- Parker Washington is the prime instance from 2025: From Week 12 by way of the wild-card spherical, solely Los Angeles Rams star Puka Nacua earned a better PFF receiving grade (95.6) than Washington’s 90.8 mark this previous season.
- Players like Jordan Love and James Conner are proof that down-the-stretch production can translate: It might not occur instantly, so do not overdraft a participant based mostly on a number of weeks of success, however there are a number of examples of gamers turning robust end-of-year showings into productive future seasons.
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Players getting sizzling down the stretch in fantasy soccer is one in every of the nice emotions in life. When the enterprise finish of the season comes and also you’re contending for championships — or making ready for a dynasty rebuild and on the lookout for belongings for the following season — fewer issues really feel higher than a participant who catches fireplace in the closing weeks.
Parker Washington went from a waiver-wire occupant or deep stash in dynasty leagues to mainly being rostered in each format as a result of he caught fireplace in the fantasy playoffs, grabbing 14 balls for 260 yards and a landing throughout Weeks 16 and 17. He then added 5 catches for 87 yards and a landing in Week 18 earlier than snagging seven passes for 107 yards and a rating in the wild-card spherical towards the Buffalo Bills.
From Week 12 by way of the wild-card spherical, solely Los Angeles Rams star Puka Nacua earned a better PFF receiving grade (95.6) than Washington’s 90.8 mark. He went from relative fantasy afterthought in a Jacksonville Jaguars receiving room that featured Brian Thomas Jr. coming off a sensational rookie season (and a participant related to this text) and No. 2 total choose Travis Hunter, who was typically the secondary receiver on the workforce.
Now, fantasy common managers are pinning their hopes on Washington going into 2026. But will it translate for him and different gamers who caught fireplace in the again half of the 2025 season?
One of the poster boys for getting sizzling down the stretch lately is Green Bay Packers signal-caller Jordan Love. During Love’s first season as an NFL starter in 2023, the former first-round choose posted pretty pedestrian numbers all through the first 11 weeks.
Among qualifying quarterbacks, Love ranked seventeenth out of 27 in PFF total grade (70.7), tossing 16 touchdowns (eleventh most by way of 11 weeks in 2023) and 10 interceptions. Those marks left him as the QB14 total (176.0 factors).
Then, a Thanksgiving blowout towards the rival Detroit Lions occurred, and he has by no means actually seemed again since. From Week 12, no one was in Love’s photo voltaic system from a PFF passing grade standpoint (90.9). Matthew Stafford was the next-closest passer, at simply 84.7.
Love led the NFL in touchdowns (21), big-time throws (21, tied with Josh Allen), passer score (11.5) and pressure-to-sack proportion (8.1%, lowest).
That sizzling streak helped energy fantasy groups to wins, as Love completed as the QB1 total from Week 12 onwards, scoring 154.6 factors. That second-half surge propelled him to the QB5 by season’s finish, and expectations had been excessive.
Love got here again down to earth in 2024, although, and an harm in the opener towards the Philadelphia Eagles was the first domino in a fantastic however underwhelming season, given what we noticed from him simply eight months prior.
Love ended 2024 with the Thirteenth-best PFF passing grade (76.6) out of 26 qualifying passers, and he completed the fantasy season as the QB18 total (238.9 factors).
Although he missed two video games (Weeks 2 and three) as a consequence of harm in 2024, Love had clearly tailed off. Through the first 11 weeks of 2024, he had 16 touchdowns to 11 picks — much like his 2023 numbers (16 touchdowns to 10 picks by way of 11 weeks). He was additionally not making big-time performs whereas nonetheless placing the ball in hurt’s method, logging simply 10 big-time throws towards 11 turnover-worthy performs.
Love bounced again from that underwhelming marketing campaign to play arguably the greatest ball of his profession in 2025, mixing effectivity with mind-bending throws (and a few mind-numbing choices), however his 2023 sizzling streak didn’t instantly stick.
The identical may be mentioned for Brian Thoma Jr. The first-round receiver ended the 2024 season with 129 targets, however 67 got here after the Jaguars’ Week 12 bye.
It wasn’t like Thomas was having a nasty 12 months heading into the again finish of the season. The LSU product ranked tenth in the NFL in receiving yards for vast receivers (689), led all qualifying receivers in yards per catch (16.4) and had 10 catches of over 20 yards (tenth in the NFL). Thomas was the WR11 (142.8 factors) coming into his Week 12 bye.
From Week 13 on, he was the WR2 — behind solely Ja’Marr Chase. Thomas logged virtually as many factors in a six-week stretch to finish the season (137.2) as he did all through the first 11 video games of his profession. His three 100-plus-yard receiving video games in that span led the NFL, and his 10 catches of 20 or extra yards ranked second solely to fellow rookie stud receiver Malik Nabers (11).
That, sadly, didn’t lead to a affluent 2025 marketing campaign. Thomas completed as the WR42 in 2025, behind Rashee Rice (WR39), who missed the first third of the season as a consequence of off-the-field points, and even his personal teammate Washington (WR34) who, as we mentioned, solely actually caught fireplace in the closing month of the season.
Thomas’ 66.7 PFF receiving grade in 2025 was additionally a far cry from his 83.4 mark as a rookie.
One participant who did handle to maintain the momentum rolling was James Conner. In 2023, the former Pittsburgh Steeler endured a tricky couple of months to open the season. Conner was taking part in nicely in actual life, averaging 5.1 yards per carry from Weeks 1 to 12 (fifth in the NFL amongst qualifying rushers) and owned an 85.1 PFF speeding grade (sixth greatest).
The drawback was well being. Conner performed in eight video games by way of the first 12 weeks of the season and dealt with simply 104 carries, thirty fourth out of 41 qualifying rushers. Come the closing month of the fantasy season, he was sitting as the RB38 with simply 81.1 factors.
Then, he acquired wholesome. Only Kyren Williams (545) and Christian McCaffrey (520) put up extra speeding yards than Conner (514) from Week 13 on. Conner matched his 104 carries that he’d logged in his first eight video games throughout his closing 5, and all through the workload, his yards per carry determine dipped by solely 0.2 yards. He additionally logged 5 speeding scores.
That propelled the Arizona rusher to being the RB2 over the closing 5 weeks of the season, behind solely Breece Hall. He carried some fantasy managers by way of the playoffs with 22.2 factors in Week 16 after which 26.3 factors in lots of Week 17 fantasy championships.
Conner constructed on that in 2024, dashing for 557 yards throughout the first eight weeks of the season (eighth in the NFL) and 4 touchdowns whereas notching an 85.5 PFF speeding grade — sixth amongst qualifying rushers. He was motoring alongside sufficient to be the RB15 after Week 8 (111.2 factors) and would end the 2024 season as an RB1 (RB11 total).
That all makes his injury-shortened 2025 much more disappointing and treacherous for fantasy managers in 2026.
Players who finish seasons on sizzling streaks don’t typically carry them over into the following 12 months. It’s a tough act to observe, and lots of time — eight months — passes between the finish of 1 marketing campaign and the begin of the subsequent, throughout which quite a bit has additionally modified round the workforce.
Fantasy managers ought to set their boards accordingly and consider carefully earlier than probably overdrafting anyone based mostly on 5 weeks of production eight months in the past. And dynasty managers ought to tinker with their roster with the identical factor in thoughts.
