Football season is finally here, bringing with it fantasy football leagues, drafts and trades. Being one of the most popular fall activities, many Marriotts Ridge students can’t wait for fantasy football season to begin. .
Fantasy football is a way to be a team manager in an online league by drafting players out of the NFL. Managers can set starting lineups for the week, and even trade with other teams just like real life. To win against the opponent for that week, each player gains or loses points based off of their plays throughout the game.
Seniors Jack Schwendeman and Benji Nagiel decided they wanted to bring their love of football to Marriotts Ridge, creating the Fantasy Football Club. The club got off to a hot start this year with more than twenty students signing up. As of now, the meetings take place once a month during flex time.
On the first day at the meeting, there was a vote to decide whether to have two different ten man leagues or one giant twenty man league. Surprising the presidents, the club participants all voted for one big twenty man league.
“It was a crazy idea I had one night and just decided to put it in the slideshow,” Nagiel said, “I wasn’t expecting it to be that popular.”
Listening to the participants, Nagiel and Schwendeman created the twenty man league. That night the draft was scheduled for 8 p.m, leaving little time to strategize. Before the draft some participants had specific players they wanted to draft, while others just went with the flow.
“I was hoping to try and pick some sleepers later in the draft. Although it didn’t work and I’m one of the worst teams, I’m still hopeful I can come out on top,” Evan Nagiel said.
Having the first pick in any fantasy football draft can be a big advantage if used right. So, with his first pick, Benji Nagiel decided to take Minnesota Vikings star wide receiver Justin Jefferson. Jefferson was a top fantasy performer last year and is set to be even better in the coming season.
After an hour of drafting players, every club member had filled out their team and final projections for the season were released. Benji Nagiel’s first pick and draft strategy paid off, resulting in a projected first place for the season. On the other side of the projections, senior Connor Cosgrove was placed in last and will have a tough time staying afloat this year.
“It feels devastating for me. I put a lot of time into studying previous years star players just to be mid,” Cosgrove states. “I have to be better next time.”
Even though he’s projected last now, every week the projections change based on injuries, points scored and new players picked up. One week a team is first, and the next the team is last.
“I can see why some projections are the way they are, but at the same time some of them don’t make much sense at all,” junior Scott Larsen said.
Part of what makes fantasy so fun is the variability in players’ performances. Players who are expected to do well might have a bad game or players who are under the radar might have a winning performance.
“My wide receivers are terrible,” Schwendeman said. “I went for running backs in the early rounds hoping they would carry my team but it came back to bite me in the butt as they are disappointing so far.”
After week two, Benji Nagiel is still on top with a 2-1 record and is still confident about winning the league. On the other hand, senior Robert Vessey is now projected last and is already starting to lose hope in his team. Anything can happen as there are still many more weeks to come and a lot more games to be played.