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By: Jay Pounds (@JayPoundsNFL)
Do you remember back in June wondering if there would even be a 2020 NFL season? Well, the NFL did it with surprisingly minimal hiccups. We saw plenty of game time changes, game date changes, player and personnel changes, no preseason, and so many more little altercations from the norm, but all that said it was still a fantastic football season. The most extreme case we all witnessed in 2020 was the Denver Broncos quarterback situation, other than that the NFL must be thrilled with the way this season played out. While the NFL season is not finished yet, the Dynasty Owner season is and with that can only mean two things, the offseason, and the end of season awards.
With the offseason now upon us it is a very crucial time for our owners compared to other formats. In the coming months you will need to handle your roster, contracts, preparing for the rookie draft, and much more. If you would like to stay ahead of the field be sure to keep an eye out for future articles and videos by the Dynasty Owner team, but enough talk about the coming months, it is time for the awards.
These awards will have silly names just as the midseason awards did, with different winners of course. I take immense pride in being able to bring you all these awards as it is something, I always enjoy reading each year from all the different analysts around fantasy football. My favorite part about awards in sports are the great debates and opinions that come with them, so if any of you would like to debate some of these please feel free to message me on twitter.
The “Why Did I Draft Him” Award
- Winner- Michael Thomas – 5 years – $19,250,000/ $229,439 ($DD/PT)
- Runner Up – T.Y. Hilton – 1 year – $13,000,000/ $79,172 ($DD/PT)
- Award Meaning – A player who was a headache for owners.
Thomas – The classic why did I draft this player dilemma is never a fun place to be. Michael Thomas is the winner here and while he was injured for a portion of the season, he also was punching his teammates at practice and causing issues according to reports. Talent will never be the question with a player of Thomas’ caliber but off the field issues may be, and while I am not saying it is a foregone conclusion that he is the next Antonio Brown, it is not a fantastic looking pattern of behavior either. Owners had to pay Thomas over $19 million this season and got virtually nothing in return aside from 3 decent games (by Thomas standards).
Hilton – Interestingly I decided to put the runner-up Hilton in 2 awards that contraindicate each other (as you will see later) but that is the beauty of Dynasty Owner, Hiltons contract is the sole reason he is the runner-up.
Midseason Winner – T.Y. Hilton
The “I Am So Glad I Drafted Him” Award
- Winner – Josh Allen – 2 years, $5,295,760/ $10,261 ($DD/PT)
- Runner Up – Calvin Ridley – 3 years, $2,725,178/ $9,715
- Award Meaning – The most surprising player with a low $DD/PT.
Allen – This is one of the best awards to have one of your players win in my opinion. If you had Allen this season you drafted him extremely high, which let us face it, it was a risk at the time. Allen has tremendous rushing upside near the goal line which is one of the main reasons Owners drafted him so high. What owners did not expect is the level of top end consistency in the passing game that this kid was able to produce this season. Allen finished as the QB-2 overall with 2 games scoring 50 points or more and a total of 6 games with 40 points or more scored. He had over 4500 yards passing with 37 touchdowns in 2020 making the future in Buffalo brighter than it has been in decades.
Ridley – The runner-up Ridley finally had his breakout season we all expected. He finished with almost 1400 yards receiving and missing double digit touchdowns for the 2nd time in his career by just 1. Ridley was also able to display that he is more than capable of being the number one guy when Julio leaves town, which means great news for his owners.
Midseason Winner – Gardner Minshew
The “I Really Want Him Moving Forward” Award
- Winner – Justin Jefferson – 4 years, $3,280,071/ $12,008 ($DD/PT)
- Runner Up – Jonathan Taylor – 4 years, $1,957,287/ $7,476 ($DD/PT)
- Award Meaning – The best dynasty asset moving forward.
Jefferson – I am not sure there is much I can tell you about the winner of this award that you have not already seen or heard. The LSU product undeniably exploded onto the scene in week 3 and then never looked back, shattering records along the way. As a rookie he was able to amass 85 catches for 1400 yards and 7 touchdowns, finishing as the number 7 wide receiver for the year. The fact Jefferson was able to do all of this with extremely limited mini camps, OTA’S, and zero preseason makes what he accomplished even scarier than it originally looked. If you were one of the lucky owners who drafted or acquired Jefferson consider yourself blessed, because you should have a starting slot on your roster filled for quite some time.
Taylor – The runner up Taylor started the year off in a bad way and looked horrible while doing it. He was constantly missing holes, running into blockers, and getting outperformed by teammates on a weekly basis, until week 10 that is. Taylor finished as strong as I can ever remember a rookie finishing and looks poised to be the next great back in fantasy.
Midseason Winner – DK Metcalf
The “Juggler” Award
- Winner – D.J. Chark, 2 years – $1,111,807/ $7,238 ($DD/PT)
- Runner Up – Leonard Fournette – 1 year, $2,000,000/ $14,925 ($DD/PT)
- Award Meaning – A player who was very inconsistent.
Chark – One of my favorite overall awards in this entire article is this award, and that is because drafting a talented player who you never want to play due to inconsistency happens to every owner at some point, no matter how good you are. What I mean by that is every owner that plays not just dynasty owner, but fantasy football has drafted a headache at some point. While Chark did not have a horrible season, he also did not get anywhere close to what was expected of him from fantasy owners. After starting the 2020 season on fire Chark fell off dramatically after week 4 posting just one week over 20 points and just 3 games with 10 points or more after week 6.
Fournette – Fournette, the runner up was chosen for many of the same reasons as Chark. Fournette was drafted high in all leagues only to be cut from the Jaguars shortly after. He then showed signs of promise in week 2 with a massive game leading to false hope for his owners.
Midseason Winner – Dionte Johnson
The “Best Jay Suggestion” Award
- Winner – Mike Davis – 1 year – $3,000,000/ $14,599 ($DD/PT)
- Runner Up – Nelson Agholor – $1,047,500/ $5,644 ($DD/PT)
- Award Meaning – The best free agent of 2020.
Davis – The best free agent in 2020 is hands down Mike Davis. The way Davis was able to step in and give you close to 3/4ths the production of CMC is superhuman if you think of the context behind it. CMC is the greatest fantasy player since Tomlinson, and Davis is a journeyman back who has never stuck with a team. Davis was able to manage 642 yards rushing on just 165 carries, while adding an additional 373 yards receiving and 8 touchdowns. We will see if this turns into a shot somewhere for Davis or another backup role, but either way he played well enough to win this award in 2020.
Agholor – The runner up Agholor is another veteran no one expected to have a good season yet here we are talking about him. Agholor had a great connection with Derek Carr and that paid off to the tune of just under 900 yards and 8 touchdowns. If Agholor ends up back in Vegas, he may be a sneaky weapon next season.
Midseason Winner – Travis Fulgham
The “Best Young Gun” Award
- Winner – Justin Herbert – 4 years $6,644,688/ $15,392 ($DD/PT)
- Runner Up – Joe Burrow – 4 years $9,047,534/ $40,517 ($DD/PT)
- Award Meaning – The best rookie quarterback.
Herbert – The fact that Burrow was injured really stinks for the sake of this award, and for Burrow himself as well. These two rookie signal callers did nothing but put on a clinic this past season. Herbert broke the rookie record for touchdowns finishing with 31 passing, and 5 rushing. 36 total touchdowns for a kid few seemed sold on back in April/May. It is safe to say the Herbert owners should have a significant advantage moving forward with Herbert gaining more experience at such a cheap salary. Herbert was the quarterback 9 for the season with a low salary that is locked in for years to come.
Burrow – The runner-up was having a record-breaking season himself before a season ending injury ruined those plans. He has great leadership as well as a Jordan type drive, so he should be back fully healthy in no time. The fact he was able to put those types of numbers up while having one of the worst offensive lines in the league is impressive.
Midseason Winner – Joe Burrow
The “Kitchens to Stefanski” Award
- Winner – Jonathon Taylor – 4 years, $1,957,287/ $7,476 ($DD/PT)
- Runner Up – T.Y. Hilton – 1 year, $13,000,000/ $79,172 ($DD/PT)
- Award Meaning – Trash to treasure, or most improved.
Taylor – The midseason award I did for this I chose the player most improved from the previous season. The end of season award will go to a player everyone wrote off during the season but turned it around. Taylor is the most deserving of this award with such a frustrating start to his season. As I mentioned above it was not pretty for Taylor but in week 10, he finally got enough carries to get going and then he never looked back. Taylor capped his run with a 253-yard performance against Jacksonville in week 17, along with 2 touchdowns.
Hilton – The runner up is oddly enough Taylor’s teammate T.Y. Hilton whom started terribly slow as well turning it around shortly after Taylor did, yet oddly enough the offense ran ok before and after.
Midseason Winner – Corey Davis
The “Reminds Me of Watching the Jets” Award
- Winner – Todd Gurley – 1 year, $6,000,000/ $35,885 ($DD/PT)
- Runner Up – Ezekiel Elliott – 6 years $15,000,000/ $ 67,658 ($DD/PT)
- Award meaning – The player you drafted that you cannot stand to watch.
Gurley – Was there a stranger story in football this season than Todd Gurley? The guy started out as an absolute touchdown machine with 9 in the first 9 games, only to not find the endzone the rest of the season, finishing with 9 total touchdowns. When you just look at the paper aspect of Gurley’s outlandish season it makes no sense, the fact that he was so efficient in the RedZone, yet the team was so bad and as soon as the team starts winning, he falls of a cliff.
Elliott – The runner-up Zeke did have a productive season finishing as the Rb9 overall, but when watching him he did not look like Zeke. In 2020 Elliot was flat out bad in the RedZone, had minimal explosive plays, had one game above 25 points, and had 6 games with 10 points or fewer. I am not saying he was not startable it just was not like watching the Zeke we are used too.
Midseason Winner – Ezekiel Elliott
The “JaMarcus Russel to David Blaine” Award
- Winner – Jalen Reagor – 4 years, $3,317,669/ $37,872 ($DD/PT)
- Runner Up – Michael Pittman – 4 years $2,153,212/ $21,771 ($DD/PT)
- Award Meaning – The rookie that tends to disappear from games
Reagor – While this award pains me to the fullest extent for personal reasons, I still must write about it. I have both Reagor and Pittman on my team and am really counting on both in the coming years. The winner, Reagor has had a monumentally bad season compared to who the Eagles could have had in Justin Jefferson who went shortly after Reagor in the NFL draft. Reagor was hurt early in the season but even when healthy he failed to produce with his highest yardage total for a game being 55 yards, and that came on one catch. The TCU product also failed to catch more than 5 passes in any game this season, while some of that may have been on his quarterbacks, he is going to need to make a significant jump next season or Howie Roseman and Doug Pederson may be out the door.
Pittman – The runner up had a remarkably similar season to our winner except for Pittman’s big game against the Titans where he had 7 catches for 101 yards and a touchdown. Pittman is a promising prospect who was drafted early in the 2nd round so I expect him to bounce back.
Midseason Winner – Cam Akers
The “Atlanta Falcons” Award
- Winner – Curtis Samuel – 1 year, $1,613,421/ $7,642 ($DD/PT)
- Runner Up – Jonathon Taylor – 4 years, $1,957,287/ $7,476 ($DD/PT)
- Award Meaning – A player who finished the season strong.
Samuel – You will find I have made a slight twist in this award from when it was the midseason award due to the Falcon’s recent play, in return the midseason winner will be left off. Curtis Samuel was quietly one of the most reliable fantasy receivers from week 7 on with 6 games over 17 points scored and only failing to score double digits twice. The most impressive part about Samuel’s run is that he was able to do it while only scoring 3 touchdowns meaning he was extremely involved in the game plan. If Samuel ends up leaving Carolina next season he could end up as a great dynasty asset for the future, as well as a great off season trade chip. I am not as high on Samuel returning to the Panthers with the team set to welcome fantasy superstar CMC back into the mix.
Taylor – The runner-up here got a lot of consideration to win the award for his strong finish, but Samuel was able to do it a few extra weeks as well as Samuel was not expected to be a every week starter this season as Taylor was.
The “2020 G.O.A.T.” Award
- Winner – Davante Adams – 2 years – $14,500,000/ $40,570 ($DD/PT)
- Runner Up – Alvin Kamara- 1 year – $964,443/ $2,538 ($DD/PT)
- Award Meaning – The M.V.P.
Kamara – The runner-up Kamara had himself a season to brag about as well with 932 rushing yards 756 receiving yards and a massive 21 total touchdowns. Kamra popped off with a 6-touchdown performance for owners in the championship game which single handedly won him the 2020 G.O.A.T. award. Owners of Kamara also found themselves with an extreme bargain because of his cheap contract.
Adams – I do not know if there is enough time in the day to write about how dominant Adams truly is, even with an all-time great at quarterback. The teams Adams face know he is getting the ball especially in the red zone, yet no one has been able to stop him. Adams put together some extravagant numbers this season with 115 catches almost 1400 yards and 18 touchdowns and I will say it again teams knew he was the only receiver getting the ball. I really hope as football fans we get to see Adams and Rodgers for at least a few more seasons together they just keep getting better.
Midseason Winner – Russell Wilson
The “Butt Fumble” Award
- Winner – Daniel Jones tripping himself instead of scoring
- Runner Up – There can only be one!
- Award Meaning – See 2020 Dynasty Owner Awards video.
Conclusion I hope everyone enjoys reading/watching these awards as much as I do enjoy writing them, it really is a lot of fun. I want to touch on something briefly before finishing and that is If you had fun with Dynasty Owner this season or the season before and you know people who would enjoy this format too please invite them and if you do not have the time to teach whoever it is please send them our way and we will be glad to help. The more Dynasty Owner grows the better it can become for all of us. I hope you all stay safe and good luck on your 2021 Chase for the Ring!
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