OK. Consider this your warning. The next few days are going to be pretty epic.
Each post is going to be broken down into a few categories.
1) My Midseason Fantasy Football Awards - I will be naming the top performers, the best draft day steals and the duds at each position.
2) You will find a chart of the top ranked fantasy football players, divided by position. This chart compares their current totals with their draft positions to give you an idea of how everything is shaking out.
Top Performers
3) Drew Brees
Brees started out the year strong with a huge performance against the Green Bay Packers. Even after losing his top receiver, he managed to put up solid points week after week. The offense is full of talent at all skill positions.
Brees was the fifth quarterback drafted in most leagues, with the average draft position (ADP) of 26.5. If you jumped on him in the third round, you are likely sitting pretty right now.
2) Cam Newton
Newton is currently leading all fantasy football quarterbacks in points. His average points per game is riding at 23.
He has been doing his work through the air, with the second highest yardage total in the league, but his huge fantasy football numbers are mainly due to Newton leading the league at the quarterback position in rushing touchdowns with a total of seven.
There is something seriously wrong with the system if he does not end up the league's Offensive Rookie of the Year.
1) Aaron Rodgers
I've said it from the start: this man should be the first quarterback taken off the board. At 26 fantasy football points per game (FFPPG), Rodgers has the highest average of every PLAYER in the NFL.
His 20 touchdown passes lead the league, and he has only thrown three interceptions. It's always a risk to grab a quarterback in the first round, but if you took him, you are reaping the rewards.
Steals of the Draft
3) Ryan Fitzpatrick
The Buffalo Bills quarterback went largely undrafted at the beginning of the 2011 season, but on his way to leading the Bills to a 5-2 record atop the AFC East, Fitzpatrick has racked up the fantasy points to those who wisely took him as a backup or added him after his stellar Week 1, four touchdown performance.
Fitzpatrick currently ranks 10th among quarterbacks in FFPPG with 15.3, higher than four different quarterbacks who were taken in the top 10.
2) Eli Manning
Eli Manning decided to show up this year after Peyton was unable to hit the field. Manning was 14th quarterback taken in most fantasy football drafts, but has put up the numbers to make him the 7th best, less than two points behind the first quarterback picked, Michael Vick.
Manning has over 2100 passing yards and 13 touchdowns, much of this without one of his top receivers. With an average draft position in the 10th round, if you decided to wait on him, it is paying off.
1) Cam Newton
Undoubtedly the surprise of the 2011 fantasy football season. Newton has done it with his arms and legs putting up stunning fantasy points every week.
Newton was hardly drafted at all at the start of the year, and owners will still hesitant to add him after his Week 1 performance. If he is your starter, you picked him off waivers. And if you picked him off waivers, congratulations, because the chances of winning your league skyrocketed.
Duds of the Draft
3) Peyton Manning
I feel that I have to put him because despite his injury, a lot of owners (including myself) gambled on him to play this season.
Manning was the 8th highest drafted quarterback, meaning that unfortunate owners wasted a high pick to jump on him.
2) Michael Vick
I might get a hard time for this one, but I felt it necessary to rub it in a little bit to those who drafted him in the first round. Hell, I know a bunch of people who took him first overall.
Vick is improving steadily as the year goes on, but for being the first quarterback taken in drafts around the country, You would expect him to be higher than the 6th position.
His numbers are still impressive with 19 points per game, but he is not living up to expectations at this time.
1) Philip Rivers
When you take a quarterback in the first few rounds, you are pretty certain that he is going to have a good year for you. When the 4th quarterback taken ends up as the 16th best quarterback halfway through the season, you have to slap your head.
Rivers is scoring just 13.1 points per game, worse than four players who went largely undrafted. Among those outperforming him: Mark Sanchez, Matt Hasselbeck and Colt McCoy. You know that hurt.
Hopefully you had a stunner of a draft with every other pick, because Philip Rivers, so far, has been a certified dud.
Top 20 Fantasy Football Quarterback Performances
The following chart is compiled of information taken from fantasyfootballcalculator.com. All draft positions were in mock drafts done in early September. Players are ranked in order of their average fantasy football points per game (FFPPG).
The Prediction bar on the right side measures whether I think the player will continue at this pace for the rest of the year, see a decline (-), or improve their rankings (+).
Ranking | Player Name | Draft Rank | Diff. | Overall ADP | Average FFPPG | Predict |
1 | Aaron Rodgers | 2 | +1 | 9.7 | 26 | |
2 | Cam Newton | N/D | N/D | N/D | 23 | - |
3 | Drew Brees | 5 | +2 | 26.5 | 21.1 | |
4 | Tom Brady | 3 | -1 | 19.8 | 21 | |
5 | Matthew Stafford | 11 | +6 | 80.0 | 19.1 | |
6 | Michael Vick | 1 | -5 | 5.1 | 19 | + |
7 | Eli Manning | 14 | +7 | 98.1 | 17.7 | + |
8 | Matt Schaub | 7 | -1 | 55.4 | 15.8 | |
9 | Ben Roethlisberger | 10 | +1 | 66.9 | 15.6 | + |
10 | Ryan Fitzpatrick | N/D | N/D | N/D | 15.3 | |
11 | Tony Romo | 6 | -5 | 41.1 | 14.9 | + |
12 | Mark Sanchez | 20 | +8 | 124.5 | 14.6 | |
13 | Matt Hasselbeck | N/D | N/D | N/D | 13.7 | - |
14 | Josh Freeman | 12 | -2 | 91.7 | 13.4 | |
15 | Colt McCoy | N/D | N/D | N/D | 13.3 | |
16 | Philip Rivers | 4 | -12 | 25.1 | 13.1 | + |
17 | Matt Ryan | 9 | -8 | 63.6 | 13.1 | |
18 | Alex Smith | N/D | N/D | N/D | 12.6 | |
19 | Jay Cutler | 17 | -2 | 118.8 | 12.4 | |
20 | Joe Flacco | 15 | -5 | 108.4 | 12.4 | + |
Unlisted: Peyton Manning (8th picked QB), Sam Bradford (13th), Kevin Kolb (16th), Kyle Orton (18th), Matt Cassel (19th)
