The Top 10 Stories of Fantasy Football 2011

Fantasy Football is so popular, in my opinion, because it gives guys an excuse to watch every other game besides the 3 hours our hometown team is on.  My wife has been super cool for years now about me watching football on Sundays from 12-6.  If there's a good game on Sunday Night, I watch it in my bedroom and give up the 55" TV for a few hours (unless the Bears are on).  Monday Nights are split between Monday Night Football (which has mostly sucked this year) and Monday Night Raw (which has been great TV since July).  Every week in the NFL this year has brought some new storyline...some new player to watch, some new team to love or hate.  I've seen the different opinions on what stories have been driving Fantasy Football this year, and this is my take on the Top 10 (Positive & Negative) Stories of the 2011 Fantasy Football Season.

10) Aaron Rodgers & the Green Bay Packers.  This could be higher on a lot of lists, but anyone who didn't see this type of video game-like production coming from this team hasn't been watching Rodgers develop over the past 4 seasons.  As an Aaron Rodgers owner (and an Aaron Rodgers keeper), I know that I'm plugging in 25-30 points into my QB position every week and all I have to do is come up with another 75-80 points from the rest of my lineup and I'll be competitive.  Aaron Rodgers has changed the way owners will draft for years to come.  In my league, he is the #1 Point Scorer by 58 points.  Isn't the point to score the most points?

9) The Disappointing Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Josh Freeman was supposed to be this year's Super Sleeper QB that you could grab in the later rounds.  LeGarrette Blount has only scored over 10 points 5 times, hardly justifying his Top-16 RB standing.  Mike Williams has as many TDs (3) as he has games under 4 fantasy points.  The defense has not improved and no other useful fantasy commodities have developed.  Tampa Bay was a great surprise last year and they now seem to be fading fast and showing ZERO emotion or signs of life.

8) Ray Rice and LeSean McCoy.  I personally pair these two together because these are the two names I went back and forth on all summer.  In my most important league, playoff teams keep one player off their roster and the 2 teams that miss the playoffs draft 1st and 2nd.  Foster, Mendenhall, Gore, and CJ2K were the kept RBs and I was prepared to have AP and Charles go 1-2 before I picked 3rd.  The Ravens and Eagles each signed former Miami Dolphin RBs in their respective offseasons, clouding the backfield situations.  I ended up settling on Rice because he was playing for a contract, McGahee AND McClain were out of his way, and I didn't feel that Ricky Williams was going to be in his way all that much.  As it turns out, I couldn't have made a mistake either way.  McCoy and Rice are 1-2, respectively, among RBs in standard scoring leagues.  Rice has more yardage, McCoy has more TDs.  They are each Top 3 in Rushing TDs and Top 4 in Receiving TDs (among RBs).  In a down year for RBs as a whole, these two have been elite, matchup proof fantasy studs.

7) Peyton Hillis.  What a disaster season for the Madden Cover Boy.  The Curse seems to truly exist and I hope and pray Mr. Rodgers stays away from EA photographers this offseason.  Hillis has had one useful fantasy game (Week 2 vs. Indy).  He has missed 6 games with strep throat and hamstring injuries.  He has been plagued by an unpretty contract situation and speculation that he isn't playing because he doesn't want to kill himself for Cleveland.  I feel bad for the guy because 2010 was a revelation.  Owners who were weary of Hillis stayed away with good cause this year and those who believed 2010 wasn't a fluke have been burned.  Let's hope this guy gets healthy and gets his situation straight so he can be useful in 2012.

6) Chris Johnson.  I'm pretty much done with this story in general, because it is all anyone could talk about for the first 9-10 weeks.  CJ held out and came back to Tennessee not in football shape.  CJ scored 1 TD and broke 100 Yards once in the first 9 games he played before he broke out against Carolina in Week 10.  He seems to be finishing strong and has favorable playoff matchups, but given what this guy put his team through this offseason, anyone who vested a high draft pick in CJ2K is probably not playing at this point.

5) Fred Jackson.  This one also hits close to home for me because I saved my high waiver priority all offseason waiting for one of my league mates to make a move that I could use the priority on.  Another owner in my league needed to make space on his roster because he didn't draft a kicker or a defense.  He was set at RB with Foster, McFadden and a mix of others and let FJax go.  I swooped in on him after losing Rashad Jennings, sat him Week 1, plugged him in Week 2 and didn't take him out (except for his bye week) until he went on IR with the broken leg.  At this moment, he is still the 7th ranked RB (2.1 pts behind AP in 5th and having just been passed by Lynch this week).  It just goes to show how great of a season this guy was having.  Over 16 games, he projected to just over 2200 Yds from Scrimmage and 9 TDs.  Elite numbers. 

4) The 2011 Rookie WRs.  Very few rookies get the opportunity to make a big splash their first season.  Peyton Manning in 1998.  AP in 2007.  The RB Class of 2008.  Very rarely do we see rookie WRs make any kind of splash and that is exactly what AJ Green and Julio Jones have done this year.  Non-1st round picks like Torrey Smith, Titus Young and Greg Little have made some impact on fantasy rosters. The big story, however, has been the development of Green and Jones.  Green has either scored or amassed 100 yards in every game except 3.  Jones has 4 100 yard games and 2 multi TD games despite missing 4 due to injury.  AJ is currently the #12 WR in non-PPR leagues and Jones is Top 30 over early round picks like DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Reggie Wayne, Mike Williams, and Miles Austin.

3) Victor Cruz.  To say someone came out of nowhere in any context doesn't do justice to where Cruz has come from to get to where he is.  Those who watch any preseason football remember Cruz as the practice squad guy who caught a couple TDs in a Monday Night game in 2009.  He remained a practice squad guy for two seasons before injuries finally forced the Giants' hand in Week 3 of this season.  Since getting that shot (3 catches - 110 yds 2 TDs vs. Philly), he hasn't looked back.  Cruz is the #4 WR in non-PPR leagues.  He is already on pace for over 1500 yds receiving and 9 TDs.  He has allowed Eli Manning to make good on his "Elite" claim. 

2) Gronkowski and Graham.  Never before has the TE position been so in focus.  Each of these players is already over 1000 yds receiving and is in the Top 20 OVERALL.  The numbers are so staggering that Gronk has more fantasy points than any WR and Graham has more than all WRs but 2!  The question is already out there for 2012: how high would you draft either of these two talents?  I personally believe that it is OK to start looking this way in Round 3.  Gronk is doing things no other TE has ever done before.  We still have 3 games left in this season, but it is unreasonable to think he can possibly duplicate or surpass these current numbers next season.  Graham is a freak and is in the perfect offense.  If I was drafting in 2012 right now, I would take Graham over Gronk, just because I think Graham is more talented.  That being said, these two are unreal stories this season.  Gronk went undrafted in my important league and Graham went in the 15th round as a backup TE.

1) Cam Newton.  I personally did not believe Cam could do what he has done and continues to do.  Players like this have failed to succeed time and time again at the NFL level.  He made his debut with back to back 400 yd passing games.  His first bad statistical game was his first career win.  He has run for 13 TDs to go with his 15 passing TDs.  He made Steve Smith fantasy relevant again.  He is a weekly Top 5 Must Start QB, virtually matchup proof because he can run, and has posted a TD in every game except one.  He is the King of the Backdoor Cover, the probable Offensive Rookie of the Year, and a player who has done and said all the right things this season.  He is only going to get better.  Scary.