NFL Quarter Century: The 25 best fantasy football players since 2000

Yahoo

12 hours ago

My friend and colleague Frank Schwab is one of the smartest NFL historians around, and he's knocked it out of the park of late with his NFL Quarter Century series. Now that we're 25 years into the fresh century, it's the perfect time for list-making and historical context.
And with Frank's blessing, I decided to join the fun. Today, I present to you my list of the Top 25* Fantasy Players of the Quarter Century.
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*(The list is actually 26 players, with one dual entry. Yeah, I cheat.)
My list will not be the same as your list, and that's part of the fun. How do we balance peak against longevity? Will I fall victim to recency bias, or do older players get a kick from nostalgia?
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There are no right answers to these things, of course, and the bottom line is fun. Have a blast with my final answers, and compare them to your own. Tell me what you'd do differently, I'm all ears on social media.
I leaned into basic scoring for my stat handling and data searches, for two reasons. One, the indispensable Pro-Football Reference.com doesn't have half-point PPR scoring as part of its search and history tabs, and heck, when Fantasy Football first kicked into gear in the 90s and into the fresh century, most leagues had never even heard of PPR. I can't ignore the shape of history. I also have to play ball with my stat provider.
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That's enough of the preamble. And away we go:
25. Tom Brady, QB: While Brady's GOAT status from regular NFL doesn't completely carry over to fantasy stuff — he was never dynamic as a runner — he obviously left his thumbprints all over the league. Brady has the most cumulative fantasy points of any player from the past 25 years, and he charted in the top 10 for 13 different seasons. Surprisingly, the 2007 season was Brady's only QB1 finish. But you can't compile historical lists like this and not mention his name.
24. Mike Evans, WR: For years, the concept was simple — ignore rookie wide receivers for fantasy purposes. The position is too complicated, the onboarding too overwhelming. Sure, a Randy Moss would pop once a generation, but that was the outlier.
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Then the rookie class of 2014 arrived and broke all the rules. Odell Beckham Jr. was the WR5 that year, and Evans (sparked by a dynamite second half) landed at WR10. Evans has been Mr. Consistency ever since, topping 1,000 receiving yards in 11 straight seasons and charting in the top 10 at the position eight different times. He was the WR1 in 2016.
23. Todd Gurley, RB: I almost didn't include Gurley on this list, as his career was just six years and he retired after his age-26 season. But Gurley was the No. 1 player in fantasy football for two consecutive years (2017, 2018) and that type of greatness needs to be recognized. They build Halls of Fame for Nirvana, not Huey Lewis and the News.
22. Drew Brees, QB: If Philip Rivers hadn't signed late in the summer of his rookie season, maybe we would never have discovered just how great Brees was. The Chargers were forced to give Brees the keys to the offense that year and it led to a nifty two-year breakout. Of course, the story really began to cook in New Orleans, where Brees was a top-six quarterback for 11 straight years (with two seasons at No. 1). Brees's accuracy, Sean Payton's schemes, perfect weather inside the dome, the New Orleans pinball machine was good to us.
21. Larry Johnson/Priest Holmes, RB: I'm going to blatantly cheat and tie both of these Kansas City backs together as their own entry; they were both comets, but the ride was worth it.
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For the peak of Holmes' career, he basically received his mail in the end zone, scoring 51 times from 2002 through 2003. And Johnson's detonation was absurd as well — for the final nine games of 2005, he racked up 1,627 total yards and 17 touchdowns — that would track to 3,073 total yards and 32 touchdowns in a full season. Johnson amazingly topped 2,000 total yards twice, but never had a third season over the 1,000 mark. His two peak seasons rank 13th and 15th on the running back seasonal board, working off basic scoring.
Everyone I know who had Johnson in 2005 won their league. That matters.
20. Calvin Johnson, WR: While Megatron certainly doesn't have to apologize for 83 career touchdowns over nine seasons, it always felt like he was tackled inside the 5-yard line more than anyone else. The Lions only made two playoff appearances during Johnson's career, but fantasy managers did much better, enjoying six top-10 wideout years, including two WR1s and a couple of WR3s.
19. Aaron Rodgers, QB: The last few years have been a circus, but Rodgers at peak was a fantasy carnival, charting as QB1 or QB2 in eight different seasons. Those four MVP seasons speak for themselves, even if J.J. Watt might have been the right pick in 2014. The Rodgers-to-Davante Adams hookup was pure poetry.
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18. Derrick Henry, RB: Power backs aren't supposed to age well, but Henry apparently missed that memo, rumbling for 5.9 yards per carry and a league-best 16 rushing touchdowns in his age-30 season. Maybe Henry benefited from the relatively light workload the Titans gave him for his first three seasons. He's been lugging the mail ever since, leading the league in carries four different times and grabbing an RB5 or better finish in five different seasons.
17. Larry Fitzgerald, WR: In this era of free agency and players constantly changing jerseys, let's hear it for Fitzgerald playing all 17 of his seasons for the Arizona Cardinals. Fitzgerald was a top-five fantasy wideout in five of his first nine seasons, a top-20 option in 10 different campaigns. He also scored the most collective wide receiver points over this era. Durability was also part of the story — Fitzgerald missed just 11 games in 17 years.
16. Peyton Manning, QB: I didn't want to have so many pocket passers on this list, but Manning's excellence and longevity have to be discussed. After a solid QB9 showing in his rookie year, Manning was QB6 or better in 15 seasons (losing the 2011 season to injury). The 2013 Broncos were probably the best fantasy team of all time, with Manning throwing 55 touchdown passes while five teammates (Demaryius Thomas, Knowshon Moreno, Julius Thomas, Eric Decker and Wes Welker) all scored double-digit touchdowns. Denver scored a league-record 606 points that glorious autumn.
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15. Shaun Alexander, RB: The Seahawks used to blast "Sweet Home Alabama" for every Alexander touchdown, a nod to Alexander's collegiate time with the Crimson Tide. As such, the Seahawks probably played that song more than Lynyrd Skynyrd ever did. Alexander lived in the end zone during his five-year peak (98 touchdowns over 80 games), including a slate-crushing 28 scores in 2005, his MVP season.
14. Rob Gronkowski, TE: It was remarkable what Gronkowski could do on modest volume — he only made it past 100 targets in four different seasons. But Gronk was made to dominate in the red zone, catching 92 touchdown passes on 960 career targets. Gronkowski topped the tight end board in four different seasons and was top six in another three seasons. Yo Soy Fiesta, indeed.
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13. Josh Allen, QB: Allen battled injuries and inconsistency in his rookie year, but he's been fantasy royalty ever since (QB6, QB1, QB1, QB2, QB1, QB2). His dynamic scrambling and power running at the goal line haven't cost him much time; Allen has only missed one start in the past six seasons. Last year's MVP was a nifty Allen trick — Buffalo didn't have a dynamic receiver on the roster (Khalil Shakir's 821 receiving yards led the team).
12. Marshall Faulk, RB: About half of his career comes before our survey window opens in 2000, but I can't leave this dual-threat weapon off this list. Faulk's 32.85 PPR points per game in 2000 (his MVP season) still rank first for the century, and his 2001 season (29.98 per-game average) ranks fourth. Faulk had three straight RB1 finishes in this frame before his career started to dip at age 29.
11. Lamar Jackson, QB: There have been mobile quarterbacks in every era of fantasy football — Randall Cunningham and Steve Young come to mind from an earlier time — but the Konami Code has especially been lethal in the past 25 years, with Jackson one of the ringleaders. His 2024 season of 430.4 standard points was the highest scoring year of all time — sure, the extra game helps — and his 2019 season charts fifth overall in this time period.
Jackson already has two MVPs in his back pocket and his season last year was even better than the MVP years — an 8.8 YPA is ridiculous, as is a touchdown rate of 8.6. Jackson averages 1,019 rushing yards for every 17 games played; there's simply no good way to defend this guy.
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10. Tyreek Hill, WR: I don't know how to handle Hill into the 2025 season — the Dolphins lost their deep-passing game last year — but even if Hill never plays another snap in the NFL, he's already left his mark on the fantasy landscape. He was the WR1 in 2018 and has four other finishes in the top four, a speed merchant who petrifies defenses on every snap. A wideout has topped 240 fantasy points (basic scoring) just 17 times over the past 25 years; Hill has done it in three seasons.
9. Christian McCaffrey, RB: Three different McCaffrey seasons have been wrecked by injury, and he's another tricky call entering the 2025 fantasy draft season. But there's no denying the upside that CMC always brings when healthy — his four best seasons grade out as RB1, RB1, RB2 and RB3. McCaffrey (four times) and Faulk (five times) are the only running backs to collect 100 or more targets in four different seasons.
8. Tony Gonzalez, TE: Some other tight ends had more fun in the red zone — Gonzalez had a modest three years with double-digit touchdowns — but Gonzo's volume and consistency wore down fantasy opponents. For the final 15 years of his career, he was TE8 or better in every season, with four TE1 finishes and 10 years in the top 10. Gonzalez was still humming in his late 30s, grading TE4, TE3, TE4 in his final three years before retiring at age 37.
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7. Marvin Harrison, WR: Harrison had a couple of solid years before Manning came to town, and then the story really took off. After one injury-riddled year, Harrison went on a binge: WR1, WR2, WR1, WR1, WR4, WR5, WR8, WR1, with double-digit touchdowns in each season. If your league had a PPR tint, you appreciated Harrison grabbing over 100 passes in four straight years, including an absurd 143 receptions in 2002.
6. Adrian Peterson, RB: Peterson was probably a better real-life player than fantasy one — he was never dynamic as a receiver, and while he scored plenty of touchdowns, he only made it past 13 total spikes in one season. His best fantasy season came in 2012 (307.4 points in basic scoring), and that's merely the 29th-best running back season over this survey. But his first eight healthy seasons (he missed most of 2014) were as consistent as it gets: RB4, RB4, RB2, RB2, RB8, RB1, RB8, RB2. He might be a first-ballot Hall of Famer when his window opens in 2027.
5. Antonio Brown, WR: The end of his career had a strange feel to it, but business was booming for Brown in his peak seasons. He was the top-scoring fantasy wideout for the 2010s (no matter if you prefer standard or PPR scoring) and had 100 or more catches in six straight seasons. Brown's glorious six-year peak reads like this: WR6, WR1, WR1, WR3, WR2, WR2. Why do the Steelers draft wide receivers better than everyone else, especially after the first round?
4. Terrell Owens, WR: Say whatever you want about TO, he always played his tail off between the lines and had an unquenchable thirst to score on every play. Owens did plenty of scoring, posting eight different seasons with double-digit touchdowns. Owens was a dominant player with his first three teams (Niners, Eagles, Cowboys) and still useful with Buffalo and Cincinnati in his late 30s.
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3. Travis Kelce, TE: A knee injury ruined Kelce's rookie year — he played just one game — but he quickly shook it off. Look at these finishes from 2014 to present: TE8, TE 7, TE1, TE2, TE1, TE1, TE1, TE2, TE1, TE3, TE10. Kelce's been notably durable, missing only six games over the past 11 seasons.
2. Randy Moss, WR: Imagine if Moss played more of his career with better quarterbacks — the only Hall of Famers to throw Moss a touchdown were Tom Brady (39 times) and Brett Favre (twice). Moss spent much of his career making good quarterbacks look great — Daunte Culpepper comes to mind. Moss led the league in touchdown catches five times — including the silly 23 spikes in his New England debut — and was a top-five fantasy wideout in eight seasons, including four finishes at WR1.
1. LaDainian Tomlinson, RB: I agonized over this list and handed it to the editors with some anxiety — you always worry about an oversight or a call you'll regret later. But when the idea for this article was born, I knew Tomlinson would be the top pick.
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LT did everything we want from our fantasy backs — he ran the ball, caught the ball, scored bushels of touchdowns and stayed healthy. He was also good right out of the chute, throwing a RB7, RB3, RB2, RB3, RB3, RB1, RB1 and RB6 line at the league in his first eight seasons. His 2006 masterpiece (31 touchdowns, 2,323 total yards, rushing title, league MVP) easily remains the highest-scoring running back season of all time, no matter your scoring preference.
LaDainian Tomlinson, man. One-of-one.
Honorable Mention (in no particular order; I swear there's not an anti-Eagles bias): Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts, George Kittle, LeSean McCoy, Antonio Gates, Frank Gore, Saquon Barkley, Davante Adams, Julio Jones, Steve Smith, Andre Johnson, Arian Foster, Cam Newton, Le'Veon Bell. And I know you can add to this list (please do).