2024 Fantasy Football Recap – Top 10 RB Performances
In this fantasy football recap of the 2024 season, we take a look back at the year’s most memorable performances and highlight the players who helped win league championships. Hopefully, you hoisted your trophy, but even if you came up short, these standout moments made the fantasy season unforgettable.
Not surprisingly, Saquon Barkley, the RB1 overall, delivered three of the top 10 fantasy performances of the year, dominating in four out of the NFL’s 18 regular-season games. In total, the top three running backs combined for five of the top 10 weekly scores, showcasing the continued value of elite RBs in fantasy football.
Top 10 RB Performances: 2024 Fantasy Football Recap
In this article, I’ll take a look at the top 10 fantasy running back performances for the year.
Disclaimer – All the data is from FantasyPros and 1/2 PPR scoring is used. Let’s get right into the top 10 RB performances from 2024.
10. Week 3 – Saquon Barkley at New Orleans Saints (31.6 pts)
In Week 3, the Philadelphia Eagles traveled to New Orleans and beat the Saints 15-12. Just by looking at the score, you would never have guessed that the top running back fantasy performance for the week came with a team scoring only 15 points. Well, it did.
With A.J. Brown out with an injury and the fact that the New Orleans Saints rushing defense was horrible, the Eagles offense literally ran through their star running back, Saquon Barkley. Barkley rushed for 147 yards and two touchdowns and added a 2-point conversion as well.
9. Week 1 – Saquon Barkley vs. Green Bay Packers (32.2 pts)
This game was the beginning of the NFL’s International Series of games outside of the United States. The game was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil on a Friday night.
The big free agent signing by the Eagles in the offseason showed immediately in Week 1 what he could do behind an elite offensive line and ultimately for the Eagles offense. The 32.2 fantasy points performance was the beginning of what ended up being an RB1 overall season for Barkley.
8. Week 6 – Sean Tucker at New Orleans Saints (32.7 pts)
How many of you had Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Sean Tucker on this top 10 list? Maybe you may have thought of Bucky Irving (who did have the top performance for Week 13 but not high enough for this list) or even Rachaad White. Nope. Sean Tucker.
With Rachaad White injured for the week, Tucker and rookie Bucky Irving ended up sharing the backfield. But for this week (and this week only) Tucker outperformed the eventual heir to the Buccaneers backfield. Tucker ran for 136 yards and one touchdown and added on three receptions for 56 yards and one receiving touchdown.
7. Week 11 – Joe Mixon at Dallas Cowboys (34.3 pts)
The Cowboys struggled against the run all season and it really showed during this Monday Night Football game against the Houston Texans.
The Texans traded for longtime Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon during the offseason. Mixon did miss Weeks 3-5 with an injury but was performing as a high-end RB1 for most of the season. Against the Cowboys, he ran for 109 and three scores and added two catches for 44 yards.
Unfortunately, this was the peak for Mixon. For the next five weeks, Mixon scored 8.1 or less points four times. During the fantasy playoffs (Weeks 15-17) he averaged 6.87 fantasy points. Ultimately, Mixon may have helped you to get to the fantasy playoffs. However, he sure did not help you advance to the finals.
Hopefully, you read my article that I wrote over a month ago called “Players With the Worst Fantasy Football Schedule” where I advocated for you to trade Mixon as his playoff schedule was the toughest in the league among all backs.
6. Week 4 – Derrick Henry vs. Buffalo Bills (34.4 pts)
Needless to say, the signing of the 31-year-old back was a resounding success for the Baltimore Ravens. For the season, Henry amassed just over 2,100 yards and a total of 18 touchdowns.
In total, Henry had six games with over 20 fantasy points. However, this week against the Bills was the only week scoring over 30 points. He rushed for 199 yards and one touchdown to go along with three receptions for 10 yards and one touchdown.
Furthermore, Henry will be turning 32 this January. Will the ageless wonder be able to repeat or come close to his fantasy season this season? We will just have to wait and see.
5. Week 14 – Zach Charbonnet at Arizona Cardinals (38.8 pts)
Zach Charbonnet started five games this year when incumbent starter Kenneth Walker III was injured. During those five games, the talented backup averaged just under 20 fantasy points.
Furthermore, Charbonnet is one of the more talented backup running backs on any NFL team. Impressively, he has shown that he can produce when given the opportunity. The problem is, that Walker is not set to be a free agent until after the 2025 season.
4. Week 16 – Jonathan Taylor vs. Tennessee Titans (39.8 pts)
If you were able to make it to your league’s semi-final game in Week 16, Jonathan Taylor most likely helped you to advance to the Championship game the following week – he did for me in two of my home leagues.
Taylor saved his best performance for Week 16. Against the Titans, he rushed for an outstanding 218 yards and three touchdowns. Week 17 wasn’t bad for Taylor as well, as he finished with 26.6 fantasy points.
Can Taylor’s strong finish this season continue on to the beginning of next season? Or will next year be muddled with injuries again for the talented back? Only time will tell. Recently, we mentioned him as a potential sell-high candidate for this off-season in your dynasty leagues.
3. Week 2 – Alvin Kamara at Dallas Cowboys (43 pts)
Back in Week 2, the Saints faced a helpless Cowboys rushing defense. In total, Kamara rushed for 115 yards and three touchdowns and caught two passes for 65 yards and another score.
Unfortunately, this was the peak for Kamara and his fantasy managers for the season. In the end, he did finish as the RB9 overall. However, a myriad of injuries to Saints quarterbacks, along with Kamara missing Weeks 16-17 held him back and probably left a sour taste among Kamara fantasy managers.
2. Week 18 – Jahmyr Gibbs vs. Minnesota Vikings (43.5 pts)
Teammate David Montgomery suffered a knee injury in Week 14 and missed the remainder of the Lions season. Before Montgomery’s injury, Gibbs was the RB4 and was averaging 16.9 fantasy points per game.
From Weeks 15-18 without Montgomery, Gibbs was the RB1 averaging a ridiculous 29.1 points per game. Ultimately, I would guess that there are more than a few championship teams that had Gibbs on their roster.
1. Week 12 – Saquon Barkley at Los Angeles Rams (44.2 pts)
It’s only fitting that the RB1 for the 2024 fantasy season has the number one running back weekly performance for the year. Barkley had the most rushing yards in a single game with 255, along with two rushing touchdowns. He also chipped in with four catches for 47 yards.
Barkley will definitely be in the discussion to be the 1.01 for next year but can he repeat his remarkable 2024 season and be the RB1 again in 2025?
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