Fake Teams fantasy football mailbag: Who had the best fantasy performance of the regular season?

Welcome to the Fake Teams’ fantasy football mailbag. In the bag this week: the best fantasy performance of the year, who to drop for Alex Collins & more.

If you want to send in your questions for next week’s mailbag, here are the ways to join:

• tweet @petemrogers or @Faketeams using #FTFFmailbag
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Onto the mailbag:

Q: Who do you think had the best fantasy performance of the regular season?
— Tommy H.

Excellent question. I decided to give you my top five performances instead of just the one but they are in order so there still is a one best performance. I’m judging best performance taking into consideration stats, closest competition and narrative.

Here we go:

5) Saints defense leading all fantasy with 32 points scored in Week 6

Now this performance will likely be forever remembered as one of the greatest “You Helped No One” performances of the last three hundred years. The Saints defense came out of nowhere to utterly dismantle the Lions and break the fantasy world. It helps that they did it on a particularly bad week of fantasy output, but anytime a defense leads the entire fantasy world in scoring for a week, that’s a top five performance.

4) Alvin Kamara doing his part to get you to the playoffs, scoring 30.8 in Week 12 and 24.6 in Week 13

You could probably put any of Kamara’s weeks here as he has been the best fantasy player for quite sometime now but I picked the last two weeks because he put together excellent performances in the time when you needed it the most: getting yourself into the playoffs.

3) Russell Wilson scoring 36 points & Deshaun Watson scoring 35.8 in the Texans vs Seahawks thriller in Week 8

This obviously led to two excellent fantasy performances, but more than that, it was one of the greatest football games of the season. Wilson and Watson went toe for toe, just doing amazing things at amazing times. Sadly, this was the last game we saw Deshaun Watson as in practice afterwards he tore his ACL. Pour some out. But what a way to go, capping off a historic fantasy run with arguably the best game of the 2017 season.

2) Julio Jones going for 253 and two scores against Buccaneers in Week 12

I’ve said many bad things about Julio this season, but you can’t say anything bad about his ridiculous 38.8 point performance against the Bucs. What makes Julio so frustrating to own is that he can have games like this where he just makes everyone who dares play against him look foolish, but he can also have games where suddenly he’s MIA and leaving your fantasy team high and dry. But Week 12 he brought his A+++++++++ game. I probably didn’t include enough pluses there...

1) Kareem Hunt scoring 40.6 points against Patriots in Week 1

Yup, the best fantasy performance of the season happened back in Week 1, while I was sitting on an airplane flying home from my cousin’s wedding. For starters, this was the only time during the regular fantasy season a player scored 40 or more points (standard Yahoo! scoring) so that’s a check right there. Second, it sparked the entire Kareem Hunt craze, sending people to the waiver wires faster than Roadrunner running from Wile E Coyote. It also was the start of the most exciting Chiefs’ offense the world has ever known. Sadly, like most things Andy Reid loves, that offense has disappeared just in time for the playoffs. But we’ll always have Hunt’s massive opening day game.

Q: Should I drop Perine, Woodhead or Ajayi for Alex Collins? Thanks (PPR league)

— @whorleyt

To me, choice is pretty clear even though it’ll bring Clark much pain and suffering: drop Woodhead. Samaje Perine despite having a bad game against Dallas, is still the only running back in Washington and that alone means he should stay on your roster.

Jay Ajayi, while still capped by LeGarrette Blount, is playing in a much better offense and has shown already plenty of fantasy ability since making the move to Philly. Plus, the Eagles schedule is second easiest down the stretch for running backs so I could see plenty of opportunities for Ajayi to make noise.

Sadly, Woodhead has yet to show much of anything since returning to the Ravens. Through three weeks, he’s only caught 11 balls for 58 yards and rushed for 33 on eight carries. Plus, Collins’ success equals Woodhead’s demise. Drop Danny.

Q: Do I even bother with Jordan Howard anymore?
— Christie D.

I FEEL YA LADY!

Man, can’t a player I take in the first two rounds just give me a consistent season filled with consistently good fantasy performances? Is that too much to ask? That literally all I want from this world. Just that. At least Howard has consistently been giving me better games that Julio Jones. Ugh. Don’t even get me started.

So, to the actual question at hand, should you even bother with Howard anymore. Yes, you should bother with him. I know he’s tough to start and tough to get yourself psyched up about each week but hopefully he can right the ship this week against the Bengals, who’ve allowed the fifth most points to running backs over the last five weeks. Plus, they’ll be without starting defenders Vontaze Burfict, Shawn Williams and Nick Vigil.

Q: Should I make any lineup changes?
— Wyatt M.

QB: BATTLE OF THE YOUNG GUNS! I love it! Wentz vs. Goff, which second year quarterback is better. I think both will have big games, but have to give slight edge to Goff as Rams’ defense is better against opposing QBs. 0/1

RB1: This is tough. Howard has the much better matchup but I trust the Jaguars to use Fournette more. Again, like Goff vs Wentz, think both could have big games, just gonna go on paper here with Howard. 0/2

RB2: Kamara beats everyone. 1/2

WR1: Keenan Allen has been a man possessed these last three weeks and he has the better matchup on paper. 1/3

WR2: I have to say Julio. I can’t pick Emmanuel Sanders over Julio Jones can I? 2/3

TE: Evan Engram hands down. 3/3

FLEX: I trust the Bucs’ pass defense to suck more than Washington’s run defense so give me Marvin Jones. 4/3

D/ST: Any team playing the Browns is a win. 5/3

K: Umm wash? Unless your name is Greg Zuerlein, I don’t know. 5/3

Win but it’s gonna be tight.

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