Fantasy Football Rankings 2024: NFL sleepers, breakouts, busts from model that nailed Deebo Samuel’s slow year
The 2024 NFL Kickoff Game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 5, which means time is running out to formulate your 2024 Fantasy football strategy. The Chiefs drafted Xavier Worthy and signed Marquise Brown to give Patrick Mahomes more dynamic receiving options in 2024, but Brown is already sporting a shoulder injury. How will his absence impact Mahomes’ 2024 Fantasy football projections and where should you target the Super Bowl MVP in your 2024 Fantasy football rankings? What about his top target, Travis Kelce, who is coming off a down season?
With reliable 2024 Fantasy football rankings, you can find value throughout your upcoming drafts and identify potential 2024 Fantasy football sleepers, 2024 Fantasy football breakouts, and 2024 Fantasy football busts. Before setting your 2024 Fantasy football draft strategy, be sure to check out the 2024 Fantasy football rankings and cheat sheets from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
Last year, the model accurately predicted that Buccaneers running back Rachaad White was being dramatically undervalued. White was coming off the board in the seventh round on average in 12-team PPR leagues, but he emerged as Tampa Bay’s workhorse ball carrier and provided significantly more value than expected, finishing No. 4 at his position. White rushed for 990 yards and six touchdowns while adding 64 catches for 549 yards and three more scores as a receiver. Anybody who followed the model’s advice scored an every week starting running back in the middle rounds.
The same model has a proven track record providing Fantasy football tips, identifying A.J. Brown as a sleeper in 2020 and nailing Jonathan Taylor’s monstrous season in 2021. Additionally, it’s called past Fantasy football sleepers like Derrick Henry in 2019, Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara in 2018, and Davante Adams in 2017. Anybody who banked on players like those made a run at their league title.
The model is powered by the same people who generated projections for all three major Fantasy sites, and it beat human experts last season when there was a big difference in ranking. The 2024 Fantasy football PPR rankings and 2024 Fantasy football standard projections update multiple times daily, so you’re always getting the best Fantasy football advice.
Now, SportsLine has simulated the entire NFL season 10,000 times and released its latest 2024 Fantasy football rankings, along with plenty of sleepers, breakouts and busts. Head to SportsLine now to see them.
Top 2024 Fantasy football sleepers
One of the 2024 Fantasy football sleepers the model is predicting: Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle. He flashed as the backup to an ineffective Tony Pollard last year, averaging 4.1 yards per carry. He was also efficient on his targets last season, picking up a well-above-average 6.5 yards per look.
He’s expected to split time with Ezekiel Elliott this season, but if Elliott is ineffective, Dowdle could take over as the lead back for an explosive Dallas offense. That’s a big reason why SportsLine’s model is projecting Dowdle, who is being drafted in the 14th-round on average, to outperform fellow running backs like Gus Edwards (10th-round ADP), Jerome Ford (11th) and Elliott (12th). See more Fantasy football sleepers 2024 here.
Top 2024 Fantasy football breakouts
One of the 2024 Fantasy football breakouts the model is predicting: Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The rookie had 63 receptions for 628 yards and four touchdowns last season and was underutilized compared to what many expected from him in the Seattle offense after being the first WR selected in the 2023 NFL Draft at No. 20 overall.
Smith-Njigba didn’t play at least 60% of the snaps until Week 6 and only played more than 70% of snaps in four weeks. He did play at least 65% of snaps in seven of the final eight games of his rookie season though and had a touchdown in two of his final four contests. Pete Carroll stepped down as head coach, but general manager John Schneider remains at the helm, so the new regime may want a heavier Smith-Njigba usage. With Tyler Lockett turning 32 in September, the 22-year-old JSN may be more of a factor this season. See more Fantasy football breakouts 2024 here.
Top 2024 Fantasy football busts
As for players to avoid, the model lists Ravens running back Derrick Henry as one of its 2024 Fantasy football busts. Henry is likely a future Hall of Famer and he’s been a Fantasy goldmine for years, but he turned 30 in January and he’s averaged over 300 touches per season over the last six years with the Titans while leading the NFL in carries four of the last five seasons.
Even for a 6-foot-3, 247-pound powerhouse like Henry, that workload is bound to catch up with him at some point and the presence of Lamar Jackson in Baltimore should lead to fewer carries. Henry is being drafted in the first or second round of most 12-team PPR leagues but the model is predicting that he finishes behind third or fourth-rounders like Rachaad White and Alvin Kamara in the 2024 Fantasy football rankings. See more Fantasy football busts 2024 here
How to find proven 2024 Fantasy football football rankings
SportsLine is also extremely high on a surprising quarterback you aren’t even thinking about being taken in the middle rounds of 2024 Fantasy football drafts. This quarterback is listed as a shocking top-10 option ahead of stars like Trevor Lawrence and Aaron Rodgers. You can only see who it is, and the 2023 Fantasy football rankings for every player, at SportsLine.
So which 2024 Fantasy Football sleepers, breakouts and busts should you target and fade, and which QB shocks the NFL with a top-10 performance? Visit SportsLine now to get 2024 Fantasy Football cheat sheets for every single position, all from the model that nailed Deebo Samuel as a bust last year, and find out.
