The Denver Broncos are enjoying a fantastic start to the season and it got me thinking. How would a fantasy team, compiled of mostly Denver Broncos players fare? Let's use the fairly common QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, TE, Flex, K, D/ST system and see if this team would be a competitive fantasy team. Since I mainly play in PPR leagues and I'm the one writing this article, we'll say this is also a PPR league.
QB: Peyton Manning
RB: Knowshon Moreno
RB: Ronnie Hillman
WR: Demaryius Thomas
WR: Wes Welker
WR: Eric Decker
TE: Julius Thomas
Flex: Montee Ball
K: Matt Prater
D/ST: Broncos
First, let's take a look and see if this would actually be feasible. If you went into your draft with the idea of compiling your team of mainly Denver Broncos players, how close would you be to accomplishing that?
Round 1: Demaryius Thomas (taken in round 3 on average)
Round 2: Peyton Manning (taken in round 4 on average)
Round 3: Eric Decker (taken in round 5 on average)
Round 4: Wes Welker (taken in round 6 on average)
Round 5: Montee Ball (taken in round 8 on average)
Round 6: Julius Thomas (either undrafted or late, late rounds)
Round 7: Knowshon Moreno (either undrafted or round 14+)
Round 8: Ronnie Hillman (either undrafted or late, late rounds)
Round 9: Denver D/ST (taken round 14ish)
Round 10: Matt Prater (taken round 15ish)
Theoretically, it would have been possible to compile a team full of Broncos players. You would have had to reach for some of the players by quite some bit, but you would have accomplished your ultimate goal.
Now, let's see if this team would actually be competitive. I will be using the scoring system in my Yahoo! office league (team name: Hernandez' Gun), where I am commissioner. I will tally up all the points scored in my league each week, divide by 10 (10 team league) and that will give me an average points scored for that week. We will use the average points scored against the All-Broncos Team to see who would have won that week. I will also use my actual opponent's score for that week and see if the All-Broncos team would have beaten my opponent.
Week 1
Peyton Manning: 60.28 pts
Knowshon Moreno: 9.50 pts
Ronnie Hillman: 6.20 pts
Demaryius Thomas: 33.10 pts
Wes Welker: 25.70 pts
Eric Decker: 5.20 pts
Julius Thomas: 28.00 pts
Montee Ball: 2.40 pts
Matt Prater: 7.00 pts
Denver D/ST: 10.00 pts
TOTAL: 187.38 pts
AVERAGE points scored in week 1: 154.80 pts
MY OPPONENT'S score in week 1: 130.88 pts
ALL-BRONCOS vs AVG: 1-0
ALL-BRONCOS vs OPP: 1-0
Week 2
Peyton Manning: 23.98 pts
Knowhon Moreno: 25.70 pts
Ronnie Hillman: 0.30 pts
Demaryius Thomas: 10.20 pts
Wes Welker: 12.90 pts
Eric Decker: 17.70 pts
Julius Thomas: 16.70 pts
Montee Ball: 4.10 pts
Matt Prater: 13.00 pts
Denver D/ST: 15.00 pts
TOTAL: 139.58 pts
AVERAGE points scored in week 2: 141.26 pts
MY OPPONENT'S score in week 2: 103.60 pts
ALL-BRONCOS vs AVG: 1-1
ALL-BRONCOS vs OPP: 2-0
Week 3
Peyton Manning: 30.76 pts
Knowshon Moreno: 5.50 pts
Ronnie Hillman: 14.80 pts
Demaryius Thomas: 19.40 pts
Wes Welker: 21.40 pts
Eric Decker: 27.30 pts
Julius Thomas: 12.70 pts
Montee Ball: 4.10 pts
Matt Prater: 17.00 pts
Denver D/ST: 3.00 pts
TOTAL: 155.96 pts
AVERAGE points scored in week 3: 128.45 pts
MY OPPONENT'S score in week 3: 105.86 pts
ALL-BRONCOS vs AVG: 2-1
ALL-BRONCOS vs OPP: 3-0
Week 4
Peyton Manning: 37.08 pts
Knowshon Moreno: 16.10 pts
Ronnie Hillman: 7.70 pts
Demaryius Thomas: 29.60 pts
Wes Welker: 26.60 pts
Eric Decker: 13.80 pts
Julius Thomas: 8.30 pts
Montee Ball: 2.40 pts
Matt Prater: 12.00 pts
Denver D/ST: 18.00 pts
TOTAL: 171.58 pts
AVERAGE points scored in week 4: 147.36 pts
MY OPPONENT'S score in week 4: 114.18 pts
ALL-BRONCOS vs AVG: 3-1
ALL-BRONCOS vs OPP: 4-0
Week 5
Peyton Manning: 44.76 pts
Knowshon Moreno: 26.00 pts
Ronnie Hillman: 9.90 pts
Demaryius Thomas:10.70 pts
Wes Welker: 15.90 pts
Eric Decker: 17.70 pts
Julius Thomas: 33.20 pts
Montee Ball: 0.10 pts
Matt Prater: 18.00 pts
Denver D/ST: 4.00 pts
TOTAL: 180.26 pts
AVERAGE points scored in week 5: 131.57 pts
MY OPPONENT'S score in week 5: 137.96 pts
ALL-BRONCOS vs AVG: 4-1
ALL-BRONCOS vs OPP: 5-0
Week 6
Peyton Manning: 18.10 pts
Knowshon Moreno: 35.40 pts
Ronnie Hillman: 5.60 pts
Demaryius Thomas: 10.80 pts
Wes Welker: 18.30 pts
Eric Decker: 10.00 pts
Julius Thomas: 12.20 pts
Montee Ball: 1.50 pts
Matt Prater: 5.00 pts
Denver D/ST: 10.00 pts
TOTAL: 126.90 pts
AVERAGE points scored in week 6: 134.35 pts
MY OPPONENT'S score in week 6: 102.78 pts
ALL-BRONCOS vs AVG: 4-2
ALL-BRONCOS vs OPP: 6-0
Week 7
Peyton Manning: 32.34 pts
Knowshon Moreno: 13.90 pts
Ronnie Hillman: 1.60 pts
Demaryius Thomas: 18.20 pts
Wes Welker: 16.60 pts
Eric Decker: 29.00 pts
Julius Thomas: 15.10 pts
Montee Ball: 0.00 pts
Matt Prater: 10.00 pts
Denver D/ST: 0.00 pts
TOTAL: 136.74 pts
AVERAGE points scored in week 7: 127.07
MY OPPONENT'S score in week 7: 95.42
ALL-BRONCOS vs AVG: 5-2
ALL-BRONCOS vs OPP: 7-0
TOTAL POINTS SCORED through 7 weeks: 1,098.4
This All-Broncos Team would be undefeated in my Yahoo! league and would have the second most points scored out of all teams. I'm sorry, but that's freaking ridiculous. Even against the average, this team is still extremely competitive. At 5-2, that would be tied for 1st place in my league. The fact that a fantasy team compiled of players from just one team can be this competitive is unheard of. Let's take a look at each of the major players individually in order to realize just how great of a season we are witnessing.
Peyton Manning
What more can we say that hasn't already been said? Peyton Manning has already broken records seven weeks into the season and is on pace to break even more records. Peyton has thrown for 2,565 yards, 25 TD's and only 3 INT's. He has been extremely accurate going 207/289 for a completion percentage of 71.6%. Here's some interesting stats regarding just how good Peyton has been...
Peyton Manning has more fantasy points than Tom Brady and Colin Kaepernick COMBINED.
Peyton Manning has more fantasy points than Tom Brady and Cam Newton COMBINED.
Peyton Manning has more fantasy points than Tom Brady and Robert Griffin III COMBINED.
Peyton Manning has more fantasy points than Russell Wilson and Ben Roethlisberger COMBINED.
Peyton Manning has more fantasy points than Alex Smith and Eli Manning COMBINED.
Peyton Manning has more fantasy points than Jay Cutler and Carson Palmer COMBINED.
I could keep going, but you get the point. Manning is outperforming every other QB in the league by a significant margin. The second highest QB in fantasy is Matthew Stafford and Peyton has him beat by about 73 points.
Knowshon Moreno
Coming into the season everyone was touting the rookie out of Wisconsin, Montee Ball. After all, he was the Broncos second round pick and looked good in preseason. In turn, he was the first Broncos running back selected in all fantasy drafts. Knowshon Moreno went really late and was probably taken as a handcuff to Ball if whoever drafted Ball was smart. I don't think a single person predicted that by the end of week 7, Knowshon Moreno would have 95 carries for 413 yards and 8 TD's. Ladies and Gentlemen, Knowshon Moreno is the NFL leader in rushing TD's through 7 weeks of football. I'm not going to sit here and tell you how awesome I am for drafting Montee Ball in the 8th round and handcuffing him with Moreno in the 14th round, but I also drafted Julius Thomas in the 13th round. Whether that makes me awesome or not, I'm not the one that's going to make that call. (C'mon, I'm pretty awesome, right?). After 7 weeks, Knowshon Moreno is ranked #4 amongst all RB's in PPR leagues with 132.10 points, barely behind LeSean McCoy's 132.20 points. In order to prove that he is just as valuable in standard leagues, Moreno is also ranked 4th amongst all RB's with 92 points, trailing Marshawn Lynch by 1 point for 3rd.
Demaryius Thomas
Thomas was the consensus #1 Bronco WR coming into all drafts. He was an early 3rd rounder for the most part and is currently the 5th best WR in PPR leagues with 132 total points. He is actually tied with Brandon Marshall and is hot on the heels of Dez Bryant (132.90 points), while AJ Green sits in 2nd with 134.90. The number one WR in PPR leagues will be revealed shortly. Thomas has 41 receptions for 610 yards and 5 TD's. Demaryius leads the league in YAC (yards after the catch) with 294. His 610 yards is good for 5th best overall amongst WR's. Out of his 41 receptions, 29 have resulted in 1st downs, and 9 went for 20+ yards. In standard leagues, Thomas is still tied with Brandon Marshall and again only trails Dez Bryant by a couple points.
Wes Welker
The #1 WR in PPR leagues and #2 in standard leagues, Wesley Carter Welker. The man who has had the pleasure of catching balls from two of the best QB's ever. Wes has 44 catches for 474 yards and 8 TD's. His 8 TD's is tied for the league most, who is he tied with? His teammate, Julius Thomas. But wait, there's more. Through the first six games of the season, Welker, Julius Thomas and Knowshon Moreno all had at least 7 TD's. Why am I sharing this with you? Because, it is the first time in NFL history one team has had three players with at least 7 TD's through the first six games. Hear that? That's the sound of your mind being blown.
Eric Decker
Eric Decker has the 2nd most receiving yards in the NFL. What? Eric Decker has the 2nd most receiving yards in the NFL. What??? Yup, read it again, it's true. Torrey Smith leads the league with 629 receiving yards, Eric Decker is right behind him with 627. He leads the Broncos in targets with 64 and has 42 receptions with 3 TD's. He is ranked 7th amongst WR's in PPR leagues. He is not as valuable in standard leagues, he's only the 17th ranked WR, tied with Calvin Johnson(!!) and Josh Gordon.
Julius Thomas
Julius Thomas has emerged as one of the best tight ends in the NFL. If he remains healthy, he will continue to be one of the best in the league. We have been deprived of his greatness due to injury but he is finally healthy and is showing us what he is capable of. As mentioned earlier, Thomas is tied with fellow teammate, Wes Welker, for most receiving TD's with 8. He has 36 receptions for 422 yards and is currently ranked #3 amongst TE's in PPR leagues and #2 in standard leagues. I will admit, and I am not ashamed, I have a man-crush on Julius Thomas. As I have mentioned before, I am in three different leagues this year. I made it a point to draft Julius Thomas in all three leagues. I've been high on him since he came out of college and this year, he was finally healthy. I knew not a lot of people were aware of what this man was capable of, so I took advantage of that and snatched him up late in every single one of my drafts. It paid off quite well, in two of the three leagues, I have Vernon Davis and Julius Thomas. My TE and Flex positions are set in stone every week.
Now that you have the data in front of you, take a look at your league and see how you and your opponent's would have stacked up against the All-Broncos team. Let us know your results in the comments or on twitter @asfarfaketeams.
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