The 2024 NFL Draft has come and gone. While the real NFL draft is over, the fantasy football drafts are just beginning! That’s especially true when it comes to dynasty rookie drafts. NFL Draft landing spots allow us to start to zero in on fantasy football and dynasty rookie draft pick values. Let’s dive into our dynasty rookie draft outlook and advice for a few rookies.
- 2024 Dynasty Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- Dynasty Rookie Draft Simulator
- DBro’s Dynasty Rookie Draft Primers
- 2024 NFL Draft Guide
Fantasy Football Rookie Draft Outlook
Here’s what Fitz expects for a few rookies selected during the 2024 NFL Draft.
Bills Draft Keon Coleman
The Buffalo Bills have addressed an urgent need at wide receiver, selecting Florida State’s Keon Coleman at the top of the second round.
A king-sized receiver with a knack for making acrobatic catches, Coleman uses his 6-3, 213-pound frame well, boxing out defenders, making contested catches and using his big wingspan to haul in balls thrown outside the frame of his body. Coleman has a basketball background — he played for Tom Izzo’s hoops program at Michigan State before transferring to FSU — and it shows. Coleman is an above-the-rim football player. He has terrific ball skills and vise-grip hands.
Keon Coleman had 50 catches for 658 yards and 11 touchdowns last year. He had big games against LSU and Clemson early in the season, but his production tailed off sharply later in the season when he was playing through nagging injuries and the Seminoles were playing without injured QB Jordan Travis.
Coleman’s 2022 numbers at Michigan State were good but not great: 58 catches for 798 yards and seven touchdowns. It should be noted, however, that Coleman outproduced Spartan teammate and future Packer Jayden Reed that season, even though Reed was a senior and Coleman was a sophomore.
One of the younger receivers in the draft, Coleman will turn 21 on May 17. His youth suggests he still has ample room for improvement.
Although Coleman is a decent route-runner, he doesn’t consistently get separation from defenders. He’s clocked a sluggish 4.61 at the combine, although he did reach a top speed of over 20 mph while running the gauntlet at the combine — the fastest of any receiver who ran that drill.
Buffalo desperately needed help at wide receiver. They let Gabe Davis walk in free agency and traded Stefon Diggs to the Texans. With Khalil Shakir and Curtis Samuel at the top of the Bills’ WR depth chart, Coleman should have no trouble getting immediate playing time, and he’ll get to work with one of the best quarterbacks in the league in Josh Allen. Bottom line: This is a terrific landing spot for Coleman.
It will be interesting to see whether the Bills use Keon Coleman primarily as an outside X receiver or as a big slot receiver. Coleman certainly has the size to be an X, but the slot may be his true calling.
I’m above consensus on Coleman in dynasty, ranking him WR6 among rookies and WR31 overall. I expect Coleman to be taken in the back half of the first round in 1QB dynasty rookie drafts and in the early second round in superflex rookie drafts — though he could conceivably sneak into the first round of superflex drafts considering how good the landing spot is.
Keon Coleman’s predraft FantasyPros Expert Consensus ranking was WR64 in half-point PPR formats, and he had a predraft Underdog best-ball ADP of WR53. I have Coleman ranked WR51 for redraft.
Check out his full dynasty rookie draft profile
Chargers Draft Ladd McConkey
The Los Angeles Chargers added a badly needed wide receiver, selecting Georgia’s Ladd McConkey with the 34th overall pick of the NFL Draft.
McConkey is a route-running savant. He’s lightning-quick into and out of his route breaks, creating big cushions when he faces man coverage. McConkey clowned the defensive backs he faced in one-on-one drills at the Senior Bowl, eventually prompting those DBs to play well off the line of scrimmage so McConkey wouldn’t embarrass them.
Although he never had more than 58 catches or 762 receiving yards in any of his three seasons at Georgia, McConkey fared well on a per-snap basis. He averaged 3.26 yards per route run last season and caught 80% of his targets. As FantasyPros NFL Draft and college football analyst Thor Nystrom has noted, Georgia ran a 12-personnel, run-heavy offense and often pulled starters early during their frequent blowout victories, tamping down McConkey’s numbers.
McConkey does most of his work in the short and intermediate areas of the field, but with his 4.39 speed, he’s capable of hauling in deep balls. With his speed and quick feet, he’s also dangerous after the catch.
At 5-11½, 186 pounds, McConkey isn’t built to win in contested-catch situations. He dealt with a back injury last season, and his size could make him an injury risk.
Ladd McConkey should have a major opportunity to contribute immediately, since the Chargers had an urgent need at receiver. They traded star Keenan Allen to the Bears and let Mike Williams walk in free agency, leaving Josh Palmer and Quentin Johnston as the top wide receivers on their depth chart. Johnston’s rookie season was an abject disaster, so more help was needed.
Although the Chargers figure to have a run-heavy offense with Jim Harbaugh as their head coach and Greg Roman as their offensive coordinator, McConkey should see a substantial target share right away, and those targets will be coming from Justin Herbert, one of the top young quarterbacks in the league.
The 22-year-old Ladd McConkey is my WR8 among rookies and my WR34 overall in dynasty. He’s likely to be selected somewhere in the back half of the first round in 1QB rookie drafts and early in the second round of superflex rookie drafts.
McConkey had a predraft FantasyPros Expert Consensus ranking of WR70 in half-point PPR formats and an Underdog best-ball ADP of WR59. I have him ranked WR52 for redraft.
Check out his full dynasty rookie draft profile
Patriots Draft Ja’Lynn Polk
The New England Patriots have selected the University of Washington’s Ja’Lynn Polk with the 37th overall pick of the NFL Draft, adding some much-needed help to an undermanned WR room.
Polk had a big senior season for Washington in 2023, with 69 catches for 1,159 yards and nine touchdowns in 15 games despite sharing targets with Rome Odunze (who led the FBS in receiving yardage) and Jalen McMillan.
The 6-1, 203-pound Polk has good size and positional versatility, able to line up either inside or outside. He has terrific hands. Polk was charged with only seven drops over his last two seasons with the Huskies. He’s also a fine athlete who posted a Relative Athletic Score of 8.84.
Although Polk posted big numbers in 2023, some of his biggest games came when McMillan was out with an injury. He had four 100-yard performances in games McMillan missed. When McMillan was around, Polk was pretty clearly Washington’s No. 3 receiver. Polk is solid but nothing special as a route-runner and after the catch.
Polk should have a good chance to earn significant playing time right away, as the top wide receivers on the New England depth chart before the draft were Demario Douglas, K.J. Osborn, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Kendrick Bourne. With Douglas spending a lot of time in the slot last year, Polk might take a lot of snaps as an outside receiver in his rookie year.
The Patriots had one of the worst passing attacks in football last year, and while their selection of Drake Maye with the third overall pick in the draft offers hope for improvement, New England is still likely to have one of the least potent passing games in the league in 2024.
In dynasty, I have Polk ranked WR17 among rookies and WR70 overall. I think he’s slightly overrated and would prefer to have fellow University of Washington rookie Jalen McMillan. Expect him to come off the board in the mid-to-late second round or early third round of 1QB rookie drafts, or in the mid-to-late third round of superflex drafts.
Polk’s predraft FantasyPros Expert Consensus ranking was WR81 in half-point PPR formats, and he had a predraft Underdog best-ball ADP of WR71. I have Polk ranked WR86 for redraft and have little interest in rostering him.
Check out his full dynasty rookie draft profile
Dynasty Rookie Draft Rankings
Our analysts provide their latest rookie draft rankings below. And also check out our expert consensus dynasty rookie draft rankings!
More Dynasty Rookie Draft Advice
- DBro’s Dynasty Rookie Draft Primers
- DBro’s Top 50 Rankings & Player Notes
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