Thursday fantasy open thread: Who was the Lions 2021 fantasy MVP?

The fantasy season is finally over and hopefully, that meant a championship or two for those in season-long leagues. With the end of the 17-week sprint, it is time to look back at those draft-day decisions and figure out what went right and what lessons should be carried into next season’s strategy.

Few people were expecting much from Detroit Lions’ contributors, and that is exactly what happened. While there were some bright moments, very few Detroit players exceeded their pre-draft projections, even though most were quite modest. That being said, there were still a couple things to call out.

Today’s Question of the Day is:

Who was the Lions 2021 fantasy MVP?

My answer: Two players came into the season with the potential to be top-12 options at their positions. Neither D’Andre Swift (RB20) nor T.J. Hockenson (TE13) quite met this mark, but much of that was due to availability. On a per game basis, both were essentially at expectations, with Swift finishing RB13 and Hockenson falling at TE7. Not ideal, but not exactly busts.

However, the answer has to be Amon-Ra St. Brown, who was likely a waiver wire pickup in redraft leagues and a late-second, early-third rounder in dynasty. The electric rookie ended the year WR27 thanks to a monster end to the year, including games of 19.5, 21.5, and 31.4 in half PPR over Weeks 15-17. This very well could have been the difference in many playoff matchups, and that alone earns him the title of MVP.

Your turn.