Throughout the NFL offseason, The Touchback will uncover some of the best fantasy football seasons you don’t remember. Today, we are looking at Muhsin Muhammad and his unlikely 2004 campaign. Click here to read about the other best fantasy football seasons you don’t remember.
Muhsin Muhammad posted some very unexpected numbers in 2004. The Carolina Panthers wide receiver hadn’t exactly wowed the NFL in his previous eight seasons. Only twice had he topped 1,000 receiving yards, and he never caught more than eight touchdowns in a season. At 31-years old, there was little reason to expect anything from him going into fantasy drafts.
Naturally, Muhammad led the league in both receiving yards and receiving touchdowns in 2004 beating out all-time greats including Marvin Harrison, Terrell Owens, Tory Holt and Joe Horn. There is actually a very good explanation for his scoring outburst this season. Spoiler alert, it has nothing to do with talent. However, let’s admire his fantasy football performance before we get into that.
The Michigan State product literally came out of nowhere to finish as WR1 in 2004 and slotted in as the fifth highest scoring PPR player in fantasy. It’s incredible when you consider he finished 2002 with 63/823/3 and posted 54/837/3 in 2003. In case you’re wondering, Muhammad played 14 and 15 games in those seasons, respectively.
His 329 fantasy points in 2004 would have been good enough for a WR2 finish last season. The only wide receiver who had more points than that in 2020 was Davante Adams. Muhammad’s overall finish falls quite a bit because of how much more quarterbacks are scoring nowadays.
More Fantasy: Soul crushing Monday Night Football performances from the 2020 season
| Position Finish (PPR) | Overall Finish (Standard/PPR) | |
| 2004 | WR1 | 17/5 |
| 2020 | WR2 | 26/15 |
Muhsin Muhammad was the Panthers last man standing in 2004
How did Muhsin Muhammad go from middling pass catcher to league leading receiver? Did all of Carolina’s skill position players die in a plane crash before the season started? No, but you’re close.
Steve Smith broke his leg during the season opener and missed the rest of the year. The depth chart behind Muhammad was 36-year-old Ricky Proehl and rookie Keary Colbert meaning there was little competition for receptions. Things only got worse from there.
Stephen Davis, who led the team with 1,444 rushing yards the previous season, was also hurt in week 1. He would come back a few games later, but his knee injury flared up again and the team put him on injured reserved after that. Of course, his backup was former first round pick DeShaun Foster meaning Carolina seemed to be okay.
Except they weren’t. Foster broke his collarbone in week 4 and was also placed on injured reserve. The team turned to Nick Goings, a career special teamer whose performance could best be described as serviceable.
With no running backs and no wide receivers, Muhammad wasn’t simply the Panthers top offensive weapon, he was their only option. That led to him being peppered with targets and finishing 2004 as one of fantasy football’s best players.
Present day comparison
In many ways, Corey Davis is very much a modern day Muhsin Muhammad. In terms of height, size and skill set, they are a lot alike. Both are solid wide receivers but not good enough to be considered the first option in the NFL. Neither guy has a standout trait that makes them elite. However, if you throw them the ball a lot, they will score some fantasy points.
