Chris Smith - Tidbits

This will be the final Tidbits article of the 2003 season. I would like to thank Joe and David for giving myself the opportunity to contribute to the best fantasy football site on the net and I look forward to many more seasons to come. I feel blessed to be a part of such a great team as what Footballguys.com has become.

I have received many emails this season from our subscribers letting me know that the weekly column was appreciated and put to good use. To those of you who took the time to email and let me know that I helped you in some small way, thank you for your kind words. It is hearing from you all that makes me feel as though I am the luckiest S.O.B. in the world.

I wish each of you luck in the last weeks of your fantasy leagues and I hope each and every one of you have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

I thought I would do something a little different for my final column of the season. When I used to run Tuffsports.com I used to have an annual feature entitled the "Tuff Awards" where I would take a look at the season and come up with the players deserving of recognition (both good and bad) for their performance. I have dusted off the old format and changed the name to the first annual "Tidbits Awards".

1st Annual Tidbits Awards

Tidbits Offensive MVP

The Award goes to QB Peyton Manning, Colts - Manning is on pace to throw for 4458 yards and 32 touchdowns. He has completed 67.5 % of his passes and has thrown a miniscule 9 interceptions. He has four games where he has thrown 3 or more touchdowns and nine games where he has thrown for more than 250 yards. His signature moments this season are when he led the Colts to a win against the Buccaneers after trailing by 21 points with five minutes remaining and against the Patriots in a comeback bid that fell just short. Manning has been consistent all season and he is the runaway winner.
1st Runner-up is RB Priest Holmes, Chiefs - Holmes is on pace for 25 touchdowns. He is blessed to be in a great situation for his skills but he makes the most out of his chances and has a great nose for the endzone. How Holmes was never drafted in the NFL Draft is beyond me. He has eight games this season with two or more touchdowns.
2nd Runner-up is QB Jon Kitna, Bengals - What a great season for Kitna and the Bengals. He was supposed to be the caretaker of the offense until Carson Palmer proved ready but Kitna has become the man for the team and the entire offense has rallied around him. He has 25 touchdowns and 11 interceptions and has the Bengals in playoff contention.

Tidbits Defensive MVP

The Award goes to LB Ray Lewis, Ravens - One of the most dominating defenders in the history of the NFL. He is the heart and soul of the Ravens squad and makes everyone around him better by his demeanor on the football field. He is on pace for 167 tackles and already has 5 interceptions including one he took for a score. As far as I'm concerned, I could probably name this award the Ray Lewis Award for his dominance on the football field.
1st Runner-up is DE Leonard Little, Rams - Has truly dominated despite missing five games with injury. Easily the best defensive lineman this season when healthy and truly took over football games with his pass-rush.
2nd Runner-up is S Ed Reed, Ravens - It is hard to emerge from the giant shadow of Ray Lewis but Reed has become the best safety in the NFL. He blocks kicks, intercepts passes and hits like a locomotion. He had a great season.

Tidbits Offensive Rookie of the Year

The Award goes to WR Anquan Boldin, Cardinals. This is an easy choice. He has dominated defenses all season and has put up very special numbers on an awful Cardinals team. He is on pace to catch 98 passes on the season.
1st Runner-up is RB Domanick Davis, Texans - Emerged from the bench to become a force out of the backfield. He has rushed for 881 yards and caught 39 passes.
2nd Runner-up is a tie between…
- WR Andre Johnson, Texans - Had a very nice rookie season and should be a force for years to come. He and Davis should join forces with QB David Carr to become the best young nucleus in football.
- QB Byron Leftwich, Jaguars - Leftwich has made mistakes as all rookie quarterbacks do but he has a solid completion percentage of 57.2% and has gained a lot of valuable experience on the season. He has 12 touchdown passes against 14 interceptions, which is pretty solid for a rookie passer.

Tidbits Defensive Rookie of the Year

The Award goes to CB Charles Tillman, Bears. He is very aggressive, doesn't back down from any receiver in the league and has had a huge impact with the Bears. He has 70 tackles and 4 interceptions on the season and has become a force week in and week out.
1st Runner-up is DE/LB Terrell Suggs, Ravens - Just what the Ravens needed was another huge playmaker on defense. Suggs has played with a lot of energy and has 10 sacks on the season. He also has 4 forced fumbles, an interception and 2 passes defended.
2nd Runner-up is CB Terrence Newman, Cowboys - Has played very well as a 1st-year corner at the NFL level. He has 4 interceptions and has done many things well in his first season. He may end up a better overall cornerback than Charles Tillman down the road.

Tidbits Comeback Player of the Year

The Award goes to RB Priest Holmes, Chiefs - There was a lot of talk during the pre-season that Holmes may have to retire and even if he did come back couldn't be the player he once was. 22 touchdowns later, the doom and gloom analysis of his future has been forgotten. What a great season he has had for the Chiefs.
1st Runner-up is QB Jake Plummer, Broncos - After a disappointing career in Arizona and many seasons of losing, Plummer has turned it around for the Broncos. The team is 8-2 when Plummer has started and he has only thrown 6 interceptions on the season after throwing 114 picks in his first six seasons with the Cardinals.
2nd Runner-up is WR David Boston, Chargers / RB Stephen Davis, Panthers - David Boston has been up and down but has improved as the season wore on. Davis suffered through a disappointing 2002 season with the Redskins but has emerged as a team leader for the Panthers and is averaging 105 rushing yards per game.

Tidbits Break-Out Award

The Award goes to WR Santana Moss, Jets - After two disappointing seasons; Moss has emerged as the go-to receiver on the Jets. His 987 yards to date this season and 10 touchdowns rank him in the top six this season.
1st Runner-up is RB Rudi Johnson, Bengals - Nobody expected the durable Corey Dillon to suffer through an injury plagued season but Johnson has stepped up in a big way this season. Johnson has rushed for 875 yards on the season and scored 7 touchdowns.
2nd Runner-up is WR Peter Warrick, Bengals - Warrick was finally able to reach some of his potential after a few very disappointing seasons. He is averaging 5.4 receptions per game and has scored 7 touchdowns.

Tidbits 'Biggest Disappointment' Award

The Award goes to RB William Green, Browns - His season of drug problems and suspensions has been a major disappointment to the Browns all season. It is anybody's guess whether or not Green will be able to pull himself out of this mess.
1st Runner-up is QB Rich Gannon, Raiders - Nobody expected the Raiders to struggle like this on offense this year. Not only has he missed seven games due to injury but he struggled big-time in the games he was able to play in.
2nd Runner-up is… too many to list really. The following players were all major disappointments this season. Ricky Williams, Corey Dillon, Kelly Holcomb, Amos Zereoue, Stacey Mack, Plaxico Burress, Eric Moulds, Quincy Morgan and countless others.

Tidbits 'Doing the Least With the Most' Award (RB)

The Award goes to RB Curtis Martin, Jets - With 277 carries on the season to go along with 38 receptions; Martin has only managed to score a single touchdown this season. He'll have a tough time forgetting this season.
1st Runner-up is RB Kevin Faulk, Patriots - Faulk has 166 carries so far this season and 48 receptions. He has yet to score a touchdown.
2nd Runner-up is RB Marcel Shipp, Cardinals - No touchdowns scored with 207 carries under his belt. That is pretty awful.

Tidbits 'Doing the Least With the Most' Award (WR)

The Award goes to WR Eric Moulds, Bills - With only one touchdown reception caught out of his 54 receptions, Moulds has been a huge disappointment to fantasy owners in 2003. The good news is he plays better during 'even' years so he should be money in 2004.
1st Runner-up is WR Rod Smith, Broncos - Smith has had a good season with 70 receptions so far. However he has reached the endzone only twice with all of those touches.
2nd Runner-up is WR Peerless Price, Falcons - He was expected to be a huge improvement for the Falcons but has only averaged 12.3 yards per reception and scored a paltry 2 touchdowns with his 56 receptions.

Tidbits 'Doing the Most With the Least' Award (RB)

The Award goes to RB Zack Crockett, Raiders - This should definitely be called the 'Zack Crockett' Award. He has scored 7 touchdowns on only 38 carries this season. That is one touchdown every 5.4 carries.
1st Runner-up is RB Brian Westbrook, Eagles - Westbrook has 109 carries and 29 receptions on the season. He has scored 11 touchdowns and averaged 6.2 yards per touch.
2nd Runner-up is RB T.J. Duckett, Falcons - Duckett has been sharing time with Warrick Dunn all season. Still, Duckett managed to score an impressive 10 touchdowns with only 148 carries this season. One touchdown every 14.8 carries is a very nice ratio.

Tidbits 'Doing the Most With the Least' Award (WR)

The Award goes to WR Javon Walker, Packers - He has only managed to catch 34 passes on the season but 7 of those went for touchdowns.
1st Runner-up is WR Chris Chambers, Dolphins - If he keeps this up, he'll be known as this generation's Cris "All He Does is Catch Touchdown Passes" Carter. Chambers has scored 9 touchdowns on the season despite catching only 54 passes.
2nd Runner-up is WR Marcus Robinson, Ravens - He has caught fire late in the season. He has only 22 receptions on the season but has now scored 6 touchdowns.

Tidbits 'Worst Quarterback Performance (Season)' Award

The Award goes to QB Kurt Kittner, Falcons - Truly pathetic passing numbers. The mystery is why he was granted the opportunity to start more than two games this season. He only completed 38.6% of his passes, his YPA was a miserable 3.43 and he threw only 2 touchdowns against 6 interceptions. Very stinky Mr. Kittner. NFL Europe may be too much for him. Perhaps NFL Japan?
1st Runner-up is QB Steve Beuerlein, Broncos - The Broncos thought they had a solid veteran backup in case an injury occurred to Jake Plummer. They thought wrong. Beuerlein threw 2 touchdowns and 6 interceptions in only 63 passing attempts.
2nd Runner-up is QB Joey Harrington, Lions - With no running game to take pressure off of him and his best receiver out most of the year (rookie WR Charles Rogers) it isn't surprising that Harrington has struggled as a 2nd year quarterback. Still, 14 touchdowns and 21 interceptions in pretty horrible.

Tidbits 'Most Surprising Team of 2003' Award

The Award goes to Oakland Raiders - Nobody expected the Raiders to fall as hard as they did this season. With only four wins on the season, the future looks bleak for this aging team.
1st Runner-up is Cincinnati Bengals - The Bengals are 8-6 and challenging for the playoffs? Only the Raiders hard fall from prominence could be more surprising in a year filled with interesting stories.
2nd Runner-up is Dallas Cowboys - What a great job by Bill Parcels in Dallas. The offense looked putrid going into this season but somehow, Parcels and company managed to turn Quincy Carter from a draft day disappointment to a decent NFL quarterback and the Cowboys are banging on the door to the playoffs.
Honorable Mention goes out to the New England Patriots. Nobody expected them to be the best team in the AFC but they are first overall at this point in the season and playing terrific football.

Tidbits 'Most Likely Team to Surprise in 2004' Award

The Award goes to Jacksonville Jaguars - The Jaguars' defensive unit has a chance to be not only a good unit, but also a tremendous unit next season. The defense has been awesome over the last several weeks and with skilled position players like rookie Byron Leftwich, Fred Taylor and Jimmy Smith on board, the future looks rosy for the Jags.
1st Runner-up is Detroit Lions - A lot of the pieces are in place for the Lions to make a playoff push next season. The team needs to find a running game and quarterback Joey Harrington to continue his maturation.

Tidbits 'Best Turnaround During the Season' Award

The Award goes to QB Donovan McNabb, Eagles - He started so bad this season that comparisons to Kordell Stewart were beginning to emerge and it didn't seem far-fetched. However after a horrible first six games where he could do nothing right and tossed five more interceptions than touchdowns, McNabb managed to right the ship and has had a great second half of the season in leading the Eagles to eight straight wins. He has thrown 8 touchdowns and only 3 interceptions in the last eight games.
1st Runner-up is RB Travis Henry, Bills - Through the first five games this season, Henry was conjuring up memories of Karim Abdul-Jabbar's 1997 season with the Dolphins (1997 season 3.2 YPC average but 16 touchdowns scored). Henry was only averaging only 2.7 YPC but had scored 6 touchdowns. However in his last eight games, Henry has averaged 4.9 YPC and rushed for 967 yards.
2nd Runner-up is WR Steve Smith, Bills - After four games, it was another forgettable start to the season for Steve Smith. However in his last ten games, he has caught 68 passes for 882 yards and scored 5 touchdowns.

Other Awards to dish out…

Tidbits 'Best Celebration by the Fans' Award: Unfortunately it would have to be the Patriots' fans celebrating by throwing the snow in the air during the Patriots 12-0 victory against my Dolphins week fourteen. I didn't enjoy the display much at the time but upon reflection, while chatting with a buddy who is a big Patriots' fan, I had to admit it was pretty cool.

Tidbits 'Best Moment for a Defensive Player on Offense' Award: DT Warren Sapp catching two touchdown passes in goal line formations was pretty entertaining stuff this season. Too bad his defensive efforts haven't been up to par this season.

Tidbits 'Embarrassing Dismissal From a Team' Award: This award will be forever known as the 'Dump Keyshawn' Award. Meshawn and his 'Me-First' mentality finally caught up to him with Coach Jon Gruden putting Johnson on the inactive roster for the season. No amount of backpedaling from Johnson could remove the fact that he was unceremoniously dumped from the team.

Tidbits 'Best Team Defense' Award: Baltimore, Miami and Tampa Bay have all had good defensive seasons but the winner has to be the New England Patriots. In their last five home games, the Patriots have only given up 22 combined points.

Tidbits 'Best Comeback' Award: Ladies and gentleman, we have a three-way tie.

Co-winner # 1: Colts 38-35 in O/T against the Buccaneers. Down by 21 with five minutes to go and winning the game is unbelievable. That was one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history and normally would be a clear-cut winner in this category.
Co-winner # 2: Ravens 44-41 in O/T against the Seahawks. The Ravens passing attack had been brutal all season. Down by 17 with eight minutes left, it appeared the Ravens had no shot to win the game. However thanks to an amazing game from Marcus Robinson (four touchdown receptions) and a blocked punt by Ed Reed, the Ravens pulled off the improbable comeback.
Co-winner # 3: Chiefs 40-34 in O/T against the Packers. Nobody goes into Green Bay and comes back from 17 points down. Nobody that is expect for the explosive Kansas City Chiefs who did just that back in week six.

Tidbits 'Best Rushing Performance in a Game' Award: No offense to Jamal Lewis who broke the NFL record for rushing yards in a game with 295 yards back in week two against the Browns, but that was only the second best performance of the year. The best one has to go to Clinton Portis and the awesome display he put on against the Chiefs two weeks ago. He lit up the best team in the AFC to a tune of 218 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns. He reminded me of the old footage I have seen of Gale Sayers running for the Bears so long ago. He was so effortless in that game in racking up huge amounts of yards.

Tidbits 'Best Passing Performance in a Game' Award: Peyton Manning, Colts, week five against the Buccaneers. In leading the Colts to one of the best comebacks in the history of the NFL, Manning was simply incredible. He completed 72.3% of his throws for 386 yards on the road against one of the best pass defenses in the NFL. That was a truly special game from a great quarterback.

Tidbits 'Greatest Prediction of the Year' Award: WR Chad Johnson of the Bengals guaranteed a Bengals victory against the 9-0 Kansas City Chiefs. The Bengals won the game.

Tidbits 2003 Skilled Positions All-Star Team (2 QB, 4 RB, 4 WR, 2 TE, 1 K)

QB - Peyton Manning, Colts
QB - Trent Green, Chiefs

RB - Priest Holmes, Chiefs
RB - Ahman Green, Packers
RB - Clinton Portis, Broncos
RB - Jamal Lewis, Ravens

WR - Randy Moss, Vikings
WR - Torry Holt, Rams
WR - Chad Johnson, Bengals
WR - Marvin Harrison, Colts

TE - Tony Gonzalez, Chiefs
TE - Shannon Sharpe, Broncos

K - Mike Vanderjagt, Colts

Tidbits 2003 Skilled Positions All-Disappointment Team (2 QB, 4 RB, 4 WR, 2 TE, 1 K)

QB Jay Fiedler, RB Ricky Williams, FB Rob Konrad, WR Derrius Thompson, TE… OK, yes I am bitter because of the Dolphins loss to the Eagles. Without further adieu…

QB - Drew Bledsoe, Bills
QB - Rich Gannon, Raiders

RB - William Green, Browns
RB - Amos Zereoue, Steelers
RB - Corey Dillon, Bengals
RB - Charlie Garner, Raiders

WR - Todd Pinkston, Eagles
WR - Quincy Morgan, Browns
WR - Eric Moulds, Bills
WR - Plaxico Burress, Steelers

TE - Jeremy Shockey, Giants
TE - Kyle Brady, Jaguars

K - Jay Feely, Falcons

Tidbits 2003 Skilled Positions All-Rookie Team (1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE)

QB - Byron Leftwich, Jaguars

RB - Domanick Davis, Texans
RB - Onterrio Smith, Vikings

WR - Anquan Boldin, Cardinals
WR - Andre Johnson, Texans

TE - L.J. Smith, Eagles