2024 Fantasy Football Training Camp Battles Revisited (WR/TE)

NFL training camp is a time to decide who does and does not make the team. But it’s also a time to sort out a pecking order. Entering 2024 training camps, we broke down the key position battles to watch at every fantasy football position. Now, with all the preseason games in the rearview and games only a few days away, it’s time to take a look at how those position battles resolved (if they did!).

Below, I’m looking at the resolution of the battles around the league at wide receiver and tight end. Monday, I looked at quarterback and running back.

2024 NFL Position Battles Revisited: Wide Receiver and Tight End

Wide Receiver

Cleveland Browns

Battle: Jerry Jeudy vs. Elijah Moore
Resolution: Jerry Jeudy

Amari Cooper is the WR1 in Cleveland, and David Njoku is going to be No. 2 in targets. So this is a low-upside role, but it certainly looks like the Browns prefer Jerry Jeudy after trading for him this offseason and giving him an extension.

Buffalo Bills

Battle: Keon Coleman vs. Khalil Shakir vs. Curtis Samuel
Resolution: Khalil Shakir, then Curtis Samuel

After bringing in a “Remember Some Guys” smorgasbord this offseason, the Bills have winnowed their receiver room down to these three, plus Mack Hollins and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Keon Coleman was listed behind not only Khalil Shakir and Curtis Samuel on the team’s depth chart, but Hollins as well, so while he has very nice upside, he’s not on the radar early in the year. Shakir and Samuel will be the WRs 1 and 2 in Buffalo, and with Samuel recovering from a turf toe issue, Shakir is the early favorite.

Green Bay Packers

Battle: Jayden Reed vs. Christian Watson vs. Romeo Doubs vs. Dontayvion Wicks
Resolution: Everyone! Or no one!

It certainly looks like the Packers are going to lean on all four of their top receivers, which means Green Bay could be a lot of fun, but it also means that making fantasy decisions is going to be very hard. Good luck.

Denver Broncos

Battle: Marvin Mims Jr. vs. Troy Franklin vs. Josh Reynolds
Resolution: Josh Reynolds

Courtland Sutton is locked in as the WR1 in Denver (despite the 49ers’ best efforts), but there is a definite opening for a WR2 for new quarterback Bo Nix. Troy Franklin looks set for a learning year — there are talks of him being a healthy scratch for most of 2024 — and Sean Payton appears to hate Marvin Mims Jr. with a “Dennis Allen talking about Kendre Miller”-like intensity. So Josh Reynolds appears to have won the job almost by default. Mims will have big-play upside and have value in leagues that reward return yards, but Reynolds is going to have the much higher weekly floor.

New York Giants

Battle: Wan’Dale Robinson vs. Jalin Hyatt vs. Darius Slayton
Resolution: Wan’Dale Robinson, then Jalin Hyatt

Malik Nabers will blow the rest of the Giants out of the water in target share this year, but Wan’Dale Robinson should be interesting as a completely different type of receiver who could offer plenty of PPR value. Jalin Hyatt has a shot, but if they’re going to throw to a guy who does what he does, they’ll start with Nabers. Meanwhile, Darius Slayton is just a bench play, but I’m sure he’ll find his way to the top of the depth chart again somehow. (OK, probably not going to happen this time.)

Seattle Seahawks

Battle: Tyler Lockett vs. Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Resolution: Jaxon Smith-Njigba

The Seahawks are going to use all three of their receivers, with DK Metcalf in line to be the WR1. But with Tyler Lockett aging out of his prime and Jaxon Smith-Njigba aging toward his, the advantage is likely to tilt the second-year receiver’s way in 2024.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Battle: Roman Wilson vs. Van Jefferson vs. Calvin Austin
Resolution: Pat Freiermuth?

Roman Wilson’s early-camp ankle injury kept him from getting the work the rookie would have needed to be a big contributor early in the season. So for now, the receivers after George Pickens in Pittsburgh will be Van Jefferson (209 yards and 0 touchdowns between two teams last year) and Calvin Austin (180 yards and 1 score in 2023). Translation: It’s Pickens, the running backs and Pat Freiermuth in 2024. Freiermuth isn’t an electric tight end, but he could have a massive target total.

New England Patriots

Battle: Kendrick Bourne vs. DeMario Douglas vs. Ja’Lynn Polk vs. Jovan Baker vs. JuJu Smith-Schuster
Resolution: DeMario Douglas and Ja’Lynn Polk

With Kendrick Bourne starting on PUP, JuJu Smith-Schuster released and landing in Kansas City, and Jovan Baker marginally disappointing in preseason, DeMario Douglas and Ja’Lynn Polk might have won this battle by default, but they also showed enough in camp to be the clear top receivers in New England, even if the top line is worse there than on most other rosters.

Kansas City Chiefs

Battle: Marquise Brown vs. Xavier Worthy
Resolution: Rashee Rice

At the start of camp, a suspension for Rashee Rice looked far more plausible than it looks now. It seems increasingly likely that Rice will play all of 2024 and that any suspension will be levied for the 2025 season. So he’s the clear WR1 in Kansas City. Marquise Brown’s preseason injury probably puts him behind Xavier Worthy to open the season, but neither one is a sure thing behind Rice and Travis Kelce.

Detroit Lions

Battle: Jameson Williams vs. Kalif Raymond
Resolution: Jameson Williams

The only way Kalif Raymond could have won this battle would have been an injury to Jameson Williams or the third-year receiver falling absolutely apart in camp, and neither of those things happened. Williams will continue to be a popular breakout pick for 2024.

Tight End

Las Vegas Raiders

Battle: Brock Bowers vs. Michael Mayer
Resolution: Brock Bowers, but both?

A late-camp foot injury made this a bit interesting, but it looks like Brock Bowers will be good to go for Week 1, and that means he’s the heavy favorite to lead Raiders tight ends in targets. Michael Mayer will lag behind him, but it also seems like the team is going to roll with a lot of 12 personnel and have both on the field a lot. Bowers is the one to care about for fantasy, but Mayer is interesting.

Green Bay Packers

Battle: Luke Musgrave vs. Tucker Kraft
Resolution: Luke Musgrave, but not by as much as many thought

Tucker Kraft started camp late after a pec injury, but he was cleared and good to go. And reports out of Green Bay indicate this could be a committee situation with plenty of packages for both. I’ve been touting Kraft’s upside much of the offseason, and I stand by it.

New York Giants

Battle: Daniel Bellinger vs. Theo Johnson
Resolution: Wan’Dale Robinson

Darren Waller’s retirement makes the Giants’ TE1 an interesting name to identify, but ultimately, this offense is likely to run through the receivers, and Wan’Dale Robinson as the underneath target will get a lot of the targets tight ends might otherwise get. Daniel Bellinger is the favorite over Theo Johnson early, but the rookie could rise as the season goes on, and with both there, neither carries enough upside to bother with.

Chicago Bears

Battle: Cole Kmet vs. Gerald Everett
Resolution: Caleb Williams

Gerald Everett is going to play more than Cole Kmet investors wanted. Kmet still has more touchdown upside and will likely get the majority of the playing time, but Everett’s presence is probably enough to keep Kmet from sniffing the TE1 ranks in 2024, especially in redraft as opposed to best ball. But this just illustrates all the weaponry Caleb Williams has. Don’t try to parse the Bears depth chart (at least not until we see it in action), and just invest in the rookie who gets to take advantage of all of it.