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2021–2026 · THE PERMANENT CAREER ALIBI

Bad manager?
Or bad luck?

Six seasons of draft decisions, devastating NFL injuries, and fantasy schedules. The three-year slide from 2023–2025 wasn't pretty. Neither were the injury reports.

Investigate the three bad years ↗
11–312023–2025 · THREE CONSECUTIVE LOSING SEASONS
2×2ND-MOST OPPONENT POINTS · 2023 AND 2025
+250.95OPPONENT POINTS ABOVE LEAGUE AVERAGE · 2023–25
2021–26ALL SIX SEASONS REVIEWED
THE BIG PICTURE

Drafted talent. Collected MRI results.

Injuries to key draft picks were documented in every season—including the runner-up year. But when Joe Burrow, Brandon Aiyuk, and Malik Nabers suffered major injuries in three consecutive seasons, your opponents were also running up points against you. That's a real luck argument, even if it doesn't absolve every lineup decision.

01 / THE THREE-YEAR SLIDE

The 2023–2025 injury defense.

These are the three consecutive losing seasons immediately after your 2022 runner-up finish. Each has a separate sourced injury file below.

2023 · THE INJURY FILE

2023

6–8OFFENSE #9 · POINTS AGAINST #2 MOST

Burrow's wrist. Diontae's hamstring. Walker and Akers hurt.

OPEN 2023 FILE ↗
2024 · THE INJURY FILE

2024

3–11OFFENSE #9 · POINTS AGAINST #5 MOST

Aiyuk's ACL/MCL. Kirk's collarbone. A receiver room wiped out.

OPEN 2024 FILE ↗
2025 · THE FIRST-ROUND CURSE

2025

2–12OFFENSE #9 · POINTS AGAINST #2 MOST

First-round Nabers' ACL. Lamar's hamstring. Hunter's season-ending knee surgery.

OPEN 2025 FILE ↗
02 / SCHEDULE LUCK THROUGH SIX SEASONS

Some schedules are crueler than others.

Points against ranked from most (#1) to fewest (#10). The difference compares your opponents' total with the league's average points against that season.

SeasonRecordRankScoredAllowedvs. avg.
2021 6–8#7 #6#3 +91.71
2022 9–5#2 #6#10 -254.26
2023 6–8#7 #9#2 · HIGH +144.36
2024 3–11#9 #9#5 +11.08
2025 2–12#10 #9#2 · HIGH +95.51
2026 · * 3–2#4 #7#7 -26.18

2026* is through five completed weeks; 2021–2025 are full historical regular seasons. Raw totals and scoring settings can differ year to year. Extra points allowed are not a guaranteed number of lost wins.

03 / EVERY SEASON. EVERY MAJOR INJURY FILE.

Browse the draft receipts.

Choose 2021–2026 to see your original four draft picks, their actual ESPN season fantasy points, and selected documented injuries affecting drafted players.

Loading the archived injury evidence…

Source documents reviewed October 17, 2026.

THE JURY IS STILL OUT

Unlucky and underperforming can both be true.

The defense

2023 and 2025 had the second-most points against. Joe Burrow, Brandon Aiyuk, and Malik Nabers were drafted before suffering season-ending injuries in consecutive years.

What we can't ignore

Your team finished ninth in regular-season scoring in 2023, 2024, and 2025. That can reflect injuries, weak replacements, lineup choices, or healthy underperformance. We haven't attributed exact lost points or wins without a valid comparison.

THE GROUP CHAT DEFENSE

Send the league its evidence.

“First Burrow's wrist, then Aiyuk's knee, then my first-round pick Nabers tears an ACL—and in two of those years I faced the second-most points in the league. Tell me that's ALL bad drafting.”