NFC South Fantasy Football Review

What went right?

The NFC South was a bit of a mixed bag, there were some legitimate gems to come from down south. A personal favorite, Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard (RB12) burst onto the scene, having a breakout campaign at the prime age of 25 years old. Although it was a disastrous start to the season, Bryce Young was able to come back and play respectable ball, showing progress and the ability to lead an NFL offense. Over the second half of the year (week 8-17), Young finished as the QB16. Not stellar, but a small victory nonetheless.

The Buccaneers were the best offense for fantasy purposes this year. QB Baker Mayfield (QB5) did it again, proving 2023 wasn’t a fluke. He’s a franchise QB and a difference maker for fantasy football. Chris Godwin’s first half was insane. Through the first six games of the season, he was just 0.7 points from being the WR1. Bucky Irving was the biggest winner of the division, and probably all of fantasy football this past season. A late round pick by Tampa Bay and by your dynasty/redraft leagues, was a true league winner, finishing as the RB9 during the playoffs, including a 21-point week 17 performance.

Falcons WR1 Drake London saw 10 plus targets seven times through 17 weeks, and that number bumps to 12 if you lower the threshold to seven targets. The breakout has come, and it resulted in a WR9 finish. The floor has been established. RB Bijan Robinson hit the top-five for the first time in his young career. He was in the top-12 nine times from weeks six through seventeen, or 81.8% of games in this timeframe.

What went wrong?

Everything with the Saints passing game was simply not good. Chris Olave never got it going before going out for the year with a scary concussion. His history of traumatic brain injuries has caused concern for his career outlook as a whole. Through the nine weeks before his season ending injury, he was the WR55, which is 15 spots behind fellow Saints’ pass-catcher Rashid Shaheed, who’s season ended three weeks before Olave’s. QB’s Jake Haener and 5th round rookie Spencer Rattler split time throughout the year with guys named Kevin Austin Jr., Mason Tipton, Cedric Wilson, and Marquez Valdez-Scantling being their primary targets outside. You simply cannot win like that, although MVS did have a two-game tear, nothing about the air attack was sustainably good.

Kyle Pitts continued to disappoint in year four. What are we even doing here? Why doesn’t he see targets on a consistent basis? He saw four or less targets in 8-of-17 games, not including week 18.

Positional fantasy rankings for last seasoN

Position	Team	Rank	Explanation
QB	TB	1	Back-to-back top-ten finishes have Mayfield at the top of the food chain in a soft division. He upped his game from last year and was on the outskirts of legitimate MVP consideration. He’s turned his career around and cemented himself as a top-12 option at the position moving forward.
QB	ATL	2	Bit of a projection here, but Penix looked like he has all the tools to succeed in the NFL. The Atlanta offense is ripe with elite weapons to help his development. He and his top-target Drake London were on the same page quickly. The tools are there, let it fly.
QB	CAR	3	Despite admirable performances during the second half of the season, Young is still a question mark. I’d like to see some more consistency.
QB	NO	4	We know what Derek Carr is at this point, and it’s not great. Between 2020 – 2023, he finished as QB13, 13, 16, and 17. In 2024, he was the QB22 through 14 weeks before being shut down for the year. It’s not magically going to get better.

Position	Team	Rank	Explanation
RB	ATL	1	Bijan Robinson is among the most talented running backs in football. The RB4 on the year was just one of four backs to eclipse 280 fantasy points. He was the third leading rusher with 14 touchdowns (t-5). Tyler Allgeier is no slouch either, having 1000 yards as a rookie just three years ago and remains a reliable option for the Falcons. He’d have RB1 upside if Robinson missed time.
RB	TB	2	Bucky Irving is the talk of the town in Fantasy-ville, the new hotness if you will. He’s electric and built for the Buccaneers zone-running scheme. Even if the change in offensive coordinator switches things up, Irving is so explosive that he should continue to eat yards on Sundays. It feels like just a short while ago that Rachaad White was the new guy on the block everyone wanted a piece of. Still an effective pass catcher, he provides solid depth and insurance for a Bucs team that is suddenly loaded.
RB	CAR	3	As discussed above, Chuba Hubbard is just so good. He was able to carry the Carolina offense when absolutely nothing else was working. Jonathan Brooks’ limited action this season was a big contributor, and it’s likely Hubbard will be in the same position again next season.
RB	NO	4	Alvin Kamara was a top-10 running back in 2024, but father time is coming. The NFC South is LOADED at the running back position. The ole veteran lost a bit of steam and will likely continue to do so. Kendre Miller is still a big question mark after two seasons, so it wouldn’t be wise to count on production from the young fella, although I did like him a lot coming out of TCU.

Position	Team	Rank	Explanation
WR	TB	1	Tampa Bay had a little bit of everything in terms of their WR group. Mike Evans is going to be a Hall of Famer, and notched yet another 1,000 yard season. Chris Godwin was the WR to have on this team while healthy, and maybe even the fantasy WR to have at cost. The youngster Jalen McMillan caught fire at the end of the season, scoring four touchdowns during the fantasy playoffs, and seven across the final five games of the year.
WR	ATL	2	Drake London is the best receiver in this division. He was a top-10 fantasy producer and finally saw the target volume we dreamed of when he was taken inside the top-10 of the NFL draft a couple years ago. Darnell Mooney had arguably his best season as a pro, although it was a bit up-and-down, finishing with double digit points just eight times. Ray-Ray McCloud was a fun idea, but London props the receiver room up.
WR	CAR	3	Major drop off in pass-catching talent after the first two teams. The Panthers stood out of the cellar largely because they at least had some talent on the field throughout the season. After a slow start and missing the middle of the year with an injury, Adam Thielen was a top-12 WR from weeks 12-17. That counts for something. Jalen Coker flashed, but his role was inconsistent even when he did come on a bit more. First round pick Xavier Legette scored four touchdowns. It was clear the team tried to get him involved, although it was a bit inconsistent. He had four or fewer targets in seven games.
WR	NO	4	Crazy to think that a team with Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed would find themselves at the bottom of the list. Shaheed was really breaking out when his season ended prematurely, and Chris Olave didn’t have the juice we thought even when healthy. Outside of those two, there was absolutely no one.

Position	Team	Rank	Explanation
TE	ATL	1	Even though Kyle Pitts was on the “what went wrong” side of this article, he’s still the best tight end in the division from a talent AND production standpoint. He had the 13th most yards for tight ends at 602 on the season.
TE	TB	2	Cade Otton’s 600 yards were right behind Pitts. Otton is more of a streaming option, but came up big when given the chance. There was a four-game stretch where he saw 39 targets and nearly 300 yards, and three touchdowns.
TE	NO	3	Juwan Johnson seems to find the sleeper label every offseason, but doesn’t live up to it. Foster Moreau had his name called almost as much as J johnson did this year. Taysom Hill is a Swiss-army knife, but listed as TE, is a fun option. He’s more of a running back though as far as real football is concerned.
TE	CAR	4	Ja’Tavion Sanders had five games with five or more targets, but topped out at 10.7 fantasy points once.

Looking Into the Crystal Ball

Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. has a chance to be the next big thing at QB should he take a leap in his first full season as a starter. The lack of high-end QB prospects in the current draft class only make the case stronger. He has elite weapons around him. If you thought I was high on Drake London this year, aggressively ranking him inside the top-10 in preseason, I might have him inside the top-five come this offseason. He was the clear favorite target for the young QB, and this stack could be a league winner next year if things progress quickly enough.

The Buccaneers have be a young receiver by the name of Jalen McMillan who tore it up at the end of the season. If given the chance to play more, he has a real shot at being a top-24 receiver. I won’t belabor the points I made when talking about him in the WR rankings, but if Godwin leaves via free agency, McMillan will be a favorite of mine heading into 2025.

When looking at Carolina, I expect them to add weapons on offense for Bryce Young to continue his development, but Chuba Hubbard’s role feels safe. The Panthers just spent a second round pick on Jonathon Brooks, which hasn’t worked out so far due to injuries. They’d be hard pressed to make a significant investment again in the RB room, especially when Hubbard proved he can handle a heavy workload, and at a high level.

The Saints, running it back with Derek Carr, will not be much better than they were this season, but I love the idea of Rashid Shaheed continuing his breakout. He has a connection with Derek Carr, as evident by the first handful of games. Even the worst teams in the league have at least one fantasy viable player, and Shaheed has the talent to be THE Saints player to roster in 2025.

March 3, 2025, 12:28 pm