GWBL 2025 SEASON RECAPS – 7th PLACE (FRADER)
Tale of the Tape:
Coming in 7th place is Deebo Baggins, owned and managed by Jon Frader. Frader finished with 1,802 points for (7th), 1,890 points against (5th most) and a record of 5-9.
Synopsis:
Like the other bottom 4 teams, this season was a letdown for the fans. Unlike the other bottom 4 teams however, Frader was in the mix for most of the season. He came out firing on his way to a 4-2 record. It looked like he was a surefire playoff team before the foundation started to show cracks. The strong start gave way to a 3 game losing streak covering Weeks 6-9 (usually nice, not in this case), which was the beginning of the end.
While Frader was able to draw even at 5-5 after Week 10, the other contenders in the league had surpassed him by this point. He dropped each of his last 4 matchups, 3 to future playoff teams (DMO, Dyl, Keetz). The great indignity was the Week 12 loss to Tieg. It was the classic trap-game and Frader lost to Tieg 103-118.
Along the way Frader had some really tough weeks. The matchup sequencing killed him. He’d put up a nice score, only to be outscored by a strong opponent. Then when his opponent crapped out, he’d crap out even more. Like the crap Randy Marsh did in South Park, that big. If you know you know. A few examples:
Week 2: Lamone put up a very beatable 111. Frader couldn’t take advantage, putting up 89 himself.
Week 5: Frader put up a solid 130, only for Keetz to score 141.
Week 7: Frader lost a heart breaker to DMO, 142-147. As DMO would say circa 2009 “BAD BEAT”.
Week 11: Once again Lamone left the door open with a 121 point performance. Frader couldn’t capitalize and scored 93.
Week 12: As I noted above, Frader had an easy win in his grasp. If only his team had noticed.
Signature Win/Loss:
We talked about this one as it was happening – it was the Week 13 loss to Dylan’s squad. At the time Frader was 5-7 and barely hanging on. He had dropped 2 straight and was in a must win matchup. Dyl was 6-6 and one spot ahead in the standings. If Frader wins he ties Dyl in H2H record and forces a win or go home Week 14 matchup for each team. Sadly for Deebo his team fell 141-154. Putting up 141 and losing hurts. Losing by 13 really hurts when your opponent’s defense puts up 29(!!) points. The 23 point differential between Dylan’s defense (SEA) and Frader’s defense (DEN) was the deciding factor. Frader dropped to 5-8, Dylan improved to 7-6.
Miscellaneous Draft Results & Personnel Moves:
Just like his overall season experience, Frader was victimized by some Fool’s Gold this year. Marvin Harrison Jr. comes to mind first, his 3rd round pick. MHJ put up 18 points in Week 1 and put up 14 or more in 3 of his first 5. It looked like he’d be a stable contributor until the wheels fell off.
The biggest example of Fool’s Gold was Emeka Egbuka. The rookie took the fantasy world by storm early on. He averaged 20.5 points per game the first 5 weeks and was a top 10 WR. He had 5 TDs in 5 games and looked to be a league winner. Until something happened… Injury? Rookie wall? The return of Godwin? We’ll find out this offseason, but it wasn’t pretty from Week 6 on. The rest of the way he only hit double digits (in full PPR mind you), TWICE. He’s only scored 1 TD since Week 5.
The Travis Hunter (6th round) experience was interesting, but not in a good way. The dual purpose rookie got off to a slow start but had just found his stride in Week 7. He put up 24 points on 8-101 and a TD. A few days later he suffered a non-contact injury in practice and was done for the year.
Ricky Pearsall (7th round), failure to launch. He was good when he played but injured half the season.
Kyle Pitts was a brutal turn of events. Frader drafted him in the 11th round and then dropped him 2 weeks after the keeper deadline. Right before he went off.
Even worse was Cam Skattebo. Frader snagged him off waivers and was enjoying a breakout until the injury. As with the Giants, this injury seemed to take the air out of the team.
On the bright side: Zach Charbonnet was a good pick in the 9th round. If they turn the backfield over to him next year he could be an awesome keeper (Walker is a FA if I remember correctly).
The two blockbuster trades Frader made were notable. One for Saquon and one for Waddle. Unfortunately neither provided the boost he needed to make playoffs, but you have to give props to Frader. Pushed his chips in and went for it.
Keeper, I barely Know Her:
Frader has to be thrilled with his keeper this year. He elected to keep Bijan at 1.10 and was rewarded with an RB2 season. Keeping a player that costs high draft capital is always a debate, but it was a savvy decision in this case. Bijan was a consensus top 3-4 player and getting him at 1.10 was a steal. While it sucks that these last three monster games didn’t help Frader at all (44 points this week, season high), at least he can sleep at night knowing he hit on his keeper.
Drake Maye, 10th round, next question. Okay fine, some details: Maye is QB2 and like Bijan, he saved his best for championship week. The 37 he scored against the New York Kevs was his season high. Maye was remarkably consistent this year as well: only one game under 19 points (16 in Week 5).
Final Thoughts:
Tough season for Frader but there’s no shame in it. It’s always tough being the first team outside the bubble but at least the season wasn’t a total loss. He showed some guts and has a great keeper for next year. Onward and upward.
