We have a straightforward opinion here: that Reddit user is overthinking this. The desire to avoid pivot tables is understandable, they can feel clunky, and the interface sometimes fights the user. But the real problem isn't the tool; it's the mental model. You don't need to chain a pivot table to a second sheet and manually link cells. You need a single formula that does the aggregation and ranking in one step.
What this user actually wants is a dynamic top-20 list of season totals from a game-by-game table. In Excel, the cleanest path is a combination of SUMIFS and LARGE, or a single SORT and UNIQUE if you're on a newer version. But the deeper insight here is that the question reveals a common frustration: traditional spreadsheets make you build the logic yourself, piece by piece. You have to think about helper columns, cell references, and what happens when your data changes. That's not a skill issue, it's a design issue.
This is where a more modern approach shines. An AI-native spreadsheet can interpret the user's intent directly: "sum yards per player per season, then show me the top 20." No pivot table setup. No manual linking. The system understands the structure of your data and handles the aggregation and ranking automatically. The user's real goal is to get a clean, updatable list of Barry Sanders' best season without wrestling with formulas. That should be the default experience, not a workaround.
For anyone managing player stats, sales data, or any repeated measurement over time, the lesson is practical: if you're spending more time arranging your spreadsheet than analyzing the results, the tool is holding you back. The best solution isn't a clever cell reference trick, it's a tool that understands what "top 20 seasons" means and delivers it without the overhead. Stop building the ladder. Let the spreadsheet do the climbing.