The Best Pick in Each Round of 2024 Fantasy Football Drafts

We’re so back. Fantasy football drafts have arrived, and we’re cooking up winning rosters left and right. Get your fantasy football cheat sheets and fantasy football rankings ready as we go through the best pick in every round for your 2024 fantasy football drafts.

Average draft position data comes from FTN’s Underdog ADP tool.

Best Pick in Round 1: Christian McCaffrey, RB, San Francisco 49ers

Sorry for going obvious here. The only way you get CMC is if you have the first overall pick, but he’s just so much better than everyone else that it would be silly not to highlight him as the best pick in Round 1.

Just look at this stat:

The only thing CMC has going against him right now is age — maybe. He’s 28, which is certainly on the older side of things. He likely has one year — maybe two — left of being the king. But king he still is.

Best Pick in Round 2: De’Von Achane, RB, Miami Dolphins

I wrote this offseason that Round 2 of fantasy football drafts this year doesn’t feel good. None of the players were just smashing hits. Here’s what I wrote about the group:

• Marvin Harrison Jr., WR – A hefty price tag for a rookie.
• Saquon Barkley, RB – Scores zero fantasy points per Jalen Hurts’ butt push.
• Jonathan Taylor, RB – Will do more dancing in the end zone on Anthony Richardson TD rushes than his own.
• Drake London, WR – Banking on a Year 3 breakout.
• Brandon Aiyuk, WR – His own team is trying to trade him, and they drafted a WR in the first round.
• Chris Olave, WR – Derek Carr is his quarterback.
• Davante Adams, WR – Aidan O’Connell and/or Gardner Minshew is his QB. Also, he’s 31.
• Kyren Williams, RB – In a timeshare.
• De’Von Achane, RB – In a timeshare.
• Deebo Samuel, WR – See Aiyuk, Brandon above.
• Nico Collins, WR – So many elite players on this offense.
• Mike Evans, WR – He’ll be 31.
• Stefon Diggs, WR – So many elite players on this offense. Also, he’s over 30.

But of them all, Achane is my favorite. He’s young, he’s explosive and volatile (the best thing you can be), and he’s primed for a bigger role in an elite offense in 2024. There’s downside to all of the second-round picks this year — so I’m taking the one that has the most upside.

Best Pick in Round 3: Brandon Aiyuk, WR, San Francisco 49ers

I’m a sucker for elite players at value due to off-the-field circumstances. Is there risk associated with this pick given Aiyuk’s holdout? Yes, obviously. Would he be going in the early to mid second round if he had a contract? Yes, he would. The value is worth the risk, in my opinion.

Aiyuk is most likely to stay in San Francisco, according to Adam Schefter, which is what would be best for his fantasy value.

But even if he is traded, he’ll (likely) be the WR1 wherever he goes and would face far less competition for touches outside of San Francisco. It’s hard to see Aiyuk not paying off his third-round price tag unless he doesn’t play for anyone.

Best Pick in Round 4: Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs

According to FTN’s Fantasy Wins Added metric, Kelce was the No. 31 most valuable player in all of fantasy football last year. It was a truly disappointing season for a player that was drafted in the first round, and the stud TE failed to reach 1,000 receiving yards for the first time since 2015.

He did, however, still catch 93 passes and record 984 yards and five TDs (his fewest since 2019). Obviously, Kelce isn’t bad. But it’s probably safe to say the top-10 overall fantasy player days are done.

Heading into 2024, Kelce is being drafted as the No. 40 most valuable player, which means fantasy players expect a further decrease from his value last year’s 31st. My problem with that is that the Chiefs offense is going to be better as a whole in 2024, which will help Kelce.

You can make the case that Kelce “should” have been able to do more last year given that nobody else in Kansas City — apart from Rashee Rice sometimes — could catch a pass, but I have a really hard time imagining Kelce’s reduced stats not being a byproduct of a struggling offense overall.

Think: Do you believe Patrick Mahomes will throw 27 touchdowns again? He already has seasons of 50, 38, 37 and 41 under his belt. He averaged 35 fewer passing yards per game last year than his career average. With Rice entering Year 2, Xavier Worthy and Marquise Brown, the entire offense is on the up. A rising tide lifts all boats.

Best Pick in Round 5: Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens

According to Fantasy Wins Added, Jackson was the eighth-most valuable player in all of fantasy football last year. And you get him in the fifth round! His QB counterparts in the FWA department from 2023 — Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts — are going 1-1.5 rounds before him.

Jackson was the second-most explosive QB in fantasy football last year. If you need a refresher on why that’s a good thing, check out my series on explosive fantasy players.

Best Pick in Round 6: Joe Mixon, RB, Houston Texans

Mixon is currently being drafted as the RB14, right next to Rachaad White (RB15), and I like both players in this round — but Mixon slightly more.

White is entering Year 3 after becoming a bell cow RB for the Bucs in 2023. He had 336 touches for 1,539 yards and 12 TDs, but the looming threat of Bucky Irving, a former star at Oregon and now a rookie with the Bucs, is real. White should still be the guy, but Irving is playing himself into a role.

Mixon, on the other hand, seems quite safe as the RB1 on an elite offense. His top competition for touches is Dameon Pierce — who was supplanted by journeyman RB Devin Singletary last year — and Dare Ogunbowale. In other words, Mixon is only coming off the field when he needs a breather.

Mixon was the RB7 in fantasy points scored last season with the Bengals and has scored 29 rushing touchdowns in the last three years. He has also gone for over 50 receptions in back-to-back seasons after not reaching that mark anytime 2017-2021. He should have a three-down role with the Texans and the goal-line role to boot. There’s no reason to think his stats won’t be similar to what they have been in Cincy recently.

Best Pick in Round 7: Evan Engram, TE, Jacksonville Jaguars

Yes, the Jaguars added rookie Brian Thomas Jr. in the first round (also not a back pick in this round!), but I expect Engram to be a major beneficiary of the departures of Calvin Ridley and Zay Jones, who combined accounted for 33% of Jacksonville’s targets last season.

Engram is a trusted target of Trevor Lawrence — he led the team with a 23.6% target market share in 2023 — and he’s being drafted at his absolute floor in fantasy right now. Engram was the TE3 in fantasy points scored last year and the TE6 in Fantasy Wins Added — both of which are well above his current ADP of TE8.

Best Pick in Round 8: D’Andre Swift, RB, Chicago Bears

I really want to say the best pick is Raheem Mostert, because I truly believe upside is all that matters and Mostert obviously proved his upside last year, but I am so in on Achane and so convinced Mostert scores dramatically fewer TDs (he had 18 on the ground last year) that I just can’t do it.

So instead I turn to Swift. Our fantasy football projections have Swift as the RB21. He’s being drafted as the RB25. That’s not far off, but I’ll still take the discount.

The real reason I like Swift in this range is because his competition for touches is lacking: Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson have yet to make a case for a bigger role in the offense. Johnson showed flashes as a receiver last year, but he’s not going to supplant Swift in that role in 2024.

He’s being hyped in training camp, the offense is suddenly good-looking, and Swift appears locked into a lead back role. I’m buying in, especially at this cheap price point.

Best Pick in Round 9: Dak Prescott, QB, Dallas Cowboys

It’s kind of wild how late in the draft Prescott is going. It’s only one round sooner than he was going last year — and that’s after he produced a top-five fantasy season! People just love to hate him even as he racks up the fantasy points. I’ll gladly buy that discount.

I said earlier Jackson was the second-most explosive QB in fantasy last year — behind Prescott. Prescott was fourth among QBs in Fantasy Wins Added behind Allen, Hurts, and Jackson and he led the league with 36 touchdowns — his second time reaching or topping that mark in the last three seasons.

Dak is underrated. Period.

Best Pick in Round 10: Khalil Shakir, WR, Buffalo Bills

How in the world is Shakir going in Round 10? Over the last 10 games in Buffalo, Shakir had more receiving yards than Stefon Diggs despite seeing 43 fewer targets! That number isn’t just conveniently cherry-picked at 10. It extends, and you’ve possibly seen other versions of the same numbers. Here’s another example:

The team added Keon Coleman and Curtis Samuel, so it’s not like Shakir instantly is gifted a WR1 role, but he was coming on strong last season and has rapport with Josh Allen. I’ll take a cheap piece of a Josh Allen offense any day of the week.