The fantasy football season is officially over. Now it’s time to look back and recap the year. This season was a wild ride, but another great year nonetheless. Fantasy football is a thrilling experience every year.
Fantasy football is a blast from the start to the finish. From the day your league drafts to analyzing every bit of information about your players, making trades, and grinding the waiver wire. Then finally, the glory of watching your team perform every single Sunday. With the 2022 season officially in the books, let’s get right into my 2022 Fantasy Football Awards.
2022 Fantasy Football MVP: Austin Ekeler
With the fantasy football season winding down, It’s time to crown the most valuable fantasy player in 2022. Travis Kelce was a very good option with the massive positional advantage he gave owners this year. On the season, Kelce scored 306 points, a massive difference from the second-highest-scoring tight end T. J. Hockenson who had 212.8 points. Even so, a player’s fantasy playoff performance is one of the most important factors in crowning the MVP.
Kelce scored 11, 20, 17, and 11 points in weeks 14 through 17. However, my MVP for the fantasy football season was the RB1, Austin Ekeler. This past season Ekeler scored the most points of any non-quarterback, racking up 372.7, with an average of 21.9 per game. As stated before, a player’s performance in the fantasy football playoffs is one of the most important things in evaluating the winner of this award. Since Week 14, Ekeler has scored 24,15,24, and 32 points. Averaging 20.9 PPG in the fantasy playoffs, Ekeler provided elite-level production for managers every week, helping many win their championships.
To top this off, in Week 17, the championship week for most leagues, Ekeler scored 32 points. This was good for the RB1 on the week and something we saw him do fairly regularly this year. Ekeler has been a great player, finishing as the RB1 on the season. Add that to an excellent playoff performance, which warrants him the 2022 fantasy football MVP.
2022 Fantasy Football Breakout Player of The Year: Tony Pollard
When looking at the breakout player of the year, this award comes down to two running backs who came out of nowhere to be top 10 in their position. Although Rhamondre Stevenson and Tony Pollard both had great years, this award goes to the guy drafted with an ADP of 86 this year. Pollard finished the year as the running back eight on a PPG basis averaging 15.6 PPG. Even more impressive since Week 6, Pollard was the RB5 averaging 18 PPG.
Pollard has often been overlooked because he was the backup to Ezekiel Elliott. In spite of this, Pollard’s talent broke through this year, and he crushed expectations in a less-than-ideal situation. In addition, Pollard was also fantastic in the fantasy playoffs finishing as the RB8 on the year, averaging 16.9 PPG. Despite averaging more yards per carry than Elliott every year since he came into the league, Pollard was never a top-tier running back for an entire season.
However, with an increased workload in the offense, Pollard was elite and broke out in this 2022 season. After years of being overlooked, Pollard’s elite-level production warrants him the 2022 fantasy football breakout player of the year award.
2022 Fantasy Football Bust of The Year: Jonathan Taylor
The biggest bust of the year comes down to the consensus number-one overall pick Jonathan Taylor versus one of the most hyped-up players this offseason, Kyle Pitts. During the pre-season, Taylor was the consensus 1.01 in almost every draft. Even though Taylor didn’t play a full season and missed a ton of time due to injury, Pitts on the other hand, only played 11 games this season. That being said, when Taylor did play, he only averaged 13.3 PPG, which was definitely underwhelming for the top overall pick.
Taylor was extremely disappointing, and most teams who drafted him with their first-round pick did not fare well. What is quite ironic about the situation is that the fantasy offseason was filled with the debate about who should be the number one pick. Taylor or Christian McCaffrey. The main concern with many was McCaffrey’s extensive injury history, while Taylor was considered a very safe choice.
McCaffrey went on to play in 17 games this year, starting in 14, while Taylor ended up only playing in 11. Taylor isn’t entirely to blame for his failures, as his situation was a disaster, and he was injured for part of the season. Nonetheless, Taylor had an ADP of one and still played for most of the season, producing lackluster results. This makes Taylor the 2022 fantasy football bust of the year.
2022 Fantasy Football Rookie of the Year: Kenneth Walker
This 2022 draft class produced a ton of talent, making this choice very difficult. Rookie wide receivers like Garrett Wilson and Christian Watson had great seasons. On the other hand, rookies like Treylon Burks and Drake London, who are still great talents, had their seasons hindered by terrible situations. Wilson was fantastic, averaging 12.4 PPG with a finish of wide receiver 30 on a PPG basis. Furthermore, he was significantly better with anyone but Zach Wilson at quarterback.
Watson had a rough start to the season, not scoring more than 10 points until Week 10 when he had a 32-point explosion. Watson was great, but this slow start led him to a wide receiver 36 finish with 11.7 PPG.
With all that being said, the winner of this award is Kenneth Walker. He had a phenomenal rookie season averaging 13.5 PPG and finished as the RB15 on a PPG basis. Additionally, Walker averaged 14.6 PPG since he was given the starting job after an injury to Rashaad Penny. He was a tremendous late-round pick with an ADP of 110.
Walker was a dominant running back for fantasy teams after he was given the starting job. This terrific situation led Walker to produce astounding numbers throughout the season. Walker was a phenomenal player during his rookie year and is deserving of the 2022 fantasy football rookie of the year award.
2022 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickup of The Year: Geno Smith
One of the best stories of this NFL season has been the Seahawks and Geno Smith. After being traded for Russell Wilson, many analysts predicted that the Seahawks would be one of the worst teams in the league. Instead, Smith has had an elite season and led the Seahawks to the playoffs.
Since everyone plays in different leagues with different settings, it’s hard to estimate how many leagues had Smith as a free agent. Regardless, according to FantasyPros ADP of 241, it is a safe assumption to say Smith wasn’t rostered on many leagues at the start of the year. Nevertheless, Smith crushed expectations this year, averaging 18.5 PPG with a QB8 finish on a PPG basis. This Seahawks offense stepped up in a way no one could have imagined, and Smith took advantage of this and played excellent football.
Smith was rostered in most leagues after his 31-point performance in week four, but if you needed a quarterback, Smith was a league winner. Getting an excellent quarterback from the waiver wire greatly impacted many fantasy teams’ success. After being counted out, Smith had a remarkable career revival that makes him worthy of the 2022 fantasy football waiver wire pickup of the year.
2022 Fantasy Football Comeback Player of The Year: Saquon Barkley
Unlike the rest of the awards, the comeback player of the year is a relatively simple choice. Saquon Barkley tore his ACL at the beginning of the 2020 NFL season, and even after his return the following year, he struggled. Despite playing 13 games in 2021, Barkley only averaged 11.4 PPG. This was partly due to the fact that the Giants were terrible, and Barkley wasn’t being used as the bell cow back like normal.
For this reason, in 2022, Barkley had an ADP of 17 on Fantasy Pros and was viewed as a 2nd or 3rd rounder in fantasy drafts. However, Barkley had a phenomenal bounce-back campaign, averaging 17.8 PPG with a running back five finish. He showed he is a great player who can be trusted in the future, racking over 1,300 yards and 13 touchdowns while leading the Giants to a playoff berth. Coming off such a disappointing season last year and overcoming an ACL injury to be an elite-level running back again is extremely impressive.
After many claimed Barkley would never return to running back one status, he proved them wrong and dominated. Coming off an ACL tear for a running back is such a hard thing to do, so Barkley’s performance this year is very deserving of the 2022 fantasy football comeback player of the year.
2022 Fantasy Football Number One Off-Season Mover: Tyreek Hill
The fantasy football number one off-season mover award goes to one of the players heading to new teams this past off-season. When teams make moves in the offseason, how they will impact the fantasy landscape is always on everyone’s minds. Some of the biggest movers this offseason who became dominant on a new team were AJ Brown, Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams, or even Geno Smith.
However, it’s hard not to pick the Miami Dolphins’ latest addition Hill for this award. Hill has been fantastic in his NFL career, but many people questioned whether Hill needs Mahomes or Mahomes needs Hill. Neither proved to be true this season, as they were both great without each other. Mahomes had an outstanding season leading the NFL in passing yards, and Hill racked up 109 catches for over 1,500 yards.
From a fantasy perspective, many were concerned about Tua Tagovailoa’s ability to support Jaylen Waddle and Hill. Despite this concern, Hill excelled, finishing the season as the wide receiver two, averaging 21.4 PPG. Hills’ dominance in his new situation makes him the 2022 fantasy football number-one off-season mover.
2022 Fantasy Football Best Value of The Year: Josh Jacobs
This year you could make the argument for many different league winners. Drafting Kenneth Walker with an ADP of 110, Rhamondre Stevenson at 99, or even Amari Cooper at 68 were all fantastic values. Nevertheless, this season, I believe that Josh Jacobs was by far the best value in fantasy football.
Jacobs was frequently overlooked and had an ADP of 49 coming into this season. If you got Jacobs in the 4th round, your team was in a great position to win the league. Going into his contract year, Jacobs had an exceptional season racking up over 1,600 yards and 12 touchdowns despite being in a below-average offense.
Fantasy-wise, Jacobs had a phenomenal season averaging 19.3 PPG and finishing as the RB3 on the year. When Jacobs was drafted as a low-end running back two to even a high-end running back three, it’s hard to argue that any player returned more value. Being drafted that low and producing a top three fantasy season at your position is incredible and by far the best value of your draft. With Jacobs’s performance and return this year, there isn’t anyone more deserving of the 2022 fantasy football best value of the year award.
2022 Fantasy Football Playoffs MVP: Christian McCaffrey
When looking at the fantasy playoffs MVP, this might be the most important award. While it is essential to have great performances in the regular season in order to make the playoffs, to take home the championship, you need someone to step up. This award came down to three running backs Jerick McKinnon, McCaffrey, or Ekeler.
Ekeler was great but had the least points of the three in Weeks 14-17 despite having a great championship game. McKinnon was the RB1 in this four-week stretch but was rather inconsistent. On the other hand, McCaffrey was fantastic in all four weeks, reminding their managers why they drafted him. McCaffrey started the playoffs with a 29.3-point game and followed up with 25 and 13 points, respectively.
Despite not being the RB1 in the championship week, McCaffrey still put on a show scoring 31.3 points and leading many fantasy owners to a championship win. This dominant performance throughout the playoffs, especially in the championship, makes McCaffrey deserving of the 2022 fantasy football playoffs MVP.
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