2024 Fantasy Football Storylines

This year’s Super Bowl matchup is set, with Patrick Mahomes leading the Kansas City Chiefs to their fourth Super Bowl in the past five years against the San Francisco 49ers. As we take a collective breath during the two-week buildup to Super Bowl LVIII, it’s the perfect time to take a look at next year’s fantasy football storylines. What are the key teams, players and questions we should consider as we plan our strategy for a 2024 championship?

Here’s a look at the key 2024 fantasy football storylines. 

Correctly Project the Rams

The Rams were the absolute key to winning a fantasy football championship this season. No team in recent memory entered a season with so many question marks yet made such a huge impact on the success (or failure) of your fantasy season. Here was a summary of the offseason narratives surrounding the Rams last year: 

• Head coach Sean McVay was again answering retirement questions.
• Quarterback Matthew Stafford was battling arm tendinitis.
• Cooper Kupp’s status for the 2024 season was very unknown due to a lingering hamstring injury.
• Running Back Kyren Williams’ role in this offense was very unclear. 
• While rookie wide receiver Puka Nacua played well in the first preseason game, he did not see another meaningful snap until Week 1

McVay is notorious for not playing starters in the preseason, making it even tougher to gauge roles for offensive players. However, it is clear we need to do a better job of projecting the Rams starters, as any McVay offense is going to make an impact in fantasy football. Los Angeles finished fourth in weighted DVOA, including top-10 spots in both passing and rushing offense. Williams finished third in the NFL in rushing yards (1,144), and Nacua finished eighth overall in receptions (105) and fourth in total receiving yards (1,486). 

It’s clear a successful 2024 fantasy season starts with correctly projecting this Rams offense.

Free Agents Galore

Free agency always plays a huge role in fantasy football, and the 2024 season will be no exception. There are several big-name players who could be on a new team come September. 

Quarterback: There are a myriad of teams looking for consistent quarterback play, with several veterans open for hire as we hit the free agent market. The top prize is 35-year-old Kirk Cousins, who posted 18 touchdowns and just five interceptions before suffering a torn Achilles in late October. Cousins had two consecutive Pro Bowl appearances entering this season.

Available Free Agents: Kirk Cousins, Ryan Tannehill, Baker Mayfield, Gardner Minshew, Jacoby Brissett, Jameis Winston

Running Back: While the “Running Backs Don’t Matter” debate rages on, it’s hard to ignore the available talent in this year’s free agent class. There are historically great rushers, such as Derrick Henry (9,502 total rushing yards), versatile All-Pro backs in Josh Jacobs and Saquon Barkley, and prolific touchdown scorers such as Austin Ekeler (25 combined touchdowns in 2021/2022). 

Teams that are not willing to pay the high price for the elite running backs may opt for an abundance of solid second-tier producers. 

Available Free Agents: Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, Derrick Henry, Austin Ekeler, Tony Pollard, D’Andre Swift, J.K. Dobbins, Devin Singletary, AJ Dillon, Zack Moss

Wide Receivers: One of the top wide receiver free agent classes I’ve seen in a while, with multiple 1,000-yard receivers available. Mike Evans is the only player in NFL history to start his career with 10 straight 1,000-yard seasons. Does Tee Higgins simply need to leave the shadow of Ja’Marr Chase to become an elite WR1? Is Calvin Ridley permanently back to WR1 status? Are teams buying low on Noah Brown? So many questions to answer this offseason.  

Available Free Agents: Tee Higgins, Michael Pittman, Marquise Brown, Mike Evans, Calvin Ridley, Darnell Mooney, Gabriel Davis, Odell Beckham, Tyler Boyd, Curtis Samuel, Kendrick Bourne, Noah Brown, DJ Chark, Michael Thomas, Josh Reynolds

Tight Ends: The shallowest of all fantasy football positions, there is great opportunity for a marginal player to land on the right team. Dalton Schultz proved his production with Dallas was not a fluke, with seven weeks of double-digit fantasy scoring in Houston. Players such as Hunter Henry and even Noah Fant could be league-winners in the right offense. 

Available Free Agents: Dalton Schultz, Hunter Henry, Noah Fant, Gerald Everett, Austin Hooper, Mike Gesicki, 

Simple: Da Bears

The epicenter of the 2024 fantasy football season begins and ends with Chicago. Quarterback Justin Fields was again a top-10 in quarterback fantasy points per game, with six games of overall QB8 or better and five weeks of overall QB4 or better performances. Fields was an elite dual-threat quarterback, ranking second among all quarterbacks in rushing yards and first in rushing attempts per game. However, will Fields still be the quarterback in Chicago next season? 

Jacob Infante of Windy City Gridiron told me he firmly expects the Bears to trade Fields and secure USC quarterback Caleb Williams with the first overall pick on April 25. If that happens, both Fields (with his new team) and Williams would be fascinating fantasy options for the upcoming season. 

The first domino to drop in the fantasy football offseason will start with the first overall pick of this year’s draft. The decision the Bears make will have ripple effects throughout the fantasy football landscape. 

Chicago? You are already on the clock. 

Late-Round Running Backs

Per FTN Fantasy, four of the top seven running backs in fantasy points per game were available in the mid-to-late rounds of all fantasy drafts. Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams was a clear league-winner, finishing second overall in FPPG behind Christian McCaffrey. Miami produced a pair of top-five fantasy RBs in Raheem Mostert and De’Von Achane, with the underappreciated James Conner finishing seventh. 

The running backs at the top of draft boards are always tantalizing but come with major question marks. Can Christian McCaffrey repeat as RB1? Is Nick Chubb healthy? Bounceback season for Jonathan Taylor? 

Rookie RBs are now making an immediate impact. Look for players such as Trey Benson (Florida State), Bucky Irving (Oregon), Jonathan Brooks (Texas) and Audric Estime (Notre Dame) to all provide fantasy football draft value in 2024. 

As for a Kyren Williams repeat? Take a close look at second-year RBs such as Tyjae Spears (Tennessee), Zach Charbonnet (Seattle) and Roschon Johnson (Chicago) to be set up for huge roles next season. 

Navigating Tight End

Entering last season, there was strong support for spending an early-round pick on Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce or Baltimore tight end Mark Andrews. The argument was the strong positional advantage created by selecting a rare and elite producer at tight end. However, with Kelce finishing third in FPPG and Andrews’ injury, the tight end position is a huge unknown entering the 2024 season. 

Detroit rookie Sam LaPorta finished first at the position in fantasy points per game and touchdowns. Second-year Arizona product Trey McBride finished tied for fifth in receptions (81) and Cleveland’s David Njoku also produced despite challenging quarterback play all season. 

The biggest tight end question centers around Jacksonville’s Evan Engram, who finished with the second-most receptions (114) at the position in NFL history. 

With Georgia tight end Brock Bowers projected to go in the first round of the draft, fantasy drafters could be chasing LaPorta’s production again. Can he even approach LaPorta’s season, or will fantasy drafters be stuck chasing unrealistic first-year production at a critical fantasy position?