2010 Fantasy Football Team MVPs

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What makes a fantasy MVP? It's not simply the guy who tallies the most points, it's also about what it cost to get that player on draft day or, better yet, on the waiver wire. It's about bang for the buck, and performance versus expectations. And sometimes, it's all about straight-up, in-your-face domination. Here are the players selected by the fantasy staff as each NFL team's most valuable player, in the fantasy sense.

AFC Team MVPs

AFC East by James Quintong

PLAYER		Points	ADP	He's the MVP Because …
	BenJarvus Green-Ellis	176	ND	Tom Brady did his thing, but for overall value, it has to be the Law Firm, who became a reliable option in a formerly unreliable Pats running game. He tied for second in the league with 13 rushing TDs and finished 15th in running back scoring, putting up double digits in seven of the final eight games.
	Santonio Holmes	102	96.8	No real slam-dunk options on this team. LaDainian Tomlinson and Dustin Keller started strong but faded late; Mark Sanchez and Braylon Edwards had their moments but also some dud games. Holmes opened the season on a four-game suspension but had five double-digit games in his final nine games and scored TDs in Weeks 16 and 17.
	Steve Johnson	157	ND	One of Christopher Harris' deep sleepers this summer, Johnson was a revelation, catching 10 TD passes and finishing as the No. 10 scorer among wideouts. He tailed off down the stretch (just 35 total fantasy points in his final six games), but he was one of the year's best waiver-wire finds.
	Davone Bess	100	ND	A big mess when it comes to fantasy MVP. Brandon Marshall had decent stats, including three big games to close the season, but was nowhere close to matching his ADP. Bess led the Dolphins with five TD catches and had similar overall numbers to Marshall but at far less cost on draft day or, more likely, the waiver wire.

AFC North by Pierre Becquey

PLAYER		Points	ADP	He's the MVP Because …
	Ray Rice	200	4.6	In a season when half of the top 20 running backs were lost to injury or simply failed to live up to expectations, earning his first-round billing is enough for Rice to earn the Ravens' fantasy MVP title over Joe Flacco, who had a fine season but did not finish as a top-10 quarterback.
	Mike Wallace	182	77.2	Wallace was more than just a big-play guy this season. He tied Calvin Johnson for fifth among wide receiver scorers, delivering double-digit points nine times, including each of the final three weeks of the season. His seeming ability to step up for big games translates to fantasy, as he had 100 yards and a touchdown in Week 16 and Week 17.
	Terrell Owens	147	84.7	Drafted as a borderline No. 3 receiver in the preseason, T.O. showed he had plenty left in the tank by scoring between 14 and 28 points for five consecutive weeks (Weeks 4-9, including bye), then added two more double-digit weeks before missing the final three games of the season.
	Peyton Hillis	218	ND	With double-digit scores in 10 of the season's first 11 games, undrafted Hillis was neck-and-neck with Michael Vick for league fantasy MVP before fading in the season's final five weeks, likely thanks to the wear and tear he took amassing 1,654 total yards and 13 touchdowns.

AFC South by Keith Lipscomb

PLAYER		Points	ADP	He's the MVP Because …
	Peyton Manning	279	13.2	Manning is still one of the most consistent threats in the fantasy game. He passed for at least two touchdowns in 13 of his 16 games and finished fifth in scoring overall. Late-round pick Austin Collie was on his way to earning this honor after a great start, but concussions cost him too many games.
	Marcedes Lewis	119	ND	On average, 20 tight ends were drafted in ESPN standard leagues, but Lewis wasn't one of them. He finished fourth in scoring among tight ends, and his 10 touchdowns tied for the most at the position, which was thought to be deep on draft day but was far from it.
	Arian Foster	313	49.3	Not only did Foster score the most fantasy points but he was the only non-quarterback to finish in the top 10. He scored 81 more points than the next-best running back (Adrian Peterson), too. All this in a late-fifth-round package, one even more valuable in PPR leagues, as he finished second in receptions among running backs with 66.
	Kenny Britt	126	142.7	Chris Johnson was more reliable, but he was the top pick in many leagues. Britt, on the other hand, was the 53rd WR selected in standard ESPN leagues, yet he finished 21st at the position despite missing four games. He found the end zone in seven of his 12 games and returned to be a factor in the fantasy playoffs.

AFC West by Brendan Roberts

PLAYER		Points	ADP	He's the MVP Because …
	Brandon Lloyd	203	ND	From journeyman receiver to leading all wide receivers in fantasy scoring … Lloyd not only is his team's fantasy MVP but also would be in the running for league fantasy MVP. Lloyd was scooped off the waiver wire after a 117-yard Week 1, then subsequently dropped by many after a 53-yard Week 2. But those who hung on to him or grabbed him before Week 3 were rewarded with 10 weeks of double-digit scoring and four 20-point performances, boosted by 11 receiving touchdowns.
	Dwayne Bowe	200	63.7	A few decent MVP options from the Chiefs (Jamaal Charles?), but Bowe and his amazing run in Weeks 6-12 -- he scored 13 touchdowns in those seven weeks -- gets the nod. He was the 22nd receiver taken in ESPN live drafts, and he finished second at the position.
	Darren McFadden	208	107.9	McFadden finished sixth in fantasy scoring among running backs and tied for 19th overall. Now just think about where he would have finished had he not missed three games. Simply put, Run-DMC was the beast we expected him to be two years ago, and although injuries did hamper him occasionally, he has the talent to repeat -- or even improve -- this brilliant campaign. Barring preseason injury, he should be a top-12 pick in 2011 drafts.
	Philip Rivers	270	34.7	Although Mike Tolbert came out of nowhere to intermittently help fantasy owners, Rivers produced from beginning to end, finishing sixth overall in fantasy scoring from his fourth-round draft slot. In leading the NFL in passing and throwing 30 touchdown passes, Rivers scored in single digits just once while playing all 16 games, giving his owners reliability at a key position. And all this despite throwing to a mishmash receiving corps that was plagued by injuries.

NFC Team MVPs

NFC East by James Quintong

PLAYER		Points	ADP	He's the MVP Because …
	Michael Vick	300	ND	This was supposed to Kevin Kolb's year. Instead, it became the Michael Vick Experience. He was second in overall scoring despite missing four games and part of another. His 49-point outburst in Week 10 ranks among one of the best single-game fantasy performances ever.
	Hakeem Nicks	165	76.2	He opened the season with a three-TD game, then had two more 20-point outbursts as he overtook Steve Smith as the top Giants wideout in fantasy. Nicks was seventh in wideout scoring despite missing three games, and he had a solid three-game stretch in Weeks 14-16 to help in the fantasy playoffs.
	Ryan Torain	114	ND	He emerged as the team's top back after Clinton Portis went down, and although Torain himself missed four games with injury, he was solid when he did play, racking up six double-digit games, including three straight in Weeks 14-16, and rushing for 100 yards three times.
	Jason Witten	146	63.4	He had the same number of catches and 28 fewer yards than 2009, but by improving his TDs from 2 to 9, he ended up as the No. 1 tight end in a position hit hard by injuries (he was No. 8 in '09). Witten finished 2010 strongly, recording double digits in Weeks 13-17 as Jon Kitna's most reliable option.

NFC North by Pierre Becquey

PLAYER		Points	ADP	He's the MVP Because …
	Matt Forte	199	46.2	Forte rebounded from a disappointing 2009 campaign by finishing just one point shy of the top 10 at the running back position. Forte started strong, posting one of his two 30-point efforts in Week 1, and finished strong with a total of 37 points in Weeks 16 and 17.
	Greg Jennings	193	31.0	In a season that saw the Packers' top running back, tight end and quarterback all succumb to injury, Jennings not only showed up for all 16 games but posted double-digit points in half of them, catching passes for at least 80 yards or a TD in five more games and finishing the season as a top-5 wide receiver.
	Percy Harvin	132	58.3	Although Adrian Peterson lived up to expectations, it was Harvin who picked up his game in the absence of Sidney Rice, becoming the Vikings' most-targeted and consistent receiver. From Week 3 through Week 10, Harvin scored at least 9 points in every game, then punctuated his season with double-digit efforts in Weeks 15 and 16.
	Calvin Johnson	182	23.9	Johnson was the sixth receiver off the boards and delivered the fifth-most points. It's not that he met expectations, it's that he had to do it with three different quarterbacks under center for the Lions, putting up elite numbers in what could easily have been a lost season (a la Larry Fitzgerald).

NFC South by Keith Lipscomb

PLAYER		Points	ADP	He's the MVP Because …
	Roddy White	193	24.2	White finished third among receivers in points, but he was easily the most consistent option at the position. He scored in double figures in 11 of his 16 games played and was even more valuable in PPR leagues, leading the NFL with 115 catches.
	Drew Brees	263	7.1	No question that the 22 INTs were a disappointment, but Brees was still able to finish seventh overall in fantasy thanks to 33 TD passes. He scored at least 12 points in every game except the finale in Week 17, when he was replaced by Chase Daniel in the fourth quarter.
	Mike Williams	151	138.2	This easily could've been Josh Freeman or LeGarrette Blount, but Williams gets the nod simply for becoming a must-start almost right away. He was the 49th WR selected in average ESPN standard leagues but finished 12th at the position thanks to scoring a touchdown in 10 of 16 games.
	Jonathan Stewart	89	41.8	Let's face it, no Panther was a big fantasy factor this season, but at least Stewart put up his numbers at the most important time. After scoring 33 points in the first 11 weeks of the season combined, he tallied 46 points in Weeks 12-15, serving as a nice flex option in the stretch run.

NFC West by Brendan Roberts

PLAYER		Points	ADP	He's the MVP Because …
	D/ST	123	ND	The Cards finished 29th in the NFL in yards allowed and 30th in points allowed … and ninth in fantasy scoring among defenses. How'd they do this? With a league-high 10 return touchdowns. Sure, this unit disappointed many weeks, with four negative-scoring weeks, but it rewarded desperate owners who picked it up for its (very) favorable down-the-stretch schedule, scoring 23 points in Week 14 and 22 points in Week 16, key fantasy-playoff weeks.
	Mike Williams	80	124.5	Not many good options here from the league's 28th-ranked offense, but Big Mike emerged from the NFL scrap heap to help fantasy owners. When he was healthy, that is. Williams scored in double digits in four of six games in Weeks 6-11, giving his owners a decent flex or No. 3 receiver option in the process.
	Frank Gore	147	7.6	In a team loaded with disappointments (Alex Smith, Michael Crabtree), we have no choice but to pick the guy who carried the offense the first 10 1/2 weeks of the season. Gore was a rushing and receiving horse for much of fantasy's regular season, easily justifying his early-round pick, before suffering a season-ending hip injury versus the Cardinals in Week 11. Early indications are that he should be able to reassume workhorse duties again in 2011.
	Sam Bradford	180	131.6	If we had told you a year ago at this time that Bradford would start every game of the 2010 NFL season, improve his team by six wins and have one of the top rookie seasons by a quarterback in NFL history, you'd have laughed at us. Heck, we'd have chuckled to ourselves. But that's what Bradford did, posting 11 double-digit fantasy weeks in the process. His future's so bright, he's gotta wear shades.

Pierre Becquey, Keith Lipscomb, James Quintong and Brendan Roberts are editors for ESPN.com fantasy.

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