SCN Challenge: Riding the Joe Burrow Card Roller Coaster
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The NFL season is almost at the halfway point of the regular season, but the SCN Challenge is going through the Super Bowl. 10 content creators in the hobby have five cards each, and we track our portfolios similar to fantasy football.
After a quiet week on the waiver wire heading into Week 8, will we see more movement this week?
The Standings Before Week 8
Alex "CleverCubanCards" Llanso is the clear leader thanks to the sale of his 2025 Tyler Shough Gold Leather /50 PSA 10 before the Shough sell-off. He banked a ridiculous 250%+ profit on the sale and rolled it into a Josh Allen Red/White/Blue Rookie Prizm.
His Hobby Handbook co-host, Trent Litjes, sits third in the standings after a nice rebound week. While I sat in second heading into Week 8.
The bottom of the standings have been relatively unchanged over the last few weeks.
Post-Week 8 Standings
The updated standings are in, and Alex remains on top, but has taken a commanding lead. The sale of the Tyler Shough a few weeks ago was great, but the move into Brock Purdy as he surged towards the top of the MVP odds also has played a part in his strong season.
Doug Plagens shoots up the rankings this week thanks to his Sam Darnold rookie card being the big winner of the week, as it is up 83.7% this week. Jason Otero was the other big riser of the week thanks to the continued gains from his 1997 Peyton Manning Metal Universe PSA 9 rookie card, now up 297% for the season.
The big faller of the week is Trent Litjes, who drops from 3rd to 6th on the week with the continued drop of his 2025 Tyler Shough Prizm Silver Auto and Bijan Robinson's 2023 Prizm Silver Auto. The second-biggest faller on the week was yours truly, as I fell from 2nd to 4th this week. I'm continuing to see big gains on my 2025 Topps Chrome Patrick Mahomes Blue Wave /150 PSA 10, but the roller coaster that is the 2020 Optic Joe Burrow Blue Hyper PSA 10 is sinking my profile.
The Waiver Wire
I won't be making any moves on the waiver wire this week as I wait out this Joe Burrow market. Burrow is currently 4th in passing yards, 4th in QBR, and 1st in passing touchdowns this year. The Bengals currently sit at 5-2, a half-game back of the Steelers in the AFC North, and now one of their biggest rivals for the division and a wild card spot, the Baltimore Ravens, are down Lamar Jackson for the rest of the season.
Joe Burrow has been playing at an MVP-level this season and currently sits third in the MVP market. This 2020 Donruss Optic Blue Hyper PSA 10 being down 30.8% just feels wrong given everything else going on with Burrow.
So what is causing the breakdown between the card market and the football consensus? It's tough to say! Burrow's market is down 15.82% over the last month, despite his play on the field being stellar and the Bengals continuing to win.
Betting I know better than the card market doesn't feel great, but what we are seeing on the field is lagging behind what we're seeing in the market and eventually this roller coaster will get back on track. The last 10 sales are all over the place: $125, $185, $182.50, $105, $150, $232.50, $163, $175, $182.50, and $249. So there's an obvious ceiling there and there are several sales over $250 earlier this year.
So now we wait! In the meantime, you can stay up-to-date on the challenge.
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Brendan has worked for various platforms, including The Washington Post, SB Nation, NBC Sports Washington, and more, covering everything from college basketball to fantasy football and betting. An avid collector as a kid, he got back into collecting in 2021 and is a dedicated soccer, football, and basketball collector.
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