasons, in 2003 and 2007. Should they manage to go defeated the whole season, they’ll match 2006 Fobsters, who went a wild 0-13.

Franchise: Tiiite End Jammers

With the first of our ongoing series, we look at all ten CTDB franchises. The last time we did this was over ten years ago so let's start anew and see where our teams have gotten to in the meantime: Franchises 2.0.

#7 Tiiite End Jammers, Lei
It's been hard to stand out in the super powered division that is Marvel, formerly Inscrutable Drama Kings. Multiple Super Bowl appearances, multiple titles, and even a handful of division wins have not been enough to set the Jammers apart as the cream of their division. However, make no mistake about it, Tiiite End Jammers are dangerous when they put it all together, as evidenced by the two shiny rings on Lei’s fingers. “Jammed Up (2008)”

Regular Season [ 118-114-2, 0.509 ]
We’ve said before that a successful Jammer season was usually one in which they tore out of the gates and then smashed their way to a title. Their two most successful start-to-finish seasons were exactly like this, as they went 11-2 and 12-1 in 2003 and 2014 respectively, ending both of those campaigns with Super Bowl victories, Super Bowl III and Super Bowl XIIII. The same thing would have happened in 2016, if not for an upset win in the title game by Fat Jubas.

In the first three seasons of CTDB, Jammers compiled a 26-13 regular season record and looked like a team for the future. However, a 5-8 2004 campaign followed, and then a 3-10 2005, and those two years were the start of the lost decade for Jammers. Between 2004 and 2012, Lei’s team posted a 45-71-1 record with only one season above 0.500 and an incredible five 5-8 records in nine years, including three in a row. It seemed like the Jammer franchise was lost at sea after their early success.

However, a bounce-back 8-5 2013 led into a rampaging 2014 and another Marvel division title — their second — as well as another championship. While it hasn’t all been smooth sailing since then — Jammers went 4-8-1 right after that second title year — there has at least been some stability as Jammers has been 23-16 in the last three seasons.

Overall, Jammers has captured three division titles and taken the regular season wins crown three times, which ties them with second-most along with Buffy and Battle Angels. All that winning and losing may come in erratic ups and downs but Jammers' 0.509 regular season winning percentage is good enough to rank them fourth overall in CTDB, right behind three of their Capcom division mates. Perhaps that lost decade was just due to being in a tough division that often saw the Jammers squeezed against some of the best teams in the league?

Playoffs [ 8-8, 0.500 | 16 games ]
For the most part, if Jammers can get out of the first round of the playoffs, they tend to do pretty well. Overall they've seen ten playoff seasons, which is the median mark for the league. Jammers have suffered four first round exits in seven tries though. However if they can get to the divisional round, they are slightly better at 3-3, albeit with all three of those wins coming when they’ve earned a first round bye. The short answer to Jammers’ postseason recipe is this: get a bye and avoid the first round.

The Jammers rarely get upset, or do the upsetting, and their closest playoff victory was all the way back in 2001, by eight points over Chunky Monkeys. Their next closest win was fifteen years later — +12.20 points in 2016 — over the Monkeys yet again. Overall, the Jammers don’t keep it close that often in the playoffs. They’ve literally only had one other single digit game aside from that 2001 matchup, a six point upset loss in 2013 to Dirty Birds. The Jammers really are all or nothing!

Jammers are 1-1 overall versus Fat Jubas, 1-1 versus Athena Nike, 1-0 versus both Jimmy and Jae, and have never met half the teams in CTDB in the playoffs. Is that weird? They have also never beaten Buffy or Dirty Birds in the playoffs, in two and four tries respectively. However, the Jammers are the undisputed Monkeys killers. Lei’s team has knocked Evan out of the playoffs four times in the playoffs — including back-to-back in our first two CTDB seasons — and have yet to lose a playoff game to Chunky. Do we smell huge rivalry here?

Toilet Bowl [ 2-4, 0.333 | 6 games ]
There’s been four Toilet Bowl appearances for Jammers — three in a row in 2010, 2011, 2012 — and they’ve managed to get to the TB Finals twice. Chunky Monkeys finally beat Jammers in a postseason matchup, winning the 2011 Toilet Bowl by +48.60 points, but even that victory was slightly Pyrrhic as Evan chose Trent Richardson with the first overall pick while Lei took DeMarco Murray. GM Lei seems to have a knack for doing great things with the number two overall pick as the following year he lost in the TB Finals to Gang Green but grabbed Le’Veon Bell in the following draft — while Greg took David Wilson. Here’s hoping we don’t see Jammers in the Toilet Bowl for some time, as they’ve been on a franchise tying streak of three straight seasons in the playoffs. Otherwise if you see Jammers in the TB Finals, it may be best to let them win...

Keepers [ 2008 - 2019 ]
Jammers have had the luxury of two of the longest tenured superstar receivers for their keeper core. It’s been seven years apiece for Demaryius Thomas and Antonio Brown on Tiiite End Jammers. Of course, 2019 could bring a change of scenery here as Thomas was let go as a keeper and Brown is well, facing some issues. Franchise runner Le’Veon Bell is going on his sixth year with Jammers while Tony Romo and DeMarco Murray had both logged five years each. There was also Percy Harvin for four years, plus a couple of keeper slots kept around for Maurice Jones-Drew and Julio Jones over the years. The current core still has Brown, Bell, and Jones, but new blood could be coming as the Jammers’ ex-Steelers are starting to lose their shine with on and off the field problems aplenty.

• Playoff Appearances: 10
• Division Titles: 3
• Most Regular Season Wins: 3
• Super Bowl Appearances: 3
• Championships: 2 (2003, 2014)

• Toilet Bowl Finals: 2
• Toilet Bowl Winner: 0

• Regular Season: 118-114-2, 0.509
• Overall Postseason: 10-12, 0.455 (22 games)
• Playoffs: 8-8, 0.500 (16 games)
• Toilet Bowl: 2-4, 0.333 (6 games)
• Playoff Point Differential: -52.60 points
• TB Point Differential: -62.65 points

The Great Division

It's long been a fact that the Marvel division has been superior to Capcom in every way -- see here for the old division names -- but the question is by how much?

For the regular season splits, Marvel is 626-537-8, taking 0.538 of their games while Capcom is at 537-630-4, which translates to a 0.460 winning percentage.

• Four of the top five all time regular season records belong in Marvel, with Gang Green being the only Capcom franchise that has an overall winning record in eighteen compiled seasons. Sometimes the regular season difference has been pretty stark between our two divisions. For example, there was one year, 2014, when Capcom boasted only one team above 0.500 — Phreaks at 7-6 — and everyone else finished at 5-8 for um, a pretty bleh year.

Also, when adjusted for owner and not sorted by franchise, Marvel owns all five of the top five regular season winning percentages — as Frank’s 35-30 and 0.538 win rate puts him at number two all time during his five seasons in the league. Basically, once Ante Up left CTDB, the division disparity got even bigger.

• With 12.5 Super Bowl titles going to Marvel, compared to Capcom’s 5.5 — it was half a title each for Dirty Birds and Gang Green resulting from their tie in Super Bowl VII — Marvel has most of the rings in CTDB history as well.

• Marvel also holds the edge in teams that paced a regular season in wins. There have been 15.5 Marvel teams with regular season high marks compared to just 3.5 for Capcom -- and three of those Capcom regular season win titles were by Battle Angel.

•  Heck, Marvel even holds the edge in Toilet Bowl Finals appearances — 10 for Marvel, 8 for Capcom — as well as having won five Toilet Bowls to Capcom’s four. (Note: This is possible because the Toilet Bowl is reseeded without regard for division.)

• In addition, with Athena Nike winning the 2018 title, every franchise in Marvel has won a championship, whereas two in Capcom have yet to grab a ring. Philadelphia Phreaks have yet to even make a Super Bowl, putting them on par with our three newest franchises and our old ones, Ante Up and Skool.

• Things even out a bit more for franchises with the most playoff appearances. Chunky Monkeys leads the way with sixteen appearances but Capcom’s Fat Jubas and Philadelphia Phreaks aren’t far behind with thirteen and twelve, respectively.

• As for variety in division title winners, Capcom has the edge there as four of their franchises rank in the top five of “most division titles,” while Marvel is paced by Chunky Monkey’s league-leaguing nine division titles.

So yeah, it's clear Marvel has historically been far greater than Capcom, but now we’re headed into a new era of CTDB, one which will be division-less and feature every team battling with every other team in the standings!

Championships:

• Dirty Birds (3.5)
• Chunky Monkeys (3)
• Fat Jubas (3)
• Buffy (3)
• Tiiite End Jammers (2)
• Gang Green (1.5)
• Battle Angels (1)
• Athena Nike (1)
• Philadelphia Phreaks, Fobsters (0)

Toilet Bowl Winners:

• Chunky Monkeys (2)
• Dirty Birds (2)
• Battle Angel (1)
• Buffy (1)
• Fat Jubas (1)
• Fobsters (1)
• Gang Green (1)
• Tiiite End Jammers, Athena Nike, Philadephia Phreaks (0)

CTDB: 2001 - 2018

We are entering the nineteenth season of CTDB, yes, nineteenth! Almost ten years ago, we finished our franchise series of posts — which ran from 2006 to 2011 — covering the first decade or so of CTDB. Now we’re back, armed with spreadsheets and more facts and figures.

Here is the historical CTDB sheet I’ve compiled, which mostly just tracks each season’s record, all time keepers, and postseason results: CTDB History

Note: We only switched over to ESPN full time in 2013 so some of the data from pre-2012 years (on CBS) is now gone. Luckily, this blog has provided us a historical artifact and screenshots of old standings and keepers have kept the memories alive. I’ve posted the all time regular season record below, but we’ll continue to use this history sheet to parse out some fun CTDB data! It’s been an astounding (almost) two decades!

Note, moving forward, “Team ID#” has been assigned to all franchise for the purpose of record keeping.

1. Fat Jubas
2. Chunky Monkeys
3. Gang Green
4. City of Angels Masterminds (Athena Nike / Ante Up)
5. Custom J (Dirty Birds)
6. Crunch Bunch (Fobsters / Skool)
7. Tiiite End Jammers
8. Philadelphia Phreaks
9. Buffy
10. Battle Angels

Draft Review: Capcom

We're a little behind on our draft reviews -- it's mid-WK1 -- but better late than never! It was a thrilling draft as two owners were traveling in Asia during the whole thing, but the commissioners got it done in time. There was talk of re-alignment or just collapsing CTDB into one big division, but that'll have to wait for next season. Let's take a quick look at what 2019 will look like for our teams heading into the season. [ Draft Board 2019 | Marvel draft review ]

Fat Jubas (5-8)
The worst team in the league last season — tied with Battle Angel actually — has all the makings of a bounce back  season. Keepers David Johnson, Chris Carson, Mike Evans, Adam Thielen, and old man Alshon Jeffery are good enough, they just need a leader! Enter Baker Mayfield, soon to be NFL MVP and thrower of many touchdowns to Odell Beckham Jr. (Yes, I saw WK1, but for Eric’s sake, let’s keep believing in Baker…)

The best news is that Jubas won the Toilet Bowl last season, earning him the first pick, which he used on consensus number one running back Josh Jacobs. Jacobs is exactly the infusion of young legs this backfield needs and by drafting pass catching Tevin Coleman in RD2 and the a pair of deep threats in Josh Gordon and Will Fuller, Jubas should be ready to fly this year. Old favorite Emmanuel Sanders — a Jubas’ keeper from 2014-16 — is back too. After two seasons with a combined nine wins, it’s time for Fat Jubas to turn the beat around!

Battle Angel (5-8)
One year after winning the Capcom division and making it all the way to the Super Bowl, Vu’s team collapsed in 2018  to the tune of five measly wins. With two of the best TEs in the game in Travis Kelce and George Kittle, plus Alvin Kamara at running back, all Vu needed was someone else to help out in the backfield because Marlon Mack was just a borderline keeper. So Battle Angel welcome two new rookies to the fold: RB David Montgomery and WR N’Keal Harry with his first two picks. Montgomery has the green light in the Bears running attack and if he can start quickly, Battle Angel will be back to their winning ways.

If not, there are are few old hands on here, but most of them have seen their best days. I mean, Robby Anderson and Matt Breida are probably young but they don’t have much fantasy upside do they? If sophomore runner Ronald Jones II can show anything more than he did last year though, he might be a nice pickup in RD7. Oh right, Russell Wilson is around to sling the football, and Brandin Cooks is the lead — and only — keeper receiver alongside Kelce and Kittle.

Crunch Bunch (6-7)
One of our three new owners, Eddie emerged from the dispersal draft with Melvin Gordon, Dalvin Cook, Amari Cooper, Michael Thomas, and Kenny Golladay. Looking to make an instant impact on the win loss column, Eddie locked up Austin Ekeler in RD3 as Gordon’s handcuff during his holdout and also grabbed Packers’ runner Aaron Jones with his RD1.4 pick for additional backfield insurance.

There’s a chance DJ Moore gets way better in his sophomore year, but even if he doesn’t, the receiving core is in good hands already — plus super vet Larry Fitzgerald at RD7. A mid-round gamble on Rashaad Penny seemed wise and then add in the duo of QB Jared Goff and TE Jared Cook and Crunch Bunch appears to have no weaknesses. Despite taking over from a franchise that casts a long shadow, Crunch Bunch should be ready to make their own mark on CTDB very quickly.

Philadelphia Phreaks (7-6)
Armed with last season’s MVP, Patrick Mahomes, the Phreaks continued extended their postseason streak to seven years in a row — and eight of the last nine. However, playoff success has been tough to come by as they’ve yet to hit a Super Bowl in franchise history. Could this finally be the year? JuJu Smith-Schuster should inherit the number one role in Pittsburg while Keenan Allen is a top receiver. Zach Ertz is here for his Eagle bonafides, but we have to question if keeping Carson Wentz — over say, Devonta Freeman — was really the move here in a ten team league.

With no running backs entering the draft, GM Ping grabbed as many as he could, starting off with Eagles’ rookie Miles Sanders, Derrius Guice, Tarik Cohen, and Darrell Henderson with his first four picks. Add in Dion Lewis, Jaylen Samuels, and Dare Ogunbowale late and that’s a potpourri of runners. We have no idea which will hit but let’s hope for the Phreaks sake that two of them do. We like Sterling Shepard as a RD5 pickup, and the receiving game should be in good hands overall, especially with Mahomes slinging the ball.

Gang Green (7-6)
For these two-time champs, winning has never been a problem, but putting a face to the franchise has been. Their biggest star of the past, well, forever, has been maybe a Brandon Marshall, a Davante Adams, or maybe Peyton Manning? Gang Green has never had the best player in fantasy but that’s all changed with Christian McCaffrey on board. Now he’s one of the best players, if not the best, in fantasy. After two seasons out of the playoffs, Gang Green upset their way all the way to the Super Bowl — for the fourth time — and despite a loss there, it was a hugely successful 2018 for Greg.

Armed with Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake in the backfield alongside the multi-faceted McCaffrey, GM Greg went heavy on the receivers to complement Davante Adams. Drafting via proxy from China, Greg added Calvin Ridley, Allen Robinson, Dede Westbrook, TE Austin Hooper, Jamison Crowder, and Devin Funchess. Each of them of has breakout potential and we’re thinking Deshaun Watson — or Dak Prescott -- will enjoy all his new targets to throw to. It’s time for Gang Green to push their star power around and re-take control of the Capcom division.

Draft Review: Marvel

Take a look at the draft recaps for two of our new teams, as well as the three old returning franchises, who are all at least two-time champs! [ Draft Board 2019 | Capcom draft review ]

LA Buffy (5-8)
The corpse of AJ Green returns to lead this team for his eighth straight season. He’ll be joined by Julian Edelman opposite him, but everyone on the core is new: James Conner, James, White, and Peyton Barber. With his RD1.3 pick, GM Roger eschewed all the rookies and took Devonta Freeman, who was a Phreak keeper the past three seasons. It could be a wise move for a team that has failed to reach 0.500 in two seasons.

As usual, Buffy was first to grab a defense, Bears, using one of their RD4 picks — acquired during last year’s fantastic Conner trade. OJ Howard will start at tight end, Christian Kirk could hit himself to Kyler Murray’s ascending star, and Buffy even has Matt Ryan and Drew Brees on hand to pilot this team back to the playoffs. It’s time for this three time title winner to return to the postseason!

City of Angels Masterminds (6-7)
What a classy name! “City of Angels!” The dispersal draft handed Marcus top pick Ezekiel Elliot and also gave the Masterminds the tremendous duo of Odell Beckham Jr. and TY Hilton. Andrew Luck’s retirement puts Hilton’s status as a top receiver on shakier ground but he shouldn’t fall off too far. The big question is if Todd Gurley is still anywhere close to his old self. The last piece from Marcus' dispersal draft, Cam Newton, will have to fend off Aaron Rodgers (RD3.5) if he falters. Having two great quarterbacks is not a bad problem to have however.

Philip Lindsay was nabbed with RD1.5, and then joined by Mike Williams, who is still awaiting an injury free season to display his full skills. We like the double TE duo of David Njoku and Eric Ebron too. A new franchise has no luxury to overlook character issues, so Kareem Hunt was taken near the end of the draft, and he could pay dividends. Still running deep routes, DeSean Jackson could still be a steal in RD12. We’re not sure why there are two kickers on this team — especially when one of them is the robotic Justin Tucker — but GM Marcus knows what he's doing so who are we to quibble? Taking over from the historically lowest winning team in CTDB, the Masterminds have nowhere to go but up in their journey to a title!

Tiiite End Jammers (7-6)
A team in turmoil, Jammers have been stellar the past three seasons — recording the highest win total in CTDB just three years ago, along with a Finals appearance — but the offseason have been rough. It was LeVeon Bell last year and Antonio Brown this year. With Brown now safely ensconced in Patriot land, there’s a chance he will have a historic year. At least his fellow superstar wideout Julio Jones signed a contract without drama.

Despite possibly needing to shore up the backfield — Jammers’ other keeper running backs were Sony Michel and Kerryon Johnson — GM Lei with with two Tylers for his RD1 and 2 selections, Lockett and Boyd. It wasn’t until LeSean McCoy in RD3 and then Adrian Peterson in RD11 that backups were brought in for his three keeper runners. Jameis Winston will get a start or two before the Kyler Murray train takes over, and Vance McDonald will find out if he’s better than Jimmy Graham. The Jammers are clearly still veteran focused and aiming for a return to proper contention.

Chunky Monkeys (9-4)
After winning the Toilet Bowl a year ago and selecting Saquon Barkley, the vaunted Chunky franchise returned to prominence after an awful 2017 that saw them record only for wins — their worst season ever. An upset by eventual champion Athena Nike wasn’t ideal (even if it was on-brand for Monkeys to gather the most regular season wins and then get tossed early) but it doesn’t matter, the Monkeys were back! It’s been six long years since the Monkeys have won a title and this three-time winner is looking to reassert itself atop the CTDB mountain.

Alongside Barkley, Evan will have Mark Ingram and Damien Williams in the backfield, plus Duke Johnson. Lead receiver Tyreek Hill just got injured in WK1, which makes Stefon Diggs the assumed number one. Unfortunately for Monkeys, I don’t know who RD1.8 pick Chris Godwin is but he’ll have to start playing right away, as well as someone from the Curtis Samuel, Tyrell Williams, and John Brown trio. For a team that paced CTDB in wins last season, this roster seems devoid of stars beyond Saquon. At least Tom Brady is here! Can the greatest ever lead CTDB’s presumptive greatest ever back to the title game? Or are the Monkeys merely back to swimming in mediocrity?

Josh Josh (7-6)
In real life, it’s rare for a returning champ to abdicate the throne but that’s exactly what 2018 champ Athena Nike did. The gaping void left by them will be filled by the still unnamed Josh Josh’s. Perhaps new owner Josh is afraid to curse his team with a bad name until he sees how they perform? The running game should be in good shape at least, with sophomore Nick Chubb, third year man Joe Mixon, and the likely return to form of Leonard Fournette. Having one of the best revivers in the game, if not the best, in DeAndre Hopkins will amp up the Lamar Jackson-led passing game.

GM Josh wisely went almost all receiver for his draft, adding to keepers Hopkins and Robert Woods with the following: Cooper Kupp, TE Evan Engram, Jarvis Landry, Sammy Watkins, Marvin Jones, Geronimo Allison, Courtland Sutton, and TE Mark Andrews. Based on WK1 results, that already looks like enough of a haul to bring the Josh Josh’s into position to challenge for their own title this season. I mean, Lamar Jackson…!!! We advise Josh to sit out the naming game until they can erect the statue of Lamar and let him pick the name.

A New Day

With the new 2019 season around the corner, CTDB faced its biggest franchise shakeups yet. Over eighteen years, we've only had two franchises switch hands before -- Skool in 2004 and Ante Up in 2013. Now three franchises would be leaving the league, and one of them the defending champs!

For such an unprecedented event, we decided to throw a dispersal draft for the three incoming owners. First there was a draft of which franchises they would take over (and that franchises' accompanying draft position) and then we had a five round dispersal draft from the rosters of the three outgoing teams. Here is the Google Sheet with details but we'll take a look at the results below. [ 2019 Dispersal Draft ]

City of Angels Masterminds, Marcus (Athena Nike)
Roger's friend and advertised as "never having lost at fantasy football," Marcus has reportedly played actual basketball against the likes of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. That's, um, impressive. While heading into an international weeks-long vacation Marcus was kind enough to put up with all our hurried dispersal draft issues.

Given the first position in the dispersal, Marcus took Ezekiel Elliott and then followed that up with Odell Beckham Jr, Todd Gurley, Cam Newton, and TY Hilton. Time will tell if he is capable of losing a fantasy football season, but since he's already inheriting our defending champion Athena Nike franchise, the winning ways are already built into this team's DNA.

Custom J (Dirty Birds)
One of Evan's cousins that we've been waiting to indoctrinate into CTDB, Josh takes over the best franchise in CTDB history (no bias here, ahem). Unlike the previous ownership regime, Josh apparently ventures outdoors as he was on a camping expedition during most of the dispersal draft.

Granted top choice in the dispersal, Josh chose to take the RD1.2 pick in the dispersal, avoiding the snake picks at the end of each round. The future Josh Josh's will start off with DeAndre Hopkins, Joe Mixon, Nick Chubb, Robert Woods, and Leonard Fournette as their core. Placed into the competitive Marvel division, Josh will get first shot at taking down his cousin...

Crunch Bunch, Eddie (Fobsters)
A name already well know to us in our fantasy basketball league, Eddie aka Swamp Dragons, has proven his fantasy bonafides to us over the years. Now he's turned his attention toward our little ten teamer and will get the chance to not only crush his cousin, Evan, but also his older brother, Josh.

To do that, Eddie will have to fight his way through the Capcom division and he'll do it with Michael Thomas, Melvin Gordon, Dalvin Cook, Amari Cooper, and Kenny Golladay as his starting five. We hope to see Eddie in many future Super Bowls and laying waste to his family members -- and everyone else.

Welcome Marcus, Josh, and Eddie, we look forward to having you around in CTDB for many years! As for our outgoing owners -- Jimmy, Jon, Frank -- good riddance!

2019 Keepers

Draft Order: 2019

1. Fat Jubas (5-8)
2. Battle Angel (5-8)
3. LA Buffy (6-7)
4. Eddie / Dirty Birds (6-7)
5. Marcus / Fobsters (6-7)
6. Tiiite End Jammers (7-6)
7. Philadelphia Phreaks (7-6)
8. Chunky Monkeys (9-4)
9. Gang Green (7-6) *Runner Up
10. Josh / Athena Nike (7-6) *Champion

Toilet Bowl Win: Fat Jubas
TB Loss: Battle Angel

Tie-Breakers
1) 5-8, Fat Jubas and Battle Angel: Both 1-1 H2H, defer to PF
2) 6-7, LA Buffy and Dirty Birds: Both 1-1 H2H, defer to PF
3) 7-6, H2H among three teams: Gang Green (1-2), Tiiiite End Jammers (1-1), Philadelphia Phreaks (2-1)
4) 7-6, H2H among two teams: Tiiiite End Jammers lost to Phreaks WK8