Fantasy football celebrates 60th anniversary

This year marks the 60th year since the creation of fantasy football, by Bill Winkenbach in 1962. With week five coming to a close and teams looking forward to week six, many fantasy owners are noticing a swing in the production of points from their players. In a season that began with wide receivers producing more points for fantasy owners, the tide has turned to strong running backs producing big numbers from the likes of Saqoun Barkley, Nick Chubb, and Austin Ekeler. 

With a combination of strong cornerbacks with defensive coordinates scheming to limit a quarterback’s favorite target and offensive coordinates relying on a consistent ground game to move the ball down the field, running backs are beginning to be the fantasy team’s best players. 

Tight ends this season have seen a substantial difference between those they consider elite such as Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews and the mid-tier tight ends. Consistency and the video game stats in yards and touchdowns they possess are what separates the game-winning tight ends from the rest.

Brendan Temple, a senior business major from Castle Rock, Colorado, who has Kelce on his team, said Travis won him his matchup this week with a performance of seven catches for 25 yards and four touchdowns against the Raiders. Many fantasy owners who have Kelce saw 33.5-point production in point-per-reception (PPR) leagues and 26.5 in non-PPR leagues.

“It’s the reason why you take a player like this in the second round,” said Temple. “They are always going to put up big numbers.”

Week six begins with Thursday night football when the Washington Commanders face off against the Chicago Bears. With only a third of the NFL regular season nearly completed, the future of fantasy football this season is bound to be a rollercoaster.