10 Forgotten Fantasy Football Stars
Fantasy football doesn’t preserve legacy. A player can deliver three months of brilliance and vanish from relevance the moment injuries, coaching changes, or a crowded depth chart shift the landscape. This list looks back at ten players who once felt unstoppable before the rest of the league caught up and moved on.
Todd Gurley
Image via Wikimedia Commons/Atlanta Falcons
There was a point when Todd Gurley was fantasy gold. In 2017 and 2018, he racked up touchdowns at a rate that felt unfair. Every Sunday, his name sat at the top of the scoring charts. Then came the knee issues, load management, and an early retirement that no one saw coming. His rise and fall still feel like the blueprint for the fantasy “what happened?” conversation.
A.J. Green
For several years, A.J. Green was a guaranteed WR1. He posted six straight 1,000-yard seasons with the Bengals and turned Andy Dalton into a fantasy starter in the process. However, injuries slowed him down, and by the time he finished his career with the Cardinals, the league had moved on.
Le’Veon Bell
Image via Wikimedia Commons/All-Pro Reels
Le’Veon Bell changed how fantasy managers valued running backs. His patient running style and pass-catching ability made him an automatic first-round pick for years. Then came his holdout, a messy exit from Pittsburgh, and a string of forgettable stints with other teams. For a few seasons, though, Bell was the standard. Anyone who played fantasy between 2014 and 2017 remembers building teams around him.
Josh Gordon
Josh Gordon lit up fantasy scoreboards in 2013. He posted back-to-back 200-yard games and finished with more than 1,600 receiving yards despite missing two games. His combination of size, speed, and production made him an instant favorite. Off-field issues kept him from repeating that success, but that one magical year still lives rent-free in every veteran manager’s memory.
Antonio Gates
Image via Wikimedia Commons/Jeffrey Beall
Tight ends rarely get the star treatment, but Antonio Gates was the exception. For more than a decade, he was the most reliable red-zone target in fantasy. When people thought he was finished, he continued to put up top-10 numbers at age 35. Gates’ consistency became his legend, and his gradual fade from memory shows how underappreciated dependability can be.
Jamaal Charles
Efficiency was Jamaal Charles’ calling card. Before knee injuries ended his run, he averaged more than five yards per carry every season of his career. In fantasy terms, he was a cheat code. He didn’t need 30 carries to post 150 yards and a touchdown. His 2013 season, when he scored 19 total touchdowns, is still discussed by fantasy veterans who recall his once-dominant performance.
Randall Cobb
Image via Wikimedia Commons/Mike Morbeck
There was a time when Randall Cobb was Aaron Rodgers’ favorite target and a top-10 fantasy wideout. His 2014 season, where he caught 91 passes for 1,287 yards and 12 touchdowns, made him an early-round lock for years. However, as the Packers’ offense evolved and new stars emerged, Cobb’s role shrank. He’s still around, but his fantasy heyday feels like something out of a different era.
Cooper Kupp
Image via Wikimedia Commons/All-Pro Reels
It may feel strange to call Cooper Kupp forgotten, but recency bias can work quickly in fantasy football. In 2021, he produced one of the best receiver seasons ever with 145 catches, 1,947 yards, and 16 touchdowns. That year, he carried countless teams to championships. Two years later, injuries and the emergence of new offensive stars have shifted attention elsewhere. Kupp remains elite when healthy, but that historic season already feels like ancient history in fantasy terms.
Frank Gore
Longevity rarely gets celebrated in fantasy, but Frank Gore made it impossible to ignore. He didn’t have many jaw-dropping weeks, yet he delivered 1,000-yard seasons like clockwork. For managers who preferred reliability over stints, he was a hero. Gore’s steady production across 16 seasons makes him one of the most underappreciated players in fantasy history and one of the easiest to forget in highlight-driven discussions.
Vincent Jackson
Between his years with the Chargers and Buccaneers, Vincent Jackson produced multiple 1,000-yard seasons and double-digit touchdowns. He was the kind of player who could swing a matchup with one big play. As younger receivers took over the spotlight, his name slipped away, but his fantasy legacy remains among those who remember his game-changing Sundays.