2025’s fantasy football playoff heroes delivered in historic fashion. Honor them!

“Sometimes the snow comes down in June
Sometimes the sun goes ’round the moon
Just when I thought our chance had passed
You go and save the best for last” — Vanessa Williams

In the immortal words of Vanessa Williams, there’s something truly special about last-second salvation that flies in the face of expectations. And so it is in fantasy football. Sometimes the road is rocky. Sometimes it appears impossible. And then we watch in amazement as a champion swoops in and delivers a performance that will prompt fantasy managers to drive to Canton, Ohio, and personally petition for a player’s immediate entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

As fantasy managers bask in the glow of their newly minted championships, they’d do well to honor the heroes that covered them in glory this season — particularly after we just witnessed five of the top 30 individual final-week performances in the past 10 years by standard scoring. Even if you use the more common PPR scoring it’s still impressive given one of the truly surprising showings from Week 17.

Before we wander into the long dark of the offseason, let’s offer an ode to some of these instant legends that buoyed their fantasy managers with a thrilling conclusion to the 2025 fantasy calendar.

Derrick Henry, RB, Ravens
45.6 PPR points

While the road wasn’t always smooth for his managers, those who made it to the fantasy football playoffs with Derrick Henry on roster were rewarded in spades. December has long been known in fantasy circles as “Henry SZN” — for his career, he’s averaged 5.3 yards per carry and 107.6 scrimmage yards and has 37 TDs in 38 career December games, marks that all easily best his career marks in the first three months of the season. And Henry saved his best December effort for the most important week of the fantasy season. His 45.6-point PPR explosion in Week 17 was the fifth-best PPR tally in a fantasy football championship week for the past 10 years — Alvin Kamara, with 56.2 PPR points in Week 16 of 2020 (the final season before the NFL expanded to 17 games), tops the list.

In addition to 216 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns in Week 17, Henry also delivered 128 rushing yards and two rushing scores in the Week 16 semifinal round. His two-week PPR tally of 68.4 points is good for ninth-best among non QBs for the final two weeks of the fantasy season over the past 10 seasons.

Bijan Robinson, RB, Falcons
39.9 PPR points

Over the last 10 seasons, Todd Gurley, with a combined 94.6 PPR points in Weeks 15 and 16 of 2017, is the runaway leader on that final two-week scoring list. In fact, Henry doesn’t even clock in as tops on this list for 2025 — he’s holding Bijan Robinson’s beer.

With 39.9 PPR points in a Monday night upset of the Rams, in addition to 29.8 PPR points against Arizona in Week 16, Robinson’s 69.7 two-week tally lands him just ahead of Henry. And if you throw in Robinson’s 31.5 PPR points in the Week 15 fantasy playoff opening round, only Gurley’s epic 2017 playoff run can top Robinson’s three-game production among non-QBs in the past decade.

The fact Robinson’s heroics crescendoed in the final game of championship week just added to the drama for those both starting him and facing him in fantasy.

Game over! He came back to win it. Glad I wasn’t involved in this sweat https://t.co/HJlH0Ei6qb pic.twitter.com/dlStlTs0ro

— Jake Ciely (@allinkid) December 30, 2025

Brock Purdy, QB, 49ers
36.9 PPR points

Like Robinson, Purdy has been an absolute beast in the 2025 fantasy playoffs. After missing eight games because of a toe injury, then delivering two mediocre efforts in Weeks 12 (QB20) and 13 (QB16) before his Week 14 bye, Purdy was perhaps written off by his fantasy managers. But those who kept the faith were rewarded with QB1 finishes in Weeks 16 and 17, in addition to a top-four finish in Week 15.

That said, Purdy surprisingly finished runner-up at the QB position for this season’s fantasy playoffs, as Trevor Lawrence took top honors for Weeks 15-17, with finishes of QB1, QB2 and QB5 respectively.

Drake Maye, QB, Patriots
32.44 PPR points

The favorite to win NFL MVP honors, Maye also showed up and showed out in the playoffs, capping championships with a QB2 finish, throwing five touchdown passes on a mere 21 pass attempts (19 completions!) against the Jets. It was the 12th time in 16 games he delivered a top-12 performance at the QB position.

Malik Willis, QB, Packers
31.5 PPR points

While the players above resided on rosters (or IR slots) for most of the season, no one really saw Willis’ Week 17 coming. But those true believers, or those truly desperate for a replacement at QB, reaped a magnificent bounty. Started in just 2% of ESPN and Yahoo leagues, Willis’ fantasy championship heroics were easily the the most surprising. Filling in for the injured Jordan Love, Willis completed 18 of 21 passes against the Ravens for 288 yards and a TD pass, adding 60 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

Lesser heroes

While the WR and TE positions didn’t surface playoff stars on the level of Henry, Robinson and the QBs mentioned above, there were still some standouts from the crowd at each position.

Puka Nacua is leading the WR position in PPR points for the season, and he also clocked in at No. 1 for the three-week fantasy playoffs span, thanks to a 12/225/2 line against Seattle in Week 16. His 90.1 PPR points in the fantasy playoffs was just ahead of WR runner-up Chris Olave, who netted  83.2 PPR points in this span. The Saints receiver finished WR9 in Week 15, and back-to-back WR2 finishes in Weeks 16 and 17. At just 25 years old, Olave’s standout chemistry with rookie Tyler Shough should have him shooting up draft boards in 2026.

As for the TE position, how fitting is it to end with Kyle Pitts as the unlikely leader during the fantasy playoffs, though his heavy lifting came in Week 15 (11/166/3). Pitts followed that explosion with a TE3 finish in Week 16, his fourth straight game delivering a top-6 TE line. Alas that Pitts couldn’t fully shed his reputation for delivering fantasy disappointment, living up to his last name in Week 17, with a meager two catches for 16 yards. Still, we’ll choose to remember those fleeting good times with fondness — at least until draft season.