Well, that went fast. It seems like yesterday I was conducting my power rankings and now it is a wrap on this year’s Fantasy Football Season. I was in eight leagues this year and let me tell you, that was a lot of work. I made the playoffs in seven of them and as I type this, I am still alive in four of them.

I have been playing fantasy football for nearly two decades and it is one of my favorite hobbies, yet very demanding and time consuming. Having said that I want to acknowledge a few things. I am willing to admit when I am wrong. I was wrong on a few players this year. Perhaps the biggest miss I had was Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, Baker Mayfield. He has been lights out this year and over the last few weeks he really has been playing out of his mind. I went into this year with my mind made up that Tampa Bay was going to be the worst team (in fantasy football value) and I could not have been more wrong. Wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Goodwin each had a great year as well.

I was also off on the Jacksonville Jaguars as a whole as well. I thought they would be a fantasy football juggernaut and they have been a real bust overall. Trevor Lawrence is barely a top 20 quarterback (after week 15 he was ranked 18th overall in rankings in his position). Rookie Tank Bigsby never panned out as a factor and I spent most of this season referring to wide receiver Calvin Ridley as Calvin Diddly because he was not productive.

This season has been riddled with injuries. Twenty-four teams have had multiple quarterback combinations since week one. It came as a surprise to me that some of the ones who have stayed healthy were Lamar Jackson of Baltimore and Dak Prescott of Dallas (both of whom are notorious for missing time).

If you’re still playing for a championship, odds are you have a few 49ers on your team. You can make the case for either Brock Purdy or Christian McCaffrey as the league’s Most Valuable Player. In two games this season against the Arizona Cardinals, McCaffrey scored an insane number of points. He scored a total of 90 points (in PPR format) in two games against the Cardinals. A 45-point average. Let that sink in. Purdy has been unstoppable as well. Finding his weapons like Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle, as well as McCaffrey on a regular basis; Purdy has become a possible league winner for you.

Like I do every year at the end of the season, I begin prepping for the next one. And already, next year looks to be a crazy one. With potentially seven to ten coaching changes on the horizon, new rookies coming into the league and players changing teams due to free agency, next year will be a wild ride.

Dennis D. Cruz is a staff reporter for The Oakdale Leader, The Riverbank News and The Escalon Times. He may be reached at drcruz@oakdaleleader.com or by calling 847-3021.