As we reflect upon the 2024 fantasy football season, we are asking our ESPN Fantasy writers to answer a few questions.
Each season brings along with it the unexpected, sometimes delightful and other times not as much. While it may be difficult to pinpoint one thing that raised eyebrows, nine of our writers — Stephania Bell, Matt Bowen, Mike Clay, Tristan H. Cockcroft, Daniel Dopp, Eric Karabell, Liz Loza, Eric Moody and Field Yates — accepted the assignment.
What was the biggest surprise of the 2024 fantasy season?
Yates: C.J. Stroud’s disappointing season
Stroud did not enter this season with quite the expectations of Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen, but he did offer promise after a stellar rookie season and the addition of Stefon Diggs via trade during the offseason. While each of his top three receivers dealt with injuries, Stroud was a fantasy disappointment, averaging a mere 13.0 fantasy points per game, 28th among quarterbacks. He had just one game with 20 or more fantasy points and nine with fewer than 12.5. He finished with fewer passing yards and touchdowns than his rookie season, despite playing two more games. To top it off, he threw more than twice as many interceptions (12 to 5) in Year 2 and had zero rushing touchdowns in 2024 after three as a rookie.
Cockcroft: Sam Darnold turning into a fantasy superstar
After entering the preseason as a barely-thought-about backup in Minnesota, he took over the starting job from the injured J.J. McCarthy — remember him? — and scored more than 300 fantasy points. Amazingly, he averaged less than half that across his first six NFL seasons. Honorable mention goes to the Vikings’ defense, which was picked in barely a quarter of ESPN leagues but finished as the No. 2 D/ST scorer for the season.
Karabell: Four rookies with 1,000 receiving yards, but not Marvin Harrison Jr.
The four 1,000-yard rookies is a record! Brian Thomas Jr., Brock Bowers, Malik Nabers and Ladd McConkey did it. However, the first rookie selected in most fantasy leagues — and the first non-QB selected in the NFL draft — fell short by 115 yards. Harrison, with only two top-10 weekly finishes and more single-digit PPR efforts than not, wasn’t even top 50 among flex-eligible options. And he played in all 17 games. That is quite surprising.
Moody: Brian Thomas Jr. finishing as WR4
Thomas finished his rookie season as a high-end WR1, proving he could rise above inconsistent quarterback play. Coming into the season, all the rookie hype was around Harrison and Nabers, but it was Thomas who stole the spotlight. He came through when fantasy managers needed him most, delivering six straight games with 10-plus targets and at least 16 fantasy points in Weeks 13 through 18, including three games with 24 or more. He capped it off by becoming just the seventh rookie in league history to record 1,100 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns in a season.
Bowen: The reemergence of Bryce Young
Remember when the Panthers benched Young — for Andy Dalton — after Week 2? I basically wrote him off for the season. And I wasn’t sure he’d ever play football in Carolina again. Now, let’s fast forward to the second half of the season, with Young back under center. From Weeks 12 to 18, Young averaged 20.7 points, while posting at least two total touchdowns in each of his final four games. Young’s eye level improved, he trusted his pocket much more and he was really decisive with his decision-making as a runner and thrower. In short, Young battled on the tape I watched. The arrow is pointing up here, and Young should be a player to monitor heading into the 2025 season.
Loza: The potent Bo Nix/Courtland Sutton duo
I didn’t have Nix finishing his rookie campaign as a top-10 fantasy QB on my bingo card (he was actually QB7). Nor did I expect Sutton to be a top-15 WR. In fact, it was Javonte Williams who entered the season as Denver’s most coveted fantasy asset, garnering an ADP of 76 by ESPN users. Sutton wasn’t a consideration until approximately two rounds later (94th overall), behind such names as Jake Ferguson (82nd) and Christian Watson (89th). Nix came into his own during the last half of the season, amassing 2,529 passing yards and 25 total TDs in his final 10 games. Unsurprisingly, Sutton’s conversion rate increased as Nix’s passing prowess developed. The 29-year-old made good on 60 of 88 targets in those final 10 games. Nix’s ADP figures to skyrocket to the fifth or sixth round of drafts next year. Sutton is likely to enter 2025 as a high-floor veteran option, though his target share figures to decrease with Sean Payton aiming to build around his franchise QB.
Clay: Tight end struggles
Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised considering the history of the position, but the tight end position proved disappointing after a ton of offseason hype. There were some hits (Bowers, Trey McBride and George Kittle among them), but there were many more duds, including 2023’s top-scoring TE Sam LaPorta as well as Mark Andrews, Dalton Kincaid, Evan Engram, Ferguson, Kyle Pitts, Cole Kmet and Dalton Schultz. A few of these players improved as the season went on, but the draft-day investment and early-season duds were costly.
Bell: The success of the veteran RBs who secured new contracts in new homes
Personally, I wasn’t surprised that they could have a resurgence (I’ve been on the soap box about the value of “mature” running backs for quite some time) but the level at which they performed exceeded my expectations, all to the benefit of fantasy managers and fans alike. Saquon Barkley now becomes the benchmark for such deals, hitting 2,000 yards with his new team and leading all running backs in fantasy points. Not far behind him in terms of fantasy value were transplants Derrick Henry and Josh Jacobs, and while not as dominant, Aaron Jones, Joe Mixon and Tony Pollard also found success in their new homes.
Dopp: James Cook becoming a touchdown machine
We all remember how good he was last season, totaling more than 1,500 yards from scrimmage, but he finished with only six touchdowns (two rushing, four receiving). Cook’s role changed in a major way in his third NFL season, though, with more goal-to-go carries this season (27) than his previous two years combined (16). After having nine total touchdowns through his first two seasons, Cook became a fantasy superstar with 18 touchdowns in 2024! Only Jahmyr Gibbs (20) finished with more.
