Want to do battle with the experts and have your picks published in Fantasy Football Index magazine? Then do what Todd did: Outwit hundreds of entrants in Fantasy Index Blackout or the Fantasy Index Open. Both competitions are free of charge and open to all comers.
Congratulations to Todd Blinn of Obetz, OH, our Fantasy Index Blackout champion for the 2023 season. He wins a free subscription to everything we publish for the 2024 season -- Fantasy Football Index magazine and the SuperFanatic newsletter package -- and he will be invited to join the professional fantasy analysts in the 2024 Fantasy Football Index magazine Experts Draft. Click through to see the overall Top 50 for the year.
Todd finished 39.90 points ahead of runner-up Dennis Thomas of Royal Oaks, CA, a difference of about 1.2 percent.
2023 really was a tale of two seasons. Weeks 1-7 saw five different managers hold the top spot but only one person led the Blackout from weeks 8-18, the champion Todd Blinn and his team, The Mighty Grimmace’s. I asked Todd how he approached this season:
“I spent more time focusing on the Blackout this year. Toward the beginning of the year I set-up the Blackout scoring system in my custom scoring systems to help evaluate quarterbacks. I realized that none of the other systems I use has one point for every 20 yards of passing."
"In the beginning of the season I took players which were considered to be elite at their position and had a good matchup. As the season went on and you selected more blackout players I attempted to mainly focus on the good matchups, in addition to leaning on the elite players like Lamar when he was not blacked out and Goff if he was playing at home."
"I also utilized the stacking strategy more, I remember that strategy working out several weeks during the year. One week I remember the most was Week 9, when I stacked Prescott and Stroud with Ferguson and Schultz."
"In addition, I always would use the Index projections as a starting point to evaluate the available players and then assess from there."
For Todd, 2023 was a tale of two games as well. He started the season well and finished Week 7 in 67th place overall. In Week 8 he put up 236.10 points and took 2nd place on the week, climbing all the way to 2nd place overall. In Week 9, Todd ran it back and took 2nd on the week again behind 233.60. From there it was “good night” for the field so let’s give those rosters some respect:
Week 8 2nd Place Score | |||
---|---|---|---|
Mighty Grimmace’s from Obetz, OH | |||
(Maximum-points picks in bold) | |||
Pos | Name | Team | Score |
QB | Tua Tagovailoa | MIA | 29.00 |
QB | Dak Prescott | DAL | 33.10 |
RB | Jahmyr Gibbs | DET | 29.90 |
RB | Isiah Pacheco | KC | 6.70 |
WR | Davante Adams | LV | 2.10 |
WR | DeVonta Smith | PHI | 22.90 |
WR | CeeDee Lamb | DAL | 41.00 |
TE | Dalton Kincaid | BUF | 17.50 |
TE | George Kittle | SF | 23.90 |
PK | Jason Myers | SEA | 6.00 |
PK | Younghoe Koo | ATL | 11.00 |
ST | Seattle Seahawks | SEA | 9.00 |
ST | Atlanta Falcons | ATL | 4.00 |
Total | 236.10 |
Week 9 2nd Place Score | |||
---|---|---|---|
Mighty Grimmace’s from Obetz, OH | |||
(Maximum-points picks in bold) | |||
Pos | Name | Team | Score |
QB | Dak Prescott | DAL | 32.10 |
QB | CJ Stroud | HOU | 46.50 |
RB | Josh Jacobs | LV | 21.80 |
RB | Isiah Pacheco | KC | 6.60 |
WR | Adam Thielen | CAR | 7.90 |
WR | Tee Higgins | CIN | 19.00 |
WR | Chris Olave | NO | 16.60 |
TE | Dalton Schultz | HOU | 29.00 |
TE | Jake Ferguson | DAL | 22.10 |
PK | Tyler Bass | BUF | 4.00 |
PK | Evan McPherson | CIN | 6.00 |
ST | Atlanta Falcons | ATL | 10.00 |
ST | Las Vegas Raiders | LV | 12.00 |
Total | 233.60 |
Todd led the field by an average of 60.58 from there on. A 5th place finish in Week 12 gave him his biggest margin of the season, 90.15 points. Regarding his second half dominance, Todd had this to say:
”After week 9 I had the ability to select the best options I thought were available since I had the lead and it worked out through the end. There were a few weeks toward the end where I kicked myself some. For example week 16, when I thought Breece Hall would have a big game although I did not go with him."
A few managers gave him a run down the stretch but Mighty Grimmace’s were not to be caught. The most notable challengers were:
- DT BOMBERS who claimed 2nd, 20th and 38th places in three of the final five weeks to claim 2nd overall
- Barney’s Rubble who finished the year with 6th, 25th and 26th place finishes to finish 3rd overall
- Plano Guru who finished 4th behind eleven top 100 finishes plus another at 104
- Juggernauts who finished 5th with eleven top 100 finishes including eight in the top 40 and only finished outside the top 200 once.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the Fantasy Index Blackout in 2023. Both the Blackout and the Fantasy Index Open will be returning in 2024. Hope to see you then!
Here’s a look at the top 50 finishers in the 2023 Fantasy Index Blackout:
2023 FI Blackout Top 50 Overall: | |||
---|---|---|---|
Rk | Pts | Team | Hometown |
1 | 3378.40 | Mighty Grimmace's | Obetz |
2 | 3338.50 | DT BOMBERS | Royal Oaks, CA |
3 | 3326.65 | Barney's Rubble | Orlando |
4 | 3323.70 | Plano Guru | Plano, TX |
5 | 3312.25 | Juggernauts | Rocky Hill, CT |
6 | 3291.85 | Jason S. | Fort Collins |
7 | 3282.20 | Matthew S. | Chicago, IL |
8 | 3276.25 | Highs Guys | Lakewood Ranch, FL |
9 | 3254.95 | Serving Crow | Lone Tree |
10 | 3250.65 | Forth and Long | Hamilton |
11 | 3249.20 | Steve K. | Miami |
12 | 3246.65 | Dmomo22 | White Lake, MI |
13 | 3243.30 | David M. | New Lenox, IL |
14 | 3240.20 | Joe Kapp | Mount Carroll, IL |
15 | 3239.40 | Roughriders | Bluffdale, UT |
16 | 3238.75 | Pizza Pie | Henderson |
17 | 3236.90 | O Club | Wilburton, OK |
18 | 3236.20 | FIUSER0824 | Black Diamond |
19 | 3233.75 | Frank M. | Bristol, PA |
20 | 3233.10 | Taylor's Trailer Trash | Miami |
21 | 3230.15 | Fantasy Index (official picks) | Seattle, WA |
22 | 3225.60 | Ken's Confused | Phoenix |
23 | 3222.60 | It Ertz when I Lose | Arlington Heights |
24 | 3221.95 | CRAIG MACHINE | Humble, TX |
25 | 3221.55 | Dam Guy | Mossyrock |
26 | 3216.10 | GRIZZMUNDI | Cincinnati, OH |
27 | 3212.25 | Fantasy Index (Ian Allan) | Seattle |
28 | 3209.85 | Bizzle | West Linn, OR |
29 | 3208.50 | Los Pollos Hermanos | Leland, NC |
30 | 3205.20 | Ralph C. | Owasso |
31 | 3204.15 | DeutschlandEXPRESS | Sioux Falls |
32 | 3203.65 | Renegades | Fairport, NY |
33 | 3203.65 | Wayne E. | Clearwater, FL |
34 | 3201.90 | Bruce R. | Elgin, OR |
35 | 3199.40 | Bo knows Tecmo Bowl | Zionsville, IN |
36 | 3199.30 | Saquon Destroy | Ward |
37 | 3199.00 | CCBluecats | Dallas |
38 | 3196.70 | Scott K | Winnipeg, MB |
39 | 3196.65 | zten | Pittsburgh, PA |
40 | 3190.55 | Jeff S. | Newark |
41 | 3190.10 | Rich Z. | Schaumburg |
42 | 3186.60 | D-Men | Regina, SK |
43 | 3186.55 | Whoops Eiferted | Cranberry Twp, PA |
44 | 3182.60 | SHADOW DAD | Mukwonago |
45 | 3180.05 | SHAMROCKS | Florence, OR |
46 | 3175.10 | Henne to Manningham | La Crosse, WI |
47 | 3174.05 | Bull 51 | Avondale, PA |
48 | 3168.90 | Xiola Blue | Berkeley |
49 | 3166.65 | David D. | Norristown |
50 | 3160.75 | JoeG Rx | Folsom, CA |