Review of the 2006 Fantasy Football Season and Top Players at Each Position

Looking at the Numbers Will Help You Plan Next Season's Schedule

I just finished the fantasy football season for the 2006 season in the one league I was in this year. Normally I'm in several, but this year I decided to just do one. In the end it was probably a good decision because I ended up winning my league's title. Our league has an interesting regular season, it was an 8 team league and the two division winners were the only ones to finish with a record above .500. The wildcard teams were chosen based on total points but they were no match for the division champs in the playoffs. We had a two week championship and I was down by 17.5 after the first week, but had a big win in the second week of 37 points to win by 19.5 points. Now it's time to look at the top player at each position and their relative value.

First, you should know what our scoring system was. It including 1 point for every 25 yards passing; 4 points for a passing TD; -2 points for an interception for QB's or anyone throwing a pass. For anyone rushing or receiving it was 1 point for every 10 yards rushing or receiving, and 1/2 point for each receptions; rushing or receiving TD's were worth 6 points each. Field goals were 3 points for 39 yards or less; 4 points for one under 49 yards; and 5 points for one of 50 yards or more. Our defense/special teams scoring was simple. 1 point for a sack, 2 points for a turnover recovery, and 6 points for any touchdowns. Now that you know what our scoring system was (which is probably very similar to most leagues) we can evaluate the top players at each position.

At quarterback Peyton Manning was the top performer averaging 19 points a week. Drew Brees only averaged 3 points less a week, and there was a QB some might not think about in the #3 spot, Michael Vick averaged only 1/10th of a point less than Brees each week. Manning had a good season but not a monster one, and with passing TD's only being worth 4 points many times people overvalue QB's. I think the guy in our league with the first pick learned that as the season went on, he took Manning #1 overall. That in the end was a mistake. In the end the 10th rated QB was Brett Favre who averaged 12 points a game, so there was only a 7 point difference between the top QB and the 10th best.