2009 - The Year of the Zoo

Although I was disappointed I didn't make the finals of our fantasy league, I was happy for Stacey and Kevin to have some success. It was exciting to see the finals come down to OT and Kevin standing a 40 yard Adrian Peterson TD away from victory. Since we live far apart, I wanted to share a little bit of Stacey's victory. But first, I want to take a look back at Mike's analysis of her team after the draft.

Zoo Tycoons
1) Are McNabb and Roethlisberger reliable enough? Both play in reasonably difficult divisions, and both have strong defenses with capable running games. The chances for 300+ yard games with 3 TDs are less with both of these guys, but they do have some decent receivers to throw to. Can they do it consistently?
Yes, they ended up being the #11 and #9 QBs this year respectively. Roethlisberger's 30 in Week 15 and McNabb's 23 in Week 16 were huge difference makers during the playoffs.

2) Will DeAngelo and MJD produce as top-5 backs? There are differing opinions on both. There are questions (time shares, workload concerns) about both, but at the very least they should be decent. If they are top-5, however, watch out…
Yes and no. MJD was the #2 fantasy back this year, but Williams was 12th and surprisingly ended up slightly worse than teammate Jonathan Stewart due to periodic injuries. MJD produced 9 double digit games, including 3 performances of 20+ points.

3) After Andre Johnson…who will step up? Antonio Bryant has been hurt and Tampa seems to be going towards a ground attack. Avery is in St. Louis with a dismal offense. Colston is in a great offense, but the ball gets spread around to everyone. Will there be enough touches for him? Can she get legit production from these guys?
Johnson finished as the #3 WR, but Marques Colston stepped up as a solid #2 with 1000+ yards and 9 TDs. Stacey's #3 WR position was definitely one of her weakest positions on the team. Also, Visanthe Shiancoe didn't get a ton of yards, but he finished with the 3rd most TDs among TEs.

Stacey didn't make a lot of moves this season, but she had a strong draft (As did Kevin with Adrian Peterson, Aaron Rodgers and Frank Gore). Her QBs held up through most of the season and MJD and Andre Johnson produced consistently. Even though she squeaked into the playoffs in week 14, I think she had a pretty solid team.

In the end, Adrian Peterson's fumble cost Minnesota the game and Kevin the championship.



I think she was equally excited to see Brett Favre lose the game and look very solemn.



And here's the 2009 Knob Hill Fantasy Champion, Zoo Tycoons! And the belt is staying in my house!! It was a fun season and I'm looking forward to next year.



I love the look on Boo's face, by the way. She's like "ooo - what's that?!"