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The preseason has started, and fantasy football drafts are officially underway. Sure, we've all been hammering Best Ball drafts for months, but our home league drafts are coming into focus. It is time to finalize your prep and get those draft boards ready. Often, fantasy managers identify which players to target and avoid at their current ADP. Sometimes, however, it goes a step further than that.
For this article, I've compiled some of the RotoBaller staff's "My Guys." We are doing everything we can to land these players during our drafts. We're willing to sacrifice ADP to get these players on our teams. We believe they will exceed expectations and provide fantasy managers with league-winning upside. Our "My Guys" are the players we'll defend no matter what. They're guys we're entirely sold on, and we're willing to put our money where our mouth is.
I've gotten help from several of our experts here at RotoBaller. This gives readers different opinions on the players for whom some of our staff are planting their flags. Don't forget to use the promo code "BOOM" for a 10% discount on any NFL Premium Package.
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
Garrett Wilson, New York Jets
Dave Ventresca
A popular breakout pick last year, Wilson’s 2023 was derailed four snaps into the season when quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a torn Achilles tendon. As a result, Wilson went from a PPR WR21 finish in 2022 to a WR26 finish last year. He was a disappointment relative to expectations and where he was taken in drafts.
Despite all that, Wilson’s advanced metrics were still excellent. Per Fantasy Points Data Suite, Wilson had a 25% target per route run rate (TPRR) and a 27% target share in 2023. These marks were better than what he posted as a rookie in 2022.
The breakout case for Wilson remains simple. He has eclipsed 80 receptions and 1,000 yards receiving with horrific quarterback play each of the past two seasons. He remains a very talented player. Reinsert a future Hall of Fame quarterback into the mix, and Wilson is again set to explode. This time, we need all parties involved to stay healthy.
Jaylen Waddle, Miami Dolphins
Jackson Sparks
My top target in 2024 redraft leagues is 25-year-old wideout Jaylen Waddle. The Alabama product finished as the PPR WR13 as a rookie in 2021 and the WR8 as a sophomore in 2022. Last year, he posted his third consecutive 1,000-yard season, but his lack of touchdowns (four) yielded a WR34 finish.
Despite his "down" season in 2023, there were still a lot of promising signs. According to PlayerProfiler's advanced metrics, Waddle ranked second in route win rate (62.7%), 10th in target rate (27.5%), 12th in yards after catch (421), eighth in yards per route run (2.68), 13th in yards per target (9.8), and 14th in fantasy points per route run (0.53) among all qualified wide receivers.
His three-game absence due to injury and poor "touchdown luck" led to a slip in his overall raw numbers, but he was still a highly effective and efficient fantasy asset.
In the one game that Tyreek Hill missed last year, Waddle caught eight passes for 142 yards and a touchdown against the elite New York Jets secondary. We're not predicting a Hill injury or decline, but both are certainly in play as he enters his age-30 season.
If either happens, Waddle has a legitimate top-5 upside at the position. If not, he can return to low-end WR1 status at his WR20 price tag.
Christian Watson, Green Bay Packers
Aidin Ebrahimi
Christian Watson broke out in his last eight games with Aaron Rodgers, putting up 584 total yards and eight touchdowns. He finished as the overall WR4 (standard format) during that span. He was one of the most sought-after dynasty WRs heading into the 2023 season but missed the first three weeks due to a hamstring issue.
It took a while for him to regain his form, but he had two outstanding performances against the Lions and Chiefs. He injured his hamstring right after that and saw Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, and Dontayvion Wicks emerge in his place.
Watson is now the WR42 in PPR leagues, but can easily outperform his ADP. He underwent a body scan at the University of Wisconsin-Madison this offseason and discovered the root of all these hamstring issues.
A few days ago, he shook off an injury scare and looked more durable than ever. Jordan Love is also now at his best, and the combination of a confident Love and a healthy Watson could be deadly. Watson is someone who I'm all in on in 2024.
Drake London, Atlanta Falcons
Dave Ventresca
It’s undoubtedly been a less-than-ideal start to London’s career after finishing as the PPR WR31 and WR37 in his first two seasons. It’s not all been London’s fault. It would be hard-pressed for any receiver to produce with Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder as quarterbacks and a mustached bandit calling plays.
London now gets a massive quarterback upgrade with Kirk Cousins signing a four-year, $180 million contract with the Falcons. There is also a new offensive coordinator, Zac Robinson, in town. Robinson is a Sean McVay disciple and comes from a system where they traditionally hyper-target their top receivers.
These all bode very well for London’s outlook. With a complete offensive overhaul, we can expect him to put up career highs across the board in 2024. London is an easy third-year breakout call.
Isiah Pacheco, Kansas City Chiefs
Joe Nicely
While many in the fantasy community have spent the offseason either analyzing the upgrades made to the Chiefs' pass-catching corps with free-agent acquisition Marquise Brown and draft pick Xavier Worthy or speculating on the possible suspension of Rashee Rice, I’m more interested in what’s going on in the KC backfield.
Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco performed at a high level in 2023, finishing as the overall fantasy RB14 in his second NFL season. There remains plenty of room for growth this year, as the 25-year-old enters 2024 as the clear-cut lead back for this still-potent offense.
#Chiefs HC Andy Reid on which RB will fill the 3rd-down role, with Jerick McKinnon gone:
“[Isiah Pacheco]’s ready to be able to do all that. He’s good with the protections, he’s good with the technique and fundamentals, he can run all the routes, he’s got great hands.”
Reid… pic.twitter.com/zQmPg0TkNI
— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) August 2, 2024
With veteran Jerick McKinnon no longer with the team, the path to a three-down role for Pacheco is wide open. He flashed serious potential as a pass catcher down the stretch last season - earning 24 targets over the last four games of the regular season - and should have no trouble eclipsing his 49 targets from 2024.
Currently going off as the RB11 in 2024 drafts, Pacheco possesses an extremely high floor thanks to his secure role, as well as untapped upside due to both his expected positive TD regression and increased role in the passing game. He’s nowhere near as flashy as De’Von Achane or as proven as Derrick Henry - both of whom are generally going ahead of him in 2024 drafts - but I could see Pacheco outpacing both this season and finishing as a top-five RB.
Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders
Dan Palyo
Do I think the Commanders will be good this season? No, not at all - I have them winning five, maybe six games. But I do think that Terry McLaurin could be in store for the best season of his career with Jayden Daniels at QB and Kliff Kingsbury calling the plays.
McLaurin enters his sixth season in the NFL with four straight 1000-yard seasons, however, the Ohio State product has never caught more than 87 passes in a season. He's had to deal with some pretty terrible quarterback play for most of his career and while he's been targeted an average of 121 times per season, many of those targets were simply not catchable balls.
Now is Daniels a major upgrade over McLaurin's former QBs? I don't think he even has to be all that much better for McLaurin to go off.
Daniels has an elite ability to scramble and extend plays - something that is going to create more opportunities for McLaurin to improvise and get open. Daniels's accuracy has looked good in preseason, but we also have to consider that his OC, Kingsbury, is going to do everything he can to scheme him a lot of safe throws as well.
Here's every Terry McLaurin preseason route in the new Kliff Kingsbury offense:
McLaurin's career average route depth (the distance from the line of scrimmage at which the initial cut in his route comes) is 9.4 yards. This preseason, it's 6.2 yards. https://t.co/Gqq8evav7c pic.twitter.com/FwlTO5cmiF
— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) August 20, 2024
You want your rookie quarterback making simple reads and having fewer choices - you don't ask them to break down defenses pre-snap or make a lot of audibles. Look for McLaurin to get peppered with targets on shorter routes this season, which in PPR formats could be a huge increase in production if he pushes up toward 100 catches.
Let's face it - rookie quarterbacks tend to hone in on their top receiver more often than veterans, and frankly - who else does Daniels have to look for in this wide receiver room? Right now, Olamide Zaccheaus is the projected WR2, as Jahan Dotson and Dyami Brown have struggled to separate themselves in camp.
It might not be pretty, but garbage time stats count the same as any others. I expect Washington to trail in a lot of games this season and for Daniels and McLaurin to post really big fantasy numbers trying to play catch-up.
Greg Dortch, Arizona Cardinals
Nick Mariano
Dortch was invisible on the bench for much of the 2023 season, but injuries to Michael Wilson (shoulder) and Marquise Brown (heel) led to snap counts above 75% down the stretch after Kyler Murray returned from his ACL injury. Dortch would eclipse 11 PPR points in four games between Weeks 11-17, checking in as the PPR WR45 within that window.
Murray and Dortch had also lit it up early in 2022. In Weeks 1-3, when Rondale Moore was out, Dortch was the WR19 (15.3 PPG). Then he was benched until popping up as the WR10 in Week 11 with Brown out. His snap count wouldn’t top 60% again until Weeks 16-18, when he was the WR25 (12.1 PPG).
Dortch has performed well when given starting reps and has a leg up on the slot role entering this season. We’ve seen him perform well in the windows when a clear avenue to reps exists. Marvin Harrison Jr. and Trey McBride will demand volume but the cost to acquire Dortch in drafts is nil, so the risk-reward ratio is tantalizing.
And while Zay Jones being suspended five games to start the 2024 season doesn't directly affect Dortch's volume in the slot, it's just another relatively proven set of hands unavailable out of the gate. The narrower the target tree gets then the better Dortch's odds of gaining early momentum are.
Tight Ends Draft Strategy
Scott Engel
I’m not particularly eager to wait on drafting tight ends. I prefer to target one of the top seven players at the position, with the cutoff point being Kyle Pitts and Evan Engram. I don’t want to increase my chances of dealing with frustration and underperformance all year.
If you do wait until longer at TE, two of my favorite sleepers are Jonnu Smith and Tyler Conklin. Backing them up with my top sleeper at the position, Colby Parkinson is a good move. For those who follow the recommendation to draft a top-7 tight end, Parkinson is a nifty late flier.
The new Rams TE is listed at 6-foot-7 and 265 pounds, which means he will be a viable TD target for Matthew Stafford. The ex-Seahawk can find the soft spots in defenses and add yardage after the catch. Parkinson is ticketed to be Los Angeles’ No. 1 TE, as there is no timetable for the return of Tyler Higbee.
He was the third of three TEs on the Seattle depth chart last year, but now Parkinson can seize an opportunity with his new team. He is going undrafted in many leagues and is a promising final-round pick at the thinnest position in fantasy football.
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