Ranking the Best Fantasy Football QB Seasons of All-Time

January 26, 2025

A look at the best fantasy football QB seasons of all-time. Where does Lamar Jackson's 2024 season rank among the best fantasy football season from a quarterback?

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson just had one of the greatest fantasy football seasons of all time, but how does it stack up to the other great seasons from quarterbacks?

Let's take a look at the 10 best fantasy football seasons ever from quarterbacks. Below are the 10 best fantasy football quarterback seasons of all time.

One caveat before we get to the list: I'm limiting players to two appearances each, just so we get a little bit of diversity here. No one wants 40% of this list to just be Josh Allen, right?

10. Cam Newton - 2015

Cam Newton found magic with the Panthers in 2015. In his fifth NFL season, Newton led the team to a 15-1 record, throwing a career-high 35 touchdown passes. His 3,837 yards were the second-most of his NFL career.

That alone wouldn't have earned Newton a spot on this list. What gets him the spot is that he rushed for 10 touchdowns as well. His 636 rushing yards were only the fourth-most of his career, but coupled with his best passing season, Newton was a fantasy football force.

9. Aaron Rodgers - 2011

There was a seven-year stretch where Aaron Rodgers finished as the overall QB1 or QB2 six times, only missing out during the 2013 season when injuries limited him to nine games.

His best year in that span was 2011 when Rodgers finished with 397 fantasy points. That was because Rodgers was on a heater when it came to touchdown passes, throwing 45 of them. 9.0% of his pass attempts resulted in scores. Rodgers also added 257 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

Rodgers would come close to this level in 2020, finishing with 382 fantasy points that season, but he just didn't quite hit his 2011 level.

8. Drew Brees - 2011

Rushing ability is usually key to delivering this kind of huge fantasy season, but that wasn't the case for Drew Brees in 2011 when he had 86 rushing yards and one touchdown. This one was all about the arm.

2011-12 Drew Brees: one of the most underrated szns ever.

Led the league w 5476 yds, 46 TD.

Carried a D ranked 20th in pts, 24th in total yds, 28th in DVOA to a 13-3 rec.

Wiped DET in WC w 466 yds, 3 TD, 0 INT.

Led would be GWD vs SF w/ 462 yd, 4 TD…let down by D AGAIN. pic.twitter.com/VcVFRdI6NF

— Pran (@MayeToBaker) February 10, 2024

Brees threw for 5,476 yards in 2011, setting a new NFL record for passing yards in a season. That record has since been broken by another player on this list, but it doesn't take away from how good Brees was for the Saints that year.

7. Josh Allen - 2022

Okay, so technically spots eight and nine should be Josh Allen as well, but putting four consecutive appearances from the same quarterback on the list felt boring, so I'm just focusing on Allen's two best fantasy seasons, starting with 2022.

That year, Allen threw for 4,283 yards and 35 touchdowns. He also added seven rushing touchdowns, finishing the season with 762 rushing yards, just one fewer than his career high.

6. Josh Allen - 2021

That career high in rushing yards? Allen set it one season before, rushing for 763 yards in a 2021 season where he just edged out his best fantasy finish. Allen had 396 fantasy points in 2022, falling just shy of the 403 points he scored in 2021.

Allen might be even higher on this list if it wasn't for turnover issues. He's thrown double-digit interceptions in five of his seven NFL seasons, including tossing 15 of them in 2021.

5. Peyton Manning - 2013

The record for passing yards in a season belongs to Peyton Manning, who threw for 5,477 yards and 55 touchdowns in 2013. It was the greatest pure passing season we've ever seen in fantasy football.

Annual post: we’re about to conclude the 4th ever 17 game regular season.. and nobody once again has come close to the numbers put up by Peyton Manning in the 2013 16 game regular season : 55 TD passes and 5,477 passing yards. OMAHA pic.twitter.com/AAdcxPtE3u

— trey wingo (@wingoz) January 5, 2025

But it also highlights how much rushing ability serves as a cheat code in fantasy. Manning had a season that's unmatched historically, but he only ranks fifth on this list because he wasn't able to add any fantasy value on the ground. He had a rushing touchdown but also lost 31 yards on the year.

4. Lamar Jackson - 2019

Sure, 2019 might not have been the best year of Lamar Jackson's NFL career, but his second season in the league saw Jackson win his first MVP award.

That year, Jackson led the NFL with 36 passing touchdowns while throwing just six interceptions. In his first season as a full-time starter, he proved he was more than just a runner.

But also, he was a runner, rushing for 1,206 yards, the most ever in a single season by an NFL quarterback. Jackson found the end zone seven times on the ground.

3. Patrick Mahomes - 2022

Surprisingly, Patrick Mahomes has led the NFL in passing yards just once. That was in 2022 when he threw for 5,250 yards. Mahomes also added 41 passing touchdowns.

While he's not a huge runner, Mahomes does enough on the ground. 2022 saw him score four rushing touchdowns, the most Mahomes has had during his NFL career. He also added 358 rushing yards. It was a great season, but it wasn't the best one Mahomes has ever had.

2. Patrick Mahomes - 2018

Patrick Mahomes took over as the Chiefs starting quarterback in 2018 following one start as a rookie in 2017 while playing behind Alex Smith. He went on to take the NFL by storm, throwing for over 5,000 yards and leading the NFL with 50 touchdown passes.

It's easy to forget now because his dominance has become expected, but at the time Mahomes doing what he did in 2018 was shocking. Air Raid quarterbacks weren't supposed to adapt to the NFL like that, but Mahomes did, posting one of the greatest seasons ever by a quarterback.

1. Lamar Jackson - 2024

That's right: Lamar Jackson's 2024 season ranks as the greatest fantasy season ever from a quarterback.

Can we take a moment to appreciate the absolute monster season that Lamar Jackson just had? 🏆

Lamar set the all-time single-season fantasy points record by ANY PLAYER in NFL history!

430.4 FP

Well done 👏🏾 Crown him MVP. 😤

— LaQuan Jones (@RealDealFantasy) January 6, 2025

Jackson really focused on the passing game this season, throwing for career-highs in yards and touchdowns. He finished 2024 with 4,172 passing yards and 41 passing touchdowns, tossing scores on a league-high 8.6% of his pass attempts.

Meanwhile, Jackson had his most rushing yards since 2020, finishing with 139 carries for 915 yards and four touchdowns. He was elite in both phases of the game, which helped him score the most fantasy points ever in one season for a quarterback.

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