One of the most difficult - and sometimes impossible - tasks for any fantasy owner during the offseason is figuring out what players have league-winning upside. Certainly, the Christian McCaffrey's and Saquon Barkley's of the world come immediately to mind, but we need some pretty good luck in a traditional snake draft to land either one of those players.

To answer this "league-winner" question better, I decided to break down what one looks like - physically and statistically - by taking a closer look at each player that reached a particular fantasy-point benchmark that could be considered great or elite over the last three seasons. By using the best of the best in each position group over a three-year period as the basis for what is great versus elite, we should be able to create realistic parameters for what it takes to be a true fantasy difference-maker.

The goal of this analysis is to give readers a general idea of what characteristics - be it physical or statistical - they need to keep in mind on draft day. There will invariably be repeat entries (as in certain players appearing two or three times on the list). It's also OK to view this series of articles as something of a correlational study, but it's more than that. My top priority is trying to establish what benchmarks fantasy owners need to shoot for at each position, especially considering the different styles of players that exist in the game.

At the bottom of the sortable table, there is another mini-table summarizing the group averages, minimums and maximums of each category, hits and hit rate. The "hits" are how many players at that position exceeded the average of the players in the first table, while the hit rate is the percentage of "hits" in that group (a "greater than x" situation). In rare circumstances such as quarterback age, I opted for a "less than X" approach. The text will be red in those atypical situations. My advice to maximize the value of the table below: sort each column and then read the analysis that accompanies that column header.

Because we are discussing an average of the best of the best over the last three seasons, the "hit rate" percentages will probably be lower than some would expect Thus, anything over about 60 percent is notable because it suggests the group is bottom-heavy. Likewise, anything below about 40 percent suggests the group is top-heavy. This "rule" will apply to all positions.

Running Backs

Fantasy point threshold - 180-plus fantasy points. A total of 57 running backs reached this mark over the last three seasons.

Height (inches) - Henry (6-3) is the only back in the table who stands taller than 6-1, which just happens to be the most common size of backs in the table above (16 instances, or 28.1 percent). Cohen (5-6) is the only one shorter than 5-8, which means 54 of the 57 entries (94.7 percent) are separated by no more than five inches. It makes for interesting conversation, but I'm not sure it means much in the overall scheme of things in fantasy.

Weight - Lindsay, Cohen and Lewis are the only sub-200 pound backs on this list. Ekeler is right on that mark. Even if we count Ekeler in the former group, 52 of the 57 entries (91.2 percent) weigh at least 205 pounds. Except for McCaffrey, the bulk of great fantasy efforts in this group are from backs carrying at least 215 pounds, which is about the size most coaches and evaluators seem to want in a potential feature back. It's also worth noting the 27 highest carry totals on this list are from backs weighing 210 or more. As was the case with height, these are observations to keep in mind but not exactly the kind of thing that should greatly affect decisions on draft day.

Games - It's not mandatory for a running back to play all 16 games to qualify for this kind of list. It's a smart move to assume at least one missed game for a back while projecting them and allow yourself to be pleasantly surprised if they make it all the way through. Just over half of the backs above missed at least one contest (29 of 57, or 50.9 percent). Heck, four backs missed three games and three of them finished among the top 31.

Carries - Now we're getting into the good stuff. Unless owners are expecting at least 70 receptions out of their pass-catching backs, next year's difference-maker probably isn't going to come from a player with fewer than 120 carries. White's 19th place finish in 2018 was the result of 12 touchdowns, and he's the only one from the group of five sub-120 carry backs who finished higher than 29th. Forty-nine of the 57 entries (86 percent) toted the rock at least 160 times, and it should come as no surprise that 25 of the top 28 fantasy finishes on this list are by backs with at least 160 carries. Ten of the top 11 (91 percent) entries were by backs with at least 190 rush attempts.

Rushing yards - White (2019) makes this list despite amassing only rushing 263 yards last season, and it is somewhat surprising that 22 of the 57 (38.6 percent) didn't even reach 900 yards on the ground. However, all but one of those 22 (95.5 percent) scored at least six total touchdowns. Unless we're talking about Kamara or a back who makes a good living in the passing game, it's probably best to set your sights on a back capable of rushing for at least 800 yards.

Rushing TDs - Much as was the case with quarterbacks, the emphasis needs to be more on total TDs (as opposed to just rushing touchdowns or receiving scores). Only two of the 57 entries (3.5 percent) scored fewer than six times - both instances occurred in 2019 (Fournette and Bell). However, it's worth noting that even the majority of satellite backs such as Cohen and Duke Johnson managed at least three rushing scores. The best finish by a back with fewer than six rushing touchdowns over the last three seasons was Ekeler (12th) last season, and that's only because he scored eight through the air. Otherwise, 18 of the top 19 efforts (94.7 percent) above came from backs with at least six rushing touchdowns.

Targets/receptions - It should come as no surprise these two go hand-in-hand, especially with so many of the backs posting catch rates in the 70s and 80s. Henry's performance last season was a major exception, as his 14th place finish was the only one of the top 22 fantasy efforts by a back with fewer than 63 targets or 49 catches.

Receiving TDs - Much of what is relevant here was already discussed two paragraphs above. Backs like White and Ekeler obviously need to do well here to have any hopes of making up for their lack of rushing touchdowns. As is with the case with rushing scores, opportunity and luck are critical. As wonderful as McCaffrey's 2019 campaign was, he only scored once every 29 catches and 35.5 targets. Ingram finished with more receiving TDs on only 26 catches (five), averaging one receiving score every 5.2 receptions and 5.8 targets. The point to be made here is touchdown scoring is highly volatile, so it's not one of those areas that owners can pencil a player in for a certain range before the season and be comfortable believing he'll reach that mark.

Touches - Perhaps the most unsurprising finding on this list is the fact that of the top eight fantasy-point totals by running backs over the last three seasons, five of them recorded at least 343 touches. Kamara (in 2017) and Ekeler (in 2019) notched top-12 finishes despite ending up with fewer than 225 touches, but it is a big ask for any back to enjoy the kind of TD luck they did consistently.

Recommended baselines for running backs to approach potential league-winner status (all totals work out to 228 fantasy points, or roughly the equivalent of McCaffrey as a rookie - the RB33 on this list):

All-purpose (more than 160 carries and at least 49 targets): 1,000 rushing yards, 50 receptions, 420 receiving yards, six total TDs

Run-heavy (more than 160 carries and less than 49 targets): 1,180 rushing yards, 20 receptions, 180 receiving yards, 12 total TDs

Pass-catching specialists/miscellaneous (less than 160 carries): 60 receptions, 1,200 total yards, eight total TDs