2012 DLF Awards

With another year in the books, it’s time for DLF’s annual awards to be given out. We’ve already covered the disappointments in “The Stewies,” so now it’s time to give out some of the more prestigious hardware. We polled the entire DLF Team on a variety of different award categories. We’ll not only list the winners for each award, but also those who were nominated.  Remember, each league has a different set of rules and scoring settings, but these were the winners we selected for standard PPR leagues with IDP players.

2012 Fantasy MVP

Adrian Peterson, RB MIN

When a player puts up one of the most spectacular seasons the NFL has ever seen, you take note.  When he does it after coming back from a torn ACL, you take a step back. Peterson was absolutely dominant this year, rushing for 2,097 yards on 348 attempts (good for a healthy 6.0 yards per carry average) and also added 40 catches for 217 more yards. Add in his 13 total touchdowns and you have yourself the fantasy MVP for 2012.

There will be many players who come and go over the years, but the season Peterson put together will always be remembered as one of the finest we’ll ever see. In fact, he’s single handedly changed the way all of us may view ACL injuries in the future. Once thought of as the kiss of death, the amazing Peterson showed us all that players can not only come back, but could come back from the injury even better.

What’s even more ridiculous is this ended up being a close vote. Peterson would have run away with this honor in any other year, but this simply was anything but a normal season. With Calvin Johnson posting 122 catches and breaking Jerry Rice’s single season record with a robust 1,964 receiving yards, there were two worthy candidates.

Others receiving votes: Calvin Johnson, Drew Brees, JJ Watt

Fantasy Rookie of the Year

Robert Griffin III, QB WAS and Doug Martin, RB TB

After all the votes were tallied, we actually had a tie between Robert Griffin III and Doug Martin. There could be a case made for a ton of different players, too. In the end, it really depended on how each team member defined the award. If it was all about performance, Martin and Griffin were the favorites. If it was about value, the nod went to Russell Wilson or Alfred Morris.

If there’s one thing we know now, it’s this rookie class is extremely special. We’ll get to Griffin and Martin in a moment, but how about Andrew Luck, who threw for 4,374 yards and 23 touchdowns with an offensive line that played like a turnstyle? What about Wilson, who came out of nowhere to tie Peyton Manning’s rookie record for touchdown passes with 26 and posted a quarterback rating of 100 on the season? Let’s also not forget about the league’s second leading rusher in Morris, who had 1,613 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. In a word? Amazing.

On to the winners, though.

The Redskins paid through the nose to get RGIII, but nobody seems to be blaming them after he torched the NFL for 3,200 passing yards, 815 rushing yards, accounted for 27 total touchdowns and threw just FIVE interceptions. Some thought he’d have a tough transition into the NFL, but he proved to be what many thought Michael Vick once could be as a dangerous runner who could throw accurately. The scary thing is he did it in his first season in the league.

As for Martin, he quickly made LeGarrette Blount a benchwarmer as he ran for 1,454 yards, added 49 receptions for 472 yards and scored 12 total touchdowns. He’s quickly become a top ten pick in new startup dynasty drafts. While the fact he had only four total 100 yard games and put up nearly 400 of his rushing yards in back-to-back games during the middle of the year is somewhatconcerning, there’s little doubt he’s going to be a dynasty pillar for years to come.

Others receiving votes: Russell Wilson, Alfred Morris

Comeback Player of the Year

Peyton Manning, QB DEN

We’ve already covered the crazy season put together by Adrian Peterson and he was a worthy candidate for the award. However, the most amazing part of his story may be the fact he only missed one game with that torn ACL.

In the end, the consensus vote went for Peyton Manning, who came back from sitting out an entire year to set a Broncos record with 4,659 passing yards and also tossed a Manning-like 37 touchdowns, leading Denver to the #1 seed in the playoffs. While the season ended prematurely for the Broncos, Peyton simply showed us that he’s, well, still Peyton. There really isn’t much more you can say.

Others receiving votes: Adrian Peterson, Jamaal Charles, Josh Freeman

Waiver Wire Pickup of the Year

Cecil Shorts, WR JAX and Alfred Morris, RB WAS

Unbelievably, we actually had a second tie. Much of this had to do with when Morris was picked up, as he was easily the off-season or pre-season waiver wire pickup of the year, while Cecil Shorts was arguably the in-season pickup of the year.

Speaking of Shorts, he was the player who really came out of nowhere this year en route to posting 55 catches for 979 yards and seven touchdowns for the Jaguars – that’s like putting up 3,000 receiving yards playing with Tom Brady or Manning. He was a revelation and he actually did most of his damage after week five as well, making his totals that much more impressive. With the Jaguars rebuilding, Shorts looks like a solid option across from Justin Blackmon for years to come. He could be many things, but a flash in the pan isn’t likely one of them.

There were many candidates for this award and the next closest to Morris and Shorts was easily Danario Alexander of the Chargers, who showed just how talented he is when he’s healthy. In the last nine games of the year, he put up 37 catches for 658 yards and had seven touchdowns. If you string that out over an entire season, he would have posted something close to 66 catches, 1,170 yards and 12 touchdowns. While he likely can’t stay healthy for that long of a stretch, don’t expect San Diego to let him go in free agency this off-season.

Others receiving votes: Brandon Myers, Danario Alexander, Knowshon Moreno

So, those were the award winners we had for 2012.  Which do you agree or disagree with?  Who would you have voted for in each category? Let’s discuss in the comments section…