🚦 Are We Live For $3 Million?

In this week's P.O. Box:

If Week 17 is all that matters, then we are exactly half way through the best ball season as we approach Week 9.

I thought it might be fun to take a look at my Best Ball Mania IV portfolio, overview which teams are currently advancing, my best and worst squads, and things I’ll specifically be sweating down the home stretch…

🚦 28 Advancing Teams:

I’m currently advancing 28 of 150 teams for a slightly above average advance rate of 18.6% (25/150—16.6%—would be expected for an average drafter).

Considering the majority of my drafts were battles with Badge Bros and Deposit Kingdom sharps, I feel pretty good about it.

Here is the full breakdown of advancing teams based on stream type:

☕️ BBB Solo (6) - #3, #11, #23, #24, #119, #134

🏆️ BBB w/ Kerrane (4) - #1, #27, #61, #122,

🌌 BBB w/ Siegele (3) - #93, #117, #130

💪 Swolecast (3) - #29, #54, #131

🏃 Marathon Best Ball Stream (3) - #144 Mattek/Kitchen, #145 Denny, #146 Reebs

👋 Guest Spot (3) - Fantasy Life #21, ETR #38, Liam #135

💦 Splash Play (2) - #19, #60

🚢 Ship Chasing (2) - #72 Rotopat, #86 Chris Allen

🍾 The Club (1) - #6

🥃 Best Ball After Dark (1) - #56 Gretch

It’s incredible that three straight back-to-back drafts from the Marathon stream are currently advancing (must have been the Mimosas), although the Mattek/Kitchen one has an unfortunate Cousins-Tannehill-Stafford QB triumverate.

I only did three drafts that weren’t on my channel—Fantasy Life, Establish The Run, & Liam Murphy—and all three are advancing. Hmmm. We also only did two Ship Chasing drafts with guests and both of those are advancing (s/o Chris Allen and RotoPat). If there’s a theme here, it’s collaborative drafts in rooms that aren’t fully bum-hunted.

I always remember the Splash Play rooms being especially brutal, so no surprise that we are struggling to advance more than a couple there.

I don’t have a ton of third place teams currently, but a decent amount of teams hanging in the Top 6:

🤑 My Best Teams

I currently have two teams in the Top 10k, which is just ok:

The best team is one I posted on Twitter a few weeks back. It was absolutely scorching until the Justin Fields and Devon Achane injuries, but is still very much built for a stretch run.

My other top team was drafted on The Club early in draft season (#6) and could really cook if the Double Anchor RBs (Tony Pollard and Josh Jacobs) ever get going:

My worst team has 709.10 points and was drafted on Best Ball After Dark with Jakob Sanderson. It’s a Joe Burrow premium double with a bunch of dusty RBs and Skyy Moore. I fully blame Jakob and the entire country of Canada for this blight on my portfolio.

🔮 Looking forward to the playoffs

With my three highest exposure players being non-factors to date, I feel pretty decent about where I’m sitting right now:

Week 8 was especially good for a lot of my big stands and could help push some of those Top 6 teams into striking distance:

• Sam Howell (15%), my most drafted QB, was the QB1

• Trey McBride (11%), my sixth highest drafted TE, was the TE1

• Breece Hall (17%), my third highest drafted RB, appears poised for a league-winning finish

• Sam Laporta (17%), my most drafted TE, continues to smash his ADP

• Quentin Johnston (17%), my second highest drafted WR, finally got involved (ok, this is a very small victory, but we’ll take it)

My portfolio is heavily optimized for the playoff gauntlet, and specifically Week 17, so I’m just hoping to squeak as many teams through as possible and then let the Best Ball Gods take the wheel.

Should be a fun homestretch.

💎 Week 9 Hidden Gems for Battle Royale & DFS. Wrote about my favorite offense to target in drafts this week, as well as a sneaky WR play and two RB gems:

☕️ Howell Hype & Pollard Tilt (Week 8 DFS Recap). On this week's Pourtfolio Review, we take a look at our Draftkings DFS lineups, what went right (Eagles & Commanders) and what we tilted (Texans, Jonathan Taylor, and George Pickens). We also review the top lineups in the Deposit Kingdom contest, as well as the Spy and MillyMaker and take away some lessons. We then review the slate on Underdog Fantasy (Battle Royale, Dawg Bowl), including my unfortunate overweight position on Tony Pollard.

🏆️ Fantasy Life roundup. Sorted through the rubble of the Kirk Cousins ACL aftermath, recapped a lackluster NFL trade deadline, and covered some of the gross QBs starting in Week 9.

☣️ The DFS Watchdog Who Keeps The Touts In Line. Nelson Adcock joined LOLz to talk about the PGA DFS landscape, what it takes to win, why he likes to hold touts accountable, and how he flagged a bizarre scoring error on DraftKings recently.

💪 Swolecast: Draftkings Week 9 picks. We also discussed proper tipping etiquette in the gambling space.

🚢 Kitchen vs. JJ, Pick 'Em Hits, & Derrick Henry Debates. The Ship Chasing crew hang out for the Titans/Steelers game with David Kitchen and JJ Zachariason, indulge in the Najee Harris vs. Jaylen Warren discourse, share their biggest whiffs from drafting season, marvel at Kitchen's magic camera, enjoy a wild fourth quarter of sweats and some pick 'em hits, catch up with Steph Miller and her dog Bella, and get into a massive debate about Derrick Henry and the "BBMIV Scale."

🏀 How To Crush Underdog NBA Drafts w/ Andy8052. The Club talk some hoops and Andy's process for NBA drafts on Underdog Fantasy before dipping their toes in the Week 9 NFL slate.

📈 Players On The Rise, Usage Trends & Week 9 DFS Plays. Drico & Sack return for a Halloween edition of Stat Chasing where they break down all of the important usage and trends from Week 8 to prepare you for Week 9 waivers, DFS builds and Underdog Fanasy drafts. Topics covered; Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota offense post-injury, the Gus Bus, Jahmyr Gibbs blows up, Jonathan Taylor cucked by Zack Moss, the Seattle backfield, Ceedee Lamb alpha szn, and Kyle Pitts still battling Jonnu Smith for Arthur Smith's approval.

📊 Ship Chasing High Stakes Team Reviews & Week 9 Waiver Roundup. Steph recaps our high stakes teams and a rough week on the waiver wire:

We got 4 shows on tap before the Week 9 main slate kicks off…

🧩 Block Party: Week 9 DFS Plays & GPP Strat w/ JMToWin

⏱️ Off & On The Clock: Week 9 Draft Party w/ Badge Bros

🥃 DFS After Dark: Interview & DFS Build w/ Joe Holka

🤓 Week 9 DFS Cram: Top GPP Plays & Hidden Gems

👻 I’ve never been a big “Halloween Guy” but then you have a kid and see it through a completely different lens.

Ripping a pair of Peter Pan tights was a small price to pay while celebrating April’s first:

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