Greetings and welcome to the 2013 results of the fantasy football accuracy contest that I run each year in conjunction with the Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA). This is my 7th year of the rankings contest and I am thrilled to once again report back on which sites' preseason rankings have proven most accurate. There were 59 participants in this year's contest and on Thursday night, the top sites were revealed at the FSTA's Winter Conference in Las Vegas.
Participants were asked to submit their top 25 QBs, 50 RBs, 50 WRs, and 20 TEs using a standard scoring system as listed below:
Passing Yards (25 yards per point)
Passing Touchdowns (4)
Rushing Yards (10 yards per point)
Reception Yards (10 yards per point)
Rushing & Receiving Touchdowns (6)
Passing Touchdowns (4)
Rushing Yards (10 yards per point)
Reception Yards (10 yards per point)
Rushing & Receiving Touchdowns (6)
Interceptions & Fumbles Lost (-2)
At the end of the regular NFL season, I gathered fantasy point totals from FFToday.com's Statistics Page for all players that scored any fantasy points and created an end-of-season ranking based on these actual results. I compared the end-of-season rankings with the rankings that each site submitted for the contest by merely taking the difference between the rankings, and then also squaring that difference to reward closer accuracy (or punish larger discrepancies, however you want to look at it). The site with the smallest difference between their rankings and the end-of-season rankings averaged across all four positions was the winner.
So without further ado, the winner this year was Mike Clay from ProFootballFocus.com. If Clay's name is familiar to you, well, it should be. His analysis and articles have been all over the best of the fantasy football universe this year and I dare say it's for good reason. But I'm also happy to report that last year's unofficial winner, Micah James of FF Magic Man, came in a very close second place this year. I can guarantee you that I'll be reading the FF Magic Man's rankings quite closely next year. Read on for the rest of the top results from 2013.
Most Accurate Rankings Across All Positions:
| Ranking | Site | AverageRank | ||
| 1 | ProFootballFocus.com | 12.25 | ||
| 2 | FF Magic Man | 12.5 | ||
| 3 | LeagueSafe Post Super | 16.75 | ||
| 4 | FantasyCouncil.com | 17.75 | ||
| 5 | Game Day Lineup | 18.5 | ||
| 6 | FantasySharks.com | 19 | ||
| 7 | 4for4.com | 19.25 | ||
| 8 | RotoExperts | 20.75 | ||
| 9 | FF Guidebook | 22 | ||
| 10 | Scott Pianowski, Yahoo | 22.25 | ||
| 10 | FFCalculator (ADP) | 22.25 | ||
| 12 | Dynasty League Football | 22.75 | ||
| 13 | Dalton Del Don, Yahoo | 23.75 | ||
| 14 | Fantasy Football Maniax | 24.25 | ||
| 15 | The Hazean | 24.5 |
Most Accurate Quarterback Rankings:
| Ranking | Site |
| 1 | Scott Pianowski, Yahoo |
| 2 | Pyromaniac.com |
| 3 | Draft Analyzer Ultimate |
| 4 | DobberFootball.com |
| 5 | Steve's Fantasy Advice |
| 6 | RotoExperts |
| 7 | LeagueSafe Post Super |
| 8 | Paul Charchian, LeagueSafe |
| 9 | 4for4.com |
| 10 | Fantasy Football Maniax |
Most Accurate Running Back Rankings:
| Rankings | Site |
| 1 | Dynasty League Football |
| 2 | FantasyCouncil.com |
| 3 | ProFootballFocus.com |
| 4 | Game Day Lineup |
| 5 | DraftSharks |
| 6 | Pyromaniac.com |
| 7 | William del Pilar |
| 8 | FantasyFootballNerd.com |
| 9 | 4for4.com |
| 10 | Mastersball.com |
Most Accurate Wide Receiver Rankings:
| Rankings | Site |
| 1 | FF Magic Man |
| 2 | ProFootballFocus.com |
| 3 | Pigskin Addiction |
| 4 | The Huddle |
| 5 | Nathan Zegura, CBSSports.com |
| 6 | Mike Nease, FantasyInsights.com |
| 7 | Dish Adams, FantasyInsights.com |
| 8 | FantasyFootballMagic.com |
| 9 | FantasyCouncil.com |
| 10 | FFCalculator (ADP) |
Most Accurate Tight Ends Rankings:
| Rankings | Site |
| 1 | Ask The Commish |
| 2 | FantasyTools.com |
| 3 | FantasySharks.com |
| 4 | ProFootballFocus.com |
| 5 | WhatIfSports.com |
| 6 | FantasyPros911 |
| 7 | FOX Sports |
| 8 | Pigskin Addiction |
| 9 | The Sports Forecaster (XML Team) |
| 10 | Fantasy Typhoon |
All of the 59 participants are listed below in alphabetical order:
| 4for4.com |
| Andy Behrens, Yahoo |
| Ask the Commish |
| Bloomberg Sports |
| Brad Evans, Yahoo |
| Brad Funston, Yahoo |
| Bruno Boys |
| Cheat Sheet War Room |
| Dalton Del Don, Yahoo |
| Dave Richard, CBSSports.com |
| Dish Adams, Fantasy Insights |
| DobberFootball.com |
| Draft Analyzer Ultimate |
| DraftSharks |
| Dynasty League Football |
| ESPN |
| Fantasy Football Sherpa |
| Fantasy Omatic |
| Fantasy Typhoon |
| FantasyCouncil.com |
| FantasyFootballMagic.com |
| FantasyFootballManiax |
| FantasyFootbalNerd.com |
| FantasyProAnalyst |
| FantasyPros911 |
| FantasySharks.com |
| FantasyTools.com |
| FF Guidebook |
| FF Magic Man |
| FFCalculator (ADP) |
| FFEngineer |
| FFStarters.com |
| FOX Sports |
| Game Day Lineup |
| Jamey Eisenberg, CBSSports.com |
| KFFL |
| LeagueSafe Post Super |
| Mastersball.com |
| Mike Nease, Fantasy Insights |
| Nathan Zegura, CBSSports.com |
| NFL.com |
| Paul Charchian, LeagueSafe |
| PickingPros.com |
| Pigskin Addiction |
| ProFootballFocus.com |
| Pyromaniac.com |
| RealTime Fantasy Sports |
| RotoExperts |
| Rotoprofessor |
| Rotoworld |
| Scott Pianowski, Yahoo |
| scoutPRO |
| Steve's Fantasy Advice |
| The Hazean |
| The Huddle |
| The Sports Forecaster (XML Team) |
| WhatifSports |
| William Del Pilar |
| Yahoo composite |
If you have any questions, let me know. Or if you submitted rankings and are curious as to how you ranked, just shoot me an e-mail.
(Note: many of you are used to seeing these results up on the NY Times' Fifth Down blog, but the Fifth Down is no more, as many of you may have already surmised!)
