Let’s turn our attention back to the season that was — a simpler, more innocent time before the injuries, the benchings, the group-chat meltdowns and that first-time manager who somehow won it all on autopilot. Welcome to the Fifth Annual Fantasy Billboard Awards, where we honor the NFL players who carried our fantasy teams to glory, torpedoed them into shame or showed up out of nowhere like Bruce Springsteen at a N.J. block party.
BILLBOARD BESTS
Trevor Lawrence, QB — Josh Allen finished as QB1 in 2025, but his 6.9 points in Week 16 sent all his owner’s championship dreams to the woodchipper. Conversely, Lawrence averaged a stellar 33 points in the fantasy playoffs, leading many to mansions of glory. He finished the season just 25 points behind Allen.
Christian McCaffrey, RB — One could argue for Jonathan Taylor, but he averaged just 10 points in his last seven games. CMC was the boss all year with just 3 games under 10 points. Enroute to the fantasy playoffs, CMC had explosive games of 29, 30 and 32 points. Managers who ignored the August injury fearmongering were rewarded with a weekly workhorse who ran like a man trying to escape from Badlands.
Puka Nacua, WR — This one wasn’t close. Nacua missed his customary two games and parts of two others, but his no retreat, no surrender play garnered the highest totals of any WR in fantasy. He averaged 15.5 points per game, leaving big names like Chase and St. Brown in the dust. Honorable mention goes to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, but four games under eight points is the fantasy equivalent of brilliant disguise.
Trey McBride, TE — McBride easily repeats as the best TE in fantasy, accumulating almost 65 points more than his nearest competitor, Dallas Goedert. Accomplishing this with passes from Kyler Murray and Jacoby Brissett was proof that even wrecking ball quarterbacks can feed an elite tight end.
BILLBOARD BUSTS
Lamar Jackson, QB — The second QB off the board in most drafts, Lamar had 1,600 yards and 22 total TDs less (a 50% drop) in 2025 than in 2024. He had disastrous games of 4.4, 8.7 and 7.2 points. He had seven total TDs and seven turnovers in his last eight games. 19 QBs has better point totals than Jackson. If you rode Lamar all year, you weren’t born to run, you were dancing in the dark.
Bucky Irving, RB — A second-round pick in most drafts, Bucky was stellar in Weeks 1-4 (18 points per game) before he went down with a mysterious foot injury. When he came back just in time for the fantasy playoffs, Bucky was sucky, averaging eight points per game against weak sisters Carolina, Atlanta and Miami. We wanted the promised land, but we were sold up the river.
Brian Thomas Jr., WR — There was a darkness on the edge of Jacksonville. Ranked the ninth-best WR before fantasy drafts, Thomas was a bust beyond comprehension, finishing as WR44. He was so bad, he finished the season as the third-best WR on his own team, behind Parker Washington and Jakobi Meyers.
Jonnu Smith, TE — Leave it to offensive coordinator Arthur Smith to ruin a man’s career. Smith was the TE4 last year, with 88 receptions for 884 yards and eight TDs in Miami. But glory days were behind him this season with Coach Smith in Pittsburgh. Jonnu crashed and burned with 38 receptions for 222 yards and three TDs.
BILLBOARD WAIVER WIRE GOLD
Joe Burrow, QB — Given up for dead after Week 2 with a torn toe ligament (aka turf toe), most fantasy teams cut Burrow after the Bengals announced he was likely done for the season. But savvy owners workin’ on a dream swooped in Week 12 and were rewarded with four games between 24-35 points to end the season.
Kyle Monangai, RB — This season lacked the thunderbolt RB breakout star like days of old when waiver gems Priest Holmes and C.J. Anderson led teams to fantasy titles. But Monangai was born to run, logging games of 17, 22 and 26 points after Week 7 to finish as the RB29.
Michael Wilson, WR — When Marvin Harrison went down with an injury in Week 10, the Cardinal offense didn’t miss a beat thanks to Wilson. Daring DBs to “cover me,” Wilson was on fire with 60 receptions for 775 yards and six TDs. He recorded his first 1,000-yard season and was the lone bright light for the fade away Cardinals.
Harold Fannin, TE — With David Njoku firmly entrenched as the starter, no team drafted the rookie from Bowling Green. But when Fannin had 13.6 fantasy points in Week 1, folks were racing in the street to pick him up. He proved tougher than the rest and finished as the TE5.
Next Week: We’ll be goin’ to California with our Super Bowl Giddy Ups! and Whoa Downs! Also, my final thoughts on the 2025 Fantasy season.
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Bill Reinhard is a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and a columnist for FantasyGuru.com.
