The Decade’s Best Single-Season Performances |
(photo, ESPN)
To honor the final days of the decade, here is a story we ran last summer. We’ll insert the best 2009 performances into the mix after the bowl season is complete. - TD
Our own Michael Calabrese announced his college fantasy football All-Decade team.
Here is the natural follow up - a look at the best single season performances of the 00’s.
We ranked the players by their fantasy points per game. Minimum of 10 games played. Scoring system used (1 pt per 10 yds rushing/receiving, 6 pts per rushing/receiving TD, 1 pts per 25 passing yards, 4 pts per passing TD, no PPR).
| Rank | Year | Pos. | Player | School | Pass Yd | Pass TD | Rush Yd | Rush TD | F-Pts | Gms | F-PPG |
| 1 | 2007 | QB | Tim Tebow | Florida | 3286 | 32 | 895 | 23 | 486.94 | 13 | 37.46 |
| 2 | 2003 | QB | B.J. Symons | Texas Tech | 5833 | 52 | 143 | 5 | 485.62 | 13 | 37.36 |
| 3 | 2006 | QB | Colt Brennan | Hawaii | 5549 | 58 | 366 | 5 | 520.56 | 14 | 37.18 |
| 4 | 2008 | QB | Chase Clement | Rice | 4119 | 44 | 693 | 12 | 482.06 | 13 | 37.08 |
| 5 | 2007 | QB | Paul Smith | Tulsa | 5065 | 47 | 119 | 13 | 480.50 | 14 | 34.32 |
| 6 | 2007 | QB | Dan LeFevour | C.Michigan | 3652 | 27 | 1122 | 19 | 480.28 | 14 | 34.31 |
| 7 | 2007 | QB | Graham Harrell | Texas Tech | 5705 | 48 | 0 | 4 | 444.20 | 13 | 34.17 |
| 8 | 2008 | QB | Case Keenum | Houston | 5040 | 44 | 221 | 7 | 441.70 | 13 | 33.98 |
| 9 | 2008 | QB | Graham Harrell | Texas Tech | 5111 | 45 | 0 | 6 | 420.44 | 13 | 32.34 |
| 10 | 2005 | QB | Vince Young | Texas | 3036 | 26 | 1050 | 12 | 402.44 | 13 | 30.96 |
QB Notes:
THESE ARE THE GOOD OLD DAYS. Look at the numbers. Eight of the ten guys on this list are from the ‘now’ era of 2006-2008. Three of these stat-gobblers will be lining up under center this fall (Tebow, LeFevour, Keenum). It’s nice to see Symons in the No. 2 slot. As Calabrese stated in his All-Decade article, Symons is kind of the forgotten man in Lubbock. But man he was fun to watch. No one embodied Mike Leach’s swashbuckling spirit better than B.J.
| Rank | Year | Pos. | Player | School | Rush Yds | Rec Yds | Total TD | F-Pts | Games | F-PPG |
| 1 | 2007 | RB | Kevin Smith | UCF | 2567 | 242 | 30 | 460.9 | 14 | 32.92 |
| 2 | 2001 | RB | Luke Staley | BYU | 1582 | 334 | 28 | 359.6 | 11 | 32.69 |
| 3 | 2000 | RB | LaDainian Tomlinson | TCU | 2158 | 40 | 22 | 351.8 | <11 | 31.98 |
| 4 | 2007 | RB | Matt Forte | Tulane | 2127 | 282 | 23 | 378.9 | 12 | 31.58 |
| 5 | 2000 | RB | Damien Anderson | Northwestern | 1914 | 120 | 22 | 335.4 | 11 | 30.49 |
| 6 | 2004 | RB | DeAngelo Williams | Memphis | 1948 | 210 | 23 | 353.8 | 12 | 29.48 |
| 7 | 2002 | RB | Larry Johnson | Penn State | 2087 | 349 | 23 | 381.6 | 13 | 29.35 |
| 8 | 2002 | RB | Brock Forsey | Boise State | 1611 | 282 | 32 | 381.3 | 13 | 29.33 |
| 9 | 2002 | RB | Willis McGahee | Miami(FL) | 1753 | 355 | 28 | 378.8 | 13 | 29.14 |
| 10 | 2008 | RB | Ray Rice | Rutgers | 2012 | 239 | 25 | 375.1 | 13 | 28.85 |
| 11 | 2005 | RB | Brian Calhoun | Wisconsin | 1636 | 571 | 24 | 364.7 | 13 | 28.05 |
| 12 | 2005 | RB | Reggie Bush | USC | 1740 | 478 | 19 | 335.8 | 13 | 25,83 |
| 13 | 2003 | RB | Steven Jackson | Oregon St. | 1545 | 470 | 22 | 333.5 | 13 | 25.65 |
| 14 | 2006 | RB | Garrett Wolfe | N. Illinois | 1928 | 249 | 19 | 331.7 | 13 | 25.52 |
| 15 | 2005 | RB | Taurean Henderson | Texas Tech | 872 | 582 | 22 | 277.4 | 12 | 23.12 |
| 16 | 2003 | RB | Darren Sproles | Kansas St. | 1986 | 287 | 19 | 341.3 | 15 | 22.75 |
RB Notes:
Sandwiched among the familiar names at the top of the list is BYU’s Luke Staley. He missed the Hawaii and New Mexico games in 2001, but still managed to put up some sick stats. It’s interesting to see Brian Calhoun on this list. When you think of great Wisconsin RBs, his name isn’t top of mind.
| Rank | Year | Pos. | Player | School | Rec Yds | TD | F-Pts | Gms | F-PPG |
| 1 | 2007 | WR | Michael Crabtree | Texas Tech | 1962 | 22 | 328.2 | 13 | 25.25 |
| 2 | 2001 | WR | Ashley Lelie | Hawaii | 1713 | 19 | 285.3 | 12 | 23.78 |
| 3 | 2003 | WR | Larry Fitzgerald | Pittsburgh | 1672 | 22 | 299.2 | 13 | 23.02 |
| 4 | 2002 | WR | Rashaun Woods | Okla. State | 1695 | 17 | 271.5 | 13 | 20.88 |
| 5 | 2008 | TE | James Casey | Rice | 1570 | 19 | 271.0 | 13 | 20.85 |
| 6 | 2001 | WR | Darius Watts | Marshall | 1417 | 18 | 249.7 | 12 | 20.81 |
| 7 | 2008 | WR | Dez Bryant | Okla. State | 1480 | 19 | 262.0 | 13 | 20.15 |
| 8 | 2002 | WR | J.R. Tolver | San Diego St. | 1785 | 13 | 256.5 | 13 | 19.73 |
| 9 | 2000 | WR | Antonio Bryant | Pittsburgh | 1302 | 11 | 196.2 | 10 | 19.62 |
| 10 | 2002 | WR | Nate Burleson | Nevada | 1629 | 12 | 234.9 | 12 | 19.58 |
| 11 | 2001 | WR | Edell Shepard | San Jose St. | 1501 | 14 | 234.1 | 12 | 19.51 |
| 12 | 2008 | WR | Jarett Dillard | Rice | 1310 | 20 | 251.0 | 13 | 19.31 |
| 13 | 2006 | WR | Jarett Dillard | Rice | 1247 | 21 | 250.7 | 13 | 19.28 |
WR Notes:
‘07 Crabtree is no surprise in the top spot. But here are three guys you didn’t expect to see on this list: J.R. Tolver, Edell Shepard, and Nate Burleson. What James Casey did as a tight end was truly remarkable, even though his position designation was a wee bit shaky (for those of us who DIDN’T have him on our fantasy roster, anyway).
