The idea is, when the 2023 fantasy football season comes to an end, that we can say to ourselves — the Madman and our readers — that we love it when a plan comes together.
And it really it isn’t just one plan, it is a collection of independent plans that have an interrelated goal, and together these otherwise unrelated plans become a master plan. And that master plan is to create an A-Team in our fantasy leagues.
One of the underlying plans in this master plan is to maximize our draft picks, and to properly do so means waiting for a quarterback.
Another incremental goal is to get a good QB others are undervaluing.
While we go about our plans, other people with other goals have other plans. For instance, Jacksonville coach Doug Pederson has a goal of winning the AFC South, which can help put the Jaguars in better playoff position, which gives them a chance to punch their way into the upper crust of a stacked conference.
To do that, Pederson needs to usher into fruition the plan of Trevor Lawrence becoming a franchise QB. That isn’t really even a Pederson plan. It predates him — a brainchild of He Who Shall Be Named, in shame, Urban Meyer.
So Pederson is pursing a Meyer plan to will help him complete other plans that will help your fantasy plans by providing both a capable QB with high upside and at a reasonable value.
Trevor Lawrence as your top fantasy QB? Are we really suggesting putting your fantasy future in the hands Mr. T.? Yes, that’s the plan.
Remember, it was Year 2 when Peyton Manning took off. It was his second year as a starter when Aaron Rodgers achieved elite status. Patrick Mahomes sat for a year before splashing into greatness in his second season.
Fantasy Football DVQ Explainer
Hop out of the pool, unpack your vacation suitcase, boot up your laptop and get ready, because fantasy football season is back.
The Fantasy Madman has returned with the latest iteration of his DVQ.
The Draft Value Quotient is a player rating system that assigns one universal number for every player. This value projects the point in the draft at which a player’s projected production will match the estimated draft pick value.
Since there is a wider separation among production at the top, so too is there a wider gap between DVQ values at the top of the rankings.
The player projections takes into account playing time, expected use/touches, coaching tendencies, part performance and injury history. The DVQ measures these projections against a player’s schedule and factors in positional depth and value above replacement.
These ratings are updated regularly.
And realistically, this is Year 2 for Trevor, because Year 1 was … well, it got Urbaned, so let’s not even count that. But if we were counting it, he already made massive improvement from that Year 1 disaster. So last year was really just Year 1, Part 2. And this year is the real Year 2. At least according to our plan.
This season, not only will Trevor still have a young, productive running back in former Clemson teammate Travis Etienne, he has his favorite target, Christian Kirk, returning. He has a solid tight end in Evan Engram, coming off his best year since his rookie season with the Giants in 2017. And his potential new top option? You betcha, it is gambling man Calvin Ridley.
But wait, there’s more! You even have a marker to warn you when it is time to pick Lawrence. Justin Herbert is your cue.
Herbert normally goes a round ahead of Mr. T., and look, we also like Herbert at that spot, but it isn’t as easy to identify when to take the Chargers star. He could go right after Joe Burrow, or a bit later, following Justin Fields. But once Herbert is picked, it is time to target Lawrence. That’s the plan.
It isn’t any one of these goals specifically that makes us like Lawrence as much as we do, it is all of them. It is quite literally a plan coming together. So be your own Hannibal Smith, and make Trevor Lawrence part of your fantasy A-Team.