Ask for stats and you shall receive

NFL.com Staff | Tags: Tom Brady, Indianapolis Colts, LaDainian Tomlinson, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Peyton Manning

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In my column on Tuesday (The Blog Log Blog) I said I didn’t know what the record was for most fantasy points in a season by an individual, but that Tom Brady would own that record after this season.  So today I asked our stat guru and shameless Philadelphia sports supporter Bill Sudell as he walked by my desk if there was any way he could find out.  A  half-hour and an obligatory conversation about Mike Quick and Kenny Jackson later, he was back at my desk with the answer.  Researchers are fast.  In fact, I think it took him longer to give me his opinion on Wilbert Montgomery’s career than it did for him to look the fantasy stats up.

Right now, Tom Brady is on pace for (standard scoring rules applying) 470 fantasy points this season, which would be good for the 2nd best individual season of all time.  If he does step it up just a bit (and how funny is that – he has to step it up throwing the football.  Slacker.) he will wind up breaking…his own record.

Top 5 Individual Fantasy seasons of all-time:

Tom Brady, 2007 – 498 points
Peyton Manning, 2004 – 460
Dan Marino, 1984 – 457
Daunte Culpepper, 2004 – 453
Steve Young, 1998 – 440

*LaDanian Tomlinson had the highest running back total ever with 431 points in 2006.

So what does this mean?  It means that forever in fantasy, quarterbacks have always wound up being the most valuable players.  Sure, we stockpile RB’s and hope to bludgeon our opponents to death, but a great QB is always the road to victory.  You tell me the last time a team won a championship – in any league, and go through your own leagues the last few years – in which the champion didn’t start a Top 5 QB that year in fantasy.  It just doesn’t happen.  But plenty of times you win without a Top 5 RB.  (Individual case in point, and so I can say I won my league – In 2008 when I won my league my No. 1 RB was Marshawn Lynch who was on my bench down the stretch.)

– Jason Smith

Posted in: Fantasy  

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