Fantasy Draftathlon, Event 6: TV Characters

The Fantasy Draftathlon returns this week – and the only drama remaining might be just how big a lead Mike Tagliere can build over the second half of the competition.

Tags enters the back stretch with a six-point advantage over runner-up Dan Harris, who just might be the only analyst who has a shot at catching him. Bobby Sylvester and Kyle Yates are well back of the leader, but had the first two picks in our latest draft melee, in which the analysts selected the top television characters of all time.

The rules for this draft were (fairly) simple:

Analysts were required to fill 25 total slots, with no category requirements.
Only fictional characters were allowed.
A character that appeared in multiple shows was given credit for all shows (Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul characters, for example.)

Here’s a look at the results:

Final Draft Board

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Notable Omissions

Frasier Crane (Cheers/Frasier)
Penny (Big Bang Theory)
Bender (Futurama)
Kim Wexler (Better Call Saul)
Rachel Green (Friends)
Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Elaine Benes (Seinfeld)
Jack Tripper (Three’s Company)
ALF (ALF)
Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek: The Next Generation/Star Trek: Picard)
Sophia Petrillo (Golden Girls)
Thomas Magnum (Magnum, P.I.)
Raymond Reddington (The Blacklist)
Fox Mulder (The X-Files)
Dana Scully (The X-Files)
Peter Griffin (Family Guy)
Spock (Star Trek)
Edith Bunker (All in the Family)
Monica Geller (Friends)
Leonard Hofstadter (Big Bang Theory)

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Who wins Event 6 of the Fantasy Draftathlon?

— FantasyPros (@FantasyPros) May 13, 2020

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Oh, Pheebs

Smelly cat, smelly cat,
What are they feeding you?
Smelly cat, smelly cat,
It’s not your fault.

The selection of Phoebe Buffay in the 10th round might have been the most controversial pick in any of the Fantasy Draftathlons held to date. Bobby wasted no time kicking off the debate in typical succinct fashion:

And it didn’t stop there, as the extended FantasyPros family became involved in the discussion, as well. More than one colleague suggested that the blonde-haired, flaky, triplets-having musician wannabe was the worst of the six Friends characters, while others suggested she should at least be in the top-three discussion. In a draft that was otherwise devoid of drama, it was Princess Consuela Bananahammock who caused the biggest stir of all.

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Question Period

Q1. Which early pick (Rounds 1-10) do you most wish you could do over again?

’ll be honest, I did not expect my selection of Phoebe Buffay to evoke quite the harsh reaction that it did. No, Phoebe is not worth a 10th-round pick in my rankings, but with Yates, who basically lives in his Friends hoodie, drafting his team from ~~online~~ like four shows, I assumed that it was my last chance to take a Friends character. That was especially true given that I (accurately) assessed I could wait on the vast majority of my remaining picks. Nevertheless, given that I clearly misjudged Phoebe as a “well, this should be a pretty safe” type of pick, and the fact that I still had plenty of choices remaining on my board after the draft ended, that pick in Round 10 was clearly an error.
-Dan Harris (@danharris80)

If I had to pick one, it’d probably be Dexter Morgan in the third round. Not because he’s not high on my board – he is – but because none of the other guys minded that I took him and hadn’t seen the show. I could’ve stolen some value and taken him a few rounds later, while taking someone like Phil Dunphy or Andy Dwyer at that point.
-Mike Tagliere (@MikeTagliereNFL)

I took some guy named Charlie from some show named It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. As you can tell, I never saw the show, and apparently he is a fan favorite. The problem here, is that this was the only one of my picks that the other analysts didn’t groan and complain about. I could have taken Costanza here instead and hit the Seinfeld stack!
-Bobby Sylvester (@bobbyfantasypro)

My choice would probably be Doug Judy from Brooklyn Nine Nine. While I love the character, and think he’s worthy of the selection, I probably could have played the board a little bit more and gotten him later. However, I don’t regret the pick whatsoever.
-Kyle Yates (@KyleYNFL)

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Q2. Which late pick (Rounds 21-25) are you most happy about?

You could really take your pick here IMO. But for me, I’ll go with Norm Peterson, if only because I knew the rest of this crew wouldn’t take any of the other picks. Cheers is an all-time classic show and although you can debate the most influential character, few were as solid as Norm. His standard one-liners and self-deprecating humor never changed from the show’s beginning to end, and he embodied the everyday barfly. I could have gone with Coach or even Sam Malone, but Norm embodied Cheers, an iconic show, more than anyone else.
-Dan Harris (@danharris80)

I really do love all my picks, but I’m going to go with Matt Saracen from Friday Night Lights. Not only is he (Zach Gilford) a fan of our podcast, but he played the sport that we talk about for a living in that role, and the show wouldn’t have been the same without him.
-Mike Tagliere (@MikeTagliereNFL)

After 20 rounds of ruthless obliteration of my competition, I finally made two “Bobby” picks. Not many have been Freaks and Geeks but those who have absolutely love it. I took the best character from that show, Bill, and also grabbed my #3 favorite TV show character, Theo Huxtible (#1 Phil Dunphy, #2 Barney Stinson).
-Bobby Sylvester (@bobbyfantasypro)

Craig Middlebrooks was a steal with my 22nd pick. For those who have watched Parks and Rec, you know how amazing Craig is and what he brought to that show. He certainly brings an added energy to this squad that you won’t find anywhere else.

-Kyle Yates (@KyleYNFL)

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Q3. Why do you think you should win the competition?

I think my lineup is, top to bottom, exceptionally strong. It’s varied between dramas (Walter White, Tony Soprano, Omar Little), comedies (Selina Meyer, Al Bundy, George Costanza, Gob Bluth), recent or on-air shows (Arya Stark, Raymond Holt, Gus Fring) and classics (Norm Peterson, Alex P. Keaton, Zack Morris, C.J. Cregg). While each of the other drafters took various characters that wouldn’t have cracked my top 100, each of mine is firmly in my top 50. Strong starting lineup, excellent depth, no holes. It’s a clear winner.
-Dan Harris (@danharris80)

It was said best during those old Gatorade commercials. Everybody wants to “Be Like Mike.” My roster isn’t full of characters from just two shows, like Yates. It’s well-rounded. My roster is filled with characters I’ve actually watched, unlike Bobby. Lastly, I have easily recognizable characters that people know, unlike Dan, who I’m fairly certain took characters that don’t actually exist.
-Mike Tagliere (@MikeTagliereNFL)

Every season, there are tens of thousands of brand new fantasy football coaches who don’t know what to do. I always point them to ECR (the expert consensus rankings) because it’s like having a team of experts in your war room with you. Well, I don’t watch TV often so I needed all the help I could get. I created my own ACR (Audience Consensus Ranking) by compiling the power rankings of 68 of my followers. That ACR powered much of my draft and since you all are the experts in the field, you know I dominated the other analysts.
-Bobby Sylvester (@bobbyfantasypro)

If you like comedies, it’s hard to go anywhere else with your vote. The other guys went in with the approach of casting a wide net, but it weakened their teams across the board. If you enjoy laughing, there’s no other roster that’s worth voting for here.
-Kyle Yates (@KyleYNFL)

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