Semifinals Recap

Dave def. Mike R., 141.40-127.34

This semifinal was a banger! And while it technically wasn't over until Monday night, it was all but certain that Josh Jacobs (17.97) would score enough for Dave in the week's final game that it wouldn't matter how the Packers defense (16.00) did for Mike.

Justin Jefferson (31.20) and Bijan Robinson (22.60) were great for Dave, who had no one score less than 6.00 (Vikings defense). Chuba Hubbard (28.93) gave his all for Mike, but it wasn't enough to overcome four single-digit players (Chase McLaughlin (7.50), Puka Nacua (7.47), Tony Pollard (6.17), and Trey McBride (2.67)).

Rob def. Babel, 133.38-74.60

The other semifinal was definitely not a banger. Rob relied on Saquon Barkley (26.50) and Brandon Aubrey (23.80) to win going away, while Babel's only standout performer was James Conner (24.23). Even Josh Allen (12.20), who carried Babel to this point, put up a dud.

Weekly Awards

Team Blangums

Dave's 141.40 is the sixth best semifinal score ever.

Slapped Heartbeat

Babel's 74.60 is the sixth worst semifinal score ever.

Weekly MVP

Justin Jefferson scored 31.20 for Dave. Maybe his overpay last year was a smart move, after all.

Dud of the Week

Trey McBride put up just 2.67 for Mike in his close loss.

Start of the Week / Misplay of the Week

Not even sticking with the Falcons defense (27.00) over the Packers (16.00) would have helped Mike, so these awards stay vacant again.

Season Postmortems

Babel, 9-5 (0.643), 1,389.34 points, 4th place, 6.63 expected wins

Babel started 8-2 before losing three of four to close out the season, but Josh Allen helped him explode in the quarterfinals to get this far. James Conner was also an excellent draft pick, though taking Travis Kelce in the second round was not.

Looking ahead, Babel won't get to keep Nico Collins again, so he'll have some tough choices to make. Allen for the 11th or 12th overall pick? Conner in the late third?

Mike R., 9-5 (0.643), 1,589.70 points, 2nd place, 9.24 expected wins

Mike has to be disappointed that he didn't reach the Blingabowl, as he led the league in points and expected wins. He did a great job mining RB value late in the draft, as Tony Pollard (5th) and Chuba Hubbard (10th) were strong contributors all year.

Hubbard - fresh off an extension - looks like he'll retain great keeper value into 2025, and Puka Nacua should, too.

The Year in Trades

Week 3

Trade between Mike R. and Richie

Mike R. received:

• Kirk Cousins - from Richie - keeper cost: 9th

Richie received:

• Cam Akers - from Mike R. - keeper cost: 9th

I'll be honest with you: I don't remember this trade. I guess Mike lost this one, just because no one wants Cousins on their rosters these days. (The same is true in real life, too!)

Week 4

Trade between Ed and Rabbit

Ed received:

• Marvin Harrison, Jr. - from Rabbit - keeper cost: 1st
• Jaylen Waddle - from Rabbit - keeper cost: 2nd

Rabbit received:

• Jonathan Taylor - from Ed - keeper cost: 1st
• Brian Thomas, Jr. - from Ed - keeper cost: 7th

This was our first big trade of the year, with each side trading away positional strength to shore up weaknesses. Harrison was not very good for Ed and wound up getting traded two more times. Waddle had a couple of nice games after Tua Tagovailoa returned. Taylor almost immediately got hurt, but would have been amazing in the semifinals had Rabbit reached there.

But the clear best player in this trade was Brian Thomas, Jr., who not only was great this year, but looks like one of the best keepers heading into 2025. On that alone, this looks like a big win for Rabbit.

Week 6

Trade between Rabbit and Rob

Rabbit received:

• Trey Sermon - from Rob - keeper cost: 9th

Rob received:

• Geno Smith - from Rabbit - keeper cost: 11th

Rob needed a QB to cover Dak Prescott's bye week. (Yes, at one point, that was a real concern.) Rabbit got a handcuff out of it. Neat.

Week 8

Trade between Ed and Scott

Ed received:

• A.J. Brown - from Scott - keeper cost: 1st
• Jordan Love - from Scott - keeper cost: 7th
• Josh Downs - from Scott - keeper cost: 10th

Scott received:

• Marvin Harrison, Jr. - from Ed - keeper cost: 1st
• Amari Cooper - from Ed - keeper cost: 4th
• Jayden Daniels - from Ed - keeper cost: 8th

Daniels was coming off an injury, so Ed sold him for an upgrade at WR. The Washington QB did go through a bit of a lull, but it was the one Ed received (Love) that suffered a more serious injury and performance dip. That said, Cooper was hurt a lot and Brown was better than Harrison, so this trade probably came out pretty even in the long run.

Week 9

Trade between Matt and Scott

Matt received:

• Marvin Harrison, Jr. - from Scott - keeper cost: 1st
• David Montgomery - from Scott - keeper cost: 3rd

Scott received:

• Drake London - from Matt - keeper cost: 2nd
• Najee Harris - from Matt - keeper cost: 4th

Scott waited a week and flipped Harrison for what looked like a solid upgrade at WR. It wasn't, really, as London had already peaked.

For Matt, getting Montgomery was key to his playoff push. He clearly came away as the winner of this swap.

Week 10

Trade between Rob and Scott

Rob received:

• Tua Tagovailoa - from Scott - keeper cost: 9th

Scott received:

• Quentin Johnston - from Rob - keeper cost: 11th

Another QB-for-depth trade!? Johnston had his moments, but Tagovailoa proved to be a good investment for our #1 seed. This was another clear loss for Scott.

Trade between Dave and Pulley

Dave received:

• Josh Jacobs - from Pulley - keeper cost: 1st
• Cooper Kupp - from Pulley - keeper cost: 2nd
• Isaac Guerendo - from Pulley - keeper cost: 9th
• Evan McPherson - from Pulley - keeper cost: 13th

Pulley received:

• Jaxon Smith-Njigba - from Dave - keeper cost: 6th
• Nick Chubb - from Dave - keeper cost: 7th
• Justin Tucker - from Dave - keeper cost: 9th
• Xavier Legette - from Dave - keeper cost: 11th

The first contender to trade away keepers was Dave, and it looks like this worked out both ways. Pulley got Smith-Njigba, who looks like a great keeper for 2025, while Dave got Jacobs, who hit a new gear after this trade and has carried him to the brink of a title.

Trade between Ed and Richie

Ed received:

• Davante Adams - from Richie - keeper cost: 2nd

Richie received:

• Cade Otton - from Ed - keeper cost: 9th
• Tyrone Tracy, Jr. - from Ed - keeper cost: 9th

Adams didn't do much for Ed before being shipped away, but Otton and Tracy also didn't do much for Richie. This trade isn't so much win-win as it not-lose-not-lose.

(Random fact about this trade: the player Richie dropped to make room for Otton and Tracy was Jonnu Smith, whom Ed declined to accept as part of the deal. Ed later on did pick up Smith, who finished the season on quite a tear.)

Week 11

Trade between Dave and Mike R.

Dave received:

• Amon-Ra St. Brown - from Mike R. - keeper cost: 1st
• Austin Ekeler - from Mike R. - keeper cost: 7th

Mike R. received:

• Cooper Kupp - from Dave - keeper cost: 2nd
• George Pickens - from Dave - keeper cost: 4th

Dave traded two very good WRs to Mike for one great one, and it generally paid off. St. Brown had two 29+ games post-trade, but also had three sub-10 ones. Pickens was very good, but has missed the last few weeks. Like the previous entry in this list, this is less win-win and more not-lose-not-lose.

Trade between Ed and Pat

Ed received:

• Kenneth Walker III - from Pat - keeper cost: 2nd
• Courtland Sutton - from Pat - keeper cost: 6th

Pat received:

• Breece Hall - from Ed - ineligible to be kept
• Josh Downs - from Ed - keeper cost: 10th

Hall and Walker were both disappointing to their owners, so they were swapped. Ultimately, Sutton was probably the best player in this deal. A rare win for Ed? Meh.

Trade between Ed and Rob

Ed received:

• CeeDee Lamb - from Rob - keeper cost: 1st
• Mike Williams - from Rob - keeper cost: 9th

Rob received:

• Davante Adams - from Ed - keeper cost: 2nd
• Tee Higgins - from Ed - keeper cost: 3rd

Ed took a home run swing in acquiring Lamb, and while it didn't pay off - Higgins and Adams have both been very good for Rob - it was probably worth it given where he was in the standings. Still, this wound up being a win for Rob, who will be playing both players he received in Blingabowl XVII.

Trade between Mike R. and Richie

Mike R. received:

• Calvin Ridley - from Richie - keeper cost: 4th
• Puka Nacua - from Richie - keeper cost: 7th

Richie received:

• Mike Evans - from Mike R. - keeper cost: 1st
• Cooper Kupp - from Mike R. - keeper cost: 2nd

This trade was basically two guys who had slightly different valuations on some WRs. Mike wound up winning it, as Nacua outplayed Kupp, and Ridley nearly propelled him to the Blingabowl with a good game this past week.

Trade between Dave and Derrek

Dave received:

• Travis Etienne, Jr. - from Derrek - keeper cost: 1st
• D.J. Moore - from Derrek - keeper cost: 2nd
• David Njoku - from Derrek - keeper cost: 6th

Derrek received:

• Alec Pierce - from Dave - keeper cost: 9th
• Cedric Tillman - from Dave - keeper cost: 9th
• Will Dissly - from Dave - keeper cost: 9th

Dave had a few more lesser keepers to trade for the small amount of value that was on Derrek's roster. Said keepers look much worse now than at the time of the trade, so the fact that D.J. Moore has been playable at all means Dave won this one.

Blingabowl XVII Preview

#1 Rob for Today (Rob, 13-2) vs. #3 Double Digits (Dave, 11-5)

Rob leads all-time series, 11-9.

Rob's been in first place since the end of week six (and after all but three weeks all season), but now he finds himself as an underdog in Blingabowl XVII.

The reason for that is that Dave's team has been red hot. Since week seven, Dave has averaged over 125 points per game - more than nine points more than the next closest team. Justin Jefferson (vs. GB) and Bijan Robinson (@WAS) have been great all year and trade acquisitions Amon-Ra St. Brown (@SF) and D.J. Moore (vs. SEA) have been valuable additions, but the biggest reasons for Dave's run has been Josh Jacobs (@MIN). Dave traded for him while he was on his week ten bye, and since then his lowest score has been 17.97 - and that came last week in just one half of action.

On the other side, Rob is not a pushover. Saquon Barkley (vs. DAL) is the hands-down fantasy MVP this year. Brock Bowers (@NO) gives him consistently good scores from the TE position. And Tee Higgins (vs. DEN) and Davante Adams (@BUF) have one bad game between them since he traded for them in week eleven.

Pick: Double Digits.

Third-Place Game

Bernie's Bullies (Mike R., 9-6, 2nd) vs. Keep Calm & Keon (Babel, 10-6, 4th)

Mike R. leads all-time series, 11-9.

Mike's team has just been better than Babel's this year.

Pick: Bernie's Bullies.

Closing Thoughts

The Blingaleague season-end survey was sent out yesterday. There's only one item to vote on: whether to limit the draft lottery to the first pick only, instead of the applying to each of the first eight. Get your votes in!

And have a very Merry Christmas, or whatever it is you and your loved ones celebrate!

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