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Quarterback MVP
Robert Griffin III, Washington Redskins: This could have gone to either him or Luck, but it has to go to RG3 because when he was on, he was really on. Luck had two huge games, one against the Lions and one against the Packers. RG3 had week-winning performances against Dallas, Philadelphia (the first time), St. Louis and Minnesota. While Griffin probably lost you the week he got injured against the Falcons, if you drafted RG3 you either flipped him into a valuable piece or rode him into the playoffs while you still had another committee quarterback. While RG3 had some mediocre performances in the playoffs, so did Luck. Luck's performance against the Chief's in week 16 was truly abysmal against such a weak opponent. More than anything, this is about the safe floor of a running quarterback. It is very rare that a running quarterback is going to lose you a week unless they get knocked out by injury. RG3 is probably the single most valuable pick of 2012 and an important reminder about the quarterback position moving forward.
Running Back MVP's
RB1-Doug Martin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: With an average draft of position of the 17th running back off the board, there probably wasn't a pick that insured the strength of a team more than Doug Martin. He started slow out of the gates, but after the week 5 bye, Doug exploded for 13, 18, 33 and 51 points. For a segment of the season, Martin was the #1 running back in fantasy and was acquired for a 4th round pick. An argument against Martin was his tepid week 15 performance against Doug Martin, but his finish as the #3 running back in fantasy speaks for itself. Those who disregarded Blount in the preseason and took Greg Schiano at his word were greatly rewarded. Something that 2012 taught was the value of the rookie running back. As our #2 running back will show, a fantasy football inefficiency is an inability to properly gauge talent levels and opportunity for running backs in their 1st season. Doug Martin is your #1 most valuable running back for the 2012 season.
RB2-Alfred Morris, Washington Redskins: The second running back position could have gone to a number of running back's who significantly outperformed their average draft position. A strong argument could be made for C.J Spiller, Stevan Ridley or even Mikel Leshoure. However, Alfred was a top 10 performer all year long and was selected in the last round of your draft or picked off the waiver wire. He only had four performances all year underneath double digits and in those weeks, mostly likely didn't kill you. If you drafted intelligently, Morris ended up on your roster as your 4th or fifth running back and should have been starting in your flex position and outperforming expectations. Morris is another example of fantasy football intuition and solid rookie scouting as well as learning how to read in between lines of beat reporter tweets. That's part of the real skill of fantasy football.
Wide Receiver MVP's
WR1-Randall Cobb, Green Bay Packers: I have to say that I feel a little vindicated on this one because Cobb was drafted on every single one of my teams and one of preseason grand slam home runs. Fantasy football performance is a delicate equation of talent and opportunity. The argument against Cobb preseason was that Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, James Jones and Jermicheal Finley would hog to many of the targets. However, with the aging of Donald Driver and the total lack of ground game for Green Bay, in combination with the execrable Finley, there were alot of targets in the intermediate game, as well as few carries a game that were available to Cobb. The surprising part was that towards the middle of the season, Rodgers really started to favor Cobb as a threat in the redzone, allowing him to score 6 touchdowns in 4 games. Wide receiver is always one of the trickiest positions to nail effective and consistent starters and a very fluid position, so really banking on talent in a high scoring offense with an elite quarterback is the way to go. That's why guys like Lance Moore, Cobb and Julian Edelman can become fantasy starters for weeks on end.
WR2-Reggie Wayne, Indianapolis Colts: Continuing with the theme of learning a lesson from each of these positions, Wayne teaches a valuable one: a highly talented wide receiver is going to respond to playing with a good quarterback. Wayne was stuck with Curtis Painter. The year before, Steve Smith had a career resurgence as a result of switching QB's from barely a back up Jimmy Clausen to Cam Newton. These veteran wideouts haven't lost any steps, they just haven't been playing with a quarterback who can help their fantasy stats. Next year, if Arizona drafts a solid rookie QB, Larry Fitzgerald could be in the same situation. Wayne will finish as a top 10 wide receiver after being drafted as the 32nd wide receiver off the board. Picking Wayne as your WR3 or flex player would have been a huge boon for any fantasy team.
Tight End MVP
Brandon Myers, Oakland Raiders: While he has been relatively worthless in the fantasy playoffs, teams that didn't draft Gronkowski or Graham and picked Myers up off the wire were duly rewarded in the regular season. In 2012 there was no consistency at the tight end position. Some weeks, Dennis Pitta looked like he could be a surefire starter. Other than Jason Witten, Gronk, Graham, Heath Miller or Tony Gonzalez there has been no player worth starting on a weekly basis. Myers spent most week catching five passes for around 50 yards while catching four touchdowns on the year. He certainly wasn't spectacular or won you any weeks other than his explosion in garbage time in week 13, but for a player who started the year on zero teams, he was an addition to that provided a few points every week and allowed you to only roster one tight end and use those valuable bench spots for running back lottery tickets rather than playing the mix and match game.
Quarterback MVP
Robert Griffin III, Washington Redskins: This could have gone to either him or Luck, but it has to go to RG3 because when he was on, he was really on. Luck had two huge games, one against the Lions and one against the Packers. RG3 had week-winning performances against Dallas, Philadelphia (the first time), St. Louis and Minnesota. While Griffin probably lost you the week he got injured against the Falcons, if you drafted RG3 you either flipped him into a valuable piece or rode him into the playoffs while you still had another committee quarterback. While RG3 had some mediocre performances in the playoffs, so did Luck. Luck's performance against the Chief's in week 16 was truly abysmal against such a weak opponent. More than anything, this is about the safe floor of a running quarterback. It is very rare that a running quarterback is going to lose you a week unless they get knocked out by injury. RG3 is probably the single most valuable pick of 2012 and an important reminder about the quarterback position moving forward.
Running Back MVP's
RB1-Doug Martin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: With an average draft of position of the 17th running back off the board, there probably wasn't a pick that insured the strength of a team more than Doug Martin. He started slow out of the gates, but after the week 5 bye, Doug exploded for 13, 18, 33 and 51 points. For a segment of the season, Martin was the #1 running back in fantasy and was acquired for a 4th round pick. An argument against Martin was his tepid week 15 performance against Doug Martin, but his finish as the #3 running back in fantasy speaks for itself. Those who disregarded Blount in the preseason and took Greg Schiano at his word were greatly rewarded. Something that 2012 taught was the value of the rookie running back. As our #2 running back will show, a fantasy football inefficiency is an inability to properly gauge talent levels and opportunity for running backs in their 1st season. Doug Martin is your #1 most valuable running back for the 2012 season.
RB2-Alfred Morris, Washington Redskins: The second running back position could have gone to a number of running back's who significantly outperformed their average draft position. A strong argument could be made for C.J Spiller, Stevan Ridley or even Mikel Leshoure. However, Alfred was a top 10 performer all year long and was selected in the last round of your draft or picked off the waiver wire. He only had four performances all year underneath double digits and in those weeks, mostly likely didn't kill you. If you drafted intelligently, Morris ended up on your roster as your 4th or fifth running back and should have been starting in your flex position and outperforming expectations. Morris is another example of fantasy football intuition and solid rookie scouting as well as learning how to read in between lines of beat reporter tweets. That's part of the real skill of fantasy football.
Wide Receiver MVP's
WR1-Randall Cobb, Green Bay Packers: I have to say that I feel a little vindicated on this one because Cobb was drafted on every single one of my teams and one of preseason grand slam home runs. Fantasy football performance is a delicate equation of talent and opportunity. The argument against Cobb preseason was that Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, James Jones and Jermicheal Finley would hog to many of the targets. However, with the aging of Donald Driver and the total lack of ground game for Green Bay, in combination with the execrable Finley, there were alot of targets in the intermediate game, as well as few carries a game that were available to Cobb. The surprising part was that towards the middle of the season, Rodgers really started to favor Cobb as a threat in the redzone, allowing him to score 6 touchdowns in 4 games. Wide receiver is always one of the trickiest positions to nail effective and consistent starters and a very fluid position, so really banking on talent in a high scoring offense with an elite quarterback is the way to go. That's why guys like Lance Moore, Cobb and Julian Edelman can become fantasy starters for weeks on end.
WR2-Reggie Wayne, Indianapolis Colts: Continuing with the theme of learning a lesson from each of these positions, Wayne teaches a valuable one: a highly talented wide receiver is going to respond to playing with a good quarterback. Wayne was stuck with Curtis Painter. The year before, Steve Smith had a career resurgence as a result of switching QB's from barely a back up Jimmy Clausen to Cam Newton. These veteran wideouts haven't lost any steps, they just haven't been playing with a quarterback who can help their fantasy stats. Next year, if Arizona drafts a solid rookie QB, Larry Fitzgerald could be in the same situation. Wayne will finish as a top 10 wide receiver after being drafted as the 32nd wide receiver off the board. Picking Wayne as your WR3 or flex player would have been a huge boon for any fantasy team.
Tight End MVP
Brandon Myers, Oakland Raiders: While he has been relatively worthless in the fantasy playoffs, teams that didn't draft Gronkowski or Graham and picked Myers up off the wire were duly rewarded in the regular season. In 2012 there was no consistency at the tight end position. Some weeks, Dennis Pitta looked like he could be a surefire starter. Other than Jason Witten, Gronk, Graham, Heath Miller or Tony Gonzalez there has been no player worth starting on a weekly basis. Myers spent most week catching five passes for around 50 yards while catching four touchdowns on the year. He certainly wasn't spectacular or won you any weeks other than his explosion in garbage time in week 13, but for a player who started the year on zero teams, he was an addition to that provided a few points every week and allowed you to only roster one tight end and use those valuable bench spots for running back lottery tickets rather than playing the mix and match game.
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