Fantasy rosters of the century, Nos. 17-24

Obviously, teams want to have good NFL rosters more than they want good fantasy football rosters, and the mere fact that there is often overlap between the two doesn’t mean that targeting one means getting the other. But for those of us who play the fantasy game, teams that can regularly offer fantasy numbers are in a lot of ways our favorites. As I noted in Friday’s piece, Buffalo hasn’t had a 300-point fantasy producer at all this century. So all things being equal, wouldn’t you opt for, you know, a not-Bill?

With that in mind, I’m in the middle of counting down the teams, from 32 to 1, in order of their best fantasy roster this century. To recap, this is PPR scoring, 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 flex, 1 K, no defense (because I’m lazy). I considered limiting it to one season per player, but ultimately opted against it (so the Lions don’t actually have to have had any receiver on their team not named Calvin Johnson).

First, the list so far:

And now today’s entries:

(Special thanks to the Football Reference Play Index for the help here.)

No. 24: Jacksonville Jaguars (2,395.8 points)

QB: Blake Bortles, 2015
RB: Maurice Jones-Drew, 2009; Maurice Jones-Drew, 2011
WR: Allen Robinson, 2015; Jimmy Smith, 2001; Jimmy Smith, 2000
TE: Marcedes Lewis, 2010
Flex: Maurice Jones-Drew, 2008
K: Josh Lambo, 2019

Jones-Drew is the one fantasy superstar the Jags have ever had (he had one more season, and Fred Taylor had three, before Leonard Fournette’s first on the list appears), so this is primarily him plus that 2015 team that kind of came out of nowhere to offer offense. And then there’s Lewis. Lewis is entering his 15th season. He’s averaged under 2 touchdowns per year in those seasons once you ignore 2010. He’s scored 2 or fewer 10 times. But in that 2010 season? He scored 10 times. He also set career highs in receptions (58), targets (88), and yards (700) that year. It’s one of the greatest one-hit wonder seasons of all time.

No. 23: Detroit Lions (2,448.1)

QB: Matthew Stafford, 2011
RB: James Stewart, 2000; Reggie Bush, 2013
WR: Calvin Johnson, 2011; Calvin Johnson, 2012; Calvin Johnson, 2013
TE: Brandon Pettigrew, 2011
Flex: Calvin Johnson, 2008
K: Matt Prater, 2017

Well hi there, Calvin. The 12 highest-scoring fantasy seasons the Lions have had since 2000 all came from Johnson and Stafford, who each appear six times, before Golden Tate pops up at 13th. Meanwhile, the Lions used all the good running back karma they’d ever have on Barry Sanders, because the team hasn’t had even a 250-point season from a running back this century. I didn’t really remember James Stewart being a person.

No. 22: Arizona Cardinals (2,461.6)

QB: Carson Palmer, 2015
RB: David Johnson, 2016; David Johnson, 2018
WR: Larry Fitzgerald, 2008; Larry Fitzgerald, 2005; David Boston, 2001
TE: Freddie Jones, 2003
Flex: Larry Fitzgerald, 2007
K: Neil Rackers, 2005

Every coach has a different plan and different approach. And the Cardinals have had a lot of coaches. And somehow they’ve found every single coach in professional football history who has never heard of the tight end position. Freddie Jones? 124.7 points? That’s tied for the 254th-“best” tight end fantasy season this century. And that’s the only time the Cardinals have gotten even 100 points from a tight end this century. That’s astounding.

Also, Larry Fitzgerald has been really good for a really long time, and David Johnson was just incredible in 2016.

No. 21: Tennessee Titans (2,478.3)

QB: Steve McNair, 2001
RB: Chris Johnson, 2009; Eddie George, 2000
WR: Drew Bennett, 2004; Derrick Mason, 2003; Derrick Mason, 2004
TE: Delanie Walker, 2015
Flex: Derrick Henry, 2019
K: Rob Bironas, 2007

Like the Cardinals have ignored tight end, the Titans have ignored wide receiver (but there’s a worse offender in that regard coming up in two teams). They’ve also ignored quarterback. But man, the running backs. The Titans’ top four fantasy seasons of this century have all come from running backs, and they have all come from four different running backs (in addition to Johnson, George, and Henry, 2016 DeMarco Murray pops up). Absolutely crushing one position is great and all, but man, you’d think the Titans would diversify more.

No. 20: Seattle Seahawks (2,486.5)

QB: Russell Wilson, 2017
RB: Shaun Alexander, 2005; Shaun Alexander, 2000
WR: Doug Baldwin, 2015; Doug Baldwin, 2016; Darrell Jackson, 2004
TE: Jimmy Graham, 2016
Flex: Shaun Alexander, 2004
K: Stephen Hauschka, 2013

Impressive that Marshawn Lynch doesn’t even appear on the Seahawks’ list — Alexander and Wilson have all of the top eight player-seasons for the Seahawks this century, and then Nos. 10, 12, 13, 15, and 16. Basically, the Seahawks’ 21st century has been “Russell and Shaun, a little Marshawn, and then whatever, guys.”

No. 19: Baltimore Ravens (2,489.0)

QB: Lamar Jackson, 2019
RB Ray Rice, 2011; Ray Rice, 2009
WR: Derrick Mason, 2007; Qadry Ismail, 2001; Steve Smith, 2014
TE: Mark Andrews, 2019
Flex: Jamal Lewis, 2003
K: Justin Tucker, 2016

TV shows used to have “the curse of Ted McGinley.” If he was added to the cast of a show, you know it was soon to be canceled. Mason is sort of like that for football. If he’s been on your team, you’ve been cursed to have subpar receiver performance. He played most of his career for the Ravens and Titans, two of the most receiverless teams of the century, plus a half-season with the Jets at the end of his career (he spent the other half of that season with Houston, where at least Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins have played, but it’s not exactly a mass producer). Again, the best receiver seasons in this century for the Ravens have come from Derrick Mason and Qadry Ismail. That feels impossible.

No. 18: Chicago Bears (2,539.7)

QB: Mitchell Trubisky, 2018
RB: Matt Forte, 2014; Matt Forte, 2013
WR: Brandon Marshall, 2012; Brandon Marshall, 2013; Alshon Jeffery, 2013
TE: Martellus Bennett, 2014
Flex: Matt Forte, 2008
K: Robbie Gould, 2006

It might look weird that Trubisky has the best fantasy season for the Bears this century. And I know the team hasn’t exactly had an amazing quarterback history, but can you believe Trubisky’s 2018 was, from a fantasy perspective, the best QB season in Bears history? Only Trubisky in 2018, Jay Cutler in 2014, and Erik Kramer in 1995 have ever even reached 230 fantasy points in a Bears uniform. That’s just incredible, especially considering that era of Cutler had the above Forte/Marshall/Jeffery/Bennett seasons. Just … wow.

No. 17: Philadelphia Eagles (2,602.9)

QB: Michael Vick, 2010
RB: Brian Westbrook, 2007; LeSean McCoy, 2013
WR: Terrell Owens, 2004; Jeremy Maclin, 2014; DeSean Jackson, 2013
TE: Zach Ertz, 2018
Flex: Brian Westbrook, 2006
K: Cody Parkey, 2014

In that 2010 season, Vick played only 12 games, but set career highs in both passing (21) and rushing (9) touchdowns, adding his second-most passing yards (3,018) and fourth-most rushing yards (676). He is who he is, and he was who he was, but just from a “watching football” perspective, it was one of the most fun things to watch. It was also a mirage — he played five more seasons after that and only ran for 4 more career touchdowns.

Meanwhile, the Eagles have had a lot of very good seasons at the skill positions without ever really having one “oh my god” season. No receiver this century has topped 280 points. It’s been a lot of good, not a lot of great.

(SUNDAY: Nos. 9-16, with Terrell Owens popping up on two more teams a total of four times.)