As the NFL season ends, so does another football season, the fantasy football season. This season, just like the real NFL season, has been a wild one with lots of unexpected players playing better than expected, playing worse than expected, and getting injured.
If you don’t know how fantasy football works, I’ll briefly explain it to you. Fantasy football is a game where you draft real-life players and then get points based on their real-life stats. Every week you have to set your lineups, which is picking who you want to start that week based on several factors.
During this season there were lots of breakouts such as Sam Laporta, Rachaad White, Isaiah Pacheco, Devon Achane, and Tank Dell. However, the biggest had to be Puca Nacua.
“Don’t be surprised if he’s a borderline 1st round pick in 2024. He’s that dude,” said Hayden Winks, writer for Underdog Fantasy, to sum up Puca Nacua.
There were also some major busts this year. The biggest by far was Austin Ekler, who in some leagues was the first overall pick, and finished the year as the 25-best running back. Some other disappointing early-rounders were Stefon Diggs, Bijan Robinson, Tony Pollard, Travis Kelce, and Cooper Kupp. Some later-rounders who were disappointed were Dameon Pierce, Alexander Mattison, Jaylen Waddle, and Patrick Mahomes.
This year, lots of great players started their year on the waiver wire in most leagues. Some of them were Raheem Mostert, who ended the year as the 3rd best running back, Sam Laporta, the best tight end, Kyren Williams and Rachaad White who respectively finished as the RB’s 5 and 6, and Puca Nacua as the WR #5.
Unfortunately, lots of key players got injured. The two biggest injuries were Justin Jefferson’s Hamstring injury and Nick Chubb’s torn ACL. Jefferson returned in week 14 and was back to his old self, while Chubb was out for the rest of the year. Other key injuries were to the many quarterbacks, such as Joe Burrow, Kirk Cousins, Justin Herbert, and Aaron Rodgers. Some other key players who got hurt were Mark Andrews, Tank Dell, and Devon Achane.
During this year’s fantasy playoffs (Usually weeks 15-17) there were lots of league winners. The biggest league winners for the playoffs were Ceedee Lamb, Lamar Jackson, Kyren William, Puca Nacua, and Josh Allen.
In conclusion, this year was a crazy year for fantasy football because of all of the chaos of real-life football. Next year, you should try playing fantasy football since it is an amazing and fun experience for friends and family alike.
