Studio711.com – Ben Martens

2015

Fantasy Football Super Stats

fantasyfootballstatsI wrote a tool for our fantasy football league that checks the rosters twice a week and sends out emails if you having anyone starting a game who is injured, on a bye week, or just questionable. That, along with lots of effort from each coach, has made our league pretty good in terms of starting full rosters every week.

I started playing around more with the Yahoo API and realized that I could download stats for every game. Not just that, I could download stats for all nine seasons that we’ve had this league! Give a data scientist a fun data set like this and see what happens. None of the stuff I did is very complicated in terms of real “data science”, but it sure was fun!

First of all, I have some corrections to make to the table of records. One of these is due to a stat correction from Yahoo and the other is because Yahoo’s online interface didn’t let me go back far enough to see the old record. Here is the updated table with changes in bold. It turns out that Tim didn’t break the record for highest score in a game or the highest player score in a game.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Ben had 151.18 Tim 200.51 (Week 3) Tim had 206.94 in 2008
Lowest Team Score Andy had 75.31 Andy had 41.29 (Week 14) Andy had 41.29 (2015)
Biggest Blowout Luke beat Andy by 42.02 Ben beat Dad by 111.43 (Week 8) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Austin beat Logan by 16.44 Ben beat Andy by 2.46 (Week 7) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Kirk Cousins had 40.20 as a free agent. Drew Brees had 58.30 on Tim’s bench (Week 8) Peyton Manning had 60.28 for Andy (2013)
Longest Active Winning Streak Austin has a 4 game winning streak. Ben had an 8 game winning streak (Week 8) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had an 8 game winning streak
Longest Active Losing Streak Jim has a 4 game losing streak. Andy had a 8 game losing streak (Week 14) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)

Ok, but that’s pretty boring. What else can we answer? How about who had the most points on their bench? Instead of just counting the total, let’s look at the percentage of the total team’s points that sat on the bench. This stat is mostly just a curiosity. You could have a lot of points on the bench because you started the wrong people or because your team was really strong.

Tim Scherschel 36.0%
Dallon Martens 32.4%
Ben Martens 32.3%
Logan Brandt 32.1%
League Total 31.7%
Luke 31.2%
Jim 30.9%
Austin 30.0%
Andy Daniels 27.6%

Which positions produce the most average points in a game?

QB 22.3
WR 13.2
RB 11.4
DEF 10.7
TE 10.1
K 8.3

I broke the all time record for most points in a season. But how does it compare to everyone else over the past seasons?

scoresbyyearbycoach

How does the average number of points per team vary by year? Does it all average out or is there more scoring in some years?

Which players have generated the most points since 2007 in our league?

Drew Brees 3089.66
Tom Brady 2940.34
Aaron Rodgers 2825.2
Peyton Manning 2602.78
Philip Rivers 2300.68
Tony Romo 2106.5
Ben Roethlisberger 2061.72
Adrian Peterson 2026.62
Eli Manning 1969.96
Matt Ryan 1900.98

Who were the top 3 players at each position in our league this year?

Tom Brady Ben Martens QB 410.94
Russell Wilson Luke QB 377.18
Cam Newton Austin QB 376.46
Antonio Brown Austin WR 296.93
Julio Jones Logan Brandt WR 287.70
Odell Beckham Jr. Ben Martens WR 264.00
Adrian Peterson Jim RB 232.40
Devonta Freeman Ben Martens RB 205.60
Doug Martin Dallon Martens RB 201.50
Rob Gronkowski Austin TE 216.94
Greg Olsen Tim Scherschel TE 186.30
Tyler Eifert Logan Brandt TE 152.40
Stephen Gostkowski Dallon Martens K 167.00
Steven Hauschka Tim Scherschel K 127.00
Mason Crosby Logan Brandt K 116.00
Arizona Dallon Martens DEF 200.86
Denver Ben Martens DEF 196.94
Seattle Tim Scherschel DEF 180.70

Who has had the easiest schedule for the history of our league?
Tim. Dad has had the hardest schedule. But really, they are all very similar. Nobody deviated more than 2% from the mean.

Who had the most close wins in the last four years? This is a count of the number of times that each person won by less than 10 points.

Jim 8
Andy Daniels 8
Logan Brandt 7
Tim Scherschel 7
Dallon Martens 7
Austin 5
Ben Martens 5
Luke 5

There are so many more questions on my list to answer, but frankly I’ve been spending a lot of late nights digging through this. Hopefully if I get this post out, I’ll stop for a while and go to sleep!

If you’re interested in this dataset, let me know. I can either ship it to you in Excel or I can give you access to the SQL database and you can run your own queries. I hope to keep it running next year as the season progresses. I think I’ll also be able to use it to generate the Weekly Awards table each week which will make my blog posts easier.

Thanks to everyone for a great season! Go Seahawks!

Fantasy Football – Week 16

2015_week16_kirkcousinsLast week the Seahawks looked about like they did the first time they played the Rams. The offensive line was ineffective and they couldn’t get the offense into rhythm. I wonder how much of that has to do with using random running backs off the street. I hope for the sake of the playoffs that Lynch is able to come back, but next year, Rawls is the horse I’d bet on. I haven’t read all the outcomes of the playoff picture but I think this loss means that the Seahawks will probably have a pretty tough first round opponent. From a house party perspective, it would be fun to see a Seahawks Packers rematch since there are plenty of Packer fans in our group of friends around here.

In our league, the top combatants produced some underwhelming scores but the game was pretty tight. Austin edged out Logan for first place. Congrats Austin! This is the first time we’ve ever had a repeat champion. In both years, Austin got hot at the end of the season which means he knows how to make the right roster moves to keep his team healthy and in the hunt. Kudos! beat Dad for third place. Luke beat Andy for fifth, and Tim beat Jim for seventh. I’ll do another post in a week or two with some more stats from the season.

But for now… on to the weekly awards.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Ben had 151.18 Tim 200.51 (Week 3) Tim 200.51 (2015)
Lowest Team Score Andy had 75.31 Andy had 41.29 (Week 14) Andy had 41.29 (2015)
Biggest Blowout Luke beat Andy by 42.02 Ben beat Dad by 111.43 (Week 8) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Austin beat Logan by 16.44 Ben beat Andy by 2.46 (Week 7) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Kirk Cousins had 40.20 as a free agent. Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (Week 8) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
Longest Active Winning Streak Austin has a 4 game winning streak. Ben had an 8 game winning streak (Week 8) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had an 8 game winning streak
Longest Active Losing Streak Jim has a 4 game losing streak. Andy had a 8 game losing streak (Week 14) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)

Fantasy Football – Week 15

NFL: Carolina Panthers at New York GiantsJohnny Money actually played pretty well against the Seahawks. The defense was underwhelming for the first part of the game but they figured it out eventually. Kudos to the coaching staff for making changes throughout the game just like they have been throughout the season. The Seahawks have now clinched a playoff spot which I was betting against at the beginning of the season. If the season ended now, the Seahawks would play the Redskins in their first game. Any hope at a Super Bowl has to run through the Panthers, Cardinals and Packers. All of those would be a challenge at best. It sounds like Lynch has a chance to be back for the playoffs which would be important. I suspect those would be his final games as a Seahawk but we’ll see… I’m in favor of getting rid of his big salary (and his attitude) and betting on Rawls.

Our league broke my little heart. I fretted over my roster all week making some small adjustments. Everything went pretty well and I was only a couple points from a perfect roster but it wasn’t enough to topple the 91.16 points that Austin got from Cam Newton and Antonio Brown. Very impressive. Logan won his game so next week will feature Austin vs Logan for the championship. Austin wasn’t part of the money pool so Logan wins that already (for the second year in a row!)

I have to also point out that last week Logan and I swapped the spot for the top seed. That happened because of about a four point difference in his game. If that had gone the other way, Logan would have played Austin … and lost by 1 point. Ha! Ok ok, I’ll quit my moaning.

In other league news, this was tied the highest total points (sum of all teams) for the year. We had the same output in week 3. Andy broke his losing streak with a win over Tim and had his highest point total of the year.

The Power Rankings a little extra silly this time but here they are anyway:
1. Ben
2. Logan
3. Austin (+1)
4. Dad (-1)

If I had to put down money, I’d put it on Austin. He would have beat Logan 7 of the last 8 weeks and Logan has a lot of injury trouble. That being said, I think it’s going to be really close.

Now on to the weekly awards.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Austin had 162.66 Tim 200.51 (Week 3) Tim 200.51 (2015)
Lowest Team Score Jim had 111.50 Andy had 41.29 (Week 14) Andy had 41.29 (2015)
Biggest Blowout Luke beat Jim by 25.4 Ben beat Dad by 111.43 (Week 8) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Andy beat Tim by 8.13 Ben beat Andy by 2.46 (Week 7) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Cam Newton had 51.60 for Austin  Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (Week 8) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
Longest Active Winning Streak Austin has a 3 game winning streak. Ben had an 8 game winning streak (Week 8) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had an 8 game winning streak
Longest Active Losing Streak Jim has a 3 game losing streak. Andy had a 8 game losing streak (Week 14) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)

Fantasy Football – Week 14

Seattle Seahawks v Baltimore RavensThe Seahawks look like a completely different team after their bye week. Granted, they haven’t faced the toughest opponents, but still, their offense is miles ahead of where it was before. Thomas Rawls made us forget about Marshawn Lynch, but now he’s hurt too. Hopefully Lynch will be back for the postseason, but we’ll see if they can still make it there with Fred Jackson and a couple mediocre rookies.

Not too much happened in our league except that Logan and I swapped the #1 and #2 seeds for the playoffs. That just means that the first playoff games are me vs. Austin and Logan vs. Dad. Logan and I are the only two people in the playoffs that were part of the money pool so we’ll have our own little sub-battle going on. At the other end of the spectrum, Andy never could get it going this year and this week he broke the all-time record for the lowest score. I could almost hear Luke rejoicing in Toledo. Luke also gets credit for an optimal lineup this week!

The Power Rankings perfectly match the seeding of the playoffs.
1. Ben
2. Logan (+1)
3. Dad (-1)
4. Austin

Now on to the weekly awards.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Ben had 143.53 Tim 200.51 (Week 3) Tim 200.51 (2013)
Lowest Team Score Andy had 41.29  Was Andy had 62.50 (Week 10) Was Luke 47.01 (2011)
Biggest Blowout Ben beat Andy by102.24 Ben beat Dad by 111.43 (Week 8) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Austin beat Logan by 3.55 Ben beat Andy by 2.46 (Week 7) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Russell Wilson had 42.98 for Tim Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (Week 8) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
Longest Active Winning Streak Ben and Austin have 2 game winning streaks Ben had an 8 game winning streak (Week 8) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had an 8 game winning streak
Longest Active Losing Streak Andy has an 8 game losing streak. Was Andy had a 7 game losing streak (Week 13) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)

Fantasy Football – Week 13

2015_week13_camnewtonHow ’bout them Seahawks? Eh? They looked great! Granted, the Vikings were down three key defensive players and they ran out of safeties, but the Seahawks actually had an offense. They get two “easy” games against the Ravens and the Browns before meeting the Rams and the Cardinals again in hopes of revenge. I admit that I’m starting to get my hopes up a bit. Vegas now thinks that the Seahawks are tied for the third most likely team to win the Super Bowl and they have passed up the Packers.

In our league, the top four teams won against the bottom four teams. This obviously did nothing to shake up the standings but it gave Austin a guaranteed playoff berth. This might be the first time when the playoffs were locked before the end of the regular season. If you didn’t make the playoffs, PLEASE make sure you continue to play hard this next week. There is still money riding on some of these games and the playoffs seeds will depend on your performance. Logan is locked for top seed but Dad and I could swap if I lose and he wins.

Logan might be in first place but the computer thinks he’s the third strongest team right now. We’ll see how that plays out.

1. Ben (+1)
2. Dad (+1)
3. Logan (-2)
4. Austin

Now on to the weekly awards.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Ben had 146.49 Tim 200.51 (Week 3) Tim 200.51 (2013)
Lowest Team Score Luke had 83.64 Andy had 62.50 (Week 10) Luke 47.01 (2011)
Biggest Blowout Austin beat Luke by 40.81 Ben beat Dad by 111.43 (Week 8) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Ben beat Tim by 14.43 Ben beat Andy by 2.46 (Week 7) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Cam Newton had 46.14 for Austin Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (Week 8) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
Longest Active Winning Streak Logan has a 4 game winning streak Ben had an 8 game winning streak (Week 8) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had an 8 game winning streak
Longest Active Losing Streak Andy has a 7 game losing streak. Was Andy had a 6 game losing streak (Week 12) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)

Fantasy Football – Week 12

2015_week12_wilsonThe Seahawks Steelers game on Sunday was a doozy! It was uncharacteristic of the Seahawks and not just from a sarcastic sense because they won a close/tough game. The Steelers were able to do pretty much whatever they wanted against the defense and the Seahawk offense looked pretty strong. The Seahawks still made plenty of stupid penalties but it wasn’t as bad as previous games. And a five TD game from Wilson? Who saw THAT coming? While the Seahawks defense gave up a lot of yards and points, they did have a bunch of key takeaways that made the difference in the game. So while the road to the playoffs is still going to be very difficult, I think there is more hope based on what they showed in this game. We’ll see if they can continue it against the Vikings.

Logan is now in sole control of first place. Dad claimed the third playoff spot so now there’s just one spot remaining and two weeks to fight for it. Austin would get it today but I think Jim and Tim have a good shot at it too.

Dad has been coming on strong and jumped up three spots in the Power Rankings:
1. Logan
2. Ben (+1)
3. Dad (+3)
4. Austin (-2)

Now on to the weekly awards.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Dad had 150.85 Tim 200.51 (Week 3) Tim 200.51 (2013)
Lowest Team Score Luke had 63.53 Andy had 62.50 (Week 10) Luke 47.01 (2011)
Biggest Blowout Dad beat Austin by 45.73 Ben beat Dad by 111.43 (Week 8) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Jim beat Ben by 24.57 Ben beat Andy by 2.46 (Week 7) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Russell Wilson had 45.20 on Luke’s bench Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (Week 8) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
Longest Active Winning Streak Logan has a 4 game winning streak Ben had an 8 game winning streak (Week 8) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had an 8 game winning streak
Longest Active Losing Streak Andy has a 6 game losing streak  Was Luke, Austin, Tim and Andy had 5 game losing streaks. (Weeks 5, 7, 8 and 11) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)

Fantasy Football – Week 11

2015_week11_newtonIs there some way that the Seahawks can play the 49ers every week? They make the Seahawks look good. The first two series were awesome. It was three and out for the 49ers and then the Seahawks drove down the field and scored, just like a real team! They have very little chance of making the playoffs, but if they want to keep a glimmer of the dream alive, they need to win these tough games against Pittsburgh and Minnesota.

I continued my slide and my run for the longest losing streak of the season. Congrats to Logan who is now tied with me for first place! He has also climbed to the top of the power rankings. Watch out for Austin though who is on a 4 game winning streak and is looking to repeat his late season run from last year. We have three games left before the playoffs. Logan and I have clinched spots but the other two spots are still up for grabs.

Here are the power rankings I mentioned earlier:

1. Logan (+2)
2. Austin (-1)
3. Ben (-1)
4. Luke (+2)

Now on to the weekly awards.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Logan had 150.95 Tim 200.51 (Week 3) Tim 200.51 (2013)
Lowest Team Score Jim had 63.68 Andy had 62.50 (Week 10) Luke 47.01 (2011)
Biggest Blowout Logan beat Dad by 53.74 Ben beat Dad by 111.43 (Week 8) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Austin beat Ben by 7.92 Ben beat Andy by 2.46 (Week 7) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Cam Newton had 41.44 for Austin. Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (Week 8) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
Longest Active Winning Streak Austin has a 4 game winning streak Ben had an 8 game winning streak (Week 8) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had an 8 game winning streak
Longest Active Losing Streak Andy has a 5 game losing streak Was Luke, Austin and Tim had 5 game losing streaks. (Weeks 5, 7 and 8) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)

Fantasy Football – Week 10

2015_week10_kirkcousinsIn all likelihood, the Seahawks have pretty much knocked themselves out of the playoff hunt with this latest loss. On any Sunday in the NFL, you have a hard enough time beating your opponent, but if you’re also beating yourself then you’re pretty screwed. The Seahawks destroyed themselves with penalties. They put a lot of points on the board but the defense gets credit for 14 of those. Sure there were a couple close calls and plays where the game could have gone the other way, but that’s the difference this year: they’re always playing from behind and hoping to get lucky.

In our league, Logan reinforced my loss from last week and got me thinking about the possibility of ending the season with a seven game losing streak. To top it off, I lost Julian Edelmen to injury. Earlier this season I also lost Arian Foster and Jamaal Charles. It’s hard to survive losing three superstars like that so we’ll see where the season leaves me.

Dad and Logan both won their games so they are just one game behind me with 4 games left until we start the playoffs. Austin continued his push from last week and is looking very strong. His optimal roster was over 180 this week. Speaking of optimal rosters, Andy almost started his optimal roster, but instead of starting Peyton Manning, he should have started Philip Rivers… who was on a bye. Peyton had -6.6.

Austin has now claimed the top spot in our power rankings and Jim climbs into 4th place.

1. Austin (+1)
2. Ben (-1)
3. Logan
4. Jim (+2)

Now on to the weekly awards.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Austin had 152.68 Tim 200.51 (Week 3) Tim 200.51 (2013)
Lowest Team Score Andy had 62.50 Was Austin had 64.70 (Week 5) Luke 47.01 (2011)
Biggest Blowout Austin beat Tim by 48.43 Ben beat Dad by 111.43 (Week 8) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Dad beat Luke by 1.81 Ben beat Andy by 2.46 (Week 7) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Kirk Cousins had 36.96 for Logan Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (Week 8) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
Longest Active Winning Streak Austin has a 3 game winning streak Ben had an 8 game winning streak (Week 8) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had an 8 game winning streak
Longest Active Losing Streak Andy has a 4 game losing streak. Luke, Austin and Tim had 5 game losing streaks. (Weeks 5, 7 and 8) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)

Fantasy Football – Week 9

2015_week9_mariotaI was up by less than a point against Luke at the end of the Cowboys Eagles game on Sunday night. If the Cowboys missed their field goal, the game would have been over and I would have had 9 games in a row. As they snapped the ball for Dan Bailey to kick it, the announcer said that he was one of the best in the game. Perfect. A jinx! The kick went up and started curving left. He was going to miss! CLANG! It hit the upright… and fell through. The game went into overtime and my streak ends at eight wins. It was fun while it lasted. Kudos to Luke for starting an optimal roster.

Elsewhere in the league, Tim defeated Logan and Dad beat Andy so Logan and Dad are once again tied for second. Austin has sole ownership of 4th and everyone else is tied for 5th with five games left until the playoffs start. Week 10 features me against Logan, Dad against the streak killer (Luke), Austin against Tim and Jim against Andy.

In the last two weeks, Austin has moved up 5 spots in the power rankings. Could he be making another run like he did at the end of last season? And after two weeks out of the top four, Tim has re-entered the list.

1. Ben
2. Austin (+1)
3. Logan (-1)
4. Tim (+3)

Now on to the weekly awards.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Austin had 143.59 Tim 200.51 (Week 3) Tim 200.51 (2013)
Lowest Team Score Andy had 92.73 Austin had 64.70 (Week 5) Luke 47.01 (2011)
Biggest Blowout Luke beat Ben by 16.07 Ben beat Dad by 111.43 (Week 8) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Tim beat Logan by 9.52 Ben beat Andy by 2.46 (Week 7) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Marcus Mariota had 41.34 as a free agent. Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (Week 8) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
Longest Active Winning Streak Austin and Luke have 2 game winning streaks Ben had an 8 game winning streak (Week 8) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had an 8 game winning streak
Longest Active Losing Streak Andy has a 3 game losing streak. Luke, Austin and Tim had 5 game losing streaks. (Weeks 5, 7 and 8) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)

Fantasy Football – Week 8

2015_week8_drewbreesThe Seahawks squeaked out a win. It wasn’t the prettiest game with an offense that still can’t score in the redzone, but they did figure out a gameplan that helped to avoid any sacks for Wilson. This win brings them back to 0.500 on the season and keeps them limping along with a hope for the playoffs. They get a bye week in Week 9 to rest up and maybe make a trade to improve their offensive line.

This was a big week for our league as Drew Brees set the all time record for most points in our league (sitting on Tim’s bench, oops), I tied Micah’s all time consecutive win record, and I almost broke the all time biggest blowout record. With six games left until the playoffs, Logan and I are looking like pretty good bets to participate. Dad currently has a solid hold on third and the rest of the league is fighting for the fourth spot. Even if you’re one of the teams with a 2-6 record, you’re only one spot out of the playoffs right now!

The Power Rankings stayed mostly stable except that Austin jumped up to take Dad’s third place spot.

1. Ben
2. Logan
3. Austin (+4)
4. Andy

Now on to the weekly awards.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Ben had 184.04 Tim 200.51 (Week 3) Tim 200.51 (2013)
Lowest Team Score Dad had 72.61 Austin had 64.70 (Week 5) Luke 47.01 (2011)
Biggest Blowout Ben beat Dad by 111.43 Ben beat Austin by 68.23 (Week 4) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Logan beat Jim by 21.41 Ben beat Andy by 2.46 (Week 7) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench Aaron Rodgers had 44.92 for Tim (Week 3) Peyton Manning had 60.28 for Andy (2013)
Longest Active Winning Streak Ben has an 8 game winning streak Was Ben had a 7 game winning streak (Week 7) Was Micah had an 8 game winning streak (2011)
Longest Active Losing Streak Tim has a 5 game losing streak Luke and Austin had 5 game losing streaks. (Weeks 5 and 7) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)