Fantasy Index Blackout

September 10, 2024

Andrew D Wins Blackout

Andrew D from Portland Oregon Steals a Narrow Victory

While nobody managed to take full advantage of the Week 1 bonanza presented by the new format, Andrew mashed the high end consistently enough to sneak into the top spot by 0.4 points. (Click through to see his winning lineup, the perfect lineup for the week, the most frequently picked players, and the overall top 25.)

Welcome back to another season of the Fantasy Index Blackout! You might have noticed things were a little bit different this week. We are going to be mixing up the Blackout format every few weeks with a unique challenge. For Week 1 players from every 2023 NFL Division winner were blacked out. Next week will be back to the Blackout as usual. Top scorers and popular players will be in short supply! The next planned Challenge will be in Week 5, an AFC Bonanza! The top players from every AFC team will be available.

Week 2 of the Blackout is live

There were several routes to the Top 5 to start the year but all of them included Jalen Hurts. Andrew paired his QB3 worthy 25.20 with a solid start from Tua Tagovailoa. He also selected the top available RB and 3 of the top 4 available WRs. The bottom of the roster is where things got weird. Andrew navigated it well but only 2 of top scorers from the last 6 spots were selected in more than 10% of rosters. Check out this week’s winning roster:

Week 1 highest score
Andrew D, Portland, OR
(Maximum-points picks in bold)
Pos	Name	Team	Score
QB	Jalen Hurts	PHI	25.20
QB	Tua Tagovailoa	MIA	22.00
RB	James Conner	ARI	19.30
RB	Saquon Barkley	PHI	33.20
WR	Tyreek Hill	MIA	26.00
WR	A.J. Brown	PHI	22.90
WR	Cooper Kupp	LAR	32.00
TE	Trey McBride	ARI	8.00
TE	David Njoku	CLE	8.40
PK	Jason Sanders	MIA	8.00
PK	Jake Elliott	PHI	10.00
ST	Seattle Seahawks	SEA	8.00
ST	New Orleans Saints	NO	10.00
Total			233.00

WR is where most players made their hay. While almost nobody saw Jayden Reed’s WR1 performance coming, Tyreek Hill’s WR2 showing was the most selected player of the week and Cooper Kupp’s WR3 score was the second most popular WR selection. It’s worth mentioning that while 3 of the top 4 scoring WRs were eligible, 8 of the next 9 scoring WRs were blacked out. Take a look at the highest possible scoring roster:

Week 1 Perfect Score
(Blackouts in ~~strikethrough~~)
% started	Pos	Name	Team	Score
0.00%	QB	~~Josh Allen~~	~~BUF~~	~~35.50~~
0.00%	QB	~~Baker Mayfield~~	TB	~~32.55~~
15.85%	QB	Anthony Richardson	IND	30.20
4.82%	QB	Jayden Daniels	WAS	30.00
11.56%	RB	Saquon Barkley	PHI	33.20
0.00%	RB	~~Joe Mixon~~	~~HOU~~	~~26.80~~
3.53%	RB	DeVon Achane	MIA	23.00
3.21%	WR	Jayden Reed	GB	33.10
21.41%	WR	Cooper Kupp	LAR	32.00
56.32%	WR	Tyreek Hill	MIA	26.00
4.82%	TE	Brock Bowers	LV	11.80
21.31%	TE	Kyle Pitts	ATL	11.60
0.00%	PK	~~Jake Moody~~	SF	~~20.00~~
1.61%	PK	Chris Boswell	PIT	18.00
2.36%	PK	Blake Grupe	NO	17.00
16.27%	ST	Chicago Bears	CHI	21.00
0.00%	ST	~~Dallas Cowboys~~	~~DAL~~	~~16.00~~
5.67%	ST	Minnesota Vikings	MIN	15.00
	Total		301.90

The top scorer from outside the player pool is also the name at the top of everyone’s waiver list this week, TE Isaiah Likely. His monster game for the Ravens on Thursday night was a sight to behold. WRs Alan Lazard and Alec Pierce both blew past their projections and Christian McCaffery’s rookie backup, Jordan Mason, finished RB5 on the week. You’ll be sure to see these guy in next week’s player pool, but can they run it back?

I’m not going to sit here and pretend I didn’t start the Bengals Defense in a lot of leagues, or that I didn’t overspend for Joe Burrow in my dynasty vet auction. We were all in it together this week and it really didn’t go very well. Only 5 of the most selected players cracked 11.0 points. The most selected roster put up just 55% of the available points. Week one is always like this though, on to better things in Week 2 (I’m looking at you Joe Burrow!)

Week 1 Wisdom Of Crowds score
(Maximum-points picks in bold)
% started	Pos	Name	Team	Score
31.58%	QB	Joe Burrow	CIN	9.70
24.20%	QB	Jalen Hurts	PHI	25.20
44.54%	RB	Bijan Robinson	ATL	17.90
23.23%	RB	Jonathan Taylor	IND	10.80
56.32%	WR	Tyreek Hill	MIA	26.00
30.84%	WR	Justin Jefferson	MIN	15.90
21.41%	WR	Cooper Kupp	LAR	32.00
53.96%	TE	Trey McBride	ARI	8.00
46.47%	TE	Evan Engram	JAC	1.50
32.87%	PK	Evan McPherson	CIN	4.00
25.16%	PK	Younghoe Koo	ATL	4.00
39.19%	ST	Cincinnati Bengals	CIN	1.00
21.20%	ST	New Orleans Saints	NO	10.00
	Total		166.00

There are a lot of familiar faces in the top 50 and some new ones as well. Some young guys from the discord managed to make their presence felt. Fantasy Index contributor Luke Wilson is up there as well. It’s a long season and there are big swings in this game. The new challenges will create some interesting opportunities so whether you’re at the top of the leaderboard, or slumming it with me in the 170s, you’re still in this race! Here’s a look at the Top 25 Overall:

Top 25 Overall after Week 1:
Rk	Wk 1	Total	Team Name	Location
1	233.00	233.00	Andrew D.	Portland, OR
2	232.60	232.60	sungivesmepeace
3	227.80	227.80	Gamebreakers	Marinette, WI
4	225.40	225.40	Crushers	Plainfield, IL
5	224.90	224.90	Anthony R.	Fontana, CA
6	222.30	222.30	Jeffrey M.	Fleetwood, PA
7	215.90	215.90	NINER NUT	Sacramento, CA
8	213.20	213.20	Brock The Casbah	Indian Trail, NC
9	213.00	213.00	Nostrildamus	Berwyn, IL
10	212.75	212.75	Boomer
11	211.45	211.45	James E.	Milwaukie, OR
12	210.50	210.50	Crusaders
13	208.20	208.20	Screamin' Weasels	Bartlett, IL
14	207.80	207.80	mike s.	APOPKA, FL
14	207.80	207.80	STORM CHASERS	Myrtle Beach, SC
14	207.80	207.80	Tim A.	Avon, OH
17	206.80	206.80	Brian B.	Niles, MI
18	206.60	206.60	Sanjprabs
19	206.20	206.20	Craig T.	Sun Prairie, WI
20	205.80	205.80	Dallas Jerryatrics	Richardson, TX
21	204.20	204.20	Alex from discord
22	204.00	204.00	PLarios Ranks	Kingston, NY
22	204.00	204.00	A Locke	Lynnwood, WA
24	203.90	203.90	Flying Shoulderpads	Zustorf
25	203.80	203.80	Bull19007

Percentage of Week 1 lineups that included the player

%started	Score	Name	Position	Team
56.32%	26.00	Tyreek Hill	WR	MIA
53.96%	8.00	Trey McBride	TE	ARI
46.47%	1.50	Evan Engram	TE	JAC
44.54%	17.90	Bijan Robinson	RB	ATL
39.19%	1.00	Cincinnati Bengals	ST	CIN
32.87%	4.00	Evan McPherson	PK	CIN
31.58%	9.70	Joe Burrow	QB	CIN
30.84%	15.90	Justin Jefferson	WR	MIN
25.16%	4.00	Younghoe Koo	PK	ATL
24.20%	25.20	Jalen Hurts	QB	PHI
23.23%	10.80	Jonathan Taylor	RB	IND
23.13%	20.30	Breece Hall	RB	NYJ
22.59%	22.00	Tua Tagovailoa	QB	MIA
21.41%	32.00	Cooper Kupp	WR	LAR
21.31%	11.60	Kyle Pitts	TE	ATL
21.20%	10.00	New Orleans Saints	ST	NO
17.56%	8.20	Puka Nacua	WR	LAR
17.02%	21.00	Jordan Love	QB	GB
16.27%	21.00	Chicago Bears	ST	CHI
16.27%	10.00	Jake Elliott	PK	PHI
15.85%	30.20	Anthony Richardson	QB	IND
15.63%	8.00	Jason Sanders	PK	MIA
15.42%	12.20	Ja'Marr Chase	WR	CIN
14.88%	22.90	A.J. Brown	WR	PHI
14.56%	17.80	Kyler Murray	QB	ARI
13.70%	8.00	Seattle Seahawks	ST	SEA
12.31%	10.00	Cameron Dicker	PK	LAC
12.10%	3.00	Cleveland Browns	ST	CLE
11.56%	33.20	Saquon Barkley	RB	PHI
11.46%	19.85	Matthew Stafford	QB	LAR
10.60%	8.00	Joshua Karty	PK	LAR
10.49%	3.00	New York Jets	ST	NYJ
9.53%	18.90	Kenneth Walker	RB	SEA
9.42%	12.00	Garrett Wilson	WR	NYJ
8.78%	3.50	Drake London	WR	ATL
8.46%	8.40	David Njoku	TE	CLE
8.35%	13.90	Travis Etienne	RB	JAC
7.92%	2.00	Atlanta Falcons	ST	ATL
7.49%	10.00	Cairo Santos	PK	CHI
6.64%	0.00	Tee Higgins	WR	CIN
6.53%	12.40	Josh Jacobs	RB	GB
6.42%	8.00	Jason Myers	PK	SEA
6.21%	0.00	Matt Gay	PK	IND
6.21%	8.00	Pittsburgh Steelers	ST	PIT
6.21%	14.40	Kyren Williams	RB	LAR
5.78%	10.00	DJ Moore	WR	CHI
5.67%	15.00	Minnesota Vikings	ST	MIN
5.57%	1.40	Marvin Harrison	WR	ARI
5.46%	3.10	Chris Olave	WR	NO
5.14%	12.90	Trevor Lawrence	QB	JAC
4.93%	7.10	Dallas Goedert	TE	PHI
4.82%	30.00	Jayden Daniels	QB	WAS
4.82%	11.80	Brock Bowers	TE	LV
4.71%	5.90	DK Metcalf	WR	SEA
4.60%	22.00	Alvin Kamara	RB	NO
4.60%	4.00	Daniel Carlson	PK	LV
4.39%	8.15	Caleb Williams	QB	CHI
4.39%	11.75	Kirk Cousins	QB	ATL
3.85%	10.90	Davante Adams	WR	LV
3.75%	10.00	Los Angeles Chargers	ST	LAC
3.53%	23.00	DeVon Achane	RB	MIA
3.43%	11.60	Malik Nabers	WR	NYG
3.43%	6.70	Pat Freiermuth	TE	PIT
3.43%	5.00	Dustin Hopkins	PK	CLE
3.32%	1.40	Cole Kmet	TE	CHI
3.21%	4.00	Philadelphia Eagles	ST	PHI
3.21%	33.10	Jayden Reed	WR	GB
3.10%	3.70	Terry McLaurin	WR	WAS
3.10%	1.00	Greg Zuerlein	PK	NYJ
3.00%	18.90	Jerome Ford	RB	CLE
2.89%	5.00	Miami Dolphins	ST	MIA
2.89%	8.00	Matt Prater	PK	ARI
2.57%	7.10	Michael Pittman	WR	IND
2.46%	3.30	Javonte Williams	RB	DEN
2.36%	4.00	Will Reichard	PK	MIN
2.36%	17.00	Blake Grupe	PK	NO
2.25%	8.00	Green Bay Packers	ST	GB
2.25%	16.20	Jaylen Waddle	WR	MIA
2.14%	5.80	Zach Ertz	TE	WAS
2.14%	19.30	James Conner	RB	ARI
2.14%	4.80	Mike Gesicki	TE	CIN
2.14%	6.60	Zamir White	RB	LV
1.93%	1.00	Las Vegas Raiders	ST	LV
1.93%	0.00	Luke Musgrave	TE	GB
1.93%	10.30	Christian Watson	WR	GB
1.93%	4.00	Tennessee Titans	ST	TEN
1.93%	3.60	Amari Cooper	WR	CLE
1.82%	5.00	New York Giants	ST	NYG
1.71%	4.00	Indianapolis Colts	ST	IND
1.71%	10.00	Wil Lutz	PK	DEN
1.61%	0.00	Greg Joseph	PK	GB
1.61%	18.00	Chris Boswell	PK	PIT
1.61%	15.40	DeVonta Smith	WR	PHI
1.61%	4.00	Christian Kirk	WR	JAC
1.61%	3.90	Diontae Johnson	WR	CAR
1.50%	21.55	Geno Smith	QB	SEA
1.39%	13.50	George Pickens	WR	PIT
1.28%	18.90	Aaron Jones	RB	MIN
1.28%	3.10	Noah Fant	TE	SEA
1.18%	1.40	Chuba Hubbard	RB	CAR
1.07%	7.80	Courtland Sutton	WR	DEN
1.07%	3.90	Raheem Mostert	RB	MIA
1.07%	10.00	Denver Broncos	ST	DEN
0.96%	4.00	Los Angeles Rams	ST	LAR
0.96%	14.10	Zack Moss	RB	CIN
0.96%	14.70	Brian Thomas	WR	JAC
0.96%	6.00	Graham Gano	PK	NYG
0.86%	11.80	Justin Herbert	QB	LAC
0.86%	1.70	Jonnu Smith	TE	MIA
0.86%	12.25	Aaron Rodgers	QB	NYJ
0.86%	3.80	Hunter Henry	TE	NE
0.86%	18.70	Sam Darnold	QB	MIN
0.75%	1.60	Tyler Conklin	TE	NYJ
0.75%	8.90	Najee Harris	RB	PIT
0.75%	5.00	Nick Folk	PK	TEN
0.75%	2.10	Rome Odunze	WR	CHI
0.75%	3.50	Joshua Palmer	WR	LAC
0.75%	16.35	Deshaun Watson	QB	CLE
0.75%	8.00	Calvin Ridley	WR	TEN
0.64%	8.70	Colby Parkinson	TE	LAR
0.64%	5.30	Chase Brown	RB	CIN
0.64%	6.90	Keenan Allen	WR	CHI
0.64%	5.00	Cam Little	PK	JAC
0.64%	7.00	New England Patriots	ST	NE
0.64%	3.00	Jacksonville Jaguars	ST	JAC
0.64%	9.50	Chigoziem Okonkwo	TE	TEN
0.64%	5.00	D'Andre Swift	RB	CHI
0.54%	9.00	Romeo Doubs	WR	GB
0.54%	3.90	Jaxon Smith-Njigba	WR	SEA
0.54%	3.00	Carolina Panthers	ST	CAR
0.43%	23.30	Derek Carr	QB	NO
0.43%	3.20	Greg Dulcich	TE	DEN
0.43%	9.40	Jakobi Meyers	WR	LV
0.43%	3.80	Gus Edwards	RB	LAC
0.43%	0.00	Russell Wilson	QB	PIT
0.43%	6.50	Jordan Addison	WR	MIN
0.43%	7.90	Adam Thielen	WR	CAR
0.43%	1.00	Washington Commanders	ST	WAS
0.32%	16.10	Brian Robinson	RB	WAS
0.32%	16.30	Rashid Shaheed	WR	NO
0.32%	10.00	Arizona Cardinals	ST	ARI
0.32%	0.00	Kylen Granson	TE	IND
0.32%	7.80	Jaleel McLaughlin	RB	DEN
0.32%	0.00	Riley Patterson	PK	WAS
0.32%	21.60	Rhamondre Stevenson	RB	NE
0.32%	16.40	Bo Nix	QB	DEN
0.32%	0.00	Blake Corum	RB	LAR
0.32%	2.50	Darnell Mooney	WR	ATL
0.32%	10.60	Juwan Johnson	TE	NO
0.32%	9.20	Devin Singletary	RB	NYG
0.21%	15.25	Bryce Young	QB	CAR
0.21%	4.00	Eddy Pineiro	PK	CAR
0.21%	10.00	Joey Slye	PK	NE
0.21%	22.90	J.K. Dobbins	RB	LAC
0.21%	14.90	Ladd McConkey	WR	LAC
0.21%	18.40	Tony Pollard	RB	TEN
0.21%	13.95	Will Levis	QB	TEN
0.11%	1.20	Adonai Mitchell	WR	IND
0.11%	0.00	Marvin Mims	WR	DEN
0.11%	10.80	Daniel Jones	QB	NYG
0.11%	7.50	Michael Wilson	WR	ARI
0.11%	2.50	Olamide Zaccheaus	WR	WAS
0.11%	4.70	Josh Oliver	TE	MIN
0.11%	4.00	Jaylen Warren	RB	PIT
0.11%	11.80	Wan'Dale Robinson	WR	NYG
0.11%	17.35	Gardner Minshew	QB	LV
0.11%	1.40	Ja'Tavion Sanders	TE	CAR
0.11%	0.00	Mike Williams	WR	NYJ
0.11%	1.80	DeAndre Hopkins	WR	TEN
0.11%	2.20	Miles Sanders	RB	CAR
0.11%	2.30	Will Dissly	TE	LAC
0.11%	1.30	Daniel Bellinger	TE	NYG
0.11%	7.20	Tyjae Spears	RB	TEN

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