With the 2013 season comfortably shelved in the annals of NFL lore, now is probably a good time to reflect on the year that was, and perhaps even what could have been. From a fantasy perspective, of course.

What a lark it could be to look at some highs and lows from this past fantasy football season … direct from an insider perspective. And who better to tap into, for his thoughts and reflections on successes and failures of his season, than … me! Disappointed? Hey, I made the playoffs in every league this year, and even won four of them. I only drafted Brandon Weeden in three. That’s a joke; it was only two.

Besides, the whole interview process was less than arduous; I didn’t have to go through someone’s agent or personal assistant or spouse. There were no lost emails, nor was there any phonetag played. I read my own mind for this one. Literally. Let’s hope the dementia hasn’t yet set in.

Know that I’m actually penning this, fresh off my own personal post-Super Bowl blues. I’m a Broncos or Peyton Manning fan, you say? Perhaps I lost some big money from the Seahawks blowout victory? No.

I simply watched the game with good friends with standard fare bar food in Missouri at a kick-butt St. Louis Blues sports bar. So, I can literally use that phraseology here. Get it? I was watching the game AT … oh, you get it.

Carrie Underwood’s Encore

So this year, I was one of those fantasy football owners who waited on drafting a starting quarterback until the later rounds. I felt, going into most drafts, that the position was deep enough that I could focus early on filling a stable full of studly receivers and backs—and even a certain large, former basketball tight end named Jimmy Graham at the tight end position; you may have heard of him—before choosing my signal caller. So that’s generally what happened; I waited on picking a quarterback.

To that end, I wound up with Eli Manning in a couple leagues. I even honored the younger Manning by naming a team in one league The Playbook of Eli, after him. For the week one tilt, Carrie Underwood kicked off the season with her all-new Sunday night anthem, reassuring us that we had, indeed, waited all day for Sunday night.

And from there, it was evident to fantasy owners that Eli was going to have a memorable 2013 season. In that loss to Dallas, Eli went crazy to the tune of 450 yards passing, with four touchdowns. His three interceptions would be overlooked, as he racked up a resounding 28.80 fantasy points.

Cue the downer trumpets from there, friends. This was by far his best performance of the season. He topped 20 fantasy points in … wait, ZERO games the rest of the year. He had less than 10 points in nearly half his starts. Those 28.80 points in week one represented an astounding 17% of his entire season’s points.

Eli did end up having that memorable year, definitely. But the wrong reasons. He threw 27 interceptions and finished behind the other New York quarterback, Geno Smith, in fantasy points on the year. That’s not supposed to happen to a Manning NFL quarterback. You’re supposed to miraculously win big games and host Saturday Night Live.

But that first week was so promising. I won both leagues with Eli as my quarterback. I can remember it like it was just … like it was just … the week before I traded Eli Manning.

Jonesin' for a Touchdown

I’ll say this. Anyone who predicted Marvin Jones would or even could go off for four touchdowns in Cincinnati’s gave versus the New York Jets in week eight is to be commended. Or lauded as some fake football guru. Or featured on national television, as one who counsels the Dalai Lama. Or declared the savior of the world.

Too much? Ok, so I exaggerate; but really? Marvin Jones? One of the ‘other’ receivers the Bengals trot out opposite the manchild A.J. Green each week? Coming into the season, he’d had all of 18 career regular season catches for 200 yards and a touchdown.

Yet, somehow against the Jets, he caught eight balls for 122 yards and four touchdowns. Did I mention that A.J. Green is a pretty good player, through whom most of the Bengals pass distribution starts, and ends? The 36.20 points against the Jets represents more than a quarter of his fantasy points all year. If you take away this one game’s performance, Jones would have finished nearly out of the top 50 of all wide receivers in fantasy scoring on the year.

You may not believe this, but I played against a gal in one league who started Jones against me in week 8. She had Brandon Marshall and Andre Johnson as her other receivers on a bye.

Throw into the mix my own bye week woes, having Matt Forte and Keenan Allen sitting as well. But even so, I had that matchup wrapped up, right? No problem. Screeching halt sound. I lost by about six points. Or, one of Jones’ four scores.

So, thank you Andy Dalton, for forgetting you had Green on your team for a week. Thanks, Marvin Jones, for picking this week to make your name. My fantasy teams have reluctantly forgiven you. I, however, have not. Give me until August and I’ll get back with you on that.

More Than Just Eye Candy in Denver

There’s a wide receiver who plays in Denver. He catches passes on a regular basis from Peyton. He’s a fan favorite for so many who bleed the Orange Crush, especially Bronco fans of the female persuasion. I like to call him The Legend of Jesse James. Boring football fans know him as Eric Decker. I have a female football fan friend that calls him Mancrush Monday. She also likes him to take off his shirt.

In Denver’s high-powered, record-setting 2013 offense, it seemed the receivers took turns receiving targets from the quarterback who took over for Tim Tebow. Yep, I got his name into another story; is it called subliminal marketing if I tell you what I’m doing?

Through 11 games, Decker caught a touchdown or broke 100 yards receiving every third week or so. The four games leading up to week 13 saw Mr. Jesse James TOTAL 170 yards, zero touchdowns and 17 fantasy points. Then week 13 happened.

All he did was catch eight balls for 174 yards, four touchdowns and post 41.40 fantasy points. And he did all this while sitting on my fantasy bench, in the three leagues I owned him.

Now I’m as appreciative of good acting on celebrity reality shows as the next guy. I mean, have you watched The Bachelor or Dance Moms recently? Can you say quality programming? I can say it, but have no idea how it relates to those shows in this example. And as it relates to Decker, I’m convinced he’s a quality dude, an opportunistic personality and a pretty damn good football player.

I just wasn’t convinced his week 12 performance (one catch for five yards) just might not repeat itself. So, he and those 41 points sat on my bench, taunting me while I wallowed in my misery, watching the ticker literally verbally assault me each time he scored another touchdown. Meanwhile, my opponent started Josh Gordon and Alshon Jeffery, with their 38.10 and 36.90 points respectively. Can you say hashtag doublewhammy?

Superstar … Receiver?

The Kansas City Chiefs had a remarkable season in 2013, with Andy Reid turning a two-win team into an 11-5 playoff team. A stout, opportunistic defense played a huge role in the season’s successes, leading the league with seven touchdowns; meanwhile, the special teams chipped in four of their own.

Yet, the shining star—or should I say shining superstar—in a Chiefs uniform this year was none other than Jamaal Charles, the freakishly talented back from the University of Texas. Charles had a monster fantasy year, leading all non-quarterbacks in scoring, finishing only behind Peyton Manning and Drew Brees.

Reid found a way to continue getting Charles touches throughout the course of the season. He finished third in rushing yards, and was consistently involved in the passing offense. His fantasy production was a model of consistency. He averaged over 20 points per game, with only two single-digit fantasy games.

So for a player with consistent weekly expectations, which paid off nearly every week, to wow the fantasy world … something tremendous had to occur. A week 15 visit from the Oakland Raiders was the recipe for a superstar performance from the Superstar himself.

Charles rushed for only 20 yards and a touchdown. But he caught four touchdowns. As a running back. For 195 yards. His 51.50 points were tied for the sixth-most fantasy points scored by any player since 1960, according to ESPN. ** If you had him in PPR leagues, like I did in one league, add another eight points to that total.

He did all this in the midst of the playoffs in every fantasy league in the world, week 15. He singlehandedly won or lost countless games for owners everywhere. In my case, he overcame down weeks from Matthew Stafford, Jordan Cameron, and Shane Vereen to help me defeat my nemesis and advance to the championship.

And if you were anything like me that day, there was much thankfulness and rejoicing in the land of fake football. Oh, and mouthing off to my nemesis buddy.

In all honesty, it was a good year for me in fantasy. Many things just came together swimmingly. I picked right on my running backs, choosing Jamaal Charles and LeSean McCoy over Doug Martin and C.J. Spiller. I got lucky on a couple of later round guys and waiver pickups like Josh Gordon and Keenan Allen. And then the proverbial cards fell into place in the championship week for me in several leagues. For that, I will look back at the 2013 fantasy football season fondly and thankfully. I hope you can, as well.

All in all, it was a great season. Now, about that Brandon Weeden selection. Please don’t remind me.