No matter how much planning we do in fantasy football, a lot still comes down to… LUCK. Injuries, contract holdouts, trades, and poor performances affect every team.

For these 2026 season “Luck” rankings, I am focusing on scheduling: how each team’s actual record compares with its weekly scoring performance against the rest of the league. The rankings group teams into three categories:

· Lucky Teams: More wins than their all-play performance suggests.

· Neutral Teams: You are what your record says you are—results broadly match all-play performance.

· Bad Luck Teams: Fewer wins than their all-play performance suggests.

How Scheduling Luck Is Measured

The comparison uses actual results and all-play results to show how scheduling has affected each team’s record. Here is how to read the measures:

· Actual Win %: The team’s current winning percentage in scheduled matchups.

· All Play Win %: The winning percentage a team would have if it played every other team each week, using actual weekly scores. For example, Milford Football Team ranked fifth in scoring in Week 3. It outscored five teams and scored fewer points than four, giving it an all-play record of 5-4 for that week.

· Variance: Actual Win % minus All Play Win %. A positive value indicates more favorable scheduling results; a negative value indicates less favorable results.

· Actual Wins: The team’s real win total in scheduled matchups.

· Expected Wins: All Play Win % × number of games played, using the percentage as a decimal. This converts all-play performance into an expected win total over the actual schedule.

· +/- win: Actual Wins minus Expected Wins. Positive values mean more wins than expected; negative values mean fewer.

What the Rankings Show

Flanders: The Luckiest Team

Flanders and Stick Rock stand out as the league’s luckiest team so far this season. Flanders actual winning percentage is .714, while comparing its weekly point totals with the rest of the league produces an all-play percentage of .492—below .500. By this scheduling-based measure, Flanders has roughly two more wins than its scoring performance would suggest. Stick Rock is undefeated, but according to the all-play results, their record should be 5-2.

Four Teams on the Unlucky Side

MKBA, Skoal Bandits, JST, and Dark Helmet have each played well enough to have roughly one additional win based on their all-play performance. That puts them on the unlucky side of the comparison, although none has been truly unlucky this season.

Points by position has been updated and can be found here:

October is in the books and there are only six games left in the season. The season is flying by. The Patrick Division looks to be all over as Stick Rock leads Mel Kipers Best Available by three games and owns the tie-breaker by virtue of a 2-0 head-to-head record. MKBA still has a commanding lead in the points scored total.

Adams Division

Flanders has taken a 1-game lead in the Adams Division, but did not look good doing it as they only managed 136 points. The Ghostbusters lost a HART-breaker as they lose to Dark Helmet by .12 points. It is the 2nd time this year that they lost to a Hart family member by less than a point as they went down 173.64-173.1 vs. John in Week 2.

Wild Card

As mentioned above, MKBA remains in firm control of the 1^st Wild Card with a 137-point lead over the 5^th place Ghostbusters. The Bandits looked good this week as they increased their lead to 83 points.

The Hart family remains on the outskirts of contention as Dan (-98) and John (-72) scored impressive victories in Week 7.

Meanwhile, Wrath of Khan(-180), MFT (-182) and Peeping Tomlins (-223) continue their race to the bottom of the rankings as all three struggled to score this week, as each team failed to reach the 125-point mark.

• Flanders goes up four spots to #4.

• Bandits move up a notch to #5.

• JST tumbles two place to #6.

• Dark Helmet has rode their Weeks 5 and 6 resurgence to the 7th spot.

• Wrath of Khan picks himself out of the basement up to 8th.

• The injury plagued MILFs plummet 4 spots to 9th.

• The Tomlins are spiraling, dropping to 10th.

Our Points by Position through Week 6 can be found here.

Our Rankings through 6 weeks:

2026 Midseason Playoff Outlook

The 2026 season has reached its halfway point, making this the perfect time to assess where every team stands in the playoff race. Each team falls into one of four tiers:

· The Favorite: The clear front-runner—the team everyone else is chasing.

· The Contenders: Teams that have separated themselves through consistent scoring and strong records.

· In the Hunt: Teams with playoff-caliber talent but clear flaws that must be addressed to become true contenders.

· Tankathon: Teams whose uneven play—and placement in the Patrick Division—leaves them heavily dependent on total points for a wild-card berth. Unfortunately, each faces a significant deficit in that category.

The Favorite

Stick Rock: Stick Rock is running away with the division and scoring in bunches. The franchise has a history of starting fast before fading in the second half, but its divisional lead may already be large enough to withstand a downturn. Wide receiver remains the biggest weakness, though several viable options are available on the waiver wire.

The Contenders

MKBA: The division title may already be out of reach, but MKBA remains one of the league’s most productive scoring teams. Quarterback health is the primary concern, making dependable backup options a priority.

Ghostbusters: The Ghostbusters appear to have all the necessary pieces, but the lineup has yet to fully click. The 4–2 record is strong, while the point total is merely average. A major second-half run remains possible.

Springfield Flanders: Like the Ghostbusters, Flanders has a good record but only middling point production. Something still seems to be missing. Josh Jacobs’ return from the exempt list should help, but quarterback remains an area in need of an upgrade.

In the Hunt

Skoal Bandits: An up-and-down season appears to be trending downward again. As with Flanders, quarterback play has been inconsistent from Drake Maye and virtually nonexistent from Bo Nix. Still, Bijan Robinson and Christian McCaffrey give this team a chance to win every week.

Dark Helmet: Another inconsistent team, Dark Helmet started slowly but has surged in recent weeks. The team is only two games back in the division, but it must sustain its recent run of high-scoring performances.

John’s Scary Team: Matthew Stafford and Jaxon Smith-Njigba provide a reliable weekly floor, but the running back position needs a significant upgrade if this team hopes to remain in the playoff chase.

Tankathon

Wrath of Khan: Despite a two-game winning streak, Khan has considerable ground to make up before joining the next tier. Quarterback play has been a major weakness, and the running backs have disappointed.

Milford Football Team: Josh Allen and the running backs have performed well, but the wide receivers have been ineffective and injury-plagued. Until that position improves, Milford remains firmly in Tankathon territory.

Peeping Tomlins - Is this Groundhog Day?

Injuries? Check.

Inconsistent QB play? Check

Justin Jefferson not living up to past performance"? Check

Lack of Top 10 Talent up and down the lineup? Check

Congratulations, Jared! You recreated your 8th place roster from last year.

Week 6 Recap

Ghostbusters 153.04 — Milford Football Team 102.12

No Jared Goff, Ja’Marr Chase, or Amon-Ra St. Brown? No problem. The Ghostbusters entered the matchup without their top three scorers and still cruised to victory. Waiver-wire pickup Tre Tucker led the way with 28 points, while Bhayshul Tuten (24) and Jordan Love (22) helped secure the team’s second consecutive win.

Meanwhile, Milford Football Team dropped its third straight game after scoring just 102 points. Josh Allen (22), DK Metcalf (20), and Emeka Egbuka (17) combined for 59 points, but the rest of the lineup offered little support. MFT is wasting an all-world season from Allen, and with injuries piling up, it may be time to panic.

Springfield Flanders 127 — Peeping Tomlins 108

Flanders eked out a low-scoring victory to remain tied for first place in the Adams Division, but it was not pretty. Tyler Shough (32) caught fire in the second half, and DeAndre Swift (23) delivered a strong performance. No other Flanders starter scored more than 15 points.

The Tomlins are a mess. DeVonta Smith (20), Colston Loveland (18), and the Kansas City D/ST (18) came to play, but the rest of the roster was noncompetitive. Jared has now slipped behind Khan and Helmet into last place in the league.

Wrath of Khan 147 — Skoal Bandits 138

Make it two in a row for Jimmy. After looking like a strong candidate to finish 0–13, Khan has improved to 2–4—and looked good doing it. The Giants duo of Malik Nabers (28) and Isaiah Likely (23) led the way again, while Carnell Tate added 19 points. If Tate can find consistency, Khan will have an imposing trio of pass-catchers.

The Bandits reverted to their early-season, low-scoring form, making the Week 3 and Week 4 scoring surge look like a mirage. Drake Maye (29) continued his improved play, Chuba Hubbard (20) looked sharp in the Panthers’ offense, and Luther Burden chipped in 17 points. CMC (30) tried to make it interesting on MNF, but they fall 9 points short of the victory.

Dark Helmet 166 — John’s Scary Team 150

Dan won the second father-son matchup with an impressive 166-point effort in Week 6. Trevor Lawrence (35), Michael Penix Jr. (29), and James Cook (24) were the team’s top scorers.

John’s Scary Team jumped out to an early lead behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s 25 points on Thursday night. C.J. Stroud (29) and Matthew Golden (22) added punch to the lineup, but it was not enough to beat dear old Dad. John finishes the season series against Dan with a split.

Stick Rock 136 — Mel Kiper’s Best Available 119

Finally, we come to the marquee matchup of the week: the top two teams in KAOS facing off in what was expected to be a high-scoring affair. Would we see two 200-point performances? Not even close. Neither team brought its best, but Stick Rock earned the victory, strengthened its hold on the No. 1 spot, and opened a two-game divisional lead over MKBA. Rocky also improved to 2–0 against Pete, securing the tiebreaker and effectively creating a 2.5-game advantage in the Adams Division. K.W. III (28), Kirk Cousins (22), and Jonathan Taylor (21) led the way in the comfortable win.

MKBA endured a rough week with Jahmyr Gibbs and Jameson Williams on bye and Lamar Jackson sidelined by injury. Jayden Daniels (25), CeeDee Lamb (16), and Tyler Huntley (15) led an otherwise toothless Week 6 attack.

Before I get started, points by position have been updated through Week 5 and can be found here.

I am not a smartphone guy. My eyesight and coordination are too poor to be able to navigate the small screens effectively. Everything I do is on my MacBook pro so I missed a lot of the interesting changes ESPN has made to their APP this year. The coolest feature I saw was the league history data it now makes available to everyone. I used to keep track of that stuff on the old website, but now everything can be viewed in one place at a quick glance.

If you are interested in viewing this information on your own, just open the App and do the following:

• From the home page, select “League” on the banner.

• Then choose “League Info”.

• At the top, select “League History”

There you will see all sorts of interesting statistics from seasons past. You can view your own team or select other teams from the dropdown box. If all that sounds like too much work for you, I have provided this quick snapshot for every team:

Ok, is everyone sufficiently creeped out by that video? Good. Just want to make sure I’m not the only one that is going to have nightmares.

The league’s top three scoring teams are all in the Patrick: Mel Kiper at 183 points per game, Stick Rock at 166 and the Skoal Bandits at 158. The Adams’ leaders trail well behind, with Springfield Flanders at 148 points per game and JST and the Ghostbusters tied at 144.

There is still plenty of season left, however. Hell, even Wrath of Khan broke out this week with an impressive 170-point explosion!

Wrath of Khan 170 — Milford Football Team 130

That’s right—Jim won, and he won big. The New York Giants stack of Isaiah Likely (32 points) and Malik Nabers (29), plus a 32-point performance from Parker Washington, powered Jimmy to an easy victory.

MFT’s season continues to slide after a third straight loss, making the two-game winning streak that opened the year feel like a distant memory. Jacoby Brissett (31), Derrick Henry (22) and Josh Allen (22) led the way, but the rest of the lineup combined for just 43 points in an otherwise toothless attack.

Better times may be just ahead for MFT: next week’s opponent, the Ghostbusters, will be without Amon-Ra St. Brown, Ja’Marr Chase, Jared Goff and Saquon Barkley.

Ghostbusters 143 — Peeping Tomlins 123

The Tomlins were projected to win throughout, but the Ghostbusters flipped the result. Jared Goff (34), Jordan Love (30) and Ja’Marr Chase (21) delivered standout performances while the rest of the lineup struggled. A late rushing touchdown from Goff ultimately provided the cushion the Ghostbusters needed to pull away from the Peepers.

Jared’s team started fast when Jaylen Warren (41.8) broke off two long touchdown plays during the early games. But Dak Prescott and Sam Darnold combined for only 24 points, wasting Warren’s huge day. Warren alone accounted for 35% of the Tomlins’ total scoring.

Stick Rock 172 — Skoal Bandits 133

The Patrick Division’s expected early-season showdown turned into a dud as Rocky rolled to his fifth straight win and improved to 5-0. Joe Burrow (32), George Pickens (28) and Mike Evans Jr. (26) led the way—check that, Mike Evans, not his son! How is that guy still in the league? I remember watching him catch passes in Tampa Bay from Steve DeBerg when I was in high school. Okay, maybe he has not been in the league that long, but it sure seems that way.

Meanwhile, the Bandits could not extend their three-week run of high-scoring performances and went quietly in this one. Drake Maye scored 47 points, accounting for 35% of the team’s total—just as Jaylen Warren did for the Tomlins—but no other Bandit scored more than 18.

Springfield Flanders 183 — Dark Helmet 158

Flanders kept pace atop the Adams Division with a sound thumping of Dark Helmet. The tight-end tandem of Brock Bowers (23) and Tyler Warren (21) led the way, while waiver-wire pickup Jameis Winston added an astounding 31 points—and turned the ball over only once!

Dark Helmet continues to struggle against every team not named the Ghostbusters, falling to 1-4. Trevor Lawrence (26) provided a fast start Sunday morning in London, and Trey McBride delivered his usual dependable production (21). James Cook added another 23, but the rest of the lineup could not provide enough help to keep pace with Flanders.

Mel Kiper’s BA 220 — John’s Scary Team 141

MKBA was dominant again, and for a while it looked as though they might threaten the KAOS scoring record. They will have to settle for beating the tar out of divisional rival JST instead. Jahmyr Gibbs (38), Christian Watson (36) and Jayden Daniels (33) powered a balanced attack in the easy victory.

JST dropped to 2-3 with a second consecutive listless performance. The wide-receiver trio of Garrett Wilson (23), JSN (22) and Matthew Golden (20) supplied plenty of scoring, but the two running backs combined for just 15 points and the two tight ends chipped in only 12. The lesson? Glenn has the only lineup that should be starting two tight ends each week.

That’s it for this week. And remember,

KNICKS IN FIVE!

Also, for anyone looking for the Points by Position analysis, they have been updated through Week 4 and can be found here.

Scoring by Rounds

Rounds 1-5: 3,436.76

Rounds 6-10: 2,196.28

Rounds 11-16: 2,033.38

For anyone interested, I have all this data that gets dumped into an excel spreadsheet. I can use pivot tables to easily configure the information in any way you would like to see it. If there is something you would be interested in seeing, (positional breakouts/free agent performance) drop me a note in the comments section below and I will include the information in an upcoming newsletter.

Rounds 11-16: Team-by-Team Review

What continues to surprise me is how close the scoring is between players drafted in Rounds 6-10 vs Rounds 11-16. Only 133 points separate the two groupings. Most managers tend to check out on the draft once we get to the 12th round. Grab a D/ST, QB3 or an injured player to stash on IR. But their is real talent to be found.

Steals:

QBs rule the day here, with the top four spots being held by Bryce Young (27 points/game), CJ Stroud (19), Aaron Rodgers (18) and Jacoby Brissett (14). So this list will concentrate on the non-QB selections.

• MFT drafted RB Kyle Monangai is averaging (15 points/game), but his scoring has been inconsistent which makes him a difficult start. But he could be helpful now that we have entered the Bye Week portion of the schedule.

• Skoal Bandits selected TE Juwan Johnson (15 points/game) and has scored double-digits in every game this year.

• Ghostbusters drafted (then promptly traded, then he got hurt) Jalen Coker. He was averaging 25 p/g until he got hurt.

• Peeping Tomlins drafted Mike Wilson (14 p/g) in the 11th round.

• Ghostbusters drafted Travis Kelce in the 11th round and he is scoring 13 p/g.

Sleepers:

• Due to injuries for the Vikings, Aaron Jones (13 p/g) could be a playable option for Stick Rock.

• MKBA took the Jaguars D/ST in the 13th round and they might be a plug and play defense every week regardless of the opposition.

• DK Metcalf is heating up in Pittsburgh and could be a bye week fill-in for MFT.

• Wrath of Khan drafted Wandale Robinson in the 12th round and could help the starting lineup with a 10 point floor each week.

• Flanders selected Stefon Diggs in the 12th round and he has been averaging 13 p/g for an injury plagued Commander team.

Busts:

• MKBA drafted Marshawn Lloyd in the 11th round with hopes he will lbe the bell cow back while Josh Jacobs is out, but he has only averaged 6 p/g.

• JST Drafted Jake Ferguson in the 12th round. Other than a 20 point outlier in Game 2, he has averaged 5 points/game in the other 3 contests.

Thats it for now. Un-drafted Free Agent pickups will follow next week.

As always,

KNICKS IN FIVE!

Editors note: Please keep in mind that I am an idiot and this opening is for entertainment purposes only. I originally wrote this last week but put it on hold until this week’s letter just to have another week of data to base it off of. Guys that were originally on the bench or cut list included: Drake Maye (32 points in Week 4), Tetairoa McMillan (45), CJ Stroud (27) and TJ Hockenson (24).

We are approximately one-third of the way through the season, and it is time to make some difficult roster decisions. With four games completed, you should have a clear sense of what your team needs. If you do not, I am here to help.

Below, I review each roster and identify one candidate to promote, bench, or cut.

Stick Rock

· Promote — Mike Evans: Evans has drawn plenty of targets in the 49ers’ offense. If he starts finding the end zone, he could be an upgrade over Ladd McConkey.

· Bench — Ladd McConkey: Nearly everyone in the Chargers’ offense is difficult to trust right now.

· Cut — Dalton Schultz: He had only two more targets than I did on Sunday—and I never left my couch.

Black Ghostbusters

· Promote — Jordan Love: Stop cycling through waiver-wire quarterbacks. Start a consistent performer until Caleb Williams returns.

· Bench — Travis Kelce: He is too volatile to trust for consistent scoring.

· Cut — Marvin Harrison Jr.: He is no Marvin Harrison Sr.

MKBA

· Promote — Aaron Rodgers: He is a viable option if Lamar Jackson cannot play next week.

· Bench — Dalton Kincaid: Like Travis Kelce, his targets are too erratic to trust for steady production.

· Cut — Kyle Pitts Sr.: Fantasy managers have waited six years for him to fulfill his draft-day promise. They are still waiting.

John’s Scary Team

· Promote — Matthew Golden: He is a top-15 wide receiver and should be an automatic start each week.

· Bench — Jake Ferguson: Do not use a flex spot on a low-volume tight end.

· Cut — Cooper Kupp: He has become an afterthought in Seattle’s offense.

Skoal Bandits

· Promote — Romeo Doubs: He looks like the only reliable receiver on the Patriots.

· Bench: I had three candidates earlier, but each is heating up. For now, do not change anything.

· Cut — Kaelon Black: There are too many useful options on the waiver wire to waste a roster spot on a Christian McCaffrey handcuff.

Milford Football Team

· Promote — DK Metcalf: Move him into a flex spot and sit Emeka Egbuka.

· Bench — David Montgomery: After scoring 29 points in Game 1, he has totaled only 16 points across Weeks 2–4.

· Cut — Jalon Daniels: The offense did not work with Baker Mayfield, and it is unlikely to improve with Daniels.

Springfield Flanders

· Promote — Woody Marks: He receives plenty of carries in an otherwise underwhelming Houston offense.

· Bench — Braelon Allen: Being the Jets’ starting running back is not enough to make him trustworthy.

· Cut — Josh Jacobs: If his legal situation is not resolved soon, it may be time to move on. That roster spot could rebuild running back depth—especially while carrying two defenses.

Peeping Tomlins

· Promote — Xavier Worthy: He could become an important part of the Chiefs’ offense after the two wide receiver injuries suffered Sunday.

· Bench — Colston Loveland: Keep him firmly on the bench. Too many mouths to feed in that Chicago offense.

· Cut — Jadarian Price: Charbonnet should return soon and will probably reclaim the No. 1 running back role, pushing Price further down the depth chart.

Dark Helmet

· Promote — Jalen Coker: If he is healthy, he belongs in the starting lineup.

· Bench — Rashid Shaheed: He is touchdown-dependent and receives too few targets.

· Cut — Tyjae Spears: Tennessee’s offense is struggling, so there is little reason to roster its No. 2 running back.

Wrath of Khan

· Promote — Carnell Tate: Perhaps the rookie can provide the spark this offense needs.

· Bench — Both your QBs. They aren’t giving you any chance to win. You’d be better off streaming guys off the waover wire each week.

· Cut — One defense: This roster is too thin to devote a spot to a second D/ST. Use that spot on as many high-upside waiver-wire options as possible.

Mel Kiper’s Best Available 183, Wrath of Khan 137

Mel Kiper’s Best Available Keeps Rolling

Mel Kiper’s Best Available cruised to another decisive win. Wrath of Khan remained uncompetitive and fell to 0–4, making this matchup feel like the KAOS equivalent of a bye week.

Top performers:

· Tetairoa McMillan — 45.2 points

· CeeDee Lamb — 41.3 points

· Lamar Jackson — 22 points

Wrath of Khan’s Winless Streak Reaches Four

It is getting late early for Wrath of Khan. Unless the team turns things around, it could be headed for back-to-back first overall draft picks.

Top performers:

· Malik Nabers — 23 points

· Chase Brown — 19 points

· DeVaughn Vele — 17 points

Stick Rock 167, Milford Football Team 135

Stick Rock kept rolling with another comfortable win, this time over cousin CJ. Rock scored early and often, and KW III sealed the result with a 175-yard effort late Sunday afternoon.

Stick Rock Improves to 4–0

Rock is getting contributions throughout the lineup and, for the most part, has avoided the major injuries affecting several other teams.

Top performers:

· KW III — 31 points

· Tee Higgins — 26 points

· Joe Burrow — 25 points

Milford Football Team Drops Its Second Straight

MFT’s 2–0 start now feels distant. The team has slipped to 2–2, joining six others with the same record.

Top performers:

· Javonte Williams — 31 points

· Kyle Monangai — 29 points

· Josh Allen — 20 points

Peeping Tomlins 130, John’s Scary Team 112

Peeping Tomlins came out on top in a low-scoring contest as John’s Scary Team managed only 112 points.

Peeping Tomlins Returns to .500

It was not pretty, but Jared will take it. After being hit hard by injuries, the Tomlins secured a much-needed win.

Top performers:

· Sam LaPorta — 22 points

· Patrick Mahomes — 21 points

· Dak Prescott — 20 points

John’s Scary Team’s Scoring Streak Ends

After posting huge totals in Weeks 2 and 3, John’s Scary Team came back to earth with a 112-point performance in Week 4.

Top performers:

· Quishon Judkins — 21 points

· George Kittle — 19 points

· Jalen Hurts — 17 points

Skoal Bandits 210, Springfield Flanders 154

Skoal Bandits Cruise to Another Blowout Win

For the second week in a row, the Bandits posted the highest score in KAOS.

Top performers:

· Drake Maye — 32 points

· Nico Collins — 30 points

· Bijan Robinson - 30 points

Another 2–0 Start Slips Away

Springfield Flanders played well but ran into the league’s hottest team.

Top performers:

· Puka Nacua — 27 points

· Bryce Young — 25 points

· Brock Bowers — 20 points

Dark Helmet 125, Ghostbusters 96

This matchup unraveled almost immediately. By 1:35 p.m. Sunday, Marcus Mariota, Ja’Marr Chase, and Saquon Barkley had all exited their games in the first quarter.

Dark Helmet Does Just Enough

Dark Helmet did not need a big performance to win, yet still made the game closer than it should have been.

Top performer:

· Kyren Williams — 36 points

· James Cook III – 18

· Rome Odunze - 15

Ghostbusters’ Trade Troubles Continue

The latest lesson: always consider a trade offer from the Ghostbusters. After Week 2, they sent Kyren Williams and Jalen Coker away for Saquon Barkley and Marvin Harrison. Since the trade, Williams has scored 57 points while Barkley has scored 11.

Top performers:

· No player delivered a performance worth highlighting.

Okay, now that I have kept you waiting, I will end the suspense. Here is the first in-season rankings of the 2026 season:

Also, for anyone looking for the Points by Position analysis, they have been updated through Week 3 and can be found here.

Scoring by Rounds

Rounds 1-5: 2,627.48

Rounds 6-10: 1,645.14

Rounds 11-16: 1,559.32

For anyone interested, I have all this data that gets dumped into an excel spreadsheet. I can use pivot tables to easily configure the information in any way you would like to see it. If there is something you would be interested in seeing, (positional breakouts/free agent performance) drop me a note in the comments section below and I will include the information in an upcoming newsletter.

Rounds 6-10: Team-by-Team Review

I would argue that drafts are won or loss in the middle rounds. Any dope can find a playable starter in the first 5 rounds, but strong lineups are made with the secondary stars. Your team has to be competitive at every starting spot in the lineup, especially now that we have two flex spots. A misstep in these rounds could have you scouring the waiver wire for help on a daily basis.

Steals:

• Springfield Flanders once again demonstrates how easy it is to find a good QB anywhere in the draft. Tyler Shough was selected in the 9th round and is averaging 28 points/game.

• Dark Helmet grabbed Trevor Lawrence (22 pts/game) in the sixth round and has been rewarded with a great QB2.

• The Ghostbusters struck gold not once, but twice. They selected Jared Goff (28 points/game) in the 6th round and Jordan Love (22 points/game) in the 8th.

• MKBA had a nice 9th round pick with Christian Watson who is averaging 22 pts/game.

• JST added big time production by selecting George Kittle (15.8 pts/game) and Matthew Golden (15 pts/game) in the 7th and 10th rounds respectively.

Sleepers:

• Wrath of Khan hopped on Isaiah Likely (13 pts/game) in the 10th round and has a starting TE for a good price. With Parker Washington (16 points/game) in the 9th round, gives Jim a nice one-two punch in the pass-catching department.

• Peeping Tomlins still believed in DJ Moore and has been rewarded with 12 points/game. That Bills lineup is explosive and he could be the WR1 they have been searching for.

• Luther Burden got off to a slow start, but after putting up 19 points on Monday Night, Skoal Bandits might have a reliable WR3/Flex option.

• Stick Rock selected Mike Evans in the 8th round and he has been a reliable scorer (12 pts/game). But can he stay healthy?

• MFT drafted Harold Fannin in the 10th round. If the Deshaun Watson renaissance is for real, Fannin could be a top 5 TE.

Busts:

• Kyler Murray in the 7th round looked like an aggressive pick at the time and the Week 1 injury did nothing to allay those fears.

• Colston Loveland was the hot TE pick in the lead up to the drafts, but the Bears offense likes to spread the ball around.

• Marvin Harrison Jr. was a 7th Round pick, but has failed to live up to the pre-draft hype three years after he was taken #4 overall by the Cardinals.

• Alec Pierce was an injury concern coming into the season and he went out in Week 2 with a ligament injury that will need surgery. A tough blow for a guy selected in the 7th round.

Thats it for now. Rounds 11-16 will follow on Wednesday, October 6th.

As always,

KNICKS IN FIVE!

With September complete, everyone should now have a clear sense of how their roster stacks up. This week’s newsletter compares each team’s early performance with its preseason projection.

Surprise Teams

John’s Scary Team

Looked like an average team entering the season, JST has surged over the past two weeks, averaging more than 170 points per game. A trio of standout pass catchers has powered the improvement: Jaxson Smith-Njigba has elevated his game, Garrett Wilson has performed like a top-10 wide receiver with competent quarterback play, and George Kittle has also been excellent.

If Kittle can avoid his usual injury issues, JST could remain a contender for the long haul.

Stick Rock

Initially placed in the second tier, Stick Rock has exceeded expectations by averaging 164 points per game. Running backs Jonathan Taylor and KWIII have led the way, while Brock Purdy has performed like a top-three quarterback.

The starting lineup looks strong, but the bench remains thin. That lack of depth could become a problem once bye weeks and injuries begin to take their toll.

Teams Performing as Expected

MKBA

Pete’s team looked strong after the draft, and nothing has changed through the first month. With Jayden Daniels injured, Deshaun Watson could prove to be a valuable replacement. Christian Watson and Dalton Kincaid have also emerged as draft-day steals.

Black Ghostbusters

The Ghostbusters are scoring at a high level, averaging more than 165 points per game, and their only loss came by half a point. Wide receiver remains the team’s greatest strength: Jaylen Waddle and Jalen Coker joined a group that already featured Ja’Marr Chase and Amon-Ra St. Brown.

Milford Football Team

Josh Allen has been as good as advertised, while the running back duo of Derrick Henry and Javonte Williams has been an excellent addition. However, MFT will need to upgrade at wide receiver to stay in contention.

Springfield Flanders

Flanders has remained competitive despite receiving almost no production from three of its four keepers. De’Von Achane is out for the season with a torn ACL, while Brock Bowers and Puka Nacua have each appeared in only one game. Chris Olave is the lone keeper to deliver consistently, averaging 23.5 points per game.

The team has stayed afloat because of its much-maligned quarterback room, led by afterthoughts Tyler Shough and Bryce Young. If Flanders can remain competitive until the roster gets healthy, the team should be a playoff contender.

Wrath of Khan

The roster did not look strong on paper after the draft, and the early results have confirmed those projections. The quarterbacks and wide receivers have struggled badly. Justin Herbert is averaging 13.3 points per game, while Kyler Murray is averaging just 6.

Both quarterbacks need to improve quickly, or Jimmy’s season could effectively be over by Columbus Day.

Dark Helmet

Dark Helmet was not projected to perform well, but the team has shown signs of life. Trey McBride has been the league’s best tight end, and turning Saquon Barkley into two solid starters—Jalen Coker and Kyren Williams—has strengthened the everyday lineup.

Jaxson Dart’s injury was a major setback, but Geno Smith has been an adequate replacement, with Michael Penix waiting in the wings.

Teams Falling Short of Expectations

Peeping Tomlins

This roster appeared capable of competing, but weak running back production has held it back. Rookie Jeremiyah Love has been solid but is still adjusting to the NFL. Jaylen Warren has been inconsistent, although he is coming off a strong Week 3.

Sam LaPorta has been serviceable at tight end, but Detroit’s tendency to spread the ball around limits his TD opportunities. The team’s heavy investment at quarterback, however, is already paying dividends: Dak Prescott is averaging 25.7 points per game, and Patrick Mahomes is averaging 26.9.

Skoal Bandits

The Bandits also drafted QBs early, but their results have been far worse. Drake Maye has been virtually unplayable at 8.02 points per game. Bo Nix’s strong Week 3 raised his average to 16.12 points per game, but the position remains a major weakness.

Fortunately, the Bandits have a three-headed running back group keeping them afloat:

• Bijan Robertson — 26 points per game

• CMC — 19.3 points per game

• Chuba Hubbard — 17.7 points per game

If Nico Collins and Zay Flowers can stay healthy, the Bandits should remain in the hunt. Still, using some of that running back depth in a trade for a reliable quarterback may be the team’s best path forward.

Week 3 Results:

Mel Kiper’s Best Available 161, Milford Football Team 124

MKBA Keeps Rolling

Mel Kiper’s Best Available earned a convincing win over the previously unbeaten Milford Football Team in a matchup between the league’s two longest team names.

MKBA’s balanced attack was led by:

• Jahmyr Gibbs — 41 points

• Lamar Jackson — 24.44 points

• Deshaun Watson — 24 points

MFT Takes Its First Loss

A shallow lineup doomed MFT as Adonai Mitchell scored zero, while David Montgomery (6.8) and T.J. Hockenson (0.1) provided little additional help.

MFT’s top performers were:

• Jacoby Brissett — 29 points

• Derrick Henry — 21 points

Stick Rock 165, Peeping Tomlins 136

Stick Rock Improves to 3–0

Stick Rock rode a top-heavy scoring attack to a comfortable win, despite limited production from the rest of the lineup and is the leagues last remaining unbeaten team..

Stick Rock’s top performers were:

• Brock Purdy — 40 points

• Joe Burrow — 28 points

• KW III — 21 points

Together, the trio accounted for 90 of Stick Rock’s 165 points.

Tomlins improved scoring but still fall short

The Tomlins posted their highest score of the season but could not come up with the victory.

The Tomlins’ top performers were:

• Jaylen Warren — 21 points

• Jeremiyah Love — 21 points

• Dak Prescott — 20 points

John’s Scary Team 166.78 , Dark Helmet 166.62

In the season’s second father-son matchup, the younger generation again showed no mercy on their dads. Jalen Hurts did just enough for John to hang on for the victory by .16 points after beating the Ghostbusters last week by .54. That is 2 wins with a combined .70 margin of victory.

JST’s Stars Lead the Way

JST relied on their stars, with its five highest scorers producing 66% of the team’s total. The running backs have promise, but they need to find the end zone more consistently.

JST’s leading scorers were:

• JSN — 35 points

• Garrett Wilson — 26 points

• George Kittle — 26 points

Dark Helmet Nearly Steals It

Dark Helmet mounted a strong challenge and nearly pulled out the victory on Monday night.

Dark Helmet’s leading scorers were:

• Geno Smith — 32 points

• Trevor Lawrence — 25 points

• Kyren Williams — 21 points

Skoal Bandits 186, Wrath of Khan 109

Bandits Cruise to a much Needed Win

The Bandits took control early and never looked back. After a difficult opening schedule, they finally enjoyed a comfortable victory.

The Bandits’ top performers were:

• Bijan Robinson — 36 points

• Bo Nix — 28 points

• Juwan Johnson — 23 points

Khan’s Struggles Continue

Wrath of Khan endured a dismal outing, and the bench offers little hope for the future. The team’s best backup quarterback is no longer a viable option with Sam Darnold back from injury, while the remaining reserves do not receive enough playing time to contribute consistently. The entire bench scored just 24.8 points.

Wrath of Khan’s top performer was:

• Drake London — 28 points

That’s the entire list. London scored 28 points on Thursday night, while the rest of Jim’s roster combined for 81 on Sunday.

Ghostbusters 139, Springfield Flanders 111

This divisional matchup carried significant standings implications. A Flanders win would have created a two-game lead over the Ghostbusters and secured an early 1–0 advantage in the playoff tiebreaker.

Ghostbusters Win a Key Divisional Game

The QB’s have been carrying this team in the early going. If the RBs can get going, this team can contend for the title.

The Ghostbusters’ leading scorers were:

• Ja’Marr Chase — 24 points

• Jared Goff — 23 points

• Jordan Love — 22 points

Early Injuries Sink Flanders

Early injuries to Achane and Etienne weakened an already thin starting lineup, and Flanders went down quietly. Glenn must hope Josh Jacobs returns from suspension soon, because the roster badly needs help at running back.

Flanders’ leading scorers were:

• Tyler Shough — 31 points

• Chris Olave — 19 points

That’s it for this week. And remember,

KNICKS IN FIVE!

Scoring by Rounds

Rounds 1-5: 1,857.28

Rounds 6-10: 1,064.70

Rounds 11-16: 1,038.40

Before getting to Rounds 1–5, one result from the data surprised me. As expected, players drafted in the early rounds—including keepers—have scored the most points (1,857). What I did not expect was how little separated players selected in Rounds 6–10, who scored 1,064 points, from those selected in Rounds 11–16, who scored 1,038. The final group includes one additional round, but it also consists largely of late-round flyers, lottery tickets and defenses, making the narrow gap especially notable.

For anyone interested, I have all this data that gets dumped into an excel spreadsheet. I can use pivot tables to easily configure the information in any way you would like to see it. If there is something you would be interested in seeing, (positional breakouts/free agent performance) drop me a note in the comments section below and I will include the information in an upcoming newsletter.

Draft-Day Assumptions Under Review

Draft-day ideas that looked better at the time:

• Drake Maye’s 2025 season was probably due to a soft schedule.When a player’s name is closely associated with the “Blue Tent,” drafting him in the first five rounds is probably too risky. (Jaxson Dart)

• If your quarterback’s most notable achievement is having the “Pantalones de Sissy” award named after him, selecting him in the third round may have been a reach. (Caleb Williams)

• If your wide receiver spent the offseason dealing with legal trouble and has struggled to stay on the field in the past, he probably should not be your No. 1 keeper. (Puka Nacua)

• Colston Loveland is not making the leap to TE1.

With those early lessons in mind, I will review the 2026 draft for sleepers, steals, and busts over the next three newsletters. This week begins with a team-by-team look at Rounds 1–5, including the points scored by each team’s first five picks.

Rounds 1–5: Team-by-Team Review

It is no coincidence that the three teams with the most points scored this season are also had the most points scored by players selected in Rounds 1-5 (including Keepers).

Steals:

Stick Rock drafting Brock Purdy in the 5th round.

MKBA Drafting Breece Hall in the 5th round.

Springfield Flanders making the bold decision to keep Chris Olave and selecting D’Andre Swift in the 5th Round.

Peeping Tomlins for believing age is just a number and selecting Patrick Mahomes in the 4th round.

Sleepers:

Ghostbusters selected Caleb Williams in the 3rd round. If he mans-up, he could be a top 5 QB

Skoal Bandits drafting Nico Collins and Zay Flowers. Both got off to quick starts then both missed game 2 because of injury. If they can stay healthy, it would be a formidable 1-2 punch at the WR spot.

John’s Scary Team selecting Cam Skattebo in the 5th round. He looks fully recovered from last year’s ankle injury. He just needs to find the end zone more often,

Busts:

Flanders keeping Brock Bowers despite a deep TE field. He missed the first two games of the season due to a knee injury that is a carryover from last season

Skoal Bandits thought they solved their QB issue by keeping Drake Maye from last year’s playoff team, but he is off to a dreadful start in 2026.

Wrath of Kahn was hoping Drake London had a breakthrough season last year, but it doesn’t matter if he does not have a QB to throw to him. This pick is dependent on Michael Pennix staying healthy. 1

Dark Helmet traded the Saquon Barkley headache to the Ghostbusters. Is this a matter of Helmet recovering value on a sunk cost or are the Ghostbusters buying low on a top 10 RB?

Milford Football Team might be realizing what the rest of us have known after 2 seasons. The Rashee Rice breakout in KC is not going to happen.

Thats it for now. Rounds 6-10 will be published Friday, October 1st and rounds 11-16 will follow on Friday, October 8th.

As always,

KNICKS IN FIVE!

Another week is in the books, which means there are more injuries to cover. Let’s begin with Sunday’s Chicago Bears–Minnesota Vikings game. In the fourth quarter, Caleb Williams appeared to suffer a devastating injury—possibly even career-ending. Based on the pain he showed, it seemed like amputation might be on the table. Hold on, though—the test results just came in:

Wait—what? A Grade 1 hamstring strain that might not even cost him a full week? Seriously? I’ve run half marathons with the same injury. Williams may be the softest player in the NFL, and the league should make him sit for a month after the way he acted when he hit the turf. How dramatic was it?

· He immediately dropped to the ground, writhing in pain.

· He had to be helped off the field.

· He needed a cart to return to the locker room.

· Gave the thumbs up sign before cart enters tunnel.

· He covered his head with a towel so no one would see his tears.

For that theatrical performance, Williams earns the first “Pantalones de Sissy” award, which will be handed out periodically this season for truly outrageous displays of softness. Congratulations, Caleb.

Other notable Week 2 injuries include:

• Jayden Daniels dislocated his elbow again and is likely to miss significant time, making Marcus Mariota a top waiver-wire target this week.

• Jadarian Price left the Seahawks game with a shoulder injury. X-rays were negative, and he is considered week-to-week.

• Alex Pierce was carted to the locker room in the first half and is now in a walking boot with what looks to be a torn plantar fascia tendon.

• DeMarcus Robinson left Sunday’s 49ers game with a high ankle sprain and is expected to miss a couple of weeks.

• Dallas Goedert injured his knee and exited Sunday’s game in the second half.

• David Njoku left Sunday’s loss to the Raiders with a knee injury.

• Jaxson Dart went down with a sprained MCL and will miss the next couple of games.

Now on to our Week 2 results:

Mel Kiper’s Best Available 172, Skoal Bandits 108

MKBA Keeps Rolling

Mel Kiper’s Best Available followed up last week’s 173-point performance with another strong outing, scoring 172 points against the Skoal Bandits. This time, the effort was enough to secure the win.

Pete’s team delivered a balanced attack, led by:

• CeeDee Lamb — 35 points

• Jahmyr Gibbs — 23 points

• Dalton Kincaid — 22 points

Bandits Struggle Again

The Skoal Bandits entered the season as a preseason favorite to compete for a playoff spot, but they have now dropped their first two matchups. This week, they managed only 108 points, with Christian McCaffrey’s 22-point performance standing as the team’s lone score above 17.

The biggest issue continues to be quarterback production. Bo Nix scored 16 points, while Drake Maye added just 8, giving the Bandits only 24 total points from the position.

At this point, it may be time to ask: is Malik Willis worth a look?

Springfield Flanders 146, Peeping Tomlins 132

Defending Champs Move to 2-0

The defending champions are off to a 2-0 start, even if this year’s roster does not look quite as imposing as last season’s squad.

The early surprise has been the quarterback room. Bryce Young scored 30 points and has been a revelation, while Tyler Shough added another 24. What looked like a potential weakness entering the season may quickly become a strength.

Springfield also got a key contribution from Chris Olave, who added 22 points in the win.

Tomlins Start Slow Again

Meanwhile, the Peeping Tomlins are off to another sluggish start. Their top-heavy scoring kept them competitive, but the lack of production across the rest of the lineup proved costly.

The trio of Dak Prescott, Patrick Mahomes, and DeVonta Smith carried the offense:

• Dak Prescott — 37 points

• Patrick Mahomes — 34 points

• DeVonta Smith — 27 points

Together, they accounted for 100 of the team’s 132 points. No other starter scored more than 9. The early returns on two hyped draft picks have been underwhelming. Colston Loveland, selected in the sixth round, has just 1 catch on the season, while eighth-round pick Jadarian Price has yet to meet expectations and now he is hurt. Two weeks in, both are starting to look like major disappointments.

Stick Rock 153, Wrath of Khan 137.48

Stick Rock Survives Another Monday Night nailbiter.

Stick Rock picked up its second win of the season, once again taking the matchup down to the wire on Monday night. Wrath of Khan appeared to be on track for a comfortable victory, but the offense stalled after Dart exited early in the first quarter.

With Likely scoring 8.3 points and Malik Nabers managing just 1.1, Khan could not complete the upset. Waiver-wire pickup Drew Lock delivered the team’s best performance with 28 points, while the Pats’ D/ST added a strong 24-point effort.

Rocky Starts Fast—Again

Stick Rock’s win was powered by a strong core performance:

· Brock Purdy — 32 points

· Jonathan Taylor — 29 points

· KWIII — 24 points

Rocky sitting at 2-0 and putting up points early in the season? Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Check back after Halloween to witness the collapse in real-time.

Milford Football Team 145, Dark Helmet 111

Josh Allen Powers MFT to an Easy Win

Josh Allen carried Milford Football Team with a 46-point performance, giving MFT all the cushion it needed in a comfortable Week 2 victory. Derrick Henry chipped in 17 points, while the rest of the lineup did just enough to keep MFT in control.

Dark Helmet’s Comeback Hopes End Early

Any lingering chance of a Dark Helmet comeback disappeared early Monday night when Jaxson Dart left the game in the first quarter after scoring just 0.8 points.

Dark Helmet still got strong performances from its top contributors:

· Davante Adams — 39 points

· James Cook — 21 points

· Trey McBride — 18 points

Those results kept the score respectable, but without Dart’s production, Dark Helmet did not have enough firepower to make a late push.

John’s Scary Team 173.64, Ghostbusters 173.1

Another Monday Night Miracle

Ghostbusters looked firmly in control after a huge Thursday night start. Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown combined for 72 points, giving Ghostbusters an early cushion and a 70% win probability heading into Monday night.

Caleb Williams’ seven-point outing—and the theatrics mentioned earlier—did not help, but Ghostbusters still appeared positioned to hold on.

JST Storms Back Late

John’s Scary Team answered with a furious late push. JSN erupted for 44 points in the late Sunday window, keeping the matchup close enough for Matthew Stafford to finish the comeback on Monday night.

The decisive blow came with six minutes remaining, when Stafford connected with Davante Adams for his fourth touchdown pass of the night to seal the come-from-behind win.

Key performances:

· Jared Goff — 27 points Ghostbusters

· Amon-Ra St. Brown — 35 points Ghostbusters

· JSN — 44 points JST

· Matthew Stafford — 35 points JST

AI Insights for Week 2

High Score

John’s Scary Team led the league this week with an impressive 174pts

Bottom of the Pile😬

It wasn’t the finest week for Skoal Bandits, who was left in the dust with a lowly 109pts

Bragging Rights💪

Mel Kiper’s Best Available blew out Skoal Bandits by 63.2pts (172.04pts to 108.84pts)

Bad Beat🤕

Black Ghostbusters lost to John’s Scary Team by a razor thin margin of just 0.54pts! Keep an eye on those stat corrections... 😰

Lucky Break🍀

Milford Football Team finished 4-5 in all-play this week, but still came away with the win

Not So Lucky...😡

If you ain’t first you’re last, and the 2nd highest score in the league wasn’t enough for Black Ghostbusters to get a win this week, as they went down 173.1pts to 173.64pts to John’s Scary Team 🤮

Sharp-Shooter🎯

It’s time to wonder if Mel Kiper’s Best Available can see the future (or got a hold of Biff’s sports almanac), as they nailed this week with a perfect 100% accuracy score 🔮 💯

How well do you really know your fantasy team? Perception does not always match performance. To identify each team’s strengths and weaknesses, I analyzed every starting lineup across the league.

The analysis includes only points scored while players were in a team’s starting lineup. It excludes points scored while those players were on the bench, available as free agents, or rostered by another team.

The variances below by team shows the league-wide scoring breakdown by position. Based on each team’s average weekly point total through Week 7, your lineup’s variance to league average is as follows:

How to Interpret the Team Variances

MKBA provides a useful example. The team is currently scoring +20.12 points per game above the league average.

Primary strength—Flex: MKBA’s Flex players are averaging +17.62 more points per game than the league average, accounting for most of the team’s overall advantage.

Potential opportunity—Tight end: The team’s tight ends are averaging -3.84 fewer points per game than the league average.

Although tight end is the clearest area for potential improvement, the rest of the lineup is performing so well that Pete is better off leaving the roster unchanged.

Impact of the New Roster Rules

I also compared this season’s positional scoring with last season’s results to show how the new roster rules have affected overall scoring.

Through Week 7, average scoring has increased by 13.99 points per game, rising from 132.84 points per game in 2025 to 146.83 this season.

· Additional flex position: +11.44 points per game

· Quarterbacks: +1.25 points per game

· Wide receivers: +2.37 points per game

· D/ST: −1.84 points per game

· Running backs and tight ends: Relatively unchanged from last season

2026 Scoring Breakdown:

Each team has been ranked by their Average Total Points scored on a weekly basis, showing points by position and where that ranks compared to the rest of the league:

Week 1 is officially in the books, and the injuries are already piling up. Several key players left their games early or landed on IR, creating immediate roster decisions heading into Week 2.

Key Injury Updates

Sam Darnold suffered an abdominal injury on Wednesday night and is expected to miss 4–6 weeks.

A.J. Brown also exited that game with a high ankle sprain and has been placed on IR, meaning he will miss at least the next four games.

De’Zhaun Stribling left Thursday’s game with a high ankle sprain and is expected to be sidelined for about a month.

Kyler Murray exited early on Sunday with a serious-looking concussion and will likely miss the next two to three weeks.

Ladd McConkey left the Chargers game with a chest injury, and his Week 2 status remains uncertain.

Roster Management and Waiver Strategy

With shorter benches this season, managing IR spots carefully will be especially important. Ideally, injured players will become IR-eligible before Week 2 waiver claims are due, allowing managers to make moves without dropping healthy contributors.

As always, Week 1 brings plenty of intriguing waiver options. Some players who were not expected to see major roles ended up receiving heavy usage and some teams offensive game plans were more productive than anticipated. Do your research, and you may be able to find a diamond in the rough.

Week 1 Recap

It is still a little too early for updated rankings. I will wait until the Week 3 games are complete before revisiting them. Until then, assume the draft grades remain the best reflection of each team’s overall ability. In the meantime, I will provide a quick write-up of the previous week’s games in place of rankings.

Springfield Flanders 163 John’s Scary Team 138

D’Andre Swift (33), Tyler Shough (29), and Chris Olave (28) powered Flanders to a comfortable win over John’s Scary Team. Flanders’ quarterback situation looked less concerning than expected, with Shough delivering a strong start and Bryce Young wasting 38 points from the bench. John’s Scary Team got solid outings from Jalen Hurts (30), JSN (28), and the Steelers D/ST (19), but the rest of the lineup offered little support, with no other player topping 15 points.

Stick Rock 173.96 MKBA 173.72

We have our first Monday Night miracle of the season! MKBA scored a ton of points despite getting nothing from Kyle Pitts. Jahmyr Gibbs (34), LaMar Jackson (27) and Jayden Daniels (21) were the top scorers this week for Pete. Meanwhile, things looked bleak for Rock. Down big going into the Monday Night Game, they needed 36.9 points from KWIII to win. And on his last touch of the game he picked up six yards to give Stick Rock the victory by .24 points. Brock Purdy (27), Jonathan Taylor (25) and Dallas Goedert (25) kept them within striking distance. The -8 from Texan’s D/ST nearly cost them the win.

Ghostbusters 166 Wrath of Kahn 122

Ghostbusters opened their 2026 redemption tour with a runaway win over Wrath of Khan. Jimmy grabbed an early 7–0 lead when the Pats D/ST opened the scoring on Wednesday night, but that was as good as it would get. Kyren Williams answered with 15 points on Thursday, and the Ghostbusters’ stars took over from there. Caleb Williams (41), Ashton Jeanty (33), and Amon-Ra St. Brown (28) nearly beat Khan by themselves. Isaiah Likely tried to make things interesting for Khan with a strong 27-point performance on Sunday night, but by then the outcome had already been decided. No other Wrath of Khan starter topped 18 points.

Peeping Tomlin 137 Dark Helmet 129

Dan’s QB-heavy draft paid off right away, with Jaxson Dart (32) and Trevor Lawrence (34) both delivering strong debuts for Dark Helmet. Jared took a similar draft approach, and the Tomlins QB room of Dak Prescott (18) and Patrick Mahomes (26) did just enough to snatch the victory. Justin Jefferson (31) and DJ Moore (23) provided the scoring to keep things close on Sunday so that they were in position for the MNF comeback win.

Dan’s quarterbacks set the tone in Week 1 helped by Trey McBride’s (24) strong outing. But Courtland Sutton’s (3) Monday Night no-show cost Helmet the victory.

Milford Football Team 170 Skoal Bandits 154

The season’s first father-son matchup featured the Milford Football Team against the Skoal Bandits. The game stayed tight throughout, with only 13 points separating the teams heading into Monday night. For the Bandits to win, Bo Nix needed to outscore Rashee Rice by 14 points. And…. He didn’t

MFT’s top scorers were Josh Allen (39), Derrick Henry (36), and David Montgomery (28). The Bandits were led by Bijan Robinson (31), Zay Flowers (28), and Nico Collins (21).

AI Insights for Week 1

High Score

Stick Rock led the league this week with an impressive 174pts

Bottom of the Pile😬

It wasn’t the finest week for Wrath of Khan, who was left in the dust with a lowly 122pts

Bragging Rights💪

Black Ghostbusters blew out Wrath of Khan by 44.62pts (166.9pts to 122.28pts)

Bad Beat🤕

Mel Kiper’s Best Available lost to Stick Rock by a razor thin margin of just 0.24pts! Keep an eye on those stat corrections... 😰

Lucky Break🍀

“Lucky” is an understatement for Peeping Tomlins, as they took away the win with an all-play record of 2-7 🍀🍀🍀

Not So Lucky...😡

If you ain’t first you’re last, and the 2nd highest score in the league wasn’t enough for Mel Kiper’s Best Available to get a win this week, as they went down 173.72pts to 173.96pts to Stick Rock 🤮

Sharp-Shooter🎯

Take a bow, Dark Helmet. You led the league this week with a 98% accuracy score!

It was a remarkable 2026 KAOS Draft Day for one very special reason. For the first time ever, we didn’t have a team use auto-draft for their selections. And the results say… maybe you should be an auto-draft person. At least for one or two of you. Before we start, please keep in mind the following.

• I hate doing this ranking every year. The predictions are seldom accurate as you will see below. But these rankings are the only thing I have to go on and I can’t think of anything else to write about, so here we are.

• The rankings are based on the analysis from three different fantasy sites: Fantasy Pros, Rotowire and ESPN. I take the average of those rankings to determine each team’s value.

• These ratings will change throughout the season. The team you draft is never going to be the one you finish with. Injuries, trades, breakout performances and player regression happen to all of us. Keep combing the waiver wires to strengthen the team you drafted throughout the season. Especially this year, with smaller roster sizes and lower cap on WRs and RBs allowed on rosters, there should be plenty of options each week to upgrade your roster.

• To give you an idea of how unreliable these rankings are, this is how each team’s 2025 final record compared to their preseason projection:

2025 Pre-season Poll guessed correctly:

• The Skoal Bandits were ranked 2nd after the draft and finished 3rd.

• Milford Football Team was ranked 6th and came in 6th.

2025 Pre-season poll was off by 3 spots:

• MKBA was ranked 1st after the draft and finished 4th.

• Flanders was Ranked 4th and won the whole damn league.

• Khan was ranked 7th and finished 10th.

• John’s Scary Team was ranked 10th before the season started and finished 7th.

2025 Preseason Poll was off +4 spots.

• Rock was projected to be 9th and finished in 5th.

• Dark Helmet was ranked 8th and made it all the way to the Championship game.

• The Ghostbusters were ranked 3rd in the preseason and finished 9th.

So to summarize last year’s preseason rankings:

• The two teams that played for the Cup were ranked 4th (Flanders) and 8th (Helmet)

• MKBA was the clear-cut favorite to win it all, but barely won their weak division and was bounced in the 1st round.

• The Ghostbusters looked like a Cup Contender and finished 9th.

After reviewing the 2026 Draft Results, each team can be placed in one of four categories:

Level I: Teams with a legit shot at the KAOS Cup (Draft Grade A)

Level II: Teams that should be in the playoff hunt (Draft Grade B+/B-)

​​Level III: Teams that are one or two moves away from being one or two moves away. (Draft Grade C)

Level IV: Teams that should consider drafting a WNBA team while killing time waiting for this football season to be over. (Draft Grade: D)

For anyone looking to fine-tune their team, there are a couple of good options available on the waiver wire (especially WR’s). Here is a list of best available players by position:

Good luck to everyone this season. Do not forget to set your lineups early as there are Prime Time Games on Wednesday and Thursday this week.​

We are just three days away from the 2026 KAOS Fantasy Draft. Hopefully everyone has been preparing to avoid the same disappointment as last season—everyone except our reigning KAOS Cup Champion, Springfield Flanders.

Draft Prep Resource

FantasyPros is offering a free 7-day trial this week. You can use it to build a customized mock draft that mirrors our league settings, including scoring, lineup composition, and keepers. Also their draft rankings are outstanding. You can choose from a variety of data resources (ESPN/Yahoo!/Sleeper) or choose a composite ADP that pulls data from all online fantasy platforms. They also have a Draft Wizard feature that you can use during the draft that will suggest players you should select based on positional need and top remaining players.

Click here to join.

I also subscribe to this daily newsletter. It has a lot of current news and they are constantly updating the weekly and full year data. The Superflex Rankings are a good resource for our upcoming draft. It’s $5/month to join, but if anyone is interested I have some promotional links you can use for one free month. Text me your email address if you would like me to send you the link.

Draft Date and Zoom Details

The draft will be held on Monday, September 7, at 8:15 PM. Anyone who would like to join the live discussion can do so through the Zoom app or Zoom Web portal. Click here for the Zoom link.

Roster Composition

Please note that our roster composition has changed slightly for the coming season.

I. Starting Lineup

Starters: 10

1. QB1

2. QB2

3. RB1

4. RB2

5. WR1

6. WR2

7. TE1

8. RB/WR

9. RB/WR/TE

10. D-ST

II. Bench and Injured Reserve

• Bench spots: 6

• IR slots: 4

III. Roster Limits

Each team must also stay within the following position limits:

• QB: 3 (30 max QBs can be drafted)

• RB: 5 (50)

• WR: 5 (50)

• TE: 3 (30)

• D-ST: 2 (If you are really researching D/ST this deeply, then you are beyond help)

So if you are doing your math correctly, you can see that a total of 160 players will get drafted. The maximum number of players at each position that can be drafted league-wide are shown in parentheses above. What does that mean? You should limit your cheatsheets to the Top 30ish available QBs and TE’s, and the Top 50ish available RBs and WRs.

That’s all I have for now. I’ll cyber-see everyone on Monday Night.

Good Luck and KNICKS IN FIVE!

We are one week away from the 2026 KAOS Fantasy Football Draft. Hopefully, everyone has been preparing, reviewing research, and completing a few mock drafts ahead of the big day. As you finalize your strategy, please review the key rule and roster changes for the 2026 season below.

Lineup Changes

• The starting lineup now includes an additional flex position. This new spot may be filled by a running back, wide receiver, or tight end.

• The original flex position will remain limited to running backs and wide receivers.

Roster Size and Position Limits

Roster sizes have been reduced from 20 players in previous seasons to 16 players this year. Because trades are rare in this league, the smaller roster size is intended to create more in-season player acquisition options and increase the number of playable talent available on the waiver wire each week.

The position limits for each roster are as follows:

• QB: 3

• RB: 5, down from 6 in previous seasons

• WR: 5, down from 6 in previous seasons

• TE: 3

• D/ST: 2

• IR Spots increase to 4 from 2 in previous seasons.

Quarterback Draft Reminder

When drafting quarterbacks, make sure they do not share the same bye week. It may not seem important during the draft, but it can become a major issue later in the season if you need a win and are forced to either drop a quarterback or leave the roster spot empty.

And for anyone thinking, “I can just trade for a quarterback when that happens,” remember: nobody makes trades in this league.

Trade Deadline

The trade deadline is Tuesday, November 18, after Week 10, at noon EST.

Here is the list of players by position that have been kept by their current teams: 1

Good luck to everyone drafting live on Labor Day! For those using the ESPN auto-draft feature, please be sure to enter your positional preference by round and also verify the pre-draft rankings to make sure they are in line with your strategy. You can go in and move players up and down based on your own research.

Draft Details

• Draft date and time: Monday, September 7, at 8:15 PM. We have been doing this for close to 20 years, and the draft has always taken place on Labor Day at 8:15 PM. It has not changed, and multiple reminders will go out, so forgetting the draft time should not be an excuse for missing it.

• On that note, I was considering moving up the Draft next year by a week and thought it made sense… right up until Ashton Jeanty’s injury scare this weekend. Then I remembered why we do it so late, to avoid a preseason injury to a guy you kept/drafted early. But we can put it to a vote:

• Confirm your ESPN login before draft night. Try logging in well before 8:14 PM on the day of the draft so you know everything is working. (I’m looking at you, Dan.)

Preparation Resources

• Study the most up-to-date rankings and ADPs. A lot changes during preseason football: players get hurt, rookies win starting jobs, veterans get cut, depth charts shift, and suspensions can change draft position quickly.

• Use reliable tools such as Fantasy Pros and Rotowire for rankings, projections, draft simulators, and ADP data.

• Adjust quarterback rankings for our 2-QB format. In this league, quarterbacks generally move up about 3-4 rounds, so standard rankings will undervalue them.

Strategy Traps to Avoid

• Rookie exuberance: Everyone wants to look like a genius for drafting the next breakout rookie, but rookies often need time before becoming reliable fantasy contributors. Draft them if you believe in the talent, but be patient with expectations. (Jeremiyah Love is this year’s Ashton Jeanty.)

• Injury optimism: Do not assume an injured player will immediately return to full speed. Even if the long-term upside is still there, it may take several games before the player is ready for a full workload. (i.e. Tucker Kraft and Cam Skattebo)

• Repeating last year’s mistakes: Be cautious when the same “can’t-miss” players from last year are repackaged as this year’s sleepers. Make sure the case is based on current role, health, and opportunity—not recycled hype.
  Exhibit A:

  

  Finally, if your daughter is planning to get married in Paris, tell her not to schedule the wedding during the first week of September. I mean, she has 51 other weeks to choose from on the calendar!. On that note, mazel tov Jimmy! May the auto-draft gods smile down upon you “on the day…of your daughters…wedding.”

  

  Knicks in Five!

Keeper deadline reminder:

We are 48 hours away from the 2026 Keeper Deadline. Each team can protect up to four players from last year’s roster. Please review your keeper selections and the current league-wide list before the deadline; to view the current players being kept by team, click on this link.

Current Keeper Picture

Keeper Count

• So far, 31 players have been selected as keepers, which is the lowest total I have seen in our league. We typically finish in the 32–34 keeper range, so this year’s lower total should make more early-round talent (rounds 3-4) available.

• Teams keeping fewer than four players will get first crack at the rookie talent coming into the league and will be in position to scoop up players other teams may have under-valued.

• Teams that are holding onto four players should expect to see fewer top-tier talent falling to them in the 5^th and 6^th rounds than usual.

Positional Breakdowwn

• QBs – 7 keepers

• RBs – 10 keepers

• WRs – 11 keepers

• TEs – 2 keepers

Draft Implications

The list of stud wide receivers looks thin. Right now, the three best available are AJ Brown 1, Nico Collins, and Rashee Rice. After that, there is a steep drop-off with the next tier featuring players like Devonta Smith, Emeka Egbuka, and Tee Higgins. The other positions appear to have more reliable options. The QB available player pool has a lot of tier 3 and tier 4 talent available. The same goes for the RB position. There should be plenty of attractive choices in Rounds 5-10. The TE position looks particularly strong this year with similarly productive players available top to bottom. How good is it? I have Travis Kelce and Jake Ferguson outside of my top 10.

If you are looking for good websites to help you prepare for the draft, Fantasy Pros and Rotowire are both effective tools. They include ADPs, rankings, draft simulators, and projections that can be customized to match our league’s roster composition and scoring. Remember to seek rankings and ADPs that reflect our 2-QB setup; otherwise, QB rankings will be unreliable.

Final Reminder

Once the keeper deadline passes, your choices become final. I do not have the ability to add or delete players from the list once it is finalized, so please submit any changes before the deadline.Good luck, and as always,

Knicks in Five!