Chrystal Clear: Jim Claims the Crown

Week 9 — Fancy Football X

A unique quarterback makes the difference

Jim Chrystal captured Week 9 with 173.16 points, edging Connor Buxton by 2.72. His defining move was selecting C.J. Stroud, whose 39.36 points led the entire player pool—and appeared in no other lineup.

Jim also landed two of the week’s biggest popular plays in Puka Nacua and Ja’Marr Chase, who scored 39.00 and 34.50 points. That trio supplied 112.86 points on its own, easily covering for a quiet 3.10 from Mike Gesicki. The crown added $70 to Jim’s season winnings and moved him into second place in the standings.

A crowded chase for the crown

Connor came within one strong play of stealing the week. His Joe Burrow–Ja’Marr Chase pairing produced 64.04 points, while one-off sleeper Tank Dell delivered another 23.50 at a $3,500 salary. Connor’s 170.44 set a new personal best and extended his winning streak to five weeks.

Giovanni Vincenzo was close behind at 168.74. He found another exclusive bargain in Darren Waller, who scored 23.00 points for $3,300, and paired Burrow and Chase with 29.70 from Bijan Robinson. Giovanni finished only 4.42 points short of the crown despite getting just one point from the Cardinals D/ST.

Stars, sleepers and zeroes

The week’s biggest scores largely rewarded those willing to spend. Nacua scored 39.00 for eight lineups, CeeDee Lamb posted 37.50 for three, and Matthew Golden returned 35.40 for five. Meanwhile, the league’s most popular selection, Jonah Coleman, justified his 45.9% draft rate with 18.80 points.

Casey Oliver assembled the week’s most successful contrarian lineup, finishing eighth with a 7.2 chalk rating. His combination of Lamb, Christian Watson and Bucky Irving generated 99.10 points, with Watson and Irving each appearing in no other lineup.

At the other end, Ladd McConkey and Adonai Mitchell each scored zero while appearing in five lineups. Their damage reached the payment bubble: Chris Chmielewski survived Mitchell’s zero to finish 19th at 119.52, claiming the final win by 1.58 points over Ben Maier.

Streaks reach five—and six

Connor wasn’t the only contestant to extend a hot run. Cameron Mahoney and Steven Thomas also reached five consecutive wins, with Cameron remaining third in the overall standings.

The opposite trend continued for Mike Mckenna and Alycia Holmes. Both fell below the top half for a sixth straight week, the league’s longest active losing streaks.