I spend a lot of time, I mean a lot of time looking at Fantasy Football data. I utilize data to support my Fantasy Football opinions, but data also helps me formulate new ones as well. Recapping a season often means diving into data sets, but it also can mean simply looking at the production and efficiency of players from a given season. Stats and data do not always tell the full story at the end of the day though, and context is always key.
When preparing for an upcoming NFL Season (aka a Fantasy Football season for us), it is important to recap what happened the previous year. What sort of information from the previous year could be relevant for the coming year is a question I often ask myself. What takeaways from one year, can mean something for the next? Statistical production, efficiency, and Fantasy Football impacts are important to dive into as these categories help us separate the long list of players available in our Fantasy Football drafts.
I have been inspired in the past by Fantasy Football analysts such as Scott Barrett (Fantasy Points) and Matthew Berry (NBC Sports / My Fantasy Life) who have put together stat articles that recapped the past to preview the coming season. This is my version, which I feel will both entertain you and leave you with more knowledge than you came here with
82 Fantasy Football Nuggets to Know for 2024
- Jalen Hurts AND Josh Allen finished with 15 rushing touchdowns, which broke the NFL Record for rushing touchdowns by a QB
- Jalen Hurts ranked #1 in red zone rushing attempts (44) and Josh Allen ranked #2 (36)
- Josh Allen finished #1 in Fantasy PPG (24.2) and Jalen Hurts finished #2 in Fantasy PPG (21.9)
- Lamar Jackson still rushed for a league-high 821 yards in a season he set his career-high in passing yards (3,678)
- CJ Stroud finished his rookie season #3 in yards per attempt (8.2) and #2 in air yards per attempt (9)
- Anthony Richardson played four games in his rookie season, but only two full games. In those two full games he finished as the QB4 (Week1) and QB2 (Week 4)
- Anthony Richardson’s four rushing touchdowns ranked #7 despite the small sample size of time spent on the field
- Joe Burrow through 10 games averaged 36.5 passing attempts per game which was more per game than his 2022 season where he ended up throwing 610 times
- Kyler Murray through eight appearances following his ACL recovery finished as a Top 12 QB in half of those games played
- Jordan Love threw the third-most deep ball attempts (76) and second-most red zone attempts (100) in his first season as a starter
- Dak Prescott, following the Week 7 BYE, had 287 more passing yards than any other QB in the NFL (Weeks 8-18). Dak averaged 289.36 passing yards per game during this span
- Jared Goff’s 4,571 passing yards ranked second, and this was the second year in a row he threw for over 4,400 yards and 4th time in his career
- Kirk Cousins during his eight appearances (Weeks 1-8) ranked: #2 in passing yards (2,331), tied #1 in passing touchdowns (18), #6 in total Fantasy Points (154.9), and #8 in Fantasy PPG (19.4)
- Tua Tagovailoa’s accuracy/efficiency metric rankings: #2 in yards oper attempt (8.3), #1 accuracy rating, #7 true completion %, #2 deep ball completion percentage, #7 play-action completion %, #10 red zone completion %, #4 clean pocket completion %
- Tua Tagovailoa’s 4,624 passing yards ranked 1st in the NFL, despite attempting the 9th most passes (560)
- Deshaun Watson played five full games last year, and finished as a Top 10 QB in three of those games
- Brock Purdy finished #1 in all of (playerprofiler): yards per attempt (9.6), deep ball completion %, play-action completion %, true passer rating, QBR (72.7), and passer rating vs. man
- In 1 of Daniel Jones’ 4 full games he finished the week (Week 2): 26/37 (70.3%) for 321 passing yards, two touchdowns, interception, 59 rushing yards, a rushing touchdown and 31.7 Fantasy Points as the QB1
- Christian McCaffrey finished 2023 with 292 more rushing yards, 438 more scrimmage yards, and 100.8 more Fantasy Points than any other running back
- Breece Hall finished #1 in the trifecta of targets (95), receptions (76) and receiving yards (591) despite the Jets finishing with the 3rd least total yards (2,919)
- Jahmyr Gibbs finished #13 in evaded tackles (56) and #3 in breakaway runs (15) despite ranking 28th in carries (182)
- Jonathan Taylor played eight games in 2023 at 50%+ of the snaps and averaged in those games: 88 rushing yards, 0.88 rushing touchdowns and 17.56 Fantasy Points
- Saquon Barkey had the fifth highest target share (15.3%) and 5th most route participation (60.9%) despite being targeted the 15th most times (60)
- Rachaad White finished with the second-most total touches (336) and 4th most total yards (1,539). White was seventh in opportunity share (75.3%)
- Travis Etienne Jr finished with the 3rd most total touches (325) and the 5th most total yards (1,484). Etienne was 6th in opportunity share (75.7%)
- Kyren Williams ranked 1st in rushing yards per game (95.33) and first in rushing touchdowns per game (1) through his 12 games
- D’Andre Swift finished 12th in carries (229) but produced the fifth most (career-high) rushing yards with 1,049
- Prior to the Week 5 BYE, Kenneth Walker III rushed for 5 touchdowns in the opening four games
- Isiah Pacheco earned a 72.4% (#8) opportunity share during the regular season, then touched the ball 25, 16, 28 and 24 times through the KC 4 playoff games
- James Cook finished second in yards per reception (10.1) and fifth in yards per touch (5.6)
- Najee Harris Weeks 11-18 w/ Pittsburgh’s offensive-coordinator change ranked fourth in rushing yards (571) and scored five rushing touchdowns in those eight games. Najee weeks 16-18 ranked 6th in rushing yards (312), T#1 in rushing touchdowns (four), third in total Fantasy Points, and averaged 20.8 Fantasy PPG
- Alvin Kamara finished second in receptions with 75 through 13 appearances, which meant averaged 5.8 receptions per game
- Aaron Jones through his final five games as a Packer rushed for 127, 120, 111, 118 and 108 yards and scored 3 TDs on the ground against Dallas in the playoffs
- James Conner across his five final games in 2023 averaged 20.8 rushing attempts, 102.8 rushing yards, 4.92 yards per attempt, 1 rushing TD, 2.6 receptions, 0.4 receiving TD’s and 23.86 Fantasy Points
- Tyjae Spears as a rookie finished with a 52.9% snap share #9 in targets (70), #9 in receptions (52) and #6 in yards per touch (5.5) WITH Derrick Henry playing a full season
- Devin Singletary Weeks 10-18 ranked second in total rushing yards (689) and 9th in Fantasy Points scored during that nine game stretch
- Derrick Henry’s 100+ yard rushing games: 122 yards (Week 4), 101 yards (Week 8), 102 yards (Week 13) and 153 yards (Week 18)
- Following the Week 7 BYE, Joe Mixon (Weeks 8-18) scored the fourth most Fantasy Points (198) and averaged 18 PPG during this span
- Jaylen Warren finished seventh in yards per touch (5.5), #1 in juke rate, #5 in evaded tackles (67), #3 in breakaway run rate (8.1%) and #8 in breakaway runs (12)
- Zack Moss got hot Weeks 2-5 and finished games with 88, 122, 70 and 165 rushing yards that translated into 20.7, 22.5, 9 and 33.5 Fantasy Points
- Despite ranking 31st in opportunity share (52.5%), Bijan Robinson still finished 15th in rushing yards (976), 6th in receptions (58), 4th in receiving yards (487) and averaged 14.5 Fantasy PPG
- Despite playing 10 games w/ multiple QBs, Justin Jefferson surpassed 1,000 receiving (1,074) and only had 18 WRs finish with more
- CeeDee Lamb finished #1 in: targets (181), #1 in red zone targets (31), receptions (135), #1 in yards after the catch (680), #1 in total touchdowns (14), #1 in total route wins and #1 in Fantasy PPG (23.7)
- Amon-Ra St. Brown finished with nine games over 100 receiving yards despite ranking 85th in average depth of target (7.9)
- Despite ranking 65th in catchable target rate and 76th in target accuracy, Garrett Wilson finished #13 in receptions (95) and #22 in receiving yards (1,042)
- AJ Brown Weeks 3-8 finished with 127-175 in each of those weeks. During that stretch, AJ Brown had 831 receiving yards with the next leading wide receiver having 759 and the wide receiver after with 586
- Puka Nacua broke the rookie reception record with 105 and the rookie receiving yard record with 1,486. Puka also broke the rookie receiving yard record in a playoff game with 182
- When targeted 8+ times in 2023, Drake London finished with 18.7 Fantasy Points (Week 2), 14.7 Fantasy Points (Week 5), 21.5 Fantasy Points (Week 6), 29.2 Fantasy Points (Week 14) and 9.6 Fantasy Points (Week 17)
- Chris Olave ranked fourth in deep targets (32) and sixth in air yards (1,834) while finishing 17th in receiving yards (1,123)
- Brandon Aiyuk finished #3 in yards per route run (3.18), #2 in yards per target (12.8), and #2 in yards per reception (17.9) in a year he finished with a career-high in receiving yards (1,342 – #7)
- Tyreek Hill finished six games with 140+ receiving yards, three games with 160+ receiving yards, two games w/ 180+ receiving yards, and a season-high 215 yards in Week 1
- Jaylen Waddle finished #13 in yards per target (9.8) and averaged 72.4 receiving yards per his 14 games played
- DeVonta Smith finished four weeks w/ over 22 Fantasy Points as a Top 10 Fantasy WR in all of those games
- Nico Collins finished #1 in broken tackles on receptions (16), and also #1 in QB Rating when targeted (70+ target minimum) at 129.6
- Michael Pittman Jr. had a 100% route participation and finished fourth in target share (30.5%) totaling a career-high 156 targets
- In the two Ravens playoff games, Zay Flowers finished with four more targets (13 total), three more receptions (nine total) but 105 more receiving yards (156 total) than any other player on the roster
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba finished #21 in yards after the catch (366) despite finishing 36th in receptions (63)
- George Pickens spike receiving yard weeks: 127 (Week 2), 130 (Week 5), 107 (Week 7), 195 (Week 16), 131 (Week 17)
- During Tank Dell’s hot stretch from Weeks 9-12 he ranked third in receiving yards (369), first in touchdowns (5), third in total Fantasy Points (94.6) and averaged 23.7 Fantasy PPG during this four-game span
- Jayden Reed as a rookie for the Packers tied for #1 in targets per game (5.9), finished #1 in target share (17.9%), led in receiving yards (793), led in yards after the catch (335), led in total touchdowns (10) and led in Fantasy PPG (13.6)
- Deebo Samuel finished #9 in yards after catch (527), #12 in yards per route run (2.45), #10 in yards per target (10), and #2 in Fantasy Points per route run (0.67)
- Davante Adams finished #2 in targets (175), #2 in target share (33.1%), #3 in snap share (93.4%), and #3 in air yards (1,896)
- Rashee Rice ranked 3rd in yards after catch (654) and #7 in red zone targets (22) for the position
- Mike Evans finished #1 in deep targets (36), #1 in air yards (1,906), and #9 in receiving yards (1,255)
- Amari Cooper finished with a career-high 1,250 receiving yards, and a career-high 1,820 air yards and averaged the most Fantasy PPG (15.1) since 2019
- Trey McBride started playing 60%+ of the snaps in Weeks 8-18. During this span, McBride for TEs ranked: #3 in targets, #2 in receptions, #3 in receiving yards, #3 in Fantasy Points and averaged 15 Fantasy PPG
- Sam LaPorta broke the record for most receptions by a rookie tight end with 86. LaPorta finished with the fourth most receiving yards for a rookie tight end ever (889). TE1 overall for Fantasy as a rookie
- Despite having his lowest targets since 2016 and receiving yards since 2015, Travis Kelce still finished 1st in Fantasy PPG. 2023 was the eighth season in a row Kelce finished Top two in Fantasy PPG for the position
- Dalton Kincaid caught fire in Weeks 7-12 of his rookie season. During this six-game stretch, Kincaid ranked: #4 in targets, #2 in receptions, #5 in receiving yards, #3 in total Fantasy Points, and averaged 14.1 Fantasy PPG
- TJ Hockenson suffered his ACL tear in Week 16. Prior to that, in Weeks 1-15 Hock ranked: #1 in targets, #1 in receptions, #2 in receiving yards, #1 in Fantasy Points and averaged 14.9 Fantasy PPG
- Kyle Pitts finished the year #1 in air yards (1,012), #1 in average depth of target (11.4), and T#1 in deep targets (11)
- George Kittle was the only tight end to finish with over 1,000 receiving yards (1,020). This was Kittle’s 3rd season over that mark
- Evan Engram finished 2023 with career-highs in targets (143) and receptions (114) which also led all TEs. Engram’s 963 receiving yards was also a career-high and ranked #3
- In weeks 14-17, David Njoku produced 88 more receiving yards and 18.5 more Fantasy Points than any other TE. 123 targets, 81 receptions, 882 receiving yards and six TDs were all career-highs
- Jake Ferguson finished with 80 more targets (102), 52 more receptions (71), and 587 (761) more receiving yards in his 2nd NFL season. Ferg scored five TDs but earned the most red zone targets
- Luke Musgrave played 9 full games as a rookie and finished 4 of those games with 49, 50, 51 and 64 receiving yards
- Mark Andrews played full games in Weeks 2-10 and finished as a Top 3 Fantasy TE in 1/3 of those games. Andrews’ 14.6 Fantasy PPG during this stretch ranked #3
- Cade Otton through two Tampa Bay playoff games for the team ranked T#1 in targets (19), #1 in receptions (13), #2 in receiving yards (154) and scored a touchdown
- Jonnu Smith paired with Kyle Pitts still finished 2023 with career-highs in targets (69), receptions (50) and receiving yards (582)
- Dalton Schultz finished #10 in yards per route run (1.58) and #12 in yards per reception (10.8)
- Cole Kmet’s 91 targets ranked #8, and this was the second time across the last three seasons Kmet has earned over 90 targets
- Hunter Henry finished as a Top four Fantasy TE in his first two games, and last two games of the year. Henry ranked from 16.6-19.6 Fantasy Points in these weeks with boosts by touchdowns
**Data was pulled from playerprofiler, FantasyPros and also manually calculated by myself in Excel**
Got a few nuggets of your own? Drop some knowledge in the comments below and then make sure to check out our 2024 Fantasy Football Draft Kit for more great rankings and analysis.