Fantasy Football Draft Targets: Breece Hall, Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry (2024)

A fantasy football league certainly isn’t won at the draft. The adjustments and trades made along the way will ultimately decide who is victorious in early January. That being said, pinpointing value in each round of drafts can help kickstart your team and limit the amount of housekeeping required over the course of the season.

It’s important to recall that every round will contain players who will ultimately fail miserably as well as those who achieve incredible success. Below is a list of players who, assuming health, will fall in the latter category. Here are fantasy football draft picks to target in each round. Below we dive into a few of our top targets for 2024 fantasy football drafts.

Players to Target in Each Round

For the sake of this exercise, we will be analyzing the players available in each round of a 12-team, half-PPR league. Here are fantasy football draft picks to target in each round.

Round 1: Breece Hall (RB – NYJ)

Hall is simply an electric RB whose talent is undeniable. Among RBs with at least 100 carries, he ranked 4th in yards after contact per attempt (PFF). He’ll have no issue earning carries in this backfield where his main competition is Braelon Allen.

Hall also emerged as an elite pass-catcher out of the backfield in 2023. His 591 receiving yards were second only to perennial superstar Christian McCaffrey. Given Aaron Rodgers‘ history of using his RBs as a weapon through the air, it’s easy to foresee plenty of targets headed Hall’s way. In this new-and-improved Jets offense, the sky is the limit for the former Iowa State Cyclone.

Round 2: Saquon Barkley (RB – PHI)

Saquon has consistently provided elite fantasy production despite being behind one of the league’s worst offensive lines. He now finds himself on the Eagles, who, despite Jason Kelce’s retirement, remain one of the most stout offensive-line units in the NFL.

Barkley’s calling card has always been his ability to make plays in the open field. His career PFF breakaway percentage of 37.9 is indicative of this. This explosiveness will be an ideal fit for this Philadelphia run scheme that consistently provides RBs with great spacing . Barkley will undoubtedly accumulate yardage at an incredible rate, which more than makes up for any goal-line concerns some doubters may have.

Round 3: Derrick Henry (RB – BAL)

Throughout his career, Henry has always been a very game-script-dependent fantasy asset. For this reason, his off-season move to Baltimore is ideal. He will consistently find himself in positive game scripts on a Ravens team that figures to be an AFC powerhouse once again. What’s more, Henry has arguably the best touchdown upside in the entire league.

This Greg Roman offense places a strong emphasis on running at the goal line. Gus Edwards managed to score 13 touchdowns as this team’s primary back a year ago. Henry – PFF’s 8th-highest graded rusher – in 2023, has the ability to surpass Edwards’ production this season. Make no mistake about it; while he’s not as efficient as he once was, Henry is still among the league’s finest at the position.