We’re so back.
It’s Year 18 in case anyone is counting and Austin has put a two-championship gap between himself and the next closest competitors (myself & Ian) after a 2007-Giants-esque run to his 4th Fauxbardi.
It’s yet another example of why I love this particular league and its managers. Outside of Ruthlessberger’s 12 wins last season, the rest of us were between 9-5 and 5-9. In fact, our winner, Butt Fumble, had 6 wins during the regular season. Last place Turn down for Watt had 5.
I mean, our league already has no undefeated and no winless teams this year. It’s only Week 4, people. The margin between the throne of the league and the throne of your bathroom is razor-thin.
That means two things at once: 1) These first four weeks are immensely important. You have to make sure you are on the positive side of that razor-thin edge. 2) These first four weeks mean absolutely nothing. You can flirt with disaster until Week 14 and still end up with a Fauxbardi if you get a couple of breaks.
You’ve got the rest of this first edition of our 2026 power rankings to decide whether you’re glass half-full or half-empty.
Read ‘em and weep.
2026 WEEK 4 RANKINGS
Plus-side of the Razor’s Edge
1.
Ruthlessberger
Current Record: (3-1, 3rd)
Y! Draft Grade: B+
Y! Projected Record: (9-5)
Manager: Ian Svendsen
Years in League: 10
Best Finish: Champ (2x - 2022, 2023)
“All I do is score, score, score no matter what.” - DJ Khaled playing fantasy football, probably.
Tyler Shough, D’Andre Swift, Chuba Hubbard, Harold Fannin Jr.
Did you just get a cold chill down your spine? Yeah, me too.
Put some respect on their names. Ruthlessberger’s lineup is terrifying like the Pillsbury Dough-boy with a finger in his belly-button.
That feeling of impending doom, coupled with the ghostly echo of Hubbard, hubbard, hhhhhubbarddddd. Shough/ck, shough/ck, sh-*cough, cough*-shoughhhhh/ckkkkkkk…. Shivers.
Look, it might sound like I’m joking, but I’m just glad I don’t have to face Ruthlessberger until Week 10. More than a couple of you already know what it’s like for this gang to hang 130+ on your head. Until you’ve demonstrated your “stars” can do this consistently, Ruthlessberger is going to be mocking you from the #1 spot in our rankings.
2.
Pewter Pirates
Current Record: (3-1, 2nd [Division 1 leader])
Y! Draft Grade: B+
Y! Projected Record: (10-4)
Manager: Sy Gallimore
Years in League: 18
Best Finish: Champ (2x – 2010, 2020)
Last week, as I mentally thought about how I would power-rank my own team, I wholly planned to label my team as predictable, consistent and boring. The first three weeks were all unremarkable 105-110-point performances. And honestly, I kind of liked that about my team. It just wasn’t going to be great for writing rankings. I was going to have to draw some obscure comparison to a boring-yet-successful team from eras past to drum up at least a shred of interest.
But then, FLASH! Everything is white - so bright that your eyes feel glued shut in a protective instinct so as not to blind yourself. Just as you start to flutter your eyelids, BOOM! A gust of wind like a hurricane blasts past you as you cover your ears. You look up. The sky turns orange. What is happening? Has Oppenheimer finally tested his newest creation?
No, wait, it’s… it’s…
PEWTER PIRATES DROPPING 183 POINTS ON STEVIE KICKS.
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?
Note: 183 points marks the highest single game score in 8 years - since Week 6 of 2018 - when Yours Truly scored 190.
3.
Stevie Kicks
Current Record: (3-1, 1st)
Y! Draft Grade: B
Y! Projected Record: (7-7)
Manager: Stevie Collins
Years in League: 3
Best Finish: 7th (2x - 2024, 2025)
Someone might need to knock on wood here, but… there’s something to Jayden Daniels that we need to talk about. Not by his own volition, but I’m learning that drafting Daniels leads to season-saving roster moves.
Last year, Jayden Daniels dealt with a slew of injuries, causing me to pick up Matt Stafford on waivers, who ended up having an MVP season.
Now, after Stevie Kicks experienced a first four games that include the highest overall Points For in the league, you have to think maybe it was a blessing that Jayden Daniels got hurt (again)?
Brock Purdy has quietly been excellent for Stevie Kicks. Really excellent. QB2 overall-kind-of-excellent. Addition through attrition?
And he’s not the only one quietly being excellent - Chris Olave has yet to score less than 15 points in a game this season (WR4 overall), Amon Ra St. Brown has been as advertised (WR3 overall) despite a struggling Lions team, and the Minnesota Vikings defense has been DEF1 overall this season (bolstered by playing against my beloved Suckaneers two weeks ago).
Is it all sustainable? I’m starting to think it is.
Balanced Perfectly on the Razor’s Edge
4.
Jets Jets Jets
Current Record: (2-2, 5th)
Y! Draft Grade: D+
Y! Projected Record: (4-10)
Manager: Tim Cook
Years in League: 18
Best Finish: Champ (1x - 2015)
Two roads diverged in the woods. Jets Jets Jets walked to the point of diversion, climbed the sign, and stood on it in a poised Karate Kid Crane Kick position.
This roster’s superpower? Balance - the new namesake for this grouping of teams within our power rankings. A few injuries to the WR corps (and maybe the tiniest red flag starting to raise with Jalen Hurts) notwithstanding, this team seems to have a high floor week-to-week. It’s the RB room that might have the most notoriety, but this roster has no true heroes - and that’s its biggest strength: Jets Jets Jets isn’t a one-trick pony.
So, yes, a little bit on a razor’s edge with some injuries and underperformers, but like Daniel-san, balancing all the same.
Performance and luck also seem to be balanced. Jets Jets Jets’ Points For? 5th in the league. Points Against? 5th in the league. Standings? 5th in the league.
What’s that spell? 4th in these rankings, of course.
5.
Sweet Carolina
Current Record: (2-2, 4th)
Y! Draft Grade: D+
Y! Projected Record: (7-7)
Manager: Michael Schultz
Years in League: 6
Best Finish: Champ (1x - 2024)
I had this awesome description of Sweet Carolina’s massive scoring outburst this week all written out, but then I outscored him and took the description for myself. Seriously, how often do you score 170+ points and get overshadowed? The answer is never. At least, never in the history of this league. Absolutely ridiculous. The audacity of my team, smh. Sorry, man.
Ok, enough talking about me (unless, of course, you want to re-read my section above ^).
To be fair, it’s hard for me to quite put my finger on Sweet Carolina’s identity. We’ve gotten a strong performance, a meh performance, a bad performance, and an absolute MASSIVE performance.
The consistencies have been Josh Allen and CeeDee Lamb. Outside of that, it’s been a smattering of whatever sticks while waiting for Puka to be healthy and trying to figure out what scrubs can play RB now that Jonathon Brooks and Jadarian Price are on IR (not that those feel like huge losses anyways).
So, this team is finely balanced on that razor’s edge, with two stars and a suspect supporting cast. But geez, the ability to score 170 points has to have you in the top half of the league’s power rankings.
6.
Nick’s Fury
Current Record: (2-2, 6th)
Y! Draft Grade: C+
Y! Projected Record: (8-5-1)
Manager: Nick Gosney
Years in League: 8
Best Finish: Champ (1x - 2019)
Sweet Carolina has a bunch of great receivers but absolutely nobody to play running back.
Sorry, that should’ve been in the section above. Let me restart.
Nick’s Fury has a bunch of great receivers but absolutely nobody to play running back.
Does that make them balanced? I guess the eliteness of the WRs creates balance with the (What’s the right word here? “Travesty” feels too far, but)… underwhelming… duo that are the RBs?
Tides may be changing on that front, though. Nick’s Fury was the waiver winner for Ollie Gordon, who assumes to take the workload in Miami previously assigned to De’Von Achane. Just one more RB might turn Nick’s Fury from middle of the pack to a scary contender.
Also, I don’t know how to explain it, but Nick’s Fury playing two TEs in the same week as a legitimate strategy to win feels kind of like the renaissance / comeback of the full-back position. It feels like a return to real football. And yet, I’m pretty sure that’s never been a real fantasy strategy, so I’m not sure why it feels that way.
Whatever. I like it. Sustained consistency from Kittle and Kincaid (they are either going to score 15 or 2) would be kind of fun to see.
7.
ThrowUpThe X
Current Record: (1-3, 8th)
Y! Draft Grade: D+
Y! Projected Record: (4-10)
Manager: RD Gallant
Years in League: 17
Best Finish: Champ (1x - 2013)
I can’t help but feel some déjà vu as I write about ThrowUpThe X. Have we been through this exact scenario before?
ThrowUpThe X has the 3rd-highest Points For in the league, only to be upstaged by the highest Points Against in the league. In fact, ThrowUpThe X’s Points Against (550 points) is higher than any one team has scored in the league so far this year (524 points).
In case you’re not tracking, that means ThrowUpThe X happens to be on the receiving end of the one-off boom weeks around the league each week. ThrowUpThe X literally played the #1 scorer in Week 1, the #1 scorer in Week 2, and the #1 scorer in Week 3. That’s just colossally bad luck.
It would almost feel better if they weren’t scoring a lot and didn’t have a chance in these games…but that’s not the case here. ThrowUpThe X has been scoring well. I guess that’s balance?
I do think the ship will right itself. ThrowUpThe X’s RB trio creates a very high floor for each week.
Side note: I’m not saying correlation = causation but… interesting that ThrowUpThe X went against everything they believe in and only have 2 Cowboys players on the roster this year. Maybe karma is out to avenge the loss of identity?
Minus-side of the Razor’s Edge
8.
Butt Fumble
Current Record: (1-3, 9th)
Y! Draft Grade: C
Y! Projected Record: (5-9)
Manager: Austin Owen
Years in League: 13
Best Finish: Champ (4x – 2016, 2017, 2021, 2025)
Butt Fumble being ranked at #8 should terrify everyone for their odds at a title this year.
Just like last year, it hasn’t all panned out like it was supposed to… AJ Brown on IR in Week 1, Drake Maye being unplayable until Week 4, CeeDee completely overshadowing George Pickens, the Texans defense underwhelming…
That said, quite a few things are working well… Gibbs, Deebo, having Lamar to stem the tide until getting injured in Week 4.
But, wait, that’s balance! This team should be in the grouping of teams above!
Is that in the cards for the future? Yes, especially if 2025 is any proof of concept. Or Week 3 of this year: we shouldn’t let it be overlooked that Butt Fumble scored 151 points in a 7-point win over ThrowUpThe X in this year’s top Barnstormer of the Year candidate. That’s not nothing. But for now, there are just too many questions about where points are going to come from each week outside of Gibbs to feel good about ranking any higher.
It’s a team that’s still on the dull-side of sharp, but there’s no reason a fully healthy squad here couldn’t make another 2025 run - it’s just about maintaining contention long enough to get a shot.
9.
Turn down for Watt
Current Record: (2-2, 7th)
Week 8 Rank: 9 (+3)
Y! Draft Grade: A+
Y! Projected Record: (12-2)
Manager: Joshuwa Shelton
Years in League: 12
Best Finish: 3rd (2018)
In case you were ever wondering what the equivalent of the Madden Cover Curse was in the fantasy world, look no further than the dreaded A+ draft grade from Yahoo.
Our projected champion has already met his projected loss total for the season, and the future is looking a little dim.
First, it was losing Achane for the year, then Breece Hall for a time, now Ja’Marr Chase, and all the while seeing regression from Tyler Warren and (further) disappointment from Brian Thomas Jr.
There are some things breaking Turn down for Watt’s way, though. Jordan Mason going on IR has opened the door for Aaron Jones Sr. to have a resurgence, and the Pittsburgh offense now has enough life to consider throwing Metcalf in the lineup when needed.
This team will be fine. Just not as sharp as they wanted or expected to be at this point in the season.
10.
Golden Boy
Current Record: (1-3, 10th)
Y! Draft Grade: D-
Y! Projected Record: (3-10-1)
Manager: Kyler Stock
Years in League: 5
Best Finish: 3rd (2023)
Ok, the more I think about this, the less I think Golden Boy should be ranked 10th in these rankings. Yes, they have the lowest Points For in the league, and yes, this RB group has underwhelmed, and yes, it’s not compelling QB play…
But look at the talent here: KWIII has been great. Skattebo has shown flashes. Zay Flowers has been very good when healthy. Jaylen Waddle should be better. Saquon should be better (and healthy at some point??). Kyle Pitts sh- … nah, who am I kidding? Kyle Pitts sucks. #FtheFalcons
It’s probably not consequential enough to actually say it, but you know what is probably GNAWING at Golden Boy as he lies in bed each night?
Check this out:
In Week 1, Golden Boy plays Saquon and Jaylen Waddle. They combine for 9.2 points. Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Christian Watson combine for 42 points on the bench.
In Week 2, Golden Boy says, Ok, I’ll play Christian Watson, but I’m keeping Saquon in this week again. Saquon only has 2 points. TreVeyon Henderson scores 13 on the bench.
Then it’s Week 3, Golden Boy says, Fine, I’ll play TreVeyon, but I’m keeping Saquon on as a flex, so Cam Skattebo will have to go to the bench. And Zay Flowers is healthy again, so I have to decide between keeping Rome Odunze or Christian Watson in the starting lineup. Golden Boy chooses Odunze. Saquon and Zay and Odunze have 27 points combined amongst the three of them. Skattebo and Watson and Doubs have 37 on the bench.
So finally, it’s Week 4, Golden Boy says, Ok then… I’ll put Skattebo and Watson back into the starting lineup, keep Saquon in, and bench Odunze. Skattebo, Watson, and Saquon combine for 15 points. Odunze and Doubs have 33 on the bench.
Brutal.
Again, not a bad team, just not as sharp as it could be.