Who is your best fantasy player in 2009?
Jay-Mo, a good friend and contributor here at Chinstrap Ninjas, posed that question to me on Saturday.
I had to think about it for a couple minutes. Now, there are some obvious choices, like Maurice Jones-Drew and Drew Brees on some rosters, but looking at it from a fantasy MVP perspective, they can’t compete with Ronnie Brown.
Two of my teams have been among the best in their leagues all season long, and they have three things in common, Lawrence Tynes, Roddy White and Brown.
Let’s throw Tynes out right now because, y’know, he’s a kicker.
While White has been hit or miss, he does have eight TDs and 874 yards this season. Still, the price for White on draft/auction day was far higher than for Brown. White was a keeper in one league and I took him with my bookend rounds 2-3 picks in another league.
Brown, who played like a first-round running back for four consecutive games at the start the season, was chosen much later. He was unprotected in the keeper league. We keep five, so essentially he was a round 6 pick.
In the other league, he and Brian Westbrook happened to both be available at my 4-5 picks.
With Ronnie Brown, both teams started the season 7-3.
Brown had three games with 100 or more total yards, five with at least 88 yards and had two TD games in a three-games-out-of-four stretch early in the year. In just nine games, Brown rolled up 648 yards rushing with eight TDs, 98 yards receiving and 22 yards passing with a passing TD.
Then, he got hurt.
While the team with Westbrook (and Adrian Peterson, Rashard Mendenhall and Tony Romo) has thrived without the Dolphins wildcat star, the other team is mired in a four-game skid, dropping from the top of the league to holding onto a playoff spot at 7-6.
Ronnie Brown’s affect on my team, considering how much I had to pay to acquire him, easily makes him my personal fantasy MVP.
Who is your 2009 fantasy MVP and why?
Clearly mine has been Ray Rice. He has single-handidly lifted my winingest team during several weeks of low production from two of my big horses, Brandon Marshall and DeAngelo Williams.
I figured Rice would be a great bye week player and injury filler after watching him get increasing amount of touches late last season, while knowing Willis McGahee was wearing down. I wasn’t expecting Laron McClain to get switched back to full-time fullback, but I’m grateful.
Jay-Mo, yours definitely was Ray Rice. He was the steal of the draft at $4. Since I was in several drafts I must say none of my sleepers panned out for anything major this year. The revolutionary RB draft theory was a dud this year and Anthony Gonzalez, Josh Morgan and Earl Bennett did about absolutely nothing all season. Since I used the draft theory in most drafts this year, I was left scrambling at RB all year long.
I would have to say Aaron Rodgers was my fantasy MVP this season. He was extremely consistent all season and kept my teams competitive in most of the games I played.
Thanks for the comments Jay-Mo and Sockonfl.
Man Jay-Mo, Rice has just been so good this year. Phenomenal today even though it came against the Lions.
At the end of the year, I signed up for three ESPN teams to get some of the players I didn’t get in my more important leagues. Rice was one of those guys, but I didn’t get him.
I’m in the playoffs in all three of those leagues, but I regret not getting Rice.
Sockonfl, Rodgers was another one of those players on my ESPN list who I just didn’t get. Another guy with great potential in the preseason who has lived up to the hype.