Kheron Alston
*Articles reflect the views of the author and or those quoted and do not necessarily represent the views of CCBC or the CCBC Connection.
The Fantasy Football season is quickly coming to an end and people are panicking to make the playoffs. In some leagues playoffs have already started and for smaller leagues they start next week.
Some teams have been unfortunate to draft people like Le’veon Bell who didn’t play all season due to contract difficulties. Others who drafted Leonard Fournette who has struggled with hamstring issues and suspensions missing seven games through 14 weeks are also hurting.
Other teams who some consider knowledgeable and others considered lucky drafted players such as Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs or the Denver Broncos’ surprise stud Phillip Lindsay.
Many experts agree this year in Fantasy Football has been one of the craziest due to the number of players exploding onto the scene or due to players who were thought to have a breakout season but fell lower in rankings as the season progressed.
As the regular season of Fantasy Football 2018 comes to an end here are the top three players at each position based on PPR standard leagues:
QB: Patrick Mahomes (KC) – 332.7 points/ 25.6 ppg (Highest scoring PPR standard player through 13 weeks)
Drew Brees (NO) – 268.2 points/ 20.6 ppg
Cam Newton (CAR) – 267 points/ 20.5 ppg
RB: Todd Gurley (LAR) – 328.9 points/ 25.3 ppg
Saquon Barkley (NYG) – 303.6 points/ 23.4 ppg
Christian McCaffrey (CAR) – 296.6 points/ 22.8 ppg
WR: Adam Thielen (MIN) – 270.6 points/ 20.8 ppg
Davante Adams (GB) – 262.5 points/ 20.2 ppg
Tyreek Hill (KC) – 261.7 points/ 20.1 ppg
TE: Travis Kelce (KC) – 239.2 points/ 18.4 ppg
Zach Ertz (PHI) – 226.8 points/ 17.4 ppg
Eric Ebron (IND) – 182.1 points/ 14.0 ppg
D/ST: Bears D/ST – 143 points/ 11 ppg
Texans D/ST – 113 points/ 8.7 ppg
Ravens D/ST – 96 points/ 7.4 ppg
Last but not least #ForTheBrand (Kickers)
Ka’imi Fairbairn (HOU) – 126 points/ 9.7 ppg
Wil Lutz (NO) – 125 points/ 9.6 ppg
Jason Myers (NYJ) – 123 points/ 9.5 ppg
My regular season Fantasy Football MVP would have to go to Todd Gurley. This high powered offense led by “boy genius” Sean McVay was destined for the year they are having led by arguably the best RB in the league.
Week in and week out he has given you consistent numbers scoring 20 points only two times this season and one being 19.9. The percentage of teams that have Todd Gurley and are in the playoffs I would guess is the highest out of all players owned.
My “sleeper pick” going into the playoffs is Patrick Mahomes. With the brain of Andy Reid and the weapons around him some saw this coming from Mahomes but most did not.
Many others saw the negatives in trading a QB who took you to the playoffs a year before for a guy who only started one game the year before and basically had no in game experience. I suppose this is why a bunch of people involved in these decisions find themselves not working in the NFL anymore.
Overall the 2018 Fantasy Football season will be one to remember.
- Note: This article is the third in a series on Fantasy Football
While I personally have not been able to get into fantasy football, I can acknowledge that it is a very interesting world. There are many fans who are dedicated to fantasy football, so it is a lucrative industry. I have always been curious to learn more about fantasy football because the sister of a girl who was in my high school Spanish class was actually dating one of the guys who helped create fantasy football. We will see who top fantasy prospects are after the 2019 season.