The Streakers: The longest runs of fantasy relevance

Averaging 10 PPR points per game in fantasy football isn’t actually a big ask. Counting kickers, but not defenses, 146 different players did it in 2019, from Christian McCaffrey’s 29.45 to Taylor Gabriel’s 10.03. It’s less a measure of dominance than it is a measure of strict relevance. If you managed to average 10-plus points, you were someone we had to be aware of. That’s all.

But if you can do it for a bunch of years in a row? Well, then it becomes interesting.

Players fail to reach 10 points per game for any number of reasons. Tom Brady didn’t get there in 2008 because he got hurt. Frank Gore didn’t get there in 2019 because he’s a backup now. Lamar Jackson didn’t in 2018 because he played so many games as a backup where he didn’t accumulate points. Alvin Kamara didn’t do it in 2013 because he was only 18 years old then and a long way from the NFL.

The longer a player can average 10-plus points, the longer he stays relevant. That’s all. But it’s a fun way to frame things. So today, I’m looking at the streaks, the players on the longest streaks of 10-plus points per game.

(There is no games-played minimum here, because we’re looking just for relevance, and you can be relevant in just a single game. But players also don’t get a mulligan if they miss an entire year to injury. This is a year thing, not a “seasons played” thing.)

Two-year streaks

Aaron Jones, RB, Green Bay Packers
Allen Robinson, WR, Chicago Bears
Austin Ekeler, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
Austin Hooper, TE, Atlanta Falcons
Baker Mayfield, QB, Cleveland Browns
Calvin Ridley, WR, Atlanta Falcons
Chris Carson, RB, Seattle Seahawks
Chris Godwin, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Christian Kirk, WR, Arizona Cardinals
Curtis Samuel, WR, Carolina Panthers
Dede Westbrook, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
Derrick Henry, RB, Tennessee Titans
DeSean Jackson, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers/Philadelphia Eagles
Emmanuel Sanders, WR, Denver Broncos/San Francisco 49ers
George Kittle, TE, San Francisco 49ers
James Conner, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
James White, RB, New England Patriots
Jared Cook, TE, Oakland Raiders/New Orleans Saints
Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills
Julian Edelman, WR, New England Patriots
Kenny Golladay, WR, Detroit Lions
Kenyan Drake, RB, Miami Dolphins/Arizona Cardinals
Kerryon Johnson, RB, Detroit Lions
Kyle Allen, QB, Carolina Panthers
Marlon Mack, RB, Indianapolis Colts
Mike Williams, WR, Los Angeles Chargers
Nick Chubb, RB, Cleveland Browns
Phillip Lindsay, RB, Denver Broncos
Ryan Tannehill, QB, Miami Dolphins/Tennessee Titans
Sam Darnold, QB, New York Jets
Saquon Barkley, RB, New York Giants
Tarik Cohen, RB, Chicago Bears
Tyler Boyd, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
Tyler Lockett, WR, Seattle Seahawks

Edelman’s appearance here highlights the potholes a player can fall into. By seasons played, he’s on a six-year streak, but he missed the 2017 season altogether, so his counter reset. Avoiding injury is a skill, too. … DeSean Jackson is the flip side here. He played only three games last year, and totaled 1 target in his second and third combined. But he had 35.4 points in Week 1, meaning he stays clear for this year.

Three-year streaks

Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints
Christian McCaffrey, RB, Carolina Panthers
Cooper Kupp, WR, Los Angeles Rams
Dalvin Cook, RB, Minnesota Vikings
Deshaun Watson, QB, Houston Texans
Evan Engram, TE, New York Giants
Jared Goff, QB, Los Angeles Rams
Jimmy Garoppolo, QB, San Francisco 49ers
Joe Mixon, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
Kareem Hunt, RB, Kansas City Chiefs/Cleveland Browns
Mitchell Trubisky, QB, Chicago Bears
Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs
Robby Anderson, WR, New York Jets
Robert Woods, WR, Los Angeles Rams
Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers/Miami Dolphins
Will Fuller, WR, Houston Texans

Some Bears fan reading this: “Hey, Watson, Trubisky, and Mahomes are the same!” … The Rams’ signing of Woods was one of the most mocked free agent acquisitions in recent memory, but that one has paid off like gangbusters. He’s averaged more than 1,000 yards in his three years there (at least 781 every year) after never reaching 700 in his Bills career.

Four-year streaks

Adam Thielen, WR, Minnesota Vikings
Carson Wentz, QB, Philadelphia Eagles
Case Keenum, QB, Los Angeles Rams/Minnesota Vikings/Denver Broncos/Washington
Dak Prescott, QB, Dallas Cowboys
Davante Adams, WR, Green Bay Packers
Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas Cowboys
Jordan Howard, RB, Chicago Bears/Philadelphia Eagles
Melvin Gordon, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
Michael Thomas, WR, New Orleans Saints
Sterling Shepard, WR, New York Giants
Tyreek Hill, WR, Kansas City Chiefs

Shout out to Keenum for a four-year streak on four different teams. That’s a tough thing to pull off, even if it isn’t actually a testament to him being good. … Howard will be looking for three teams in three years in 2020, so there’s that.

Five-year streaks

Amari Cooper, WR, Oakland Raiders/Dallas Cowboys
David Johnson, RB, Arizona Cardinals
Jameis Winston, QB, Tampa Bay Bucaneers
Latavius Murray, RB, Oakland Raiders/Minnesota Vikings/New Orleans Saints
Marcus Mariota, QB, Tennessee Titans
Marvin Jones, Cincinnati Bengals/Detroit Lions
Stefon Diggs, WR, Minnesota Vikings
Todd Gurley, RB, Los Angeles Rams
Zach Ertz, TE, Philadelphia Eagles

Jones is on a five-year streak, and it’s only that short because he missed all of 2014; he averaged 11.4 PPG in 2013 as well. It doesn’t feel like he’s been good-to-better for that long, but he has. … Speaking of streaks that are surprising, Murray has basically never been his team’s No. 1 option, but by hook or by crook he’s gotten to 10 points, including replacing Alvin Kamara and Dalvin Cook for extended stretches as his team’s backup.

Six-year streaks

DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Houston Texans
Derek Carr, QB, Oakland Raiders
Jarvis Landry, WR, Miami Dolphins/Cleveland Browns
Kirk Cousins, QB, Washington/Minnesota Vikings
Mark Ingram, RB, New Orleans Saints/Baltimore Ravens
Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Odell Beckham Jr., New York Giants/Cleveland Browns
Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs

Carr, Landry, Evans, and Beckham have made this list every year of their respective careers, understandably. … Hopkins only missed his rookie year, and even that only barely — he averaged 9.0 as a rookie in 2013 because he only scored twice. … Kelce was technically a rookie in 2013, but he got hurt and never played. … Ingram took a few years to get going — did you know he’s entering his 10th season? He’s also the longest-tenured running back on this list. Yes, Mark Ingram is the running back on the longest streak of 10-plus PPR points per game. … And Cousins, of course, sat behind Robert Griffin III to start his career.

Seven-year streaks

Alshon Jeffery, WR, Chicago Bears/Philadelphia Eagles
Keenan Allen, WR, Los Angeles Chargers

Jeffery’s been relatively underwhelming since his big breakout in Chicago, but he’s stayed worthy of rostering, and that’s about where he will be in 2020. … Allen has a reputation as an injury-prone guy, but (a) he’s played all 16 games each of the last three years, (b) he’s played 14-plus games in five of his seven seasons, and (c) he’s always productive when he’s healthy.

Eight-year streaks

Golden Tate, WR, Seattle Seahawks/Detroit Lions/Philadelphia Eagles/New York Giants
Russell Wilson, WR, Seattle Seahawks
T.Y. Hilton, WR, Indianapolis Colts

It probably comes as a bit of a surprise, but only seven receivers have more fantasy points than Tate since he broke out in Seattle in 2012. He’s never been the best, but he’s been a PPR boon for a long time. … Who would have guessed Wilson would not only outlast Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III, but he’d blow them away? … Hilton has proven to be very QB-dependent, but now he has Philip Rivers, so maybe he’ll bounce back.

Nine-year streaks

Andy Dalton, QB, Cincinnati Bengals
Antonio Brown, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers/New England Patriots
Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta Falcons

As it stands, Dalton doesn’t really have a job for 2020. He’s still under contract with the Bengals, so maybe he just serves as Joe Burrow’s veteran mentor, but it’s just as likely he’s cut or dealt somewhere. He doesn’t have superstar ceiling, but he carries a high floor if he’s getting regular playing time. … Brown only played the one game last year, but he had 15.6 points, so here he is. … Jones is so good. He and Brown are the last two receivers on this list — with one very notable exception.

Eleven-year streaks

(Nobody is on a streak of exactly 10 years.)

Matthew Stafford, QB, Detroit Lions
Tom Brady, QB, New England Patriots

Stafford started his career as an oft-injured player who was good when healthy, but couldn’t be counted on. Then he played all 16 games in his second year, and his third, and his fourth-fifth-sixth-seventh-eighth-ninth-tenth. He got hurt last year, but he became a very healthy option for a long time. … And of course, Brady is Brady, and only that 2008 torn ACL keeps him from a stupidly long streak.

Twelve-year streaks

Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers
Joe Flacco, QB, Baltimore Ravens/Denver Broncos
Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta Falcons

These three run the gamut of fantasy quarterbacks. Rodgers has generally been a superstar for his career, Ryan has been a regular “guy worth knowing” with short runs of stardom, and Flacco has hovered around fantasy replacement level. It’s a nice cross-section of three guys on the same streak.

Fourteen-year streak

Philip Rivers, QB, Los Angeles Chargers

Rivers has famously never had a 30-point fantasy day in his career. He’s also never averaged even 18 points per game for a season. But he’s also averaged at least 11 every year he’s been a starter, and at least 13 every year since 2007. He’s unlikely to be a solid QB1 in Indianapolis, but he’s also unlikely to be a disaster (I hope I hope I hope).

Fifteen-year streaks

Eli Manning, QB, New York Giants
Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Arizona Cardinals

Manning’s streak obviously ends here. Does Fitzgerald’s? It’s already six years longer than literally any other non-quarterback, and now he not only has Christian Kirk to contend with, but also DeAndre Hopkins. And he’s 37 in August. It seems unlikely … but then it has seemed unlikely for a while now. Bet against him at your peril.

Nineteen-year streak

Drew Brees, QB, Los Angeles Chargers/New Orleans Saints

Brees entered the league in 2001 and “averaged” 14.6 points (he had 14.6 points in the only game he played). Then he became the starter in 2002 and has played at least 11 games every year since (four more with the Chargers and now 14 in New Orleans) and kept his average up. That average has been over 20 points in seven of the last nine years. Maybe he’s not as good as he once was, but there’s no real reason to expect this streak to end as long as he’s in the NFL.