The 2024 fantasy football season went out like a Lion.

Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs was the star of the NFL regular-season finale, scoring four touchdowns (three rushing, one receiving) to capture the league’s categorical title with 20 for the season (16 rushing, four receiving), and totaling a career-best 46.0 PPR fantasy points to put an exclamation point on what was a phenomenal season and fantasy playoff run.

Gibbs was the only player to score at least 25 fantasy points in each of the four fantasy playoff weeks in ESPN standard leagues. He totaled 126.1 points during that span, 17.12 more than the next-closest player, Lamar Jackson. Thrust into a more prominent role following David Montgomery‘s Week 15 MCL sprain, Gibbs, the “Sonic” to Montgomery’s “Knuckles,” proved plenty up to the challenge at the most critical time in our seasons.

If you roster Gibbs, the odds are good that you’re now celebrating a league title. He resides on the championship roster in a league-leading 29.0% of ESPN leagues, capturing the honor by a substantial margin over the next-closest player, Ja’Marr Chase (21.5%). Gibbs had consistently elite rostership metrics, placing on playoff rosters in 58.1% of leagues (sixth-best among running backs, 11th overall) and 37.8% of finalists’ rosters (best among running backs, third overall).

To put Gibbs’ excellence further into perspective, he became the season’s leading scorer among running backs , finishing with 362.9 fantasy points, which was also the sixth-best total by any player.

A second-round pick on average in ESPN drafts during the preseason, Gibbs was one of the most impactful players in a season filled with compelling fantasy MVP storylines. His strong finish advanced his candidacy, even if others made better cases.

• Ja’Marr Chase was by far the top-scoring wide receiver for the season, enjoying an 85.52-point margin over second-ranked Justin Jefferson. That differential is the third-largest in any season since the merger. Chase’s 403.0 total points also made him only the fourth receiver ever to score 400-plus in a season.

• My and colleague Matt Bowen’s MVP pick, Lamar Jackson, scored at least 20 fantasy points in each of his final six games, and in 14 overall. His 430.38 total points set a new standard for quarterbacks. The most-rostered player on ESPN finalists, Jackson was the third-most-common player found on championship teams (20.8%).

Here are the top 50 players most commonly found on rosters of ESPN champions for 2024. Included are players’ preseason ADP (average draft position) and season-ending PPR fantasy point totals.

Other players of note

Rookie tight end Brock Bowers continued to be one of the most impactful players of 2024. Though his 57.0 fantasy points across our four traditional playoff weeks ranked only fourth among tight ends (behind Trey McBride 72.5, Sam LaPorta 64.1 and Jonnu Smith 62.2), his record-setting seasonal performance made him an integral part of championship teams. Bowers’ 262.7 points and 1,194 receiving yards set a rookie tight end standard, and he set the NFL record for receptions by a rookie (112), regardless of position. Selected in the 11th round on average in ESPN leagues, Bowers was the No. 1 tight end found on ESPN playoff (61.0% of leagues), finalist (35.3%) and championship rosters (19.1%).

A pair of in-season pickups stood above the rest as far as championship contributions this season, as Bucky Irving (19.3% of leagues, fourth overall) and Jonnu Smith (16.8%, 14th overall and third best among tight ends) surged late in the season and carried their teams during the fantasy playoffs.

Following the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Week 11 bye, Irving averaged 18.9 touches and totaled 128.4 fantasy points, sixth best among running backs over those seven weeks. Irving’s 70.9 points during the Weeks 15-18 playoff period was also sixth best at his position, and he managed at least 13 in each week. From Week 11 forward, Smith managed at least 11 fantasy points in each of the eight games, and his 148.7 total points during that time span led all tight ends.

They weren’t the only critical pickups of note. As Week 18 typically involves multiple teams resting regulars, cycling players through a roster is integral to your championship hopes. That’s how a player like Michael Carter, rostered in fewer than 2% of ESPN leagues on New Year’s Day, managed to find himself on the roster of an ESPN champion in 13.4% of leagues. Thrust into a starting role with James Conner (knee) and Trey Benson (ankle) sidelined, Carter scored 15.9 fantasy points in Week 18, 11th among running backs. It should serve as a reminder to fantasy managers to always remain vigilant with pickups, right up until the final game.

Bowers and Irving weren’t the only rookies who played big parts in propelling their fantasy teams to league championships.

• Brian Thomas Jr., who scored at least 16 fantasy points in each of the season’s final six weeks and 137.2 total during that time span (second among WRs), managed the fourth-most points at his position for the season, and sixth-most in history among rookie wide receivers. He was the third-most-common wide receiver found on ESPN championship rosters (18.0%).

• Malik Nabers, whose 109 receptions were second only to Bowers among rookies in NFL history, scored at least 12 fantasy points in each of the season’s final seven weeks and finished ninth on the single-season list for rookie wide receivers (273.6 points) all time. He placed one spot behind Thomas on the above list (17.7%).

• Jayden Daniels enjoyed one of the most productive rookie seasons by any quarterback in history. His 355.82 fantasy points fell just shy of Cam Newton’s single-season record of 370.34 in 2011. Though Daniels made only a brief appearance in the Washington Commanders’ Week 18 game, Daniels managed at least 23 points in each of the team’s previous five games to earn himself a place on championship rosters in 16.4% of ESPN leagues. That was second best at his position.

There was quite a disparity in appearances by 2024 fantasy first-round picks on the above list. Six of the 10 players selected that early on average during the preseason placed among the top 24: Chase, Bijan Robinson, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Justin Jefferson, Jonathan Taylor and Saquon Barkley.

Unfortunately, the other four members of the first round finished 60th or worse in terms of championship team appearance rate. Breece Hall (5th in ADP, 9.9% championship rate), CeeDee Lamb (4th, 9.3%), Tyreek Hill (3rd, 8.4%) and Christian McCaffrey (1st, 3.1%) simply did not get it done for their fantasy teams this season.

We hope you rostered at least a few of the high-performing names above on your fantasy football roster. Congratulations to all of our 2024 league champions!