FANTASY: Johnson leads the way in this year’s Fantasy Football Awards

Published 11:25 pm Tuesday, December 27, 2016

To everyone who had David Johnson on your roster this season, congratulations because you probably finished as league champion. The Arizona Cardinals running back was unstoppable, and that includes championship week in what seemed like an unforgiving matchup at Seattle. All Johnson did against the Seahawks was score three rushing touchdowns to go along with 136 total yards, rushing and receiving.

Another champion-maker for fantasy this season was Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell. Last week in a similarly tough matchup against the Baltimore Ravens, Bell rushed for 122 yards and a touchdown and also caught a touchdown.

I played in three fantasy football leagues this season. The champion in those three leagues had either Bell or Johnson – all three of them.

Maybe the zero running back draft strategy is not the way to go next season.

Those two fantasy mammoths lead us into the 2016 Fantasy Football Awards.

For each category, I will list four nominees and then deliver you the envelope and winner.

Biggest draft steal (Taken Round 5 or later in most drafts)

Nominees: LeGarrette Blount, RB, New England; Spencer Ware, RB, Kansas City; Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta; Michael Crabtree, WR, Oakland

Winner: MATT RYAN

Details: This was hard because you could easily pick Blount (1,110 yards, 17 TDs), but Ryan is in the Fantasy MVP category, and most owners who drafted him took him in the seventh round or later. All he did was give those owners 4,613 yards passing and 34 touchdowns with only seven interceptions.

Biggest draft bust (Taken in Rounds 1-3)

Nominees: Deandre Hopkins, WR, Houston; Todd Gurley, RB, Los Angeles; Brandon Marshall, WR, N.Y. Jets; Cam Newton, QB, Carolina

Winner: DEANDRE HOPKINS

Details: Many would immediately believe Gurley should have this award, but although he was disappointing, Gurley finished as the No. 20 fantasy running back with 845 yards and six touchdowns. Newton was also an easy one to choose with last year’s MVP, and one you needed to take in the first two rounds, finishing No. 17 overall as far as fantasy quarterback production. Nope, this one was down to two monumentally underperforming receivers. In the end, Hopkins gets it because he went in the first round of most drafts with Marshall (787 yards, 3 TDs) going in the second round. Hopkins finished as the No. 40 receiver overall with 831 yards and four touchdowns.

Biggest injury

Nominees: Keenan Allen, WR, San Diego; Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota; Rob Gronkowski, TE, New England; C.J. Anderson, RB, Denver

Winner: KEENAN ALLEN

Details: All of these were big injuries for unlucky owners – although the Gronkowkski one is one of those fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice shame on you kind of deals – but in my opinion, Keenan Allen would have finished as the league-leader in receptions. In a little over a quarter and half in the Week 1 opener, Allen already had six catches for 63 yards. Then a season-ending knee injury happened. Peterson’s injury was brutal, but he hadn’t done much in his first two games. Anderson had been solid if not spectacular, but Allen was a potential game-changer lost on Week 1.

Will you get in the end zone please! (Good numbers but not enough TDs)

Nominees: Julian Edelman, WR, New England; Jarvis Landry, WR, Miami; Greg Olsen, TE, Carolina; Todd Gurley, RB, Los Angeles

Winner: JULIAN EDELMAN

Details: All of these guys disappointed when it came to putting six on the board. Olsen finished with 77 catches for 1,051 yards and only 3 TDs while Landry had 85 catches for 1,062 yards and three scores. Gurley only rushed for six touchdowns, which is also brutal, but considering Edelman has Tom Brady throwing him the football, this is an astonishing number. Brady has thrown 25 touchdown passes this season and Edelman has only TWO! The unquestioned No. 1 receiver for the Patriots has 90 catches for 955 yards and two scores. I hope if you had him, it was a point-per-reception league.

Reservations for Six (Touchdown makers)

Nominees: Kenny Stills, WR, Miami; LeGarrette Blount, RB, New England; Melvin Gordon, RB, San Diego; Jordy Nelson, WR, Green Bay

Winner: TIE — LEGARRETTE BLOUNT/JORDY NELSON

Details: Stills only has 38 catches and eight of those are touchdowns while Gordon exploded for 12 rushing/receiving scores this season before suffering an injury. Those are great, but if you were fortunate to have either Blount or Nelson on your teams, it was a nice season. Blount was thought of at the start of the season as a touchdown vulture for other Patriots running backs but finished with 17 rushing touchdowns. Nelson was as good if not better, failing to find the end zone only four times this season. His yardage totals were not spectacular until he heated up in the last four weeks, but his 14 touchdowns are undeniable.

Best Waiver-Wire Pickup

Nominees: Dak Prescott, QB, Dallas; Davante Adams, WR, Green Bay; Tyreek Hill, WR, Kansas City; Jordan Howard, RB, Chicago

Winner: JORDAN HOWARD

Details: Howard began the season as third on Chicago’s depth chart, but injuries thrust him into the lineup against Dallas in Week 3. He finished with 92 total yards in that game and never looked back. Howard delivered to his fantasy owners 1,178 yards and six touchdowns.

Player of the Year

Nominees: Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta; David Johnson, RB, Arizona; Le’Veon Bell, RB, Pittsburgh; Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas

Winner: DAVID JOHNSON

Details: Johnson has moved into the Antonio Brown role as the unquestioned No. 1 fantasy player in next year’s drafts. Brown actually is the fifth-best player in my opinion because of a 3 for 58 and 5 for 78 performances in many owners fantasy players. Ryan was amazing, especially for where he was drafted, Bell hurt owners by being suspended the first three weeks, but made up for it with huge performances down the stretch, and Elliott would have been the top fantasy player this season if not for Johnson. All the Arizona back did is delivered at least 100 total yards in every game this season while also giving owners 16 rushing touchdown and four receiving scores with 77 receptions.

Breakout Player of the Year

Nominees: Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas; Derek Carr, QB, Oakland; Cameron Brate, TE, Tampa Bay; Michael Thomas, WR, New Orleans

Winner: EZEKIEL ELLIOTT

Details: What a season for the rookie from Ohio State. After finding his footing with a 51-yard effort in Week 1, Elliott has launched into the stratosphere, rushing for 80 or more yards in every game since. He gave owners 1,145 yards rushing and nine touchdowns with 37 catches and a score. In any other year Thomas would get this award. The rookie who was probably either undrafted or taken as a flier late, finished with 82 catches for 981 yards and eight touchdowns. Brate really emerged as the season went on for the Bucs, finishing with six touchdowns in his last nine games. Both Brate and Carr unfortunately suffered season-ending injuries last week, but Carr was a revelation for fantasy owners who took him as the Raiders QB finished with 3,933 yards and 28 TDs.

Players to add for Week 17

I lied last week. I forgot some of you unlucky players have to navigate through Week 17, so this is the final ABW (Always Be Working) report of 2016. This is all about which teams are playing for something this week. Many of the nominees listed above are on teams that have clinched playoff spots, division titles and home-field advantage, so they may be held out of Week 17.

If you are looking for a Quarterback, Oakland’s Matt McGloin now steps under center because Carr is out for the year against a Denver team with nothing to play for while Oakland is trying to lock up the No. 1 seed. As for Running Back, I would stay with Oakland and look at DeAndre Washington because Oakland will look to lean on the run a little more and Washington, who had two touchdowns last week, could emerge right now. Another running back to grab is Pittsburgh’s Fitzgerald Toussaint because the Steelers are sitting Le’Veon Bell. Stay in Pittsburgh for receivers too because Antonio Brown will not play, so Eli Rogers/Cobi Hamilton are in the mix.

How did my teams do?

Any time two of your players put up zeroes, things are not going to end well. That is what happened in my Yahoo.com standard league championship. I gambled on San Diego Chargers tight end Hunter Henry after Jordan Reed was ruled out and he did nothing. Also, Cincinnati Bengals running back Jeremy Hill, who I was forced to play also because of injuries, put up a goose-egg. All of this and I faced an owner who had Le’Veon Bell, so I will have to make due with being runner-up. In my CBSSportsline.com consolation championship, I rode huge performances from Bell, Dak Prescott and Allen Robinson to a victory. All that is left now is Week 2 of my ESPN.com PPR league championship. I lead by two points after Week 1. I have Bell and he has Johnson, but with Bell probably being rested along with many of my other starters, it will make things tricky.

Good Luck In Week 17 and Happy New Year!

– Chris Parry is a staff writer for the Tyler Morning Telegraph and ETFinalScore.com, and an avid fantasy football player for nearly two decades. His weekly fantasy takeaway appears on Wednesdays. Feel free to email with any questions or comments or you can tweet to @CParryETFS.