Fantasy Football: Bleacher Report Fantasy Writers Midseason Awards

We're just over halfway through the fantasy season, and the Bleacher Report fantasy writers felt it was time to hand out some hardware. The beer was poured, and Jacob Sloan, Jamal Collier, Zach Fein, and The Roundtable put on some award-ceremony-type tunes. Here's what they had to say.

MVP: Matt Forte (Three Votes). With a preseason average draft position (ADP) in the sixth round, Forte wasn't expected to do much at all on a Bears team that had just signed Kevin Jones and had their first-round pick, OT Chris Williams, out for most of the year.

But Forte proved his doubters wrong in his first NFL game, when he rushed for over 120 yards and scored a touchdown. Forte hasn't been the best running back thus far, but he is the most *valuable* based on his preseason ADP. (Zach Fein)

LVP: Larry Johnson (Two Votes). Is Tom Brady out of the running? I'd worry about Larry Johnson hitting me for nominating him here, but hey, he only hits women. Nothing to worry about. Sadly, at this point in the season, I'd be pissed to still have L.J. on my roster.

Owners drafting him in the first round (ouch) or early second round (still ouch) were expecting a bargain or believed the hype that he would be worth the price. He's not.

L.J. produced big numbers in two games (just enough to trick owners into starting him), and then managed to drop off the map and into a potential suspension by the NFL. Thanks, L.J.

His trade value is disgusting, so right now, he's a waste of a roster spot. (Jacob Sloan)

Waiver Wire Hero: Kyle Orton (Three Votes). If someone told you that one of the top-five quarterbacks in football would be available after not only every draft, but also after three or four weeks of the season, you’d have laughed. Yet, that’s where Orton was. No one wanted to touch this Bears offense after the disaster that was last season.

Check point totals, though, and you don’t see Manning and Brady in the top-tier of quarterbacks. Orton, though, has had staying power. Of course, we’re throwing all that out the door after yesterday. (The Roundtable)

Most Overrated: Michael Turner. I haven't heard too much about Turner in the last couple of weeks, but people were all over him early on in the season when he blew up for a couple of big games. It wasn't just his talent as a running back that yielded those totals.

It was the defenses.

Turner got 100+ yards on the Lions, the Chiefs, and the Packers (Weeks One, Three, and Five). In even-numbered weeks, Turner is averaging 52.5 yards on the ground and no scores.

Thus, this (Week Nine) looks to be his week against the Raiders, and the upcoming odd ones continue to look good (11 vs DEN, 13 @ SD). But beware of his last few odd ones (15 vs TB, 17 vs STL) and his ugly playoff schedule (@ NO, vs TB, @ MIN in 14, 15, 16 respectively). (Jamal Collier)

Most Likely to Come Back Strong: Joseph Addai. Give him his average points-per-game of 12.1 last week instead of his 0.3 (he left early due to injury), and Addai becomes the No. 20 RB, 10 spots higher than his current rank.

Addai had scored four touchdowns in his three games prior to last week and had 70 rushing yards in Weeks Three and Five. Look for Addai to turn it around and be a top-10 back for the rest of the year. (Zach Fein)

Most Likely to Drop Off: Philip Rivers. I know, I know. He's the No. 1 QB! How can you say that? Well, I can because I'm just that dangerous, and I remember a simpler time when Rivers was known much more for his mouth and ability to hand the ball to L.T. than his arm.

I expect him to return to form post-bye when L.T. feels more like himself again. Besides, two of their remaining games (Steelers, Bucs), the Chargers have a rushers dream in the second half.

If L.T.'s foot is right again, Rivers' reliability goes out the window. He's got weapons, but he won't need or get to use them. So I'll put it out there that I think he's falling off. (Jacob Sloan)

One Thing I Wish I Knew on Draft Day: Let’s get one from everyone here…

Matt Ryan is legit, and the coaches will game plan for him to take risks with this offense. Before the draft, all the intel I had on Ryan pointed to a slow, easy rookie year where the Falcons would win or die by the run.

Unfortunately for those of us who dodged Roddy White, that doesn't seem to be the case. Signing early paid off, and so has Matt Ryan for the Atlanta fantasy stars. (Jacob Sloan)

That Le'Ron McLain would be the Ravens' RB that got all the carries. I loved Willis McGahee in the preseason, ranking him sixth among all players, due to Cam Cameron's arrival as OC, but luckily I missed out on drafting him on all of my teams.

I was right on one part (Cameron does do wonders to his running backs), but wrong that McGahee would be the beneficiary. That said, he's still the Ravens RB I want for the rest of the season. (Zach Fein)

Aside from knowing that Kurt Warner would in fact win the starting job in Arizona, I wish I knew that rookie Steve Slaton would have as many fantasy points as highly touted sophomore Marshawn Lynch halfway through the year. (Jamal Collier)

The fact the Cardinals were going to marginalize Edgerrin James to the degree that they had. As you got deeper in drafts, simply finding backs that were going to take the bulk of the carries became important, especially for fill-in or third/fourth type running backs. These are the guys you tend not to handcuff.

I figured James as a decent upside play in that regard. After watching Hightower slowly take away from James’ carries, that’s certainly no longer the case. (The Roundtable)