The fantasy football season is over, which means it's Awards SZN before we get to the NFL Playoffs, the NFL offseason, and of course the NFL Draft on the YouTube channel. We'll use a lot of best ball data today to walk through some narratives that explain what we just witnessed for 17 chaotic weeks. As always, this is all half PPR.

2025 Fantasy Football Recap

This chart shows the Underdog Fantasy average draft position (ADP) on the bottom and the half PPR fantasy points over replacement (FPOR) on the left side. FPOR uses weekly fantasy scoring and only counts the fantasy points scored above the replacement-level player at his position. That means the QB12, RB30, WR38, and TE16 by using Underdog's 1QB-2RB-3WR-1TE-1FLEX system. It's the cleanest way to compare value across positions. My takeaways:

1. Early RBs dominated (again). I've written about this so many times and then YouTubed about it even more, but most drafters still don't understand how important RBs are compared to WRs in half PPR best ball. This is true for flex output, but it's also true in separation scores in the beginning rounds. RB's haven't been drafted as highly since there was a great Zero RB season a few simulations ago, but at some point they deserve to climb in ADP again.

2. Early QBs busted. This one was largely due to injuries, but those injuries did happen to the more injury-prone QBs like Jayden Daniels, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, and Kyler Murray. Even if they had their normal seasons, however, the emergence of a strong Statue QB Class would've made them -EV selections still. Drake Maye, Dak Prescott, Trevor Lawrence, and Matthew Stafford had great coaching and some offseason acquisitions to help them close the gap from Elite QB1s to the Great QB1s. Josh Allen absolutely deserves a Round 3 ADP again, but the gap between everyone else should be closed and likely be littered in Rounds 4-8 next year.

3. Old RBs can win ambiguous backfields. It felt like every best ball podcast was about the Jaguars, Cowboys, Bears, and Patriots backfields, and for correct reasons. Those offenses felt stable with upside (all very true), but they didn't have proven winners per consensus. Each had a rookie with plenty of hype and a veteran without it. TreVeyon Henderson, Bhayshul Tuten, and Kyle Monangai had moments (Jaydon Blue didn't), but the best picks were easily Travis Etienne, Javonte Williams, D'Andre Swift, and then Rhamondre Stevenson in Week 17. If every thinks boomers are wrong and this is a peer-vs-peer game, then maybe being the contrarian is sharp. Boomer it up.

4. A "WR Dead Zone" emerges in Rounds 7-13. After 1st-round rookie WR Emeka Egbuka, there was a stretch in this range where only 2 receivers (Pittman, Doubs) out of 23 added more than 35 fantasy points over replacement across the entire season. The player archetype largely includes the worst team WR2s in the NFL and then 2nd-round rookies without a clear-and-obvious path to playing time. Is that surprising that they aren't as valuable as low-end fantasy QB1s or rookie RBs or committee RBs in some of the better offenses? It's not.

5. Late-Round TE is alive. This does not take away from what (my boy) Trey McBride did in Round 3. He set the single-season receptions record at the position after all. It's just that in best ball, they are simply great picks in the double digit rounds. From 120th overall and on, the average TE added more fantasy points over replacement than QB, WR, or even RB. That was Tucker Kraft, Kyle Pitts, Dallas Goedert, Jake Ferguson, Hunter Henry, and others. Were any of them at risk of losing their jobs? Did any of them look like they were on bad teams? If the answer to both questions are no, then they should be priced like many of the team WR2s around 100th overall. In fact, because the NFL has pivoted to more heavy personnel, there were more TEs hitting flex spots in 2025 than in previous years. Adjust. I think a 3-TE build is essentially a requirement, even if it's on a Trey McBride team.

6. 3-5-7-3 is my favorite structure by far. My best teams were double or triple early RB teams with another 1-2 RBs inside the top-150 picks. If 3 of them hit, there's really never a need for a 6th RB. Until the RB prices go back up, I think I'll be living here and will even mix in 4-RB teams. So where do the extra resources get spent? I think having 3 QBs makes sense for correlation purposes, especially the way the playoff format is orchestrated and how important their scores are if you have 1 injury at the position during the regular season. For example, I'd like to survive my Joe Burrow teams. I also think 3 TEs makes sense because they are now adding points to the flex at higher clips than the RBs and WRs around them, even without a true crazy breakout this year. That leaves just 6 WRs, which I'm fine with. We overrate the importance of the position in half PPR best ball, and it's a position that with my last couple picks can be largely tied to the correlation of the rest of my team, especially with my other 3 QBs. Of course, we'll need 2ish early WRs no matter what, but this feels right every time I think about it. The 2025 results are another data point to that.

2025 Fantasy Football Awards

• Fantasy Entire Season MVP: Christian McCaffrey. Despite being the best fantasy asset of the decade, CMC was only a back-half of Round 1 selection in most leagues. Scared to compete. As usual, CMC was a workhorse on an elite offense, and it led to the most points added to best ball rosters (12.4 per game) according to Spike Week. The 49ers had the easiest schedule before the season started, and CMC was healthy in camp. His injury odds were high because he touches the rock at an elite clip, but it wasn't higher than the guys being drafted around him. If you think you can predict injuries for currently healthy players, you're likely thinking too highly of yourself. And anyways, isn't fantasy football about coming in 1st place?

• Fantasy Regular Season MVP: Jonathan Taylor. In Weeks 1-13 before Daniel Jones' torn achilles, Taylor had a fantasy-best 23.3 half PPR points per game. That narrowly was ahead of CMC, but Taylor was the 21st overall pick on Underdog Fantasy as the RB10. The QB upgrade was all it took for Taylor to show off his Hall of Fame ability, something that was flashing late in 2024 when he finished with over 100 rushing yards per game. The Colts were feisty with Philip Rivers, but the OL also fell apart late in the year and Taylor stalled in the playoffs. Still, over 50% of teams with Taylor were in 1st- or 2nd-place on Underdog Fantasy. He got us to the dance and often with a Week 15 bye, too.

• Fantasy Playoffs MVP: Derrick Henry. To quote my GOAT Evan Silva: "It's starting to get a little chilly out. It hurts to tackle Derrick Henry when it's chilly. Defenders start thinking about their families right around Thanksgiving. It's the holidays. This is the time for Derrick Henry." And boy was that true in Week 17. All best ball tournaments were settled by who snuck the Big Dog into the finals. According to BBMDB.com, the 49 Best Ball Mania Finals teams with Henry on them were worth $99,974. The other 490 teams were worth $9,392. The fact he did this without an elite offense around him this year shows just how elite he is. I can't wait to see where his ADP is next year, his age-32 season, when he's back with the Ravens again.

• Fantasy Breakout: Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The Seahawks were well-coached defensively, but they needed a change at OC and they hit it with Klint Kubiak, who took a bold approach. JSN was largely a slot type before he said "go win down the field as an outside receiver". It worked. Oh, it worked. JSN was neck-and-neck with Puka Nacua the entire season as the clear best fantasy receivers throughout the season. Nacua was a 1st-round selection. JSN was the WR14 as a 3rd-rounder. His 3.4 yards per route will go down in the history books, and he will be a universal top-10 pick next offseason with Sam Darnold under contract. We'll see if Kubiak is a head coach elsewhere.

• Fantasy Sleeper: Drake Maye. The 3rd-overall pick always had elite upside. He's built for the modern NFL, and by all accounts, he works his ass off. He could run near the goal line and also scramble, so it was always going to translate to fantasy points if he matured as a passer and the environment around could get better. Well, both things hit. Maye's downfield passing was the best in the NFL, and he did so on an actually elite 53% success rate, too. He was rarely mistake prone under OC Josh McDaniels, who put the entire offense on his shoulders in terms of average target depth (9.2, 2nd-highest) and neutral pass rate (53%, 12th-highest). The offensive infrastructure was better than the individual talents, but Kayshon Boutte, Stefon Diggs, Hunter Henry, Kyle Williams, Mack Hollins, and the RBs each had moments. Finishing as the QB1 in Week 17 was the cherry on top.

• Fantasy Bust: Brian Thomas Jr. The history of rookie WRs who average 75 YPG is close to flawless, but BTJ proved to be the exception. In another world, Thomas could've been excellent in early Round 2 after the Jaguars finished 10th in passing yards and 10th in passing TDs, but not in this simulation. The red flags that proved true were the following: preseason reports of drops and bad chemistry, a new OC with an offense built on intermediate success, a 2nd-round pick on another WR, and an up-and-down QB and OL. Thomas' drops killed the vibe early, as did the pre-snap penalties, and the Jakobi Meyers and Parker Washington combo ate his lunch late in the year as they sat over the middle. Thomas is still talented, but perhaps in a vertical-only role. Whether that's on the Jaguars or not in 2026 is a fair question. At the end of the day, every 2nd-round pick has a lot of upside, and there were more questions here than with others around him, not to mention RBs largely out-score WRs in the half PPR format on Underdog.

• Best Rookie Pick: Cam Skattebo. This is more about the process than the entire season of fantasy points added. Skattebo wasn't playable in Week 1, broke out in Week 2, and then had 6-straight top-24 RB weeks once he was in everyone's lineups. That included an RB3, RB6, and RB11 finish, too. The Giants were an offense that you wanted in fantasy because Jaxson Dart was an upside rookie and the OL was underrated, and if he would've stayed healthy, it's hard to believe he wouldn't have been a top-15 RB on the year as the 110th overall pick who was drafted after Tyrone Tracy himself. On top of that, every Skattebo fantasy point created more dopamine than the average fantasy point.

• Best TE Pick: Trey McBride. He broke the single-season receptions record, partially thanks to Jacoby Brissett but also because McBride is a total menace. The threat of Marvin Harrison Jr. proved to be all bark, no bite. He's just not good enough to overcome what McBride provides after the catch and over the middle. Statistically, the only reason why McBride was a 3rd-round pick instead of a top-15 selection was TDs. McBride was one of the flukiest players I've ever seen near the goal line. In 2024, he was targeted there often. Bad luck ensued. In 2025, everything worked. That was always going to regress. My rule is: If a player can dunk on people at the 50-yard line, he can do it in the end zone eventually. Well, McBride did. He added 52.7 more fantasy points to best ball rosters than the next-best TE, and he should be a consensus top-15 pick in 2026 if Brissett is back as the starter.

• Best QB Pick: Matthew Stafford. All fantasy football is this way, but late round picks in best ball are about clear paths to upside, even if the upside is low. Well, Stafford's ADP dropping because of a back injury is one of those situations where we should look his already-low ADP (175th overall) in the eyes and be willing to eat a potential zero for the path to an elite stack. Stafford sold his sole to the Chamber, and it paid off with an MVP-caliber season. Teams who took on the risk of Puka Nacua in Round 1 or Davante Adams/Kyren Williams in Round 3 had no excuse to not chase Stafford up the board. When Sean McVay has his guys healthy, they ball out. Modern medicine is going to change injury results at the margins the longer we play this game, and anything outside of the top-150 is already a dart throw. Out of the 13 QBs drafted after the 10th round, Stafford was 1-of-2 to add more than 35 fantasy points over replacement on the year. He had over 57. Whew.

• Waiver Wire Winner: Harold Fannin Jr. The 21-year-old rookie was one of my favorite prospects of the draft class, not that I knew he'd be this good (I thought it was possible) but because of how unique he was. Fannin was a receptions record breaker and competed as a blocker against LBs and DBs. To boom, he needed a creative playcaller who'd live with the negatives. Kevin Stefanski allowed for it. After a TE9 finish in Week 1, Fannin thumbnailed our Week 2 Waiver Wire show. He had a TE13 finish the week afterwards, hit a lull with David Njoku still healthy, and then had TE10, TE1, TE14, TE2, and TE8 finishes down the stretch. He finished with the 4th-most half PPR points in rookie TE history, and he did it in style. We'll see if Njoku's free agency means even more Fannin in 2026, but the cat is out of the bag. The upside is McBride.

• Boomer Pick Of The Year: Travis Etienne. Guess how many times the 4th-year, former 1st-round pick was a top-12 fantasy RB on the week? Did you say 9 times? Good for you. The boomers laughed all the way to the bank after having to look up "bayshol tooten" on Bing.com in Week 6. This is a reminder that things are never black and white. Rookie = good. Veteran = bad. Everything comes with a price. Etienne was also a reminder that stats while playing through obvious injuries need asterisks. His 2024 year was the outlier. He stunk. Was that more likely because of hamstring and ankle injuries or that he all of a sudden was bad? When previously-injured players are healthy at a discount, they are largely good picks. Even though he's a free agent, it'd be a surprise if he's not a well-paid Jaguar in 2026.

• Slappy Pick Of The Year: TreVeyon Henderson (Weeks 10, 11, and 15 Only). It was a legendary run without Rhamondre Stevenson and "Terrell Jennings". He looked and produced like a young Raheem Mostert on a way-better-than-projected Patriots offense. It took forever to get there, and he was even benched at times, but Henderson proved the upside case was there. It just went away and was hard to predict. That's the nature of a boom-bust runner who can hit 22 MPH as often as he incorrectly bounces a run. I have no idea where his ADP will settle, but based on how glorious the moments of his long scores were, it won't be a surprise to see him in Round 2.

• PPR Scam Of The Year: Wan'Dale Robinson. It actually worked this time. All it took was Malik Nabers to tear his ACL, for his head coach to be fired, and the Giants to hit on a late-Round 1 QB. But it actually worked. Wan'Dale is a free agent and showed some signs of life as a downfield threat on occasion. I never saw it coming. In fact, Darius Slayton was one of my most-drafted players. Directionally accurate? (No.)

• Please Stop It Award: Zach Charbonnet at the goal line over Kenneth Walker.

• Please Keep It Up Award: Jacoby Brissett to Michael Wilson. Again. Again.

• Unc Still Got It Award: Stafford, D. Adams, D. Henry, Kelce (from Kevin Epley).

• Divide His Projection By 2 Award: Justin Jefferson (from JoelMerical).

• ... If He's Not Hospital Balled Award: Brian Thomas (from GooseRavenclaw).

• Biggest Could Have Been: Ashton Jeanty on the Bears (from MP).

• Blue Tent Merchant: Jaylen Waddle (from Jameson Hutchinson).

• Milk Carton Award: Ladd McConkey (from Shaggy).

• Delta Skymiles Gone On Vacation Award: Alvin Kamara (from Ben Nagoshi).

2025 Best Pick In Every Round

1. RB Christian McCaffrey: He was my MVP.

2. RB Jonathan Taylor: Would've won league is DJ doesn't go down.

3. WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba: 3rd-year breakout with new OC, no DK.

4. RB James Cook: Great player in great offense. Hold out dip. Profit.

5. WR George Pickens: Great player moved to great QB. Easy money.

6. WR Chris Olave: Great player discounted by injury predictors.

7. WR Emeka Egbuka (R): Bad round, so Egbuka's September wins.

8. ???

9. RB Travis Etienne: 2-time 1400-yard RB adds another against odds.

10. RB Cam Skattebo (R): Would've smashed w/o fluky injury.

11. RB Javonte Williams: Beat Sanders and character-concern rookie.

12. TE Dallas Goedert: Good full-time player on good team.

13. TE Kyle Pitts: Former top-6 pick in contract year at lowest ever ADP.

14. WR Quentin Johnston: Former 1st-rounder tied to Herbert.

15. RB Rico Dowdle: Best value pick by far during entire October run.

16. WR Michael Wilson: Former 3rd-rounder in Year 3 breakout.

17. RB Woody Marks (R): Mixon rumors appears late July. 3rd-rounder.

18. TE Harold Fannin (R): 4th-best rookie TE fantasy season ever.

2025 Worst Pick In Every Round

It'd be easy to just say the injured players, but I won't do that here. These are the worst results picks tied to bad process or too much hype.

1. WR Justin Jefferson: Unproven QBs can be disastrous for WRs.

2. WR Brian Thomas: He was my Fantasy Bust.

3. WR Marvin Harrison: Film wasn't enough on a bad O. Wilson clears.

4. WR Xavier Worthy: Tiny WR plays injured, loses underneath role.

5. RB Alvin Kamara: An old on a bad O. Didn't return after elimination.

6. WR Matthew Golden (R): Rotation history and low-volume profile.

7. RB Kaleb Johnson (R): 3rd-round rookie with old school QB, staff.

8. RB Darnell Mooney: Collarbone for tiny WR tied to QB uncertainty.

9. WR Brandon Aiyuk: Is he okay? Like, actually.

10. WR Tre Harris (R): Boom-bust 2nd-rounder in crowded WR room.

11. QB JJ McCarthy: Reporters, coaches warned us at the mic.

12. RB Jaydon Blue (R): Never fade Dane Brugler character reports.

13. TE Jonnu Smith: Career committee TE can't beat out 310-lb TE.

14. WR Jack Bech (R): 2nd-rounder playing out of position on bad O.

15. WR Dont'e Johnson (R): 4th-rounder on bad O.

16. QB Anthony Richardson: DJ's $15M contract was the sign.

17. RB Damien Martinez (R): Fell to 7th round. Character risk.

18. TE Ja'Tavion Sanders: Bryce Young's committee TE didn't work.