Mikey D

CHAMPS! This one is for you, Mr. Izzo.

To be honest, I was going to be really disappointed if I didn’t win it all this year. I had a pretty stacked team, and probably won’t have a team with that many top-5 or top-10 guys on it for quite awhile. Whenever you get a loaded team, you better win with it. I keep thinking back to when Adam had the Brees-LT-Gates combo and dominated the league. How disappointing would that have been to lose the championship with that team (He also had Randy Moss, Brian Westbrook, and Brett Favre)?

But The WhIZ Kids pulled through in the end. I’m definitely happy to welcome the belt back into my household for the 3rd time. And after the parade, the trip to Disney World, and the late-night talk show appearances, the focus is all on one-word: REPEAT!

Alright, let’s do a little recap:

AWARDS:

Fantasy MVP:
1) Arian Foster- He was the #1 running back by about 40 points over Adrian Peterson. He had about 2,000 yards running and receiving and was a consistent producer for me. It will be interesting to see if he can replicate this type of year again. My initial thought is no.
2) Michael Vick- Was an elite-caliber fantasy QB. Could be debated he should have been the MVP, but Foster’s distance from all the other top-RBs was the difference for me. Definite first-round pick next year in my book.
3) Tom Brady- Number one scoring player in fantasy. The guy threw 34 TDs, but what was more impressive was that he almost never threw a pick. He was the top-scoring guy by almost 20 points, and led Kevin to the playoffs.

(Others for consideration: Dwayne Bowe, Peyton Hillis, Philip Rivers)

Fantasy LVP:
1) Randy Moss- How does a guy go from a 1,000 yards and double-digit TDs to a nobody overnight? This is a mystery to me. I mean, he still had Brady, Favre, VY/Collins- capable QBs- slinging him the ball. It’s not like he was playing for Cardinals. Grace basically wasted a 2nd round pick on this tool.
2) Shonn Greene- 766 yards rushing and 2 TDs from a consensus 2nd round pick? Awful. LT started strong this year, but Greene could never take touches away from him as the year progressed. It will be interesting to see how people view him next year, because you’d have to imagine the Jets will still want to be a run-first team.
3) Brandon Marshall- 917 yards and 3TDs. Not what you want out of your potentially #1 WR. He finished with a good amount of catches, but Miami remained a run-first team that never utilized Marshall’s receiving skills in the vertical passing game or the redzone.

(Others for consideration: Ryan Mathews, DeAngelo Williams, Brett Favre)

Best Waiver-Wire Pickups
1) Michael Vick- I don’t really need to explain this one, do I?
2) Peyton Hillis- Was the #3 overall back, and only three points behind Adrian Peterson. Adam, with Chris Johnson (4th overall), had probably the best 1-2 combo at running back. Hillis wore down as the year went on, but the “Avalanche” helped keep Adam’s team at the top of the standings throughout the year.
3) Brandon Lloyd- I needed WR help as soon as the draft ended, and getting Lloyd, Orton’s #1 man, was huge. Lloyd was the #4 fantasy receiver this year, with almost 1400 yards receiving and 10TDs. Thank you, Brandon. Oh, and if you hadn’t heard his Pro-Bowl comments yet, go listen to them (“I want to say fuck-you in the most professional way”).

(Others for Consideration: Matt Cassell, Stevie Johnson, Mike Williams(TB), Danny Woodhead)

Best Draft Picks
Let’s do a top-ten list. There were some pretty good values people got late. Here’s how I’d rank them:
1) Arian Foster- WhIZ Kids- 11th Round (#1 RB)
2) Dwayne Bowe- WhIZ Kids- 10th Round (#1 WR)
3) Matt Forte- TakingItToTheIzzone- 15th Round (#10 RB)
4) LeSean McCoy- Kevinexhaustible- 8th Round (#6 RB)
5) Mike Wallace- We Are The CHAMPIONS- 12th Round (#7 WR)
6) Hakeem Nicks- I’m Not a Pig-Cow!- 7th Round (#6 WR)
7) Kenny Britt- TakingItToTheIzzone- 14th Round (#21 WR)
8) Ahmad Bradshaw- We Are The CHAMPIONS- 11th Round (#12 RB)
9) Kyle Orton- TakingItToTheIzzone- 11th Round (#16 QB)
10) Dez Bryant- Kevinexhaustible- 15th Round (#31 WR)


MY PRESEASON FANTASY PREDICTIONS

1) Prediction: Jamaal Charles will look a lot like Chris Johnson, only in a red jersey. More specifically, I said that Charles would be a top-ten back, despite sharing with Thomas Jones. Finish? Ninth. And the comparison with Chris Johnson? Well Johnson ended up with about 1500 yards, and Charles with 1800. Pretty darn close. I’ll say good prediction.

2) Prediction: Mark Sanchez will throw at least 18 picks this year. He threw 13 INTs, but was never a good or reliable fantasy QB. Still, wrong on the prediction.

3) Prediction: Bernard Scott will be this year’s waiver-wire darling. Well that didn’t pan out. Why didn’t I just say Stevie Johnson??? Oh yeah, that’s right, because I never heard of him.

4) Prediction: JerMichael Finley will be this year’s top fantasy tight end. He might have had an outside chance if he hadn’t gotten hurt, but Antonio Gates was a TD-machine this year. Wrong again.

5) Prediction: Joseph Addai will reach 850 yards rushing, 300 yards receiving, and 10 total touchdowns. Donald Brown will basically be irrelevant. Again, probably would have been true if Addai hadn’t gotten hurt. At least I was right on one part: Donald Brown was basically irrelevant.

6) Prediction: Jay Cutler will throw for 4000+ yards, 27+ TDs, and less than 26 INTS, bettering every one of his 2009 stats. Barely got over 3,000 and had 23 TDs. Only 14 INTs though, which is surprising. I guess Martz’s offense just ain’t what it used to be.

7) Prediction: The top fantasy running back this year will be…Adrian Peterson. #2 this year. Hard to envision Arian Foster having the year he did. Oh well.

8) Prediction: Larry Fitzgerald will finish with 7 or less touchdowns this season. Nailed it! He did finish with a 1,000 yards, but only had 5 TDs. The Arizona QB situation, as I suspected, was his downfall.

9) Prediction: Vince Young will be a starter for Kevin's team by Week 3. Hahaha, Week 1! Right on.

OVERALL: 3 out of 9. The usual going rate for my fantasy predictions.

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Well, another year in the books. It’s been fun as always. Hopefully we have football next year…

~Mikey D