Taking a look back
Published: 12/22/2012 11:05 PM
Last Modified: 12/22/2012 11:05 PM
The playoffs are ready to culminate or already have concluded for virtually all fantasy leagues.
If you are lucky, you still in the midst of your league’s postseason with a shot at winning the championship. If fortune did not shine upon you or your team, hopefully you had fun playing fantasy ball and can’t wait to experience it again next season.
As the season winds down, we are in the mood for reflecting. Our season in review package is scheduled to run in the Sunday Dec. 30 print edition of the Tulsa World. The Fantasy World bloggers will give our thoughts on this season’s highlight and lowlight performers and take a sneak peak at what players will be highly valued fantasy-wise in 2013.
I took a glimpse at our preseason preview that ran in late August to see some of our hits and misses. (Yeah, my ranking of Adrian Peterson as the ninth-best running back available was just a little bit off.)
The four contributors to this blog – myself, Jason Collington, Matt Clayton and James Royal – each submitted a sleeper and bust pick back in the preseason. I’ll let those guys blog if they wish about their reasoning for their choices (Tom Brady as a bust? Really Collington?).
Here are my postseason evaluations of my sleeper and bust choices from the preseason:
Sleeper: Josh Freeman, Tampa Bay QB
Preseason evaluation: New coach plus new weapons surrounding him should help him produce some surprising big numbers this year.
Postseason evaluation: There were questions about Freeman entering the year after throwing more interceptions (22) than TDs (16) in 2011. Those new weapons – WR Vincent Jackson and RB Doug Martin in particular – have allowed Freeman to flourish this year. He should surpass his career-best total in passing yardage (3,592 last year and has 3,471 this year) and enters the last two games of this season with 25 TDs and just 12 interceptions. His fantasy status, however, likely will remain in the sleeper category entering next season. With the amount of quality QBs, Freeman will be viewed as a fringe starter in many leagues.
Bust: Dez Bryant, Dallas WR
Preseason evaluation: The inability to stay healthy, too many expectations/comparisons and too many off-the-field distractions/issues just isn't worth the risk.
Postseason evaluation: Maybe this season will be remembered as the one the former OSU star truly became a professional in every sense of the word. He is showing signs of maturity, something that’s been severely lacking. He is playing through pain presently with a broken finger. And most importantly, he is producing. Big time. In the last month, Bryant’s totals are 38 catches for 599 yards with 8 TDs and just 3 drops. That equates to a true No. 1 receiver to me.
-- Matt Doyle
Written by
Matt Doyle
Staff Writer
