Fantasy Football: Baylor Edition

With most fantasy football league championships happening this week, I thought it might be fun to look at what fantasy numbers would have looked like for Baylor along with the rest of the Big 12 Conference this season. If you regularly read the blog, then you're probably a fan of the Bears, which means you probably like offense, which means this will probably be fun.

SCORING

Passing
Touchdown pass: 4 points
Every 25 yards passing: 1 point
Interception: -2 points
Rushing
Touchdown rush: 6 points
Every 10 yards rushing: 1 point
Receiving
Touchdown reception: 6 points
Every 10 yards receiving: 1 point
Miscellaneous Offense
Kickoff Return TD: 6 points
Punt Return TD: 6 points
Fumble lost: -2 points
Kicking
PAT Made: 1 point
FG Made (0-39 yards): 3 points
FG Made (40-49 yards): 4 points
FG Made (50+ yards): 5 points
FG Missed: -1 point
Defense
Defensive TD: 6 points
Special Teams TD: 6 points
Turnover Forced: 2 points
Blocked Kick: 2 points
Safety: 2 points
Sack: 1 point
Also +/- depending on points and yards allowed (too long to list, just trust me)

BAYLOR FANTASY STATS

Quarterback

	SMU	NWST	BUFF	ISU	UT	TCU	WVU	KU	OU	OSU	TT	KSU	TOTAL
Bryce Petty	22.5	--	33.7	32.1	13.1	42.7	16.0	24.2	18.7	22.8	14.9	25.1	265.8
Seth Russell	11.6	44.4	14.4	5.2	--	--	--	11.1	1.8	--	10.2	--	98.7
Chris Johnson	2.8	1.8	0.1	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	4.7

This is an interesting case in that Petty actually put his best fantasy numbers when he was struggling with injuries and decision making in the first half of the season. In his best two performances of the season against Oklahoma and Kansas State, Petty only threw one TD in each of those games as the RBs got all the fantasy glory. Bryce's highest scoring game of the season was the TCU game thanks to the 6 TD bombs he dropped on Patterson's defense. You might notice that the highest scoring single game belongs to Seth Russell against Northwestern State, which he did entirely in the first half.

Running Back

	SMU	NWST	BUFF	ISU	UT	TCU	WVU	KU	OU	OSU	TT	KSU	TOTAL
Shock Linwood	12.9	14.6	22.1	26.2	20.8	15.8	12.9	14.1	20.7	17.7	29.3	15.1	222.2
Devin Chafin	0.7	--	--	--	3.4	10.3	3.1	23.6	15.5	29.9	3.4	--	89.9
Johnny Jefferson	7.3	14.7	11.2	10.8	7.2	--	--	5.2	1.9	2.6	10.7	16.6	88.2
Silas Nacita	8.0	22.4	1.0	1.5	--	--	--	4.2	--	--	--	--	37.1

Shock Linwood was probably the most consistent fantasy performer for the Baylor offense this season. Shock put up a touchdown in 11 of 12 games, and he had over 170 yards in the game that he didn't get in the end zone. He never reached 30 fantasy points in a game but also never had less than 12.9. The best stretch of games might belong to Devin Chafin between the Kansas and Oklahoma State games. His 3 TD performance against OSU was a Baylor RB high of 29.9 fantasy points. Johnny Jefferson also came on strong the last couple weeks of the season. I included Salsa Nacho in this because we love the Salsa Nacho and that 22.4 he put up against Northwestern State makes me smile.

Wide Receiver

	SMU	NWST	BUFF	ISU	UT	TCU	WVU	KU	OU	OSU	TT	KSU	TOTAL
Corey Coleman	--	--	--	21.4	9.0	28.6	13.4	29.0	35.1	15.9	11.7	4.1	168.2
KD Cannon	12.3	40.3	24.9	5.6	0.8	18.4	1.0	5.3	1.7	3.0	3.9	3.3	120.5
Antwan Goodley	0.0	--	--	11.4	12.9	28.4	19.5	0.7	9.2	5.0	8.8	20.9	116.8
Jay Lee	14.3	13.5	25.6	0.0	0.0	12.8	0.0	3.5	4.3	13.3	2.6	5.7	95.6
Levi Norwood	2.6	--	--	--	0.4	0.8	0.8	9.4	1.1	4.3	12.3	6.2	37.9
Lynx Hawthorne	2.2	0.9	24.3	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.0	--	--	--	28.5
Davion Hall	8.6	13.8	2.8	0.8	0.0	--	--	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	27.0
Clay Fuller	--	--	--	2.1	0.0	0.1	0.0	2.3	0.0	0.0	5.0	7.4	16.9

Hey remember that time at the beginning of the season when all of our starting receivers were hurt? You end up with several viable fantasy players at WR. Guys like Jay Lee, Davion Hall and Lynx Hawthorne filled in while KD Cannon burst out with one of the most electric starts to a career you'll ever see from a true freshman. KD put up a ridiculous 40.3 against Northwestern State yet his production tapered off a bit in conference play. But oh was Corey Coleman good. Coleman went over 21 points 4 times in a 6 game span, highlighted by a 35.1 point performance against Oklahoma. Antwan Goodley may not have lived up to preseason hype but still had some big performances in big games against TCU and Kansas State. Injuries derailed Levi Norwood's chance to put up big numbers but Jay Lee mixed in some nice games.

Tight End

	SMU	NWST	BUFF	ISU	UT	TCU	WVU	KU	OU	OSU	TT	KSU	TOTAL
Tre'Von Armstead	8.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.9	11.7
Jordan Feuerbacher	--	1.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.5
Gus Penning	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2

That Tre'Von Armstead touchdown grab and subsequent grenade launch into the band in the 1st quarter against SMU? That was Baylor's only TD catch this season by a tight end. In fact, Baylor TEs only caught 7 passes the entire season, with Armstead grabbing 4 of them. Art Briles' offense has never regularly utilized the tight end in the passing game but this season took it to an extreme.

Kicker

	SMU	NWST	BUFF	ISU	UT	TCU	WVU	KU	OU	OSU	TT	KSU	TOTAL
Chris Callahan	5.0	8.0	5.0	6.0	4.0	19.0	9.0	18.0	12.0	6.0	12.0	9.0	113.0

Because of the amount of points that Baylor's offense puts up, having a Baylor kicker on your fantasy team is always a smart move. Chris Callahan's numbers obviously took a turn for the best when he started hitting field goals with regularity (see TCU for an example). After a 1-for-6 start, Callahan hit 15 of his last 16 field goals over the final 7 games of the season.

Defense

	SMU	NWST	BUFF	ISU	UT	TCU	WVU	KU	OU	OSU	TT	KSU	TOTAL
Baylor Defense	29.0	13.0	6.0	5.0	19.0	-2.0	5.0	11.0	5.0	7.0	-3.0	2.0	97.0

The Baylor D got off to a HUGE start by picking up 29 fantasy points for shutting out SMU, holding the Mustangs under 100 yards and sacking the QB 9 times. The Bears were unable to repeat that type of performance again but were pretty solid for the rest of the season with a few hiccups along the way. Baylor's fantasy numbers were hindered by the fact that they were only able to get 1 non-offensive TD all season, the blocked field goal return by Terrell Burt against Texas. For reference, Baylor had 9 (nine!) non-offensive TDs in 2013.

So how did the Baylor numbers stack up against the rest of the Big 12?

BIG 12 FANTASY STATS

*Single game rankings for Big 12 games only*

Quarterback

Season
1. Trevone Boykin, TCU: 376.3
2. Jake Waters, KSU: 289.6
3. Bryce Petty, BU: 265.9
4. Sam Richardson, ISU: 218.9
5. Trevor Knight, OU: 194.3
Single Game
1. Trevor Knight, OU at ISU: 49.8
2. Patrick Mahomes, TT v. BU: 48.6
3. Trevone Boykin, TCU v. ISU: 48.3
4. Trevone Boykin, TCU v. TT: 48.1
5. Jake Waters, KSU v. TT: 44.1

Not only was Trevone Boykin the Big 12 Player of the Year, he was also the best option for your fantasy team this year as well. Boykin had nearly 85 more total points than any other player in the conference and was a consistent high performer all season. Fantasy points tend to really reward running QBs so that aspect certainly helps guys like Boykin and Trevor Knight. Jake Waters quietly had a really nice season for K-State. Had Bryce Petty not missed the Northwestern State game and a couple other halves due to injury, he likely would've finished ahead of Waters. I was certainly surprised to see Sam Richardson finish up 4th overall. A guy to keep an eye on next year for fantasy would be Patrick Mahomes if he can claim the starting spot at Texas Tech as he finished with 3 straight games of 30+ points.

Running Back

Season
1. Samaje Perine, OU: 290.5
2. Shock Linwood, BU: 222.2
3. DeAndre Washington, TT: 165.1
4. Aaron Green, TCU: 151.4
5. Charles Jones, KSU: 140.7
6. B.J. Catalon, TCU: 135.6
7. Aaron Wimberly, ISU: 132.4
8. Rushel Shell, WVU: 127.7
9. Desmond Roland, OSU: 124.2
10. Corey Avery, KU: 118.8
Single Game
1. Samaje Perine, OU v. KU: 74.6 (!!!)
2. Samaje Perine, OU at WVU: 48.2
3. Samaje Perine, OU at TT: 39.3
4. DeAndre Washington, TT at ISU: 35.7
5. Devin Chafin, BU v. OSU: 29.9

No, that 74.6 point game from Samaje Perine is not a misprint. He actually did run for 427 yards and 5 TDs against Kansas. That is a thing. Perine was just flat out dominant in a number of games this season, hence why he led the conference and had the top 3 single game scores. Shock Linwood came in as the clear #2 after his stellar season. The pack stacks up after that led by emerging Texas Tech RB DeAndre Washington. TCU's B.J. Catalon probably would've been a top 3 guy if he could've stayed healthy towards the end of the season, which actually helped the numbers of his teammate Aaron Green.

Wide Receiver

Season
1. Tyler Lockett, KSU: 202.8
2. Kevin White, WVU: 185.8
3. Corey Coleman, BU: 168.2
4. Mario Alford, WVU: 160.2
5. Josh Doctson, TCU: 147.9
6. John Harris, UT: 143.5
7. Bradley Marquez, TT: 142.1
8. Jakeem Grant, TT: 135.3
9. Sterling Shepard, OU: 129.8
10. Curry Sexton, KSU: 125.5
11. KD Cannon, BU: 120.5
12. Antwan Goodley, BU: 116.8
13. Deante' Gray, TCU: 113.2
14. Devin Lauderdale, TT: 100.9
15. Jay Lee, BU: 95.6
Single Game
1. Corey Coleman, BU at OU: 35.1
2. Josh Doctson, TCU v. OSU: 34.5
3. Bradley Marquez, TT v. BU: 31.0
4. Corey Coleman, BU v. KU: 29.0
5. Corey Coleman, BU v. TCU: 28.6

The race for top receiver all season seemed like it was between Tyler Lockett of K-State and Kevin White of West Virginia but Corey Coleman definitely entered the conversation despite missing all of non-conference. Coleman had 3 of the top 5 games in the conference this season while Antwan Goodley's game against TCU was just off the list. You might also notice that Baylor has 4 of the top 15 receivers in the Big 12. #WRU

Tight End

Season
1. E.J. Bibbs, ISU: 86.2
2. Jimmay Mundine, KU: 76.4
3. Zach Trujillo, KSU: 50.9
Single Game
1. Jimmay Mundine, KU v. TCU: 19.7
2. E.J. Bibbs, ISU at UT: 19.3
3. E.J. Bibbs, ISU at OSU: 18.9
4. Aaron Ripkowski, OU v. OSU: 18.8
5. Zach Trujillo, KSU at BU: 14.8

The Big 12 and its array of spread offenses pretty much laugh at the idea of the tight end as a viable weapon in the passing game. That would be why I only bothered to list 3 players in the full season rankings as those guys were the only regular targets for their QB. Both E.J. Bibbs and Jimmay Mundine are excellent players and Zach Trujillo had a nice year for the Snydercats as well.

Kicker

Season
1. Jaden Oberkrom, TCU: 133
2. Josh Lambert, WVU: 129
3. Chris Callahan, BU: 113
4. Michael Hunnicutt, OU: 97
5. Ben Grogan, OSU: 94
Single Game
1. Jaden Oberkrom, TCU v. TT: 25
2. Chris Callahan, BU v. TCU: 19
3. Chris Callahan, BU v. KU: 18
3. Josh Lambert, WVU v. KU: 18
5. Jaden Oberkrom, TCU at BU: 16

In fantasy football, your kicker is usually as good as the offense that he kicks for. This would include Oberkrom, Callahan and Hunnicutt's inclusion in the top 5 of the conference. Josh Lambert had the most field goal attempts by far, which is how he wound up at the 2nd spot. Matthew McCrane was really good for Kansas State after taking over during the Auburn game, but came up just short of making the overall list.

Defense

Season
1. TCU: 182
2. Kansas State: 115
3. Oklahoma: 113
4. Texas: 110
5. Baylor: 97
6. West Virginia: 81
7. Oklahoma State: 66
8. Kansas: 52
9. Texas Tech: 7
10. Iowa State: 1
Single Game
1. TCU (at UT): 34
2. Kansas State (v. OSU): 23
3. Texas (at KU): 20
3. TCU (v. ISU): 20
5. Baylor (at UT): 19

It shouldn't be a surprise to see TCU running away with the overall ranking due to the amount of turnovers and non-offensive touchdowns that the Frogs came up with this season. It is certainly interesting that there is a pretty clear gap between the top and bottom halves of the conference. If Baylor could've just put a couple of the returns in the end zone that instead got stopped inside the 10 yard line, the Bears could've easily been up with Kansas State and Oklahoma. I also found it comical that in their 12 games, Iowa State's defense scored an entire 1 point.

And just for fun, here's the defensive score against the offenses of the Big 12:
1. Baylor: -12
2. TCU: 2
3. Oklahoma: 23
4. Kansas State: 24
5. Texas Tech: 31
6. Iowa State: 65
7. West Virginia: 68
8. Oklahoma State: 95
9. Kansas: 110
10. Texas: 113

To explain that one a little further, this is saying that opposing defenses scored a total of -12 points against Baylor's offense, 2 against TCU, etc. Lowest score wins in this case. Lol at Texas.

Let me know what you think of this post idea in the comments. Is this something you guys would be interested in seeing as a weekly post next season?