Which NFL player has scored the most Fantasy Football points ever in one game?
Fantasy football remains one of the best things about any NFL season. Anyone can become a general manager from the comfort of home and make roster moves and waiver wire decisions on a daily basis.
One of the best things about fantasy football is when a player on one's team has a record-setting day. Twenty-twenty-one has brought that concept into focus with the play of Jonathan Taylor. The Indianapolis Colts running back notched 185 yards and four touchdowns and added a fifth as a receiver.
That instantly got fans wondering if this was a new fantasy football record. To analyze that question, we need to break it up into standard fantasy football scoring and PPR scoring. PPR stands for points per reception, which is a scoring format that leads to higher weekly totals.
Highest points scorer in Fantasy Football in one game in H2H
Taylor finished with 50.4 points in standard fantasy football leagues. That is an absurd amount, but still not a record. Clinton Portis holds that record from a 2003 game in which he finished with 254 yards and five touchdowns.
Taylor's performance ranks fifth. He is one of five players to reach the 50-point threshold in standard fantasy football formats.
- Clinton Portis - 55.4 points (Denver Broncos vs. Kansas CIty Chiefs, 12/7/2003)
- Alvin Kamara - 53.2 points (New Orleans Saints vs. Minnesota Vikings, 12/25/2020)
- Jamaal Charles - 51.5 points (Kansas City Chiefs vs. Oakland Raiders, 12/15/2013)
- Doug Martin - 51.2 points (Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Oakland Raiders, 11/4/2012)
- Jonathan Taylor - 50.4 points (Indianapolis Colts vs. Buffalo Bills, 11/21/2021)
Highest points scorer in Fantasy Football in one game in PPR
So what about PPR leagues? Taylor gets bumped down the list a bit further, even though he had 53.4 points in this format in Week 11. Once again, that is a mind-blowing total. The all-time leader is Jamaal Charles, with a 59.5-points performance back in 2012. Portis' performance ranks third in PPR, and Taylor is eighth.
Running backs who are also prolific pass-catchers have an advantage in PPR fantasy football leagues. Let's go back to the standard format for a minute. Taylor put up nearly all of his points as a runner, as he only had three receptions on the day.
- Jamaal Charles - 59.5 points (Kansas City Chiefs vs. Oakland Raiders, 12/15/2013)
- Tyreek Hill - 57.9 points (Kansas City Chiefs vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 11/29/2020)
- Clinton Portis - 57.4 points (Denver Broncos vs. Kansas City Chiefs, 12/7/2003)
- Alvin Kamara - 56.2 points (New Orleans Saints vs. Minnesota Vikings, 12/25/2020)
- Chris Johnson - 55.4 points (Tennessee Titans vs. Houston Texans, 9/20/2009)
Diving into the all-time leaderboard reveals some memorable performances fans may have forgotten about as time has passed. Perhaps, the most impressive came back in 2010 when Michael Vick finished with 49.3 points as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles. Peyton Manning and Drew Brees are also high on the all-time list with 46.3-point performances.
It takes a lot for a quarterback to score that much in fantasy football, and an opposing team is doomed if a fantasy owner is lucky enough to get more than 40 points from their quarterback. Anything over 35 is usually enough to seal a victory.