NFL 2017 Fannies Awards

Now that we’ve all had time to lament our losses, send inappropriately explicit GIFs celebrating our victories, and begun planning for our 2018 drafts, it’s time for me to hand out the first annual World’s Biggest and Most Prestigious Fantasy Football End of Season Awards sponsored by FakeTeams.com and brought to you by Clark Barnes Productions awards.

All Average Draft Position (ADP) figures courtesy of Fantasy Football Calculator

All stats are ESPN scoring system courtesy of FFToday.com

MVWR – DeAndre Hopkins

Remember how adamant Bill O’Brien was about Tom Savage being the starter for the beginning of the season? Fears Hopkin would suffer another year of embarrassing quarterback play pushed DeAndre to the end of the 3^rd round (ADP 35). While those fears were absolutely warranted, Hopkins showed the only QB who could hold him down was Brock Osweiler.

In the most dazzling season no-one saw, DeAndre led the NFL in targets with 174. Hopkins also lead all receivers in scoring despite only playing in 15 games. You never got fewer than 7 points out of this man. No fewer than 7 points in STANDARD SCORING… all year.

The combo of Hopkins’ relatively late draft position, and his #1 overall wide receiver finish makes him an easy choice for this years WR MVP.

Fanny Wide Receiver - Dez Bryant

What kills me with Dez is that we should have seen it coming. We knew the Cowboys wanted to run the ball (although the Zeke suspension may have caused some to balk at that assumption), and we knew Dak Prescott wasn’t going to put up 5,000 yards through the air. Bryant was coming off a foot injury, a concerning injury for a big-bodied receiver, and there was nothing to indicate the Boys would do more to get him more involved in the offense.

Bryant cost you a mid-second round pick (ADP 19), and despite starting all 16 games, he finished as the WR 25. Dez got you double-digit points 5 times, and fewer than 5 points 6 times (1 of those fewer-than-five games was week 17). You probably started him all year, and he just killed you.

Dez may be a bargain in 2018 after burning so many owners in 2017.

MVTE – Rob Gronkowski

Gronk ended up a mid-2^nd rounder (ADP 18) as the first tight end off the board. He only played in 13 games, but still ended up as the top tight end in overall scoring. This choice was tough with Travis Kelce having such a good year, but Gronk gets the nod because of his per-game scoring advantage. If you managed to get through Gronkowski’s week 14 suspension, spending up at TE ended up really paying off for you in the fantasy playoffs.

Fanny Tight End – Jordan Reed

There is no doubt about Jordan Reed’s talent. The only question we had about Reed is “can he stay healthy?”. Turns out, for this year, the answer was ‘no’. Get well soon Mr. Reed.

MVRB – Todd Gurley

This one is a no-brainer. An early-to-mid second-round pick, Gurley led all non-QBs in touchdowns with 19. Gurley absolutely lit it up during the fantasy playoffs, and he only gave you one game where scored fewer than 11 points (he scored just 3 points in week 6).

Gurley is the odds-on favorite for the 1.01 in 2018 and for good reason. Gurley’s supporting cast and coaching staff should remain intact, and so a 2^nd big year in a row could very well be on the horizon.

Fanny Running Back – Jay Ajayi

This one breaks my heart as I believe Ajayi is a special talent. Between the complete disfunction that was the Dolphins offense, and the mid-season trade to an Eagles squad with an already crowded backfield, Ajayi never got on track.

Ajayi finished as the RB35 but cost you a late first, early 2^nd round pick (ADP 12). Tough year for Ajayi believers.

MVQB – Russell Wilson

Most of the guys who finished at the head of the class were drafted after several ‘can’t miss’ prospects we liked a lot more. The same goes for ole Dange-Russ.

Wilson was the 5^th QB of the board (ADP 65), right behind Matt Ryan. Seattle didn’t have anything other than Wilson after suffering countless injuries on the defensive side of the ball, and that played a big part in Wilson’s big fantasy season.

Fanny QB – Drew Brees

Brees was the third QB taken, with an early fourth round cost (ADP 39). We saw the Saints rally behind two amazing running back performances from Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram, and so the Saints got a whole lot better in the win column.

Brees threw for over 300 yards 3 times.

This is another player who did just enough to force you to play him, but not enough to live up to the pedigree and his price tag.

Flex MVP – Alvin Kamara

I had to find a way to get Kamara in to this article. After starting slow (thanks to the Adrian Peterson experiment), and despite sharing a backfield with a resurgent Mark Ingram, Kamara finished the years as the RB4. Kamara was likely a waiver wire pickup, so the value here is essentially immeasurable.

Kamara’s future is blindingly bright as a do-it-all backfield savant. If Brees comes back to the Saints next year, Kamara is going to be not-so-contrarian 1.01 for those who don’t believe Gurley will repeat.