Fantasy Football Preview: Losers of the NFL Draft
Biggest fantasy football fallers at every position based on the the NFL draft
July 23, 2024
Patrick McDonnell
With the NFL draft now behind us, we have a much better idea of what teams think of their players entering the 2024 season. These are the players who's fantasy values have slipped given the results of the draft!
Quarterbacks
- Drake Maye
- Kirk Cousins
📉 Drake Maye loses rookie QB roulette (at least for Year 1) by landing with the Patriots. They have one of the weirdest WR rooms in the NFL. Overstuffed but lacking true difference makers, it'll be relying on rookies Polk and Baker to make an immediate impact. Questions exist all over the offensive line. Maye will also have to definitively beat out Jacoby Brissette to even get get snaps. Maye is currently ranked as Walter's QB29 for 2024 and needs a lot to go right in order to make any kind of impact.
🤯 The Falcons stunning decision to draft Michael Penix at the 1.08 hurts Kirk Cousins more than anyone else. The 36 year old coming off of an achilles tear that was guaranteed 90+ million dollars in free agency no longer seems like such a lock to lead the Falcons to the playoffs. Penix is no developmental project. He played for 6 seasons in college and is has shown that he can lead an effective passing attack. Cousins is currently ranked as Walter's QB20.
Running Backs
- Chuba Hubbard
- Kyren Williams
- Blake Corum
- Elijah Mitchell
- Javonte Williams
- James Conner
📉 Chuba had finally made the jump to consistent fantasy contributor at the end of last season, clocking in as the RB13 in PPR from Weeks 9-17. This stint appears to be over with Carolina taking Jonathan Brooks as the first running back off the board.
😥 Kyren Williams' ADP has already seen dramatic swings, going from a bonafide first rounder to a third round ADP in Underdog drafts. While this may be dramatic, the Rams drafting Blake Corum certainly does introduce some threat to his workload. Corum was one of the few RBs in this draft who had the potential for a workhorse role in the NFL. These guys being on the same team dilutes both of their potential as fantasy stars.
😏 Mitchell, Williams, and Conner all face threats from newly drafted backs. Mitchell was injured for much of last season and the 49ers traded up for Isaac Guerendo. Javonte should benefit from being another year removed from an ACL injury, but Audric Estime is an exciting big-bodied prospect. And while James Conner is perhaps the most talented/polished of these three, Trey Benson is hyper talented. At 29-years old its hard to imagine Conner keeping up the same volume he has the past couple of seasons with Benson lurking.
Pass Catchers
- Michael Mayer
- Davante Adams
- JuJu Smith-Schuster
- Deebo Samuel/Brandon Aiyuk
- Khalil Shakir
- Gabe Davis
- Roman Odunze
- Marvin Mims
❌ The Raiders were the odd team out in the QB hunt this year, and so Davante Adams' ceiling will be at the mercy of Aidan O'Connell or Gardner Minshew. Mayer's potential ascendance is even more in question due to the round 1 Brock Bowers selection.
📉 JuJu looked washed last season, and NE invested heavily in the WR position this draft. He is a non-factor in fantasy at this point, and a potential cut candidate.
🍽️ The 49ers receiving core becomes even more crowded with the intoduction of Ricky Pearsall. Had one of Aiyuk or Samuel been traded, both stocks probably would've risen. These are very talented players but it looks like they will continue to cannibalize each other's volume.
😏 Khalil Shakir looks slightly less exciting with the Bills using the first pick of the second round on Keon Coleman. The same goes for Gabe Davis who now has to compete with Christian Kirk AND first rounder Brian Thomas Jr.
🤯 Caleb Williams' WR room looks about as good as its been for any rookie, but this is not the ideal fantasy landing spot for Odunze. There are suddenly a lot of mouths to feed in Chicago.
📉 Marvin Mims' usage was already pretty puzzling last season. With the addition of Troy Franklin, his path to regular snaps continues to look very muddled.