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Fantasy Awards: Manning, KC lead midseason honors

Having hit the midway point of the 2013 NFL season, "NFL Fantasy LIVE" decided it was time to hand out some hardware. We took to Facebook and asked you to vote on some midseason fantasy awards. Some people should be excited to have their names on these ballots. Others won't be. Yep, it's not always an honor to be nominated.

Fantasy Bust of the Year

C.J. Spiller, RB, Buffalo Bills: This was a fairly easy call. Spiller was a high first-round pick in plenty of leagues -- especially after Bills coaches said they planned to run the young back "until he pukes." Instead, Spiller has battled a gimpy ankle and seen his production fall dramatically over the past month. Through the first seven weeks, Spiller is just the 36th-ranked fantasy running back and has been surpassed by Fred Jackson. Now it's fantasy owners that want to puke.

Best Fantasy Rookie

Eddie Lacy, RB, Green Bay Packers: When Lacy suffered an injury in the preseason, many feared he might lose some snaps to fellow rookie Johnathan Franklin. However, the Alabama product has been the picture of consistency since getting into the Packers lineup. Lacy has posted double-digit totals in three of his five games this season and just missed the mark in a fourth. He's given Green Bay the running game they've missed over the past few seasons and is in the top 25 at his position.

Best Waiver Wire Pickup

Kansas City Chiefs defense: Last season, the Chiefs defense was awful. And that might be putting it kindly. This unit has had a 180-degree turnaround in its first season under head coach Andy Reid -- one that nearly no one saw coming. The Chiefs are far and away fantasy's best defense, having scored 122.00 points through seven weeks. The next closest? The Seattle Seahawks with 87.00 points. In fact, only nine players TOTAL have outscored the Chiefs defense this season.

Best Fantasy Unsung Hero

Kansas City Chiefs defense: Like I said, who saw this coming? This is a candidate for one of the biggest fantasy turnarounds in recent memory.

Best Fantasy Draft Bargain

Knowshon Moreno, RB, Denver Broncos: Remember when we thought Montee Ball was the Broncos back to own? Turns out the veteran in Denver's backfield took control of the job early and hasn't let go. Moreno leads the NFL with eight rushing touchdowns and is the fifth-highest scoring fantasy back through seven weeks. Not bad for a guy playing in an offense with a high-powered passing game. Even better for a guy mostly drafted in the late rounds.

Fantasy Comeback Player

Matthew Stafford, QB, Detroit Lions: It's hard to think that a player who threw for the second-most yards in the NFL last season could be in the running for such an award, but Stafford's 20 TD passes in 2012 was a shockingly low number. Entering Week 8, the Lions signal-caller already had 15 touchdown tosses, but more impressively he's cut down on his interceptions. It certainly helps that his top target, Calvin Johnson, is finding the end zone more consistently after being tackled inside the 5-yard line numerous times last year.

Fantasy MVP

Peyton Manning, QB, Denver Broncos: Was there really ever a doubt? Manning kicked off the season by tying an NFL record with seven touchdown passes and hasn't slowed down since then. The future Hall-of-Famer leads all fantasy scorers by a wide margin and pilots the league's most high-powered offense. He's made fantasy stars out of Julius Thomas and Knowshon Moreno this year and likely has plenty of fantasy owners sitting pretty in their respective leagues. The Sheriff is laying down the law.

Marcas Grant is a fantasy editor for NFL.com. Follow him on Twitter.