Best Fantasy WR Seasons Since 2016
The best fantasy wide receiver season since 2016 belongs to Cooper Kupp of the Los Angeles Rams, who scored 438 fantasy points in 2021, ahead of Ja'Marr Chase's 403 for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2024. Kupp's 26 fantasy points per game also leads every receiver on the list, which stretches from 2019 through 2025 and includes two separate Davante Adams seasons with the Green Bay Packers. No receiver season in this span comes close to Kupp's combination of total scoring and per-game dominance.
Which wide receiver seasons rank highest since 2016?
The record runs from Michael Thomas with the New Orleans Saints in 2019 through Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba in 2025. Cooper Kupp sits at the top with a gap no one else closed: his 438 points for the Los Angeles Rams in 2021 stand above Ja'Marr Chase's 403 and CeeDee Lamb's 401 for the Dallas Cowboys in 2023, even though Chase posted the single biggest week of any season here at 55 points.
| Rank | Player | Team | Games | Points | Points per game | Best week | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | Cooper Kupp | Los Angeles Rams | 17 | 438 | 26 | 38 | | 2 | Ja'Marr Chase | Cincinnati Bengals | 17 | 403 | 24 | 55 | | 3 | CeeDee Lamb | Dallas Cowboys | 17 | 401 | 24 | 41 | | 4 | Tyreek Hill | Miami Dolphins | 17 | 376 | 22 | 44 | | 5 | Puka Nacua | Los Angeles Rams | 17 | 375 | 22 | 46 | | 6 | Michael Thomas | New Orleans Saints | 16 | 375 | 23 | 41 | | 7 | Justin Jefferson | Minnesota Vikings | 17 | 367 | 22 | 39 | | 8 | Jaxon Smith-Njigba | Seattle Seahawks | 17 | 360 | 21 | 37 | | 9 | Davante Adams | Green Bay Packers | 16 | 358 | 22 | 45 | | 10 | Davante Adams | Green Bay Packers | 17 | 344 | 20 | 38 |
Two names appear twice. Davante Adams is the only receiver with two seasons in the top ten, both with the Green Bay Packers, and his 2020 line is the stronger of the pair: 358 points in 16 games against 344 in 17 games the following year, with a better per-game figure and a bigger best week in 2020. The Los Angeles Rams are the only franchise with two different receivers on the list, Cooper Kupp in 2021 and Puka Nacua in 2025.
Where does the scoring drop off after the top three?
The top three seasons sit apart from the rest. Kupp's 438, Chase's 403 and Lamb's 401 form one tier; Tyreek Hill's 376 for the Miami Dolphins in 2023 begins another. From Hill in fourth through Davante Adams in tenth, the totals fall within a narrow band, with Thomas and Nacua level at 375 points apiece and only a handful separating the rest.
Per-game scoring sharpens the picture. Thomas averaged 23 points per game despite playing 16 games rather than 17, which puts his per-game rate above Hill, Nacua, Jefferson and Adams even though his total matches Nacua's exactly. Kupp's 26 per game stands alone at the top, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba's 21 for the Seattle Seahawks in 2025 is the lowest per-game figure on the list, showing that a full season of starts can carry a receiver into the top ten without the highest weekly scoring.
Which single weeks defined these seasons?
Ja'Marr Chase owns the most explosive week of any receiver season here, a 55-point game in 2024 that tops Kupp's best week of 38 by a wide margin. Yet Chase's season total still finished behind Kupp's, which tells you the 2021 Rams season was built on sustained production rather than one outlier. Puka Nacua's 46-point week in 2025 and Davante Adams's 45-point week in 2020 are the next biggest single games on the record.
Chase's 2024 shows how much a best week can carry: his 55-point game stands as the largest single-week mark on this list, and CeeDee Lamb finished with 401 points to Chase's 403. Justin Jefferson's 2022 season with the Minnesota Vikings ranks seventh at 367 points with a best week of 39. His placement came from steadiness across 17 games rather than any single dominant performance.
What do the 2025 seasons say about the current field?
The two most recent entries both landed inside the top eight. Puka Nacua's 375 points rank fifth, level with Michael Thomas's 2019 total for the New Orleans Saints, while Jaxon Smith-Njigba's 360 points rank eighth in his own right. Two receivers from the same season cracking this list appears with Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba in 2025.
Neither 2025 season, however, threatened the top three. Nacua's 22 points per game matches Tyreek Hill's 2023 rate and Jefferson's 2022 rate, but sits well short of the 24 posted by Chase and Lamb, let alone Kupp's 26. The 2025 pair represents depth at the position rather than a challenge to the established peak, and the gap back to 438 remains the number every current receiver is chasing.
Common questions
Who had the greatest fantasy wide receiver season since 2016?
- Cooper Kupp of the Los Angeles Rams in 2021. His 438 fantasy points across 17 games lead the next best season by a wide margin, and his 26 points per game is also the highest rate on the record.
How many fantasy points did Ja'Marr Chase score in 2024?
- Ja'Marr Chase scored 403 fantasy points for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2024, second only to Cooper Kupp's 438 from 2021. His best week that season, 55 points, is the largest single-game total of any receiver season since 2016.
Did any wide receiver make the top ten more than once?
- Yes. Davante Adams appears twice, both times with the Green Bay Packers: 358 points in 2020 across 16 games and 344 points in 2021 across 17 games. His 2020 season is the stronger one on both total and per-game scoring.
Was Michael Thomas's 2019 season better than his ranking suggests?
- Arguably yes. Michael Thomas reached 375 fantasy points for the New Orleans Saints in only 16 games, matching Puka Nacua's 2025 total, and his 23 points per game outranks the per-game rates of Tyreek Hill, Nacua, Justin Jefferson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and both Davante Adams seasons.
How do the 2025 receiver seasons compare with Cooper Kupp's 2021?
- Puka Nacua's 375 points and Jaxon Smith-Njigba's 360 points in 2025 rank fifth and eighth on the list, but neither approaches Kupp's 438. Kupp also leads on rate, at 26 points per game against 22 for Nacua and 21 for Smith-Njigba.