2010 Preseason Fantasy Awards Predictions

With less than a month until Week 1, it’s time to take a look at what we think is going to happen during the 2010 season.  Our Breakthrough Player category is a player that has been in the league that we expect to take a big jump in production in 2010.  For our Fantasy Sleeper category, we picked players who will be mid-to-late round picks in 2010 that we feel will become early-to-mid round picks for next season.  We’ve combined the two categories for the defensive awards.  Let’s take a look at our offensive categories first:

MVP: Aaron Rodgers – QB – GB – Rodgers was the #1 overall fantasy player in 2009, and figuring that the top QB will again be the top overall performer, we think Rodgers will put up slightly better number in 2010 than he did in ’09, which should be good enough to give him the top honor once again.

            Runners Up: Drew Brees, Tony Romo

Rookie of the Year: Jahvid Best – RB – DET – Best will be the feature back in an improved Detroit offense in 2010, and possessing a similar skill set to Chris Johnson, Best figures to be a force this season as long as he’s healthy.  We give him the slight edge over Ryan Mathews.

            Runners Up: Ryan Mathews, Dez Bryant

Breakthrough Player: Pierre Thomas – RB – NO – Health will be a key factor, however Thomas figures to see the most touches of his career in 2010, and is completely healthy heading into the season, something he could not say in ’09.  We expect Thomas to be a top-10 RB this season.

            Runners Up: Joe Flacco, Kevin Kolb

Fantasy Sleeper: Devin Aromashodu – WR – CHI – Aromashodu will open the season as Chicago’s #3 WR, but he figures to see the field plenty as the season progresses.  We think he will have a better season overall than fellow breakout candidate Johnny Knox. 

            Runners Up: Michael Bush, Matt Stafford

Biggest Bust: Philip Rivers – QB – SD – Rivers will disappoint fantasy owners for as long as LT Marcus McNeil and WR Vincent Jackson are out, which looks like it could be the entire season.  He simply does not have enough talent around him to succeed without those key players.  He’ll struggle to finish as a top-10 QB in 2010.

            Runners Up: Larry Fitzgerald, Greg Olsen

Now let’s take a look at the defensive side of the ball for all you IDP’ers out there:

MVP: Patrick Willis – LB – SF – As if there was ever any doubt, Willis should easily be the top defender again in 2010 after racking up 151 tackles last season. 

            Runners Up: Jon Beason, Barrett Ruud

Rookie of the Year: Rolando McClain – LB – OAK – We are expecting McClain to be in or near the top-10 IDP’s in his rookie season.  Kirk Morrison has flourished the past few seasons in the middle in Oakland, and McClain offers more size and talent. 

            Runners Up: TJ Ward, Eric Berry

Breakthrough Player/Sleeper: DeAndre Levy – LB – DET – Levy will fill the highly-productive MLB spot in Detroit this season, and with the addition of Ndamukong Suh up front, Levy will have more time and space to make plays. 

            Runners Up: Rey Maualuga, Michael Boley

Biggest Bust: Darren Sharper – S – NO – Sharper finished as the #2 DB in ’09, thanks in large part to his 9 INT’s (including 3 for TD’s).  Coming off microfracture surgery at age-34 however, Sharper figures to be eased back into things, at least early on.  Needless to say, we don’t see a repeat performance coming in 2010. 

            Runners Up: Dhani Jones, Brian Orakpo