A man made a wish with a genie, “I wish to live forever”. The genie replied, “Sorry, that wish I cannot grant you.” The man replied, “OK, then I wish to live as long as it takes the Buffalo Bills or Detroit Lions to win the Super Bowl.” The genie replied, “You crafty bastard!”
Welcome to the Third Annual Fantasy Billboard Awards, recognizing the NFL players that brought our Fantasy Football teams glory, shame or surprise.
BILLBOARD BESTS
Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills QB — Buffalo would be a 5-12 team without Allen. He should be the unquestioned NFL MVP, taking the Bills to their fourth consecutive AFC East championship. Allen led all QBs with 44 total TDs, 4,830 total yards and scored 80 more Fantasy points than his nearest competitor (Dak Prescott).
Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers RB — No RB hits a hole faster than McCaffrey, and no RB scores more Fantasy points. He obliterated the rest of the RB field in Fantasy, scoring 477 points on 2,023 combined yards rushing and receiving, with 21 TDs.
CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys WR — Lamb put up Jerry Rice-like numbers, with 135 receptions, 1,749 yards and 12 TDs. His rapport with QB Dak Prescott was borderline psychic. Dak consistently knew where CeeDee would be on the field and invariably got him the ball.
Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs TE — Kelce had a “down year,” but still led all TEs in receptions (93) and yards (984). The selfless beau of Taylor Swift relinquished his shot at 1,000 yards by sitting out the last game of the season. No need to get injured in a meaningless game when the Super Bowl is the goal.
BILLBOARD BUSTS
Pat Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs QB — Mahomes is a winner, and quite possibly the best QB since Tom Brady. But for Fantasy purposes, he disappointed. He threw for 18 less TDs and almost 1,000 fewer passing yards less than last year. That’s a huge decline. To put it in perspective, he scored 138 fewer Fantasy points than Josh Allen.
Austin Ekeler, Los Angeles Chargers RB — Ekeler picked the worst time possible to have a down season, in his contract year. He rushed for 287 fewer yards, 12 fewer TDs, and 56 fewer catches than he had in 2022. After finishing first in RB Fantasy scoring in 2022, he plummeted to 28th, behind the likes of Jerome Ford and Devin Singletary.
Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals WR — Higgins ruined many a 2023 Fantasy draft. Taken in the third round on average, “Tee Hee” was a disaster, finishing as WR51. After two consecutive years of 74 catches and 1,000 yards, Higgins bottomed out with just 42 receptions for 656 yards.
Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers TE — Freiermuth’s name closely resembles the name of a great chocolate chip cookie (Freihofer), but boy did this cookie crumble in 2023. Taken ahead of Sam LaPorta and Dalton Kincaid in most Fantasy drafts, Freiermuth ended the season 28th in TE scoring. Smart cookies will avoid drafting him next year.
BILLBOARD WAIVER WIRE GOLD
Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB — Baker put up dreadful numbers for the Panthers and Rams last year, compiling a record of 2-8. It was no surprise that nobody drafted him in Fantasy. But the first pick of the 2018 draft was soon added to rosters as he put up the best numbers of his career (4,044 yards, 28 TD passes) for the Bucs in 2023.
Zack Moss, Indianapolis Colts RB — Moss went undrafted in most leagues even though starting RB Jonathan Taylor was expected to miss time. Moss has been an unimpressive plodder in his career, but he played like he was shot out of a cannon the first eight weeks of the season. Moss had six TDs and 615 yards rushing for intelligent owners that snatched him up.
Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams WR — Puka’s real name is Makea. I didn’t know that. But I do know that the fifth round pick out of BYU had every team that plucked him off the waiver wire dancing for joy. Puka set the NFL rookie single season records for receptions (105) and receiving yards (1,486), finishing as the WR4, better than All-Pro WRs Stefon Diggs and Mike Evans.
Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals TE — The Fantasy populace might be surprised to learn this was not McBride’s rookie year. He had a modest 2022 debut, catching 29 balls for 265 yards. But after Week 8 of 2023, he was the TE4 in Fantasy, snagging an impressive 81 passes for 825 yards. The waiver wire was kind to those that got McBride. TE is the hardest position to roster.
Next Week — Final thoughts on the 2023 Fantasy season and our Super Bowl Giddy Ups! and Whoa Downs!
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