Fantasy Football: Fantasy Football Powwow: 2010 Mid-Season Fantasy Football MVP

Fantasy Football Mid-Season MVP

The Nominees:

Philip Rivers, QB, San Diego Chargers – 170 points – Avg. Draft Pick – 34.7

Philip Rivers currently leads all players in scoring, totaling 170 points.  Rivers has played nine games this season while most have played eight, which in part is why he is the leading scorer thus far.  Rivers’ FPPG is 18.9, which is good for highest among QB’s, but trails behind that of Arian Foster’s.  Rivers hasn’t had one single-digit fantasy performance so far this season and has posted four games of 20 or more points.  His best fantasy game of the year was his most recent game against Houston, where put up 25 fantasy points by throwing for 295 yards and four TD’s.  To put it simply, Rivers has lit it up all year and he has done it without his best Wide Reciever on the field. So for some, Rivers’ performance has exceeded their expectations.  Rivers’ average draft position is quite high at 34.7, meaning he averaged being drafted in the first half of the third round in most leagues and was the sixth QB taken by average.

Arian Foster, RB, Houston Texans – 169 points – Avg. Draft Pick – 49.3

Arian Foster has broken out in a big way this season, posting seven double-digit fantasy performances, including five for 20 or more points.  His biggest game of the year was his season debut against Indy, in which he ran for 231 yards and 3 touchdowns on 31 carries, racking up 41 fantasy points.  Foster is currently the number one ranked running back in standard scoring and is second overall, behind only Philip Rivers.  Foster’s average draft position was the tail-end of the fourth round at 49.3, making him the 23^rd RB taken on average, behind guys such as Ronnie Brown, Jonathan Stewart and Ryan Mathews, just to name a few. Maybe even more impressive is that Foster has only had one single-digit game all year and that game came against a very tough Giants defense.

Kyle Orton, QB, Denver Broncos – 138 points – Avg. Draft Pick – 139.5

When doing some research for this article, I was shocked to see that Kyle Orton was only owned in 96 percent of ESPN leagues.  If you are part of the four precent where Orton is a free agent, please pick him up.  Thanks.

Now, as far as his case for Mid-Season Fantasy Football MVP, let’s talk some numbers.  Orton’s 17.3 FPPG is fourth highest among QB’s, behind Rivers, Rodgers and Peyton, respectively.  Orton has not had one single-digit fantasy performance so far this season while putting up four 20 plus point games.  Orton is also tied for third among all players in scoring with Arian Foster. But what perhaps is Orton’s biggest case for Mid-Season Fantasy Football MVP, is his average draft position.  Orton’s average draft spot was 139.5 and this should blow you away because Derek Anderson was drafted only .4 spots behind! Insane.  Orton was the 22^nd QB drafted by average and was even drafted behind Mark Sanchez, Vince Young and Sam Bradford, respectively.  For those of you who were fortunate enough to land Orton at the end of Round 13, I bet you’re in first place right now.

Darren McFadden, RB, Oakland Raiders – 127 points – Avg. Draft Pick – 107.9

Darren McFadden is finally living up to expectations this season, posting 127 points in just 7 games played.  According to ESPN, his FPPG is 14.1 but they include the two games he missed due to injury.  If you factor in McFadden’s 127 points and divide by his number of games played, that’s an average of 18.14 fantasy points per game, good for third among RB’s.  McFadden is also responsible for the best fantasy game of the year thus far with his stellar 43-point performance against Denver in Week 7.  The biggest case for McFadden to win Mid-Season MVP is his average draft position.  Even his backup running back, Michael Bush, was drafted higher than he was.  McFadden’s average draft spot was 107.9, near the end of the 10^th round in most leagues. This makes McFadden the 39^th running back taken by average and he is currently the third highest ranked running back.

Peyton Hillis, RB, Cleveland Browns – 121 points – Avg. Draft Pick – Undrafted

Jerome Harrison was supposed to be the Browns running back to have the big season, considering how strong he ended last year, not Peyton Hillis (who was acquired in a random trade for Brady Quinn).  No one thought much of that trade other than that Hillis might be the change-of-pace back or just a fullback. So now Hillis has had a great year and Jerome Harrison ended up being traded….oh the irony.

Hillis has scored 7 TD’s in eight games while only having one single-digit performance in that span.  He has posted two games of 20 or more points, including a 31-point performance against New England in Week 9.  In that game, Hillis had 29 carries for 184 and 2 TD’s.  Hillis’ FPPG is 15.1, better than both Chris Johnson and Frank Gore, respectively.  In terms of his average draft position in comparison to his total points, perhaps no one has been more valuable than Hillis.  He has 121 points at the mid-season mark, making him the fourth ranked RB, and his average draft spot was not drafted at all.

Hakeem Nicks, WR, New York Giants – 115 points – Avg. Draft Pick – 76.2

Before the season started, there were questions about who would be the number one wideout for the Giants. Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks and even Mario Manningham were in the equation.  That’s been cleared up now.  Hakeem Nicks has not only been the best Giants receiver this year, but he’s been one of the best receivers in the entire league.  Nicks gets pretty much all of the targets in the redzone as well, and he is currently tied for first in receiving touchdowns with Antonio Gates at 9.  Nicks is also second among WR’s in fantasy points with 115, trailing T.O. by only one point.  Nicks’ FPPG avg. is 14.4 and he has posted three games of 20 or more points but he has also had three single-digit performances, including a 3 catch, 8-yard zero-point game against Detroit in Week 6.  One more thing to add to Nick’s case for Fantasy Mid-Season MVP is his low average draft position.  Nicks went in the middle of the seventh round and was the 25^th receiver taken by average.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB, Buffalo Bills – 108 points – Avg. Draft Pick – Undrafted

Who could have guessed that Ryan Fitzpatrick would emerge as one of the better fantasy QB’s when the season began? That’s exactly what’s happened this season.  Ryan Fitzpatrick has racked up 108 points over the course of six games, making his FPPG avg. 18.  The only QB’s with a higher FPPG avg. are Peyton Manning (18.8) and Philip Rivers (18.9), and Aaron Rodgers has the same FPPG as Fitzpatrick.  His best fantasy game of the year was Week 7 against a very tough Baltimore defense.  Fitzpatrick threw for 382 yards and 4 TD’s in that game, posting 29 fantasy points.  He hasn’t had a single-digit performance yet and has three games of 20 or more points.  Since no one saw this coming, Fitzpatrick’s average draft position is undrafted, making him one of the most valuable players in the league in comparison to his draft value.

Brandon Lloyd, WR, Denver Broncos – 107 points – Avg. Draft Pick – Undrafted

It’s nice to see all of Brandon Lloyd’s talent finally come together in Denver.  He is currently leading the NFL in receiving yards by 82 yards, with 847, and he was the highest scoring WR until he just hit his bye week.  Lloyd is currently ranked third among wide receivers.  His best game so far was in Week 4 against Cleveland, in which he had 10 receptions for 222 yards and a TD, totaling 28 points.  Lloyd’s FPPG avg. of 13.4 is better than Roddy White, Calvin Johnson and Reggie Wayne’s, just to name a few.  Lloyd’s average draft spot? Undrafted.  That’s what makes him a finalist for Mid-Season MVP.  However, Lloyd does have three single-digit performances, which may prevent him from bringing home the trophy.

LaDainian Tomlinson, RB, New York Jets – 102 points – Avg. Draft Pick – 99.7

LT got hot for a stretch of 4 games from Week 3 to Week 6 but he seems like his feet are back on earth after the Jets' bye week.  During his hot stretch, he posted four consecutive double-digit fantasy performances.  He since had consecutive single-digit performances, and the first two games of the year were also single-digit games. His best game of the season was Week 4 against Buffalo, in which he ran for 133 yards on 19 carries, scoring twice and totaling 27 fantasy points.  LT’s FPPG avg. is 12.8, which is better than most first-round running backs, including MJD, Ray Rice and Steven Jackson, respectively.  Tomlinson was drafted by average at the end of the 9^th round, making him the 36^th running back taken by average.  Most people drafted LT just because of his name and what he has done in the past, but if he was drafted by expectations, he would have went much lower, possibly undrafted.   LT’s 102 points midway through the season makes him the 10^th ranked fantasy running back.

Michael Vick, QB, Philadelphia Eagles –102 points – Avg. Draft Pick – Undrafted

Nick – Michael Vick has played better this season perhaps than he ever has in his career.  Kevin Kolb had a lot of hype surrounding him when the season started. An injury allowed Vick to shine when he took over.  I’m not going to count Vick’s game against Washington when referring to his FPPG avg. because he got hurt early in the first quarter and only had two fantasy points. But over the course of the four games that Vick played (he hasn’t even played a full 4 games either), he has put up an astounding 100 points.  That makes his FPPG avg. 25 points, better than everyone else in the entire league.  Vick’s best performance of the season was in Week 3 against Jacksonville.  Vick racked up 32 points in that game, throwing for 291 yards and 3 TD’s and running for another score.  It’s safe to say that if Vick played in every game, he would be the number one player in fantasy by a long shot.  However, he missed several games himself due to injury, making him just an honorable mention for Mid-Season Fantasy Football MVP.

And The Winner is…….:

Nick - We've talked about 10 different players and all our deserving to be named Mid-Season Fantasy Football MVP in their own way, but there can only be one winner.  Who gets your vote?

Buddy - My vote goes to Kyle Orton. He was drafted behind 21 different QB’s by average in drafts so most owners didn't see him as even a fantasy back up but he has become a legit top five QB this year. Also, he has still not had a bad week; his lowest point total this season was 13. That’s why Kyle Orton is my Mid Season Fantasy Football MVP.

Nick - I'm going with Arian Foster as my Mid-Season Fantasy Football MVP for several different reasons.  The first reason is that Foster is second among all players in scoring, trailing only Philip Rivers, who was expected to light it up. The next reason is that Foster has had five games of 20 or more fantasy points, compared to the four of Kyle Orton.  Foster has also led the league in scoring in three separate weeks while Orton hasn't led any. The last reason is that Foster's average draft position is lower in comparison to the position he plays than Orton's.  Foster was the 23rd running back taken by average, edging Orton slightly in that respect.

Buddy - Because Foster was taken 23rd among RB’s in fantasy drafts, most people saw him as a flex option. So they drafted him with anticipation of him starting. Sure, he has exceeded expectations by far, but not as much as Orton has. If you were an owner that drafted somebody other than Arian Foster in Round 4, you still ended up with someone like Antonio Gates or Matt Forte. If you didn't draft Orton in the 13th round you ended up with T.J. Houshmandzadeh or Willis McGahee. The value of Orton in Round 13 makes him the most valuable fantasy player.

Nick - I agree with what you are saying, Orton has been superb by all accounts, but for me, the fact that Foster has led the league in scoring during three separate weeks, in combination with his low draft position, outweighs Orton's lower draft position combined with his lower point total.  Here's another great stat; Orton's best game was 22 fantasy points against Indy.  Foster's FOURTH best game was 22 points against the same team in Week 8.  He has three times put up more points than Orton's best game.  Tell me this, if you had the first pick in a hypothetical mid-season fantasy football draft, how could you not take Foster first overall?

Buddy - If I was drafting today, Foster would definitely be a first-round pick. But Orton would be a 2nd round pick in his own right. If at the beginning of the season you gave me the choice of drafting a player in the fourth round and getting first round value or drafting a player in the 13th round and getting second round value, I'm taking option B everyday.

Nick - Well I voted for Arian Foster, and Kyle Orton got Buddy's vote.  You've heard what we have had to say about each.  Who do you think should win the Mid-Season Fantasy Football MVP award? Post a comment with an explanation of who you would vote for and why, we want to hear your opinions!

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