ESPN Fantasy
Jan 10, 2025, 06:50 AM ET
As we reflect upon the 2024 fantasy football season, we are asking our ESPN Fantasy writers to answer a few questions.
Whether your fantasy season ended with a championship or you took up residency in the league basement, there's at least one decision you are proud of. Nine of our writers -- Stephania Bell, Matt Bowen, Mike Clay, Tristan H. Cockcroft, Daniel Dopp, Eric Karabell, Liz Loza, Eric Moody and Field Yates -- are here to share theirs.
What is the best move/decision you made this fantasy season?
Loza: Believing in Brian Thomas Jr.
I was staunch in my belief that Thomas would have success in Jacksonville and deliver on his ROI as a result. Thomas was drafted 113th overall behind a number of rookies not named Marvin Harrison Jr. or Malik Nabers. With first-round NFL pedigree, elite measurables and given the 136 looks vacated by Calvin Ridley's exit, BTJ presented incredible value. He closed out his rookie campaign as fantasy's WR4 overall. The former LSU product demonstrated a sky-high ceiling, averaging 19.3 fantasy points per game with backup Mac Jones under center from Weeks 10 through 18.
Cockcroft: Getting every Chase Brown share I could
This was much easier to do prior to Sept. 1, as his ADP jumped three rounds in the week leading into Week 1's Thursday kickoff. Beginning with his Week 4 breakthrough game, he was the No. 6-scoring running back, and following Zack Moss' season-ending injury in Week 8, Brown scored the fourth-most points at the position.
Bowen: Picking up Jonnu Smith
I picked up the Dolphins tight end heading into the Week 11 game against the Raiders. Just a hunch, really, based on how he was being deployed in Mike McDaniel's offense as a move target with catch-and-run traits. That meant more high-percentage throws. Smith then dropped 28.1 points on the Vegas defense, and scored 18.6 PPG from Weeks 11 through 18, with at least one touchdown grab in six of eight games played.
Moody: Targeting Joe Burrow and/or Ja'Marr Chase in my drafts
Many of the players I highlighted in my "favorite players to target in drafts" column in early August delivered strong performances this season. Two standouts were Burrow and Chase. I tried to leave every league with at least one of them on my roster, and it paid off. An impressive 21.5% of teams that won their ESPN league championship matchup had Chase on their roster. He averaged 23.7 fantasy points per game this season, second only to Lamar Jackson. Even more remarkable, he had three games where he scored more than 40 points.
Clay: Fading Anthony Richardson
Targeting high-pedigree players is often a great strategy, but there's a line where the cost outweighs the potential. Richardson's upside was apparent, but there was a ton of risk for a player with minimal experience and questionable passing ability. Fading Richardson at cost and instead targeting more of a sure thing (Jackson, Burrow, etc.) or a player with a similar skill set who was available substantially later in drafts (Jayden Daniels) was the right call.
Karabell: Investing in Baker Mayfield and the skill players surrounding him
There was reason to believe Mayfield could improve in his second season with the Buccaneers, and he didn't let fantasy managers down. He improved by roughly five fantasy points per game from his surprising 2023 campaign, and his top options followed suit. At WR, Mike Evans thrived yet again and Chris Godwin averaged 19.7 points per game before suffering a knee injury. Bucky Irving and Rachaad White coexisted and produced as RB2 options, and even TE Cade Otton aided us. This gift didn't stop giving.
Yates: Predicting Brock Bowers' breakout, Kyle Pitts' bust
My preseason predictions at tight end look good now, as I had Bowers as my breakout and Pitts as my bust. Bowers went on to set the NFL record for most receptions by a rookie and most receiving yards by a rookie tight end. He led the position in fantasy points. Pitts, meanwhile, had seven games with 3.5 fantasy points or fewer and was a virtual nonfactor for much of the second half of the season. In seven games from Weeks 9 through 16, he averaged 3.49 fantasy points per game.
Dopp: Drafting J.K. Dobbins in the 11th round in most of my leagues
This paid off in a major way. After tearing his ACL and LCL in 2021, and then tearing his Achilles in 2023, Dobbins had fallen off fantasy draft radars by the summer of 2024. Instead of passing on Dobbins like many did, I decided to take a different approach. Knowing his cost was only an 11th-to-13rd-round pick, I took a flyer on the talented and still young running back in a run-heavy offense under new head coach Jim Harbaugh. Dobbins turned into a super-useful RB2 for every single one of my squads as he finished 18th among RBs in fantasy points per game (14.8).
Bell: Finding value in my second running backs
Aaron Jones, James Conner and Zack Moss/Chase Brown were solid fantasy RB2s who had starting roles on their respective teams, giving them enough volume to make them consistently valuable. One of the biggest roster threats is an injury at the most oft-injured position, which makes midround RB selection critical to sustaining fantasy success.
