Eddie Lacy: 2015 Fantasy Football Least Valuable Player (LVP)
By Dan Salem
Of all the monumental busts in the 2015 Fantasy Football season, Eddie Lacy of the Green Bay Packers was the Least Valuable Player. He wins LVP honors as the biggest disappointment, getting benched and failing to produce without an injury to blame.
Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate in today’s NFL Sports Debate. Check out more of the brothers in Seesaw Sports Debate on BuzzChomp. Two brothers from New York yell, scream, and debate sports.
TODD:
Last week, we discussed who should be considered the fantasy football MVP for this season heading into the fantasy playoffs. The decision was based on a number of factors, including production and draft position.
The thing about this season, though, was that there were so many more disappointments than there were pleasant surprises. The 2015 fantasy season will be remembered for failures and busts more than anything else. So who is the fantasy football least valuable player for this season? There are a ton of LVP nominees.
Remember back to the beginning of the season. Here was a likely first round draft:
Le’Veon Bell
Adrian Peterson
Eddie Lacy
Marshawn Lynch
Jamaal Charles
DeMarco Murray
Rob Gronkowski
Antonio Brown
C.J. Anderson
Matt Forte
Out of that top 10, arguably the top 10 players heading into this season, seven were complete busts. Outside of Adrian Peterson, the lone running back coming off of an entire missed season ironically, all the running backs failed miserably. Bell, Lynch, Charles and Forte all failed because of injury. Lacy, Murray and Anderson all failed because of lack of production. How insane is that? What are the chances?
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Two of the only safe picks ended up being the two guys who don’t play running back. Maybe that says something about draft strategy for coming years. But for this year, the LVP has to come down to one of these first-round RB busts.
It’s not even necessary to go deeper, but there were a number of other top guys who fizzled out, including Andrew Luck, arguably the top quarterback, and Demaryius Thomas, one of the top few wide receivers. So it’s not all on the running backs.
I think Eddie Lacy deserves LVP honors.
He was entering a year with his same offense, ready to take the next step to super-stardom. He was the first overall pick in many drafts and had reasonable production during the season’s first game. From that point forward though, it was all downhill. He was overweight and out of shape. He lost his starting job and got benched. Yet his season never ended, so owners were forced to make a decision on him week after week. If anyone owned him all year, it’s likely that team missed the playoffs, meaning his rebound performances recently (which, by the way, bookended another zero week for good measure) did them no help.
In a year of busts, Lacy was the biggest.
Nov 22, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Green Bay Packers running back Eddie Lacy (27) catches a pass against the Minnesota Vikings in the second quarter at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
DAN:
It is incredible how awful so many running backs were this season, yet there were an equal number of surprising stars at the position. Makes sense, since every NFL team needs a productive back. Yet of all the disappointments, I’m officially anointing Eddie Lacy the Least Valuable Player of the Fantasy Football season. With two votes, he sweeps this inglorious honor for the year.
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The Green Bay Packers entered the season as prohibitive NFC favorites. They lost their best wide receiver, putting pressure on the running game to pick up the slack and help Aaron Rodgers make peace with a lack of reliable targets. Lacy was in prime position to dominate in an offensive craving another superstar. The Packers put up a lot of points, more than twenty in all but three games this season, yet Lacy scored in only four games.
Lacy barely topped 100 yards in only three games, never putting up over 50 yards receiving. Considering he was healthy all season, his fall from grace had everything to do with lack of production and an inability to get anything going. It’s a little concerning, since he plays for the best quarterback in the NFL. It’s hard to imagine Lacy performing better on any other team in either conference. Does this now make him the ultimate sleeper pick for next season?
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DeMarco Murray is a solid runner-up for least valuable, but the honor of LVP belongs to Eddie Lacy. If his team makes a playoff run, all will be forgotten. But for fantasy owners, Lacy has destroyed his once pristine image.
Dan Salem is a Staff Writer for NFL Spinzone. He’s also Lead Editor, Staff Writer, and Featured Vlogger at BuzzChomp, and a New York Jets Analyst for Pro Football Spot. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or Instagram.
Todd Salem is a Staff Writer for NFL Spinzone. He’s also a Contributing Editor at BuzzChomp, a Featured Columnist at College Sports Madness, and an Analyst for Tipster Labs, among others. Follow him on Twitter.