PFF's 2024 fantasy football awards

• This year’s MVP was a close call: Ja’Marr Chase and Saquon Barkley both had a case to be made, but ultimately only one could take the title for 2024.

• Rookie of the Year provides many worthy candidates in 2024: Brock Bowers, Jayden Daniels, and Brian Thomas Jr. all delivered above expectations in Year 1 and have set themselves up as future faces of fantasy football.

• Unlock your edge with a PFF+ subscription: Get full access to all of our in-season fantasy tools, including weekly rankings, WR/CB matchup charts, weekly projections, the Start-Sit Optimizer and more. Sign up now!

Estimated reading time: 12 minutes

With the 2024 fantasy football season wrapped up (Weeks 1-17 only — sorry, Week 18 players), it’s time to dole out the awards to the standout players in the NFL who delivered, and some who didn’t, throughout the year to help fantasy gamers secure the most important award of all — a fantasy football championship.

Data referenced is from Weeks 1-17.
Scoring referenced is full-PPR from PFF for scoring totals and averages.
Average draft position (ADP) is taken from Fantasy Pros composite ADP which uses multiple site’s data.

MVP

Starting with the big one, this award will go to the most consistent player throughout the year, delivering high-end fantasy performances and providing the greatest points edge over his peers in 2024.

WINNER: WR Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals

This was a very close decision, but based on the parameters of the award (most importantly, the gap between his final point totals through 17 weeks) and the next closest finisher at the position; 69.2 PPR points), Chase is our 2024 MVP. Chase’s 2024 season was his best yet, and adding to his value was that he was the most rostered player of fantasy managers in the playoffs this season, per ESPN, contributing to him being the 2024 MVP.

Chase’s closest competition for WR1 this season was Justin Jefferson, as both were drafted among the top five at their position this season. While both delivered on that ADP, Chase separated himself as the clear WR1 as one of the four top-five drafted wide receivers this season to finish among the top-four scorers on the year.

Chase got off to a quiet start to the season with two finishes outside the top-24 PPR wide receivers but then managed five top-five finishes the rest of the way, finishing inside the top-20-scoring wide receivers in 12 of his final 14 games. Chase’s MVP status ultimately comes due to finishing as the top player, by a wide margin, at the deepest pool of players to choose from and living up to his high draft capital with a truly elite season.

Runners up

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

This award is given to the first-year player who performed above and beyond the expectations of a rookie and delivers an MVP-like performance in their own right. There were several worthy candidates but only one can take home this specific hardware.

WINNER: TE Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders

For the second-straight season, a rookie tight end takes home this award with Bowers joining Sam LaPorta in bucking the trend of tight ends taking longer to become fantasy starters in the NFL. Not only was Bowers a fantasy starter, but this became apparent almost immediately after Bowers delivered back-to-back top-five finishes to kick off the year – a feat that he accomplished in 50% of his 16 games this season.

Bowers also went on to break two NFL rookie records this season, including most receptions by a rookie, which previously belonged to Puka Nacua after last year, and most receiving yards by a rookie tight end, which belonged to Mike Ditka from 63 years ago. Bowers doing all of this on one of the NFL’s worst passing offenses that relied on three different quarterbacks with at least 100 dropbacks each, makes it all the more impressive as he just barely edged out Brian Thomas Jr. for this award.

Bowers was considered a generational prospect heading into this year’s NFL Draft and seeing what he was able to accomplish on this year’s version of the Las Vegas Raiders should have fantasy managers even more optimistic about his long-term potential, and a strong candidate to be drafted as the overall TE1 in 2025.

Runners up

WAIVER WIRE ADDITION OF THE YEAR

This award goes to a player who was largely undrafted heading into the start of the season but had worked his way into starting lineups regularly by the time his rostership caught up to his role. Several players fit this billing as they increased their value once the season began, but only one can take the crown this year.

WINNER: RB Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

As a rookie, it was always going to be a difficult path for Irving to emerge as a weekly fantasy starter. Even though Rachaad White was relatively inefficient with his touches in 2023, there were size and inexperience concerns to consider for Irving translating to the NFL, which left him off around 75% of rosters to start the season. Those concerns didn’t take long to be voided. Every time Irving got an opportunity, he looked like the Buccaneers' best running back, and it was only a matter of time before he was deployed in that role.

It wasn’t until Week 6 that Irving was given more than 12 touches in a game and went on to average 16.5 touches per game from that point on and finished as a top-10 PPR running back over that span. While Irving still had to share the workload a bit in the Buccaneers backfield, he did so very efficiently, averaging 5.5 yards per carry (tied for third) with an 85.5 rushing grade (11th) and was the only running back with over 1,000 rushing yards on fewer than 200 carries.

Irving still took some time to become a widely-rostered fantasy option, starting with a 21% rostership following Week 1, but once he took off, he wasn’t just rostered, but likely a locked-in starter in most formats by the time everyone had picked him up. Irving finished the year with 397 receiving yards and 1,033 rushing yards, making him one of just four running backs to exceed both 1,000 rushing yards and 390 receiving yards, again highlighting his fantastic efficiency and an ideal acquisition off the waiver wire.

Runners up

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER OF THE YEAR

This award goes to the player who saw the biggest jump in value from last season to this season, delivering a high-end fantasy performance in 2024. This player will have increased their points per game total by a significant margin and overall positional finish just the same.

WINNER: WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks

Smith-Njigba was a breakout candidate coming into this season, though not an obvious one as his rookie year didn’t necessarily provide the encouraging underlying metrics that fantasy managers can comfortably point to, even with the understanding that he could move up the depth chart and earn more targets in the offense. Not only did Smith-Njigba overtake Tyler Lockett as the team’s WR2, but he also unexpectedly emerged ahead of D.K. Metcalf as the clear No. 1 target in the second half of the season.

Smith-Njigba and Metcalf were tied for the team lead in targets (61) through the first eight weeks, while Metcalf was the clear leader in yards (568) and sat as the PPR WR14 over that span compared to Smith-Njigba’s 388 yards and WR24 standing. Through the final nine games, Smith-Njigba was the clear leader in targets (68), receiving yards (733) and ranked as the PPR WR6 over that stretch.

Smith-Njigba’s emergence as not only Seattle’s WR1 but a fantasy WR1 is a significant improvement from his rookie season when he couldn’t overcome Tyler Lockett to be more than the team’s WR3 and was rarely usable for fantasy. Now, he’s likely to be considered one of the most highly-drafted wide receivers in 2025 as well. This is made more impressive considering he was being drafted outside the top-40 wide receivers in most formats this offseason. His future standing as a potential WR1 going forward makes him the most improved fantasy option of 2024.

Runners up

PLAYOFF MVP

Weeks 15-17 are the most important weeks of the season for fantasy managers — a time when a small three-week stretch can make or break an entire season. This award is given to the player who consistently delivered high-end fantasy performances for all three weeks of the fantasy playoffs and ended up being the primary reason a championship was secured once all the smoke had settled.

WINNER: RB Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit Lions

The overall PPR RB2 for the season never let his foot off the gas heading into the final weeks of the year, which included elite performances in every fantasy playoff week, finishing as the overall RB1 over that stretch. Gibbs delivered 26.7 PPR points per game in the fantasy playoffs, finishing as the weekly RB2 twice, including Week 17, and he was RB7 in Week 16.

Gibbs was an elite fantasy asset all season long, never once finishing outside the top-24 PPR running backs in any single week, which no other player at his position can claim this season. When it mattered most, Gibbs continued to perform at an elite level, delivering three rushing touchdowns on 257 rushing yards and one receiving touchdown on 174 receiving yards over that stretch.

Gibbs was also among the top-12 most-rostered players heading into the fantasy playoffs, per ESPN, and the third-most rostered player on teams in the fantasy championship, also per ESPN.

Runners up

COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR

This award goes to the player who overcame a disappointing 2023 season, whether due to injury, poor play or other circumstances that kept them from being consistent fantasy starters, and delivered an exceptional 2024 that made them a weekly fantasy starter.

WINNER: QB Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings

Darnold’s rise to fantasy stardom was arguably so much greater than anyone else in consideration that he might have been the easiest choice among all the awards listed. Darnold started just one game in 2023 and wasn’t even slated to be a serious starting candidate in 2024 for most of the offseason until rookie first-round pick J.J. McCarthy tore his meniscus, which required surgery and ended his year.

Part of Darnold’s sleeper appeal heading into Week 1 was that he would be surrounded by high-end playmakers in Minnesota’s offense, which could result in usable fantasy value as a bye week or injury fill-in. Darnold greatly exceeded those expectations as a weekly starting option thanks to three top-10 finishes for the position within the first month of the season, ranking as the QB4 through the first four games.

Darnold continued to put up strong numbers throughout the year, finishing top-three in passing yards (4,153), throwing for 35 touchdowns (fourth), setting a new career-high in passing grade (83.6) while helping the Vikings lock up a playoff spot, and helping fantasy managers find a literal diamond in the rough as he finished as the overall QB7 on the season.

Runners up

DISAPPOINTING PLAYER OF THE YEAR

This award goes to the player who greatly underperformed relative to expectations. Eliminating those who just couldn’t stay healthy, as injuries are part of the game and aren’t necessarily in the player's control, the focus here will be highly-drafted players who were on the field for the large majority of games and couldn’t come anywhere close to living up to expectations this season.

WINNER (LOSER?): WR Jaylen Waddle, Miami Dolphins

Waddle was drafted within the first three rounds of fantasy drafts this season, and in a year where Tyreek Hill also underperformed relative to expectations, Waddle still wasn’t able to step up and only delivered one single top-15 PPR finish across 14 games played. Every other game but one that Waddle was in resulted in finishes outside the top 36 at his position in PPR, as he ended the year as the PPR WR51 and didn’t appear in Weeks 16 and 17.

Waddle was drafted as a top-20 WR and returning that value just twice in a season when his talent and expectations were that he had WR1 potential is a massive blow to all those who invested in him this offseason and to those who started him every week hoping he would turn it around. Part of the problem was Tua Tagovailoa missed some time on injured reserve, but even when Waddle’s QB1 was in the lineup (11 games), there was hardly anything resembling starting-quality fantasy production.

Waddle set new career lows in yards per route run (1.59), receiving yards (700), targets (74), receptions (54), touchdowns (two), and receiving grade (73.1). The hope will be that this year is an outlier for the 26-year-old former sixth-overall pick, but he’s unlikely to be drafted anywhere close to his 2024 ADP now in 2025 and will have a lot of work to do to overcome the poor showing this season.