NEWSLETTER
Before we move on to next season, going over last year’s fantasy football league winners may give us some insight on how to draft for the 2024 fantasy football season. Using data taken from Yahoo’s fantasy football leagues, we can see which players were rostered by the most champions on the platform last season.
The term “league winner” is fairly broad and has different meanings. Some use it as a player who vastly outperformed their ADP or a guy who was plucked off the waiver wire to demolish stats for the rest of the season. Other times, it can be a player who was drafted high and did what they were supposed to do. For the purpose of this article, these players were rostered by the most championship teams on the Yahoo platform, regardless of ADP or draft capital.
Let’s get into the fantasy football league winners from last season.
Fantasy Football League Winners (2023/2024)
1. Christian McCaffrey, RB – 49ers
Rostered by 30.09 % of Yahoo Championship Teams
CMC is an example of a guy who clearly lived up to his high price tag, and managers were handsomely rewarded for paying up where he was drafted. As the RB1 with an ADP of 1.02, McCaffrey finished the season with 22.4 fantasy points per game in half-PPR scoring which was the highest among all RBs, and second among all NFL players behind only Josh Allen (23.1).
Posting an incredible 2,023 combined yards which was tops among all RBs, McCaffrey found the end zone in 12 of 16 games, amounting to 14 total touchdowns – second at the RB position this season. Weekly consistency in fantasy football is key to winning redraft leagues and CMC was the epitome of dependability in 2023. He finished as a fantasy RB1 in all but three contests and never fell below RB22 in half-PPR scoring. It was one of the best fantasy performances we’ve ever seen and there’s no surprise CMC was one of the fantasy football league winners.
2. Raheem Mostert, RB – Dolphins
Rostered by 22.41% of Yahoo Championship Teams
What Mostert did in 2023 from both a real football and fantasy standpoint is simply amazing. Heading into draft season, the Miami backfield was a mystery, one we either avoided or gambled on rookie De’Von Achane in the hopes he came on hot late in the season as rookie RBs tend to do. Out of eight prior seasons, Mostert had only played a full season once, and had missed 55 of 130 possible games due to various injuries, plus he was on the wrong side of 30 in age for NFL RBs. All that was baked into his 10th-round ADP as RB40.
The Miami RB proved us all wrong by not only making it until Week 17 before missing time, but he scored the most touchdowns by an RB in 2023 with 18. Mostert averaged 17.9 half-PPR points per contest which was third at the RB position and was an incredible return on investment for those who believed.
MORE: Check out 4for4 for all your fantasy football needs & the latest expert betting picks.
3. Kyren Williams, RB – Rams
Rostered by 21.91% of Yahoo Championship Teams
Williams wasn’t firmly on the early-draft fantasy radar heading into the season as folks were unsure where he stood in Sean McVay’s offensive plan. The sophomore rushed for the third most yards in 2023 (1,144) despite missing four contests in the middle of the season and put up the second-most half-PPR points per game behind only Christian McCaffrey.
The LA back averaged an impressive 22.5 fantasy points from Weeks 15-17 when managers needed him most, helping to elevate him to fantasy football league winners status. Not bad for a guy drafted in the “RB dead zone”.
4. Josh Allen, QB – Bills
Rostered by 21.71% of Yahoo Championship Teams
While the real-life version of Allen was inconsistent in 2023, the Buffalo QB was stellar once again for fantasy football purposes. He was the QB1 in both overall and fantasy points per game and scored the second-most rushing touchdowns among all NFL players with 15. He was the third QB off Yahoo draft boards after Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts at the end of the second round, and threw for more yards and more touchdowns than both, resulting in more fantasy points than both at the end of the 2023 season.
Paying up for QB is a commitment and those who took Allen last season were rewarded with a title – or at least the 21.71% of Yahoo winners got to hoist that trophy.
5. Tyreek Hill, WR – Dolphins
Rostered by 21.44% of Yahoo Championship Teams
There were some concerns about Hill heading into the season, mainly from the QB side as Tua Tagovailoa’s health was in question after several nasty concussions in 2002. Hill was drafted as the WR3 behind both Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase as the No. 5 overall pick. He dominated in 2023 with 1,799 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns – both first in the NFL – even posting the most receiving first downs in the league with 83.
Hill notched the most points per game in half-PPR scoring this year and was a WR1 in 10 of 16 contests. Despite Miami and Hill’s whimper to end the season, the Cheetah was a big part in winning title games for close to a quarter of Yahoo managers, and sits at No. 5 in last year’s fantasy football league winners.
MORE: Ready to get going for the 2024 season? Here’s a Way-Too-Early Mock Draft.
Rounding out the Top 11 Fantasy Football League Winners
Grab the latest NFL fantasy football league winners’ gear at Fanatics!
Photo by: © Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
