While Bob technically still has the lead (1,119-933) heading into Monday night, Matt has five players playing on Christmas, while Bob has just one. I’m going Sharpie on this one.
The year was 2016; the 5th week of the season. A struggling Matt Neatock was looking to shake things up with an eye to the future. Bob Castrone, never afraid to give up big name talent, was looking to unload a struggling star. So that week, those two made a trade that directly influenced this season’s championship game.
In that trade, Bob traded away Todd Gurley and his 3.2 yards per carry and Devin Funchess for Julio Jones and Arian Foster. For Matt, the trade made perfect sense. He had the league’s worst team and if Gurley managed to turn things around, bonus If not, he could keep him the following season in round four.
For Bob, Foster amounted to nothing as he actually retired the following week. At least Julio would finish the season as the top wide receiver in football and despite the fact Bob finished 10th in scoring, he made it to the playoffs. Unfortunately, Julio was out with a toe injury when Bob lost to Calderon in the semifinals. That game proved to be slightly poetic, as Calderon was led by Le’Veon Bell, who Bob unload the previous season (as a second round keeper), because he was planning on keeping Gurley.
Well, last year it was Bell. This year it was Todd Gurley. Bob’s former star, dominated the week, with 276 yards and two scores (including a 80-yarder). His 672 fantasy points is the second most scored in the postseason (Bell’s 776 in last year’s quarters was the best) and is the most ever scored in a title game.
Just imagine if Bob didn’t do that trade? Imagine if he had kept Gurley in round four and had his first-round pick (instead of keeping Julio)? He could have been the best ever.
Instead, for the season year in a row, he made the big move and it came back to bite him on the ass the following season. I’m almost looking forward to win Don knocks him out of the playoffs next year, behind a monster game by Kamara.
However, let’s deliver some credit where credit is due. For the second straight year, Bob’s playoff streak should have ended. Yet, both times he managed to turn what appeared to be a bad team with injury issues and make them a playoff team.
This year’s squad, predicted to be the 10th best, shook off some early scoring woes and won some ball games. He kept winning when stud free agent pickups (Watson, Carson) got hurt. Bob earned his third top seed in four years, tying a record with 14 wins in a season. He made it all the way back to the finals, but finally looked human, losing his first ever title game after five tries.
Looking ahead to next year, Bob looks stacked if everyone is healthy. In category one, he’ll have a choice. Does he keep Elliot in round one (for one more year) or Ingram in round two (for two more seasons). I would guess the former. In category two, he has a trio of decent receivers, but the frontrunner right now has to be Marquise Goodwin, who has clicked since getting a new quarterback. In category three, it’s got to be DeShaun Watson; the man who dominated fantasy football for a solid month before getting hurt. If he is fully recovered from his ACL injury, Bob will be set at quarterback in 2018.
MORE ON MATT’S HISTORIC POSTSEASON RUN COMING TOMORROW
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