“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.

Top 20 Final Week Performances (PPR)

Player

Team

Year

PPR Pts▼

Alvin Kamara

NO

2020

56.2

Ja'Marr Chase