The fantasy football season has concluded in many leagues, and will reach it’s denouement in other leagues shortly. And with that in mind, and a new year upon us, now seems like a good time to review, position-by-position, what went on this season, and compare it to what we thought would happen going into the year. (Note: All statistics are through Week 16)

QUARTERBACKS

BIGGEST BUST - Matt Cassel, Kansas City: After being traded to the Chiefs and signing a big new contract, Cassel came into this season as, at worst, a QB2, with some fantasy football owners considering him as a possible low-end starter, depending on the match-up. He hasn’t lived up to the contract he signed, and he wasn’t even on most fantasy radars after the beginning of the season. He is 21st in the NFL in passing yards with 2,717, tied for 20th in touchdown throws with 16, is tied for seventh in the league with 15 interceptions, and is 28th with a completion percentage of 55.0.

- Runners-Up: Jay Cutler, David Garrard

BEST VALUE - Kyle Orton, Denver Broncos: Orton was considered far down the totem pole of fantasy quarterbacks, and though he certainly wasn’t an every week starter, he was solid enough to play if the match-up was correct. He threw for 20 touchdowns, which was tied for 16th in the NFL, and 3,371 yards, which was 15th. Orton didn’t hurt his fantasy owners with negative points much, either, throwing only eight interceptions.

- Runners Up:  Joe Flacco, Ben Roethlisberger

RUNNING BACKS

BIGGEST BUST - Darren McFadden, Oakland Raiders: While nobody had McFadden as a first-round pick, it was generally thought that he would make a solid contribution as a RB2, or flex play on most weeks. To say that hasn’t happened is an understatement. McFadden was on most waiver wires at the end of the season with numbers that were paltry even when you consider the fact that he missed four games. The former Arkansas Razorbacks star has run for 348 yards, at 3.5 per carry, and just one touchdown, with 21 catches for 245 yards. If anybody told you before the season that McFadden would have three times the amount of lost fumbles as he did touchdowns going into the season’s final week, would you have believed it?

- Runners Up: Steve Slaton, Larry Johnson

BEST VALUE - Rashard Mendenhall, Pittsburgh Steelers: This was a close call, as both Ray Rice and Ricky Williams were close, but they were likely drafted higher than Mendenhall. But considering that Mendenhall didn’t play much last season due to injury, and had all of 45 yards through the season’s first three games, he gets the nod. Mendenhall is 11th in the NFL in rushing with over 1,000 yards, and has scored seven touchdowns.

- Runners Up: Rice, Williams

WIDE RECEIVERS

BIGGEST BUST - T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Seattle Seahawks: Houshmandzadeh came to Seattle over Minnesota in part because he liked the team’s quarterback situation more. That turned out to be a great thing for the Vikings, who saw players like Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin emerge, while Houshmandzadeh struggled all season, ranking 29th in the NFL with 845 receiving yards, and, most disappointingly, just three touchdown catches, which ranks him tied for 66th in the league, and behind players like Louis Murphy and James Jones.

- Runners Up: Terrell Owens, Ted Ginn

BEST VALUE - Miles Austin, Dallas Cowboys: If Austin was drafted at all in fantasy leagues, it was near the bottom of the draft. And through the season’s first four weeks, you saw why, as he caught just five passes for 81 yards in the first quarter of the season. But he caught 10 passes for 250 yard and two scores in Week 5 in Kansas City, and is now fifth in the NFL with 1,230 receiving yards and fourth with 11 touchdown catches.

- Runners Up: Sidney Rice, Mike Sims-Walker

TIGHT ENDS

BIGGEST BUST - Anthony Fasano, Miami Dolphins: After catching 34 passes for 454 yards and seven touchdowns last year, many fantasy owners believed Fasano was on his way to bigger and better things in his fourth season. Unfortunately, he’s gone backwards, and has just two touchdowns among his 29 receptions, along with 298 receiving yards, which is 29th in the NFL among tight ends.

- Runners Up: Martellus Bennett, Bo Scaife

BEST VALUE - Vernon Davis, San Francisco 49ers: Fantasy owners have been waiting for Davis to break out, but after he regressed statistically last season, many had given up hope. He was still a draftable player, but nobody believed he’d accomplish what he has so far this season. He’s more than doubled his numbers in every category from 2008 to this season, and has 72 receptions for 876 yards. More importantly, he’s caught 12 touchdown passes, which is tied for second in the NFL.

- Runners Up: Jermichael Finley, Brent Celek

With every catch this season, the bidding price for Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall has gone up, up, and, after last week, way up. His record-setting 21-reception game might have pushed him into another contract tier: Larry Fitzgerald-type figures.

Fitz signed a 4-year, $40 million contract in 2008. No doubt Marhsall’s agent Kennard McGuire will be demanding at least that much to open negotiations.

Unlike Fitzgerald, however, Marshall carries with him some baggage. In addition to 319 career receptions, Marshall carries with him a reputation of selfishness and immaturity.

Prior to the 2009 regular season and following Jay Cutler’s successful demand to be traded, Marshall tried to take a page from his former teammate’s playbook by requesting his own get-out-of-town card.

Josh McDaniels reply: sorry, no deal.

In an another attempt to get his contract renegotiated, Marshall upped the ante with a filmed preseason practice that included him batting passes to the ground and punting footballs away from ball boys.

Josh McDaniels reaction: a suspension.

Since then fans have witnessed a different personality. Marshall has bought into McDaniels’ philosophy — six consecutive wins to open the season didn’t hurt — and has turned into a team player. He’s put his game where his mouth was, racking up 93 receptions in 14 games this season and putting together his 3rd consecutive 1,000-yard season. Seven more receptions in the final two weeks and he’ll also have three consecutive 100-catch seasons. He even told the media after his record-setting game that he’d “definitely trade in a couple of those (21) receptions for a win.”

Denver might want to keep that kind of production — and even his personality — around. After Marshall, no one on the Broncos roster has at least 40 receptions this season. Eddie Royal, who a year ago had 91 receptions for 980 yards and five touchdowns, has 37 catches for 345 yards and no touchdowns.

Marshall’s importance this season cannot be overstated. Prior to the 21-reception game he was averaging more than five receptions per game. He’s caught 10 of Kyle Orton’s 17 touchdown passes. No one on the roster has more yards from scrimmage than him. No one even comes close to his production.

Consider this: Eddie Royal, Jabar Gaffney, and Tony Scheffler — numbers 2, 3, and 4 on the team’s reception leaders list — have a combined 100 receptions this season.

Blame others’ lack of statistical prowess on the presence of a new starting quarterback or the absence of gunslinger Jay Cutler. Any way you slice it, Marshall has been paramount to Denver’s success on offense this season.

If he’s not there next season, will Denver be as good as this season? Can Kyle Orton rely on Jabar Gaffney and Eddie Royal on a weekly basis? These are questions the Broncos need to ask before deciding whether to juggle the books to make cap space for Marshall or let him go if he doesn’t justify his potential contract.

Let’s hope they make the right decision.

Fantasy football enthusiasts around the country have started battling for supremacy in their respective leagues, allowing them a chance for either eternal glory or unceasing shame and humiliation. Okay, that may be stretching things a bit, but the fact remains that these final weeks of the season are do-or-die time, and even the smallest of mistakes can flitter away your chances at taking home a championship. To help guide you on your way, here are a few things to keep in mind.

- Dance With the Girl That Brought You: In this instance, the girl that brought you is actually a large man wearing a helmet, but the point remains - your stars are the ones who got you into the fantasy playoffs in the first place - don’t abandon them now. Match-ups are important, but don’t let them completely overrule your instinct. For example, if you own both Tony Gonzalez and Dante Rosario, don’t start Rosario this week just because the Vikings have been much softer on opposing tight ends this season than the Jets have. To put it simply, don’t over-think things.

- Remember the Defense: Fantasy football owners pay plenty of attention to their quarterbacks, tight ends, wide receivers and especially running backs, but just kind of ignore their defense, or leave it as is because, well, that’s the easy thing to do, right? Yes, but in the fantasy playoffs, every point counts. And though we just said to leave well enough alone in the paragraph above, there is a big difference between individual stars and entire teams. We’re not saying go out and pick up the Chiefs’ defense just because they’re playing the Browns, but we are saying it’s not the smartest move to stick with the Cowboys’ defense against the Saints this week. Dallas, who is sixth in scoring defense so far this year, hasn’t been an upper echelon defensive unit in fantasy football this season, and they wouldn’t have been an especially significant contributor to getting you into the fantasy playoffs, but they were a defense you could win with. However, you just can’t use them this week against New Orleans and expect to win.

- Enjoy it: It is a game, remember? So have some fun, no matter what happens the next couple of weeks (But not too much fun, at least in the company of certain people. There is a little bit of etiquette involved. If you’re in a league with, say, your boss, and you beat him to win the championship, maybe you want to hold back on the gloating just, you know, a smidge. That is, unless you want to get transferred to Alaska; but we hear it’s just a wee bit nippy there this time of year).

With all games having been played this week, and Week 14 starting on Thursday, it’s time to get going on our weekly routine of looking at targets from the previous week’s NFL action.

- Terrell Owens, Buffalo Bills: Owens got nine targets last Thursday night in the Bills’ loss to the Jets, but due to the Darrelle Revis Factor (go ahead and steal that name for your band), Owens caught only three passes for 31 yards. He is one of many receivers, both elite and ordinary, who have been otherwise shut down by Revis. But the amount of looks Owens gets tells you that quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is hell-bent on throwing the ball his way no matter what.

- Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons: With Matt Ryan, Michael Turner and Michael Jenkins each out last week against the Eagles, the Atlanta offense was focused on two players – White and tight end Tony Gonzalez. And while Gonzalez got a healthy 13 targets, White got even more opportunities, and saw 20 passes thrown his way by Chris Redman. White ended up with nine catches for 104 yards and one score, and with Ryan, Turner and Jenkins all questionable for this week, we may see White get a similar number of looks.

- Chad Ochocinco, Cincinnati Bengals: The Detroit Lions have the worst pass defense in the NFL, and as such, Carson Palmer made a point of exploiting that match-up last week and threw 14 passes to Ochocinco, resulting in nine catches for 137 yards and one touchdown. No other player wearing a Bengals uniform got more than four, and Ochocinco is now sixth in the AFC, and 11th in the NFL, with 104 targets.

- Kenny Britt, Tennessee Titans: While Britt’s nine targets and three receptions last week against the Colts were second on the team to Nate Washington’s 10 targets and four catches, Britt compiled 46 yards and caught a touchdown, while Washington accumulated 44 yards and was shut out of the end zone. And while the catches and yards don’t make any difference, the touchdown does. That’s because Britt has now traversed into the end zone in three consecutive games, while Washington has not scored in that time.

- Wes Welker, New England Patriots: Welker was targeted 13 times by Tom Brady last week as the Patriots lost to the Dolphins, and he caught 10 passes for 167 yards. Welker had more than double the amount of targets as any other New England player, including Randy Moss, who got just five looks from Brady. As an extension of the running game, Welker catches shorter passes, which enables him to catch almost everything thrown his way. With 95 receptions on 22 targets, Welker has caught an excellent 78 percent of the passes thrown to him. Comparatively, Moss has caught only 59 percent of the passes thrown to him, as he goes out on deeper routes.

Other Week 13 target numbers of interest: Andre Johnson, 17; Sidney Rice, 16; Davone Bess, 14; Steve Smith (NYG), 13; Michael Crabtree, Miles Austin, Bobby Wade, 12; Antonio Bryant, Calvin Johnson, 11; Roy Williams, Robert Meachem, Pierre Garcon, Nate Washington, Todd Heap, 10; Santonio Holmes, 9; Josh Morgan, Donnie Avery, 8; Percy Harvin, Devin Thomas, 7; Louis Murphy, 6; Vincent Jackson, 4; Steve Breaston, 2.

While college football fans concern themselves with who will win the Heisman, how the Rose Bowl will play out, and who will coach Notre Dame next season, fantasy football players are thinking about their leagues’ playoffs. Most begin week 14 and conclude week 16, so if your team clinched you probably have four days to prepare your roster and figure out who’s worth a start.

At this point in the season we know who is performing well and in many cases can determine favorable matchups. Perhaps no one has a more favorable schedule than the Saints, so let me introduce you to one of my favorite picks for the ’09 fantasy postseason: New Orleans’ defense.

Though it hasn’t been an elite unit this season, New Orleans’ group has forced a bundle of interceptions: 23, enough to lead the NFL. Better yet, the Saints have an immaculately easy schedule coming up, a sort of godsend for fantasy fanatics: at Atlanta (6-6), Dallas (8-4), Tampa Bay (1-11), and at Carolina (5-7) to close the season.

Let’s start at the top: Atlanta’s offense was ice cold without Matt Ryan last week, putting up seven points against Philadelphia. Even if Ryan returns, however, don’t expect a comeback performance: last time he faced New Orleans he threw three picks and one touchdown. Oh, and the Falcons have dropped five of their last seven. Expect it to be six of their last eight after week 14.

Next is Dallas, led by a quarterback who scores better off the field than on it in December. Put it this way: when Tony Romo sees a snowflake his own game takes a precipitous fall. Last season the ‘Boys went 1-3 in December, and Tony Romo tossed six interceptions in the three losses. If history is any indication, the only guy who will have a worse month than Tony Romo is Tiger Woods.

After Dallas the Saints host Tampa Bay. If you haven’t watched Josh Freeman this season, let me get you up to speed: he completes about half his passes and throws a lot of interceptions — eight the past three weeks. Likewise, his passer rating has done the limbo in two of his last three starts, dipping as low as 33.1 week 11 — against the Saints.

Finally, New Orleans closes the season against Carolina, another very favorable game. If New Orleans is still undefeated (and they could be), I sincerely doubt they’ll rest the starters. Why kill momentum two weeks before you host a team hot off a wild card win?

But let‘s just assume they do lose a game and decide to rest up before hitting the postseason. Carolina’s quarterbacks have thrown 8 touchdowns and 20 interceptions this season. The offense is the 4th-most fumble-prone in the NFL. All those turnovers have added up to a shortage of points: Carolina averages 17.9 points per game.

So don’t worry about New Orleans resting their starters. And don’t question their potential to win out. Just stock your roster with Saints. It’s good karma.

In the preseason, everyone who plays fantasy football is a prognosticator. We have our own opinions, of course, and we scour the internet and magazine rack to see what everyone else is thinking. And like any sort of auguring, sometimes we get things right, and sometimes, well, not so much. So with the fantasy playoffs right around that proverbial corner, let’s take a look at the leader in fantasy points at each position so far, to see how the fantasy football soothsayer’s did.

Quarterback

- Overview: Aaron Rodgers leads NFL signal-callers in fantasy points despite being fourth in the league in both passing yards and touchdown passes. The reasons for his lofty status are that A) he doesn’t turn the ball over, having thrown just five interceptions, and B) rushing yards. Rodgers has run for 247 yards this season, which is already more than he had all of last year, and he also has three touchdown runs, which is just one behind his total from last season. Comparatively, the three players who have thrown for more touchdown passes than Rodgers – Drew Brees, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning – have a combined total of 19 rushing yards and two scores, both of which came from Brees.

- Surprise: There really aren’t many shockers at the top of the list, so the biggest surprise would probably have to be how low Jay Cutler is. After all, he threw for over 4,500 yards and 25 touchdowns last season. But 20 interceptions equal a lot of lost fantasy points.

Running Back

- Overview: Chris Johnson leads the way, and though most probably didn’t think he’d be the top fantasy running back, he was definitely among the preseason elite. As were Adrian Peterson and Maurice Jones-Drew, obviously. Ray Rice was something of a question mark because of how Baltimore utilized their running backs last season, but he was being touted as a sleeper candidate fairly early on. Michael Turner has been a bit of a disappointment after some thought there was an argument to be made that he could be the No. 1 overall pick in fantasy drafts, but he’s nearly seven full points per week off of Johnson’s pace.

- Surprise: There are a few very clear eye-openers among this group, with Ricky Williams at the forefront. He wouldn’t be as high up if Ronnie Brown wasn’t lost for the season, but at 32 years of age, nobody believed he would be as effective as he has been in a full-time role. Thomas Jones is another surprising case. He was universally being thought of as someone whose numbers would drop off precipitously due to his age and the amount of carries he got last year, but it hasn’t happened.

Wide Receiver

- Overview: The three wideouts with the most points – Reggie Wayne, Randy Moss and Larry Fitzgerald – are pretty much the players most everybody believed would be at the top, even though some had believed that Wayne might take a small step backwards. And though there are many recognizable names after that, this is still a fairly interesting group with a few players seemingly coming out of nowhere.

- Surprise: Where do you really start? If you said Miles Austin was a top-five fantasy football wideout before the season, you were pretty much along. Austin getting more involved with the Cowboys’ passing game? Sure. But an explosion of huge numbers was not in the forecast. Neither was the presence of two Vikings receivers that are in the top-15 – Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin. Bernard Berrian was the Minnesota wideout most thought would see the greatest benefit from Brett Favre’s arrival, but his numbers are down from last season instead of up.

Tight End

- Overview: Of the top four tight ends in points, three of them – Dallas Clark, Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates – were certainly in the top four in the preseason rankings, and they’ve lived up to that billing. Kellen Winslow might have actually outperformed expectations for him, and if Owen Daniels hadn’t gotten injured, he might head this list. As it is, he’s still eighth, despite having not played since Week 8.

- Surprise: We all knew Vernon Davis had it in him, but most of the fantasy football world was sick of waiting for him. Godot didn’t take this long to arrive. But Davis has finally arrived, and leads tight ends in fantasy points due to his NFL co-leading nine touchdown catches (he’s tied with Larry Fitzgerald and Reggie Wayne). On the other end of the surprise spectrum, Jason Witten has about half the fantasy points that Davis has. Witten was many people’s No. 1 tight end, but he didn’t have a 100 receiving yard game until Week 12, and his only touchdown reception came in Week 2.

It’s Tuesday, and with all games having been played, it’s time to get going on our weekly routine of looking at targets from the previous day’s NFL action.

- T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Seattle Seahawks: As our graph shows, Houshmandzadeh has been the recipient of 97 targets this season, including a team-high six in Seattle’s win over the Rams last week. However, he hasn’t done much considering only seven players have gotten more looks than he has. He caught a measly two passes for 14 yards last week, and has only 56 receptions for 632 yards so far in the ’09 campaign. The high number of targets he’s received is just another reason to count him among the biggest disappointments of the fantasy football season.

- Michael Jenkins, Atlanta Falcons: Jenkins received eight targets last week in Atlanta’s win over the Buccaneers, and he came down with seven receptions for 80 yards. While Tony Gonzalez and Roddy White got more looks (12 and 13, respectively), and will continue to do so, Jenkins’ production over his last two games should not be ignored; he had six receptions for 76 yards two weeks ago. His catch totals in each of his past two games have each been season-highs, and his 80 receiving yards are a season-high.

- Terrell Owens, Buffalo Bills: The wideout with the most targets for the Bills last week wasn’t Owens, it was Lee Evans. Evans received six targets, and Owens had five, yet T.O. had far more success, catching all five of the passes thrown his way for 96 yards and a touchdown, while Evans had only two catches for 40 yards. Beware of getting caught in the trap that is Owens’ big numbers of late – he faces the Jets this weekend, and Darrelle Revis has shut nearly every big-time wide receiver down this season.

- Pierre Garcon, Indianapolis Colts: Garcon received seven targets from Peyton Manning last week in the Colts’ come-from-behind win over the Texans. That included a number of red zone looks, and Garcon responded with five receptions for 63 yards and one touchdown. His seven targets were the second-most on the team behind Dallas Clark, and were one more than Reggie Wayne.

- Chris Chambers, Kansas City Chiefs: Chambers was targeted eight times last week as the Chiefs got blown out by Chambers’ old team, the Chargers. He led the team in targets, and wound up with seven catches for 71 yards and a touchdown. He’s unquestionably the No. 1 wideout for K.C. with Dwayne Bowe out due to suspension, and his targets should reflect that.

- Other Week 10 target numbers of interest: Kenny Britt, 11; Sidney Rice, Mark Clayton, Sam Aiken, 10; Laveranues Coles, 9; Michael Crabtree, Josh Morgan, Chansi Stuckey, 8; Jeremy Maclin, Chaz Schilens, Sammie Stroughter, Brian Hartline, 7; Robert Meachem, 6; Chad Ochocinco, 5; Roy Williams, 4; Devin Hester, 2.

Installing Vince Young in your fantasy football lineup during the most critical part of the season isn’t going to make your team turn into the fantasy equivalent of the ’99 Rams or ’07 Patriots – just look at Young’s fantasy points-per-week on the graph below – but that doesn’t mean he can’t be at least somewhat beneficial.

True, he has thrown for over 175 yards just once in his last four starts, and has not thrown for multiple touchdowns in any of them, but at this point in the season, those fantasy owners who are in need of a quarterback for the fantasy playoffs have probably already made due with a lesser player at that position anyway, and instead have leaned on the strengths of their running backs and wideouts. Essentially, if you need a player like Young, you’re just looking for him not to kill you.

And any fantasy football owner who has used Young before is familiar with the pain he can cause. In 2007, for example, in his second season and with fairly big expectations after his rookie of the year campaign in 2006, he didn’t throw for 200 or more yards until Week 10, threw for multiple touchdowns in only three contests, and had more interceptions than touchdown passes in nine different games.

But the 2009 version of Vince Young is a seemingly different player, and one that needn’t be completely ignored by fantasy enthusiasts. Part of the reason for that is his match-ups the rest of the way. First of all, he has four home games over the next five weeks, including three straight at home from Weeks 14-16, which are dates that make up the fantasy playoffs in most leagues. But starting this week, really only two of his five match-ups that remain in the fantasy season could be deemed unfavorable – Week 13 against the Colts in Indy and Week 16 against the Chargers.

This week, however, he faces the Cardinals, who are just 27th in pass defense, and 18th (tied) in passing scores allowed. He follows that up with the Indianapolis game before facing St. Louis, Miami and San Diego. The Rams are 24th in the league in pass defense and 18th (tied) in passing touchdowns allowed, while the Dolphins are 22nd in pass defense and 12th in passing touchdowns given up. However, Miami and Oakland are the only two NFL teams to have given up four rushing touchdowns to opposing quarterbacks, and the Rams are one of just seven teams to have allowed at least two rushing scores to opposing signal-callers. On top of that, St. Louis and Miami are both in the bottom-half of the NFL in interceptions.

So, should you count on Young to single-handedly win you a fantasy championship? Of course not. But will he impede you in accomplishing that goal like he has in the past? Not if you use him wisely he won’t.

It’s Tuesday, and with all games having been played, it’s time to get going on our weekly routine of looking at targets from the previous day’s NFL action.

- Michael Crabtree, San Francisco 49ers: Early in the game between the 49ers and the Bears, it looked like Crabtree was going to have a monster contest, as San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith seemed intent on pumping the ball into Crabtree as often as possible. But that plan soon dissipated and Crabtree received just seven targets fr the game. Still, it’s an indicator of what the 49ers think of their young first-round pick, and how big a part of the game plan he’ll be moving forward.

- Nate Washington, Tennessee Titans: With Justin Gage hurt, it’s tempting to want to look towards Washington as a viable fantasy option, especially since he caught a touchdown pass last week. But he was only targeted twice by Vince Young, though Washington caught both. In fact, of the 25 passes Young threw in the Titans’ win over the Bills, just nine throws were meant for wide receivers.

- Brandon Gibson, St. Louis Rams: Gibson saw his first extended NFL action in the Rams’ loss to the Saints, and he was targeted nine times, which was tops among St. Louis wideouts. He wound up with seven catches for 93 yards, and now that Keenan Burton is out for the year, Gibson likely becomes a starter.

- Jerricho Cotchery, New York Jets: Cotchery was targeted 11 times, which is notable because it was more than double the amount of looks Mark Sanchez gave to Braylon Edwards, who received just five targets. And Cotchery was productive as usual, catching six passes, including one for a touchdown.

- T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Seattle Seahawks: Houshmandzadeh had wanted the ball more often, and he certainly got his opportunities last week. He was targeted 17 times by Matt Hasselbeck, and was productive with nine receptions for 165 yards. You just have to wonder how much that hurt Nate Burleson, who killed fantasy owners by failing to catch a single pass on just five targets.

Other Week 10 target numbers of interest: DeSean Jackson, 16; Devin Hester, Santonio Holmes, 14; Dwayne Bowe, Brent Celek, 11; Anquan Boldin, 10; Pierre Garcon, 9; Bernard Berrian, Muhsin Muhammad, 8; Terrell Owens, Davone Bess, Roy Williams, 7; Dallas Clark, 5; Mohamed Massaquoi, Vincent Jackson, 3; Marques Colston, 2.

Now that we’re about at the halfway point of the NFL and fantasy football season – if there is such a thing in a 17-week season – it seems like a good time to take a look at the leaders at each position in terms of fantasy points to see how things have shaped up to this point. We’ll start, naturally, at the quarterback position.

QUARTERBACKS

Aaron Rodgers is tied for third in touchdown passes in the league, and just sixth in the NFL in passing yards, so how could he be the No. 1 player at his position in fantasy points? The answer is really quite simple: running the ball. His 214 rushing yards are more than any other quarterback, and his two rushing scores are tied for first. As far as surprises go, seeing Kurt Warner below the likes of Carson Palmer and just ahead of Eli Manning qualifies, as most fantasy owners figured he’d be much further up in the rankings. But Warner wouldn’t even be that high up if not for his 30-point game last week – his first of the season with more than 20 points.

RUNNING BACKS

The cluster at the top of the running back position is among players that everyone figured would be there. Maurice Jones-Drew has almost 200 fewer rushing yards than Chris Johnson, but with 11 touchdowns, he also has nearly double Johnson’s total of six. There’s no need to look far if you’re searching for surprises. Ray Rice is fourth in large part due to his 436 receiving yards – which is over 100 yards more than any other running back in the NFL. And Ricky Williams in the top-10? Who’d of thunk it?

WIDE RECEIVERS

The wideout position is the one where things have pretty much gone according to plan. Vincent Jackson’s ascendance to the top shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise considering his career arc up until this season, and the giant steps forward he had been progressively making. Miles Austin is really the only name you’ll see on this leader board that was not projected to be there. Many fantasy owners thought he had a chance to make headway into fantasy relevance this season, but to explode the way he has in just the last few games is a unique occurrence.

TIGHT ENDS

Many fantasy owners had about given up on Vernon Davis, and for good reason. He was a top-10 pick with phenomenal physical abilities who was underachieving. But that all changed this season, and he’s the No. 1 scorer in fantasy points at his position, due mostly to his seven touchdowns, which leads all tight ends. Brent Celek was a very solid sleeper before the season, and that’s paid off for those who heeded that advice. Someone who hasn’t paid off, however – Jason Witten, who is actually tied with Chris Cooley for 15th in fantasy points, because he hasn’t found the end zone often enough. Or found it at all, really, as he has just one touchdown reception on the season.