Hello ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Second Annual BerlinAwards! I’m Zak Berliner, your host, master of ceremonies and benefactor of these glorious awards, which are given to the most outstanding NFL players in Fantasy Football. The players who will be honored tonight have given, as athletes like to say, 110 percent effort to attain excellence (or mediocrity, in some cases). Today, we will be giving out four awards. All of the statistics mentioned are as of the completion of Week 14 in order to give our esteemed panel ample time to deliberate. Without further ado, let’s get on with the show!
Our first award is the Rookie of the Year Award, given to this 2014 season’s most outstanding rookie in fantasy football. Factors considered were total fantasy points scored and fantasy points per game. The nominees are: Sammy Watkins, WR, Buffalo Bills; Kelvin Benjamin, WR, Carolina Panthers; Odell Beckham Jr., WR, New York Giants; Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers; and Brandin Cooks, WR, New Orleans Saints. The BerlinAward goes to … Mike Evans! The former Texas A&M Aggie has been spectacular this season. As shown by the nominees, this season’s class of receivers has been outstanding in itself. Among rookie receivers, Evans is tied for second in total number of receptions with 53, leads by a wide margin in receiving yards with 890, and is tied for most receiving touchdowns with 8. In addition, Evans’s 17.27 PPR points per game is second among all rookies, and his 190 total fantasy points leads all 2014 rookies. Clearly, Evans is deserving of this award.
Our next award is also our least glorious one: the Biggest Disappointment Award. This “honor” is given to the player that has fallen farthest from his preseason expectations. The nominees are: Robert Griffin III, QB, Washington Redskins; Vernon Davis, TE, San Francisco 49ers; Zac Stacy, RB, St. Louis Rams; Maurice Jones-Drew, RB, Oakland Raiders; and Danny Amendola, WR, New England Patriots. The award goes to … Zac Stacy, running back for the Rams! Last season, Stacy was nominated for the Rookie of the Year BerlinAward. He was also a candidate for NFL Rookie of the Year. These accolades raised expectations for this season. Entering 2014, Stacy was ranked by ESPN as No. 11 out of 80 running backs. However, Stacy’s average PPR points per game is 8.41, good for 45th among running backs. Also, his 58.9 total points per game is enough for 55th. These numbers don’t even tell the full story for Stacy, as he has only received a carry in seven of 14 games this season. The catch? He has been healthy the entire year. He has underperformed so much that he has not received double-digit carries in a game since Oct. 5. Unfortunately, Stacy was unable to make it this evening because he has been replaced by Tre Mason, so Tre, come on down!
The next BerlinAward is the Biggest Surprise Award, given to the player who has exceeded expectations this season. The nominees are: Justin Forsett, RB, Baltimore Ravens; Larry Donnell, TE, New York Giants; Ahmad Bradshaw, RB, Indianapolis Colts; Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers; and DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Houston Texans. The award goes to … Justin Forsett! Entering this season, Forsett was slotted to be the third running back for the Baltimore Ravens, but the suspension of Ray Rice (the 2-game one) moved him up to second string. In the ESPN pre-season rankings, Forsett was not ranked in the top 80 running backs. However, the former Cal Golden Bear played outstanding. Through Week 14, he is averaging 84.08 rushing yards per game on 14.92 carries, yielding an exceptional average yards per carry of 5.64. He also has 7 rushing touchdowns, which is tied for fourth among all running backs this season. His 202.6 total PPR is sixth among running backs, and his 16.89 points per contest is good for eighth. Justin Forsett, come and get your BerlinAward!
Our final award tonight is also the most coveted, the Fantasy Football MVP Award. This award is given to the best player in fantasy football in total points scored and points per game. The nominees are: Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers; Demaryius Thomas, WR, Denver Broncos; Andrew Luck, QB, Indianapolis Colts; Antonio Brown, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers; and Peyton Manning, QB, Denver Broncos. The BerlinAward goes to ... Andrew Luck, quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts!! Luck has been unstoppable this season. His average points per game (24.81) and total fantasy points (297.74) are the highest of any player in the league. His 4,011 total passing yards are good for second among all quarterbacks, and he is one of only two players to currently be over 4,000 passing yards. His 34 passing touchdowns are also good for second among all signal callers. He is the only player with at least 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns. Luck is also sporting a nice 64.05 completion percentage. Overall, Andrew Luck has been the most dominant man in fantasy football this season and is entirely deserving of this award.
Those are all the awards we have for this evening. I would like to congratulate our winners Mike Evans, Zac Stacy, Justin Forsett and Andrew Luck. I would also like to acknowledge the skill of all of our nominees. Finally, I would like to thank the fantasy football community. Without you, the BerlinAwards would not be possible. Be sure to tune in to the BerlinAwards next year! Goodnight!
Follow Zak on Twitter @zakberliner1 and listen to him on "The War Room" Fridays from 6-7 pm
