On Saturday, I looked at the top fantasy seasons by running backs since 1970. On Tuesday, I looked at the top fantasy seasons by quarterbacks, and today, we will do that for wide receivers. I am using the same scoring system throughout this series: 1 point per 20 yards passing, 1 point per 10 yards rushing/receiving, 5 points per passing TD, -2 points for each interception, 6 points per rushing/receiving TD, 0.5 points per reception.

In 1995, Jerry Rice had one of the best seasons in NFL history. He caught 122 passes for 1,848 yards and 15 touchdowns, and also rushed for 36 yards and a touchdown. That translates to 352.5 fantasy points. Meanwhile WR30 had 148.7 adjusted fantasy points (using the same system described in the running backs article). That translates to 203.8 fantasy points of VBD. That’s probably the best fantasy season by any wide receiver, with perhaps one exception.

In 1982, during the 9-game strike-shortened season, Wes Chandler of the Chargers caught 49 passes for 1,032 yards and 9 TDs, and also rushed for 32 yards. That translates to 184.9 fantasy points, a remarkable amount given that he just played in 8 games. WR36 in 1982 averaged 6.5 fantasy points per game, which means over a full 9-game season Chandler would be worth 191.4 fantasy points. That year, WR30 had 68.5 fantasy points, giving Chandler 122.9 points of VBD. If we pro-rate that to a 16-game season, that is worth 218.4 points of VBD.

Regardless of where you put Chandler, Rice’s dominance is jaw-dropping. He has 5 of the top 10 fantasy seasons by a WR, and 7 of the top 25! As good of a wide receiver as he was, he may have been an even better fantasy player due to his remarkable scoring ability. From a fantasy perspective, the only wide receiver who is within shouting distance of Rice is Randy Moss, but Rice has 7 seasons with 140+ points of VBD, while Moss has only 2 (’03, a less memorable year for him because Minnesota missed the playoffs, and ’07). The graph below shows their VBD by year:

The table below shows the top 200 fantasy seasons by a wide receiver since 1970.