NFFC Champions Profile - Steven Merrifield

[Tom Kessenich]

Nearly every time a fantasy player leaves their draft, they believe that team they drafted is the one that will accomplish great things that season. So, when Steven Merrifield completed his early July Cutline draft a year ago, he wasn’t alone in thinking the team he drafted was going to be a success.

Others were likely thinking the same thing as well.

But while others were thinking and perhaps hoping for a season of greatness, Merrifield’s team was about to turn those hopes into a reality. A reality that would result in a $100,000 grand prize at season’s end.

That July 3 team was one of only two teams Merrifield drafted in the NFFC the entire 2021 campaign, but it was the only one he truly needed. It conquered the entire Cutline field and when the dust settled at the end of Week 17 Merrifield found himself at the top of the overall standings as the contest’s overall champion and winner of the $100,000 grand prize.

Merrifield’s championship was built around a highly successful draft. The foundation of that was huge value in the early rounds. After snaring Dalvin Cook with his first-round pick he then paired the Vikings’ stud running back with Davante Adams in Round 2 and Joe Mixon in Round 3.

“This particular draft had championship aspirations early on,” he said. “I was shocked to get value on Davante Adams late (in the second round) and get a solid RB2 in Mixon.”

He wasn’t done there. Merrifield went on to assemble what may have been the greatest WR corps in Cutline history. Here is the list of WRs he added to his team after drafting Adams in the second round:

Round 5 Amari Cooper
Round 6 Cooper Kupp
Round 7 Tee Higgins
Round 9 Deebo Samuel
Round 11 Mike Williams
Round 12 Darnell Mooney
Round 15 Rashod Bateman

He also drafted Joe Burrow as his quarterback in the 10th round to put a further stranglehold on another key position.

“I loved the ceilings on all my WR and was high on Burrow for the year,” he said. “I'd often admire this squad in the weeks and months leading up to the season. I knew she was a winning horse.”

Merrifield won his league title and began the Championship Round in 97th place out of 460 teams. His team moved up to 47th after the first "cut" after Week 13 and then edged his way up to 30th after Week 14.
He continued to survive the "cut" in Week 15 and was 39th overall with a shot at the top prize. His Dalvin and Davantes Bengals team that vaulted into the top spot after Week 16 as it scored 249.65 points that week. That allowed him to be at the "final table" of 12 teams in Week 17.

“The last few weeks were pretty stressful,” he said. “I had invested in my biggest NFL portfolio ever, and my NBA DFS year was not off to a good start. I needed a big score from 1 of my NFL teams or things were looking lean come tax time. I knew my Cutline squad was my best chance at a big score.”

Boy, did it ever score big.

In the final week, Merrifield’s team did not disappoint. It scored 190.00 points to win the title and the $100,000 grand prize.

“I've been a professional gambler (poker player) since 2008 and playing fantasy football for over 2/3rds of my life,” he said. “Week '17 was one of the most gratifying/exciting/stressful weekends ever. Being the hyper-competitive guy I am, it always kinda felt like I was a break-even fantasy football player. The cash from the grand prize is obviously the most life-benefiting reward, but the thrill of victory is right up there.”

A crucial roster decision paved the way for Merrifield winning the big grand prize, one that involved benching one of the best players on his team.

“Starting Chase Edmonds over Dalvin Cook in Week 17 was the key to securing the championship,” he said. “Dalvin had a tough matchup and James Conner had been ruled out for the week.

“I made the seemingly questionable call to start Edmonds over my 1st round draft pick with only minutes to spare. Edmonds did project better than Cook in the projection systems i reference so I can’t give myself too much credit for going way above the rim on a clairvoyant call.”

Merrifield had hoped to invest at least some of his prize winnings into buying a farm, but that plan has been put on hold for now. Instead, he has re-invested in NFFC options with a goal of not only repeating as Cutline champion but possibly winning other national contests as well in 2022.

“No better way to reinvest it than a giant NFFC portfolio this year,” he said.