Think Ultimate team/MyTeam meets NFT pack drops meets fantasy football. Interest piqued? UtimateFan may have the game for you.
UltimateFan has created a unique fantasy offering where fantasy managers open packs to determine their squad and build a lineup. When you sign up, you will get a free pack that will include at least one gold card and will give you enough positional variety to fill out a team for your first week of action. To add more players to your team, there are a few options. The standard pack, available free of charge, can be opened once a week on Tuesdays. The silver packs guarantee you at least two silver cards and one gold. The gold packs guarantee two gold and one silver. The packs are not for sale like with Ultimate team or MyTeam but can be had via subscription. The silver package will grant you one silver pack drop per week for a month, while the gold package will grant one gold pack per week.
UltimateFan’s settings are as follows: touchdowns worth four points for QB’s and six for all other positions. It is full-point PPR with bonus points. Quarterbacks get one point at 200+ yards, two points at 300+ yards, and three points at 350+. On the ground, one point is awarded for 40+ yards, one point for 70+, and three for 100+. Through the air, there is one point for 50+ and one point for 100+. Interceptions and fumbles lost cost one point.
For the team cards, you get five points for a win and -1 for a loss. One point for field goals between 40-49 points, and two for 50+. Furthermore, one point is awarded per sack and two per interception. A special teams touchdown nets you six points. And for the D/ST-like scoring, you get eight points for a shutout, two points for allowing 1-13 points, zero for 14-28, and -3 for 28+. This scoring makes your lineup decision at that spot a critical piece of your weekly lineup decisions. The roster spots are QB, RB, WR, WR, TE, Flex, Team.
Week 14 Pack Results
Week 14’s openings were just what I have been waiting for. The most exciting name I landed was Cooper Kupp. I can lock him as a starter the rest of the way and he will do wonders for my quest to add more gift cards before the end of the season. Other names I added this week include Ezekiel Elliott, Chuba Hubbard, Ty’Son Williams, Julio Jones, Chase Edmonds, and Brandin Cooks. This is the most stacked opening I have had since becoming a subscriber. It is also the first week that I did not land a single duplicate.
Since I am still at the 50 card limit, I had to make some transfers to fit all my new additions onto my squad. I am still holding on to some duplicates in the hopes the trading function rolls out soon. I did have to part with some dupes this week in Dawson Knox, Marvin Jones, and two Austin Hooper cards. The other two players I transferred out were Tommy Sweeney and Jameis Winston (who is done for the season).
Week 14 Team-Building Decisions
QB: Justin Herbert, Derek Carr, Russell Wilson, Baker Mayfield, Matt Ryan
RB: Austin Ekeler, Nick Chubb, Alvin Kamara, Ezekiel Elliott, Kareem Hunt, Chase Edmonds, Tony Pollard, Chubba Hubbard, Derrick Henry, Christian McCaffrey, Benny Snell, Ty’Son Williams
WR: Cooper Kupp, Justin Jefferson, Michael Pittman, CeeDee Lamb, Antonio Brown, A.J. Brown, Julio Jones, Tyler Lockett, DeVonta Smith, Brandin Cooks, Marvin Jones, Laviska Shenault, Jarvis Landry, Kenny Golladay, Emmanuel Sanders, Josh Reynolds, Dwayne Eskridge, D.J. Chark, Corey Davis
TE: Mark Andrews, Jared Cook, Dawson Knox, Austin Hooper, Mike Gesicki, O.J. Howard
Team: Chargers, Ravens, Packers, Broncos, Washington, Titans
As always we will start with my decision at running back. As you can see above, my top two running backs have been lost for the season but I still have a number of studs to choose from. Austin Ekeler is locked into my Week 14 lineup due to his ability to produce fantasy points regardless of gamescript. That leaves me to choose between Kamara, Chubb, Hunt, Elliott, and Hubbard for this weekend. Tony Pollard tore his plantar fascia in Week 13 and will be a game-time decision, while Chase Edmonds may play sparingly (if active) against the Rams on Monday night. Kamara gets the Jets and would be the easy start if Taysom Hill wasn’t around to steal carries and goal line touches. Zeke gets Washington but will be playing through an injury. Chubb and Hunt get Baltimore and will have to deal with the cannibalization effect as well as the potential for negative gamescript. Chuba has an easy matchup against the Falcons but we do not know how the backfield split will be divided up this time around and we also do not know what the Panthers offense will look like post-Brady with a struggling Cam Newton. Kamara is the play.
At wide receiver, Justin Jefferson is not eligible for my Week 14 lineup due to playing on Thursday night. Michael Pittman and Devonta Smith are on bye. A.J. Brown is still on I.R. and Antonio Brown is still suspended. Jarvis Landry, Kenny Golladay, and Julio Jones (if active) have not meshed well with their current quarterbacks. And finally, Laviksa Shenault has been a massive disappointment. This leaves me with Cooper Kupp and CeeDee Lamb locked in as my only WR1’s eligible for Week 14. My decision was made for me due to bye weeks and ineligibility.
At quarterback and tight end there is no debate whatsoever. Justin Herbert is my starter at quarterback until I pull someone comparable or until Russell Wilson strings a couple of good games together. At tight end, Mark Andrews remains locked in as my starter despite the looming presence of Dawson Knox. Knox and even Mike Gesicki are wonderful TE1 options but Andrews is among the true elites at his position. I will not be overthinking either of these decisions until a true competing option emerges.
The team position is once again where my make-or-break decision will be made. Baltimore gets Cleveland. Denver gets Detroit. Los Angeles gets the New York Giants. Washington gets Dallas. Green Bay gets Chicago. Tennessee gets Jacksonville. Of the teams listed, Baltimore has the biggest chance of being upset while Washington is the underdog. Both of the teams are eliminated from contention for the Week 14 start. Denver, Los Angeles, Tennessee, and Green Bay are facing off against some of the worst teams in the league. With that said, we will eliminate the always unpredictable division matchups since we have other good options to choose from. This leaves us to decide between Denver against Detroit and the Chargers against the Giants. Both Denver and Los Angeles are large -9.5 favorites but if forced to choose which of these teams o=could falter and suffer an embarrassing outright loss, the answer would have to be the Broncos. This puts the Chargers as my starter for Week 14.
Now for the golden helmet and the golden football. The golden football doubles the points of anyone who scores a touchdown. I will be keeping it on my QB, Justin Herbert for Week 14. I debated flipping the helmet to Herbert and the football to Ekeler, but I think I will save the flip for a week where I can give the football to someone like Nick Chubb. The golden helmet doubles the points of the player it is assigned to, and for this week, as mentioned above, I will be putting it on Austin Ekeler. Alvin Kamara is at too high a risk of being vultured and is not an option with Ekeler having a career year in the touchdown department.
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Raju Byfield is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Raju, check out his profile and follow him @FantasyContext.
