The fantasy football awards

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Mac Boike, Sports Reporter

The end of the regular season, unfortunately, means the end of the fantasy football season too. This year has had many different players showcase their ability and prove they can be contributors. Guys like James Robinson and Antonio Gibson became some of the biggest surprises of the year as these two rookies both managed to be in the top 15 at the running back position. On the other hand, guys like Christan McCaffery and Saquon Barkley suffered injuries that took away either all or most of their seasons, causing them to be best since these were the top two picks in a majority of drafts. Nonetheless, the guys on the list either balled out or took a few steps down. Now it’s time to give them some awards.

Player of the Year: Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills

Josh Allen will win an MVP within the next three seasons, mark my words. The third-year quarterback scored the most fantasy points out of every player in the NFL, racking up a total of 409.8 points. Allen threw for 4,544 yards and 37 touchdowns on a 69.2 completion percentage. All of these stats are career highs for him, but the most important stat to talk about is the completion percentage. Allen had been questioned before for his accuracy and decision making, which was understandable as a rookie, Allen only completed 52.8% of his passes and 58.8% as a sophomore. Obviously, he improved quite a bit this year, and he is in elite company now and will finish in the top three in MVP voting because of his ability to complete more passes.

Honorable mentions: Aaron Rodgers QB GB, Davante Adams WR GB, Alvin Kamara RB NO

 

Bust of the Year: Kenyan Drake, RB, Arizona Cardinals

As I mentioned above, injuries derailed Barkley’s and McCaffrey’s season. The same case is made for guys like George Kittle, Michael Thomas, and Julio Jones, who all missed a significant amount of time that made them busts for this season. Drake was at the top of the rankings as a fantasy running back before the season and usually ended up being selected within the first two rounds. Drake missed one game on the season and only scored over 20 points twice on the year. His average points per game was 12.8, but this was largely carried by an outlier season-high of 28.4 points. Drake scored single-digit points in six games this season.

Honorable Mentions: Ezekiel Elliott RB DAL, James Conner RB PIT, Evan Engram TE NYG

 

Biggest Steal: Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings

This award may be the hardest one to give out. This year had a lot of surprise players pop up, but Jefferson was the best. Jefferson would have been either a later draft pick in your draft or a free agent. Jefferson must have seen this and put that as a chip on his shoulder because he had a highly unexplainable monster season. Jefferson was just the fifth receiver taken in last year’s actual NFL Draft and outplayed all but five other receivers in fantasy this year. He scored a total of 274.2 points and had an average of 17.1 points per game. Jefferson totaled 88 catches, 1,400 receiving yards, and 7 touchdowns, not to mention breaking several insane records like most receiving yards in a season by a rookie.

Honorable Mentions: Terry McLaurin WR WFT, D’Andre Swift RB DET, Kareem Hunt RB CLE

 

Best Undrafted Pick-up: James Robinson, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars

Not only did Robinson go undrafted in 99.9% of leagues (that’s probably not exact but if you selected him you’re crazy – but also very, very smart) but he also went undrafted in last year’s NFL Draft. Robinson emerged as a top waiver pick-up early after having a breakout performance against the Titans where he put 21.0 points (16 rushes, 102 yards, 1 rushing touchdown.) Robinson put up 250.4 points this season and averaged 17.9 per game, which ranks him at number 7 for the running back category. Robinson ran for 1,070 yards and 7 touchdowns on 240 attempts, which placed him at second all-time for rushing yards by an undrafted rookie in their first season.

Honorable mentions: Robert Tonyan TE GB, Justin Herbert QB LAC, Mike Davis RB CAR

 

Best Performance: Championship Week, Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints

Everyone who has played fantasy knows how hard it is to lose because someone has a crazy game. Well, in the last week of the fantasy football playoffs, Kamara had 56.2 points. If your team made it that far and you did not have Kamara, you were most likely playing against him, so if you won your game, congrats on pulling the miracle off. If you had him on your team, I think I know who your new favorite player is. Kamara ran for 155 yards on 22 carries and reached the end zone on six of these runs.

Honorable Mentions: Tyreek Hill vs Tampa Bay – WR KC, Aaron Jones vs Detroit – RB GB, Davante Adams vs Houston – WR GB