Team MVP Brandon Lloyd Wide Receiver San Francisco 49ers Previously known as nothing more than a highlight reel with no substance, Brandon Lloyd silenced his critics with a great season for the not great SF 49ers. With teammte Arnaz Battle floundering in the first half of the season to epic proportions, Brandon flourished. Seemingly always open and able to haul in Alex Smith's oftentime horrocious passes, Lloyd finished with 1343 yards and an amazing 38.4 yards/catch. He isn't Jerry Rice...or John Taylor, but at least he wasn't Amp Lee. Final Stats Rec Yards Avg. TD 35 1343 38.4 16

I chose to use the SF 49ers first in my list of 2005-2006 rosters because, frankly, they're my favorite team. Knowing this now, trust me when I say I didn't pump up their attributes. Despite what you may have thought upon entering this site, I'm not that big a loser. I know the Niners are, for lack of a better term...rebuilding right now, and while at times they seemed to play better than they should, there were some true Niner moments. One only had to see Alex Smith, with a wide open receiver standing five feet away, throw the ball into the stands to understand what I'm saying.

Still, Alex posted relatively decent stats thanks to his great playbook, which really spreads the offense and gives him room to work. The running plays are passable. Frank Gore started over Kevan Barlow and had moments of not sucking thanks to okay running plays. He did fumble 8 times though, and had one of the worst games I'd ever seen in week 5 against IND when he fumbled 3 times, and ALL THREE were returned for TDs. Great game. Barlow only had the "Pro T Dive" to work with (as well as a couple starting nods when Gore was injured), and his 3.4 yards/carry should tell you all you need to know. Brandon Lloyd had an exceptional season while Arnaz Battle had the opposite of that. I kid not, Arnaz had FOUR RECEPTIONS after week 8. Four catches for 76 yards. Shaun Alexander numbers. His 2nd half of the season was a marked improvement, giving him numbers that told us he was only slightly better than Air Bud. I should also mention his embarassing kick return numbers. Point and laugh!

I wasn't impressed with the Niner defense, surprise surprise. Too many big runs allowed. I can still see LaDainian Tomlinson breaking through the line despite my picking the play and then pulling away from my defense for yet another 89 yard TD run. Still, their schedule was brutal.