2024 Fantasy Football All-Stars

original-written date: 12/30

Week 17 marks the endpoint of the Fantasy Football season for those who play the game correctly, and like always there were countless surprises and disappointments.  We’re gonna do a little postseason wrap-up to highlight all the ups and downs of the season and what players were helping managers win their championships, and the ones contributing to the last-place finishers of 2024.

Breakout Player of the Year - Chase Brown/Bucky Irving

A split winner for the first award on the list in typical me-fashion not being able to decide.  But these two had such incredible seasons, and while they shared some similarities, they really did it in different ways as well.  Chase Brown was a late-round pick in fantasy drafts by anyone who wasn’t sold on Zack Moss leading this Cincy backfield all season.  The explosive young back was stuck in a change-of-pace role through 3 games before breaking out with 2 TD’s in Week 4.  It wasn’t until Moss was injured that he fully took the reins of the starting job and never looked back. From Week 8 on, Brown never had a game under 10 FP (Half point PPR is the system I’m basing all statistics on) as he became the feature back for a dynamic Bengals offense. He finished the year as the RB11 despite not taking the starting role till midseason.

Bucky Irving came into the year as the #2 RB in Tampa as a rookie behind Rachaad White. Like Brown, he had a slow start to the season, but he was consistently given 10ish touches per game. In Week 6 Bucky had a big game in New Orleans, running for 81 yards and a score. He followed that up with solid performances against Baltimore, Atlanta, and San Fran before their bye in Week 11. Following the bye week, he had 2 huge games racking up 50 fantasy points, 240 rushing yards, 100 receiving yards, and 2 scores in Weeks 12 and 13.  He finished the year with double-digit-scoring games in the fantasy playoffs, and as a guy who went largely undrafted or was picked in the late rounds, he exploded onto the scene in 2024. 

Sleeper QB of the Year - Baker Mayfield

This was a toss-up between Baker and Sam Darnold (who probably came even more out of nowhere than Baker, but Baker outscored him by 50+ points). Baker had an incredible season last year with the Bucs, but this year he looked even more comfortable running the show in Tampa, exceeding his point total last season by more than 80 points.  He had 3 weeks this season where he scored 9.5, 9.9, and 11.2 points. The other 13 games, he scored at least 18.66, eclipsing 30 fantasy points 5 times, including in Week 17 scoring nearly 40.0.  Baker had a stretch from Week 4 to Week 9 where he averaged over 27 points a game and was the QB1 in fantasy football.  He finishes the year as QB4, ahead of guys like Jalen Hurts, Pat Mahomes, Kyler Murray, Jared Goff, and Justin Herbert. Baker finished the year with nearly 4,300 yards, 39 TD’s, 15 picks (trying to make a play always), and 3 more rushing TD’s. 

Rookie of the Year - Brian Thomas Jr. 

Another tough call after Jayden Daniels finished the season as the QB5, an easy argument could be made for JD to be the Rookie of the Year in the NFL and for fantasy.  Plus Brock Bowers, the overall TE2 on the season as a rookie is ridiculous. But Brian Thomas Jr. has been an absolute STUD and deserves recognition after his Jaguars’ abysmal season and his run for the fantasy playoffs.  BTJ finished the season as the WR4 - AS A ROOKIE - ahead of guys like Cedee Lamb, Mike Evans, Garrett Wilson, AJ Brown, Tyreek Hill, Puka Nacua, etc.  He was behind only Jamarr Chase, Justin Jefferson, and Amon-Ra St. Brown.  He caught a TD in his first career game, and flashed his big play ability with 92 yards on just 2 catches in Week 2. He scored under 10 points just 4 times on the season, weathering bad QB play and an awful supporting cast to produce massive numbers.  He finished the season on an absolute tear: following the Week 12 bye he averaged 20.18 fppg and went 27.5/23.7/20.4 over the 3 playoff weeks. He finished his amazing rookie year with 1,179 yards and 10 TD’s on 80 receptions.

Disappointment of the Year - Travis Etienne Jr.

Contenders for this award that I considered were Deebo Samuel, Michael Pittman Jr., C.J Stroud, and Travis Kelce.  But I couldn’t overlook the insane fall-off of Travis Etienne. Back to back Jags for very different reasons, Etienne was the polar opposite of his rookie WR teammate.  Etienne scored 265.40 fantasy points last season, had 267 carries, 1,500 total yards and 12 total TD’s.  This year - granted he was injured for 2 games - his final numbers were: 137 carries, 527 rush yards, 225 receiving yards, 2 total TD’s, 105.20 total fantasy points. An unprecedented fall-off, partially due to the emergence of Tank Bigsby (120 fantasy points, 200+ more rush yards) and partially due to a lack of explosiveness and poor O-line play.  He scored more than 10 fantasy points just once after Week 4. He scored 10+ points in each of the first three weeks, but never eclipsed 15 points on the season.  For a back drafted in rounds 2 or 3 of most draft preseason, this is as bad as it gets.

Ironman Award - Derrick Henry 

The criteria for this award was finding a guy who not only played in every game this year, but was a consistent scoring force week in and week out.  There were plenty of qualified candidates, but I don’t think there’s a player that represents the Ironman persona more than Derrick Henry. His body looks like it’s made of iron, and he only scored under double digit fantasy points once this season, and it didn’t come until Week 15 when he was subbed out early with the rest of the starters in a blowout over the Giants.  He scored over 30 points in back-to-back weeks against Dallas and Buffalo, scored 17+ points 10 times on the season, and silenced the doubters who expected a fall off for the 30-year-old running back.  He outperformed his 2023 season over 65 points, and if it wasn’t for Saquon Barkley’s absurd critic-silencing season of his own, would have led the NFL in rushing once again. He finished the fantasy season with 1783 rush yards, another 170 through the air, and 16 total TD’s as the RB2 and 11th ranked fantasy player overall.

Positional Advantage Award - Jamarr Chase 

This award is given to the player who offered the greatest advantage as opposed to others at their position.  For example, Lamar Jackson is the QB1 and scored 30 more points than 2nd place Josh Allen, so he garnered consideration.  But in what was a down year for the WR position as a whole, Jamarr Chase asserted his dominance among pass-catchers.  His 318.90 fantasy points were 60 more than WR2 Justin Jefferson.  He scored over 100 more fantasy points than WR5 Cedee Lamb.  In a year where only 7 WRs eclipsed 200 fantasy points, Jamarr was the only one to eclipse 300.  He erupted for 49.90 points against Baltimore Week 10, 38.10 in Week 14 vs Dallas, and 36.30 against Baltimore in Week 5. He scored under 10 points 4 times on the season, two of which were weeks 1 and 2.  Outside of Weeks 1 and 2, Chase averaged 22 fantasy points per game.  He improved upon his 2023 season by over 100 points and finished 2024 with 117 catches, 1,612 receiving yards, and 16 TD’s.  The Top 10 RB/WR/TE of the fantasy football season was 8 RB’s and 2 WR’s - Jamarr finished #2 only behind Saquon Barkley. 

Made of Glass Award - Christian McCaffrey

I hate to rag on a guy for injuries, which is why I wouldn’t consider any injured player a “bust” for fantasy football purposes.  However, when a player is basically the consensus #1 overall pick in preseason drafts and he only plays 4 games (totalling just 40 fantasy points in those games, might I add), it can’t be denied. McCaffrey was dealing with tendonitis in both of his legs coming into the season, but it wasn’t disclosed until he was announced to be missing their Week 1 game against the Jets. From there he missed 8 straight games before returning Week 10 after the bye. He played pretty well upon his return, but he never found the end zone in those four games. In Week 13 he injured his knee and was placed on IR - the final blow for fantasy managers hoping they’d have their top pick for the playoff stretch. A brutal end to a brutal season. 

2024 Fantasy Football MVP - Saquon Barkley

Last but certainly not least, the MVP award.  There were plenty of guys to consider here: Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Jamarr Chase, Derrick Henry to name a few.  But it should come as no surprise that the leader in fantasy points among skill position players is the winner of the Fantasy Football MVP.  Saquon was simply on another level all year long. After the Giants decided to part ways and he signed with division rival Philly, there was a ton of intrigue around how he’d look.  He answered the questions Week 1 with a 32 point eruption against the Packers scoring 3 TD’s.  He went over 30 fantasy points FIVE TIMES this season, including a 44-point game against the Rams where he had 302 total yards and 2 TD’s.  He scored single-digit points only 3 times on the year, all of which were games his team won handily.  Saquon is on the verge of breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record as well.  For Fantasy purposes, Saquon scored almost 140 more points this season than 2023. He ran for 1,000+ more yards than last season and scored 5 additional TD’s. His final line for the fantasy season was 2,005 yards rushing, 13 rush TD’s, 278 receiving yards and 2 more receiving TD’s.  An other-worldly season for one of the best players in the league.  

1st-Team All-Fantasy 

In the NFL they do 1 QB, 1 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE because they do all other positions as well. Format for our purposes here at Beans Blog is 2 QB, 2 RB, 4 WR, 2 TE, 1 Kicker, 1 DEF

QB1 - Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens (446.40 FPs)

QB2 - Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills  (407.04 FPs)

RB1 - Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles (338.80 FPs)

RB2 - Derrick Henry, Baltimore Ravens (297.80 FPs)

WR1 - Jamarr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals (318.90 FPs)

WR2 - Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings (259.08 FPs)

WR3 - Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions (248.98 FPs) 

WR4 - Brian Thomas Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars (226.70 FPs)

TE1 - George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers (193.90 FPs) 

TE2 - Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders (193.70 FPs) 

K1 - Brandon Aubrey, Dallas Cowboy (191.60 FPs)

DEF1 - Denver Broncos (166.00 FPs)

2nd Team All-Fantasy

QB3 - Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals (401.84 FPs)

QB4 - Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (383.16 FPs)

RB3 - Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit Lions (293.40 FPs)

RB4 - Bijan Robinson, Atlanta Falcons (280.90 FPs)

WR5 - Cedee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys (212.90 FPs)

WR6 - Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders (210.60 FPs)

WR7 - Malik Nabers, New York Giants (204.20 FPs)

WR8 - Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks (199.70 FPs)

TE3 - Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals (178.30 FPs)

TE4 - Jonnu Smith, Miami Dolphins (164.20 FPs)

K2 - Chris Boswell, Pittsburgh Steelers (191.40 FPs)

DEF2 - Minnesota Vikings (157.00 FPs)

1st Team All-Fantasy-Rookie

QB - Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders (376.60 FPs)

QB - Bo Nix, Denver Broncos (308.16 FPs)

RB - Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (205.50 FPs)

RB - Tyrone Tracy Jr., New York Giants (155.70 FPs)

WR - Brian Thomas Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars (226.70 FPs)

WR - Malik Nabers, New York Giants (204.20 FPs)

WR - Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers (185.90 FPs)

TE - Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders (193.70 FPs)