2024

Season Story

Shartnado Repeats; Big Tex's Wins Six Straight and Watches

A 6-0 Start Built on Rookies

Shartnado opened 6-0, the only unbeaten team through six weeks, and it was rookie fuel that did it. First-rounder Brian Thomas Jr. and second-rounder Jayden Daniels headlined a lineup that hit 184.1 in a Week 6 wipe of 2nd Hand Smoke, 184.1 to 112.7.

thompr kept early pace, sitting 4-0 and briefly atop the league after a Week 3 178.5, the month's biggest number. The Prodigies and Bama Boy lurked just behind at 4-1, both piling up points even in the games they lost.

The bottom formed fast and looked permanent. Big Tex's Pillow Biters started 0-4 and sat 1-6 after seven weeks; Keep Pounding matched that 1-6 and, unlike Big Tex's, never climbed out. Through seven weeks nobody would have flagged either team as a story worth following.

The Prodigies Led Until the Final Sunday

From Week 10 through Week 14 the standings belonged to The Prodigies. NolesProdigy's team, anchored by rookie tight end Brock Bowers, held the No. 1 slot for five straight weeks and posted a season-best 181.4 in a Week 9 rout of Big Tex's, 181.4 to 106.6.

Then it came down to points. The Prodigies lost Week 15 to Bama Boy 139.3 to 168.0 and fell to 10-5, while Shartnado beat 2nd Hand Smoke 169.2 to 86.6 to finish 10-5 as well. Shartnado's 2164.7 points edged the Prodigies' 2141.6 by 23.1, stealing the No. 1 seed and the first-round bye on the last day.

Bama Boy made it three 10-5 teams and took the No. 3 seed. The top of both divisions had separated from the field; all the real drama was happening behind them.

The 8-7 Logjam and Big Tex's Cruelest Cut

Four teams finished 8-7 for three playoff spots. 1-800-TRADER (2122.1), Puerto Rican Pounders (2011.9), and thompr (1967.1) grabbed seeds 4 through 6; Big Tex's Pillow Biters (1871.5) missed by 95.6 points despite the identical record.

The cruelty was in the sequence. Big Tex's won its final six games, including a Week 15 head-to-head over 1-800-TRADER, 161.8 to 152.0, and still went home while the team it had just beaten played on. A 1-6 start left a points hole a six-week rally could not repay.

The bubble swung on inches elsewhere. Puerto Rican Pounders survived Week 15 by beating 2-13 Keep Pounding 104.5 to 100.8, a 3.8-point sliver that separated playing from packing. thompr claimed the last seed by eliminating KeonCounty head-to-head, 158.9 to 139.0, dropping KeonCounty to 7-8.

Kelce Rentals and Waiver Gold

The trade market split the smart from the desperate. Sitting 1-8, Keep Pounding shipped a 2026 first-round pick to 2nd Hand Smoke for an aging Travis Kelce, mortgaging the future for a rental that could not rescue a 2-13 season.

The champion played it colder. In Week 10, Shartnado sold a redundant Kyler Murray to Big Tex's for a 2025 second-rounder, happy to ride rookie Jayden Daniels instead. Back in the spring, Big Tex's had flipped Rhamondre Stevenson to the Prodigies for the pick that became Ladd McConkey, a clean win.

Waivers mattered as much as trades. 1-800-TRADER pulled Sam Darnold off the wire in Week 2 and rode a career year to the No. 4 seed. Big Tex's found both Chase Brown (Week 1) and Bucky Irving (Week 4) for nothing, two of the year's best running back adds; that the team still missed the playoffs is the season's hardest joke.

The Rookie Draft That Decided the Final

The 2024 class ran the whole season. Shartnado landed Brian Thomas Jr. at 1.10 and Jayden Daniels at 2.11, back-to-back picks that turned into a WR1 and the Offensive Rookie of the Year. That is how a title gets built.

The Prodigies took Brock Bowers at 1.09 and got a record-setting rookie tight end; the two hardest first-round hits in the league met in the final. thompr grabbed Malik Nabers at 1.04, Bama Boy opened the draft with Marvin Harrison Jr. at 1.01, and Big Tex's paired Xavier Worthy (1.06) with McConkey (2.12).

The misses stung just as loud. Keep Pounding spent 1.07 on Jonathon Brooks, who tore an ACL and never got going; 2nd Hand Smoke's Adonai Mitchell (1.08) barely dented a box score. In a class this deep, whiffing on a first-rounder was close to disqualifying.

Shartnado Repeats

The bracket held serve. Both byes advanced: Shartnado poured in 215.2 on its idle first-round weekend, then dispatched 1-800-TRADER 172.9 to 127.5 in the semifinals, while The Prodigies handled Bama Boy 154.1 to 118.2.

The final was not close. Shartnado buried the Prodigies 174.1 to 105.1, a second straight championship for SoFain's franchise after the 2023 crown. Bama Boy took third, 153.6 to 127.3 over 1-800-TRADER.

The 2025 story was already being drafted at the Week 18 deadline, where Big Tex's, fresh off a six-win close that missed by points, stockpiled DK Metcalf, Kyle Pitts, and Drake Maye. The Pillow Biters were done watching.