Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson or Maurice Jones-Drew?

That’s pretty much what we were all wondering at the start of drafts last summer, right? OK, perhaps some threw Ray Rice into that group. Well, none of those four names grace the Fantasy Sports Writers Association ballot for most valuable fantasy player of 2010.

Those candidates are: Patriots QB Tom Brady, Texans RB Arian Foster, Browns RB Peyton Hillis, Lions WR Calvin Johnson, Eagles QB Michael Vick.

Four of those seem no-brainers for inclusion, though I’m quite surprised by Calvin Johnson. The Lions’ No. 1 wideout had a good season, particularly when you consider that he played with three different starting quarterbacks. He didn’t, however, lead the league in receptions, receiving yards or touchdown catches. And unlike Foster, Hillis and Vick, Johnson was a very early pick in probably just about every league.

Roddy White, Dwayne Bowe, Brandon Lloyd and arguably a few others look like stronger representatives at wide receiver from here.

The other categories on the FSWA football ballot look like this:

Rookie of the Year (listed in alphabetical order):
Jahvid Best, RB, Lions
LeGarrette Blount, RB, Buccaneers
Sam Bradford, QB, Rams
Chris Ivory, RB, Saints
Mike Williams, WR, Buccaneers

Best Value Pick (new this year):
Arian Foster, RB, Texans
Peyton Hillis, RB, Browns
Brandon Lloyd, WR, Broncos
Darren McFadden, RB, Raiders
Michael Vick, QB, Eagles

Candidates for Best Value Pick had to be drafted outside of the first three rounds of most drafts or generally stand as a waiver pickup. Tennessee running back Chris Johnson won the 2009 fantasy MVP award, and Minnesota wide receiver Percy Harvin took rookie of the year honors.

The FSWA committee that created the ballot comprised NFL.com’s Michael Fabiano (chair), ESPN.com’s Tristan Cockcroft, RotoExperts.com’s Scott Engel, SportsGrumblings.com’s John Georgopoulos and DraftSharks.com’s Lenny Pappano.

FSWA members can vote for the awards by sending an e-mail to president Mike Beacom (president@fswa.org) by Jan. 7 (this Friday). Members can also vote for the 2010 All-Fantasy Team in that e-mail by selecting the year’s top performing: quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, tight end, kicker, team defense and top individual defensive player.

A roundup of items recently posted on the FSB News page.

– Major League Soccer has collaborated with Big Lead Sports (nee Fantasy Sports Ventures) to create its Pro Soccer Picks platform. The new game presents a fantasy component watered down significantly from a previous MLS offering that reportedly didn’t find much success. (The downfall? Our guess would be the whole soccer affiliation.)

– Supporting the recently announced FSWA voting results, Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez reportedly proved the winningest player in Yahoo! fantasy baseball by appearing on 53.4 percent of Yahoo!’s top 500 public-league teams. Buster Posey (the FSWA’s fantasy rookie of the year) came in second at 34.2 percent.

– Fantasy veteran Sam Hendricks has released a new book called Fantasy Baseball for Beginners. (No word yet on what subject the book covers.)

– Fantasy Healthball has been making its Internet rounds for a couple of years now. The effort that combines fantasy football with personal fitness recently got a full treatment from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Send all of your news, job postings, stories and profile ideas to FantasySportsBusiness@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter (FSBcom).

Fantasy football writers can start mailing it in a little earlier this year.

The Fantasy Sports Writers Association has opened the nominating process for its end-of-year awards earlier than in the past and also moved up the deadline. All submissions must be in by 9 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, Dec. 21 — 10 days earlier than in prior seasons.

That’s particularly important to keep in mind during what can be an extremely busy time of year for anyone who deals in fantasy football.

The 15 categories include (required submissions are the number of articles that must be provided to make the entrant eligible):

Best Fantasy Football Writer of the Year (5 submissions required)
Best Fantasy Football Article of the Year, Web
Best Fantasy Football Article of the Year, Print
Best Fantasy Football On-Going Series (3 submissions required)
Best Fantasy Baseball Writer of the Year (5 submissions required)
Best Fantasy Baseball Article of the Year, Web
Best Fantasy Baseball Article of the Year, Print
Best Fantasy Baseball On-Going Series (3 submissions required)
Best Fantasy Basketball Writer of the Year (5 submissions required)
Best Fantasy Hockey Writer of the Year (5 submissions required)
Best Fantasy Golf Writer of the Year (5 submissions required)
Best Fantasy Racing Writer of the Year (5 submissions required)
Best Fantasy College Sports Writer of the Year (5 submissions required)
Best Fantasy Humor Article of the Year, Print or Web
Fantasy Newcomer of the Year (5 submissions required)

The “Newcomer of the Year” award is new in 2010 and is open to non-FSWA members. Eligible candidates must have published their first article since the start of this year. All other awards are open only to FSWA members. (Non-members can join here by Dec. 31 to become eligible.)

The FSWA has also extended the deadline for companies to submit magazines in the top print publication category. Two samples must be received by Monday, Dec. 13, and should be sent to:

FSWA
Attn: Mike Beacom
PO Box 296
Amherst, WI 54406

All awards will be presented at the Fantasy Sports Trade Association’s winter conference.

2009 winners: here and here
2008 winners: here, there and this place
Previous winners: elsewhere

Football is the undisputed king of the fantasy industry, and the Fantasy Sports Writers Association has ended the past three years by deciding the top fantasy option in that sport. In 2010, baseball finally got its due, with Colorado outfielder Carlos Gonzalez leading the way.

Gonzalez won easily with 87 percent of the possible score, topping Josh Hamilton (who missed 29 games with multiple injuries) and Joey Votto (who engendered the largest All-Star snub uproar of the summer).

Gonzalez won the National League batting crown with a .336 average, and his 34 homers and 117 RBIs also were good enough to place him among the top four in the NL. The Rockies star also added 26 steals, just to make sure he didn’t miss a Rotisserie category.

Joining Gonzalez in the winner’s circle were …

• Giants catcher Buster Posey — fantasy rookie of the year
• Phillies starter and Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay — pitcher of the year
• Blue Jays third baseman Jose Bautista — best value pick.

The ballot was put together by the FSWA board of directors, with the entire membership eligible to vote. Voting involved ranking a top three in each category.