Fantasy Football Awards 2022 – Wer war euer Fantasy-MVP? – TOUCHDOWN24

The fantasy season is officially over and I won’t say any big words about the leagues that are still holding their championship games in Week 18 at this point – shame on you. Instead, today we are dealing with what sport is ultimately always about: superlatives. Who was the best fantasy gamer of the year? Who’s Biggest Breakout? And which players disappointed us the most in 2022? Here are the TOUCHDOWN 24 Fantasy Football Awards for 2022.

Most Valuable Player (MVP): Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings (22,55 PPG)

I struggled with the MVP compared to many previous years, but ultimately the award goes to Jefferson – even if he probably cost some fantasy managers a title in week 17 with his meager 2.5 PPR points. No player has been as consistent over the year as the Vikings star, who still has a shot at hitting the magic 2,000 receiving-yard mark in Week 18.

Ekeler and McCaffrey are also strong candidates, but I really thought long and hard about Kelce. The Kansas City Chiefs superstar was once again in a class of his own among tight ends, ending the day with almost 100 points more than the next best player on the list (306.5 to 212.8 by TJ Hockenson). Measured purely by value, there’s a very good case as to why Kelce was the most valuable fantasy player of the season.

Honorable Mentions:

Austin Ekeler (22.73 PPG)
Christian McCaffrey (21,22 PPG)
Travis Kelce (19,16 PPG)

Breakout Player of the Year: Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas Raiders (20.08 PPG)

Hands up who expected Jacobs to break out like this earlier this year. Throughout the offseason, there was much to suggest that Josh McDaniels might be scaling back the role of the 24-year-old, but the opposite was true. Jacobs dominated snaps in Las Vegas and for a long time was the only bright spot in an otherwise botched Raiders season.

Jacobs was the 48th player or 22nd running back selected on average over the summer and ended the year as the third-best fantasy back behind Ekeler and McCaffrey – it doesn’t get much more value. Other legitimate candidates include Smith (drafted as WR36, WR9 at the end of the year) and Pollard (RB31 → RB7), with the latter arguably making many zero RB drafters happy. Justin Fields (QB17 → QB5) was also a potential league winner for anyone eschewing early quarterback picks.

Honorable Mentions:

Devonta Smith (15.06 PPG)
Tony Pollard (16,46 PPG)
Justin Fields (19,73 PPG)

Bester Rookie: Kenneth Walker, Seattle Seahawks (13,51 PPG)

There’s no question that Hall would have won that award if the Jets runner hadn’t torn his cruciate ligament in Week 7 against the Broncos. Hall was one of my biggest preseason sleeper contestants due to his incredible talent and was on track to finish the season in the top five fantasy backs. If the 21-year-old can fully recover in the offseason, he will not step down as an RB20 again in 2023.

So the award goes to the next best rookie back this year and that was Kenneth Walker. The 22-year-old benefited from an injury suffered by starter Rashaad Penny in Week 5 and has been a clear RB1 since, with the exception of a brief downtime. Dameon Pierce faltered towards the end of the season and of the many talented wideouts like Olave and Wilson none were consistent enough. Therefore, Walker is the deserved winner.

Honorable Mentions:

Breece Hall (16,44 PPG)
Garrett Wilson (12,36 PPG)
Chris Olave (13,09 PPG)

Bester Waiver-Pickup: Rhamondre Stevenson, New England Patriots (15,49 PPG)

Getting the waiver award is always a little tricky, as Stevenson (ADP as RB36 in the summer) certainly wasn’t available everywhere on the waiver wire. However, in most 10-team leagues, I felt that there was a decent opportunity early in the season to get the talented back from the waiver. Who made it: congratulations! It’s rare to find a clear RB1 on the wire, and Stevenson finished the year as the ninth best fantasy back, just ahead of the likes of Dalvin Cook and Joe Mixon.

In the lower leagues it would probably be a duel between Jones and Smith, although I would probably end up giving the award to Smith. Nobody expected Geno to have such performances after years as a backup – even if the 32-year-old cooled off noticeably towards the end of the season. Still, Smith finished the year as the sixth-best fantasy QB, underscoring once again why we shouldn’t be picking quarterbacks early in small leagues.

Honorable Mentions:

Zay Jones (12,80 PPG)
Geno Smith (18,14 PPG)
Jerick McKinnon (11,73 PPG)

Biggest Disappointment: Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts (13.31 PPG)

First of all, if you picked Taylor with the first pick in your draft this summer and still made the playoffs or even won the title, congratulations. However, this has not been the case for most of us. An average of 13.3 points per game is far too little for a first overall pick, and Taylor also missed six games of the botched Colts season.

The result: just a year after Taylor scooped TOUCHDOWN24’s Fantasy MVP title, he’s been given the dubious Biggest Disappointment award in 2022. Based on the draft and expectations, Taylor was the clear choice for this “Award”, but managers with Johnson, Andrews or Wilson may not have felt really comfortable this season. But there’s always a next year…

Least Honorable Mentions:

Diontae Johnson (10,81 PPG)
Mark Andrews (12,70 PPG)
Russell Wilson (14,47 PPG)

Most Influential Injury: Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams (22.38 PPG)

Kupp, prior to his injury early in the season, was on course to smash some of the records he had set the previous year and once again become the most fantasy-scoring player. Kupp’s failure changed everything, including from a fantasy perspective. Teams that looked like real juggernauts with Kupp struggled to even make the playoffs after the SuperBowl champion was injured.

No absence was as influential as Kupp’s, but Breece Hall managers Michael Thomas and Javonte Williams also arguably cursed the good football god for their bad luck with injuries. It will be interesting to see how high Kupp and Co. will be off the board next year. After all, all of the players on this list are potential superstars if they are fit in 2023.

Honorable Mention:

Breece Hall (16,44 PPG)
Michael Thomas (17,03 PPG)
Javonte Williams (10,50 PPG)

That was it with the awards. Feel free to write to us on our social media channels which selection you agree with and which prize you would definitely have given differently.

All that remains for me to say is thank you to all the readers who have diligently followed this column throughout the winter. Here’s to something new in 2023!