2019 Footballguys Players Championship Winner Analysis

The FFPC Footballguys Players Championship is one of the most popular tournament style contests in fantasy football today. In 2019, the contest was comprised of 700 individual leagues of 12 teams. The drafts for these leagues were conducted over the course of the preseason, beginning as early as May, and running right up until the Thursday night opening game on September 5. Similar to our Best Ball Analysis, we have examined the drafts of the winning teams in this competition to identify trends on player selection and roster construction.

To our knowledge, no other analysis of winners in this competition has ever been conducted (sans our analysis last year, but that was not as deep as what we have provided here). If you are a new player, the data contained in these reports should help provide you with a framework for drafting in 2020. If you are an experienced player, a lot of what you see may seem like things you already know, but seeing the numbers crunched should confirm a lot of the best practices that you have been implementing when drafting these teams in the past. Also note that unlike best ball, the drafts for these season long contests are only a partial component of overall success. Waiver wire pickups, and weekly lineup decisions also play a part.

The analyses may either be in the conext of “winning your league” or “winning in the championship round”. And when we speak in terms of “winning in championship round”, that is going to be based primarily on the production of players within that 3 week (14-16) sprint, which can be unpredictable. When you review the “Deep Dive into the Top 5 Overall Winners”, we note a player’s statistical ranking specifically within that timeframe.

The overall grand prize in 2020 is $500,000. You can find a quick overview of the competition HERE.

In 2020 due to the possibility of the season being affected by the Corona Virus epidemic, folks should be aware of the following additional rules for this years contest. The FFPC has declared the following in the event of a shortened NFL season, with respect to prize distribution.

  • If there are 5 or fewer weeks in the season, all entry fees are refunded.
  • If there are between 6 and 13 weeks completed, then the contest is official and league prizes will be warded to league leaders 1 – 4. Additionally, the entire prize pool dedicated to the winners in the Championship and Consolation round will be distributed among those league leaders across all of the leagues.
  • Once the contest plays into weeks 14-16 (the championship round weeks), the leaders at the conclusion of the contest will be paid according to the defined payout structure, whether it completes in full after week 16, or prior after week 14 or 15.
  • Translation: Win early, and win often in the event the season ends prematurely, or is compressed with a late start. A lot of players often emphasize player matchups during the league playoffs, or championship rounds, but given this situation which may cut the season short, it may be prudent to place a higher value on teams that have favorable schedules the first half of the season.

    Enough of the chit chat, let’s look at the data!

    Roster Deep Dive of the Top 5 Winners Overall

    An in depth look at the rosters of top 5 teams overall from 2019 with a master chart that breaks down the detail from each of those teams. These teams won between $250,000 (1st) and $10,000 (5th).

    The master chart that we compile will show:

    • Every player rostered on every top 5 finisher during the championship rounds (weeks 14-16)
    • Where each player’s performance ranked within their position during the championship rounds
    • Which teams had rookies
    • Which players were acquired via waivers
    • A link to the draft board of every team’s draft

    ANALYSIS HERE

    Draft Slots of Winning Teams

    This analysis examines the draft slots of :

    • Every team that won their individual league
    • The teams that finished within the top 100 of the Championship bracket

    ANALYSIS HERE

    Winning Roster Construction of Drafted Teams

    This analysis breaks down the number of players drafted at each position for every team, and compares those metrics with the number of players drafted at each position by every team that won the league.

    ANALYSIS HERE

    Win Rate of Teams Based on Positions Selected with First 2 Picks

    This analysis looks at the positions drafted with the first two picks by all teams in the contest, and compares those with the winning teams, to determine a win rate based on positions selected in first two picks.

    ANALYSIS HERE

    Win Rate of Teams Based on Positions Selected with First 5 Picks

    This analysis looks at the positions drafted with the first five picks by all teams in the contest, and compares those with the winning teams, to determine a win rate based on positions selected in first five picks.

    ANALYSIS HERE

    Player Win Rate

    This analysis looks at the drafts of the teams that won their individual leagues and calculates a player win rate.

    ANALYSIS HERE

    Rookies Drafted Per Winning Team

    This analysis looks at the drafts of the teams that won their individual leagues and counts the number of rookies drafted by those teams to determine if there is an optimal number of rookies to draft.

    ANALYSIS HERE

    Championship Round Finish For Teams By Month Drafted

    This analysis takes a very close look at the overall finish of teams within the Championship round based on where they finished and what month they drafted their team. There is a lot of speculation regarding when the best time is to draft your Footballguys team. Is it better to draft them early in the season and land players BEFORE their ADP might rise? Or is it better to play it safe, and wait until closer to the season to avoid any potential landmines around player injuries?

    ANALYSIS HERE