The NFL playoffs don’t count in fantasy football, but that doesn’t make players’ playoff performances meaningless to fantasy fanatics.
With an added spotlight on postseason games, fantasy managers can’t help but take notice of player performance. Let’s examine the dynasty winners and dynasty losers from the 2024 NFL postseason.
Dynasty Fantasy Football Winners
Jayden Daniels, QB, Washington Commanders
Excluding Week 18, Jayden Daniels averaged 21.98 fantasy points per game (ppg) as a rookie. Since 2000, only four quarterbacks have averaged over 20 ppg as rookies: 2011 Cam Newton, 2020 Justin Herbert, and 2012 Robert Griffin III. That’s some pretty good company.
Daniels was already looking like a locked-in top-five QB for 2025. After his performance in the NFL playoffs, there’s a case to be made that he should be the overall dynasty QB1.
Now, I’m not fully there with Daniels. I can’t put him ahead of Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, or Patrick Mahomes just yet. But I certainly see the argument.
Daniels took the Washington Commanders to the NFC Championship Game as a rookie. He is indisputably the greatest rookie QB in NFL history. In his three playoff starts, he averaged 274 yards passing and 45 yards rushing and accounted for six total touchdowns against just one interception. Daniels is elite.
Ladd McConkey, WR, Los Angeles Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers’ playoff tenure lasted just one game. Yet, Ladd McConkey managed to make a huge impact.
For better or worse, performances on the national stage make a stronger impression on fantasy managers. Even during the regular season, we tend to react more to great/terrible performances in stand-alone games than on a random Sunday at 1 p.m.
In his lone playoff game, McConkey caught nine passes for 197 yards and a touchdown. McConkey had the best game of his rookie season at the most important time. The kid is a gamer.
McConkey averaged 15.06 ppg as a rookie. As a reminder, 16 ppg is the rough threshold for WR1 production. He also started the season a bit slow, not really coming on until Week 11. From that point forward, McConkey averaged 18.67 ppg. Those are borderline elite WR1 numbers.
On a national stage, McConkey put everyone on notice, showing he deserves to be in the top 12 wide receivers conversation in dynasty.
Rashod Bateman, WR, Baltimore Ravens
After three seasons of failing to launch while battling various injuries, Rashod Bateman was largely left for dead ahead of the 2024 season. I certainly didn’t care much about him, viewing him as a solid NFL role player and nothing more.
Now, to be clear, I don’t think Bateman will suddenly prove worthy of a guy who went in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. However, he’s definitely more valuable than he was when the season began.
Bateman continued proving his worth in the postseason. Benefiting a bit from Zay Flowers’ absence, Bateman scored 10.4 and 16.6 fantasy points in his two playoff games.
As a reminder, this article is about players who increased their fantasy value — not about whether I think they should have. Bateman may have proven to be a quality NFL receiver, but I think he’s now a bit overvalued.
A large chunk of Bateman’s production came from touchdowns. He caught more than four passes in a game just twice all season. Neither occurrence came in the playoffs. He just happened to score in both games. That type of stuff can improve perception, making Bateman an intriguing sell candidate in dynasty.
Xavier Worthy, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
This is such a tough one to figure out for fantasy. Over the second half of the season, Xavier Worthy really started to figure things out.
The speedy rookie only averaged 11.01 fantasy points per game on the season. If the fantasy community took that number at face value, his dynasty value would make him a screaming buy. Of course, we’re all smarter than that.
Worthy struggled mightily to start the season. Beginning around Week 11, though, the Kansas City Chiefs started to use him more deliberately. By Week 14, he was playing over 80% of the snaps every game.
From Week 11-17, Worthy averaged 15.56 ppg, borderline WR1 numbers. Then, Worthy showcased his improved role and performance on a national stage in the NFL playoffs.
Worthy posted solid lines in the Chiefs’ first two playoff games with five catches for 45 yards in one game and six catches for 85 yards and one touchdown in the other. Then, in the Super Bowl, he exploded for eight receptions, 157 yards, and two touchdowns.
The problem is Rashee Rice will reclaim his spot as the team’s WR1 when he returns. Worthy benefited from a ton of low aDOT targets and manufactured touches. There won’t be as many of them when Rice is healthy.
Worthy definitely improved as a rookie and will be a viable fantasy asset. However, I can’t help but wonder if his value right now is the highest it will ever be.
Dynasty Fantasy Football Losers
Jalen Hurts, QB, Philadelphia Eagles
After the Super Bowl, I debated removing Jalen Hurts from this list. People remember what they saw last and Hurts put on one of the best performances of his career on the biggest stage, throwing for 221 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 72 yards and another score.
Unfortunately, I can’t ignore what we saw over the Philadelphia Eagles’ first three games — and really the entire season. We know Hurts has the talent to be an elite QB1. It’s not as if his 21.6 ppg this season was bad.
Hurts is on this list because of how the Eagles want to run their offense. This is a Saquon Barkley-dominated attack. The game script certainly helped, but even in a game where the opponent sold out to stop Barkley, the Eagles still gave him 25 carries. Hurts attempted a mere 22 passes against the Chiefs.
In his three previous playoff games, Hurts averaged 168.3 passing yards per game on 23 average attempts, 40.6 rushing yards per game, and threw a mere three touchdowns. Yes, he did rush for four scores, but that’s kind of the point. Hurts is heavily reliant on Tush Push touchdowns to sustain his fantasy value.
Things change quickly in the NFL. The Eagles could find themselves with a worse defense or Barkley could experience a decline, restoring Hurts’ mega-elite upside. Right now, though, Hurts appears to be several notches below Allen and Jackson, and it’s hard to argue him ahead of Daniels either.
Isiah Pacheco, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
If you go back and watch Week 1 Isiah Pacheco and compare him to the guy we saw post-injury, it’s clear he wasn’t the same player. We can and should blame his injury, at least in part, for his dismal production over the second half of the season. After returning in Week 13, Pacheco did not score a touchdown. He averaged 5.0 fantasy points per game.
Before this season’s disaster, Pacheco had established himself as at least a high RB2 in fantasy, and a top 20 asset at the running back position. Is he still there?
The fantasy community is a savvy bunch. We all know the injury played a significant role in Pacheco’s struggles. Nevertheless, this disastrous season happened. We all saw it happen. Therefore, it will negatively impact Pacheco’s dynasty value.
Fantasy managers hoping the Chiefs saved Pacheco for the playoffs couldn’t have been more disappointed. Instead, his usage went in the other direction. In three playoff games, Pacheco totaled 13 carries for 37 rushing yards and three receptions for 17 yards. That’s 8.4 fantasy points across three games.
Will Pacheco bounce back in 2025? My guess is yes. But regardless, his dynasty value undoubtedly took a hit over the past month.
Cooper Kupp, WR, Los Angeles Rams
It’s hard to take anything positive away from Cooper Kupp’s last couple of months. In his final three regular season games, Kupp caught a total of four passes.
Wondering whether Kupp’s lack of production was the team saving him for the playoffs, there was some optimism Matthew Stafford would lean on Kupp more when the games mattered the most. Instead, Kupp saw all of one target in the Wild Card Round. Then, he caught five passes for 61 yards against the Eagles, three of which didn’t come until less than four minutes were remaining in the game.
Kupp was always more talented than he got credit for. He would have succeeded anywhere. However, his connection with Stafford and the way Sean McVay uses his top two receivers bolstered Kupp’s value. Now, Kupp is likely out of Los Angeles, with his next team presently unknown.
Three years ago, Kupp was coming off the greatest season by a wide receiver in NFL history. Two years ago, he was still a WR1 in dynasty. Last year, he was an intriguing bounce-back candidate. Now, he’s a 32-year-old wide receiver changing teams after showing clear signs of decline. I’m not sure Kupp belongs in the top 60 dynasty wide receivers anymore.
DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
When the Chiefs traded for DeAndre Hopkins, they did so at a point in the season where they desperately needed receiving help. Hopkins joined the team ahead of Week 7.
The Chiefs lost Rice three weeks beforehand. Hollywood Brown was long gone. JuJu Smith-Schuster had just tweaked his hamstring, costing him time. Worthy was still on struggle street. Mahomes had no one, and Hopkins provided a reliable set of hands.
As the season wore on, though, it was clear the Chiefs didn’t view Hopkins as the elite WR he’s been throughout most of his career. Over the second half of the season, Hopkins’ snap share fell below 50%.
For the NFL playoffs, Brown returned. Despite not having played the entire regular season, he was immediately thrust into the WR2 role behind Worthy. Hopkins barely saw the field, playing 31% of the snaps in the Divisional Round and 18% of the snaps in the AFC Championship.
In the Super Bowl, Hopkins did catch a late touchdown, but he once again barely played. He also had a brutal drop late in the first half.
Hopkins will be 33 years old next season. Very few wide receivers remain effective this deep into their 30s. It is very likely over for Hopkins as a viable fantasy option.
