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2023 was the poster boy for how nailing your late-round picks can change your fantasy football fortunes with Kyren Williams, Puka Nacua, Sam LaPorta, CJ Stroud and Brock Purdy among those who shone brightly after being drafted late in drafts.
As the 2024 fantasy football season approaches quickly, now is the time to consider who might be the best late-round draft targets in PPR leagues. Average draft position (ADP) is based upon our consensus ADP and players are selected from pick 140 onwards.
There was plenty of change at the top in Minnesota with Aaron Jones replacing Alexander Mattison as the Vikings’ RB1 this offseason. Change was needed after Mattison failed to impress in 2023. Jones, however, is 29 years old and has struggled to stay healthy in recent years, playing only 11 games last year as he dealt with persistent hamstring injuries. When Ty Chandler received opportunities last season he impressed with four top-36 weekly finishes out of the five games where he had 13+ touches. Getting a potential RB3 for a pick outside of the top 140 is a good return on investment. While Jones is healthy it might be tough to start Chandler, but the contingent upside is well worth it.
I’m excited for Aaron Jones but I think a lot of people who watched late into last season when the season was spiraling out of control realized Ty Chandler has a lot of special qualities. It’s going to be a fun 1-2 punch. pic.twitter.com/n4Bnr3IzU9
— Minnesota Sports Insider (@CoachBGonzo) June 29, 2024
There have always been hints of Darnell Mooney’s upside since he entered the league in 2020, not least when he had 1,055 receiving yards in his sophomore season. Then the Bears leaned very run-heavy in 2022 and the passes thrown tended to be inaccurate. Then in 2023 injuries to Mooney and Justin Fields tempered his chances of a good year. Now, Mooney finds himself a fresh start in Atlanta with a pass-happy quarterback in Kirk Cousins and a potentially rejuvenated offense. The Falcons have no clear-cut WR2 behind Drake London. There will be plenty of opportunities for Mooney to have a bounce-back campaign.
The Chargers backfield is one of the cheapest but trickiest to decipher in 2024. JK Dobbins is coming off a second season-ending injury in just four years and Gus Edwards averaged only 3.4 yards per carry from Week 12 onwards last year. Kimani Vidal is going to have to fight for every opportunity among a fairly old-school coaching staff that isn’t going to gift a rookie anything, but Vidal arrives to the NFL on the back of 1,861 all-purpose yards in 2023. Some may downplay that because it came at a small school (Troy) it’s not Vidal’s fault his opponents weren’t able to stop him. With this backfield, it might be one to approach with caution and not get too carried away with anyone involved. At this cost, though, it’s a fair dart throw to take.
I already know that Troy RB Kimani Vidal is going to be one of my most owned rookies this offseason!
A tough runner with great contact balance who has the ability to make a man miss & also has capable hands as a receiver!
Definitely ‘My Guy’ for 2024 pic.twitter.com/KfHql2FlFY
— Matt FF Dynasty ???? (@MattFFDynasty) March 7, 2024
Puka Nacua’s record-breaking season and Kyren Williams’ breakout campaign stole all the headlines in Los Angeles last year. Quietly, though, Matthew Stafford silenced the doubters after an injury-riddled 2022. Stafford was playing at a near-MVP level at times, notching his third 3,900-yard season over the last four years. With two elite pass-catchers, there is no reason to think he can’t have another strong season for fantasy purposes in 2024. Waiting till this late in the draft to grab your quarterback will allow you to be loaded at every other position.
Many of us have been burned by Rashod Bateman during his time in the NFL, but John Harbaugh has spoken glowingly of Bateman unprompted at several opportunities in recent weeks, mentioning how often Bateman had gotten open as the 2023 season progressed. Things just didn’t break his way. All being well, Bateman will have his first properly healthy offseason of his NFL career, a year further removed from the Lisfranc injury that often takes two years to fully recover from. The Ravens didn’t bring back Odell Beckham Jr. and extended Bateman when they had the chance to, showing us they still believe in him. At this cost, on an electric offense, it’s worth the gamble.
#Ravens HC John Harbaugh on which player he expects to make a leap in 2024:
“I think Rashod Bateman’s gonna take a big step… The ball’s gonna get to him a lot more next year.”
Harbaugh sports an 85% reliability rating on usage/workload coachspeak
We’ll be drafting a good… pic.twitter.com/9x2vtg56yS
— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) February 27, 2024
As we get deeper and deeper down the draftboard the plays become thinner and thinner but Braelon Allen deserves some attention. The Jets didn’t necessarily need to make two additions to their running back room in the NFL draft, but they did with Allen and Isaiah Davis being added to a room that included Breece Hall and Israel Abanikanda already. All the reports around the Jets suggest Allen is a clear favorite for the RB2 job and would get the first crack at starter duties if anything should happen to Hall. Allen isn’t as strong of a threat in the passing game as Hall is, but he averaged over 5.4 yards per attempt each year at Wisconsin. He has the size and weight at 6-foot-1 and 235 pounds to do damage in the rushing game.
In previous years, Noah Fant’s route to relevancy was blocked by the Seahawks’ committee approach to the tight end position, but now Will Dissly is with the Chargers and Colby Parkinson is with the Rams, leaving this tight end room firmly in Fant’s control for the first time. Fant has caught over 75% of his targets in each of the last three seasons and simply needs more volume and snaps to be relevant. With Ryan Grubb installed as offensive coordinator, fresh off designing one of the most interesting college offenses in 2023, there’s plenty of reason to hope the Seahawks bounce back offensively and Fant can be a big part of it.
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Tom Strachan
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@NFL_Tstrack
I’m a fantasy football addict, particularly in love with best ball and DFS. I can often be found scrutinising ADP and looking for edges in the best ball streets.
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