2016 NFL Win Futures Predictions

Every year, Bill and Ron provide their projections for success and failure at a team level and usually fare pretty well against the lines projected by the wagering community. They don’t always see eye-to-eye on the projections so we always recommend to pick the teams that they do agree on when it differs from the Vegas number. Right now, the Futures for Dallas, Minnesota and Philadelphia are off so you will have to check back on those later this week. For now, these are the teams that we recommend putting some money on:

Over the Win Total: Kansas City, Washington, Arizona
Under the Win Total: Miami, Baltimore, Tennessee, Atlanta, San Fran
Division Winners: New England, Jax, Washington, Green Bay, Carolina, Arizona
AFC Champ: Pittsburgh
NFC Champ: Arizona
Super Bowl Champ: Arizona

East	Ron	Bill	Book		East	Ron	Bill	Book
New England	12	10	10.5		Wash	10	9	7.5
NY Jets	9	9	8		Dallas	9	7
Buffalo	8	8	8		NY Giants	8	9	8
Miami	5	6	7		Philly	5	5
North					North
Cincy	11	10	9.5		GB	12	12	11
Pittsburgh	10	11	10.5		Chicago	8	8	7.5
Baltimore	7	6	8		Minny	7	7
Cleveland	3	5	5		Detroit	6	8	7
South					South
Jax	9	8	7.5		Carolina	11	11	10.5
Houston	8	7	8.5		TB	7	7	7.5
Indy	7	8	9		NO	6	7	7
Tenn	3	5	6		Atlanta	4	5	7
West					West
KC	11	10	9.5		Arizona	13	12	10.5
Oakland	9	8	8.5		Seattle	11	10	10.5
Denver	9	9	9		LA Rams	7	7	7
San Diego	7	8	7.5		SF	4	4	5.5

Ron                                
AFC Division winners: New England, Cincy, Jax, Kansas City
AFC Wildcards: Pittsburgh, Denver
AFC Championship game:  Pitt over New England

NFC Division winners:  Washington, Green Bay, Carolina, Arizona
NFC Wildcards:  Seattle, Dallas
NFC Championship game:  Arizona over Green Bay

Super Bowl Champs: Arizona over Pitt

Bill                                
AFC Division winners: New England, Pittsburgh, Jax, Kansas City
AFC Wildcards: Cincy, Jets
AFC Championship game:  Pitt over Kansas City

NFC Division winners:  Washington, Green Bay, Carolina, Arizona
NFC Wildcards:  Seattle, New York Giants
NFC Championship game:  Arizona over Green Bay

Super Bowl Champs: Arizona over Pitt

MFS 2016 Fantasy Football PPR Draft Results

This event is actually the true draft results from the Maximum Fantasy Sports 2016 Fantasy Football company draft. The “mock” portion of this event was the guys talking about each other’s draft picks. This event took place over the course of a half day, a half barrel and a half of a 10ft sub but these guys do not take the event half-heartedly.

Every year, MFS holds their own internal draft which consists of ownership, support staff and writers and they all know the NFL inside and out so their results can be used as a guide for your fantasy football draft, especially if you are playing in one of their open fantasy football public leagues.

Always know your league’s scoring system when drafting! The draft results will vary from league to league depending on how scoring is weighted. This league uses 1 point per reception so keep that in mind when looking at the results. The remaining scoring is standard, though it is executed on a decimal basis. Using whole numbers, it equates to 1pt passing for every 25 yards, 1pt for every 10 yards of rushing and receiving. 4pts for a passing TD and 6pts for a rushing/receiving TD. Defenses score a bit more as points are assessed for yards and points given up as well as standard points for sacks and turnovers.

Round 1:

Owner                          Player
1. Ron                           Antonio Brown (PITT - WR)
2. Sonny                        Julio Jones (ATL – WR)
3. Branko                      Odell Beckham Jr (NYG – WR)
4. Bobby E                    David Johnson (AZ – RB)
5. Keller                        DeAndre Hopkins (HOU – WR)
6. Bill                            Todd Gurley (LA – RB)
7. Jake                           AJ Green (CIN – WR)
8. Adam                         Brandon Marshall (NYJ – WR)
9. Todd                          Adrian Peterson (MINN – RB)
10. Matt                        Lamar Miller (HOU – RB)

Mocking: there were no real surprises in the first round. Most of the round was spent complaining about Ron getting the top spot again this year and people taking more than 30 seconds for a first round pick, though Keller took a hippo-sized bite out of his sub right when it was his pick and needed to chew through it to prevent choking.

Round 2:

Owner                          Player
11. Matt                        Dez Bryant (DAL - WR)
12. Todd                        Keenan Allen (SD – WR)
13. Adam                      Ezekiel Elliott (DAL – RB)
14. Jake                         Jamaal Charles (KC – RB)
15. Bill                          Allen Robinson (JAX – WR)
16. Keller                       Mark Ingram (NO – RB)
17. Bobby E                  Le’Veon Bell (PITT – RB)
18. Branko                    Doug Martin (TB – RB)
19. Sonny                      Brandin Cooks (NO – WR)
20. Ron                          LeSean McCoy (BUF – RB)

Mocking: There was no surprise in the room when Branko stated that he was going to grab his Muscle Hampster. Everyone seemed relieved when he didn’t do it in public viewing. Lots of discussion on each side on whether or not Le’Veon was picked too high. Ultimately, it was agreed upon that he would have missed at least 3 games during the season to injury anyway. One person quipped that the guy running behind Dez Bryant would have a better year thanks to Dak Prescott’s overthrows.

Round 3:

Owner                          Player
21. Ron                          Rob Gronkowski (NE - TE)
22. Sonny                      Eddie Lacy (GB – RB)
23. Branko                    Alshon Jeffery (CHI – WR)
24. Bobby E                  Jordy Nelson (GB – WR)
25. Keller                      C.J. Anderson (DEN – RB)
26. Bill                          Randall Cobb (GB – WR)
27. Jake                         Devonta Freeman (ATL – RB)
28. Adam                      T.Y. Hilton (IND – WR)
29. Todd                        Jordan Reed (WASH – TE)
30. Matt                        Golden Tate (DET – WR)

Mocking: three Packers being taken in round 3 caused Ron to pound his chest and recite a long list of Packers-dominated stats over the beloved Chicago Bears of most of this group. Well deservedly, he was showered with beer and told to leave the room since he gets the last pick in the next round. It was also speculated that outside of a Notre Dame draft, Golden Tate would still be on the board to be drafted.

Round 4:

Owner                          Player
31. Matt                        Cam Newton (CAR - QB)
32. Todd                        Jarvis Landry (MIA – WR)
33. Adam                      Amani Cooper (OAK – WR)
34. Jake                         Mike Evans (TB – WR)
35. Bill                          Carlos Hyde (SF – RB)
36. Keller                      Eric Decker (NYJ – WR)
37. Bobby E                  Demaryius Thomas (DEN – WR)
38. Branko                    Matt Forte (NYJ – RB)
39. Sonny                      Aaron Rodgers (GB – QB)
40. Ron                          Matt Jones (WASH – RB)

Mocking: Payback is Hell and Sonny put Ron there by taking his beloved Aaron Rodgers right in front of him. He seemed to rattle Ron as everyone agreed that he reached for Matt Jones. The general thought was that Rob got the first steal by landing Demaryius Thomas as late as he did, with the caveat that the Broncos’ QB has to be Trevor Siemian and not the Butt Fumbler.

Round 5:

Owner                          Player
41. Ron                         Andrew Luck (IND - QB)
42. Sonny                      Jeremy Maclin (KC – WR)
43. Branko                    Russell Wilson (SEA – QB)
44. Bobby E                  Sammy Watkins (BUF – WR)
45. Keller                      Doug Baldwin (SEA – WR)
46. Bill                          Greg Olsen (CAR – TE)
47. Jake                         Julian Edelman (NE – WR)
48. Adam                      Ryan Mathews (PHI – RB)
49. Todd                        Allen Hurns (JAX – WR)
50. Matt                        Michael Floyd (AZ – WR)

Mocking: loads of arguments ensued on whether any of these players were worthy of this round or were one-year wonders or over their injuries, outside of Russell Wilson. Many thought that Matt had the best pick with Floyd if Carson Palmer can stay upright for another season, which many doubt.

Round 6:

Owner                          Player
51. Matt                        Giovani Bernard (CIN - RB)
52. Todd                        DeSean Jackson (WASH – WR)
53. Adam                      Drew Brees (NO – QB)
54. Jake                         Latavius Murray (OAK – RB)
55. Bill                          Jordan Matthews (PHI – WR)
56. Keller                      Sterling Shepard (NYG – WR)
57. Bobby E                  Thomas Rawls (SEA – RB)
58. Branko                    Kelvin Benjamin (CAR – WR)
59. Sonny                      Chris Ivory (JAX – RB)
60. Ron                          Emmanuel Sanders (DEN – WR)

Mocking: Everyone rode Jake for taking Murray and started a pool on which week he would be demoted to second string. Bobby E didn’t escape though as many thought that Rawls would not be listed as the top RB on Seattle at any point during the regular season. While Sterling Shepard is talented, no way should he be taken this higher either.

Round 7:

Owner                          Player
61. Ron                         DeAngelo Williams (PITT - RB)
62. Sonny                      Duke Johnson Jr (CLE – RB)
63. Branko                    Willie Snead (NO – WR)
64. Bobby E                  Delanie Walker (TENN – TE)
65. Keller                      DeMarco Murray (TENN – RB)
66. Bill                          Ben Roethlisberger (PITT – QB)
67. Jake                         Donte Moncrief (IND – WR)
68. Adam                      Jeremy Langford (CHI – RB)
69. Todd                        Frank Gore (IND – RB)
70. Matt                        Jeremy Hill (CIN – RB)

Mocking: Branko went to the well again and came up dry when he asked if anyone has Snead his Willie before taking the WR. Ron admitted that he grabbed Williams far too early but primarily did it to get under Rob’s skin and made plans to bombard him with trade offers if he wants a Bell-Williams handcuff.

Round 8:

Owner                          Player
71. Matt                        Travis Kelce (KC - TE)
72. Todd                        Melvin Gordon (SD – RB)
73. Adam                      Coby Fleener (NO – TE)
74. Jake                         Larry Fitzgerald (AZ – WR)
75. Bill                          Tavon Austin (LA – WR)
76. Keller                      Dion Lewis (NE – RB)
77. Bobby E                  Tom Brady (NE – QB)
78. Branko                    Jonathan Stewart (CAR – RB)
79. Sonny                      T.J. Yeldon (JAX – RB)
80. Ron                          Arian Foster (MIA – RB)

Mocking: The back-to-back Patriots got the most noise as everyone wondered if Keller’s beer was spiked for picking Lewis so high and explained the PUP does not mean that he bought a new dog. Mike insists that they will eat their words and he will stash him on the IR until the 7^th game and rub it in afterwards. Bobby E did get props with his Brady pick since he probably would have been a 4^th rounder without the suspension and there are plenty of other QBs to plug in during the first 4 games of the season. Also, no one knew why Adam thought that the Brees target combination would be Coby Fleener and why it would be in round 8.

Round 9:

Owner                          Player
81. Ron                         Jay Ajayi (MIA - RB)
82. Sonny                      DeVante Parker (MIA – WR)
83. Branko                    Tyler Lockett (SEA – WR)
84. Bobby E                  Marvin Jones Jr (DET – WR)
85. Keller                      LeGarrette Blount (NE – RB)
86. Bill                          Danny Woodhead (SD – RB)
87. Jake                         Zach Ertz (PHI – TE)
88. Adam                      Kevin White (CHI – WR)
89. Todd                        Blake Bortles (JAX – QB)
90. Matt                        Tevin Coleman (ATL – RB)

Mocking: Ouch. Matt flattened Jake by asking him where his head was for picking a TE before handcuffing Coleman to Freeman, especially when Coleman may end up as the RB1. Not a soul had Ertz on the radar until double digit rounds. Mike was too amused by the show that he didn’t even make a statement on adding Blount to hold the RB position until he gets benched when Lewis is healthy.

Round 10:

Owner                          Player
91. Matt                        Michael Crabtree (OAK - WR)
92. Todd                        Theo Riddick (DET – RB)
93. Adam                      Darren Sproles (PHI – RB)
94. Jake                         John Brown (AZ – WR)
95. Bill                          Justin Forsett (BAL – RB)
96. Keller                      Derrick Henry (TENN – RB)
97. Bobby E                  Denver defense (DEN – D)
98. Branko                    Charles Sims (TB – RB)
99. Sonny                      LaQuon Treadwell (MINN – WR)
100. Ron                        Corey Coleman (CLE – WR)

Mocking: The focus was on Sonny for reaching for DeVante Parker last round and then Treadwell this round. While they have talent, no one else was ready to grab them yet….and no one definitely wanted a defense this high. While the defense in this league scores pretty well, there are too many good players on the board to grab a defense so early.

Round 11:

Owner                          Player
101. Ron                       Travis Benjamin (SD - WR)
102. Sonny                   Antonio Gates (SD – TE)
103. Branko                  Gary Barnridge (CLE – TE)
104. Bobby E                James White (NE – RB)
105. Keller                    Carson Palmer (AZ – QB)
106. Bill                        Ameer Abdullah (DET – RB)
107. Jake                       Rashad Jennings (NYG – RB)
108. Adam                    Jordan Howard (CHI – RB)
109. Todd                      Isaiah Crowell (CLE – RB)
110. Matt                      Paul Perkins (NYG – RB)

Mocking: Everyone was shocked at a 5-RB run to close out the round. It was noted that Frank Gore is similar to many of these picks and he went in the 7^th round. The consensus was that Bill may have landed a steal if Abdullah can consistently run the ball and get some catches away from Riddick. Rob did ride Keller pretty hard by stealing White in front of him though Keller wouldn’t take the bait even though there was a strong feeling that Keller would have taken White this round to complete his trio of Patriots’ RBs.

Round 12:

Owner                          Player
111. Matt                      Seattle defense (SEA - D)
112. Todd                      Ted Ginn Jr (CAR – WR)
113. Adam                    Darren McFadden (DAL – RB)
114. Jake                       Eli Manning (NYG – QB)
115. Bill                        Kenneth Dixon (BAL – RB)
116. Keller                    Julius Thomas (JAX – TE)
117. Bobby E                Stephen Goskowski (NE – K)
118. Branko                  Bilal Powell (NYJ – RB)
119. Sonny                    C.J. Prosise (SEA – K)
120. Ron                        Torrey Smith (SF – WR)

Mocking: It was agreed that Ron had the steal of the draft in getting Smith at the end of the 12^th round. A joke was made about Ron taking Colin Kaepernick next so he could get double points on connections. Of course, no one thought Kaepernick was anointed as the starter in San Fran but they decided to salute him nonetheless in a manner befitting him; everyone with one finger only – Kaepernick is not well-liked around MFS.

Round 13:

Owner                          Player
121. Ron                       Carolina defense (CAR - D)
122. Sonny                   Stefon Diggs (MINN – WR)
123. Branko                  DeAndre Washington (OAK – RB)
124. Bobby E                Josh Gordon (CLE – WR)
125. Keller                    St. Louis defense (STL – D)
126. Bill                        Arizona defense (AZ – D)
127. Jake                       Philip Rivers (SD – QB)
128. Adam                    Tyler Eifert (CIN – TE)
129. Todd                      Kirk Cousins (WASH – QB)
130. Matt                      Michael Thomas (NO – WR)

Mocking: The Kaepernick discussion and the accelerated beverage intake rate helped fuel this round as the loudest yet. Roars of approval for Diggs, Gordon and Eifert as great picks as well as Washington, who many expect to be the RB1 with Murray taking a backseat in Oakland.

Round 14:

Owner                          Player
131. Matt                      Martellus Bennett (NE - TE)
132. Todd                      Houston defense (HOU – D)
133. Adam                    Buffalo defense (BUF – D)
134. Jake                       Kansas City defense (KC – D)
135. Bill                        Kendall Wright (TENN – WR)
136. Keller                    Charles Clay (BUF – TE)
137. Bobby E                Travis Taylor (BUF – QB)
138. Branko                  Minnesota defense (MINN – D)
139. Sonny                    New England (NE – D)
140. Ron                        Jimmy Graham (SEA – TE)

Mocking: More attention was being paid to how bad the Chicago Bears are looking versus Kansas City than the draft itself as it has primarily gone into autopilot with defenses and, in the next round, kickers being the majority of the picks expected. Wright and Smith are looked upon favorably though are coming off big injuries.

Round 15:

Owner                          Player
141. Ron                       Graham Gano (CAR - K)
142. Sonny                   Blair Walsh (MINN – K)
143. Branko                  Justin Tucker (BAL – K)
144. Bobby E                Christine Michael (SEA – RB)
145. Keller                    Steven Haushka (SEA – K)
146. Bill                        Chris Boswell (PITT – K)
147. Jake                       Chandler Catanzaro (AZ – K)
148. Adam                    Mason Crosby (GB – K)
149. Todd                      Dan Bailey (DAL – K)
150. Matt                      Ryan Succop (KC – K)

Mocking: Bobby E ended the last round with a round of applause after getting chastised for grabbing a kicker in the 12^th round, even if it was Goskowski. With the Seattle backfield a large unknown this year, Michael could finally live up to his billing. Following that, there was a lot of beer-fueled chest-thumping about how good their own teams are and how bad every other team in the league is. Of course, the trash-talking is one of the best components of a Live Draft. Let’s hope you has as much fun in your fantasy football drafts as the guys at Maximum Fantasy Sports do.

MFS Deposit Bonus

                    

Maximum Fantasy Sports is currently providing a deposit bonus. As our merchant service provider has strict rules on usage, we are running this promotion directly through PayPal. You will receive a 10% deposit bonus for all deposits through www.paypal.com to info@maximumfantasysports.com. Please follow these steps:

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You will not be able to withdraw the bonus without playing your deposit+bonus one time over. Good luck, get funded and win some money! Don't forget to check out our affiliate program as well at https://www.idevaffiliate.com/33098/.

How To Manage NFL Bye Weeks in Fantasy Football

Many fantasy pundits will claim that fantasy football is the easiest fantasy sport to play since there are only 17 weeks in the NFL season and, generally, only 16 weeks in a typical fantasy football season. While that may be true, there are many other factors for fantasy football players to contend with that fantasy baseball, fantasy basketball and fantasy hockey players do not have to contend with. These factors include higher injury rates, platoon situations, weather conditions and one element that is emphasized much greater in a short season; the dreaded Bye Week.

During the NFL season, the schedule will show that some teams will not play a game on one of the weeks starting in week 4 and ending in week 10. On the low end, four NFL teams will be given a week off during this 7-week stretch and as many as six NFL teams will have a week off. This change was introduced by the NFL to give teams a chance to rest and recover from injury….so they say. Of course, the contract with the networks needed to be re-negotiated and became worth much more money to the league with an extra week of games to televise.

Those of us who love fantasy football also looked at it as a change for the better since it would give us another week to compete in the fantasy football season. However, the following season showed all fantasy players the negative side of the change; our season became much more difficult to manage. The change not only affected the week-to-week assignment of starting positions, it also added a new dimension to our draft logic. We now need to look at the bye weeks within each position to make sure we will have enough available players to start each week; assuming we have no injuries or trades. This concern will give a manager pause when evaluating a favorite player, or potential sleeper, to draft and realizing that you have already drafted one or more players at his position that have the same Bye Week.

While most fantasy football websites require a league to accept this issue as a way of life, Maximum Fantasy Sports does offer a solution. They provide a league configuration option known as Bye Week Rollover. If configuring a fantasy football league with this option turned on, managers can chose to use the week prior to a Bye Week as the player’s performance during the Bye Week. There is one catch though; this decision needs to be made before the game starts in the week prior. For example, Team A has Adrian Peterson facing the Houston Texans in Week 5 and Peterson has a Bye Week in Week 6. If the manager selects the checkbox to “roll over” Peterson’s points to his Bye Week prior to the Week 5 game starting, Peterson’s points will be locked in for Week 6 as well. So, you get a 2-for-1 performance. Now, there is no guarantee that Peterson will outperform any other player on the roster that could be started in Week 6 and, if he gets hurt or has a bad game, you cannot change the fact that Adrian Peterson’s points are already scored for Week 6. In a matchup like A.P. facing the Houston Texans' defense, one would think that this is a worthwhile risk. In other cases, such as Derek Carr facing the Denver Broncos in Week 9 with a Bye Week in Week 10, it may make more sense to let Carr have his Bye Week on your bench and start another QB during Week 10. The idea of Bye Week Rollover is to provide your league’s managers with an option on how to handle Bye Weeks without having to alter the players on their rosters.

Super Bowl Hangover

I hope y’all are filling your down time productively. This is definitely the slow time for the NFL. It does afford time to try to figure out how Commissioner Roger Goodell has made around $35 million dollars in each of the past 4 seasons. Those numbers help further put into perspective exactly how big of a business the NFL is nowadays.

The only other news right now is about retirements and contract discussions and far too many Mock Drafts. Good Lord, there are 10 more weeks of interviews with Mel Kiper and Todd McShay ahead to rehash the same discussions about the upcoming, yet far away, draft. Yes, the NFL Draft is a huge event but we do not need to be bombarded with talks about it from the days following the Super Bowl to the event itself.

Speaking of the Super Bowl, it is comical to hear Denver’s defense talk about their place in history among the best defenses of all time. Ha! Far from it. They were very good against Carolina and for the majority of the year but I don’t even think that they were much better than Kansas City’s defense this year let alone anywhere close to the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, the 1975 Pittsburgh Steelers or the 1985 Chicago Bears. I know the current players are a bit too young to have seen these teams in the 70s and 80s play but the Chicago Bears? Ha, not even close.

In 1985, the Bears gave up more than 19 points three times that season and only once after Week 3 and that was to Dan Marino and the high-powered Miami Dolphins. The Broncos gave up more than 19 points seven times this season, including 23 to a Cleveland Browns team powered by the likes of Josh McCown, Isaiah Crowell and Travis Benjamin. The 1985 Bears may have held the Browns scoreless with negative yardage if they played in 2015. The Broncos cite holding an Antonio Brown-less Pittsburgh Steelers and the one-dimensional Patriots and Panthers to less than 19 points each. Well, aside from the possibility of New England beating them if Stephen Gostkowski aside doesn’t miss an extra point, let’s just focus on the Bears giving up a TOTAL of 10 points in three playoff games. TEN points….and the one touchdown that they gave up was when they were ahead 44-3 in the Super Bowl. That is domination like this generation will likely never see again. The icing on that cake is that they held the Patriots to 7 yards rushing and 177 yards passing. 184 total yards.  

Congrats to the defense of the Denver Broncos for a nice win, but please find a bit of sanity and not make a laughingstock out of yourselves.

While I found their boasting funny, it doesn’t top how hysterical Eli Manning’s face was when caught on film not enjoying a Denver TD. He can make all the excuses that he wants but you know it was him being upset that he just lost his career-defining achievement of having more Super Bowl wins than Peyton. When it comes to that look, it was shared by all Panthers and Panther-backers when Cam made “a business decision” to not attempt a fumble recovery when they could least afford a turnover. And we thought he put all he had into the game. 

2015 Fantasy Football Awards

This is our look at the 2015 fantasy football awards through our eyes. Of course, league settings vary and could skew one position moreseo over others so we will assume a standard, non-PPR league scoring system. We will also assume a championship in Week 16.

Most Valuable Player: Cam Newton. The expectation for 2015 was for him to stay in the pocket more and run less. Well, after losing Kelvin Benjamin before the season started, Cam was left with a group of WR3s or worse and a top tight end. Great players make those around him better and Cam responded with over 3800 yards passing and 35 TDs with an additional 636 yards rushing and 10 TDs to best the entire NFL. A truly amazing feat for a guy that barely cracked the Top 10 QBs drafted.

Least Valuable Player: Pick any of the RBs drafted in the first 3 rounds and you most likely have a hit. Granted, many of those players; Foster, Bell, Lynch,…suffered injuries, but you need to expect that with RBs and grab their backups. Only 7 RBs broke 1000 yards rushing this year and, to put it in perspective, Darren McFadden was one of them. NONE of the 13 RBs who broke 1000 yards in 2014 repeated. That is an amazing stat that will finalize the current shift in drafting strategy from 2 RBs early to 2 WRs early.

Awards by Position

Quarterback:

Best draft pick: well, if our fantasy MVP is Cam, you know that he tops our position list. He had double digit points in every single game, including topping 20 in over half of his games.

Worst draft pick: Andrew Luck. The Colts had a solid receiving core at the end of 2014 and then foolishly added to it instead of bettering their defense so it seemed like Luck was destined to be a point machine just to keep them in games. Granted, an injury shortened his season, but he was almost unstartable before that. He played 7 games and broke 300 yards passing in only two of them. He threw an INT in 6 of those games and multiple in 5 of those games. He was a first or second round draft pick in every league and killed many seasons. Peyton Manning was a very, very, very close second.

Best Free Agent acquisition: Blake Bortles. Now, he was drafted in deeper leagues, but started the season on the waiver wire in the majority of leagues. He had some maddening games and often started slowly, but his numbers were solid at the end of the day. He put up over 20 fantasy points in 9 games and averaged 26ppg during the fantasy playoffs.

Biggest Playoffs Contributor: Kirk Cousins. Cousins only had a few shining moments in the first 12 weeks, but exploded when it counted thanks to finally having a healthy DeSean Jackson and Jordan Reed to throw to. He averaged 30ppg in week 14-16 and carried many teams to a championship.

Biggest Playoffs Killer: Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers’ final numbers on the year look great but his biggest weeks were in the first half of the season. He really struggled in the second half, especially in weeks 14-16, where he averaged 12ppg, including an 11 point dud in week 15 and a 7 point travesty in week 16.

Running Back:

Best draft pick: Devonta Freeman. The Atlanta running back situation was difficult to know during drafts since the Falcons didn’t know themselves. Smart owners drafted both Tevin Coleman and Freeman. Those who got Freeman rode him to the playoffs as he was a flat out stud for the majority of the season and performed well in weeks 15-16.

Worst draft pick: there are many to choose from but Melvin Gordon has to top the list cuz he was actually healthy all year and produced zip, nada, bunko. He was drafted anywhere from the 3rd round to the 6th round and was a bust no matter where he was drafted. He had ZERO double digit games. ZERO! And that includes receiving yards too! He will go into 2016 searching for his first professional score. Eddie Lacy was a very close second but Gordon truly had no rival at how poorly he performed in an ideal situation for him.

Best Free Agent acquisition: DeAngelo Williams. Smart Le’Veon Bell owners drafted Williams as well since Bell had a 2-game suspension to wait out. However, once Bell came back and began tearing up the league, foolish owners dropped him since he essentially had 5 weeks of goose eggs. When Bell went down, Williams ripped off double digits in almost every week from 8-16. Only week 10 at Cleveland was a surprising light effort. In weeks 14-6, he averaged over 19ppg.

Biggest Playoffs Contributor: David Johnson. Johnson showed his versatility at the beginning of the season by scoring on kick returns and passes but was an afterthought for the middle of the season when he rarely got a chance to contribute on offense. When Chris Johnson went down, David stepped in and got better each week. In weeks 14-16, he put up 12, 41 and 19 points. Who would have thought a team of Kirk Cousins and David Johnson would roll through the playoffs?

Biggest Playoffs Killer: C.J. Anderson, DeMarco Murray. Both were full-season Busts that really stood out in the playoff weeks, though each had decent Week 16 efforts for their owners that were undoubtedly out of the running. C.J. put up a 0, 2, 12 playoff line and DeMarco put up a 4, 0, 11 playoff line.

Wide Receiver:

Best draft pick: For me, it is Brandon Marshall. Antonio Brown’s overall numbers were better, but he had some weak performance thanks to Big Ben being out. Marshall was the most consistent WR by far. He didn’t even crack the Top 20 WRs drafted and had double digit points in all but 3 games this year thanks to breaking 100 yards or getting a TD. Getting Ryan Fitzpatrick under center was a Godsend for Marshall’s performance.

Worst draft pick: Dez Bryant. You can cite his injury or Tony Romo’s injury all you want. No matter how you look at it, he was a waste of a first round draft pick. For players active all year, you can look at T.Y. Hilton, Randall Cobb and Jordan Matthews as your runner-ups.

Best Free Agent acquisition: Doug Baldwin. Seattle has never been a team that anyone looked to for WRs except for Bye week fill-ins. That all changed when Jimmy Graham and Marshall Lynch got hurt and Seattle took to the air. His performances in weeks 10-16 were some of the best that I have ever seen.

Biggest Playoffs Contributor: Doug Baldwin. He averaged 20ppg in weeks 14-16.

Biggest Playoffs Killer: Randall Cobb. He was a season-long bust but really stood out in the playoff weeks with a robust 5.5ppg average. It was obvious that he is a much better second fiddle than lead dog.

Tight End:

Best draft pick: Gronk. Gronk justified his lofty ADP by easily outscoring his peers again with a 72/1176/11 season. The first half of his season was fantastic compared to the second half, but he helped position many teams for a playoff run.

Worst draft pick: Martellus Bennett. With Alshon Jeffery injured often and Brandon Marshall gone, Bennett had a stellar opportunity to shine in a contract year, but only had 3 double digit games and the remainder of the games were less than 6. He was greatly outplayed in the second half of the season by backup TE Zach Miller.

Best Free Agent acquisition: Gary Barnridge. The book on him coming into the season was that he was a blocking tight end. Through multiple poor starting QBs, Barnridge was able to put up 8 double digit scoring weeks for a 71/977/9 season tally in another weak year for tight end consistency.

Biggest Playoffs Contributor: Jordan Reed. 21 ppg in weeks 14-16. This guy could rival Gronk for draft position if he could only stay healthy. The QB/TE Redskins pairing was hard to beat with money on the line this playoff season.

Biggest Playoffs Killer: Tyler Eifert. Eifert was a true feast-or-famine producer this season but he tallied a weak 4 points in week 14 and then sat out weeks 15-16 with a neck injury.

Defense:

Best draft pick: Kansas City. The Chiefs were brutal as a whole early in the season, but, if you throw out their games at Green Bay and at Cincinnati, they were the best scoring fantasy defense this year in many formats. They scored 7 DTD, had at least one turnover in all but those 2 games, and really shined in the playoff stretch by dominating San Diego, Baltimore and Cleveland.

Worst draft pick: Buffalo. This may rank as the worst value pick of the whole draft. The Bills were one of the best defenses in 2014 and they were expected to be even better in 2015 with Rex Ryan as their coach. HA! They scored 4 or less points in HALF of their games with 3 being negative in leagues that penalize for points/yards given up. They were flat out horrible and were one of the first 3 defenses off the board in every league.

Best Free Agent acquisition: Houston. Houston was drafted but was discarded in many leagues after being horrific in the first 7 games of the season, Jacksonville game excluded. Starting in week 8, they posted double digits in 6 of their final 9 games and averaged almost 13ppg in weeks 14-16.

Biggest Playoffs Contributor: Arizona. The Cardinals were a defense to start every week all season but really shined in the playoffs when they steamrolled Minnesota, Philadelphia and Green Bay. Scoring systems vary, but they only gave up 15ppg, with 3 INTs, 8 fumble recoveries and 14 sacks. Their week 16 beatdown of the Packers clinched many championships.

Biggest Playoffs Killer: Denver. Denver may have been the top scoring defense in many formats, but many of those points were tallied in the first 6 games of the year. Scoring-wise, they laid an egg in weeks 14-16 by only registering 2 INTs, 1 fumble recovery and 8 sacks.

Kicker:

Best draft pick: Stephen Goskowski. Not even close. In a year where missed extra points rose dramatically due to the distance change, Goskowski was perfect. On field goals, he was almost perfect . He only missed 3 and they were from 46, 48 and 54 yards out. He had field goals in every game but 3 and also gets our best playoff performance by logging a total of 8 FGs in weeks 14-16.

Worst draft pick: Adam Vinatieri. He missed 3 extra points and only had multiple field goals in 7 games. Hell, he took a goose egg in his first two games and even had negative points if you get penalized for missing short field goals. Further highlighting his poor season, he had 5 games where he had 3 or less points.

Best Free Agent acquisition: Chris Boswell. After Shaun Suisham was lost to injury and Josh Scobee was booed out of town after 4 weeks, Boswell stepped in and secured the job going forward. He only missed 2 field goal at home, which is not an easy place to kick, and only missed one extra point.