NFFC Profile - Dan Thomas
Posted: 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.”
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.”
