Last year, fantasy managers who drafted Jahmyr Gibbs had to be patient before he really took off. This year, even with the continued presence of David Montgomery, there was no wait required before Gibbs was a big factor.
Gibbs has scored and/or topped 100 yards from scrimmage in every game so far this season. His 16 total touchdowns (13 rushing, three receiving) and 1,759 scrimmage yards are top-five numbers in the league.
Gibbs also failed to top 19 touches in back-to-back games this season until David Montgomery was sidelined by a knee injury. Montgomery's absence paved a path for Gibbs to have a fantastic finish to the fantasy season, with a workhorse role and nice matchups coming in Week 16 and Week 17.
Gibbs delivered in Week 16 against the Chicago Bears, with 23 carries for 109 yards and a touchdown along with four catches for 45 yards. That was good for 25.4 full PPR points in fantasy, and a finish as the RB7 for the week in that scoring format. That was preceded by a RB2 finish in Week 15 against the Buffalo Bills (28.4 PPR points).
In Week 17 against the San Francisco 49ers, Gibbs had 18 carries for 117 yards and a touchdown with four catches for 46 yards. He was the RB2 in full PPR for the week (26.3 fantasy points).
Fantasy Football: Jahmyr Gibbs was 'the' league-winning RB in 2024
For the 2024 fantasy season in most leagues, Gibbs finished as the RB2 in full PPR and the RB3 in both standard and 0.5-point PPR. From Week 15-17, otherwise known as the fantasy playoffs, he was the RB1 in full PPR. It took Jonathan Taylor having five rushing touchdowns over Week 16 and 17 to keep Gibbs from being the RB1 in standard and 0.5-point PPR too.
Jahmyr Gibbs throughout the Fantasy Playoffs:
— PFF Fantasy & Betting (@PFF_Fantasy) December 31, 2024
🏆 Week 15 - 28.4 PPR Points
🏆 Week 16 - 25.4 PPR Points
🏆 Week 17 - 26.3 PPR Points
LEAGUE WINNER. pic.twitter.com/L4jaJN0yqx
A closer look at the weekly fantasy point totals for running backs from Week 15-17 (via Fantasy Pros) reveals something interesting. Gibbs was the only running back, in any of the typical scoring formats, to top 20 fantasy points in all three playoff weeks. That line of production is nothing to sneeze at, but every other running back in the top-10 over that span had at least one week with less than 15 fantasy points regardless of scoring format.
A top-five fantasy running back who had big, consistent production during the playoffs. That's the definition of a league winner, and Gibbs was that more than any running back this season.