Who is the best player in fantasy football history?
Last year, I reviewed that subject on a franchise level with the greatest players for every NFL team series, but what happens if we look at this from a league-wide prism instead of on a team-by-team basis? Who tops the charts at that point?
We’ll look at that here in a moment, but before we start, let’s review some of the ground rules (the full system explanation can be found in greatest players by team landing page link above).
Advertisem*nt
These rankings use a fantasy career points system that is era-adjusted for the entire history of the NFL. It’s designed so that Johnny Unitas and Raymond Berry can effectively compete with Tom Brady and Randy Moss despite having played in vastly different eras.
Players are given points for the relative scoring strength of their season. The points occur at four levels: starter, quality (one of the better players at their respective position), impact (think upper-tier WR1, top-flight QB1 etc.), and elite (one of the great seasons of all-time).
A starter-caliber season grants one career point. Players get another career point for a quality-starter season. An impact-starter campaign lands an additional 1.5 career points, while an elite season earn two more career points. The points stack and players are measured both in non-PPR and full-PPR scoring systems and, thus, get two chances at career points per season.
So, using this system, who is the greatest fantasy football player of all time? Let’s dive in and find out, starting with the Top 10 overall and then looking at the Top 10 quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends.
Note: Since we all love Mike Sando here — and seriously, he has been a Friend of Fantasy since Day 1 — we wanted to celebrate his “The Football 100” book being released by pointing out where you can find some of these players on his list. They definitely don’t add up perfectly but, hey, fantasy vs. reality. You know the drill!
Top 10 All-Time Fantasy Players
1. Fran Tarkenton (No. 95 on the Football 100)
Starter pts: 32 | Quality pts: 32 | Impact pts: 24 | Elite pts: 16 | Total pts: 104
Tarkenton was on the losing end of three Super Bowls during his career but being a prolific passer in a run-heavy era helped Tarkenton rack up more quality points than anyone in league history and placed him tied for second in impact points.
Advertisem*nt
To put Tarkenton’s fantasy numbers into even greater perspective, note that quarterback scoring was minimal from 1964 to 1975, as quarterbacks posted 200+ points on only 26 occasions in that span.
Tarkenton bucked this trend by accounting for five of those seasons of 200+ points, scored 192+ points three other times in that stretch, and averaged 205.6 points per season from 1964 to 1970. Only four quarterbacks in those 12 years posted two or more seasons with 200+ points and just two of those (Daryle Lamonica and Sonny Jurgensen) tallied three.
Tarkenton did this by being the first true dual-threat fantasy quarterback, as he ended his career in 1978 as the league leader in passing yards and the most prolific rushing quarterback up to that time, as his 3,674 rushing yards were top at the QB position and his 32 rushing touchdowns were fifth highest.
It’s why Tarkenton was a Top 5 fantasy QB on 13 occasions and a Top 3 QB scorer seven times, showing how he dominated his era like no other.
2. Don Hutson (No. 13 on the Football 100)
Starter pts: 22 | Quality pts: 22 | Impact pts: 31.5 | Elite pts: 22 | Total pts: 97.5
Hutson scored 330.5 PPR points in 1942. That made him the first player to reach the 330+ PPR point mark in a season, a level that was achieved only four more times up until 1975. Hutson finished fourth in WR PPR scoring in his rookie season and never finished lower than second after that during the course of his 11 campaigns.
Hutson also ended his career at the top of the mountain, as he was the top scoring PPR WR for his final six seasons. He is also the king of impact points at all positions, as his 31.5 points in that category is 7.5 points ahead of the three second-place finishers.
An argument could be made that Hutson’s numbers should be adjusted because he played his final four seasons in an NFL that was depleted by losing players to service in World War II (Hutson was exempt due to having multiple daughters) but look at Hutson’s per season point totals from 1941-45:
- 1941 — 168 non-PPR | 226 PPR
- 1942 — 256.6 non-PPR | 330.5 PPR
- 1943 — 187.2 non-PPR | 234.2 PPR
- 1944 — 180.3 non-PPR | 238.3 PPR
- 1945 — 179.4 non-PPR | 226.4 PPR
Outside of the off-the-charts production in 1942, these seasons look remarkedly similar from a scoring perspective.
Now consider that the last day of the 1941 regular season was December 7, so that entire campaign was played without any World War II player attrition. Since Hutson established that he could post numbers at that level before the war started, we really shouldn’t hold it against him that he kept this pace up during the war years, especially since he played three of those seasons while battling a chest injury that actually caused him to retire for a short time in 1943.
Advertisem*nt
3. Jerry Rice (No. 3 on the Football 100 — we have agreement!!)
Starter pts: 33 | Quality pts: 22 | Impact pts: 24 | Elite pts: 14 | Total pts: 93
There has never been a more consistent skill position fantasy starter than Rice, as JR’s 33 starter points are the most among skill position players. From 1985 to 1996, Rice finished first or second in non-PPR and PPR WR scoring in every campaign sans 1988, a season in which he was second in WR non-PPR and third in PPR.
That isn’t to take anything away from Rice’s ability to post elite numbers, as in 1995 he became the first wide receiver (and only the second player at any position) to score 400+ PPR points in a single season. He still remains one of two wideouts to do this, as only Cooper Kupp has been able to join Rice at that lofty level.
As impressive as those numbers are, what might be even more incredible about Rice is how well he performed after tearing his ACL and MCL early in the 1997 season. That was Rice’s age-35 season, yet he was able to come back from that to finish in the Top 10 in WR non-PPR and PPR scoring in 1998. Rice had another career renaissance in Oakland in his age-39 and age-40 campaigns, as he placed in the Top 12 in WR scoring in both non-PPR and PPR in both seasons.
4. Otto Graham (No. 11 on the Football 100)
Starter pts: 20 | Quality pts: 20 | Impact pts: 24 | Elite pts: 28 | Total pts: 92
The standout element of Graham’s career was taking the Cleveland Browns to a title game in each of his 10 seasons, but had fantasy football been around in his day, Graham’s fantasy managers would likely have made similar claims about Graham’s scoring impact on their rosters.
The NFL does not count the All-America Football Conference statistics in its official stats, but this system does include the AAFC’s fantasy numbers. That is a big boon for Graham, as he placed among the Top 4 fantasy QBs in each of his six NFL seasons, but add in the AAFC years and Graham placed first or second in QB scoring on seven occasions.
Graham wasn’t a great rusher from a yardage perspective, as he averaged only 88.2 rushing yards per season, but he found the end zone like no other, as his 44 rushing touchdowns still rank second on the all-time quarterback rushing touchdown list (behind Cam Newton’s 75).
Those ground scoring plays were key to Graham’s Top 10 case, as they helped him post 28 elite points. Only four players have tallied 20+ elite points in a career and only one other player (who will be reviewed momentarily) equaled Graham in that category.
Advertisem*nt
5. Bobby Layne (No. 89 on the Football 100)
Starter pts: 20 | Quality pts: 16 | Impact pts: 21 | Elite pts: 28 | Total pts: 85
Layne got out to a slow start to his career, as the Lions were his third NFL team when he joined the club in 1950, but he finished second in QB scoring that season. That turned out to be the start of an 11-season streak as a QB1, with six of those campaigns being Top 3 QB-caliber.
To give some perspective to Layne’s point totals, consider that from 1950 to 1953, the minimum average scoring total for a starting fantasy QB was 88.7 points per season. Layne averaged 157.7 points in that span and then posted 155+ points three more times during his career. Those years accounted for 16 of Layne’s 28 elite points, the latter of which ties Layne with Graham for the highest total in that category.
Layne’s aforementioned longevity wasn’t a case of his hanging on with low-tier QB1 points, as he ranked second in QB scoring three times in his 30s (1956, 1958, and 1959). That last performance may have the best of his career, as Layne’s 177.5 points were more than twice the minimum scoring pace for a QB1 in that season, and he did it in his age-33 campaign.
6. Peyton Manning (No. 7 on the Football 100)
Starter pts: 32 | Quality pts: 28 | Impact pts: 12 | Elite pts: 8 | Total pts: 80
One of the interesting things about “The Sheriff” from a fantasy football perspective is that he finished first in QB scoring only twice in 17 seasons and was a Top 3 fantasy QB just six times.
That is somewhat surprising but it explains the relatively low impact and elite points totals, yet let’s give credit where it is due, as Manning’s 60 combined starter and quality points are second highest all-time, only behind Tarkenton’s 64.
Manning was also the first quarterback to post a 400+ point season. He still remains only one of four quarterbacks to exceed that total and two of those (Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes) needed 17 games to do so. That Manning tallied his in a 16-game, age 37-campaign that was only two years removed from his missing a full season due to a neck injury speaks volumes for just how incredible he was at his peak.
7. Tony Gonzalez (No. 46 on the Football 100)
Starter pts: 32 | Quality pts: 20 | Impact pts: 15 | Elite pts: 10 | Total pts: 77
Gonzalez is the only tight end to make it to the Top 10 and had what may be the most dominant 10-season span ever tallied by a tight end. From 1999 to 2008, Gonzalez finished first in TE scoring six times and second on three occasions.
Advertisem*nt
He was only the third tight end to post 270+ PPR points in a single season (2004) and did so in a year where the minimum qualifying point total for a tight end was 104.4 points.
Gonzalez scored more starter, quality, or impact points than any other tight end, and only Shannon Sharpe equaled Gonzalez’s 10 elite points among tight ends. The starter points are really the standout element here, as Jerry Rice and Tom Brady are the only two players to score more starter-caliber points than Gonzalez.
8. Dan Marino (No. 18 on the Football 100)
Starter pts: 29 | Quality pts: 20 | Impact pts: 18 | Elite pts: 8 | Total pts: 75
Marino was the first quarterback to post 350 fantasy points in a season when he racked up 355 in his record-setting 1984 campaign that saw him throw for 48 touchdowns. To put into perspective just how amazing this was, it obliterated the former single season touchdown mark of 36 and resulted in a fantasy point total that wasn’t surpassed until Steve Young racked up 364 points in 1998.
That pace wasn’t likely to continue, but Marino followed it up with a second place QB scoring finish in 1985 and another first-place tally in 1986. That was the summit for Marino’s fantasy production, as he did not land at that level again in his career, yet he did notch five more seasons with rankings from 3-5.
T9. Johnny Unitas (No. 9 on the Football 100 — another agreement!)
Starter pts: 24 | Quality pts: 15 | Impact pts: 18 | Elite pts: 16 | Total pts: 73
Unitas was the second quarterback in the two-platoon era to finish first in QB scoring for three straight seasons. His 236.5 points in 1959 were more than three times the scoring pace of the minimum pace for a QB1, thus making it one of the greatest era-adjusted campaigns in fantasy history.
That was a standard that Unitas never came close to matching again, but he was a Top 8 fantasy QB in 11 out of 12 seasons at one point and had two impact-caliber campaigns in his 30s.
T9. Jim Brown (No. 2on the Football 100)
Starter pts: 18 | Quality pts: 18 | Impact pts: 21 | Elite pts: 16 | Total pts: 73
It’s tough for running backs to make this list, as the wear and tear of playing this position precludes a career length that can hold up over time. Brown bucked this trend by dominating the game for nine seasons. He ranked first in both non-PPR and PPR RB scoring on five occasions and only placed outside of the top four in either scoring system once, that being a No. 6 finish in RB PPR scoring in 1960.
Advertisem*nt
Brown saved the best for last, as his 346.8 PPR points in 1965 was a career high total. That mark was tied with George Blanda for the most points ever scored in a season up to that point, and Blanda benefited from adding kicking points to his quarterbacking scoring. It was a record with staying power, as it was unmatched by a running back until O.J. Simpson racked up 383.3 PPR points in 1975.
What makes this feat more extraordinary is that 1965 was Brown’s age-29 season and he led the league in rush attempts, rush yards, rush touchdowns, touches, yards from scrimmage, and scrimmage touchdowns. It was also his last, as Brown decided to retire and make movies. Had Brown extended his career as far as his talents would have taken him, it’s very likely he would have ended up in the Top 5 on this list.
Top 10 All-Time Fantasy Quarterbacks
1. Fran Tarkenton (95 on Football 100)
Starter pts: 32 | Quality pts: 32 | Impact pts: 24 | Elite pts: 16 | Total pts: 104
2. Otto Graham (11 on Football 100)
Starter pts: 20 | Quality pts: 20 | Impact pts: 24 | Elite pts: 28 | Total pts: 92
3. Bobby Layne (89 on Football 100)
Starter pts: 20 | Quality pts: 16 | Impact pts: 21 | Elite pts: 28 | Total pts: 85
4. Peyton Manning (7 on Football 100)
Starter pts: 32 | Quality pts: 28 | Impact pts: 12 | Elite pts: 8 | Total pts: 80
5. Dan Marino (18 on Football 100)
Starter pts: 29 | Quality pts: 20 | Impact pts: 18 | Elite pts: 8 | Total pts: 75
6. Johnny Unitas (9 on Football 100)
Starter pts: 24 | Quality pts: 15 | Impact pts: 18 | Elite pts: 16 | Total pts: 73
7. Tom Brady (1 on Football 100 — spoiler alert)
Starter pts: 37 | Quality pts: 18 | Impact pts: 9 | Elite pts: 8 | Total pts: 72
No player in NFL history posted more starter points than Brady, which is incredible given that he rated outside of the QB1 level on seven occasions. He was a Top 3 fantasy quarterback seven times and was the first quarterback to post 390+ points in a season (2007).
8. Y.A. Tittle (Not included)
Starter pts: 22 | Quality pts: 18 | Impact pts: 15 | Elite pts: 14 | Total pts: 69
Tittle posted three or more starter caliber seasons for three different franchises, but his best fantasy numbers occurred during his late-career stint with the Giants, as he led the league in QB scoring in 1962 and 1963.
9. Roger Staubach (Not included)
Starter pts: 16 | Quality pts: 16 | Impact pts: 19.5 | Elite pts: 16 | Total pts: 67.5
Service in the U.S. Navy and competing with Craig Morton are why Staubach only had eight seasons as the Cowboys’ starting quarterback, but he made the most of his on-field time by finishing first or second in QB fantasy scoring five times. He also left at the top of his game, as his 239 points in 1979 were a career high.
T10. George Blanda (Not included)
Starter pts: 18 | Quality pts: 16 | Impact pts: 18 | Elite pts: 12 | Total pts: 64
Before chalking Blanda up as a kicker who happened to play quarterback, know that he was the first player to ever score 340+ fantasy points in a season when he led the Houston Oilers to the AFL title game as a quarterback/kicker in 1961. Blanda racked up a pro football record 36 touchdown passes and had a league-leading 3,330 passing yards that year, so his arm was every bit as valuable to his fantasy production as his leg.
T10. Brett Favre (22 on Football 100)
Starter pts: 32 | Quality pts: 16 | Impact pts: 12 | Elite pts: 4 | Total pts: 64
Favre is the last quarterback to have posted three straight seasons as the scoring champion at the position, something he achieved from 1995-97.
Advertisem*nt
Top 10 All-Time Fantasy Running Backs
1. Jim Brown (2 on Football 100)
Starter pts: 18 | Quality pts: 18 | Impact pts: 21 | Elite pts: 16 | Total pts: 73
2. Emmitt Smith (29 on Football 100)
Starter pts: 23 | Quality pts: 16 | Impact pts: 13.5 | Elite pts: 8 | Total pts: 60.5
Smith is best known for setting the all-time career rushing record, but the fantasy football world knows him best as the only running back to ever post four straight seasons as the top RB scorer in both PPR and non-PPR formats.
3. Verne Lewellen (Not included)
Starter pts: 14 | Quality pts: 12 | Impact pts: 18 | Elite pts: 16 | Total pts: 60
Who in the world is Verne Lewellen? He was a star player for the Green Bay Packers back from 1924 to 1932 and averaged 60.7 fantasy points per season in 1928-30 when the average starter tallied only 16.7 points. Had fantasy football been around back in that time, Lewellen would have been one of the first players off the board in those seasons and he added three more Top 11 scoring seasons to his total.
4.Marshall Faulk (70 on Football 100)
Starter pts: 21 | Quality pts: 14 | Impact pts: 12 | Elite pts: 12 | Total pts: 59
Faulk is the last running back to rack up three consecutive seasons as the No. 1 RB scorer in both PPR and non-PPR. He is also the only player to post 400+ PPR points in back-to-back campaigns.
5. LaDainian Tomlinson (51 on Football 100)
Starter pts: 20 | Quality pts: 16 | Impact pts: 13.5 | Elite pts: 6 | Total pts: 55.5
Tomlinson posted six straight seasons as a Top 2 RB scorer in PPR points and placed Top 3 in non-PPR scoring in those seasons as well. His 2006 campaign is arguably the most impactful in fantasy football history, as his 425 non-PPR points and 481.1 PPR points are still the highest single-season marks at any position.
6. Ernie Nevers (Not included)
Starter pts: 10 | Quality pts: 10 | Impact pts: 15 | Elite pts: 20 | Total pts: 55
How in the world does a player make it to a Top 10 list despite playing in only five seasons? Nevers showed this is possible by averaging 76 points per season in an era when the entry level fantasy starter tallied only 16.6 points.
7. Dutch Clark (Not included)
Starter pts: 12 | Quality pts: 12 | Impact pts: 15 | Elite pts: 14 | Total pts: 53
Clark got a late start to his career and really only hit his stride in 1934 when he was 28 years old, but he then dominated league scoring like few others ever have. From 1934 to 1937, Clark averaged 132.4 PPR points per season at a time when the minimum starter value was 48.7 points. Had Clark started his career a couple of years earlier, he would likely rank second on the RB chart.
8. Barry Sanders (27 on football 100)
Starter pts: 20 | Quality pts: 18 | Impact pts: 12 | Elite pts: 2 | Total pts: 52
Sanders led the league in rushing on four occasions and scored 109 touchdowns in his career, paces that resulted in his being the top RB in non-PPR scoring three times and in PPR scoring twice. He tallied 300+ PPR points in three of his final five seasons and yet decided to hang it up at the age of 30.
Advertisem*nt
9. Walter Payton (8 on Football 100)
Starter pts: 24 | Quality pts: 18 | Impact pts: 7.5 | Elite pts: 2 | Total pts: 51.5
Payton was the epitome of a bell cow running back, as he led the league in rush attempts for four straight years and posted 300+ carries in every season sans his rookie year, his last year, and the strike shortened 1982 campaign. That incredible workload pace was why Payton led RB non-PPR and PPR scoring from 1977-79 and was a Top 5 RB scorer in non-PPR nine times and a top six PPR scorer eight times.
10. Marcus Allen (Not included)
Starter pts: 25 | Quality pts: 9 | Impact pts: 9 | Elite pts: 6 | Total pts: 49
The bulk of Allen’s fantasy value occurred in his first four seasons, as he placed Top 2 in non-PPR and PPR scoring in 1982, 1984, and 1985. Had the Raiders continued to utilize him at that level, Allen might have challenged Brown as the top fantasy RB of all-time, but it didn’t turn out that way, as Allen was an RB1 only two more times during the rest of his career.
Top 10 All-Time Fantasy Wide Receivers
1. Don Hutson (13 on Football 100)
Starter pts: 22 | Quality pts: 22 | Impact pts: 31.5 | Elite pts: 22 | Total pts: 97.5
2. Jerry Rice (3 on Football 100)
Starter pts: 33 | Quality pts: 22 | Impact pts: 24 | Elite pts: 14 | Total pts: 93
3. Lance Alworth (55 on Football 100)
Starter pts: 16 | Quality pts: 12 | Impact pts: 13.5 | Elite pts: 14 | Total pts: 55.5
There wasn’t a better fantasy wide receiver in the 1960s, as Alworth’s 53.5 points in that decade topped both the AFL and NFL. Alworth’s peak value was also unmatched, as his 310 PPR points in 1965 were the most by a wide receiver in the 1960s.
4. Art Powell (Not included)
Starter pts: 14 | Quality pts: 13 | Impact pts: 15 | Elite pts: 10 | Total pts: 52
Powell is unfortunately a forgotten name, but to get an idea of just how great he was from a fantasy scoring perspective, consider that his 52 career points placed him only 1.5 points behind Alworth for the top WR of the 1960s honor. His 299.4 PPR points led WR fantasy scoring in 1963 and he followed it up with 278.1 PPR points in 1964.
5. Gino Cappelletti (Not included)
Starter pts: 14 | Quality pts: 12 | Impact pts: 13.5 | Elite pts: 12 | Total pts: 51.5
To be fair, a good portion of Cappelletti’s fantasy points came via kicking, as he tallied 176 field goals and 342 extra points in his career, but think about how that type of player would be valued in today’s fantasy football leagues. He would be the ultimate wild card and could justify a spot as a wide receiver, as more than 50 years after his retirement, Cappelletti still ranks fifth in receiving touchdowns, 10th in receiving yards, and 12th in receptions on the all-time New England charts.
6. Dante Lavelli (Not included)
Starter pts: 20 | Quality pts: 12 | Impact pts: 9 | Elite pts: 10 | Total pts: 51
A lot of Lavelli’s value occurred in his first two seasons, as he averaged an era-adjusted 178.3 PPR points in 1946 and 1947, when the league-wide entry level end tallied only 65.1 PPR points on average. Lavelli then added five more Top 10 seasons in both PPR and non-PPR scoring.
7. Bobby Walston (Not included)
Starter pts: 20 | Quality pts: 14 | Impact pts: 10.5 | Elite pts: 6 | Total pts: 53
Walston was a go-to fantasy wide receiver from 1951-54, as his 27.5 career points in that span ranked fourth in the league at any position. As impressive as that stretch was, it actually might not have been the prime of Walston’s fantasy scoring, as he posted a combined total of 379.2 PPR points in 1960 and 1961.
Advertisem*nt
Walston was listed as a tight end in 1962 (his last season) and was designated as a right end in 1960-61, so it’s possible he was playing tight end at that time, but since the bulk of his career was as a wide receiver, his entire career total is being listed in this positional category.
8. Raymond Berry (63 on Football 100)
Starter pts: 22 | Quality pts: 12 | Impact pts: 7.5 | Elite pts: 8 | Total pts: 49.5
Berry’s career is one of contrasts, as he finished Top 2 in non-PPR and PPR scoring in each year from 1957 to 1960, but was only a WR1 in one other season, that being a No. 11 ranking in WR scoring in 1956. The peak production was enough to place Berry on this list, as those four seasons accounted for 31.5 career points.
9. Randy Moss (38 on Football 100)
Starter pts: 22 | Quality pts: 14 | Impact pts: 7.5 | Elite pts: 4 | Total pts: 47.5
This ranking was probably the most surprising on this list, but a few elements explain this. Moss ranked Top 2 in non-PPR WR scoring on six occasions, but he did so in a pass-heavy era. This is why those seasons gave Moss only 35.5 career points and he was a Top 5 non-PPR WR in only two other campaigns. He had two seasons with WR2-caliber PPR numbers, one with WR3-like numbers, and three years where he was a WR5 or worse. Add it up and it shows why Moss ends up ninth on this list.
10. Hugh Taylor (Not included)
Starter pts: 14 | Quality pts: 11 | Impact pts: 12 | Elite pts: 10 | Total pts: 47
To get an idea of how good the man nicknamed “Bones” was, consider that when Taylor posted 168.1 non-PPR points in 1952, the entry level starting wide receiver tallied only 47.4 non-PPR points. That was his peak value year, but Taylor also added four other seasons with 112+ non-PPR points in a time when scoring 100+ PPR points was a rare occurrence.
Top 10 All-Time Fantasy Tight Ends
1. Tony Gonzalez (46 on Football 100)
Starter pts: 32 | Quality pts: 20 | Impact pts: 15 | Elite pts: 10 | Total pts: 77
2. Shannon Sharpe (46 on Football 100)
Starter pts: 22 | Quality pts: 16 | Impact pts: 13.5 | Elite pts: 10 | Total pts: 61.5
Sharpe had one of the great stretches in fantasy football history From 1993-98, as he placed first in PPR scoring four times and added a second and third place finish to the mix. If that wasn’t enough, Sharpe then ended his career with four more years of Top 4 TE PPR scoring.
3. Pete Pihos (46 on Football 100)
Starter pts: 16 | Quality pts: 13 | Impact pts: 13.5 | Elite pts: 6 | Total pts: 48.5
Pihos was the progenitor of the tight end position, which makes his achievements all that more impressive since his positional scoring was part of the “END” position, as the league had not yet discerned between tight ends and wide receivers. Even with the disadvantage of competing against outside wideouts, Pihos still finished in the Top 3 in PPR scoring four times.
4. Kellen Winslow (82 on football 100)
Starter pts: 14 | Quality pts: 12 | Impact pts: 12 | Elite pts: 8 | Total pts: 46
Winslow’s 270 PPR points in 1980 broke the all-time record at this position by 25 points. It was the first of three seasons where Winslow finished first in TE scoring, and he added a second and two fourth-place finishes to the collection by the end of his career.
Advertisem*nt
5. Antonio Gates (Not included)
Starter pts: 25 | Quality pts: 11 | Impact pts: 4.5 | Elite pts: 4 | Total pts: 44.5
Gates exploded onto the fantasy football scene in 2004 by ranking first in non-PPR scoring and second in PPR scoring in his sophom*ore NFL season. He followed that up with two straight years as the TE non-PPR and PPR scoring champion and then did not leave the Top 4 in scoring in either category until 2011.
6. Jason Witten (Not included)
Starter pts: 28 | Quality pts: 9 | Impact pts: 3 | Elite pts: 0 | Total pts: 40
Witten’s calling card is his 28 starter points, as that total ranks ninth in NFL history at any position, but let’s not forget that he placed first or second in non-PPR and PPR TE scoring in 2007, 2008, and 2010.
T7. Todd Christensen (Not included)
Starter pts: 12 | Quality pts: 12 | Impact pts: 6 | Elite pts: 8 | Total pts: 38
Christensen was the comet in the fantasy tight end ranks, as he was first in non-PPR and PPR scoring for four straight years (1983-86), bookended those years with Top 5 scoring finishes, and then disappeared. Two of those No. 1 scoring seasons landed in the elite category, and they are largely responsible for Christensen being on this Top 10 list.
T7. Ozzie Newsome (Not included)
Starter pts: 19 | Quality pts: 11 | Impact pts: 6 | Elite pts: 2 | Total pts: 38
Newsome was part of the fantasy tight end renaissance that occurred in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as he was a Top 5 TE PPR scorer in six out of seven seasons from 1979-85.
9. Travis Kelce (Not included)
Starter pts: 16 | Quality pts: 12 | Impact pts: 7.5 | Elite pts: 2 | Total pts: 37.5
Kelce is the only player other than Don Hutson to have finished first in PPR scoring at his position for five straight years. He’s heading into his age-34 season, but if Kelce can keep his current scoring pace going for another couple of seasons, he will vault up this list quickly and should be a Top 3 all-time fantasy TE if he does so for another three seasons.
10. Jackie Smith (Not included)
Starter pts: 21 | Quality pts: 9 | Impact pts: 3 | Elite pts: 4 | Total pts: 37
Smith was only the second tight end to post 230+ PPR points in a single season. To put that into greater perspective, Smith’s 234.1 PPR points in 1967 was an unmatched total at the tight end position until 1980.
(Top photo: Mickey Pfleger/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
