With the 2024 fantasy football season in the books, it’s time to review the past season to improve for the next one. The 2024 rookie class had several massively impactful players, but they weren’t necessarily the ones we expected them to be. Here is how fantasy managers should have drafted the 2024 rookie class using the benefit of hindsight.
2024 Fantasy Football Rookie Redraft
1) Malik Nabers, WR, NYG
All of those analysts who claimed Malik Nabers was at least as good if not better than Marvin Harrison Jr. can take a well-deserved victory lap. Nabers was second among all rookies (including quarterbacks) with 18.2 fantasy points per game. He caught 109 passes for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns in 15 games … while his quarterbacks were Daniel Jones, Tommy DeVito, and Drew Lock.
The New York Giants may be a disaster, but it’s hard to imagine Nabers ever finding himself in a worse offensive situation than the one he just experienced. If he can do this as a rookie, just imagine what he’ll be able to do when he reaches his prime and actually has a competent NFL quarterback throwing him the ball.
2) Brian Thomas Jr., WR, JAX
If you told the fantasy world last August that two of the 2024 rookie wide receivers would end up inside the top 10 heading into 2025, no one would’ve thought you were crazy. If you said Marvin Harrison Jr. wouldn’t be one of them, fantasy managers would’ve been arguing over who the other guy could possibly be.
It’s ironic that Harrison had the best QB and offensive situation playing with Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals, yet it was Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. playing with some of the NFL’s worst quarterbacks who not only overcame but excelled beyond all expectations.
Thomas had about an even split between Trevor Lawrence and Mac Jones. He averaged 14.9 fantasy points per game with Lawrence but an incredible 19.7 ppg with Jones.
We often see rookie WRs start to figure it out over the second half of the season. Thomas was a league winner in every sense of the term, posting games of 32.5, 28.2, and 23.9 during the three weeks of the fantasy playoffs. You can bet fantasy managers remember that.
With Lawrence likely not going anywhere, QB play will once again be a net negative for Thomas. Nevertheless, Thomas demonstrated elite talent and upside and looks to be a mainstay in the ranks of the WR1s for years to come.
3) Brock Bowers, TE, LV
Once in a while, players described as generational actually live up to the billing. Puka Nacua’s rookie receptions record stood for just one season until Nabers broke it during the early slate of the Week 18 games. His record lasted a couple of hours before Brock Bowers topped them both.
The Las Vegas Raiders TE caught 112 balls for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns. He averaged 14.6 fantasy points per game. Much like Nabers and Thomas, Bowers also did not exactly have quality quarterback play, suiting up with Gardner Minshew II, Aidan O’Connell, and Desmond Ridder.
Let’s similarly imagine Bowers on a competent NFL offense with NFL-caliber quarterback play and a head coach who has some semblance of a clue.
4) Ladd McConkey, WR, LAC
A polarizing prospect, Ladd McConkey exhibited elite efficiency at Georgia but was strangely not on the field all that often. It turns out, perhaps he should’ve been.
McConkey has already emerged as one of the best route runners in the league. He averaged 14.8 fantasy points per game as a rookie and looks poised to be Justin Herbert’s favorite target for years to come.
5) Jayden Daniels, QB, WAS
It’s always tough deciding when the right time for a quarterback is in a single-QB league. This feels like the right spot, but if you want to bump Jayden Daniels ahead of McConkey, I wouldn’t fight you on it.
We have our next great rushing quarterback. Daniels completed 69% of his passes as a rookie, throwing for 3,568 yards and 25 touchdowns with only nine interceptions. He also ran for 891 yards and six more scores. His 20.9 fantasy points per game was good for an overall QB6 finish. Daniels ranked ninth in PFN’s QB+ metric as a rookie.
6) Bucky Irving, RB, TB
I am all in. All in. Look at how the season finished. Bucky Irving completely reduced Rachaad White to an obvious passing-down role. Essentially, White became a pass blocker, not even touching the ball in the final game of the season.
Meanwhile, Irving averaged 16.9 fantasy points per game from Week 6 onward, which included Week 14, when he left the game early after scoring just 2.8 points. Remove that game and he’s at 18.2.
This isn’t a situation like 2023 when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had no choice. They had options. Both White and Sean Tucker have proven capable of handling volume when asked. They chose to feature the rookie. This is not a fluke. Irving is going to be the lead back for one of the NFL’s premier offenses for the foreseeable future.
7) Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, ARI
The unquestioned No. 1 overall pick in dynasty rookie drafts falls all the way to seventh in our redo. Harrison disappointed massively as a rookie, yet he still managed 62 catches for 885 yards and eight touchdowns. That’s not exactly bad. Nine hundred yards is the threshold for truly elite upside. He came a mere 15 yards short.
The real issue was the unrealistic expectations that came with Harrison carrying an early second-round ADP, by far the highest of any rookie WR in the history of fantasy football, and one we are virtually certain to never see again.
Harrison failed to reach 12 fantasy points per game and finished around overall WR40. Yet, I’m moderately encouraged by how he closed the season. Two of his best games came in the team’s final two games, with his 11 catches the most he had over any two-game stretch in his rookie campaign.
Murray openly acknowledged that his rapport with Harrison wasn’t where it needed to be. I think we get significant improvement from Harrison in Year 2 that could, perhaps, make dropping him to No. 7 in this redrafting look foolish.
8) Xavier Worthy, WR, KC
For half the season, Xavier Worthy looked like a major bust. Then, similar to Rashee Rice a year ago, Worthy started to come on during the second half.
Certainly Worthy immensely benefitted from layup targets, but it’s not a bad thing that his team wanted to scheme him the ball. Still, Worthy isn’t really winning on legitimate routes, which has me concerned about his long-term sustainability.
Nevertheless, from Weeks 11-17 Worthy averaged 15.5 fantasy points per game. During the three most important weeks of the fantasy season, Weeks 15-17, Worthy scored at least 19.6 fantasy points in all of them. It’s enough to vault him ahead of the next two WRs.
9) Bo Nix, QB, DEN
Yes, I am putting Bo Nix firmly ahead of Caleb Williams. The Denver Broncos rookie averaged an impressive 18.2 fantasy points per game as a rookie.
Although he was only 18th in PFN’s QB+ metric, Nix’s overall score is weighed down by his early season struggles. From Week 5 onward, Nix averaged 20.9 fantasy points per game.
Adding an average of 2.5 ppg via rushing, Nix has a sneaky high weekly floor to go along with a proven elite ceiling. If he can make strides in Year 2, we could be talking about Nix as a perennial QB1.
10) Jalen McMillan, WR, TB
The strong finish to his rookie season has me bumping Jalen McMillan ahead of the next guy on this list. His 10.4 ppg is far from impressive, but McMillan wasn’t really part of the offense until late in the season.
Experiencing the classic late-rookie-season surge, McMillan averaged 19.8 ppg over the final five weeks of the season. He fully emerged as the WR2 on this team opposite Mike Evans.
This wasn’t a fluke. McMillan was making impressive catches and winning at all levels. He’s convinced me he’s a legitimate WR2 at the NFL level.
11) Rome Odunze, WR, CHI
Finally, we get to the consensus WR3 of the 2024 rookie class. I was pretty high on Rome Odunze. Not as high as Nabers and Harrison, but he was firmly No. 3 for me ahead of Thomas and McConkey.
There’s really no sugarcoating Odunze’s rookie season. The best we can say is he managed to eclipse 700 receiving yards, which puts him in a spot that gives him a chance to still break out.
Odunze averaged 1.35 yards per route run. Here are some of his contemporaries dating back to 2011.
There are a few outliers on this list. By no means is Odunze’s career cooked. However, it’s certainly not encouraging.
12) Tyrone Tracy Jr., RB, NYG
Yes. I am leaving Williams off this list. The final spot in our 2024 dynasty rookie first-round redraft goes to the other Giants rookie.
Tyrone Tracy Jr. did not stumble into the Giants’ RB1 job. He took it, and he kept it.
Beginning in Week 5, Tracy played over 60% of the snaps in all but one game. He averaged a very respectable 13.2 fantasy points per game over that span.
The Giants can’t be worse offensively going forward and Tracy sure looks like their RB1 of the future.