Before I start this article, I want to apologize. Between my Landon Donovan article, and one I am currently working on right now, I got lazy on this one… So forgive me my avid, passionate readers. I will reward you with my mid-season awards as we approach the halfway of the season. So without further ado, here are the winners of these honorable prestige.

MID-SEASON MVP: Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts

Could it be anyone else? He is having better season than Peyton Manning. I repeat, Peyton. Freaking. Manning. Do I need to say anything else? I do? Ok… He has the most passing yards, tied for most touchdown passes with, of course, Peyton Manning, and pretty much drove the offense of the Colts team. Yes, he has the third-most picks and his completion percentage is not the best, but the sheer number of throws he is attempting, which also leads the league, is eventually going to lead to picks. Unquestionable MVP.

Also under consideration: Peyton Manning, DeMarco Murray

COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Arian Foster, Houston Texans

Not gonna lie, I was very, very low on him this year. I thought he was borderline undraftable because of his inconsistent playing time due to his tendency to get injured every few days, but boy, did he prove me wrong. Yes, he did miss a game this season, but he has managed to top 100 yards on all the games except one, in which he only had eight rush attempts. He is back to fantasy relevance and once again the centerpiece of the Texans offense.

Also under consideration: Eli Manning, Steve Smith

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Kelvin Benjamin, Carolina Panthers

I had a brutal preseason, as I didn’t see any rookie wideouts making too much fantasy impact this season. Well, Kelvin Benjamin proved me wrong in Week 1 with a breakout performance of 92 yards and a touchdown. He has not looked back, and really solidified himself as a must-start in all leagues.

Also under consideration: Branden Oliver, Sammy Watkins

SLEEPER OF THE YEAR: DeAndre Hopkins, Houston Texans

Considered as Number 2 receiver in the Texans team, he is now the clear leader of the pack. With Ryan Fitzpatrick throwing the ball to him, however, it was generally believed that he was going to play second fiddle to Andre Johnson in a team with a mediocre-at-best quarterback that likes to run the ball. However, he has now cemented as a starter in all leagues just like Kelvin Benjamin and deserves the spotlight on him.

Also under consideration: Austin Davis, Jerick McKinnon

BUST OF THE YEAR: Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings

What can I say? After the first game, he has been absolutely irrelevant in all fantasy. He hasn’t practiced and unlikely to play at all this season. I will not go into any details about this as I do not have sufficient knowledge of the situation and many articles are already written about it.

Also under consideration: Ray Rice, Calvin Johnson

MOST HYPED PLAYER ONLY TO FALL SHORT OF UNBELIEVABLY HIGH EXPECTATIONS BECAUSE MATTHEW BERRY LOVED HIM: Cordarrelle Patterson, Minnesota Vikings

Last year, it was Lamar Miller. This year it is Cordarrelle Patterson. Matthew Berry who? I think it’s safe to say that I have replaced him as your number one fantasy football expert… Right???

All winners will receive a custom-made t-shirt from the Knight Crier staff as well as a badge of honor. Now let’s get into the list.

Players I LOVE

QB Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys: Is he a legitimate Top-10 quarterback? I think so, but do you? If there are any doubts left, Romo will clean that up like Gabriel Iglesias eat up tacos. If you don’t know who Gabriel Iglesias is, please stop reading and watch his stand up. Or finish this article and then go watch it. Or do both. Whatever. I still firmly believe that the Redskins secondary is the worst in the NFL and they have allowed 15 touchdowns in the air compared to 3 picks. To put it in perspective, the Giants have allowed 10 touchdowns while picking off 11. Tony Romo and Co. will shred apart the defense that allowed the most fantasy points to the opposing quarterback.

QB Carson Palmer, Arizona Cardinals: The Eagles have let Kirk Cousins and Austin Davis throw for over 300 yards. Yes. That Kirk Cousins who is benched for Colt Freakin’ McCoy and that Austin Davis who wasn’t even sure if he was going to make the team this year. Carson Palmer may have thrown the Cardinals’ first interception of the season (after six games!), but he also threw for two touchdowns each game he has played. I always loved him, and he has another good matchup against the aforementioned Eagles secondary.

RB Ben Tate, Cleveland Browns: Soooooo…. What happened last week? It was the JAGUARS. The Browns will have to carry the shame of being the first and only team to lose to the JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS all season. It’s not like he was the only one who struggled, as the entire Cleveland offense was only able to scare six points…. Brian Hoyer seems determined to drive his team to the ground and talks of Johnny Manziel will get to him. Tate should get a lot of touches and he will produce against the Raiders. If not them, whom?

RB Joique Bell, Detroit Lions: Happiness is your running back playing against the Falcons. Despite the return of Reggie Bush, Bell had the majority of carries, including the goal line shot. Also, the Falcons’ run defense is the worst in the league by a country mile and then some. There is no other way to describe them. They are just utter trash. Most touchdowns allowed with 13, with second place being eight, and fifth-most yards allowed along with average of 26 points for the opposing running back. Do I think Joique Bell can get 26 points this week? Darn sure I do.

RB Jerick McKinnon, Minnesota Vikings: He burned the Bills run defense that allowed ZERO touchdowns all season with 103 yards, yet still sharing carries with Matt Asiata. Coaches claim that they figured out the shares in carries between two of them, but it’s looking more and more like McKinnon is their number one choice as the season moves forward.

RB Doug Martin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: I told you not to draft him. I told you. And now you are here, debating whether or not you should start your third round pick. Well guess what? You are starting him this week. I don’t know, I just have a hunch really. He has a pretty good matchup against the Vikings, and I think the Bucs would rather run than throw against Minnesota secondary. Sometimes you just need a little luck!

WR Michael Floyd, Arizona Cardinals: Larry Fitzgerald? Who’s that? Not sure…. Meet Michael Floyd, the new leading receiver of the Cardinals. You know how I feel about the Eagles defense. I don’t wanna repeat what I said above. Oh, and fun fact, Floyd has put up back-to-back 47 yards, one touchdown performance. Look to outshine his previous two weeks’ stat line.

WR Kendall Wright, Tennessee Titans: Zach Mettenberger? Zach Mettenberger! Meet your starting quarterback for the Tennessee Titans. The LSU product will be given tons of chances to throw the ball, as they want to see what they have in their sixth-round draft pick with Jake Locker heading to free agency. Deep threat like Kendall Wright can succeed with big-armed quarterback like Mettenberger, as the Titans face the Texans that allowed sixth-most yards in the air and fifth-most touchdowns to opposing wide receivers.

WR Cordarrelle Patterson, Minnesota Vikings: All the tormented, the haunted, the scarred, come to me. I will save you and lift the curse of TMR off of Cordarrelle and let him be the fantasy superstar that he should have been! No? Ok.. Well you know what, the talent is there, and I think he is LONG past due. Why he is not getting more touches I have no clue. However, he has shown a sign of life as he hauled in his first touchdown of the year, even though he was targeted only twice. Next up is the Bucs that have allowed second most touchdowns to opposing receivers along with most fantasy points. If he can’t do it this week, maybe it’s time to let go.

WR Doug Baldwin, Seattle Seahawks: Do I trust him? Yes, yes I do. He should be Russell Wilson’s new favorite toy and has a great matchup against the Panthers defense that doesn’t look like the Panthers defense. Must start in all leagues.

WR Mohamed Sanu, Cincinnati Bengals: So A.J. Green is back. So what? This dude is legit. He may not be hogging all the targets, but don’t expect him to fall off completely. This is just a reminder that he is still a better play than many, many players, and probably can throw the ball better than Andy Dalton too. Given his receiver skills, I wouldn’t be surprised if they switch position.

TE Jordan Reed, Washington Redskins: He is back, and he is once again the centerpiece of Washington’s offense. Don’t worry about him sharing times with Niles Paul or the Redskins starting non-NFL quality quarterback. He is going to get the ball no matter what. He also has a very favorable matchup against the Cowboys who seems to get burned by every tight end they face.

TE Zach Ertz, Philadelphia Eagles: After disappointing three weeks, Ertz came back to relevance with a nice little performance against the Giants. Even though it was worrying to see two other tight ends being involved, he is in no danger to lose his starting gig. Arizona, like Carolina, lost its reputation as a stingy defense, as they really struggled to stop any passes thrown at their general direction.

Kansas City Chiefs D/ST: St. Louis is a mess in the backfield, and are you really scared of Austin Davis?

Miami Dolphins D/ST: You know the drill… Jacksonville.

Players I HATE

QB Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears: After an excellent start to the season, he came to a screeching stop against the Dolphins, which really worried me. It showed that while Cutler can pick off weak opponents, when he meets a stronger, meaner, tougher defense, he tends to struggle. The Patriots have a mean secondary as they are second ranked in regards of pass defense, so look for the big armed Bear to struggle.

QB Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons: Is it time to panic on Matty Ice? Yes. Matt Ryan minus four starting lineman plus downward trends in past few games multiplied by the Detroit Lions defense equals sitting pretty on your bench. It’s simple math, kids.

QB Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers: He made Jacksonville and Cleveland look good. While he had a decent game against the Texans, I don’t see him going anywhere near that stat line against one of the best secondary in the game as they face off against the Colts.

RB LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia Eagles: Is he really back? Can we trust him week in and week out after one good performance against the horrendous Giants run defense after putting up virtually zero past three weeks? The Arizona secondary has been a butt of all jokes, but one thing they can do is stop the run. Look for Chip Kelly to expose their weakness in secondary as Nick Foles is in for a huge game.

RB Gio Bernard, Cincinnati Bengals: Oh boy, what happened last week? The Bengals couldn’t get anything going and eventually got shut out by the Colts. While you’re not benching Bernard at this stage, he has a very tough matchup against the Ravens team that shut down the Falcons running backs while only allowing seventh-least yards on the ground.

RB Chris Ivory, New York Jets: The only truly dependable member of the Jets offense in total, He is probably starting every week for you now. However, approach with caution as he faces the Bills team that while it was gassed by Jerick McKinnon last week, still has not allowed a rushing touchdown this season.

WR Steve Smith, Baltimore Ravens: What a turnaround for this guy. Everyone wrote him off as he moved team from the Panthers to the Ravens, only to prove them wrong and revive his career. Flacc Attack’s favorite target, Steve Smith took over Torrey Smith’s presumably unstable number one receiver spot and sprinted towards the endzone. However, the Bengals have allowed third least touchdowns against opposing wideouts. Approach with caution.

WR T.Y. Hilton, Indianapolis Colts: He may be getting the targets, but his touchdown number has been disappointing, as Andrew Luck does not look his way in the endzone. However, he is still getting tons of yardage and unquestioned No. 1 receiver of the Colts. Pittsburgh has not been the Steel Curtain that was before, but they have been pretty good against the pass.

WR Pierre Garcon, Washington Redskins: Just to clarify, Garcon is ahead of DeSean Jackson in the depth chart, and should be treated like a top-20 receiver in fantasy. He has scored a touchdown in past two games even with Colt McCoy, but can you really trust him in the pocket? Reeeeeaaaallly??? Dallas hasn’t been no pushover as they have allowed fifth-least fantasy points against opposing receivers.

TE Julius Thomas, Denver Broncos: I mean, I have to put someone here. The Chargers allowed third least fantasy points against opposing TE. But no matter what I say, he’s staying in your lineup.

TE Delanie Walker, Tennessee Titans: After a hot start to the season, he has really, I mean 57 yards against Jacksonville really cooled down, and it’s not looking too good this week either, as Zach Mettenberger takes over ….. Avoid at all cost.

Denver Broncos D/ST: Rivers v. Manning. It’s a shootout.

Cincinnati Bengals D/ST: Welcome to another another addition of DTINLUTIN (Defense That Is Not Living Up To Its Name). With Baltimore’s O-Line back in full strength, it will be difficult to produce a lot of sacks. Don’t worry! They do play the Jaguars next week.