Fantasy Football: 5 Mistakes Fantasy Owners Are Kicking Themselves for Making

With the fantasy season coming to a close, many owners are still kicking themselves for making these mistakes.

There were many risks to take in fantasy this season, including drafting Michael Vick or Chris Johnson, or trying to take more receivers than running backs.

Part of the fun in fantasy is taking risks to see how your team turns out...but sometimes making stupid mistakes and then having to hear your friends and coworkers ridicule you for months isn't fun.

If you were lucky enough to take a risk on keeping Arian Foster or doing the exact opposite of any of these, I take my hat off to you, but this list is for those who missed the playoffs due to these errors in judgment.

Note: While there are many big mistakes that are not mentioned due to the many made, feel free to add your own at the bottom.

Drafting Chris Johnson

Position Rank: 17

Points this Season: 142

Average Points per Game: 10.1

Average Round Taken: 1

From CJ2K to CJ1K, Chris Johnson was a waste of an early pick for the first 10 weeks of the season. He did very little until lately and has only four rushing touchdowns all season, yet many fantasy owners took him in the first round.

Johnson might have been rusty after a lockout and then a hold-out because of contract negotiations, but no matter why it happened he has haunted many fantasy owners, as he either caught fire too late or was traded away.

Not Taking LeSean McCoy

Position Rank: 1

Points this Season: 266

Average Points per Game: 19.0

Average Round Taken: 1/2

LeSean McCoy had fantasy owners scared if they weren't in PPR leagues. While McCoy is a dual-threat, so is quarterback Michael Vick. That knowledge made many owners fear that McCoy would not be used much.

If they were not afraid of McCoy, many people stayed away from him simply because they didn't trust him or they thought he might get hurt, but he has stayed healthy and is the year's No. 1 running back by 32 points over Ray Rice.

Letting Cam Newton Go Undrafted

Position Rank: 3

Points this Season: 311

Average Points per Game: 22.2

Average Round Taken: Last four rounds or undrafted

Cam Newton was a question mark coming out of college, and many owners expected him to be the next JaMarcus Russell. However, throwing for a combined 854 yards in his first two games silenced the critics.

Newton has also broken the record for rushing touchdowns in a season for a quarterback, and since rushing touchdowns are worth two points more than passing that made him incredibly valuable.

Newton actually scored the third most points of any player in fantasy, and he could have been a first-round pick.

Dropping Marshawn Lynch

Position Rank: 5

Points this Season: 177

Average Points per Game: 12.6

Average Round Taken: 7-9

After showing off his Beast Mode (a named coined during his time in Buffalo) in the playoffs against the Saints, many fantasy owners thought Marshawn Lynch would be a great pick considering that he was a featured-back.

However, Lynch had a disappointing start, putting up only 12 points in the first three weeks combined. He then had two good weeks before getting injured, and then many fantasy owners who didn't drop him already cut ties.

Since then Lynch has had a great run of seven weeks, rushing for eight touchdowns and putting up over 100 yards five times. He is averaging 18.8 points per game during that span. For those who let him go he could have been their best running back.

Drafting Michael Vick in the First Round

Position Rank: 13

Points this Season: 181

Average Points per Game: 12.9

Average Round Taken: 1

Michael Vick had an incredible 2010-11 season, and if his stats were stretched over 16 games, he would have led the league by far.

A lot of people took a risk by drafting Vick in the first round (or even first overall). With advocates like Matthew Berry of ESPN and myself included, Vick's draft stock rose, yet due to injuries and unsatisfactory performances he has fallen to No. 13 among quarterbacks.

With 12 quarterbacks ahead of him, owners could have picked up another quarterback to start over Vick, making their first pick a complete waste. I was one of the owners who took Vick with their first picks (No. 5 in the draft for me), and I'm still kicking myself about it.

Josh Schoch is an aspiring sportswriter dedicated to bringing you everything related to Fantasy Football, the NFL, NBA, MLB, college basketball, college football and much more. Follow him on Twitter.