The 2015 season has been an interesting one from many standpoints, but in Ultimate Footy it has thrown up many plot points, and it has unearthed some elite fantasy talent.

A player's sustained average of 110 is enough to secure the label of an "uber-premium", and this year two players have ascended to that status having never averaged 100 in a fantasy season before.

St Kilda dynamo Jack Steven and Sydney playmaker Dan Hannebery are undoubtedly two of the most dynamic midfielders in the competition, and in Hannebery's case, this has led to an All-Australian berth as well as a premiership.

But we fantasy nuts are a hard lot to please and, while these two showed signs of premium status (Steven's 47-disposal, 148-point effort in Round 23, 2013 springs to mind), a lot of convincing was required.

Now, Steven is currently the number one fantasy prospect in the competition with an average nudging 116, while Hannebery is also in the top bracket with an average of 111.

In a similar vein, those who drafted David Armitage close to the 15th round in the Ultimate Footy pre-season draft found themselves giddy with joy when he opened the season with nine fantasy tons in the first 10 rounds.

This is a player whose best fantasy season was a 91.3 average in three games back in 2009.

Armitage has levelled out in the past month for a fantasy average of 108, but is he worthy of an early first round pick in 2016?

Ditto Andrew Gaff, who is putting the finishing touches on a career-best season for an average of 106.4 after falling down the pecking order to prove a steal for coaches in the 10th round of the draft.

This strikes at the heart of Ultimate Footy, and every coach addresses this very notion: how much weight do we put on the "breakout" players?

And 2016 has truly seen a transition in the elite realms of fantasy. With fantasy staples Gary Ablett and Tom Rockliff sidelined for much of the season through injury, those players have had to step into the void.

When the 2016 Ultimate Footy pre-season draft opens, which of us will have the courage to pluck Steven or Hannebery early in the first round?

Some coaches will express caution and wait for a bigger body of work, but there is a strong precedent.

Hawthorn's Jordan Lewis finished 2014 with a wet sail to sit fourth for total points with an average of 109.6, but coaches were still reluctant to pull the trigger early, and as a result he slipped to an average draft position of 15.

Lewis then repaid the faith of those who took the plunge, putting up an average of 131 in his first six games.

But where there is precedent, there is caution. In 2012, Richmond star Trent Cotchin's career-best season saw him finish runner-up in the Brownlow Medal and earn his first All-Australian berth, but fantasy coaches also took notice of his incredible 110.7 average as a reflection of things to come.

This would have prompted many coaches to pounce on Cotchin as a first-round draft pick prior to 2013, but with an average of just 94, the returns did not match the investment.

Cotchin has since become a perennial fantasy whipping boy who may never scale the heights of 2012 again.

In 2016, the likes of Steven, Hannebery, Armitage and Gaff will come under heavy consideration as possible Ultimate Footy draft wildcards.

But history tells us that taking the plunge a little early never hurt anyone.

Article supplied by Footy Prophet – football analysis with a fantasy focus. Footy Prophet is fantasy football.