Alright, folks, let’s dive into my little project from the past few days: figuring out the top 100 fantasy football players for 2024, PPR style. I’ve been tinkering with fantasy football for years, and every year, I try to get a head start on the competition. This year, I thought, “Why not document the whole messy process?” So, here we go.
Getting Started: The Data Dump
First things first, I needed data. Lots of it. I opened up a bunch of browser tabs – you know, the usual suspects for fantasy football projections and rankings. I’m talking about the big sports sites, the analyst blogs, the ones everyone uses. I didn’t want to reinvent the wheel, just get a feel for the general consensus.
I started copying and pasting projections into a giant spreadsheet. Yeah, it was tedious. My eyes started to glaze over after the 50th player, I’m not gonna lie. But I powered through, grabbing projected points, targets, receptions – all that good stuff. It looked like a total mess, but hey, that’s what data is all about, right?
Wrangling the Numbers: The Spreadsheet Shenanigans
Once I had all this raw data, I needed to make sense of it. So, I fired up my trusty spreadsheet software. I started by creating a simple list, player names in one column, projected PPR points in another. The initial order was, let’s just say, interesting. There were some wild discrepancies between different sources.
I spent a good chunk of time normalizing the data. That basically means I tried to adjust the projections so they were all on a similar scale. Some sites are more optimistic, some are more pessimistic, you gotta find a middle ground. I used some basic averaging techniques, nothing too fancy. It was more about getting a general vibe than being super precise.
The Eye Test: Adding My Own Flavor
Now, here’s where things get fun. I believe that spreadsheets and numbers only tell you half the story. You gotta use your gut, your knowledge of the game, your feel for which players are gonna pop off.
I added some columns that I like to call my “judgment” column.
- I started marking down players I thought were being overvalued or undervalued based on things like:
- New offensive schemes
- Quarterback changes
- Potential injury risks (always a big one!)
- Rookie hype (gotta be careful with that!)
This part was all about me tweaking the list based on my own observations. I probably spent a good few hours just staring at the list, shuffling players around, going back and forth, second-guessing myself. It’s a messy process, but it’s my messy process.
The Final Product (For Now!)
After all that, I finally had a list of 100 players that I felt reasonably good about. It’s not perfect, far from it. Fantasy football is a game of educated guesses, after all. But I had a ranking that felt like a solid starting point, a blend of data and my own personal hunches.
And that’s the story of how I put together my top 100 PPR players for 2024. It’s an ongoing process, of course. I’ll be revisiting this list constantly as we get closer to the season, adjusting for news, injuries, and my ever-changing opinions. It’s a labor of love, a nerdy obsession, and a whole lot of fun. Now, I’m going to dig into some actual game footage, because it’s all part of the puzzle!