Sundays can be pretty stressful. Not because most of us are scrambling to get homework done last minute, but because we’re glued to the television screens, hoping our fantasy players are scoring as many points as possible.
As a participant of two fantasy football leagues, I understand the struggle of watching guys hurt your team by dropping passes, not making the extra push for the end zone or when the most irrelevant players score touchdowns when your fantasy player should have made that play.
Similar to Matthew Berry’s Love/Hate Column, I’m going to give out midseason awards for the best fantasy players and the most disappointing fantasy players. Note: All of my rankings for players are based on PPR scoring rules.
Biggest surprise of the season: Golden Tate
Coming into the 2014 season, everyone knew Calvin Johnson was the unquestioned leader of the Lions’ receiving corps, but the newly acquired Golden Tate has shown he is just as dangerous as Johnson in fantasy. Tate has scored at least 10 points every single week this season in PPR leagues. In weeks five, seven and eight, Tate racked up totals of 26, 31 and 28 points respectively, which helped rank him the seventh best receiver in fantasy. In Matthew Berry’s preseason fantasy football rankings, Tate was the 101st best player. Through 10 weeks, Tate has scored the 19th most points out of all fantasy players.
Comeback player of the year: Arian Foster
Arian Foster is looking like the beast he was in 2012 where he scored 17 total touchdowns. Last season, the Texans running back played only eight games due to injury, scoring a mere 109 points. This season, in the same number of games, Foster has scored 180 points, is the third-ranked running back of the season and has scored the sixth most fantasy points thus far. His production will only continue to grow as the Texans still have to play four games against the AFC South, which has some of the worst rush defenses in the league.
Biggest disappointment of the year: LeSean McCoy
In my high school league, I took McCoy with the third overall pick in the draft, and I regret that decision every time I am forced to start him in my lineup because I have no other running back on my bench. The worst part about having McCoy is that no one in my league is willing to trade for him. Not even for a kicker. Last season, McCoy led the league in rushing and was the fifth-best player in fantasy football. McCoy, who averaged more than 20 points per game last season, hasn’t broken 20 points once this season. To make things even worse, the Eagles running back is currently ranked 97th in PPR fantasy leagues after Matthew Berry ranked him as the second-best player before the season kicked off. Maybe he will turn it around in the second half of the season, but it looks unlikely with a poor offensive line and Jeremy Maclin having a career year receiving.
Most Valuable Fantasy Player: Andrew Luck
Luck, who arguably could be given the league’s actual MVP award, is ranked number one in fantasy with 221 points. In every game but one, Luck has thrown for more than 300 yards and is on pace to break Peyton Manning’s record for passing yards in a season. On top of his absurd passing yards stat, the Colts quarterback leads the league with 26 touchdowns on the year and has turned in two four-touchdown performances. Scoring at least 18 points in fantasy every single game this season, Luck is keeping his fantasy owners happy with his week-to-week performances. If you’re down by 15 points with Luck still to play, you shouldn’t worry. There’s no doubt he’ll get you the W.
