RADIO
If you are new to fantasy football, then you may have heard the terms hero running back, zero running back, heavy at wide receiver, wait at quarterback, etc. These are all various fantasy draft strategies. Every strategy is valid, but your favorite strategy should depend on your style of play.
Each draft strategy comes with risk, upside, and certain levels of safety. Some are inherently riskier than others but can pay dividends if you play the draft right. At the end of the day, fantasy football draft night is not where you will win your league. You are primarily looking to set yourself up for success down the stretch run of the season. Your real improvements will come by surfing the waiver wire and making trades.
With players and positions hitting different ADPs every year, I tend to adjust my strategy based on the board and my knowledge of my league mates. Letting the draft fall to you while taking your shots on your top-ranked players is a good way to get great value on players. Here we will assume a standard 12-team PPR snake draft. Read on to see where the best positional value is in fantasy football drafts in 2024.
Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2024:- Quarterback fantasy football rankings
- Running back fantasy football rankings
- Wide receiver fantasy football rankings
- Tight end fantasy football rankings
- Kicker fantasy football rankings
- FLEX fantasy football rankings
- Defense (D/ST) fantasy football rankings
- Superflex fantasy football rankings
- IDP fantasy football rankings
- Dynasty fantasy football rankings
Rounds 1 and 2, The Running Back Drop-Off
Due to the meteoric rise of elite wide receivers around the league, the first couple of rounds in fantasy drafts have swung heavily towards wide receivers. You will probably see 6-8 wide receivers come off the board in the first round of your draft. However, you need to be careful because the running back drop-off after the first couple of rounds is significant.
Coming away from the first round with an elite wide receiver is great, particularly if that wide receiver is one of CeeDee Lamb, Tyreek Hill, Ja'Marr Chase, Amon-Ra St. Brown, or even Justin Jefferson despite his shaky quarterback situation. All of those players have a realistic shot to finish as the WR1 overall. Despite their upside, the drop-off behind them is not nearly as steep as it is at running back. As a result, I have found myself coming away from the first two rounds of mock drafts with two running backs.
Christian McCaffrey is generally the consensus No. 1 overall pick in fantasy drafts. Breece Hall and Bijan Robinson should not be far behind. Hall and Robinson could each realistically finish as the highest-scoring non-quarterback in fantasy in 2024. Both will see incredible volume and have serious talent. Yet, they seem to be usurped by many wide receivers in drafts. If you can scoop a player like Hall or Robinson in the first round and grab Travis Etienne Jr. or Saquon Barkley in the second, then you will not have to even think about running back for several rounds.
If you have a chance to draft one of the top five wide receivers, then the opportunity may be too good to pass up. However, make sure you have a top running back this year more than ever.
The BEST pick in drafts is 4th overall.
You are GUARANTEED one of
- Christian McCaffrey
- Bijan Robinson
- Breece Hall
- CeeDee LambTier 1 RB or the best WR.
Thoughts?pic.twitter.com/Cyzmenyt9m
— Joe Orrico (@NoExpertFF) August 6, 2024
Rounds 3-5, Tight Ends and Wide Receivers
Rounds 3-5 in fantasy drafts are riddled with wide receivers you should feel comfortable with. Players such as Michael Pittman Jr., Jaylen Waddle, Mike Evans, DeVonta Smith, Deebo Samuel Sr., Cooper Kupp, DK Metcalf, Amari Cooper, George Pickens, and Tank Dell are all being drafted in this range. While none of these players are likely to finish inside the top five at the position, they all have a chance to finish as WR1s inside the top 12. At worst, most of these players should finish inside the top 24 at the position. Drafting 2-3 of these guys for your team will give you excellent consistency.
When drafting running-back-heavy in the first two rounds, you should look to come away with Waddle, Metcalf, or Kupp as your WR1 in this range. Each of these players has excellent weekly upside and general consistency.
Who are the best WR targets in drafts? 🎯
On today's podcast:
📍 6 MUST Draft WRs
📍 3 bonus WR targets
📍 It's bounce back szn 👀📺 Watch: https://t.co/Pij5X1LYEQ pic.twitter.com/KFcI90L4rl
— The Fantasy Football Fellas (@fffellas) August 8, 2024
This part of the draft is also full of surprisingly good tight-end value. The tight-end position has improved so much over the last couple of years for fantasy that it is almost becoming a necessity to have one of the top five or six guys. Generally, you do not want to start the run on tight ends in your league, especially since Travis Kelce and Sam LaPorta are going in the late second round or early third. Finding one in the middle of the run can leave you in a good spot.
Mark Andrews, Trey McBride, George Kittle, and Dalton Kincaid are excellent targets in these rounds because of their potential to finish as TE1 in any given week. Evan Engram, Kyle Pitts, David Njoku, and Jake Ferguson round out the top 10 tight ends in later rounds. These four later-round tight ends are solid starters, but they do not possess the same upside as some of the aforementioned players (except Pitts).
Rounds 6-9, Continue to Build
At this point in the draft, most of your starting lineup is likely full. Hopefully, you have at least one or two running backs, two wide receivers, and a tight end. If you went with a single running back at the top, then now would be the time to grab your second. The best value here is James Conner, who will have a voluminous role in Arizona this year. He should be on your mind in the sixth round. Otherwise, Chris Godwin, Marquise Brown, and Raheem Mostert are solid values regardless of position in these rounds.
James Conner PSA
lower your expectations for Trey Benson in 2024 pic.twitter.com/CR2sUKw5c4
— Anthony Cervino (@therealNFLguru) August 4, 2024
You may be wondering why we have not yet addressed the most important position in the NFL. Well in fantasy football, quarterback does not necessarily take the cake as the best value since you only start one. However, now is the time to look in that direction.
Mobile quarterbacks such as Kyler Murray and Jayden Daniels are available in Rounds 7-9. Both players have top-5 potential. Other excellent values in this range include Jordan Love and Joe Burrow. Both players are more reliant on outstanding passing numbers, but they each have enough mobility to potentially propel them into the top five by season's end.
Jayden Daniels is so good. Hes so good pic.twitter.com/EenmwZUMyp
— PFT Commenter (@PFTCommenter) August 10, 2024
Rounds 10-12, Build Your Bench With Upside
At this point in the draft, your starting lineup of skill players has likely been filled. It is time to build your bench with a balance of youth upside and veteran stability. The odds that many of the players drafted in this range will be on your team by the end of the season are very low. If you can hit on one or two of these players, then you can have a massive advantage over your league mates.
Young and exciting players drafted in this range include Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Xavier Worthy, Jameson Williams, Brian Thomas Jr., MarShawn Lloyd, and Adonai Mitchell. These players may not help your team immediately, but they all have a chance to be significant contributors by the end of the season.
On the flip side, several veterans should help your team out of the gates. Darnell Mooney, Chase Brown, Jerome Ford, and Gus Edwards are all late-round veterans who have clear paths to significant roles in their respective offenses. These players lack upside, but you should be able to rely on them to deliver consistent fantasy value. This is especially true over the first month or two of the season when many young players and rookies are still figuring things out.
Rounds 13 and 14, Take a Shot
At this point, you should have a starting lineup and a solid bench. This range in the draft is where you take late-round dart throws at guys you want to roster going into Week 1 or 2 but who you feel could easily be cut if their usage or situation is not what you thought it may be.
Your targets in this range should include players in a good offense or players with a potential path to a significant, undisturbed role. Ray Davis, Michael Wilson, Bucky Irving, Troy Franklin, Xavier Legette, and Jaleel McLaughlin are all players who could have solid fantasy value in 2024 should things break correctly for them. Week 1 will reveal a lot of how coaches would like to deploy offensive players. If you draft one of these guys and they see a 20% snap share, then it may be worth cutting them for other Week 1 fantasy darlings who may be on the waiver wire.
This ROUTE by Xavier Legette 😳
Some NFL scouts pre-draft reportedly comped Legette to AJ Brown (Eagles WR1).
The Panthers offense could be SCARY. pic.twitter.com/56c3GFOI4z
— NFL Rookie Watch (@NFLRookieWatxh) August 4, 2024
Rounds 15 and 16, D/ST and Kicker
Many platforms force you to draft a D/ST and a kicker. This is the time to do it. Some of your league mates will draft these players five or six rounds earlier. The advantages of these positions are usually created every week and you certainly do not need backups. Choose your kicker based on the offense he is attached to. You want a kicker who is going to be in scoring position consistently, which will net you field goals and PATs.
Your defense can be selected based on the matchups in the first couple of weeks. The Bengals and Saints both open up against potentially poor offenses. The Buccaneers get a rookie Jayden Daniels in his first start. Despite the potential for a breakout from Will Levis, he is unproven and will face a much improved Bears defense in Week 1. None of those teams have great Week 1 matchups, but if you look ahead to the second week, the Ravens defense will play the Raiders and the Steelers defense will play the Broncos with a presumptive rookie quarterback in Bo Nix.
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