Now that NFL Week 14 has concluded, we are officially through with the fantasy football regular season. Let’s take a look back to hand out some awards crowning the best and worst draft picks at each position as voted on by the general public on Twitter. So let’s hand out The 2023 Fantasy Football Awards.
The Shane Falco Award (Biggest QB Stud)
The nominees are:
Sam Howell, Washington Commanders
Finished as QB4 (+24)
Drafted as QB28
CJ Stroud, Houston Texans
Finished as QB5 (+19)
Drafted as QB24
Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
Finished as QB7 (+12)
Drafted as QB19
Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers
Finished as QB9 (+17)
Drafted as QB26
And the winner is……… CJ Stroud of the Houston Texans
Controversy strikes early at the Award ceremony as despite Howell being drafted later than Stroud and finishing one spot higher, the masses opted to give the award to CJ Stroud. My personal choice would have been Howell, but if you drafted either quarterback you are pleasantly surprised by the bang you got for your buck.
The Ryan Leaf Award (Biggest QB Dud)
The nominees are:
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Finished as QB8 (-7)
Drafted as QB1
Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
Finished as QB13 (-5)
Drafted as QB8
Justin Fields, Chicago Bears
Finished as QB22 (-15)
Drafted as QB7
Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns
Finished as QB29 (-20)
Drafted as QB9
And the winner is……… Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns
Watson wins this one as the biggest quarterback bust and that’s fair. All four quarterbacks were drafted as top 10 quarterbacks and given the fact that Watson finished considerably lower than all of them he was the easy choice. It’s tough to love any option in this group, if you drafted any of them you are likely very disappointed with what you got. A case could be made that while Mahomes finished the highest in this group, he was the biggest bust as he was expected to be at minimum QB3 based on his draft cost.
The Al Bundy Award (Biggest RB Stud)
The nominees are:
Raheem Mostert, Miami Dolphins
Finished as RB2 (+39)
Drafted as RB41
Rachaad White, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Finished as RB5 (+24)
Drafted as RB29
Brian Robinson, Washington Commanders
Finished as RB6 (+26)
Drafted as RB32
Kyren Williams, Los Angeles Rams
Finished as RB6 (+65)
Drafted as RB71
And the winner is……… Kyren Williams of the Los Angeles Rams
It appears as if Twitter got one right. Even though Williams finished lower than the other names on this list, he was the obvious choice when you factor in him being drafted 30 picks later than the others. Had it not been for an injury, Williams would have easily been the highest-ranked running back on this list as he led them all in points per game.
The Mike Davis Award (Biggest RB Dud)
The nominees are:
Dameon Pierce, Houston Texans
Finished as RB48 (-33)
Drafted as RB15
Saquon Barkley, New York Giants
Finished as RB23 (-18)
Drafted as RB5
Austin Ekeler, Los Angeles Chargers
Finished as RB26 (-24)
Drafted as RB2
Aaron Jones, Green Bay Packers
Finished as RB45 (-31)
Drafted as RB14
And the winner is……… Austin Ekeler of the Los Angeles Chargers
This vote was a runaway win (or loss) for Austin Ekeler. The masses appeared to take the logic used in voting for Deshaun Watson and flipped it here. Instead of voting for the player who was mathematically the biggest miss, they instead chose to vote for the player who hurt them most. Ekeler was a consensus first-round pick and as such, finishing as RB26 was an absolute landmine in your lineup. If you left the first-round of your draft with him on your roster, it’s very likely you won’t be participating in the playoffs this week.
The Charlie Tweeder Award (Biggest WR Stud)
The nominees are:
Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Finished as WR8 (+25)
Drafted as WR33
Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams
Finished as WR9 (+82)
Drafted as WR91
Nico Collins, Houston Texans
Finished as WR12 (+45)
Drafted as WR57
Adam Thielen, Carolina Panthers
Finished as WR14 (+37)
Drafted as WR51
And the winner is……… Puka Nacua of the Los Angeles Rams
Not only was Puka Nacua the most obvious hit at wide receiver, but he is likely the league winner of the year at all positions. Drafted as WR91 and finishing a whopping 82 spots higher is massive. Much of his production likely came before you trusted him in your lineup or even added him off waivers, but he was a massive hit regardless. All three options in this vote were great, the fact that Nacua ran away with the poll just highlights how amazing he was.
The Jalen Reagor Award (Biggest WR Dud)
The nominees are:
Christian Watson, Green Bay Packers
Finished as WR50 (-30)
Drafted as WR20
Cooper Kupp, Las Angeles Rams
Finished as WR55 (-48)
Drafted as WR7
Jerry Jeudy, Denver Broncos
Finished as WR53 (-23)
Drafted as WR30
Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals
Finished as WR62 (-47)
Drafted as WR15
And the winner is……… Cooper Kupp of the Los Angeles Rams
The reason Puka Nacua won the above poll, is likely the reason Cooper Kupp won this poll. Kupp was lost to the injured reserve for the beginning portion of the season and when he returned he never fully took over as the WR1 for the Rams. Part of what made Kupp the WR1 in past fantasy drafts was his elite target share. That came back down to earth with the emergence of Nacua and proved to be a huge issue for Kupp managers.
The Brian Murphy Award (Biggest TE Stud)
The nominees are:
Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions
Finished as TE3 (+13)
Drafted as TE16
Cole Kmet, Chicago Bears
Finished as TE6 (+8)
Drafted as TE14
Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals
Finished as TE8 (+24)
Drafted as TE32
Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys
Finished as TE9 (+14)
Drafted as TE23
And the winner is……… Sam LaPorta of the Detroit Lions
I believe the public got this one wrong. LaPorta was excellent as a rookie but he proves that public sentiment matters more than cold hard data. Trey McBride came at half the cost that Sam LaPorta did and finished only five spots lower. That to me is a better value. The argument that could be made is that LaPorta deserved the award because TE3 is a true difference maker and TE8 is not. So perhaps he deserved the win, even if it was just by a slim margin. As evidenced by the faceless players in the graphics, this group was very valuable to fantasy despite coming out of relative obscurity.
The Brandon Pettigrew Award (Biggest TE Dud)
The nominees are:
Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons
Finished as TE15 (-8)
Drafted as TE7
Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles
Finished as TE16 (-10)
Drafted as TE6
Chigoziem Okonkwo, Tennessee Titans
Finished as TE25 (-10)
Drafted as TE15
Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints
Finished as TE38 (-21)
Drafted as TE17
And the winner is……… Kyle Pitts of the Atlanta Falcons
This one comes as no shock at all. Fantasy managers cling to draft capital like a lift raft, but as Pitts concludes his third fantasy season and arguably his worst, optimistic managers seem to be exiting in mass. Pitts was drafted one spot lower than Dallas Goedert and finished one spot higher, but injuries and high hopes for Pitts seem to have made fantasy managers more bitter about his season. Expect Pitts to be a bargain next season as fantasy managers overcompensate for his 2023 failings.
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All player graphics are from statmuse.com
