2024 League Winners

Thu Aug 14 5:21pm ET
By JEFF PAUR
Sr Fantasy Writer

Barkley won a lot of leagues

One of the big bonuses for writing for RealTime Fantasy Sports is the ability to pull interesting data from all the leagues. And we always love to see where teams picked that won their league last year. Owners always want to know if draft position is really a big key to winning their league. Well, we are here to let you know that information. Plus, we take a look at the most owned players on championship teams and what that might mean for fantasy owners going forward.

CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS DRAFT POSITION
PICK	% WON	ADP EQUIVALENT (2024)
1. 9	10.4%	Saquon Barkley
2. 11	10.2%	A.J. Brown
3. 8	10.0%	Ja’Marr Chase
4. 10	9.7%	Garrett Wilson
5. 6	9.6%	Amon-Ra St. Brown
6. 7	9.6%	Justin Jefferson
7. 5	8.2%	Tyreek Hill
8. 4	8.1%	Bijan Robinson
9. 12	8.0%	Jonathan Taylor
10. 3	6.7%	Breece Hall
11. 2	5.8%	CeeDee Lamb
12. 1	3.7%	Christian McCaffrey

Last season, the early picks were not good ones for a lot of fantasy owners. The top pick, Christian McCaffrey, had an injury-plagued season that was the demise of most. Just 3.7 percent of teams with the first pick won their fantasy leagues. This is not really surprising news but still a pretty stunning figure. There were next to no teams that won if they had the first pick. This just shows that if the first pick really flames out, it is tough to come back from.

The top three picks in the draft all were poor picks last season, finishing in the bottom three for leagues that won. Those top three picks in most leagues last year were McCaffrey, CeeDee Lamb and Breece Hall. None of these guys really lived up to expectations for various reasons, leading to a lot of poor showings for their fantasy owners.

The best spots to pick were near the end of the first round. The ninth, 11th and eighth picks were the only picks that won at least 10 percent of their leagues. According to last year's ADP, the players going around those spots were Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown and Ja’Marr Chase. So you can see why these owners had success in a lot of their leagues. Brown is a bit of an outlier here, but there likely were many that picked 11th that got Barkley or Chase, making that an advantageous spot to pick. Barkley and Chase were the only players picked in the first round last year that made the most owned on championship teams list.

Once again, this data shows that you can win by picking in any spot of the draft but some years are better than others to pick from certain spots come draft day. Last year clearly showed that picking in the back half of drafts was good for many. Will next year follow that trend or will Ja’Marr Chase, Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs have those monster seasons most expect?

PICK	% IN MONEY
1. 8	10.7%
2. 7	10.1%
3. 6	9.6%
4. 9	9.6%
5. 11	9.4%
6. 10	8.9%
7. 5	8.3%
8. 12	8.2%
9. 4	7.8%
10. 3	7.3%
11. 2	6.4%
12. 1	3.6%

There was a bit of a difference between the championship teams list and the teams that finished in the money list. The ninth pick was first for championship teams but just fourth for teams that placed in the money. The top three spots to land in the money were the eighth, seventh and sixth spots of the draft. Again, it showed that picking after the halfway point of the draft was a plus last year.

Just like the first table above, the first, second and third drafters were the bottom three for finishing in the money. You did not want to be picking early last year. It was not a good year to draw a top pick. The data clearly shows that.

PLAYERS OWNED ON CHAMPIONSHIP ROSTERS
PLAYER	% OWNED	ADP
1. Jalen McMillan	20.4%	187.9
2. Tee Higgins	16.9%	53.4
3. Derrick Henry	16.8%	21.0
4. Chig Okonkwo	16.7%	211.0
5. Malik Nabers	16.5%	29.4
6. Brian Thomas Jr.	16.0%	95.9
7. Jayden Daniels	16.0%	110.6
8. Joe Burrow	15.8%	89.8
9. Colts	15.6%	215.3
10. George Kittle	15.5%	75.6
11. Jahmyr Gibbs	14.8%	13.0
12. Ja’Marr Chase	14.6%	8.5
13. Kendre Miller	14.5%	N/A
14. Chase Brown	14.3%	90.4
15. Mike Evans	14.1%	36.3
16. Brock Bowers	14.1%	111.9
17. Ameer Abdullah	13.7%	N/A
18. Saquon Barkley	13.3%	10.0
19. Trey McBride	13.3%	49.1
20. Lamar Jackson	13.1%	54.6
21. Adam Thielen	12.9%	155.8
22. Tyjae Spears	12.5%	94.5
23. James Cook	12.2%	32.5
24. James Conner	12.2%	54.4
25. Bucky Irving	12.2%	134.1

We are sure all of you had Jalen McMillan as the most owned player on championship teams, right? Well, McMillan took that honor and by a pretty decent margin (3.5 percent). McMillan had 16-plus fantasy points five straight games to end his fantasy season. He had touchdowns each of those last five games. He was a difference maker in the playoffs.

Tee Higgins is another a player on the list and the main reason why is his monster game during most fantasy Super Bowls. Higgins had 11 receptions for 131 yards and three touchdowns in Week 17. He had at least 19.8 fantasy points during all three fantasy playoff weeks. He came up big when it mattered.

There were three rookies in the top 10 - Malik Nabers, Brian Thomas and Jayden Daniels. This is not surprising as all three had huge seasons and two of the three were had for pretty cheap. They won’t come at a discount this season. You will have to pay up big time to get any of these players. The rookies were big fantasy winners last year, though, and continue a recent trend of some big-time fantasy performers in Week 1. Sometimes taking rookies is a big risk but this shows it can clearly be a big benefit if they take the league by storm in year one.

The Bengals were another common theme on the list with four players in the top 15 for most owned. Tee Higgins, Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Chase Brown all made the list. The Bengals came up big in the fantasy playoffs, so if you had any kind of Bengals stack, you likely did well. This is another reason many like to stack some sort of combo on their fantasy team. This can pay off during the fantasy playoffs and differentiate you from other teams in your league or big-game contests with an overall component.

We thought Brock Bowers might be a tad higher on the list, having a monster rookie season. He led fantasy tight ends in scoring. He was 16th for most owned, though. You thought that number might be a tad higher, considering his price tag (111.9 ADP). There aren’t a lot of players you get after the 100 mark that end up leading their position in fantasy scoring.

Seven of the 25 players listed had ADPs after 100. This list shows that finding those bargains can pay off big. Who are the diamonds in the rough this year that will lead teams to championships? That is the question most fantasy owners are trying to figure out. They want to get the next Bucky Irving, Brock Bowers or Jayden Daniels on their roster. If you can figure out those guys, you are likely going to have a lot of success.

There always is a head scratcher or two that makes this list and this year was no different. Kendre Miller was somehow owned on 14.5 percent of championship rosters. He did not have double-digit fantasy points in any of the playoff weeks and didn’t top 50 total yards in a single game all season. He did start the last two fantasy playoff weeks last year, so a lot of playoff teams might have just grabbed him since he was available in a lot of leagues. He clearly didn’t make a difference in the playoffs with his play, though.

In closing, the data shows that hitting on those first-round picks and finding some gems after the top 100 are clear ways to winning your fantasy leagues. This isn’t earth-shattering information but still good to see laid out in front of you. Now go do your homework to make sure those two things happen for you in all your drafts this season.

Jeff Paur is a two-time finalist for FSWA Fantasy Football Writer of the Year and won the FSWA award for Best Fantasy Football Article on the Web in 2011. He also was the most accurate expert in 2012, winning the FSTA Fantasy Football Accuracy Award. If you have any questions for Jeff, email him at jeff@rtsports.com. Follow Jeff on Twitter @jeffpaur.

2024 League Winners

The Paur Report