Wil Miles Wins 2023 Rotowire OC & $250,000 Grand Prize

[Greg Ambrosius]

Wil Miles of Lanexa, Virginia became our youngest national champion of 2023 as the 29-year-old won the 2023 Rotowire Online Championship and its $250,000 grand prize. Wil first joined the NFFC in 2021 with one Rotowire Online Championship team, then won his first Rotowire OC league title in 2022 and this year won the overall title against a record field of 4,788 teams. Well done Wil.

That's called progress, folks!!!

His "MILES 3- Team nasty part 2" team jumped into the overall lead after Week 16 and held onto the top spot in Week 17 by scoring 136.05 points. He finished 11.43 points ahead of Brian Gaffney, whose team jumped 51 spots in the final week by scoring 230.20 points. Brian won $50,000 for his runner-up finish. Rounding out the Top 5 were Tim Eichten ($20,000), Scott Schonewolf ($15,000) and Scott Gordon ($12,500).

Wil's team won the overall title, but it took extra work to win its league title and that $1500 prize. Team Nasty had the best h2h record in this August 5th, 10 pm ET league, finishing second in the league in points. It then beat Andrew Thompson in the league Championship Round 575.30-428.85. It entered the Championship Round 116th overall, but it jumped to 67th overall after Week 15 when it scored 176.0 points. In Week 16, Team Nasty moved into the lead by scoring an amazing 263.25 points, creating a 55+ point cushion over the field heading into the final week. Team Nasty scored only 136.05 points in Week 17, but the barrage of points in Week 16 allowed Wil and his buddies to claim the title and the $250,000 grand prize. Well done guys.

Looking at Week 16's record-breaking week, Team Nasty got 51.50 points from Amari Cooper, 43.10 points from Breece Hall, 23.80 points from Miami's Kicker, 28.45 points from Jalen Hurts, 27.60 points from Mike Evans, 25.10 points from Christian McCaffrey and 25.00 points from Jahmyr Gibbs. All 10 of his starters that week scored in double-digits and seven of them scored 20+ points. Wow. It's the kind of week we all dream of having at least once in the Championship Round of ANY contest!!!

Wil had drafted from the 4th spot in this August 4th league and landed Christian McCaffrey with that pick. Jalen Hurts followed in Round 2. Not a bad foundation after two rounds, wouldn't you say?

Thanks to everyone who played in the Rotowire Online Championship in 2023 as it was another record-breaking year. It's still hard to believe that we hosted 399 leagues this year and yet it seems like this contest still has room to grow. We will open our 2024 draft room in the next few weeks and get Draft Champions leagues started before the Super Bowl. However, we won't open the Rotowire Online Championship drafts until right after the NFL Draft is completed in late April. Look for that and be ready to compete for another $250,000 grand prize in 2024.

Okay, here's the final standings of the 2023 Rotowire Online Championship:

2023 Rotowire Online Championship Final Standings:
1 WILLIE MILES MILES 3- Team nasty part 2 727.31
2 Brian Gaffney Puka My Nacua 716.88
3 Tim Eichten Ike 701.77
4 Scott Schonewolf Schonewolf 701.73
5 Scott Gordon Rearviewmirror 696.04
6 Robert Morelli Morelli 691.59
7 Joseph Watson Watson 691.05
8 Chris Fernquist Crown Royals 688.07
9 John Drury Drury 687.81
10 Gregory Perry Perry 1 680.75
11 BRENNAN LOGUE LOGUE 680.42
12 Mason Smith Masons Mistress 680.29
13 FORREST KOBAYASHI Hall or Nothing 679.69
14 Nelson Sousa The Franchise 35 677.48
15 Kyle Hillesheim Hillesheim 676.73
16 Louis Weber Superhogs OC 19 676.1
17 David Webb tangled in the webb 675.1
18 Billy Wasosky WILLIE & BILLY 6 674.44
19 Duke Viveros MANKIND NATION 671.08
20 Chris Matsko DESTROYERS 668.74
21 Brandon Sims SIMS 668.18
22 Robert Fagan Fagan 667.7
23 Scott Schonewolf Schonewolf 666.93
24 Tony Saccucci Sac OC1 665.97
25 Michael Zucca Zucca OC8 665.23
26 Tim Eichten Ike 664.85
27 Eric Jensen Fistercuffs OC10 664.49
28 Andrew Thompson Cincinnati Beer 662.33
29 Jeffrey Schwartz Cipher III 661.89
30 ROBERT SIDERS SIDERS 661.67
31 PAUL SCHMIDL SCHMIDL 659.55
32 Henry Muto Basilisks 658.85
33 Jeffrey Kozlowski Kozlowski_3009 657.73
34 DAVID TOMEA TOMEA 657.47
35 Jason sumner sumner 656.63
36 Michael O'Brien Cheddarheads OC9 656.5
37 Bill Cook Cook 655.12
38 Andrew Fiore Fiore 653.65
39 Randy Mechels Classic Champ 653.08
40 joel mills mills 651.43
41 Nathaniel Van Heest Van Heest 651.37
42 JEFFREY MARCUS MARCUS 650.8
43 Michael Milich Retired & Winning 3.0 650.73
44 robert cramutola FROC-17 649.43
45 James Wimmers Omega Thirteens 648.74
46 John Wong No Name 648.46
47 Duke Viveros MANKIND NATION 648.06
48 Harry FACIANE HemisWayOrTheHighway3 647.47
49 Ray Chung Chung 647.44
50 Dan Leonard The Mad Bomber RW 11 646.44
51 Gary Broad Nickypalmer 645.59
52 christopher mazur Mazner 645.5
53 Dan Williamson Over-Hyped Sleeper 3 645.21
54 Michael Cole A.A.3411.10 644.16
55 MARK FIERER FIERER 644.15
56 Scott Schonewolf Schonewolf 643.48
57 Travis Tarr Big Boy Fields 642.91
58 Duke Viveros MANKIND NATION 640.88
59 Michael Cole A.A. 3225.10 640.53
60 Frank Matsko ACE DESTROYERS 640.47
60 Frank Mammola Blackhand OL10 640.47
62 Kyle Brinkmann JK ALL THE WAY OC-1 640.42
63 Henry Muto Hydras 640.31
64 Ron Stewart JR2 640.03
65 Robert Burkhard Burkhard 640
66 James Tracy Paperback Writer 639.79
67 Duke Viveros MANKIND NATION 639.77
68 James Harrison Worlds Colliding 638.99
69 Kimra Schleicher Schleicher 638.85
70 JOSHUA DOMBROWSKI Dombrowski OC 5 638.84
71 Keith Johnson Vandelay Industries 638.78
72 Jeremy La Tour Longshothero23 638.15
73 Michael Bell Bell Roto Three 638.12
74 RITVIK BUDDHARAJU Cakeboys 638.05
75 Don Medlam TopGunsDS 637.65
76 Tim Eichten Ike 637.45
77 Jason Anthony Booms OC 3 637.1
78 Jesse DeArmas SHOW ME YOUR TDS OC2 636.68
79 Scott Schonewolf Schonewolf 636.37
80 evangelo lilas Ruthless 4 635.93
81 MARCUS OLSON Fields of Dreams 635.57
82 gerald akridge akridge 634.84
83 William Sovak The 4th Indictment 634.53
84 Mike Costaglio No Scrubs 634.09
85 James Jones Jaxxx of All Trades! 633.82
86 Tim Eichten Ike 633.67
87 Kyle Hillesheim Hillesheim 633.56
88 Michael O'Brien Cheddarheads OC4 633.28
89 Joel Garton Maize 'n' Blue 632.49
90 Nelson Sousa The Franchise 33 632.44
91 Scott Kelly Kelly Bayuk 631.97
92 Louis Weber Superhogs OC 1 631.88
93 Jack Haan GVSU Lakers OC 10 631.64
94 Jacob Lesandrini Tegridy1 631.56
95 MARK FIERER FIERER 631.33
96 Ron Chan MegaRon 631.14
97 Jason Fitzsimmons Fitz Roto 1 631.11
98 Robert Sabini CMacs Boys 630.85
99 ERIC KLESER Say My Name Say My Name 630.55
100 Tim Talmadge 7_TanoJ 630.54

[Greg Ambrosius]

This was the second year in which we offered a $250,000 grand prize and Wil Miles won it. Here's the 2023 Rotowire Online Championship payouts for the Championship Round, Consolation Round and League Prizes:

2023 Rotowire Online Championship Overall Prizes:
1 - $250,000
2 - $50,000
3 - $20,000
4 - $15,000
5 - $12,500
6 - $10,000
7 - $7,500
8 - $6,000
9 - $5,500
10 - $5,000
11 - $3,500
12 - $3,000
13 - $2,500
14 - $2,250
15 - $2,000
16 - $1,750
17 - $1,500
18 - $1,250
19 - $1,200
20 - $1,150
21 - $1,100
22 - $1,050
23 - $1,000
24 - $950
25 - $900
26 - $850
27 - $800
28 - $775
29 - $750
30 - $700
31 - $675
32 - $650
33 - $625
34 - $600
35 - $575
36 - $550
37 - $525
38 - $500
39 - $475
40 - $460
41 - $450
42 - $440
43 - $425
44 - $400
45 - $375

2023 Rotowire Online Championship Consolation Round:
1 - $5,000
2 - $1,250
3 - $1,000
4 - $800
5 - $700
6 - $600
7 - $550
8 - $500
9 - $450
10 - $400
11 - $375
12 - $350
13 - $325
14 - $300
15 - $300

2023 Rotowire Online Championship
League Prizes:
1 - $1,500
2 - $700

[Greg Ambrosius]

Wil Miles is definitely one of our youngest national champions in NFFC history, so kudos to him. He now becomes the 14th different champion in the 15 years that we've run the Rotowire Online Championship, with John Rundle the only person winning this title twice (2011, 2022).

Here's a look at that elite list:

ROTOWIRE ONLINE CHAMPIONSHIP CHAMPIONS:
2009 - Paul Ladisa $30,000
2010 - John Pausma $50,000
2011 - John Rundle $60,000
2012 - Henry Muto $100,000
2013 - Sam Botnick $100,000
2014 - Oliver Gold $100,000
2015 - Matthew Bredin $100,000
2016 - Vincent Fiscella $100,000
2017 - Scott Kelly & Jeff Dawson $100,000
2018 - Emmett Ruland $110,000
2019 - Stephen Ranaghan $200,000
2020 - Doug Gruber $200,000
2021 - Billy Wasosky $200,000
2022 - John Rundle $250,000
2023 - Wil Miles $250,000

[Greg Ambrosius]

Wil Miles had the 4th pick in this August 5th, 10 pm ET Rotowire Online Championship league draft. Here's his draft results:

MILES 3 - Team nasty part 2:
McCaffrey, Christian 1 4 RB MILES 3- Team nasty part 2 24 sec 393.30
Hurts, Jalen 2 21 QB MILES 3- Team nasty part 2 34 sec 445.25
Cooper, Amari 3 33 WR MILES 3- Team nasty part 2 49 sec 228.00
Gibbs, Jahmyr 4 40 RB MILES 3- Team nasty part 2 52 sec 234.10
Hall, Breece 5 57 FLEX MILES 3- Team nasty part 2 55 sec 261.50
Evans, Mike 6 64 WR MILES 3- Team nasty part 2 12 sec 277.30
Pitts, Kyle 7 81 TE MILES 3- Team nasty part 2 45 sec 132.60
Smith-Njigba, Jaxon 8 88 WR MILES 3- Team nasty part 2 55 sec 145.40
Doubs, Romeo 9 105 WR MILES 3- Team nasty part 2 34 sec 174.40
Collins, Nico 10 112 WR MILES 3- Team nasty part 2 11 sec 225.90
Bateman, Rashod 11 129 WR MILES 3- Team nasty part 2 25 sec 76.50
Miller, Kendre 12 136 RB MILES 3- Team nasty part 2 5 sec 28.40
Cowboys, Dallas 13 153 TDSP MILES 3- Team nasty part 2 56 sec 177.00
Singletary, Devin 14 160 RB MILES 3- Team nasty part 2 16 sec 155.90
Gallup, Michael 15 177 WR MILES 3- Team nasty part 2 57 sec 87.80
Everett, Gerald 16 184 TE MILES 3- Team nasty part 2 7 sec 109.70
Edwards-Helaire, Clyde 17 201 RB MILES 3- Team nasty part 2 6 sec 68.10
Ross, Justyn 18 208 WR MILES 3- Team nasty part 2 21 sec 7.60
Purdy, Brock 19 225 QB MILES 3- Team nasty part 2 5 sec 402.40
49ers, San Francisco 20 232 TK MILES 3- Team nasty part 2

[Greg Ambrosius]

Here were Wil's Free Agent pickups during the season:

MILES 3- Team nasty part 2
Week 2 - Irv Smith 44
Week 4 - Dalton Schultz 31
Week 5 - Latavius Murray 75
Week 5 - Nick Westbrook-Ikhine 12
Week 7 - Rondale Moore 12
Week 7 - Atlanta Falcons TDSP 2
Week 8 - Washington Commanders TDSP 11
Week 9 - Miami Dolphins TK 13
Week 10 - Leonard Fournette 262
Week 10 - Darrynton Evans 18
Week 11 - Kenneth Gainwell 180
Week 11 - Seattle Seahawks TK 11
Week 12 - Michael Wilson 102
Week 12 - New Orleans Saints TDSP 31
Week 13 - Los Angeles (LAR) Rams TDSP 44
Week 14 - Khalil Shakir 69
Week 14 - Houston Texans TDSP 42
Week 14 - Atlanta Falcons TK 31
Week 14 - Miami Dolphins TK 1

That $1 pickup of the Dolphins' kicker in the final FAAB period might have been worth $250,000!!!

[Greg Ambrosius]

Randy Mechels of Long Prairie, Minnesota won the 2023 Rotowire Online Championship Consolation Round and that $5,000 prize. We paid the Top 15 overall in this contest. Here's the final results:

2023 Rotowire Online Championship Consolation Round Final Standings:
1 Randy Mechels Classic Champ 691.06
2 John Tsimpiris TsimpirisOL4 682.27
3 Mike Sanda Sandman 29 678.37
4 Jasen Cassady Cassady 677.98
5 Craig Clarke Clarke 674.83
6 Daniel Goolsby Gools Bay Packers 1 670.7
7 Adam Goldberg OLD WAGONS 663.33
8 Kenneth Myers Pooky Jr 662.88
9 Christopher Hahn Do You Want Moore 660.41
10 jake Venuti Familiar Stranger 5 660.23
11 John Rundle Townies 659.69
12 Harvey Cohen El Jefe 658.38
13 Tim Eichten Ike 655.32
14 Joseph DiGalbo DiGalbo 650.9
15 Gary Foster Foster 650.54
16 wilson moy The 420 Express 4 649.94
17 Tim Eichten Ike 648.32
18 Duke Viveros MANKIND NATION 647.72
19 Jasen Cassady Cassady 645.62
20 Jack Haan GVSU Lakers OC 3 645.09
21 RYAN WELBORN FOLEY1 644.74
22 James Tracy Help 644.51
23 TIMOTHY TAIEB 350 Rotowire 644.34
24 Mike Sanda Sandman 5 643.21
25 Jonathan Stein Stein 642.1