Throughout the NFL offseason, The Touchback will take a look at some of the best fantasy football seasons you don’t remember. We start with Carl Pickens and his ridiculous 1995 campaign.
Before we begin, it must be noted that 1995 was a strange year for passing numbers in the NFL. The league tinkered with pass interference rules in both 1994 and 1995 which inflated numbers much in the same way steroids were inflating home run totals during this time period.
Unlike baseball, which never bothered to reign in its steroid problem, the NFL adjusted and passing totals returned to normal in 1996. For one season only, there were quite a few standout fantasy football performances from wide receivers. Most of these came from Hall of Fame players like Jerry Rice, Michael Irvin, Chris Carter and Isaac Bruce.
And then there was wide receiver Carl Pickens who was unexpectedly unworldly during the 1995 season. He finished with 99 catches, 1,234 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns. Only five players have caught more in a single season, although he is one of nine guys to haul in 17 passing scores. Regardless, it is still an impressive achievement.
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Pickens finished as the ninth best player in PPR and 20th in traditional formats. Chances are you recall Emmitt Smith’s 25 score season from that year or Rice going off for 122/1,848/15 if you happened to be playing back in the fantasy football stone age. Here’s a look at how his numbers in 1995 would have stacked up in 2020:
| Position Finish | Overall Finish | |
| 1995 | WR7 | 9 |
| 2020 | WR4 | 17 |
It’s clear Pickens had one of the best fantasy football seasons you don’t remember. Part of that is because the Cincinnati Bengals were perhaps the most uninteresting sports franchise during the 1990s. They were bad most seasons while topping out at below average a few times during the decade.
As for Pickens, he made the Pro Bowl twice along with being a second-team All-Pro selection in 1995 and 1996. He also won the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award in 1992. However, it was always impossible to determine just how much of his production was based on his skill and how much was a product of being the only guy on a team who could catch passes.
Just look at these highlights. Sure, Pickens made a few great catches. But how many plays involved the cornerback just quitting on the play or putting in a half-hearted effort? It is like they knew they were playing Cincinnati and weren’t trying that hard.
One of the weirdest things about the Bengals during this time was how committed they were to not improving the team. The quarterback situation was a constant disaster. Between 1994-1999, Cincinnati rolled out Darnay Scott as the number two receiver despite him being the definition of a league average player. Pickens only played alongside one starting tight end during his career with the Bengals – Tony McGee, a player who only managed to catch 21 touchdowns during an 11-year career. No attempt was made to improve on pedestrian options.
If you’re looking for a present-day comparison, Pickens is similar to Allen Robinson in many ways. The key difference is that Robinson still has a chance to play for a team with talent and prove that he isn’t simply a product of volume. While Pickens may have recorded one of the best fantasy football seasons you don’t remember, we don’t really know if it was because he was great or product of his environment.
