With Christmas on the horizon, it’s time to check in on the NFL’s naughty and nice list to see which players or coaches might be in for a good treat on Christmas morning and who might be left disappointed, much like the fantasy managers who trusted them.
- Waiver Wire Advice
- Weekly Fantasy Football Expert Rankings
- Fantasy Football Start/Sit Advice
- Fantasy Football Trade Tools
Fantasy Football Naughty & Nice List
Naughty List
While we can praise some quarterbacks who found their way to the top of draft boards, the same can’t be said of C.J. Stroud, who had better MVP odds for this year than two-time MVP Lamar Jackson. Stroud had three excellent wide receivers surrounding him, an All-Pro left tackle and a division that provided a cupcake schedule, yet Stroud floundered miserably.
There have been 125 20+ point performances from quarterbacks this year — Stroud is responsible for just one. Even Daniel Jones (two) and Kirk Cousins (two) have had more ceiling outcomes. 2025 will likely bring a drop in average draft position (ADP) for a quarterback who hindered your fantasy team substantially.
Speaking of hindrances… The path was clear for a monster season for Deebo Samuel, who had been more productive in 2023 than Brandon Aiyuk was but there was no denying Aiyuk still earned targets at a high rate and potentially capped Samuel’s ceiling. Aiyuk’s offseason was full of contract-related drama that left him not practicing, resulting in him being rusty when he did take to the field.
His season was then curtailed when he tore his ACL, MCL and meniscus in his right knee in Week 7. That should have resulted in Samuel being a top-12 wide receiver. Since then, Samuel has been the WR78 in PPR points per game with 278 yards in seven games and zero touchdowns. At least Aiyuk headed to injured reserve (IR) and freed you from deciding if you could start him, whereas Samuel has continued to be a millstone around the neck of your fantasy roster.
It seems to have gone largely by the wayside that Patrick Mahomes ended the season of Rashee Rice when he threw a pick in Week 4 and then collided with Rice as the two Chiefs tried to stop the returning Chargers defender. Rice suffered a torn ACL as well as meniscus damage, and the Chiefs’ offense hasn’t been the same since.
Mahomes has been awful downfield this year, completing 29% of his pass attempts of 20+ yards, putting him in similar territory to Anthony Richardson (23%) and ranking 26th out of 29 quarterbacks with 25+ attempts. The arrival of DeAndre Hopkins on top of the exciting talent Xavier Worthy boasts was supposed to deliver so much more, but instead, the Chiefs are quite simply the most boring 13-1 team most of us can remember.
WARNING: Do not watch if you have Xavier Worthy on your fantasy teams. (Please regress. We have families.) pic.twitter.com/1g2AKOj1aS
— Hayden Winks (@HaydenWinks) December 3, 2024
Jim Harbaugh (HC – LAC)
You might have thought Jim Harbaugh deserved to be on the nice list given he’s made the Chargers a semi-respectable organization once more and that they’ve been far less prone to ‘Charger-ing’ of late, but Harbaugh deserves his place on this list. The new regime shipped Keenan Allen and Mike Williams out of town while adding only Ladd McConkey to catch passes. It was obvious the ethos would be a run-heavy one, but they relied upon Gus Edwards coming off surgery and his worst season as a pro and J.K. Dobbins, who had barely played over the last couple of years.
Dobbins and McConkey have been good players and solid fantasy football values but Justin Herbert has continually flashed. It leaves you wondering how much higher the ceiling of this offense could have been. In another universe, Herbert was paired with Brock Bowers, who thrives in a Greg Roman tight end-centric offense. Let me tell you, universal peace and harmony broke out pretty quickly following that.
Jerod Mayo (HC – NE)
It took six weeks for the Patriots to maintain the facade Drake Maye should sit for a substantial period before the pressure built too much to deny his opportunity any longer. Jacoby Brissett completed a miserable 59% of his passes in Weeks 1-5 and 5.2 yards per target while managing a whopping two touchdowns before he headed to the bench.
People had decided Maye wouldn’t be ready for the NFL and would struggle with the worst skill core in the NFL and a terrible offensive line. However, Maye was born into this darkness in North Carolina, molded by it and understood it.
After Josh Downs left for the NFL, Maye was left with a very poor pass-catching group and a bad offensive line. The NFL just brought more of the same. Maye has completed 67% of his passes, is averaging 1.3 passing touchdowns per game and is averaging 6.8 yards per attempt. Jerod Mayo, you stopped us from having fun from the get-go, so you’re on the naughty list.
NFL Referees
You know what you’ve done. Try to make an effort next year.
Nice List
Elite Dual-Threat Quarterbacks
The debate about whether it’s worth paying up for the top-end quarterbacks is well and truly over at this point. Of course, we can continue to debate who belongs in that range, but for the past two years, three quarterbacks have continued to pay off handsomely.
Lamar Jackson (QB1), Josh Allen (QB2) and Jalen Hurts (QB3) are all paying off their draft cost, with Jackson, in particular, paying off his QB4 ADP, behind the less productive Patrick Mahomes. Jackson averages four more points per game than any quarterback not named Jalen Hurts or Josh Allen. All three have provided at least 10 top-12 weekly finishes.
Much was made of Drake London’s ADP in the offseason with detractors claiming London had done little to warrant being a locked-in second-round pick in drafts. Despite the recent up-and-down performances from Kirk Cousins, London has excelled.
London has set career highs in receiving yards (919), targets (119), touchdowns (seven) and catch rate (65.9%) in only 14 games at the time of writing. London is the WR9 in total PPR points and was drafted as the WR11. Maybe one day he’ll have quarterback stability, but he’s firmly elevated himself into the top 12 of the position.
This @DrakeLondon_ route is too cold ????https://t.co/4yVnQQtuax x #ProBowlVote pic.twitter.com/3LgpyAvPkb
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) December 17, 2024
But what about the pass protection issues people shouted from the rooftops in the offseason? This was a fair point with the Bengals rarely trusting Chase Brown to protect much in 2023. However, worrying about that denied you the flip side of the argument, which was ‘What if he’s improved enough and is a very good running back?’ That is exactly what happened.
Of course, the Bengals did also have Zack Moss to start the season, but as things went on, Moss started to lose touches and his neck injury opened up the way for Brown to be a league-winner. Since Week 9, Brown has averaged 23 fantasy points per game and is the RB2 in that period.
2023 was somewhat disappointing for Tony Pollard truthers, who had waited a long time for him to be a workhorse freed from the shadow of Ezekiel Elliott, but it was a somewhat disappointing season, particularly the first half of it.
In 2024, Pollard found himself a free agent for the first time and was one of the quickest signings when teams were allowed to add players. Pollard hit a career-high in yards per game (70.1) and is on track for his third straight 1,000-yard season despite playing for an uneven Titans team.
In a much-hyped draft class, there were high expectations for rookie wide receivers. While Marvin Harrison Jr. and Malik Nabers struggled to pay off the costs attached to them, which admittedly were high, Brian Thomas Jr. has been nothing but excellent.
Thomas is leading all rookies with 956 receiving yards and is the PPR WR7 in total points with more yards than A.J. Brown, Garrett Wilson and Tyreek Hill. Without a doubt, he was one of the biggest ADP bargains this offseason.
Brian Thomas Jr. has a disgusting release game.
His footwork at the stem is beautiful. He plays it low and off the insides of his feet.
DB is playing inside leverage, so he sells the outside fake hard with his entire body.
This demands a lot of violence from his lower body. pic.twitter.com/CeWKZMFp7V
— Zareh Kantzabedian (@ZKantzFF) December 16, 2024
Sticking with rookies for a little while longer, Jayden Daniels firmly belongs on the nice list for helping the Commanders to their best start through 14 games in 32 years. They’ve won nine of their first 14 games since 1992.
Much was made about Daniels’ slight frame this offseason, along with his propensity to take massive hits, but the rookie signal-caller has excelled in the NFL with nothing looking too big for him. If the Commanders can add some better weapons around Terry McLaurin — like Tee Higgins perhaps — Daniels could have real elite-tier potential in 2025.
Liam Coen (OC – TB)
Baker Mayfield and the Bucs passing offense was plenty of fun in 2023 with Dave Canales quickly becoming one of the most highly thought of offensive minds in the NFL. It seemed inevitable that Mayfield, in particular, could be primed for regression in 2024. After all, Mayfield hasn’t been the most consistent player throughout his career. Enter Liam Coen.
The Bucs have thrived this season, despite the loss of Chris Godwin. Mayfield has shined with a 70% completion rate, by far the highest of his career, as well as setting career highs in yards per attempt (7.9), touchdown passes and most likely total passing yards. Further to this, Coen has installed an effective running game, which the Bucs previously lacked. This has helped them control games far better than in 2023.
Dan Campbell (HC – DET)
In a world of NFL head coaches often being afraid to give a real answer, Dan Campbell is a complete breath of fresh air. Whether it’s Campbell going for it on fourth downs consistently and converting them at the third-highest rate or never complaining about injury luck, or lack thereof, or whether it’s being gung-ho with onside kick decisions, Campbell makes following the game fun. More head coaches could learn from him.
Jared Goff said when Dan Campbell stands in front of the room, people listen.
“Watching him stand in the storm at 1-6 and 3-13 or whatever we were that first year, that’s what, for me, makes his words mean so much more now when we’re 12-2,” the Lions QB said. pic.twitter.com/hQOkBNT435
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) December 18, 2024
Veteran Running Backs
Perhaps we’ll see an overcorrection in 2025, but 2024 was a vintage year for veteran running backs, highlighted by Saquon Barkley (RB1), Alvin Kamara (RB2), Joe Mixon (RB3) and Derrick Henry, all of whom are over the age of 27.
Most surprising about this situation was that three of the four running backs were allowed to hit free agency this offseason in a down year for the rookie running back class. The cliff can come quickly for running backs, but this year should serve as a reminder to not let talented players fall as far down draft boards as we did in 2024.
Subscribe: YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | iHeart | Castbox | Amazon Music | Podcast Addict | TuneIn
