NFL Fantasy Football Awards: 2015 Season
The 2015 NFL regular season has come to a close as the playoffs are in full swing. Even though the playoffs have begun, the Fantasy Football season has ended, and it is time to reflect on the year. These awards range from the Most Valuable Player Award to awards such as the Biggest Bust Award.
Biggest Bust
This year’s Biggest Bust Award hands down goes to Eagles RB DeMarco Murray. In the previous 2014 season, Murray was the number one running back in the NFL, scoring 294.10 fantasy points. This includes 1,845 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. But this season has been a different story, as Murray signed with the Philadelphia Eagles. Murray has pathetically underperformed under the coaching of Chip Kelly, who recently was fired by the Eagles organization. Only scoring 140.40 fantasy points, Murray has been a disappointment to fantasy owners. This includes only 702 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns, making his previous season just about double that of this year’s. Not only this, but Murray averaged 0.6 yards per carry in September and was later benched.
According to an article by media reporter Matt Lombardo, Murray is looking to stay in Philadelphia.
“‘I’m signed here for four more years,’ Murray said, when asked if he wanted to return to Philadelphia next season. ‘So, I’ll be back here.’”
Other Nominations for Biggest Bust: Peyton Manning, Eddie Lacy, Calvin Johnson
MVP
With no question we all know who deserves the MVP Award and that player is Panther QB Cam Newton. Newton this season has played magnificently and because of his great passing and rushing combo, he has climbed the ladder of success in the NFL. Surprisingly, Newton was owned by only 30% of eight to ten team leagues. By mid season, Newton was owned in all leagues in fantasy football. The Panther QB has scored a whopping 45 touchdowns, ten of which are rushing, and gained a total of 389.08 fantasy points. With 3,837 passing yards and 636 rushing yards, Newton is the clear choice for MVP.
Arrowhead junior, fantasy owner, and longtime Newton fan, Chris Marmes, says he has been very pleased with what Newton accomplished.
“Cam Newton has been a beast ever since he got to the NFL. He’s had his ups and downs, but this year is a season to remember for him,”says Marmes. “He deserves it.”
Other Nominations for MVP: Antonio Brown, Tom Brady, Devonta Freeman.
Worst Injury
Even with a two game PED suspension, Steelers RB Le’veon Bell was a first round pick in most drafts after scoring more points than any running back or receiver in 2014. After his suspension, he was right back in his role as the best running back in the league, averaging 17.40 points a game. But in week eight, the star running back tore his MCL, ending his season. This was unfortunate for fantasy owners banking on him caring their teams, but the running back was only able to play five games. Even though Deangelo Williams backed up Bell well, it wasn’t the Le’veon Bell numbers that fantasy owners needed.
Other Nominations for Worst Injury:
Rookie of the Year
Todd Gurley, who had a fantastic season with the University of Georgia, looked to be a great draft pick for the St. Louis Rams. And it turned out he definitely was. Playing at the running back position, Gurley has had an amazing season as a rookie and that is why we are giving him the Rookie of the Year Award. Gurley has scored 187.40 fantasy points this season, which includes 1,106 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. On April 28-30, the 2016 NFL Draft will be held and maybe another star rookie will emerge as one of the NFL’s elite.
Other Nominations for Rookie of the Year: Amari Cooper and Stefon Diggs.
Breakout Player of the Year
Drafted in 2014 with the third pick in the draft, Blake Bortles had a bad rookie season, posting 2,908 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions. The Jaguars QB was the 24th ranked quarterback in all of 2014. He was drafted in 8% of all Yahoo! leagues this season. That ended up being a huge mistake. Bortles this year showed he could be an elite quarterback in seasons to come, scoring the fourth most fantasy points in 2015.
Other Nominations for Breakout Player: Allen Robinson, Allen Hurns, Larry Fitzgerald, and Carson Palmer.
First Overall Pick in 2016
A Wide Receiver? Since 1971 since, the beginning of fantasy football, a running back has been taken first overall in every single season according to David Gonos and NFL.com, but that might change in 2015. Steelers WR Antonio Brown proved to be a dominate force in fantasy this year, scoring more points than any player in the entire league (besides quarterbacks). He even scored less than five points for three straight weeks due to Ben Roethlisberger’s injury. Brown has five games over 27 fantasy points, including a 306 yard effort in week 9 against the Oakland Raiders, which is an NFL Fantasy record according to ESPN.com. No player has ever been this dominate in Fantasy Sports. And the running back position was flat all year. Not a single running back in the entire year scored over 3.00 fantasy points in all 16 games. In contrast, nine receivers scored at least 3.00 points in all 16 games. This leaves fantasy owners to reconsider their decision for a running back to carry their team, and maybe think of a receiver to.
Other Nominations First Overall: Adrian Peterson, Todd Gurley, and Odell Beckham.
