With 2020 in the rearview mirror, SI Fantasy insider Michael Fabiano dug up 101 fun facts from one of the most bizarre and interesting fantasy seasons of all-time
There are more lifeforms living on your skin than there are people living on the planet Earth. O.J. Simpson was discussed to play the role of the "Terminator," but creator James Cameron shot down the idea. All the clocks in the Quentin Tarantino classic "Pulp Fiction" are stuck at 4:20. A hummingbird weight less than a penny. Donald Duck comics were banned in Finland because he doesn't wear pants. The New York Yankees have won as many World Series as the next four closet teams combined. In the 1980s, Fergie of The Black Eyed Peas was the voice of Sally, Charlie Brown's sister, in the Peanuts comics.
Those are a few interesting facts you might not know.
Now for something you’ll find even more interesting. Here are your 101 fantasy football fun facts from what was a very different 2020 NFL season.
QUARTERBACKS
1. Josh Allen finished as the No. 1 quarterback in fantasy football, scoring 396.1 fantasy points. It’s the fifth-most points ever scored by a quarterback in a single season during the Super Bowl era (1966-present).
2. The lone quarterbacks to score more fantasy points in a single season than Allen are Patrick Mahomes (417.1) in 2018, Lamar Jackson (415.7) in 2019, Peyton Manning (409.9) in 2013 and Aaron Rodgers (397.4) in 2011.
3. Lamar Jackson finished 10th in fantasy points among quarterbacks, and his 22.2 points-per-game average was 5.5 fewer than he recorded in 2019. On a positive note, Jackson rushed for 1,005 yards and become the first quarterback ever to rush for 1,000 yards in multiple seasons.
4. The lone other signal-caller with 1,000-plus rushing yards in a single NFL season is Michael Vick, who hit the mark with the Falcons in 2006.
5. Dak Prescott missed most of the season after suffering a gruesome leg break in Week 5. Before he went down, Prescott was on pace for a ridiculous 5,939 passing yards, 38.4 total touchdowns and 434.1 points.
6. That 434.1 fantasy points would have been the most scored by a quarterback in a single season in the history of the National Football League.
7. Deshaun Watson finished with career bests in passing yards (4,823), touchdown passes (33), total touchdowns (36), yards per attempt (8.9), completion percentage (70.2), and fantasy points (369.3). He did it without DeAndre Hopkins (trade) for the entire season, and without Will Fuller (suspension) for five games.
8. Russell Wilson was an absolute fantasy monster in his first eight games of the 2020 season, throwing for over 2,500 yards while scoring 29 touchdowns and an average of 28.5 fantasy points per game.
9. Wilson would go on to throw for just 1,671 yards in the final eight games, scoring a combined 13 touchdowns and averaging just 16.5 fantasy points. During that time, Wilson was barely a No. 1 fantasy quarterback (QB12).
10. Ryan Tannehill finished the regular season ranked seventh in fantasy points among quarterbacks. Since Week 7 of the 2019 campaign, he has scored 19-plus fantasy points 16 times (24 games) and averaged 23.5 points a game.
11. Tom Brady broke every fantasy record in the book for a 43-year-old player this past season, finishing with 4,633 passing yards, 43 total touchdowns and 337.9 fantasy points. Brady also broke Jerry Rice’s record for the most career fantasy points when he scored his 5,141.9th point earlier in the season.
12. Brady’s arm strength was in question entering his age-43 season, but he still finished third among quarterbacks with 63 plays of 20-plus yards through the air. Only Deshaun Watson (69) and Patrick Mahomes (67) had more.
13. Justin Herbert (22 years, 299 days old) became the youngest quarterback ever to throw 30 touchdown passes in a single season. He broke Lamar Jackson’s record, which was 30 touchdowns at 22 years and 339 days old (2019).
14. Herbert, who ranked ninth in fantasy points among quarterbacks, ranked second all-time in passing yards (4,336) among rookies, first in touchdown passes (31), and second in fantasy points (332.8).
15. Kirk Cousins (nine games) ranked an unimpressive 21st in fantasy points among quarterbacks with an average of just 15.7 points in the first 11 weeks. Over his final seven games, he finished fourth in points among quarterbacks and averaged 23.6 points.
16. In Baker Mayfield’s first seven games played with wideout Odell Beckham Jr., he averaged 199 passing yards and scored 16-plus fantasy points in a game once.
17. In Mayfield’s final nine games, all played without OBJ, he averaged 241 passing yards and scored 16-plus points five times. That includes a four-game stretch where he put up an average of nearly 25 fantasy points.
18. Cam Newton scored a combined 60.3 fantasy points in his first two games. He would go on to score fewer than 17 fantasy points in seven of his final 13 games and finished 15th in points among quarterbacks.
19. Newton’s 12 rushing touchdowns tied Steve Grogan for the second-most among quarterbacks in a single season since 1966. Newton holds the record for the most rushing touchdowns from a quarterback (14 in 2011), and he has three of the top six best rushing touchdown performances all time.
20. Newton’s eight touchdown passes is tied for the fourth-fewest in a single season among quarterbacks with at least 368 pass attempts in the Super Bowl era. Only Trent Dilfer (4) in 1995, Tony Banks (7) in 1998 and Browning Nagle (7) in 1992 had fewer touchdown passes in a single season.
21. Newton was blitzed 44.8 percent of the time this past season. That was the most any starting quarterback with 12-plus games was blitzed.
22. Taysom Hill was the starting quarterback for the Saints in four games (Week 11-14). During that time, he averaged 21.1 fantasy points per game and ranked as the No. 7 fantasy quarterback.
23. Hill rushed for 209 yards in that time, which ranked second among quarterbacks behind Lamar Jackson. Projected over a full season, Hill would have finished with 836 yards on the ground. That would have ranked him second among quarterbacks behind Jackson (1,005 yards) and ahead of Kyler Murray (819 yards).
24. Jalen Hurts started (and finished) three games for the Eagles, during which time he averaged 79.3 rushing yards and 25.2 fantasy points.
25. Projected over a full 16-game season, Hurts would have finished with over 400 fantasy points and over 1,200 rushing yards.
RUNNING BACKS
26. Christian McCaffrey missed all but three games this season, but he did average 30.1 fantasy points. In his last 19 games dating back to 2019, McCaffrey has scored 20-plus points 17 times including eight games with more than 30 points.
27. Alvin Kamara led all running backs with 377.8 fantasy points, which was 50 more than the No. 2 runner, Dalvin Cook. He averaged 25.2 fantasy points per game and scored 20-plus fantasy points in nine of his 15 games.
28. In the four games where Taysom Hill started at quarterback for the Saints, Kamara had just 16 targets, 10 catches and averaged 14.2 fantasy points.
29. Running backs who averaged around 14.2 fantasy points this season included Miles Sanders, Antonio Gibson, D’Andre Swift and David Johnson. None of those backs finished higher than 13th in points at the position.
30. Derrick Henry became the eighth running back to ever rush for 2,000-plus yards in a single season. His 2,027 yards on the ground is the fifth-most ever recorded, and his 333.1 fantasy points ranked him third among all running backs.
31. All seven running backs who previously rushed for over 2,000 yards experienced no less than a 562-yard decline in rushing yards, no less than a 578-yard decline in scrimmage yards, and no less than a 99.4-point decline in points the following year.
32. The average decline in rushing yards among the previous seven 2,000-yarders who played at least 12 games is 807, and the average decline in fantasy points is an eye-popping 120.6.
33. David Montgomery scored 110.4 fantasy points and averaged 12.3 points in his first nine games of the season. He averaged 3.6 yards per rush attempt and ranked 14th in total points among running backs.
34. During that stretch, Montgomery faced just four teams that finished in the top 11 in terms of allowing the most fantasy points to running backs. The other five teams allowed no less than the 20th-fewest points to the position.
35. Over his final six games, Montgomery scored 154.4 fantasy points and averaged 25.7 points. He averaged 5.2 yards per rush attempt and ranked third in total points among running backs in that time.
36. During that stretch, Montgomery’s six opponents were all in the top six in terms of allowing the most fantasy points to running backs. That includes the Lions (1st), Texans (2nd), Jaguars (3rd), Packers twice (5th) and Vikings (6th).
37. In his first nine games in the NFL, Jonathan Taylor averaged 15 touches, 11.9 fantasy points and wasn’t even a top-20 fantasy running back.
38. Over his final six games, Taylor averaged 22.3 touches and 24.3 fantasy points and ranked as the third-best running back in fantasy football.
39. According to the Fantasy Football World Championships average draft position data, James Robinson was the 46th running back drafted (112.1) in 2020. He went behind the likes of Sony Michel, Chris Thompson, Alexander Mattison, Boston Scott, Chase Edmonds, Latavius Murray, Matt Breida and Jordan Howard.
40. Robinson would go on to finish seventh in fantasy points among running backs, averaging 17.9 points per game. His 250.4 points were just nine fewer points than the running back he replaced in Jacksonville, Leonard Fournette, in 2019.
41. Nick Chubb finished the season 11th in fantasy points among running backs, scoring 207.7 points while averaging 17.3 points in 12 games.
42. Had Chubb been able to play in all 16 games, he would have projected to rush for over 1,400 yards with 16 total touchdowns. His 17.3 point-per-game average would have equated to 276.8 points over a full season, which would have been good enough to finish fourth among running backs.
43. Ezekiel Elliott averaged 22.3 fantasy points and was the No. 3 running back in five games started by Dak Prescott. That point total, projected over a full season, would have Elliott finish with an impressive 356.8 fantasy points.
44. In the 10 games Elliott played without Prescott, he averaged 11.2 fantasy points and ranked 24th among running backs. That’s an 11.1 point-per-game decline.
45. J.D. McKissic led all running backs with 110 targets. Since 2000, just six backs have had more targets in a single season: Christian McCaffrey (2017-2019), Darren Sproles (2011), Matt Forte (2014), David Johnson (2016), Saquon Barkley (2018) and James White (2018).
46. In his first six games, Clyde Edwards-Helaire averaged 21.3 touches and nearly 16 fantasy points per game. He was also on pace to rush for over 1,300 yards and produce more than 1,800 scrimmage yards.
47. In his final seven games with Le’Veon Bell on the Chiefs roster, Edwards-Helaire averaged 12.7 touches and 11.5 fantasy points per game.
48. Cam Akers averaged a meager 5.1 points on 6.9 touches per game in his first nine NFL contests. During that time, he ranked 66th in points among running backs.
49. In his final seven games, including the playoffs, Akers averaged 21.7 touches and 16.3 fantasy points. His 114.2 combined fantasy points during that time was good enough for him to finish seventh among running backs.
50. Todd Gurley averaged 19.3 touches, scored nine touchdowns and ranked sixth in fantasy points among running backs over his first nine games. During that time, Gurley also led the entire position in red-zone looks (41).
51. In his final six games, Gurley averaged 7.7 touches, scored zero touchdowns and ranked 70th in fantasy points among running backs. He saw just 11 red-zone looks in that time, which ranked tied for 41st among runners.
52. Since 2018, Kenyan Drake has averaged 12.4 fantasy points in Weeks 1-9 (23 games). During those contests, Drake has scored 10 touchdowns.
53. Since 2018, Drake has averaged 14.9 fantasy points in Weeks 10-17 (22 games). During those contests, Drake has scored 17 touchdowns.
54. J.K. Dobbins led all running backs with at least 200 carries in yards per rushing attempt (6.0). He also tied for third among running backs with eight carries of 20-plus yards. The other back was his teammate, Gus Edwards.
55. Ronald Jones produced 59.7 percent of his rushing yards after contact. That is the highest percentage of any running back with at least 190 carries.
WIDE RECEIVERS
56. Davante Adams led all wide receivers with 358.4 fantasy points. He finished with 18 touchdowns catches, which is tied with Mark Clayton (1984) and Sterling Sharpe (1994) for the third-most recorded in a single season at the position during the Super Bowl era.
57. The most touchdown catches in a single season at the wide receiver position since 1966 came in 2007, when Randy Moss scored 23 times for the Patriots.
58. Tyreek Hill scored 17 total touchdowns and finished second in fantasy points among wide receivers in 2020. Adams and Hill are just the second pair of wideouts to score 17 or more total touchdowns in the same season in the Super Bowl era.
59. Carl Pickens and Cris Carter were the first duo of wideouts to score at least 17 times in the same season. They scored 17 touchdowns apiece back in 1995.
60. Hill’s 57.9 fantasy points against the Buccaneers in Week 12 were the most scored by a wide receiver in a single game this season. It’s also the most points scored in a single game at the position since 2000.
61. Since 1966, just four wide receivers have scored more fantasy points than Hill in a single game. Jerry Rice had 65.6 points against the Falcons in 1990 and 59.9 points against the Vikings in 1995, Jimmy Smith had 62.1 points against the Ravens in 2000, Jerry Butler had 60.7 points against the Jets in 1979 and Steve Largent had 59.1 points against the Lions in 1987.
62. Stefon Diggs finished third in fantasy points among wideouts, scoring a career-best 328.6 points on the strength of a league-high 127 catches and 1,535 yards.
63. Diggs’ 328.6 fantasy points are the most scored by a Bills wide receiver during the Super Bowl era, breaking the previous record of 289.9 points set by Eric Moulds in 2002. Diggs is also the first Buffalo wideout ever to league the league in receiving yards.
64. Justin Jefferson scored an impressive 274.2 fantasy points as a rookie. That was good enough to finish fourth-best among rookie receivers in the Super Bowl era (1966-present), behind Randy Moss (1998 - 304.7 points), Odell Beckham Jr. (2014 - 295 points) and Anquan Boldin (2003 – 295 points).
65. Jefferson’s 1,400 receiving yards are the most in a single season by a rookie wideout in NFL history. He broke the previous record of 1,377 yards, which was set by Anquan Boldin during his rookie season in Arizona (2003).
66. Jefferson was the sixth-best fantasy wide receiver during the season, averaging 17.1 points on nearly eight targets per game.
67. Jefferson saw a mere six targets in his first two games with the Vikings, during which time he scored a combined 12 points. From Week 3 to Week 17, he averaged 18.7 points on 8.5 targets and was the fourth-best fantasy wideout.
68. CeeDee Lamb finished as the WR22 with 217.7 fantasy points. That total was good enough to rank 18th-best among rookie wide receivers in the Super Bowl era.
69. Lamb averaged 17.1 fantasy points in his first five games, all with Dak Prescott as the Cowboys starting quarterback. Based on that total, Lamb was on pace to finish with 273.6 fantasy points in 16 games. That would have been just 0.6 fewer fantasy points than Jefferson.
70. In 11 games without Prescott, Lamb was the WR35 and averaged just 12 points.
71. Jefferson, Lamb, Chase Claypool and Tee Higgins all finished their rookie years with 190-plus fantasy points. That’s the second-most rookie wideouts to hit the mark in the same season since 2000, and it’s the most rookie wideouts to score 190-plus points since 2014.
72. Odell Beckham Jr. (295) points), Mike Evans (245.1), Kelvin Benjamin (202.2), Jordan Matthews (198) and Sammy Watkins (198) all scored 190-plus points in 2014.
73. Claypool’s 11 total touchdowns is tied with Mike Williams (2010) for the fifth-most from a rookie wide receiver in a single season in the Super Bowl era. Randy Moss (1998 – 17), John Jefferson (1978 – 13), OBJ (2014 – 12) and Mike Evans (2014 – 12) are the lone rookie wideouts to score more.
74. Tyler Lockett finished the season eighth among wideouts with 265.4 fantasy points. He also produced the second-most points in a single game with 15 catches, 200 yards, three touchdowns and 53 points against the Cardinals.
75. Lockett’s 53 points that week made up 20 percent of his total points for the season. What’s more, 42 percent of his 265.4 fantasy points came in just four games, one of which was in Week 17 after most fantasy leagues had ended.
76. Lockett failed to score more than 12.3 fantasy points in 10 of 16 games (62.5 percent). He was held to single-digit points in seven of 16 games (43.7 percent).
77. Keenan Allen finished the season 13th in fantasy points among wide receivers, but he was seventh at the position in terms of his points per game average (17.5).
78. Allen was even better in the 13 games he played with Justin Herbert, ranking fifth in fantasy points per game average (18.3) while leading all wideouts in targets per game (10.7).
79. Diontae Johnson ranked sixth in targets (144) among wide receivers, but his 61.5 receiving yards-per-game average was the fewest at the position among players with at least 129 targets.
80. Johnson scored a combined 65.2 fantasy points in six games (10.9 PPG) in the first eight weeks of the season. That point total ranked him 60th among wideouts.
81. In his final nine games of the season, Johnson scored 156.6 fantasy points and averaged 17.4 points. That ranked him sixth at the position behind Davante Adams, Stefon Diggs, Tyreek Hill, Justin Jefferson and Marvin Jones Jr.
82. Brandon Aiyuk finished his rookie season ranked 35th among wide receivers in fantasy points, but he averaged eight targets and five catches a game.
83. In Weeks 7-15, Aiyuk played six games and averaged 20.8 fantasy points. That was the third-most among wideouts, behind Tyreek Hill and Davante Adams. Aiyuk scored 17-plus points in every game and he led all wideouts in average targets per contest (11.5) in that time.
84. Curtis Samuel averaged 4.6 targets and 8.7 fantasy points per game over the first six weeks of the season. During that time, he was the WR70 based on points.
85. Over his final 10 games, Samuel averaged 7.4 targets and 16.9 fantasy points. His 168.5 points were good enough to rank as the No. 12 wide receiver in that time.
TIGHT ENDS
86. Travis Kelce finished as the top tight end in fantasy land for the fifth straight season, scoring a career-best 312.8 points. It’s the second-most points scored by a tight end in a single season, behind only Rob Gronkowski’s 330.9 points in 2011.
87. Kelce’s 1,416 receiving yards set a new NFL record at the position, and his 105 catches ranked as the fourth-most overall for a tight end in a single season.
88. Darren Waller’s 278.6 fantasy points ranked eighth all-time in a single season at the tight end position. His 107 catches is the third-most among tight ends, behind only Zach Ertz (2018 – 116 catches) and Jason Witten (2012 – 110 catches).
89. George Kittle missed eight games this past season due to an injured foot. In the eight games he was active, he averaged 7.9 targets, 79.3 yards and 15.6 fantasy points.
90. Over a full season, Kittle would have projected to finish with 96 catches, 1,284 yards and 250.2 fantasy points.
91. Those totals would have bested Kittle’s impressive 2019 campaign, when he put up 85 catches, 1,053 yards and 222.5 fantasy points in 14 games.
92. According to the Fantasy Football World Championships average draft position data, Robert Tonyan wasn’t selected in most 2020 drafts. He went on to finish fourth in points among tight ends, and his 11 touchdown catches tied Travis Kelce for the league lead at the position.
93. Tonyan’s 11 touchdown catches tied him for the 15th-most in a single season among tight ends during the Super Bowl era. It also tied for the Packers franchise record, which had previously been held by Paul Coffman (1983).
94. Logan Thomas averaged 5.6 targets and three catches over his first 10 games. His 79 fantasy points in that time ranked him 17th among tight ends.
95. In his final six games, Thomas averaged nine targets and seven catches. His 97.6 fantasy points in that time ranked Thomas third among tight ends.
96. Mike Gesicki had 30 targets, 18 catches and averaged 9.7 fantasy points in his first six games of the season, all with Ryan Fitzpatrick under center.
97. In his final four games of the season, all with Tua Tagovailoa as the starter, Gesicki had 34 targets and averaged 16.6 fantasy points.
98. Rob Gronkowski averaged four targets and 5.2 fantasy points over his first five games of the season. During that time, he scored more than 8.2 points once.
99. In his next 10 games, Gronkowski averaged 5.3 targets and 11.8 fantasy points. During that time, he scored more than 13 fantasy points six times.
100. Gronkowski’s 149.3 fantasy points in 2020 is the second fewest he’s had in a single season when he’s played in at least 11 games. His 623 yards is also the second fewest he’s had in single season where he played at least 11 games.
101. Over the final four weeks of the season, Irv Smith Jr. had 15 catches for 183 yards, three touchdowns and 51.3 fantasy points. That was good for the fourth-most points scored at the tight end position in that time.
Michael Fabiano is an award-winning fantasy football analyst on Sports Illustrated and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) Hall of Fame. You can follow Michael on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram for all of the latest breaking fantasy football news and the best analysis in the business!
