With the 2010 fantasy football regular season over, I think it’s a good time to reflect and look at the players who came out of left field, and those might have fallen down in left field, tried to get up, and fell again. With that being said, let’s take a look.
Top Surprises:
Hillis has really flexed his guns this season (AP photo)
– Peyton Hillis (198 points) – Before this season, unless you were an avid Broncos fan, you probably didn’t know Hillis. However, I’ll make this short and sweet. This season Hillis has run past and over defenses in the NFL on his way to over 1,000 yards rushing and 13 total Td s. If you do not draft him first-second round next year, you have no business in fantasy football.
–BenJarvus Green-Ellis (134 points) – Although he might not be a first-round pick in next year’s draft, he should definitely be a consideration in around the 7-8th round. I mean c’mon, let’s be honest, when is the last time the Pats had anything remotely close to a run game? With 11 Td s through 13 weeks, with three multi-touchdown games, the law firm has shown owners everywhere this year that he is the real deal.
– Brandon Lloyd (163 points) – With all the big name wide outs hyped up before the season (like Fitzgerald, Moss, Calvin and Andre Johnson) none of them have scored as many fantasy points as Brandon Lloyd this season. With almost 1,200 yards receiving and 9 TD s, be on the lookout for Lloyd in next year’s draft.
– Darren McFadden (151 points) – Prior to this year, everyone was so very close to labeling McFadden as just another bust within the Raiders system, yet all those critics have been silenced this year. On his way to helping his team fight for the playoffs, McFadden has amassed almost 1,000 yards rushing with 7 rushing Td s, and 3 receiving Td s. McFadden could be the real deal.
Foster has run his way over all over defenses this year (AP photo)
– Arian Foster (246 points) – Once again, probably never heard of him before have you? Well he, to this point, is the top scoring fantasy football player in the season this year. Being a dual threat out of the backfield has helped Foster run for over 1,200 yards 13 rushing touchdowns and over 500 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns. Next year before the draft the discussion will most likely be, “Who will you take first, AP, CJ, or Foster?”
–Matt Cassel (181 points) – When he tore it up in New England, everyone thought the Chiefs got away with robbery when they “traded” for him. However, after a less than impressive season as far as fantasy last year, most owners overlooked him this year. In fact he was only owned in 60% of leagues, and started in only 10%, but the ironic thing is that he is a top-10 fantasy QB. In fact between weeks 3-13, no single QB in the NFL threw more TDs than Cassel’s 21. Maybe not a fully fledged starting QB just yet, but absolutely worth picking up next year.
Busts:
Rice's fantasy outlook for next year looks dim
–Ray Rice (132 points) – Well, it was a less than impressive season as far as fantasy goes for Rice. The projected #3 overall pick in the draft this year had only 6 games this season with double-digit fantasy points, and only scored over 20 points in 1 game. With only 3 rushing TDs to this point, maybe his stock will fall by next year’s draft.
–Larry Fitzgerald (107 points) – Event though he has started to turn it on a bit, it was not the season many owners hoped for when they drafted him. The #3 or 4 ranked WR in the draft this year had a less than stellar NFL and fantasy season. Although it is not all of his fault, until Arizona gets a new, reliable QB, I believe it’s time to stay away from Larry.
–Randy Moss (63 points) – What the hell happened to this man? Right behind Andre Johnson as the most wanted WR in this year’s draft; people were dying to get Randy Moss. Now I believe owners would rather die than have him on their teams. After leaving the Pats in week 4, Moss has only amassed 18 catches and 2 TDs (33 points). Hate to see a future H-O-F die off so quickly like this, but unless things get better, he could find himself undrafted next year.
–Marr Schaub (165 points) – Again, like Moss, Schaub was hyped up tremendously prior to fantasy football drafts. With weapons like Johnson, and the emergence of Foster, things could only get better. Although as of late he has started to catch hot, 5 games with single-digit fantasy points and the 13th ranked QB overall, owners didn’t get what they expected to say the least.
His expression tell it all (AP photo)
–Chad Ochocinco (90 points) – More like Ohcho-Stinko. With the arrival of T.O and the emergence of Benson, there was good reason to be optimistic for Mr. Chad. However, only 3 games with double-digit fantasy points, and 4 TDs? Enough said. Maybe it’s time to go back to Chad Johnson, at least then things were working out for him.
– Shonn Greene (65 points) – With Thomas gone, and LT thought to be done for, all eyes were on Greene. Short and sweet, 1 rushing TD, 2 double-digit fantasy games, and 1 week with more than 100 rushing yards. Not a very dominating performance from a projected 1st or 2nd pick.
I am well aware of the fact that I didn’t touch on every bust or surprise this year, so if there is someone you feel like I missed, let me know.
All Your Football Fantasies 
You nailed it man. Hillis, Foster…and on the other side Moss and Rice. Just goes to show you that the old adage still holds true: no one can predict fantasy football, not even the “experts.” Still, good rundown of some of the biggest surprises of the year. Just one quibble…what about Vick?
Hillis and Foster have been huge for me this year. I’ve done pretty well because of them. And Moss……….. I had that bum on like 1/2 my teams.
the only reason i did not include Vick was becuase everyone knew he was capable of this. however with the year he’s having, there is no doubt he has been a surprise
This is very true. I picked up randy moss in the third round of my draft thinking that he was going to have a monster year but low and behold he split time on three teams and was pretty much a nonfactor for the whole season. I still had a good year and made the playoffs but i just always look back and wonder how good of a team i would have had if i took a chance on foster or hillis!
Thats a contributing factor to MCDaniels getting the boot from Denver. Clearing out players like Hillis doesn’t look good
Peyton HIllis was a beast against that Pats, and that’s that. The guy runs straight ahead and right at people. I don’t how long he’ll be in the league because of his running style, but I hope he keeps it up. Cleveland needs a face for their franchise.
Good list I agree with all them. Of the busts I don’ think you can blame Fitzgerald he has no one to throw to him.
it,s true, it is not really fitzgerald’s fault, however fantasy is not always fair and since he was still so highly rated on the WR list b4 the season, he has been a bust
Not sure if you can blame Fitzgerald anyway. I think the “experts” were ranking him to high in the first place. I mean Derek Anderson only takes the game “seriously.” In the words of Mr. Anderson, Fitzgerald did just “fine” without an MVP quarterback like Kurt Warner.
it trully does suck, and is not really fair to catergorize Fitz as a bust, but as far as fantasy goes he was. i mean he is still one of the best receivers in the game, and it is Anderson who is pretty terrible, but unfortunately for Fitz, he is the one who suffers
yeah it’s been a very interesting year in Fantasy Football
dave, peyton hillis has been and always will be the most underrated player in the NFL. Particularly, when he was with the Broncos.
After this season I’m not so sure he’s going to continue to go unnoticed, he’s been a force all year, the real question is whether he can keep it up of not. I’ve always like him, so here’s to hoping he can.
I couldn’t believe how highly rated Shonn Greene was coming into this season, I know he played so well in the playoffs but so many league had him projected as one of the top over all picks! That was one back I was happy to stay away from early on.
he did absolutely nothing this year and i do not expect much more next yr
My question Dave is who is the biggest surprise of your list and biggest bust? Is it Hillis a runner who never really got a shot to be a true number one back until this year despite his solid play in Denver? What do you think about Lloyd’s late season downfall though? Blaming Kyle Orton?
Personally, i feel Foster has been the years biggest surpise as far as consistency goes. As far as Llyod, personally, i have to blame Orton. With Moreno finally healthy and running well, he adds a threat to the Broncos that should leave some space to air it out to Lloyd, yet all of a sudden it stopped. Could it possbiyl have been McDaniels fault now that he is gone? possibly, but it is unfortunate to see this decline after such an exciting start
You forgot a bust, Ryan Matthews
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