By the time August rolls around, there will be no shortage of fantasy football sleepers/breakouts/busts articles. There are still so many unknowns for the 2024 season, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It can provide early drafters with an edge.
Let’s try and pinpoint a handful of sleepers that fantasy managers should target in Best Ball formats.
Best Ball Fantasy Football Sleepers
Kyler Murray, QB, Arizona Cardinals
Given that it’s February, ADP isn’t a fully formed resource yet (and won’t be for several months). The only thing we have to go based on is Underdog Fantasy, which is where you should be doing your Best Ball drafts.
Kyler Murray throws a STRIKE to Michael Wilson to tie it up again❗️
The #Cardinals are giving the #Eagles a run for their money 🍿#BirdGang | #FlyEaglesFly
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) December 31, 2023
On Underdog, Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray is currently being drafted outside the top 12 quarterbacks, which is astounding to me.
In his career, Murray has never averaged fewer than 18.2 fantasy points per game. Over his first four seasons, he finished as the QB11, QB3, QB4, and QB7, respectively.
Murray didn’t play enough games to qualify in 2023, but he averaged 18.9 fantasy points per game — the same as he did in 2022. Had Murray played enough and maintained that level of production, he would’ve been the overall QB8.
Murray’s “down year” was still well inside the QB1 range on a per-game basis, and, oh yeah, he was coming off a late-season ACL tear the year before.
Murray is now another year removed from the injury, yet already looked fully healthy running the ball last season.
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The Cardinals certainly need to add a wide receiver (Ohio State WR Marvin Harrison Jr., anyone?). But that’s not going to happen for at least another month, if not three.
Now is the time to take full advantage of Murray being undervalued. If this ADP holds, he will be my top sleeper at the quarterback position for 2024.
Chase Brown, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
There’s a bit of a disconnect between how much the Cincinnati Bengals used RB Chase Brown last season. I remember watching the games, and it appeared as though Brown was seeing a pretty significant workload, but the data doesn’t reflect that. In fact, he never played more than 28% of snaps in a game.
The reason it looked like Brown was being used more was because when he was on the field, he usually got the ball.
Brown’s ascent to the RB2 role began in Week 13, his second game back from a nearly two-month-long absence due to a strained hamstring. He immediately carried the ball nine times for 61 yards.
Beginning the following week, Brown’s receiving role emerged. Over his final five games, he caught 11 passes.
While Brown wasn’t fantasy-relevant last season, he flashed enough upside for me to believe he could be in a more substantial role.
There were rumors ahead of last summer that the Bengals might cut veteran RB Joe Mixon. Those reports never made much sense, but they do this year.
Mixon will be 28 years old this season and is in the final year of his contract. The Bengals just gave QB Joe Burrow a massive extension and need to do the same with WR Ja’Marr Chase. WR Tee Higgins is also a free agent.
Cutting Mixon would save the team about $6 million against the salary cap.
If Mixon does stay, then Brown is properly valued as an upside handcuff. However, if he goes, you’re going to end up having received multiple rounds of value on taking Brown as a sleeper in early Best Ball drafts.
Zamir White, RB, Las Vegas Raiders
Before last season, there were three things we needed to know to evaluate Las Vegas Raiders RB Zamir White as a fantasy asset.
- 1) Is RB Josh Jacobs returning?
- 2) Will the Raiders bring in another running back?
- 3) Is White good enough to produce?
After handling all of 17 carries his entire rookie year, White was a complete unknown. Even after Jacobs went down last season, fantasy managers weren’t sure if White was a viable start. Consider that question answered.
White played four games without Jacobs in 2023. In those games, he averaged 15.2 fantasy points, which are high RB2 numbers.
Equally important, White was given the lead-back role by then interim — and now full-time — head coach, Antonio Pierce. By all accounts, Pierce is a coach who is fiercely loyal to his players, and White was his guy last season.
Unless the Raiders draft a running back on Day 2 or sign an impact veteran, White is going to be the guy again this season assuming Jacobs doesn’t return.
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Based on White’s price in early Best Ball drafts, at worst, you’re getting one of the best handcuffs in the league. He’s worth drafting as your RB4 or RB5, even if his value is entirely contingent upon Jacobs not playing.
If Jacobs re-signs, you’ll get fair value for White. However, if Jacobs leaves (which looks like the most likely outcome), White’s ADP is going to vault into the fourth or fifth round. With this in mind, early drafters can seriously benefit from selecting White in fantasy drafts.
Drake London, WR, Atlanta Falcons
Last year, Drake London was on my list of breakouts. He did not, in fact, break out.
While he undoubtedly disappointed fantasy managers expecting more, most would agree that it wasn’t his fault. London is good at football, he just needed two things to change — his coach and quarterback.
We know for sure that London is going to get those changes. The Atlanta Falcons already brought in Raheem Morris as head coach and Zac Robinson as offensive coordinator. Both of those hires are massive upgrades on what London dealt with last season.
I can confidently say the Falcons’ starting quarterback in 2024 won’t be Desmond Ridder or Taylor Heinicke. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be someone significantly better. This is the inherent risk in taking London.
London averaged a mere 10.9 fantasy points per game last season. But he did that on 69 receptions for 905 yards with just two touchdowns behind awful quarterback play.
Imagine if London suddenly swapped places with Dallas Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb or Kansas City Chiefs WR Rashee Rice. Where do you think he would get drafted? My guess is Round 2.
Instead, he’s going in the fifth.
We know that situation matters, but London is being drafted pretty close to his floor. Even with another year of bad QB play, the coaching upgrade should be enough to make London a WR3.
What if the Falcons trade for Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields or sign Kirk Cousins?
Suddenly, London isn’t going in the fifth round anymore. Fantasy managers are scarred from last season and sleeping on London. Take the shot while the value is low.
Marquise Brown, WR, Arizona Cardinals
I know. I just said situation matters, and now I’m advocating for drafting a wide receiver who we don’t even know where he’ll play in 2024. Embrace uncertainty!
Of course, the chips won’t always fall your way. Cardinals WR Marquise Brown could end up signing on a team with an established WR1 and a quarterback who can’t support a second guy. But he could also sign on a team with an explosive offense that desperately needs a downfield threat. The Buffalo Bills and Chiefs come to mind.
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Brown is coming off the worst season of his career, averaging 9.6 fantasy ppg and finishing outside the top 48 wide receivers. But before last year, he averaged double-digit fantasy points every season, including up to 14.1 points per game in 2021.
Currently, Brown is being drafted as if he will repeat his 2023 numbers. If he does, you’ll get a guy who was worth where you took him — no more, no less.
Yet, if Brown signs with the right team, he can easily return top-36 value, which would be more than enough for us to look back on him as one of the top sleepers of 2024 Best Ball drafts.
Dallas Goedert, TE, Philadelphia Eagles
It was a disastrous close to the 2023 season for the Philadelphia Eagles. It was also a huge step backward for TE Dallas Goedert, who had been trending upward over the previous three seasons.
Goedert averaged just 9.7 fantasy points per game, finishing as the TE12. For context, he averaged 9.6 in 2019 while playing alongside Zach Ertz. For Goedert to produce at the same level with the role to himself was highly disappointing.
With that said, the Eagles’ offense was a bit of a mess last season and tapered off down the stretch. To help improve things, Philadelphia brought in former Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.
As a former quarterback, Moore is a passing-game guru. He should make QB Jalen Hurts better and more efficient. A big part of that should be getting the ball to Goedert, much like he got the ball to TE Dalton Schultz while in Dallas.
Even assuming everything with the Eagles’ offense remains the same, Goedert is being drafted at a price below where he’s finished every year since his rookie season. But there’s a sneaky outcome here that could result in a massive spike in value.
It’s not necessarily likely, but I believe there’s a non-zero chance WR A.J. Brown is not on the Eagles this season. If he gets traded, whoever Philadelphia replaces him with is probably not going to be even close to his caliber. That could restore Goedert to being the No. 2 option in the passing game.
The value in drafting Goedert is now. This is a former consensus top-eight tight end who is now going outside the top 12. He’s only 29 years old. Draft Goedert while his price remains low.