Ooooooooh Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Pros vs Joes 2020!!!

Who are the real “experts” in fantasy football? Are they the players who risk thousands of dollars in entry fees to enter high stakes fantasy football leagues? Or are they the industry faces who create the articles, podcasts, and player rankings that fantasy players consume?

The 2020 FFPC Pros vs Joes Draft Challenge enters its 12th year of competition. As in the past, the competition pits the high stakes players (Joes) of the FFPC (Fantasy Football Players Championship) against a slew of fantasy industry experts (the Pros). This year there is a significant change in the format. In 2020 we are using the FFPC’s Best Ball Slim League as the competition format. The biggest difference between the Slim format vs the traditional format is that there are NO KICKERS OR DEFENSES drafted. The number of rounds is reduced from 28 down to 18, and your weekly starting lineup will consist of 1 QB – 2 RB – 2 WR – 1 TE – 2 Flex (RB,WR,TE). The compressed format also means your live draft will be much shorter as well. We have seen recent drafts running about 1 hour and 10 minutes, which a significant reduction on the 2.5 – 3 hours in the past for the Pros vs Joes drafts.

More importantly, no kickers and no defenses means NO EXCUSES!!! Yes, these drafts are conducted at the end of July, before training camps open, but the days of using bad luck at the kicker position (injuries, releases, etc) as an excuse for a team’s bad performance in the competition are gone. Draft your skill players and go to war. The dreaded goose egg at kicker all year because of kicker misfortune is not possible.

Let’s be clear. This contest has no philanthropic endeavor. To get into this event, you must have been invited as a “Pro”, or won a spot via lottery as an early bird entrant into the 2020 FFPC Main Event. This is about bragging rights, showing who the best drafters are, and who wants the FREE entry into a 2021 FFPC Main Event (valued at $1,900) which is awarded to each winner of the six 12 team leagues. You are first or last in this competition. There is no prize for any finish except first in your league. You must draft with that mindset. Go big or go home. Play it safe with your picks, and you will likely be mired in mediocrity.

Six individual 18 round Slim Best Ball drafts are conducted to see who the best fantasy prognosticators are, as they draft BEFORE the preseason games of the NFL get cranked up.

All six of these drafts are BROADCAST LIVE on the High Stakes Fantasy Football Hour. We have added one additional league which will be a SLOW draft, likely kicking off shortly before the first live one.

Prizes for the league winners in 2020 once again consist of FREE entries into the 2021 FFPC Main Event valued at $1,900 per entry. That’s a 1 in 12 shot at a huge prize for each participant, so this continues to be a highly coveted, limited, and exclusive contest.

The 2020 Draft dates are tentatively scheduled for:

Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday night – July 26, 27, 28
Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday night – August 2, 3 ,4

Slow Draft starting on Friday July 24th (tentatively)

So how does one get an invitation to participate?

The “Joes” consist of players from the Fantasy Football Players Championship. A lottery system is used to determine who will participate, and the candidates for selection are pulled from the players who register early for the 2020 FFPC Main Event. Registration by Monday July 6th, 2020 makes you eligible for the drawing. In addition, you will receive $100 off the regular price for the first team, and $400 off the regular price for each additional team. Each team purchased counts toward one (virtual) ping pong ball in the selection lottery.

The “Pros” consist of industry experts/analysts, and are included via an invite-only basis after consideration by the FantasyMojo/FFPC selection committee.

This year’s list of Pro Representatives (So Far):

Evan Silva – EstablishTheRun.com – @evansilva
Mike Tagliere – FantasyPros.com – @MikeTagliereNFL
Sigmund Bloom – FootballGuys.com – @sigmundbloom
Tod Burros – Run To Daylight Podcast – @todfrompa
Jeff Mans – EliteFantasy.com – @Jeff_Mans
Davis Mattek – SportsGrid.com – @DavisMattek
Matt Kelley – PlayerProfiler.com – @Fantasy_Mansion
Justin Boone – TheScore.com – @justinboone
Peter Overzet – 4for4.com – @PeterOverzet
Darren Armani – FantasyMojo.com – @fantasymojo
Mike Schopp – WGR Buffalo Radio – @Schopptalk
Jared Smola – DraftSharks.com – @SmolaDS
Matt Schauf – DraftSharks.com – @SchaufDS
Bob Lung – BigGuyFantasySports.com – @bob_lung
David Dodds – Footballguys.com – @fbg_dodds
Bob Harris – FootballDiehards.com – @footballdiehard
Curtis Patrick – Rotoviz – @CPatrickNFL
Ryan McDowell – DynastyLeagueFootball.com – @RyanMc23
John Paulsen – 4for4.com – @4for4_John
Gary Davenport – BleacherReport.com – @IDPSharks
Matthew Freedman – ActionNetwork.com – @MattFTheOracle
Shane Hallam – FakePigskin.com – @ShanePHallam
Mike Beers – RotoViz.com – @beerswater
Howard Bender – FantasyAlarm.com – @rotobuzzguy
Michael Nazarek – FFMastermind.com – @FFMasterMind
Eliot Crist – FadeTheNoise.com – @EliotCrist
Rob Waziak- TheFantasyFootballers.com – @WazNFL
Jeremy Browand – DynastyFootballFactory.com – @DFF_Madman
Brian Drake – FightingChanceFantasy.com – @DrakeFantasy
Dwain McFarland – Pro Football Focus – @DwainMcFarland
John Daigle – Rotoworld.com – @notJDaigle
Alex Dunlap – RosterWatch.com – @AlexDunlapNFL
Josh Hayes – RotoBaller.com – @JoshHayesFS
Brad Evans – FadeTheNoise.com – @NoisyHuevos
Jake Ciely – TheAthletic.com – @allinkid
Graham Barfield – FantasyPoints.com – @GrahamBarfield
Addison Hayes – DynastyLeagueFootball.com – @amazehayes_
Pat Thorman – @Pat_Thorman
Michael Leone – EstablishTheRun.com – @2Hats1Mike
Chris Prince – RotoGrinders.com – @BeerMakersFan
Nelson Sousa – NumberBall.com – @The_Franchise12
Rich Hribar – SharpFootballAnalysis.com – @LordReebs
Josh Hornsby – RotoGrinders.com – @FantasyADHD

The Joes:

Akin Moss
Brian Pakulla
Brian Tumminello
Chad Schroeder
Chandler Suprina
Chris Birchby
Craig Strang
Dalton Suprina
Dan Fisher
David Hubbard
Eric Rubin
Eric Young
Frank LaPrade
Gary Allen
Glenn Lowy
Greg DeAntonio
Jackie Dunk
Jacob Rotter
James Bores
James Foster
James Jewell
Jason Aberli
Jay Wenning
Jeff Tirabassi
Jerad Hasson
Jimmy Wagner
John Anderson
John Shaw
Kevin Proctor
Lou Ditta
Lou Tranquilli
Marc Davidson
Marc Dinerman
Matt Groth
Matt Stewart
Matthew Jacobson
Matthew Lively
Matthew Zimmer
Paul Dietzman
Paul Friel
Peter St. Pierre
Ray Tait
Richard Mallon
Robbie Russell
Robert Russell
Ryan Pohle
Sal Esposito
Sky Eilers
Stephen Mouton
Steve Ashey
Theo Gremminger
Thomas Greenwald
Todd Hopkins
Todd Pavlik

Listen to the official announcement podcast for more info:

Interested in seeing the all-time leaderboard for this competition and check out the names that have participated in this contest over the years? GO HERE .

It’s never too early to start your training for this annual extravaganza. Start drafting now, and keep up to date with the draft boards as we approach the event.