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2005 All Fantasy Teams
Now, for the moment that everyone has been waiting for! Here is your 2005 All Fantasy Teams! All of the stats that I use are for the fantasy regular season (first 14 games), as playoffs are never included in any kind of awards. It makes end of the year articles just a little easier to write when I'm looking at a 1st place trophy in the process, knowing that at least I had something good come out of this year! So here we are.....the Fantasy Superior's 2005 All Fantasy Team!
First Team
Quarterback: It's amazing that only last year we had a QB average over 31 points a game and now this year the top QB averaged less than 10 points from the top QB of last year (21.3). This guy is on an up and coming team who finally had a breakout year as a team. With 28 total TD's, he led the QB position on the fantasy regular season and helped many teams to fantasy playoffs. I'm taking about Carson Palmer of Cincinnati. What makes Palmer a huge hit this year was that he was drafted between 6-8 rounds, not bad for a top QB. This is Palmer's first appearance on the Fantasy Superior's All-Fantasy Team.
Running back #1: This year you couldn't go wrong with LaDainain Tomlinson. As a consensus #1 pick throughout all of fantasy, Tomlinson proved to be that back once again as he averaged 24.3 points per game, leading all RB's. Tomlinson may have led plenty of teams to the playoffs, but I will mention that once the playoffs hit, Tomlinson did go cold, hurting many teams as 4 of the last 5 weeks of the season, Tomlinson failed to even score a TD, and that was after his 18 or 19 game TD streak I think it was. This is Tomlinson's second year on the first team, All-Fantasy Team.
Running back #2: Even though Shaun Alexander was a non-receiving threat coming out of the backfield, his 23 regular season TD's and 1496 rushing yards more than made up for his lack of receiving numbers. Alexander averaged 23.7 points on the year and only went two weeks without putting the ball in the end zone, which is remarkable. Just think of what more of a force this guy could be if Seattle used him more coming out of the backfield (only 14 receptions for 72 yards). Alexander was one of the most consistant fantasy point scorers on the season. This is Alexander's first year on the first team, All-Fantasy Team.
Wide Receiver #1: For a guy that was picked in rounds 4-5 in last years fantasy drafts, Steve Smith sure made plenty of people scratch their heads for not picking him. Smith led all WR's with 87 receptions for 1329 yards and was tied for 2nd with 10 TD's, in averaging 21.5 points per game in the process. Many fantasy owners forgot about Smith after he broke his leg at the beginning of the 2004 campaign, hence the late selections in most drafts. If you were lucky enough to draft him on draft day, there is no reason why your team shouldn't have made playoffs. This is Smith's first All-Fantasy Team selection.
Wide Receiver #2: Torry Holt has been a stud WR for years now, and this year proved no different. Even with missing 2 games due to injury, and battling with three QB's this season, Holt was third in receptions with 85 and had over 1100 yards and 7 TD's. He averaged 21.7 points per game, proving his first or 2nd round selection status in most leagues. It just didn't matter what QB was throwing to him whether it was Bulger, Jamie Martin, or Harvard grad Ryan Fitzpatrick. This is Holt's first year in the All-Fantasy first team.
Tight End: Here is a no brainer. This guy came absolutely out of nowhere a year ago and that carried into this season as well. Antonio Gates led all TE's with 19.1 points per game and in TD's (9), not to mention his 76 receptions and 997 yards. He scored more than 5 more points a game than the second TE, and when you look at what he did compared to the 12th best TE, the margin is 11 points per game. In fantasy football, that is a huge number to overcome. Gates has proved his elite status and will light things up for fantasy owners for the next 10 years. This is Gates second straight season on the first All-Fantasy Team.
Kicker: Is there any doubt that Neil Rackers would lead this list? The guy did absolutely nothing BUT kick field goals all season long. He had 18 FG's over 40 yards on the season and by the end of the season, he broke the NFL record with 40 FG's on the season, now all that Arizona needs is a run game and a defense, and Rich's boy just might be a good team!
Defense/Special Teams: The New York Giants defense/special teams surprised a lot of people this season. Being towards the league lead in sacks and turnovers, this team also had a huge shutout of Washington in the first half of the season. Defenses don't score much for points, but having a defense average over 12 points a game isn't bad at all. How many defenses were drafted ahead of the Giants this season?
Second Team
Quarterback: Peyton Manning (21.1 ppg) I said it going into this season and I hit it head on. This guy would still be good, but there was no way he was going to come close to last season's numbers, still solid of course, but not worth a first round selection.
Running Back #1: Tiki Barber (20 ppg) If you had a team with Barber who made playoffs like I did in one league, this guy averaged over 35 points a game in the playoffs.
Running Back #2: Edgerrin James (22.4 ppg) Saw more TD's this year with Peyton's output going down. Saw plenty of balls on the receiving end as well.
Wide Receiver #1: Larry Fitzgerald (18.7 ppg) Came up huge all year long in a potent passing offense.
Wide Receiver #2: Anquan Bolden (19.7 ppg) If you look at his numbers, he missed two games first of all, and second of all, there were only 5 games all season long where this guy scored LESS than 20 points. Bolden, along with Steve Smith were forgotten men in the drafts.
Tight End: Jeremy Shockey (14.3 ppg) Shockey benefitted from Manning having a better year and Burress on the outside to stretch the field, something the Giants didn't have last year.
Kicker: Jay Feely - with this guy being the fourth Giant on the first two All-Fantasy Teams, you can tell what kind of a year the G-men are having....will it be a Super Bowl year for them?
Defense: Chicago (12 ppg) My Chiacgo D was the 18th defense selected and by the end of the year they finished 2nd in total fantasy points for a D. That would be three years in a row that either a kicker or defense that I selected finished on top or a close second for the BIG league. Better than Juice's Baltimore pick, better than Smith's Buffalo pick, better than Nookie's New England pick....need I go on??
Third Team
Quarterback: Tom Brady 18.6 ppg
Running Back #1: Lamont Jordan 21.0 ppg
Running Back #2: Larry Johnson 20 ppg #1 RB if he starts all year long
Wide Receiver #1: Chad Johnson 17.8 ppg
Wide Receiver #2: Marvin Harrison 18.7 ppg
Tight End: Alge Crumpler 12.6 ppg
Kicker: Shayne Graham
Defense: Cincinnati 11.8 ppg led all defenses in turnovers
Honorable Mention
QB: Drew Brees - 17.5 ppg, Michael Vick 17.9 ppg, Matt Hasselbeck 16.9 ppg
RB: Brian Westbrook 18.8, Rudi Johnson 16.1, Stephen Jackson 16.7
WR: Santana Moss 17.4, Joey Galloway 17.4, Hines Ward 16.7
TE: Todd Heap 11.8, Tony Gonzalez 11.5, Chris Cooley 11
K: Lawrence Tynes, Mike Vanderjagt
Defense: Indianapolis, Minnesota, Carolina, Denver
Other awards
Fantasy Player of Year: RB - Shaun Alexander It's hard to ignore this guy because when you score 28 total TD's on the year, that is tons of fantasy points and when you also have 11 weeks of over 100 yards, that helps as well.
Comeback Player of Year: WR - Steve Smith and Anquan Bolden These players were sadly forgotten about on draft day and boy did they come through for people this season in a big way. These were two top 5 WR's this season.
Rookie Player of Year: RB - Carnell Williams (13.5 ppg) Had a hot start to the year, quiet middle of the year, but ended the year strong.
2004 All Surprise of Year Team (the "who would have thought" players)
QB: Eli Manning - 16.8 ppg
RB1: Thomas Jones 15.6 ppg
RB2: Mike Anderson 13.8 ppg
WR1: Rod Smith 14.5 ppg
WR2: Kevin Curtis 13.2 ppg
TE: Erron Kinney 10.0 ppg
That just about wraps it up for the 2005 All Fantasy Teams this year. If you are the guy who drafted some of the players on this list, feel proud for doing so as these players have helped many teams out there win their fantasy championships!
-Jugs