Week 18 is over, which means that is a wrap for fantasy football this season. There were plenty of players that did a lot better than anyone expected, and some that didn’t even come close to the mark. Today I will be going over the players that shocked us with how bad, and how good, they were this season.
Michael Pittman, WR, Indianapolis Colts
This one hurts to write. I hyped Michael Pittman up all offseason. Pittman was drafted off the board as the WR13 in fantasy football. He finished as the WR20 in PPR. Like many others, I thought Matt Ryan wasn’t washed, and that he constantly supported a WR1 in his career. Man, did I miss this one.
Pittman has everything he needs to be a WR1, but this Colts offense was easily one of the worst in the league. He was getting the targets, but could not produce as much as most fantasy players thought. Pittman only gave us two games over 100 yards, and two games over 20 fantasy points. Not only was he not producing with yards, he only had three touchdowns on the year. This was a lost season for the Indianapolis Colts, and that led us to looking silly for drafting Pittman.
Courtland Sutton, WR, Denver Broncos
Add this guy to the list of players I thought were going to be league winners; but got Wilson’d. Sutton was going off the board as a top-20 WR in most platforms. Someone had to be the WR1 in Denver with an electric offseason move by trading for Russell Wilson, right? Well, that made us all look stupid as that offense was doomed from the start.
Sutton did miss two games due to injury, but trust me that was not changing anything. Sutton ended up finishing as the WR43 in PPR fantasy football leagues. The collapse of this offense had to be the worst one in the NFL; mainly because Broncos were legitimate Super Bowl contenders after trading for Russell Wilson. That led people to believe Sutton can go nuclear this season. Instead, he was a major bust on the year.
Jamaal Williams, RB, Detroit Lions
Williams was a league winner this year – kind of. Jamaal finished the season the RB13 in fantasy football after being drafted outside the top-50 in just about every format. He was a little inconsistent throughout the year, but if you started him in the weeks where he scored TDs – 17 of them to be exact – then you were happy.
He was one of the biggest shockers for me because like everyone else, I believed those touches would have been given to D’Andre Swift. But as I mentioned above, even though Williams scored 17 TDs during the season, he was very inconsistent. Williams had seven games with under 10 fantasy points this year. With that said, getting drafted outside the top-50 and finishing as RB13 is quite a shocker to anyone.
Jerick McKinnon, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
Who would have guessed Jerick McKinnon would have been a league winner. He was a player that always saw the field but was behind a crowded backfield with Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Isiah Pacheco. This changed in Week 14 when he became a PPR machine. He exploded for 32+ points in back-to-back games. If you got him for the playoffs, it would have been hard to lose. He ended the season with five straight games with a TD. I would have loved to see the betting odds of that happening. He was drafted as RB64, and he finished as RB20 in fantasy football. Imagine what it could have been if he was given those targets the entire season.
Geno Smith, QB, Seattle Seahawks
Do not write off Geno Smith just yet. He proved everyone wrong this year with an incredible season. Not only did Geno Smith break the Seahawks single-season passing yards record – previously held by Russell Wilson – but he finished as the QB5 in fantasy football. He was one of the last QBs taken in fantasy this year, but that proved to be fruitful for many savvy fantasy players. Geno was a very consistent player, and it shocked everyone. You’ll be hard-pressed to find people who expected Geno Smith to succeed after he flamed out with the New York Jets. The Broncos ended up giving a haul to get Russ from Seattle, and Geno made them look silly for that.
Harry Prskalo
Writer for The League Winners. Just a guy that loves Fantasy Football and will help you win your championship.