2019 Fantasy Value Pick of the Year: Austin Ekeler

For my final award of the year, I am handing out the Value Pick of the Year to Austin Ekeler. This was a really close one between him and Lamar Jackson. Either one is worthy of this award.

Lamar was drafted a good 3-4 rounds after Ekeler, so you could argue he was an even better value, but for me it all comes down to replacement level players, and when comparing the QB and RB positions, Ekeler gets the nod. LJ was by far the best at his position. He averaged 27.7 points per game, but there were 6 other QBs that averaged at least 20. Ekeler averaged 19.3 points per game. Only Christian McCaffrey, Dalvin Cook, Aaron Jones, Derrick Henry and Ezekiel Elliott averaged more. And they were all drafted much, much earlier. Players drafted before Ekeler include Sony Michel and Tevin Coleman and their combined totals were still 22 points shy of what Ekeler produced. He had only one dud game all season, and that was against Pittsburgh. He finished the season just 8 receptions shy of 100 and only 7 yards shy of 1,000 receiving yards. It was an amazing season and I’m very excited to see what he can do when his handcuff Melvin Gordon is gone next season.