Nathan's Nits - 2014 Wrap Up

What a long, painful slog it has been getting through the back half of the fantasy season. Honestly, I hardly even watch football anymore. I don't know why. Maybe just a season of life thing. And the Nits!? They've been completely AWOL. So it's time to settle in front of the laptop one last time and deliver my thoughts on the CKL Coach of the Year competition and post the final set of regular season numbers.

Coach of the Year

I'll post my thoughts on each coach, and why (or why not) they deserve consideration.

Patrick - Trades: 2; Adds: 17; FAAB: $12. A decent start, with a hope inspiring 5-4 first nine weeks that was doomed by epic coaching failures. Empty bench spots are egregious, at least in my book. But failing to start a full lineup? YEESH. Sorry, Patrick, but you deserve the NOT CKL Coach of the Year. I don't want to pile on too much, but there is an illustrative example here. Washington linebacker Perry Riley sat on the Lasersnakes' bench during weeks one, two and three, and I don't know why. He cracked the starting lineup in the three subsequent weeks, despite being inactive in Week 6. There is an argument to be made about the CKL's east coast bias, but a day is still 24 hours long on the left coast. Needs improvement.

Yado - Trades: 0; Adds: 24; FAAB: $0. Yado gets an incomplete. I don't think he fully knew what he was getting into with the CKL (who could, really?), so I think I'll extend him another year before criticizing his methods (or lack thereof) too harshly. Just a couple of pieces of advice: make it for the entire draft weekend next time and get more active. At least he spent all his money. Dude would probably be a lot of fun at a strip club.

Derrick - Trades: 0; Adds: 14; FAAB: $24. I think that Derrick is legitimately good at fantasy football, and his career resume is rather impressive. But the last few years have not been good. And it's hard to be a Coach of the Year candidate when you're the least active person in the league. A 7-6 record and a flirtation with the postseason despite such failings is both praise and an indictment. Imagine what he could do if only he were plugged in? Leaving $24 on the FAAB table is inexcusable.I guess that sweet golden Sarcophagus looks good surrounded by all that circa 2008 March Madness Tournament Bracket cash.

Chad - Trades: 2; Adds: 21; FAAB: $10. I've been preaching since the preseason that Chad's run to the cup last year was more than a little fluky. Cue the precipitous return to Earth. Double O Daddy looked to prove me wrong with a 3-1 start to the campaign, but a painful few months have resulted in only one more win the entire season. Seriously. Ouch. One win in the last 11 and seven straight has Chad reeling. Hell, he changed his team name. The Procodile. I approve. I don't have huge problems with the way Chad managed his team, although an empty bench spot is Week 12 is not a strong look.

Norris - Trades: 1; Adds: 35; FAAB: $0. Norris got a lot of praise, and justifiably so, for slow playing the expansion draft three seasons ago into a potential juggernaut of Julio Jones, A.J. Green and DeMarco Murray. Then Andrew Luck slid to him in the first round of August's draft. So how did a 5-1, beeline to the playoffs start to the season turn into six game losing, Raiders of the Ark fleeing from the Thuggy Cult in a runaway mine train disaster? Uhh...injuries, I guess? Both Julio and A.J. have fought them. But Luck and Murray were the top scorers at their positions for most of the season. Combine bad injury luck with poor attention to detail (we actually start three DPs, not two) and you have a whiplash inducing fall from grace. The only question now is how long the hangover'll last.

Nathan - Trades: 3; Adds: 91; FAAB: $0. Listen, I'm active. Always will be. But the Coach of the Year is not a one note prize. There has to be some winning, some actual skill involved. My draft was horrendous, my QB position a shit show, my lack of trading betraying my utter lack of nerve, and I made my bed at the bottom of the league table in scoring and All Play record. Move along, nothing to see here except pain, misery, and perhaps a Conso tourney win (my first ever!). Let's carve my heart out with a spoon and list RAINBOW WOLF's starting QBs this season:

• Carson Palmer
• Alex Smith
• Brian Hoyer
• Derek Carr
• Kyle Orton
• Michael Vick
• Josh McCown
• Johnny Manziel

Mark - Trades: 1; Adds: 23; FAAB: $3. I'm struggling coming up with anything to say about Mark's season. It felt so, blah. Obviously 5-8 isn't anything to write home about. But his team really isn't that bad when you look at it. He wasn't particularly active on the trade or acquisition front. He spent a bunch of money on Denard Robinson ($31), which looked like a solid move at the time. He spent even more than that ($35) on defensive players throughout the year, which seems like an actual strategy on Mark's part. Just not sure I agree with it. His season was sunk when he lost five straight from weeks two through six, despite a couple of 100+ point explosions. Yep, blah.

Rookie - Trades: 4; Adds: 51; FAAB: $0. Dude a had kid. He's already won. Don't give him a CoTY on top of it.

Kirk - Trades: 4; Adds: 18; FAAB: $4. Kirk gets some run, and well deserved, for weathering the storm of Adrian Peterson's suspension. As I've said in the past, I'd rather KNOW my stud isn't playing then having to keep starting a dude who is chronically under performing. Clarity is power in fantasy football. I personally thought Toby Gerhardt was going to be a great number two back for the Badasses, but I made the classic blunder of thinking a dude name Toby was going to be good at anything. Kirk got all kinds of wacky at his RB/Flex position, and he did it well. Asiata, Keenan Allen, Tre Mason. A real Midas touch kinda year. I don't think he's quite the CoTY, but he deserves a long look.

Kendall - Trades: 7; Adds: 44; FAAB: $0. Kendall really grinded this year. It's easy to be dismissive of Kendall as a CoTY candidate because he sets the bar so friggin' high. But I think he deserves full consideration. Let's consider his opening day lineup:

• Matt Ryan, Jamaal Charles, Cordarelle Patterson, Michael Floyd, Dennis Pitta, Giovani Bernard.

And now his CKL Championship (presumsed) roster:

• Tom Brady, Jeremy Hill, Mike Evans, Kenny Still, Greg Olsen, Joique Bell.

That is a 100% transformation. And it has him knocking on the door of "one for the thumb" status.

Russ - Trades: 5; Adds: 22; FAAB: $12. Russ had a helluva season. You'd like to see him spend all his FAAB bucks, but when you own Shady, Jordy, Marshawn, and Calvin, much can be forgiven. Dude is loaded like mid-aughts Pink Nightmare. He has two many players to keep and will be helping those lucky enough to draft near the top of the first next summer.

Ben - Trades: 5; Adds: 45; FAAB: $0. Without a doubt the most underacheiving team in the league. Lost six straight to start the season and remove hope of a meaning postseason. Going 4-3 down the stretch was a decent recovery though. Remember, Brees/Lynch/Megatron/Garçon was Ben's Week 1 core. I think we all would have suffered with expectation management with that group. Sometimes your players just have bad years. It happens. Doesn't mean you're a bad coach. But it makes it really hard to be CoTY.

Paul - Trades: 3; Adds: 44; FAAB: $0. Go back at look at Paul's Week 1 roster and check out how many of those dudes are currently on injured reserve. Ball/Ellington to start the draft!? Eh, not so much. No QB taken until late? So how did he make it to the Championship game? Off the top of my head, I don't know. I need to dig deeper. He traded me Ball and Mike Wallace for Lamar Miller and Roddy White. That's a win. But he sent Jeremy Hill to Kendall. Tough. This was really a full team effort though, as Maclin, Julius Thomas, Ellington, and even Eli Freaking Manning had huge games for the BSBs. Paul did it with a deft touch. I'm impressed.

Joe - Trades: 9; Adds: 49: FAAB: $0. I went into this article 95% sure Joe was going to get my vote. I think Kendall, Kirk and Paul are also in my top four, but Joe gets the nod. I'll try to lay out my reasoning. Activity, even hyperactivity, is a given as a baseline for consideration as CoTY. I'd say half the league accomplishes it easily. But two delicous frosting layers on top of Joe's cake of activity are what set him apart. 1) Persistence. We all know Joe is on point in his trading game. What really gives him an edge is that he approaches annoyance without every truly threatening to cross the line. That is straight up skill. Any 'ol turn owner can go all aggro aggravating or simply shut down and not participate. But persistence is a skill, and one that more than not worked out for Joe. Nine trades. The number alone is damn impressive. 2) Craft. Next level start/sit and FAAB decisions had me (me!) considering my commitment to this game. I'm in awe. Truly. Well deserved, Joe. You got my vote.

Final Regular Season Numbers

All Play Table

• Congrats, Russ. Dominating performance.
• Russ also takes home the highest high and the highest average, because duh.
• Kirk wins highest low.
• Mr. Explosive is Mark's, thanks to his ability to both score 38.6 and crash through into triple digits.
• Mr. Reliable is Nathan. Reliably shitty, and the only team to not crack the 100 point plateau. Drag.

Luck

• Weird, weird season. I'm the worst and luckiest, while Russ is the best and unluckiest.
• Kirk pretty high up on the list as well.
• Paul, true blue and showing well in the playoffs.

Hotness

• Russ has everything going for him but luck heading into the postseason. Perhaps he needed Jenna to escort him into the second season, instead of dumping her last second for Norris?
• Pink looking ready to rumble.
• Last season's champ, Chad, limping home.

Jenna

• The ultimate sloppy seconds, Russ pounded Jenna all season only to let Norris snap on a rubber and finish the job. Unsatisfying for all involved, no doubt.
• Ben has still proven the only coach who can turn Jenna into a Cup. Everyone else seems spent by the effort. I credit Ben's rugged jaw muscles, which would never cramp up before licking his target to completion.