10 Interesting Player Stats Learned In Fantasy Football 2024
In fantasy football, our success hinges on players delivering top performances to help us win matchups or rack up the highest points each week.
While players dictate our weekly fate on the field, it’s ultimately the numbers and stats that determine the outcome of every matchup.
Fantasy Football 2024: 10 Fascinating Player Stats You Need to Know
In this article, I will present 10 interesting stats for the 2024 season that could be meaningless or have an impact on the upcoming 2025 season.
1. James Cook was tied for the most touchdowns by a running back with Derrick Henry with 17
Some of you may be reading this and saying to yourself that this stat isn’t true. Jahmyr Gibbs led all running backs with 20 touchdowns. While this is true, Gibbs needed Week 18 to get to 20 touchdowns. The majority of fantasy football leagues run from Weeks 1-17. So, Week 18 doesn’t count. Sorry, Detroit Lions and Gibbs fans.
The interesting part is that Henry finished the season as the RB2 while Cook was the RB8. Normally, if a running back scores 18+ touchdowns you can almost guarantee a top three finish. Not this year with Cook. The discrepancy lies in the almost 1,000 more rushing yards gained by Henry.
2. Saquon Barkley was stopped at the 1-yard line 11 times
Barkley signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in the offseason and had a phenomenal season finishing with 15 touchdowns. Between Weeks 1-17, running back Saquon Barkley was the RB1 averaging 21.2 fantasy points per game.
The scary part is that Barkley’s season could have been even better. Barkley was stopped at the opponent’s 1-yard line 11 times. 10 of these instances turned into Jalen Hurts’ tush pushes.
3. De’Von Achane was the RB2 with Tua Tagovailoa as the Starter
Achane followed up his eye-opening rookie season with an even better sophomore campaign. He finished the 2024 season as the RB7. If we dig a bit deeper, Achane was the RB2, only behind Barkely, when Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was the starter.
With Tagovailoa further removed from this season’s concussion, Raheem Mostert moving on into free agency, and the possible exodus of star receiver Tyreek Hill, Achane is set to have his usage expanded next season.
4. The WR1 over the Fantasy Playoffs was Brian Thomas Jr.
If you would ask most fantasy managers who the WR1 was during the fantasy playoffs (Weeks 15-17), you would probably guess Ja’Marr Chase or Justin Jefferson. The usual WR1s.
Well, you would be wrong. The WR1 for the fantasy playoffs was rookie receiver Brian Thomas Jr. of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He averaged an astounding 23.9 fantasy points during that three week span. The overall WR1 Chase averaged 19.9 points for the entire season.
Thomas Jr. ended the season as the WR4. With a new head coach in Jacksonville next season and the return of a healthy Trevor Lawrence at quarterback, will Thomas Jr. be able to maintain or improve on his remarkable rookie campaign?
5. Terry McLaurin scored the second-most touchdowns among all wide receivers
Most fantasy enthusiasts would be able to tell you which wide receiver scored the most touchdowns this fantasy season from Weeks 1-17 – Ja’Marr Chase with 16. I would bet that most of you would struggle to name the receiver who scored the second most.
It was Terry McLaurin of the Washington Commanders with 12 touchdowns (tied with Amon Ra St. Brown). McLaurin had a bounceback season with rookie sensation Jayden Daniels throwing him the ball. He finished as the WR6 this season compared to the WR33 in 2023.
6. Brock Purdy is now the only quarterback in the Super Bowl era to have fewer than 26 passing touchdowns while also having more than 3,800 passing yards. He had 20 TDs on 3,864 yards.
I can’t take credit for this stat. My fellow Canadian and football analyst @TSeel14 with the Undroppables came up with this one and I simply had to borrow it.
Purdy had 11 more touchdown passes in 2023 compared to this season. This season he was 7th in red zone attempts and had 11 more pass attempts compared to last season.
The 49ers offense seemed out of sync from the beginning of the season. Christian McCaffrey missed the majority of the season, Brandon Aiyuk was lost half way into the season and Deebo Samuel was a shell of his former self. The 49ers offense scored 102 less points and 19 less touchdowns this year compared to last.
The 49ers offense as a whole had a down year. I would see this Purdy stat as more of an anomaly than a possible start of a trend. If anything, Purdy may be a nice buy low candidate for next season.
7. Drake London had a 39% target share in three games with Michael Penix as the starter
The massive free agent signing of Kirk Cousins by the Atlanta Falcons in the offseason was supposed to be the magic elixir that turned Drake London into a top tier WR1. That simply didn’t happen. Except for a few games, Cousins was a shell of his former self.
With Cousins, London had a 10.7 ADot (average depth of target) and averaged 65 receiving yards per game. With Penix, London had a 12.5 ADot and averaged 117 yards per game.
Could Penix unlock London’s potential in 2025 and see him as a top-tier WR1?
8. Patrick Mahomes had three games of 300+ passing yards
I’ve beaten this horse to death over the past offseason and during the year but I’ll continue to do so. Mahomes was a QB1 five times this year. He finished the season as the QB10 overall and the QB11 in average points per game.
For 2025, Rashee Rice will be returning from a significant knee injury and will still have a suspension looming. Marquise Brown and DeAndre Hopkins are set to be free agents. Travis Kelce isn’t close to his dominating self. The Chiefs offense will probably look dramatically different next season.
Without a doubt, Mahomes is an elite NFL quarterback and future Hall of Famer. But for the foreseeable future, his days as an elite fantasy football quarterback seem to be over.
9. The top 2 tight ends were separated by 0.2 fantasy points
Las Vegas Raider tight end Brock Bowers had a record-breaking rookie season. He had the most receiving yards ever by a rookie tight end with 1,194 and finished as the TE2 for the 2024 season.
For all the accolades given to Bowers (and deservedly so), the TE1 for the season was George Kittle, who seems to have gone unnoticed. The two tight ends may have only been separated by 0.2 fantasy points but Kittle averaged almost two full points more per game than Bowers.
With his dominating rookie season, will Bowers be a first-round pick in 2025?
10. Bryce Young was the QB11 from Weeks 12-17 in average points per game
Hopes were high for Young entering the 2024 season. But things didn’t start off well for the sophomore quarterback. He lost his starting job in Week 3 to veteran Andy Dalton and did not regain it until Week 8.
Clearly the time on the sidelines benefited Young. From Weeks 12-17 he was the QB11 in average points per game with 18.6 (he was actually QB12 because Tyler Huntley was the QB5 but only played one game).
Has the former first-overall pick of the 2023 draft turned a corner? Has he figured out how to play quarterback in the NFL? Perhaps Head Coach Dave Canales is the quarterback whisperer.
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