Fabs' 101 Interesting Fantasy Football Facts From The 2024 NFL Season

Michael Fabiano | Feb 1, 2025

Lamar Jackson had the best fantasy football season of all time among quarterbacks in 2024, scoring 430.4 fantasy points. / Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video has been seen by more than four billion people.

Donald Duck comics were banned in Finland because he doesn't wear pants.

A flock of ravens (not Baltimore Ravens) is called an “unkindness.”

The Flintstones were originally called The Gladstones, and then The Flagstones.

The tongues of blue whales can weigh as much as an elephant.

A total of 36 human hearts could fit inside a giraffe’s heart.

Superman wasn’t capable of flying in comic books until the 1940s.

Sumo wrestlers consume an average of 20,000 calories every single day.

Those are a few interesting facts you might not know.

Now, for something you might find even more interesting, here are your 101 Fantasy Football Facts from a challenging 2024 NFL season.

101 Fantasy Football Facts from 2024

Quarterbacks

1. Among the top 12 quarterbacks drafted based on average draft position (ADP) data, just seven finished in the top 12 in fantasy points. The signal-callers who failed to meet their expectations include C.J. Stroud, Anthony Richardson, Jordan Love, Dak Prescott and Brock Purdy. Patrick Mahomes (12th) barely made it, and Purdy (13th) barely missed it.

2. The other five quarterbacks who finished in the top 12 based on points include Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff, Bo Nix, Sam Darnold and Justin Herbert. Daniels was drafted highest out of the group, and his average draft position was just 102.8 on the NFFC website.

3. Mayfield, Daniels, Goff, Nix, Darnold and Herbert were picked from 102.8 to 238.6 based on ADP data. None of them averaged fewer than 16.8 fantasy points. That’s more than Tua Tagovailoa, Love, Richardson, Prescott and Trevor Lawrence, who were drafted higher.

4. Lamar Jackson finished with 430.4 fantasy points, which is the most scored by a signal-caller in a single season in the Super Bowl era. It’s also 99.2 more fantasy points than he scored in the previous year. However, his 25.3 fantasy points per game average was not a career-high. Jackson averaged 27.7 points and scored 415.7 points in 2019.

5. Jackson’s 27.7 points-per-game average in that 2019 season remains the most of any field general in the Super Bowl era. So, Jackson holds the record for the most fantasy points in a single season and the most points averaged per game but did so in different years.

6. Jackson was held under 19 fantasy points three times in 17 starts in 2024. He scored at least 20 points 14 times, including four games where he scored more than 32 points.

7. Jackson scored 228.3 fantasy points in the final nine weeks of the season. That’s just 5.6 fewer points than Jordan Love and more points than C.J. Stroud, Matthew Stafford, Tua Tagovailoa, Kirk Cousins, Anthony Richardson and Trevor Lawrence scored all season.

8. Jackson rushed for 915 yards this past year, which put him at 6,173 yards for his career. That was enough for him to pass Michael Vick as the NFL’s all-time leading rusher among quarterbacks. Jackson reached that rushing mark in just 103 games (94 starts). It took Vick 143 games --115 starts and 40 more than Jackson -- to finish with 6,109 rushing yards.

9. Jackson is 28 years old. If he averages 850 rushing yards per season over the next five seasons, he would be at 10,423 rushing yards. That would be more than Marshawn Lynch, Ottis Anderson, Clinton Portis, Matt Forte, Chris Johnson, Shaun Alexander, and Earl Campbell. All those players are running backs, and some are Hall of Famers.

10. Jackson could have some new company among the NFL’s best rushing quarterbacks, as Josh Allen has rushed for 4,142 yards in his first seven seasons in the league. That’s already good for seventh all-time. Allen has averaged 592 rushing yards per season. At that pace, he would catch Vick in a little over three full seasons (which would be 2028).

11. While Jackson has more career rushing yards, Allen has more rushing touchdowns. In fact, he’s already rushed for 65 touchdowns in the NFL. That’s only 10 touchdowns behind the league’s all-time leader in rushing scores among quarterbacks, Cam Newton, who had 75. On his average of 9.3 rushing touchdowns per year, Allen will overtake Newton at some point either next season or likely in the beginning weeks of the 2026 season.

12. Allen recorded 379 fantasy points this season, making it five straight years where he’s scored at least that many points. He has now scored 2,461.5 fantasy points during his career, which is the most points any quarterback has scored in his first seven seasons.

13. Tom Brady, the all-time leader in fantasy points among quarterbacks, scored 1,318.4 points in his first seven seasons. He went on to finish with 5,943.4 fantasy points. That’s 3,481.9 more points than Allen. So, the Bills quarterback would need to average 350 points for the next 10 seasons to beat Brady’s record. At that point, Allen would be 39 years old.

Jayden Daniels is coming off the second-best fantasy season of all time among rookie quarterbacks. / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

14. Jayden Daniels had one of the greatest rookie seasons of all time, throwing for 3,568 yards with 25 touchdown passes and just nine interceptions. He also rushed for 891 yards and an additional six touchdowns. All told, Daniels finished Year 1 with 355.8 fantasy points. That’s second only to Newton, who scored 369.3 fantasy points in his rookie season of 2011.

15. Daniels’ 891 rushing yards is the most ever recorded by a rookie quarterback in the Super Bowl era. The signal-caller he surpassed just happens to be another member of the Washington franchise … Robert Griffin III. RGIII rushed for 815 yards as a rookie in 2012.

16. Daniels is one of only five rookie quarterbacks to finish their first NFL season with more than 300 fantasy points. Newton and Griffin III are part of this group, as is Justin Herbert. The fifth is, believe it or not, Bo Nix! He finished with 316.2 fantasy points this past season.

17. Nix started his rookie year with a whimper, averaging just 11.4 points and ranking 22nd among quarterbacks in his first four games. He exploded soon thereafter though, averaging 21 points while ranking fifth in total points at the position. During that time, Nix had more points than every quarterback not named Jackson, Joe Burrow, Allen or Baker Mayfield.  

18. Speaking of Mayfield, he is coming off the best statistical season of his pro career. He smashed his previous bests in passing yards, total touchdowns and fantasy points. In fact, his 365.8 points is 91.7 more than his previous career high of 274.1 points, set in 2023.

19. Mayfield has now finished in the top 10 in fantasy points among quarterbacks in each of his last two seasons. In that time, the only three signal-callers who have been better than Mayfield in total points are Allen, Jackson and Hurts. Mayfield is also sixth among field generals in points-per-game average over the last two years, with 18.8 points per contest.

20. Sam Darnold came out of nowhere to become a fantasy asset in 2024, scoring a career-best 307.9 fantasy points as the starter in Minnesota. His 18.1 points per game average also ranked him in the top 10. That’s a far cry from the 11.5 points per game he averaged in his first six years in the league between the New York Jets, Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers.

21. Was Darnold’s sudden success a career epiphany or just a result of head coach Kevin O’Connell’s offense? Well, it might be the latter. In one season in his offense while in Los Angeles, Matthew Stafford averaged 19.4 points per game. It’s the most points he’s put up in a season since 2019, and Stafford’s totals have dropped since O’Connell left. In his two years with O’Connell in Minnesota, Kirk Cousins averaged 18 points per game. This past year in Atlanta and without O’Connell, he averaged 12.6 points and lost his starting gig.

22. Patrick Mahomes’ fall from the fantasy elite and into an average fantasy quarterback continued in 2024. One year after posting just 280.2 fantasy points, he scored a modest 283 points this past season. That’s a far cry from the 417.4 points he recorded in 2022, and the 371.5 points he averaged from 2018-2022. Mahomes scored 18 or more fantasy points just five times last year, and he’s been held under 20 points in eight of his last 32 regular-season games.

23. Jared Goff might be the most underrated quarterback in fantasy football. Over the last three seasons, he’s finished no worse than 10th in points at his position. He was sixth this past year, throwing for a career-high 37 touchdowns and averaging 19.1 fantasy points. He was also much better on the road from a statistical perspective, averaging 17.2 points away from Ford Field. In his prior 17 roadies (2022-2023), Goff averaged just 12.7 points.

24. Goff was also strong in the stat sheets when fantasy managers needed him the most, scoring 92.2 points in the fantasy postseason. That’s the most of any player at the position over those three weeks. Goff threw 11 touchdown passes without an interception and averaged a bananas 30.7 points. Whether he can sustain those numbers in 2025 without former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, however, remains to be seen.

25. Aaron Rodgers finished an unimpressive 15th in fantasy points among quarterbacks, but his numbers were actually pretty good historically among Jets field generals. His 3,897 passing yards are third-most all-time, behind only Joe Namath’s 4,007 yards (1967) and Ryan Fitzpatrick’s 3,905 yards (2015). His 28 touchdown passes were also third, and his 256.6 fantasy points rank second in franchise history behind Fitzpatrick’s 285.2 points.

For the fifth straight season, the consensus No. 1 overall fantasy draft pick got hurt. Christian McCaffrey has been that top pick three times, including 2024. / Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Running Backs

26. Among the top 12 running backs drafted based on average draft position (ADP) data at the NFFC, eight ranked in the top 12. That’s 67 percent. The list of runners who failed to meet expectations were Christian McCaffrey (RB69), Breece Hall (RB16), Travis Etienne Jr. (RB35) and Isiah Pacheco (RB64). Their combined average finish was an awful RB46.

27. The eight running backs who made good on their lofty ADPs were (in order of ADP): Bijan Robinson (RB3), Jonathan Taylor (RB12), Jahmyr Gibbs (RB1), Saquon Barkley (RB2), Kyren Williams (RB7), De’Von Achane (RB5), Derrick Henry (RB4) and Josh Jacobs (RB6).

28. McCaffrey was the consensus No. 1 overall pick in 2024 fantasy football drafts. He ended up missing the first nine weeks of the season with Achilles tendon issues. Upon his return, McCaffrey played four games and averaged 11.9 points before getting hurt again. He finished the season with 47.8 fantasy points, which ranked him at RB69.

29. McCaffrey has now missed 36 games out of 66 in the last four years due to injuries. In fact, he’s failed to play in more than seven games in three of his last five years, during which time he’s been limited to just three games (2020) and four games (2024).

30. The consensus No. 1 overall pick in fantasy football drafts has been cursed in the last five years. In 2020, McCaffrey was the top pick and missed all but three games due to injuries. He finished as the RB54. In 2021, CMC was again the top overall pick. Once again, he got hurt and played in just seven games. He finished as the RB38. Jonathan Taylor was the consensus top pick in 2022, and he missed five games due to an injury and was the RB33 at season’s end. Justin Jefferson took over as the consensus top choice in 2023, and he got hurt too, playing in just 10 games and finishing 33rd in points among wideouts.

31. Overall, the consensus No. 1 fantasy football draft pick over the last five years (which was a running back four times) has finished, on average, 45th in points at their position.

32. The biggest bargain among the top 12 fantasy running backs was Chase Brown, who finished 10th at the position. His ADP on the NFFC website is 100.3, which ranked him as the 34th runner off the board. Tyjae Spears, Zack Moss, Jonathon Brooks, Jaylen Warren, Raheem Mostert and Zamir White were some of the runners drafted ahead of him.

33. Brown touched the ball just 19 times and scored 17.3 fantasy points in the first three games of the season. Over his final 13 games, he averaged 20.3 touches, scored 237.7 PPR points and ranked seventh among running backs. His 18.3 points-per-game average in that time was sixth best, which was just 2.5 points per game less than Saquon Barkley.

34. Jahmyr Gibbs finished the NFL’s regular season as the most productive running back in fantasy football. He recorded 41 catches, 1,646 scrimmage yards and scored an NFL-best 18 total touchdowns. That was good for 311.6 points and 22.3 fantasy points per game.

35. In the first 15 weeks while splitting the workload with David Montgomery, Gibbs put up an average of 16.1 touches, 103 scrimmage yards, one touchdown and 18.9 fantasy points. In the final three weeks, all played without Montgomery, Gibbs averaged 22.5 touches, 150.3 scrimmage yards, two touchdowns and more than 31 fantasy points.

36. Saquon Barkley was the top-scoring running back during the fantasy football season (Weeks 1-17), scoring 355.3 fantasy points and averaging 22.2 points per game. That was 132.1 more points and 6.3 more points per game than he averaged in his final season with the New York Giants. Barkley also averaged 5.8 yards per rush, which is a career-high.

37. Barkley averaged just 3.9 yards per rush with the Giants in 2023, so he averaged nearly two more yards per tote in Philadelphia. He also saw 64 red-zone looks this past year, which was 22 more than he had in New York. His 15 total touchdowns tied a career-high.

38. Barkley rushed for 2,005 yards, which made him the ninth running back in NFL history to surpass 2,000 yards in a single season. He was also the second back to hit that mark since 2020 when Derrick Henry rushed for 2,027 yards. Out of the nine runners to hit that mark, five (Jamal Lewis, Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, Henry, Barkley) have come since 2003.

39. The other four 2,000-yard rushers, O.J. Simpson, Eric Dickerson, Barry Sanders, and Terrell Davis, all occurred within a 25-year range. The last five have come within a 21-year range, and the last three (Peterson, Henry, Barkley) have come in the last 12 years.

Saquon Barkley became the ninth running back in NFL history to rush for 2,000-plus yards in a single season in 2024. / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

40. Barkley’s quarterback, Jalen Hurts, rushed for 14 touchdowns in 2024. He scored 13 of those touchdowns from eight yards or less, including 11 scores that came from the 1-yard line. Out of Barkley’s 13 rushing touchdowns, only four came from the 10-yard line or less.

41. Bijan Robinson had a slow start to the 2024 season. In his first five games, he averaged 17 touches, 87.2 scrimmage yards and scored just one touchdown. In that time, he put up a total of 67.6 PPR points. That ranked Robinson a mediocre18th among running backs.

42. In his final 12 games of the season, Robinson averaged 23.3 touches, 121 scrimmage yards and scored 14 touchdowns. In that time, he put up a total of 274.1 PPR points. That ranked Robinson second behind only Gibbs among fantasy running backs in that time.

43. Derrick Henry finished fourth in fantasy points among running backs, rushing for 1,921 yards with 18 total touchdowns and 336.4 points. While he had rushed for more yards in a single season -- Henry compiled 2,027 yards in 2020 -- his 336.4 fantasy points is a career-high.  

44. Henry is the first running back in NFL history to rush for 1,900-plus yards who didn’t win the league’s rushing title. Barkley’s 2,005 yards bested Henry’s total by 84 yards, and he did it despite playing one fewer game. Henry’s 1,921 rushing yards would have won the NFL rushing title in all but 10 NFL seasons not only during the Super Bowl era … but all time.

45. Henry’s 1,921 rushing yards is the most compiled by any running back in his 30s in NFL history. He bested the previous all-time leader, Tiki Barber, who rushed for 1,860 yards in 2005 at the age of 30. Curtis Martin is third, as he rushed for 1,697 yards at age 31 (2004).

46. Despite Henry leading all 30-something running backs in rushing yards, he’s only fourth all-time in fantasy points. Charlie Garner, who compiled 347.3 PPR points at the age of 30 (2002), is third. Barber’s 359 points in that 2004 season is second. Priest Holmes has the record with an amazing 445 PPR points at the age of 30 back in the 2003 campaign.

47. Bucky Irving was the highest-scoring rookie running back, finishing 13th in points at the position. Believe it or not, he averaged just 11.8 touches and 10.9 fantasy points in his first nine games while splitting the workload with Rachaad White. In fact, White actually led the Buccaneers backfield in touches per game over those first nine weeks of action.

48. Over the final eight games, however, Irving was the RB6 and averaged 18.5 touches and 18.3 points. He also shot past White in terms of touches, averaging 18.5 to White’s 11.8. The gap between them widens even more if you don’t include the Week 14 game where Irving played just 10 snaps and had a mere five touches before leaving the game injured.

49. Chuba Hubbard was the RB40 based on NFFC ADP data in 2024 drafts. His teammate, Jonathon Brooks, was picked 18.6 spots ahead of him. Hubbard finished as the RB12 during the fantasy season despite missing Week 17. He put up 15 or more points nine times, including six games with more than 20 fantasy points. Brooks played in just three games before re-injuring his ACL. He’s already been declared out of the 2025 season.

50. Joe Mixon was one of the best running backs in fantasy football over the first 11 weeks of the season. During that time, he averaged 120.9 scrimmage yards, scored 11 total touchdowns, and led the entire position in fantasy points scored per game (22.6).

51. Mixon fell off a cliff the rest of the season, however, averaging a mere 60 total yards and scoring just one touchdown. He also averaged just 9.9 points in those six games. That was 35th among running backs, behind backups Justice Hill, Jerome Ford and Michael Carter.

52. Travis Etienne Jr. was the biggest bust in fantasy football among runners who didn’t get hurt. Drafted as the RB7 with an ADP of 19.5, he lost touches to Tank Bigsby and finished as the RB35. His 130.2 fantasy points were 152.2 fewer points than he scored in 2023, and his points-per-game average dropped from 16.6 points to a minuscule 8.7 points.

53. Isiah Pacheco averaged 20.5 touches and 15.9 fantasy points in his first two games of the season. He was injured in Week 3 and didn’t return to the field until Week 13. Upon his return, Pacheco averaged 10.8 touches and five points while losing work to Kareem Hunt. If the Chiefs re-sign Hunt in the offseason, Pacheco could be a riskier draft pick in 2025.

54. Rico Dowdle rushed for 1,079 yards in his first season as the starting running back for the Cowboys, but he rushed for just two touchdowns. That makes him just the 18th back in the Super Bowl era to rush for 1,000 yards and fail to rush for more than two touchdowns.

55. Believe it or not, this has happened to one running back in each of the last three seasons. In 2023, James Cook rushed for 1,122 yards and just two touchdowns. In 2022, Aaron Jones rushed for 1,121 yards and two touchdowns. This sort of combination didn’t occur in the previous 12 seasons, dating back to 2009 (Bills RB Fred Jackson).

Ja'Marr Chase had one of the five best seasons based on fantasy points among wide receivers this past season. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Wide Receivers

56. Among the top 12 wide receivers drafted based on average draft position (ADP) data at the NFFC, seven ranked in the top 12. That’s just 58 percent. The list of wideouts who failed to meet expectations were Tyreek Hill (WR18), A.J. Brown (WR20), Puka Nacua (WR26), Marvin Harrison Jr. (WR30), and Chris Olave (WR94). Their combined average finish was an awful WR38. Olave, who missed nine games due to injury, was the worst of the five receivers.

57. The eight wide receivers who made good on their lofty ADPs were (in order of ADP): CeeDee Lamb (WR8), Amon-Ra St. Brown (WR3), Ja’Marr Chase (WR1), Justin Jefferson (WR2), Garrett Wilson (WR10), Drake London (WR5) and Davante Adams (WR11).

58. The wideout position was loaded with injuries in 2024. Of the top 20 wide receivers drafted based on the NFFC’s ADP, eight missed at least three games. That list includes, in order of ADP, Puka Nacua (six games missed), Chris Olave (nine games missed), Davante Adams (four games missed), Nico Collins (five games missed), Cooper Kupp (five games missed), Mike Evans (three games missed) and Brandon Aiyuk (10 games missed).

59. Five other wideouts with ADPs between WR21-WR30 also missed at least three games. Stefon Diggs missed nine games, Amari Cooper missed three games, Rashee Rice missed 13 games, George Pickens was out three games, and Tee Higgins missed five games. The position also had other fantasy assets miss time, including Chris Godwin, Tank Dell and Christian Kirk. In all, 17 of the first 40 wideouts based on ADP missed at least three games.

60. Ja’Marr Chase led all wide receivers with 403 fantasy points this season. He recorded career bests almost across the board, during which time he scored 40-plus points three times including one game where he scored 55.4 points. In that contest, Chase posted 11 catches, 264 yards, and three touchdown catches against the Baltimore Ravens.

61. Chase scored a combined 96.7 of his fantasy points against the Ravens … that’s almost 25 percent of his 403 points on the season! His point total ranks fourth all-time among wide receivers, behind only Cooper Kupp (439.5), Jerry Rice (414) and CeeDee Lamb (403.2).

62. Chase’s 403 PPR points were 85.5 more than the next-best receiver, Justin Jefferson. Jefferson finished with 317.5 fantasy points. That’s the biggest gap between the first and second wideouts since 2021, when Cooper Kupp scored 95.2 more points than Davante Adams.

63. Jefferson’s 317.5 points were his lowest full-season total since his rookie year when he had 274.2 points. Still, Jefferson has now produced 1,493 fantasy points in his first five NFL seasons. That’s the most of any wide receiver in NFL history. Randy Moss comes in second in the Super Bowl era with 1,481.2 points, and Jerry Rice is third with 1,423.5 points.

64. Brian Thomas Jr. busted out in his rookie season, scoring 284 fantasy points. That was good enough to finish fourth among wide receivers. BTJ scored just 35.9 points on 11 receptions (3.7 per game) in his first three games, but only Chase, St. Brown and Jefferson outscored him over the final 14 games of the season, when he averaged 5.4 catches.

65. Thomas Jr.’s 284 fantasy points rank fifth all-time among rookie wide receivers. Only Moss, Chase, Puka Nacua and Odell Beckham Jr. scored more points in their respective first NFL seasons. Three of those instances (Chase, Nacua, Thomas Jr.) have occurred in the last four years, including two since the league moved to a 17-game schedule.

66. Oddly, Thomas Jr. was much better statistically with Mac Jones than Trevor Lawrence. In nine games where Lawrence played most of the offensive snaps, BTJ averaged 5.9 targets, 3.9 catches, 66.1 yards and 14.4 fantasy points. With Jones leading the offense, Thomas Jr. averaged 10 targets, 5.2 catches, 68.7 yards and 19.3 points per game.

67. Thomas Jr. wasn’t the only rookie wideout to post a huge season. Malik Nabers scored 273.6 fantasy points, which ranked sixth at the position in 2024 and ranks eighth all-time for rookies. Nabers finished with 109 receptions, which is the most ever recorded by a rookie wideout in a single season. He bested Nacua, who had 105 receptions just one season ago.

68. The three rookie wide receivers with the most receptions in a single season, Nabers, Nacua and Jaylen Waddle, have all come in the last four years. What’s more, seven of the top 10 have occurred since 2014. Only one, Terry Glenn (1996), happened before 2003.

Brian Thomas Jr. led all rookie wide receivers in fantasy points this past season, scoring 284 fantasy points. / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

69. While Thomas Jr. and Nabers were the two best rookie wideouts, neither was the first rookie drafted at the position. That was Marvin Harrison Jr., who had an ADP of 14.9 on the NFFC website. Nabers’ ADP was 30.9 (WR20), and Thomas Jr. was the WR47 at 97.9.

70. Harrison Jr. showed flashes of potential as a rookie, but he finished just 30th in points among wide receivers. Overall, he posted 62 catches, 885 yards and eight touchdowns. Harrison Jr. finished Year 1 with 196.5 PPR points and averaged 11.6 points per game.

71. Marvin Harrison Sr.’s first NFL season came in 1996. He finished with 64 catches, 836 yards and eight touchdowns and 195.1 fantasy points … eerily similar numbers to his son. If you’re wondering, Harrison Sr. wasn’t much better in his second season. He posted 73 catches, 866 yards, six touchdowns and 198.9 fantasy points. He didn’t break out until his fourth NFL season when he posted 115 catches, 1,663 yards and 12 scores.

72. CeeDee Lamb was the first wide receiver drafted, on average, based on NFFC data. He went on to finish eighth in fantasy points at the position, but he missed two games and saw a drastic decline in his points-per-game average. Lamb went from averaging a stellar 23.7 points per game in 2023 down to 17.6 points per game this past season (minus-6.1 PPG).

73. In Lamb’s eight games with Dak Prescott under center, he averaged 6.4 catches, 87.5 yards, and 18.9 fantasy points. He was the WR7 in that time. In his final seven games, all played without Prescott, Lamb averaged 6.8 catches, 76.3 yards and 16.5 points. He dropped to WR11 during this time before missing the final two games with an injured shoulder.

74. Drake London had a breakout season, posting career bests across the board while finishing fifth in fantasy points among wideouts. In his first 14 games, all started by Kirk Cousins, London averaged 8.9 targets, 5.8 catches and 15.2 points. Over this final three games, started by rookie Michael Penix Jr., London averaged 13 targets, 7.3 catches, and 23.1 fantasy points. That’s good news for 2025, as Penix Jr. will be Atlanta’s starter at quarterback. I have London as a second-round pick in my first mock draft.

75. Garrett Wilson finished as the WR10 overall this past season, scoring 251.9 points and averaging 14.8 points per game. In his first six games, all played before the Jets acquired Davante Adams, Wilson averaged 11.2 targets, 6.8 catches, 66.5 yards and 16.2 points. In his final 11 games, all played with Adams, Wlson averaged 7.9 targets, 5.4 catches, 64.1 yards and 14.1 fantasy points. So, Adams cost Wilson around two points per game.

76. Adams started the season with the Las Vegas Raiders, playing three games and posting averages of nine targets, six catches, 69.7 yards and 15 points. In 11 games with the Jets (and more importantly Aaron Rodgers), Adams averaged 10.2 targets, 6.1 catches, 76.6 yards and 17.9 points.  So, he was nearly three points per game better with Rodgers.

77. Jerry Jeudy had the best statistical season of his career, posting 90 catches for 1,229 yards and four touchdowns. That was good enough to finish WR12 with 240.9 PPR points. He had a very slow start to the year, however. In his first seven games, all with Deshaun Watson under center, Jeudy averaged just three receptions, 38 yards and 7.9 points.

78. Jeudy’s fantasy success started in Week 8 when the Browns named Jameis Winston the starter. During Winston’s seven starts, Jeudy averaged seven receptions, 112.3 yards and 21.1 PPR points. During that span, Jeudy scored 147.6 points and was the WR5. Only Ja’Marr Chase, Puka Nacua, Amon-Ra St. Brown and CeeDee Lamb scored more points.

79. Overall, Jeudy averaged just 10.3 points in games played without Winston. That’s a 10.8-point difference. What’s more, Jeudy has averaged just over 10 points in his career in games started by any other quarterback than Winston. For those who are wondering, the Browns only have Watson and Dorian Thompson-Robinson under contract for 2025.

80. Ladd McConkey started his rookie season off slowly, averaging just 6.5 targets, four receptions, 44.2 yards and 10.4 fantasy points. During that time, he was the WR45. In his final 10 games, however, Laddy Daddy averaged 7.3 targets, 5.8 catches, 88.4 yards and 17.8 fantasy points. In those 10 contests, McConkey was the eighth-best fantasy wideout.

81. Tyreek Hill was the second wide receiver drafted, on average, based on NFFC ADP data. He went on to finish as the WR18 based on points scored, but he was 30th in points-per-game average among receivers who played at least eight games. Overall, Hill scored 218.2 points … that’s his worst full-season finish since his rookie year (2016 – 217 points).

82. In the 11 games Hill played with Tua Tagovailoa under center, he averaged 15.5 points. In the other six games while Tua was injured, Hill averaged 9.6 points. So, even in games he played with Tagovailoa, Hill’s points-per-game average was eight points lower than in 2023.

83. Tee Higgins missed five games during the season, but he still finished as the WR17 in 2024. However, Higgins was sixth among wideouts on a point-per-game basis (18.5 PPG). That total was better than Malik Nabers, CeeDee Lamb, Mike Evans, and A.J. Brown.

84. Jordan Addison was the WR47 on a points-per-game basis at the position in the first 10 weeks of the regular season. He averaged just 4.7 targets and 10.11 points per game. In his final eight games, Addison averaged 8.3 targets and 17.7 points. That points-per-game average was good enough to rank as the WR14 in that time, 0.9 points fewer than CeeDee Lamb and only one point per game fewer than his superstar teammate, Justin Jefferson.

85. Rashid Shaheed started the regular season by scoring 15-plus points in four of his first six games. Unfortunately, an injured knee cost him the rest of the year.  Had he kept up his six-game pace (which included one game where he scored zero), Shaheed would have put up 226.1 fantasy points. That would have ranked him as the WR17, ahead of Tyreek Hill.

Brock Bowers lead all tight ends in fantasy points this past season, and he set a new NFL record for receptions by a rookie. / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Tight Ends

86. Among the top 12 tight ends drafted based on average draft position (ADP) data at the NFFC, seven ranked in the top 12. That’s 58 percent. The list of players who failed to meet expectations was Dalton Kincaid (TE30), Kyle Pitts (TE15), Evan Engram (TE33), Jake Ferguson (TE25) and Dallas Goedert (TE27). Their combined average finish was RB26.

87. The seven tight ends who made good on their lofty ADPs and finished in the top 12 in points were (in order of ADP): Sam LaPorta (TE8), Travis Kelce (TE5), Trey McBride (TE2), Mark Andrews (TE6), George Kittle (TE3), David Njoku (TE11) and Brock Bowers (TE1).

88. If there was a tight end rookie record, Bowers broke it. He recorded the most catches (112), the most receiving yards (1,194) and the most fantasy points (249.8) at the position among first-year players. That includes beating the rookie record for yards that was held by Mike Ditka, who had 1,076 yards for the Chicago Bears … way back in the 1961 campaign!

89. Bowers’ 112 catches is also a rookie record, breaking the previous single-season high set by Puka Nacua last season. He is now the second rookie tight end in a row to lead the position in fantasy points, as LaPorta did it last season. That has never happened before.

90. LaPorta, the first tight end drafted based on ADP data, had a terrible start to his second NFL season. Over the first nine weeks, he averaged just eight points per game and was the TE18. He averaged just 3.3 targets, 2.8 points and an awful 13.6 yards per contest.

91. LaPorta woke up in the second half of the year, averaging 7.1 targets, 4.8 catches, 53.3 yards and 13.8 fantasy points in his final eight games. He also scored five times. That was good enough for him to finish fifth among tight ends during those nine weeks.

92. Trey McBride finished second in fantasy points at tight end, but he was slightly better than Bowers on a targets-per-game, catches-per-game, yards-per-game and points-per-game basis. In all, McBride scored at least 14 PPR points in nine of his 16 contests.

93. McBride was great in every category except touchdowns, as he scored just twice all season. He is just the sixth receiver in NFL history to record at least 1,100 receiving yards and score two or fewer touchdowns. The other five players are Art Monk (1985), Keyshawn Johnson (2001), Jerricho Cotchery (2007), Antonio Brown (2011) and Robert Woods (2019).

94. Kelce finished fifth in fantasy points among tight ends, but he’s clearly on the downside of his career. Since posting a career-best 316.3 points in 2022, Kelce’s fantasy points have dropped in each of the following two seasons. His points decreased by 96.9 in 2023, and then down another 24 points this past season when he scored just 195.4 points. That’s the fewest points Kelce has scored since 2015, when he scored 189.5 fantasy points.

95. Kelce will be 35 at the start of next season, and he’ll turn 36 in October. In the Super Bowl era, Tony Gonzalez is the only tight end to score 200-plus fantasy points at age 35 or older. He did it three times with the Atlanta Falcons. What’s more, only four tight ends (including Kelce this past season) have scored 150 or more points at age 35 or older.

96. Mark Andrews was downright awful in the first five weeks of the season, scoring just 22 points (4.4 PPG). He averaged 2.8 targets, two catches, 12 yards and didn’t score a single touchdown. He woke up over the final 12 contests, averaging 4.6 targets, 3.8 catches and 46.1 yards. The biggest increase was in the touchdown department, as he scored 11 times in those 12 games. His 11 touchdowns led all tight ends for the season!

97. Jonnu Smith came out of absolutely nowhere to become a top-five fantasy tight end. In fact, his NFFC ADP was 222 and 22 tight ends were picked ahead of him! While he did have a slow start to the season, Smith caught fantasy fire in Week 11 and never cooled down. In fact, he led all tight ends in PPR points over the final seven weeks of the fantasy season.

98. Zach Ertz was also a huge surprise in fantasy leagues this past season. Despite an ADP that was in the 250s, the veteran finished seventh at the position with 177.4 points. That was the most points he had scored since 2019 when he recorded 215.6 points with the Eagles. Ertz, who will turn 35 in November, is slated to become a free agent in 2025.

99. David Njoku finished as the TE11 in 2024, but he was fourth in terms of points scored per game (13.5 PPG). He has now scored the fifth-most points among tight ends over the last two seasons, and he’s fifth in terms of his points-per-game average at the position in that time. He has now seen his fantasy points per game totals increase in three straight seasons. In that time, the Browns have had eight different quarterbacks start games.

100. Kyle Pitts was a disappointment for the third straight season, but this year was even more so because expectations were higher since the Falcons signed veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins. Believe it or not, Pitts’ targets, catches, yards and fantasy points all declined compared to the 2023 season when he was catching passes from Desmond Ridder.

101. Pitts was only the seventh tight end in NFL history who was drafted in the top five (he was picked fourth in 2021), and he was the first tight end drafted that high since 1972! That was Riley Odoms, who was picked fifth overall by the Denver Broncos. Although he was so highly coveted in the draft, Pitts is just 13th in fantasy points and tied for 23rd in touchdowns among tight ends in four years in the league. He has one more year on his deal with the Falcons, but it’s a fifth-year option so Pitts’ time in Atlanta could be over soon.