Skip to main content

Fantasy Football Player Notes

2024 Draft Rankings

Najee Harris Note
Najee Harris photo 61. Najee Harris RB
Harris finished last season with his third consecutive season with at least 1,000 rushing yards, eight total touchdowns, and 1,200 total yards, and still, it felt like a huge disappointment. Harris was the RB30, ranking 29th in snap share and 26th in opportunity share as he split with Jaylen Warren. Harris still finished sixth in carries and eighth in red zone touches among backs, but he saw his pass game usage plummet with only a 7.9% target share (33rd) while ranking 49th in route participation. Harris's stats were helped by the fact that Pittsburgh leaned heavily on the run down the stretch. This could happen again in 2024, depending on what the team does at quarterback, but it's not for certain, and don't be surprised if Warren eats into Harris's work further. Harris is an RB3/flex option in 2024.
2 weeks ago
George Pickens Note
George Pickens photo 72. George Pickens WR
In four games with Mason Rudolph, George Pickens averaged a 24% target share, 44% air yards share, 14.6 fantasy points (backend fantasy WR1 numbers) and nearly 100 receiving yards per game. On the year, Pickens hauled in 63 receptions from 106 targets, accumulating 1,140 yards, which translated to a remarkable 18.1 yards per reception Weeks 1-18. Pickens closed out the season with 177.3 fantasy points, which gave him an impressive average of 10.3 points per game, ranking him 33rd among wide receivers in points per game. He finished with a 24% target share (6.5 targets per game) and 41% air yards share (13th in total air yards). Pickens offers a lot of upside if Pittsburgh can find the right guy under center. Russell Wilson offers much more upside than Kenny Pickett, given he is a threat to the throw the ball downfield (8th in deep ball rate in 2023). Pickens also will be true alpha in 2024, with Diontae Johnson traded to the Panthers. During the first 5 weeks of the 2023 season with DJ sidelined, Pickens was the WR13 in fantasy averaging 12.8 points per game (19th) with a 43% air yards share and 24% target share. Averaged nearly 80 receiving yards per game.
6 days ago
Jaylen Warren Note
Jaylen Warren photo 87. Jaylen Warren RB
Jaylen Warren was one of the most explosive and elusive backs in the NFL. This sounds like a hyperbolic statement I know, but it really isn't. Last season, he finished third in explosive run rate, first in missed tackles forced per attempt, and second in yards after contact per attempt (per Fantasy Points Data). If these numbers don't jump off the page, then I don't know what else to tell you. Oh wait, he was also 12th in yards per route run and fifth in targets per route run. Warren is a stud and outperformed Najee Harris in nearly every metric. While he finished as the RB29 in fantasy points per game, that doesn't tell the entire story. Warren was an RB2 or better in weekly scoring in 50% of his games. Warren will still have to split a backfield this season with Harris, but if you're betting on talent (which you should be), there aren't many better options to grab in drafts that have his type of upside if anything were to happen to Harris.
2 weeks ago
Justin Fields Note
Justin Fields photo 137. Justin Fields QB
Justin Fields is a dangerous dual-threat quarterback in fantasy football, but how much of a chance will he get to play in 2024? The Steelers acquired Fields from the Bears in a mid-March trade, giving up a sixth-round pick that could become a fourth-rounder depending on Fields' playing time this season. The modest compensation the Bears received -- particularly when there were other QB-needy teams that didn't make a play for Fields -- suggests that the league doesn't value the sack-prone young quarterback as much as fantasy managers may have. Fields now finds himself in the same QB room as Russell Wilson, whom the Steelers acquired earlier in the offseason, and early reports suggest that Wilson has the inside track to be the Week 1 starter. Fields has landed in QB1 range in fantasy points per game each of the last two seasons (6 starts minimum), finishing QB5 in FPPG in 2022 and QB12 in 2023. Fields' rushing production fell from 76.2 rushing yards per game and eight TD runs in 2022 to 50.5 rushing yards per game and four TD runs in 2023, but he averaged a career-high 197.1 passing yards per game last season.
2 days ago
Pat Freiermuth Note
Pat Freiermuth photo 149. Pat Freiermuth TE
After averaging 9.5 and 9.9 PPF fantasy points per game in his first two seasons in the league, Pat Freiermuth averaged only 6.4 PPR points per game in 2023, as he was thwarted by uneven QB play and a hamstring injury that cost him five games. Freiermuth had seven TD catches as a rookie in 2021. He only scored two touchdowns in 2022 but ramped up his yardage, finishing with 63 receptions for 732 yards. Freiermuth is adept at working the middle of the field, has dependable hands and is tough to bring down after the catch. A nine-catch, 120-yard performance vs. the Bengals in late November showed what Freiermuth is capable of, but will he once again be hindered by subpar QB play in 2024? Consider him a midrange QB2 for 2024.
8 weeks ago
Pittsburgh Steelers Note
Pittsburgh Steelers photo 212. Pittsburgh Steelers DST
Russell Wilson Note
Russell Wilson photo 221. Russell Wilson QB
Chris Boswell Note
Chris Boswell photo 302. Chris Boswell K
Van Jefferson Note
Van Jefferson photo 366. Van Jefferson WR
Calvin Austin III Note
Calvin Austin III photo 416. Calvin Austin III WR
Darnell Washington Note
Darnell Washington photo 460. Darnell Washington TE