What a ride. The 2016 fantasy football season was another interesting year. Twists, turns, and tons of heartache or jubilation (depending on how you finished in your league) were hallmarks of another great year for fantasy. Today I bring you the final “Reality of Fantasy” for the 2016 NFL season. I’ve got year-end awards, final takeaways, and some tips for anyone doing playoff challenges. So let’s jump right in since there is a lot to get to today.

We’ll start with my awards for the 2016 season. I’ll be handing out a few different awards ranging from fantasy MVP, dud of the year, and the all-important “Mr. Consistency.” Here are my year-end awards for 2016.

Fantasy MVP: David Johnson, RB, Arizona Cardinals

This was a no-brainer for me, especially in PPR scoring formats. Johnson was the definition of a fantasy stud all season long. After bursting onto the scene in late 2015, he earned his spot in the top ten rankings coming into this season. Turns out a top ten ranking was underselling Johnson’s potential in 2016. He was the top player in fantasy this season due in large part to his versatile skill set in the Arizona offense. His stat line for this season was gaudy. 1,239 rushing yards, 16 rushing TDs, 80 catches, 879 receiving yards, and four receiving TDs. A literal dual-threat out of the backfield, and made a strong case for “Mr. Consistency.” Johnson avoided a disastrous end to his season by not suffering an ACL or MCL tear in his knee so his future outlook is solid. He will likely be the consensus #1 pick next season regardless of your scoring format.

Honorable Mention: Ezekiel Elliot (RB, Dallas Cowboys)

 

Fantasy Dud of 2016: Cam Newton, QB, Carolina Panthers 

There are quite a few options for this one, but when you are the top player drafted at your position and don’t even come close to producing that type of value that is a quick way to land this award. Cam Newton went from being the top player in fantasy in 2015 to the top ranked QB coming into 2016 to the 17^th ranked QB by season’s end. Yikes.

Now there are a ton of factors that were at play, but Newton was just not the same player this year (o-line injuries, etc.). Newton definitely regressed following an MVP season in 2015. He went from 35 passing TDs to 19 passing TDs. The scariest part of his season was his rushing numbers literally being cut in half from 2015 to 2016. Granted the rushing performance was due likely to the concussion concerns after he suffered a scary looking concussion mid-season that forced him to miss a game.

Newton is still one of the most physically gifted players in the NFL, and there will be better days ahead. I just worry if he peaked already.

Honorable Mentions: Todd Gurley (RB, LA Rams), Allen Robinson (WR, Jacksonville Jaguars)

 

Breakout Player of 2016: Melvin Gordon, RB, San Diego Chargers

Injuries at running back forced a bell-cow workload on Gordon this season and he absolutely delivered for the Chargers, and your fantasy team. You likely snagged Gordon around the ninth round in your fantasy drafts and performed like a top-ten back until a hip injury ended his season during the fantasy playoffs. 997 rushing yards, 10 rushing TDs, 41 catches, 419 receiving yards, and two receiving TDs is an impressive stat line for a guy that had fallen into the ranks of the fantasy irrelevant following a dismal rookie campaign in 2015. He is a no-brainer for keeper and dynasty leagues in 2017 especially considering where you got him in the draft this year.

Honorable Mentions: Jordan Howard (RB, Chicago Bears), Jay Ajayi (RB, Miami Dolphins), Davante Adams (WR, Green Bay Packers)

 

Comeback Player of 2016: DeMarco Murray, RB, Tennessee Titans 

2015 was a year to forget for Murray in Philadelphia. A change of scenery and more importantly, a change in offensive scheme rejuvenated the former rushing champion in 2016. Murray was a beast for the Titans this season and made that dismal season in Philly look like just a bump in the road for his career rather than the roadblock like many thought in preseason. He took full control of the backfield in Tennessee despite having the presence of former Heisman winner Derrick Henry.

Murray was as consistent as he was lethal for your fantasy team, especially snagging him in the draft at a considerable discount (3^rd to 5^th rounds). In standard scoring, he topped double-digits in 14 out of 16 weeks. Now, long term I do have some concerns because of Henry and the workload Murray received this season (293 carries) but this was one hell of a comeback season in 2016.

Honorable Mention: Jordy Nelson (WR, Green Bay Packers)

 

Mr. Consistency: Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas Cowboys

Death, taxes, and Zeke. That is how consistent this rookie sensation was in fantasy this year. Elliott took the league by storm this season running behind the best offensive line in football. He led the league in rushing by a wide margin (1,631 yards for Elliott, almost 400 yards more than 2^nd place). His 51-yard performance in Week 1 was just a blip on the radar because for the rest of the season, Elliott gained at least 80 yards rushing in every single game the rest of the way (rested in Week 17). Elliott topped 100 yards seven times during that 15-week stretch and likely won you a number of games singlehandedly in the process. Outside of David Johnson, I don’t think I am higher on any player in fantasy football in 2017 and beyond.

Honorable Mentions: David Johnson (RB, Arizona Cardinals), Le’Veon Bell (RB, Pittsburgh Steelers)

Those are the first-ever “Reality of Fantasy” awards; let’s now get into my final takeaways from the fantasy season. I had a few of these following the fantasy regular season so I’ll try not to repeat myself, but the final three weeks of fantasy definitely reinforced a lot of the things I have talked about all season.

(1) Roster Flexibility Will Always Be The Path to Success

This takeaway kind of goes off of my takeaway from a few weeks ago, but definitely is something that was reinforced during the fantasy playoffs. “Zero RB” and other off-kilter roster building theories may have worked in previous years (especially 2015), but 2016 reminded us that being deep in multiple positions will always bring you success.

While there were a number of injuries this season at the position, running backs came back in a big way. Receiving stats came back to earth following a ridiculous 2015. Quarterbacks are still a dime-a-dozen in fantasy. So what does that mean? You need an even dispersal of talent across your fantasy roster. The rainy days aren’t far off in fantasy so building a strong, deep roster early and regularly maintaining that strength and depth throughout the season will get you to the promised land.

(2) A Youth Movement is Taking Over Fantasy

More than most years in recent memory, game changing players in fantasy were some of the youngest in the league. Rookies and sophomore players were among the top players in fantasy in 2016. Guys like Ezekiel Elliott, David Johnson, Devonta Freeman, Davante Adams, Michael Thomas, Jordan Howard, Jay Ajayi, and Mike Evans were dominant players but aren’t even in their primes yet. 2017 could mark a shift in fantasy where we can now put solid stock in the younger generation of players in the league as the fantasy elite. The talent pool is ripe with young players ready to takeover the NFL.

(3) The Tight End Position Was a Wasteland

If there was one position that really underwhelmed this year, it was tight end. There was very little consistency overall and even the top guys weren’t the most reliable (Gronk, Kelce, Olsen, and Reed). Injuries definitely didn’t help the position but if there is one thing I am taking with me into 2017, this position is razor-thin right now. Streaming is a popular strategy in this week-to-week game. You can stream quarterbacks because you can play a matchup and still get solid production. Defenses get streamed because unless you have a top defense, you want to pick on a bad offense. In 2017, tight end streaming could become an option due to the horrific lack of solid talent outside the top four or five guys.

Before I wrap things up, let’s talk a little bit about playoff challenge pools. If you are doing one for the first time, I’ll quickly run down the way these work. First, these aren’t like your usual fantasy game where you go head-to-head with another player in your league. These are huge pools where the goal is to score the most points through the Super Bowl.

You pick your team based on who you think will make the Super Bowl because there are multipliers that are applied as you go on with a player (4X multiplier in the Super Bowl for example). In most of these pools, you do have to be careful since the common rule is you can’t replace a guy that is eliminated. So here are some of my picks for the fantasy playoff challenge.

QB: Tom Brady (Patriots), Aaron Rodgers (Packers), Ben Roethlisberger (Steelers)

RB: Le’Veon Bell (Steelers), Ezekiel Elliot (Cowboys), Spencer Ware (Chiefs)

WR: Antonio Brown (Steelers), Jordy Nelson (Packers), Julio Jones (Falcons), Dez Bryant (Cowboys), Julian Edelman (Patriots), Tyreek Hill (Chiefs)

TE: Martellus Bennett (Patriots), Travis Kelce (Chiefs)

Good luck to all of you in these playoff challenges, and remember that you are basically trying to figure out who plays in the Super Bowl. Don’t get too crazy with your picks because trying to ride a Cinderella could likely mean you just made a donation to the person that wins.

Thank you so much for reading “Reality of Fantasy” all season. It was a ton of fun writing these all season long in my first full season covering fantasy football. I’ll bring back this column following the NFL Draft in May. In the meantime, enjoy the playoffs.

 

That’s it for me today. I’ll be back tomorrow with “No Huddle” to breakdown and pick the Wild Card games this weekend. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.