With the NFL Draft now a thing of the past, the tantalizing prospect of Week 1 lineups begins to take shape, sparking excitement and speculation among fantasy football enthusiasts. As teams solidify their rosters with fresh talent, the stage is set for a thrilling season ahead, ripe with opportunities for both established stars and promising rookies to leave their mark on the fantasy landscape. Let’s look into how some of these recent selections will impact the upcoming fantasy season.
4 Rookie WRs will be their team’s top target
In the first round of this year’s draft, we saw 7 wide receivers taken. This is the highest number we’ve seen since 2004. In total, the first 40 picks saw 10 wide receivers come off the board. Out of these 10 wide receivers, there is serious potential for half of them to be WR1 on their respective teams heading into Week 1.
Starting with the first receiver off the board, Marvin Harrison Jr. instantly will be coming in as Kyler Murray’s main target. His biggest competition will be tight end Trey McBride who broke out in the 2nd half of last season causing him to finish as the TE5 from Week 10 when Murray was throwing him the ball. 2 picks later, we saw Malik Nabers taken by the Giants. Last year, the Giants had the 2nd worst passing offense in the league partially due to the injuries to Daniel Jones and Tyrod Taylor. Bringing in Nabers as their WR1 gives Daniel Jones that explosive go-to receiver that he needs if the Giants want to sneak their way into the playoffs just as they did 2 years ago.
Jumping to the 2nd round, we saw the 2 receivers as the first 2 selections. The Bills took Keon Coleman out of Florida State with the 33rd overall pick. This didn’t come as a surprise to anyone as the Bills lost their top wideouts from last season in Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis. Coleman will have to beat out Khalil Shakir and Mack Hollins for that WR1 position, but Coleman is still in a prime position to be a top target early on for Josh Allen. With the 34th overall pick, the Chargers traded up to take Ladd McConkey with their pick out of Georgia. After parting ways with their top offensive weapons during the offseason, the Chargers needed to bring in some weapons in the draft. McConkey was a stud for Georgia both out wide and in the slot during his 3 years there. McConkey will be an instant impact starter for the Chargers and will give Justin Herbert a new top pass catcher.
Michael Mayer is no longer a breakout candidate
Vegas shocked everyone by going with the best player available with their 13th overall pick taking generational talent Brock Bowers. After selecting Michael Mayer last year early in the 2nd round, many thought Mayer would fill the void that Darren Waller left at the position. Last season, Mayer mainly split time with Austin Hooper but ended up beating him out by the end of the season finishing with 304 yards on 27 receptions with 2 touchdowns. Bowers will take over that starting role from Mayer and will likely be the secondary option behind DeVante Adams.
Chicago has too many pass-catchers
Chicago has built one of the best offenses on paper and has given Caleb Williams an amazing situation for him to thrive in for his rookie season. However, from a fantasy perspective, it will be difficult for any of Chicago’s weapons to be fantasy elite. Last season Chicago had DJ Moore finish as the WR6 Cole Kmet as the TE8. Now they’ve added Keenan Allen, who finished as WR11 with the Chargers, and rookie Rome Odunze who they selected with the 9th overall. It will be tough for any of the 3 pass catchers from last season to duplicate their success as each of them will be fighting for targets. While Williams is being put in an ideal fantasy situation, there’s a chance that none of the 4 top pass catchers in Chicago finish as elite fantasy options in their respective positions.
JJ McCarthy lands in the best situation
The Vikings made the move that many of us expected in trading up to take a quarterback in the first round in the form of JJ McCarthy. With this pick, the Vikings have potentially found their future franchise quarterback and he is surrounded by the weapons he needs to immediately step in and be successful. Justin Jefferson and TJ Hockenson will be looking to continue their run of top fantasy performances from the past couple of seasons. While it is uncertain whether the Vikings will be starting McCarthy or Darnold for Week 1, Minnesota will be more likely to lean on their rookie to lead their offense. If McCarthy is the starter, he will have all the weapons he would need to have a successful fantasy rookie season.
Devin Singletary will be RB1 for the Giants
After losing star running back Saquon Barkley to free agency, the Giants had a big hole to fill in their offense. They opted to bring in Devin Singletary on a 3-year deal reuniting him with head coach Brian DaBoll. Many thought the Giants would use a Day 2 pick to draft one of the top running backs in the draft to complement Singletary and build a young dynamic duo in the run game. New York ended up waiting till the 5th round to pick up Tyrone Tracy Jr. out of Purdue. This decision means that Singletary will be the every down back for the Giants heading into this season. Tracy Jr. will likely be heading into training camp in a competition for that RB2 and receiving back role with Eric Gray, who the Giants drafted in the 5th round last year.