As the 2024 fantasy football regular season comes to a close before playoffs, the environment has shifted in ways that even the most experienced team managers could not anticipate. The season was full of expected performances from players who were disregarded at the start of the season, and big names that had disappointing performances.

Biggest Booms/Busts

Every season there are players who shatter team managers’ expectations and with that there are also players who disappoint, leaving managers frustrated. 

Some of the biggest booms this year include:

• Bucky Irving, 4th round pick for Tampa Bay in the 2024 draft surprised the franchise and fantasy owners with his impressive performances, outshining Rachaad White and taking the starting spot.
• Brock Bowers was drafted in the first round by Las Vegas and did not disappoint, becoming the number one tight end in the league and fantasy football.
• Chuba Hubbard has been a star on a struggling team, pushing them to win some challenging games. 
• Kyler Murray, an undersized quarterback for Arizona has underperformed the past years, but has developed an excellent passing game. While he hasn’t been a great quarterback for the franchise throughout the years, this season he has had great returns for team managers. 
• Chase Brown surprised Cincinnati by blowing his 2023 season out of the water, going from 335 total yards all season, to 1032 total yards as of week 14.
• Rico Dowdle was projected to split snaps with Ezekiel Elliot at the beginning of the season, but has performed so well that he has become the sole running back.

On the other hand there were plenty of unpredictable busts. 

One of the biggest busts in the league is San Francisco, who went from making a superbowl appearance last season to having a losing record going into week 14. This was caused by an underperforming offense with injuries to many key players such as Christian McCaffery and on defensive side, Nick Bosa along with many other injuries leaving the team in ruin. The consensus biggest bust of the season is Christian McCaffery of San Francisco. He was the favorite for the number overall pick for the draft, but did not play in a game until week 9, where he recorded  16.7 fantasy points. After playing 3 more games for an average of 12 points, his fantasy managers received another blow to their hopes, with McCaffery leaving his game against Buffalo with a season ending knee injury. 

Kyle Pitts, Atlanta’s starting tight end and 2021 first round pick, was supposed to have a high scoring season, especially with Atlanta’s new quarterback Kirk Cousins, who is entering his 13th season in the NFL.

 Tyreek Hill, who had the most receiving yards in the league last season, was predicted to have a great season. But a slow start coupled with his quarterback Tua Tagovailoa missing 4 games midseason due to a concussion has rendered the Miami receiver one of the biggest busts of the season. 

Next up, two quarterbacks on different teams, Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers, were in very different situations. Patrick Mahomes is considered one of the greatest quarterbacks in the league and of all time, and his Kansas City Chiefs are a top team, despite this, he has struggled with interceptions and low numbers this season. Rodgers plays for the New York Jets, and after a season ending injury in week one of last season, many fantasy managers thought he would have a redeeming season. This has been far from the truth for him and his Jets, who currently sit 3rd in the AFC East with a record of 3-9. New York has some great offensive weapons in Breece Hall, Garrett Wilson, and Allen Lazard, but have been unable to make things click this season.

Top performers of the season pre playoffs, per position as of week 14.

Playoffs Advice

• Review last 4 games of their schedule, how their opponent ranks against that position
• Avoid injury prone players
• Shed unneeded players and pick up valuable back-up players incase of an injury
• Research players who may get more snaps and who won’t
• Trade away high demand players to teams who need to win games before playoffs
• Keep your eye on the waivers