With the 2024 NFL Draft in the books, it’s time for us fantasy football fans, managers, predictors, and supporters to immediately turn our obsessive minds toward the fast-approaching fantasy football season. 2024 exemplified the unavoidable and well-documented shift the league has made toward offense in recent years.
The ratio of offensive to defensive players taken in 2024 was more skewed toward offense than ever before. By a lot. Twenty-three to nine. And that means more fantasy impact players to keep our eyes peeled for. Let’s take a look at some first-rounders with immediate fantasy value. More to the point, the few that will actually be on people’s radar in the first ten rounds of fantasy drafts come August and September.
2024 NFL Draft Selections with Immediate Fantasy Value
QUARTERBACKS
Six quarterbacks were taken in the first twelve picks of the NFL draft. That has never happened. Only once in the NFL’s history have six been taken in the entire first round. That was 1983, a draft class that featured John Elway, Dan Marino, and Jim Kelly. You’re not here to debate the legacy of the draft class, however. And neither are we. So, let’s get to the point.
Drake Maye, New England’s pick at number three overall doesn’t have weapons. And he has a defensive-minded first-year head coach. Jayden Daniels, Washington’s selection at number two has to contend with a Washington organization still in turmoil. And Michael Penix Jr., drafted at number eight overall, isn’t expected to start. So, they’re out.
Caleb Williams has DJ Moore and rookie Rome Odunze, which gives him major upside. Not to mention the obvious opportunity in drafting him in dynasty formats. There’s a reason he went number one overall in a stacked quarterback draft class. He’s an intriguing number two and a no-brainer number three QB. J.J. McCarthy steps into the best situation with Justin Jefferson as his prime target. And he has proven offensive guru Kevin O’Connell as his HC and play-caller.
Not only does he have an opportunity to have the best rookie season of any QB taken, but he could be a fantasy starter by the end of the season. And you should be able to get him after Caleb Williams goes. The Vikings were pushing division champion Detroit at the end of last year with the immobile Nick Mullens at the helm, so expect McCarthy to be playing meaningful games until the end of the season.
WIDE RECEIVERS
With seven wide receivers going in the first round, it tied the record for most all-time for the NFL Draft. And most of them will warrant fantasy draft picks before the final rounds of your draft. Marvin Harrison Jr. will probably be Kyler Murray’s number one by the time the season rolls around. He’ll be worth a mid-round pick. And that makes him the MOST DRAFT-ABLE DRAFTEE of the 2024 NFL draft class as it pertains to fantasy purposes.
The previously mentioned Odunze will be playing with the rookie, Williams. He should start, though Moore will be the number one. Malik Nabers, taken second among pass-catchers, goes to potentially the worst situation with Daniel Jones in New York. His former LSU teammate, Brian Thomas Jr., taken with the number twenty-three pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars, will enter a much better situation when he reports to camp.
The Jags traded up for him, so expect the 6’3′ wideout to have an impact this season. Especially with Calvin Ridley no longer being there. He’ll have offensive guru Doug Pederson coaching him up. And he led the FBS in touchdowns in 2023. Thomas will be off-board around the tenth round in most drafts.
The Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs traded up for Buffalo’s twenty-eighth overall pick in the NFL Draft and got the right to draft WR Xavier Worthy out of Texas. His 4.21 40-yard dash time was the fastest since 2003. And with Patrick Mahomes throwing him the ball, he’s got huge upside. He’ll be off the boards before the tenth round.
The 49ers took WR Ricky Pearsall out of Florida with the very next pick. He has fantastic ball skills and should eventually be a starter, but the 49ers offense is stacked. And if 2023 taught us anything, it’s that this offense is still a crap-shoot on a weekly basis for anyone not named Christian McCaffrey.
Pearsall will be around at the end of the drafts. The Brandon Aiyuk contract situation will determine Pearsall’s fantasy viability in 2024. And the Carolina Panthers took Xavier Legette with the last pick of the first round. He’s also the second WR named Xavier taken in the first round. We don’t recommend drafting him due to Carolina’s cellar-dweller status.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Colton is a Hollywood screenwriter turned sports columnist. Originally from the suburbs of Detroit, he is a Michigan State University grad who spent fifteen years in Los Angeles after receiving a Bachelor’s in Journalism from MSU. An award-winning filmmaker with multiple projects still in development, Colton is currently co-authoring a biography, “The Boy from the Bronx,” with renowned businessman, Michael Weisser.
Eric is a recent and welcome addition to Total Apex Sports. He’s a highly knowledgeable and respected voice in the sports community, both in Michigan and nationally. Eric Colton resides in New York City with his wife and two daughters.
