If you are anything like yours truly, you have been frustrated for years by fantasy football's gross inability to acknowledge...nay....worship
the accomplishments of the most important unit on a football team -- the offensive line.
But that, my friends, is all about to change. Enter the FAT MAN CHALLENGE, your chance to prove yourself as the best of
the best at picking large gentlemen who can move other large gentlemen around.
Let me illustrate for a moment how FAT MAN CHALLENGE works:
FAT MAN CHALLENGE is a rotisserie-style side game that will accompany the FFL in 2003. It's objective is to see which FFL
team can select the best offensive line unit. It is merely a side game to the regular proceedings. So, much like the armwrestling
match between Ilkka Koskelo and Jackie Zieger at a recent FFL offices barbecue, it is merely meant to be a harmless diversion.
If you're not careful, you might just learn something about the glorious brotherhood of trench warriors that I exemplify.
Each team in the FAT MAN CHALLENGE is made up of 10 offensive linemen: 2 left tackles, 2 left guards, 2 centers, 2 right
guards and 2 right tackles. Essentially, each team will have at its disposal a starting line and a full set of backups in
case injury or a benching takes place.
The scoring system centers around three categories: Rushing Average, Sack Share and Pro Bowl Selections.
More on this in a moment.
FAT MAN CHALLENGE aspires to mimic real-life football in that some offensive line positions are considered more valuable
than others. A good franchise tackle is considered irreplacable. A good center is also important for anchoring the inside
running game and providing pass protection. Guards are considered important, too, but ultimately are seen as more replacable.
One could argue that left tackles are slightly more important in value than the right variety, but we won't get into the ramifications
of right-handed quarterbacks vs. left-handed quarterbacks. Instead, here is how the importance of each position breaks down:
Left Tackle: 23%
Left Guard: 17%
Center: 20%
Right Guard: 17%
Right Tackle: 23%
Pretty nifty, eh? What this means is that your left tackle will contribute toward 23% of your team's scoring, while the
right guard would contribute to 17%, and so on. So, like in real football, a premium is to be placed on a good pair of tackles.
They are nearly half of your line's production value!
Let's go back to those statistical categories for an example. Let's say that I have assembled the following Hall of Fame
offensive line:
LT: Brick Haley
LG: Ricardo Dayton
C: Jackie Zieger
RG: Bob Dayton
RT: Manford Fowler
Let's assume for a moment that this bunch, as an NFL team, has a running game that averages a hefty 4.8 yards per rushing
attempt. Using those percentages, each player on the line will take home a different share of the rushing total. With the
4.8 yard rushing average, we end up with this:
LT: Brick Haley 4.8 x .23 = 1.104
LG: Ricardo Dayton 4.8 x .17= .816
C: Jackie Zieger 4.8 x .20 = .960
RG: Bob Dayton 4.8 x .17 = .816
RT: Manford Fowler 4.8 x .23 = 1.104
= 4.8 yards/attempt total
So, as you can see, I'm the best. Or at least tied for it. Those numbers there are each player's rushing share, and when
you combine my 1.104 rushing share with players drafted from other teams (say, Niofred Koskelo, Al Gore, Chili Wisneski and
Jay-Z) you can combine those five players' rushing shares to come up with your team Rushing Average. That is Category
#1, and each of the 12 teams in FAT MAN CHALLENGE will be scored on a scale of 12 to 1 depending on where they finish in this
category.
Category #2 is Sack Share. Every lineman, as we've seen, is responsible for a share in his team's rushing success.
However, the double-edged hoagie of FAT MAN CHALLENGE is that these players are also proportionately responsible for how well
their quarterback is protected. For example, let's assume that I am coaching this miserable line, one who surrendered a whopping
50 sacks last year:
LT: Brian Nocera 50 x .23 = 11.5
LG: Hendrik deBoer 50 x .17= 8.5
C: Jeff Zieger 50 x .20 = 10
RG: Antti Koskelo 50 x .17 = 8.5
RT: Inanimate Mannequin 50 x .23 = 11.5
= 50 sacks total
As you can see, good tackles can boost thine rushing average, but can also be liable for a large number of sacks. And unless
you are building a team only Jeff Zieger could love, that is something you will want to avoid. The team with the least total
sack share, when all their linemens' totals are put together, is the winner of the category, and receives 12 points. Ergo,
you want to assemble a line with players from teams who rush for lots of yards, but also protect the quarterback splendidly.
That is easier said than done, because not many pro teams excel at both.
The final category is Pro Bowl Selections, and it is a wild card category that is meant to intentionally throw a
complication into each team's drafting process. Basically, it is what it says it is -- it is an entire category just for the
number of pro bowl selections your line gets. Let us return to that first god-like line for a moment
LT: Brick Haley 4.8 x .23 = 1.104
LG: Ricardo Dayton 4.8 x .17= .816
C: Jackie Zieger 4.8 x .20 = .960
RG: Bob Dayton 4.8 x .17 = .816
RT: Manford Fowler 4.8 x .23 = 1.104
Notice that Brick and I put up equal "rushing share" numbers. We can assume as well that we will put up the same "sack
share" figures. However, what if I am elected to the Pro Bowl, whereas Brick is not? Well, then I am an immensely more valuable
player, just like I was in real life.
For, you see, only about 14 or so offensive linemen are picked for the Pro Bowl each year. It is quite an elite group.
With 12 teams competing in FAT MAN CHALLENGE, there are potential odds for the 14 pro bowlers to be spread out nearly evenly
amongst teams. In that scenario, the category kind of cancels itself out, for nearly everyone may be tied for the lead. However,
if one team can somehow assemble 2-3 Pro Bowlers on their line, they could just happen to be unstoppable, as they can take
the Pro Bowl category for a full 12 points. Pro Bowlers are announced in January, so it adds some end-of-season drama to FAT
MAN CHALLENGE.
But with such a disproportionately important category, does this mean FAT MAN CHALLENGE is more blind luck than anything?
Actually, no. Pro Bowl selections are reasonably predicatble, not excessively so, but reasonably enough so that you can have
a good idea of who to pursue. Willie Roaf, Will Shields, Ruben Brown, Orlando Pace and Jonathan Ogden are perennial Pro Bowl
picks, so taking them can solidify a team in the category. Emerging stars like Walter Jones, Alan Faneca, Tra Thomas and Lincoln
Kennedy look like they may be continual Pro Bowl members in the coming years, so they too are strong picks. By having the
Pro Bowl category, a player like Ogden, whose team puts up paltry rushing and poor sack protection, is still very important
(as in real life). And much like a real team, you will need that superstar presence to anchor your line. The trick is figuring
out just who might get those Pro Bowl nods.
Each FFL team is considered a part of the FAT MAN CHALLENGE, though owner participation is purely optional. Owners who
decline to participate will have their team run on "autopilot" for the season. Each owner wishing to participate should understand
the process for the season.
1) Late July: Owners submit a pre-ranked list (kind of like what Yahoo uses for its games) of offensive linemen to fflonline@hotmail.com.
The draft order will be the same as the FFL's 2003 draft order, i.e. Atlanta Predators get the first pick, and so on. An automated
draft held for all teams will fill each team with the 10 required players. Players will be selected purely by rankings, with
the only deviation being if a team needs to fill certain positional needs.
2) When the draft is over each owner will submit a starting lineup for the season. Scoring updates for each team's line
will take place at the end of September (Week 4), October (Week 8), November (Week 12) and the end of the regular season (Week
14). At each of these points owners will be allowed to make necessary lineup changes, if they wish. Note: Players only get
credit for games they started, as dictated by NFL.com. If both a starter and reserve at a position do not play (in case of
injury, bye week, etc) the team will not accumulate stats at that position. Reserve players are automatically substituted
when possible. Also, players picked for the Pro Bowl only count towards a team's Pro Bowl Selections stats if they started
more than half of the season for the fantasy team's line.
3) Teams can not trade with each other. Each team can, however, make 2 drop/add transactions over the course of the season.
4) If FAT MAN CHALLENGE proves a success, each team will be able to retain 2 of its linemen for 2004.
5) The winner of FAT MAN CHALLENGE 2003 will win a GIANT 46 INCH SANDWICH to be consumed at the 2004 draft. An additional
special Manford Fowler prize may be featured as well.
So how does one win at this game? Some tips:
1) Prioritize Pro Bowl caliber players. Rank them such that they are snagged in the early rounds. Also, rank potential
emerging Pro Bowl canidates high. The key to winning may be in selecting a Pro Bowler in the making.
2) After ranking Pro Bowl hopefuls, it all comes down to placing players in the order in which you believe their teams
will excel in the rushing and sack share categories. You can probably separate from the rest of the pack by taking teams that
look to have a better ground game than last year. Sacks are more difficult to predict, though it is known that teams with
running quarterbacks do tend to allow more sacks.
3.) A special cheat sheet and spreadsheet have already been assembled for you to look at. See below, where you can view
the spreadsheet and cheat sheet, or even download your own copy.