NCU Fantasy Football 2023 Season Preview: IALTO Division



Hello, NCU Sports Community, and welcome to a fresh fantasy football season! Last year, Nick Solberg grabbed his second title on the strength of Patrick Mahomes' beautiful right arm, solidifying his place in the pantheon of NCU Fantasy Football history. Congrats again to Nick!


This season, we've welcomed what might be a legitimate polar opposite to message board menace Troy Balego in part cyborg/part human Chris Rausch. He's made some nice trades and his first draft looked super solid... folks, we may soon have a problem on our hands. One thing is for sure — he's no Ben Montgomery. Welcome, Chris! 

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Our season preview will be taking a different shape this year. Instead of a back-and-forth dialogue, we've given four different writers the chance to offer a relentless and hopefully scathing monologue about the division they've been assigned. The division previews will roll out all week, starting today with the IALTO Division. Without further ado, let's kick this bad boy off! 


IALTO Division Preview
By: Jamaal Gilbert

We'll start with the worst division in the league. Holy Hannah, this is a mess. We've got teams slowly sinking to the bottom, and one team who is clearly playing for 2024. If I'm honest, I don't know that we've ever had a season preview where every team in a given division ranked in double digits. Disgusting! That said, this division is basically there for the taking... here's who your humble writers believe will come out on top: 

Projected IALTO Division champion

Jamaal: Clear Eyes, Full Hearts
Caleb: Clear Eyes, Full Hearts
Matt: We Are Terrible
Troy: We Are Terrible

Last three division champs: Lucky Bucky (Jamaal, 2022), Clear Eyes, Full Hearts (Drew, 2021), Denny Ekeler (Jamaal, 2020)

*Note: Teams will be listed in order of Preseason Rank, not necessarily the order in which the writer believes they will finish.


#10 We Are Terrible

Last season: (6-8) | 2023 Keepers - Rhamondre Stevenson, Mike Evans, Miles Sanders, Brian Robinson Jr.


Potentially best of the lousiest this year, Nathan Peterson's We Are Terrible franchise features what most folks believe is a legit #1 RB (Stevenson), plus a bunch of maybes and has-beens that when tossed into a blender create a paste that you can't really use for the foundation of a good team. We Are Terrible garnered the highest preseason ranking in the division, but with the reputation for — how can I put this nicely — a "light touch" when it comes to roster management, I don't foresee anything other than a slow slide toward oblivion in 2023.



#11 Madison's Finest

Last season: (8-6) | 2023 Keepers - Jahan Dotson, Joe Burrow, Devonta Smith, Chris Olave

There's one thing you have to know about this team: they're built for 2024. Obviously, Burrow is a murderous touchdown-flinging robot. The receivers are blessed with prodigious talent, but haven't fully emerged. And once you get past the keepers... it's like the O'Doyle Family careening off the cliff in Billy Madison. No running backs to be found, people. Literally NOT ONE with a line in on starting snaps. Maybe Jamaal ends up going all-in this year to boost his roster for the playoffs, but the ups-and-downs of 2nd and 3rd-year wideouts will probably keep him from pushing in his chips a year early. As such, Madison's Finest will be lucky to scrape up five wins.




#13 Hurts Locker

Last season: (8-6) | 2023 Keepers - Jalen Hurts, Davante Adams, Javonte Williams, Kenneth Walker III
If it all breaks right, Caleb's Hurts Locker could make a real run at the division and a playoff spot. But after Jalen Hurts, there are major questions. With Davante Adams, the immediate assumption is that he'll be traded back to Solberg by the end of this sentence. Javonte Williams (kneesplosion) and Kenneth Walker III (hungry backup RBs nipping at his heels) are seriously scary options for anything other than roster depth. After that, I'm having a hard time finding much of anything to get excited about. I see six wins as the ceiling.

#15 Clear Eyes, Full Hearts

Last season: (5-9) | 2023 Keepers - Joe Mixon, Deebo Samuel, Kyle Pitts, George Pickens

I don't know whether Kyle Pitts will bounce back from his sharty, injury-filled 2022. I don't know if Deebo will splash another mudpie in his pants this fall. Cooks and Mixon... I trust. And then there's Anthony Richardson, who might be both 1) The best running quarterback in NFL history; 2) and he first QB to hit fewer then 50 percent of his pass attempts. There is SO MUCH hype around A-Rich... I want to believe, but without the Jonathan Taylor-led run game and alluring downfield targets outside Michael Pittman, it seems like the first half of the season might be shaky. Drew will be staring at 3-5 by the time Richardson hits his stride.



TOMORROW: Supershow Division (written by Caleb Bartholomew)

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