Fantasy Flashback is a weekly article that highlights some of the greatest individual seasons, from a fantasy football and NFL perspective.

Last week I highlighted Shaun Alexander‘s 2005 season with the Seattle Seahawks.

Fantasy Flashback: LaDainian Tomlinson (2006)

Today I will highlight Priest Holmes‘ 2003 season with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Background

Priest Holmes didn’t start off his career on the right foot. Coming out of college, he was an undrafted free agent. In his first four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, he recorded over 1,000 rushing yards only once, and never had over 7 rushing touchdowns in one season.

All of this would change in 2001 when he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs.

In his first year with the Chiefs he ran for a league leading 1,555 yards. He was also a big part of the Chiefs passing game, catching 62 balls for 614 yards, but he wouldn’t stop there.

In 2002 Holmes ran for a career high 1,615 and a league leading 21 touchdowns. He was exceeding all previous expectations the football world had for him.

Yet that wasn’t his best season.

After putting up remarkable numbers in 2001 and 2002, Holmes had arguably his greatest year, in 2003.

 Stats

• 313 carries
• 1420 yards rushing
• 27 rushing touchdowns
• 74 receptions
• 690 yards receiving

In 2003, Holmes lead the league in rushing touchdowns, and helped lead the Chiefs to a 9-0 start. They went on to finish 13-3 losing to the Indianapolis Colts in the playoffs.

From a fantasy perspective, Holmes’ 2003 season is one of the best at the running back position. He finished with a total of 373 fantasy points in standard scoring leagues. Priest scored 10+ points in all 16 games he played in 2003, and he had 12 games over 20 points.

In the first three weeks of 2003 alone, he averaged 29 fantasy points per week. (Talk about getting off to a good start!)

His top scoring week came in Week 13 against the San Diego Chargers, where he ran for 162 yards and two touchdowns. He also added four receptions for 24 yards receiving. He finished the day with 31 total fantasy points.

According to Fantasy Football insider Michael Fabiano, Priest Holmes was ranked 3rd among all fantasy running backs before the season started. He was ranked behind LaDainian Tomlinson and Ricky Williams, but would go on to break expectations like he had done his entire career, and finish as the highest scoring fantasy running back in 2003.

Holmes still holds the NFL record for most games with 2 or more touchdowns in season (10) and setting the record in the same year. (LaDainian Tomlinson would tie it in 2007.)

Impact

Priest Holmes is now in the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame. He holds the Chiefs franchise record for most career rushing touchdowns (76) and most career total touchdowns (83).

Holmes’ successful career didn’t last long with the Chiefs, playing only three full seasons of his six in KC, before injuries slowed him down. But Chiefs fans still remember his name of course. Huge Chiefs fan and season ticket holder @Chief_Wildcat writes:

Priest Holmes had an extraordinary season in 2003. With 27 touchdowns, he established two NFL single-season records, rushing touchdowns as well as total touchdowns. He also became the Chiefs all-time leader in touchdowns scored.

Not to overshadow Priest’s accomplishments, he had the pleasure of running behind what was probably the best offensive line ever seen in Kansas City. That line included the likes of Casey Wiegmann, John Tait, Brian Waters as well as Hall of Famers, Willie Roaf and Will Shields. Many Kansas City fans jokingly say they themselves could’ve scored 27 touchdowns with that line. Chiefs fans my age cut their teeth on “Martyball.”

We prided ourselves on Schottenheimer’s brand of smashmouth football. Though Dick Vermeil was the coach in ‘03, Priest was a continuation of what we had become accustomed to with backs like Christian Okoye, Barry Word, and though late in his career, Marcus Allen. Priest’s magical season may have even been taken for granted as we were used to having a such talented backfield. He was the perfect compliment to Trent Green and Tony Gonzales in Vermiel’s high-powered offense. Priest was also a talented pass catcher coming out of the backfield.

As incredible as Priest’s season was in 2003, a dark shadow still looms over Kansas City. The Chiefs were a Super Bowl favorite that year. They won the west and had a home playoff game against the Colts. Peyton Manning earned his second playoff victory in as many weeks as the Chiefs defense failed miserably in the first NFL playoff game ever recorded without a punt.

Comparison

I always have a hard time finding a comparisons but this week I think I found a pretty good one: I would compare Priest Holmes to Atlanta Falcons running back, Devonta Freeman.

Both running backs stand at 5’9″, which isn’t very tall when it comes to backs at all. In fact, they are some of the smallest to ever play the position.

However, this never stopped them from breaking tackles, and running through defenders, from time-to-time. Like Holmes, Freeman can also break defenders ankles with ease:

(GIF via primogif.com)

(GIF via attitudesports.com)

Neither running back was looked as a top prospect coming out of college, but Freeman and Holmes both would exceed all expectations.

One of the biggest similarities I came across was their impact in the passing game. In his last two years in the NFL, Freeman is averaging 63 receptions per season. From 2001-2003 Priest Holmes averaged 68 receptions per season.

Lastly, both have led the league in touchdowns in a single season.

I’d love to read your comments on who I should highlight next. Don’t forget to mention them below.