Breakout Player of the Year: David Montgomery, CHI RB

The first half of the season started a bit slow for Montgomery (two touchdowns through nine games), but Chicago made him the offensive centerpiece down the stretch—leading to a straight-up fantasy dominance with 598 rushing yards, 226 receiving yards, and eight total touchdowns over the final six games to finish as the overall RB4 on the year. Montgomery’s star shouldn’t fade in 2021.

 

Waiver Wire Pickup of the Year: James Robinson, JAX RB

Despite being a mystery entering the season as an undrafted free agent out of Illinois State, Robinson showed well enough over the summer to win the starting job outright for Jacksonville, and he was the biggest bright spot for the franchise in 2020. Robinson unfortunately missed the final two games with a high-ankle sprain, but not before totaling the most yards from scrimmage for an undrafted rookie in NFL history (1,404).

 

Draft Value of the Year: Aaron Rodgers, GB QB

Green Bay not adding any playmakers and instead selecting a quarterback in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft seemed to be a couple of red flags for Rodgers’ fantasy outlook, but Year 2 in Matt LaFleur’s offense took things to another level for the 37-year-old with a career-high 48 touchdown passes. Those who drafted Rodgers in the mid-to-late rounds were rewarded with seven four-touchdown games.

 

Late Round Pick of the Year: Justin Jefferson, MIN WR

Reports out of camp about Jefferson running behind Olabisi Johnson as the No. 2 receiver (which turned out to be the case through the first two weeks) led to Minnesota’s first-round pick coming off the board as a borderline undrafted player—but he was among the best receivers in football when unleashed with a 7/175/1 breakout in Week 3. Overall, Jefferson caught 88 passes for a rookie-record 1,400 yards and seven touchdowns; he’s the classic reminder to bet on talent above all else in fantasy drafts.

 

Fantasy Playoffs MVP: Stefon Diggs, BUF WR

Another free tip is to not look too far ahead when drafting, as Buffalo’s fantasy playoff schedule was a possible concern for their offense, but they ended up lighting everyone up. Diggs in particular went for lines of 10/130/1, 11/147, 9/145/3, and 7/76 (in one half) over the final four weeks—averaging 27.1 fantasy points per game for the stretch where most have their playoffs (Week 14 through Week 16).

 

Rookie of the Year: Jonathan Taylor, IND RB 

Justin Herbert (overall QB9) and the aforementioned Justin Jefferson (overall WR6) both deserve recognition here and have a strong case for the award, but the way Taylor finished the season—with a 16-game pace of 2,232 total yards and 22 total touchdowns over his final six outings—makes it difficult to argue against him. In 15 games, Taylor rushed 232 times for 1,169 yards (5.0 YPC) and 11 touchdowns while adding 36 receptions (on 39 targets) for 299 yards and another score.

 

Most Valuable Player: Josh Allen, BUF QB

MVP could go to a handful of guys, but Allen finished as the top overall scorer in 2020, and if not for a short stretch when Buffalo had a couple of games rescheduled and he was dealing with an injured shoulder to limit the upside, best-fantasy-season-ever territory was reachable. For the season, Allen had the most games with 30+ fantasy points (six) to top other contenders like Derrick Henry (four), Patrick Mahomes (four), Alvin Kamara (four), and Davante Adams (three).

 

Team of the Year

 

QB: Josh Allen, BUF
RB: Alvin Kamara, NO
RB: Derrick Henry, TEN
WR: Davante Adams, GB
WR: Stefon Diggs, BUF
TE: Travis Kelce, KC
FLEX: Dalvin Cook, MIN
D/ST: Rams
K: Younghoe Koo, ATL