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We discuss which second-year wide receivers you should target in your 2024 fantasy football drafts.
Every year, there is plenty of excitement around which rookies hit the NFL ground running and have an early breakout season. While rookies are the shiny apple of a fantasy manager’s eye, history has shown that players tend to take a step forward in their second season, especially wide receivers. If that trend continues in 2024, there is a ton of value to be had. Let’s take a look at which second-year wide receivers you should target in your 2024 half-PPR fantasy football leagues.
Nacua was drafted out of BYU in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. There was hope he would be a developmental piece for the Rams, but he wasted little time in making an impact. Nacua brought in 10 of his 15 Week 1 targets for 119 yards. He followed that up with 15 more receptions in Week 2 for 147 yards. Nacua played in all 17 games and finished his rookie year with 1,486 yards and six touchdowns.
Los Angeles has a wealth of riches, with both Nacua and Cooper Kupp leading their receiving corps. The rookie finished as the overall WR4 in half-PPR scoring. He is being highly drafted in 2024, and I think people are over-valuing him. Just because a player performed well above ADP one year doesn’t mean that he needs to be considered a top player at the position. Nacua is highly dependent on the arm of 36-year-old Matthew Stafford, but he threw for 3,965 yards with 24 touchdowns last year. The Rams wideout should be the first second-year receiver selected from the upside that we have already seen, and his ADP may end up rising a little higher over the summer.
Many wondered if Flowers could take over as the top wide receiver for Baltimore after the Ravens used the 22nd overall pick on him in the draft. He didn’t have as nearly a prolific rookie season as Nacua and waited until the last game of the regular season to tally his first 100-yard receiving game. Flowers’ first touchdown came in mid-October against the Tennessee Titans.
He finished 2023 as the overall WR29 and goes into his second season still as the top wideout for Baltimore. The Ravens lost veteran wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to the Miami Dolphins in free agency and Baltimore didn’t do much to replace him other than drafting UNC WR Tez Walker in the fourth round of this year’s draft. Star tight end Mark Andrews should be fully healthy, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him take over his role as quarterback Lamar Jackson’s top target, but that doesn’t mean that Flowers will revert to irrelevancy. His ADP feels accurate, if not a little low, but I definitely think he will take the second-year step forward in 2024.
Even though Green Bay used a second-round pick on him, Reed still looked like he might get lost in the shuffle of the Packers’ receiving corps. Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson had had solid rookie years the year prior, and quarterback Jordan Love was taking over the offense. Watson dealt with injuries, and Doubs finished with 674 yards and was tied for the team-high with eight touchdowns.
Reed developed a quick rapport with Love and led the team with 793 yards on 64 receptions and was tied with Doubs’ eight touchdowns. The second-year wideout is still in a crowded receiver room, but if he is able to improve on his rookie year, he is due for a big season and could be a steal at his ADP.
If these rankings were done in a tier system, the first line would likely be after Nacua with the next after Reed. JSN was the third target in the Seahawks’ passing attack behind DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. The rookie played in all 17 games and finished with 628 yards and four touchdowns.
Quarterback Geno Smith took a slight step back in his first season without QB guru Dave Canales. If Smith — who turns 34 this season — takes another step back, it could be tough for Smith-Njigba to stay relevant. Lockett isn’t getting any younger, but Metcalf is the clear WR1 of this team. JSN has a chance to break out but feels significantly more risky than those above him.
If Johnston is going to have a fantasy-relevant season, it should come in 2024. Los Angeles traded away veteran wideout Keenan Allen to the Chicago Bears, and the oft-injured Mike Williams — coming off a season-ending torn ACL — signed with the New York Jets in free agency. The Chargers drafted Ladd McConkey and signed D.J. Chark as a free agent of their own, but neither of these moves should hurt Johnston.
The second-year WR will be duking it out with Joshua Palmer as the team’s overall WR1. Palmer could be the team’s deep threat, Johnston could use his 6 ft. 4 frame as the team’s more physical receiver, and McConkey could control the slot. With that arrangement, Johnston should see plenty of targets from QB Justin Herbert.
Addison played in all 17 games as a rookie, but only eight came with Kirk Cousins under center. The veteran QB suffered a season-ending injury in late October against the Green Bay Packers. the rookie wide receiver had 482 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. After Cousins went down, Addison finished the year with an additional 429 yards and three scores.
Addison put together similar numbers with and without Cousins, which could be a good sign for 2024, as the quarterback is now with the Atlanta Falcons. Another aspect of his rookie season was that star wide receiver Justin Jefferson only played in 10 games, as he was sidelined with an injury from mid-October to mid-December. Also, K.J. Osborn was fourth on the team in receiving yards and had 75 targets. Osborn signed with the New England Patriots in free agency, theoretically freeing up targets for Addison to firmly take over that WR2 role behind Jefferson.
The reason Addison isn’t higher is that while he dealt with Joshua Dobbs and Nick Mullens under center after Cousins was injured, I really don’t like his quarterback options. Unless Minnesota is just feeding negativity to the media so that he can experience a miraculous turnaround, rookie first-round QB J.J. McCarthy doesn’t sound ready for the NFL. If he isn’t, then that would mean Addison would have Sam Darnold as his quarterback for possibly the majority of the season. Darnold was last a starting QB for the Carolina Panthers in 2021, and he tallied 2,527 yards, nine touchdowns and 13 interceptions over 12 games.
Rice’s ADP is a tough thing to nail down at this point in the offseason. He’s had an eventful summer between causing a high-speed car crash in Texas and then a strange situation where he may have invited a photographer to a nightclub just to punch him. It remains to be seen if the NFL will suspend him, but you have to assume he could miss up to six games (or more), depending on how severe the league thinks the punishment should be.
Rice showed his potential as a rookie in 2023. It helps to have Patrick Mahomes as your quarterback, but still, he finished with 938 yards and seven touchdowns. He proved that he could lead the wide receivers in Kansas City, and the Chiefs added some great complementary pieces this offseason by signing Marquise Brown Jr. and drafting Xavier Worthy in the 2024 NFL Draft. It may feel like there are too many cooks in the kitchen, but it feels more like Rice will be the second pass-catcher to roster in this offense behind Travis Kelce unless Rice is handed a lengthy suspension.
Dell impressed during his rookie season after developing a quick rapport with QB C.J. Stroud. He fractured his leg in early December, but before that, he finished with 709 yards and seven touchdowns on 47 receptions.
Dell is expected to be fully healed going into the next season but will have a new teammate with whom to split targets. Houston traded for former Buffalo Bill Stefon Diggs in the offseason. Dell will now be battling for targets with Nico Collins and Diggs, which is likely why his ADP isn’t higher. If Diggs wasn’t added to the roster, Dell likely would have been WR20.
Downs played all 17 games as a rookie, but most were with backup quarterback Gardner Minshew under center. Rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson suffered a shoulder injury and played in only four games. That didn’t slow Downs down, as he brought in 68 of his 98 targets for 771 yards and two touchdowns. He will have to be the WR2 in the offense behind Michael Pittman Jr., but there’s certainly a path to 800-900 yards and five touchdowns for him.
Mims has received praise from head coach Sean Payton all offseason. The second-year wideout will have the best chance to see an increase in targets after Denver traded away Jerry Jeudy to the Cleveland Browns. Mims should be the WR2 behind Courtland Sutton, but the reason he isn’t higher is likely due to the question mark under center.
The Broncos released veteran quarterback Russell Wilson despite the move creating a huge dead cap hit. They drafted Bo Nix in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, and either he or Jarrett Stidham are expected to be the starting quarterback come September. Neither quarterback inspires much confidence for 2024, so proceed cautiously when rostering Mims.
The New England Patriots really challenged the “well someone is going to have to catch the ball” saying that fantasy football managers often throw out. Douglas was a sixth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, leading New England in receiving yards. He brought in 49 of his 79 targets for 561 yards but never found the end zone. The Patriots didn’t address its receiving corps in free agency, opening the door for Douglas to have another productive season. The biggest knock against him is that we don’t know what to expect from either Drake Maye or Jacoby Brissett under center.
Wicks was a fifth-round pick last year and was yet another mouth to feed in the Green Bay passing attack. His speed helped him rise through the depth chart, and he became a reliable target for Love. Wicks played in 15 games and finished the season with 581 yards and four touchdowns on 39 receptions.
There’s a chance that Wicks has a breakout season in 2024, but the wide receiver room just has too many people in it. Reed seems like he can be the WR1, but Doubs, Watson and Wicks have all shown flashes that suggest they could also be the guy. This ends up hurting their fantasy value, but Wicks is worth rostering in case that breakout does happen because even if he doesn’t, he should have a high floor.
Outside of James Conner and Trey McBride, I don’t know many Cardinals who had a good 2023. Things improved once Kyler Murray was back under center, but Arizona still finished with a 4-13 record. Marquise Brown struggled with injuries, which allowed Wilson, a third-round pick, to step up in the offense. He finished with 565 yards and three touchdowns, and while Arizona used an early draft pick on Marvin Harrison Jr., Wilson should have value as the WR2 in the offense.
Hyatt didn’t get much of a chance to shine as a rookie. He was part of a crowded wide receiver room and had to deal with Tyrod Taylor and Tommy DeVito under center for more than half the year. Hyatt finished with only 373 yards on 23 receptions and has yet to score his first career touchdown. He’s in a similar position to Wilson in that New York used a high draft pick to bring in a No. 1 wide receiver.
Malik Nabers should be the top wideout in this offense, but he isn’t the only one Hyatt will have to beat out for targets. Darius Slayton has led the Giants in receiving the last two years. The addition of Nabers could help open up Slayton even more, which would obviously cap the upside for Hyatt. Still, as the WR3 in the offense, he could have late-round value.
Palmer likely won’t be able to reach his ceiling as long as Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are both on the team and healthy. Last year, he played in all 17 games and finished the season with 385 yards and three touchdowns on 39 receptions. Palmer saw the fourth-most targets in the offense and is going undrafted in 12-team leagues. He could be a worthy stash with your final pick or could be someone to follow on the waiver wire to see how he does in the early part of the season.
Since Michael Thomas is no longer with the Saints, someone will likely step up behind Chris Olave. Rashid Shaheed will likely be the Saint receiver to roster behind Olave, but Perry could get an uptick in targets. Many fantasy managers expect a Shaheed breakout, so Perry’s ADP will likely fall more as we get closer to the start of the season. Perry had 246 yards and four touchdowns last year, the third-most among the New Orleans wide receivers if you take out Thomas. I wouldn’t say I like taking Perry at his current ADP, but if you can get him late in the draft, he could be a good bye week fill-in with the right matchup or an injury or two.
It may not seem worth mentioning, but Tucker had the third-most receiving yards for the Raiders last season. He finished with 331 yards and two touchdowns, and the Las Vegas offense should see a boost from new quarterback Gardner Minshew. Tucker certainly isn’t going to challenge Davante Adams for targets, but he could end up being the WR2 over Jakobi Meyers if he can develop a strong rapport with Minshew. More likely, though, is that he finishes with around 500 yards and four or five touchdowns. It’s not bad for a player you would be taking with your final draft pick or selecting off the waiver wire.
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