For fantasy owners, it’s all on the line this weekend. Bragging rights, shiny trophies, cash prizes – you name it – are at stake with league championships playing out. The same can be said for the experts in our accuracy competition. They’ve battled it out for 15 weeks and we’re just 1 week away from crowning 2012’s Most Accurate Expert. Despite the consistency atop our leaderboard, one good or bad week still has the potential to determine who takes home the majority of our accuracy awards. Simply put, we should be in for an exciting conclusion to the competition.
Before we jump too far ahead of ourselves, however, let’s take a look back at which experts made the most accurate predictions in week 15.
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Week 15 Accuracy Results
| Top 10 Experts – Overall Leaderboard* | ||
| Rank | Expert | PAY™ |
| 1. | Mike Clay – Pro Football Focus | 65.6% |
| 2. | Site Projections – numberFire | 64.0% |
| 3. | Scott Pianowski – Yahoo! Sports | 62.1% |
| 4. | Brett Talley – The Fantasy Fix | 62.1% |
| 5. | Jamey Eisenberg – CBS Sports | 61.9% |
| 6. | Mike Krueger – FFToday | 61.9% |
| 7. | John Paulsen – 4for4.com | 61.5% |
| 8. | Bryan Fontaine – Pro Football Focus | 61.4% |
| 9. | Staff Rankings – Bruno Boys | 61.2% |
| 10. | Eric Yeomans – Pro Football Focus | 61.2% |
*See how all 98 experts ranked for the week
Congrats to Mike Clay (Pro Football Focus) for earning top accuracy honors in week 15. This is the 3rd week in a row that Clay has finished in the top 10 so he’s certainly delivered down the stretch with his predictions. As the week’s #1 QB expert, Clay was one of only three experts to rate Russell Wilson (297 yds, 4 TDs) inside his top 12 QBs. He also spotted a quality performance from another young signal caller: Colin Kaepernick. His ranking (QB #8) for Kaepernick (4 TDs) was surpassed by only 2 experts. On the flip side, Clay had a good read on Matthew Stafford’s (0 TDs, 3 INTs) disappointing day. He rated the Detroit QB lowest of all experts at QB #16. This served as a clear bench suggestion for fantasy owners. Meanwhile, at RB, Clay delivered a sleeper hit by slotting Mike Tolbert (2 TDs) above all other experts monitored (RB #32). That ranking served as excellent Flex advice for fantasy owners feeling the pinch of injuries.
Peak Performers
We’d also like to highlight the experts that did the best job of ranking week 15′s peak performers. Below are several key players that came through beyond expectations for fantasy owners along with the experts who delivered their top ranking.
Consensus: QB #17
Best Rank: QB #11
Actual Rank: QB #1
Top Experts: Mike Clay (Pro Footbal Focus), Paul Quadrato (RotoInfo), numberFire
Consensus: WR #44
Best Rank: WR #28
Actual Rank: WR #1
Top Experts: Scott Cullen (TSN), Greg Smith (The Fake Football), Michael Sherman (FTA), numberFire
Consensus: WR #25
Best Rank: WR #10
Actual Rank: WR #2
Top Expert: scoutPro
Consensus: RB #35
Best Rank: RB #23
Actual Rank: RB #2
Top Expert: WhatIfSports
Consensus: RB #49
Best Rank: RB #36
Actual Rank: RB #4
Top Expert: Scott Pianowski (Yahoo! Sports)
Consensus: RB #46
Best Rank: RB #32
Actual Rank: RB #7
Top Expert: Mike Clay (Pro Football Focus)
Consensus: TE #11
Best Rank: TE #3
Actual Rank: TE #1
Top Expert: Dave Richard (CBS Sports)
Year-to-Date Accuracy
| Top 10 Experts – YTD Leaderboard* | ||
| Rank | Expert | PAY™ |
| 1. | Jody Smith – Gridiron Experts | 62.6% |
| 2. | Sablich Brothers – The New York Times | 62.3% |
| 3. | John Paulsen – 4for4.com | 62.1% |
| 4. | Mike Clay – Pro Football Focus | 62.1% |
| 5. | David Dodds – FootballGuys | 61.9% |
| 6. | Muntradamus – Beast Dome | 61.9% |
| 7. | Mike Tagliere – Tags Fantasy Football | 61.9% |
| 8. | Ken Zalis – Fans Fantasy Football | 61.9% |
| 9. | Bryan Fontaine – Pro Football Focus | 61.8% |
| 10. | Justin Boone – TSN | 61.8% |
*See how all the experts rank for the season
With only 1 week left in the competition, Jody Smith (Gridiron Experts) is holding strong as the #1 expert for the 10th week in a row. The key to Smith’s success has been an uncanny ability to avoid an off week down the stretch. Over the past 7 weeks, Smith’s lowest weekly rating has been #29 (out of 100) and he has 3 top 15 showings sprinkled in. That level of consistency has made him very difficult to surpass given that he continues to out-predict a bulk of the expert field each week. For another expert to catch him at the finish line, it would certainly take a break in that consistency this coming week.
We’ll be back next week to officially crown 2012’s Most Accurate Expert. Until then, best of luck to everyone in your playoff matchups this week!
