NFFC Profile - Dan Thomas

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 3:00 am

I sent this to RotoWorld so hopefully they'll post this on their site today. But here's a profile of another of our participants who is off to a great start this season - Dan Thomas:

Dan Thomas isn’t going to set himself up for any disappointment. He knows that a lot must happen for anyone to win a fantasy football championship - much less two national events that carry $100,000 grand prizes.

But then you look at the results and you see where Thomas is ranked in the 14-team National Fantasy Football Championship Classic event and the 12-team Primetime event. You see him sitting second overall in the former and fourth overall in the latter. And you realize that no matter how strongly Thomas brushes aside the thought of taking home one grand prize, much less two, his team is positioned well to make a strong run at the title in both events.

Just don’t expect Thomas to admit it.

“I haven’t thought much about the grand prize money, he said. “I’m really just trying to get past Week 13 right now.”

What about the $1 million bonus that would be awarded to the skilled fantasy owner who would win both national events. Have you thought about that at all, Dan? Maybe just a little?

Apparently not. Not yet anyway.

“It takes so much luck just to win a league in this competition that winning both grand prizes doesn’t seem possible to me,” he said.

There’s certainly a long way to go before the grand prizes are awarded in our two events, but there’s no question Thomas’ strong early season starts have positioned both of his teams to be strong contenders.

Not surprisingly, there are some strong similarities when analyzing the rosters of his two teams. Both teams have sleeper quarterbacks who have emerged in a big way. His Classic team is led by Aaron Rodgers, who is averaging 25.5 points per game in NFFC scoring. Meanwhile, his Primetime team is being guided by Jay Cutler, who is putting up 24.7 points per game.

“Both of my quarterbacks have been great,” Thomas said. “I just hope they stay healthy.”

The strength of his teams isn’t confined only to the quarterback position, however. His Classic team has received strong production at running back, led by Marrion Barber (18.8 points per game), Matt Forte (17.7) and Thomas Jones (13.8). The Primetime team has been paced by Reggie Bush (16.4), Steve Slaton (15.5) and Adrian Peterson (15.4).

Both teams also have strength at wide receiver, critical in the NFFC’s point-per-reception format. His Classic event team is led by Andre Johnson (19.8), Vincent Jackson (13.5) and Jerricho Cotchery (12.9). His Primetime event team is being led by Brandon Marshall (20.7), Roddy White (18.3) and Cotchery.

Having a stud wide receiver was one of key in Thomas’ Draft Day strategy. But he admits the two he ended up with weren’t the ones he was targeting.

“I had eight receivers ranked very high and I was just lucky that in both drafts when my second-round pick came up only one was left and they’re both scoring and healthy,” he said. “I would have rather had (Braylon) Edwards and (Marques) Colston so getting Marshall and Johnson and having them both do so well is just dumb luck.

“I drafted the first three rounds strictly by where I had players rated, regardless of what positions I was getting. After that I picked more according to need. I ended up with two running backs and one receiver (after three rounds) in the (Classic) and two receivers and one running back in the (Primetime). I didn’t have a quarterback ranked that high and that’s’ probably been a good thing.

“I had Frank Gore rated fourth overall and if he had slid to me with my eighth pick in the (Classic) I would have taken him. But he was the only player I had any kind of target on.”

A little value goes a long way in a championship run as well. Thomas certainly mined some Draft Day nuggets which have panned out extremely well thus far.

“The biggest positive surprises have to be the rookie running backs,” he said. “Slaton and Forte have both been solid almost every week. I’m also a little surprised Ahmad Bradshaw has no value. The way he contributed in the Giants’ playoff run last year I thought he would be a bigger part of their offense this year.

“It’s funny, the two only two players I have on both teams have been the least productive to date – Cotchery and (Tony) Scheffler. I do expect Cotchery to improve as he and Favre play together and if Scheffler can get healthy and stay healthy I think he’ll be OK too.”

Health is going to be critical for Thomas’ Primetime team. Bush is out for 2-4 weeks with a knee injury and replacing his standout production will not be easy.

“For me to stay near the top in points in both leagues I just need for my players to stay healthy,” he said. “The way Slaton is playing I may be OK until Bush gets back. Both my quarterbacks have a bye this week so I need to have some luck there.

“I need some scheduling luck too. I am leading both my leagues in points but am in fourth place at 4-3 in my (Classic) league.”

The first half of the season has been very kind to Thomas. Perhaps the luck he needs will arrive and combined with good health and a favorable schedule perhaps Thomas will find the $100,000 grand prizes – and maybe even the $1 million bonus – are more realistic possibilities than he currently imagines.

For now, though, he’ll focus on taking each step on the way to a possible playoff berth in both events and then see what transpires after that. And this wild and crazy season has definitely taught him a lesson or two about this game.

“The way things are playing out it really doesn’t matter where you drafted from,” he said. “The top players aren’t performing the way they were expected to so it’s a free for all this year.”

BillyWaz · Post by **BillyWaz** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 3:40 am

Good article Tom!

Dan is a really good guy, and somehow when looking over the names in the shark tank that is LV4, I went right over his name. Then when he sat down, I remembered him from Chicago 2 two year before, and in my mind said "oh _ _ _ _!"

I'm hoping he does well in the NBC, but I have been back and forth with him all season in points in the NFFC, so if he slid down there a bit, it would be much appreciated!

Best of luck the rest of the way, Dan!!

renman · Post by **renman** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 6:01 am

Great read... I really enjoy reading these player profiles. Amazing to be in the TOP FIVE of both events going into week 8. I know there is a lot of football to be played, but it is still a great accomplishment.

Good luck the rest of the way!

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 7:45 am

Just an FYI: That LV4 in the NFFC was and is a loaded league of NFFC veterans. Billy Waz is currently fourth overall in the NFFC from that league and King of Queens is 44th overall. Dan is second overall. Wow. Good luck all.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 7:48 am

Originally posted by renman:
Great read... I really enjoy reading these player profiles. Amazing to be in the TOP FIVE of both events going into week 8. I know there is a lot of football to be played, but it is still a great accomplishment.

Good luck the rest of the way! Thanks James. We've always tried to feature our league champions at the end of the year and this year we felt it made sense to feature a few of heavy hitters during the season and see how they got to the top of their league. The bonus of having two contests makes it easy to feature those who are excelling in both formats, plus if we can give any of our guys national attention on Rotoworld.com, it's an added bonus for our customers.

We'll try to do a few more down the stretch and keep the focus on our successful owners.

Eddiejag · Post by **Eddiejag** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:37 am

Wow those are some powerhouse team's and banging the qb's later on is the way to go.What round did you get Cutler im guessing the 7th or 8th which would be great value.The running back's in the main are awesome , its tough to get three but you did it in both .Barber ,T Jones ,and Forte is pretty sweet.I have Barber , T Jones ,and Morris not quite as good.
Bush going down might slow you down a little but can he be ready to go for your fantasy playoffs is the big question.Still great teams and good luck.
I agree with Renmen i like the profile on the top teams ,maybe one or two a week would be good for the message board crowd.

renman · Post by **renman** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:44 am

Greg,

These profiles are examples of things that set the NFFC apart. This is also an example of what I was talking about earlier in the season when we were throwing out ideas to make the NFFC even better. I had mentioned trying to "professionalize" the event/draft and make it seem more prestigious and as different from a regular fantasy football draft/event as possible. Historical records being kept do just that. I think I mentioned trying to make the draft day seem more like an event.. maybe with a big "countdown" clock as opposed to everyone sitting and just starting the draft. I think my point was misunderstood as if I was somehow disappointed with my draft experience (completely not the case as I return every year and bring newbies).

These profiles, to me, "professionalize" the event. Anyone reading these profiles who is serious about, passionate about or "getting" serious about fantasy football would have to stop and say "wow.. this sounds like a big time thing.. I need to look deeper at this NFFC thing..."

A great marketing tool...

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:03 am

Originally posted by Eddiejag:
I agree with Renmen i like the profile on the top teams ,maybe one or two a week would be good for the message board crowd. Eddie, this is a VERY tough crowd to please!!

That being said, it does make sense to feature our top players and Tom does a good job with these stories. We'll do our best to stay on top of this as Tom and I are doing all we can to keep the boards relevent without all of the silliness that some folks are getting sick of. This is our promotional vehicle for OUR event and we hate it when some folks make a train wreck out of it.

Some folks say they have left our boards because of the silliness, but Tom and I will do our best to continue to give you a reason to check the boards out. Whether that means us providing draft results for each position in each event, or scouring each league to find out who is still eligibile for the $1 million prize, or featuring our members, we are NOT going to just let the silliness run rampant on our boards. We'll do what we can to give you good content to read as best we can during the season without influencing any of your weekly decisions.

The next step is going to happen first in baseball and then here in football. I want each owner to have his own personal page of information for past finishes in the NFFC, current standings in each event, personal information that you'll update on your own and more. That way when somebody clicks on Eddie Gillis they get to know more about you. I'm talking with STATS about starting that in baseball and making this a reality. THAT'S one of the things that would really make the NFFC special as folks learn even more about each owner. And the beauty is that you can provide photos or personal information that only you want to dish out because you'll update that part on your own.

Stay tuned. I'm going to make sure I get that done.

Hammerheads · Post by **Hammerheads** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:34 am

Thanks for the compliments Billy. The first time I saw the other owners in our league I was sorry I couldn't stay in Orlando for the draft. I remembered you very well from the Chicago league.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:46 am

Originally posted by Hammerheads:
Thanks for the compliments Billy. The first time I saw the other owners in our league I was sorry I couldn't stay in Orlando for the draft. I remembered you very well from the Chicago league. Yes, but if I recall Dan, you told me that day "I'm coming back to Las Vegas again next year. This is the place to be."