2018 - Award Nominees

With the sun starting to set on another pulse raising LOC season, it's time to reflect on the greatest achievements with the annual LOC awards. Every year we see some exceedingly good team selection and roster management, drafts, waiver adds, trades, extraordinary comebacks and bounce backs, teams that defy all expectation, and some with a touch of Lady Luck. We can’t all win the Stubbs Trohpy, but we all have a shot at the awards.

Luck award: for the team that had a healthy dose of luck on their side, whether by being fortunate in their schedule, not changing their team, or playing players that should never be in a starting lineup.

- IKSAN: certainly the favourite for the category. They conceded the least points among all LOC teams in 2018, scored the 3rd lowest amount of points (only just ahead of the Gridiron Gang and Patistan), and were 10th in breakdown with a 43-100 record through 13 weeks, only 6 and 12 wins better than Gridiron Gang and Patistan. Yet, they found themselves without a losing record, and nearly a playoff berth. A lot of luck, and a lot of gypsy wins, played a part in this. 

- Ross’s Team: No, I'm not listing the team names here before you ask. Ross is trying to set a new bar for the IKNAN of old. And by that I mean, make the fewest roster moves and team changes as possible. Did you know Ross only made 14 player adds during the 2018 LOC season, only one of which being a player claimed on waivers? $15 for Jonnu Smith in case you were wondering. He finished the season with $115, $15 more than when he started. And was also starting the likes of Jalen Richard, Theo Riddick, and Dede Westbrook by seasons end. Yet, Ross was in the playoff hunt for a long time, and still won a fair few games. How? Another strong contender.

- Tom’s Tyrants: Now bear with me here. Much of Tom’s season was pure master class in coaching and general management. But, just ponder this for a second. How many impactful waiver adds does a team have per season? Now ponder this - how many of those became Week in Week out studs? Not many. Yet Tom picked up Nick Chubb and James Conner from free agency and they were both every week linchpins of the side. Tom still would have had a good season without them, but it certainly would not have been the dominant display they’ve achieved with them. Therefore, he was quite lucky to get not one, but two gifts in a free agent RB1.

- The Tuckfards: Gurley. Done, move on. He is the horse that pulls the cart, without him the cart doesn’t move. Need I say more?

Overachiever award: the team that no one was expecting to do well. Whether they’ve never shown they could do it before, overcome adversity, or simply did a lot better than anyone imagined they could. 

- Obi Wan Ganobi: Coach Gardner has shown flashes in his first few years in the league, but I think this was the year he was elected from gypsy win status to established LOC coach. Through their first few seasons they were very lucky to get as many wins as they did, but this year they were unlucky not to have won more. They’ve shown they can play with the big boys, and taken a major step forward.

- IKSAN: see Luck award. Also, if you’ve seen the RBs Ben has been starting this year you would not have guessed they’d be 7-7. 

- Ross’s Team: see Luck award.

- Forge Flyers: It’s one thing to not have your 1st draft pick available for the whole season. It’s another thing entirely when that’s the case, but you also have to hold onto them for the majority of the season. And have one of your starting RBs being traded to become a back up. And having a starting Ravens RB, because they only give TDs to their backup RBs. Chris had to overcome a lot of crap this year. 

Comeback award: for a great in season turn around, or bouncing back in a big way from previous season(s)

- The Dream Team: it’s not often you see a team go from worst to first, but that’s exactly what Coach Nathwani did this year. After finishing 12th last year, they were the regular season champion this year, can’t comeback much better than that. 

- Burdettinators: Coach Burdett’s side was in the mix going into week 7 at 3-3, but they’d go 1-3 in the following 4 weeks leaving them at 4-6. Playoffs started for them in Week 11, as they couldn’t afford to lose again. They caught lightning in a bottle, and stunned the league to 4 straight wins. Playoffs or not, it was an impressive turnaround right when it was needed most. He also went 33-0(!) in the breakdown statistic in the last 3 weeks of the season. 

- Tom’s Tyrants: after reaching a height not known to any other LOC coach in 2014, winning their second title, Coach Barnes preceded to finish 6th, 10th and 10th in the next 3 seasons. This year, they were the leagues most formidable team for large parts of the season. Although they have slowed down a bit of late, it’s been an impressive comeback season after a few years in the wilderness. 

- Gridiron Gang: an honorary nomination here. Not a likely winner, but there was a time, for quite a while, that it looked like Gridiron Gang might not only set a new league worst record in a season, but may perhaps have been the only team in LOC history to not record a win. The first month of the season they did well, but got pumped by other teams. After that, they were a shell of the team. But, in Week 10 they got their first win, and barring 1 blip and a Carson Wentz choke, they were unfortunate to not win 4 of their last 5. Still, they won 3 out of their last 5, avoiding setting a new career worst record in a season. 

League commissioners award: for outstanding contribution to the league off the field, sportsmanship, or general great achievement. 

- Coach Barnes: picked up the power Rankings this season, and didn’t miss a single week while also delivering a high quality article in a new fresh way. 

- Coach Leach: another season with many appearances on the LOC report, delivering his best season of punditry yet in the new live streaming, screen casting format.

- Coach Sherwood: Writing very interesting, much anticipated, playoff and champion projection articles

- Patistan: it’s easy to throw in the towel when you’re having a torrid season. While he will probably be the first to tell you he didn’t check his team as much as he should have this season, he kept playing and showed good sportsmanship, not running the experience for everyone else. 

GM of the year: for excellence in drafting, trading, and player acquisition

- Tom’s Tyrants: If you're counting so far, yes this is Tom's 4th nomination and we haven't even got to the last category yet. But this is a deserved nomination, and I don't really need to tell you why - but I will! A solid draft underpinned by Rivers, Adams, Gordon and Sanders (with Ingram coming into the fold after a strategic trip to Reserve), was only bolstered by season changing adds of James Conner and later Nick Chubb. Big credit for the Conner one, less so for the Chubb one as it was just a race to the waiver, but credit still needs to be where credit is due. Oh and they of course pulled off a trade, an increasingly difficult task in a very anti-trade league. 

- Burdettinators: Again, no surprises here. A bold draft which consisted of home run picks Watson, McCaffrey, Barkley, Diggs and Cohen was supported by potentially the add of the season in Phillip Lindsay, with a trade acquiring Alshon Jeffery (let's not forget they also did a great job of adding James White who they used to facilitate that trade). They also were quite adept at bringing QBs onto the roster at the right time. 

- Bear Necessities: Does anyone else remember when GM Stubbs Sr. was slated after the draft? A bold-if-not-foolish decision to take Burkhead and Michel in rounds 4 and 6 somehow paid off (though it did take an injury to the former to make it happen), while drafting signal caller Matt Ryan was an absolutely critical part of their season. The big picks for them didn't pan out too well (other than Kelce and Tate), but adding Tyler Boyd, D.J. Moore, and Marlon Mack throughout the season really added another dimension to this team, and was arguably the only reason they were alive in the playoff race. They also pulled off a trade to acquire Jordan Howard. 

- Obi Wan Ganobi: They did overachieve - but a large reason for that overachieving was a fine GM season (spoiler - they will not be up for coach of the year, just look at their points left on the bench on the coach ranking). GM Gardner arguably drafted the best QB combo in the league in Brees and Mahomes, while also getting a trio of studs in Cook, Jones and Beckham, as well as solid contributors Davis, Freeman and Robinson. A trade brought Chris Carson to town, who was pivotal in their last gasp push for the playoffs. 

Coach of the year: The all rounder. Great at team selection, playing the match-ups, not leaving points on the bench, and managing the side

- Tom's Tyrants: I mean I did warn you another nomination was probably coming. Look, it would be criminal for the coach for lead the side that had the most points scored this season to not be nominated for Coach of the Year. Not only that, they also got absolutely pumped for points (not quite to Gridiron Gang's level, but not far off) and STILL went 10-4. Given the plethora of options this team has had all year long, I would say coming 6th in the coach ranking (3 points from 4th) is a pretty darn good performance. Oh, and I'm not going to leave this blurb without mentioning their 108-46 record in the breakdown statistic, best in the league this year. 

- The Dream Team: If Tom is 1A, then Viv and Nige are 1B and 1C. Coach Nathwani steered the 2nd highest scoring team in the LOC this year en route to the regular season championship, with a league best 11-3 record (though don't forget they did have 4 games against Patistan and Gridiron Gang). They were 5th in the coach ranking, a half a point better than Coach Barnes, and 99-55 in the breakdown statistic. But let's not forget Coach Nathwani had the pressure of playing the right QB between Brady and Goff week in and week out, which he handled remarkably. He also made astute lineup decisions, despite losing A.J. Green. The Yeldon handcuff was a boon, as were adds of no name RBs Adams and Edwards. 

- ADRZ: The coach you love to hate - but between all the conjecture, arrogance, and hubris, there's no denying coach Wells has had yet another impressive season, one season of a few in a row now that may end up as part of a multi season hall of fame worthy stretch. While playing the likes of Mark Andrews (who?), Matt LaCosse, and Mike Davis for weeks after he was streamable just sniffed of pure arrogance (and deservedly backfired), you do have to admit that Coach Wells has done a lot with a fairly flawed roster that was yearning for a second RB, a starting TE, and a consistent QB. There were holes, but the team as a whole wasn't bad, and Nige coached out of his mind, leaving just over 100 points on the bench through the season, good for first place. 

- Forge Flyers: Now you may be a bit confused to see a nomination for Coach Leach here, but let me explain. As I pointed out above, Coach Leach had a myriad of issues with his AFC North RBs, Mixon even missed time too. Chris will say to you he deservedly missed out on playoffs, and he's right, but there's no doubt this season could have been an unmitigated disaster without his guiding hand. He would have finished 3rd in the coach ranking if it were not for a fluke week 14 where 2 players on his bench went crazy. The breakdown was not good at 61-93, but this is a team that lost a not really usable Alex Collins, never had their 1st round draft pick, an ineffective Larry Fitzgerald, an old broken Greg Olsen, and Carlos Hyde losing his job overnight, with (other than Kittle) absolutely no other player emerging from his draft class. Yet despite all that, he navigated through muddy waters, and got 7 wins. This was a truly underrated coaching effort.