Dynasty League 2022: My Predictions

I’ve been making my own predictions on who I think will win the league MVP for the last two years. So, I figured this year I would share my predictions and include a few extra as a fun little start to the season! Being upfront, I have incorrectly selected the MVP both years (I picked Alvin Kamara in 2020 and Kyler Murray in 2021), but so has Yahoo (Lamar Jackson in 2020 and Christian McCaffrey in 2021), so I don’t feel so bad. I’ll also include Yahoo’s predictions as a footer in each section.

MY PREDICTIONS

League MVP: WR Justin Jefferson (NUKEM)

I think Jefferson is going to have a monster year in the same system that Cooper Kupp just dominated in last season. I’m also taking Justin Herbert (Fantasy Fairies) as my runner-up (a little Rookie of the Year revenge!). Yahoo predicts: QB Josh Allen (Fear Itself) with Justin Herbert (Fantasy Fairies) as the runner-up

League DPOY: LB Roquan Smith (Fantasy Fairies)

Having looked back at that fantasy production they've had for the last few seasons Linebackers find themselves at the top with maybe a DB or DL thrown into the mix for the top ten. It’ll be different based on how we each start our players during the season, but I figured the safe bet would be a Linebacker that was selected as a keeper and Roquan Smith has a knack for causing turnovers along with racking up the tackles. My runner-up is LB T.J. Watt (NUKEM). Yahoo predicts: LB Micah Parsons (Michael Style) over LB Shaquille Leonard (Ferocious Felines)

League OROY: RB Breece Hall (Michael Style)

Running Back has won OROY all three years and that’s because RB is the easiest position to transition into as a rookie. To be fair, had Trey started Ja’Marr Chase every week last year he would have taken home the award, but I don’t see a Chase in this year’s Receiving class. Also, barring injury or really bad play, Hall should see plenty of time in Alex's starting lineup. My runner-up is RB Kenneth Walker (Space Rangers). Yahoo predicts: RB Breece Hall (Michael Style) over WR Drake London (ay_Bilat)

League DROY: DL Kayvon Thibodeaux (Michael Style)
There are a handful of rookie defenders that I could see receiving a serious amount of starting time from their fantasy teams. I feel like Thibodeaux has the best shot at both earning that starting time and playing well enough as a rookie to keep it. My runner-up pick is LB Nakobe Dean (ay_Bilat). Yahoo predicts: DB Kyle Hamilton (Space Rangers) over LB Devin Lloyd (Shenron's Wish)

Championship: NUKEM over ay_Bilat

I used a little odd scoring system I came up with based on each team’s most likely starting lineup each week and these two finished with the best records and ended up making it to the championship with NUKEM beating ay_Bilat, so that’s what I’m rolling with. Yahoo predicts: NUKEM finishing with the best record and ay_Bilat finishing second

FUN STATS TO TRACK THIS SEASON

Turnover: For each of the league’s first three seasons we have seen: three different MVPs, three different highest scoring teams and three different champions!!

I’ll take the MVP one step further: NO MVP or MVP runner-up has ever shown back up in either category. Year one saw Christian McCaffrey beat out Lamar Jackson, year two was Josh Allen over Kyler Murray and year three was Jonathan Taylor over Cooper Kupp. Will we see two new fresh faces again this year? I certainly think so (Look at my MVP prediction above).

Fun Fact: This past season NUKEM became the first and only team so far to make a reappearance in the championship game.

Is there a Curse on the Highest Scoring Team? No team that has finished the year with the most points went on to win the championship. The first two teams to finish with the most points failed to finish top three (2019 - Shenron’s Wish [4th place] and 2020 - ay_Bilat [6th place]). NUKEM also prevented that from becoming a streak last year thanks to their 2nd place finish.

The Yahoo Jinx: Each year I go through Yahoo’s post draft predictions and track who they have finishing where. And each year the team they pick to win the league fails to even make the championship. Year 1 Yahoo took Fear Itself who ended up in 7th place. Years 2 and 3 Yahoo took ay_Bilat who finished 6th and 3rd respectively. Will it happen again this year? I’m sure Pastor Dad hopes it won’t.