Vote in Daily Herald's annual fantasy football awards
It's that time of year again.
Time for praise. Time to vent. Time to blast and rip the players who did you wrong.
Yes, welcome to the 12th annual Daily Herald fantasy football awards.
What follows is candidates for four different categories, and you can vote on them by sending an e-mail to jdietz@dailyherald.com by Dec. 28.
The only rule is that you may vote for just one player per category. Please feel free to add comments, along with your name and town of residence. Write-in votes are also accepted.
As I say ever year, try to keep personal bias out of your decision making. For example, your MVP vote should be for the player you would most like to have had this season (and you can take where they were drafted into consideration). And your Biggest Dud vote should be the player that would have wrecked your season the most.
So without further adieu, here are the candidates ...
MVP
• Tom Brady (3,398 passing yards, 30 total TDs, 4 INTs). Those numbers are impressive enough, but it gets even crazier when you consider the Patriots' QB has 17 TD passes, zero interceptions and four 300-yard games over the last six weeks.
• Michael Vick (2,513 passing yards, 483 rushing, 24 total TDs). Since he missed three weeks, Vick is actually No. 1 among QBs in fantasy points if you use average-per-week numbers.
• Philip Rivers (3,868 passing yards, 26 TDs, 11 INTs). The Chargers' QB sent many teams to the playoffs with his first 10 games alone: 318 yards per game, 23 TDs and 9 INTs.
• Arian Foster (1,832 yards from scrimmage, 15 TDs). Ranked 19th by me in the preseason, Foster, who has seven 100-yard rushing games, is far and away the top RB this season.
• Dwayne Bowe (59-888-14). He went MIA the last two games, but what he did in Weeks 6-12 catching an astounding 13 TD passes was crazy.
Biggest surprise
• Vick. Who saw this coming?
• Kyle Orton. Ranked 20th among QBs in preseason, the Broncos' QB is currently seventh despite his wretched showing the past two weeks.
• Peyton Hills. Is third among RBs with 1,516 yards from scrimmage and 13 TDs.
• Darren McFadden. After two injury-plagued campaigns, the Raiders' stud has 1,430 yards from scrimmage with 10 TDs.
• Brandon Lloyd. A slow finish, but the Illini product has 1,185 receiving yards and 9 TDs.
• Terrell Owens. Father Time hasn't caught up to T.O. (983 yards, 9 TDs) just yet.
Biggest dud
• Randy Moss. Ranked second in preseason, the rolling Moss has gathered a comical 5 fantasy points since Week 7.
• DeAngelo Williams. Ranked eighth among RBs, Williams scored once in six weeks before going out for the season.
• Ryan Mathews. Ranked ninth in preseason, the Chargers' rookie couldn't stay healthy and had just 444 rushing yards and 3 TDs entering Thursday's game vs. San Francisco.
• Shonn Greene. Ranked 14th in preseason, the Jets' RB has just 1 TD and got 7 or more fantasy points just four times.
Rookie of the year
• Dez Bryant (45-561-6). The Cowboys WR had a terrific first nine games and ranked 15th at his position at that time.
• Mike Williams (52-784-7). Steady as he goes, Williams has proven to be a solid WR3 for fantasy teams. He's 19th among wideouts right now.
• Sam Bradford (2,884 yards, 17 TDs, 12 INTs). With six multiple-TD games, Bradford's been useable as a spot starter.
My teams:
Darren McFadden (48 points) paved the way to a ridiculously easy 141-72 playoff victory in my regular league. I'm in two semifinals this week with an odd twist: In one league, I'm using McFadden and Adrian Peterson; in the other, I'm going against McFadden and Peterson. Hopefully that means I make at least one title game.
Good bets
• Bears RB Matt Forte at Minnesota. Did you see what Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw did to the Vikings last week? Try 25 carries for 219 yards and 2 TDs. It was so impressive that there's a little voice in me saying, “Start Forte over Adrian Peterson.”
• Jaguars QB David Garrard at Indianapolis. Inside, in a high-scoring game, Garrard is almost a lock for at least 2 TD passes.
• Cowboys RB Felix Jones vs. Washington. In the last five weeks, the Redskins gave up 132.4 rushing yards per game and 7 rushing scores to opposing tailbacks. Jones (averaging 96 yards from scrimmage last three) is a fantastic play.
• Cardinals RB Tim Hightower at Carolina. Get this: In the last three weeks, Michael Turner, Marshawn Lynch and Peyton Hills all ran for 3 TDs against the Panthers while averaging 108.7 rushing yards. Hightower (142 yards, 2 TDs last week) is almost a must-start if you own him.
• Panthers RB Jonathan Stewart vs. Arizona. All Stewart's done is run for at least 92 yards the last three weeks while averaging 6.3 yards per carry.
• Dolphins RBs Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown vs. Buffalo. If you have a flex option, either one of these guys will do. I say they both score with Brown finding the end zone for the first time since Week 10.
• Titans QB Kerry Collins vs. Houston. Everybody abuses the Texans' secondary. I say Collins throws for 235 and 2 TDs.
• Texans TE Owen Daniels at Tennessee. I stashed Daniels on my bench nearly all season in case something happened to Antonio Gates. Low and behold, the first time I use him and he racks up 9 points last week. Don't be surprised if he finds the end zone against the Titans.
Bad bets
• Vikings RB Adrian Peterson vs. the Bears. OK, I'm obviously not telling you to sit Peterson. But in the state Minnesota's in, I find it difficult to believe he'll score more than 7 fantasy points Monday night.
• Giants QB Eli Manning vs. Philadelphia. In three of the last four, Manning has been under 200 yards, and in that four-game stretch, he has 5 TDs with 6 INTs. He's tough to trust against an Eagles D in which he threw 3 picks in Week 11, and one that may get Asante Samuel back.
• Chiefs WR Dwayne Bowe at St. Louis. This is only if Matt Cassel sits.
• Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger vs. the Jets. A banged-up Big Ben ranks 27th among QBs in fantasy points the last three weeks.
• Jets WR Santonio Holmes at Pittsburgh. It's tough to trust QB Mark Sanchez in this matchup.